#I still love the characters s1 established. I just wish they were handled well in the way they deserve.

[ceaselesswatchersspecialboy]

To me, the most clear cut difference between Arcane s1 and 2 narrative structure speaking, is that Arcane s1 was driven by characters, and Arcane s2 is driven by plot, which ended up taking away from what initially made Arcane so appealing.

Characters will always be a device to tell a story, but it’s how you use and write those characters that makes the difference. Originally, Arcane characters were driven by their choices and their goals, and they directly caused the direction of the story, every action they took having an effect on the outcome, which made it feel more personal and made the politics and world feel more real and devastating.

In S2, character goals are all over the place and changing in ways that feel jarring or like we’ve missed scenes, and the goals themselves don’t drive the characters in the same way. The ending doesn’t feel as satisfactory because it doesn’t feel like the characters really had a choice where things ended up, nor did they have any major impact in the grand scheme of things. They don’t act in character at times because the plot wants to go a certain way, and realistically that character would not push the plot in that direction.

Caitlyn’s arc and horrific actions aren’t properly addressed nor do they have a major consequence on the final battle, because Zaunites decide to help Piltover anyway. Characters like Vi, Jinx, Viktor, Mel and Jayce, as well as many others, feel as though their agency and choice has been taken, which can work in a narrative, but not in the narrative that Arcane previously established.

Politics and character opinions are brushed aside for the sake of a specific direction, and the story and character relationships suffer because of it. Things feel less earned and justified.

And this isn’t even addressing how the conflict between Zaun and Piltover was simplified, and how formerly complex characters like Vander were watered down to be more acceptable and moral, ignoring previously addressed facts about them.

There is a lot wrong with season 2, and while initially I did try to defend it, and while I do still love Arcane, I just can’t enjoy season 2 the same way I enjoyed and still enjoy season 1.

They feel like completely different shows to me.

[darkstarofchaos]

Spoilers for EarthSpark S2 below the cut.

The problem with Starscream isn't that he was evil. I have to lead with that because apparently if you complain about how he was handled, people are just going to assume you wanted him to be redeemed. I am not a Starscream redemptionist, nor am I a fan of "redemptions" where an evil character becomes a Good Guy. One of the biggest issues I have with Megatron redemptions is that he never actually has to address what he did to his own side, he just fucks off to join the other side/goes his own way. Suffice to say, I was not hoping for EarthSpark to "redeem" Starscream (unless it was in the more personal sense of trying to do better by his own people).

The problem with Starscream is not that he was evil. The problem is that, to make him the specific brand of evil the Powers That Be wanted, they had to completely ignore his previous characterization.

I honestly did not have a problem with most of his (admittedly few) scenes. His motivation for being Evil was disappointingly shallow, but him being grumpy-but-accepting of the new Terrans fit with his S1 characterization. The bit where Skywarp complains when he doesn't do anything to punish "Spitfire's" disrespect could easily have been spun as him trying to be a better leader after his talk with Hashtag. I liked that he isn't stingy with praise when someone accomplishes something. Even the painfully underdeveloped motivation could have been expanded into him trying to do what he thought was best for his faction. All the building blocks for a villainous-but-sympathetic Starscream were right there.

Which is why watching everything fall apart in the last 20 minutes felt like character assassination.

You cannot convince me that the Starscream who knew Hashtag for an hour and was ready to risk his life for her is the same Starscream who murdered two children without blinking. You cannot convince me that the Starscream who criticized Megatron's violent leadership would consider it a compliment when he's called more cruel than Megatron. I don't care what previous Starscreams were like, this one had an established characterization that does not work with what we see later. Not unless working with the Autobots briefly completely disillusioned him to the possibility of a lasting peace.

Also, love how the time skip allows them to just avoid any sort of fallout from having the people you were working with go back to trying to kill you. Love how there was no deeper reason to the war restarting than "they're Decepticons". Heaven forbid we get any sort of conflict with the two sides trying and failing to work together, and the falling out being a shared responsibility and not just "the Cons were actually still evil, lol". Can't have anyone grappling with how things went wrong and wishing they'd done something differently to maintain the peace. Megatron yells at Starscream to end the war like the Autobots played no part in it continuing. Which is obviously the intent, but it just feels like such a lazy copout to keep the Good Guys morally pure.

The Decepticons were being hunted down and locked up. They had no reason to think well of the Autobots or the humans, which means that if the Autobots wanted peace, it was their responsibility to reach out and prove that things could be different. Yes, the Decepticons would need to put in effort too, but they were not the ones - at least not the only ones - who needed to prove that they meant well. If the two sides worked together for a while and the Decepticons still unanimously rejected the possibility of ending the war, the Autobots share the blame for that decision.

I have plenty of other issues with how S2 is going so far (why was Nightshade the only Terran who got completely relegated to side character?), but I'll save my rant about the Chaos Terrans for later. It'll be huge, trust me.

[obsidianstrawberrymilk]

I'm not sure if it was necessarily the pacing that hurt S2 and 3, tbh. A lot of the issues in S2 could be seen even in S1 - but as that was more of an introduction to the world they were less obvious. Also, S1 was more episodic, as opposed to the more overarching plots that were attempted in S2 and 3.

That said, I do agree with you. Hunter has a lot of really cool character concepts that are super underutilized in the show - which is why I like putting him (and Gus lmao - also super underutilized) in various Situations just to give them the type of growth I would have liked to have seen in the show. I really wish we had gotten more of the Golden Guard a la his introduction - like, an intimidating, snarky, competent villain, who is quickly proven to be a prodigy despite the comments as to his age. Like we really only get two episodes with that Hunter (or well. One. I still count Hunting Palisman there though) which is disappointing - as a concept, Hunter kind of reminds me of Azula had Zuko never existed. Azula had her Father's favor so long as she acted exactly how he trained her to and carried out his desires with ruthlessness - yet he threw her away the second he no longer needed her. In this case, I guess Hunter's 'throwing away' would be Hollow Mind.

However, we had the whole of S2 and most of S3 with Avatar to establish just how good a villain Azula was before her breakdown, which imo was what made that impactful. I feel like Hunter's switch from who he was before Hollow Mind to after (or even those moments we get like Any Sport in a Storm or at the end of Hunting Palisman) almost feel less earned, because we don't really get time to know the version of Hunter everyone else sees; the Emperor's favored prodigy.

That's the version of Hunter I'm interested in exploring, anyway. In my ideal S2, we would spend almost the whole season with the Golden Guard in that role as the terrifying new villain to contrast Lilith, who was at least well meaning, and only towards the end do we see that start to crack. I actually really like how they handled the beginning of Hunter's redemption arc, especially with how he connected with Gus and Willow, but I almost would like to see it... better earned? It would give us more of a chance to explore Hunter beyond just the sad boy archetype.

Then again I would also ideally split S2 into two seasons so. I do think the thing with S2 was that it had too much to do and not enough time; it had to transfer to a much more serious tone than the largely light hearted S1, it had to set up a bunch of worldbuilding we had previously not been exposed to (and in the process forgot a bunch of interesting stuff from S1), it had to turn Amity from a tentative friend to love interest, it had to properly introduce Belos. The pacing was rushed because there was so much; same with S3.

