#this is. in fact. yet another example of li altering the timeline

[discordiansamba]

really funny to think that no matter the AU, it's the exact same cast performing the exact same characters in The Boy in the Iceberg. just like the Gaang is fated to save they world, they're fated to play them in a terrible adaption of their adventures.

[blueteller]

The Issue of TBOAH's Narration – was it wrong??

As those who finished reading TCF Part 1 know (spoiler alert); Cale Henituse got his knowledge about the world he got transmigrated into from a series of books called "The Birth of a Hero", by "Nelan Barrow" – aka. Choi Jung Gun, Choi Han's uncle.

CJG wrote them as a "guide" for Choi Jung Soo, Kim Rok Soo's friend, who was originally supposed to be the one transported into that world to help Choi Han defeat the White Star. Plans changed, however, when he and Lee Soo Hyuk altered fate and saved KRS's life, at the cost of their own. So KRS-turned-Cale took CJS's place and the TBOAH series served as a guide for him, instead.

There are still many questions unanswered about this whole thing. For example: how did CJG know all the things he did? The novel was supposedly from TBOAH!Choi Han's point of view, and yet, it had some inexplicable details… like how to earn the Indestructible Shield (which supposedly was never gotten by anyone), or Harol Kodiang parentage – why mention such a thing at all? Was Harol somehow important in the TBOAH verse later on?

Or another example: why didn't the books mention the White Star at all? Surely, if past-volume-5 Choi Han's knowledge was given to CJG to write about, shouldn't he first and foremost explain to CJS who the Final Boss is and how to defeat him??

Or another: why was it so important for CJG to tell his grand-nephew just how pretty the Whale People are???

So many unanswered questions!!

Today, however, I will be focusing on topic of them in particular:

Was TBOAH's narration actually, 100% correct?

Here's the thing: I was re-reading one of my favorite fanfics recently, "In an Instant" by Messy_haired_bum on AO3. I got to the chapter where a certain part of TBOAH came up – namely, "the Last Survivor of the Wolf Tribe", the Wolf King Lock. The characters in the fic discuss a particular problem with that title: Lock wasn't the last Wolf.

Or, well, he wasn't supposed to be.

Arm's goal in attacking the Wolf Tribes wasn't exterminating them at all – it was abduction of their children. Lock's siblings, by all account, should have gotten kidnapped in TBOAH verse, not assassinated. It is important, because later on the races "abandoned by the gods" – like the Wolf Tribe, Vampires and Dark Elves – were meant to be used as sacrifices to the God of Despair, to summon the 8 Unranked Monsters from the demonic statues in Endable, as well as the Temple of the Sealed God in Puzzle City. Lock was part of the team who managed to rescue some of the abducted Wolves, himself.

The problem is this: did the TBOAH!Lock not know about the abduction somehow, only assuming he was the last one when that wasn't the case… or was the TBOAH's narration wrong, for some reason?

The characters in the fic are torn on the issue – neither argument supported by the omniscient narration (which was a clever move on the author, that's why the writing's so great in this) – and the two Locks despise each other: TBOAH!Lock believes his counterpart to be weak, while TCF!Lock thinks the other him was blind and failed to notice his siblings getting abducted.

However, there is a third option. Which is a theory I've had for a long time.

I do not believe that CJG's writing could actually be 100% correct – especially where it comes to subjective stuff, such as beauty or people's personal beliefs. He clearly has some idea of his character's motivations and personalities, and yet he had no idea about OG Cale throwing his reputation for the sake of his step-brother Basen.

On the other hand… I think CJG got his objective facts right, such as the order of events. Even if the timeline wasn't explained to Cale as clearly as he would have wished – causing him to encounter the Whales in the Ubarr Territory, despite visiting the shore way earlier than the events of TBOAH's volume 5… Still, CJG never wrote any lies. Sure, TBOAH!Lock believed to himself to be the last member of the Wolf Tribe when that clearly wasn't the case. However, I think the attack on his village could have been a complete assassination after all.

How, do you answer? One word: Redika.

Redika was the one who attacked Lock's Wolf Village in both TBOAH and TCF, but his actions could have been different in the two timelines. Why...?

