This Year's Model of Humanity

Festivids

butterfly — Mon, 02 Feb 2015 00:02:51 GMT

I've only had time to watch the two vids made for me, but they were both great! They're actually a fantastic example of how the same subject can depicted in multiple ways, because I got two Lina Lamont (Singin in the Rain) character study vids and I'm very happy with both of them!

Diva is kinda of a great linear deconstruction of Lina -- it starts with the glamour and what she wants you to believe about her (how amazing she is) and then the song gets into how she's manipulating the world in order to get what she wants ("diva is a female version of a hustler" is used very well).

Primadonna more stays inside Lina's vision of reality the whole time, and is more folded together rather than linear. The song used in this one, which I'd never heard before, is definitely a great one for Lina, and there's some great moments where you can feel sympathy for Lina's ambitions and needs.

Both vids are gorgeous, and I'm so thrilled that they now exist! I love Singin in the Rain and I've always enjoyed Lina's character. Thank you, anon vidders! ♥
http://butterfly.dreamwidth.org/1400980.html | comments | Comment at Dreamwidth

Vividcon 2014 - Immediate post-Premieres reactions

butterfly — Mon, 11 Aug 2014 19:04:35 GMT

I posted this on tumblr the night of Premieres, but I wanted to bring it over here, too. I'm going to try to do a more detailed review/recs post later on this week as well.

Premieres tonight was a blast. Lots of bloody and depressing vids, but in a fairly enjoyable way. I will link the vids back to this post once I see them pop up online.

The intro vid was by astolat and it was a fun little vid to Science Fiction/Double Feature.

"Fun Lovin' Criminals": The first vid proper was a great OT3 Leverage vid. Gave me lots of feels and made me want to rewatch Leverage.

"Two Against One": This vid was enjoyable. I don't know the fandom at all (it's called 2 Guns) but the vid felt very clear and I followed along really well.

"This Mother's World" This multi-fandom vid to "This Woman's Work" was the first vid of the night to make me cry. I've never wanted kids, but seeing the disappointment and pain of the characters who wanted them and either couldn't have them or lost them was very emotionally affecting.

"Only the Good Die Young": This is a multiverse Catwoman vid and it is delightful! There was no summary, so it was a thrilling discovery to realize that the vid was about her character in her various guises.

"Sweet Ophelia": Terrifying Hannibal vid about the women who have been killed/mutilated/eaten by Hannibal. Amazing editing by trelkez and, you know, emotionally traumatizing.

"The Pier" & "Keep the Car Running": I think I needed more context for both of these vids to get more of a personal reaction from them. I'm not familar with either source (Lie with Me for TP and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (yes, I've never seen it) for KTCR). They were interesting but I didn't get too much emotional reaction from them.

"Myxomatosis": I haven't seen Bates Motel but I've seen Psycho, so this vid was very effective for me. Chilling, violent, really well-edited.

"Carries On": This vid made me cry so hard. It's a tribute to Jim Henson and it has a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff and it's just... great. Very emotional.

"Killers on the Run": A vid to the recent Bonnie & Clyde movie that I haven't seen yet but now I definitely plan to. This vid was quite a ride (very bloody and violent, though, of course, considering the subject matter). And it has Holliday Grainger, who played Lucrezia in The Borgias!

"Bones": And this Luther vid was very compelling. Luther is one of those shows that I keep putting on my 'to watch' list but just haven't gotten around to yet, since it's such a long list. This vid definitely bumped it up on the list.

"Trouble": Very cute "Despicable Me" vid. Colorful and it progresses very well. I haven't seen the movie, but the vid was delightful.

"Instantly": This was a "Welcome to Night Vale" vid. I'm familiar with WtNV fandom but have not listened to the show myself. The vid was really well-done, I thought, considering that all the visuals were constructed by the vidder. I liked it.

"Losing My Religion": Wonderful Hunger Games vid by rhoboat77. Haunting. Gave me so many powerful Katniss feels. The song is a cover by someone named Clelia Vega and I'd never heard it before, but it's absolutely perfect.

"Windmills of Your Mind": A Captain America vid from the PoV of Project Insight! Really interesting. I definitely need to rewatch it to catch all the nuances, but I really liked the progression and seeing the movie from this alternate perspective. astolat did a great job on this.

"Good Man": Delightful Hercules: The Legendary Journeys vid! I had so many nostalgic shipper feels. There was a great emotional journey throughout the vid (the classic love, heartbreak, and love). Lovely vid by trelkez and sweetestdrain).

"Might As Well Be": This is a Star Trek vid about the tragedy of the holograms on ST. The casual depersonalization and how their feelings are brushed off because they aren't 'real'. Really enjoyed it.

"Me and the Devil": This is a creepy vid to a movie or show called The Conjuring. Effective.

"Where Is My Mind": this is a Revolutionary Girl Utena vid. That's another fandom that I don't know, but I think I got the gist of it -- tragic story of two girls who are in love but forcibly separated.

"Fantasy": This was an adorable vid to another fandom that I don't watch. It's a romance-y vid for The Mindy Project and it's very sweet.

"***Flawless": This was a Disney Princesses vid! It worked really well, I think, though it was very fast, so I need to rewatch it so that it can sink in better.

"Call Me Uprising": The Dollhouse vid that I always needed. Seriously, this vid filled a Dollhouse-shaped hole in my heart perfectly. The song is a mash-up and the two different tones of the song really well to match the tone of the show. Fabulous.

"Made For This": Very compelling Cersei Game of Thrones vid by anoel43. It did a really good job of showcasing a trapped, almost claustrophobic feeling, where you can really almost see Cersei flapping her wings helplessly against her gilded cage.

"Wake Me Up": This vid for the recent Sinbad series was a lot of fun. I haven't seen the series but the vid was a fun ride that was easy to follow.

"Requiem for a Dream" (Drive): Does a really good job compressing the feelings of the movie into a much shorter time-span.

"Need a Little Help": Super-cute Middleman vid!

"Frontier": ...I really need to see Snowpiercer. This vid by sweetestdrain was incredibly intense and... I really need to see Snowpiercer. Wow.

"Every Day Is Exactly the Same": This was a very sad, depressing Walking Dead vid. Well-made but depressing as hell. Lots of killing of zombies and very sad people making difficult choices.

"Happy": Last vid of the show and it was a delightful one! bradcpu made a Cosmos vid and it was just thrilling and fantastic. Perfect way to end the show. <3

http://butterfly.dreamwidth.org/1400495.html | comments | Comment at Dreamwidth

So, I kinda ran away and joined tumblr...

butterfly — Sat, 17 May 2014 17:29:49 GMT

I mean, it's a bit more complicated than that -- I've also been dealing with my first full-time job (over a year now!) and various other life changes -- but definitely part of it is that once I joined tumblr, it kinda sucked up a lot of my fannish time.

