what may or may not be hard reality

Quote of the Day (or you know, yesterday):

"She is like everything I’m not: Jamie[sic] Murray, you complete me! [Laughing.] She goes down as one of my top three colleagues ever. Renee being the other, and I’m not going to say who the other was."

"Honestly, if I was going to be gay, that’s who I’d marry: Jamie[sic] Murray."

~Lucy Lawless in yesterday's interview with AfterEllen. Those are the highlights, but the whole thing is pretty awesome.

I'm soooo setting myself up to be massively disappointed by Spartacus: Gods of the Arena. My expectations are completely out of control. But I almost don't care. This is much too exciting. Lucy! and Jaime! and Lucy! and and and! And it tickles my little shippy heart that they seem to adore each other off screen as well... *awww* And even if TBTP does *everything* wrong with the characters, at least they'll be gorgeous while it's happening...

( ...which is proved over and over by the bunch of random screen caps from the promos under here. )

Gah! For all that I adore Pete Eddie McClintock, and ya'll know about that crush I have on Jaime Murray, there are so many things wrong with this picture it makes my teeth hurt!! (OH! I should say, this is SO NOT a W13 spoiler, it's from a little webseries called Suite 7!)



And it's not that, you know, I totally respect them as actors!! I mean, I do, but that sounds so lame to say, and I love reading their tweets about how much fun they had doing this, I even think the BtS pics are adorable, it's just that seeing them together is kinda like seeing Hope/Ares in that Xena episode and it makes your teeth hurt it's so *wrong*? Because even if it's Hope and not Gabrielle it still *looks* like Gabrielle and Gabrielle/Ares is just... NO. (I would like to point out that Myka is of course Xena in this comparison, but I'm totally having HG be Ares and Pete be Gab. And uhm, I of course ship Xe/Gab and not Xe/Ares, but Ares has that villaneous character going, like HG, and uhm, I can kinda see why people would ship them, even if Xe/Gab is my OTP!4eva, and I don't want Pete/Myka to ever be anything but BFFs because Myka/HG 4EVA!, so the comparison is a little bit convoluted, but you get my point, yes?) For the first time in a long time I have what can possibly be considered an in-show OTP that's actually moderately backed by the show and then (in a 'yeah, it's never happening, but we're not going out of our way to make them hook up with guys at the same time and it's definitely canon that they *like* each other, regardless of the nature of that like')... then this! Gah!

And I guess you're saying 'You're such a hypocrite! You were so excited about Jaime and Lucy Lawless! How is this different?'. And you know. Uhm. Yes. Of course I will always be more lenient if the kissing involves women-only, but also, Lucy Lawless isn't playing Myka's partner! And Jaime looks nothing like HG on Spartacus. (But you're right. I feel kinda bad about the fact that this disturbs me. Because I like them! I like them a lot! Just not together... *facepalm*)

So lore_85 made a really inspiring list with her favourite lesbian couples, and I just had to make one of my own.

( List under here, complete with graphics and comments! )

Comment to this post and I will give you 5 subjects/things I associate with you. Then post this in your LJ and elaborate on the subjects given.

(also, special offer, if there's anything else you'd like me to elaborate on, put that in the comments and I will update this post with it)

Here are 5 things wizened_cynic gave me to elaborate on:

1. Christina Cox!
Christina, Christina... Ah, Christina. How do I do this without it turning into a 2000 words photo essay? Christina is my True Love du Jour, my current crush and obsession, and overall really awesome lady. It all began with Ladycops about a year ago (and there is a longer-ass elaboration on this subject here) and since then there's been no looking back. Christina is a pretty great actress, who's done a lot of pretty great roles, and she seems like a cool, sarcastic, intelligent, thoughtful person, who I just happen to find incredibly sexy, and that makes her kinda rare, and kinda perfect for a crush, because the pretty ones aren't always great actresses, and they don't always choose projects I'm into, and vice versa, but Christina is just an 'all of the above' kinda lady, and I love her for it.

2. meatballs
Meatballs? It's because I'm Swedish, right? I don't mind meatballs, though, meatballs are pretty good. I will say that whatever it was they served at my Boston high school that was labeled 'Swedish Meatballs' is something I have never seen anywhere in Sweden. Huge gross chunks of meat in some sort of chunky tomato sauce, that tasted mostly of chili pepper and salt. No thank you. Proper meatballs are small and elegant, preferably homemade when you mix the mince meat with egg, onion, dried breadcrumbs and your choice of spices, rolled into tiny balls and then fried in butter until they're a lovely even golden brown. You then eat them with potatoes, plain brown sauce, and lingonberry jam. (and some heathens put ketchup on it as well. gross.)

