So over this weekend I have finally gotten around to watching Bones season 5 off a tape my dad has been taping for me on their VCR (I saw them for Thanksgiving!), and I'm almost caught up--I've seen all but 5x02 and 5x05 (which weren't on the tape). And I have to say that I've been enjoying it more than I thought I would--it's no season 2, and still has a lot of flaws, but it has been pretty enjoyable, and I have been liking the Booth/Brennan! ♥

( Look Bones, I would die for you, I would kill for you, but I'm not going to get between you and Angela! )

So much for waiting until summer! :p But I'm glad I caught up a little....I need to stop my SN marathon (I'm up to 4x11) in order to save some for when I get season 4 on DVD for Christmas, so I'll occupy myself in the meantime catching up on the 2 Bones epps and 5 GG epps I'm behind on, not to mention Dollhouse returns soon with double-billing....

And so Dollhouse was canceled last Wednesday....*sigh* Obviously this is a great disappointment for me, even though I was expecting it after they pulled it from November Sweeps (still though, I thought they'd at least wait until the ratings from December came in before making the final call!)....such a shame, it really is a fantastic show (with the last epp being the best epp yet), and it's too bad that smart TV that makes you think has so much trouble staying on the air.

( More musings on the Dollhouse cancelation )

On a happier note, I caved in and watched the last few episodes of Merlin , and the show has really been picking up! There are still some issues that bug the crap out of me, but for the most part the quality has returned to the season 1 average, and I have been enjoying myself again--I even was super excited to watch the most recent epp and remembered to watch it, for the first time in a while! And what an episode it was--definitely the best of the season, but also one of my favorite episodes of the series, along with 1x12 and 1x09! So yay for that....:)

I'm also continuing to roar through Supernatural, I was too busy to watch for the last week, but over the last few days I have been making strides, and I'm almost done with season 2 (just watched 2x19). I think I'm definitely on track to catch up to season 5 before the end, so that I can see at least some of it live...

Hmm, tough question! There are several that I'd like, like time-traveling, being able to transform into animals, being able to freeze time/everyone in a certain place, being able to turn invisible or fly....

I think though that the power I'd like most is that of moving from place to place in an instance with one's mind, like apparating in HP minus the spell part....SO often I find myself running late and thinking wistfully about how easy it would be if I could just be there instantly! So yeah, apparating would be my superpower, for lack of a better way to describe it! :)

So I've been meaning to post here for a while since I finally caught up with season 2 about what an INCREDIBLE and AWESOME Joss Whedon's newest show Dollhouse is--seriously, if you have not seen it yet, please try to watch it (it's sadly not going to be airing during November, so you have a month to watch only 17 episodes, if you want to watch from the beginning!), it is such a great, interesting, thought-provoking show (definitely more so than any other show I am watching so far--it's of the "makes you think about morality and philosophy and identity and other deep questions" variety), and right now it is in great danger of being canceled because of low ratings--in part because of it's Friday night death slot (apparently only on CBS does 5 million+ every Friday night get you canceled! *still bitter about Moonlight too*) and Fox's refusal to properly promote it, and its lame pairing with two comedies before it, and in part perhaps because it is kind of a difficult show for some to watch. If you do give it a try, and don't like it at first, please make sure to at least watch 1x06 before giving up....some of the early episodes are a little shaky!

I already have a ship (of course, lol) and some favorite characters: ( Spoilers up through 2x04 )

( General discussion about viewing Dollhouse, Merlin, Gossip Girl, Bones, and Supernatural, cut for length )

TL;DR: I am now quite obsessed with Dollhouse and Supernatural, and am putting Merlin and Bones on pause for now until the Christmas holidays or summer....

So I am getting really excited now about the "Cirque du Freak" The Vampire's Assistant" movie after seeing the eight clips that were recently released and this very positive review of the movie. I mean, I loved the books when I read them way back when (although this reminds me that I still never finished the final book of the series, will need to get onto that maybe over break!), but initially I was very wary about a movie adaptation, especially given recent examples like "Ella Enchanted" or *shudder* "The Dark is Rising." The trailer gave me mixed feelings, and still made me feel hesitant....but seeing the clips and the review now makes me feel better and better about it (they countered some misleading parts of the trailer), and I'm actually now really excited for October 23! :D So it's a big release to look forward to this month, before NM....

Although there are still a few changes that I find a little weird, like ( Mild movie and book spoilers )

In any case, it's looking good right now, and I hope it lives up to the promise of the clips and this review. John C. Reilly and Salma Hayek at least seem to be a riot in their roles! :)  And the score seems decent from the website....

....in a truer sense than I anticipated. My thoughts on the latest Merlin episode and on the direction of the show this season:

( If she were to die, a part of me would die with her )

Luckily my other shows are going pretty well for now, except perhaps for Bones, which I haven't been keeping up with at the moment....more on that later.

