The Past Bride Wore Prologue Black

Intro/Overview

Ya know how I said I was giving up on those reviews I didn't do last week? Well, I kinda lied. I did them while Defiance was on last night. However, today's just going to be Defiance Reviews and then an Altador Cup Update.

SPOILER WARNING

If you have not seen the last two episodes of Defiance, please leave the blog and come back after you've seen them. My reviews always contain spoilers.

Defiance - "The Bride Wore Black" - Review

My big thing this episode was the wedding. I thought it was nice, though I would have liked to see more of it, especially how they blended Castithan and Earth customs. However, I have a niggle about the veil. I completely understand that Christie didn't want to wear the Tilo and her motivations behind that. I liked that Stahma made her a traditional wedding veil to wear instead. My niggle comes in concerning a possible compromise that was missed here. Perhaps if Christie had wore the veil as an actual veil rather than a hairpiece, it would have been seen as more of a blending of traditions rather than something Detak could get uppity about. Yeah, the veil isn't the Tilo, but it could have essentially served the same function.

As for the other events, I'm more interested in the aftermath of what happened rather than what actually took place. We pretty much knew Nicolette was a bad guy. This episode served more to solidify that and to get rid of her. She's dead now so... that line of villainy is over.

It was somewhat interesting to see that Kenya was an abused wife before she became a prostitute. Knowing that didn't really change anything for me except that it made her advice to Christie a bit more interesting. I'm glad she learned from her mistake with Hunter Bell.

I very much liked Rafe in this episode. I like knowing that he's willing to put aside his differences with Castithans in order to make Christie happy.

Defiance - "Past Is Prologue" - Review

Detak's airing of Nolan's dirty laundry reminded me a lot of what's been happening lately with Paula Deen. It also reminds me of how much I hate politics. If people are doing good things now and have essentially paid their dues for what they did in the past, that past should stay in the past. The fact that it never stays buried bugs me a lot. I have no doubt that Nolan has paid his dues for what he did. It's really obvious he doesn't believe as he used to. Irisa is living proof of that. I felt that Nolan made the right choice. I had no idea that Alak's friend was holding a paintball gun until it was obvious to everyone else.

Flipping around from last week's episode, I'm really angry with Rafe. Beating the crap out of anyone, let alone your son-in-law, in order to send a message is barbarically ridiculous.

I thought the weird-machine things what Doc had and was in Irisa were incredibly strange. I hope we get an explanation for them soon. They seemed almost sentient when they began reaching for each other. It was creepy, but really interesting.

Next week looks like it's going to be interesting.

Altador Cup Update

This year saw the fastest turnaround on scores in a couple years. The Altador Cup Prize Shop is now open.

Tyrannia took the cup this year. Altador came in second. Roo Island came third.

Unfortunately, Shenkuu tied with The Lost Desert for 12th place. Hope we have better luck next year or I'm defecting.

Love ya, Jessie.

The Superman Rant

Overview

This blog post will contain a rant and an Altador Cup Update.

The Superman Rant

Okay so, I've been seeing a lot of really stupid Man of Steel tie-in commercials lately. I'm not gonna lie, this is one superhero movie I'm not even remotely interested in seeing. I only saw the last Superman movie because I was bored and it was on Netflix. The stupid tie-in commercials cement my disinterest in seeing this one.

Part of my personal disinterest in Man of Steel is the attempt to make Superman dark. Supes has never been a dark hero. The only reason they're even attempting a dark Superman is because the Batman Trilogy was such a giant hit. Thing is, the reason Batman was a dark hero with a dark story is because he's always been that way. They got the darkness spot on with this particular trilogy. Superman, however, just doesn't have that kind of darkness in him.

Granted, these assumptions have been made by someone who'd never been big into Superman and avoids anything Superman related like Supes avoids green Kryptonite. My personal experience with Superman starts with really old, really sexist cartoons then to The Justice League (animated) to Supes appearances in Batman comics and, of course, the last Superman movie. Also, a random smattering of Smallville and Lois and Clark. It's incredibly fair to say that I strongly dislike Superman.

I find Superman to be a boring character. the Clark Kent "disguise" is akin to the Sailor Moon style of disguise, which is essentially nonexistent. Superman is also incredibly over-powered, in my opinion. Not only does he have ridiculously-powerful-superstrength and flight, but he can burn holes in stuff, freeze anything with his breath, and turn time backward for no discernable reason... in addition to X-Ray vision and super-hearing. Most of which end up in groups of one or two of those powers in other heroes. And I don't know about you, but I'd rather watch Carol Danvers or Wonder Woman run around on screen and they only have superstrength and flight, for the most part.

In my horribly biased opinion, Lois Lane is the only good thing about Superman, even if she is sidelined and horribly portrayed most of the time.

But yeah, that's pretty much what I think of Superman and part of why the tie-in commercials annoy me to no end. Man, that commercial thing got side-lined quickly, didn't it?

Altador Cup Update

Shenkku lost to Meridell yesterday in everything but Slushie Slinger... I hate that game, by the way. Today, we play Terror Mountain and we'll probably lose, too... perhaps I ought to switch teams next year...

Also, the results of the first round of the Staff Tournament will be revealed tomorrow, so you've got the rest of tonight to pick a team.

Love ya, Jessie.

Fringe, Season 3

Overview

Spoiler Warning followed by my Fringe, Season 3 review, followed by an Altador Cup Update, followed by the Housekeeping section.

SPOILER WARNING

If you have not seen Season 1 - 3 of Fringe, the following review is not for you. I spoil stuff.

Fringe - Season 3 - Review

Early in the season, I seriously wanted Olivia to just deal with the fact that people can have feelings for multiple people, especially when those people look really similar/exactly like the person they have stronger feelings for. I completely understand this concept. I thought Oliva's bitching about F-Olivia went on entirely too long.

I thought the flashback episodes were great overall. I love the opening sequence for them and the child actors. I also quite like Elizabeth. She's a lot stronger character than I originally gave her credit for. Walternate was also quite a bit more interesting and less loathsome than I'd originally thought. Seeing him when he was vulnerable helped with that.

The last couple episodes of Season 3 were interesting, to say the least. I really enjoyed F-Olivia in her episodes. It was quite nice to see her as a mother/expectant mother. It was also really interesting to see her reaction to Walternate's betrayal/plan. I like that she'd rather try to ultimately fix the problem than have billions of innocent people killed.

The very last episode of Season 3, "The Day We Died," was very Days of Future Past. I liked how all the future incarnations were realized, though Astrid and Oliva's hair bugged me. Also, I'd probably have been more affected by Oliva's death if I hadn't been expecting it.

Overall, I thought the story-arc of Season 3 was well done. The alternate versions of characters were fun to watch and I really loved having Charlie back, even if I have no idea what's up with the spiders in his blood... that was weird. At the time of writing this, I'm well into Season 4, which explains and deals the aftermath of the end of "The Day We Died" so I'm just gonna call this review done now.

Altador Cup Update

The new brackets have been announced:

Alabriss Bracket: Meridell, Maraqua, Terror Mountain, Shenkuu, Virtupets Space Station, and Kiko Lake.

Menitheus Bracket: Altador, Roo Island, Darigan Citadel, Haunted Woods, Kreludor, and Brightvale.

Vaeolus Bracket: Tyrannia, Krawk Island, Lost Desert, Mystery Island, Faerieland, and Moltara.

Current Top Three Teams: Altador, Tyrannia, and Meridell

Shenkuu is currently 4th in the Alabriss Bracket and 10th overall. Today we play Meridell.