There's so much fannish energy on there. It moves incredibly fast and you have to run to keep up. And re-joining Supernatural fandom has been... weird. And complicated. All the more so because I'm watching for different reasons now than I was back the first time I was watching the show. And the show is this emotionally-confusing combination of amazing and problematic.

...Robert Berens (new writer for S9), though, is an absolute gem.

But there just isn't all that much activity or enthusiasm for SPN on LJ or DW these days (not that I've found, at least), and there is a ton on tumblr, so that's been where I've been having most of my fandom conversations for the last year+.

Another factor is that I'm not watching as much media these days. The only other show I've been keeping up with on the week-to-week basis is The Vampire Diaries, which just had the season finale this last week, which was suitable epic, in true TVD-style. Well, and Cosmos, which is wall-to-wall awesome science beauty.

But I'm behind on every other show -- like Elementary, Agents of SHIELD, Revenge -- or have given up entirely -- like with Once Upon a Time or Teen Wolf.

Now that we're into summer show haitus, I'm going to try to catch up on media (definitely catching up on AoS -- it sounds like it went from 'good' to 'AWESOME' while I wasn't paying attention), and I'm going to try to keep up on DW and LJ.

I'm seeing a couple of interesting new shows in the works for next season -- Agent Carter (!) and Constantine both look very intriguing. Not sure if I watch to check out The Flash and Gotham or not, though. Indecisive.

I'll definitely be watching the (potentially final) seasons of TVD and SPN. Sleepy Hollow is on my list, too, for sure. It also sounds like Arrow has really gotten people interested, so I kinda want to check some of that out over the summer. I watched and enjoyed the first season of Orphan Black but haven't watched any of the second yet apart from the premiere -- I'm thinking I want to save it up and marathon it. I feel like it's the kind of show that would reward that kind of viewing more than week-to-week.

I'm going to Vividcon in August, and very excited about it. Don't know if I'll have a vid in Premieres or not. It depends on if I end up having enough time to finish one.

http://butterfly.dreamwidth.org/1400138.html | comments | Comment at Dreamwidth

TV: SHIELD and Supernatural

butterfly — Wed, 09 Oct 2013 06:41:40 GMT

AoS is really picking up steam for me. I just like everyone and it makes me happy. I don't have any deep thoughts at the moment, but I'm having fun.

Supernatural: Wow. I'm c/ping what I wrote on tumblr for this. Burning angel wings as the title card. Gorgeous and painful.

Ah, so Dean-in-the-car and Bobby-in-the-car are Sam putting faces on different parts of himself. Oh, that puts a different spin on ‘Dean’ being all “we’re not worrying about Cas right now” — it was actually Sam. Actual-Dean seems plenty able to worry about both. And it was so awesome how he was 100% looking out for both of them and not willing to give up on either. That the show made a point of having the angels try to beat Dean into betraying Cas for Sam’s sake and it doesn’t work… yes.

It’s also really awesome and illuminating to get this extended look into Sam’s headspace.

And the paralleling of Hael asking Castiel to let her in with Ezekiel asking Sam to let him in — nicely done. It makes Sam saying ‘yes’ feel very ominous, even though I do believe that Ezekiel is genuine in wanting to help, since Cas vetted him and all. I’m going to miss Tahmoh, but this has so much awesomesauce potential.

Okay, so the characters.

Sam: He was ready to die (still, actually, since he was ready to die in the church) and it was, again, only Dean protesting that he needs Sam to be alive that kept Sam from letting himself die. He is, literally, living for Dean.

Dean: He defines himself by his brotherly relationship, still, believing he is nothing/a failure if he fails those he loves. And he doesn’t realize how much he is in addition to being Sam’s big brother/father figure.

Cas: This only served to make clear how much he’s failed heaven. Oh, but, wow, was that Hael stuff awesome or what? Anyway, he wants to help Heaven but his heart is definitely still with Dean — as soon as Dean and he talk, he’s off his plan of helping Hael.

This is some really great set-up.

I really love terrible situations where a character makes a choice that is horrifically morally wrong but the other option is simply unthinkable (to them). The moment I started liking Angel (Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel the Series) was in the final episode of S4, when he betrayed his friends in order to save his son and give him a normal life. It was a terrible, awful choice — the wrong thing for a completely understandable reason. He couldn’t not choose saving Connor over everything else, not after how much he’d failed his son before. I finally understood Angel. And it made me go from being generally ‘meh’ on the guy to genuinely loving him.

So, I’m incredibly excited about Dean’s choice and the way he allowed Sam to be tricked into making it, too — because it was Dean making the choice, not Sam. I’m super-excited about the upcoming fall-out. Just. I am excited about how this will pan out.

http://butterfly.dreamwidth.org/1399921.html | comments | Comment at Dreamwidth

Television: Sleepy Hollow, Revenge, Vampire Diaries

butterfly — Tue, 08 Oct 2013 14:57:00 GMT

With both Revenge and Vampire Diaries, one of the feelings I've primarily been feeling so far this season is relief.

I'm so glad that the Original vampires have their own show now, because I think part of what made S4 feel cluttered was them being all up in it. I love Rebekah & wish she could have stayed longer, but I'm perfectly happy to see Klaus and Elijah go off to another show.

The premiere was TVD's usual whirlwind -- new roommate? Nope, dead. Also: knew Elena's dad. dun-dun-DUN.

I really wonder what is up with Tyler & the actor, because it's strange that they want to keep him and Caroline together and yet he's never actually on the show.

Bonnie and her dad. Ugh, I just wanted to hug her, but it wouldn't even work because: ghost. And Bonnie and Jeremy were touching and heartbreaking. I really want her to come back to life and those two to get a happy ending. I want Bonnie to be happy. And not dead. Show, work on that for me, please.

I liked the Damon and Elena stuff because: kissing. Cute. Happy smiles. I just really want everyone to be happy. This is my television viewer curse.

As for Revenge, it was a super-relief to me to actually see them snipping away the bits of S2 that were completely muddled and just didn't work. They're starting again from the core of the show -- Emily, Nolan, the Graysons -- and exploring again from that central place.

Emily back on her path to revenge -- and now with a time limit. I agree with olga_keepout that I have a hard time seeing how they can get back to Jack/Emily from here. No only is he currently actively judging her and against her, he also chose to do something deliberately cruel when he kissed her and then told her he felt nothing.

I was pleasantly surprised that Daniel didn't cheat on Emily. I sorta ship them in an 'I enjoy when Daniel is helplessly in love with her' kind of way, which isn't really shipping because I don't actually want her to be in love back.

