Meme / RL

[deelaundry]

Here is a meme what I stole from Sabine and Topaz:

Pick a paragraph (or any passage less than 500 words) from anything I've written, and comment to this post with that selection. I will then give you a DVD commentary on that snippet: what I was thinking when I wrote it, why I wrote it in the first place, what's going on in the character's heads, why I chose certain words, what this moment means in the context of the rest of the fic, lots of awful puns, and anything else that you'd expect to find on a DVD commentary track.

***

Real-Life: Last night's fun things included a live concert of an awesome singer/guitarist, enjoyed with an even more awesome friend. \o/ The chairs in the venue left a little to be desired, but on the other hands, the manager gave me free chips. \o/ \o/ \o/

Comments

[hannahrorlove.livejournal.com]

Oh, how fun! Who was the singer? I might have heard of them already.

-

And because it makes me feel delightfully naughty, in a good way:

A long time ago, before, House knew the height in the atmosphere at which oxygen levels drop dangerously low for humans. He knew this because he had read it in books, looked up as a curiosity among millions of others, a fact he’d simply wanted to have in his brain.

Now he knows it because Wilson flirts with that height far more often than House is comfortable with.

At night, usually. Clear, starry skies hold an almost irresistible attraction for Wilson. Peace, calm, acceptance – Wilson finds a serenity of solitude when flying that House hadn’t thought possible for the man. At night, with no one around, Wilson goes higher and higher, farther and farther away.

“You’re going to kill yourself,” House says. Pssht, Wilson replies.

“Seriously,” House says, and he can’t keep distress out of his voice. I’ll be more careful next time, Wilson replies fervently, eyes grave, every bit inside himself in solemn agreement. Then House and Wilson have sex.

Way back when, just after, House had realized that now Wilson wouldn’t be able to lie him. But that’s not true. Wilson can lie to him, because Wilson is very, very good at lying to himself.

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

A long time ago, before, House knew the height in the atmosphere at which oxygen levels drop dangerously low for humans. He knew this because he had read it in books, looked up as a curiosity among millions of others, a fact he’d simply wanted to have in his brain.

"A long time ago, before" -- I think you had already established that House and Wilson think of their lives as before the change that gave them new powers, and after. I wanted that clearly in here.

House is quite obviously the kind of thinker who is interested in a wide variety of things, and not always for a specific purpose. Hey, I wrote this before the episode in which House knows the height of Mt. Everest, didn't I? See, that kind of thing.

Now he knows it because Wilson flirts with that height far more often than House is comfortable with.

And of course, that makes it way more visceral than it being a mere fact. I think I made the assumption that House was able to "read" Wilson even at that great a distance. My idea was that House couldn't necessarily pick out specific thoughts but that he could read Wilson's emotional and physical status generally.

At night, usually. Clear, starry skies hold an almost irresistible attraction for Wilson. Peace, calm, acceptance – Wilson finds a serenity of solitude when flying that House hadn’t thought possible for the man. At night, with no one around, Wilson goes higher and higher, farther and farther away.

Starry skies are so beautiful and to be up among them... mmm. Wilson is the kind of person who generally needs to have others around to feel good, so this peace in solitude is something new to him, and he's getting hooked, to the point that he's flirting with very dangerous heights.

This is a reverse parallel to canon, where House was the one who is seeking out the high (or even just the peace) of too much pain med, or alcohol, or fast motorcycling, or taking every single step to solve a puzzle, no matter how dangerous that may be.

And House knows what it's like to leave everyone behind in search of that feeling, and he's petrified Wilson won't be able to resist and will:

“You’re going to kill yourself,” House says. Pssht, Wilson replies.

It cracks me up to think of Wilson making a sound effect inside his head.

“Seriously,” House says, and he can’t keep distress out of his voice. I’ll be more careful next time, Wilson replies fervently, eyes grave, every bit inside himself in solemn agreement.

House can read Wilson's mind, so if Wilson's going to be sincere, he has to be completely sincere. His eyes go grave because he wants House to know that he's serious. Wilson doesn't want to hurt House, not at all.

Then House and Wilson have sex.

Because it's life-affirming, don't you know, as well as a way to demonstrate closeness and reassurance. And to distract from the issue House has brought up that Wilson doesn't want to acknowledge.

