[The video cuts in to a very disheveled, very worried looking Dr. Horrible. It takes him a moment to realize he still has the goggles on, which he promptly yanks off as he begins to speak.]

Hey, uh... Has anyone seen Penny around? It's been a long time since I last saw her, and with all this stuff going on I'm getting really worried about her.

I know some of you watching might not know who she is, but... it's actually kinda hard to miss her. She's got bright red hair and she's really pretty and nice, and you can find her at the supply center every day from about eight in the morning to four in the afternoon. On weekends she tends to get off a little earlier. She's there pretty much every day, rain or shine. Sometimes she stops off at the park on her way home, but with all the crabs around lately she's been kinda forgoing that. I'd hate it if anything had happened to her... so just... drop me a line if you see her, okay? Thanks.

[Click.]

[You thought his voice was panicky and freaked out when Herbie showed up? Haha oh man, that has nothing on how he sounds right now.]

THAT'S IT I'M OUT OF HERE BYE.

[Footsteps lead away from the microphone; in the background there are the sounds of things being thrown carelessly into bags: barely audible thwumps of clothes, metallic clanging from various tools, whispery rustling of plans and blueprints being rolled up. He continues talking, just loud enough to be picked up and recorded.]

Seriously. I just. No. That is just way to close to home I live on 9th Street all that happened just a few blocks away from me. I am getting out of here and I will not be stomped when it wakes up.

[There's a pause about a few seconds long, then steps towards the computer. Quietly:] Penny. Please. Please get that healed right away. I know there are others who are further along than you but I don't care.

Take care of yourself, okay?

[Click.]

JUMPING ON THE BANDWAGON YOU GUYS :D

The How's My Driving? Meme

If you're uncomfortable with posting there, I do have crit posts set up on all my characters' journals. Anon posting enabled, no IPs logged, all comments screened, the works.

[It is very difficult to miss the nervousness in Billy's voice.]

Hey, Penny?

[The video screen turns on, and Dr. Horrible is fidgeting. Totally fidgeting. He's nervous and awkward and all the adjectives in between. It's obvious that something is bothering him. It takes him a moment to collect himself and speak.]

All right. So. I have this friend. Actually... it's not even really my friend. More like a friend of a friend. Hardly any connection to me. At all. Just an acquaintance, you know?

Okay. Uh. So this friend of a friend has a problem. Well, it's not even really a problem, it's more like a setback or predicament or dilemma or maybe even an issue... [Great. He's rambling. Time to get back on topic.]

But anyway--

There's this girl, right? And this friend of a friend likes her. A lot. Like, a lot. But she's already dating someone. That's not the issue here -- although it's definitely an issue, especially considering who she's going out with, but as soon as I- he gets back home and gets that death ray up and running it certainly won't be an issue for very much longer -- [pause for breath] the real issue is his. Uh. Shyness. Social awkwardness, inability to talk to people, whatever you want to call it. This friend... of a friend isn't exactly the best at talking to people, even on a good day.

[He lets out a long breath before continuing. His voice is slightly calmer and not as jittery now that the explanation is over. He's built up momentum and he's using it to his advantage.]

So, Manhattan. I come to you at the behest of this person with a question: He wants to do something for her on Valentine's Day. How should he go about asking her?

Of course, it's not my style to go and do this sort of thing at the behest of someone else -- I am a villain, as you all know -- but I just had to take pity on this poor person and pass the message along.

Gr6561t.

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Never thought I'd miss laundry day.

[When the video clicks on, viewers see a blonde man in a white labcoat with welding goggles on his head. Dr. Horrible lets out an evil laugh that actually sounds sort of menacing instead of flat-out ridiculous. It's obvious he's been practicing. After adjusting his goggles, he begins to speak.]

Well, as you can see, I finally got a webcam up and running. It's about time, too. The blog just didn't feel right without video and sound. [He pauses and leans back in his swivel chair.] That, unfortunately, is pretty much the only good news I have, besides the fact that the heat and running water are back on. Other than that... nothing.

