Caroline in the City Picspam!
Mar. 20th, 2011 01:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icepixieI felt the need to augment my lazy, sunny Sunday with some high-octane cuteness/nostalgia, and decided that this would fit the bill. Besides, I've never done one of these before. It's fun!
Under the cut, you'll find a Caroline/Richard picspam/quotespam, with linking narration and captions for newbies provided by moi.
Meet Caroline and Richard.
Richard is a brooding, snarky abstract artist from Brooklyn. He's pretty much Eeyore in human form. Caroline is a cheerful, extroverted cartoonist from small-town Wisconsin. She's also the kind of person who dresses up her cat with distressing regularity.
They work together. She draws her nationally-syndicated comic strip and assorted greeting cards that have spun off from it, and he colors them.
He's helpful in other ways, too:
For the most part, they respect each other's artistic proclivities.
...Okay, no, they don't.
Okay, okay, there's this too:
That said, their first meeting, or rather interview, didn't go so well.
But they worked things out.
All right, so it was just a ploy to get her ex-boyfriend, Del (who also happens to be the greeting card company executive in charge of her account), to think she'd moved on, which she really hadn't. But don't tell Richard. He's already pining.
In general, they get along. Caroline is amused by Richard's sarcasm, and despite himself, he likes her sunny disposition.
She can convince him to do just about anything.
Unfortunately for both of them, they live in a sitcom, and so they're also plagued by bad timing, miscommunication, and some serious lack of spinal fortitude.
For example, Caroline receives a marriage proposal from on-again, off-again boyfriend Del (who's actually a pretty okay guy—a heart of gold in the skin of a brainless floozy, if you will—but more on him anon), but agonizes over whether to accept. When best friend Annie (also the possessor of a heart of gold who likes to swim in the shallow end of the pool) and Remo, the proprietor of the Italian restaurant our characters spend all their time and money in, mention that Richard has a thing for her, she races to his apartment, wondering if she's just been utterly blind for the past six months...only to find that through the machinations of the B-plot, he's in bed with someone else.
But wait! He runs after her in the rain...
...only to give her an umbrella and tell her she has a better chance of catching a cab on the next street over.
Sigh.
But then, he takes the initiative! A few days before the wedding, he writes her a love letter I won't quote because it's really kind of awful, asking her to meet him at Remo's if he has any kind of a chance with her. She meets him! He is overjoyed!
Only, well, she hasn't seen the letter. Oops.
Because God forbid he just say something, he fabricates a story about becoming a more open person. Later, unbeknownst to Richard, Caroline calls off her wedding. It seems Del just wasn't the right guy for her. Gee, I wonder why. Could it have something to do with this dream?
But when she goes to Richard's apartment to tell him, she finds he has disappeared off the face of the Earth.
At the beginning of next season, after three months have passed, they prove that despite how big a city New York is, the forces of Plot Device will always ensure that the lovers meet again.
Richard, it seems, went to Paris for three months, because this is TV, and characters have magical unlimited funds when it's convenient to the plot. Caroline is not pleased.
Of course, she just that very day got involved with a new guy. Raise your hand if you're surprised.
The next two years consist of approximately eight-point-six million of these incidents, so I won't detail them. Here are some pictorial highlights:
Because I know I wish all my friends good luck in exactly this manner.
Ah, Joe. If only you hadn't interrupted right after this.
HINT HINT HINT HINT HINT.
You know, it's amazing how many times these two pretended to be married in order to save face with ex-boy/girlfriends. Marriage of convenience is my bulletproof narrative kink, but even I got a little tired of it by the end.
On the other hand, this particular instance led to amusing things like dancing
and sleeping together.
Not to mention the following speech from Del, who despite his love affair with himself really is the best ex-boyfriend possible:
And best of all, to this phone call:
Sadly, we aren't quite to the Final Roadblock Overtoppling because just that very day (hmm, this sounds familiar), Richard got married to the old flame he was faking marriage with Caroline to save face with. WHY SO BYZANTINE, SHOW? I HATE YOU.
...Why yes, yes, I think this show was where I learned to hate love triangles, why do you ask?