And, of course, Nolan and Emily. Nolan is such a wonderful character and I love his dynamic with Emily so much. I just want to wrap him up in cuddles and puppies.

Yay!

Sleepy Hollow continues to be a delight. After last week, though, I am definitely shipping Ichabod/Abbie hardcore.

Abbie and Jenny are the best! I was very excited that the show was going to explore a sister relationship and, yes, I continue to be delighted by what the show chooses to be.

I do wish the Ichabod/Katrina love story had more show and less tell, though Ichabod's convo with the Onstar lady Yolanda was cute. Maybe we'll get some more of that next week.

AoS & Supernatural tonight! I know not everyone is enthused by AoS, but I'm really enjoying it so far. And I'm really looking forward to the Supernatural premiere although I'm not sure if I really believe that they're going to do 'something new' with the brothers. I guess we'll see.

http://butterfly.dreamwidth.org/1399658.html | comments | Comment at Dreamwidth

Television: Sleepy Hollow, Revenge, Vampire Diaries

butterfly — Tue, 08 Oct 2013 14:30:49 GMT

With both Revenge and Vampire Diaries, one of the feelings I've primarily been feeling so far this season is relief.

I'm so glad that the Original vampires have their own show now, because I think part of what made S4 feel cluttered was them being all up in it. I love Rebekah & wish she could have stayed longer, but I'm perfectly happy to see Klaus and Elijah go off to another show.

The premiere was TVD's usual whirlwind -- new roommate? Nope, dead. Also: knew Elena's dad. dun-dun-DUN.

I really wonder what is up with Tyler & the actor, because it's strange that they want to keep him and Caroline together and yet he's never actually on the show.

Bonnie and her dad. Ugh, I just wanted to hug her, but it wouldn't even work because: ghost. And Bonnie and Jeremy were touching and heartbreaking. I really want her to come back to life and those two to get a happy ending. I want Bonnie to be happy. And not dead. Show, work on that for me, please.

I liked the Damon and Elena stuff because: kissing. Cute. Happy smiles. I just really want everyone to be happy. This is my television viewer curse.

As for Revenge, it was a super-relief to me to actually see them snipping away the bits of S2 that were completely muddled and just didn't work. They're starting again from the core of the show -- Emily, Nolan, the Graysons -- and exploring again from that central place.

Emily back on her path to revenge -- and now with a time limit. I agree with olga_keepout that I have a hard time seeing how they can get back to Jack/Emily from here. No only is he currently actively judging her and against her, he also chose to do something deliberately cruel when he kissed her and then told her he felt nothing.

I was pleasantly surprised that Daniel didn't cheat on Emily. I sorta ship them in an 'I enjoy when Daniel is helplessly in love with her' kind of way, which isn't really shipping because I don't actually want her to be in love back.

And, of course, Nolan and Emily. Nolan is such a wonderful character and I love his dynamic with Emily so much. I just want to wrap him up in cuddles and puppies.

Yay!

Sleepy Hollow continues to be a delight. After last week, though, I am definitely shipping Ichabod/Abbie hardcore.

Abbie and Jenny are the best! I was very excited that the show was going to explore a sister relationship and, yes, I continue to be delighted by what the show chooses to be.

I do wish the Icahbod/Katrina love story had more show and less tell, though Ichabod's convo with the Onstar lady Yolanda was cute. Maybe we'll get some more of that next week.

AoS & Supernatural tonight! I know not everyone is enthused by AoS, but I'm really enjoying it so far. And I'm really looking forward to the Supernatural premiere although I'm not sure if I really believe that they're going to do 'something new' with the brothers. I guess we'll see.

http://butterfly.dreamwidth.org/1399658.html | comments | Comment at Dreamwidth

Fall TV Update

butterfly — Thu, 03 Oct 2013 05:12:27 GMT

Sleepy Hollow is already on its third episode. Man, feels like it started just yesterday.

I'm really enjoying Abbie and Ichabod's budding relationship. It's moving fast but the actors have enough chemistry to pull off the fact that they're pretty much at 'die for you' levels already. I was also delighted/mildly sickened by the return of Dead John Cho in the second episode. I hope he comes back, in ever more body-horror type ways. I also really loved Abbie's sister, Jenny. It's rare to have a well-developed and complex sister-sister relationship in genre shows, so I'm looking forward to how that unfolds. Plus, she's kinda got a Sarah Connor vibe to her, which I can't deny loving.

The actual plotline is fairly irrelevant to me, as it generally is in horror/supernatural-type shows.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has a very long name. I will probably end up calling it AoS a lot.

From glancing around the internet, I think I'm in the minority when I say I've really enjoyed what we've gotten so far. I'm not taking it terribly seriously at the moment, but I've had a lot of fun watching each episode. And I'm looking forward to seeing the little seasonal plots unfolding -- Ward deciding to try to mentor Skye into being a capable Shield agent sounds like a plotline with a lot of potential (assuming it doesn't go the romance route), especially with her loyalties beginning to be torn between Rising Tide and SHIELD. Melinda May and Coulson are both great as the mature grounding presences who are molding these kids into being a team (if somewhat reluctantly on Melinda's part, and I do also just enjoy 'wearied soldier pulled back into action' as a general trope). I like the science twins and their often-overlapping dialogue. I like the cameos and the MCU callbacks.

Elementary just had its premiere last week, so this is going to be outdated soon! But, yeah, I overall enjoyed it. Not thrilled about the mean-spirited jabs at people who are fat, but it does seem impossible to find a show that doesn't have something problematic. Joan and Sherlock's relationship continues to unfold and grow like a beautiful flower, and I enjoyed getting to meet this version's Mycroft and Lestrade.

All of those shows are definitely staying on my 'to watch' list.

I haven't had a chance to watch Revenge yet. I kinda burned out last season on both Revenge and Once Upon a Time, but I've heard some good things about Revenge's premiere, so I'm going to try to watch last week's episode this Friday. OUaT, on the other hand, I think I may be done with. There are some things that I loved about the show, but S2 focused so much on stuff I didn't care about (mostly Hook) and the promo for S3 promises more of the same. Plus, I'm kinda in a place with that show where it seems like I disagree both with the show and with the most vocal part of fandom -- while I do dislike that the show's major adoptive parent is intermittently undermined as counting as a parent at all, I also think Regina is a horrible, horrible mother who tried to convince her son that he was insane and who periodically keeps trying to kill his blood relations, so I can't be on her side either.

Plus, on a different issue, I keep being bothered by the fact that a show that is based on the power of true love is so persistently and consistently heterosexual. It feels incredibly dismissive, in a way that I don't feel when I'm not watching shows that explicitly contain the power of 'true love'.

I watched and loved Orphan Black, though the finale had some underwhelming moments. I think there's a longish wait for the second season of that, but I'm totally there for it when it comes out.

