This is an Entirely Gratuitous Post of Zhu Yilong looking lovely and defiant and sleeveless - I couldn't find any caps for this specific moment in Lost Tomb ep 26 so I made some. No spoilers at all, just hotness.

( Wu Xie has no fucks to give, and also no sleeves )

LOOK LOOK naye made more caps and they are spectacular!

And how do the cap and goggles look so good on him?

So, I don't know the show Once Upon a Time at all, because I seriously suck at watching things with a plot these days.

But: it's about fairytale people who live in the modern world, in a town called Storybrooke. I know that much because of this fabulous vid that arduinna and therienne made.

And I am fascinated by the picspams arduinna is now putting up:

• OUaT picspam the first


• OUaT picspam the second

They are not hugely spoilery, I think, because they deal with scenery and background things, not so much the plot.

And it turns out that the OUaT crew have been doing amazing things with scenery.

The kind of things that you don't even notice, until you are vidding the show, and pausing endlessly, and running clips at low speeds, and rewatching clips 100 times. Which...normal viewers probably don't do, and yet the showmakers put this coherent, subtle, beautiful motif of trees and flowers and forests in the background of the modern town, in ways that make particular sense for each character. It's stunning when you see it all together like this.

Another favorite fannish analysis of mine is Tom & Lorenzo's thoughts about the period wardrobe in Mad Men, and how it ties in to the character arcs, starting with season two. I haven't been reading that recently, as, guess what, I'm not caught up to Mad Men's current season at all, but I loved their posts on earlier seasons.

(Side note re not being caught up: I am still debating whether to ask for Burn Notice fic for Yuletide or not. I love the show just as much as I did last year. I just, um, haven't caught up at all, as far as I can remember, since last year, which means I'm somewhere in season...three? That might make things awkward for my writer, I fear.)

I wish more shows were this careful and thoughtful about their entire background, wardrobe and styling choices. It's like they are giving the viewer presents to reward them for investing time in the show.

It's a huge contrast to the more usual elements you pick up as a vidder -- shows reusing footage, for example (Granada Sherlock Holmes, as lovely as your street scenery shots are, I'm looking at you).

Or the stunt guys who are so very obviously not the hero, once you pause them.

Or that really very charming shot I found in ST:TOS, I can't remember the episode, but it was one with explosions in it -- and at one point you can see Kirk come in running, sort of come to a stop and then deliberately throw himself on the ground, with the explosion happening just a tad later.

Or shows that reuse scenery elements in ways that are incredibly distracting once you notice them. (Hercules: the Legendary Journeys, not having a huge budget, did this all the damn time, to the point where I started greeting a certain stretch of beach like an old friend. Probably worst of all was the decision to reuse the Sumerian tomb Iolaus was buried in as set dressing for the catwalk in a Widow Twanky episode. Well, worst or most audacious, I'm not sure.)

Meme, from flambeau:

1. Leave me a comment saying anything random, like your favorite food. Or a quote from what you are reading. Something random. Whatever you like.

2. I respond by asking you five personal questions so I can get to know you better.

3. You WILL update your LJ with the answers to the questions.

4. You will include this explanation and offer to ask someone else in the post.

5. When others comment asking to be asked, you will ask them five questions.

So, comment away and I will ask you questions!

( Answers to torch's questions )

thefourthvine has posted a hilarious Fandoms I Have Loved overview of Stargate SG-1, with links to recs and resources, and one of them was niamaea's SG-1 photo essays about Jack and Daniel's outfits throughout the seasons. I've just spent way, way too much time reading every single one of them and laughing my head off. (The first one is here: Everybody's Crazy 'Bout A Sharp-Dressed Man, pt 1.)

Of course, being the kind of fan I am, I immediately wanted to do a similar fashion post for Hercules: the Legendary Journeys. There is just one problem with this, and that's the horrendous failure on the part of TPTB to come up with more costumes for Hercules and Iolaus. Xena and Gabrielle got a costume makeover every other episode, including fetching samurai and hindu idol outfits, whereas Herc and Iolaus spent six seasons tooling around in the same clothes, and yes, I am still ridiculously bitter about this.

However, from the essays it's clear that HtLJ is much better at nudity than SG-1, where you apparently only see nudity if someone's just descended from being ascended, or whatever the hell you call that. And HtLJ did have its fair share of entertaining outfits, especially when you factor in the evil twins, lookalikes, demonic possession and amnesia. Also, and most importantly, looking at HtLJ screencaps just never fails to cheer me up, especially from any episode that has the Widow Twanky in it.