About Luz though... hm, I just don't see it. She's definitely more serious in S2, especially towards the end, but that makes sense to me; the finale of S1 was obviously traumatic and leaves her a lot more aware of the dangers of the world around her, and at the end of S2 she's on the run from being hunted down by a tyrannical government and her found family is on the line. Ofc she's not the happy go lucky chaotic kid from S1; the stakes are much higher.

Roleswaps between Luz and Hunter are cool but I actually think the true roleswaps should be between the whole Hexsquad. For fun.

Willow as Gus as Amity as Hunter as Luz as Willow. Willow who’s allowed to study her plant magic from the start and is an unquestionable prodigy but finds all her friends either using her or being jealous of her until she becomes friends with Luz, who’s made fun of for being unable to do magic because she’s human, whether or not she knows here is up to you, till she finds her own way, glyphs. Gus gets to have parent issues here - sorry Perry Porter - as well as his already there gifted kid trauma - and he’s probably even lonelier given he wouldn’t make friends w everyone till later than canon and he doesn’t have Willow. Amity gets to be raised by Belos - oh maybe he for some reason decides to take her in after Odalia and Alador die in a ‘accident’ or something and Edric and Emira are trying to get her out all while she’s being slowly indoctrinated and abused by this fucker? And idk how Hunter would end up in the human realm - maybe he doesn’t. Maybe he just fucking leaves Belos and is promptly adopted by Eda who takes one look as this sad feral child who will bite her and goes ‘mine’.

[heartofhubris-a]

ok this is p much just a rant/talking through my feelings about a situation that happened, it’s not about anyone or anything that most of my followers will care about. I don’t know if i’m going to get backlash for this. I hope I don’t. In fact, most of the people over in this server don’t even follow me, so will I get hate? It’s time to find out! Will someone link it to a mod to show just how fucking tired I am? Problably!

so as many of you know i run multiple servers, if it’s a mod situation or an owner situation. Usually, everything’s fine. I enjoy almost ever server i’m in. 

Now, y’all know that I’ve been active in fandom for??? Years at this point. I have a story that was posted in jan 2014. I have almost 14 unique fandoms on my AO3 alone, and more people have read my stories than the town i grew up in. Before that, i was writing elsewhere that’s since been deleted cause it wasn’t hte quality I like to put out anymore. 

I have never gotten to a point where I’ve wanted to abandon every single part of all fandom. That point has been met today.  I've been in almost every major fandom at some point. I started w james bond, then I was in superwholock... I’m absolutely a resource for more almost the last decade of frivolous fandom history.

I have never found such toxicity as I do in the mi//////raculous fandom, and I’ve been in the fandom since s1 came out in Netflix, i believe around 2016-2017. I was there when we were a tiny little french fandom, and these days, I cannot stand seeing all the hate and disgust that has been shown here. 

There’s so much positive in this fandom. We are literally based around a show that praises thinking through your feelings and talking them out, as well as helping even at the expense of yourself. 

These are wonderful values. 

But when you own a server that is about said show, you need to think about the values you’re presenting in your server.

I’m not mad at anyone, i’m just so tired. No one was willing to communicate. People jumped ship before explaining a single thing to me. 

I’ll admit I fucked up this morning. I reacted harshly to a situation that happened in a server I mod, and i’m not going to talk about my admins. 

But this entire server was created to help with off topic situations. The owner of the original server wasn’t happy with all the off topic, as it was distracting from the server, and I jumped in and offered to help. I was raised to always help. I was raised to be a good person, to offer anything that someone needed help with, if it was big or small, but if I was able to, I would. I still give money to homeless people if they’re asking for it. It’s just a kind thing you should do. 

Again, I’m not saying i was in the right, again. I fucked up. 

But as much as I am obsessed with writing these characters, i’m going to be jumping ship. I’ve only been back in this fandom for a few months, but it’s so toxic! 

I joined back in, thinking people were just as accepting of every ship to find out that if you’re in the main fandom, and you ship certain ships that aren’t “established” You’re kicked to the side. 

If you’re a shipper of this specific ship, and you don’t hate a specific character who’s literally never spoken, you’re unable to participate in 90% of discussions. 

No one should live like that. It’s impossible to find a place that’s supportive, kind, and generally good. 

I’m just so tired with everything. i don’t want to fight. i don’t know what to do. Shit’s bad in my life, just like everywhere. I wish that I’d handled this morning better, but I didn’t. I wish I hadn’t even made this overflow server, and honestly, as soon as i’m done with these current fics, I’m out of the fandom entirely. The fact that I even made it this long is honestly a huge surprise to me. The fact I’m even willing to finish this story, and move onto another fic other than this, before leaving, speaks to my love of this show. 

But the fact that there is so much negativity, possessiveness, and cliquiness, is appalling. 

And I know i’m not the first person to make this statement. i’m just so tired y’all. This is sucking the love out of all of my other places of love. 

[jakey-beefed-it]

finally got around to watching stranger things season 3.

no spoiler-impressions: yeesh. 4.5/10

spoilers under the cut

Things that were terrible:

The russians. Everything to do with them. The whole plot of the season tbh. Cartoonish and bad. 

A better reference to Red Dawn would have been having the kids or someone comparably imaginative and gullible think there were Evil Russians behind things, but then no, because that’s not how real life (or plausible facsimilies therof) works. 

I know I said it was all bad but special ‘holy shit bad’ award goes to the Terminator Russian. There’s homage and then there’s pastiche. ffs. 

Hopper’s... entire characterization. Somebody take the 40 oz can of toxic masculinity juice the writers were chugging away from them please. And don’t let them near Hopper again until... just don’t let them near scripts again at all actually.

There was a way to handle Hopper/Joyce well and it was... literally the exact opposite of this (absent the last like... thirty seconds they shared)

Also just... Hop as a guy with a mean right hook and the ability to take a punch pretty well is plausible and highly enjoyable. They really did turn him into Rambo this season and it was... neither plausible nor enjoyable.

The entire tone-deaf jingo yay capitalism bullshit. This is a show where two whole seasons set up the US government as, at the very least, complicit in this world-shattering bullshit. 

Erica you had two cool minutes in season 2 and they turned you into a corporate shill. Oh, well, guess those two cool minutes are all ya gonna get.

Having Alexei declare of the carnival games capitalist system “It’s not rigged!” was particularly onerous. If Russkinator hadn’t shot him he should’ve shot himself for allowing that kind of Eagleland propaganda past his lips.

Alexei was likeable but not part of the main main cast so he was doomed. See: Barb, Bob. At least his name didn’t start with a B. Guess it would’ve been too on the nose even for these hacks to call him Boris.

The newspaper was also cartoonishly sexist. Like, I’m sure such things absolutely do occur in real life which has license to be as ridiculous as it wants but in a fictional narrative such things take us out of the moment. Like, you could’ve told the same story in a much more palateable AND relevant way by loading up on microaggressions rather than paint the newsboyz as cardboard Sexist Villains. 

Am... I supposed to care about Billy “I’m going to run over literal children because I am a racist shitbag” Hargrove (and I confess I had to google his last name there oops)? Because I don’t. He was more than just a ‘mean guy’ he tried to murder. Children. last season. because he is racist.

I do not like Murray Bauman and his creepy meddling in other people’s sex lives, but at least this time it was two adults instead of fucking teenagers. God! Ugh!

