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Entry tags:
adverse events
Here. Something to distract you from financial gloom and doom, flist. Stop staring at the plummetting stocks, it's not healthy.
i don't wanna sing (you're not listening):
'There was a girl.'
'Even more so.'
'That's too bad. You wanted her to see you in a different light. Not only didn't she see it, she didn't even believe it was possible.'
'You know, people hate people who have theories about people.'
In an episode about secrets and relationships and trust, it's absolutely remarkable that House—House—would trust Cuddy (via Lucas) with something so dorktastically embarrassing as his secret cheerleader past. It's a different thing than trusting Lucas with his secret(s), because with Lucas, the relationship comes without history and baggage and happens through the 'safe' medium of the retainer. It's remarkable that he would make the effort at all, and very telling that it didn't really work, in a somewhat comic echo of another effort of his that didn't work in the recent past—his effort to get Wilson to believe in their friendship again, believe in him. Because really, what else was the desperate 'You want to move on from me, you gotta deal with me. Talk to me' but a plea to Wilson to realise that their relationship was not as ugly as he thinks it is now? And what else was the photo about but a similar—not a desperate plea, but a suggestion, maybe?—attempt to point out to Cuddy (who, in 'Dying Changes Everything', asked House to fake the caring he didn't seem to be able to muster for his best friend) that while he has always had better friends that he deserves, he is capable of caring for people and capable of doing a lot of things for people he cares about?
One of the things that has always attracted me about House, the character, is his larger-than-lifeness. House doesn't operate on our average everyday scheme of things: House is Epic. The S4 finale just brought that to the forefront once more, and the 'House Fights For His Bro' arc they're setting up this season promises similar epic things. While mulling over this, my mind went off on a multifannish tangent, reminding me of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mistful's post-HBP meta post, where she wrote about Dumbledore:
'Dumbledore, as I've mentioned before, is Epic. He's not concerned with allying himself with children on a normal level (which is what makes him such a very dodgy headmaster). He's not bothered with how much resentment he inspires in the Slytherins by giving away the House Cup right from under their noses and without adequate explanation, for instance. He's not bothered with controlling the level of hostility between houses, which leads to Fred and George hissing Slytherins right in front of him, and to the kind of feeling that, Dumbledore removed from the equation, led to Fred and George literally almost murdering Montague. Hopefully McGonagall will be better at this: she could hardly be worse. Dumbledore is not concerned with the mundane things in life that lead up to the Epic, but once a kid gets onto his level, he does care, in true mentor style.'
I… am not claiming exact parallels here, because House is not Dumbledore and their respective situations are very different. House has a way about showing that he cares even in less than epic situations, such as his lecture to Cuddy at the end of 'Humpty Dumpty', or his opening the door with a nod and a Look after Wilson comes to him post-Julie. But there is something about Dumbledore's Epic Love that's very similar to House's—House is a selfish manipulative jackass who would leave his friends to the wolves. But when he cares enough to really show that he cares, he is Epic. He would drink poisoned potion (while, of course, making Harry feed him the potion) and take an Avada Kedavra (while making poor Snape do it; aside: 'My soul, Dumbledore? Mine?' is my second favourite Snape line ever, second only to 'Give me a reason, and I swear I will.' Gnngh.). Or, you know, take an electric shock to his brain and crack his already cracked skull open and nearly die in the process. It all comes back to the 'laundry' discussion in 'Mirror, Mirror':
'You would pick my laundry if I asked you to.'
'Go ahead, ask.'
'I wouldn't do that do to you.'
Played for the laughs, of course, but there's an element of truth to it, proved all too well in the season finale. The real tragedy in this situation—why my heart breaks for House this season—is that his friends didn't see the Epicness of it. They have reason not to. Nurse Nemesis was right when she said what she said about crying wolf too many times in 'Not Cancer'. House has done just that, and his friends now see his actions in 'Wilson's Heart' as a part of his usual House-doesn't-care-if-he-lives-or-dies routine and don't see, don't even believe that House did it because Wilson asked. And he himself is entirely responsible for it.