Housekeeping

Okay so, I've got a chapter left in my reread of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone so the review for that should be coming soon. Also, I wrote a little rant about Superman that I'll be posting probably tomorrow.

Love ya, Jessie.

Runaway Review

Overview

This post contains a review, Altador Cup Update, an art piece, and a Housekeeping section, in addition to a slight format change to include this overview. The review will be first after the spoiler warning and then everything else will follow in order.

SPOILER WARNING

If you did not see last night's episode of Warehouse 13 and do not wish to be spoiled, please skip the following review... or leave, watch the episode, and come back later. My reviews are always lousy with spoilers.

Warehouse 13 - "Runaway" - Review

I am officially tired of Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius related stuff. There was that episode of Doctor Who from a couple years ago, something I was watching more recently (I think it was Fringe), and now this... yup, I'm pretty done with it. I didn't think the amphora was even a particularly interesting artifact. The story surrounding it? Boring to the nth degree.

If you've read my blog with any kind of regularity, you'll know I'm big on connecting to characters. I didn't connect with any of the characters in the A Plot nor did I like them or care what happened to them. The father trying to save his son from a gang by breaking out of jail and killing his accomplice and several other gang members in the process was convoluted at best. Left a nice little trail of bodies for Pete, Myka, Jinks, and Jinks' Ex to follow. Speaking of whom, I honestly didn't care about Jinks' Ex. I should have cared that he and the father were going to die via lava, but I didn't. I was more worried about Jinks during that scene. Also, Jinks' Ex figuring out The Warehouse stuff as quickly as he did was ridiculous. Add to that the shoe-horned in conversation in the car... the only scene I even remotely cared about him was in the interrogation room with Myka. I thought that bounced off each other and had more chemistry than he and Jinks did.

During the "tense" scene with the lava lake, I was honestly more distracted by the heat-defying cars. A little scientific accuracy here would have been nice. Those cars should have melted to slag and killed Jinks and the Ex. I mean, I'm glad they didn't, but it was ridiculous.

The B Plot was much more interesting. I really like it when Artie and Claudia get a chance to work together. They make an awesome team and it was nice to see their father/daughter thing in action again. The only part of that plot that I thought was overly ridiculous was the guy they essentially threw off the second floor. He was annoying, idiotic, and stupid.

I'm not really going to comment on the ending scene of the episode... except... I would not have known who Cherie Currie was if I hadn't watched The Runaways... possibly the only good thing to have come out of my Twilight obsession...

Altador Cup Update

Today is a "bye day" in which you play the Jelly Chia practice team, get no points for doing so, and wait for the next bracket change.

Shenkuu finished 5th in the Alabriss Bracket this time around. I am disappointed... and less involved than I should/want to be.

Art

I was feeling generally blah this afternoon... tired and stuff from not enough sleep and doing chores... so I took a Blind Bag Rarity toy and gave her a new paint job.

Before

After

If you'd like to see those pictures better, check out my deviantART by following the link in the header.

Housekeeping

Tomorrow... I'll be putting up my Fringe, Season 3 review. I'll also probably be keeping this format of having an overview because... I'm getting tired of pointing out that there's stuff below my reviews in the Spoiler Warning. The only posts this definitely won't happen in are the Initial Reactions posts because those are long enough as they are.

Love ya, Jessie.

Pilot The New World

SPOILER WARNING

If you have not seen the first episodes of Sinbad or Primeval: New World, please leave the blog and come back after you've seen them. My reviews usually contain spoilers.

However, if you'd like to skip the reviews and jump down to my Altador Cup Update and Housekeeping sections, please feel free to do so. Happy Reading!

Sinbad - "Pilot" - Review

Sinbad is essentially the tale of a kid who got himself into trouble with a high-ranking official of some sort and his own overly harsh grandmother. It's also another one-season show that SyFy is airing and sort of attempting to pass off as one of their shows... at least, that's the gist of what I gleaned from the commercials. I didn't know that Sinbad wasn't a SyFy show until I checked its Wiki Page and found out that it wasn't. This summer's Saturday evening schedule is essentially made up of a pair of shows that have already been cancelled by the people who originally made them... gah!

But I just digressed down a rabbit hole so... back on track here...

I wasn't overly impressed by the "Pilot" episode of Sinbad. It was a lot of setup and not a lot of actual goings on. I'm not overly fond of or really connected to any of the characters, most of whom end up discarded halfway through the episode. It's really important to me to be able to connect with the characters because if they care about things that are going on, I will. But... this didn't happen. I'm not even sure who half the characters are, at this point.

But yeah... plot point, plot points... Lord Akbari is cruel and insane. Sinbad's grandmother is crazy and overly harsh. Akbari's witch friend is... obviously up to something but hasn't really given her motivations. The crew of the ship Sinbad ends up on are apparently mostly dead... or something... and I'm not surprised at this point that Sinbad got cancelled.

The "Pilot" takes too much time getting Sinbad to where he ends up at the end of the episode. I feel like this episode could have been better done as flashbacks. That said, the effects realizing the "sea demon" were stellar. I'm not sure why it was blind, but... meh. I'm gonna keep watching and see if Sinbad gets better.

Primeval: New World - "The New World" - Review

Before I get into reviewing "The New World" I thought I'd give a little background on my history with Primeval. I pretty much marathon-ed Seasons 1-3 on DVD while I was living in Iowa. I fell almost instantly in love with Connor, Abby, Claudia, and Rex. They're what drew me into the show and kept me watching. Well, that and the premise was interesting. I sort of forgot about Primeval for a whole until I found it again on OnDemand. I then marathon-ed Seasons 4 and 5 before re-watching the entire series with my little sister. I had no idea Primeval: New World existed until I was catching up on Defiance two weeks ago. I saw the trailer, saw Connor was at least making a cameo, and decided to watch Primeval: New World as it's airing on SyFy.

And now for the blanket SPOILER WARNING. Because I'm a big fan of Primeval, I will be making references to it. If you read through my Initial Reactions last night, you'll have seen some of those. I'll also probably be comparing the two a bit. I'll try to keep that to a minimum, though. Now, on to my review.

I thought "The New World" was... a pilot. There were elements from the original show I recognized, but a cast I largely didn't. I'm not sure exactly how I feel about Primeval: New World yet. I'll keep watching and let you know as I go along.

As of right now, I feel next to no connection to any of the characters. I know I'm not really fond of Angelika. I have no feelings towards Mac or Toby. I thought Lieutenant Leeds was a Connor/Mulder type character down in his little office. I honestly didn't recognize Sara Canning as Dylan until my sister pointed out that she played Jenna in The Vampire Diaries. I kind of like her, but she seriously reminds me of Claudia Brown/Jenny Lewis from Primeval looks-wise. Evan Cross was a tad more relatable, but then, I was really fond of Zane Donovan, the character Niall Matter played on Eureka. So... that's where I stand with the PNW characters.

The plot was your standard "Oh there's this weird thing that spits out monsters that we must find before the monsters eat everybody" kind of plot. I think Primeval did it better. It was less cohesive in PNW and had some less than believable characters so... there's that.

So, about Connor. As I stated before, Connor Temple was one of the characters that sucked me into Primeval. I felt like, the Connor we're getting in PNW either had something really, really bad happen to him between Primeval and PNW or else the writers haven't really written for him before and aren't sure how to write him effectively. He was a lot more serious and mysterious than he manages to come off anywhere in Primeval. The only time we get a glimpse of Primeval Connor is when he's trying to convince Angelika that he's there to "fix the internet from being slow." Hopefully, as the trailer showed Connor again, we'll get more backstory on what happened to get him to Canada.

