Dollhouse Fanfic: Documentation
Jan. 2nd, 2013 03:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
andrasteSo, the veil of Yuletide anonymity has been withdrawn, and I can now reveal the things I wrote! My main story and the Madness treats can be seen on my works page at the AO3, but I will be posting them individually here over the next few days. (I like having a complete set of my work online in two different places, because I'm paranoid that way. Also, posting on my own journal gives me a chance to ramble a bit about how and why I wrote what I did.)
Anyway, for my main story this year I was assigned Dollhouse. This is a show about which I have many feelings, but I'd never written anything in the fandom before, so I was pleased to have a reason to do so.
Many of my Dollhouse-Related Feelings are Topher Brink Feelings so when I read my recipient's letter:
Topher, for me, is the best part of Dollhouse. I love that man's brain. Topher being Topher is all I really want-- a little bit of why he's that way would rock my socks.
... I was delighted. And then, briefly, panicked, because how was I going to get Topher to introspect? Then I started thinking about the 'why he's that way' part of the request and how Topher got to where he is and what people would think of him in two hundred years, and, well, the story just happened.
People seem to have liked what I wrote, since this went over bigger than anything I've ever written for Yuletide before. And it turned out to be a good Yuletide for my Topher Brink Feelings, as I also received a story about him!
Summary: Excerpts from 'Destroyer and Saviour: A Selection of Primary Sources Concerning Christopher Brink'.
Contains: Nothing more disturbing than what was on the show.
School Report, 1986:
Christopher is obviously a very bright child, but has some difficulty with impulse control. He needs to learn to settle down in class. While he has an instinctive grasp of both reading and math, I'm afraid that he has some trouble making friends.
***
Letter, 1996:
Ms. Brink, we need to talk about your son. Programming all the computers in the lab to play The Macarena on a continuous loop is not as amusing as he seems to think it is. Please call me at your earliest convenience.
***
Year Book, 1998:
Topher Brink: voted most likely to take over the world.
Handwritten, in the margin: Little do they suspect … bwahahaha!
***
Job Application, 2003:
Dear Rossum Corporation,
Really, this letter isn't about why you should hire me. It's about why I should go work for you. We all know I can write my own ticket, so what are Rossum going to offer me? I think we should start with unlimited juice boxes and a PlayStation in the office. Let me know if this is cool with you.
Your future minion,
Topher Brink
***
Office e-mail, 2004:
Topher, if I ever catch you programming the actives so you can play Warhammer with live pieces again, I will have someone imprinted to kill you in the most unpleasant way I can think of.
- Adelle DeWitt
***
Posting from an Internet Movie Database message board, 2004:
eturner: The Manchurian Candidate: most pointless remake of all time, Y/N?
Fenrir-4: Y. Why did they even bother?
johndarling: Nah, it's not that bad. Planet of the Apes remake was much worse.
Brinkster81: I thought the original was meh anyway. It really doesn't take the idea far enough. If you could really program people, you could do a lot more with them than just make them kill. Think bigger!
JolieLover92: You mean, like the Dollhouse?
Brinkster81: LOL, don't believe in urban legends man.
Haxx: Someone should make a movie about the Dollhouse.
Brinkster81: Only if Sarah Michelle Gellar is in it.
***
Security Assessment, 2006:
Adelle, you already know what I think of Topher and I have no idea why you want me to write it down. He's immature and thoughtless and I don't think we should have him on the payroll, no matter how much faster he's made the imprint process.
I don't think he'd sell us out, though. Only because he's too selfish and short-sighted to do it for reasons of ideology, and we give him all the money he could possibly want. That's about the best I can say.
- Laurence Dominic.
***
Incident report, 2007:
I admit it, I kind of fucked up there. She shouldn't have broken his teeth like that. But I just gave the client what he asked for! This was not flagged as a romantic assignment in any way, fyi. How was I meant to know that he was going to hit on his bodyguard?
If he wanted a bodyguard who would sleep with him, he only had to ask. This is really a failure of the interview process. Uh, not that I'm blaming you. Obviously.
Anyway, Echo seems fine and I promise I'll put in better safeguards next time.
- Topher
***
A series of notes stuck to an office fridge, 2008:
Topher, I will bring you Doritos, but I am NOT BUYING YOU PORN. There is a line, and that is over it.
Use the internet like everyone else.
- Ivy
The Playboys aren't for me, they're for India. I need to program her to be a Bunny.
- Your Lord and Master
My point about the internet stands. Besides, can't rich people just, like, hire Playboy Bunnies? They have to be cheaper than Dolls.
- Ivy
Probably, but not Playboy Bunnies with l33t ninja skills and a thing for clingwrap.
- The Supreme One
I am not even going to ask.
- Ivy
Good call.
P.S. I am out of Doritos again, please correct this.
- Topher
***
Greetings card found in a desk drawer after the Restoration:
Happy birthday, Boyd!
