#but he did at least agree with me that iris is a poorly written character

[lanatusnebula]

Megaman Ships

Don't read this if you're expecting me to mention Classic or Starforce at all.

My ships... I have art stashed but it's really weird. The environment of the internet has shifted drastically over the years, and I think some people take things too seriously. But... I ship things. I'm not trying to make a big deal about it, just want to gush about the stuff I like. :) (and don't like)

The X series

I really love the X series to bits! I actually don't ship any of the characters here. I think they're all precious in their own way, though. X and Zero, as a kid, I never really shipped.

But I guess things change over time.

Some people make some wondrous content showing how close the two could actually be. It's endearing...

I don't like Iris's writing or how some people insist she's The One To Ship With Zero. Even if it's suggested like... in minute ways, I just... dunno. It feels like the devs wanted people to ship X and Zero but it was too GAY so they made a female X and said "have at it." Which... is so weird? Everything Zero could've liked about Iris, we see X exhibit those exact traits, AND MORE. It could be the "Zero just might be a heterosexual so he isn't into X", but I mean, if Dmmd taught me anything, it's that seeking out female versions of the guy you're totally not into doesn't work out.

Alia is a cool character! Reducing her to simply X's flat and 2D love interest was... depressing. I loved how she had a kill streak in x6! It made her super interesting. Idk what happened in... was it x8? Like, get that game away from me.

Axl is a cutie pie but he's more husbando material than he is shipping material for me. He just wants to sit at the cool kid's table and managed to nab a seat...

I dunno.

Layer is hot tho ha

aha

haha

-

The Zero series

I lost my fucking mind with this series. I went from "I don't ship robots in this cool game" to just mix and matching everyone in every which-way.

Some weirdo freaks got me into shipping Omega Zero with Copy X. Do not ask how that is logical or what could possibly be their dynamic. I just like the aesthetic. It makes no sense. They didn't coexist in the same room. Ever.

Ciel x Fefnir is like my guilty ship. Most of my AUs seem to naturally form some sort of organic bond between them subconsciously. Fefnir, though a hot head, seems like the kind of guy who's a good sport. I like the idea of little ol' Ciel crushing on the football player lookin guy, and he thinks that she's adorable in her own right. You know - X's whole inherent love of humans or whatever I probably made up. That's my justification.

I obviously ship Harpuia and Zero.

Where some people find cyberelf X and Zero to be top shelf, I raise the offer "yes but he can actually touch Harpuia without absorbing him like every other cyberelf". (I will admit I love shipping Cyberelf X with Zero in that very strange maternal-esque "I will embrace your corpse so that you may rest forever" edgelord shit. I snort it daily don't worry.)

Harpuia rescuing Zero for no Fucking Reason in z2 fucked me up. Why'd you do that? What'd you do that for? You picked him up and rode on your shitty little bird to drop him off at the correct address, so you even knew where Ciel and friends were staying? Right after Zero off'd your beloved X? Yeah? You did that why? (I know it's probably related to that whole chapter where Harpuia is nearly a better ruler than Copy X and just makes all the right choices in contrast to his previous ruler blah blah blah) But what if it's because he has programmed into him the same unbreakable love for Zero (platonically) that X had? We know that the guardians get some sort of weird high when fighting Zero so... why not further fuck up that interpretation of X and Zero's relationship?

I really like portraying Harpuia as being the only one who didn't completely cave in and go bonkers from battling Zero. He just sort of kept it inside. Poorly. And it comes out in small amounts via weird actions. Leviathan I portray mostly as a kid with a magnifying glass over some ants, Fefnir as the kinda guy to just be an adrenaline junkie, and Phantom thought it was a flaw in his programming so he blew up.