So yeah, that's pretty much what I thought about "The New World." Not exactly sure where the series is gonna go from here. It'd doubtful they'll become another ARC. It's also unclear was to who the frozen person is that Evan's got hidden. I kind of want to know about that. Again, I'll keep watching and let you know.

Altador Cup Update

At some point last week there was a bracket shake up and so pretty much everyone's in a different bracket now. Shenkuu is now in the Alabriss Bracket. We're currently ranked fifth and are doing kind of horribly overall. We've been managing to grab some wins with the mini-games, but when if comes to Yooyuball, we're sucking gigantically.

Also, the Staff Tournament has started up so go pick your teams for that. That's all you have to do: pick your team.

Housekeeping

Tomorrow is Warehouse 13 and Defiance day! I'll be putting up my Initial Reactions for Warehouse 13 tomorrow evening and will most likely have reviews up Tuesday. Gonna hold off on posting my Fringe, Season 3 review until later in the week, though.

Love ya, Jessie.

Instinct - Review

SPOILER WARNING

If you have not seen last night's episode of Warehouse 13, please leave the blog and come back later. The following review will contain spoilers. Altador Cup Update after the review.

Warehouse 13 - "Instinct" - Review

While it was brilliant to have Helena back for an episode, I wasn't all that impressed with the storyline she was given. There was too much flip flopping by other characters in regards to her motives. I thought Myka's judegment of Helena's new life was ridiculous. Myka's usually the person to get other people's emotions and motives. She's also not really the type to just sacrifice herself like she attempted to do. I also wasn't impressed with the villains of this section. People in law enforcement positions getting even with criminals is a plot device that's overdone, in my opinion.

However, I did enjoy the plot that took place within The Warehouse. It was quite fun to see Abigail thrown into the deep end. The Warehouse essentially trying to get Claudia's attention was cool, too. The revelation that The Warehouse is both semi-sentient and always expanding was not surprising, but rather nice to have officially revealed. I thought Claudia was being a bit childish in regards to how she thought of Abigail. I'd thought Claud had put her past behind her, honestly.

I wasn't at all happy with the hyena jaw artifact, it was really rather ridiculous, in my opinion. I'm not sure exactly how the shapeshifting had anything to do with the fear, primal-ness or not. I enjoyed the goo-guns. I thought the completely random spike that was jamming The Warehouse expansion joint was... completely random. I also enjoyed the F.I.S.H. ... if that's how it's spelled... it was a nice little misdirect that turned out to be kind of cool. I had kind of wondered how The Warehouse cloaked itself.

Altogether, this episode was fairly solid, even if some of the plot points didn't quite make sense to me. I had fun watching it, at least.

Altador Cup Update

Round One, Day Four: Vaeolus Bracket

Altador and Roo Island are still holding onto their top spots. Shekuu's moved back up to the third spot after trouncing Faerieland in everything but Make Some Noise.

All other bracket standings can be seen HERE.

Love ya, Jessie.

Black Fringe

Okay so... I caught the season finale of Orphan Black and am currently 5 episodes into Fringe Season 3. I thought I'd do a little post reviewing the season finale of Orphan Black and Season 2 of Fringe. In addition, there will be an Altador Cup update from the Shenkuu perspective and a little Housekeeping section below the reviews.

Oh, and I'm writing this running on less sleep than I usually do, so please excuse any typos and rambling. Thanks. Also, swearing happened. Deal with it.

SPOILER WARNING

If you have not seen the most recent episode of Orphan Black or Season 2 of Fringe, please leave the blog now and come back later... or skip down to the sections below the reviews. My reviews always contain spoilers because I'm horrible like that.

Orphan Black - "Endless Forms Most Beautiful" - Review

This episode was a mixed bag of tied up loose ends, not-quite reveals, and some emotional stuff. I'm not sure quite how to feel about it other than to say that I enjoyed the ride.

I thought the scenes between Sarah and Helena were fun to watch, as always. I thought that Helena did a semi-good job impersonating Sarah when their mother came to visit the apartment. The redness around Helena's eyes gave her away, to me at least, immediately. I thought it was interesting that Helena slipped Sarah's ropes earlier in the episode. It was fun watching her get out of that while Sarah was being arrested upstairs.

I, for one, don't trust Delphine despite her assurances to Cosima that she's changed sides. I did, however, find their scenes together quite realistic. I think that, if Delphine isn't lying through her teeth, she and Cosima make a cute couple and a good team. Speaking of good teams, I'm glad Paul ran away with Sarah at the end there. I've always liked Paul and I'm glad he's staying loyal to Sarah.

Alison's section of the episode was... weird. I did not actually expect her to just stand by and let Aynesley die. Also, why the heck was the switch for the garbage disposal all the way over on the wall? Surely they could have rigged something closer to the sink, ya know, for safety reasons. I thought it was interesting that, even though it was really obvious Aynesley wasn't the monitor, Alison still let her die. Mind you, Aynesley was a giant bitch so... there's that.

I'm not sure how I feel about the final reveals of the episode. It makes sense that the clones were patented, though why you'd imprint that where no one can actually see it and then have to decode it if they found it, I don't know. As for Mrs. S... I'm not sure I like what was implied about her, especially since she obviously cares for Felix, Sarah, Kira, and even Alison. If she was the one who took Kira and ran, I think she'd have taken her to a safe place. I think the trashed house is a misdirect to us and Sarah... or just Leekie's company making sure nothing was left behind.

Season 2 of Fringe

Even though I'm just now actually watching Fringe in a serious manner, I'd actually seen a good chunk of Season 2 before now. This may or may not make anything I'm about to say better for rewatch or worse because I can't half remember what went on...

Anyway... this season is where Fringe dives headlong into the Alternate Universe stuff, which I love. There's a big focus on the Cortexiphan "kids" and their developing powers as well as their history in Walter's lab. This includes some episodes in which I was legitimately covering my eyes because some of the stuff seriously grossed me out.

I thought the further development and then destruction of Walter and Peter's relationship was very well done. I thought the Olivia/Peter relationship got pulled really suddenly into a romance, even though it was more clear to me that they were just close friends... but apparently TV ratings depend on romance so... there's that to bring into consideration. I'd say things about Astrid and Broyles, but they're pretty much static characters so... we won't go into that.

What I really wanted to talk about was the really abrupt stuff at the end of the season. Most of the season was world/character building that could have led really organically into the jump to the other universe. However, what I would have liked to be an organic lead-in wasn't. Suddenly, in the last two episodes, we've got people jumping to the alternate universe and the switch of Olivias. Yes, two of the Cortexiphan "kids" were set up earlier, but we never really got what happened to them after they were sedated... and then there was the random fire chick. While I enjoyed the semi-X-men feel to their powers and short development, I wasn't really connected to them in any way. I was honestly more attached to Alter-Charlie than to any of the Cortexiphan "kids."

Other than the abrupt ending, I really enjoyed Season 2. I'd probably say more, but as I can't half remember everything... I'd better not.

Altador Cup Update

Round One, Day Three:

Shenkuu won against Moltara on May 31st. Like seriously wiped the board with them in every game. However, things have taken a serious downswing since then. We lost to both Altador and Roo Island pretty spectacularly.

The losses dropped us from third in the Vaeolus Bracket to Forth. Hopefully, we'll do better against Faerieland today.

