#Ramsey is Caitlin's friend

[kitkatt0430]

do you ever discuss of you ranking list of the flash seasons yet?? from best to worst?? bc i don't think i've seen any, so i'm curious, hehe.

You know, I don't think I have really ranked the seasons before. It's definitely something that likely changes based on my mood, but some things will stay consistent, like which seasons are my favorites.

So, Flash season's best to worst:

Season 1 - Without a doubt the best season. Everything was really well plotted, there weren't a whole lot of dropped threads. Eobard was at his best as the season's main villain; Barry establishing his friendships with Cisco and Caitlin was so much fun, they all grew to love each other so fast; and Iris discovering herself as a reporter was interesting to see happen. It could have done without Barry's entitlement issues towards Iris (or keeping her unnecessarily in the dark) and the pipeline prison (oh look at all the human rights violations and where are the bathrooms in those cells???) but over all it was a solid first season and set the bar high for the rest of the show.

Season 2 - Second best season. Zoom was derivative of Eobard, but we got Harry who started off seeming shady but quickly turned out to be a traumatized dad who just wanted to save his daughter and the new found family (Team Flash) that he absolutely doesn't want to admit he now loves way too much. It tried new things that didn't always work out and had more dropped plot threads than S1 (and wasted a few perfectly good characters) but there were a lot of really good ideas in there. It could have done with a few of the plots being more firmly tied back into S1 events - Harry's speed theft tech building on Eobard's research into Farooq's powers, Cisco's fears about his powers corrupting him to be more like Reverb tying into his actions with regards to Hartley (when he tortured Hartley, let's not mince words there) - but still a pretty solid season overall and finally brought us Wally West, teasing the possibility of Kid Flash.

The first half of Season 6 - I'm just chopping this season in half here. The first half of this season was superbly plotted. Barry and Iris' grief over Nora's death, everyone's fear and grief knowing Barry would soon be joining her, Cisco wanting to be able to save his bestie when he's lost so many loved ones already, the whole theme about fear of death destroying what makes life living with Ramsey and his blood zombies. The fight over Barry's soul by the Speed Force and Ramsey while Barry breaks down over fake-baby-Nora's crib... and all the parallels between Barry's romantic love with Iris and his platonic love with Cisco.

Season 4 - Harry's obsession with being the smartest and being able to protect the people he loves leading him to endanger himself in the very way he'd find unacceptable if his loved ones did it? So heart wrenching in all the best ways. Seeing how close he and Cisco are, how much Harry's grown to respect and admire Cisco... And while Ralph was at first suuuuuuper annoying, his character growth over the season was really wonderful. He goes from pushing others away (and weaponizing misogyny) to protect himself to being willing to do anything to protect his friends even if it meant destroying himself. He becomes Frost's biggest cheerleader in finding herself as a person (which continues into the next season) and grows to really respect and admire everyone on Team Flash. Cecile really comes into her own as a character here, her transformation from background character to main cast complete. It sucks that the season starts off with Wally leaving - this should have been the season where he earned his place as the Flash and not just Kid Flash. There was so much ableism going on with DeVoe. And the Cisco/Cynthia romance, while cute, was brought down a lot back the fact that the organization she worked for was majorly hypocritical and, well... fascist. There were a lot of pieces that didn't gel well, but it was a major improvement over S3.

Season 5 - I actually really like Nora, even though I get why a lot of people didn't. It was weird having her basically be Barry and Iris' age, though. Would have worked a lot better if she was more like 19~21 somewhere not really a teen anymore, but still very, very young adult. This was also the season where Barry and Iris started acting like an old married couple, emphasis on old. They were acting as if being married meant they stopped doing fun stuff. Frustrating since we never really got a proper dating arc. It was a speed run from dating to moving in together to engaged to not engaged to engaged again to married despite the best efforts of the nazi versions of Oliver and Kara. Honestly, it's been hard to see their relationship as fun at times, but they do get some silly moments here. Also cemented Barry as being oblivious to other people's romantic interests, which has given me so many oblivious arospec headcanons about him over the years. I hated the Iris as a bad mother characterization for future Iris, especially when Iris is actually trying so hard to be a good mom to her adult daughter in the present. Like... no way Iris changed that much. The cavalcade of main villains was bad, even though I saw Eobard coming out on top as main bad guy from a mile away. But the bad guy is Cicada! No Cicada II. No Eobard doing a prison break (though it was a cool prison break, gotta give him props) was just... annoying. The cure was terrible, though and I hate, hate, hated Cisco taking it.

Season 3 - This actually ties for me with S5, but my current mood is that I like it slightly less thought sometimes that's reversed. Flashpoint was a token effort, but it gave us our first glimpse of Wally as Kid Flash. HR was a sweetheart and my fav Wells after Harry. I don't think they ever figured out what they were doing with Julian, but gosh did Barry need a CSI coworker at the CCPD and I was annoyed that it took until S5 for Barry to get another one (his daughter) and she also only lasted one season. *sigh* The OG Killer Frost arc was interesting because it wasn't split personality AGAIN so I was frustrated in S4 when Caitlin's 'not Caitlin but not Frost' S3 ending was retconned into Bruce Banner and the Hulk lite. Savitar had so much promise and so little follow through. Emo Barry's hair in the future was... um... something alright. Possibly the true villain of the season was that hair. Anyway. More ableism with the main villain, but that's basically every season by the end of the show. The plot is almost incoherent at times, but there's a lot of really good character moments.

The back half of Season 6 - Did you think I forgot this half a season I'd chopped off the front half? Well here it is!!! Oh gosh, it was so slowly plotted. Everything dragged out way more than it needed to. They could have fit a whole extra plot arc in there before diving into the mirror arc/speed force issue and it would have been so much better paced. Like, say, Barry actually dealing with the fallout of rebooting the multi-verse? Just a thought? Allegra not wanting Nash to use her as a replacement goldfish for Maya and Nash trying not to do exactly that even as his dad-instincts were screaming 'that's my kid' deserved a lot better nuance than it actually got. Iris' promised storyline isolating her from everyone else while they failed to recognize the fake was a fake was really awful. I realize it suffered technical difficulties due to covid, but it was just. such a let down after that first half of the season.

Season 9 - This actually ties with S7, but I kinda like it more right now so it's rating higher. But sometimes I like it less. S8 is the worst. S9 had some real gems in there. The Rogues team up was delightful, though I wish they'd taken the chance to give Hartley more of his comics character development. But at least he finally got to kiss his boyfriend on screen without the focus moving to Barry's face getting in the way. Red Death arc had a lot of plot holes in it. Iris finally tackling the issue of whether her destiny being Barry's wife ever meant she'd actually chosen anything for herself or just done what she thought she was supposed to. Poorly handled, but I'm still glad it finally got addressed. The four part finale was really representative of the show where the first quarter was the best and the rest was varying levels of suck. Caitlin reached the pinnacle of being side-lined, written out entirely until the final episode to make way for the goddess Khione who came out of the left field, had story lines that would have been 10x better with Caitlin, and then ascended to a higher plane of existence with no real impact left behind at all. What was the point??? Every time Mark Blaine was almost sympathetic, I would remember him throwing a temper tantrum over not being allowed to kill Khione to resurrect Frost. But I actually liked the return of Ramsey, though that absolutely should have been a multi-episode plot. And there were too many cameos going on at once with Dig, Wally, and Oliver - they were well balanced for the time allotted them, but Wally especially deserved more focus time. They had this final chance to officially make Wally the Flash and they wasted it. Oh well, at least I got more Barry/Iris/Eddie headcanon fuel.

Season 7 - The final fate of the Wells characters was insulting. Cisco's send off was insulting, though at least the episode itself had some fun and whimsical moments. The Speed Force being made less of a blue and orange morality type and more humanized made her less interesting. The plot with the forces dragged on. They'd been teasing Godspeed since S5 and he was kinda a let down. Bringing back Eobard to help fight Godspeed made no sense; what would have made sense? Bringing back Nora 1.0 who had actually beaten Godspeed. On her own. After he killed her bestie (and girlfriend???) Lia. Like, they tried to recreate Nora 1.0's grudge match with Godspeed using Bart's trauma over seeing Jay's death but we barely get any interaction with Bart so it just doesn't hit the same. And also, adorable though Bart is... that is supposed to be Barry and Iris' grandson and I cannot ever completely forget that. Dawn and Don are the Tornado Twins and we deserved to get them and we never do.

Season 8 - It had the Armageddon Arc and there was no coming back from that clusterfuck. The plot holes were the size of double decker busses. Eobard was enacting three evil plans simultaneously despite them contradicting each other. The introduction of the Negative Forces and the retconning of the Negative Speed Force as no longer being something artificial that Eobard created. Establishing Frost/Blaine as an official couple. And the season itself had Frost dying for Caitlin who then ends the season by accidentally killing herself too. The Bart and Nora episode in the past was cute, though. And getting an actual good-guy version of Eobard was interesting, but the less said about NSF Avatar!Eobard ripping Matt-obard's face off, the better. *shudders* creepy; I skipped out on most of this season, though. So I'm missing a lot of the smaller arcs. I know it had a *lot* of dropped plot threads all over the place though. The thing with Mia being the most egregious.