...Because of Raon, of course.

Think about it: Cale's actions caused massive differences from the very beginning. From Choi Han's relationships, to the survival of the nameless village where Raon was being tortured at. However, most people forget that there was an important link between Raon and Redika. Redika was the one who sold the Black Dragon Egg to Marquis Stan – and the thing is? He wasn't supposed to do it!

No, in fact, the Black Dragon going on a rampage and dying at Choi Han's hands? It probably gave Redika a lot of trouble! Because he was never supposed to sell that egg!! It never should have been in his posession at all!!!

The Dragon-Half Blood, which was presumably Redika's teacher in magic, gave him the Black Egg in secret in order to "dispose of it" – aka. protect it. Redika agreed, then double-crossed him by selling it to a random low-ranked Arm member (because let's be honest, the Stans couldn't have been high in that hierarchy) for some BIG CASH. Everything went down well under the table of course, so he was pretty confident there would be no bad consequences for him.

...Except, he Dragon escaping and revealing himself in such a public way?? No way he could have covered it up! Redika was probably sweating bullets when he found out! If someone connected the dots about him being involved… oh boy. If the Dragon Half-Blood heard about it, Redika would be good as dead. If the White Star heard about it… he'd be worse than dead.

And I bet the news reached him juuust around the time he got the mission to abduct some Wolf Tribe children. What would a psychopath do in such a stressful situation?

Why, murder a bunch of children, of course!

It makes 100% sense. Maybe Redika didn't kill all the children in TBOAH – maybe it was just some of them. But it was enough to make Lock and others convinced that Arm's goal was assassination. Redika went on a rampage to let off some steam, and probably killed more of the "seeds" than he should have on this mission. He'd probably get even more in trouble because of that, but hey – YOLO, am I right?? 😂

I mean c'mon, it's not like Redika was a particularly restrained guy.

Of course, there were other factors: such as Choi Han and Rosalyn arriving earlier than in TBOAH, thus saving more lives. But I'm pretty sure that Redika's actions were different in TBOAH, as well. There's no way he would be unaffected when he about the Black Dragon escaping in TBOAH. The butterfly effect in TCF is super strong. If tiny differences like Choi Han not beating up Cale resulted in his actions being different, why wouldn't the same apply to other characters? We all know the moment Cale transmigrated, the whole thing went of the rails.

Basically: I think CJG was right in TBOAH, mostly. Except Cale's actions caused such huge waves of changes, the situation changed drastically. Lock believed to be the last of his kind because for all he knew, that was the case. But the attack on his village probably went differently in TBOAH from the start, not just because of Choi Han and Rosalyn.

[bouvillea]

G25 Part 2 Essay, Very Dense

There is very little I will say as a preamble besides that Part 2 was a very powerful conclusion to an extremely climatic arc. That being said, spoilers below and my Part 1 essay can be found here.

I will start by saying that although I am quite satisfied with this ending I wish things could have ended differently. This is the first time we were given antagonists who were actual individuals we had to overcome. And in doing so, we were faced with people who had powerful reasons and motivations to sacrifice for. That is something I will come back to later so—

In a broad overview of the plot of Part 2, we were given an uplifting reunion with Talvish, who claims that his decisions and choices were made with the Milletian’s best interests in mind. And it’s nice* to work together after so long, to finally have him fulfill the promise of being with the Milletian at the very end. There is a sweet moment where the roles are reversed and the Milletian asks him if he is alright. Instead of being asked to trust him, he wholeheartedly puts his trust in the Milletian.

*if you know me even just a little, you know I simp hard for this man and let me tell you I went from “I will be the first one to punch him” to “please don’t go” in a matter of minutes

And then, when everything is rewound and the Milletian is able to protect their friends and prevent the worst possible ending, all the Good Guys have a Good Time. This is of course, glossing over the fact that Deirbhile sacrificed herself, Tani dying with a finality that Milletians shouldn’t have, Piran falling apart, Treasure Hunter breaking down, and Marleid conflicted over what to do with her extremely Problematic Childhood Friend.