Housekeeping

I'm totally planning to watch Warehouse 13 and Defiance this evening. However, as it's only 4:30 and I'm running on fumes, I might not do Initial Reactions for Warehouse 13. Rest assured, though, I will be continuing my reviews tomorrow.

Also, I found out that SyFy is going to be airing Primeval: New World starting this Saturday. As I haven't seen it and really loved Primeval, I'll definitely be watching that and most likely doing Initial Reactions for it. Hopefully, it'll be good. And yes, I read the Wiki article and know it's only got one season, but, as Firefly taught us, that means nothing. I might also check out Sinbad but I'm not sure yet.

Love ya, Jessie.

Altador Cup Pride

The Altador Cup Has Started!

Time to gear up and actually play the games for points! Also, TDN has started their coverage: HERE. I got this cool play counter from them:

It's Pride Month!

Yeah... I'm not blanketing my blog in rainbows, but... it's Pride Month so... yeah. Not really much to say about that...

But yeah... that's pretty much it from me today...

Love ya, Jessie.

I Think This Line's Mostly Filler

Okay so... the end of the TV Spring Season has left me with little to write about. I don't have anything to review today and I spent yesterday watching random smattering of El Cazador de la Bruja, Dollhouse, and Buffy with my best friend. It's her birthday today, by the way. Happy Birthday, H-chan!

Anyway... I thought I'd do a little update-thing for what I've been doing besides watching and reviewing TV. Also, just a little SPOILER WARNING here, just in case. Not sure for what, but be aware that I'm horrible at keeping spoilers to myself.

TV SHOWS

Okay so... I've been watching Fringe on Netflix. I'm currently in the second season, watching some episodes I caught while they were actually airing. I love Fringe. The characters are amazing, the actors are brilliant, and I love the storylines. If you have a chance, I highly recommend checking out Fringe.

I've also been watching Hemlock Grove on Netflix. It's... interesting, to say the least. I'm not at all sure what exactly is going on, but the show's got me hooked on finding out. I will say that if you have problems with some gore, don't watch it. Like seriously, a couple episodes in, there's a werewolf transformation that's the goriest one I've ever seen.

Off of Netflix, I've been watching Orphan Black. I started watching out of curiosity On Demand and got hooked by the second episode. I'm completely caught up and I can definitely say that it's pretty darn awesome. The lead actress, Tatiana Maslany, is superb. She plays Sarah Manning, Alison Hendrix, Cosima Niehaus, Helena, and several other characters and pulls them all off brilliantly. At no point in the show does it seem like any of the characters are the same person. There are points where she kind of looks like Summer Glau, but I only really noticed that looking at screenshots so... yeah. If you're not watching Orphan Black, this is another one I highly recommend.

Yesterday I finished watching El Cazador de la Bruja. That was... not really the most satisfying ending, but I liked it. The entire show is essentially a series of "Monster of the Week" plot lines woven together toward the final couple of episodes where things come to a head. However, the last episode is essentially a time-skip forward a couple of months so... yeah... that was a little weird, but nice. I really liked El Cazador and I think if you're at all interested in a Western/Supernatural/Comedy with a bit of drama thrown in for good measure Anime, you'll like it, too.

MISCELLANEOUS

Outside of watching stuff, I've been keeping up with Hasbro's new Downloadable Paper Doll Ponies. I've got images of the finished products and what I've thought of them on my DeviantArt. Just click the "My Art" button up at the top there and you'll be able to find them pretty easily. They're cute, they're free, and they're more show-accurate than anything else Hasbro's really been putting out so... yeah.

I've also been playing/keeping up with several virtual pet games via Facebook. I've been playing Happy Pets and am currently trying to breed a bunch of giant pets. I've started doing OviPets again, which is being a giant time-suck, but there that is. I've been keeping up with PoneyVallee, a French-made game that's currently a little over a year old in it's new incarnation and not exactly the best thing on the planet, but I quite like it. Takes a lot of patience to do really, which I've noticed a lot of people don't seem to like so... yeah.

NEOPETS - ALTADOR CUP UPDATE

Now that the pre-tournament "press" stuff is over, sign-ups have begun. You might have noticed the radical change in appearance for the blog... yeah, that's basically me showing my support for Shenkuu. I'm signed up there so... yeah.

Oh, and another thing... Foltaggio has been replaced by Timu, the Lupe. She was on the team before, actually, but apparently we've re-signed her or whatever. It doesn't actually matter, just, ya know, updating you on that minor thing.

Go Sign Up! Go Practice! The Altador Cup starts next week!

Love ya, Jessie.

Technical Difficulties

Okay so... due to technical difficulties, aka DNS servers not working, I didn't get a blog post out yesterday. However, I didn't really have much except an Altador Cup Update so I'm not counting it as a total loss. Today, it's pretty much the same, though so... on to the update.

Neopets - Altador Cup Update

As of yesterday, the last four teams competing this year have been announced!

• Tyrannia - Had something about their language barrier being a spy deterrent, though apparently they're gonna have to change that since it's not working so well.
• Maraqua - Apparently, stamp collecting is distracting to players.
• Meridell - Gregorio Maille has been replaced by an unknown female player this year.
• Moltara - Replaced their previous goalie, Mor Gollog, with a familiar face, but have yet to actually tell us who that is.

Yeah so... that's all the pre-tournament stuff. Sign-Ups start later today!

Shekuu for the Cup!

Love ya, Jessie.

The Sky's the Limit, Sweet Grimm

SPOILER WARNING

If you have not seen this week's episodes of Warehouse 13 or Grimm, please leave the blog and come back later. My reviews, more often than not, contain spoilers.

However, if you're the least bit interested, there will be a short Altador Cup Update and Housekeeping section below the reviews.

Warehouse 13 - "The Sky's the Limit" - Review

This episode was fairly lack-luster and standard, as episodes go. The only really big thing that happened was the introduction of Dr. Abigail Cho, the new owner of the B&B. I quite liked her. She was excited, as new Warehouse people usually are, by the artifacts and what they could do. She didn't take crap from Artie, which I liked. It's about time we had someone other than Mrs. Fredric who could actually go toe to toe with Artie.

I thought Monty was kind of cute, for a doddering old magician. That his granddaughter was willing to do what she did, even if she had no idea about the consequences, says that he was every inch the man he seemed to be. I'm glad he got a small glimpse at the Warehouse, even if he did attempt to steal that light bulb.

The Claudia and Jinks storyline was seriously ancillary to the other storylines going on. It wasn't exactly the fleshed out well enough for me to really care about it. I did, however, like Claudia's "fancy getup."

Overall, this episode didn't excite me at all. I'm glad Abigail's on staff now, I've always liked Kelly Hu. I'm glad Artie's finally actually dealing with Leena's death at his hands. But as for the rest... it was just kind of there.

Grimm - "Goodnight, Sweet Grimm" - Review

Another awesome episode from the Grimm team. I was sucked into the episode pretty much from the get go.

I liked all the sweet couple-y stuff at the beginning. I'm really glad Nick and Juliette are back together. I though Rosalee was being ridiculously nervous about her food. The entire scene with Rosalee and Monroe was just as funny and cute as usual.

I liked, but at the same time was somewhat flummoxed by Juliette's inclusion into the "Scooby Gang." I like that Juliette isn't willing to just sit at home anymore, but how she acted in the spice shop was kind of... weird. She didn't and still doesn't strike me as the person to just come out and as "What kind of Wesen are you?" Also the way she was shuffled into the background of the group huddle was a little strange. I mean, I get that Nick, Monroe, and Rosalee aren't exactly used to anyone besides themselves being in those kinds of huddles, but... I dunno, it was weird.