Apparently this is also going to include some beefs i had with season two, oops.

Things that were meh

The gory horror this season meant the whole tone of it was much more Cronenberg than Spielberg. Could work but kinda felt like it shook up the established tone in the wrong way. 

There was a whole... icky slasher misogyny feel to the way Billy abducted Heather. I think it was intentional, so I’m not calling it ‘terrible’, as it was effective at conveying that, but I personally hated it, just as I personally hate slasher movies.

Russian demogorgon looks entirely more... man-like than the Hawkins one. Splicing thing? Maybe just clearer lighting? Less convincing than the s1 demogorgon, less disturbing for the most, but not without potential so it goes here.

I’m all for Hopper having miraculously survived and wound up in Siberia somehow if they fix his goddamn characterization next season otherwise just let him have evaporated along with all the Russkies. 

Oh hey, maybe the ‘Russian demogorgon’ is actually mutant Hopper somehow. That’d be kinda horrible. Hope they don’t do that. But logging that here for posterity in case the brothers Duffer are even bigger hacks than I thought.

Things that weren’t terrible:

We stan two teenagers now instead of just one: still don’t care about Nancy or Jonathan but Steve’s still rad and now Robin is too.

Their entire friendship was just... *chef’s kiss*

Max and Eleven’s friendship was also pretty great. El needs more friends, or at least more time to just hang out and be friends with people who just want to hang out with her. Which, yeah, the whole gang, but having the two only girls their age be FRIENDS is a huge improvement over last season when Max was introduced as the Rival. Just, ugh. 

I do enjoy watching the kids be kids. Mostly that meant Dustin this year because the others were too caught up with Teen Angst(TM) (ps- don’t we HAVE teenage characters for that very purpose? older teens i mean? let the kids be kids!)

Murray’s interactions with Alexei were generally fun and witty. Please more of this and less being a goddamn creep if he hangs around.

the last 30 seconds with Hopper and Joyce together on screen, when he turns to her, they say nothing at all to one another but both convey lots with facial expressions. They’re both grown ass adults, saving the world and the kids they love, even at the cost of (one of) their own lives. Both of them know what this means, and they go through with it, because both understand what’s really important isn’t either of them, but the kids, and that the kids have someone to look after them. Kinda wish you could just throw out... like the entire rest of the season of their interaction, and have their relationship be built on that level of understanding and common cause. Let them be adults. 

[margridarnauds]

fandomswillruinmylife replied to your post “grendelsmilf: u know those shows that are so full of potential but...”

Why do you wanna rewrite merlin? I’m on S4E9 (when lancelot comes back from the dead) and it’s good so far (except for Morgana, my baby does not deserve to suffer like this)

Alright, so I’ll TRY not to spoil you too much. 

For me, personally, the show never lived up to its premise, nor did it really....have a consistent view on its own morality? It’s generally acknowledged that Uther did a Very Bad Thing when it came to relentlessly persecuting sorcerors, but then, time after time again, Merlin refuses opportunities to either end or diminish that persecution or to kill Uther, even in circumstances where Uther’s death wouldn’t have been directly tied to magic. Merlin ultimately ended up caring more for ARTHUR and Arthur’s wellbeing than his own people, and unfortunately, Arthur never proved himself worthy of that kind of loyalty. Which could have been a FASCINATING take on an unreliable narrator and the development of a narrative over time, but the writers unfortunately didn’t have the self-realization to realize what they were actually writing on the page. Again, I’ll avoid MAJOR spoilers, but during the time he’s king...a lot’s discussed, the audience is told many things about how he’s A Better Man Than His Father, but then we never really SEE it, just like we’re expected to believe that Gwen and Arthur are True Love™ because the soundtrack decided to add in Swelling String Music in the background. 

And...really...

Look, I GET that the fandom loved Merthur. I really, really do. But at the same time, they never really rise BEYOND the “Hahaha stupid servant” thing. It’s very, very funny when one person tosses things at another, hits them, belittles them, etc., because it’s two guys, amiright! Sometimes, there are these little moments where they come close, and it’s cute (and then the writers pull back), but ultimately? I would say it’s fairly toxic, as a relationship. And normally, I don’t particularly care, because so many things that I ship are absolutely wretched, but this is someone who Merlin’s willing to risk his people for? There’s no...development. There’s this ongoing cycle of taunting, “Oh, look, Arthur’s not a complete tool after all,” and then...whoops, back to Square One because lol emotions are funny. I guess my main thing is: If they’re going to be friends, you have to SHOW them as friends, and you have to show them evolving beyond the servant/master dynamic. Because otherwise, watching a character getting ordered around by someone that’s supposed to be a friend? Isn’t really my cup of tea. Note: BY THE SECOND EPISODE, Arthur was canonically willing to believe Merlin when he was like “lol Valiant’s a little bitch.” Because the writers certainly did in later seasons. 

The treatment of Morgana, you’ve already pointed out. She deserved better as a character; she had SO much potential, but they left her fall to the equivalent of flipping a switch. And...personally, I got TIRED of how sanctimonious the cast could be towards her. Arthur and Merlin can preach about how she should rise above years of Uther’s abuse to her, but ultimately...that was HER experience. Arthur, Gwen, and Merlin ALL suffered at Uther’s hands, but...coming from experience, the way that a given victim will react to an abuser can vary. She’s ALLOWED to be angry. You don’t HAVE to love your abuser, or forgive them, or wish them well, and after what she was put through? Also, I’ll never forgive the writers for making the scene where Merlin POISONS HER about his pain.  “Oh, look at our woobie protagonist, he’s crying :(” YEAH, AND MORGANA’S CHOKING TO DEATH RIGHT NEXT TO HIM, TRYING TO GET AWAY BECAUSE SHE DOESN’T WANT HER WOULD-BE MURDERER TOUCHING HER. 

I’m calm. I’m calm. 

That Fucking Dragon. Get rid of it. If you can’t develop your main cast’s relationships organically and have to rely on Destiny™, you can’t write. IF you’re going to keep That Fucking Dragon, then at least let him be a LEGITIMATELY shady character. Like, Merlin goes from “OH SHIT KILGARRAH’S OFF HIS SHITS AND IS GOING TO BURN CAMELOT TO A CRISP. WHO KNEW HE HAD AN AGENDA ALL ALONG?” to “Ah, well, I’m going to take this action because my BFF Kilgarrah said so.” There’s no real consistency there. 

Also the inconsistencies with Mordred, but I’ll skim that since you’re not there yet. Suffice it to say, they could have split him into two separate characters and it would have done very little. They never knew WHAT to do with the damn kid. 

Okay, but strictly speaking, what I would change: 

The timeline. That’s it. The show stretched itself out too much, ESPECIALLY with Uther. Look, I love Anthony Head, I love Anthony Head as Uther. He’s a delightful asshole who even has a few moments of sympathy despite being a genocidal asshat. 

But Uther had to go. There’s a REASON why most Arthurian adaptations begin with the death of Uther, and that’s because, as long as he’s around, things are kept static. Merlin stumbles around, trying to save the day, Prince Arthur alternates between heroism and prattishness, usually within ten seconds of one another, he and Gwen look longingly at one another as Swelling String Music Plays, Morgana smirks...nothing CHANGES. 

