#one thing the show did consistently well is showing levels of fuckery between then that are always believable

[wastemanjohn]

i honestly think a lot of odd or confused spn takes come from people not appreciating that sam and dean are fucked up in ways that we will never fully understand. none of us have been to hell. none of us have had our parents killed by a demon. none of us have (insert whatever crazy thing theyre going through this season here). you can't expect sam and dean to behave like regular fucked up people, and getting genuinely angry at their (fictional) asses for how they handle things and how they behave is kind of missing the point.

[darkpoisonouslove]

I'm offering you an empty salt shaker - asks 2, 5, 6, 15 (go ahead, I know you have something XD), 16, 20, 25 (about Bloom searching for her parents storyline)

Starting this again because guess who accidentally hit the key combination for undo and lost half an answered ask! This bitch right here.

I answered 2 here.

5. Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you?*

Not that I can think of. It’s usually the source material that ruins things and fandom is tasked with fixing them later.

6. Has fandom ever made you enjoy a pairing you previously hated?*

I didn’t hate it but Bloom x Icy was incomprehensible to me. Fics helped a lot and so did other posts from here and there and I can see it now. Also, I totally couldn’t see Griffin x Codatorta but that changed, too. Though, that was less fandom and more trashcankitty12 with an ask that made me think about it a little more in-depth so it was pretty much me roping up myself into yet another ship. But ooh, I also don’t think I had considered Palladium x Avalon before fandom but, yes, indeed, it is right there in canon. And I was so puzzled over the Riven x Nabu content I was seeing but after watching seasons 3 and 4, I can totally see where this is coming from. The people are right. That is a bromance right there.

15. Unpopular opinion about the manga/show?

I have no idea what is popular and what isn’t (but you’re right that I have something aka A LOT) so I’ll just list my strong opinionsTM, okay? I will try not to dump on Bloom too much also because it is not a secret that I don’t like her so there is no need for me to go in too much detail.

4kids is the superior dub. That is probably the most controversial opinion I hold. But don’t worry, I’ll try to top it and up the ante. XD

I love Enchantix but it has so many flaws as a concept and even more as an execution and the thing that is really pissing me off is how obviously centered around Bloom’s arc it is. It was clearly created for the advancement of her character and the other girls’ stories came as an afterthought which is why Tecna’s Enchantix was total bullshit. And for having a transformation that is specifically created around Bloom, hers was bullshit as well. I think they should have let her reearn it in order for her to be able to use all of its functions like miniaturizing. Also also, at so many points it totally sounds like Bloom is not upset about the fact that Domino and all of its people were destroyed but about the fact that that means she won’t get her Enchantix. Which btw was a hasty conclusion because at the time Enchantix became a thing, she was still on a mission to find her parents which would have definitely been a way to earn her Enchantix and she had a sign that they were alive. So her angsting over not getting an Enchantix because of what happened on Domino was bad form on the writers’ part.

That spell for good decisions in 1x05 was one of the show’s lowest and most ridiculous moments. It was only included to flaunt in your face how naturally being a leader comes to Bloom because “See? See!!!!!! She can make a good decision without using magic to help her!” So can the majority of the population (note that we are talking about ONE good decision, not an unbreakable sequence of such). She ain’t all that special. Plus, Tecna was written wildly OOC there in order to boost Bloom’s stats so to speak. I’m sorry but Tecna would’ve known that three against four doesn’t give them advantage since they are freshmen and the Trix were seniors at the time. God, that scene was stupid.

Flora is the most boring character in seasons 1-3, fight me about it.

The writers totally had no idea what they were doing with the witches throughout most of season 1 which is why Griffin’s characterization in that season is so inconsistent. Also, wtf was that in 1x06? She straight up tried to kill a bunch of 15-year-old girls. Take a chill pill! I’m glad they figured out a much better balance with her later on.

Not using the fact that Cloud Tower is a living organism more was a fucking wasted opportunity. Especially in season 3 when Valtor took over it. That could have made everything so much better. Also, the witches should have been used more. They were interesting but deserved so much better in terms of development.

Sky should have just fucking died in 2x10. What were these resurrections and Bloom getting healing powers out of nowhere for a total of 5 seconds? You know, that could have been a good setup for a Bloom x Diaspro romance. It would have been so much better if they’d gotten together right after 1x17 and dumped Sky’s sorry ass. Also, Diaspro deserved better.

Riven is the best Specialist but he is especially better than Sky. Remember 1x22 when he was trying to escape CT? He was trapped deep in enemy territory with monsters everywhere and so high above the ground, yet he found his way out. Sky would’ve fucking died out in the open at Magix against one single monster if Bloom hadn’t shown up to rescue him. And the show has the gall to imply that Sky is a better Specialist than Riven is? Please!

The teachers should be fined and sued for emotional and physical damage they haven’t protected their students from. Especially the Alfea teachers who in 1x02 practically admitted that the witches might maim a fairy and they still won’t do shit about it. Nice one!

Griffin and Valtor is canonical subtext and I have nothing more to say about this. It is all there.

Valtor up until 3x18 and Valtor from 3x19 to 3x26 are two different people and the prior is superior in every way. The show ruined him in the last third of the season because there was no other way for Winx to defeat him.

Speaking about Valtor, his whole thing with the Trix is despicable and I hate it so much. It is extremely cringy on their part and extremely underhanded on his and I can’t stand it. Not to mention that it is wildly OOC for the Trix because they are obviously better than that.

I cannot understand saying that Bloom x Valtor is love-hate. I see only hate.

It is ridiculous how easily the Trix beat Griffin in season 6 and how they nearly take control over CT in season 2. And it is also ridiculous that she had to wait for Winx to unspell CT in season 3. She is a teacher, the headmistress of the most prestigious school for witches, a veteran and has been Valtor’s partner (and he himself admitted that together they were unstoppable which means that she has to be pretty powerful and even somewhere close to his level of power). Can the show stop acting like she is defenseless?

The teachers should have been used more. It would’ve been so much better if they were there to at least help Winx if not lead their battles. And it would have made much more sense. Also, how come Ediltrude and Zarathustra literally disappear when it’s convenient and then reappear again (like they did in season 1 when the witches went to Alfea)? That’s just bad writing.

Sky is adopted. He doesn’t resemble Erendor or Samara neither in appearance, nor in character and I hate them enough to headcanon that he was adopted but nobody knows because they don’t want to have claims that he is not an “official” heir of the throne because he isn’t part of the bloodline.

Mike and Vanessa are much more parents to Bloom than Marion and Oritel are, especially when the latter were first released from Obsidian, and the fact that Bloom starts calling them Mike and Vanessa instead of mom and dad after she learns she has other parents is abysmal. Also, they are literally the best parents ever and I love them to death. (I also like Marion and Oritel but Mike and Vanessa are definitely the superior pair of parents if we’re ranking them. I like the idea that the two couples are actually super close and love each other like relatives, in fact.)

What the fuck is up with the magic in this show? There is literally, like, NO FUCKING CONSISTENCY WHATSOEVER! You can’t blink without the rules of it changing in some way. But what am I saying? That would imply that there are any rules which is just not true. Also, there is no clear distinction of how powerful anyone is after season 1. The balance of powers especially between Winx and the Trix is pretty much whatever works for the episode. Same for Winx vs Valtor. The fuckery on that account is unreal. Plus, some of Bloom’s major power explosions happen due to her getting angry. According to the official Wiki - “While practicing or harnessing positive magic, one must keep a compassionate heart, primarily by keeping their thoughts and feelings clear of all negativity, making them capable of attracting positive energy more easily. Thus, if one is plagued with negative thoughts or feelings such as sadness, anger or fear, then their magic will grow   weaker until they may even be left incapable of casting magic until said feelings pass.“ Read that and then read it again, let it sink in. According to the rules of the Winx universe, during some of Bloom’s most powerful moments she was actually using dark magic, not light such because it was fueled by rage. Way to keep it fucking consistent. And that is not just Bloom! FLORA out of all people attacks the Trix in rage in 3x12 when they hurt her sister aka she was also using dark magic at that situation (and then you have Wizgiz scolding Mirta for it in SotLK like it is a sin to use dark magic, smh). In some instances I would argue that it was more of determination to protect rather than anger which I would say would still result in light magic. But The Flora thing, Bloom vs Stormy in 1x09 (Bloom even says she got so angry so that was not a case of protectiveness), Bloom vs Icy in 1x26 and Bloom vs Valtor in 3x14 were definitely rage aka dark magic. And then Bloom is all “fairies don’t have any demons”. Guess again, bitch! Also, writers, you need a dictionary to start comprehending the words you are actually writing?

