Ramblings and Musings of the Insane, Philosophical Ladybug

Help, I've got a crush on Roger Moore that will not be denied. Nevermind that his good guy characters usually always have many of the same elements about them and hence he doesn't fully slip into parts the way character actors do. I guess in one way, that kind of makes me love him even more, as I then figure the characters are probably much the same as the real person and I love the characters.

I dug up those four episodes of The Alaskans, gobbled them up, and want more. And since I still don't have The Persuaders! DVD set, I just watched two more of those on YouTube. And I need more. Both of those shows are hilarious and adorable. I wish they'd run longer, I wish Roger had played Beau Maverick longer, and I wish The Saint box set wasn't so expensive.

What do you want to bet that I will wear down enough to actually watch some certain James Bond movies? I have never desired to see a James Bond movie in my life, but a couple of times this past year I've been tempted by the Roger Moore DVD sets Wal-Mart has had. If they still have those, I may just decide I need them in my life.

I also apparently need to watch an old 1950s version of Ivanhoe. Wheeeee.

Someday I may take pictures from my DVD of The Last Time I Saw Paris. His character in that is a jerk and a creep and I don't like him, but focusing on the actor and not the character, he is so young and cute and the quality of the DVD is pretty good even though it's one of those dollar DVDs.

Originally Mom gave that to me when we bought it years ago because Micky Dolenz's dad is in it. That is awesome too. I wasn't expecting to ever have another reason to squee over having it. When I was looking it over and saw Roger's name on the case, I immediately set about arranging a time to watch the movie. Naturally I plugged the reason as being to see Micky's dad, and I don't think Mom realized I had a second reason too. Which is just as well, since as mentioned, Roger's character in that is not a nice guy.

I still kind of want to read his autobiography too. Normally I don't like reading those, as I can very easily end up disillusioned. It took me years to decide I was ready to read Micky's very colorful book. But I think (I hope) I already know about the skeletons falling out of Roger's closet, so perhaps I wouldn't end up with too many unwelcome surprises there. And he is, I believe, the only person I crush on whose book I don't have. Most of them haven't written books; the ones who have, I have their books (Micky and Richard). I can't find the book at the library or at Barnes and Noble; thus, the only way I can read it is either by Inter-Library Loan or by buying it on Amazon without being able to skim through it first. I suppose Amazon may have a few preview pictures, at least. I don't like to not be able to examine it all the way through before buying, but the latter would give me some secrecy; getting it through the library loan thing would likely mean Dad might become aware of it since he would probably take the call about it arriving, and um, yeah, I think I'd rather not go that route.

That's because there's still that slight uncomfortable problem that I don't think either Mom or Dad like him. Mom used to, but then was displeased by that movie where his character seduces a missionary. (I doubt I'd be too thrilled with that one myself, although when I looked it up, his character didn't sound quite as bad as Mom was saying. He did offer to marry the girl and Mom hadn't remembered that he did.) I've sort of tried to hide my crush on him and acted blase one time when I showed her Vendetta for the Saint and she wondered if I would end up adding him to my list of guys. (He was definitely already on the list at the time.) But if she isn't aware it's there now, she will be soon. I don't think she placed him when I showed her some clips from The Alaskans (they mostly focused on other characters, the screen was small, and the picture was a little fuzzy), but I have to show her some of this hilarious Persuaders! episode I watched and she'll place him then and most likely connect the dots between him and Silky Harris.

Ah well. I accepted months ago that I am crushing on him, instead of vainly struggling against it. I've definitely been happier since accepting that fact.

And I wanna go write a hurt/comforty and angsty Persuaders! fic.... Help....

I'm trying the Paid account trial. It's nice to have more icons again. I remember when I used to be able to afford a Paid account.

I've always loved this icon here, which I took from some long-ago icon post by someone. (I think? Either that or it's her own icon she was using that she gave me permission to take.) It looks like it's from the photo shoots of one of my favorite episodes, #33, It's a Nice Place to Visit.

It's strange. Even though Davy is probably the central character in that episode, causing the conflict and all, I keep thinking of it as a Micky episode. But he does have some classic scenes, from trying to convince the townspeople to rise against the bandits ruling the town to pretending to be a Mexican bandit and "mingling" by dancing on a table to the final, awesome scenes that parody old Westerns by having him in white. He's the one El Diablo challenges to the duel, which surprised me a bit, but I suppose it's because Mike passed Micky off as the leader of their bandit gang.

The somewhat melancholy, yet majestic, horn version of The Monkees' theme that plays as the showdown begins is epic.

I absolutely love Micky's calm reaction as El Diablo shoots all around him before even finishing counting to three. Then, without warning, Micky bursts into childish taunting and faces as he exclaims, "You missed! You missed!" I would love a moving GIF icon of that. It's classic Micky.