I got you Scotch because a sense of humour is hard to wrap.
Also, thank you for helping me with that thing. You know the thing I mean.
- Topher
***
Excerpt from interview with Priya Tsetsang-Ceccoli, July 2040:
The thing about Topher is that people think that he was this big villain or this big hero - or sometimes both at the same time – and really, he wasn't like that at all. Even before the Apocalypse. Not that we got to talk much back then. I don't think he thought about right and wrong a lot, and then once he started he couldn't stop.
After Bennett and Boyd, he didn't fall apart all at once. It was just like every day, the pieces of him fitted together less well. I think we all knew what that was like.
***
Note found in the Dollhouse after the Restoration, in Christopher Brink's handwriting:
You know what I miss? More than the internet and a functional brain? I miss not knowing what I was capable of, what we were all capable of. Turns out ignorance actually is bliss.
***
Internal office mail, 2020:
How much longer is this going to take? I thought you said once we had Brink, we'd be home free.
- Ambrose
It seems that Rossum's shining light doesn't shine as brightly any more. I'm trying to incentivise him to perform faster. No need to panic.
- Harding
I'm not panicking. Can't we just take an imprint and put it in a brain that still works?
- Ambrose
Tried that. Results were less than successful. I think we're stuck with the real thing, unfortunately.
- Harding
***
Litany of Echoes, Canticle XIII:
We are all capable of more than we believe, if we are willing to truly know ourselves. The path to this knowledge is not an easy one.
The difficulty is in accepting not only the greatness we might accomplish, but also the harm we might do. Each of us has the potential for both, and they are twined together in such a way that they cannot be unbound.
***
Conclusion:
What you have to understand is, I'm not Topher Brink. Not completely. He made his back-up before everything went to hell, so I'm missing a lot. There were also edits made to some neurological functions, so I can barely do basic algebra any more. You might say I'm the abridged version.
Even if I had all of it, there's more to a person than a collection of memories. If I'm talking to you from the mouth of an old woman from Botsawana or a kid or a dog (kidding!) or an electronic box in a museum, am I really Topher Brink?
A lot of people think that I (assuming I have the right to be called an 'I', not having a body and all) should be deleted completely. I can sympathise with their point of view. I think the original Topher Brink would too, given how things turned out.
I don't pretend to know exactly what went through his head when he cleaned up the mess he'd made. I don't think he's in a better place, or any place at all. I do think it's worth preserving whatever there is left of him.
Maybe that just means that there's enough of him left in me to show some self-interest.
- Christopher Brink, November 2155.
Anyway, for my main story this year I was assigned Dollhouse. This is a show about which I have many feelings, but I'd never written anything in the fandom before, so I was pleased to have a reason to do so.
Many of my Dollhouse-Related Feelings are Topher Brink Feelings so when I read my recipient's letter:
Topher, for me, is the best part of Dollhouse. I love that man's brain. Topher being Topher is all I really want-- a little bit of why he's that way would rock my socks.
... I was delighted. And then, briefly, panicked, because how was I going to get Topher to introspect? Then I started thinking about the 'why he's that way' part of the request and how Topher got to where he is and what people would think of him in two hundred years, and, well, the story just happened.
People seem to have liked what I wrote, since this went over bigger than anything I've ever written for Yuletide before. And it turned out to be a good Yuletide for my Topher Brink Feelings, as I also received a story about him!
Summary: Excerpts from 'Destroyer and Saviour: A Selection of Primary Sources Concerning Christopher Brink'.
Contains: Nothing more disturbing than what was on the show.
School Report, 1986:
Christopher is obviously a very bright child, but has some difficulty with impulse control. He needs to learn to settle down in class. While he has an instinctive grasp of both reading and math, I'm afraid that he has some trouble making friends.
***
Letter, 1996:
Ms. Brink, we need to talk about your son. Programming all the computers in the lab to play The Macarena on a continuous loop is not as amusing as he seems to think it is. Please call me at your earliest convenience.
***
Year Book, 1998:
Topher Brink: voted most likely to take over the world.
Handwritten, in the margin: Little do they suspect … bwahahaha!
***
Job Application, 2003:
Dear Rossum Corporation,
Really, this letter isn't about why you should hire me. It's about why I should go work for you. We all know I can write my own ticket, so what are Rossum going to offer me? I think we should start with unlimited juice boxes and a PlayStation in the office. Let me know if this is cool with you.
Your future minion,
Topher Brink
***
Office e-mail, 2004:
Topher, if I ever catch you programming the actives so you can play Warhammer with live pieces again, I will have someone imprinted to kill you in the most unpleasant way I can think of.
- Adelle DeWitt
***
Posting from an Internet Movie Database message board, 2004:
eturner: The Manchurian Candidate: most pointless remake of all time, Y/N?
Fenrir-4: Y. Why did they even bother?
johndarling: Nah, it's not that bad. Planet of the Apes remake was much worse.