Cyberelf X and Copy X is GOOD SHIT MM THAT'S SOME GOOD SHIT 👌👀👌👀👌👀👌👀👌👀 good shit go౦ԁ sHit👌 thats ✔ some good👌👌shit right👌👌there👌👌👌 right✔there ✔✔if i do ƽaү so my self 💯 i say so 💯 thats what im talking about right there right there (chorus: ʳᶦᵍʰᵗ ᵗʰᵉʳᵉ) mMMMMᎷМ💯 👌👌 👌НO0ОଠOOOOOОଠଠOoooᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒᵒ👌 👌👌 👌 💯 👌 👀 👀 👀 👌👌Good shit

My only justification of it is either Cyberelf X hates his guts or is Copy X's only friend. And Copy X's emotions are already fucked up like every other inch of his programming.

Ciel and Copy X though I ship them in a familial sense. He's obsessed with protecting her and Ciel is like "I made him! :)" I've got some pics lying around (they're gone) of Ciel reading ancient books to Copy X while he lays in her bed at night. She says it's to help him sleep, but since that isn't How Reploids Work, he's really there to pretend to fall asleep when he notices Ciel is about to. Then when she passes out he stares at her all night, stroking her hair. Like a freak. But please, it's not romantic; I do not want it to be at all. I just want him to be weird.

-

ZX series.

Get your tomatoes ready. I'm finna make an ass outta myself. ;(

OG Prometheus and Aile is a new ship. I can't... explain this one? I don't know.

The AU I'm writing has Grey retreive the original body plans for Prometheus and Pandora from the lab he was made in, near end game before Prometheus and Pandora bite the bucket. Presuming that Flueve and friends aboard the Guardian can make bodies themselves (fuck you I don't think Ciel was making new bodies for everyone solo), Grey asks Aile if they can give Pandora and Prometheus a second chance, since they're likely controlled by Model W. She says "what are you smoking". I just like Grey to be selfless in the dumbest ways imaginable.

Pandora and Prometheus dies. I think it is stupid that they get left behind, so I imagine that he used model F megaman form thing to drag them out (like how Aile should've done herself in the first game) flops their corpses at Aile's doorstep and is like "I got the EC to pay for this." And shenanigans happen. They rebuild their old bodies, do some wacky techno shit with their DNA and put it in the new bodies akin to how reploids age in canon (assumption). Prometheus and Pandora wake up as normal ass people.

But they're also lowkey enlsaved by the Guardians because like uhh um uhh ummm "you owe us. but forever" and they're ok with this and something about duplicating model w don't ask It's fucking stupid I'm insecure about it but they can megamerge into their old forms but aren't allowed to go ape shit and prometheus and aile become sorta close in that antagonizing way because she has to watch him closely while pandora hangs out with grey like a little brother and it's all warm and fuzzy and they have no problems (i stole the idea from the stupid japanese site's weird little roleplay things) that's her little buddy you know and don't worry about it i just ship aile and prometheus

My Girouette ships are off limits. I'd be sentenced to death.

I ship Siarnaq and Grey because my AI roleplay partner shoved it onto me with rose prose and I was like "... you know what? this will work". My ship count is being dominated by the sheer number of AUs and oneshots I've written about those two. Ask and I will divulge

some

of them. But otherwise I'm mmgngngjghgngmgnggnmgngm Really Grey being an unaging kid complicates things. I'm pretty sure he doesn't have a life span, and I do not subscribe to the "reploids naturally grow" head canon because it's pretty stupid to think technology got that far when it was stated in-game that it isn't. that's like Legends shit.

I ship Thetis one-sided with Aile because it's Extremely Funny. No other reason.

-

Legends series

I don't really ship anything I just think everyone is precious and adorable. I Guess I like the dynamic between Tronn Bonne and Volnuttsack. It's neat. I don't think about it beyond seeing it on the screen though.

-

Exe Series

Uh. Hm.

I just really like Megaman.exe himself. I don't ship anyone consciously...???? I think I just admire them all from afa-

No

I ship Zero.exe with Zero.

I ship it really bad.