Anyway, this is generally the order but it can change up more than this and sometimes I also chop up S7 into halves because the two halves suck but for very different reasons. And sometimes I like S4 more than the first half of S6, sometimes I don't. Tonight I didn't. Nothing beats S1, though.

[ultrahpfan5blog]

The Flash Season 6 - Restrospective Review

So I finally finished season 6. Two more seasons to go before I catch up. Season 6 is a difficult season to judge because its an incomplete season, with Covid cutting the season short by 3 episodes. So the Mirrorverse arc was left hanging going into season 7. But as a season as a whole, I think there are a fair amount of upsides, particularly in the first half of the season, leading into COIE crossover.

Eric Wallace took over as showrunner starting this season and he obviously made a clear decision to split seasons into multiple arcs. I definitely think its a wise decision because the quality of villains and their ability to sustain a full season was dubious. I actually think the Bloodwork arc benefits greatly as a result of this decision. I don't think anyone considers Bloodwork to be one of the top villains that The Flash has ever had, but he works quite well for an 8 episode arc. It makes for a fun, B Zombie movie type vibe which was definitely different for the show. I honestly do think the first half of this season is excellent. I think they did a decent job showing the parallels between Ramsey and Barry's situations. And I think this half of the seasons pulls some excellent performances from the cast. Certainly, Carlos gets a chance to flex in 'Kiss Kiss Breach Breach', which is a completely Cisco centric episode. 'License to Elongate' is a pretty fun Bond type episode with Ralph and Barry, with Ralph taking lead. And it was actually quite a sweet episode, honoring Barry as a character. Grant has one of his best performances in the 'The Last Temptation of Barry Allen Pt 1'. There is a sublime scene between Grant and Jesse in 'There will be Blood' which really harkens back to why that relationship was so great in the show.

There is only one complaint that I have with the first part of this season, which is that Caitlin gets completely sidelined. The show makes an obvious specific decision to let Frost take the prominent role, which is fine, but given that the first half deals with Barry trying to help prepare all of team Flash for a life after him, I feel an episode with Caitlin, who was such a long time friend, should have happened. Barring that, I honestly find the Bloodwork arc to be a lot of fun. The Zombie apocalypse type finally makes for a pretty enjoyable climax. This half of the season introduces two new characters who went on to be part of the main cast in future seasons. Those two being Allegra and Chester. I know people have mixed opinions on both characters but I liked both of the bat. Allegra is pretty significantly involved throughout the season and becomes a part of team Citizen and Chester pops up in a handful of episodes and becomes more prominent towards the end of the season.

The first half of the season also introduces Nash, whose primary purpose in the first half of the season is to bring about the start of Crisis. COIE was an ambitious crossover and I do applaud the CW for attempting something so big. While I did enjoy COIE, as a Flash fan it was a bit disappointing because Barry is sidelined in at least the first couple of episodes. He becomes more prominent in the last three episodes, but given the Crisis tease was on Flash for years, it is a bit annoying how the focus is shifted away from him when it really should have been a Flash prominent crossover. We do get some of our last Oliver and Barry moments in this crossover, which was great. Its good to know we will get some more in season 9 but those scenes in the crossover are great. There are some characters who are missed during the crossover, like Cisco, who was always a prominent part of the crossovers in the past, but only appears in The Flash episode.

The Mirrorverse/Black Hole arc is the arc which is a bit inconsistent. Its also unfortunately incomplete. There are some good elements and bad elements about this part of the season. Oddly, its a great part of the season for Candice Patton but a poor one for Iris. Candice gets to play a semi-villainous character in playing Iris' mirror duplicate and she does seem to enjoy it, but Iris is shortchanged as a result because she ends up spending the entire back half of the season trapped in the Mirrorverse, pretty much doing nothing. Everything in the Mirrorverse is pretty boring because it is just a rinse and repeat of Iris and Eva having the same conversations. The show also repeats some beats of Barry losing his speed again and again repeating the beats of him not being fast enough to stop villains, which is frustrating as a viewer after having watched several seasons of similar arcs. I do think that there is a set of 4 consecutive episodes that are all pretty strong for different reasons. 'A Girl Named Sue' is a fun introduction to Sue. She and Ralph and have instant chemistry which is a lot of fun. 'Grodd Friend Me' is cool as well, as we get to see speedster Grodd, albeit for a short time, and then 'Death of the Speed Force' sees the welcome and last return of Wally West. It will be nice to see him again in season 9 as this was his last appearance on the show so far. Then we have 'The Exorcism of Nash Wells' which was a cool episode which gave some of the OG's, like Grant, Carlos, and especially Tom, some room to flex and gave some depth to Nash, which was missing till this point. 'Liberation' also has a pretty strong fight scene between Mirror Iris and Barry, which is pretty brutal.

The actual story of team Flash facing off against Black Hole is interesting. Its cool to have them dealing with an organization rather than a single person. Problem is that they narrative purpose gets split because there is Black Hole and there is Eva and her mirror duplicates and Barry gets lost a bit in that muddle because he isn't intrinsically involved with either story. Barry's story in the back half deals a lot with the death of the speed force and the creation of a new one. Because the narrative is split in three different direction, each plot seems too slow. Ralph and Sue were some of the most entertaining parts of the back half, but end up absent for episodes at a time. The multi focus is what makes these arcs less effective. A lot of cast members are absent for episodes at a time. Like I mentioned, Ralph is absent for several episodes. Cisco is absent for several episodes. Joe is absent for a few episodes. You also see some of Eric Wallace's more annoying tendencies, such as sidelining Iris for such a long period of time, starting this annoying recurrence of Cecile feeling everyone's emotions and telling the audience how they feel, and starting promising arcs and ending them abruptly. An example of that is the Mirror duplicate Iris arc. The show starts something promising with Mirror duplicate Iris becoming independent and sentient but it doesn't go anywhere eventually and feels a bit pointless. This becomes a trait that became very prominent in season 7.

The season finale was obviously not designed to be the season finale, but it works ok because it at least ends the Black Hole arc and has a fun sequence with multiple villains vs multiple heroes. It is also obviously evident that Danielle Panabaker's pregnancy probably ended up messing with whatever arc was planned for the character because she is barely present in the back half for obvious reasons.

The cast is all excellent. Like I mentioned, the cast is given a lot of chances to flex. Grant gets some strong episodes and he feels a lot more centered in this season while in season 5, it did feel like he was sometimes not the main character. Candice Patton has fun in a villainous role. Carlos, Danielle P, Jesse are strong. Danielle Nicolet does overdo some scenes but does well overall. Hartley Sawyer was great and its disappointing that he left in the way he did. Its a shame because we never got to see that Ralph and Sue arc come to fruition as a result. Tom Cavanaugh is great as always but Nash Wells is easily the least developed version of Wells. The character never really formed any major connections with other characters on the show. The only connection the character has is with Allegra and even that doesn't get properly explored until very late in the season. He does have a brief reappearance as Thawne, which is always great, though he seems more bloodthirsty then usual. But its always great to see Barry and Thawne face off. Sendhil Ramamurthy gets to have some fun chewing scenery as Ramsey/Bloodwork. Victoria Park as Kamilla gets a more prominent role this season and while I still prefer Gypsy as a romantic interest for Cisco, she is a likable character. Kayla Compton and Brandon McKnight are likable as Allegra and Chester. Efrat Dor is effective as Eva but even she is limited by the fact that she spends majority of her time locked in the mirrorverse. Eric Nenninger as Joseph Carver is fine. Natalie Dreyfuss is charming as Sue Dearborn.

All in all, I think its an enjoyable season. I think it is on part with season 5. I think its reputation got dinged because of the fact that its final episodes had to be shifted into season 7 but its overall a solid season. I rate it a 7/10.

[icedteaandoldlace]

If you had a close friend dealing with grief by turning to alcoholism, the appropriate response would NOT be to smash all their liquor bottles on their floor, and then just run off and leave them to clean up the mess alone, without even offering them any kind of meaningful help or comfort. Sure, drinking is an unhealthy coping mechanism and you've just taken that away from them (temporarily), but you've done it at the cost of causing even more emotional damage, and without getting to the root of the real problem—and probably destroying their trust so you can't get to the point of getting to the root of the problem. It's pretty much a no-brainer that that would be a really shitty move.

So why the hell would ANYONE think that the way Barry just wrecked Caitlin's equipment and then peaced out is okay? Yes, trying to bring Frost back is a very bad idea, but it's not one that warrants using force to stop her, since the only person she's really hurting by not letting Frost go is herself. And she's in a really fragile mental state and needs her friends to anchor her, not add more turbulence to her life.