A year goes by. Nothing terribly interesting happens (seriously, S3 is just full of angst on all sides). Instead of gong through it, I'll give you some quotations and pictures I couldn't make a place for anywhere else:
(One thing I really like about the show is that many of the plots revolve around Caroline's career. For that matter, quite a few of them revolve around Annie's career. Stories about work and relationships/personal lives get divvied up pretty equally among the characters regardless of gender.)
(I love the two of them together. Their interactions definitely lead to the funniest scenes.)
The entire cast has music/dance training, so you occasionally get dream sequences like this. Since Annie is a Broadway actress, she also sings a lot, like in a very good episode where she sings to her mother in the middle of the sidewalk to make her feel better about her ex-husband's re-marriage.
Yeah, that was more fun than S3.
But the last minute of S3—now there's some fun. First, I must introduce you to the Elevator Lady:
She has the unfortunate habit of being in the elevator in Caroline's building just when the characters are having important conversations that should really not take place in hallways. I've never figured out why she doesn't just take the stairs.
Anyway, the last minute goes something like this:
As we see at the beginning of S4, both Caroline and Richard are pretty pleased by this turn of events.
(I admit, I find their 10" height difference amusing. And since it was filmed multi-camera style, they couldn't even use a box like Scully did with Mulder, so poor Lea Thompson is always having to stand on her very tippy toes to kiss Malcolm Gets, even when he's practically crouching to reach her.)
But after a series of misadventures, they decide it's too soon.
Eventually, they decide on two months. On her calendar, Caroline puts a happy face on the date (November 16th, conveniently during sweeps month!).
Annie is rather nonplussed.
Nonetheless, for the rest of the season they really are quite, quite adorable. Here, photographic evidence:
I love this picture so much, I can't even tell you. Awww.
Was watching a dreary Swedish film about death ever so adorable?
At the end of the season, there are five episodes that I have deleted from my personal canon because they're Stupid with a capital S, so I consider the show to end with the episode about Caroline's 2,000th comic strip, in which she starts writing about her relationship with Richard.
Uhhhh, don't ask why she's drawing on a washing machine. It's a long story.
Anyway, in my personal canon, they went on to live happily/snarkily/artistically ever after, and you will not convince me otherwise. See, here are their alter-egos appearing very happy in 2004:
Coming tomorrow: Vid of Cuteness! (Come on, you knew that was coming.)
Under the cut, you'll find a Caroline/Richard picspam/quotespam, with linking narration and captions for newbies provided by moi.
Meet Caroline and Richard.
Richard is a brooding, snarky abstract artist from Brooklyn. He's pretty much Eeyore in human form. Caroline is a cheerful, extroverted cartoonist from small-town Wisconsin. She's also the kind of person who dresses up her cat with distressing regularity.
They work together. She draws her nationally-syndicated comic strip and assorted greeting cards that have spun off from it, and he colors them.
He's helpful in other ways, too:
Richard: Okay, I can see you're not going to be able to do this without me. Here is a humorous anecdote from my personal life that you can make into a cartoon.
Caroline: Richard, you're a godsend. Pretentious, but a godsend.
Richard: Thank you. All right, I was in art school, and I had just gotten a new pair of contact lenses. And I went to the museum, where I mistook a Titian for a Tintoretto.
Caroline: And...?
Richard: That was it. We laughed for weeks about it.
Caroline: Wow, that's gonna have 'em doubled over in the Mensa meetings.
Richard: See, I have helped you. I've improved the quality of your sarcasm.
For the most part, they respect each other's artistic proclivities.
...Okay, no, they don't.
Richard: Remember the deadline? You've got to draw the strip.
Caroline: I know, but I just can't draw.
Richard: I agree, but the public seems to like what you do. Now, come on.
Richard: Look at that, it's light out.
Caroline: Yes, and you've successfully turned my apartment into downtown Beirut.
Richard: Well, I didn't finish until five AM.
Caroline: You're finished? Oh, yes, of course you are. Wow. Um. Richard, this is very stony. In a rocky, crumblish kind of way.
Okay, okay, there's this too:
Caroline: That was nice, Richard. Did you mean that about cartooning being art?
Richard: I didn't say it was art, I said it was hard.
Caroline: But you compared it to the Mona Lisa.
Richard: I didn't compare it to the Mona Lisa. I said you had to put a piece of yourself into it.
Caroline: Which means you respect it.
Richard: Well...yes.
Caroline: Thank you, Richard, that meant a lot to me.