[cheryls-blossomed]

I laugh when I see these antis cont to bring up PS like they had this amazing ship. Barry was an aweful bf to her. Barry has never been a good bf to anyone but Iris. He dragged his feet the entire time. Even with Iris telling him if he’s serious about her he needed to be honest with her, he held back. That scene at her apartment was the perfect opportunity to come clean & explain everything but he didn’t, he just allowed he to be upset & think the worst. That & him not allowing her to touch him, pulling into himself when she was upset at his lab. We know how tactile Barry is with Iris so for him to do instinctively is significant

OMG, it’s funny that you should mention this because an interview just randomly came out at TVLINE of Shantel talking about how AJK cut her time short on the show and how she was apparently supposed to be on the show, at least in a recurring capacity, for the entire second season or something. I don’t doubt AJK pulled some asshole move, when he found out she had another job (and lbr, he clearly just wanted a female character who would be a Barry Allen fangirl before even meeting him, and that was the space she occupied which is partly why she was so poorly written and also why Barry just honestly treated her poorly for the duration of their relationship), but it’s always weird to me how she talks about the show the moment her current gig ends (I don’t watch The Boys, but I heard her character was killed off in the most recent season).

Also, AJK probably did the same thing to Tone Bell. Interviewers are always asking Shantel about why her stint on the show was “cut short,” but how come nobody ever asked this of Tone, such as when he did press for that comedy show he was on with Nina Dobrev, when it was even clearer in his case that his role as Scott was abruptly cut? 

Anyways, I completely agree with everything that you said here. The whole Patty and Barry relationship was really badly written, and Barry was constantly holding back with her, largely because he really wasn’t willing to jump all in with her ever. 

[the-sapphire-general]

Final Fantasy 15 DLC Thoughts

It's been ages since I wrote anything related to FF15! This is for @electronerd47 who asked about my thoughts on Episode Ardyn. Though the others will be mentioned as well now that I collected my thoughts and cooled off after hearing the bad news.

As upset as I am for the other DLC getting cancelled, I'm excited for Episode Ardyn! After watching the trailer, some of the things have changed on my wishlist. Or to put it in other words, they may not happen. The flashbacks will be a thing, but I don't know how much of Ardyn's past they will show aside from the critical events we saw. The events of the game haven't taken place yet (30 years before all of that even happens!), so I might as well kiss experiencing all of FF15 from Ardyn's perspective goodbye. I really want everything else on my list to be in the DLC, but I know a few probably won't make it. An alternate ending is mandatory however! Lol Please I don't want to witness Ardyn's death again. Have mercy, SE. Aside from everything on my wishlist, I'm getting more than I bargained for after seeing the trailer. I don't know where to start, the fact that the chains go into Ardyn's body or the glimpse of the gameplay of Ardyn actually killing people (well duh, they can't be Magitek troops). I'll just summarize it like this: I wished for a chance to play as Ardyn and get into a villainous mindset. Be careful what you wish for. Lol But really, I can't wait to play Episode Ardyn!! I also hope that it will be a long one, but if not, it's fine. 

Now for the other DLC, I really wish Episode Luna wasn't canceled. After my Luna post where I defended her (click here), I wanted her to get her own episode to show that she's active and that she doesn't do everything ONLY for Noctis. And both cases are true! At least to me and many others. I mean come on. Also I dont remember where I read this, but there's even a claim where someone said she's a rebellious princess for wanting to be with Noctis and abandoning her duties as Oracle to fulfill her destiny. Uhhhhhh...What???? If she wanted to rebel, she would have abandoned everything from the get-go and go to Noctis!! But no. She accepted her role because she never wanted to run away from it. Sure it made things complicated, but she remained selfless and compassionate towards others. She continued with what she needed to do because she cared about the people and the world. Not every princess needs to be rebellious. Why can't we have princesses like Luna?? Also yes she died thanks to Ardyn, but knowing him, he planned it, so it's not like it was just thrown in here. If you look closely and ignore that she doesn't have much screen time, she's not a bad or poorly-written character. I liked the romance between her and Noctis too. Of course these are just my opinions! You don't have to agree with me. Is FF15 perfect?? In some parts, no. The solution?? Read or write fanfiction. Not just for Luna but for anything of FF15. Lol If we're not getting any more content after Episode Ardyn, we might as well be creative to fill in the holes and explore the FF15 universe.