When Cisco was the one trying to bring Dante back, Caitlin talked him down (and had some sensitivity in her choice of words) and persuaded him to close the box holding the philosopher's stone himself, and then she stuck around afterward and comforted him. And then when Cisco refused to accept losing Barry to Crisis, Barry tried to reason with him—more gently and more patiently than how he talked to Caitlin—and let him be the one to give up the healing serum, instead of just taking it and running, even though he wanted to use it to save Ramsey.

When Caitlin discovered that Ronnie was alive and Cisco thought she was just in denial about his death, he told her as much, but he also listened to what she had to say, and then went with her to the parking garage to confirm whether or not Ronnie had really survived, and he continued to be there for her when finding him again just made her grief even worse.

When Barry decided to bring Oliver back, nobody did a damn thing to stop him, they just let him do it and then figure out for himself how to accept his death.

There is a right and a wrong way to help someone who's in denial and struggling to move on, and it's not always easy to tell what they need, but I can tell you straight away that what Caitlin needs isn't fucking that.

[afaims100arrowversefavs]

250 Favorite Arrowverse-Episodes: Part 2: 225-201

Picked from Arrow, Supergirl, Black Lighting, The Flash E1.1-8.5, Legends of Tomorrow E1.1-7.7, Batwoman S1 and Superman & Lois S1. Shows and Seasons that are not in here were either never seen by me or are not considered part of the Arrowverse but rather the DC-TV-Multiverse.

 225. Ship Broken (Legends of Tomorrow 5x10)

78, Written by: James Eagan, Mark Bruner, Directed by: Andi Armaganian

 Gary has a dog from Hell on Board while Lita is visiting.

 224. Welcome to the Jungle (Legends of Tomorrow 3x7)

40, Written by: Ray Utarnachitt, Tyron B. Carter, Directed by: Mairzee Almas

 It’s Vietnam Time with Grodd and Mick’s Dad.

 223. Nip/Stuck (Legends of Tomorrow 4x14)

65, Written by: Ray Utarnachitt, Matthew Maala, Directed by: David Geddes

 John meets his ancestor while the Waverider is stuck in a snow avalanche.

 222. Bratva (Arrow 5x12)

104, Written by: Oscar Balderrama, Emilio Ortega Aldrich, Directed by: Ben Bray

 Oliver and his friends return to Russia and Susan finds out the truth.

 221. Terms of Service (Legends of Tomorrow 4x15)

66, Written by: Grainne Godfree, Ubah Mohamed, Dircted by: April Mullen

 In which John has to choose and Gary bullies the Legends.

 220. Distant Sun (Supergirl 2x17)

37, Written by: Gabriel Llanas, Anna Musky-Goldwyn, Directed by: Kevin Smith

 In which Mon-El has issues with his parents and everyone else has them with their ships.

 219. The Promise (Arrow 2x15)

38, Written by: Jake Coburn, Ben Sokowoski, Directed by: Glen Winter

 In which we learn what Slade promised Oliver and why.

 218. Power Outage (The Flash 1x7)

7, Written by: Grainne Godfree, Alison Schapker, Directed by: Larry Shaw

 Barry looses his powers while Clock King takes hostages in the CCPD.

 217. Code of Silence (Arrow 4x14)

83, Written by: Wendy Mercile, Oscar Balderrama, Directed by: James Bamford

 In which Damien und Ruve change gears.

 216. Return of the Mack (Legends of Tomorrow 3x5)

38, Written by: Grainne Godfree, Morgan Faus, Directed by: Alexandra LaRoche

 Vampires in London.

 215. Egg MacGuffin (Legends of Tomorrow 4x13)

64, Written by: James Eagan, Tyron B. Carter, Directed by: Chris Tammaro

 The Steelhacker Date did go kind of south, didn’t it?

 214. Second Chances (Arrow 5x11)

103, Written by: Speed Weed, Sarah Tarkoff, Directed by: Mark Bunting

 We meet Dinah Drake.

 213. Hell No, Dolly (Legends of Tomorrow 4x7)

58, Written by: Grainne Godfree, Morgan Faust, Directed by: April Mullen

 Stabby Murder Puppet, Beware!

 212. Exodus (Supergirl 2x15)

35, Written by: Paula Yoo, Eric Carrasco, Directed by: Michael Allowitz

 Cadmus plans to export all Aliens back to space and Alex is not having it.

 211. Streets of Fire (Arrow 2x22)

45, Written by: Jake Coburn, Ben Sokolowski, Directed by: Nick Copus

 Slade’s Army attacks.

 210. The Trap (The Flash 1x20)

20, Written by: Alison Schapker, Brooke Elkmeier, Directed by: Steve Shill

 Team Flash turns on Wells, but he gets the better of them.

 209. There Will be Blood (The Flash 6x4)

118, Written by: Lauren Certo, Sterling Gates, Directed by: Marcus Stokes

 Cisco wants to save Barry’s life, who wants to save Ramsey’s instead.

 208. Leap of Faith (Arrow 8x3)

163, Written by: Emilio Ortega Aldrich, Elizabeth Kim, Directed by: Katie Cassidy

 Oliver und Thea team up one last time while John and Lyla have issues.

 207. Tender is the Nate (Legends of Tomorrow 4x6)

57, Written by: Phil Klemmer, Matthew Maala, Directed by: Dean Choe

 Hank joins the Legends during a mission, while Mona fucks up.

 206. Through the Looking Glass (Batwoman 1x16)

16, Written by: Nancy Kiu, Directed by: Sudz Sutherland

 Alice needs Kate’s help to save Mouse but the sisterly bonding does not go as planned.

 205. Homecoming (Supergirl 2x14)

34, Written by: Caitlin Parrish, Derek Simon, Directed by: Larry Teng

 Jeremiah returns to his family.

 204. City of Blood (Arrow 2x21)

44, Written by: Holly Harold, Directed by: Michael Schultz

 Oliver plans to give himself to Slade, Dig and Felicity take extreme measures.

 203. Grodd Lives (The Flash 1x21)

21, Written by: Grainne Godfree, Kai Yu Wu, Directed by: Dermott Downs

 Meet Gorilla Grodd.

 202. The Justice Society of America (Legends of Tomorrow 2x2)

18, Written by: Chris Fedak, Sarah Nicole Jones, Directed by: Michael Grossman

 The Legends meet a real Superhero Team, oh boy.

 201. What We Leave Behind (Arrow 5x9)

101, Written by: Wendy Mercile, Beth Schwartz, Directed by: Antionio Negret

 Prometheus makes it personal and we find out why.

[hedgiwithapen]

0 missed calls

for @mosylufanfic and Ciscoramonlovebot (update:5:18, missing opening added in) Cisco didn’t call.  Caitlin checked her phone absently, over and over, until Frost told her she was acting like a middleschooler waiting for her crush to  text back. She felt herself flushing and flipped her phone over, putting a stack of papers over it for good measure.  A minute later she checked it again. “Caity.” “I just, he  moved,  that’s--you call to let everyone know you arrived safe,” Caitlin defended. “Did he call while he was on the road trip? Or in Antarctica?” Caitlin chewed her lip. “ Not much but--- but service was bad, and he was really busy…” Frost sighed. ~ Cisco didn’t call.  Caitlin checked her email, her spam folder, answered every single telemarketer and robo-call just in case. “Caitlin?” Iris asked. “Everything ok?” “Uh, no, yeah, I mean…” She trailed off. “Oh, I have the results. On that test, for your article. It looks like--” she  scrambled for the printouts. “ whoever’s doing this isn’t a metahuman. They must be using tech, to make it seem like--” “Thanks,” Iris took the papers, glancing at them. “But you know that’s not what I meant. Contrary to what some people think, our lives don’t have to be just work.” Caitlin gave an elegant shrug. “I just… it’s been a week since he left and that’s… it’s just weird.” “Did you call?” “Him?” Caitlin asked. “I… he didn’t answer. I didn’t want to keep leaving messages. It was … it was late…” “I meant, did you call all the times you left,” Iris said gently. Caitlin shrank inwardly. “No,” she admitted. “Just give him time.”