I have jotted out a short fic involving Baby Face and his gang. This one was not mentioned among my plunnie ideas and I'm a bit nervous about its acceptance in the The Monkees fandom at large, due more to the plot rather than the focus being on Baby Face. I think it came out really well, though. Now I'm just trying to figure out what to do with it and where to put it. I still don't know how to access my old Angelfire sites.

I have to admit, I had a bit of a struggle with what the ending lines should be, or rather, how they should be presented. I really felt that a very mild swear word would have more fully presented the despair and discouragement of the scene. But I long ago vowed never to have swear words in my stories. And I don't want to start, because then it could become easier to do it in future stories. As it stands now, Baby Face does swear, but you do not see what he said, which is usual when I'm writing for a character who either does swear or else probably would even if canonically it's never shown.

And I wish Antenna TV would add Circus Boy to their lineup. They should have access to it; it looks like Columbia/Screen Gems have the rights.

While watching more Monkees episodes, I've been pondering more on Micky and Peter, my favorite Monkee friendship on the show.

One thing I've wondered about for the longest time is, after Micky, Mike, and Davy realize that Oraculo "freaked Peter's mind!" in The Monkees Blow Their Minds, why does Micky yell at Peter, "Well, bye Pete. See you later, Pete. The door's always open to you, Pete; you can come home to the Pad and all your friends. But write first 'cause we're renting your room!" I mean, it was obvious he was upset about Peter wandering off with Oraculo, but if he knew Oraculo brainwashed Peter, then why yell at Peter?

Then I discovered the answer. When Oraculo says, "He came to me of his own free will," look at Micky. He does a double-take and stares at Oraculo, utterly shocked and stunned. He's reeling and in disbelief and feels hurt and betrayed. That's why he yells that at Peter.

Even though Micky often teases and rags on Peter, he is also very protective. In The Monkees On the Line, he immediately moves to grab at and shield Peter from the irate gambler when the guy is threatening Peter. And in The Devil and Peter Tork, Micky starts yelling, "No, you can't have him, Devil, you can't have him!" when he and Davy are trying to pull Peter away from the Devil. (And off-topic, but Davy trying to get the Devil to take his soul instead of Peter's is one of Davy's most squeeable, ennobling scenes.)

I love the parts where Peter says something naive/stupid and instead of making a sarcastic comment about it, Micky pats Peter on the head. So cute! And when Micky is so excited at the end of The Devil and Peter Tork that he jumps over the table to get to Peter and glomp him, rather than to just walk around it, I squeed.

I also love where Micky is thinking of trying to scare Peter's memory back in The Case of the Missing Monkee and yet he doesn't want Peter to get hurt, so he tells him, "Okay, Peter, we're going to try to scare you, so don't be scared." Nonsensical and counterproductive, but it's a great bit anyway.

Micky has also canonically identified him and Peter as best friends at least twice. In Monkees in Texas, when Micky is trying to be undercover as a hired gun, it all falls apart when they try to get him to kill Peter. "I can't kill him! He's my best friend!" (That's one of the best season 2 episodes where Micky's hair is curly, BTW. Micky acts more like his resourceful season 1 self.) And in The Monkees Blow Their Minds, Micky tries desperately to get Peter to remember him. "I'm your best friend, through toil and hardship, for years and years!"

Strangely, what I'm not always quite sure of is Peter's feelings towards Micky. He does collectively call all of the others his best friends in the whole world, and sometimes he does this adorable "Thanks, Mick!" when Micky helps him in some way. At other times he acts like he might be annoyed by Micky. Check out his expression when Micky suddenly bursts out in hyperactivity at the villains in The Prince and the Paupers, seriously. He looks like he's thinking, "Please tell me I don't know him." Micky probably comes on strong for all of them sometimes, but I was still surprised to see that reaction from Peter. And of course, there's how he seemed a bit colder towards Micky than the others in The Case of the Missing Monkee. Then there's Peter ragging on Micky at some parts of season 2, but we won't go there, because Micky's acting like an idiot in those episodes and I won't acknowledge them as canon.

EDIT: Of course, Peter's comment to Dragonman in Monkee Chow Mein that he would put his arm in the fire for Micky should also be mentioned. I do think Peter thinks of Micky as a friend, of course, even if sometimes Micky frustrates him; what I'm not sure of is if Peter feels as close to Micky as Micky apparently feels to him. Or maybe Peter feels equally close to all of the other Monkees.

I've struggled a bit with how to write for Peter in the fic I'm finishing up, but I'm hoping I've got him right. His discouragement at the beginning has canon basis, I think, due to how he acted in The Audition (Find the Monkees). Some of his comments and actions in that episode really surprised me. On the other hand, even during his spell with amnesia in the fic, his innocence and good heart shine through.