I'm such a Luna fan. And an Aranea fan. Did I mention that I have a crush on her?? It sucks that she won't get her own episode either. I even made a wishlist for her episode, but I don't see the point in posting it now. As for Episode Noctis, I don't really care that it got cancelled as well. Don't get me wrong, I would have enjoyed it regardless, but I never had a wishlist for it. So that DLC doesn't affect me as much as the other two. I'm still pissed that there were never any plans for an Episode Ravus or Iris, but even if there were, they would have been cancelled too.

And that's all my thoughts about the FF15 DLC, three of them that won't see the light of day. 

[xswestallen]

Just my thoughts on the show I wanted to share with you, I feel like it's not as good anymore. S1 was a masterpiece. Every character got their moments to shine and develop. They balanced the villain of the week with the Wells ReverseFlash plot. S2 was good but not as good as S1. Then S3 was a big decline in quality. It didn't feel like the same show anymore. Same can be said for S4, it was even worse than S3. Is it just me? I binged S1 & S2 online so Idk if that has romanticized my opinion of

them. I just feel like these last two seasons don't live up to the standard the first two seasons set. I hope they bring back what makes the show great in S5. I want more character development and meaningful stuff, less immature joking.

I agree and from what I’ve see, most of the fandom agrees as well. Seasons 1 and 2 are loved by the entire fandom. You didn’t romanticize them because you binged them, the people who watched it live feel this way too. Most people seem to love season 1 the most, but I personally like season 2 best, with season 1 being a very close 2nd. 

Season 3 wasn’t nearly as good as the first two. It was poorly paced and Savitar’s plan/backstory was never fully explained. But, season 3 was still good. It had all the elements that people love about The Flash, they just weren’t put together as well. Season 3 brought the action and left an emotional impact. I think Barry, Iris, Wally, Caitlin/Killer Frost, Julian, and Cisco were well developed throughout the season’s storyline. 

It seems season 4 is universally everyone’s least favorite season of the show. It had all the pacing problems of season 3, but without any of the character development or emotion. There were some great episodes in season 4 and some truly phenomenal scenes that stand out, but overall, the season wasn’t as high quality as the previous 3. I think the problems were Ralph and Caitlin/Killer Frost. 

It really felt like the writers wanted to make Ralph the main character, but at the same time, were too lazy to think up any storyline for him besides feelings insecure, getting a pep talk, rejoining the team. Pretty much every Ralph scene after 4x11 was hard for me to sit through. He was great in 4x11, well written and well developed. But, in 4x12, all that was forgotten. The writers constantly erased any character development Ralph made so that he could go through the same internal struggle 10 times. It was so boring. 

Not to mention, the sexual predatory behaviors Ralph was introduced with in 4x04 and 4x05. Now, they stopped writing such grossly misogynistic lines for Ralph after a few episodes, which I assume coincided with the firing of sexual predator Andrew Kresiberg, who probably thought such lines would be funny, but the damage was already done and Ralph made a bad first impression with a lot of fans. I want to like Ralph, because I really like Hartley Sawyer as an actor, but his writing was just horrendous. I hope season 5 is an improvement for him.

I am a huge fan of Caitlin/Killer Frost. I was really excited to see where he story went in season 4 because season 3 was such a rollercoaster. I know a lot of people didn’t like the split personality thing, but I did since it meant we got to enjoy both Caitlin Snow and Killer Frost. But, it soon became evident that the writers had no idea how to write for her after season 3. They went with out of character action for Caitlin in 3x23 so that her fate would be a cliffhanger, and never bothered thinking up what came next. 

The Amunet backstory made no sense. There was no reason for Caitlin to want a cure from Amunet when she didn’t want the cure Julian made. Then, after Amunet’s cure didn’t work, there was no reason for Caitlin/Frost to continue working for Amunet! Based on everything we learned about Caitlin Snow in seasons 1-3, I just cannot believe that she would shrug and keep working for a human trafficker when there was absolutely nothing stopping her from leaving. 