~ Cisco didn’t call. Caitlin stared at the article, frowning as she read the comments. It was the usual internet noise: an argument over a tiny detail blown out of proportion , a metaphobe stirring up trouble,  fans of Iris praising the writing,  and of the Flash cheering the effort. “This isn’t right,” she said softly, scanning usernames and icons. “Uh, what?” Barry asked, sprawled on the couch with the remains of a 3 foot sandwich. “Iris did her fact checking, and she was there for most of it. What do you think she got wrong?” “Not that,” Caitlin shook her head, turning the tablet so Barry could see. “Caitlin. You’ve gotta learn not to read the comments.” “No, this,” She gave an angry sigh, flicking a finger to scroll back to the headline. “Flash defeats E-vile in Tech Team-up.” Barry frowned.  “Uh. That… is what you were calling him, right?” Caitlin stood, pacing. “ something’s wrong, see for yourself.” Barry took the tablet and speed-read through the comments. “I… ok, I must still have that concussion. What is it?  No one’s being mean about the name….” “I know! That’s the problem! It’s a terrible name, and cisco hasn’t so much as left a comment about it! Something isn’t right.” Barry scuffed a shoe along the floor. “Caitlin, he made his choice.  He doesn’t have to be part of this mess--and I can’t blame him… I miss him too, but-” “No! No buts! He’d never let me live this down.  I want you to take me to his new  apartment, now.” “If he wanted to see us, he wouldn’t have left,” Barry said, stopping her before she could interrupt. “ he asked for space. Let’s just… give it to him. Ok?” “Ok,” Caitlin said, but her heart wasn’t in it. ~ Cisco didn’t call, and Caitlin was sick of it. On the one occasion Barry had visited ARGUS to see if Ramsey was in any state to have a trial, he hadn’t even seen Cisco. If the engineer was avoiding them, Caitlin decided, he’d have to tell that to her face. She’d left, but she’d always said she was leaving for good, she hadn’t made it seem like--like-- well. She made up her mind. Getting to ARGUS on her own was less than convenient, but not impossible. She told the team she was off duty for a weekend, entrusting Allegra with the massive first aid kit, and took off. They were surprised to see her. “Is Cisc-- is Agent Ramon available?” she asked the agent at the security desk, signing her in. It felt foreign, being so formal. “No.” The agent did not elaborate, exchanging a glance with the Agent who’d met her at the door.  “What’s the nature of this visit?” “Oh, I’m here to check on Ramsey. Er, Dr. Rosso.” “Oh, Bloodwork. We could have sent over the latest files, saved you a trip. Flash drop you off, Dr. Snow?” “Uh, No,” she said. “I’d like to see Dr. Rosso.” “There’s no change since the last check in, you know.” “I know.” She’d read the scant report. “I just need to double check a, a new theory.” “Hmm. I hope you’ll let us in on that,” the agent sighed. “Fine. Visitor pass.” He handed the laminated card over it, and the first man nodded. “Well, follow me, and do not wander.” Caitlin nodded, feeling like a chastised kindergartener. She sent a quick text: I’m here, when’s your lunch break? I need to see you. There wasn’t even a ‘read’ indication.  ~ Ramsey had not changed. There was no light in his eyes as he smiled at her, dripping darkness in his containment cell, and asked how her friends had fared. She’d  tried to ignore the parts of her old friend she could almost still see, going through her mental checklist. The files had been accurate. His condition was… stable, for now. Leaving containment would speed up the progression, until he was… well, until Ramsey wasn’t anymore.  The thought hurt. “I’ve seen enough,” she told her ARGUS escort, blinking back tears. How was this her life? So many people gone, her heart full of open graves.  She didn’t wait for the agent to lead the way back through the doors into the main hallway, trying to get the sight of Ramsey out of her mind. “Wait, Dr. Snow,” the agent called out, and she froze in the doorway. She’d pushed open one of two doors, forgetting the one that led to the exit. She stepped back, releasing the door and  letting it swing shut in her face again. “Sorry,” she said, her voice thick. “I… I wasn’t thinking. Just turned around.” It was a lie, of course.  She worried the agent would be able to tell, that he’d see in the way her eyes went blue in anger, what she’d seen. But he merely walked with her back to the front hall. Caitlin swallowed bile, clamping down on Frost screaming in her mind. There were too many agents, with too many weapons. They’d be on her in a second if she tried to do anything without a plan. But she couldn’t get the image out of her mind. The container, the tiny prison cell smaller than a Pipeline box, labeled Subject 2, and Cisco standing in it, one bloody, bandaged hand pressed flat against the glass.

[jemfanzine]

We are so thrilled to be able to finally invite everyone to Jem's surprise birthday party! All the way back in August, 24 artists came together to work on this Jem 35th Anniversary Collab to celebrate our beloved series. Each artist created their own unique take on a single character in order to create a beautiful illustration filled to the brim with creativity and love for the franchise that began so many years ago.

To Christy Marx for starting it all, to the voice actors and singers that made the characters who they were, to the musicians that gave Jem and her friends her voice, to the writers that gave us many adventures, to the cast and crew behind the comic and the movie for introducing new people to the series and to you, the fans who kept the spirit of Jem alive even after all this time...thank you.

From the bottom of my heart, and from every fan who dedicated their time and talent to this celebration, we want to wish a truly, truly, TRULY outrageous 35th birthday to Jem. Here's to 35 more.

(ARTIST CREDITS + FULL VIEW UNDER CUT)

✨ HOLOGRAMS

Jem: Rae

Kimber: Sarina Sherzai

Aja: Leo

Shana: Jhenne Tyler

Raya: Caitlin Pafford

Synergy: Little Rinn

🎸 MISFITS

Pizzazz: Wes

Roxy: Doom

Stormer: Jett

Jetta: Alice Fiddle

Blaze: Chibi Michaela

🐝 STINGERS

Riot: Dorian

Minx: Jacob Cross

Rapture: Shelia G.

🎤 FRIENDS OF...

Rio: Becky

Danse: Lynndy Lee

Video: Erika

Regine: Emma Kate Ramsey

Astral: Sugar Spankhorn

Eric: Sidney Flavell

Techrat: Saishii

Clash: Teddy

Graphix: Kacey Gambrell

🎨 BACKGROUND & EDITING: Eli

ILLUSTRATION FULL VIEW

[killervibe]

Killervibe with 32?

Killervibe + a kiss to wake up

~.~

"I think she needs to be put to rest," Cisco told the King.

This Sleeping Curse won. It was far time the castle accepted it. The King could throw at Cisco all the new suitors to attempt to wake the Princess that he wanted, but they both knew it was a ruse. True Love won't work here. Princess Caitlin's True Love, Prince Raymond, was dead. Everyone secretly knew that. Earl Julian and Baron Mark, Duke Dominic, did, despite their valiant efforts to try.

Dark Empress Amunet knew it too. It's exactly why she cast the curse in the first place. It was easy. It was simple. It was impossible.

Cisco wasn't ever getting his best friend back. He turned away to wipe at his wet eyes. He didn't want to give up on her. He didn't want to let her go. But there was only so much of this he could take, the year of going through everyone Princess Caitlin had ever known and inviting them to the castle had worn him down.

"Please," Cisco appealed to the King, voice cracking. "Let's just celebrate her life."

The King nodded from his throne. "I think you're right." His sigh was just as weary. "Fine," he said, addressing one of the scribes. "We'll prepare the glass coffin for a burial and rites."

Cisco turned away once dismissed, crossing his arms against his tunic. It was his own suggestion, and it was for the best, but hearing words like burial and coffin made his vision blurry. He rushed up to her tower before it would get crowded, slipping past the pink curtains.

The last suitor, Sir Ramsey, left in a fit when his kiss resulted in nothing.

Cisco sat at the edge of Princess Caitlin's bed, glancing at her frozen features. It reminded him of when they had played by the river as children and Princess Caitlin slipped on the bank, tumbling into the current. Her heavy skirts weighed her down as she sank. For ten terrifying minutes after Cisco pulled her out of the water, she was fatally frigid and fragile. He really thought she was dead.

Cisco might've only been her childhood best friend, but he loved her dearly his whole life. His hand brushed against her sleeve, smoothing out a crease.

"I'm sorry for letting you down, Caitlin." He thought about all of the suitors who had got her last touch. He brushed his thumb over her mouth to wipe her clean. He took a deep breath and kissed her forehead softly, then tucked it back under the bed. "Goodbye."

Princess Caitlin's eyelids fluttered open. The first sight in over a year brought a startling breath to her empty lungs, the shadow of her True Love, slipping through curtains.

[theflashunited]

Batwoman: David Ramsey habla del cameo de Diggle en la temporada 2

Earlier this month it was announced that two of The Flash's original cast members, Tom Cavanagh and Carlos Valdes, would be leaving the series after the current seventh season. While Cavanagh, who plays various incarnations of Harrison Wells including "Timeless" Wells, has already ended his series regular run, last week's episode "Timeless" introduced the avenue for Valdes, who plays Cisco Ramon/Vibe, to depart when Cisco and Kamila (Victoria Park) decided they needed to leave Central City. Now, The CW has released the synopsis for "Good-Bye Vibrations", revealing that the pair will tell Team Flash of their plans in the upcoming twelfth episode of the season set to air on Tuesday, June 1st.

According to the synopsis, the episode will see Cisco and Kamila tell their friends that they are leaving Central City but Team Flash won't have much time to process with the city in danger from a new version of an old threat. You can check out the synopsis for yourself below.

