Oh yes, I love Drama too. I love all of them, in their various ways, but Drama just slays me. It's a terrific performance, and in someone else's hands it could have just been a joke, but the actor brings a real pathos and sensitivity along with the balls-on comic timing. He cracks me up, but he's still unexpectedly touching. (And I don't mean in a crossing swords sense.) I love that he's an awesome cook, and Viking Quest will never not make me laugh.

The whole "Sophie's a terrible actress" thing is the only part of Leverage that I really disliked. I thought it was PAINFULLY bad, and stupid, and unfunny. Cordy being a terrible actress in exactly the same way - made perfect sense. That was, after all, the very epitome of her character - that what you saw was what you got, no pretense, no bullshit. She thinks it, she says it. But for Ms SuperGrifter Conwoman to be an appallingly ludicrously awful actress...yeah, no. Stop now.

shudders

Bless.

Meanwhile, I'm playing around with writing a Supernatural version of The Snow Queen. This is the beginning - am I completly on crack, do you think? I mean, more so than usual?

* * *

Once upon a time, and a dark time it was too, there lived two brothers with feet forever wandering and hearts forever bruised. Their father raised them to be hunters, and he taught them all he knew of stealth and strength and secrecy. In time he died, and left them to carry on his work alone, and so they travelled many paths together, bringing light to dark places and struggling to hold back the encroaching tide of evil – for in those days there were many terrible creatures abroad in the land, with vicious claws and hungry teeth and hearts that brimmed with malice.

Now the elder brother was tall and brave and fair of face, and he was ruled by his heart. The only thing he loved more dearly than the hunt was his family; for his family he would climb mountains, cross deserts, swim oceans, slay dragons. For his family he would beg, steal or lie; kill, torture or die; forsake all hope of happiness and ransom his very soul. It was his greatest joy and his greatest weakness, for his father had impressed upon him when he was but a child that he must proctect his younger sibling no matter what the cost. As the years went by, this young man built his life around the idea of sacrifice, and came to believe that his only worth was as a shield.

The younger brother was taller still, and just as brave and fair, but he was ruled by his head. The only thing he loved more dearly than his family was vengeance; for vengeance he would climb mountains, cross deserts, swim oceans, slay dragons. For vengeance he would beg, steal or lie; kill, torture or die; forsake all hope of happiness and ransom his very soul. It was his greatest sorrow and his greatest strength, for his father had impressed upon him when he was but a child that he must avenge his mother's death, no matter what the cost. As the years went by, and he lost his lover and his father and his brother to the demons, this young man built his life around the idea of retribution, and came to believe that his only worth was as a sword.

Now they knew it not, but these two brothers had been watched by creatures of Heaven and of Hell ever since they were born, and the demons of the pit and the angels of the Lord both had their own designs for the Winchesters' future. In time the elder brother, whose name was Dean, failed to protect the younger, and the younger – whose name was Sam – sustained a fatal wound, and died in the dirt and darkness while cradled in his brother's arms. Dean Winchester's love had not been shield enough to keep his brother safe, and his tears were not sufficient balm to heal the bloody wound, and when Sam's heart grew still and his eyes grew dull the pain of this loss was more than the elder could endure. So it came about that he sold his immortal soul in exchange for one last year on earth, and his brother restored to health, and thought it a fair exchange.

And so Dean Winchester went down into Hell and suffered all the torments that the fiends could conceive in their efforts to break him; and when, at last, in spite of all the courage and the kindness that dwelt within his soul, he finally shattered underneath their blows, he all unknowing fulfilled a prophecy and started the world on the path to the Apocalypse. This was why the Host of Heaven sent the angel Castiel to free Dean from the pit, and why his rotted corpse was made fresh and whole and strong once more. So Dean Winchester resumed his travels across the land with his younger brother Sam, and tried to forget the horrors that had been visited upon him in perdition.

But he did not know that in his absence, a subtle and lovely monster had crept into his brother's heart, and played upon his lust for vengeance. Her name was Ruby, and though Sam Winchester knew better than to trust a demon, still his heart was broken and his hopes were all dust, and every waking moment was sullied with the knowledge of the agonies his brother suffered for his sake. So when Ruby came to him offering power, offering hope, he believed he had nothing left to lose. And so of his own free will he let her sully his tongue with drops of tainted blood the like of which he had tasted when he was a six month babe. And when he felt the strength that coursed through his limbs, he saw only the hopes of taking his revenge upon the creatures who took his brother, and knew nothing of the peril into which he trod.

When Dean was returned to him, young Sam could have left Ruby and her promises behind – but he had tasted power, and his heart still yearned for vengeance; and, moreover, the world was growing ever more terrible, and his brother ever more brittle and in need of protection from the interference of demons and angels alike – and so Sam continued to partake of the demon's blood, and so it wrought its subtle changes upon his body and his soul.

Until at last, seeing that Sam was becoming something terrible, and fearing for his soul (for Dean had his own experience of being transformed into something monstrous by the influence of demons, and knew what it meant to feel humanity being flayed away, and he could not stand to see the same thing happen to the brother he loved more than life itself) Dean tried to intervene.

This did not go well.

And so it came about that, as Dean Winchester lay bleeding on the floor where Sam had put him, and looked up despairingly at the monster his brother was fast becoming, their father's words came unbidden to his lips: “If you walk out that door, don't you ever come back...”

Whether the words were whispered into his year by some sprite of malice or by some subtle seraph, they were the very worst words that Dean could possibly have uttered at that moment. And so Sam Winchester closed his heart and turned his back on love and hope and family, on guilt and duty and fraternal love, and he left with the demon Ruby and did not look back. She smiled a smile both fierce and lovely, and kissed him only twice: once to numb him from the pain, and the second time to cause him to forget about Dean and his family...