We still got to have a good time! We got to revel with our friends! Speak with everyone and catch up and talk and chat and eat and—

It was nice but I am very bitter because those good times only emphasized how different it ended for Cethlenn and Vayne.

If Part 1 was about trauma, Part 2 was about breaking out of predestiny and walking a different path that was set before you. This comes quite literally when Talvish appears and rewinds time* to save the Milletian from the future he saw. He (and later, Hymerark) reveals to us something that touches the fourth wall:

*not sure why I was so surprised that he could manipulate time in such a way when the Milletian’s first meeting with him was through time. Maybe I just thought it was through the Milletian’s powers that they managed to communicate but clearly Talvish’s powers were doing something.         Oh dang it makes sense why he isolated himself in a desert for centuries now…because he can’t affect time that he has been personally involved in

The ability to redo main storyline missions when we fail them is quite literally the Milletian, breaking the flow of time to try again until we succeed. Due to the nature of altering timelines, those uninvolved with the messing of time don’t remember all the previous attempts. Later, it is revealed that all our redoes and failures have a negative impact on Erinn; it increases the entropy in the world as different realities are created and then stopped. Tani is a result of that.

It is further revealed that Vayne⁠—or I should say now, Beimnech, is a singularity who experiences all these timelines and realities. He must return to Mag Tuireadh whenever the flow of time breaks because it is the role he has been forced into by Hymerark. He is the counterpoint for Talvish. The two are diametrically opposed, canonical foils with mirroring ideals and views of the world. Beimnech mentions during Eternal Dreams that he has seen Milletians fail to convince Talvish* to change his mind about the world, or fail to garner enough faith in their friends. In the current timeline, Talvish is enlightened by the Milletian and so takes control of his fate and chooses to rewind time instead of having it cut off and restart.

*It is implied that Talvish also experiences the different timelines over and over again, but he forgets it the moment the timeline is replaced with a new one. Alternatively, Beimnech is also taken out of time and space whenever the flow is broken, so the cycles are even more unbearable because he is forced to witness them as an outsider.

Beimnech did not have the liberty of meeting the Milletian before he met Hymerark. Unlike Talvish, he could not surround himself with equal companions and could not hope for a life where he was not just fulfilling a role to balance the world. The only way he could have some control over his own fate as cycles repeated over and over again was to orchestrate his own death*. He remarked before in G24 that had he and the Milletian walked different paths, they could have been friends and not enemies. Both he and Talvish see the Milletian as a savior—as a guiding, bright light. But while Talvish burned alongside the Milletian, Beimnech burned out like dying embers** or a shadow too weak to hold up against illumination.

*maybe it’s selfish, but who can blame him when he only has himself? I seethe with the unfairness of characters that have no choice but to be the “darkness” to contrast the “light”. The “what could have been if things were different” hurts as do the inability to break free from what was laid out. I seethe, but that means the story is doing as intended and I am by no means criticizing, just empathizing (I’d highkey write something like this ngl I am a ball of angst).

**the refrain that plays when the Milletian is prompted to deal the final blow to Beimnech is called The Last of the Heat Fades/Residual Heat Fades Away.

Beimnech’s disappointment in the Milletian in Part 1 is suddenly very understandable. He had pinned all his hopes in one person and he knew they were going to fail. We even saw him return to end the Corrupted Milletian in the future that we never got to witness. He did for the Milletian what he hoped they would do to him*. And then for once, to have time rewind instead of abruptly ending? I can’t imagine…

*I chose to not stab him. Apparently that gives you more of his backstory. Regardless of the decision, when he tells you he lies for the first and last time about his death…

Something can be said about Cethlenn, too, who was “emptied out” by Fodla. His current name, Cethlenn, was given to him by Beimnech, which honestly if you know your myth and lore spawns so much food for thought*. Speaking to Cethlenn in Tech Duinn on Saturdays reveals that Beimnech gave him that name because he always wanted a right-hand man with that name. Whatever that implies to the nature of their relationship… If you have the time, please, please speak to him with all the keywords at your disposal. It’s worth it.