(how do i love thee?) let me count the ways:
Meanwhile, there was a lot of Cuddy in this episode. How do I love her? Let me count the ways again:
- I loved that she wouldn't let House make the hospital pay for his PI;
- that she was so incredibly confused by Lucas' compliment;
- that she called him on his creepy stalkery behaviour and was still somehow charmed by him and his roses;
- and then knew he and House were playing a game and played along anyway;
- and didn't buy House's secret seduction attempt;
- and has a sister;
- and her relationship with her parents is 'fine', even though she 'keeps in touch with her mother' (hmm);
- and looked disappointed when Lucas was walking out;
- and then smiled her adorable happy flirtatious smile at Lucas when he figured it out and came back ♥
Can we keep the PI? I want Cuddy to smile like that more often.
I love that this episode delved into Cuddy's relationship with House. I'm not speaking in a necessarily romantic sense here (even though the episode promised some future shippyness, because House didn't actually deny what he wants). She and House have an odd sort of friendship, a friendship that has grown stronger over the four years of the show's span (fandom often irritates me with its refusal to see this aspect of their relationship, but that's a rant for another day). It is remarkable that House would reach out to Cuddy, because it is such a rare treat on the show. And of course Cuddy would not see it, would not believe it was possible, because this is the same House who couldn't seem to even gather enough sympathy for his grieving friend. It's ironic, really, because Cuddy has always been the optimist in the relationship, the one who has always claimed that House is capable of humility and human emotions (right from 1.01, I should add). It is equally remarkable that House chose to be so oddly… adult in his response to Lucas' interest in Cuddy, in sharp contrast to 'Insensitive', or 'Act Your Age'. It's possible that I'm over-reading things here (I'm backing up my reading by the fact that the writers made Cuddy wear the same dress in 'Wilson's Heart' and '97 Seconds'), but Cuddy's florals in this episode did remind me of 'Act Your Age'/'Family' and House's response to the possibility of Wilson/Cuddy. His behaviour here was oddly adult, as I said, and that, added to the failed attempt at reaching out to her is what really makes this all so awesome as far as I'm concerned: House is trying. He got off the bus, to a world where he's screwed things up as usual and Wilson (apparently) hates him, and he's still trying.
He'll just have to woo them a little harder. ♥♥♥
Etc.:
* I did not miss Wilson in this episode and I did not believe, even for a second, that House did not miss him in this episode. The Taub plot was all about House and Wilson. In a way, I like that they're rotating the cast instead of trying to fit everyone together in an episode.
* The Taub A-plot once again tied-in very neatly to the episode's theme of trust, of knowing and not-knowing and happiness—which, of course, ties in with the theme in 'Dying Changes Everything'.
* Go Thirteen for punching the POTW!
* Kutner is ADORKABLE. His name is in the Guiness Book! And he didn't do it for the girls!
* Foreman is the boss! The D2 looked at him before agreeing with House!
* I also loved Fake Thirteen and Fake Taub. Hee!
* JAMMING. HL PLAYING THE GUITAR.
* SECRET CHEERLEADER PAST. THAT IS ALL.
*
Also a rec: Rest Stop bymagical24: I don't read a lot of AUs in this fandom, but I was intrigued by a rec in ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
house_cuddy and so I followed the link. I'm glad to say I wasn't disappointed. It features a House who dropped out of medical school after his incident in Hopkins, opting to join Dylan Crandall's band instead. The pairing is House/Cuddy, but I wouldn't really call it a ship fic - it's more of a House AU, with House/Cuddy playing an important role in House's journey. I was particularly enchanted by this universe's Cuddy, and the way the author portrays the class issues in House and Cuddy's relationship. There's also a nice cameo by Wilson. I found the end a bit abrupt, to be honest, but that didn't detract from my enjoyment of the universe. If you're in the mood for a long, well-written AU, you might want to give this a try.
i don't wanna sing (you're not listening):
'There was a girl.'