Now that I think of it, the whole arc in the Resort Realm was bullshit. If it is a magic-free realm, nobody should have any magic in it, period! What is this bullshit that you can use Charmix and Gloomix there because they have higher magical energy? That absolutely doesn’t matter! If there isn’t any magic in the entire realm, having a higher amount of magic in you will not matter because you still can’t use it... because there isn’t any in the realm!!!!!! What the hell! Honestly, the writers can’t comprehend what words mean and that is not the only instance in which it shows.

Someone told me that SotLK is better than Magical Adventure and I don’t mean to offend but that is simply not true. Magical Adventure is leagues above SotLK even if it has some structural problems. Like, literally everything is better. Bloom and Sky are even likable and communicate!!!!!!!! Literally when have you ever seen a better moment for their relationship than in Magical Adventure? If it had been all like that, I would have liked them as a couple.

I think I got everything that comes to mind rn out. Might think of more at some point. I was done and then came back to rage some more because I remembered I had more material.

16. If you could change anything in the show, what would you change?

I would have them make smart decisions because 99% of the shit they pull is so stupid it is unreal. I literally cannot tell how they are still alive. Oh, no wait! Plot armor. Yep, that’s it.

But if I had to pick something specific? Bring Nabu back. I sure as hell wouldn’t have killed him. That was an asshole move and I have no idea what the hell the writers were thinking when they wrote that.

And my second choice is - implement a magical system into the series because there isn’t one. Magic always works the way the writers need it to work to pull off their bullshit plot even if it contradicts everything that we’ve seen before. Please, for the love of god! Consistency is already dead; stop stabbing its corpse!!!!

20. What is the purest ship in the fandom?

Purest ship? Lmao, asking me this question is underhanded. XD If you mean no drama, then Flora and Helia Mike and Vanessa. But I think my actual answer would be Griffin x Faragonda because they have been through so much that we know of or we can deduce and they still stuck together. Sure, they had their ups and downs but it is obviously a love for life that has lasted through so many obstacles and keeps lasting. The reason why I can’t say the same for Mike and Vanessa is because we don’t really know that much about their relationship with each other. But anyway I love both these ships so much.

If you’re talking about a canon ship, though, then Brandon and Stella (I do not recognize the stupid relationship drama in season 4 as canon). He did lie to her about his identity in season 1 but it was for his friendship with Sky (alternatively, for his job and duty as Sky’s squire). I just love how obviously in love Brandon is with Stella and how much Stella doesn’t care about anything but him. She didn’t care that he was a “commoner” and - one of my fave moments - in 1x08 she only cared about his well-being rather than the competition. It was adorable and they are adorable and I love them so much. Pure serotonin, right there!

25. How would you end the Bloom searching for her parents storyline/Would you change the ending?

I would certainly change the logistics of the whole thing because, boy, did it make no sense at all. As for the actual ending, I’d argue that physically finding them is not the end of that storyline and she needs to “find” them emotionally as well which would definitely take more time than SotLK cared to address. Like, she got them out of Obsidian and boom, everything’s fine! She literally doesn’t know them! Those are her parents and she doesn’t know anything about them! Their touch and their voices are unfamiliar to her even and they have missed on so much that they will never be able to get back and you’re saying that everything is fine? Yeah, right.

I would have had her spend a year on Domino with them before season 4. The school year that started in SotLK? She spends that with them. Possibly even the one that starts in Magical Adventure as well. She learns everything she can about them and the family history. She also learns how to be a proper royal because she is the Crown Princess now and she has no idea what the fuck she is doing. I would have made seasons 4 and possibly 5 about that and added more politics in it. Layla and Stella are also princesses who will run their kingdoms one day so we could have had adventures in political relations with Winx Club. They are pretty famous so I am sure there would be rulers of other lands that see them as threats and don’t like them. There could have been tension about that and the whole thing with Domino being the planet of the Dragon Fire could have been addressed. Who would dare oppose them when they are the most powerful force? Are they the most powerful force after the 17 years the planet spent as an ice block? Are there old alliances to be reforged? What is the political climate in the Magic Dimension? All absolutely fascinating questions that would have helped the worldbuilding and made place for Marion and Oritel in Bloom’s life and in the show. We could’ve gone back to the feel of season 1 when they also had other things going on besides the big baddie of the season and it could have been a little more episodical with a loose theme to connect the season and the overarching story of Bloom finding her parents and her place in the world she was born in. That could have been positively epic... And a great way to retain the cast because the Company of Light were allegedly friends so we could have seen Marion and Oritel reconnecting with Griffin, Faragonda, Saladin and Hagen. There could have been resurfacing debates left over from the war. Kingdoms angry at Domino for something that happened back then in order to include flashbacks with the events. AND that would work out with the fact that the Ancestral Witches were still around and could have led to another epic battle that wouldn’t end with the destruction of a whole planet. Like I said, there were amazing possibilities... and they were all wasted.

Well, this was long... and just what I needed. I hope some (civilized) discussion will spark out of that because I am tired of screaming in a void and I want people to talk to me.

[veliseraptor]

Who is your favourite character in The Untamed and why? Oh, and what is your take on Lan Wangji's character?

God anon, the thing here is that my answer is basically “I love everyone in this bar!”*

*other than, like, three people

There’s just so many characters I have such good feelings about. I tried to top five it but I kept ending up with six or seven instead and then remembering more characters that I love. I just have a whole lot of feelings. I mean, the thing about me is that my true love when it comes to characters is “emotionally dysfunctional people with terrible lives” and that’s basically what we’ve got going on here.

But I guess if I’m picking a few:

1. Wei Wuxian. I mean, I walked into this show because of him and I walked out of this show with a new adoptee (this one). There’s so many buttons getting hit here, and it’s not just “evil flute music sexy” or “narrative kink for stories about the way that the stories people tell about people shape a person” but it is also both those things.

Like, if ever someone gave me an introduction designed to make me go ‘oh, this one’s mine now’ it’s...well, both number one and two on this list.

It’s just...watching that opening scene, and then two episodes later getting slingshot back into the past with someone who seems completely different, and watching those cracks grow and form with each hit he takes...is really good for my narrative kinks.

But also...he’s such a determined-to-be-good boy, he’s such a conciliator in all of these ways that make me feel things, I’m always a sucker for someone who is self-destructive while not always realizing that they’re being self-destructive, who has this particular type of selflessness that becomes self-immolation and also leads to a whole bunch of collateral damage. I have a thing for people who are desperately hiding their dysfunction because they don’t want anyone to know that they’ve got any.

Like. He’s such a mess. He’s got a big heart and a lot of love to give and he’s an enormous fucking mess. And like. The family issues? The self worth issues? Just a whole bunch of things designed to hit me right where I live. 

And evil flute music sexy.

2. Xue Yang. I know myself well enough that sometimes I can look at a character and within thirty seconds of their introduction go ‘oh I’m going to like this one’ and 90% of the time I am right and that is what happened with my new favorite gremlin. Yes he is terrible, I love him and I want him to have nice things. 