Ever since coming here, I've been thinking about teleporter project I left back home. I wish I'd sorted it out when I still had a chance; then I could at least try to build a way to get back home. None of it ran on Wonderflonium or any of the other hard-to-get power sources, so I might have had a chance here, but as my research is now... [He sighs.] The transmatter ray worked okay, but there were a few snags I was never able to untangle, and nothing I had was anywhere near ready for human use. And there was that one time that cat somehow managed to get in while I was testing the teleporter... 

[He looks away from the camera, expression somewhat blank. It's easy to see he's remembering something pretty horrific.]

I still have nightmares about that cat...

[After a few quietly awkward moments, he starts up again, somewhat back to normal.]

But anyway, I've been thinking about starting up my email segment again. I'm sure some of you have some burning questions you're just dying to ask me, and it was part of my regular blog updates back home, so I figure why not? I can't set up an email address here for the submissions, but I figure I'll just set up a separate post later for you to respond to, and then I'll answer them in my next update. And try not to get too sarcastic or snippy with the questions -- I've already heard quite enough about my name and catchphrase and how "lame" [insert airquotes] I am, okay? Find something original to ask for once.

So, I guess that's it for now. Dr. Horrible, signing off.

Oh, you have got to be kidding me.

No food, no water, not heat -- why in the world would someone shut down the gas and water pressure and take all the food from the supply centers in this city? Seems rather detrimental to the whole "survival" business, especially with this ridiculously cold weather coming on. Seriously, who does stuff like this?

Even more bizarrely, it looks like we've managed to skip Sunday, and judging from everyone else's posts, it looks like this sort of thing has happened before. Anyone care to explain this particularly interesting tidbit of information?

Looks like this is yet another set back in my plans for getting everything situated. Oh no, it's not bad enough that I've ended up in some ruined-out hollow of Manhattan by ways that I don't even have the fortune of knowing about (if I've managed to somehow stabilize the transporter technology and, for some insanely stupid reason, decided to test it out on myself, I'd at least like to remember what it was I fixed) -- there's a giant monster stomping around, its smaller monster buddies also stomping around, limited resources that just got even more limited... it's like this place is trying to kill us or something. Good grief.

Ugh. It took me forever to find a decent place to crash. Who designed this place? It's built like a labyrinth, and this is coming from someone who's from L.A. And I can't believe I'm stuck with text for the time being. I need to find a webcam... or at least a microphone. It's just not the Dr. Horrible Blog Experience Extravaganza without musical accompaniment. Or my commentary. It's like the most important part of the blog.

So, yeah. Anyway. Introduction time.

Greetings, people of Manhattan! Or, at least, that's what I'm assuming this place is, if all the building wreckage and Statue of Liberty with its head missing is any indication. If the wonderfully diverse rainbow of... beings...  that are posting on this stripped-down version of the internet (Some of you aren't even human. And no Google? Seriously?) are any indication of the surviving population here, then I'm pretty sure you're already familiar with the whole bad guy thing. Well, guess what? You're getting a new one. Prepare for a villain the likes of which you've never seen before!

For I am Dr. Horrible! And I have a PhD in horribleness!

Yes, that's the catchphrase. No, don't say anything about it. Unless you're willing to suggest a new one. And even then I may not listen. Because I'm horrible.

Except, you know, all my stuff's missing. Lab equipment, freeze ray, Wonderflonium supplies (I had just stolen that, too), my humongous evil-overlord chair... it's all gone. So you're going to have to wait before I can get back on the ball again.

Not that any of you probably mind or anything. Every second that passes that I haven't begun my reign of terror is another second you can live your lives... not... in terror. Wow, that metaphor fell flat pretty fast.

So yeah. Hi.

How's my driving?

This is my first time playing Billy/Dr. Horrible from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, let alone any sort of villain ever, and I'm a little nervous about my handling of him. I am totally open to constructive criticism and/or suggestions; just leave me a message here. Be truthful! Don't be afraid to tell me if you think I'm screwing up.

All comments are screened, IP logging is off, anonymous is a-okay for honesty. Have at it, guys~