I was really surprised by the Adalind storyline. It twisted in a way I totally wasn't expecting, but I liked it. Frau Pech is clearly incredibly devious, but Adalind and Stefania were just one step ahead of her. I like the the audience wasn't let in on what I perceived as a cunning plan until Stefania's son garroted Frau Pech. I also really liked the effect of Adalind and Frau Pech transforming into one another. It was creepily beautiful, in a way.

I think Eric is shaping up to be a very good villain. He's evil enough to sacrifice his own bodyguard in order to see a demonstration of the Cracher-Mortel's powers. That kind of creeped me out, but in a good way. It's also interesting that Eric didn't make an overt play for Renard while they had dinner together. I was kind of expecting there to be a fight or something, but I liked what was done with that scene.

Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't talk about the ultimate plan of shipping Nick back to Europe. That was partially surprising and partially not. I didn't see any way Nick was going to get out of being "zombified" by the Cracher-Mortel. The only way he was possibly going to get out of that was to shoot him, which he didn't do. In fact, I was really surprised that he went for hand-to-hand combat with the Cracher-Mortel. If a guy can spit stuff in your face, you usually don't go for hand-to-hand.

Finally... the To Be Continued thing at the very end of the episode was cheeky and kind of awesome. I like that not everything was tied up with a shiny bow. I like that the Grimm team is counting on people being interested enough in the conclusion to the story to come back in the fall. I also really like that they're able to get away with that kind of fourth-wall breaking. Personally, I can't wait for Grimm to come back.

Altador Cup Update

The next four teams to be "introduced" in Neopets' Altador Cup Pre-Season Coverage are:

• Kreludor - Apparently, one of the team members, a Grundo, has a thing with lucky gum that he sticks behind his ear. Uhmmm... yeah. Whatever Neopets.
• Terror Mountain - Osielle Lidel, a Buzz, had Blurred Vision during the off season, but is now fine. Luckily she could afford the incredibly expensive Extra-Thick Goggles... *fumes quietly in the background*
• Virtupets Space Station - Weldar Xupenfarb, a Grundo, apparently played last year's Altador Cup with a torn shoulder muscle.
• Brightvale - Reb Weemelatt, a Nimmo I think, is apparently a trash talker and dirty player. Good to know... maybe.

Again, my Altador Cup updates are horrible compared to the ones over at The Daily Neopets. They make up a lot of stuff, but it's kind of fun to read. They also have score counters and game guides. And no, I'm not affiliated with them, I just like them a lot. Also, their coverage of this year's cup hasn't started up yet so... check out other bits of their site, it's kind of awesome.

Housekeeping

Okay so... the rest of this week will most likely be... something. Probably another Altador Cup Update. But other than that, I have no concrete plans. Maybe I'll watch a movie on Netflix tonight and review it. Maybe.

Love ya, Jessie.

Altador Cup Update 2

Okay so... there's not much really going on today besides the Doctor Who season finale this evening so... I'm just gonna do a short thing on the Altador Cup.

Neopets - Altador Cup

Since the last update, 6 more teams have been given their little updates on the Altador Cup page.

• Darigan Citadel - Apparently they have a reputation for joking around and are still pretty much doing that.
• Kiko Lake - Finished 6th last year and were apparently relaxing during the off-season due to stress.
• Lost Desert - Vonde Cayle, the Cybunny, is apparently excited about stocking up on Altadorian spices while in Altador for the Cup.
• Shenkuu - Finished 16th last year. No word as of yet on who's going to be replacing Foltaggio.
• Roo Island - Has a new, as of yet un-perfected shot invented by "Squeaky" Tressif, the Lupe.
• Faerieland - Seems to have given up on the actual game, using the Altador Cup as more of a social gathering for fans.

All of this information was gathered from the short blurbs on the Altador Cup page. Not really anything substantial, but it's slightly fun. As I said before, I'll still be supporting Shenkuu. Just hope we have a better showing this year than last.

Love ya, Jessie.

The Big Snag - Review

Spoiler Warning

If you have not seen last night's episode of Warehouse 13, please leave the blog and come back later. The following review will contain spoilers.

However, there is going to be a short Altador Cup coverage section below the review and another short update on The Obelisk War.

Warehouse 13 - "The Big Snag" - Review

This episode was quite brilliant, I have to say. I really enjoy when shows do something unconventional, which is probably why I love Warehouse 13 so much. 

Now for the A Plot. While I was shocked to find the author of the story was actually in the manuscript, I was not shocked to find out he was the one who stole the elephant. Every other story point was just kind of... there, as far as I'm concerned.

The best part about the A Plot was the way it was done. I liked that Myka got to essentially be the detective while Pete kind of floundered around. I loved that Myka got so into the role. All her dialogue was brilliant. I'd watch a mystery movie with Joanne Kelly in it any day. I thought the 1940's outfits were brilliant. I thought it was a good idea to have the story told in black and white, especially because of Myka's dress in the club. That thing looked like it would have been gaudy in color.

I was somewhat amused by the Claudia/Jinks acting at the beginning of the B Plot. Jinks was amusing and I think Claudia not giving him props the acting job was funny. I'm not sure why Claudia was surprised that Artie named his car. Lots of people name their cars. My sisters' cars are Speckles and Narnia. Scarlet isn't that bad. I thought it was interesting and actually kind of cool that the artifact user was a girl. Yes, she was getting back at her boss, but having a female interested in cars is a good thing, in my opinion.

Now, Artie's recklessness in this episode was kind of... odd. I didn't really have a problem with him jumping in front of the car to try and "save Claudia." We knew the thief had to be using something to steal the cars so it wasn't really that big a leap to the whole "intangible" thing. I also didn't really have a problem with him playing chicken with the thief. How the heck else were they supposed to stop her? Yes, both things he did were technically reckless, but... I'm not sure something drastic needs to be done at this point... which is what I think the Regents might be planning despite Jinks' protests.

Overall, I enjoyed this episode more than I did the last two. I'm really hoping the rest of the season gets better from here.

Neopets - Altador Cup Coverage

Altador Cup season is finally upon us!

For those who don't know, this is the one annual event that most every Neopian takes part in. It's very similar to the World Cup for football/soccer in real life only... it's centered around a game called Yooyuball. If you're not into playing Yooyuball, there are some side games to participate in. Each "land" of Neopia has their own team, with the exception of Neopia Central itself.

This year, I will be supporting Shenkuu again. I initially chose this team a couple years ago specifically because Shenkuu is based on Asian culture, which I like.

Now, prior to the Alltador Cup starting signups, we get a short intro to this year's teams and what the Yooyuball players have been doing in the off season. This started yesterday and so we've been introduced to four teams so far:

• Altador - This team has apparently been traded a player who was on Shenkuu's team last year: Foltaggio the Mynci.
• Krawk Island
• Haunted Woods
• Mystery Island

I'll keep you updated as to what other teams have been introduced and what players have been traded. The rest is basically nonsense so it won't get reported on here.

For more interesting Altador Cup coverage, complete with fake news stories, I recommend checking out The Daily Neopets. They aren't up and running yet for this year's Cup, but their coverage later will be pretty awesome, as usual.

Neopets - Obelisk War Update

A little over 24 hours to join a faction and claim some boons for the next skirmish. I've joined The Order of the Red Erisim again, though I probably won't be doing much to actually help out.