And in analyzing Micky more in specific, I've re-watched A Coffin Too Frequent and decided that, in spite of the ridiculous nonsense of the people insisting they have a right to be in the Pad for the seance that night, it's also one of the best episodes Season 2 offered. Micky is intelligent and resourceful, even with curly hair. (Seriously, most of the episodes where he has curly hair also feature his intelligence going down the drain. Some of the "fluffy hair" episodes, the leftover season 1 offerings in season 2, were leaning that way too.)

(Speaking of those people, BTW, I think the crook showed them a fake lease with the weird clause in it. There's no way that's the real lease. It's too preposterous. What I wonder most is, Why did they pick the Pad to hold the seance? Did Mrs. Weatherspoon and her husband live there before or something? There should have been a line or two explaining that.)

Also, I think Micky jokes when situations are bad because he's either trying to cover up his nervousness or because that's the only approach he really knows/feels comfortable with. (Or both.) It's interesting; you wouldn't think it at first glance, but I think he's the most insecure of the characters. Some episodes hint at that. I saw one or two recently that made me think that, but for the life of me I can't remember which ones now. That's going to drive me nuts.

(I Was a 99 Pound Weakling would definitely support the idea, but I don't support the episode. It's one of those where the characters don't act quite right. There are others, ones where they seem more IC. If I could just remember!)

And I still don't get this dialogue in The Case of the Missing Monkee. It's amusing, but I don't get the basis for it:

Peter: Besides, Dr. Marcovich is an evil man!

Micky: What about me?!

Peter: You're not evil! Is he, Mike?

Mike: No, you're not evil. Crafty and selfish, maybe, but not evil.

Crafty, yes. Definitely yes. It's one of the things I love about him. But I'm having a really hard time thinking of any time on the show where Micky was noticeably selfish, other than in The Monkees Get Out More Dirt, and everyone was equally at fault there. Sometimes he makes selfish-sounding jokes, but they're clearly jokes.

I went over Prisms and have fixed the writing style for all but one of the chapters. It wasn't as much of a headache as I worried it would be. But I discovered again why I stalled halfway through writing a chapter. I'm hoping to get past it once and for all this time. It's really exasperating; if I could just get past this scene, I think the rest of the fic would be easy to write.

I am going out of my mind! I must get to a bookstore! XD;

Actually, I think I'll be getting to one today. Not sure if I'll be on or not....

And I had another dream that was worth something! This one has story possibilities. It involved the Monkees being captured and tortured by Oraculo. @__@; And Tony and his gang were working with him, for some bizarre reason. I don't think Oraculo would abduct and torture the Monkees, so if I did the story I would have to make the villain someone else, such as the mad scientist from I Was a Teenage Monster. And as for the angle with Tony and the others, I don't think they'd bother. If they were around, they'd have to have been brainwashed or something. In any case, that will be one strange and wacky Monkees dramedy, if I write it. XD;

I've also had the idea of doing a fic where Peter has amnesia. I got intrigued by the idea during the few minutes in The Case of the Missing Monkee when he didn't remember anyone. He acted awfully strange towards Micky, especially. "Take your hands off me! Do you know who I am? ... Wait, who am I?" And then when they gathered around him to try to scare him into remembering, he gave Micky and only Micky a very odd look. I just got the feeling that amnesiac Peter did not like Micky. XD; And that has definite story possibilities!

The actor Micky, BTW, was in that recent Love Bug TV movie that they made about nine years ago. For once I'm actually glad I kept the thing! I wanted to get rid of it, but Mom said that she had the feeling that I'd want it someday. So I ran through it earlier to see Micky's parts. XD He played a guy who acted like a jerk at first, but then showed that he wasn't such a bad guy. I love characters like that.

I also finally made lists of my top ten favorite Monkees episodes in each season.

( The Best of the Best! )

Can you tell I'm an obsessed fangirl, especially over Micky? XD; I think it might be even worse this time around than it was when I was thirteen and fourteen.

I also have to admit that I think I'm crushing on Tony.... I tend to get overly fascinated by certain one-shot characters in different fandoms, and I think I like him because of his mysterious past as a police officer, and because he can just get so many darn funny expressions! This is him in my icon, demonstrating how unimpressed he is over the fact that Mike and Peter are going to try to blow up the fireplace. XD (And he had a right to be unimpressed.... Mike blew up the piano instead. XD Dang, after he blew up the desk instead of the safe in Monkees a La Carte, they should have learned their lesson and kept him away from explosives!)

You're Micky! Your funny, crazy - and sexy. You
have one of the best pop voices (according to
Peter at least), directed lots of stuff in the
UK, and have stared on Broadway, just to name a
few. Thanks psycho jello for the pics.


Which Monkee are you?
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I am Micky! XD Oh, I love The Monkees.

I posted my Megaman fic at FF.net now. ^__^ I don't think Forte Wily has had a chance to read it yet, but she said she was looking forward to it and hoped that I'd be posting it at the boards like I did with my other one. ^^ And I did, so when she logs in again, it'll be there. ^^