I sorta watched part of S3 of Teen Wolf but I think our relationship may be over. It's so obvious the writers don't care about anything making the slightest bit of character or show sense. I just can't handle that in a show.

Shows still to come:

The Vampire Diaries airs tomorrow. Looking forward to Damon and Elena actually being in a relationship. The whole sire bond mess was... it still makes zero sense to me as an actual thing that happened. Logically, it didn't work in any of the ways described by the show -- there were too many conflicts. So, I'm glad that over and done.

I'm worried about this Bonnie situation. She's going to be a ghost but will she come back to life? Will she continue to be a regular? Do not take my Bonnie away, show.

I don't have that many spoilers about the show, though I know they're out there. But I'm content to have it mostly be a mystery until it happens on my screen. Looking forward to seeing the characters again. I'm attached.

I'm also going to check out The Originals because, hey, why not? We'll see if it's any good! I do love Rebekah.

Supernatural starts next Tuesday. I'm both excited and nervous. It's been a weird thing, getting back into SPN fandom. Not the least of which is discovering that, these days, there are definite camps and I'm not sharing one with most of the people I was talking about the show with back when I was watching it during S2/S3. So, that's been interesting. It's also a fascinating study in how changing the showrunner changes the focus and, in the case of SPN, changes the genre. Kripke was horror, Gamble was character drama/noir, and Carver is action-adventure.

The last show that I'm waiting to premiere is Almost Human, which won't happen until November. But, hey, Michael Ealy and Karl Urban! Let's hope it doesn't suck.

http://butterfly.dreamwidth.org/1399395.html | comments | Comment at Dreamwidth

Sleepy Hollow 1x01: premiere

butterfly — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 05:08:49 GMT

Definitely going to keep watching this one.

The casting was great. I don't know any of the main actors, but I loved them. I can see that they're setting up for a potential long-haul of a story, as well as having stuff for the first season. I definitely hope this show keeps on going. Very enjoyable premiere.

John Cho! Good to see you, sad to see you go. I wasn't sure if the show would be able to swing keeping him around, so I wasn't too surprised to see him killed off, but I did not see the twist about him on the side of Death coming.

I kinda hope, if the show keeps doing flashbacks, that they'll calm down a bit in how they present them. Lil too much at times, there.

I really like Abbie and Ichabod. Looking forward to seeing a partnership grow there (making assumptions but, yeah, pretty sure it's going to happen, lol).

I'm curious about how big a presence the spirit of Katerina will be in the show.

All in all, off to a good start.

http://butterfly.dreamwidth.org/1399210.html | comments | Comment at Dreamwidth

butterfly — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 02:51:20 GMT

So, for me, fall television season is starting tomorrow, because I'm going to be checking out Sleepy Hollow.

Premieres are really scattered about this season, but this is what I'm planning on watching (new shows in bold):

Monday: 8 pm - Almost Human (Nov 4)
9 pm - Sleepy Hollow (Sep 15)
Tuesday: 8 pm - Agents of SHIELD (Sep 24)
9 pm - Supernatural (Oct 8)
Wednesday: n/a
Thursday: 8 pm - The Vampire Diaries (Oct 3)
9 pm - The Originals (Oct 3)
10 pm - Elementary (Sep 26)
Friday: n/a
Saturday: n/a
Sunday: 8 pm - Once Upon a Time (Sep 29)
9 pm - Revenge (Sep 29)

I'm going to try to keep up with TVD and Revenge here. I know I've been neglecting y'all for tumblr & for my job, but I'll try to post at least about those two shows. I'm really looking forward to have a Joss show back on my tv, that's for sure, so I will probably squee about AoS.

http://butterfly.dreamwidth.org/1399010.html | comments | Comment at Dreamwidth

Vid: Firework (Supernatural)

butterfly — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 14:25:56 GMT

Song: Firework
Artist: Katy Perry
Fandom: Supernatural
Summary: Dean Winchester and the little sister he never (knew he) wanted.
Pairing(s): Dean/Castiel; Charlie/Gilda; minor other pairings

.mov file 222 MB; zipped
.avi file 46.1 MB; zipped
.divx file 15 MB; zipped
.mp4 file 32 MB; zipped

For Vividcon 2013 Premieres. Feedback is always appreciated. Many thanks to par_avion for hosting the video.

Notes
I spent a good three and a half years completely out of the Supernatural fandom until I got dragged back in by gifs on tumblr. It's been a bit of a roller coaster but there are some things about it that have been 100% positive. Among them is the adorable and healthy sibling-ish relationship that has developed between Dean Winchester, badass hunter (and secret nerd), and Charlie Bradbury, brilliant nerd (and secret badass).

http://butterfly.dreamwidth.org/1398743.html | comments | Comment at Dreamwidth

Poly Big Bang

butterfly — Fri, 12 Jul 2013 04:45:41 GMT

I'm thinking about signing up for the poly big bang. Not sure what the fandom would be yet (I'm thinking about MCU, though the new Trek film gave me some Kirk/Spock/Uhura feelings. Or I could write more JMDV). Anyway, thought I'd pass on the link for the comm in case other people are interested and haven't seen it mentioned yet.

Come and join polybigbang, a multifandom threesomes or moresome big bang!

FAQ/Rules/Schedule
Sign Ups: Author | Artist

http://butterfly.dreamwidth.org/1398305.html | comments | Comment at Dreamwidth

Yesterday, I saw Man of Steel and The Heat

butterfly — Fri, 05 Jul 2013 14:38:30 GMT

First I saw Man of Steel. Overall, a good movie. The bad parts was mostly just that the fight scenes at the end went on way too long and there was way too much needless destruction.

But I loved the Krypton stuff and the flashbacks and Lois and Perry and the Kents. Jonathan, you are such a stubborn old coot. Martha = <3. And I really liked Faora. Zod as okay but not spectacular.

Amy did a terrific job as Lois! I was so hoping she would, because I love her. And Henry was a good Clark/Kal as well. As far as female characters in general, MoS did a great job. Not as good as some of the Marvel movies (I'm looking at Thor in particular) but heads and shoulders above the recent Batman reboot. And above Superman Returns from half a decade ago. Rebooting the continuity is a much better choice than trying to go off the older movies, I think.

And then I saw The Heat. Holy shit, this was funny. Sandra and Melissa have a great dynamic. And it also had some very solid dramatic moments as well. Not perfect but a whole heck of a lot of fun.

And I'm definitely shipping Sandra and Marlon's characters. That last scene with them was super-charming. If they ever do a sequel, I would want those two to be dating because of reasons of cuteness.

http://butterfly.dreamwidth.org/1398074.html | comments | Comment at Dreamwidth

Movie: Star Trek Into Darkness

butterfly — Tue, 28 May 2013 03:28:03 GMT

On Saturday, I went to IM3 with my mom. Today, I went to Star Trek Into Darkness with my dad.