3. Xena
I love Xena. It is, in my humble opinion, the best TV show ever made, ever. Now, I know it doesn't have the best actors, or the best scripts, or plots, or special effects, or anything like that. I know that. But over-all, looking at the show from the first season all the way until the last episode, it has the most solid messages of love, redemption, and humanity I've ever seen. It's nothing like those overly moralizing shows where some people always do the right thing, and if they don't it's because they're tragically mislead. Xena is about being human, having a dark side, wanting to do the wrong thing even if you realize that it's wrong, standing up for what you believe in, fighting your instincts when your heart and mind tell you different things, fighting your rage and jealousy and vindictiveness, not running away from but instead trusting in love. All this, and much much more, does it do while using a story-telling narrative full of kick-ass female warriors in skimpy clothing, gods, mythical creatures, action and adventure, and a massive dose of never ever taking itself too seriously. I love it above all other shows.

4. Ellen
Ellen came along at *just* the right point in my life. Now, I've never much differentiated between different kinds of crushes. I have crushes on actresses, TV characters, authors, books, RL people, and most of the time it's just a source of enjoyment that makes me feel good and be happy and have something exciting to daydream about. However, RL people are in the dangerous position of being able to hurt me in a way none of the others can, because they're all unattainable. Now, at the time, I had just come off a 2-year insane crush on a girl that I know (#5, anyone?) and I was emotionally spent because it was kinda painful towards the end, and so I threw myself headlong into Queen because that was so incredibly safe. It was *dudes*, for heaven's sake, and Freddie had been gone for 15 years, so it was as safe as was possible to find. So I did that for 6 months, until I came to my senses and realized that they were *dudes*, and then they started showing Ellen in the early afternoons right when I got home from work. And it was *perfect*. Funny, light-hearted, happy, gay, gorgeous girlfriend, plenty of material to keep me busy, everything I could have possibly wished for in a new crush at the time.

5. msn
I have a love/hate relationship with msn. Really, it's more hate than love, but since it's one of the first places I ever went online it's tied in with a lot of nostalgia. I was a faithful hotmail user for a long time (until I discovered gmail and promptly turned my back on hotmail for good). As an IM program it mostly annoys me, though, although I suspect that's why you associate it with me, but I haven't used it for years. Once I discovered Trillian and realized I could have all my IMs in one place, I haven't looked back.

eta: 6. Emily Procter from sakuracorr
I love Emily. I know the moment I fell for her, and it's when she tells (W)Horatio that she feels like a squirrel on too much caffeine in that season 1 episode of CSI: Miami where she accidentally inhales cocaine. Besides being lovely (and blonde. The blonde thing was a big hurdle for me at the time, I'd never fallen for a blonde before) she also had an adorable comedic side that Calleigh hadn't really showcased before then, and sadly hasn't since, but with that scene I knew it was there, and I fell hard. I'll always love Ainsley for being that adorable All. The. Time., but Calleigh was where I first fell for her, and she'll always be my main Emily love. And Emily herself seems to be just great, she does what she wants to, how she wants to, doesn't seem affected by any societal pressure to be or do anything in particular. She decorates houses, wears vintage dresses to award shows (or was that someone else? Me and clothes...), collects bugs, plays poker, runs triathlons, and appears to be a wonderful combination of intelligent and caring and excited about everything in life, and often gives off the impression that her mind is filled with pink cotton candy. What's not to love?

Ooooooh... Damn it! Why wasn't I in LA last night?????

Unrelatedly, like an answer to my prayers, cross_my_heart's Anti-Valentine Ficathon. So far there aren't any specific prompts to my liking, but since it's not tied to the prompts I can just steal whatever and write for whatever pairing I like. Hmm... choices, choices. And creativity. Come on, muse.

Gah! Desperate Housewives almost ruined Teri Hatcher for me!!! And I didn't even notice. I got to borrow season 1 of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman from a friend, and OMG it's so awesome. I mean, of course I knew I loved it, it was my absolute favourite show when I was growing up, but I haven't seen it in a long time, and after DH went crazy for me I sort of partly assumed it was just my 12-year-old self's infatuation with Lois Lane that made the entire show for me, because I figured if I really loved Teri Hatcher, then I would be able to stick with DH. But DH got so bad, I really tried, but I gave up (well, I did like her in that movie with Christina...). I just couldn't do it. I'm sorry, Teri!! But Teri being Lois Lane??? OMG. It's still so totally awesome. We watched the pilot the other night, and then the second episode tonight, and it's so good. It's so dorky, and sweet, and fun, and Teri is so pretty and just amazing. Of course, my favourite years are after she finds out that he's Superman, and they can conspire together, but the early years are adorable as well, but naturally I'm so impatient I just spent half an hour on YouTube watching clips of the later seasons... and interviews, and bloopers, and I do still love Teri. A whole lot. She's so adorable! Why, Desperate Housewives, why?? You made me doubt my devotion to a really awesome lady! That's how much you're not my kind of show! But I shan't doubt again!! (And I shall stay far far away from DH...)

