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kungfuwaynewhoIt's TV premiere week! That means it's Fringe premiere week! Yay!
I did these a couple weeks ago for the![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
fringeverse challenge community. Two drabble-length diary entries from the POV of two characters.
When I was eleven years old, I went through what I call my Poe phase. I read everything by Edgar Allan Poe, every short story and poem, and everything I could find that was written about Poe, as well. It wasn't just about the stories - it was the mood he was able to conjure up, that vague sense of unease that pervaded every word. Something in me responded to that feeling, craved it, sought out opportunities that would frighten me, unnerve me. When I'd reread Poe too many times to creep myself out anymore, I manufactured new experiences. I would wait till late at night, especially if it were overcast and the light of the moon was invisible, and then I would go down to the end of the backyard, right against where the cleanly mowed grass gave way to tangled undergrowth and gnarled trees. I would stand with my back to the woods and close my eyes, and imagine what could be coming after me. I would relish every tingle up my spine, every twist in my belly. It was though I needed it.
More than twenty years have passed, and it's been a long time since I've felt those old sensations from my Poe phase, longer since I've wanted to. There have been a few moments working cases that there's been the slightest memory of that time, more like the memory of a memory, but I'm an adult. I don't fear the shadows in the corners, the strange sound outside the window. Leaving all that behind is part of growing up. But here I am, feeling it all again. I walk into the lab, and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up on end. I'll be working on a piece of equipment and the feeling that someone (something) is watching me will be so strong that I can't think of anything else. Late at night, lying in bed, I remember looks, the tone behind certain words - a tone I've never heard before. I remember an odd shift of weight, or a shrug of the shoulders, and cold terror slowly works its way through my stomach.
There is something wrong with Olivia.
Monday
TO FINISH BEFORE 9AM
-Buy Gene’s food.
-Haul Gene’s food to campus, stop by maintenance to borrow hand-truck, get food down into lab, REMEMBER TO LOCK UP LAB, take hand-truck back to maintenance.
-Feed Gene.
-Milk Gene - Walter is NO LONGER ALLOWED TO DRINK RAW MILK.
TO FINISH BEFORE NOON
-Wash and sterilize centrifuge, beakers, test tubes.
-Bag whatever Walter was working on yesterday and take to Seeley for hazardous waste disposal.
-Buy lunch - Monday will be the third Monday of the month so Walter will want FISH STICKS - NO TARTAR SAUCE. Do not forget his root beer.
TO FINISH BEFORE 5PM
-File everything Walter pulled out of those boxes yesterday. Remember, first alphabetical, then by date, then by name of person with whom he might have worked.
-Lock the boxes up. HIDE THE KEY.
-Take pictures of chalkboard and dry erase board. Clean them.
-Walter is trying to remember the name of a fizzy drink he ordered in a bar “somewhere in Boston” in 1983. Research names of fizzy drinks.
-Cross-reference names and dates on file Olivia gave me yesterday. (This can wait till tomorrow if it needs to.)
TO FINISH BEFORE 11PM
-Drop off dry cleaning - Walter’s shirts MUST NOT BE STARCHED.
-The video store on Broadway has Walter’s movies ready to be picked up.
-Stop by Federal Building and pick up paycheck. REMEMBER TO AUTHORIZE DIRECT DEPOSIT so you don’t have to do this anymore.
I remember when my diary entries used to be about me.
My first love was a very complicated man. He was very, very rich, and also very, very handsome. So you can see how I was attracted, but also how he ended up being a very arrogant, self-centered person. Plus, there were ex problems, too. It was kind of a passionate, tumultuous thing that didn't last very long, but when it did? He was pretty much all I thought about.
When I was in first and second grade, I was in Camp Fire (which is kind of Girl Scouts, for those of you unfamiliar with it). One time we were making Mother's Day presents. We were supposed to draw a picture, write "Happy Mother's Day" on it, frame it in popsicle sticks, and tie on a ribbon bow to hang it from. I drew a picture of Scrooge McDuck, wrote "Happy Scrooge's Day" on it, and excitedly gave it to my mom. She did, in fact, hang it up, though she asked me why I couldn't have written "Happy Mother's Day" next to Scrooge's head.
I did these a couple weeks ago for the
fringeverse challenge community. Two drabble-length diary entries from the POV of two characters. When I was eleven years old, I went through what I call my Poe phase. I read everything by Edgar Allan Poe, every short story and poem, and everything I could find that was written about Poe, as well. It wasn't just about the stories - it was the mood he was able to conjure up, that vague sense of unease that pervaded every word. Something in me responded to that feeling, craved it, sought out opportunities that would frighten me, unnerve me. When I'd reread Poe too many times to creep myself out anymore, I manufactured new experiences. I would wait till late at night, especially if it were overcast and the light of the moon was invisible, and then I would go down to the end of the backyard, right against where the cleanly mowed grass gave way to tangled undergrowth and gnarled trees. I would stand with my back to the woods and close my eyes, and imagine what could be coming after me. I would relish every tingle up my spine, every twist in my belly. It was though I needed it.