Ergo, you’ve got to get rid of Uther ~S1-2. I lean towards S2, so you can get a little time to develop him/his relationship to Arthur and The Igraine Drama. Cut The Troll Episode, cut a few other filler episodes, and just. Kill Uther. That gives you time to develop Arthur as a KING, while also not making the switch to King Arthur seem jarring. Spend some time on the magical ban, have Merlin GENUINELY try to do something for people like him. I’d probably set The Magic Reveal around S3-S4, with the last episode of the series being the establishment of the Golden Age of Camelot, with Merlin being appointed Court Magician.

 Sometime in those few extra seasons, I WOULD like to see Morgana have an arc of her own. Not even necessarily a full REDEMPTION arc, because I’m not sure there’s anyway for her and her brother/the court of Camelot to be on solid terms, but at least something where she has to really...figure out what’s best for her people, as a High Priestess. She can’t TRUST Arthur and Merlin, but they’re also offering a way out. One of the common things I’ve seen people argue about her sloppy writing was that Morgana HAD to be evil because that’s part of the Arthurian myths, but the figure of Morgan le Fay’s been very flexible throughout the years; in her first appearances, she was benevolent. I would like to see her THERE, having reached a truce with the others. Just as Arthur rises to the kingship, she gains power in her own way. There’s no need to take it to Camlann.

Gwen and Arthur....I would put more threads of it in S1. I’m not sure it would EVER be my Number 1 ship, because it has Arthur in it, but the DEVELOPMENT needs to be there. And, whatever happens with her and Lancelot, I wouldn’t have them being FORCED into it by Morgana. For me, that completely annihilates the pain of Arthur/Gwen/Lancelot. If Uther can make vague references to keeping Morgana’s mother company while Gorlois was away, I THINK the audience can handle Gwen having conflicting feelings towards two men. Maybe Arthur’s different now that he’s king, not the more carefree prince she knew who turned her from a maid to a queen. Maybe the kingdom’s under invasion, maybe he’s finding out that his father left far more of a mark than he thought and he has to reconcile the fact that he STILL loves his father with knowing that the man was a monster, maybe he doesn’t EXACTLY understand the amount of pressure she’s under to be The Perfect Queen, since the court will take any opportunity it can to rip her apart. And she loves him, of course she does, and she’s grateful to him, but Lancelot’s there, and he’s concerned for Arthur too, and he understands what it’s like to rise above his station. I’m not asking for a full on soap opera storyline, but IF you’re going to put Lancelot/Guinevere in there, then you have to do it in a way that respects the characters rather than just ticking points off a checklist. (Especially given that the show completely went away from Arthurian myth at various points, so it’s not like they HAD to bring it in. And the lovely thing with Arthuriana is that you can bring in or take out pretty much whatever you want; the genre is endlessly adaptable.)

Also, we were robbed of a Merlin-style Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. ROBBED. (Christmas special, anyone?)

[wr8tur]

SUPERGIRL RANT TIME 11

Okay, a little rant before season premiere. I think I’ve mentioned it before, how it bugs me that James is the CEO of CatCo because it is so far from realistic that it just fascinates me how the writers get away with bothering to research things.

From what I remember, James was hired at the beginning of S1 as the art director for CatCo Magazine which is just ONE of the media outlets that Cat Grant’s Corporation handles, so how does an inexperience Art Director become CEO? It doesn’t make sense. We know from season 1 that she answers to a board of Directors who sit and vote to make decisions for the company which I’m inclined to assume means that she has share/stockholders that she has to answer to.

Now I’m not a businesswoman, but I’m pretty sure they’ve said that CatCo is a multi-million dollar company. You honestly expect me to believe that the board members wouldn’t veto James’s nomination even if Cat Grant was the one who endorsed him? Shareholders/stockholders would be scared that the company would be handled by someone with no experience running such a huge business.

James is the Art Director. It’s such a far leap to CEO, especially since he’s always been portrayed as a visual creative soul.

And also, since when can James write articles? If I’m not mistaken, he also tried to get Snapper to publish an article that HE wrote about the guardian right? That right there makes it seem like they want people to think that being a writer is easy…. Maybe for the writers of Supergirl it is but I’m pretty sure that other writers would disagree.

I was a T.A. for an English class once and I can assure you, not everyone can write well.

Plus, I think it’s incredibly unfair for Cat to just promote James like that. She has other people who have worked for her years, loyal employees that handle duties more likely to meet what’s required of a CEO, who we can safely assume are competent because she would have fired them otherwise.

But then a shrewd businesswoman thinks that an Art Director who has only a year experience can run her multi million dollar empire? That’s so incredibly mental! And it would be more believable if, like I said, Cat was not answering to share/stockholders. I mean, remember that episode where she got hacked? They told her to take a step back from the company hence why she pushed for the Scooby squad investigate!

Here’s the other issue I have with the publication that is Cat Co and how it is run.

Lena made comment in the beginning, about how Cat Co’s not a publication known for hard hitting journalism because it was more about fashion, if that’s true then what was up with Cat Co having what seems to be a long existing investigative team for her precious fashion mag? Obviously CatCo Mag isn’t the fashion editorial but just one of the many media outlets of CatCo. I mean, LiveWire was a radio host for Cat Grant’s company, hence why Cat told Leslie not to talk shit about Supergirl and that part seems to still be canon when LiveWire returned for S2, which means Cat doesn’t just handle print but is in charge of many, if not all, forms of media. Another point to the why I think James being the CEO is ridiculous…..

But getting back to my other point, I highly doubt someone like Snapper Carr would just willingly come onto CatCo if he didn’t think they’d established themselves as a serious media outlet somewhat.

And if Snapper was hired to completely rebrand CatCo, then Snapper seems like the type to have conditions that would need to be met which means if Cat was entrusting Snapper to turn her publication around, to make it more credible, then Snapper would have hired his own journalists for his group and not just work with the people who are already there because like he said “my office, my hires”. So if that was the case then wouldn’t Kara have heard about such a huge change in the office before it happened? Or even while it was happening? Even if Kara were busy training the new assistant, she still would have been able to hear about it.

Even if by some miracle, she didn’t encounter paperwork about it, I’m sure everyone would be gossiping about new office hires and fires. People in their legal department would have to draw up contracts, accounting would have to work out pay stubs or something… basically the formation of a new team would be hard to hide from the rest of the employees and with Kara’s Super hearing, it’d be hard to miss such a huge shift in the office. Unless that’s a testament to how self involved Kara is….

Because come on! She was still Cat Grant’s assistant when Snapper would have been hired and have his team formed. I’m pretty sure as Cat Grant’s assistant, she would have had an inkling that Cat was going to or has already hired Snapper as Editor in Chief so I’m kind of confused as to why she was so shocked that Snapper was her boss. And if Snapper was so renowned, I’m sure Kara would have heard about his demeanor seeing as she’s been working in publication for years.

I mean, she was the CEO’s assistant which means she’s encountered more than her fair share of other CatCo employees, other people sharing gossip or warnings and the like.

That right there is proof that the writers just want us to accept the drivel that’s being written. Chris Wood, the show runners, and the writers don’t want us to think when we watch this show. They just expect us to absorb this contrite drivel that’s being pushed because they assume we don’t have the ability to make logical inferences.

Really, they’re insulting our intelligence with this nonsense.

