Once Upon a Time - True North and 7:15 Am...also a bit on a new video game

1. I'm not a game player, but I've discovered via Kristin Cashore's journal, the game Flutter. It's soothing, not competitive and pretty. I remember when I was working at the video game distribution company, discovering the various types of video games available. There's the popular and extremely violent games directed at young men, and then there's the puzzle games - regarding development of cities, coordination skills, and raising of plants, animals, and of course role playing - targeted towards women. Oberon, the video game distribution company that I'd worked with, specialized in the later - a growing industry.

Flutter is a bit addictive. But also very laid-back. You can leave it, come back and the butterflies are fine. (Note dead in a pool of urine like The Sims - which requires 24/7 maintenance - I grew bored of that game fast, too bloody time-consuming with not enough results.) Also it doesn't require much in the way of hand/eye coordination skills - unlike Minecraft which I can't figure out how to work. Nor does it require much expenditure of funds- obviously it wants you to spend money on it - all of these games do, but you can sort of ignore it.

2. Made it through the first two discs of S1 Once Upon a Time - and discovered a few things that I hadn't noticed before. I should write them on the OUAT group site, but not sure if I'd be breaking the rules by writing about episodes that have not been examined yet in the re-watch?

At any rate - the episodes that I'm discussing here are True North through 7:15 AM. True North much like its predecessor The Price of Gold is filled to the brim with interesting character and plot nuggets.

I've begun to notice a pattern developing here - the episodes that do not focus on the Snow White/Charming romance - provide more plot nuggets. Another thing I noticed - the Snow White/Charming and David/Mary romances are more compelling when watched in a marathon style without commercial interruptions, and far less frustrating. I actually see the chemistry between them and the actors have grown on me. Josh Dallas is very appealing right now, when he wasn't initially.

( spoilers for OUAT leading up to 7:15 AM - Spinning tales )

OUAT marathon continues...

Haven't done much this weekend outside of farmers market, playing Flutter which is weirdly soothing, doctor's appointment, cleaning here and there, and marathoning OUAT S1, which is also oddly soothing. Say what you will about this series - it's incredibly creative and well, soothing. I'm procrastinating a few things...which are better left unsaid. Decided not to try and wander about Manhattan to meet up with new people. The foot needs to be carefully taken care of - so I can safely rehabilitate it. Frustrating, but it is what it is.

Last group of OUAT episodes hasn't been all that great (Skin Deep through Dreamy or 1.12-1.14 - ( spoilers for S1 OUAT )

I checked out S3 spoilers and found one thing that interests me a great deal and isn't really a spoiler. They are splitting the series into two 11 episode contained arcs. One arc takes place in the fall - Sept 28-Dec. The other arc takes place in the Spring, March 9th (hey my birthday, although may not be here at the time) - May. This way they can focus the story better, without any interruption in the flow - ie. the winter break. SCANDAL did this last year and it worked beautifully. As did Mad Men and The Walking Dead. It's actually a great idea - to set it up as a mini-series. American Horror Story does somewhat the same thing. This way you can plot a tighter arc, have less filler episodes, and it's less jarring.

I'm thrilled.

I also learned that the action is not going to just take place in one world, but three. ( spoiler for the places if you have not seen S2 )

Yippee. This is wildly creative series, the most creative television series I've seen in a long time.