Something next to normal, that's the thing I'd like to try

[1-18] iconthat challenges
[19-34] RDJ (with Susan Downey)
[35-78] The Vampire Diaries 4.17-4.19

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WHY IS IT SO HOT? LIKE A WEEK AGO IT WAS WINTER.

Linkspam:

* Yes, another Iron Man 3 link. This one's got some behind-the-scenes stuff as well as film clips. Also O HAI THERE PEPPER.

* Unconfirmed rumors of the Black Panther character popping up in Avengers 2 and/or his own movie.

* Really interesting piece on teenage daughter characters and how they introduce a YA fiction element into your favorite anti-hero dramas.

* John Barrowman will be making an appearance on Scandal.

* Yvonne Strahovski will be returning to Dexter this season. Not a surprise, but I'll be glad to see her again.

* An actual person has been cast as Silas in The Vampire Diaries. FINALLY.

* Okay, 'fess up. Which one of you posted the Game of Thrones-themed Craigslist sex ad?

* The Veronica Mars Kickstarter has passed the $5 million mark, with two days left to go.

* Best headline ever: Mali to give France new camel after first one is eaten. (Though the Craigslist one might be a close second.)

* That is one seriously awesome sandcastle.

[1-64] The Vampire Diaries
[65-73] iconthat (Game of Thrones, Firefly, Lizzie Bennet Diaries)

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Happy Galentine's Day, y'all!

If you didn't get around to leaving me screencaps, there's still time if you want icons. (LOL seriously, there is no deadline. I'm always offering icons, so you can make requests anytime.)

As usual, all icons are snaggable unless giftees object.

Pride and Prejudice for chaila:



Ripper Street for shapinglight:



Also under the cut, random icon dump of Michelle Obama (from this collection of hilarious facial expressions) and some Damon/Katherine-centric TVD.

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* A very thorough analysis of the pros and cons of Downton Abbey season 3 (mainly spoiler-free). I agree a lot more with the negatives than the positives, although basically it boils down to I will watch this show as long as Maggie Smith and Michelle Dockery are on it and fuck everything else.

Downton has taken a lot of (wholly justified) flak for its precipitous fall from grace, but I wonder if it's not a bit of a Homeland situation, where it hasn't gotten a lot worse so much as it just was never really as good as we thought? I mean, let's not forget, season 1 included a foreign dignitary dying in Lady Mary's bed, and a late-night cover-up to get rid of the body (or at least put him back in his own room). As soap operas go, that's pretty sudsy. I think the trouble with Downton isn't that the plotlines have gotten more ridiculous (although they have, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing). It's that the drama is focused on all the wrong things. I mean, for God's sake, NO ONE CARES ABOUT BATES. Seriously, no one would mind if he'd rotted away in prison for the rest of the series, as long as we never had to see him again. There's a lot of great conflict to be mined from these characters and their relationships, but "Will Mary and Matthew get married?" "Will they lose the estate?" "Is modernization the work of the devil?" and "What exactly is the point of Branson's continued existence?" are not the most interesting questions for the show to explore.

* The Vampire Diaries has a Big Bad problem? LOL no. While I definitely agree that there is a PROBLEM with Klaus, I don't know that the Buffy Big Bad model is necessarily better? I quite like that TVD blurs the line between good and evil, that the so-called good guys are often just as terrible as the people they're fighting against. I'm even a fan of the way that all the "bad guys" seem to switch sides whenever it's convenient for them, because it seems like a much more truthful depiction of human nature - that we are, ultimately, motivated by self-interest more than abstract ~morals. It's not about good vs. evil; it's about conflicting desires and priorities that aren't necessarily right or wrong.

The problem with Klaus, though, is that the show wants to have it both ways. It wants Klaus to be the mustache-twirling villain, but it also wants him to become part of the gang and make googly eyes at Caroline. Which is a totally valid character arc (see also: Damon/Elena), but you can't do that and then expect us to take him seriously as a villain. Damon still does some horrific, unconscionable things, but he hasn't been the "villain" in a long time. Nor is anyone actively trying to defeat Damon anymore, the way that everyone seems to be trying to defeat Klaus, except when they're not, because the show wants to keep him around forever (apparently) and so they can't ever actually succeed. And that makes both Klaus and everyone else look foolish, because they've been in the same basic stalemate for two seasons now. I don't think it's a coincidence that the mid-season finale was the first time in a while I've really enjoyed the Klaus plot, because it was the first time in ages someone's actually made an effort to oppose him and forced them out of the stalemate. (Also, ripping out hybrid hearts to Christmas carols? EPIC.)

The OP absolutely has a point here: "I can’t help but feel that if TVD were less focused on converting any potential baddie into a series regular for us to get to know and love, we could focus more on what makes Elena, Stefan, Damon, Caroline, Jeremy and Bonnie tick." But not because we need Big Bad Villains to root against. The cast is simply too damn big and the show doesn't have the time or interest to give them all interesting storylines and character arcs. "Potential baddies" like the Originals can still be complex and morally grey, while also being ushered off-stage when they've served their purpose. This show just doesn't know when to let go.

* GPOY courtesy of per_aspera_ad_astra: How I lost my virginity, in gifs.

* For any other political/musical nerds out there: Les Fiscal Miserables.

* I love when drunk celebrities do interviews. Here's Amanda Seyfried on Letterman. I generally find Amanda adorable - she seems like someone I'd want to be friends with, if I were the type of person who had Hollywood actors as friends - but she's always so nervous and awkward in interviews, so I can see why the liquid courage might be necessary.

* Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert reveal dirty secrets for a fundraiser. (Spoiler: Jon hates Hugh Grant and Stephen used to sleepwalk.)

* Wondering how in God's name Peter Jackson managed to fill three whole movies with The Hobbit's meager plot? Here's how. I think I'd forgotten just how much Tolkien sucks at "show, don't tell," but there really is a TON of action-y stuff that gets glossed over in the book.

* Lock down your journals, kids. The cast of The Vampire Diaries has found your fanfiction. Candice Accola's dramatic reading is priceless, though. And poor Trevino's FACE. Bless.

* As a follow up to my earlier mention of The Hawkeye Initiative, is swapping gendered superhero poses an effective way to reveal sexism?

* Maybe it's because I'm a nerd, but I thought this was an interesting look at movie industry data for this year.

[118] Vampire Diaries (4.01)

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So, I was all set to do reaction posts this year, and then the season premiere was so godawful boring that I couldn't be fucked. It felt like they were just checking the boxes on what we expected to happen - Elena in transition? Check! Damon is pissed at Stefan? Check! Matt feels guilty? Check! Bonnie does a spell? Check! - without putting any effort into making it interesting for the audience. And I was all, "What happened to my shooooooow?" and resolved to watch the rest of the season drunk off my ass.

AND THEN THIS HAPPENED.

( Basically 40 minutes of nonstop giggling followed by two minutes of gross sobbing )

[34] Avengers + cast
[10] Vampire Diaries

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44 Vampire Diaries (3.19)

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