Now, they are changing everything we know about how Caitlin’s powers and Killer Frost work, and going for a dissociative identity disorder storyline. I’m ok with that, I just hate that we got an entire season of filler and have to wait for season 5 to actually see Caitlin’s backstory. I think that should have been her arc for season 4. Killer Frost was also majorly sidelined in all the action scenes. The once badass character who could hold her own against Barry was easily taken out by the simplest villains of the week. The only time we really got to see her fight was in the crossover.

I also agree that season 4 had very little character development and no emotional impact. Devoe didn’t really seem like much of a threat. Thawne killed Barry’s mother, Zoom terrorized two Earths before killing Barry’s father, Saviatr was going to kill Iris, and Devoe......... put Barry in prison for like 2 weeks for reasons that were never even explained???????? The fight against Devoe didn’t feel personal enough.

[chsesteinarchived]

Spinner Mason, Liz Parker & Iris West

Spinner Mason 

favorite thing about them: the fact he is a sweet guy who’s made some bad choices. he was a punk kid who grew into a wonderful man. it wasn’t over night, he worked to become a better man. he worked everyday to find his way, and honestly i think that’s why jimmy, marco and everyone forgave him. 

least favorite thing about them: idk… like i said he made his mistakes but he learned 

favorite line: let me ask you something, got both parents? my dad died on me. you have ball cancer? well i did. and if i can get through all that, you can get through this 

random headcanon: he calls up jimmy and laughs a bout that rapper drake and how alike they look like 

unpopular opinion: jane was his worst relationship. i hated her 

song i associate with them: Chumbawamba ( i get knocked down) by Tubthumping 

Liz Parker 

favorite thing about them: her determination. especially in season 2 when she was determined to find alex’s killer

least favorite thing about them: that determination sometimes can make her short sided 

favorite line: i know what i know and i am gonna find out the truth 

random headcanon: being played by a jewish actress, i head cannon she celebrates all the jewish holidays. 

unpopular opinion: idk i love her and max, but she didn’t need him to make her a great characteer shiri is amazing all on her own 

song i associate with them: ember by kat macnamara. 

Iris West 

favorite thing about them: e v e r y t h i n g? she’s beyond amazing. so beautiful, so kind, so smart, so bad ass, so wonderful. she’s the definition of strong brave, smart, women and i stan her so hard. 

least favorite thing about them: she wasn’t given enough til this season.

favorite line: a girls gotta be her own hero every now and again

random headcanon: when she gets pregnant, its around xmas, and she’s so excited because barry always over does it for gifts and she always wanted to shock him. he of course is giddy and beyond happy 

unpopular opinion: idk… i know there are some people think she’s poorly written, and i agree at points but only because she isn’t given enough

song i associate with them: fight song by rachel patton 

character meme

[onyx-archer]

The Flash Episode 20 Post-Episode Ramble

Alright, so this is kind of an impromptu post that will likely piss off SOME people (you know who you are) given how I’m going to tag this, and just be warned I’m not putting up with your bullshit tonight. I’m gonna be going into spoilers for this episode, given how it finally reveals the true identity of the big bad, and I want to talk about how I feel about it, and the show going forward. I’ll do it below the cut so them pesky WestAllen fans can fuck off for me talking about shit that they can willfully ignore because it’s not visible.

OH, and to the WestAllens who actually go to read the post and then proceed to act like you’re superior, this time you don’t actually have to see me calling Iris a badly written character... outside of this sentence of course. Oh, and yeah, that was me kicking at you with the intent to bother you. Just know if you decide to talk down to me like you know better that you will be blocked at the absolute worst. Keep it civil and mature, or don’t bother. I’m tagging it this way because I’m talking about the ship a little below the cut... though I’m being civil about it. It plays into my talking of the episode, so bite me, tags aren’t just to gush about ships and whatever.

Anyway, onto the bulk of the post:

So a number of things were done in this episode. Let’s talk about them.