'Even more so.'
'That's too bad. You wanted her to see you in a different light. Not only didn't she see it, she didn't even believe it was possible.'
'You know, people hate people who have theories about people.'
In an episode about secrets and relationships and trust, it's absolutely remarkable that House—House—would trust Cuddy (via Lucas) with something so dorktastically embarrassing as his secret cheerleader past. It's a different thing than trusting Lucas with his secret(s), because with Lucas, the relationship comes without history and baggage and happens through the 'safe' medium of the retainer. It's remarkable that he would make the effort at all, and very telling that it didn't really work, in a somewhat comic echo of another effort of his that didn't work in the recent past—his effort to get Wilson to believe in their friendship again, believe in him. Because really, what else was the desperate 'You want to move on from me, you gotta deal with me. Talk to me' but a plea to Wilson to realise that their relationship was not as ugly as he thinks it is now? And what else was the photo about but a similar—not a desperate plea, but a suggestion, maybe?—attempt to point out to Cuddy (who, in 'Dying Changes Everything', asked House to fake the caring he didn't seem to be able to muster for his best friend) that while he has always had better friends that he deserves, he is capable of caring for people and capable of doing a lot of things for people he cares about?
One of the things that has always attracted me about House, the character, is his larger-than-lifeness. House doesn't operate on our average everyday scheme of things: House is Epic. The S4 finale just brought that to the forefront once more, and the 'House Fights For His Bro' arc they're setting up this season promises similar epic things. While mulling over this, my mind went off on a multifannish tangent, reminding me of
mistful's post-HBP meta post, where she wrote about Dumbledore: 'Dumbledore, as I've mentioned before, is Epic. He's not concerned with allying himself with children on a normal level (which is what makes him such a very dodgy headmaster). He's not bothered with how much resentment he inspires in the Slytherins by giving away the House Cup right from under their noses and without adequate explanation, for instance. He's not bothered with controlling the level of hostility between houses, which leads to Fred and George hissing Slytherins right in front of him, and to the kind of feeling that, Dumbledore removed from the equation, led to Fred and George literally almost murdering Montague. Hopefully McGonagall will be better at this: she could hardly be worse. Dumbledore is not concerned with the mundane things in life that lead up to the Epic, but once a kid gets onto his level, he does care, in true mentor style.'
I… am not claiming exact parallels here, because House is not Dumbledore and their respective situations are very different. House has a way about showing that he cares even in less than epic situations, such as his lecture to Cuddy at the end of 'Humpty Dumpty', or his opening the door with a nod and a Look after Wilson comes to him post-Julie. But there is something about Dumbledore's Epic Love that's very similar to House's—House is a selfish manipulative jackass who would leave his friends to the wolves. But when he cares enough to really show that he cares, he is Epic. He would drink poisoned potion (while, of course, making Harry feed him the potion) and take an Avada Kedavra (while making poor Snape do it; aside: 'My soul, Dumbledore? Mine?' is my second favourite Snape line ever, second only to 'Give me a reason, and I swear I will.' Gnngh.). Or, you know, take an electric shock to his brain and crack his already cracked skull open and nearly die in the process. It all comes back to the 'laundry' discussion in 'Mirror, Mirror':
'You would pick my laundry if I asked you to.'
'Go ahead, ask.'
'I wouldn't do that do to you.'
Played for the laughs, of course, but there's an element of truth to it, proved all too well in the season finale. The real tragedy in this situation—why my heart breaks for House this season—is that his friends didn't see the Epicness of it. They have reason not to. Nurse Nemesis was right when she said what she said about crying wolf too many times in 'Not Cancer'. House has done just that, and his friends now see his actions in 'Wilson's Heart' as a part of his usual House-doesn't-care-if-he-lives-or-dies routine and don't see, don't even believe that House did it because Wilson asked. And he himself is entirely responsible for it.