This was true before we got to the Yi City arc and I was like. oh thanks for hitting me in my dysfunctional fucked up ship feelings, show, I needed another one of these! Which, I mean, I did need one, because I always do, but hoo boy. 

I just...love a deeply feral and absolutely ruthless murder bastard. The sheer level of “fuck it” energy coming off him all the time. The absolute commitment to the psychological destruction of his nemesis slash boyfriend. The psychological fuckery of spending many, many years trying to resurrect the nemesis slash boyfriend you drove to suicide. The weird murder friendship with Jin Guangyao. (Friends help you be complicit in the murder of two of five sect leaders!) 

I love it. And him. That Good Shit.

3. Lan Wangji. Possibly this is like. Transitive property of character love because I love Wei Wuxian so much and obviously Wei Wuxian is fucking head over face in love with Lan Wangji, so - but also I just think he’s a very good boy?? He’s a disaster gay primarily passing as a functional gay by virtue of not talking enough for people to notice how much of a disaster he is. He’s spending a good half the show having a whole-ass moral existential crisis, which while I don’t find it relatable I do find deeply endearing. 

And just. I’m always going to be a sucker for ‘character who has a whole lot of emotions but doesn’t want anyone to know’ and that’s very Lan Wangji. He’s just! Very good. I am thinking about the scene with him drunk later in the show and that especially just makes me want to grab him and hug him only he wouldn’t like it. 

I don’t know, he just gives me a lot of very squishy feelings where I want to tell him that he’s good and it’s not his fault that his boyfriend went over the literal edge.

4. Jin Guangyao. It’s funny because on my first watch I didn’t notice him all that much for a while (I was busy! having Wangxian and sibling feelings mainly, especially the latter tbh, and some bonus ‘adopting a new horrible gremlin’ feelings), and then we hit the Nie Mingjue flashback episode and I was like. oh shit I love you. you’re coming home with me now. 

I mean, that’s not totally unexpected, I am weak to characters who are a) schemers b) have a lot of shit going on with identity and perception and c) do a lot of really certifiably horrible shit, and I just. pocket sized murder kitten and he belongs to me, I will continue to call him Jiggy forever but that is only because he is yet another of my terrible sons

5. Lan Xichen. Another character I was like - warm and positive toward through my first rewatch and then at the end when he was completely shattering was like “oh hey I love him now.” And then also seeing people in fandom talk shit about him and going “oh hey I love him more now.” 

And then on my rewatch just like. Loving him even more because...yeah he makes some poor choices sure but he’s also just full of such...warmth and generosity? Like, this is a guy who, in a world where everyone is leaping to conclusions all the time, is like ‘maybe let’s not leap to conclusions and give people the benefit of the doubt sometimes, you guys.’ And I like that in a man. It seems like he’s almost compensating for everyone else by going maybe a little bit overboard.

But when did “characters making good choices” be something that qualifies anyone for a favorite of mine? The answer is never.

Also I deeply appreciate his commitment to Lan Wangji and by extension his position as the Founder of the Wangxian Fan Club (co-founder with Jiang Yanli, I’d say, but I think he did get there first). And his consistent expression of exhaustion through the whole thing. Characters who need and deserve a nap: Xichen, and not just the depression one he’s taking post-canon.

6. Jiang Cheng. Didn’t see that one coming but in retrospect probably should have! I’m always going to have emotions about emotionally dysfunctional people with inferiority complexes who have a whole lot of feelings but only really know how to express one of them. Also just like. The entirety of the relationship between Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng was designed to hit me right in the place where I live and boy howdy did it succeed in leaving me hurting a lot for them both. 

And just. This boy is such a disaster! He’s miserable! Everything in his life kinda sucks and he’s not helping himself and definitely not dealing with any of his issues at all! I feel like he needs a nap and a five year hug in the worst way.

But also like. All my love for Wen Qing and Wen Ning both? I’m acquiring more Jiang Yanli feelings on the regular? The entire Yi City Disaster Crew is gold and their dynamics are *chef fingers* amazing? I love all of the juniors but maybe especially Jin Ling so much???

(I do not have as many Nie brother feelings, but I feel like I could get talked into them with very little effort on anyone’s part, especially with Nie Huaisang. I already have feelings about the NHS/JGY relationship, so.)

like this is very much one of those pieces of media where I’m like ‘yes maybe I have latched onto these two characters most but G O D I love them all so much, taking them all home with me for therapy and hot chocolate.”

[hellyeahheroes]

“We have no mandate to tie everything together,” explained Lee in an interview with CNet.

I love how they picked an image of Swamp Thing SMILING for this.

Just a side note but seeing how Titans shapes so far to be, well, bad, I think this is a good decision. Swamp Thing could always establish his own Earth with more horror-oriented characters, like Frankenstein, the Demon or Animal Man. Hell, make him build towards the Vertigo Earth or something.

However, this does raise a question. If you do not plan to set Titans and Doom Patrol, which, admittingly can be a very good horror, look at Grant Morrison's run, in one verse with Swamp Thing, if you plan it to be a separate thing and not something like Netflix Defenders, with a consistently dark, street-level tone across all it’s shows... why the fuck did you make Titans so dark? It would make more sense to have Swamp Thing, a horror and an optimistic and cheerful Stargirl show, while Titans and Doom Patrol fill a spot somewhere in between. 

This really makes me wonder if the show wasn’t some reason of some fuckery. That and how poorly they seem to be treating Starfire and Beast Boy. On whose outfits, make-up and the special effect they seem to have spent as little effort and money as possible. It makes me wonder if this wasn’t originally supposed to be a different kind of show, maybe something going with a bird theme and more fitting a horror tone and atmosphere. Then someone decided to make it an adaptation of Teen Titans, they tackled in Beast Boy and Starfire despite clearly having no budget for it and then treated them like a red-headed step-child, while not giving a damn when Starfire actress is harassed for her race. Which is not making me any more optimistic about this thing at all.

- Admin

[p101recaps]

Broduce 101: Episode 8 First Half (Quick Livestream Recap)

Since I missed the first half of the livestream, here’s a quick recap off the raw. I’ll link this to the second half recap too.

Before elimination heartbreaks, they’d served some fanservice to numb the pain with a bit from when BoA came to visit before position evals.

She brought them pizza! The boys had a collective breakdown of food appreciation, and we see a brilliantly photoshopped press picture of BoA holding up pizzas like an angel, like Kim Youjin clearly imagines.

Jung Jung, at the brink of tears: WHY IS IT SO DELICIOUS

They’re just happy to be around her, which is fully understandable. She does a little happy dance as they chant for her, and mingles with the trainees (there’s a nice shot of the Amazing Kiss group talking to her) before leaving them to their food.

Sidenote: the cameras always catch Noh Taehyun in the background, and he’s always unintentionally pulling the ugliest faces possible, unaware he’s in the shot.

Cube Chick Yoo Seonho is by far the happiest, putting away as much pizza as he could to compensate for only getting three meals a day at dorms. He’s obviously at that age where you eat everything in sight, it reminds me of my brother.

Cut to eliminations day and shots of tears. Okay, the warm and fuzzies have disappeared.

The trainees all do their entrance into the Ceremony Hall of Crowned Chairs.

Kim Donghan did a move from Shape of You, then a heart and wink combo.

Starship boys did something weird, ofc

Brand New trainees did the point choreo from Twice’s comeback song, Signal. Cute. 

My man Ong-ssi transitioned from a very stiff and formal bow to his high note meme face from Get Ugly

FNC Yoo Hwiseung did his lip-swipe

Cube chicks, whose backstage hwaiting needed to be redone three times for them to be in sync, did the Shugo Chara frame.

Pledis’ Nu’est boys did hearts and more Twice references.