CISCO LEAVES CENTRAL CITY – Cisco (Carlos Valdes) and Kamila (guest star Victoria Park) tell the team they are leaving Central City. However, Barry (Grant Gustin), Iris (Candice Patton) and Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) don’t have much time to digest the news because a new version of Rainbow Raider (guest star Jona Xiao) strikes and OG Team Flash must join together one final time to save the city. Philip Chipera directed the episode written by Kelly Wheeler & Jeff Hersh.

(xx)

[absolutelysweetmarie]

I miss Caitlin.

I want to see Caitlin react to Barry’s doomed fate. I want to see Caitlin react to her friend Ramsey’s turn to the dark side. I want Caitlin back.

[kitkatt0430]

Time for the latest episode of the Flash. And since I was not hiding from spoilers last night, I already have reservations about the retcons I've read are coming in this episode.

Chester please don't do the self-echo thing. Please.

Anyway, Barry's birthday used to be in March. Not April. I'm still not over this change. It used to be his birthday was just days before his mother's death for extra tragedy points. Also, even if Barry is 'physically' thirty, he's experienced 34 years of life. Celebrate that. That's what birthday's are about. Celebrating the experiences.

Wally!!!!!! And David!!!! And Dig!!!

I do like Barry and Dig's bonding and actually talking about grief. It'd be great if Barry would actually grieve for Caitlin. But. At this point I'll take what I can get. At least she gets mentioned.

Chester makes Allegra a mask device of her own. Which she could have used two seasons ago - who does he think she'll be hiding her identity from at this point? Her secret identity is just as much swiss cheese as Barry's at this point.

I've been reminded of why I don't like that one Spice Girl's song.

Wally and Barry bonding!!! But of course it gets awkward because apparently there are parts of Wally's past he's not talking about. (Retcon alert.)

And now we're to the poisonous toast from the teaser, let's get this death party started!

Bloodwork!!! Making quite the CGI entrance. And he wants cake. I wonder how he escaped ARGUS.

Oooh, using what he learned about Nora against Barry this time. Low blow. And he's so cheerful about it too.

Chester - O_O All my friends are zombies. Gotta run.

Ramsey's new target is Wally. And Wally doesn't know what Bloodwork does. O_O

Okay, so here's the retcon I've been dreading. So in Season 2 it was established that Francine left Joe and Iris after her drug habit endangered Iris. Only she then found herself pregnant with Wally, so she got clean and stayed clean. That was the story both Wally and Francine presented, either through their exact words or by implication.

Now what we're getting is that Francine relapsed at some point, quite likely for a long period of time given the state of disrepair the home in Wally's 'memories' - modified by Bloodwork so unreliable narrator here - and that his struggle with squaring his rose-colored-glasses memory of his mother and the reality of what living with her during her drug addiction is what's making him vulnerable to Bloodwork and keeping him from achieving his spiritual awakening.

On the one hand, this is a much more plausible retcon than the Thomas Snow bullshit we got in Ep2 of this season. On the other hand, the whole 'drug addict Francine' plot was already racist in S2. This makes it worse.

Is it realistic that a drug user, even one who knows she needs to stay clean to take care of her child, would relapse once or even several times? Yes. Totally. Is there a racist history of painting black people as more likely to be drug addicts? Also yes.

Also fuck Ramsey for trying to subtly pit Wally against Barry there with his dig about Barry's childhood home being nicer. This isn't the traumatic childhood Olympics.

So was Red Death actually from a parallel reality and not an alternate timeline after all? I still feel like the alt timeline thing was just muddying the waters.

Good on Wally, seeing through Ramsey's rather blatant manipulation. I do feel like Bloodwork is trying too hard to sell his snow job here, though. Being a bit too obvious compared to his last go-round.

Lol, the meta commentary in Ramsey directing 'the Flash' is pretty funny. The hat sells it.

And Frost and Caitlin being brought back for that scene, just to really twist the knife that he got 'extra' years and they didn't.

*sigh* and we're revisiting the S2 resentment Wally felt for Barry. I'm not a fan of revisiting resolved plots like this.

Oh, hey, did Wally just kill Barry for real? I guess that's how he meets Oliver. And no time wasted, Barry's on Ollie's purgatory island to hang out in death.

Hugs for Oliver. Oliver - I'm allergic to emotions. Stop it.

oooh, confirmation. Red Death is from Earth-4125. Oliver has been numbering them, he's been bored. And alone.

Also I'm getting all the Olivarry vibes between these two again, they just can't resist making heart eyes at each other.

Khione's been taking a level in badass. And putting people in cryostasis. I do wish they'd explore non ice aspects of her powers, but I do like the way she uses her powers here - I don't think Frost had that kind of careful control. Though, honestly, they could have had her do it and I'd have accepted it as just her control improving.

Oliver - Look, I could un-dead you accept you're having a liiiitle bit of a death wish. Barry - What? Me? A death wish due to all the trauma and depression I've gone through? No. Not at all. Maybe. A small one. It's just everyone I care about keeps dying, but I randomly get three extra years of life. It's just not fair. Oliver - I should quote Labyrinth here, maybe.

Okay, so I'm glad to hear Oliver finally open up about how he feels about his dad's death. But. What about Laurel's death? What is she, chopped liver???

Actual dialog. "You're not gonna boop me again, are you?"

Oliver - I can only intervene when the multiverse is in danger. Barry - I think you missed me.

Barry, stop flirting with Oliver, your pregnant wife is hiding in the time vault.

Get some of that Arrow theme song in there as Ollie grabs his bow. Does he even have arrows? Does he need them at this point? Can he shoot specter powers at people???

Wally's corrupted lightning is white.

Oh, hey, Ollie found arrows. Somewhere.

Ramsey's god complex having gotten bigger since S6 is kinda amusing though. One world is not enough, he must have them all.

I do think I enjoyed the S6 zombie invasion better, though.

Khione healed Dig of his infection. With, uh... vomiting involved. Eww.

So in Wally's flashbacks, was that a clip from Flashpoint? O_o

Dig showing up to save Oliver. And more hugs for Oliver. Cut short by Ramsey going full CGI monster on them. Still, nice to have that reunion.

Oliver's gonna shoot specter power at the multiverse. After saying his iconic line, which does not make sense in context. But I'll take it.

While Ramsey deserved to have his powers taken away, it's a little too convenient that his HLH is magically cured too. I'm not sure how I like that. It's like giving him what he'd originally wanted.

Party time again I guess.

Glad Iris and Wally get to bond.

Iris - I've read your long-ass emails. Wally - *surprised pikachu face*

I hope Wally's sticking around for the last few episodes of the show.

Dig and Oliver getting a proper goodbye this time. *sniff*

And the episode ends with the tradition of Barry and Oliver drinking together. This time in the only bar left in Central City. (Seriously, it's the only bar this season. And also the only casino.)

Oliver and Barry getting a proper goodbye this time too. *sniff sniff* And a reminder of how much Oliver believed in Barry from the start. Awwww

I think I was expecting Bloodwork to be the final overarching villain of the show, so I am a bit disappointed this was a standalone episode. But overall it wasn't bad for what it is.

The trailer for part one of what is a... three? episode final arc shows the show returning to the start with Barry, Mattobard, and Nora Allen's death. Will the multiverse be relevant here? Will Barry break time one last time for old time's sake? Will Eobard finally be a non-disappointing villain again?

I guess I'll find out whenever I have time to actually watch it. With my home reno finally about to heat up, I dunno when that'll be.

[darknessbleeds]

@legcndaires​

      as soon as he heard about the explosion in central city, ramsey booked a flight to the states. though his mother insisted she was alright, he needed to see that for himself. that, & he had to see caitlin. caitlin was unharmed, but her fiance hadn’t been so lucky. 

      when he arrived in the city, his first stop was his mother’s, of course. he said a quick hello & allowed her to fuss over him for a bit  ( as she always did )  before he headed out to see caitlin. by the time he reached her apartment, it was evening just two days after the explosion. two days after ronnie had died.

      he knocked on the door, & when it opened, he came face to face with his old friend.  “ cait, ”  he said, concern & worry written on his face.  “ i came as soon as i heard. i’m so sorry. ”

[sueboohscorner]

#TheFlash Season 6 Episode 8 "The Last Temptation of Barry Allen Part 2" Recap and Review

Killer Frost, Cisco, and Iris wake up. Cisco puts a forcefield around S.T.A.R. Labs. Nothing gets in or out. Cisco has a plan. He’s been working on a photon emitter that should theoretically cure everyone of their “cure.” It’s made of the same kind of radiation that is used on cancer patients. Iris points out that this hasn’t been tested and could potentially kill Barry if Cisco blasts him with it.

Cecile and Camilla see the infection firsthand from the zombies now roaming the halls, led by our old friend Mitch Romero. Also, the power went out. When and how did that happen? Was it the S.T.A.R. Labs barrier? Did Ramsey do it? How?