Richard: Can I have a raise?
Caroline: No.
That said, their first meeting, or rather interview, didn't go so well.
Caroline: So, you're familiar with Caroline?
Richard: I think my dentist has one of your calendars. It's that stringy-haired girl who's always trying on bathing suits with her mom, right?
Caroline: No, that's Cathy.
Richard: Boy, is my face red.
Caroline: You know, you seem more than qualified for this job.
Richard: I am.
Caroline: Well, why do you want it?
Richard: Money. It seems I won't be able to make a living as a real artist until after I'm dead. Bummer, huh?
But they worked things out.
All right, so it was just a ploy to get her ex-boyfriend, Del (who also happens to be the greeting card company executive in charge of her account), to think she'd moved on, which she really hadn't. But don't tell Richard. He's already pining.
In general, they get along. Caroline is amused by Richard's sarcasm, and despite himself, he likes her sunny disposition.
She can convince him to do just about anything.
Unfortunately for both of them, they live in a sitcom, and so they're also plagued by bad timing, miscommunication, and some serious lack of spinal fortitude.
For example, Caroline receives a marriage proposal from on-again, off-again boyfriend Del (who's actually a pretty okay guy—a heart of gold in the skin of a brainless floozy, if you will—but more on him anon), but agonizes over whether to accept. When best friend Annie (also the possessor of a heart of gold who likes to swim in the shallow end of the pool) and Remo, the proprietor of the Italian restaurant our characters spend all their time and money in, mention that Richard has a thing for her, she races to his apartment, wondering if she's just been utterly blind for the past six months...only to find that through the machinations of the B-plot, he's in bed with someone else.
But wait! He runs after her in the rain...
...only to give her an umbrella and tell her she has a better chance of catching a cab on the next street over.
Sigh.
But then, he takes the initiative! A few days before the wedding, he writes her a love letter I won't quote because it's really kind of awful, asking her to meet him at Remo's if he has any kind of a chance with her. She meets him! He is overjoyed!
Only, well, she hasn't seen the letter. Oops.
Because God forbid he just say something, he fabricates a story about becoming a more open person. Later, unbeknownst to Richard, Caroline calls off her wedding. It seems Del just wasn't the right guy for her. Gee, I wonder why. Could it have something to do with this dream?
But when she goes to Richard's apartment to tell him, she finds he has disappeared off the face of the Earth.
At the beginning of next season, after three months have passed, they prove that despite how big a city New York is, the forces of Plot Device will always ensure that the lovers meet again.
Richard, it seems, went to Paris for three months, because this is TV, and characters have magical unlimited funds when it's convenient to the plot. Caroline is not pleased.
Of course, she just that very day got involved with a new guy. Raise your hand if you're surprised.
The next two years consist of approximately eight-point-six million of these incidents, so I won't detail them. Here are some pictorial highlights:
Richard: What are you doing?
Caroline: I was just taking your glasses off.
Richard: Why?
Caroline: Well, I was trying to be nice, Richard.
Richard: Caroline, the last time somebody took off my glasses, they taped me to a flagpole and bounced a kickball off my head for three hours.
Because I know I wish all my friends good luck in exactly this manner.
Richard: Caroline, look...I know you were just trying to help, and I appreciate it.
Caroline: Oh, Richard. Well, you may not be so good with animals, but you're getting better with people. Brace yourself. I'm gonna hug you.
Ah, Joe. If only you hadn't interrupted right after this.
Caroline: What's wrong with me?
Richard: Other than the fact that you qualify as an open container?
Caroline: I just don't get it. I'm thirty years old, I've got a great career, a great family, and I'm absolutely incapable of having a successful relationship. There's something wrong with me. Maybe it's because I'm a chihuahua!
Richard: Come on, Caroline, you're not a chihuahua.
Caroline: You said I was!
Richard: Well, I was annoyed. You're a wonderful person.
Caroline: Well, then why won't anybody stay with me?
Richard: Maybe you just haven't found the right guy yet.
HINT HINT HINT HINT HINT.
You know, it's amazing how many times these two pretended to be married in order to save face with ex-boy/girlfriends. Marriage of convenience is my bulletproof narrative kink, but even I got a little tired of it by the end.
On the other hand, this particular instance led to amusing things like dancing
and sleeping together.