Way back when, just after, House had realized that now Wilson wouldn’t be able to lie him. But that’s not true. Wilson can lie to him, because Wilson is very, very good at lying to himself.

Wilson being able to lie to House so successfully is an intriguing part of canon. With House being able to read Wilson's mind, he'd assumed that was over, but he didn't count on Wilson's power of denial. Which, in my mind, is way stronger than his power of flight.

Hope you liked! If you want to ask any questions, please do!

[hannahrorlove.livejournal.com]

I do like! I enjoyed reading the annotations, as it were. I've always liked Wilson using sex as a distraction and all the layers of what's going on inside him.

Every so often I think of this as 'the little 'verse that could' because when I wrote the original piece I didn't think it'd stick around so long. If I'd known, I'd have taken it more seriously at the beginning.

[hibernia1.livejournal.com]

From 'Comes a Day', which I pratically know by heart and is one of the best things I've ever read: There comes a day when the prediction House’s “father” made comes true: he really is good for quite literally nothing. He can’t work, can’t walk, can’t wipe his own butt. He can barely talk – can’t always think, even. Nothing. He’s a lump of flesh, pain-free but utterly useless. I'd love to have a DVD-commentary on this!

Also, yay for nice RL-stuff!

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

There comes a day when the prediction House’s “father” made comes true: he really is good for quite literally nothing.

This is in House's POV and he's feeling quite angry, so he puts father in quotes. We found out in ep 5-4 that John House is not House's biological father.

It's not explicitly canon, but I can definitely see John House having told Greg, more than once, "If you don't shape up, you're going to wind up a good-for-nothing!"

The next two sentences show why House has decided he's now good for nothing.

He can’t work, can’t walk, can’t wipe his own butt.

"Can't work" - So painful for House, because so much of his self-esteem is tied up in his work.
"Can't walk" - Again, extremely painful. He's an active man who enjoys being in motion. He accepted life-long leg pain in part because he wanted to ensure he could keep walking. (And in part because he's a very stubborn person.)
"Can't wipe his own butt" - The most private of activities. Poor House.

He can barely talk – can’t always think, even. Nothing.

Someone asked me what condition House had in this story. I'm not sure -- there are a number of things that could cause this kind of debilitation, and really is not important what it is. However, i will say that along with his main condition he has likely had one or more strokes. Stroke affects the brain in varied ways, and can leave the person with irregular speech ability and word recall such as House shows throughout this fic.

Of course, periodically losing the ability to think -- and being aware of that! -- is the most tragic thing for House. That's where all of his self-esteem lies. : (

He’s a lump of flesh, pain-free but utterly useless.

I snuck in "pain-free" because I wanted to give House a break! With everything else that is so distressing to him, I wanted to at least relieve his physical pain.

Given the huge hit to House's self-esteem, he's decided that now he's useless. I picked "useless" specifically -- House saying he has no use. But for House haing no use is synonymous with "worthless." He doesn't believe he can be important to someone just for existing. He doesn't believe in unconditional love. In my opinion, that is the most heartbreaking thing about House.

The entire fic is about House accepting that he is loved unconditionally, that simply being is reason enough to deserve love.

I wrote this fic because of what I've seen in canon, but also because I wanted it to be a tribute to my friends on Livejournal who struggle with disability of any kind. When there are things they can't do, they sometimes fall into the despair of thinking that means they are worthless. And I wanted to rebut that!

[hibernia1.livejournal.com]

OMG, Dee, I love you (well, I already did, but I love you even more after reading this DVD commentary). I can only speak for myself, but yeah, at times it IS very easy to only look at all the things I can't do, or can't do anymore, or miss out on, and the way I slow other people down sometimes, or how people need to make allowances, and sometimes that truly makes me feel worthless/useless. I never guessed you wrote this beautiful story to also apply to disabled people in general and I love you so much for that.

And I love reading your thoughts about this. I'm so happy you made House pain-free, and yes - losing his ability to think must be the worst torture for him. I agree that poor House doesn't believe in unconditional love, and I must say, it IS difficult to do so, but I'm glad he finally saw the light in this wonderful story.

Thanks so much for this, Dee!

[chocolate-frapp.livejournal.com]

this!

Epilogue – Looking Out

They’re annoyingly noisy, aren’t they, Chirp? Yours especially.