Joe is trying to control the chaos by using non-lethal force. It’s not working. Ramsey shows up to gloat. Joe’s about to shoot him, but then Bloodwork Barry brings Ramsey his next victim. While Joe tries to talk to Barry, Killer Frost shows up. Ramsey just wants them dead and unleashes his zombie hoard on them.

Nash hears a voice behind the wall and, in typical and lovely Nash fashion, mocks it relentlessly. Then the power goes out in the sewer and he gets attacked by a zombie.

Cecile is so terrified that she can’t move. Camilla counts this as a good thing. The fear she’s feeling must be coming from the zombies, because she’s sure that there is no one else in the building, so this essentially makes Cecile a zombie detector. How exactly is someone paralyzed with fear going to make it out of the building, much less help?

Barry talks to Iris on the radio. He tells her to meet him where she said yes. Cisco points out that it’s obviously a trap, but Iris goes anyway. If nobody can go in or out, why does the extrapolator work?

Anyway, Iris gets to the loft and Barry’s obviously still Bloodwork Barry. Ramsey starts talking through him, explaining that the are one collective body and other Borgish nonsense. He wants Iris to join him, and when she tries to talk to Barry, he almost Reverse Flashes her. He doesn’t and lets her live.

Iris goes back to S.T.A.R. Labs and talks to Cisco. He wants to use the photon emitter on Ramsey and “Dark Flash.” Iris still has four hours with her husband and she’s not giving up. Cisco yells at her that they were always going to lose him, so he’s going to do this. It might work, but this is the moment that Barry was preparing him for. He says that there is nothing left to save.

Killer Frost is battling zombies. One of them stabs Joe and she manages to knock most of them down. Allegra shows up and brings the last one down.

Cecile and Camilla try to make their way out of the building, and it’s so horror movie. They almost make it, but they get caught and have to start smashing. They make it to the stairwell and now have to make their way out.

Cisco hits Ramsey with the photon emitter. It appears to work until Dark Flash shows up and breaks it. Ramsey almost kills Cisco, but instead decides to tell him his evil plan. He’s going to use Cisco to release his goo upon Central City. He’s going to storm S.T.A.R. Labs and use a particle accelerator explosion to infect everyone. He then quotes Barry in saying “I knew I picked the right guy.”

Killer Frost, Allegra, and Joe make it to S.T.A.R. Labs. Killer Frost tries to hand off the situation to Caitlin, to no avail. Killer Frost has to get over it and freeze the wound.

Nash is fighting a zombie. He finds something that works for a moment, but then it attracts more zombies.

Cisco and Iris talk. Once they’re done blaming themselves, they realize that Barry might still be alive inside Dark Flash. At almost that precise moment, Ramsey and Dark Flash show up. Dark Flash tells them to let the light in and they lower the defenses.

Cisco and Iris interpret this to mean that Allegra is going to blast Ramsey’s goo in the particle accelerator with a UV blast to make everyone normal.

Ramsey is on the intercom gloating. When he gets to the pipeline, he has Dark Flash bring him Iris and Cisco while he puts his goo into the particle accelerator. He tells Dark Flash to kill Iris, which is a dumb move because he can’t do it. Ramsey definitely should have killed Iris and Cisco himself, because having Barry do it is the quickest way to have Barry fight his control, which he does.

Ramsey then brings Barry to him and tells him to stop fighting. This gives Iris enough time to shoot them with something that she somehow has been hiding this whole time. Allegra and Killer Frost get to the pipeline while Barry writhes on the floor. Allegra does her thing and sends out a shockwave of UV radiation that knocks everyone back to normal.

Almost everyone, that is. Ramsey full on mutates into comics Bloodwork and Barry starts punching.  They can’t put Bloodwork in the pipeline, so Cisco suggests the M.A.C. Barry gets so distracted by that that Bloodwork uses his goo to stick Barry to a car. This is when Barry unveils his master plan. He let Bloodwork infect him so that he could show Ramsey visions of his dead mom? I saw the last episode Barry honey, you didn’t let anybody do anything. This also somehow makes Ramsey demutate into his original self. Ramsey is so distracted by talking to his dead mom that Barry is able to Flash him into the M.A.C. Hooray for Deus Ex Machina.

Lyla conveniently took him to A.R.G.U.S. offscreen. All the infected people are going to be alright, except for Ramsey. His condition is permanent, as far as they can tell.

Killer Frost is talking to Caitlin in the infirmary. She wants Caitlin at the forefront for Crisis. That seems slightly counterintuitive to me, since Killer Frost is the one with superpowers, but Caitlin hasn’t really had any screen time to deal with Crisis and Barry’s impending death, so I’m good with it.

They all have one more sappy and sentimental chat in the lounge while they sit around and wait for Crisis. Barry wants to give Joe his watch, but Joe won’t take it just yet. Cecile quotes H.R. that Barry’s superpower is hope. It’s a sentiment that they all echo, especially Caitlin. She says that Barry saved her life. Cisco reminisces about the good old days and Iris is thankful for time travel. Barry makes a speech and then the skies go red.

Nash thinks that the Monitor saved his life when it was really just Allegra. It turns out that the famous and arrogant debunker is stupid and gullible. He presses the buttons on the walls and then a bright light sucks him in. Hello Pariah. Time to watch you suffer.

I’m so glad that’s over and we can just get to Crisis. Plot holes everywhere. 6.5/10

[purpleyin]

Flash 6x04 thoughts

Fun to get a Halloween episode and this one was RAW, so much emotion flying about. Also some fun action. It was a weird mix of comical and angst-ridden but somehow that worked?

As usual, rest behind a cut because it be long.

lol to the previously on doing Cisco airqutoes for “Nash”.

ooh we see Caitlin, if only in the previously on.

Aw, he seems like a nice doctor at the start so my immediate assumption is he's gonna die isn't he :(

Wow Ramsey is sweaty, presumably feverish and I was honestly surprised the other doctor doesn’t notice it and ask him if he’s feeling alright... See ramsey this is why you shouldn’t put random dudes blood in you.

I’m with Cisco on the not just accepting it. But do they know how Barry dies is vaporising by antimatter? I thought the scenes we got implied he died by running too fast as part of some solution or was that not running fast enough to outrun it? It’s all so vague about how Barry saves everyone and I feel like they should be talking specifics, because that’d be how to out think fate.

Very different circumstances/motivations of course but Barry being so very acepting of fate kinda of struck me me as a parallel to Savitar who also didn’t seem to work that hard to escape the crappy fate he had in S3. I know an interview I saw a transcript for somewhere had them mentioning S3 was about how you face death and that this season was about the opposite in some way - maybe how to live post-crisis? 

Really, those lines from Frost in the lounge seems less Frost cadence and more Caitlin here so it’s a bit confusing why they didn’t have Caitlin briefly back to speak those...

It did bug me why is Frost so accepting of Barry sacrificing himself but we get the answer later anyhow. fFeel like Barry leaving the lounge there was a missed opportunity for a Iris/Frost talk and someone to ask Iris how she’s coping with it all.

Joe’s comment about Cisco wanting to save lives but Barry and Cisco go about it differently was interesting. Is the main difference is Cisco wouldn’t give up, he wants to save everybody and maybe that is unrealistic overall and something he needs to work on? But Barry is only so defeatist because he's convinced he’s seen all possibilities - and I’m not convinced he did since they stopped the procedure short due to it overloading his body/brain.

Anyhow, saving lives is the clearly the theme here for the episode. Ramsey wants to too but it’s how it can twist people - Cisco making a choice that was both self-lress for Barry and selfish for wanting to save his friend rather than others and Ramsey’s self-preservation trumping everything else.

Wondering just how fast does HLH progress in this. What I read up on it online did not sound like what they were talking about in the show so I’m not expecting this is medically accurate... I don't quite get why use the centrifuge once he puts the black blood into new blood to create more. I thought centrifuges were to to seperate stuff, no? But I should probably stop expecting medical/scientific accuracy.

Aw to the flashbacks to his mum. I do wish we could have seen her with Caitlin too given the strong bond they are said to have had. The flashbacks feel a touch out of place but I’m guessing this is to humanize him more as he grows more monstorus for a contrast to what he was.

Cisco really isn’t budging is he. Maybe the solution here would be Barry could convince Cisco it’s the only way if Cisco could see all the possibilities too by some method. But I do not think he saw all, only a lot of them (and so didn’t see Oliver’s involvement? or did he see that and Barry dying is the only version where everyone including Oliver survives?).

Barry deciding they’d cure Ramsey did throw me a bit, his focus on how to teach Cisco about saving people is weird (also surely Cisco has saved his share of people as Vibe but the lesson needs to be you can’t save everyone, to pick carefully). Surely that would’ve better been a Cisco and Caitlin thing... I know it diverts quickly into something else that works for their team up but the start of that part felt like yet again they don't use the people that make most sense ala S5 and the cure.

