#EDIT if you saw the version with an error no you didn't... figured out how to fix it with my friend the colour picker tool

[b-blushes]

feeling pretty wretched but today i made some images 👍

[gbgamebun]

Road to Cream64 v1 Part 2: All in the Family

With the main player model ready to go, it was finally time to get to everything else. Starting with Peach herself, it was time to get Vanilla into the game.

To start, I had to get an idea on how Peach was rigged and this was something I had to mostly do on my own. Fast64 has an import tool to grab models and their rigs straight from the game itself, so you can (kind of) easily swap models out without having to change anything else, so long as everything was put back that is.

Mario 64's T-Poses are not traditional ones but rather they come imported as a crumpled mess, like so.

Here's Peach's for example. Mario is just about the same, as well as a bunch of other enemies and stuff. Don't get me started on Bowser, we'll get to him much later. But generally once you have it imported, most people would uncrumple the T-Pose to get an idea on where everything else. This is very intimidating at first, so you make a save where it's already uncrumpled. There's another method that you can use to guide you but, again, I'll get to that later.

So here we are, after going back and adding her proper "Princess" textures. Stuff like the crown and the jewel on her chest are taken straight from Peach's model, but everything else was remade from scratch. Get it as close as her original outfit but still keep it very princess-y. Now to get her back in that crumpled state we saw earlier.

And there we go, she's ready to be imported in-game. The Fast64 tool has a little button that lets you keep a model's default rest position to however you like, which makes editing the more complicated models easier since going back to edit mode shifts the bones back to rest position.

And you can do the same method to get it back to its normal position. Just be careful on how you rotate things cause you can accidently rotate two bones on the wrong axis and it'll mess up everything. Lost too many good Mario rigs that way...

Some code given to me by the simpleflips' romhack discord, I can easily warp to the ending to see my results. Took a few tries actually but once it was all done, everything looked great! However, there was still one last thing left: the blinking.

Most models have blinking, which uses a switch bone usually where it would happen, so the head in this case. The Mario rig that comes with fast64 already has it set, so it's just a matter of swapping textures. For anything you import, it doesn't come with textures so you have to fill in the blanks (it does come with its UVs so it's not super hard if you know what you're doing).

For the blinking, you have to find the specific bone that does it and then manually add the textures that way. Peach is somehow unique in that she has seven states, all but one are a repeat of another. Here's the first three from the most recent version I got of her as an example.

So a lot of the early importing was a lot of trial and error till just figuring out which bone does it and in which order, using the Mario switch states as an idea. You could prolly dig around the code and see how its laid out but I sure didn't know how at the time! Anyway, Princess Vanilla was done. She showed up properly in all the spot Peach usually does and that means I'm ready to continue.

Next is the unappreciated boi, Gemerl. Former Eggman goon turned protector of small and large bunnies. The plan for him was simple: he's the new Koopa the Quick. Sounds easy enough, and honestly it was mostly (after some help) but man just trying to get him rigged was uhh...something.

The original idea was to rig him to the existing Koopa model and go from there but as you can see, it was not the greatest looking thing. Koopa the Quick's model and animations are obviously shared with the normal Koopa model so I had to be careful when modifying the animations, if I did. In the end, I scrapped this idea and went with a suggestion: using Mario's rig.

Huge feet aside, it did work out though actually using the Mario rig was a bit of a hassle cause when importing the Mario rig, it also includes the bones that are handle by the game's code such as telling which hand holds things or scaling certain limbs when attacking, etc etc. And since Cream also shared that same rig now, whatever Cream did, so did Gemerl. The solution was to go through the rig and delete all those bones so that nothing gets mirrored to whatever the player was doing.

Look at him go! The added benefit of using Mario's rig was that I could reuse his animations for Gemerl. The next thing was to import certain animations and export them in a certain order so that it lined up with Koopa's animations, so that once I edited some code, it would just know which animations to pick from without much effort.

