whynot | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

I am on a posting roll, finals being the perfect time to hang out on LJ.

I think I'd be totally fine without a laptop. My dorm has a computer lab, and my school has ten billion computer labs. All I need is a USB. Not having a laptop would force me to organize my time and my work because I can't take a workspace for granted anymore. Think of all the distractions I can't indulge in on a public computer. Think of how many more books I'd read.

Sigh. Stop making excuses, self.

Speaking of distractions, try these: Photobomb, for ruined photos, and Picture is Unrelated, for general WTFery.

+

AHA. Trail of Dead is on the FNL soundtrack! I knew I recognized that riff. Makes sense, their being from Texas and all. I've been rolling around in the loveliness that is Explosions In The Sky, and 'Storm' by Jose Gozalez. What is the name of the song that plays when Riggins gets into a fight and Tyra and his brother have to break it up?

My background noise while I've been outlining this essay is Merlin, my unfailing happy place. It would take me back to days long gone (half a year ago) when I'd get out of school and think, "Sweet, new episode of Merlin tonight. Gonna pick up some Chinese take-out." The theme music starts to play and my heart swells. It is a testament to my geekiness that I can recognize the shots that various icons are based on, isn't it.

1. In Ep1, the Dragon says something like, "Arthur will encounter many dangers FROM BOTH FRIEND AND FOE on the way to the throne." Caps are mine. "Friend"? The obvious choice is Morgana, but I totally want an out-of-left-field betrayal by Gwen or something. Oh wait.

2. How have I forgotten how adorable Merlin/Gwen is?? Oh Merlin/Gwen, the stepheaded redchild of the OT4 pairings. I love you -- possibly just to be contrary -- but man, I can totally go for some good Merlin/Gwen anytime. Here, have a couple: untitled futurefic set after Morgana's defection, and Garden Ground, which is an episode tag to Ep4. The next time ya'll ask for Merlin prompts, I'm throwing Merlin/Gwen at you (if not Merlin/Morgana).

3. The first time around, Arthur/Morgana did nothing for me. Well, it irritated me a little, but nothing else aside from that. But NOW, I am down for it, probably because the writers are not trying so hard to shove it in my face anymore. (Merlin/Arthur has taken on that role, thanks.) The show kind of left Arthur/Morgana and Merlin/Gwen by the wayside during the last four episodes, and focused instead on Merlin/Arthur, Arthur/Gwen, and Morgana/Gwen. But since I multiship like I breathe air, it's all good.

4. Ummmmm, are we going to see Gaius do more magic next season?? Yes pls. Gaius's selective passivity and calculated cowardice fascinate me. I never relate to the Gryffindor protagonists, narrative necessity though they are. Sometimes I wonder what it means when I like things that reflect my weaknesses instead of my strengths. If I were a main character, I would never advance the plot. I would sit there and overthink everything, and probably piss away the whole episode talking to various friends seeing what they'd do in my place, and then I would watch the latest episode of The Office. Roll credits!

5. It has always disturbed me in Ep2 that people actually die for real in the tournament.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

0. OMGYES, THE MERLIN MUSIC MAKES ME SO HAPPY.

1. A Merlin!betrayal would certainly prove interesting and up the superangst!rating.

2. YAY RECS.

3. I don't want my show to shove canon pairings in my face. DDDDD: STAY THE ORGY-TASTIC WAY YOU ARE.

4. Gaius' 'not telling Morgana' angle is also fascinating. We're (I am) all sitting there watching, dreading how everything's going to turn out because the legend =/= good news. DDDD:

5. I was partly amused by the lack of blood.

Uh, yeah. So basically all the things I said have little relevance to what you were saying.

HAHAHA IKR IT'S LIKE "ZOMG HERE IT COMES!"

I can see an episode where Merlin is manipulated into betraying Arthur, or into thinking he must do it for Arthur's own good. Or maybe the show will pull something like, "It's not me who's betrayed you, Arthur. You betrayed yourself." Y'know, something like Arthur spiraling into a bad place because of the stress of Uther's degeneration into lunacy and Morgana's burgeoning magic. And then he has to be saved, with LOVE.

Yeah, Gaius makes a lot of non-valiant choices, I want to see what else is in his head and in his past. With the tournament, it's like, why can't they just have a referee to declare the winner before anyone dies?! No one needs to die!

Wait, wait, people actually have written Merlin/Gwen?! Lately that's been all I want from the Merlin fandom, that and Merlin/Gwen/Arthur.

There is a Merlin/Gwen fic community somewhere, too! I think activity on it has fallen away a bit towards the latter half of the season though.

Which episode is that scene in? (Riggins! So pretty and so quietly broken!)

OTFOOOOOOUR.

I THINK it was the one where he sees his dad. Earlier they were playing pool at this bar and some bruiser was like, "Are you hustling me?!" And Tim's dad basically assed it up all the way. And later when Tim came back to the bar sans father, the bruiser wanted revenge. Someone called Tyra (who was possibly with her mother, who was being a loser about men and Buddy's receptionist job) to tell her about it, and so she showed up with Tim's brother in the middle of the awesome song to break up the fight.