Maybe that’s what they expect from today’s viewers but I don’t think that’s true. I mean, people like to feel like their involved when they’re watching/reading something.

I can’t speak for everyone, but when I’m watching Game of Thrones, I think about who’s going to win the throne, how someone is going to get killed, and who the hell will still be standing at the end of the season. When I watch How To Get Away With Murder, I always like to collect the evidence to determine who’s the killer. I don’t just sit there and stare at the cute couple making out on screen to fantasize and wish that it were me there in place of the actor or actress. Not that there’s anything wrong with that if the show’s focus is meant to be romance.

But Supergirl was supposed to be the story of a heroine who’s helping solve crimes by catching robbers and thwarting villains. Hence why I don’t turn off my brain, because I want to solve the issues before the story finishes. It’s not supposed to about romance with action thrown in from time to time, even though S2 portrays it as such.

And to those that think that including these details would just make the story longer, just a word or a sentence can explain things very well if one is capable enough.

Honestly, I may have gotten some facts wrong since I only really pay attention when Katie McGrath is there….

I welcome those to offer counterpoints with regards to my issues.

Speaking of more issues, who else is afraid that James and Lena are going to start dating? Honestly if that starts happening… I’d be so pissed because Lena shouldn’t have had to earn someone’s trust in order to be in a relationship with them. And if the writers do that, they’re perpetrating that whole hate can turn into love thing again! They already did that with Kara and Mon El and their whole love story.

Like I said before, I kind of hate that Lena will be joining the Super Scooby gang. I like and thought it was a little healthy about Kara having separation from her Super Life because let’s face it, the only thing that really connects these characters together is that they’re all into crime fighting.

Her having Lena outside of that, us seeing her have a real connection that wasn’t glued to Clark or being a Kryptonian or just being a hot girl…

Because let’s face it, Winn was her friend because he was in love with her and James because of Clark and Lucy was her friend because of James. Alex because she was shoved into her life and forced to keep her Kryptonian identity a secret at her parents behest.

Lena came in there just wanting a friend. I mean we read the lesbionic subtext but Lena’s character had been written with the intention of her as solely being Kara’s friend.

I know in my stories I write that Lena’s instantly attracted or feels an intense sort of connection to Kara that will progress into that of the Sapphic nature but since the writers/showrunners intended her to just be Kara’s friend then I would like for Lena to not be a part of the group until she discovers Kara really is the Kryptonian known as Supergirl.

That little tidbit of their lunch date let me discover more about Kara than I did the entire season! I mean, yes I totally pictured her as a boy band loving girl but it was nice to see that she genuinely liked Earthly things, that she didn’t have to play at being an teenager on Earth. Even without the lesbianhood lingering in the air it was still a sweet display of two friends getting to know each other….

To sum it up, I’m annoyed and scared and excited for the premier that I will be boycotting.

I’ll just watch the Lena moments on youtube because I can always count on the McGrath fans to post her scene clips on there within the hour of the full episode premier. Anyway, let me know what you all think of my stories and don’t be afraid to get back to me with comments or questions!

[flusteredkeith]

Will Shiro Survive the End of This Series?

HOOOOOO boy, s3 was a real ride and there was a shit ton to process. What is Prince Lotor planning? What is going to happen with all the alternate realities? Will the real Shiro please stand up? What’s going to happen with the team dynamics now? I’ve been screaming theories all fucking day but right now, I’m here with an angsty (but.. imo, a possibly, possibly realistic) one.

Shiro is not going to survive. (Still just a possibility, you know I would hate this idea myself.) But I’ve been talking with a few friends about it and in addition to @breeeliss​‘s comments on this post, there’s been a LOT of foreshadow for it.

In this meta, I’m not even going to go into whether the longhaired!Shiro we found is a clone or the real deal (I personally still think not real), but I’m going to talk more about the surrounding themes that have come up heavily in this new season.

(And besides, I’m pretty sure that whoever is the real Shiro, there’s definitely some sort of probe!Shiro situation being set up “that is basically streaming thoughts and memories to other Shiro clones back at the Galra Empire” as @breeeliss puts it.)

Also, I know there are also theories going around the the clone!Shiro might sacrifice himself for the real Shiro, which means the real Shiro won’t die at all. However, I still wanted to bring up these points of foreshadow and just consider this other angsty possibility.

So without further ado, read below the cut:

Lion Musical Chairs (Changing of the Guard + The Red Lion) // phasing Shiro out

So the first thing that happens in S3 is configuring the new Lion arrangements. Obviously, with Shiro gone, this is a thing that needed to happen at the beginning. At first, it may have seemed like a temporary thing, especially given how urgent the universe made them feel about needing Voltron ASAP and how unwilling Keith was to take Shiro’s place (sob). They struggle a LOT with dynamics for a bit and nothing feels quite right (Keith and Lance’s paladin armor still don’t match up perfectly among many other things). But then, Allura develops and bonds with the Blue Lion in her own way. Lance starts to help Keith with occasional suggestions. Not to mention, this is the reason Allura gives to Lance for why the Red Lion may have chosen him:

And she adds that her father became the right hand man, even though he built Voltron, because Zarkon was the better leader in battle. There’s a bit of parallel there with Keith/Shiro dynamics, and a little with Keith/Lance (brought out by the fact that Allura says “you accepted Keith as leader, you showed you valued a strong team above glory --- just like my father.”) All very interesting.

And then longhaired!Shiro shows up. We find out shortly after the Black Lion doesn’t accept him. (Is she doing it to protect the team? She knows something is up.) There’s no place for newhaircut!Shiro to fit back in.

But even before he realizes the Black Lion won’t accept him, the dynamics don’t go back to the way things were so easily. Lance comes to Keith instead of Shiro to talk about their configuration, with the explanation to Keith that “you’re the leader now, right?” Keith takes lead even though newhaircut!Shiro is around. Shiro stays behind with Coran and gives some tactical “support.” They even clash a lot with the directions they give. (And there’s something different about the way they would’ve handled their conflicts in the past.) All of this shows that everyone has been slowly growing and taking on different roles Shiro used to have.

They are phasing Shiro out.

When Lance tells Keith he feels like he’s probably the least fitting for the team, I can’t help but feel that that’s foreshadow for the fact that Shiro’s the one being phased out instead. And judging by the S4 preview, this newhaircut!Shiro is going to fuck up the team dynamics. He’s losing his place on team Voltron.

The next theme I want to bring up:

Keith saving Shiro over and over again // Keith & Shiro’s close relationship // S3!Shiro and Keith’s exchanges this season

So, established in S1-2, we already have seen countless instances of Keith saving Shiro. We’ve been shown how close and intimate their relationship is (whether you think it’s platonic or not is another story). He wanted Keith to lead. He was vulnerable with Keith. Keith always does anything to make sure Shiro’s okay and alive and well.

And then we come across this part:

To be sure, I had massive Sheith feels during this scene. Whether that Shiro is real or not, Keith means what he says. He’ll save Shiro as many times as it takes. HOWEVER, my plot ears perked up IMMEDIATELY at this exchange. It’s just… “how many times”? Why does longhaired!Shiro even bring this up in the first place?? It feels like a very plot-heavy dialogue exchange. It feels like a foreshadow to multiple Shiro’s / multiple scenarios.