I finally finished my Morgana fanmix that I've been working on all summer! Enjoy! :)

Medium: Television
Fandom: Merlin
Subject: Morgana
Title: Fallen
Warnings: Spoilers for season/series 1 only.
Notes: An angsty mix tracing Morgana's fall from grace and conversion into the antagonist of the legend. Only my own speculation though about what will happen....



( Though I've tried, I've fallen...  )

Oy. So I've watched the first two episodes of Merlin, and while the second episode was much better than the first story-wise, I had some other, er, problems with it....

( 2x02 discussion )

As for my other shows, I'm really behind on things, but GG also had a less-than-impressive premiere that was followed by a much improved second episode, the Bones premiere was the best one yet IMO (as Bones usually has pretty crappy premieres), and Vampire Diaries has been surprisingly decent the first two epps--I am definitely going to continue watching, and not just because of Ian Somerhalder's sexy self! :p  Dollhouse I still have to watch the season 1 finale of....I don't know if I can get to it this fall, I might catch up over break and have it take Merlin's place once Merlin ends.

I've been meaning to post here as well about another great new show (my second BBC one) I began to watch over the summer, "Being Human," which I had wanted to check out anyway for a while because of all the buzz I had heard about it, but which I finally got the chance to watch on TV thanks to it airing on BBC America at the end of the summer....

Anyway, it was as cute and lovely as I had heard, and I enjoyed it a lot, even though it did have its flaws (like how can vampires eat food and not drink *any* blood?  What makes them vampires, really?  What drives them on?  The fact that they can't even drink bagged blood from a hospital is ridiculous)....my favorite characters are Mitch (sexiest vampire after Eric, hands down! :D) and Annie (George has his moments, but overall I find him too whiny and annoying), and hopeless shipper that I am, I began to ship them by episode 2....:p  But seriously, they have so much chemistry together (like in my icon on this entry), and are so close and look out for one another and are concerned for one another much more than George is towards Annie for instance.  Plus there's the fact that they're both immortal and he can see her and be with her without ever worrying about wanting to drink her blood, since she's a ghost!  And George has Nina anyway, and these two deserve some happiness as well....so I hope that something more happens between Mitchell and Annie next season!  

Some other, more spoilery thoughts and questions about season 1....

( We're like the world's gayest ninjas.... )

Does anyone know when roughly season 2 will air?

Well summer officially ended last Tuesday, and so I suppose it's time to make my end-of-summer-reading post. Overall I read a decent amount, and got most of the main books on my personal summer reading list read, with the exception of Jacqueline Carey's Naamah's Kiss, of which I still have about 75 pages to go, unfortunately.....I intended this to be the summer of Jacqueline Carey and Richelle Mead, my two favorite authors at the moment, because I was reading more than one book by each author this summer, but my reading list got unexpectedly hijacked by Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire or Sookie Stackhouse series, all 9 of which I also ended up reading this summer, while I also caught up with season 1 of TB and watched all of season 2--so one could say that this past summer was the "Summer of Sookie," just as I've dubbed some past summers as "The Summer of Buffy" (when I watched Buffy seasons 1-5 for the first time) or "The Summer of Harry Potter" (when both the 7th book and the 5th movie came out within a few weeks of each other and I got into FictionAlleyPark)! ;) Or, given the vampiric nature of the majority of the books I read by Richelle Mead, my viewing of the British series "Being Human" for the first time, and all the NM trailers and news, perhaps it could just be summed up as "The Summer of Vampires", period. :p

( My Summer Reading List 2009 )

I'm not sure when I'll be able to finish that book or City of Bones, since I'm so busy now....but yeah, I decided to check out The Mortal Instruments series as well, checking out the first book from the library, since I have heard so much about it on BF and around fandom....I'm halfway through the first book and it's gotten better, and is certainly intriguing, although I'm not fond of the overly-descriptive and flowery writing style, and think that it is definitely "inspired" by Harry Potter (which of course we all *know* Clare has read!). I still can't get over the fact that an infamous fanfic author and BNF like her is now actually writing published original fiction...

But back to Vampire Academy: It took me a little while to get into the first book, but once I did I was hooked, and it was quite an exciting read....I love that I was actually shocked by *two* plot twists at the end, it's nice to have unpredictability like that in a novel these days, especially a YA one! And the rest of the series has gotten progressively better with each book, with the latest two books, SK and BP being particularly fantastic and epic. I actually think I liked the fourth VA book better than the fourth GK book in fact, which is pretty significant since overall I have so far enjoyed and liked the GK series better than the VA books, even though the VA series is great as well! I would highly recommend it, don't judge it by its cheesy-sounding name, it's very a very smart and interesting series, with some memorable characters, just like GK. My favorites are Adrian, Christian, and Dimitri (in that order); I did not like Rose at first, but she has now grown on me....