Also for why he looked so big is cause I forgot Koopa the Quick has a unique scale of 4 (vs the normal Koopa being a scale of .8) so just had to adjust that as well as shrinking the trigger to talk to him and Gemerl was set! Two down, a couple more to go.

Last but not least were Cheese and Chocola. These would be the first model I just took from an existing source, in this case it's from Shadow the Hedgehog. Bunch of chao in a single room...

Normal chao would replace all the toads in the castle, while chocola would be replacing a single chao in the main lobby and cheese would follow you around as the cameraman lakitu.

Starting with the toads, their rig was mostly simple if needlessly full of extra bones, which is a common issue with most of the rigs. Would be nice to get of them if I had an idea on which one didn't completely break animations. Oh well.

Same rules applies to this rig and any future rigs but one thing that did help was the ability to import animations and use them as a reference while placing the new model in the same slot. Course, you could still use the model that came with the rig but you get an idea on how it'll move before it's fully in-game.

Best part is since Chocola will also be sharing the same model and rig, I just had to swap out some textures and add his cute lil' bowtie. This also meant I had to make a new actor just for him and then tell the game to pull his unique model id to replace one of the normal chao in the castle. Now onto Cheese.

Before following you around like normal, Cheese was meant to be the Camera. While not shown, he does have his own little cloud to sit on. Thankfully, Lakitu doesn't have many animations so he was easier to swap out compared to Toad. The Space Channel 5 logo was a suggestion and just having a little fun with the model. You'll rarely see it but hey it's there!

Slow and steady but the entire bun family is now fully in-game. There's still a few other NPCs I would add to v1 but I'll get to them later, this blog post is dragging on. Next one should focus on stuff like the UI changes and finally the enemy choices, ooooo.

[buddha-in-disguise]

From boom to bust.

What in the ever fucking hell was that Supergirl?

Okay, quickly. It wasn't as bad as some episodes. It had some great moments, but as is so often the problem since S5 on the show, they got completely overridden by the shit portions.

The biggest one? Well, everyone is rightly complaining about the lack of Alex telling Kelly that Kara is Supergirl.

I'm still reeling from this one. When it became apparent that Kelly knew - I will be honest, I was so stunned, I couldn't even appreciate the great acting by Chyler and Azie. It detracted that much from their scene. And it never should have, because once again, they showed why so many of us love seeing them work together.

So now the next one on my list.

Tough to chose, but I'm going with the time issue.

When was this episode supposed to be set, in relation to episode one?

Because we get the introduction of Silas, and while they don't give a timescale on how long Kara has been missing, the way Nia then mentions Kara still being with Cat Grant, and the initial CatCo scene, all suggests this is very quickly after 6.01 ended.

Plus, even in The Tower, the suggestion is it hasn't been long at all since Kara was lost to the PZ.

But then, William (more on him later) is standing in CatCo, no sling. No sign of having ever been shot. Now, don't get me wrong, I've never been shot, but I have a multitude of health issues, and even if he had great physio, there should be no way in hell his arm has that much movement without some kind of impingement.

But then we have the trial of Lex.

Now even in Supergirl's world, there is no way that a trial would be just a couple of days after Kara is sent to the PZ.

And CatCo has published their hit pieces on Lex. The pieces they were still only discussing in the opening portion of the episode.

Cue in Kelly and Alex - no mention is given on how long Kara has been missing.

So is it days, (highly unlikely) weeks, (possible) or months (who the fuck knows).

That scene with Kelly and Alex was sitting there, just ready to give us the clarification on how long they've been trying to rescue her. But as usual, we are having to make up our own minds and try to figure this shit out ourselves.

William. What is the point of him? No seriously. What does his character bring. Other than him sitting in front of a monitor (oh yeah, what happened about trying to get to the court 🙄) like some neanderthal, grunting at the screen, throwing a temper tantrum at the Lex trial.

We got those scenes by him edited in, but nothing from Kelly and Alex that would've been far more impactful and emotional for the main audience.