Not to mention the following speech from Del, who despite his love affair with himself really is the best ex-boyfriend possible:
Caroline: Look, I know this might sound a little bit crazy, but...I think I might have a thing for Richard, and I think I should tell him before he runs off with Julia and I lose him, but I don't know how he feels, and I just, I just don't know what to do.
Del: So, you're asking me if I think you and Richard could have something.
Caroline: Yes.
Del: Caroline, remember when we were going out? We used to say, "This is nice."
Caroline: Yeah?
Del: And then we broke up, 'cause that's all it was, nice?
Caroline: Sure...
Del: Well, when Richard came along, everything changed.
Caroline: You mean with us? Richard changed us? How?
Del: Okay. You know my sister Vanessa? She's a couple years older than me. Sometimes Mom would make her and her boyfriend take me to the movies. I hated it! They'd talk about things over my head, they'd laugh at things I didn't get—they had this, this language, this connection, and I always felt like an outsider. That's the way I always felt around you and Richard. I mean, you and me: nice. You and Richard...
Caroline: Del, I'm sorry.
Del: Hey, hey. Don't be sorry for me; be happy for you!
And best of all, to this phone call:
Hi, Richard, it's me. Caroline. You probably already knew that. Look, um, I'm just...I'm just going to say this to your machine, 'cause a machine can't laugh at me. Well, um, what do you think about the idea of you and me as an us? I mean, like, like, dating and everything? I know, I know, I know, it's really weird, but I've been thinking about it all day, and...we're already really good friends. And maybe we're friends on the way to something else. So if you don't think this is the stupidest idea in the world, would you call me?
Sadly, we aren't quite to the Final Roadblock Overtoppling because just that very day (hmm, this sounds familiar), Richard got married to the old flame he was faking marriage with Caroline to save face with. WHY SO BYZANTINE, SHOW? I HATE YOU.
...Why yes, yes, I think this show was where I learned to hate love triangles, why do you ask?
A year goes by. Nothing terribly interesting happens (seriously, S3 is just full of angst on all sides). Instead of gong through it, I'll give you some quotations and pictures I couldn't make a place for anywhere else:
Caroline: What is allspice, anyway? I mean, if I have allspice, do I need any other spices? Shouldn't it cover everything? You need cinnamon, use allspice. Nutmeg, allspice. Basil, allspice...
Richard: Caroline, Caroline, Caroline...
Caroline: Thyme, allspice...
Richard: Caroline, remain calm, 'cause I'm going to kill you now. And as my defense, I'm going to repeat the allspice lecture verbatim, and I promise you, no court in the land will convict me.
Richard: You aren't going to cry, are you? I don't deal too well with crying.
Caroline: Oh, Richard, you don't deal too well with Daylight Saving Time.
It's not a cartoon, it's a comic strip. And just because it's funny doesn't mean it's fun to do, or it's easy. [My mother] probably thinks I just roll out of bed, scribble a joke, and spend the rest of the day shopping. I go to sleep wondering how I could've made the day's strip better, and I wake up afraid that I'll never have another idea. It's not just what I do, it's who I am. That comic strip is me.
(One thing I really like about the show is that many of the plots revolve around Caroline's career. For that matter, quite a few of them revolve around Annie's career. Stories about work and relationships/personal lives get divvied up pretty equally among the characters regardless of gender.)
Annie: You just need a funny image. Richard, make a muscle.
Richard: Annie, twirl your mustache.
(I love the two of them together. Their interactions definitely lead to the funniest scenes.)
The entire cast has music/dance training, so you occasionally get dream sequences like this. Since Annie is a Broadway actress, she also sings a lot, like in a very good episode where she sings to her mother in the middle of the sidewalk to make her feel better about her ex-husband's re-marriage.
Annie: You set me up!
Richard: What are you saying? Is something fishy?
Annie: Don't you dare! I have to wear this stupid thing for eight hours a day.
Caroline: Annie, at least you're getting paid for it, and as an added bonus you get to work with that attractive animator. How are things going with you two?
Annie: Oh, great. Swell. Saturday night, he's going to take me down to the docks and weigh me! [pointing finger at Richard] I will get you for this.
Richard: Look, come on, you've been swimming upstream with this unemployment thing...no, look, come on, I'm just trying to throw you a line.
Caroline: Richard, don't bait her.