Casting Benedict as Khan was all kinds of wrong. He's a good enough actor but he didn't work in that part at all. For both the whitewashing and also temperament. He didn't feel like Khan.

The Admiral Marcus side of the villain table worked a lot better for me. Section 31 being mentioned gave me all kinds of DS9-feelings (DS9 is my favorite ST TV series).

The Carol Marcus underwear scene was definitely gratuitous (why do we have to have the gratuitous female nudity, Hollywood? Would it kill you to at least make it relevant, the way that you do when male characters get naked? I felt the same way about the random beauty pageant in IM3), but I actually didn't get a creepy, disrespectful vibe from Kirk. He seemed distracted and confused, actually -- he genuinely didn't seem to get that she was asking him to turn his back because she was going to strip and he looked surprised when he saw that she was in her underwear. And I did get that creepster vibe somewhat in the first movie (like in the Uhura-underwear scene), so. Yeah, I don't know. I didn't get it this time. He just seemed startled and off-guard for most of that scene.

And, for Carol, I really liked the Admiral Marcus-Carol Marcus dynamic. It felt real and she got to show complexity of emotion; it rounded out her character and I liked that she had such a strong moral drive, because that should be a key part to her.

I wasn't too surprised when Pike died -- he was way more of a mentor figure in these movies than he was in the original series and mentors always die at some point.

I liked Kirk getting busted down and basically all of that stuff. And the inter-crew relationships were good. The actors have gelled well together, I think. I do wonder how effective the 'death' scene was for people who haven't watched TWOK, though, because so much of what made it work for me was because of how it mirrored TWOK and how Kirk was determined to be the one to sacrifice himself for the ship, not Spock (or anyone else). And then Spock going all revenge-obsessive after Kirk was 'killed'.

Also re: Kirk -- while TOS!Kirk comes across (to me) as bisexual/biromantic with a leaning towards women, AOS!Kirk comes across as straight-up heterosexual/homoromantic. Which I find interesting.

The Spock/Uhura relationship worked a lot better for me in this movie. In the first movie, it really felt like they shortchanged the relationship in order to better make it a surprise that Kirk didn't 'get the girl' and that wasn't an issue in this movie.

Plus, Kirk and Uhura have really settled into being friends who respect each other. It's awesome.

I knew that Noel Clarke (Mickey from Doctor Who) was in the movie, but it was great to see him and he did a wonderful job. Yay for you, Noel!

http://butterfly.dreamwidth.org/1397778.html | comments | Comment at Dreamwidth

Movie: Iron Man 3

butterfly — Sat, 25 May 2013 22:54:39 GMT

Thank you to everyone. I went to the movies with my mom today, which cheered us both up.

Definitely better than IM2. Not quite as good as Avengers, but a very enjoyable movie.

Tony and Pepper continue to have zero romantic and sexual chemistry for me, so that part of the movie doesn't resonate like it does for people who do see them as believable lovers/partners. They spend the bulk of the movie separated, so it's not that much of an issue. And I've been mourning since IM2 that they didn't get to travel the less-used road in cinema and actually have a strong platonic male & female friendship that gets to be focused on, so I should probably move on and just be grateful that at least these days, I have Joan Watson and Sherlock Holmes on Elementary.

The random beauty pageant felt extremely gratuitous and just like an excuse to shove pretty women wearing next-to-nothing into the movie.

I pretty much loved everything else. Tony, JARVIS, Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy all made great returns. Don worked a lot better for me as Rhodey in this movie than he did in his first outing. The friendship with Tony felt strong and believable.

I really loved the bad guys! The flip between expectations and reality worked extremely well. Liked that Pepper got to deal the final blow to Killian. I find it super-fun that Pepper has Extremis now; I'd been wondering if they would do Rescue (especially after having been spoiled on Pepper being in the suit) and this was an unexpected way of doing something similar.

I felt completely pleased and spoiled by how much awesome JARVIS stuff was in here. I love JARVIS.

I liked Maya; sad she died. And I actually was kinda 'shipping her and Pepper there for a second before the reveal on her loyalties. I thought she had chemistry with both Pepper and Tony. If anyone has written or seen any Maya/Pepper fic, kindly hook a girl up with that.

I was surprised by how well the kid worked; kids don't always work for me in movies, not with extensive screentime, anyway. He did a good job and he and Tony had a nice rapport.

They basically did a vid for their credits sequence and it worked nicely.

And the post-credits sequence was adorable! Bruce!

http://butterfly.dreamwidth.org/1397652.html | comments | Comment at Dreamwidth

Supernatural: Season Gr8 (through 8x23)

butterfly — Fri, 17 May 2013 04:37:19 GMT

'tis what the kids on tumblr have been calling it all season. I originally posted this on tumblr but figured I'd post it here, too. I've actually been pretty involved in SPN fandom on tumblr for the past few months. It's a way different format than LJ & I still feel iffy about parts of it, but there's so much good meta out there.

In General

On the whole, I’m really happy about my choice to start watching Supernatural again this season. There were some weak episodes (basically everything by Bruckner and Ross-Leming) & definitely some problematic things (which I will cover at the very end), but I’m glad I watched & will definitely be watching S9.

I’m impressed with how Carver committed to his three-year structure in the finale — makes me feel like the CW PTB do believe in his vision. The character tension he’s set up with Cas and Dean was left very much unresolved, with a set-up for S9 that is ripe for even more tension (Cas is on Earth but not by choice — Dean got what he wanted but in a way he never wanted it).

Pacing-wise, the only issue I have is that I still wish 8x19 had been two episodes, with Sam spending considerably more time in Hell. Otherwise, I’ve felt pleased at how the pace has moved this season.

I was pleased but unsurprised when the show didn’t press a ‘reset’ on S8 (honestly, I’ve never quite gotten why so many people suspected it would all be a dream or a manipulation) — we’ve gotten so many great things this season: little sister Charlie, little sister Krissy, MoL bunker, Dean and Cas’s relationship becoming more complex and nuanced, AARON (he deserves capslock), Abaddon, Benny, Dean coming into himself in a lot of ways (though, like Thursday’s child, he still has far to go), Sam getting the chance to begin to confront everything that’s been weighing around his neck since S3/4.

I was pleased and surprised by all the angels falling. Game-changer, indeed. Visually stunning as well.

I’m really glad that we got that mention in an interview/con (I don’t recall which) that S9 would pick up right when S8 left off, because we need that, for sure.

The plotlines that are set-up for S9 are all really exciting to me, especially given the overall way things have been done in S8.