William is utterly pointless.

Lex - to sum it up, I love Jon Cryer. I love his version of Lex Luthor.

I am so done with his villainous monologues and looks. It is not the damn Lex Luthor show. How do they not know this, even now. Episode one, I thought it was okay, but this episode - enough already.

Which brings me to Andrea. Look, I love Julie, and I've no issue with Andrea as a character per se, but already I'm sensing that Andrea is drifting towards the same fate as William, of being surplus to requirements.

These are my immediate thoughts on the episode. I know many more will go through my mind as I think on it, but right now - thank fuck that wasn't the season opener as planned, because I would've easily turned off.

The only thing keeping me going so far, is knowing that we are getting more action as Superfriends in general, plus we know Jon didn't film for much longer. Even if we are supposed to be getting Lex back in 5b for an undetermined amount of time. God helps us all.

Oh I almost forgot - Kara delivering that speech knowing what it is like to lose everyone you love. I've got no clue what she was referencing there. Not. A. One. Nothing we know from previous seasons fits the actual dialogue she gave. So many choices could've been made, and yet we got more confusion over what she was referring to.

Last thought, since we know Nia is involved with Brainy in the upcoming Midvale episodes, I'm wondering if that scene at The Tower with Brainy, Dreamer had is a precursor to the Midvale episodes but she didn't realise it, because of the circumstances of why she saw it? I guess we wait and see.

Do better Supergirl. Jesus, the writing alone this episode. I see better consistency with fanfic writers. Netflix has SG if you need to check on things, and failing that, Google is only a few keystrokes away to the answer.

Let's hope this improves because if it carries on in this vein, watch viewing numbers plummet again.

Unedited by me before posting, so apologies for any errors.

Oh shit. I forgot to add. I'm also sick and tired of Kelly shouldering everyone else. Kara was her friend too. Moreso her girlfriends sister. Not only has she now been told who Kara is, the impact that has isn't just on Alex.

Is it this unconscious bias that Black women are strong and should carry every burden? Because that's how it comes across to me.

I want Nia or Lena even being there for Kelly FFS.

[candle-jill]

HI! I have to say that I am very happy and proud that you started a company! But I can't deny that I was confused, are you going to remove your stories from Ao3? If yes, how will we have access to your physical books? (will you let us know about them here?)

I've dreamed of a physical version of PE for a looong time, but you said something about anonymity and I didn't understand if you're going to publish outside and not talk here or if you were going to leave the stories anonymous and leave ao3 to continue as a writer for out of ao3.

(I think this got more confusing than I would have liked, sorry)

Basically, it's whether you're going to pull your stories out of Ao3 when you turn them into books.

And I saw someone commenting on an PE series, and my god, this has been my dream since I first read it (the idea that with a book the chances of this happening increase gave me a hint of hope 😅).

And sorry for the personal question, but how old are your kids? I saw you commenting on them and my curiosity hit me (don't answer if you don't want to).

And please keep us updated on your projects!

Have a nice day, night or whatever time it is for you as you read this.

(English is not my native language, so I apologize for any spelling or interpretation errors 😓)

it got so big and confusing, urghhh. I'm sorry again :/.

Sorry this has taken me so long to reply to! I've had it in an open tab because I wanted to make sure I could get back to you with more information. Super long post ahead...