Ahaha that was so helpful! Okay, with the help of the ep summaries on Wikipedia and some trial & error and Google and Youtube and, well, Tunefind (http://www.tunefind.com/show/Friday+Night+Lights/Season+1), which really should have come *before* everything else, lalala:

Ryan Adams - Political Scientist (http://six-by-nine.org/lj/Ryan Adams - Political Scientist.mp3)

(I was surprised, too.)

Haha, I just didn't know what season or episode number that was even because I've been mainlining this show over a few weeks and it's all a blur in a show. That's the song right there! Thank you so much! <3

the Merlin opening montage and theme song make me SO HAPPY XD I am super excited for when it's playing actively and there is real suspense (sort of)! I haven't had that with a TV show since like the second season of House.

You have a point about laptops. I went without one all spring break and it was strange, I felt like I was *doing* so much more. Somehow being on a laptop, no matter what you write or how much you correspond with people, it feels like it amounts to nothing. yikes.

Anyone with Gwen is just, agh, adorable. Also I do love Gaius and his magic troubles. oh mannnn. this show!

When Series 2 hits the intertubes, OH MAN. I will be keysmashing capslockly for days.

Somehow being on a laptop, no matter what you write or how much you correspond with people, it feels like it amounts to nothing. yikes.
EXACTLY. I'm so, so tempted to just go next semester without one. Like, conventional wisdom tells me that's a stupid thing to do, that's when I need to be working on my thesis and seeking jobs and the like. But I don't think it would be impossible. Not that I would ever do it, because I have a laptop addiction (urgh, a slave to the technology of convenience), but... it would be possible.

For some reason I had thought it was being aired on BBC America this summer. I think I got that confused with NBC showing the first season at 8pm Sundays this summer.

Thesis time? I... would wait till after that to give up the laptop probably. Wow, thesis! good luck with that!

THANKS. Argh, the intimidating future!

1. Heh. It's funny cause it's canon. Only not really funny.

4. Gaius' medical ethics = so so skeevy. It's insane.

5. It has always disturbed me in Ep2 that people actually die for real in the tournament.

Yes. I was in DCU fandom for a while, so having protagonists relatively casually kill people has always been a bit of a shock.

For serious! FIRST DO NO HARM, G. First you will drug the king's ward who will in all probability resent you when she finds out about it NO NO NO.

I don't know what the DCU fandom is like. But yeah, actually killing people in a tournament for fun is so unnecessary and kind of distressing. Albionites look forward to this?? Are we going to handwave it and say, "Ah, it was a different time then." ...whenever it was. I really don't understand why they can't just have a referee to call KO.

...My sleep-deprivation and five pages to write before midnight (for which... I have yet to do the reading) is helping me to get all worked up about this. HOORAY DISPROPORTIONATE FINALS DISTRESS

Like I said, SO SO SKEEVY. It makes me sad for Morgana.

In DCU the line that all the superheroes have drawn is "No killing". None. At all. No matter how good the reason is, the vigilantes aren't allowed to kill. And in fandom that friction is often played with, and even when it's not explicitly mentioned, it's there in the background, in that you don't see the heroes kill anyone. Ever. So whenever one of the good guys in another fandom kills someone, it's always a bit jarring it me, because I expect it to be a bigger deal than it actually is.

Wait, does anyone besides Arthur kill someone in the second episode? Because I definitely didn't think that they did, but I was still a bit shocked when Arthur kills Valiant like that, and by how casual Merlin is about killing in later episodes.

Also, guess what I'm two hundred pages into.

Good luck with your paper!

because I expect it to be a bigger deal than it actually is.
Exactly!

Well, Valiant and his snakes kill loads of people and no one bats an eye, so I assume that the fights were to the death.

WHEE! I have to pause that book and return it to library. I could renew it and bring it with me to Manila if I wanted to, buuuuut whatever. It'll be here in the fall. ISN'T KARL THE BESTEST??

Does Uther count as a friend? Uther could totally betray Arthur. (I don't want a Gwen betrayal or a Morgana betrayal because those are so inevitable, but Merlin would break my heart.)

I want to be in Gaius's head! I want to understand if he really thinks it is more important to stand with Uther, or if he is afraid, or what. He is such an interesting character, I want to know so much more about him. And why does he take Merlin in as he does? Why does he help Gwen and Morgana? Is he ever going to tell Morgana about her powers? AAAGH.

Ooh! Uther should totally betray Arthur. That umbilical cord needs to be severed, for both Pendragon kids. Or possibly Uther can just betray Camelot in a megalomaniac "good intentions pave the road to hell" kind of way, but betraying Camelot is pretty much tantamount to betraying Arthur, so yeah.

This makes me think of writing 5 things fic. 5 ways Uther betrayed his son. 1) Uther threatens Camelot, 2) Uther really threatens Morgana, 3) he threatens Merlin. And, um.

Gaius yes! He isn't really a mentor to Merlin. Part of it is that Merlin is a bad mentee, though. I wonder if he's going to be the character that dies for the sake of everyone else's angst and character development.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only