( Spoilery Review of Blood Promise )

Oh and I was also lucky enough to actually get to see Richelle Mead in person at a signing a few weeks ago on September 9!!! It was wonderful to be able to meet her in person (especially after having met my other fave author, Carey, a couple of years ago), and to get books signed by her (I got GK 1 and 3 and VA, SK and BP signed, with BP personalized). I may get around to loading pictures and more someday....

Yes, in fact I am still participating in a boycott against CBS ever since they declared my business and viewership to be unwelcome by canceling the only show I watched on CBS, Moonlight, back in May of 2008. CBS has never interested me much in the way of shows, but then a show finally came along that did interest me, very much, and which got decent ratings and had a good, devoted fan base of just the demographic they were aiming for (rocking the 18-49 category, women, etc).....only for them to go an cancel it, despite all of this and our valiant efforts. I actually did call and email and mail them many times, and did mention that this was the only show I watched on CBS, and if they got rid of it, then I would go as well (since their network would no longer hold any interest for me)--and I've kept my word.

So yeah, I continue to boycott CBS--if it's even on in a room, I will leave the room until the channel is changed. They didn't want my business, and I will oblige them. To quote once more the song that they themselves played in the promos for the final two episodes of Moonlight, and which fits the situation well:

No, we're not gonna waste another moment in this town.
And we won't come back your world is calling out.
We'll leave the past in the past,
Gonna find the future.
If misery loves company well,
So long, you'll miss me when I'm gone.

Won't look back,
When I say goodbye.

("When I'm Gone" by Simple Plan)

I actually finished this one in mid-July, but then the evil WMG took the audio away, and I only recently managed to get it restored--yay!  :D  So here it is, my third Merlin vid, and second Arthur/Morgana one, this time taking a more angsty and futuristic turn while set to the enigmatic Damien Rice....

Original Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1Pl8PxVCgo

Rating and comments always appreciated! :)

Well I haven't been writing any recaps or reviews so far of TB epps, but the last episode (which I only just got the chance to watch tonight) was so fantastic and amazing that I just had to post about it! xD It is definitely my favorite episode of the season by far, and perhaps of the series....

Spoilery review for 2x08 and 2x09 promo below:

( Trust me )

On another note last week I finally finished "Dead and Gone", meaning that I am at last completely caught up in the Southern Vampire/Sookie Stackhouse novels! It's good to not have to worry about spoilers anymore, though on the other hand I can't believe I have to wait until MAY for the next one! (May is also when the next Georgina Kincaid book is coming out, so that should be an exciting reading month for me). Summer is almost over, and I still have to finish the VA book (at least I've begun to get into it more now and am making more progress!) and read Naamah's Kiss before summer is over....

Meme snagged from opheliahyde :

List the first ten TV series that come to mind. Your friends will comment with the character from each series that they think you  like most.


1. True Blood
2.  Merlin
3. Moonlight
4. Angel
5. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
6. Gossip Girl
7. Veronica Mars
8. The Tudors
9. Being Human
10. Bones

Several of these shows would be pretty easy to guess, I'd think....

Well a little while ago I would have said nobody, but since reading Charlaine Harris's vampire books and watching True Blood the answer is unequivocably Eric Northman from those series, the sexiest, greatest vampire of them all, hands down! ;)  Also since in this 'verse the bite wouldn't be to kill or to turn (neither of which I'd want, obviously), but rather is something sexual usually, all the better to receive a bite from him! :p

Well I've now seen the latest HP movie twice (once the evening of the day it came out, a few Weds ago, and a second time last Friday night), and against all odds, despite loathing the book that it's based on, I really enjoyed the movie! I remember remarking after OOTP (the best movie to date then, and perhaps now, not quite sure how I rank HBP yet in comparison) that if anyone could make a decent movie out of the weakest, cheesiest, and dullest volume of the series it was Yates, and I proved myself right--he is absolutely brilliant, improving upon the book in almost every way and taking a book in which not a whole lot happens and making it actually interesting and entertaining!

More spoilery comments on the movie below....

( Alan Rickman is a Sexy Beast and since when did the Weasleys move to the middle of a cornfield? )

Also in other news I finally read and finished (in two days) Jacqueline Carey's (first) new release, Santa Olivia, the one in a new verse and genre. It was very good and a fast read, I was glad that Carey remains an author who never disappoints! :) Perhaps a more detailed review will follow if I feel up to it.....I still also have to read JC's other new release, Naamah's Kiss, the beginning of a new series set in the Kushiel verse many generations later. Right now I'm finishing up From Dead to Worse (#8 Sookie Stackhouse series), soon I'll be all caught up on that front!