C’mon, Whiskers, leave Fuzzy alone. He’s been away for a long time; he’s just happy to be home.

Are you sure? Don’t humans usually do that weird upward thing with their mouths when they’re happy?

It’s called a smile. Fuzzy does it sometimes, but most times, he’s got his own special ways of showing happiness. They’re subtle. You’ve got to watch his eyes, and the way he holds his stick.

He’s damaged, isn’t he? I’m surprised my person hasn’t killed him yet.

He’s damaged, but he’s tough. And people don’t kill their weak, anyway. You’re thinking of hamsters, I bet. Easy mistake to make, seeing as how yours kind of looks like a giant hamster. Hey, I forgot to ask: what’d you name him?

Her name is Pudge, and I like how she looks. Warm and cuddly.

Wait a minute, it’s not a “her.” You’ve got a male person there.

She’s not male! You’re trying to arureomorphize her, give her rat qualities. You’ve got to use human characteristics to judge. See: soft, smooth skin, kind eyes, and wide hips to pass out those giant pups they have.

Is your nose broken? Sniff! That’s testosterone coming off Pudge. Not as much as my Fuzzy, but still –

Damn, you’re right. I specifically wanted a female. My Mama said they give the best food.

Maybe that’s generally true, but I have to tell you, the cuisine Pudge has been handing out the past few weeks is some of the best I’ve ever had. Much better than anything Fuzzy ever gave me.

Um, didn’t you say humans don’t kill their ill ones? Because Pudge has started munching on your Fuzzy.

Hey! Pudge, cut that out! Whiskers, get your human off mine before he devours him!

Wait a sec, don’t get your nose in a twist. Fuzzy’s biting back now, and I don’t see any blood. They must be play-fighting.

Play-fighting? They’re adult humans; you think they’d have practiced enough by now.

At least they’ve stopped yapping.

Hey, speaking of play-fighting, want to wrestle?

I’m feeling pretty lazy. Do you mean wrestling or wrestling?

I mean wrestling that might turn into wrestling. If you’re lucky.

If you want to mate again, why don’t you ask me to mate instead of being so coy about it?

C’mon, where’s the romance? Besides, it’s not really mating if no pups come of it.

Semantics. How about an even less direct euphemism, then? Come on over here, and I’ll dip my tail in your food bowl.

Now I’m not in the mood any more.

Unsurprising. Are you sure you’re a buck and not a doe?

I’m sure. And speaking of that, look: we have visual confirmation that your Pudge is a boy.

Oh, you’re right. But he’s not going to be one for very long if Fuzzy doesn’t stop pulling on him like that.

Don’t worry, Pudge’ll be fine. Fuzzy’s had a lot of practice with that; he does it to himself all the time.

Really? What for?

I heard it was related to mating, but like I said, Fuzzy does it by himself, so I don’t know.

You know, lizards sometimes undergo parthenogenesis and have babies all on their own.

But that’s female lizards. We’ve conclusively determined Pudge and Fuzzy are males.

Right. I guess we just chalk it up to humans being weird, then. Who can tell what goes on in those freakishly over-sized brains of theirs?

Makes me tired just thinking of it. C’mon, Whiskers, let’s cuddle up and take a nap.

Sounds great. Pudge and Fuzzy seem to be heading toward their nest, anyway.

I wasn’t so sure if they’d be sharing that nest when Fuzzy got back. They never had before.

That’s some pretty strong musk they’re throwing off. If they’re not going to mate now, I’ll eat my hat.

You don’t have a hat.

DVD for "Looking Out" - Part 1

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

Epilogue – Looking Out

I called this “Looking Out” because the two POV characters are in their cage, quite literally looking out at House & Wilson.

They’re annoyingly noisy, aren’t they, Chirp? Yours especially.

C’mon, Whiskers, leave Fuzzy alone. He’s been away for a long time; he’s just happy to be home.

So, this epilogue is from the point of view of two rats who are now pets of House and Wilson. Chirp is who we know as Steve McQueen, the rat House adopted back in Season Two. Whiskers is who we know as Tuco, the rat Wilson adopted during the fic. Throughout the fic, they go by the names their mamas gave them: Chirp and Whiskers.

From House & Wilson’s point of view, when they got their pet rats, they gave them names. So from Chirp and Whiskers’ point of view, when they adopted their humans, they gave the humans names. Chirp gave his human the name “Fuzzy” on account of his fuzzy face.

