NationStates time

Stooditia!

This is Brian's: Fennelseed

A post to vent

What the fuck. I just get home after going to a party with my friends, and then waiting for the metro for a while. I walk in the door, no one says anything to me, my mom says she needs help to get dressed, I help her, still no response from my father, I go upstairs to get ready for bed, and he calls up "Matthew, I need your help with your mother" to which she and I respond "we already did that" to which he goes in to my mom and in his bitchiest voice possible says "Well then I guess there was no reason for me to stay up" and goes to sleep and practically (although not exactly) slams his door. What the hell? I got home later than I normally would, but I came home anyway. It's not like they said "we need you home by a certain time." Not that they have the right to say that anymore, anyway. I'm 26. I'll be out however late I want. If you need help, ask me ahead of time. Fuckin' A.

Dollhouse: Needs

Since Brian is back in the States, I'm so horribly behind on TV it's not even funny. I used to use the weekends to catch-up, but I don't have those anymore so shit is starting to pile up on my computer. It also has something to do with me watching more TV live now, rather than on my computer. 20 minutes lost to commercials for every hour of TV adds up.

So that's why I just got to episode 8 of Dollhouse last night. The story centers on TPTB at the Dollhouse trying to fix some of the little problems that have been cropping up lately. Namely the actives starting to develop personalities, which clearly doesn't gel well with the Tabula Rasa that is necessary for their line of "work." They develop this scenario in which to fix the problems, but it would be spoiling a plot twist if I say what the scenario really is.

So the four main actives that we've seen all wake up suddenly aware of who they are. They lack their previous memories, but they act like normal people, with all the required "What the fuck is going on here?" reactions. You watch as these normal people react to the Dollhouse, and then we get to watch them escape.

There are a couple of things that make this episode great. First, the dialogue, especially from Victor. It's the usual intelligent, witty remarks that we've come to expect from Whedon. And the lines that the more serious characters have are also really great, like the doctor's speech in the meeting (revealed at the end of the episode). Second, they really explore the moral issues that viewers have been squawking about since the show premiered. How much can the actives complain if they knew what they were getting themselves into, and even volunteered for it? Interesting moral dilemma. Third, the end scene answered my question about how they'd keep this show going for multiple seasons. They manage to prolong the storylines, but I found it to be quasi-believable and am more than willing to go along for the ride. There was a fourth but it seems to have escaped me at the moment. Maybe that I enjoyed when they showed Victor with his ass-less chaps.

So Yay to Dollhouse for not disappointing. I was never unhappy with the show, just not as wowed as I expected to be (which seems to be the prevailing critical opinion). I expected to plug into the first episode and love it from the get-go, but it took a little bit of warming up. I think it's really beginning to hit its stride, and I'm curious to see where it goes in the future. I had this sudden brilliant flash that later in the series, Ballard does something horrible, like kills someone, and he chooses to become a Doll. Could be interesting.

I hope this show does get renewed. Especially because so much else seems to be on the bubble. Fucking Jay Leno and his stupid fucking prime-time talk show.

My Brute

http://stoodle.mybrute.com

I have no idea what this really is, but it's cute. I hate that Jim is my master though.

3months3minutes

I miss Jenny.

My motto in life

Clearly I'm being all sorts of reflective and "I hate society's restraints" today. But I finally found this, and I needed to post it here as it's my blog motto.

Do I really have to find a word for it?

I don't talk about this so often, but an e-acquaintance of mine wrote this article, and I agree with a lot of what it says. And it quotes my favorite book ever.

Male Sexual Fluidity

I identify as gay, because honestly I don't find women overly physically attractive. To be more specific, I think the female form is beautiful, but I don't get aroused when I see it. Which is not a problem I have with men, and I'm happy with my boyfriend. But sometimes I wonder how much of these feelings are how I really feel, and how much is what society expects of me. I'm lucky, because a lot of my feelings really are gay, but I'm getting exceedingly tired of the label and all of the expectations that go with it.

For some reason, society feels the need for everyone to fall into a black or white category regarding their sexuality, and I've always seen it as more of a spectrum. I think when we force people to align themselves into one of two categories, it causes all sorts of problems. Why can't someone just like who they like? A straight guy may fall in love with another guy, but in general isn't gay. But he can't admit it because he has to fit into a box, so he can't be truly happy. And there's enough pain in the world, I don't see why we have to add to it.

Of course I think the first step is to get rid of this misconception that gay is bad, or weak, or less in some way. People might be more willing to admit that they have had a gay thought if it wasn't implied that such thoughts make you less of a man. This is rapidly turning into a soapbox issue for me, and not because I have a personal stake in it. It's not that I'm secretly in love with woman, it's just that I find this push to "fit-in" to be exhausting. Adam does a much better job of explaining things than I do. He's a pretty good writer (I especially like his autobiographical online story), so the article is worth a gander if you have a chance.