Love ya, Jessie.

Parks and Rehabilitation - Review

SPOILER WARNING

If you have not seen last night's episode of Warehouse 13, please leave the blog and come back later. The following review will contain spoilers.

There will be a Obelisk War Update and a Housekeeping section after the review. Feel free to check those out, they should be spoiler free.

Warehouse 13 - "Parks and Rehabilitation" - Review

I don't know about you, but I was led to believe that Artie was on trial or something. I don't know where exactly I heard that, but I'm pretty sure it was one of the episode trailers. Also, that obviously wasn't the case. In fact, it wasn't even as dire as the trailers made it out to be.

In the Warehouse, we got Myka and Jinks running around trying to help Artie. Artie was attempting to do Leena's now-vacant job. I quite enjoyed that we got to see how Leena had figured out where all the artifacts should be placed within the Warehouse. The Feng-shui Spiral was actually really cool. I liked how it read Artie instead of the Porthole. I also like how Jinks was able to use the Spiral there at the end. I'm glad Artie's making steps toward dealing with what his "evil self" did.

Outside the Warehouse it was a pretty standard "find and retrieve the artifact with some metaphor thrown in" kind of plot. That said, I did enjoy Pete being his usual weirdly child-like self and Claudia dealing with the outdoors. I thought the Lantern was pretty cool for an artifact that could cause mass destruction. I also kind of enjoyed the blond chick. She was a lot cooler under pressure than most of the other people confronted with artifacts are.

"Parks and Rehabilitation" was overall a pretty standard "dealing with the aftermath" episode. It had some good character development, some cool artifacts, and a good mislead for once.

Neopets - The Obelisk War Update

The skirmish is over. The Theives Guild has claimed boons from the Oracle. Goody for them.

The next skirmish, aka lots of Battledome fights, starts... well... sometime after the next batch of factions is revealed. That happens in approximately 129 hours since the typing of this post. I'll let you know when that happens and who I've chosen.

I'm really not doing much in the way of participation for these skirmishes. Mostly because I'm not really into the Battledome. It's boring and takes up too much time.

Housekeeping

I am planning to watch Grimm this evening. The Initial Reactions post should be up immediately after the episode airs.

Let me know what you think of the episode in the comments. Actually, let me know what you think about any of the episodes, movies, fanfictions, or books I review in the comments. comments are nice.

Love ya, Jessie.

The Living and the Endangered

SPOILER WARNING

If you have not seen tonight's episode of Grimm or last night's episode of Warehouse 13, you should leave the blog and come back later. The following review and Initial Reactions will contain spoilers. If you're interested, there's a small section of the newest "skirmish" in Neopets Obelisk War after the Initial Reactions section, as well as the Housekeeping section.

Warehouse 13 - "The Living and the Dead" - Review

I honestly don't know what to think about this episode. I was incredibly excited Warehouse 13 was back, but "The Living and the Dead" was kind of lack luster. Artie gets a "get out of dead free card," we meet another one of history's artifact users, and supposedly get a new villain introduced. At least, I hope she's going to be a villain. She certainly looks the part.

First I want to talk about Artie's mind and subsequent trauma. It was said in the episode that it makes sense for Artie's mind to be Warehouse 13, but even with that said, it was really obvious that's what it would be. The Warehouse 13 set is already there so what else would they use to do Artie's mental landscape? I found it interesting that Artie decided to communicate with Claudia and Jinks through the mental avatars of Vanessa, MacPherson, and finally Mrs. Frederic. It made sense considering Artie himself was hiding away with his memory of Leena. I'm not entirely sold, though, on the reasons the MacPherson avatar gave for showing up as one of the protectors. I'll take it at face value, though, because, well, there's nothing else to really take it as.

Artie hiding himself away with a memory loop of Leena was quite depressing, actually. I get exactly why he did it and then won't talk to anyone but Mrs. Frederic about it after he's shoved out of his mind. The trauma of what he remembers doing and what he interpreted from Leena when he killed her was just too great to lay on the people he didn't want saving him.

The rest of the story hinges on two things: the lock-picking artifact and Professor Sutton. I thought the lock-picking artifact was a handy deus machina device. I thought Professor Sutton was expertly portrayed by the ever wonderful James Marsters. His fake bumbling and pompous attitude were just brilliant. As he is immortal and it's revealed at the end of the episode that he didn't die from obviously not-fatal wounds, we should be seeing him again. I honestly can't wait.

My favorite scene from "The Living and the Dead" was in the crypt while the "poisonous darts" were flying around. Pete, Myka, and Sutton dodging them was just hilarious. I do wonder, though, what significance the diamond has to Sutton and Charlotte.

I sincerely hope next week's episode is better than this one. I expected to be utterly wowed and just wasn't.

Grimm - "Endangered" - Initial Reactions

• Oh yay, recaps.
• Constantinople? What is this nonsense?
• Cow tipping?
• Nope, udderless dead cow.
• Make that cows.
• Glowing blue thing.
• Okay... that was weirder than usual.
• So Monroe's trying to farm his parents or Nick off on Rosalee?
• It's nice seeing those two together doing normal couple-y stuff.
• Awkward.
• lol
• They're so friggin cute!
• Must. Stare. At. Key.
• Monroe knows everything about everything Wesen.
• Just happened to have a useful relative.
• For sure? You know period?
• This is gonna be cute.
• Juliette looks awesome.
• Awww...
• Yup, that was cute.
• Back to the blue guy.
• He's got a pregnant wife?
• OMG, it's that chick!
• And of course there'd be a UFO nut involved.
• So now we're being all tense with each other. Great.
• Of course there was.
• Two of those have to do with everlasting life: Alchemy & Everlasting Life
• I think Renard trusts Nick more than Nick trusts Renard.
• I love Wu.
• So... what did he take? The chick was obviously eating something.
• Hey, that looks like a reused farm location.
• Enter the UFO nut.
• Lol, Wu.
• Yup, best way to get your hands on a vehicle. Scare the bejeezus out of the driver, hope they don't run into any trees.
• And that's supposed to be what?
• I've got a feeling the UFO nut's gonna find the weird glowy Wesen.
• In other words, Wesen.
• Hooray contractions.
• Convenient abandoned cabin...
• Monroe's face.
• I like Juliette's coat.
• Except Monroe isn't actually that good at keeping secrets.
• Especially that secret.
• Well that's certainly an interesting way to put it.
• That's actually a good question. What is it with cows and aliens?
• UFO guy isn't what he seems, then. Huh.
• And he's a Wesen. Interesting.
• She has to eat their ovaries? Why?
• Rosalee's reminiscence was pretty awesome.
• So now we gotta find her.
• And be awkward about Monroe and Rosalee's relationship there.
• Bird boy's watchin'.
• And loading a gun. This is not going to end well.
• Ew... that effect was gross.
• The "Scooby Gang" to the rescue!
• Lol, Nick.
• Portable dissection table.
• Monroe has a wicked nose... not that anyone wants to point this out.
• Oh, NOW we talk about Monroe's nose.
• That was a crap shot.
• That's a slightly creepy partial vogue.
• Like, could technically be a lot of time... gotta love those TV short labors.
• Rosalee just happens to know how to deliver a baby.
• That is a really clean baby.
• And of course the jerk "UFOlogist" shows up.
• And Nick scares him for just long enough.
• Boom. Dead.
• Happy ending, for them at least.
• Okay... that's just a lot of weird.