*another food for thought includes Sera being the one to help Piran escape and Beimnech noticing that. Beimnech being Super Old and Super Tired with so much bottled up Memories and Experience like the opposite of Talvish With a Purpose okay one day I will actually write a whole essay about their foils⁠—

Ultimately, Cethlenn is given the choice to be the watcher in the mists of Feth Fiada. He acknowledges his crimes* and so he refuses to exit (except on Samhain aka Saturday). He is openly antagonistic towards everyone except Marleid, which is understandable. He thinks he has tied Marleid down. Further conversations with him in Tech Duinn reveal that he’s pugnacious and as eager as Vayne once was to spar with the Milletian. He’s also very easy to bully. He implies that in the future, he may recover the powers he lost in his deal with Hymerark and will use those powers for the greater good so…more Cethlenn content in the future? Hopefully?

*what worried me the most at the end of G24 was that I could not see how he or Vayne could be redeemed. I would scoop them up in a heartbeat. But could my Milletian? Could the people of Erinn? Obviously not.

I know I brought up the concept of escaping predestiny and then dropped it like a hot potato so I’ll do some quick rundowns now of other examples. Enya realizing that she can have a life beyond just staying in her sanctum and caring for the Holy Flame, Piran gathering the courage to recognize his own existence is worth something,  Hymerark* realizing that there is no reason to continue to mess around with people and she can just observe. I’ve rewatched the conversation the Milletian has with Hymerark after the battle and I don’t even know where to start…Talvish remarked that she’s the closest in resemblance to Aton Cimeni’s will since she balances both freedom and chaos. Maybe these higher gods were never meant to have sentience or conscience because the moment they do, they make decisions and bam the whole world is a mess.

*the Milletian seem to do this to all the gods, huh?

My current understanding of things is that the Evil God Balor was created by Aton Cimeni as a counterpoint for Talvish, who is the Guardian, the sentinel of Erinn. Why? For Balance of course. But you can’t just create someone to be evil. Somewhere in between, Aton Cimeni stops answering and while Talvish plots machinations for the future he saw, Balor’s disdain for his role grows and eventually beefs it in a fight with Lugh at the battle of Mag Tuireadh. His body is dead, but his spirit remains, picked up by Hymerark to be the…plug stopping Noitar Arat. I imagine Hymerark also faced the same struggle that Talvish did of attempting to carry out duties imparted on them by their creator but yet new to independence and the weight of their responsibilities that now fell on their shoulders. Hymerark expresses her faint indecision of hearing the wishes of everyone. There will always be conflict in decisions.

Meanwhile, Talvish realizes that the balance has shifted in the absence of the Evil God Balor and so the events of G21 happen, where he attempts to recreate the balance with his own hands and summon something to replace Balor. While this fails, Hymerark tries to do the same again by corrupting the Milletian and making them the final obstacle to correct the unending cycle that, frankly, started because of her.

In G25 Part 1, Vayne mentions that Aton Cimeni will always have a solution. I suppose in this case, he was talking about how even if he were to disappear completely, someone will always take his place. Just like how Triona’s role was passed on to Millia, a new darkness grows. Not without repercussion, of course. Something is coming and that’s for G26.

In the final confrontation with Beimnech, he offers the Milletian a choice to either kill him now and escape, or perish together with him in the rift. He mentions that in the end, we are all forgotten anyway. I don’t think that is the case. The Milletian lives and the memories of everyone they’ve fought with lives with them. That is their burden. Not everyone can walk a righteous path. Sometimes, desperate individuals seek the wrong help and I like to think that the Milletian recognizes that it isn’t just black and white, and that they are fortunate to have found the right people. Things are just going to get rougher for the Milletian because they’re also a guardian of Erinn, which begs the question: who is the counterpoint for the Milletian? Does one even exist? Does there need to be one?