Now I wonder whether Nash will ever use the door normally to enter. Is this gonna be his characters running gag? lol to him bugging cisco. If Cisco’s not wearing the same outfit as he was in 6x03 then where is the bug - like, shoes was a good guess if those are still the same. I'd say it could be on his hair, but surely that'd be brushed/washed out. Maybe his watch or something - or the extra troll-y option that Nash didn’t bug him at all but found out by other means.

With the look on his face at Nash’s turning up, how much patience does Barry have for another Wells? At least they get further and further from Eowells with each Wells iteration they come across but does he maybe always worry what if it could be another Eobard in Wells face, just from another earth? Is it always going to be at least somewhat hard for Barry to trust another Wells? If they do ever do Eobard as Eells from another earth, eep, maybe one of these series...Even weirder if it was not his Eobard but just another Eobard who hates all Barry Allen’s.

Aw to Iris' look when Ralph is so unethused about her dearbon lead.

Argh, why are scifi needles never just normal... eek to Ramsey’s thoughts and the obvious conclusion he's gonna need people to incubate it. Although I did expect his justification was going to be ‘for the greater good’ too. Do love the discordant feel for his theme.

So they’re in a ‘mobile research unit’ van but what did they use those for at S.T.A.R. anyway, sometimes I wanna know what other research they did other than the PA.

ah, McCulloch is gonna have another breakin, oh dear. They’re really using that namedrop as much as possible, aren’t they. I’d be surprised if they don’t make a big deal of them again somehow later in the season...

I was gonna say, how can the serum heal tissues in cases when the body doesn’t know it’s gone wrong but I guess they’re going with if more than 50% of your cells are okay those duplicate?

Oooh to it being Invasion leftovers but McCulloch has sat on that for a while. Trying to reverse engineer it? I’m sort of surprised Barry and Cisco didn’t try to too because more of that could be good to have, although meta reason is it’s too OP of course (and let’s just ignore that no matter how aweseome that serum is healing from anti-matter cancelling you out sounds like bull, but...). 

Oh yay for meta dampener plot point. They’re not overrelying on Barry’s powers this season to be the answer to everything and I really enjoy that, as well as the implication business’ are trying to stop meta crime with those things. lol to their asses getting caught. Did Nash do that just to impress them with saving them, hmm.

I did find Cisco and his plotting fun to watch but a) Cisco no no bad plan and b) if that serum needs -15 then how do thry plan to transport it? lol to Barry just following Nash. Ooh to the explaining his disappearing act last ep with the smoke ball transporters. Kinda comedic for Grant with somestuff this season and I enjoy a bit of that - the faceplant into the floor post-transport especially. XD

Aw to Ralph eating his feelings. Argh to sad Ralph being mean Ralph when Iris is only trying to help him! His comment did make me wonder if Iris has been avoiding Barry or Barry avoiding her, with his dealing with Frost and Cisco and team prep? Do like seeing Iris and Ralph scenes as I like their dynamic we but hoping we get Iris in scenes with others more too.

An important question is, who decorated the louge for hallowen... Maybe Frost if she’s never got to before? I know Cisco did Christmas decorations back in S4 but he does seem a bit preoccupied. I might headcanon Frost tried to distract Cisco with the task.

I swear there was a minute I thought Nash said ‘Bareon’ instead of Barry Allen, because it was said so fast and I thought he’d made up a nickname for him.

And Cisco joins the bad liars club along with Barry and Caitlin... Oh Cisco you could've put a sticker on the thermostat reading, way to make it obvious - did he want it found? He didn’t even put it somewher Barry wouldn’t be likely to see see. I suppose at least Barry got better at telling he was being lied to? He hasn’t always been good at that.

Wow to Cisco determination about not letting Barry at the serum, especially for someone without powers. But ow ow ow with the conflict of Cisco not wanting to let him sacrifice himself and Barry holding onto his friends living as the reason to do that. All the emotions!

So Barry says he's been dealing with it for weeks, but how does that add up with only telling the team last ep. Was there some time before they told them the first part about Crisis bumped up or was there more of two weeks between 6x03 and 6x04...

Oh gods, so much more ow to Barry's ’Maybe I made the wrong choice. They bringing all the Barry & Cisco feels *cries* 

Ooh to the lightning flashes on Barry’s face when he’s in Ramsey’s lab. I was fully expecting Ramsey would take it and it would be too late and just make the bloodwork cells duplicate but it was interesting they went with it didn’t work, after hyping the serum up...

Also shouldn’t Barry have mentioned the -15 storage requirement? It appears to only need -15C when it’s plot convenient... Ahhh that shot of Barry before he leaves the lab, happy to have been able to give it to Ramsey, is such classic noble Barry.

Ooh to a Joe and Ralph scene. So... another timeline pondering - when he says last summer, does he mean summer 2019 or last year’s summer in 2018 (I think the latter?) which would’ve been somewhere in s5... Oh more ow about Barry news being relating to the giving up on the Dearbon case.

Very nice they got a Chyre mention nod to s1, they’re doing good on past season mentions/callbacks this season. Such feels to Joe not saying anything to Ralph’s “I’m gonna miss him�� like he can only nod.

Not sure what to make of Nash calling Cisco kid. Is it just to rile Cisco up? Wondering did he know another version of Cisco elsewhere so that’s why he so quickly gets under his skin?

Yay for Frost using the bartending skills.

Her line about you can’t save someone who doesn’t want saving re: Barry fate, not to mention the “the obsess over it leading down a dark path and a mistake you can’t fix” follow up made me think of her team-up with Savitar in S3. Wondering whether Frost wanted to be able to save him (he was the first person to accept her for her after all), for them to escape the timeloop fate and whether she was regretting what she did with getting sucked into that scheming of his.

I may have face!palmed at Ramsey and his epiphany about epinephrine. The whole you must be afraid is so frequently the key, to power usage anyhow, so this being the case is predictable. I just don’t know why he skipped to I must scared and kill people - why not add ephinprine to the blood? It’s a big jump from that to conclusion about the chemical requirements to the have to kill people while they are super afraid. Ramsey, chill, try adding some to the blood samples or something first. Or I dunno taking blood samples from scared people without killing them? There were options and he skipped to the most gruesome and extreme choice. I think I’m gonna have to assume for a smart guy he was a) too desperate to think straight and b) possibly feverish again like they showed earlier in the ep and so not thinking clearly due to being ill.

So they’re tapped into every alert citywide but I’m curious how. Do they hack every system? Or they could just make the security systems to sell  (or buy up a company that does) and add a backdoor if the labs has decent income these days, but I suppose that might backfire if anyone figured it out.

We get another Frost speeded in shot! I am finding it fun for them fighting together this season. Like seeing her using Caitlin’s medical knowledge too. The blast to get out of choke was fun, as was the, ice knuckles and there’s a nifty shot that shows off the shine in her costume. They’re really making efforts to use powers better and in varied ways (and not making people too OP/without weaknesses despite that) and I adore seeing that.

Again with Barry whump, they do like that this season too - almost always with the him thrown into something. And he gets to plead with someone again - so much Barry pleading with people lately.

lol to ‘the bad guy was taken line’ from Frost. Her character growth has been cool to see.

The Ramsey ramblings were strange, he does seem twisted from the flashbacks. I was expecting he’d justify it as wanting to find the cure for others but it is just straight up selfishness he admits, with a little meglomaniac philosophising. Also some irony to talk about finding immortality with two metas who do have healing powers that might slow their aging, although it’s other circumstances for Barry won’t live as long as he could.

That anger for the poor doctor he held hostage felt like it came out of nowhere but must’ve just been well hidden earlier in the ep, he did have other priorities after all.

Ew to the dissolving into black bloody goo for the zombies. Made me think of Stranger Things grossness from S3.

Only 5 killed actually seemed quite a low total given the chaos at the hospital. It being night time and oncology department they were, did Ramsey pick likely terminal patients? So that he could feel least guilt about killing...

The composition of that shot when Barry is talking to the team about Ramsey had a sort of last supper vibe. Also, Barry’s eyes do look red kinda like he’s been crying maybe in between the hospital and there. :( Headcanon time - Barry crying at the futility of having given Ramsey the cure to no avail. His giving up his chance to survive Cisco suggested and it coming to nothing and more people dying instead - the failure of it all getting to him. But if that happened at the hospital, I wouldn’t bet on Frost being good at comforting Barry. Though maybe she would try, figuring she'll have to get good at that too sometime and Caitlin could talk her through learning to be there for people like that?

I find it weird we get Frost turn up in the hallway to ask Iris if Ralph is okay. Don’t get me wrong, I like Frost’s concern for Ralph and their brotp but when are we gonna get a Frost and Iris scene? One just about them! And when is someone gonna ask Iris how she is with everything. It’s like Iris is just expected to be strong, while everyone else falls apart and she’s supporting them but not the same in return and it bugs me.

Ended up glad that Ramsey being bloodwork going so wrong wasn’t due to taking the serum. That'd be extra argh if Barry's choice made it worse.