(how do i love thee?) let me count the ways:
Meanwhile, there was a lot of Cuddy in this episode. How do I love her? Let me count the ways again:
- I loved that she wouldn't let House make the hospital pay for his PI;
- that she was so incredibly confused by Lucas' compliment;
- that she called him on his creepy stalkery behaviour and was still somehow charmed by him and his roses;
- and then knew he and House were playing a game and played along anyway;
- and didn't buy House's secret seduction attempt;
- and has a sister;
- and her relationship with her parents is 'fine', even though she 'keeps in touch with her mother' (hmm);
- and looked disappointed when Lucas was walking out;
- and then smiled her adorable happy flirtatious smile at Lucas when he figured it out and came back ♥
Can we keep the PI? I want Cuddy to smile like that more often.
I love that this episode delved into Cuddy's relationship with House. I'm not speaking in a necessarily romantic sense here (even though the episode promised some future shippyness, because House didn't actually deny what he wants). She and House have an odd sort of friendship, a friendship that has grown stronger over the four years of the show's span (fandom often irritates me with its refusal to see this aspect of their relationship, but that's a rant for another day). It is remarkable that House would reach out to Cuddy, because it is such a rare treat on the show. And of course Cuddy would not see it, would not believe it was possible, because this is the same House who couldn't seem to even gather enough sympathy for his grieving friend. It's ironic, really, because Cuddy has always been the optimist in the relationship, the one who has always claimed that House is capable of humility and human emotions (right from 1.01, I should add). It is equally remarkable that House chose to be so oddly… adult in his response to Lucas' interest in Cuddy, in sharp contrast to 'Insensitive', or 'Act Your Age'. It's possible that I'm over-reading things here (I'm backing up my reading by the fact that the writers made Cuddy wear the same dress in 'Wilson's Heart' and '97 Seconds'), but Cuddy's florals in this episode did remind me of 'Act Your Age'/'Family' and House's response to the possibility of Wilson/Cuddy. His behaviour here was oddly adult, as I said, and that, added to the failed attempt at reaching out to her is what really makes this all so awesome as far as I'm concerned: House is trying. He got off the bus, to a world where he's screwed things up as usual and Wilson (apparently) hates him, and he's still trying.
He'll just have to woo them a little harder. ♥♥♥
Etc.:
* I did not miss Wilson in this episode and I did not believe, even for a second, that House did not miss him in this episode. The Taub plot was all about House and Wilson. In a way, I like that they're rotating the cast instead of trying to fit everyone together in an episode.
* The Taub A-plot once again tied-in very neatly to the episode's theme of trust, of knowing and not-knowing and happiness—which, of course, ties in with the theme in 'Dying Changes Everything'.
* Go Thirteen for punching the POTW!
* Kutner is ADORKABLE. His name is in the Guiness Book! And he didn't do it for the girls!
* Foreman is the boss! The D2 looked at him before agreeing with House!
* I also loved Fake Thirteen and Fake Taub. Hee!
* JAMMING. HL PLAYING THE GUITAR.
* SECRET CHEERLEADER PAST. THAT IS ALL.
*
Also a rec: Rest Stop by
magical24: I don't read a lot of AUs in this fandom, but I was intrigued by a rec in house_cuddy and so I followed the link. I'm glad to say I wasn't disappointed. It features a House who dropped out of medical school after his incident in Hopkins, opting to join Dylan Crandall's band instead. The pairing is House/Cuddy, but I wouldn't really call it a ship fic - it's more of a House AU, with House/Cuddy playing an important role in House's journey. I was particularly enchanted by this universe's Cuddy, and the way the author portrays the class issues in House and Cuddy's relationship. There's also a nice cameo by Wilson. I found the end a bit abrupt, to be honest, but that didn't detract from my enjoyment of the universe. If you're in the mood for a long, well-written AU, you might want to give this a try.