Instead of ending on such a gloom and doom note, I’ll go full circle and talk about Llywelyn again and his mentions of a sibling again? And also tea time?? 10/10 would fake date Llywelyn just for the court gossip. (LF > political intrigue comic ft. Milletian and Llywelyn dating like it’s 17th century France) Also Llywelyn being the next captain of the Elved Squad?? Tried to imagine him in Talvish’s armor and as I type this I realize they won’t do something stupid like that they’ll just change the emblem on his armor. Alright I think that’s it I’m hitting 2.3k words so—

Oh right something something the Aces go off somewhere again just as Hunter was going to say something…can we get a base for them please? So we can just visit them? So they don’t just pop in and out of the Milletian’s life? Thanks.

I’m about to get super sappy so readers, feel free to skip all of this. I’ve been playing mabi for about 11 years at this point and it has been a long ride. I didn’t start writing these rants and essays until G21 and I also started drawing in earnest about mabi around the same time with comics and fanart. I don’t participate much in the community as a whole because I am an anxiously overthinking person. It’s no surprise that I found comfort characters in mabi and so I return here again and again (not that I’ve ever really left). We’re getting a new game director after G25 and I am extremely grateful for all he has done for the game. And in the same vein, I’m thankful to all of you reading this. There’s no point in creating content when there is no audience, especially when I am as reclusive as I am. So, to my new readers: thanks for coming along. And to my old fans: thanks for sticking around. Until the next chapter!

[geraltcirilla]

Exploring Karen’s Past

In this post I’m going to be going over things we know about Karen from details dropped in Daredevil canon, looking at what cast have said about her past, and her comic origins to hypothesize where the show might be going with her.

This will be under a cut because it gets quite long.

All the things we know about Karen so far in the MCU canon:

She was from a small town of Fagan Corners, Vermont that had around 400 people. (2x05)

Her parents are Penelope and Paxton Page.

She was on the basketball team in high school. (1x07)

Her brother Kevin Page died in a motor vehicle accident at the age of sixteen. According to the news article: At about 1:40 pm, Kevin Page was driving his car. While heading east on Vermont Route 12 from the hill Road exit ramp off Interstate 89 Page veered off the roadway into a chain-linked fence. The responding medical services sent his body to Windler Medical Center where he was pronounced dead on arrival. It took some time before the state police was able to resolve the investigation of the incident. The article was titled “Mystery Accident Causes Teen Fatality”. (2x09)

Karen says her brother wasn’t good and tying ties so she used to do it for him. When asked what he was like by Matt she said "Uh, he's sweet. He's a good brother.” (2x04)

When Wesley asks her if she loves New York she replies “I haven’t been here long enough.” (1x11)

She appears to have no friends or relationships outside of Matt and Foggy. She does not appear to be in contact with her family.

"Do you really think this is the first time I've shot someone?" Karen to Wesley (1x11)

When discussing her past with Ben and the information he uncovered on her: "Stories like this are built on sources, Miss Page. Credible sources. I did some digging into your, uh past activities.” (1x04) / "And who'll believe me when they start digging? When they find what you found when you were looking into me." (1x12) / “Look, Ben didn't care, and I don't, either." (2x09) / “Although, you know, why you'd wanna see good in the man who pulls the trigger is beyond me.” (2x10)

Things cast have said regarding Karen’s past:

Deborah Ann Woll noted that Page's backstory would be different than the one from the comics. source

"There’s something that happened in Karen’s past — we allude to it, Ben alludes to it — and when she grabs the gun she says, “You think this is the first time I’ve ever shot somebody?” That's a secret from her past that she doesn’t want anyone to know. The fact that she shot him once, you can explain that as self-defense; but then she pretty much unloaded the gun into him. That crosses a bit of a line. The last thing she would want is for those two to be horrified by what she’s done." -- Steven Deknight, showrunner of Daredevil season 1. source

Karen’s story in the comics:

Her family was well-off.

She graduated with a 3.8 GPA from the University of Vermont.

Her father became the super villain Death’s Head, who fought Daredevil and ultimately died saving Karen’s life.

She begins making pornographic movies while hooked on heroine.

She is ultimately killed by Bullseye.

MCU vs Comics

Karen does not have a brother in the comics.

In high school Karen was on the cheer squad in the comics but the basketball team in the MCU.

Where in the MCU she has a dark past, in the comics she has an innocent past but a grim and ultimately tragic future.