Chirp and Whiskers, being rats, don’t understand human language. To them it’s just noise, and House and Wilson yammering in the kitchen is just being noisy. They’ve only had Wilson around up until this point, so they’re more used to it being quiet.

Are you sure? Don’t humans usually do that weird upward thing with their mouths when they’re happy?

It’s called a smile. Fuzzy does it sometimes, but most times, he’s got his own special ways of showing happiness. They’re subtle. You’ve got to watch his eyes, and the way he holds his stick.

I enjoyed the thought of Chirp noticing that House expresses happiness in ways other than smiling.

He’s damaged, isn’t he? I’m surprised my person hasn’t killed him yet.

He’s damaged, but he’s tough. And people don’t kill their weak, anyway. You’re thinking of hamsters, I bet. Easy mistake to make, seeing as how yours kind of looks like a giant hamster. Hey, I forgot to ask: what’d you name him?

Whiskers hasn’t seen House until the day of this fic, but he can tell there’s something wrong with House’s leg. Chirp explains that the leg damage doesn’t mean that House is weak.

I had originally thought that rats killed their weak/diseased the way that some animal species do, but my rat beta fallen_arazil set me straight. She said I was thinking of hamsters... so I put that in Chirp’s dialogue. Anti-hamster prejudice or fact? For the purpose of the story, it didn’t really matter.

You need to remember that this story is set in mid-Season Three, when Wilson had gained weight from Season One and was looking, well, pudgy. Not fat, and I doubt he was actually overweight, but he had more flesh on his bones than before. And with the soft brown hair and brown eyes and round face, under certain lighting, he rather did look like a hamster.

Her name is Pudge, and I like how she looks. Warm and cuddly.

Wait a minute, it’s not a “her.” You’ve got a male person there.

She’s not male! You’re trying to arureomorphize her, give her rat qualities. You’ve got to use human characteristics to judge. See: soft, smooth skin, kind eyes, and wide hips to pass out those giant pups they have.

“Warm and cuddly” – hee. Of course first impressions can be deceiving, as Wilson isn’t particularly cuddly or touch-feely in his actions in canon. But hee.

“Anthropomorphize” means to ascribe human characteristics to non-human items. I wanted the rats to have an equivalent term, for giving rat qualities to non-rat things, so I did a little language digging. “Anthropo-“ comes from the Greek word anthrōpos, which means “human being.” “Arureos” is the Greek word for “rat,” so that lead me to “arureomorphize.”

The “wide hips” reference was because, well, in Season Three particularly Wilson seemed to have “birthin’ hips,” as my friend called them.

Is your nose broken? Sniff! That’s testosterone coming off Pudge. Not as much as my Fuzzy, but still –

Rats have a keener sense of smell than humans so they’d use scent evidence as much as visual evidence. Whether they actually can smell testosterone, eh, I don’t know. It was just funny. (Also, Fuzzy/House has more testosterone because he’s the dommiest of the dom.)

Re: DVD for "Looking Out" - Part 1

[chocolate-frapp.livejournal.com]

Actually I sort of like the idea of rats being somewhat prejudiced against hamsters.
I LOVE "arureomorphize". Big linguistics geek here. I did call my first House fic "Iatroeco-oxyglossophilia", after all.

DVD for "Looking Out" - Part 2

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

Damn, you’re right. I specifically wanted a female. My Mama said they give the best food.

Maybe that’s generally true, but I have to tell you, the cuisine Pudge has been handing out the past few weeks is some of the best I’ve ever had. Much better than anything Fuzzy ever gave me.

Um, didn’t you say humans don’t kill their ill ones? Because Pudge has started munching on your Fuzzy.

Hey! Pudge, cut that out! Whiskers, get your human off mine before he devours him!

:D The rats have misinterpreted. :D

Wait a sec, don’t get your nose in a twist. Fuzzy’s biting back now, and I don’t see any blood. They must be play-fighting.

Play-fighting? They’re adult humans; you think they’d have practiced enough by now.

And they’re still misinterpreting, but they’re closer. :D I imagine Wilson and House’s “play-fighting” is quite spirited.

At least they’ve stopped yapping.

Hey, speaking of play-fighting, want to wrestle?