Your confusion makes perfect sense because I am confused about what I should do. 😅 So... basically these are all options I've been thinking about for a while... I might remove all my stories and delete my AO3 account (and abandon tumblr). I'm thinking about pretty much purging and deleting all of "candlejill" anywhere. If I do that... I'm basically cutting ties and disappearing into the night without a word. 😬 Instead of burning it all to the ground, I might leave my stories up on AO3 and just abandon them to be authored by "anonymous." Or I might do nothing and leave it all alone. And since I'm completely undecided at this point, for now I'm leaving it all alone. Hit Me, Baby! is the main one that is more commercially viable, so that is the one most likely to be removed from AO3 if I sell it as a modified original (it also would need to be heavily edited). I have been working on several fully original stories but they're not on the market yet. I'm a little leery about connecting this space with anything I create professionally, so I'm not sure if I'll do an update here when they're up for sale. I have a few authors I'm working with in different capacities so I might publish a few with them or under their penname. If I did that, I'd probably let it be known here. Right now I'm still trying to figure out my options. For the stories inspired by TWD, I will probably do a whole new penname just for that, and I would be fine sharing that here. As far as ebooks go, it's challenging to find a home for a modified/original-PE because most major retailers won't allow it based on the content. Even with aged up characters, it technically counts as "snuff" 😬 ...which is like... a big no no everywhere apparently 🤷‍♀️. It would take significant editing and changing the entire premise (kind of defeating the purpose of the whole story). However, there are a few options for ebooks, I just haven't found much time to look into it yet. For actual physical copies of a modified-PE, I do have that figured out, but the sale would be through me directly and not something like Amazon. If I decide to do that I will definitely be posting about it here, because I think this is the only way I could reach people who are interested. It basically would be just for the people who've expressed an interest in it here, because unless I find an ebook vendor I don't think I'm ambitious enough to try to market it independently. I'm checking out pricing to see if it's viable (I don't want to charge too much, but I'd also like to make a profit). It would probably be print on demand for around $20 including shipping (US and international). Hopefully I clarified some of that (what I could anyway). Let me know if there's anything I missed. But right now I'm not taking anything down, and I'm not planning on leaving tumblr. And as for your other questions... my kids are 6 and 3 and keep me very busy. Your english is amazing! Thank you so much for taking the time to message me. I'll try to keep everyone in the loop the best I can on here. 💖💖💖

[pastel-rights]

okay so i'mma gonna ramble maybe. if Tumblr doesn't vibe check me again orz

if not I quit writing/j

The one I'm going to be talking about is the very first iteration of Chiaki, I might talk about the second iteration I'm not sure yet.

I might bring her back I dunno yet

edit: okay i want M to be an official gal now i like the puppet and the god idea she has going on oops

Iteration one Chiaki wasn't even named Chiaki. She didn't really have a name I just called her M since she was the only Twisted Wonderland I had at the time 🤔 I think I'll call her M for consistency's sake owo

M, for the most part, is based on video game villains [i mean it's Twisted Wonderland, which is also just a bunch of villains lol] the main two I took the main inspiration from were the Raiden Shogun and the Herrscher of the Void! [And a little bit of Rachel Gardener] And before you claim that the Raiden Shogun was not a villain, she technically WAS a villain but [Ei] saw the errors of her ways and CHANGED. [And like Raiden, M changes her ways and becomes... better? Not good! But better!]

M was still basically my version of the Ramshackle MC, but cooler? Basically, while Chiaki's whole thing is "shy and kind gamer" M was more of a doll, a vessel. And a doll, on its own, has no power. Has no magic.

But M was unique in that she could channel that hidden/locked power if she knew how to. But she didn't know how to and was often controlled by that "evil force" that ties into her story on her "earth"

When I refer to M as a doll... she kind of is like a doll? On her "Earth" M was a test subject by some evil cooperation that wants to recreate the power of an ancient evil god [go figure] and M was one of the " unsuccessful" experiments. What ended up happening when that M needed a stable and steady source of magic to "awaken" this being and Twisted Wonderland's world is BRIMMING with magic that slowly was calling out this god.

Unfortunately, Riddle's Overblot magic is what triggers this power initially. It's not until Jamil's Overblot that M has [somewhat] control of her "magic". [It's not magic more than it is raw divine power.] And this came with a unique ability. One is being unable to overblot, no matter how much "magic" she uses, but second and more importantly is "thunderous magic" which is unheard of in Twisted Wonderland. Not only does she have "unique magic" [again it's not magic lol] but a unique magic type too. [She'd be Electro Null no matter what card she'd have.]