In both the MCU and comics Karen’s relationship with Matt dissolves after he reveals his identity as Daredevil.

In MCU Karen leaves Nelson & Murdock to become a journalist, in the comics she leaves Nelson & Murdock to become a film actress.

In the comics: Karen grabbed Bullseye's gun and threatened to kill him, but Bullseye was not scared because he knew his gun was not loaded. / In Marvel’s Daredevil: Karen grabbed Wesley’s gun, who claimed he wouldn’t have left a loaded gun on the table within arms reach of Karen She shoots him and it turns out the gun was loaded, and he dies.

Things the MCU has not confirmed yet:

The age difference between Karen and her brother Kevin.

When Karen moved to New York from Vermont.

Breakdown

Although it was confirmed Karen’s story will be different in the show versus in the comics, we can assume writers will take inspiration from the comics and borrow some ideas. Throughout Daredevil, Defenders and Punisher we have seen that the writers don’t ignore the comics, they simply take inspiration and let the character grow from there. So I don’t think it’s wise to entirely disregard the comics in our own theories. We can use them as a starting point and go from there.

For example, we can assume Karen and Wilson Fisk will have a confrontation in Daredevil season 3. If Wilson finds out Karen killed Wesley he’ll likely want revenge, and might hire Bullseye to kill her. The show won’t actually kill her like the comics do but I can see them psyching us out to think she was going to die and severely injuring her in the process. In this way they are both faithful to the comics but have created their own unique story, which is really what the MCU is all about.

We can use the same logic and apply it to her past. Take a little bit of the comics, use the knowledge we have from the show, add a bit of reasoning and you can piece together what might have happened.

A common theory I’ve seen is that Karen killed her brother, whether intentionally or unintentionally, from what she had told Wesley about shooting a man and what we know about Kevin being dead. This is unlikely as her brother died in a car accident. But that doesn’t mean Karen hasn’t shot someone before. The wrong thing to do is assume every time Karen discusses her past, she is talking about the same singular traumatic event. I believe multiple things happened to Karen and her brother’s death was the instigation of it all.

Hypothesis of Karen’s timeline

We can start by assuming Karen had a normal happy childhood with her upper class wealthy family (starting where the comics did). She was close with her brother, close enough to tie his ties for him. (We can assume they were close in age due to this, but more on that later.) She was on the high school basketball team and she was a “mean three-point shooter”. Then her brother dies in a MVA at the age of 16. This is the beginning of Karen’s downward spiral.

The circumstances surrounding the death of described as “mysterious” in the news article. At the time the article was written the death was still unsolved, which is strange considering it was a single car crash into a chain-link fence, what’s there to be confused about? How is that so hard to piece together? Ultimately the police were probably puzzled as to how the car crashed in the first place if no one else was involved. Car accidents usually involve two people unless the one person is altered level of consciousness from drugs or alcohol and simply drove themself into a wall. But we can assume Kevin’s blood work was clean because if this was the case the death would not be mysterious, the investigation would not have taken so long to wrap up, and the title of the article would be “Intoxicated Teen in Tragic Accident”.

Everything surrounding Kevin’s death is strange but we can assume Karen had nothing to do with it. A) She’s only a teenager herself at the time, B) The news article does not mention a sister or another person involved in the crach, and C) Karen is presumably incredibly close with her brother, so close that to this day he is still a sore subject for her (despite several years having gone by since then). She cries when she sees his news article and lies to Matt that he is alive by using present-tense when describing him. But if Kevin’s death was strange and Karen wasn’t involved, who was and what happened?