(I've been squeeing non-stop...

Awwwwww.... look how *happy* she is to se him....

OMG! Look how they *kiss* each other! On the lips! And it's not in character! How sweeeet!

Eeeee!!! It's *that* scene!! I remember that scene!! That scene had me flipping out an entire summer hiatus!!

And that's pretty much been me for the last half hour....)

Also!!! OMG!!! Video of Lucy on The L Word!!! I have no idea where this clip comes from, or who found it, or whatever, it was just posted in the comments to DorothySurrender's L Word post this afternoon. Warning: contains hinting spoilers at a general plot arch of the new season, but no specifics at all. Lucy! Lucy! Lucy!

DUDE. Yesterday I stood in the EXACT SPOT (pretty much) where Xena gets shot by the Romans in When Fates Collide (see icon!). Today I walked the exact path where Gabrielle sings her little "Listen to my story about Gabrielle, cute little gal who's looking really swell..." and stood on the beach where Xena later feels her up while rescuing her from the embrace of her mirror image in the water in Fins, Femmes, and Gems. And Bethells Beach. Where pretty much 75% of all beach scenes have supposedly been filmed*. But the Valkyrie, and Miss Amphipolis, and Return of Callisto, and on and on... It's so frickin' cool. New Zealand is awesome.

*Statistics may be incorrect.

So I believe this meme was created by the one and only mylittleredgirl and I threw in the tack-ons by fyca because she's the one who tagged me.

The story: A supernatural glitch in your DVR occurs. At first you panic, hitting lots of random buttons on your remote control, but then are RELIEVED to discover that no, your entire series recording of Golden Girls has not been deleted! But then, just as things appear to be back to normal, there's a puff of smoke, and a fairy appears! You have apparently freed the TV fairy from a televised hell in which she was made to watch endless reruns of Are You Hot?, and as fairies tend to be when freed, she is very grateful and wants to grant you magic wishes.

Now, the fairy has only TV-related powerz, and so she offers you the chance to go back in time and retroactively CHANGE the history of your favorite TV shows with 3.5 wishes!

( if I ruled the Xenaverse... and the X-Files verse... and every other verse too!! )

Just came home from my brief little moment on TV this morning to find that AfterEllen.com has a great new article about Lucy Lawless! Yay!!

We Love Lucy by Shauna Swartz

No rain. But an almost fall-like chill has come into the air, which bothers me, because *summer isn't over yet*, dammit! I can't imagine what it would be like living in a place that has actual draught. I mean, we've been without rain for a month, and people are sort of looking to the sky hoping it's gonna be covered by big dark clouds. Where having really gorgeous weather like this is a fairly rare occurrence in our summers. And we've got the huge lake and the river, and it's been raining plenty upstream, so we're fine. Still, I want *rain*. Bah. *hopes for today*

Watched Xena - 6x15 - To Helicon And Back yesterday. It was completely different from what I expected, and still made me cry. Yet another step closer to Friend In Need. Ack. I made a promise to myself when the Season 6 box arrived on my doorstep, that I would not watch Friend In Need until I'd seen every other Xena ep there was. And I had a bunch of Season 1 to get through, too, so I figured I had a ways to go, yet. But Season 1 went so very fast, and then I was left with those 5 episodes in Season 6 I'd missed over a summer when it was on while I was out of town. The Abyss, Dangerous Prey, To Helicon And Back and Soul Possession were the only things standing between me and the very end of the series. And now there's only Soul Possession left. Ack! I can't wait to see Friend In Need, but I don't want the series to be over (and, you know, that Other Thing, Of Which We Shall Not Speak)!