I am also impressed with how the show bumped up Cas’s importance in a way that felt natural — because he was still gone so often this season, but his memory lingered in a way it didn’t in previous seasons (except S7, when grief over losing Cas haunted Dean’s character, though in a subtle enough way that people who disliked it could ignore the mentions if they wanted). He became a part of the show’s structure of parallels in a way that he hasn’t been before; which contributed to that feeling I had of Cas being the “third lead who happens to be gone a lot”. It was all definitely prep for Cas actually being around more in S9 & I’m mostly happy with how they did it.

Finally, the problematic things, though even this part is more positive than negative:

When I came back to the show, I signed up suspecting there would be sexism, racism, and homophobia, because all those things were very present in the show when I quit back in the start of S4. The sexism has been somewhat lighter than I expected, the racism was about what I expected, but, boy howdy, the show has come miles from S3/4 on homophobia. When I left in S4, all the gay characters the show had introduced were dead fairly quickly — Lily in S2 & Corbett in S3, plus Dean actively used a gay slur in… I think it was S3 but it may have been S2. The primary mentions of queer-related things were gay jokes re: Sam and Dean’s relationship.

Since then? They’ve had a gay couple who didn’t die (S5), a minor nameless pair of lgbt+ characters who kissed and didn’t die (S6), a re-occurring lesbian character who hasn’t died (S7) and who had a hero’s journey including romance in S8, and a Heaven-endorsed gay couple who didn’t die (S8). The show has also actively had characters, including audience PoV character Dean, refute the idea that being gay is wrong more than once.

The transmisogyny we need to work on, though*.

And while I am leery of potential queerbaiting, I am also kinda astonished that SPN has progressed so far in its queer relations that the idea of Dean & Cas becoming canon is so plausible to so many people. Would not have seen that coming back in S3/4.

* I kinda want to assign the SPN writers homework in the form of watching Elementary. And perhaps Spartacus for how you can successfully balance queer relationships in the same show as strong platonic male-male bonds. Both shows are also great with female characters and diversity.

On the Church Scene with Sam & Dean

What Sam and Dean said during the church at the end was very interesting to me because of what was said and wasn’t said. Because Sam is a little jealous of Cas, just like he was jealous of Benny.

“I killed Benny to save you,” Dean protests. He’s willing to let Crowley go! He would never put anything in front of Sammy!

Except that’s not true. And he doesn’t specifically refute Sam’s mention of an angel the way he does Sam’s mention of a vampire. Because Sam might not know that Dean was willing to die rather than leave Purgatory without Cas but Dean knows (and, of course, the audience knows; there’s a reason we had those flashbacks). The part of him that spent months searching Cas out rather than go home to his brother has been pushed back and back in Dean’s head under the weight of all of the evidence that Cas doesn’t have the same need for him, but Dean knows it’s there. It was there in 8x19, when Naomi played on his deepest pains and fears regarding Cas. It was there in his eyes tonight, when Cas told him — told him as something that was going to happen, something that Dean had no right to have input in — that he was going to lock himself up in Heaven with the rest of the angels. That Dean would never see him again. “I need you”, Dean told Cas but he’s seen no evidence that it meant a damn thing to Cas (and, of course, that’s why it was also so important for the audience to see last week how much it did matter to Cas that he’d hurt Dean). Because it doesn’t matter — searching for Castiel in Purgatory, praying to him, begging him. It didn’t make a difference (as far as Dean could see).

When Sam had to choose between another life and staying with Dean, he chose Dean. When Cas had to choose — well, from what Dean could see, he chose not-Dean. He chose a life separate from Dean.

Ugh, the tension between what the characters know and what the audience knows is so thick.

Anyway, yay for season Gr8! It was a lot of fun, for the most part. Glad I watched!

http://butterfly.dreamwidth.org/1397151.html | comments | Comment at Dreamwidth

Vampire Diaries 4x23 - Graduation (briefly)

butterfly — Fri, 17 May 2013 04:17:25 GMT

So, apparently all the sire bond messiness actually was just bad writing? Frankly, I'm disappointed, Julie Plec. None of it holds together or makes any kind of coherent sense.

*sigh*

I am pretty stunned that they apparently killed off Bonnie for real. OTOH, they brought back the person who talks to ghosts & the other side still exists, so Bonnie can still appear? IDK, I have complicated feelings. I love Jeremy but I love Bonnie.

You know who I bet is thrilled right now? Paul Wesley. He gets to play an actual bad guy. I bet he's dancing in the streets.

I liked the scene where Damon and Elena were all "you know, we're probably all kinds of bad together but I love you so w/e". I liked all the bonding w/ dead people scenes as well.

It sounds like Tyler might come back next season? Possibly? I guess it depends on contracts & storylines, but the way is clear.

http://butterfly.dreamwidth.org/1396986.html | comments | Comment at Dreamwidth

Television: Spartacus

butterfly — Sun, 12 May 2013 22:10:49 GMT

I finished watching Spartacus and I'm not sure I've ever had a more satisfying television-series experience in my life.

As befitted a show about a slave uprising, it was very subversive at times and defied a lot of tropes.

Both Andy and Liam did wonderful jobs as Spartacus.

It’s hard to think of any actor who fell short (example: the actor playing Tiberius Crassus certainly did an excellent job of making me hate and despise him). I was always invested in the story and the show was very fast-paced. I loved the variety of relationships on display — everything from the broken master/slave relationship of Crassus and Kore* to the mutual and healthy relationship that Nasir and Agron developed.

My list of favorite characters is near-endless. And such a variety of them. I felt spoilt for choice with the female characters — Saxa, Naevia, Laeta, Melitta, Lucrezia and Ilithyia, Mira, Sybil, doomed Kore. So many different women, all complex and interesting characters.

The show had some great friendships — Gannicus and Oenomaus, Gannicus and Melitta**, Agron and Spartacus, Spartacus and Varro, Castus and Nasir, the more fractious one between Spartacus and Crixus.

And the themes. The worth of freedom and how Spartacus was able to win even in dying because he died free. How even though, technically, Crassus won the battle, he lost on every level that mattered — through his own choices, his son and lover were lost to him, he wasn’t able to see Spartacus die as he wished, and he did not even get to claim credit for the victory. It was a victory of bitter ash for him.

I really appreciated the show’s approach to oppression — I like how the show does illustrate that the Roman system hurts the even the most elite Romans as well, by caging them into enacting behaviors that mostly led to their own misery, while make certain that never overshadowed the people most damaged and restricted by the system.

I loved the character arcs — Naevia, Gannicus, Nasir, Crixus, and Agron all had particularly good ones. I kinda loved that Saxa’s response to Gannicus falling for Sybil was to go get herself a hot girlfriend, too. You were awesome, Saxa.