AND THEN, we see Shiro and Keith conflict over leadership decisions. Shiro demands Keith to take down the cargo ship even though that leaves the whole team defenseless to Lotor’s attack. This feels very out of character for Shiro. He’s at a distance from the castle so he won’t be affected by the hit but the entire team will be — Shiro never does this.

And what’s more? He tells Keith later that he needs to pick your battles and make hard choices???

This sounds somewhat familiar to what he told Pidge back in S1E1 when they were trying to get the Red Lion. “No one understands that better than I do, but in war, we have to make sacrifices.” — yet when Pidge demands and reveals that Commander Holt is her father, Shiro goes with her immediately. This scene here??? I’m a little creeped out. Was Shiro — the same Shiro who insisted on going back to save Allura, who insists on being a team together — suggesting that Keith has to pick the hard choice between chasing after that cargo ship and protecting his own team from Lotor’s attack? The implications of that… creep me out tbh. And what’s more, it feels like foreshadow for a decision Keith must make in the future.

Given the usual tropes of what happens with clones, it’s possible that the Real Shiro has to die for everything else to be put to rest. That sounds like one extremely possible scenario for a difficult decision Keith must make later. If Shiro realizes he must die to save the world, it’s possible that he would entrust this task to no one but Keith. Keith, who would likely be the only one who could fulfill this, will also, given their established intimate friendship, be the MOST devastated by this. And regardless of whether this happens this way or not, I have no doubt that Keith is going to be emotionally and mentally WRECKED in the next coming seasons. There’s going to be lots of difficult decisions to make.

Which leads me to my next theme about big decisions:

Zarkon choosing Love over Peace // ending in destruction

Right after the episode of Shiro telling Keith about decisions, they show the backstory of a huge decision made that altered the fate of the universe forever: Zarkon choosing Honerva over the rest of the universe.

First of all, there’s already a parallel aesthetically between some of the scenes (see this post by @dent-de-leon ). Zarkon at Haggar’s bedside and Keith at Shiro’s. Interesting? Relevant? Maybe?

The main point here is that, we already know Keith has a deep relationship with Shiro, and while they may not go down the romantic route (who knows, really), if Keith had to pick between Shiro and saving the universe, it would still mirror the choice Zarkon had to make with love and peace, which is a HUGE foreshadowing point. Keith loves Shiro, platonically or not. If the real Shiro had to die, and he told Keith it was necessary… Keith would be faced with the same difficult decision Zarkon had to face over 10,000 years ago.

To sum it up, all of these themes + considering all the various clone tropes… it’s possible we may be heading towards a reality where Shiro might need to die. 

Alternatively, (because I can't end this post like this): maybe they're not phasing Shiro out by showing these team dynamics. Maybe they're just showing more and more how much they need the REAL Shiro. I hope that's not wishful thinking. 😩

[fadedtoblue]

so what are your thoughts on elektra's arc in defenders

Wow, no way to give a short answer here, so I guess I’ll just jump in haha. Spoilers abound, obviously!

Overall, and there’s really no way for me to be truly objective about this gut response, but Elektra’s arc kicked all sorts of ass for me and I was thrilled to see her be given this level of focus in the storyline. I have to admit it’s not something I ever expected from the series. 

That being said, I think there were some definite mistakes made and things I wish they had done better…so let me run through a quick list of those, and then follow up with my list of highlights :).

Things that could have been better:

No significant Black Sky payoff. This was one of my biggest personal disappointments with the storyline. The limitations of the way they set up the Netflix universe leading up to this team up show really showed in this one…I have a feeling whatever they were planning for the Black Sky and the Hand in DD S1 got totally derailed by the time they got to Defenders, what with all the retconning of the Hand mythology to fit the K’un-Lun storyline. I’m not sure if this is because the individual shows had too much leeway with how they set up their individual character origins and storylines or how much input they get from high up to keep the plotting consistent…my impression was the former, and as a result, it seems like the Defenders’ writers were tasked to pick up all of the disparate pieces and just try to fit it into one semi-coherent storyline, with mixed results. Given how much they leaned into the Iron Fist stuff as a huge part of the Hand stuff, I’m not sure why they didn’t just retcon the concept of the Black Sky into one where it’s the Hand’s own Immortal Weapon…that would have been pretty easy and at least lends consistency if you’re going down that route in the story. Ultimately though, if I could have done it, I would have done a flashback scene (or I mean, even just someone monologuing about it, whatever) to Alexandra’s past where she actually has the prophecy / vision of the Black Sky. Like, that tidbit in the conversation between Gao and Alexandra was SO intriguing and it’s like, what does that even mean??? It would have been a cool way to better establish both Alexandra – show us why she became the leader of the Fingers, let her do some cool fighting / getting her hands dirty, AND provide some context on why she’s obsessed with the Black Sky and what she intended to do with one once she got it – as well as Elektra’s role in the context of being a Black Sky – give us some clarity on what it means to be one, define her powers / abilities better, and maybe even shed some light on why she was able to break out of her brainwashing (like maybe the Black Sky was never meant to be a weapon, but was meant to be something else, I don’t know). But I don’t write for the show so whatever, lol.

Elektra’s motivations after she kills Alexandra were way too opaque. I think a lot of people were rightfully confused at where her arc was supposed to go, which is totally fair given how it unfolded. I feel like we could have used one more episode to flesh out what was going on but ultimately, I think there were two issues: the progression on the slow but steady turnaround on her character may have been too subtle, and second, there just wasn’t enough time in the last two episodes to properly map out a way to sensibly show what her real endgame was since they basically needed her to stand-in for the face of the other side and help get the story rolling on into the final act. 

Here’s my general interpretation of what happened…

We know she was brought back as an empty vessel to become the ultimate weapon / killing machine for the Hand…I read a great description of this that compares Elektra’s resurrection as the Black Sky as the same as if you were to erase and reboot a phone, except this time you’ve unlocked EVERYTHING…this is the same for Elektra…she has these latent abilities that allow her to be an incredible weapon, but it took a very purposeful reboot to bring it out. Anyway, all is well and good until Elektra encounters a glitch in the programming…this glitch, of course, is Matt, and this tiny little crack in her system throws open the door to uncovering a side to herself that she had thought was lost…basically, her humanity. As she’s remembering / recovering, she’s also remembering what happened in her past life – and that was also used and trained to be someone’s weapon. That back then, just like now, she had no control and no say over her own life. And what she ultimately wants is to wrest back control from people who never viewed her as anything more than just an empty vessel for their desires, and to finally be able to control her own destiny. 

So this is why it’s significant that she kills BOTH Stick and Alexandra – they may have both felt genuinely toward Elektra and treated her as a surrogate daughter, but they also made her do terrible things for their own ends. Killing them symbolizes her wresting back her agency and I think, to me, clearly shows that she is on no side but her own. Taking control of the Hand was really not supposed to be the main point or anything permanent aka ‘look I’m a bad guy!!’, imo…but I think it was both a self-preservation move (you’re not gonna kill the head of the ancient ninja cult and then try to take them ALL down without securing an out for yourself first and working with them guarantees you some more time to do that) as well as a bit of a lazy storytelling way to slot someone in as the leading antagonist heading into the final fight. I think her conversations with Danny clarifies that to some degree, but not as much as I would have liked. 