So thanks to all of you who voted before for Morgana in sunshine_hippie's HBIC (Head B*tch in Charge) contest, she made it to the Top 10, and is now fighting to make the Top 5!  As we enter the final hours of voting (it closes JULY 10), our Morgana is in 5th place and poised to make it, but she's only about 20 votes ahead of the 6th place contender; meaning  that she could still easily be upset from the Top 5 if we don't keep voting and maintain her lead (seriously, the sixth place person just jumped like 15 votes in the last hour!). 

Thus if you would like to support the badass and beautiful Morgana and haven't done so already, please vote at the link below!

MORGANA LE FAY is the Ultimate HBIC

Again, voting closes July 10! (Not sure in which time zone, so just try!)

Oh TV couples--one of my favorite topics, and definitely a question that I remember coming up here before in these WB things....well of the three couples listed in the question, my favorite it definitely Chuck/Blair (the only one I have seen also, to be fair), though they are not my overall favorite TV couple (especially given all the crap the writers pull out at times).  I think I'll still stand by my previous answer, and say that Cordy/Angel from Angel is my all-time favorite TV couple, but there are a LOT of contenders.  For instance there's Arthur/Morgana from Merlin, the "duo" that I'm currently celebrating in my banner and default icon, Lily/Rufus (also from Gossip Girl), Booth/Brennan from Bones (in their best moments, I haven't been so happy with what the writers have been doing with them at times), and Mick/Beth from Moonlight (icon), whose greatness as a couple I have recently fully remembered thanks to my ML marathon last weekend--these two in particular are just so well-matched, and their interactions are two adorable and filled with chemistry.  I'm SO glad that the writers played it safe and gave them a happy ending in the season finale so that when it turned into the series finale thanks to CBS's immense suckage and idiocy the series ended on a good note (I would have wanted to kill the writers if they had ended things badly between M/B!)

And so yet another obsession has struck--the HBO series True Blood and the Southern Vampire/Sookie Stackhouse novels that spawned it! I have to say, I was originally not very impressed with the TV show when I watched the first couple of episodes last fall, but I decided to give the show another chance, and I'm very glad I did!  I have now marathoned up to the present and am watching it from week to week (SO disappointed there was no new episode this week!), and the days cannot go by fast enough until the next episode for me....it's so fun to be excited about a new show.  To get more faster, and to see more of Eric (of whom I have heard so much, and who I already love just from the show!) I began reading the books, which are also great (once you get a few chapters into the first book at least--I had a similar experience as when I watched the show as far as not being impressed at first and then loving it)--I've finally begun the second book, "Living Dead in Dallas" ("To Live and To Die in Dallas" in Spanish if anyone's curious--I remember seeing a copy in the bookstore when I was there), aka season 2 of TB, though the show has indeed been deviating a lot from this book even more so than the last book--but mostly in a good way IMO!

So in short I now love True Blood, and Eric, and can tell already that I will be shipping Eric/Sookie! ;)  I'm happy that he'll be in every episode of season 2....

This new craze has reawakened my love for vampires as well--this past weekend when a friend was visiting I marathoned through all of Moonlight with her, and was also reminded of what a fantastic show that was, and what an adorable adn awesome pair Mick/Beth were.  It still makes me feel depressed every time I think of the wasted potential there, thanks to stupid CBS....

It was actually Star Trek, which I saw a couple of weeks ago.  I had heard endlessly about how amazing it was, but even so I was surprised by well, how AMAZING it was! xD  I thoroughly enjoyed it, I'm so glad I went and saw it after all!  (I admit that I hadn't had much interest in seeing it despite the great reviews).  I hope they make more movies like this....it almost makes me want to watch the actual series!  Also I loved the cast, Kirk and Spock provided quite the eye candy and I loved seeing Sean of Sean of the Dead and Harold from Harold and Kumar!  I really do love Simon Pegg, and had had no idea he was in this, so it was a great surprise.

And speaking of movies:  Can I just say how much more excited I am about the NM movie with these sexy, very J/B (yay!)-centric posters coming out? ;)  If it's even half as good as such posters promise it to be I will be very happy indeed....though I'm still worried, since NM is my fave book (and the J/B handbook practically), and it's Chris Weitz at the helm, whom I don't trust after "The Golden Compass", so we'll see....

Also the HBP movie is looming ahead....I hope that it's as good as the previews make it seem to be, though all the comments I've read from the people involved saying that the movie is going to stress the "romantic comedy" parts of the book (ie 'Sweet Valley Hogwarts', the weakest and cheesiest part for me) makes me doubt a little....

As for "Little Ashes" I never got the chance to see it, it disappeared too quickly!  Ah well, I suppose that's one to Netflix sometime....this way I can watch it dubbed without R!Pattz's awful accent...