Hashtag that Twice relevancy

Bae Jinyoung did the ear flapping move too

So did Maroo Park Jihoon. I suddenly miss Kwon Hyeob, seeing him up there alone.

ONO Moonbok, who looked ridiculously pretty btw - I hope they stick to styling him like this, did something that looked like Red Velvet’s Rookie or Lovelyz’s WoW, and held up his lovely hair in two pigtails. Adorable. The trainees were KO’d

Star Empire Takada Kenta looks more like a puppy than ever.

The Yuehua kids shot hearts and Ahn Hyungseob acted like he got hit by one

S.How trainees used their minimal screentime references - Namhyung did his finger to the lip with elevated pinky detail that had impressed Lee Seokhoon, while Dongsu did the plucking from the air bit from the Amazing Kiss stage.

MMO trainees, extra as always, integrated Auntie Jisung’s clapping move with Twice’s Signal. 

Baby maknae Lee Woojin did his meme face and finger heart from the Be Mine stage. A worldwide cutie.

C2K Kim Seonglee did finger hearts with the Very Very Very head bobbing

YGK+ Kwon Hyunbin tried a headstand before just rolling over like a cat in a blanket

Real Performers Ardor and Able Noh Taehyun and Ha Sungwoon did a finger point choreo before moonwalking off the stage in sync

RBW puppies referenced fallen trainee Dongmyung by doing his warm up flapping dance and hearts. 

Protect Them.

Tension building and then cut to concept evaluation song distributions.

They keep playing up the fact that Jihoon dropped ranks...are they egging the fangirls to have a flatout fight?

This way of arranging missions, with distributing trainees into teams and then shuffling after half of them leave is stupid and could be avoided if they split up the mission footage better. The show could fully have filler episodes between missions at this level of popularity so the vote timing and mission preparation could be allocated efficiently. 

Imagine working at a song and then having to start over a few days later. It’s ridiculous.

Songs are introduced by their producers. The viewers have been voting to match the songs to their favourite trainees for this mission. 

I’d said earlier that the idea was just going to incite some kind of fuckery, with fans not used to this amount of legitimate power. Sure enough, there was cheating involved so Kang Daniel, Lee Kiwon and Kim Dongbin were banned from their leaked song preferences.

Honestly, the cat emoji morse code was great. It’s one of my top controversies this season. 

First up is my personal favourite of the song concepts, I Know You Know, produced by heavyweight producer Joombas (who is famously responsible for Exo’s Growl, SHINee’s Dream Girl and also apparently worked with HOTSHOT). I’m all about the funky R&Bish vibe: not the kind of song that tops charts, but probably stays there a while. Watch this song be ignored though lol

Second is Oh Little Girl, a name even the producer draws quote marks around. This is the song for the hip-hop concept, and has a jazzy easy listening feel.

Next is Showtime, coming from a trio of newer or less popular producers. This seems catchy, but it sounds very familiar - not a song I’d remember. The choreo looks fun though, and they reference Dongmyung’s warm up! The trainees love it, cracking up as they mimic the move.

Fourth are another famous producer group, Devine Channel, who I believe do a lot of SM’s songs. They’ve also done a lot of very trendy title songs, including BTS’ Fire and VIXX’s The Closer. I think the English title for this song is Open? Correct me if I’m wrong. It sounds great, oddly like something I might have heard from Nu’est. I’m looking forward to this too, the choreo looks great.

Fifth song is from the producers that get the most hype, Hyuna’s new charity project from Cube, Triple H’s Never. Auntie Jisung decides he wants the song because Hyuna is involved, which, honestly, same. The EDM structure also feels overdone but I have a sneaking suspicion this is going to be the song that gets maximum hype since there’s no ballad.

Trainees get allocated their songs in envelopes and have to go to wait in separate practice spaces for the rest of their team.

Jaehwan doesn’t want to be in same team as Hyunbin, which I understand, considering that he’s had to carry him twice already. Like the other trainees, he wants to work with GodJonghyun. 

Pretty boys Bae Jinyoung, Park Jihoon and Ahn Hyungseob get sorted together. Maybe their fans have been working in sync. They also get excited puppy Gunhee, which means their vocals will be taken care of. 

Once the trainees all gather, their songs are revealed. Byun Hyunmin decides to rip the sticker for his room and accidentally pulls off the whole thing. 

Byun Hyunmin: :O

Noh Taehyun: Everyone, we’re not singing.

Hyunmin retries.

All the trainees: cAREFULLY 

The group gets Showtime, which was Samuel’s pick. He’s ecstatic.

Minhyun’s room has their sticker peel by Emperor Hwang to reveal Never, which pleases most of them. 

Park Jihoon’s room has a breakdown before Dongbin peels the sticker to show Oh Little Girl, a song I can see Sewoon do well in. The Yuehua trainees are all in this team too.

Moonbok has a braid in his lovely hair this segment, it looks fire emoji.

Hyunbin’s room has I Know You Know. Taedong, who has a lower range than the song needs, is nervous.

Baekho’s group gets Open, which most of the trainees are excited about. Seunglee in particular is relieved, since it was one of his picks. 

We go into centre struggles for the killing part.

Oh Little Girl has Jihoon battling Euiwoong and Minki. They all demonstrate, and vote Jihoon and Minki as their preferred centres. 

Euiwoong is getting worried. He’s one of the only initial popular trainees that seems to be dropping down ranks every week. Kahi gives him a much needed confidence boost at dance check in, and Don Mills praises him at vocal check in too.

Product placement break.

Open team wants a dance focus trainee as leader because of the high level choreo and elect Daniel, who now probably understands what he needs to do to lead his group after faltering last mission. 

But the team has so many people that they split into two halves while leaning choreo and one team falls behind since Daniel doesn’t split his attention between the two initially

Kahi calls them out on the distinction, with one group lagging while the first one does great. The second half, which has Park Sungwoo, who we know needs a lot of focused help, starts to catch up after the whole team gets scolded.

There are so many trainees in this team that won’t survive eliminations, oh god. 

Kim Seunglee, you deserve better.

Showtime group has a lot of strong singers. Woodam wants to be main vocal, and Yoo Hwiseung needs that vocal hype boost since his rank is risky too. 

Auntie Jisung: I want to try to do it too.

They start talking about the need for facial expressions and singing, Samuel wants to lowkey be centre. They need to have impact to bring the concept across, they decide.

Auntie Jisung: I still want to try though!

They ask the trainees to sing and do some face expression to pick centre and main vocal. Jisung and Samuel share centre while Woodam and Hwiseung share main vocal.

Coach Shin Yumi likes Hwiseung’s control over the notes better. He’s a lot more stable than Woodam, maybe because his natural tone is stronger?

Yoo Hwiseung gets some screentime for the first time.

Far out, Mnet. You really annoy me.

Never team has Ha Sungwoon being worried about being in a team with high ranking trainees, most of who want to be centre. 

They all battle with facial expressions but the trainees vote for Guanlin and Minhyun as centre.

At dance check in with Dabbing Ajusshi Kwon Jaesung, however, Sungwoon is the first one to volunteer to dance. 

He gets some well deserved praise for it, which honestly, the kid needs. Being in a group of trainees that are all popular is awful enough, but he’s a true all rounder. Without enough screentime or helpful editing, he’s been fading despite being good looking and a consistent performer. 

More product placement.

I Know You Know team has the underdog feel straight up, with the lower ranking trainees. I called the song as not being the kind to be popular.

Appealing time for the centre spot. RBW Hwanwoong stands out. Ah, my heart. Donghan and Hwanwoong get centre.

Dance check in with Kahi has her appreciating their hard work. Hyunbin’s dancing seems to have improved, I guess being cyber bullied has that effect on you. She also thinks Hwanwoong is a good centre choice, which is some well deserved praise. 