Neopets Obelisk War Update

I know I said this thing was over, but it's really not. Three of the remaining factions have been chosen to "fight to claim the oracle's blessing for themselves" according to today's "Latest News." The three factions battling are:

1. The Seekers
2. The Thieves Guild
3. Order of the Red Erisim

Once again, I will be supporting the Order of the Red Erisim. I will not, however, be turning the blog red again.

I'll keep you updated on happenings with the new "skirmish." You currently have 29 hours to choose your faction. That's the rest of today and all of tomorrow.

Housekeeping

Uhmmm... yeah... this is basically going to be me begging you for comments. I very rarely get them and I think it would be fun to actually interact with those of you who actually read this thing. Let me know what you thought about the shows I review, my reviews, or, ya know, just say hi.

Love ya, Jessie.

Bring It On Storybrooke

SPOILER WARNING

If you have not seen last Thursday's episode of The Vampire Diaries or last night's episode of Once Upon a Time, please leave the blog and come back later. There will be spoilers. Also, a minor spoiler for next week's Once Upon a Time. I consider it minor if it's revealed in the teaser, trailer? Whatever, it's minor.

The Vampire Diaries - "Bring It On" - Review

So... this episode we got Elena essentially being soulless, Caroline finally realizing Tyler's not coming back, and Klaus and Hayley attempting to manipulate each other. It was... filler as far as I'm concerned. Everyone needed to cool off after the whole "Finding the cure" thing and deal with their issues before the next Big Bad thing.

I enjoyed "emotionless" Elena less than I thought I would. Also, slightly annoyed they kept calling it "emotionless" because A) it was her humanity turned off and B) Elena had emotions. Those emotions just weren't colored by all of Elena's guilt. The way Nina Dobrev played "emotionless" Elena gave me Katherine flashbacks. I felt like the setting and everyone (meaning just Caroline and Stefan) stressing over her made it hard for "emotionless" Elena to really be the best of what "emotionless" Elena could be. She's essentially shown to have a "Want. Take. Have." mentality, to borrow a phrase from Buffy: The Vampire Slayer.

Stefan and Caroline were rather boring this episode. I felt no connection to them. They're both mourning the loss of their lovers and babysitting Elena. Neither of them made any kind of attempt to understand "emotionless" Elena. They just kept telling her she wasn't herself. And no, I did not buy Stefan's apparent change of heart before he vervained Elena. It's no wonder Elena went off on them over it. I didn't even feel for Caroline at the end. It was just... okay, she can stop calling Tyler over and over now.

I enjoyed the small bits we got with Damon and Rebekah. They're my favorite characters right now and seeing them interact was fun. I especially liked how Damon told Rebekah why she didn't really want to be "cured." That was a brilliant moment. On a side note, I'm watching Lost and I just can't take Boone seriously because of Damon. I end up breaking into fits of laughter when he shows up.

Anyway... last but not least, we have Klaus and Hayley. I've made it quite clear how much I despise Klaus, so I won't go into that again. Hayley... I don't like her. She falls very flat, in my opinion. Their interaction was serious filler. Yes, we get she'd been working for Katherine. Yes, we get that Klaus apparently knows about her family. But that was it.

So, not much else to say about this episode. It was a rest point between Big Bads. Looks like the Big Bad is going to be Silas. I'm sure we'll find that out for sure this week.

Once Upon a Time - "Welcome to Storybrooke" - Review

This was definitely more interesting than last week's episode, even if it was rather basic. Even the "surprise reveal" wasn't much of a surprise to me after the rest of the episode.

During "Welcome to Storybrooke" we get the backstory to Greg Mendell and Regina's idea to have a son all wrapped up in a nice bow. We still don't know how Regina got Henry, but we do know why she wanted him. Something to break up the monotony of her existence. I'm not sure exactly how I feel about the fact that "Greg" hasn't sought out Regina, especially since he filmed her doing magic. However, I thought he came across as very creepy during his present day interactions.

As for present day Regina, I'm still not happy with her. That sudden turn during the last story arc just ruined her for me. It was really obvious she wouldn't end up actually casting the curse, too. She apparently learned nothing during that scene with Henry and the cupcake at the beginning of the season. Or else anything she did learn got killed during her time with her mother.

Past Regina was kind of fun to watch. I thought the way Lana Parrilla portrayed Regina being really happy with the way the curse worked out was positively amusing and then as she got bored with the monotony, it made me grin even more. I thought the way Regina got really attached to Owen was a) really quick and b) kind of sweet. That she got so attached that quickly was just kind of... odd.

Last stop for this review is Snow. I'm not sure I really buy her never having killed anyone before. Or at least, she apparently didn't see any of those kills as being as big as Cora's. They were at war in the Enchanted Forest, what did she think was going on exactly? I didn't like her reaction to essentially killing Cora nor her going to Regina asking for death. That would not have solved anything, in fact it would have made things worse had Regina gone through with it. I also don't think Snow's going to become evil. Her massive guilt over Cora's death is proof of that to me.

So, I can't wait till next week. The ball will be fully rolling again and I can't wait. Also, looks like August is going to be back! Yay!

Obelisk War Update

The war is apparently over. The Neopets team hasn't told us who's won yet. We're apparently having a breather. Can't say I'm sad to see the constant Battledome-ing stop.

Love ya, Jessie.

PS. Whoops, forgot my emoticon the first time.

Welcome To Storybrooke - IR

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Sorry I've been away for a week. I was house-sitting and babysitting and watching Lost. However, this week I should be on schedule with posting my initial reactions and reviews. That said here is your

SPOILER WARNING

If you have not seen tonight's episode of Once Upon a Time, please leave the blog and come back later. The following initial reactions are full of spoilers.

Once Upon a Time - "Welcome to Storybrooke" - Initial Reactions

• Hey, it's that guy from Alphas.
• That looks like more than just electrical storm-ness. Looks like rain.
• Explosion of magic!
• Grahm!
• Reused footage!
• It's interesting to see Regina confused.
• Yeah, so why can't Regina see that?
• Gold's got a point, but Regina's unbelievably stubborn.
• Oh yes, lie to him more.
• The world isn't as black and white as you think it is, Henry.
• Schooled by a little kid. That's funny.
• Cute.
• That's where she got the idea for having a kid.
• Things get stale without change.
• He really doesn't.
• I want that mobile.
• Mysterious curse scroll...
• Sneaking into the crypt...
• Using it on Henry seems to be the plan.
• Yup, this kid's the reason she gets Henry.
• No, that wasn't vaguely creepy at all...
• Fail, Neil.
• Dun dun dun.
• Fail, Regina.
• One or both of them end up dead.
• Okay, that guy is seriously freaking me out.
• I don't think blowing up the well is going to do it.
• Apparently got a nice new car...
• Never thought I'd see a car chase on Once Upon a Time.
• Random theory: Owen is Greg Mendell.
• Did you not learn your lesson with the cupcake?
• Bye bye curse.
• That's pretty much what I thought.
• Yeah, because Regina killing you would just end everything.
• Well gee, isn't that nice?
• I don't think that's how it's gonna work out.
• And I was right! Go figure.

Obelisk War Update

Yet more Battledome-ness, this time though, you get to work in teams to try and defeat the Big Bad. Not sure exactly how that works as I haven't done it myself, but, ya know, have fun with that. I'll probably update this again if things get more exciting.