This is where I introduce Karen’s father, who we know nothing about in the show: Paxton Page. In the comics he is the villain Death’s Head. Brief run-down: He was a scientist who created the cobalt bomb, refused to sell it to the US government, was branded a traitor, continued to work on it in secret, went insane because of the radiation, developed superpowers and fought Daredevil, and died saving Karen from a molten cobalt spill. Remember, to figure out what the MCU’s truth is you take what the comics give you and you adjust it to the universe of Daredevil. So let’s assume in Daredevil Paxton is still a villain, just not insane and super-powered from radiation. A villain more suited for the “real world” of the MCU. Paxton would be evil in the Fisk or Wesley sort of sense: manipulative, self-serving, megalomaniac. And let’s say he is a scientist and is working on weapons for the government (or a private contractor) (which is why he is wealthy). He’s evil not because because he can project fireballs, but because he doesn’t care who his weapons hurt as long as he is paid. If Karen’s father is a villain or shady we can probably connect Kevin’s death to him. Either Paxton was directly responsible for Kevin’s death because Kevin found out what his father was doing and was going to rat on him, or the government/private contractor Paxton was working for killed him as revenge for Paxton not sharing his “new weapon” with them (the cobalt bomb, or in the show something different.)

Moving on. So what happens to Karen after Kevin’s death? I believe Karen took Kevin’s death harder than anyone in her family because of the tiny hints we are given throughout seasons 1 and 2 of Daredevil to how close they were. (She said she tied his ties for him as kids and she is still raw over his death years later as she A) weeps at seeing the news article of his death and B) inadvertently lies to Matt that he is still alive by describing him as “sweet” and a “good brother” in present-tense.) When siblings are close it’s usually because they are close in age, so I think it’s fair to assume Karen and Kevin are either Fraternal or Irish twins. 

This is where I go back and reference Karen’s darkest history in the comics: the heroine addiction and pornography. I think the writers will dabble with this a bit, but not to the extremes of the comics. Karen’s downward spiral in the comics comes after she moves to LA to pursue a career in acting, which happens in her future. Like I said before in the show, the darkest part of Karen’s life happened in the past. If acting wasn’t the instigation it was no doubt the death of her brother. This especially makes sense because the brother didn’t even exist in the comics, so he was invented specifically for the show and specifically to be a key piece of Karen’s dark and mysterious past.

So her brother dies, right? And she’s devastated, her whole world is over, and she is just 16 herself. What happens when 16 year olds think their life is over? They act out. Drugs, drinking, partying, etc. (We know Karen can hold her liquor from Daredevil.) She’s probably going to try and escape from her realty through drugs, but not something hard like heroine from the comics. Something a teenager could get at a party like ecstasy or other pills. (Once again taking an idea from the comics and watering it down with a spin that would fit in the current verse the writers are working in.) And what happens when a teenage girl is getting fucked up at a party without anyone looking after her? Boys are going to try and prey on her. It would be so easy for teenage Karen to find herself in a situation where someone is trying to hurt her or rape her because she is vulnerable. But we all know Karen will do whatever it takes to protect herself. Cue her shooting some fuckboy to death after he tries to attack her. This is her killing a person in her past without making her a murderer (which would be inconsistent with her characterization).

Ben and Karen had discussed twice in season one how her past made her an unreliable witness to Fisk’s crimes. So it’s something you can easily find doing a background check but nothing so illegal it would get her into trouble. Just hurt her reputation. But it’s also something neither Ben nor Ellison care about, so likely something they can sympathize with. I think a rich little party girl drunk as shit killing someone in self defense as right about fits that narrative, doesn’t it? Hell, add in Karen having been suicidal at the time (Ingredients: just lost an immediate family member + only a child + probably a drug and alcohol problem = recipe for suicidal ideation) or even attempting suicide and all her credibility as a witness goes out the window. It’s not right or fair but it’s how the world treats depressed people--they aren’t trustworthy or reliable. And you can bet your ass Fisk would’ve spun the hell out of this story if she took a swing at him on her own.

This is not necessarily saying that’s exactly what happened and why she shot someone, but I’m pretty confident her brother’s death and the possible shooting are not related and are in fact two separate incidences. I’m also pretty sure whoever Karen shot, it was done in self defense.

So if all of this stuff had happened to Karen (hypohetically) it would make sense why she would leave Vermont and move to New York to reinvent herself. She’s running away from her past.

Conclusion

That’s about all that I got at the moment. I just wanted to introduce some ideas I thought people could mull over that they hadn’t been thinking about before when it comes to Karen. 

Her father is a villain in the comics.