And I really appreciated the subversiveness of the gay couple surviving. That was one of the main reasons I watched the show, because I heard about the ending, and it was very emotionally satisfying to get to see it.

Oh, and Sura’s prophecy/dream/warning came true! I found that delightful, idk.

Sura: “My husband on his knees, bowing before a great red serpent. The life draining from his veins.”
Spartacus: “What meaning did you take from it?”
Sura: “A warning. If you go to war, you are destined for great and unfortunate things.”

I loved how much the ending did harken back to the beginning. The whole series was just so well-crafted. I am definitely on board for whatever series Steven S. DeKnight does next. He goes for the guts and the heart.

* When he found out the truth about Tiberius, I was so tense the whole scene, uncertain whether or not he would kill her. I was not so much surprised to see her up on a cross with Gannicus at the end, as I was resigned. Crassus defined himself by his ‘noble Roman’ identity and by doing so managed to destroy all the good things in his life.

** they were a friendship first and most primary; that was part of what fucked with their heads so much

(also posted on tumblr)

I'm probably going to end up rewatching it and writing meta. Because I've been looking for meta and not finding any (if you know of any, please inform me! I'd love to read it).

http://butterfly.dreamwidth.org/1396694.html | comments | Comment at Dreamwidth

Mostly Vampire Diaries 4x22 -- The Walking Dead

butterfly — Fri, 10 May 2013 03:26:45 GMT

Jeremy and Alaric are such perfection, omg, I missed you guys. Group hug! And Grams! Hi, Grams!

*hugs them*

The Caroline cutting herself scene made me flinch. Little close to home there, visually.

It's so weird to me that the show is building up Matt/Rebekeh when we know that Rebekah is going to TO (unless maybe Matt is also going -- arabian started wondering about that possibility last week).

Ugh, Elena's stuff and Bonnie's stuff was all so emotional. That ending, wow. "I'm dead."

I don't think she's going to stay dead but, damn, wow.

I'm so glad that the ghosts were genuine ghosts of the people and not just illusions by Silas or anything like that. Having Alaric and Jeremy and Grams there for real was wonderful. Ugh, all the Alaric/Damon stuff was... I missed their friendship. And Elena getting to hug her baby brother. Many emotions.

So, Lexi also noticed that Stefan is possibly noticing Caroline. Hmm, I see you, show.

The finale is going to be killer.

http://butterfly.dreamwidth.org/1396271.html | comments | Comment at Dreamwidth

Mostly Vampire Diaries 4x21 -- She's Come Undone (and a bit on other things)

butterfly — Sun, 05 May 2013 05:47:49 GMT

I had the chance to watch TVD 4x20 and 4x21. I didn't have too many thoughts about the backdoor pilot for The Originals, so, briefly, I like Marcel. Rebekah is a constant source of joy. JM is a good actor. For those three reasons, I will give TO a try when it airs.

I have more thoughts on "She's Come Undone", though not terribly many: I like that the torture was completely pointless and Elena was completely in control the whole time. The actual way her emotions turned back on -- first a burst of joy that Matt (the boy she died for) was still alive, and then the slow-burning embers of her hate for Katherine -- was excellent, I thought.

I'm glad that Liz is still alive! I was worried. Good Caroline stuff this week, I thought, and I always enjoy getting a focus on Caroline and Liz's relationship. And Bonnie is a BAMF.

I've been watching Spartacus here and there for the last few weeks and really enjoying it. I've just started the third (last) season. It is incredibly bloody, though, so if that's a concern, it's not the show for you. But the characters are great and I love the way the show has illustrated the complexities of the system of oppression the Romans had set up.

And, on a less cheerful note, for some reason, seeing all the enthusiasm for IM3 makes me feel... less enthused? IDK, I've gotten to the point where I feel like it can't possibly live up to the fandom hype.

Eh, I probably just feel that way because I haven't see it yet and won't get the chance for at least another week. I don't know.

There are many good things about having a steady job that you like -- but I do find myself with a lack of free time.

I've been watching and enjoying Supernatural -- loved the episode two weeks ago with Charlie (so much love for Charlie; she's a gem) and enjoyed this week's episode as well.

I've fallen behind on Revenge and Once Upon a Time. Hopefully, I will get the chance to catch up soon.

http://butterfly.dreamwidth.org/1396091.html | comments | Comment at Dreamwidth

Vampire Diaries 4x19 -- Pictures of You

butterfly — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 03:15:42 GMT

I had a lot of Bonnie/Jeremy feelings this whole episode. They're so pretty together and it's so sad. I wanted it to be real, too. I miss you, Jeremy.

It's nice for Caroline that she got to spend time with Tyler. And the actually-real Tyler, even. Her hair was very cute and her dance with Stefan was nice, too.

Vampires with no humanity do terrible things: the Elena edition.

I can't hear "Stay" without thinking of all the stuff that is known about Rihanna and Chris Brown, so that was a distracting song choice.

Well, Klaus is petty* and that's why he loses the cure; Rebekah was a pawn, sorry Rebekah; and Elijah was tricked because he's too trusting. That kinda does sum each of them up.

* Elijah called him 'hollow' and, yes, he really is.

http://butterfly.dreamwidth.org/1395725.html | comments | Comment at Dreamwidth

Vampire Diaries 4x17/4x18

butterfly — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 03:05:25 GMT

Overall thoughts:
TVD loves to draw out their seasonal mysteries/lies -- in S1, we had the lie of Katherine in the tomb for the first half of the season, S2 had the Sun & Moon curse, S3 had Alaric's brain being poisoned by Esther. Obviously, I'm hoping history will repeat itself with the sire bond because, like the S&M curse, it makes zero sense. Zero logical or emotional sense. Any version of it that I've seen people try to argue falls apart with continuity errors. The only way for it to make sense is if it doesn't exist.

For me, Klaus is just a hilarious douchebag. He's such a vindictive person. I enjoy watching him because it all comes across as such deliberate characterization. Joseph Morgan knows (and has spoken about how) Klaus is an asshole and so I can just sit back and go, "yup, what a petty, horrible man". I don't ever feel like anyone is trying to convince me that he's good or redeemable or anything other than a selfish and childish monster. I enjoy watching him on-screen but constantly want bad things to happen to his character. What he did with Caroline at the end of "Because the Night" was so completely Klaus and thus also very petty and cruel. Pettiness and cruelty are at the foundation of his character.

My current hope is that he gets the cure stuffed down his throat in an upcoming episode. He would be so utterly miserable about it and I would just find that delightful.

Some brief thoughts on "Because the Night":

Elena's new hair is adorable! I love the Elena/Rebekah team-up! Rebekah is awesome.

We now know how tall Elena/Katherine officially are on the show; this pleases me.

Oh, Damon. Just, in general. He's so very Damon.