Brinkster81: I thought the original was meh anyway. It really doesn't take the idea far enough. If you could really program people, you could do a lot more with them than just make them kill. Think bigger!
JolieLover92: You mean, like the Dollhouse?
Brinkster81: LOL, don't believe in urban legends man.
Haxx: Someone should make a movie about the Dollhouse.
Brinkster81: Only if Sarah Michelle Gellar is in it.
***
Security Assessment, 2006:
Adelle, you already know what I think of Topher and I have no idea why you want me to write it down. He's immature and thoughtless and I don't think we should have him on the payroll, no matter how much faster he's made the imprint process.
I don't think he'd sell us out, though. Only because he's too selfish and short-sighted to do it for reasons of ideology, and we give him all the money he could possibly want. That's about the best I can say.
- Laurence Dominic.
***
Incident report, 2007:
I admit it, I kind of fucked up there. She shouldn't have broken his teeth like that. But I just gave the client what he asked for! This was not flagged as a romantic assignment in any way, fyi. How was I meant to know that he was going to hit on his bodyguard?
If he wanted a bodyguard who would sleep with him, he only had to ask. This is really a failure of the interview process. Uh, not that I'm blaming you. Obviously.
Anyway, Echo seems fine and I promise I'll put in better safeguards next time.
- Topher
***
A series of notes stuck to an office fridge, 2008:
Topher, I will bring you Doritos, but I am NOT BUYING YOU PORN. There is a line, and that is over it.
Use the internet like everyone else.
- Ivy
The Playboys aren't for me, they're for India. I need to program her to be a Bunny.
- Your Lord and Master
My point about the internet stands. Besides, can't rich people just, like, hire Playboy Bunnies? They have to be cheaper than Dolls.
- Ivy
Probably, but not Playboy Bunnies with l33t ninja skills and a thing for clingwrap.
- The Supreme One
I am not even going to ask.
- Ivy
Good call.
P.S. I am out of Doritos again, please correct this.
- Topher
***
Greetings card found in a desk drawer after the Restoration:
Happy birthday, Boyd!
I got you Scotch because a sense of humour is hard to wrap.
Also, thank you for helping me with that thing. You know the thing I mean.
- Topher
***
Excerpt from interview with Priya Tsetsang-Ceccoli, July 2040:
The thing about Topher is that people think that he was this big villain or this big hero - or sometimes both at the same time – and really, he wasn't like that at all. Even before the Apocalypse. Not that we got to talk much back then. I don't think he thought about right and wrong a lot, and then once he started he couldn't stop.
After Bennett and Boyd, he didn't fall apart all at once. It was just like every day, the pieces of him fitted together less well. I think we all knew what that was like.
***
Note found in the Dollhouse after the Restoration, in Christopher Brink's handwriting:
You know what I miss? More than the internet and a functional brain? I miss not knowing what I was capable of, what we were all capable of. Turns out ignorance actually is bliss.
***
Internal office mail, 2020:
How much longer is this going to take? I thought you said once we had Brink, we'd be home free.
- Ambrose
It seems that Rossum's shining light doesn't shine as brightly any more. I'm trying to incentivise him to perform faster. No need to panic.
- Harding
I'm not panicking. Can't we just take an imprint and put it in a brain that still works?
- Ambrose
Tried that. Results were less than successful. I think we're stuck with the real thing, unfortunately.
- Harding
***
Litany of Echoes, Canticle XIII:
We are all capable of more than we believe, if we are willing to truly know ourselves. The path to this knowledge is not an easy one.
The difficulty is in accepting not only the greatness we might accomplish, but also the harm we might do. Each of us has the potential for both, and they are twined together in such a way that they cannot be unbound.
***
Conclusion:
What you have to understand is, I'm not Topher Brink. Not completely. He made his back-up before everything went to hell, so I'm missing a lot. There were also edits made to some neurological functions, so I can barely do basic algebra any more. You might say I'm the abridged version.
Even if I had all of it, there's more to a person than a collection of memories. If I'm talking to you from the mouth of an old woman from Botsawana or a kid or a dog (kidding!) or an electronic box in a museum, am I really Topher Brink?
A lot of people think that I (assuming I have the right to be called an 'I', not having a body and all) should be deleted completely. I can sympathise with their point of view. I think the original Topher Brink would too, given how things turned out.
I don't pretend to know exactly what went through his head when he cleaned up the mess he'd made. I don't think he's in a better place, or any place at all. I do think it's worth preserving whatever there is left of him.
Maybe that just means that there's enough of him left in me to show some self-interest.
- Christopher Brink, November 2155.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-01-02 05:39 am (UTC)I never saw Dollhouse so I got nuthin' else though!
(no subject)
Date: 2013-01-04 12:24 pm (UTC)Thank you!
I never saw Dollhouse so I got nuthin' else though!
Yeah, I cannot imagine this made a whole lot of sense without canon background *g*.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-01-05 03:12 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-01-07 12:17 pm (UTC)