Oh Fay, that's lovely.

Seconding Deena. But you may want to correct

whispered into his year

to: "whispered into his ear"

Cheers, pet!

Ohhhh Fay. Tears and chills, both. Lovely and succinct and piercing and edged with glittering shards of hope. You are going to share this elsewhere, right? 'Cause, ...just 'cause.

Not like I don't do that kind of thing all the time (see also user name).

Yeah, I believe that Cordy could have gotten a part in a play or something.Even Joey from "Friends" got those, and he was never considered to be very good at all. And Cordy's hot,and go away, little Ivy plot bunny, I don't need you right now. But seriously, Cordy has beautiful brown eyes and is faintly emasculating...how much would Ari love her? And yes, almost everything about Vision Quest is LOL-worthy, except for the tired old stereotype about the sexless blogger in his mom's basement...I'm getting a bit sensitive about that, to tell you the truth. Back to the acting thing: But that's the thing, isn't it? The stakes in that business are so high that talented, worthy people fail. Or don't even fail, just stumble a little, and the machine spits them out.(That's why Ari pushes the popcorn flicks, huh?) I mean, I think all Drama did was grow up. Either that or get typecast from his couple years on the Kevin Sorbo circuit, but either way, it wasn't really his fault. Which is something that most TV isn't designed to cope with...and I better stop before I get an essay going I think, but yes, that actor lets us see Drama's self-protective bullshitter side, but also that he's a real guy chasing a real dream.

This is not really what I needed to write right now, but I've learned if you don't take what the muses give, they can get ugly. Part six of maybe 10...House/ Entourage Rating R, for language and sex-talk.

The guys were feeling better after the first dose of antibiotic, but somehow there was still comfort in numbers in hanging around together on the last night before Vince was due back on the set.

"Ok," Turtle said. "Quick poll: would you or would you not hit it with Dr. Cuddy? I say yes, she's like a MILF without the annoying kids."

"Older women do have certain skills," Drama acknowledged. "And she has a certain knowledge of male physiology as well."

"What?" Turtle said.

"She knows where all your buttons are," Eric supplied, out of habit."Why do we do this all the time? Turtle, I think your only criteria is that the woman be breathing, and you're starting to relax that one, too. In fact, there's a crack in the wall that begged me to protect it last night."

"That's not the question...the question is would you tap that sweet medical ass. Like, if she begged you and said "E, I've gotten bored and horny hanging out over these test tubes and shit...would you please fuck me, Eric Murphy, sir?' would you do it?"

"That wouldn't happen," Eric said. "I'm pretty sure she knows all the names of medical equipment, and I'd be worried about the insane doctor with the cane."

Turtle snorted. "One no, from our resident pussy."

Eric said "I'm not a pussy, but you know how Ari gets when we tease him about Mrs. Ari...shit, we still don't know her fuckin' name, and I still got the feeling that Dr. House could make that look like a day trip to Coney Island...survival instinct, bro."

Drama nodded sagely. Eric had a fleeting urge to slap the shit out of him. "Maslow's theory of needs....the need to survive is the only thing that trumps the need to mate."

Vince shot Drama a look. "Where do you get this shit, Drama?"

"What? I read a lot waiting for auditions. Excuse me for broadening my mind."Drama shrugged.

"That would be fine. Too bad it worked better on your ass,Drama."

"Turtle, if I looked like you, I'd never say the word ass, you know?"

"Guys..." Eric broke in.

"It's okay, E. Let 'em fight. They've been agreeing too much lately...it's freaking me out." Vince suggested.

"Ok, Turtle," Eric said. "Put me down as a 'maybe'. I am curious. Kristen says the brain is the most potent sexual organ."

Vince took a deep breath, paused, and put on one of his few serious expressions. "Now, E, don't get mad, okay, but how would she know?"

"So, what is she, stupid now?"

"No, not the brain part, the potent part...now, you've been making it with Kristen for mumble-mumble years now, and I agree that she's cute in a Barbie gets PMS kind of way, but she never struck me as the most *passionate* girl on the planet. Like when was the last time she made your toes curl, buddy? When was the last time you got hard thinking of her?"

"Kristen wouldn't like it if I talked about her this way."Eric squirmed and wished the fire alarm would go off.

"I'll bet."

Turtle said "Finally, somebody's talking some sense. Vince would definitely bang Dr. Cuddy, wouldn't you, Vince?"

"I'm not really into getting laid right now, Turtle."

"He was walloped by the strep thing pretty hard, no pun intended." Eric said, doing the loyal manager thing. He could probably do it in his sleep by now, and in the last few blurry days, he probably had. Somebody had to have signed for the elaborate basket of popsicles and juice that Ari sent over...but he didn't remember it. He suspected it meant something in one of Kristen's classes that Gold's card was positioned near the top, next to the pointiest bomb pop.

"Maybe he's delirious," Drama offered. "I played delirious on Little House once...had the cot right next to Shannen Doherty's. Shannen was perfectly nice when she was twelve...I don't know what happened (continued...)

( continues...) since."

Vince looked up at the ceiling and sighed. "It's not that, my head's all fucked up. I mean, I got out of Queens so I could come to LA and play a poor schmuck with a drunk for a father. In Queens.They had a casting call to see which dude sounded best when he called me good-for-nothing, and which was most believable when he cried later and felt bad about it...they did more picking a father for me than God ever did."

"I wasn't your manager then, Vince. I didn't get any input on that bit of casting. If I had, Jesus Christ..."

"You'd have given St. Peter hell, huh?"

"Damn straight...it's probably easier than going three rounds with Ari Gold."