First off, we meet the newest character of the show, Tracy Brand. By the sounds of her significance in defeating Savitar, she’ll probably stick around from here on out... adding to the roster of characters for next season. Assuming Caitlin is reformed (which I hope to the gods she is after this shitty “turn to the dark side” arc of hers) that’ll make the major cast will be at least 9 characters... which is a bit bloated.

It raises concern from me since part of the reason why Arrow fell into a pit of mediocrity was it’s cast became too large to support it’s writing properly. Not saying The Flash will suffer in the same way, but given how this season has been written, I think my concern is justified. We’ll have to wait and see either way. After all, we have 3 more episodes for stuff to happen to change this. And for all I know, Tracy will only be a recurring character after this Season. Again, time will tell.

Next we have the little Joe romance subplot. Given that I honestly can’t be fucked to remember her name right now (even with her major role as a plot device for the climax of the episode), I think it’s apparent that I don’t really find it interesting, though my mom (my grandmother, long story, not gonna bother with it here) thinks it cute (and according to her, better than the WestAllen stuff this season, which I can agree with), so I figured I could find something to say about it. It’s not that it’s a bad subplot for the season or anything; honestly, Joe deserves a lady like her in his life after all of the stuff he went through last season with his ex-wife.

My problem here is that after this episode, I only see her as a potential liability for Joe (which he himself knows is the case, hence why he tried to cut the ties prior to the climax), and by proxy, Barry and Wally (and potentially Cisco, assuming he embraces his Vibe identity more next season). Joe trying to cut the relationship off to “protect her” is honestly incredibly stupid in my mind, since he knows that Savitar could go after her, let alone Caitlin (we’ll get to that) if he distances himself from her, since the villain always aims for a potential weak spot to gain the high ground in a confrontation. Sadly, Joe was hit with a momentary dose of stupidity, and it nearly got her killed. It’s a tired trope, and it’s something I could do without, given all it does is reinforce the use of a “damsel-in-distress” type scenario, which is lazy writing.

Next, I’m briefly going to touch on the absence of Wally for most of this episode. I’m sure there might have been off camera reasons for it (life happens, and sometimes things need to be changed to fit that), but when my mom and I are asking each other “Where’s Wally?” and we don’t remember being told he was visiting Jesse on Earth-3, there’s a problem. I don’t recall them mentioning that in the episode, though that might have been during one of those moments when I couldn’t hear the TV, since I was in the next room over (as the kitchen and living room are divided by a wall, but no doors). If that’s the case, then whoops.

Now we get into the Caitlin stuff. You know, the stuff I have a problem with over all. I refer you to my last post talking about Caitlin’s shit writing this season, but just in case you don’t want to bother, lemme give you the short version: Caitlin’s transition into a villain was so pointlessly stupid, and poorly written, that it makes her look mentally deficient. Keep in mind that Caitlin is one of my favorite characters in the show, so me being ticked with the handling of her character is out of love for the character. I know that Killer Frost is a villain in the comics, and that Caitlin Snow is an incarnation of Killer Frost, but last I remember, the Caitlin Snow Killer Frost in the comics wasn’t really “evil,” and was now a member of the FUCKING JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA! Yeah, it took a little bit to get there, but it happened.

The Killer Frost that the show is CLEARLY trying to be more like is Louise Lincoln, aka the Killer Frost that is referred to as “Killer Frost” in most non-comic DC properties. I honestly think this is a waste of a character... and that it goes against the character’s “heart.” Caitlin Snow is a woman who wants to do right in the memory of her dead husband in this show, yet if Ronnie could see her now, he’d be disappointed in her... and that’s a BIG reason why I think her arc in this season is bullshit. That, and like, SHE HAS FRIENDS WHO HAVE POWERS! I’m still utterly confused as to the logic behind NOT TELLING YOUR FRIENDS WITH POWERS YOU HAVE POWERS AND THAT YOU ARE SCARED OF THEM! It makes no logical sense, but this show is a teen drama, where logic goes out the window as the plot demands it... so Caitlin is made into an idiot because “drama” which is really stupid. Again, Ronnie would be so disappointed in her. Hopefully Savitar’s defeat fixes this crappy character shift, but that’s up to the writers. Personally, I’d love it if they made her a good Killer Frost, and maybe introduce the Louise Lincoln one in some capacity? It’d be interesting. Again though, that’s up to the writers.