The jump from here to the last fight is exactly why I think we needed one more episode of screen time to bridge the gap, but as to why she’d suddenly go from ‘I need to get more substance’ to ‘Let’s die here together’ – well, the whole last episode is setting up an impossible scenario for everyone involved. So we know the stakes are high and people gonna die. A newly independent Elektra without her humanity would have gotten everyone neutralized as quickly as possible and hauled ass out of that pit with some dragon bones and called it day. And that was probably her goal. But once the Defenders take the fight to the Hand in the bottom of the pit, and Elektra is face to face with Matt again…well, things get a little more muddled.

At some point, it seems that everyone left in that pit knows that they’re running out of time – Gao herself is so pragmatic about the damn thing that she doesn’t even attempt to bother getting out. I imagine Elektra has this knowledge too, and we know that she the one thing she doesn’t want is to go back to that dark place, to death…but the one thing that is perhaps a saving grace for her is that Matt is there too. Someone who can face the darkness with her. She probably thinks the only way to keep him there is to fight him, antagonize him, lie to him, but what she doesn’t realize is that he’s been ready this whole time to stay down there with her…and GAH, okay I gotta stop there. 

SOOO yeah, basically, I think there was a plan there, but the writers didn’t do a super job connecting the dots at the end, mostly b/c of the limited time to get the last act rolling…this is my interpretation and I’m sticking to it :).

Okay, now things that were AWESOME:

All of Elektra’s fights!!! Omg so one of my major annoyances in DD S2 was that it really felt like they nerfed Elektra’s skill level on the show. On the one hand I understood that she’s a much younger, impetuous presence on the show than she is in the comics, but still, she should have been able to handle Yazuka goons with no issues. If it took becoming the Black Sky to activate OP Elektra mode then well, I’M HERE FOR IT!! She was such a badass and I loved every single moment she was fighting someone on screen. Of course there were inconsistencies with her level of Black Sky amplified abilities, but then again, that was an issue with all of the heroes. But ughhh she truly became the fighter I wanted to see on screen. And all of her fights with Daredevil / Matt were particular delights. I spar best with you!!!

Elektra regaining her agency!! As I mentioned above, I don’t think the writers did the best job they could in executing this storyline but all I wanted from this show was for Elektra to really take control of her life again and SHE DID IT. Just like I had predicted in this post here. It literally went down exactly as I had hoped it would hahah. 

MCU Elektra inching closer to becoming comics Elektra. Okay so I had a lot of theories on how things were going to turn out for Elektra by the end of the show, my prevailing theories being based on what I thought I could expect from Marvel TV – either get the trite but not entirely unexpected ‘Elektra rediscovers her goodness and switches sides’ direction OR you get the ‘Matt angsting over Elektra but realizing she’s a lost cause and tries to kill her’ direction. My personal hope was that Elektra would wrest back her agency, ultimately survive the show (b/c killing her again would have been so dumb) and become a free agent, true neutral type of presence in the background of the Netflix Marvel universe, coming in to help bail out Matt’s ass from time to time on DD, but not necessarily having to operate in any romantic capacity, just a super skilled and reliable ally of Matt / Daredevil when he faces bigger antagonists. Given the unexpected level of Mattelektra in the show overall, I’m an optimistic fool and wondering if there may be more in the cards for them…but I’m not going to dwell too much on that now.

Elodie Yung!! The most awesome thing about Elektra’s arc was that we were blessed enough to have Elodie Yung cast as Elektra in the first place and the fact that she’s the head of the Mattelektra Protection Squad. I’ve always believed the role of Elektra could have become real hot garbage in a lesser actress’ hands but Elodie brings such thoughtfulness and presence to material that can sometimes be a little weak and potentially one dimensional. Her transformation over the course of the Defenders was such a treat to watch and I will love her forever. So yeah, I love Elodie as Elektra and I will love her as Elektra til the end of time.

AND THAT’S IT! Thanks for asking and making me write all of this out. This is a great way for me to continue emotionally processing everything that’s happened on the show lol. 

[missjackil]

My Season 8 Perspective

Speaking as a Not-so-Bitter Sam girl, I feel like this perspective is the least represented side of the issues in S8, Ive only seen meta written in favor of Sam or in favor of Dean, but nothing that is basically in the middle. I am a Sam girl, and often favor his side, but I love Dean and often feel like he needs to be defended. I have a differing opinion of this season, than I have seen you all write about, so I feel the need to share my side.  Season 8 is my 2nd favorite season. S11 being first and S5 being 3rd, but I will admit, it has some serious issues. For starters, Ill just get it out of the way. I do think Sam is very OOC in the beginning of the season, regarding Amelia and not looking for Dean when he presumed he was dead. Other aspects of the early episodes were good, like his jealousy and mistrust of Benny, and his HAIR omg his hair should have always stayed that way!  Sam being out of character, is even the side that J2 shares. I have seen meta after meta explaining why some of you believe he wasn’t OOC, but if Jared felt like he was, I think his opinion is the one that matters most, so it is OK to say “yeah, Sam wouldnt do that”.  I understand that Sam was truly alone in this time, he didnt have anyone who would have been able to help him if he tried, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t have, or shouldn;t have tried something. He didn’t even confirm that Dean was actually dead, there were no bodies, or blood, just black goo and Dean disappeared.  Sam had consulted a Ouiga board before, when looking for Dean’s spirit and Bobby’s, theres no reason he couldnt try something like that and establish if Dean was dead or not. And Dean knew where he was as soon as Cas asked “where would Leviathan go when they die?” Are we supposed to think Sam never even asked himself that question? All we knew about Sam in the time that Dean was gone, was that he hit a dog, and then lived “a normal life” with Amelia, up to and until, he tells Amelia that his world imploded and came raining down on him, and he ran. This is totally understandable. Sam basically freaked, and he ran, but we don’t know this until later in the season, and Dean NEVER knew this. To this day, we have never seen Sam explain his side. We can head canon that he did, but there hasnt been any evidence on the show that that was the case. Not unlike the changing of Dean’s voice message to Sam in S4. Sam to this day doesnt know Dean appologized for calling him a monster, and Dean doesnt know Sam’s world imploded when he  was gone. All he told Dean was that for the first time in his life he was completely alone and he didnt have a road map, he didnt want to hunt because thats what got his whole family killed, so he fixed up the Impala and he drove. Hit a dog, met a girl and lived a happy normal life without Dean, and now that Dean was back and Ameila was gone, Sam still wanted to be out of “the life” and away from Dean. Sam never said he missed Dean, or even that he was happy he was back. How is this in character for Sam when we saw how he was 4 months without Dean when Dean went to Hell, and 6 months without him in Mystery Spot? Only one year gone and Sam is living a normal happy life.  This is why I feel it’s safe to admit, yes, this was terrible writing on Sam’s behalf. We know that when Sam went to Hell, Dean lived a pretty normal life with Lisa and Ben, but we also know he tried to find ways to spring Sam. We know Dean had been so overcome with grief that he’s surprised Lisa took him in, he drank too much and had nightmares. We know this because Dean said that’s how it was. Unfortunately, the only insite we have on Sam’s state of mind was a short statement “I lost my brother Dean a few months ago and it felt like my world imploded and came raining down on me... and I ran” Which to me, honestly, seemed like the writers tossed that in there after hearing negative feedback that theres no way Sam wouldnt have looked for Dean in some way.It would have been very helpful to see Sam distraught over losing Dean, instead of distraught over hitting the dog.  Aside from that, I see a lot of negativity towards Dean for berating Sam for not looking for him, leaving the job, and getting a girlfrien. I agree he berated him unecessarily, but from Dean’s side, all he knows is he went through a year of 360 degree combat every day all day, trying to get back to Sam, and came back to Sam saying he didnt look for him and had a good normal life while he was gone. How could this not hurt Dean?  Especially when even though he was back, Sam is trying to get out... again. Now, this is hard for me as a Sam girl, honestly, because I want to side with Sam all the time, but I am actually disappointed that Sam didnt even have the tactfulness or compassion to know that this isnt how to handle someone who just got back from a year of war (or that he was written in this way) and visibly showing the effects of PTSD and admitting to living in fear for the past year trying to get home. And I feel the worst part was when Dean was finally smiling and happy to be back driving down crazy street with Sam, Sam told him as soon as they lock that case up, hes gone. Now Im not saying Sam isnt entitled to a good, safe life, he certainly is, but this is OOC for him in a couple ways. By now, he knows you cant leave the life, it will always come back to bite you in the ass, just as it did for Dean in S6. And also because the Sam Winchester I know, is just as co-dependent on Dean as Dean is to him. Later in the season, Sam wants to take Dean to the light at the end of the tunnel, and this IS in character for Sam. I just wish Sam would have offered to take Dean with him early in the season as well.  I think all us Sam girls feel that Sam was suicidal by the end of the season, being shown by his willingness to die in Sacrifice. But I believe Dean was suicidal in the first half, being willing to take on The Trials himself, with the intent on dying, so that Sam could have his normal life back. Dean wanted to die so Sam could be happy, and then Sam wanted to die because he felt that he let Dean down too much and got in his way. So, the crapfest of OOC Sam and the berating for Dean that we had in the beginning of S8 played itself out painfully beautiful at the end of the season. Letting Dean down is what Sam believes is his greatest sin, and Dean admits he says crap that isnt true and nothing is more important to him than Sam. So was it a means to an end? Maybe. I can admit Sam was OOC, but we couldnt have had that painfully beautiful ending in the Church any other way really. So, I get past it and enjoy the season for being the most bromantic season since S1. 