I’m feeling pretty lazy. Do you mean wrestling or wrestling?

I mean wrestling that might turn into wrestling. If you’re lucky.

If you want to mate again, why don’t you ask me to mate instead of being so coy about it?

The humans aren’t interesting enough to keep the rats’ attention. XD

C’mon, where’s the romance? Besides, it’s not really mating if no pups come of it.

Semantics. How about an even less direct euphemism, then? Come on over here, and I’ll dip my tail in your food bowl.

Now I’m not in the mood any more.

Unsurprising. Are you sure you’re a buck and not a doe?

You’ve probably lost track of who’s who in the dialogue by this point, but Chirp/Steve has the personality that’s a little bit more like Wilson’s, and Whiskers/Tuco has the personality that’s a bit more like House’s.

I’m sure. And speaking of that, look: we have visual confirmation that your Pudge is a boy.

Oh, you’re right. But he’s not going to be one for very long if Fuzzy doesn’t stop pulling on him like that.

Getting Wilson partially naked in the kitchen! W00t!

Don’t worry, Pudge’ll be fine. Fuzzy’s had a lot of practice with that; he does it to himself all the time.

Because of course House doesn’t care about Steve being in the room when he masturbates. :D

Really? What for?

I heard it was related to mating, but like I said, Fuzzy does it by himself, so I don’t know.

The rats don’t know what the deal is with masturbating, because they just go directly to partnered sex. I actually have no idea whether it’s true, that rats don’t masturbate, but my rat-beta didn’t tell me I was wrong so...

You know, lizards sometimes undergo parthenogenesis and have babies all on their own.

But that’s female lizards. We’ve conclusively determined Pudge and Fuzzy are males.

Right. I guess we just chalk it up to humans being weird, then. Who can tell what goes on in those freakishly over-sized brains of theirs?

Whiskers/Tuco is also like House in his affinity for scientific facts. But you see that Chirp/Steve is able to keep up with him.

Human beings really do have very large brains as a percent of body weight compared to other animals.

Makes me tired just thinking of it. C’mon, Whiskers, let’s cuddle up and take a nap.

Sounds great. Pudge and Fuzzy seem to be heading toward their nest, anyway.

W00t! House and Wilson are heading for the bedroom.

I wasn’t so sure if they’d be sharing that nest when Fuzzy got back. They never had before.

That’s some pretty strong musk they’re throwing off. If they’re not going to mate now, I’ll eat my hat.

You don’t have a hat.

Figure of speech. Sleep tight, Chirp.

Sleep tight, Whiskers. It’s good to have everyone home.

Awww, House and Wilson are off to mate, and Whiskers and Chirp are going to cuddle up for a nap. Awwww.

The “You don’t have a hat” joke is a pretty classic straight-man, wordplay joke, but I like it. :D

Re: DVD for "Looking Out" - Part 2

[chocolate-frapp.livejournal.com]

terrific commentary!!
and House doesn't give a rat's ass if he's being watched, ba doom boom.
thanks! :)

[hwshipper.livejournal.com]

From Green. I read this pretty thoroughly a while back for some reason :)

House flung himself back in his chair and considered the ceiling for a second.

“Oh.” He looked back at Wilson and waved a hand in dismissal. “Then go have lunch with him. Knock yourself out. If you get to the cafeteria before noon, they might still have some chocolate pudding.”

“What? Because Charlie’s gay, you’ll let me be friends with him?” Damn, broke his own rule. Couldn’t be helped.

“Yep.” House bent to turn on his iPod. Wilson put out a hand to stop him.

“I don’t get this. What are you talking about?”

“You have my blessing. Go. Have fun.” House picked up a medical journal from his desk and started to flip through it. Both his expression and tone were open and easy, with not a trace of sarcasm. It killed Wilson. Hands on hips now, he struggled not to scream.

“Why are you acting like this? What is so different, with Charlie being gay?”

House looked up at him over the journal. “Well, obviously, he’s just making a pass at you, so nothing to worry about, right?”

“He is not making a pass at me!”

“Suuure he’s not.”

“You think I’ll take him up on it?”

House snorted. “Irrelevant. It’s his intentions that matter, not yours. I know how to handle your groupies. Bros before hos, right?” He held out his fist.

Wilson resisted the urge to slap the fist away and stormed out of House’s office.