The only good this episode touched upon with Killer Frost is Cisco getting a shining moment of badass, in a scene that echoes the scene where he loses his hands, as we saw in the last episode during Future Cisco’s flashback to explain why he couldn’t use his Vibe powers (which, by the way, is kinda bullshit logic if you ask me, since it’s more of a psychic ability... not a physical one... but whatever, maybe he got psyched out by the loss of his hands). I like how Cisco struggles to hurt his best friend, even if she’s flown over the cuckoo's nest, though it was incredibly trite that he’s only NOW afraid his powers could kill someone... But hey, Cisco was able to save the day, and since Cisco is ALSO one of my favorite characters, I can push aside fringe logic BS long enough to enjoy that subplot for the episode. I continue to hope that next Season, Cisco will do more as Vibe... but we’ll have to wait and see.

Next, it’s time for me to talk about Savitar, and his true identity reveal. The fact that they strung us along for 20 fucking episodes over this shit really bothers me... given that the reveal, while being an interesting enough twist, is beyond stupid. They poorly foreshadowed Savitar being a future Barry, and that’s the thing that bothers me the most. You know, other than a few aspects of the reveal, and the fact that it’s Barry. First, the fact that it’s an alternate timeline version of Barry is fine (I guess), and that he’s a product of something of a bootstrap paradox is alright too... but why in the fuck is it BARRY? It wouldn’t bother me so much if it weren’t for the fact that this makes the WestAllen aspect of the show even more idiotic in it’s pacing.

Because Savitar is Barry, and Barry loves Iris... wouldn’t he NOT want to kill Iris, to prevent past Barry from becoming him? I get that he lost his mind at some point, be that prior to being trapped in the Speedforce prison, or afterwards, but how does his motivation make sense anymore? Like, what does killing Iris do other than ensure his descent into madness, which isn’t even guaranteed. We don’t know if the Savitar we know is what happens to Barry in the future we saw in the previous episode after enough time passes, or if he’s a version of Barry that happens BECAUSE Barry went to the future... or anything of the sort. I hope we get answers, because fuck dude, Savitar’s a dumb fuck. I’m incredibly perplexed about this aspect. He wants to make Barry lose hope by killing the woman he once loved and that this version of himself currently loves? Why? Because he got faster, and more powerful as a result?

Something tells me that they are going to explain the loss of Barry’s mind with a “he began using Caitlin’s Velocity formula out of desperation, only for it to affect his mind like it did with Trajectory.” Also, I wouldn’t be surprised that it’s because of said speed enhancing drug, he needs the Savitar armor to run, so he doesn’t burn up? I mean, Tracy did hypothesize that he needs the armor to run as fast as he does due to the amount of energy he gives off in this very episode... so it’d make sense? It’d be an interesting way to tie things in with the previous season... but at the same time, it would make the whole “Savitar gained his speed from the Philosopher’s Stone” thing not be accurate...

Also, what was with that use of the “Trigger Phrase” realisation? I mean, Barry just suddenly put the pieces together because of something Joe and Cisco says? When the audience couldn’t? Say what you will, but that is poor set up for a twist, at least compared to the last two seasons. With Season 1, it was more in your face about the whole “Wells is actually Thawne” thing, but with Season 2, they hid clues to “Jay’s” identity in plain sight, with the use of visual cues, and small hints that were obvious if you went looking for them. But with Savitar, it’s all dialogue stuff, which makes it harder to figure out unless you binge the show... or at least that’s how I see it. Overall, I think Savitar’s reveal only further’s my view on Iris being a plot device, seeing as her death is the direct cause of Savitar’s “ascension” into the villain that kills Iris in the first place... making Iris’s life itself the deciding factor of everything... which is beyond stupid.