Tears and mournful instrumentals are abound as the low ranking trainees recount their experience before for upcoming eliminations. We get flashbacks for some of them, which should prepare you for what’s coming.

We all know where this is heading. The rest of the recap can be found here.

[mysterious-prophetess]

Review: Ready Player One

as some of you might remember, I did a live blog of reading part of novel this movie is based on about five-six months ago. I had to read it for a Video Games in Literature class.

Suffice to say, I found parts of it a pain to read.

It got a bit better but really it’s mid-rank as a novel in quality over all. Not terrible. Not great. Certainly not movie-worthy but then again, as it was pointed out in the aforementioned class, Cline wrote in such a way that it all but said “Adapt me! Adapt me!” So, there is that.

Anyway I’m going to do both a review of the movie and a comparison to its source material. Where it succeeded, where is sucked, and where it just was “meh.”

Spoilers ahead, so I’m placing this under a read more.

Quick spoiler free coments:

The movie isn’t horrible, and is less painful than the book at times. It’s also a case where if you haven’t read the book prior to the movie, don’t. The movie is a bit more enjoyable if you haven’t read the book. The movie is evenly paced but predictable.

The Review

As usual I’m going to break this down overall story, pacing, characters, effects, enjoyability, and a special specific category to the film. In this case: Video Games. Which is to say, how they handle the various aspects of game play in this film.

Pacing

Speilberg knows how to pace a movie. The writing didn’t always match it but the pace was fairly even.

So. Point there

Plot.

Oh boy. Where to begin.

Even if I hadn’t read the book, the plot would have been a bit “meh” as I’ve seen the whole “unlikely hero ends up as part of a “resistance” and finds a selfless goal only after he meets a girl with a selfless goal and the underdog wins” story.

For the sake of an action piece, the first (and worst) parts of the story were thrown out, so fair that, but then again, they did a SAO where everyone knew where the first level of a challenge was but no one had passed it yet.

Also, the fact that NO ONE was live streaming the race is a bit suspect. I mean, social media age folks.

Chances are, there are those who go to these things with drones and shit to broadcast it to those who aren’t skilled enough to do it themselves. So, the fact only the High-5 and the 6-ers found out, is bullshit.

Then again, I will allow that maybe the game blocked it.

It’s also way too convenient that Aech, Sho, and Daito are all buddy-buddy.

The romantic subplot was clumsy in the book. It was even clumsier here with Wade/Parzival confessing his love to Art3mis like that like “boom.”

The resistance subplot was kind of stupid. I get that there should be people in the real world doing shit to resist but, these idiots kind of deserve to get caught.

Tip: if you’re going to be some sort of resistance person? Don’t have a very distinct tattoo anywhere on your body. It makes you easier to identify.

The fact they game Samantha/Art3mis a “damsel in distress” subplot was so fracking sexist. I’ll get more into it later with character.

The second key challenge, I appreciated a bit. Not sure why they had to use the shining whenever they had a plethora of other 80’s movies to go through, but then again that clue reminded me more of Frankenstein. That would take a leap of logic that fits with the whole “think like Halliday” thing.

Moving on to the “real world” meeting between Wade and Aech/Helen. That was actually pretty good. Gotta admit making Sho and Daito appear as well was ok. The “fixer” woman was a nice touch. The in game assassin was meh. Made sense, though.

Act 3. That was so-so. It was almost beat-per-beat the book’s climax plus or minus some extra things the movie added such as Art3mis’s whole “on the inside thing” because of the damsel in distress plot line they gave her and the corporate executive being gutsy enough to attempt to kill Wade himself, which made no sense to me. Guys like that usually use their professional killers like what’s-her-face who’s name sounded like “Finale.” Then there’s the fact that this ruthless asshole has a chance to take the shot, and for some reason doesn’t? With all his prior actions this doesn’t really mesh.

Also, I missed about five minutes of the climax because I really had to pee but I can gather that Wade/Parzival shot Samantha/Art3mis in the game to hide the fact she was there. That’s actually a smart move. Bravo movie.  The stupid action sequences in the final moments, well the adjective I chose says it all.

The moral is stupid.

“Reality is real.” Thanks Captain Obvious. Wouldn’t have known that without this movie telling me that.

That ghost in the machine mystery was tantalizing for all of a few second before they moved to the ending.

Overall enjoyability: Average.

Not terrible, but not great other. It’s trying so hard to be a Tron or a Star Wars but, it lacks any of the charm.

It’s a nostalgia blast that banks on that and that alone.

Effects: I get that the uncanny valley thing was on purpose to differentiate the real world and the oasis and all but that would really defeat the purpose of a Virtual Reality that’s supposed to be as groundbreaking as this Oasis was alleged to be. Beyond that, the effects were fine.

Video Games: They integrated a lot of the mechanics of a game fairly well into the movie. It wasn’t front and center but they at least attempted to keep the rules of their game consistent in presentation and function. Except once. That office scene with the hologram. How would that even work? Would they have a feed back into the Oasis relayed to the player? Wouldn’t that be, idk a HUGE security hazard if a hacker gained access? They could spy on the villain any time they pleased.

Characters:

Let’s start with the one whose character I’m actually pleased with: Aech/Helen

First the bad: I hate Aech’s avatar’s design. It was supposed to look realistic. Not some big old freaking cyborg.

The rest I liked, especially how Helen was a confident character in the real world. Whereas her book counterpart wasn’t exactly confident in herself during her reveal to Wade. I’d look for a page number but that would mean I actually care and I don’t. There are others who can if they wish.

Sho

He’s a kid in this version. Ok. Makes sense.

Daito

Is much younger too, but not a little kid. Also makes sense. A bit of a stereotype.

Samantha/Art3mis

Where to start. How about the obvious: They were too chicken to cast an actual curvy girl as the romantic lead. I’m surprised they were brave enough to keep her birthmark. Even more surprised they didn’t make her a blonde supermodel-ensue girl.

The “extra” tragic backstory and her being in a resistance was completely unnecessary.

Her getting a damsel in distress storyline was insulting and really sexist. They slightly “redeemed” that third act fuckery by having it vital to the plot that they have an inside man, but I still was disgusted by it.

Wade/Parzival

Honestly, they somehow made him blander. Wade/Parzival of the book isn’t going to end up on top ten sci-fi protagonists lists anytime soon. Maybe not even top 100. Wade/Parzival of the movie is a generic geeky male protagonist who starts of selfish but realizes through love that there’s more to life!

He’s not a terrible character, and at least his actions are consistent with his semi-predictable characterization.

Unlike the villain whose name escapes me at the moment. Let me google it…Nolan Sorrento.

Now let it sink in that he left next to no impression on me to the extent that I forgot his name and his inconsistent actions.

First, he hires a cyber-assassin to go after Wade/Parzival and then the idiot orders a strike giving his target a chance to flee.

Then, during the negotiations he just blatantly admits he wanted to subvert the company’s wishes on feed that the company likely has access to and if they were any sort of intelligent were listening in on as he offers the first player to get a key a job. So, shows he’s a bit too stupid to be in that position of power.

Then he waits to blow everyone up on Doom. He could have handed the Cataclyst off to a goon, offered them a wiping out of all their debt owed to IOI if they blew everyone up, then logged in an won if he was really that ruthless about the whole thing.

There’s the whole gun thing. He had Wade in his sights in the real world. He could have shot him and everyone in that car, but because Wade’s got the egg, he just can’t do it? This is a man who was able to order the strike earlier in the movie to kill Wade if he didn’t comply. I guess it’s a he’s too much of a wussy to actually sully his hands thing, but that’s not how the actor played it. If he was too much of a wuss to do his own dirty work, he’d have balked sooner. It just seemed really really silly for him to give up because the kid was so happy he was crying at having the egg in his hands.