Housekeeping

So... tomorrow I'll have my review for tonight's Once Upon a Time up and a review for last Thrusday's The Vampire Diaries. Tuesday will be my review of last Friday's Grimm and The Subtle Knife. Wednesday, initial reactions for Arrow. Thursday, initial reactions for TVD and reviews for Arrow and Supernatural. Friday, initial reactions for Grimm and review of TVD. Saturday, review of Grimm.

That's my hopeful itenerary. I've already written some of those reviews so... yeah. I should be able to stay on schedule with that.

Love ya, Jessie.

The Miller's Daughter

SPOILER ALERT

If you have not seen last night's episode of Once Upon a Time, please leave the blog and come back after you've watched it. The following review will contain spoilers.

Once Upon a Time - "The Miller's Daughter" - Review

This was one of the creepier episodes of Once Upon a Time. I've never been comfortable with the idea of Rumple and Cora as a couple. I was even less comfortable seeing it in its full-blown form. That was just... ick. That said, I very much enjoyed Rose McGowan's portrayal of young Cora. I didn't much like Cora's motivation, though. That was rather insane and didn't really make sense to me.

I really liked Emma using magic, though her protection spell was really weak. At least it seemed that way to me. I liked the further explanation of magic. It makes sense that magic isn't all in the mind. If it were, everyone would be able to do it. Channeling emotion takes skill. The explanation really spoke to me as a writer.

I think Snow going "dark side" was a good thing. I don't think "good" should be black and white. I thought the difference between Cora without her heart and with it was subtle to begin with. When she got her heart back, it was kind of intensely obvious that it was back. I thought that was a little weird, but nice at the same time.

And yes, I was wrong about Regina being mind-controlled. However, I still didn't like her quick turn around when it came to Cora. She lost credibility in my eyes and I don't think she's going to be a credible villain for me anymore.

I can't wait till next week and the full aftermath of Regina going completely dark side.

Obelisk War Update

Looks like we're getting another round of stronger Battledome opponents for the Obelisk War over on Neopets. Honestly, I couldn't even hold my own against the second tier of fighters so... that event's essentially gone down the drain for me.

Love ya, Jessie.

The Queen Is Dead - Initial Reactions

Hey everybody! This is your friendly neighborhood SPOILER WARNING. If you have not seen tonight's Once Upon a Time episode, you should go away and come back later. The initial reactions are filled with SPOILERS.

Once Upon a Time - "The Queen Is Dead" - Initial Reactions

• Snowdrops. Cute.
• So many sparkles.
• It's sad she doesn't want to celebrate her birthday.
• That was a very pretty lock up on top...
• Dun Dun Dun.
• Tear-inducing reunion.
• Because that's just the most wonderful thing a mother can do for her child. - sarcasm
  
• I love that Gold is wonderfully insightful.
• "Kids like culture." - lol. I hated museums as a kid.
• Regina was blurry through that glass, nice bit of implication, there.
• You never listened to Snow in the first place, Regina.
• So many feels!
• Surprise, surprise, magic. Everyone acts to surprised.
• That's just kind of weird there, Henry.
• Interrupting Henry. Doing what he does best.
• Yeah really, time would be good. It usually is.
• How'd Hook get there so fast?
• Well that was some convenient Neil heard stuff.
• W00T the ship.
• Officially jumping on board the "Neil is Peter Pan" theory.
• Balance is key.
• Of course it's forever and a day to get to the ship.
• So then the question is what's protecting it.
• Or smashing a window...
• A different blue fairy, perhaps? Or someone is disguise.
• There are nuns...
• Tears for Snow.
• Of course now you've got it, you have to fight the bad guys to keep control.
• This girl is like Alison Hannigan with the tearing up and inducing tears.
• And the king didn't show up?
• Figured Cora was the fairy.
• And we won't find out what that means 'til next week.
• Well that was a predictable ending to that conflict.
• You knew that, though, Regina.
• She's been mind-controlled for a very long time. That sudden flip in her attitude is my proof.
• Oh, come on Regina!
• And of course he'd have a girlfriend.
• Fiance. Fun fun.
• This is the burden of the hero.
• Yeah... good luck with that, Snow.

Obelisk War Update

The second wave is upon us! I'm disappointed this thing's apparently all in the Battledome. I find it annoying that seems to be what this plot-thing is. And yes, I know it's a war and there must be fighting. I just want there to be more than Battledome fights.

Love ya, Jessie.

In Which I Rant a Little and Review Arrow

Today, I watched an episode of Arrow, went to Target with my mom and sister, spent a bulk of my evening de-Easter-Grassing Celestia and Luna ponies, watched an episode of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, and then spent till now de-Easter-Grassing Cadance.

If you have figured out that I'm going to rant about Easter-Grassed Doll Hair, you'd be right. I have always hated that stuff. It would periodically show up in Barbie dolls when I was younger. We'd play with them a little and then go to brush their hair, only to find out it was made impossible by EASTER GRASS. Yes, it makes the hair look more shimmery while in the box. Yes, it makes the hair look terrible once the doll or pony is out of the box. Yes, it tangles the hair very easily. Yes, I just spent a good three-ish hours cutting it out of my ponies' hair with a razor. Yes, it was annoying. No, they shouldn't put it in toys.

This stuff was in every single hair plug the ponies had. It looked horrible. It was annoying as all get out to find, especially in pink, yellow, and purple hair. There was A LOT of the stuff, too. See Figure A.

Figure A.

Anyway... I mentioned I watched Arrow today, yes? Here's your SPOILER WARNING. If you have not seen this week's episode of Arrow, go away and come back later. There are lots of SPOILERS in the following review. Oh, and a SPOILER for River Song's identity, if you haven't gotten there in Doctor Who yet.

Arrow - "Dead To Rights" - Review

This episode was fun. It also blew my mind there at the end, that was fun. I spent a good five minutes pacing in my room freaking out. I was not expecting to see Ms. Alex Kingston show up and proclaim that Sarah Lance might be alive. Alex Kingston, for those who don't know, has been on Doctor Who for the last... three, four years?... as Professor/Doctor River Song/Melody Pond/Mels. That's two Doctor Who alumns to show up as parents on Arrow. Gah! Oh, and I also thought Mrs. Lance was dead for some reason... but meh.

Speaking of Doctor Who alumns, I really, really enjoyed John Barrowman in this episode. I think that's partially because I'd rather see him in action instead of trying to look creepy. He doesn't do creepy well. My completely unrelated weird crossover fan observation: I was slightly disappointed when Mr. Merlyn did not come to with a gigantic gasp of breath any of the times he came to. But that's just me being a little weird and nerdy...

But that's a good segue into how awesome Felicity was this episode. I like that she's getting some combat training from Diggle instead of just sitting at a desk. However, the quick costume change from work-out gear to work gear was a little... disconcerting. But she was awesome anyway. Quite the Oracle-type-person... which I keep saying.

The other big reveal of the episode was Tommy being told point blank that Olly is the vigilante. I don't think it bodes well. I think Tommy's going to end up being a villain. I think he's going to hold Olly not trusting him as a big thing and that'll be part of what sends him to the villain side. I do like that he's keeping Olly's secret, though. It's nice. I'm also wondering when Olly's going to tell Dig and Felicity that Tommy knows.

Can't wait for the next episode. Hope we get some answers to some of my questions, because those questions are important.

Obelisk War Coverage

Basically, today's thing is Battledome centric. Really easy battles with various members of the other team. Yay.

Housekeeping

Buffy took precedence over TVD, sorry. Hopefully, I'll be watching Supernatural and TVD tomorrow. I'll also be styling some ponies so... ya know, that'll be fun.

Love ya, Jessie.