Eee to Cisco and Barry making up (yay we don’t have a repeat of S3 multi ep falling out). The thing about Cisco finding it hard to pick himself up, was that why he stopped being an (obvious and in the field) hero himself with Vibe? It feels like that could relate to his mental health and heroing getting to be too much to cope with.

They're really making use of that lounge and balcony this last season or two. I like it and it makes a change from the Cortex but I sort of am starting to want more variety now, like more at Barry’s lab or Jitters...

Finally we get the Joe feels on everything. They made Barry cry again, is it gonna be every ep in the lead up...Single tears from him are big this season. Also Barry’s clothes are very S1 feel here too, I feel like they might’ve done that to up the Joe & Barry feels compared to them having more talks like this back then. It does remind me that one of the reasons I got so attached to The Flash in S1 was that I loved they had a show where a male character got to have all kinds of emotions like this, to cry if it was needed. 

So, the projection that Nash watched - did he see the Monitor moving down that corridor through the wall or was it just someone in similar outfit, could it have been Pariah?

Overall like the ep but there were some odd jump to conclusions from characters & plot choices that could have been done to better as they ended up clunky. I think emotionally, it did bother me how preachy Barry got to Cisco. Cisco hasn’t been The Flash but he has been Vibe, and with Barry from the start, so he does know heroing, he’s been there after all. That might not be the same as being the leader like Barry wanted to prepare him for, but I’m not sure Barry went about teaching Cisco what he wanted very well. It was a very obtuse way to go about it.

The contrast with the Frost ep is interesting, because Barry struggled with her at first but figured out how to get through to her after a while (with the Ramsey parallel at least). He didn’t seem to manage that with Cisco here in the same way, it’s only at the very end they realise what’s important. It makes me feel like Barry doesn’t understand Cisco anywhere near as well as Caitlin, or even Frost he could figure out. But maybe that fits narratively seeing as we haven’t had a lot of Barry & Cisco interaction last season and Barry was also irking Cisco in 6x01 with his behavour, pushing too hard and not realising. Makes me want to see/read fic for those two reconnecting better before Crisis.

[afaims100arrowversefavs]

250 Favorite Arrowverse-Episodes Part 1: 250-226

Picked from Arrow, Supergirl, Black Lighting, The Flash E1.1-8.5, Legends of Tomorrow E1.1-7.7, Batwoman S1 and Superman & Lois S1. Shows and Seasons that are not in here were either never seen by me or are not considered part of the Arrowverse but rather the DC-TV-Multiverse.

 250.The Book of Resurrection: Chapter Two: Closure (Black Lightning 4x13)

58, Written by: Charles D. Holland, Directed by: Salim Akil

 The Series Finale.

 249. Thanksgiving (Arrow 6x7)

122, Written by: Wendy Mercile, Speed Weed, Directed by: Gordon Verheul

 Team Arrow gets a miracle recovery for Thanksgiving, while Cayden James is wreaking havok.

 248.The Fungus Amongus (Legends of Tomorrow 6x15)

97, Written by: Keto Shimizu, James Eagan, Directed by: David Geddes

 Season 6 Finale with Mushroom Trips.

 247.The Flash Reborn (The Flash 4x1)

70, Written by: Todd Helbing, Eric Wallace, Andrew Kreisberg, Directed by: Glen Winter

 Season 4 Opening with a very confused Barry, a Samurai Robot and Wally in the Flash Suit.

 246. Wake Up (Supergirl 3x7)

49, Written by: Gabriel Llanas, Anna Musky-Goldwyn, Directed by: Chad Lowe

 Mon-El returns to the Present in this one.

 245. The Candidate (Arrow 4x2)

71, Written by: Marc Guggenheim, Keto Shimizu, Directed by: John Behring

 An old friend of Oliver enters local politics and is almost murderd by Anarky while we meet Curtis.

 244. A Narrow Escape (Batwoman 1x17)

17, Written by: Daphne Mills, Directed by: Paul Wesley

 In which everyone deals with trauma and Mary tells Kate she knows she is Batwoman.

 243.Stressed Western (Legends of Tomorrow 6x8)

90, Written by: Matthew Maala, Directed by: David Ramsey

 A singing Cowboy Narrator, a Dancing Contest and the Wild West with a familiar Face.

 242. Mine is a long and sad tale (Batwoman 1x5)

5, Written by: Jerry Shandy, Ebony Gilbert, Directed by: Carl Seaton

 What Alice is all about.

 241. Sara (Arrow 3x2)

48, Written by: Jake Coburn, Keto Shimizu, Directed by: Wendey Stanzler

 In which Sara is dead.

 240. Blocked (The Flash 5x2)

94, Written by: Eric Wallace, Judalina Neira, Directed by: C. Kim Miles

 In which Nora has a lot to learn and Cicada becomes a real threat.

 239. Loyal Subjekts (Superman & Lois 1x9)

9, Written by: Andrew N. Wong. Directed by: Eric Dean Seaton

 In which the truth comes to light.

 238. How does she do it? (Supergirl 1x5)

5, Written by: Yahlin Chang, Ted Sullivan, Directed by: Thor Freudenthal

 Maxwell Lord tests Supergirl.

 237.Swan Thong (Legends of Tomorrow 5x14)

82, Written by: Keto Shimizu, Morgan Faust, Directed by: Kevin Mock

 The Season 5 Finale in a world ruled by the Fates.

 236. Killer Frost (The Flash 3x7)

53, Written by: Judalina Neira, Andrew Kreisberg, Brooke Roberts, Directed by: Kevin Smith

 Caitlin breaks bad in this one.

 235.The Curse of the Earth Totem (Legends of Tomorrow 3x12)

45, Written by: Grainne Godfree, Ubah Mohamed, Directed by: Chris Tammaro

 Captain Jiwe sets sail, while Sara is on a date.

 234. We Hot American Bummer (Legends of Tomorrow 4x4)

55, Written by: Ray Utarnachitt, Tyron B. Carter, Directed by: David A. Geddes

 Summer Camp with Sara, Ava, Ray and John. And a Monster.

 233.The Sin-Eater (Arrow 5x14)

106, Written by: Barbara Bloom, Jenny Lynn, Directed by: Mary Lambert

 In which China White, Liza Warner und Cupid team up.

 232.The Eggplant, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Legends of Tomorrow 4x12)

63, Written by: Morgan Faust, Daphne Miles, Directed by: Mairzee Almas

 In which Sara and Ave go shopping while the Legends make a move on Neron.

 231.City of Lost Children (Supergirl 2x20)

40, Written by: Robert Rovner, Gabriel Llanas, Anna Musky-Goldwn, Directed by: Ben Bray

 In which Guardian has to step up while Rhea makes her move.

 230.Time of Death (Arrow 2x14)

37, Written by: Wendy Mericle, Beth Schwartz, Directed by: Nick Copus

 In which Team Arrow fights the Clock King.

 229. Plastique (The Flash 1x5)

5, Written by: Aaron and Todd Helbing, Brooke Elmeier, Directed by: Dermott Downs

 In which Barry bonds with a Meta Soldier who has an unfortunate gift.

 228. Dark Waters (Arrow 4x9)

78, Written by: Wendy Mericle, Ben Sokolowski, Directed by: John Behring

 In which Darhk retaliate against Oliver.

 227. All’s Wells that End Wells (The Flash 7x1)

134, Written by: Sam Chalsen, Lauren Certo, Directed by: Alexandra LaRoche

 One last time with all the Wellses in this one.

 226. Monster (The Flash 3x5)

51, Written by: Zack Stentz, Directed by: C. Kim Miles

 Caitlin meets her with her mom and Barry und Julian hunt a holographic monster.

[workingonmoviemaps]

The Flash #601 “Into the Void”

Iris and Barry continue to struggle with their loss as a series of blackholes open up around the city.

Barry captures another counterfeit Godspeed in the intersection of West Hastings & Nicola Streets.

Caitlin attends her friend Ramsey’s mother’s funeral at Mountain View Cemetery and almost frosts out.

Joe, Ralph, and Frost work to save civilians when another, larger blackhole opens up over West Hastings Street between Broughton & Jervis.

I still need to identify the backyard of the West house and the junkyard.

[saebrfan]

The CW has released an official description for the May 15 episode of The Flash which guest stars Arrow’s David Ramsey!

The episode is called “Think Fast” and here’s the write-up:

DAVID RAMSEY GUEST STARS — When DeVoe assaults an A.R.G.U.S. facility to complete his Enlightenment Machine, Barry (Grant Gustin) realizes the only way he can stop him is if he allows Cisco (Carlos Valdes) and Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) to accompany him into the facility. Still shaken by Ralph’s death, Barry isn’t sure he wants to risk any more of his friends’ lives and considers taking on DeVoe solo. Viet Nguyen directed the episode written by Sam Chalsen & Kristen Kim (#422). Original airdate 5/15/2018.