Lexi... ah, well. It actually did fit in with some of her previous actions fairly well. And I loved her hair.

Poor Bonnie. :-(

Poor Caroline. :-(

Poor twelve dead witches. :-(

And thoughts on "American Gothic":

The opening scenes gave me "Ben is Glory" flashbacks (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), which made me giggle (in a good way!).

Overall, I thought that was an excellent episodes. Loved all the Elena-Rebekah-Katherine scenes. Enjoyed the Katherine/Elijah interplay. Always like Original sibs interacting. And I adored the ending with Elena's humanity-switch off ultimatum. Very S1!Damon, yes? Glad that the show is going there with her character and not shying away.

Basically, I enjoyed every bit of the episode.

http://butterfly.dreamwidth.org/1395405.html | comments | Comment at Dreamwidth

Lessons of Icarus: Enyo's Daughter & Fires of Hephaestus (Avengers; Natasha/Tony)

butterfly — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 21:21:42 GMT

Series Title: Lessons of Icarus
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Natasha/Tony (primary)
Author's Note: Thanks to scrollgirl and chosenfire28 for encouragement and support. Additional thanks to scrollgirl for helping me when I was stuck.

Title: Enyo's Daughter
Summary: Natasha's always fallen in love with weapons.
Status: Complete

Location: AO3

Title: Fires of Hephaestus
Summary: In all honesty, Tony is beginning to wonder about his taste in women.
Status: 1/6

Location: AO3

http://butterfly.dreamwidth.org/1395141.html | comments | Comment at Dreamwidth

Once Upon a Time: 2x17

butterfly — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 18:25:29 GMT

Finally got around to watching this!

Seeing how much Regina was basking in everyone else's misery when they first got to Storybrooke really reminded me of how she is generally a horrible person. I mean, I hadn't really forgotten it, but this episode really put it in the foreground.

Ugh, the Regina/Graham stuff is squicky. I mean, the whole point of SB is to make people not!Regina unhappy and to make her happy. And she can and is willing to mind-control him via his heart. So, yeah. Major squick there.

And this episode also pointed out why Henry figured out that Regina had to be lying to him -- the not-aging but also that people kept repeating the same patterns unless pushed to a different one by Regina or himself (or Gold, sneakily). Every 'night before' the sign has fallen and Ruby has stayed out late. Every day, it's the day to build birdhouses. Every day, Cinderella is on the exact same day of her pregnancy. They're stuck in a state of miserable stasis until Emma finally made time start moving forward again.

It also reminded me of how desperately Regina worked to keep the other people in the town (and especially Snow) miserable back in S1, despite realizing that forcing other people to dance to her tune didn't actually make her happy in the long run, only momentarily. And yet she's also completely unwilling to ever try to be a better person so that people will actually like her rather than just fear her. She just has zero understanding of how people actually work, you know?

(and did the show want me to feel bad for Regina when she's crying over Owen? I mean, she's withholding a father from a kid who already lost his mother. I don't care how many tears she cries -- she's making it all about her and ignoring the people that she's hurting. I mean, what happened to Owen's dad? Did she kill him?)

Rumple was right -- Regina's fundamental problem is that she's incapable of learning from life.

I'm...not sure if there is any way to fix that. Especially since Regina is aware of it and yet continues to refuse to learn. So, it's not even that she can't learn; it's that she won't.

Also, it's weird to talk about how Rumple is right. But it's easier to diagnose someone else's problems than your own, so maybe it makes perfect sense that he can see what's wrong with Regina's approach while still effing up his own.

I do have sympathy for her pain over her mother -- it's horrible to lose a parent, even a terrible one.

re: the obvious logic gap between Snow's heart having a dark spot and Cora's heart not appearing to have any -- might be based only on actions done while the heart is inside the body, yes? Cora didn't start killing people until after she'd already pulled out her own heart, so it remained untouched all that time.

Also, this episode once again pointed out: Snow gets things done; Regina likes to gloat and gloat. Which is why Regina still hasn't managed to kill Snow after years of hating her while once Snow decided to off Cora, it happened in a matter of days. Like, I'm pretty sure what she did at the end of this episode is going to backfire on her.

And I'm not sure why she thinks Snow 'going bad' would make Henry automatically revert to her? Seems more likely he'd just wash his hands of the entire mess and, idk, move to Alaska and take up ice-fishing. Regina is far more likely to end up with 'nothing' than 'everything' if she continue the way she's going. Once again, I think it's tied back to how Regina just doesn't understand the way other people think and feel. Lack of empathy strikes again.

And whoo! Loved the reveal on "Gregor Mendel" being the kid that Regina screwed over at the beginning of the SB period. That was awesome.

http://butterfly.dreamwidth.org/1394923.html | comments | Comment at Dreamwidth

Vampire Diaries 4x16 -- Bring It On

butterfly — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 21:53:19 GMT

So now everyone has decided that the sire bond (*cough* fake *cough*) no longer works because Elena has buried her 'human feelings'. Did anyone else notice that Elena was more herself/less cold & dead with Damon in this episode than she was with anyone else? Someone (Damon in S2, maybe?) compared the 'switch' to a dimmer at some point -- I feel like that's probably a more accurate way of talking about it. It's not actually turning off the emotions; it's repressing them for later. Several vampires, I think have confirmed that -- that the emotions are right there, bubbling under the surface, but using the 'switch' lets you push them away for a time.

So, Klaus and Hayley are... eh. I'm glad she was the person he had sex with (Klaus having sex soon was spoiled a while back), because it's hard to think of any other character on the show where that wouldn't've have been cringe-inducing.

Caroline and Elena's friendship issues finally come to a head in this episode. They've been circling around them off and on all season. Personally, I think it would be healthy of both of them to take a step back and not try to believe they're 'best friends' right now, because I think that label has been keeping them from dealing with the various conflicts of interest that they have between them and have had between them since pre-S1.

Damon's thing with Will was interesting but we're obviously going to get more on it in the next episode, so I don't want to create any expectations for myself.

http://butterfly.dreamwidth.org/1394671.html | comments | Comment at Dreamwidth

Fandom March Madness (LJ-only)

butterfly — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 13:24:28 GMT

My girl Natasha is so close to winning this round: http://f-march-madness.livejournal.com/12787.html (and I do love Martha Jones but... Natasha!)

Joan (from Elementary) has things locked up in her section just fine (yay Joan!); she's gonna sweep Drama. Katniss and Hermione are both doing well -- though this is Harry Potter's last year in the competition, so I expect her to win Teen, at least. And I will probably vote Hermione over Katniss when it comes down to it. I don't care that much about the Comedy bracket this year, so I'm supporting Leslie Knope because I know so many people who love her (I do need to watch that show sometime).