More about M on her earth, but M's power was triggered on her Earth, and that god's divine power destroyed the earth, killing a bunch of people. And in order to quell that power... M's twin sister and mother both lost their lives, sending that god's power to slumber... but in the progress, they saved M's life. Of course, the surge of power brought in many unwanted guests, and eventually an unwanted horse carriage to another worldddd [who would have guessed]

But uh. Bezerker M. Not a fun time, not a fun time at all. It gets worse before it gets better but it at least does get better.

Uhhh, M doesn't like mirrors because of what happened on her earth. She doesn't quite remember what happened exactly but seeing herself in the mirror's reflection... makes her scared, and angry. She sees a mirror? She punches a mirror. She breaks a mirror. Or maybe just cover up your mirrors I dunno.

M has a strong association with "repairing the broken". This tends to include cutting things open and sewing things back closed. This takes the form of cut-open and torn-apart plushies in her room, which she spends a lot of time sewing back together. "Fixing it" in a sense. Even now in NRC, she does this but tries to hide it as it's not something she likes to. explain.

Genuinely believes her family is still alive [they're not] and that's why she wants to go home so badly. And it. hurts when people try to convince her otherwise. Because she loves her family more than anything or anyone else.

She doesn't have any decided powers yet- like there are ideas and fragments but nothing decided. But like.

the cool things.

Like being able to float and teleporting items and picking up people with her abilities and making things appear out of nowhere like cool things like that.

She genuinely dislikes a lot of NRC at first. No one treats her with respect or takes her seriously and that turns her hella bitter at first. Not even a sibling bond with Cater and Hana </3

She feels used and unwanted. Very unwilling to open up and help other students out. She GENUINELY hates a lot of the student body. Very extreme with her emotions. And very accusatory. "This is your fault don't come looking to me to pick up after you." very aggressive and defensive. Even with her "friends" [who she's convinced are going to abandon and leave her to die]

Heaven FORBID anyone tries to matchmake her with anyone. M is so bitter that lemons taste sweet. M is just so. afraid of everyone and everything, she doesn't want to be used or abandoned. So she's aggressive and bitter as a result. She believes no one can love someone who acts the way she does. She doesn't. want anyone in her life. No one from NRC at least. She only feels like she'll be backstabbed in the end.

After going bezerk, M's put in a magic cube that nullifies all magic used inside of it. Of course, this doesn't work on her [because it's not magic] but it does weaken her powers. And eventually, she overpowers and crashes. And M starts sobbing. Reminds her of the labs, deep, buried subconscious memories in her head. Angsty time for her,,,

also one last thing because i wanna post it now but she is a coffee person. Coffee is all it takes to avoid murder. Hana, this is a free one for yous./j/lh

Been thinking about Chiaki before she was really “Chiaki” lately which is. well I won’t lie I like that pre version of Chiaki more than I like the finalized Chiaki

[buddha-in-disguise]

5.18 So that was a lot!

Posting without editing, so apologies for any errors. I am running on barely any sleep, but really wanted to get this written while I could.

Overall impressions were great episode .... but again there were issues for me. However I will address them as I go through my thoughts on it all, and please don't think I am trying go bring this episode down. I'm not. It really was great! I just still see things that haven't been done that could've easily occurred to appease fans further or are examples of why 5b has been so problematic for me.

The opening was good, in that they actually explained that Leviathan were no longer at the location they'd used in Earth 38 before Crisis. These little pointers are what have been missed a lot this season (a couple of examples later ref Kelly). Too often it's been, we need to find their location; no explanation as to why that is.

Now onto the whiplash with Kara and her anger towards Lena.

Kara is angry over Lena being at the fortress and the reaction over her use of Myriad. Alex is the one actually acknowledging Myriad is a trigger for Lena.

Alex, who suddenly starts defending Lena? Then Kara is convincing herself Lena is involved with Lex. Look, I get that she would feel suspicious, I get she has the right to feel angry. But it is this sudden, seemingly out of nowhere anger, not recognising the good in Lena she has staunchly defended until now. With Alex understanding Lena's position.