Now onto the nitpick Comparison (well full tilt nitpicking section)

I understand why all the school stuff was cut. I really do. It was, as I already wrote the worst part of the first section of Ready Player One. Not a fan of how they glossed over how Wade’s parents died. Here they took his actual tragic backstory and stuffed it in the trash and tacked on an extra tragic background to Samantha/Art3mis.

But it also undermined the whole point of the first key’s dungeon. Which was, it was on the school planet because you learn there and Ludo comes from a word that means “play” so it was a very clever play on the planet’s name. The Ohio-planet’s exclusion and replacement with the archives was actually a good choice for a movie but also made moves by the High-5 too easy to track and the point was it was hard for the IOI 6-ers to patrol the whole of the Oasis.

The High-5’s cooperation in the movie was too convenient whereas in the book there was this “everyone man for himself” mentality that persisted up until the end practically.

Art3mis’s competency was reduced in the movie. In the book she’d found the first key on her own before Wade but she sucked at Joust.

Og’s deus ex machine appearance in the book was written out, and probably for the better but on the other hand I missed him a little. Plus the sentiment at the end was almost a bit too shoehorned in, but that’s at least better than the horribly worded “moral.”

The fact the movie had Wade acknowledge that there were people who didn’t play as their own sex/gender in the Oasis was a correction of a mistake in the book where Wade didn’t really even think about it aside from his anxieties that Art3mis might be a man. Something that, when he’s presented with Aech/Hellen later makes it seem that—to him—the idea wasn’t one he thought would actually happen.

As a female gamer who often plays as male avatars, I know this is not an uncommon phenomenon.

Making Sho(to) and Daito kids was a weird twist to me at first. And, unless I’m mistaken, they’re brothers for real in the movie whereas Shoto and Daito of the book never even knew eachother.

Daito of the book dies. IOI killed him and made it look like a suicide. Og rescued Shoto, whose book name was Akihide Karatsu. They did keep the “Tsu” bit and made it into it being changed to “Sho” as a nickname but that name change was weird to me.

The High-5 all made it to the end in the movie,  whereas Daito/Toshiro, died.

It was Wade not Samantha/Art3mis who ended up being arrested by the IOI, but he did it on purpose to steal codes and shit and it was like really easy to escape custody. That was a bit OP in the book, I’ll admit but that whole “man on the inside” plotline was negated by the fact Wade had Sorrento’s Password. Let’s forget, for a moment, how monumentally stupid it is that he even had it on a post-it note on his immersion rig in the first place and how, in the second, how stupid it was to have Parzival the hologram in his office and able to see shit. I already mentioned how bad it was up in the video game section.

Anyway, Wade has his password from the end of the first act of the movie. That means they could have just hacked the whole kit and caboodle anytime they pleased and maybe used it to figure out a way through firewalls to get inside the barrier. Idk it just was one of those things that both made sense but also could have easily been sidestepped.

The Van chase. In a world of recognition software, why oh why, wouldn’t you make sure your vehicle was as plain as possible if you were on the run or, if you had been spotted by a drone identifying your van, why wouldn’t you try to change the outside with some paint or dirt or SOMETHING. Book Helen was already on the move constantly for her own safety reasons. Movie Helen, while more sure of herself, didn’t seem to have as good survival instincts as her book counter part.

Everyone is too conveniently located near each other.

In the book the closest ones together were Helen and Wade. Samantha was Canadian. Shoto/Akihide and Daito/Toshiro were Japanese, and they all had to be brought together by their deus ex machina Og, who had located the survivors after Daito/Toshiro had been murdered and brought them to his place for the final assault.

Surprisingly, though, aside from changing the pop-culture references (obviously due to copyright issues), the climax was still similar enough that the changes here and there didn’t affect the whole thing. Though, the Art3mis being tapped out early because she was undercover shit wasn’t in the book. She just got plain wiped out by the Cataclyst like everyone else. Which, btw was done by a rando IOI person, not Sorrento.

Tl:Dr They’re both middling properties in the end.

However, I’d say the characters from the book make more sense than the movie characters, but the movie world makes more sense than the book world.

This is also a case where if you hadn’t read the book, the movie’s actually more enjoyable. Well, marginally.

[kinetic-elaboration]

March 2: Thoughts on 4x05 The Tinder Box

Finally watched 4x05. I have to say… I was anticipating that it would be bad (by which I mean uninteresting to me) based on the trailer but it was actually SO BAD that not only do I think it might be worse than even the shittiest S3 episodes, but I also think it might have tanked the whole season. And I was really optimistic and giving generally positive reviews of the season so far! But this was ATROCIOUS. I am so disillusioned and upset tbh.

Putting the rest under a cut so as not to harsh the buzz of anyone who might have liked the ep and/or not be so fatalistic about the season as I am.

Okay, a few things I liked-ish first.

I think the Raven stuff, with her brain going on overload, was interesting and I didn’t have a problem with it so much as it appeared in this episode, although it does make me wary. I’ll put the wariness below with the other ‘bad’ stuff but I will say I liked the floating sequence and I liked seeing a happy, excited, super-smart Raven even if the context was not so great.

Generally speaking, I had the least problems with the Becca’s lab story. I liked seeing more of Jackson and I thought Abby had some good moments too. Plus, while I don’t think tech-heavy sci fi of the bright white sheen variety fits this show very well, Becca’s lab was cool I will give it that.

It was a good Monty episode.

Yet again Bob Morley tragically under-used but his subtle expressions when he first suspected and later found out Octavia was alive = A+.

I’ve never had very strong feelings about Niylah since we’ve seen like 5 minutes of her before but I thought she was great in this episode and if we see more of her and more of her like this I’ll be happy. I loved how she and Clarke greeted each other this is my ideal ex-gf/ex-hookup scenario personally.  

I liked seeing Clarke in doctor mode.

…That’s it lol. The rest sucked major rhino balls.

 The stuff I didn’t like:

Oh where to start? I think I’ll go plot by plot.

Becca’s lab: I realize they’re somewhat constrained based on what they set up in that shitshow that was S3 but the narrative quality of the Becca story line was so poor last season—like I don’t care if the science is fake, even obviously fake, but it needs to be internally consistent and the Becca stuff was 100000% nonsense all the way down to the core, and pretty shallow and childish nonsense at that—so anything they come up with this season, whether “consistent” or retcon, is going to be side-eyed by me. The bar is VERY high for me to give a fuck and this episode didn’t meet the bar. Basically any time I hear about Becca’s lab or Becca’s experiments or Becca in space I just have this Pavlovian eye roll response because I know it’s going to be dumb; like I’ve just given up on any sense being made in this “story.”

I see you, Star Trek reference. (Okay, to be fair the concept of putting criminals on a boat and sending them away isn’t something Star Trek created and it is sort of an important detail of “Space Seed” that the criminals were super humans AND the tragic ham handed way that sci fi is dealt with here makes me think the PTB aren’t really familiar with sci fi let alone such classics as TOS BUT I’m sorry why did they have to be criminals? What sort of random detail is that? How does that make any sense? That just screams gratuitous “Space Seed” reference to me. And I put it in the negative column because I like The 100 but it’s often a mess and it’s not allowed to put its grubby paws on TOS.)

It was weird that last episode we had this big crew of people at Becca’s lab and now like half of them have disappeared. I mean, I know most of them are guest stars but, first of all Harper’s been in like every episode so far so fuck that and second of all it’s just jarring, like where the fuck did EVERYONE GO?

I’m getting pretty tired of the torture Raven Reyes show. Like it’s just literally never fucking ending.

I can’t believe they unveiled a fucking space ship and now they’re going to go into space? I’m sorry I’ve suspended a metric fuck ton of disbelief for this show but this is just beyond the pale I have rolled my eyes so far back into my head that all I can see anymore is the back of my skull.