More than twenty years have passed, and it's been a long time since I've felt those old sensations from my Poe phase, longer since I've wanted to. There have been a few moments working cases that there's been the slightest memory of that time, more like the memory of a memory, but I'm an adult. I don't fear the shadows in the corners, the strange sound outside the window. Leaving all that behind is part of growing up. But here I am, feeling it all again. I walk into the lab, and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up on end. I'll be working on a piece of equipment and the feeling that someone (something) is watching me will be so strong that I can't think of anything else. Late at night, lying in bed, I remember looks, the tone behind certain words - a tone I've never heard before. I remember an odd shift of weight, or a shrug of the shoulders, and cold terror slowly works its way through my stomach.
There is something wrong with Olivia.
Monday
TO FINISH BEFORE 9AM
-Buy Gene’s food.
-Haul Gene’s food to campus, stop by maintenance to borrow hand-truck, get food down into lab, REMEMBER TO LOCK UP LAB, take hand-truck back to maintenance.
-Feed Gene.
-Milk Gene - Walter is NO LONGER ALLOWED TO DRINK RAW MILK.
TO FINISH BEFORE NOON
-Wash and sterilize centrifuge, beakers, test tubes.
-Bag whatever Walter was working on yesterday and take to Seeley for hazardous waste disposal.
-Buy lunch - Monday will be the third Monday of the month so Walter will want FISH STICKS - NO TARTAR SAUCE. Do not forget his root beer.
TO FINISH BEFORE 5PM
-File everything Walter pulled out of those boxes yesterday. Remember, first alphabetical, then by date, then by name of person with whom he might have worked.
-Lock the boxes up. HIDE THE KEY.
-Take pictures of chalkboard and dry erase board. Clean them.
-Walter is trying to remember the name of a fizzy drink he ordered in a bar “somewhere in Boston” in 1983. Research names of fizzy drinks.
-Cross-reference names and dates on file Olivia gave me yesterday. (This can wait till tomorrow if it needs to.)
TO FINISH BEFORE 11PM
-Drop off dry cleaning - Walter’s shirts MUST NOT BE STARCHED.
-The video store on Broadway has Walter’s movies ready to be picked up.
-Stop by Federal Building and pick up paycheck. REMEMBER TO AUTHORIZE DIRECT DEPOSIT so you don’t have to do this anymore.
I remember when my diary entries used to be about me.
My first love was a very complicated man. He was very, very rich, and also very, very handsome. So you can see how I was attracted, but also how he ended up being a very arrogant, self-centered person. Plus, there were ex problems, too. It was kind of a passionate, tumultuous thing that didn't last very long, but when it did? He was pretty much all I thought about.
When I was in first and second grade, I was in Camp Fire (which is kind of Girl Scouts, for those of you unfamiliar with it). One time we were making Mother's Day presents. We were supposed to draw a picture, write "Happy Mother's Day" on it, frame it in popsicle sticks, and tie on a ribbon bow to hang it from. I drew a picture of Scrooge McDuck, wrote "Happy Scrooge's Day" on it, and excitedly gave it to my mom. She did, in fact, hang it up, though she asked me why I couldn't have written "Happy Mother's Day" next to Scrooge's head.
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no subject
Date: 2010-09-20 07:49 pm (UTC)And yes, FRINGE IS BACK ON THURSDAY. *squee*
no subject
Date: 2010-09-20 08:35 pm (UTC)I am so proud of myself for staying unspoiled for Fringe this whole summer. I am so tremendously excited for the premiere, it's kind of sad.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-20 07:52 pm (UTC)I've heard a few things, about equally divided between good and bad, about Fringe, but I can't think of anyone else on my flist who actually watches it. What do you like about it? I recently added the first season to my Netflix queue, but it's toward the bottom, so it'll be awhile before I get to it. I'm hoping it'll fill the X-files-shaped hole in my life, but in a way that makes more sense than Carter's mytharc.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-20 08:40 pm (UTC)The Fringe mytharc actually holds together, and makes sense, and you can really tell how much time and thought has gone into it. They're not just throwing a couple cool things into the sweeps episodes and letting the audience make the connections. There's also lots of foreshadowing, set-ups that actually pay off. The show answers questions as it goes along, instead of dragging things out; of course, it keeps bringing up new questions, so you never quite feel like you've got everything figured out.
What I love most about Fringe is the cast and characters, though. John Noble alone is reason to watch this show, but everyone does really good work. If you start watching and find Olivia too cold or unsympathetic, just wait - there's a reason for that, and you'll end up loving her. (I had a friend watch the first two episodes and quit because she hated Olivia, and nothing I can do to convince her to try it again is working.)
It's just a very solid, very interesting show that doesn't rely on cheap twists; it has a strong internal logic; the world the show has created is just very, very cool; there's a surprising amount of humor. Also, everyone is very pretty. The show itself is also very pretty. I like pretty shows, so.