[adamantineheart]

I watched all of iron fist because 1) I just need mindless entertainment in my life, sorry, I have too much real life shit I need a break from 2) nothing can be worse than matt’s stoyline in DD S2 so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

My Current Netflix Marvel Rankings:

Luke Cage

Jessica Jones

Daredevil S1

Iron Fist

Daredevil S2

Thoughts on characters:

Danny: Danny sucks and the show knows it and uses it which is why while I went in Judging the series for using a white actor for the role in 2017 (like everyone else on tumblr) I left the show feeling like that was a bullet dodged, lol. Danny is both frighteningly naive and a type of douche-y that comes from privilege. These traits suck but they’re also what makes the plot move. Danny being an idiot has consequences. That being said, it’s not like dumb, privileged rich dude is a white guy troop (see every kdrama with a chaebol love interest, lol) so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Personally though I feel like if you racebend Danny you need to racebend the Meachums too because they’re supposed to feel quasi-related (I’m down with that though). A missed opportunity...

Colleen: OKAY FIRST OFF I’M SO ANNOYED THAT PEOPLE AREN’T GRASPING SHE’S CHINESE AND JAPANESE because the show doesn’t outright say it I’m seeing people in the tags being like... the show is mixing up her ethnicity or something??? it’s not, she clearly says the first time she meets Danny she spoke Mandarin as a kid, but doesn’t really remember it and later on she lived with/was really raised by her Japanese (I believe maternal?) grandfather. Sounds to me like she has a Chinese and Japanese family background, why is this tripping people up. ANYWAY I have mixed feelings about her. She’s an excellent character saddled with the misfortune of being Danny’s love interest and boyyyyy is it an awkward romance. Claire basically asks Danny if he’s a virgin (he is) and then almost the next scene he and Colleen bang. Okaaaaay, that wasn’t fast at all. Danny also somehow manages to mansplain and... whitesplain?? at her, which is also awkward as fuck. It’s hard to see what she sees in him.... The twist that she’s part of the Hand was wild, but it also made her character feel wobbly. How did she not notice she was in an evil cult this whole time???? Whatever. She does have a good, solid backstory which I can’t say for a lot of Marvel Netflix characters tbh so there’s that at least.

Ward: I’M SUPPOSED TO HATE HIM. You know how Danny’s actor was like ~white billionaires aren’t really popular these days I guess~ about Danny? Well, pretty sure no one likes Danny, but Ward, who is also a white dude billionaire, is definitely not hated from what I can see. WHICH SUCKS. I DIDN’T ASK TO SYMPATHIZE WITH HIM. But how can you not? Harold has been abusing him for years, to the point where Ward developed a drug addiction and has no fucking life because his father dominates his every moment. He tries his best in the show to escape his father and it’s hard not to route for him, especially when he ends up on Danny’s side. A good character, damn it.

Joy: Joy starts out interesting and complex and then falls out of focus. I don’t mind - I’m glad other characters were focused on instead - but it makes it so that there’s not much I can say about her. She was okay. I don’t really get the cliffhanger ending for her because she was a person who was good inside underneath it all and now suddenly she’s doing a 180??? wtffff

Harold: A FUCKING GOOD VILLAIN Harold is batshit which made him delightful to watch. Sympathetic villains are nice and all but sometimes you just want to really hate someone, and Harold was great for that.

Bakuto: A cool character even if I cringed everytime someone pronounced his name. GDI Bakuto, if you’re going to adopt a Japanese name can you at least say it right?? Prick. That being said, with Bakuto and Madame Gao getting more screentime finally, FINALLY makes the Hand work as villains. Jesus fuck, the Hand was so badly handled (lol) in Daredevil. If nothing else, Iron Fist finally made them stop feeling so one-dimensional.

Davos: HELLO BEST CHARACTER Unfortunately he didn’t have enough screen time, which genuinely sucks because I think making us love him and feel attached to him is important for next season’s storyline to work. We need to feel!!! things!!! at him and Danny fighting each other. Hopefully they’ll give us more flashbacks next season... but I wish we go more tag team fights of Danny and Davos. It was about the only time Danny actually fought well and you could really see how well they know each other with how in sync they were.

Claire: Claire is great even though she didn’t invite Matt to fight the Hand, though I’m actually glad for that because Matt drives me nuts at this point. Claire shinned the most in Luke Cage but she had a lot of good parts in Iron Fist too.

That Dude Who Killed People At Karoke: There was no purpose to that scene, but it was also iconic, so shout out to that dude.

OVERALL, the Hand finally was fleshed out and feels less fucking offensive but it’s still not great (the spider/poison girl was next level Bad). Iron Fist is actually a much lighter show than the rest of Marvel Netflix which upped my enjoyment factor by a lot and made me more forgiving to its faults.

Do I recommend it?? If you’re a completionist for Marvel Netflix TV you might as well watch it. If you’re not, it’s obviously skippable. It doesn’t really stand on its own (which I feel like Jessica Jones and Luke Cage both do), it’s just expanding this established universe.