Annie: Right. I'm outta here.
Caroline: Oh, Annie, I'm sorry, I didn't do it on porpoise.
Yeah, that was more fun than S3.
But the last minute of S3—now there's some fun. First, I must introduce you to the Elevator Lady:
She has the unfortunate habit of being in the elevator in Caroline's building just when the characters are having important conversations that should really not take place in hallways. I've never figured out why she doesn't just take the stairs.
Anyway, the last minute goes something like this:
Caroline: [Trevor and I] were gonna live together, but the timing was just bad, kinda like you and Julia.
Richard: Sort of. But ours wasn't timing. It was...
Caroline: Something else?
Richard: Yeah. Julia wasn't...
Caroline: What?
Richard: Forget it.
Elevator Lady: Excuse me? That's it? "Forget it"?
*knock knock*
Richard: You.
Caroline: What?
Richard: She wasn't you. When I was about to be trampled by those bulls, all I could think of was that I would never see you again.
Elevator Lady: Well, it's about time.
As we see at the beginning of S4, both Caroline and Richard are pretty pleased by this turn of events.
(I admit, I find their 10" height difference amusing. And since it was filmed multi-camera style, they couldn't even use a box like Scully did with Mulder, so poor Lea Thompson is always having to stand on her very tippy toes to kiss Malcolm Gets, even when he's practically crouching to reach her.)
But after a series of misadventures, they decide it's too soon.
Richard: Maybe we shouldn't be doing this right now.
Caroline: Are you having second thoughts?
Richard: No! No, no, no. I just think we could use a little time.
Caroline: Whew! That is such a relief!
Richard: Why, are you having second thoughts? I knew it, I knew it! I mean, now that this is a reality, you're just...not interested.
Caroline: No, no, that's not it at all! It's not a matter of if we're gonna be together, it's just a matter of when. Richard, I have been agonizing about this all night. I've been talking to myself, I've been...I've been looking for a sign. Maybe we should just...slow down?
Richard: You did just break up with Trevor.
Caroline: Yeah. And technically you're still married.
Richard: So, a little time might be a good thing.
Caroline: This just shows how much we think alike.
Richard: So...how's tomorrow night? Oh, no, no, no, no, you're thinking more like...a week?
Caroline: No! I'm from the midwest. My people think in months. Seasons. Harvests. "A good cheese doesn't turn blue overnight. It takes time."
Richard: So am I supposed to sit in a dark room in a barrel with a damp towel over my head?
Caroline: Well, now you're just being silly.
Richard: I'm the one being silly? You're the one comparing our relationship to a dairy product.
Eventually, they decide on two months. On her calendar, Caroline puts a happy face on the date (November 16th, conveniently during sweeps month!).
Annie is rather nonplussed.
Caroline: Tonight's our first real date. It's the beginning of our courtship.
Annie: "Courtship"? What century are you living in? Jane Austen would've had sex by now!
Nonetheless, for the rest of the season they really are quite, quite adorable. Here, photographic evidence:
I love this picture so much, I can't even tell you. Awww.
Was watching a dreary Swedish film about death ever so adorable?
Caroline: A turkey TV dinner? That's what you have for Thanksgiving?
Richard: Every year since I was five.
Caroline: Ugh! That is so sad.
Richard: What? No, it's not sad at all. I used to climb up on a chair and pull one of these out of the freezer, brush the chunks of ice off the box and sit by the little oven window watching it cook while my mother lit my father's suits on fire. But you know what? None of it mattered, because right there above the turkey, was the one thing I could count on: a delicious, two-inch square of frozen cranberry dessert.
Caroline: Well, I want you to have the perfect Thanksgiving, so I promise on Thursday, I'll walk around in a torn slip and withhold affection.
Richard: Would you?
At the end of the season, there are five episodes that I have deleted from my personal canon because they're Stupid with a capital S, so I consider the show to end with the episode about Caroline's 2,000th comic strip, in which she starts writing about her relationship with Richard.
Uhhhh, don't ask why she's drawing on a washing machine. It's a long story.
Anyway, in my personal canon, they went on to live happily/snarkily/artistically ever after, and you will not convince me otherwise. See, here are their alter-egos appearing very happy in 2004:
Coming tomorrow: Vid of Cuteness! (Come on, you knew that was coming.)