So, here we go! How to Dress for Success in New Greeceland, part 1, featuring young Hercules and Iolaus and whoever else we meet on the way.

( Image heavy, of course. Not to mention leather pants heavy. )

To be continued in >How to Dress for Success in New Greeceland, part 2, or: Why Does Iolaus Not Wear Pants?

I've updated my site with new screencaps for the fifth season Hercules: the Legendary Journeys episodes Let There Be Light and Redemption.

I got a request for screencaps of the first episode, and then I had to do 'Redemption' as well so I could get to the hug at the end. I hadn't seen the bit with Dahak-in-Hercules'-shape torturing/seducing Iolaus for a long time, and it just gutted me.

Now we ignore the rest of the plot completely (exorcism of Dahak!Iolaus, Zarathustra, the Light, and other WTF-ery) in favor of

( Nebula and Ares being astoundingly hot together )


( Hercules and Iolaus giving each other manly hugs )

devinharris watched my Holding Out For A Hero vid and asked,

Which episode did the clip of Herc on his knees, with his hands tied behind
him, come from? I want an icon of that pose, because guh is it hot, but I'm
currently connecting to the 'net at 19.2 kbps and there's no way I can
browse all your screen caps to see if you have that shot capped already.

It's from Hercules and the Amazon Women, that fabulously deranged episode where the Amazons strip Hercules half naked, bind and gag him and then drag him through town on a cart to deliver him to their Queen. Clearly they know a good thing when they see one. (There are several clips from that episode in the vid, because how could there not be? And I didn't even include the one where Hercules is lying on the floor naked.)

Oddly, even though I have tons of screencaps for the episode, I failed to cap the falling-to-his-knees moment. So I had another try, and here are three caps of Bound!Gagged!Defiant!Hercules, especially for devinharris, who patiently waited for months until I remembered. *g*

( Hercules on his knees )

( Hercules on his knees, looking up )

( Defiant closeup )

Someone running a website for Jacinda Barrett asked me to make a few screencaps of the Hercules: the Legendary Journeys episode 'Medea Culpa', and of Medea in particular. (This is one of the flashback to Young Hercules episodes, and Barrett, a young Australian actress, plays Medea.)

So I did. Except when I say a few, I mean fourteen pages. Oops.

But young Hercules, Iolaus and Jason are really very cute together, and I like the framing scenes with grown-up Hercules, Iolaus and Jason fishing together and teasing each other.

( A few screencaps and comments )

The rest of the screencaps for this episode are here.

Screencaps up at my site for the Hercules: the Legendary Journeys episodes Twilight, Top God and Reunions. These are the three episodes dealing with Alcmene's death and Zeus' manipulative attempt to turn Hercules into a god and establish him on Olympus.

About half these episodes are flashbacks, introducing young Iolaus, Jason and Hercules (Ian Bohen, the guy who actually looks and acts like a young Hercules, to my mind, not his later incarnation Ryan Gosling), and the Young Hercules storyline doesn't always mesh with the adult one, but there are some powerful moments in the adult half.

( A few favorite moments )

I've put up screencaps on my website for the Hercules: the Legendary Journeys episodes Descent and Mummy Dearest.

These are rather different episodes. Descent is the second season five episode, very bleak, continuing the theme of Iolaus' death and Hercules' descent into nightmare and madness. Mummy Dearest features Salmoneus' House of Horrors and the Egyptian princess Anuket who wants her Mummy back. But hey, one is set in Sumeria and the other in Egypt, it's a theme, right? *cough*

( Some screencaps for Descent )

I've updated my site with new screencaps for the second season Hercules: the Legendary Journeys episodes The Apple and Protean Challenge, and a new short story: Prey, written for the Unlikely Allianceshxyh_challenge.

The Apple is one of my favorite Hercules episodes. It's hilariously over the top, it's a great Iolaus episode and it just makes me smile whenever I see it. I used quite a few images from it in my Live Till I Die vid - Iolaus surfing, Aphrodite offering him the golden apple, Athena shaking out her hair as she vamps Iolaus, the princess throwing Iolaus to the ground in order to ravish him, Iolaus fishing and doing calisthenics on the beach. Can you see why I like this episode yet? *g*

( The Apple - screencaps and comments )