The tinderbox: I anticipated finding this to be stupid because I am BOOOOOOOOOOORED of war stories I have literally seen 50 of them in this show alone I’m done. And there was nothing new here. Like...was this not literally the situation in 2A when Lxa’s army was ranged outside Camp Jaha? And Clarke has to negotiate to make it work? I’m not saying plots can’t be re-worked and called back to but there’s a difference between ‘we’ve shown you a similar moral problem in the past, here’s a new twist, do you still feel the same way?” and “this is literally the exact same scenario, without nuance then and without nuance now, that you’ve already watched. Let’s spend a good 50% or more of the episode on it!”

From a story telling perspective this plot suffered from two major and related flaws: First, the tension was created using Riley, a character who anyone with two brain cells to rub together should know should absolutely not be given a gun and brought to a tete-a-tete with the Ice Nation. I mean that’s just good sense. At the very least, perhaps they might have learned from previous Jasper experiences that mentally scarred people shouldn’t be armed and then set in front of their former tormentors. (Not that I blame Jasper for the Unity Day thing just saying that he has multiple times proven himself a liability for reasons very similar to the ones creating today’s Riley situation so not only is it obvious it’s a lesson they have literally learned before.) And people even note this! Repeatedly! Like 2, 3 different characters are like ‘hmmm maybe we shouldn’t given Riley a gun….?” YOU THINK SO HUH? Anyway I’m having a lot of fun mocking this but it’s just hilarious to me that not only do they write in this gigantic plot hole they have multiple characters point it out louder for the people in the back.

Second, and on a related note, there were too many main characters at stake for me to ever believe the tinder box would be lighted. Kane AND Bellamy AND Monty, plus potentially Harper and Riley (already credited in another three eps btw) and Papa Miller? Um yeah that bloodbath isn’t happening, I don’t care how long you stretch out that Bellamy/Riley/Echo scene. The result of these two issues was that there was no dramatic tension and the whole thing fell flat.

On a more personal level, while I loved Bob’s acting in the aforementioned show down with Riley and Echo it was VERY obvious to me that the point of that scene was not Riley, or Echo, or Ice Nation, or developing a theme, or developing the plot, or literally anything at all other than yet again shaming Bellamy for the massacre. I mean my fucking God Monty and Harper are given dialogue that implies Monty wasn’t part of the Pike Kill Squad (I know he joined up post-massacre but he was a Pikist let’s not forget that) and yet here Literal Male Lead Bellamy is STILL FUCKING ATONING I mean I’m bored of this. If the audience hasn’t forgiven Bellamy now they never will. Stop beating the dead horse.

And on an even more personal level… I’m sorry, I don’t like Harper, she’s yet to show a personality and this episode managed to simultaneously include a metric fuck ton of shots of her and not develop that non-personality in the slightest. I don’t think it would be clear that she and Monty were “dating” from this episode alone but I’m sure it was supposed to deepen their relationship for the viewer, yet for me it just yet again made it quite obvious that there is nothing here. This is the Emperor’s New Pairing. Why do they like each other? Why do they care about each other? I saw a million shots of Harper looking worried about Monty but that could have been any delinquent at all (except…wait…THEY’RE ALL DEAD WHOOOPS). So I just felt like it was a lot of shallow fuckery that did nothing but remind me of my hatred of this pairing without doing anything alleviate that hatred. (I’m being really incoherent here but my point is I hate Monty/Harper and I’m never going to pass up a chance to say this.)

“Ain’t we a pair?” Hilarious, but if this were fan fiction, I’d say “that’s so OOC Roan would never say that.” AND LOOK IT’S CANON AND I’M GONNA SAY THE SAME THING. ...That’s so OOC Roan would never say that.

Also I never saw anything particularly amazing about L or her leadership and it’s a little ridic that Roan is praising her now but tbh the thing that bugged me the most about that dialogue was the way he was shaming Clarke for caring about her people? I mean it’s all well and good to say you’re “tired of taking sides” (coughBellamycough) but at the end of the day literally everyone would choose their loved ones over randos, let alone their former/current enemies I mean DUH. If you can only save a few people you’ll save yourself and your family. A slightly larger handful, yourself and your community. This is just the human response to a dire situation, not Clarke’s Grand Moral Failing. Also if you think for one second L wouldn’t have chosen her people first and foremost you didn’t watch 2x16 you’re crazy. Also also what is Roan doing right at that moment but planning to kick Clarke’s people out of their own home to save his people like way to be a huge hypocrite you asshat.

The Arkadia plot: By which I mean the Arakadia explosion. Only the destruction of Mt. Weather has saddened me more. I LOVED the Ark. That was (is, in the form of the still living people) my favorite society on this show. And I don’t just like the people I like the whole aesthetic of it and now it’s gone, all gone, and I’m just like…. Was that really necessary? The need to make Nightblood the only true viable solution already exists: only fifty Arkadians saved? Several major characters not on the save list? Please, they didn’t need to do an extended reign of destruction scene to make the other solution more important.

Besides destroying a set I motherfucking loved which I’m not going to lie is my main complaint here, it also just…like we’re almost halfway through the season? This was the midseason finale? And I just feel now like every episode so far has been a giant waste of time? Like literally what have they accomplished: the peace with Azgeda is (was?) broken; a whole episode was wasted on a trip to get a piece of machinery that was destroyed and would have been useless anyway; another episode was wasted on the main characters going on a mission to find a bunker that was useless; the result was that that plot was really the catalyst for the making of the list; which was allegedly destroyed in the next episode anyway and is AGAIN useless now post-explosion; this whole episode with the extended Roan/Clarke negotiation was important for literally .2 seconds, then it becomes...wait for it...useless too--almost everything that’s been done so far is UTTERLY WITHOUT POINT because of the Alpha Station explosion… I mean I know that filler is necessary sometimes. I would say, at a conservative estimate, that 1/3 of 2A was filler. But this just… I have real complaints about the narrative structure of this show; I think it is incredibly sloppy and so many things—little things that build up—make me REALLY question the ability of JRoth/the writers to construct a narrative in even the most basic sense. It’s very, very disorientating and dissatisfying to me.

I never liked Illian and now I’m like…lol bye get outta my face. I should have seen this coming when JRoth (?) said that the killing-his-family scene was included so as not to repeat the Bellamy massacre story line mistake, by making it more clear what the motivations for the character’s bad actions are. But here’s the thing. First, Bellamy is a lead and from the protagonist society so it’s a lot more important that his motivation be clear and viewer sympathies remain with him, than in the Illian situation. It’s not that every character has to be sympathetic. It’s that main characters who the audience is supposed to consistently identify with and root for over time have to behave in understandable ways and maintain sympathy even when they behave badly. (Again—do they not get basic concepts of narration?? A legitimate question because it kinda seems like no.) Second, I will NEVER EVER IN A MILLION YEARS put my sympathy with anyone being antagonistic to the protagonist society. Yet again, a basic middle-school-level English class concept here. If some fucker steps up and destroys the people I care about I’m not going to give a fuck about his sob story. (This is different from morally ambiguous villainous characters like Dante or love-to-hate-them villains.) Third, because I actually know how technology works and I also know the back story of how ALIE got out into society, I know that Illian is just fundamentally, objectively wrong when he says “Skaikru made me kill my family.” Lol nope you’re wrong they didn’t. I understand why you think that but you’re wrong. And on a related note, because the ALIE stuff was so inconsistent and poorly constructed, I’m not super sympathetic to any “this is the consequences of ALIE” story generally because I just want to forget that bullshit entirely. So yeah basically Illian is a villain I don’t need to see him redeemed, I don’t need to see him and O hook up. I don’t give a fuck about him.

Misc. complaints: NO MILLER. NO JAHA. NO JASPER. SAD.