Anyway, I loved To Helicon And Back, violent with consequences, defining of characters and relationships. Sad. Like One Against An Army and A Good Day. I almost wished I hadn't watched the video commentary immediately afterwards, because Lucy, Renée, Rob and Michael Hurst are laughing so much at little technical finesses I wasn't quite ready to deal with yet, being still in the 'OMG, *sob*, what a powerful episode...' mode. At least they sobered up, just a few times towards the end. And for once Lucy said something about appreciating getting to play the emotional dialogue real-time with Renée, while they were shooting simultaneous close-ups of them both, because that made it so much better when when they could play it off each other and wouldn't have to worry about other takes and stuff. It was sweet. Usually Renée's the one remarking on such things, while Lucy's whooping over some cool stunt in the background. And my little fangirl heart was all adoring. Of course Michael has to go mess with the emotional and tear-inducing end of the ep, "Wait for it... wait... *there*! Can you see that? The *tree* is bleeding...!" And they all break down in fits of laughter, when 43 minutes earlier I was on the verge of tears at the same scene. *grumble*

Have you seen this ep, Ria? It's Craig Parker playing the bad guy... As Michael put it: 'He played that, on LotR... that silly-looking elf with the blonde hair and the dark eyebrows that they forgot to dye on his first day of shooting, so he had to go through the entire movie looking weird...' *snigger*

Went off to a lake to go swimming in the afternoon, my first time this summer. Icky and cold, yet supposedly very warm to be Vänern. Still, it was rather hot outside so it was nice, after all. And the beach was pretty, far off in the woods, and not over-populated. Just need to get some sort of chair thingy for the beach, because my fic came out totally illegible from trying to write lying down on the sand.

Watched some Relic Hunter in the evening. Damn, I've missed that show. Why isn't it out on DVD? I don't want a 'best of' box, I want the full seasons!

( Desperate Housewives - not really spoilers )

( CSI: Miami - brief spoiler )

( Weeds - spoilers )

Finished the night by watching Redux I & II. Ah, sigh, the good old The X-Files eps. (Hee!! I'd almost forgotten how seriously over the top they took themselves seriously. Ah, teh nostalgia!) I must have seen those episodes so many times. I automatically pressed fast-forward at the end of certain scenes, not really knowing why, but every single time there came a boring and cryptic CSM scene. Ehem. I love Scully so much. I love the cancer arc, and the Emily arc, and all that. My favourite seasons, 4 and 5, yes. Might do Christmas Carol and Emily tomorrow. Mmm... (What I'm really doing is putting off watching Friend in Need, though. I've promised myself I wouldn't watch FIN until I've seen and re-watched every single Xena episode that came before it. And I've long re-watched all of Season 2,3,4,5,1 (in that order) which leaves only Season 6, and once I start I won't let myself stop, and I really don't wanna watch FiN because that means it will all be over (yes, I know in detail just about everything that happens. And I've read the fic, too.), so partly I'm comforting myself by taking up TXF instead (and also because fyca is watching so much of it these days), but anyway...) I'm so sad that I haven't been able to find my latter Season 7 tape, because I've only ever seen all things once, and I'm dying to see it again. *sigh* But I'm starting with Seasons 5 and 6, maybe go back to 4 after that... and then, maybe, I'm ready to take on Xena Season 6...

I'm trying out having a 'friends only' banner. Not sure if I like it yet. (but that picture called to me to make one... ehem...) Not that my journal actually is friends only, or anything. Fandom stuff never is, but, well, everything else is, and scarily enough I seem to be reaching a point where fandom stuff no longer takes up the majority of the posts here. Although, that may very well be related to the fact that all my shows are on hiatus at the moment. We'll see when fall comes around.

Finally got around to watching One Weekend a Month. Gosh, now I know why I never got around to watching it before. Guh. It's sad and made me cry. However, it should be watched (if that wasn't clear, that link above will take you to GoogleVideo where you can watch it). If not for all the other good reasons, then for Renée's wonderful performance. I've been watching a fair amount of early Xena eps lately, and she has grown incredibly during those years (to my untrained eye, maybe it's Gabrielle the character who's grown...). I need to get my DVD player fixed so I can watch seasons 4-6... feh. I love Renée.
Also, if Eric Escobar gets his wish to make his movie, I'd watch that too. It's not like there's an option. I hope he does, and that Renée's in it.

And Lucy's got a new movie coming up (well, next year...). The Darkroom. Gah. It's a horror movie, and she plays the mother of none other than *drum roll, please* Andrew fricking Van de Kamp. Why does she have to play in movies like that?? Why??? Why can't she play in nice action comedies, or something, her acting abilities are never so brilliant as in the comedy eps of Xena. Why does she have to do horror films? I hate horror films. And not only do I now have Boogeyman to watch (I don't wanna!), I'll have to watch The Darkroom too... Which has Andrew 'Spawn of Satan' Van de Kamp in it... *sob*

Title: Isolated Moments
Author: Fallon Ash
Disclaimer: They belong only to *themselves* dammit... don't know what possessed me to do this...
Rating: R
Pairing: Lucy/Renée
Summary: In a few hours, they’ll go back to being wives and mothers...
MSWord Count: 253
Author's Note: Damn that rpfs thing... it's growing on me...

( Isolated Moments )