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

If there are any questions you have about this passage, or if you want me to discuss any other topic, let me know.

House flung himself back in his chair and considered the ceiling for a second.

“Green” is the first friendship fic that I wrote, over the summer between Season Two and Season Three. It’s not unusual for most people to have more than one friend, so I had wondered what would happen if a new person came along who Wilson became friendly with. The answer I came up with was that House would do everything in his power to KO his “rival.” Although Wilson’s never been shown to have another male friend, I do feel my answers was confirmed by the driving off of Wilson’s love interests in Seasons Three and Four.

This is the first fic daisylily beta-ed for me, and it wouldn’t have been half as good without her wonderful suggestions!

The passage below is from the end of the fic. Wilson has just told House that the new friend, Charlie, is gay.

“Oh.” He looked back at Wilson and waved a hand in dismissal. “Then go have lunch with him. Knock yourself out. If you get to the cafeteria before noon, they might still have some chocolate pudding.”

The “chocolate pudding” line is one of my favorites from this fic. It gives the indication that House is really fine with Charlie now, in that he’s not only giving Wilson his permission but also a strategy for obtaining a treat that will make the lunch that more pleasurable.

“What? Because Charlie’s gay, you’ll let me be friends with him?” Damn, broke his own rule. Couldn’t be helped.

Wilson had told himself earlier in the fic that he wouldn’t let himself be distracted from his conversation mission: to get House to back off from Charlie.

“Yep.” House bent to turn on his iPod. Wilson put out a hand to stop him.

“I don’t get this. What are you talking about?”

“You have my blessing. Go. Have fun.” House picked up a medical journal from his desk and started to flip through it. Both his expression and tone were open and easy, with not a trace of sarcasm. It killed Wilson. Hands on hips now, he struggled not to scream.

Three gestures in a row of dismissal – wave of hand, lean toward iPod, pick-up of journal – so irritating for Wilson, on top of House’s turned-on-a-dime attitude change.

“Why are you acting like this? What is so different, with Charlie being gay?”

House looked up at him over the journal. “Well, obviously, he’s just making a pass at you, so nothing to worry about, right?”

So obviously I didn’t get House 100% correct, because as we saw in Three and Four he’s aggressive in driving off those who have romantic interests in Wilson, too. Eh.

“He is not making a pass at me!”

“Suuure he’s not.”

I don’t generally like adding extra vowels in to indicate tone, but this time I couldn’t resist.

“You think I’ll take him up on it?”

House snorted. “Irrelevant. It’s his intentions that matter, not yours. I know how to handle your groupies. Bros before hos, right?” He held out his fist.

I hate the expression “bros before hos” but House had used it before in canon, so I repeated it here.

One of Daisylily’s biggest questions after her first read of the earliest draft was why Charlie being gay stopped House from feeling jealous. I tried to edit to make that clearer, but in case I was not successful, here’s what I said to Daisylily at the time: “Wives, girlfriends, flings - none of them have taken Wilson away from House, so anyone in that category is not much of a threat. If Charlie can go in that category, then House knows how to deal. If Charlie's going to be a friend, make Wilson laugh, then he's direct competition.”

Wilson resisted the urge to slap the fist away and stormed out of House’s office.

Wilson doesn’t do as much storming out of House’s office as I have him do in fic, but it’s just so very in character for him. :D

And thank you, Shipper, for the great remix last year!

[hwshipper.livejournal.com]

That was really interesting, thank-you! I would love canon to show us Wilson having another male friend at some point, like in Green. It would throw up all sorts of interesting possibilities. I wouldn't beat yourself up for not anticipating House driving off Wilson's romantic interests; until Wendy, I don't think we had any reason to suspect House was so in love with obsessed with keeping Wilson all to himself. Rottweiler is an excellent parallel!

Your explanation to daisylily makes a lot of sense. I would have appreciated the same info when I first tackled the remix, although I think I did get there in the end! Because I was trying to reverse the situation with slash, I got hopelessly confused initially as to what on earth should happen here in the remix. In the beginning I had the revelation simply be as in Green, that Charlie had a partner, just a male one; but I couldn't get it to work and then, as you know, I decided it made more sense to reverse things entirely and have House think he was straight. And then it works - because as you say, House has nothing to fear from Wilson's wives :)