That's my pitch!
no subject
Date: 2010-09-20 10:24 pm (UTC)Oooh, fabulous. I liked--not really loved, but liked--XF a whole lot, but almost entirely for the Monster of the Week episodes and the Mulder/Scully relationship. (The angst was good, but I really loved how deeply, deeply weird both of them were.) The mytharc just bored the hell out of me once I realized, somewhere in S6, that it was never going to amount to anything. Having a coherent plan = good thing.
I actually tend to like cold and unsympathetic female characters; possibly because I know I come off that way in RL, or perhaps I just enjoy imagining ways to bring them out of their shells. It's also fun to watch them warm up in canon.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-21 03:02 am (UTC)Olivia doesn't stay all that cold, but she never becomes your regular female character, either. She reminds me a lot of Ivanova, actually. Very professional, very awesome, doesn't take shit. When Olivia gets kidnapped she rescues her own damn self.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-21 03:35 am (UTC)regular female character
...? I'm not really sure who that would be...examples?
She reminds me a lot of Ivanova, actually. Very professional, very awesome, doesn't take shit. When Olivia gets kidnapped she rescues her own damn self.
AWESOME. On the off-chance you've missed it, what with my never shutting up about her, Ivanova is at the very tippy-top of my list of favorite characters. I love her breathtaking competence and professionalism.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-21 11:57 am (UTC)I just meant your typical TV female character, who worries about boys and needs to be rescued, etc. Not your atypical ass-kicking women.
Now I have this horrible fear that I've talked it up too much, you'll watch a few episodes and hate it, and hate Olivia. "Lies! Everything she said was a lie!"
no subject
Date: 2010-09-21 04:02 pm (UTC)Ah. I tend to drop a show if I find that the women are written purely as love interests/lust objects/rescue goals for the male characters, so I don't see them in the wild very often. I also don't watch much TV. ;)
(Though to be fair, I think you can have a well-developed, strong female character who both worries about boys and needs to be rescued sometimes--Olive on Pushing Daisies comes to mind--but it's a hell of a lot harder. Sometimes I think "ass-kicking" is becoming too stereotypical a trait for people who don't want to bother developing their female characters but are canny enough to know audiences will notice if they make them too "girly"...sorry, this wasn't directed at you; representations of women in media is kind of my hobby-horse, and I tend to ramble.)
Now I have this horrible fear that I've talked it up too much, you'll watch a few episodes and hate it, and hate Olivia. "Lies! Everything she said was a lie!"
Nooooooo! ;) I'll give it at least two DVDs worth before I bail, anyway.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-21 04:09 pm (UTC)Sometimes I think "ass-kicking" is becoming too stereotypical a trait for people who don't want to bother developing their female characters but are canny enough to know audiences will notice if they make them too "girly."
This reminds me of an article I read that said that BSG wasn't a feminist show because of characters like Cally, who cried and didn't beat guys up (it was great when she bit that one guy's ear off, but then she never did anything like that again!), and got married and had a baby, etc. She was not an awesome female character! Starbuck is just a ruse to blind us to the rest of the sucky female characters!
And I was like, someone has missed the boat on what makes a female character good. It's not that she has to act like a man. Cally may not have been everyone's cup of tea, but she was definitely a three-dimensional character, who didn't exist just to prop up a male character; that makes her better than like 75% of female characters out there.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-21 08:58 pm (UTC)...woooooooooooooooooooow. Because you can't be awesome and married, oh, no. And god forbid you cry.
Heh, that person would hate me, 'cause after Lee, Starbuck was actually my least favorite character on the show.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-20 08:51 pm (UTC)This is the same reason I don't watch Heroes.
Perhaps I should just bite the bullet, get caught up online (or through Netflix, or something) and watch it like a normal person? IDK.
But the Scrooge McDuck thing? Fabulous.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-20 09:03 pm (UTC)Anymore, since my library is really good about getting TV on DVD, I will just start watching a show from the beginning, but I used to just jump in all the time. I started watching BSG in the middle of the second season, and the first episode I watched I had no idea what was going on at all, and I still ended up getting hooked.
After a great first season, Heroes turned into a sucky ass pile of sucky ass, so you lucked out on that one.
Seriously though, I think Fringe is a great, great show. I recommend it.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-21 02:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-21 02:59 am (UTC)I am kind of afraid that you'd end up spoiling yourself for some of the really great twists and surprises from the first two seasons. So it depends on whether you'd rather try it out now and see if you like it, and you're not too worried about spoilers, or if you're more spoilerphobic about TV. This is interesting: I actually have no clue what your view on spoilers is. It's not something that really comes up in a fandom for a show that's been off the air for more than a decade, heh.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-21 03:10 am (UTC)For example. I love House. I dunno if you watch or not, but two(?) seasons ago, the day after a particularly spoilerific episode, my husband called me at work. He said, "Did you watch House last night or are you saving it til Saturday?" I told him, per usual I was saving it for Saturday. And he said, "Oh. Well then - don't read the Google news. Like, at all."
So of course I read the news because he told me not to, and of course it was then completely spoiled for me that Kal Penn's character offed himself, and. Yeah.
So my view on spoilers is, I prefer to not have them, but I accept that sometimes, given the way I watch TV, it is inevitable.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-21 02:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-21 03:00 am (UTC)