As I say, I'm not saying Kara doesn't have a right to be hurt and angry. But to see such a quick role reversal in the Danvers sisters in how they're talking about Lena? That is what I find difficult to get my head around.

I don't expect Kara to be there fully defending Lena as she has done. But this just feels OOC yet again. This really isn't normal for Kara. We've seen her angry and feeling betrayed by those closest to her before, but you could see how it built. Understanding as to why those actions left Kara feeling like she did (Astra and J'onn anyone?)

Did I mention whiplash? Because, whiplash.

But it is good to see Kara once again around a table brainstorming with most of the Superfriends. Using her intelligence and skills to try and figure things out.

Nia is also finally able to be involved properly. I still feel annoyed Nia isn't really in CatCo at all these days, because as much as I love seeing her as Dreamer, I want to see Nia as more than just a Superhero. I want to see her continuing as a journalist, and like Kara, use both skills together when feasible.

The Tower is actually getting used (those computers aren't simply sitting there looking pretty). How many episodes has it taken to see this used properly for more than a brief scene? Too long.

M'gann is back. I love M'gann, and despite still feeling angry that they had J'onn throw her into a DEO cell, with no due process simply for being a White Martian, I've always enjoyed the dynamic between the two characters, and it wasn't a surprise they kissed. Although god damn it, where was our Dansen kiss. Even a hug? But onto Dansen in a bit.

Alex got into some action. That car hood slide?! Phew. It is suddenly very hot in here. We certainly wouldn't complain if they throw a few more of those hood slides in future episodes.

This is the sort of thing a lot of fans love Alex for. Her kick ass, throwing herself around best.

Plus the scene with Kara in the library just before that, also had the Danvers sisters vibe we have just missed a lot this season, especially 5b.

The DEO being destroyed. Of course we knew it was coming, but it was still good to see the whole sequence of action leading up to it. Kara jumping through that window! Day. Made.

The Nia and Brainy scenes though. My poor Brainia heart. Actually the way Nia and Kara turned and walked away outside after the collapse of the DEO .... oof. Understandable but still gut wrenching. The parallels to Lena and Kara, with Brainy and Nia are also there. God damn it, what is with all this pulling apart relationships and friendships on the show this season.

Kelly, while still frustrated she is working with William, in this episode it made more sense, as Nia and Kara were out doing Superhero things. I've said for ages though, William really isn't needed to simply stand over Kelly's shoulder as she does her thing. Okay, so he realised an image inducer was being used, but if Kelly was working this on her own, (with the Superfriends at The Tower), you can't tell me she wouldn't have been giving the footage the same level of detailed going over that William was. Nothing in those scenes couldn't have been done without him. Kelly is far more capable to do this. She is ex-military for gods sake.

Which leads me onto Dansen, but also Alex.

Once again we had them acknowledge that as ex-military Alex was finding it difficult to adjust. I broached this in an earlier piece I wrote when J'onn and Alex were talking about it. I would've far preferred Kelly had that conversation with her girlfriend, at home. That end scene with Dansen was great, but the dialogue with Kelly's ex-army buddy - that should've been Kelly when Alex says her actions led to it happening. That whole segment had Kelly and Alex talking written all over it. Another wasted opportunity of so many this season. It is especially galling as we've had so little meaningful Dansen content. That small change would've made a huge difference. Plus no hug? No kiss? M'gann and J'onn get one, but once again Dansen don't, and they don't even get the intimacy of a hug. It is ridiculous. And people wonder why fans have had increasing issue of the LGBTQ storylines. Or rather lack thereof.

Which brings me to my other bugbear from this season. Does Kelly know Kara is Supergirl? I mean I think she does after last weeks episode, which I've covered at the time. But that is only conjecture on what we saw, not what we know for certain. Where is Alex getting her income from? Is J'onn paying her, and if so, where is he getting the income from? Are Kelly and Alex actually living together? Because Kelly sure as hell looked comfortable in Alex's apartment, and Alex certainly looked as if Kelly not only was expected to be there, but belonged there. I know we can't get every minute detail about their lives, but these aren't small things. Plus it would only take brief dialogue to explain what the situation really is.