[nerffighter]

             no you guys you guys                     you don’t understand how much this has been bugging me                          listen i haven’t caught up with legends yet bc i’m a laze so this is all prolly s1 au stuff but

                           okay so rip growing up hearing about the STAR Labs triumvirate - Crystal Frost ( I WILL HOLD ONTO THAT ALT. NAME TILL I DIE OKAY ), The Flash, and Vibe. and then okay so he’s training to be a Time Master and of course of course they’ve got a little more intel on the Trio’s heroics than the public does.

             they learn about what a danger Flash poses to the timeline, but how he’s proven to be relatively safe, so long as you try to avoid contact with him, you should be good. there’s a few extra timelines ( a term that most the time masters&co despise, but that’s not exactly the BEST image for describing such temporal anomalies, they’re more like time...sects... but whatever Flash, go ahead, coin ‘timeline’ ) but he seemed to understand that time isn’t something so blasé-ly messed with. plus he liked to leave fun easter eggs for future time travellers to recognize, which was both fun and helpful with which parts of history/future they should intervene with or not.

        Crystal Frost was a force to be reckoned with, like she didn’t have any temporal based powers, but there’s a theory floating around amongst cadets (do they do cadets? is that how the time master system works???? idk) but whatever there’s a theory roaming around that some time fuckery happened/will happen/is happening that makes her the source of all the weird comparisons between women and storms/snow/blizzards/etc. in literature and art across the world???? like who knows, maybe The Flash had something to do with it, god help them if it was anyone else. she’s just cool, that pun lives on forever, but she was just so versatile with her powers, she understood them down to a biological level, which is what made her so powerful. she’s a doctor first, her mind was her best weapon. ( also have you SEEN the security footage where she breATHES STEAM???? AND ALTERS THE WEATHER??? LIKE??? HOW RAD????? ) plus!!! she’s credited for a lot of the beginning medical studies of metahumans to help treat people with powers in the future!!!!!

             but then there’s Vibe. his powers are nebulous and dangerous and very versatile to top it all off. first and foremost, his most powerful weapon in his arsenal - his visions. like, forget the fact that he could manipulate the vibrations of the multiverse, pop onto any earth he wanted, could detect, control, and manipulate vibrational waves - which included various forms of radio and other long distance forms of communication, so god help you once’s he’s figured out how to do THAT ( not that he did that very often, he mostly liked to do vocal impersonations, there’s a few audio recordings of him doing it too ) - he could vibrate things down to the atomic level, heating and cooling objects at will, could fuCKING LEVITATE THANKS SOUND INTERFERENCE, or just straight up kill u on the spot by producing a sonic blast so loud it’d just straight up blow you up, vibrate to let objects pass through him, so nice try if you wanna shoot him - no. the most powerful power at his disposal, was his vibes. he had access to every single moment in any timeline on any earth. who knows? he could be watching us right now???? ( this became a bit of a joke among the cadets again, things would randomly fall over in their barracks/dorms/whatever and they just throw their hands up and ‘thaNKS VIBE’. (( one of them was SURE that a few of her pillows fell off her bed, and when she’d inevitably ‘THANKS VIBE’ but was too tired to grab them, that they had somehow ended up back on her bed when she turned back around. but there’s no real way to prove if this was an actual Vibe-Sighting or not.)) the head officers and other Time Masters are not amused. ) yet somehow history manages to muddle up cisco’s personality, if only because Vibe wasn’t exactly the most consistent of heroes. he’d constantly undersell himself during interviews, jokingly of course, ( to no one’s surprise, a lot of Vibe’s interview footage didn’t really make it, he was about impossible to catch on camera, most reliable interviews were the ones penned by Central City Picture News, the largest of these conducted by one Iris West-Allen ) but then interviews with both Flash and Frost would sing his praises. some of his jokes during battle - recorded on various forms of social media and archived of course - would sometimes come off a bit morbid, or make references to pop culture that was lost to time and made 0 contextual sense in the future.

                         so students in the Time Master program just sorta - vaguely terrified of an accidental meeting with Vibe, the man with a slightly morbid, self deprecating humor, with god-like powers and could literally see any point in time there ever was or ever will be. but of course, the chances of meeting this temporal giant is slim to none. the multiverse was infinite, after all.

          WRONG, for one Rip Hunter. so he’s making a cautious trip to 2026 in Central City for something or another, and ugh, having to deal with these hooligans is giving him a migraine, what’s a healthy way to deal with migraines? coffee of course. so he’s in line in jitters totally dressed for the times for once, and he’s waiting PATIENTLY goddamn it, and someone cuts him in line, and he scowls and just ‘excuse m e’, and the person turns around, and who is it but one cisco ramon, with a candy cane ( it’s near christmas ) in his mouth and wearing a t-shirt that looks like the sights from the x-wings in star wars, ( 33 and still wearing shit like this, i hate my son so much ) and rip just squints at him, because excuse you young sir, i’m waiting in line, and cisco nearly chokes on his candy and lauGHS???? ‘j e s u s, Rip, you freaked me out!’ and suddenly Rip is on edge j ust  ‘have... we met before????’ and hand hovering near his cowboy styled photon revolver, whatever the hell that thing is, and cisco just makes a pump the breaks motion and ‘woah there cowboy, chill out you’re gonna freak people out. listen i’ll grab u ur fav and just -’ he places a hand on rip’s arm and suddenly freezes, and rip is suddenly aw a r e of how awkward this is, he’s just standing there, is he okay??? ( there’s a teeny part of his brain throwing up alarms, but he’s not 100% sure he believes it yet ) and cisco suddenly snaps out of it and there’s a craZY ASS GRIN ON HIS FACE AND ‘dios mio, THIS is it? this is you meeting me for the first time?’ rip is still ???????

                   and cisco has to make his order, and he surprisingly makes rip’s order perfectly, pays, and waves off rip’s weird mixture of gratitude, suspicion, and fear. they sit down. cisco sets down their drinks and ‘man, i thought it’d be cool, like the ship would just appear at S.T.A.R. or something and some temporal whatevers would just appear and we’d have to help you guys out. nope. it’s coffee.’ and rip slowly wraps his hands around his order and ‘listen, it’s obvious you know me, could you skip to the part where you introduce yourself?’ and rip is dreading all of this, this was supposed to be a simple in and out trip, and now he’s tied here because people KNOW him, that never ends well, especially in CENTRAL CITY, and the other guy smiles, drops his chin into his hands, elbows on the table. ‘i’m cisco ramon.’

               rip is thrown for a loop at first, but isn’t exactly shocked, cisco ramon is credited throughout history as a remarkable scientist, he’s made the impossible reality, honestly, there’s theories he was a time traveller himself among some of the skeptics. ( there’s a LOT of discussion about the ethics of such a theory in the scientific community. some people say that that theory was rooted entirely in the racist assumption that someone of his ethnicity and age couldn’t possibly create the things he did. some people cite that none of the practical and resourceful studies of the science that mr. ramon (( he should be dr. ramon, but in interviews, ramon always stoutly refused such a title. that honor goes to his best friend, dr. snow, another doctor that specialized in metahuman medicine, much like crystal frost. there’s a lot of theories surrounding their relationship as well. )) had pulled off weren’t to be properly studied and perfected till much later dates. ) honestly rip is surprised he didn’t recognize mr. ramon himself, but all the picture he’s seen of the man show cased a much elderly version of the man, full of wrinkles and wearing a coat and a silly patterned button up. but his smile was still the same. but then, mr. ramon leans in, that exact smile lighting up his face and eyes squinting with the force of his emotion and just. ‘and vibe.’

                        rip scoffs, lifts his coffee to his lips.

             ‘yeah. and i’m saint mary.’                   ‘no, i’m saint mary.’ parrots ramon back at him, in rip’s voice.

                           rip takes a spit take for the first time in his whole life.