Iris does so little in the show (which my mom pointed out several times this evening), that her death has no real weight to anyone who doesn’t like the romance (that was rushed in this season to play to the stakes of her death being the cause of Savitar’s “birth.”), which is bad from a writing standpoint. Every viewer should feel like her death matters, because they connected with the character, yet everyone I know personally who watches the show feels nothing about her impending demise, or is, at the very least, bothered by the concept of her being “refrigerator’d,” because of their socio-political leanings.  I don’t feel like she’s done anything of significant value for the story thus far, and I know plenty of people who share that sentiment. So with the writers shoving in every little thing to try and get the viewer to care about Iris’s life, even those that up until now didn’t really care for the character, is made more aggravating by the fact that she is now the key for the birth of the very villain that kills her in the first place.

If they had properly paced the romance, and made it believable enough to the average viewer, this would be an interesting development... but I’m sorry, the response to the character and her writing is so mixed that this feels like an awkward means to garner sympathy from the audience for a badly structured romance. I’m aware that people will say “the majority will say they like her!” and what not (I’m looking at you, WestAllens), but the fact that people like myself don’t care, that people like my mom, a casual fan of this kind of show doesn’t care, and my friend @ericthatguyyouknow, a die-hard fan of the comics doesn’t care, along with all of the SnowBarry’s I’ve interacted with that have expressed similar frustrations to the writing of the show’s romances, among other things, shows that the romance is not universally liked, canon be damned.

Sure, there will always be people who don’t like a relationship in the canon, you can’t really say there’s been an instance where that’s not the case... you can’t please everybody. But the fact of the matter is if people don’t care about the fate of a character, romance or otherwise, you’ve fucked up as a writer. A poorly written character is the kind of character that garners a feeling of apathy in regards to the fate of said character, whereas a good character is one you WANT to see happy if they are good guys, or punished if they are bad guys. Iris, to many people, is a bad character because they don’t care about her life, and this sudden revelation that her death causes Barry to go fucking mad, causing an endless loop of misery for Barry only makes them MAD, because it’s roping in the fate of a character they like with a character they don’t care about.

As hard as it is to believe, I don’t want to feel apathetic about Iris’s fate, or Iris in general. I want to be able to go “Iris is fantastic!” But I can’t ignore the faults that I see in the show’s writing and handling of her character when it’s directly in the way of her being seen as that great character that WestAllens and other Iris fans see. In Season 1, I knew this relationship was the likely direction... but after Season 2, I was left disappointed at best. I see problems you don’t, and that’s fine. Enjoy what you want.

I went a bit off topic there towards the end, but all in all, this episode was good in places, bad in other places, and is overall, pretty average I’d say. I don’t like the reveal much, and I continue to hate Caitlin’s badly written “heel turn arc.” Iris still feels useless, and this revelation doesn’t really change much for me. I’m mad that it took so long to get this reveal and how it was handled, but I’m glad we finally know so we can move forward. I’ll probably make a post like this next week too, so look forward to that if you want.

Oh, and before I forget, a reminder I’m putting this in the WestAllen tag AND the SnowBarry/FlashFrost tags because I tried to make a point involving those ships, or at least the character within those ships.

Side-note: There are people who want to say that SnowBarry/FlashFrost is abusive because of how Barry is trying to protect people from an unstable Caitlin, and has to use force to do so... well, uh, a version of Barry literally kills Iris... for no real reason other than wanting to keep a cycle going? I get that it’s an alternate future version of Barry, but still, I think that when it’s Barry killing Iris, vs Barry defending people from Caitlin with force... the former is the more “abusive” aspect of it. Although, that argument is bunk, since it’s only used to “validate” one’s hatred of a ship... even though the justification in itself is poorly thought out, and doesn’t understand the concept of “abusive actions” versus “the defence of one’s self and others from an aggressor.”

Also of note: The fact that Caitlin was so quick to help Savitar after learning his identity... makes you wonder why that was, doesn’t it? Eh, I’m sure it’s nothing.