As for Alex becoming a vigilante. I will be honest, I've never been overly comfortable with vigilantes in shows, however they are littered throughout The Arrowverse. In fact, without them most Arrowverse shows wouldn't exist. As for the support of Kelly, that was a pleasant change. She understood the difficulties Alex faced, and offered a solution. After all, she has the Guardian shield. Whether she becomes her own version of Guardian I guess we wait and see. But since Alex needs to try and stop both Lex and Leviathan and has no other means to do it effectively, a vigilante is the most logical step. After all, isn't that what they've all been doing since Alex left the DEO? They just haven't placed a name to it until now.

Time to go onto Lex and Lena. Possible trigger warning here.

"You're a monster. But that doesn't mean I have to be one to."

First off. Jon Cryer and Katie McGrath were masterful in the scene where it all came to a head in the prison. Despite my misgivings of the overuse of Lex this season, there is no doubt this is why he is so good! His emotional range just came shining through. Just as Katie McGrath's did.

Him getting up into her face like he did, and her flinching. Here is what I tweeted about it: "Listen, I've been in an IPV relationship. I can't speak for victims of family abuse and if they grow up in the same way, but the way Lena flinched in this scene. That was me when my ex did what Lex did. That was real.

Katie McGrath's shone in tonight's episode."

Katie just completely nailed it. This is when I wish I could just stand there and tell her just how amazing that scene was. The same for Jon.

Those who have denied time and again Lena wasn't a victim of abuse, or it didn't excuse her for her actions in how Lex manipulates her, this is why we spoke about it. This is the victim of abuse. If she wasn't expecting that to escalate into a violent reaction, then that scene wouldn't have happened like it did. She was expecting the blow. That whole scene was visceral. I'm still trying to get to grips with how once again, the acting just brings through a depth so often lacking. So please spare me the excuses of she isn't a victim of abuse. That scene is canon now to the story. Between Lex last season, and this leaves no room for doubt, and if you do - you're not doing it for any other reason than to simply hate on Lena.

That last scene with Kara and Lena. Fucking finally! It's only taken 18 episodes to get there. Again I am still frustrated Kara is being so defensive against Lena, but I also do kind of understand it. She is also feeling hurt and no doubt worried. Is Lena trying to trick her again, like she had earlier in the season. Will she get her heart ripped out if Lena is presenting her with an act. Trust goes both ways, and both of them have found it difficult to reestablish it. I get that. I really do. Again though I just wish it hadn't taken until 5.18 for any kind of resolution between them to begin. Even if it had gone to the 20 episode season as planned, we couldn't get time to really get this sorted. Kara needs to let Lena explain why Lena did what she did with more than that speech. She needs to understand just how abusive the relationship is between Lex and Lena, and why to some degree Lena fell back into old habits like she did. Much like we had Lena and Andrea get that backstory, to really help show why Lena has trust issues, Kara and Lena now need to lay those cards out on the table in a similar way. No more hiding. Sadly I doubt we will get anything of that depth, and we certainly won't this season. But it is a start and that's more than I could've hoped for before the episode began.

Lastly, William getting black bagged by Eve. I wonder if her anger at Lex will make her use William as a pawn to gain revenge? Or will she let William know Lex was the one who has fed William those details, or activated him? Still a weird ass way to describe it by the way. But we will see. Honestly, William as a whole holds absolutely no interest for me. So I didn't even find myself reacting to what happened. It was ... meh.

And that's it for now. I've almost certainly forgotten something, but it was a lot to take in this episode.

Overall, I felt this episode was far better than some of what we've seen so far this season, particularly in 5b. It certainly leaves me looking forward to 5.19 with less dread than of late.