Her “killing” someone in her past is a different incident than her brother’s death.

That multiple events could have happened to her in succession rather than one single event.

Her brother’s death is the instigation to the chain of events that has her leave Vermont and cut off ties with her parents.

[balancednotclean-blog]

The Importance of Perspective When Changing Habits

Binge eating is a habit I have formed that I am in the process of breaking.

It is something I tend to fall back on after certain thought patterns start to set in motion without me disrupting them. I am a true believer in that actions are preceded by thoughts, so there is an intermediary step – processing of said thoughts – that offers itself as a window of opportunity to intercept ourselves before unhelpful behaviours are set in motion.

However, one thing I have noticed over the past YEAR of trying to break this habit is that my perspective ultimately shapes the time that window of opportunity is present. Sometimes, I have hopped, skipped and jumped from thoughts to actions so quickly that I fool myself into thinking that binge eating is ‘inevitable’, when in fact, the process was just hurried, rushed and coming from an unhelpful perspective.

This perspective, unsurprisingly enough, tends to be a negative one. For example, this morning, I had convinced myself that I had ‘utterly failed’ yesterday because I had eaten more than I had planned. I began scheming ways to ‘make up’ for this perceived failure. Guess what? I ended up binging far worse than anything that had occurred yesterday or would have occurred had I just gotten over it.

I had convinced myself that I had completely turned 180 degrees and started walking right back to the ‘start’ (wherever that point may have truly been), and erased progress. This is characteristic of the absolutist thinking (seeing things as black and white rather than shades of grey) that can plague a disordered mind. 

It would have been a far more positive, and far more realistic, perspective to observe how I had instead been wandering slightly off course, and then promptly resume my conquest towards healthier habits. Yersterday’s behaviours did not send me backwards, even though they were not directly aimed at where I want to be. Ultimately, though, I only go backwards and ‘erase’ my progress if I “pack up and go home,” – that is, if I decide to give up.

So what’s this got to do with behaviour change in the longer term? Well, by getting myself in that negative mindset – thinking that I had gone backwards, and thus had ‘distance to make up’, I became desperate. There is a clear distinction between desperation and determination in that desperation is like trying to sprint the whole of a marathon, whereas determination realises the need for consistent pacing to prevent burnout.

I binged again because I tried to make up for the past. Now, unless Doctor Who is real and I can hop in a Tardis and alter my timeline, I can’t ever go back and erase what I’ve already done. That is one of the biggest, cruellest lies that an eating disorder can bring upon you – the promise that you can “make up,” for the past by controlling the present.

We cannot. We never can. No matter how many times our mind tries to promise us that this time we will be able to fix it – we never will be able to change the past.

By obsessing over trying to remove the past, we are undermining the responsibility we need to take for the events that unfolded to begin with. We also undermine our sense of empowerment, as we see every mistake as ‘recoverable’ or ‘compensable’ in some way.

This keeps us in a disordered cycle. We do a disordered thing. We try to make up for said disordered thing. The consequences or mental toll of trying to make up for the disordered action leads us to performing it again. And again. And again. With this, our self-esteem plummets, our health plummets, our hope plummets and our sense of self efficacy plummets. As a result? We become more and more engrained and more and more reliant upon this sense of identity that an eating disorder seems to promise us. Every time we see a ‘slip’ as a complete reversal of our recovery efforts as a failure, the eating disorder gets one step closer to regaining full control.

This does not mean that we have nothing to learn from the past. It would be entirely wrong to suggest that the past is of no use. Crucially, though, we must realise that the past can only serve us as a means for how to change our behaviour in the present and future – and not that it offers a flawed attempt of reconciling past behaviours by obsessing in the present.

Fighting fire with fire – in this case, fighting disorder with coping mechanisms or yet more disorder – perpetuates a vicious circle.

Even if you are not quite ready to ‘forgive’ or even ‘forget’ and ‘love yourself’ like is preached so much on every single wellness blog known to man, realise this: The past is gone. It is gone. It cannot be changed. There may be uncomfortable consequences from the past that affect your present life, but keeping our perspective as one staring backwards means we lose all foresight and intuition for the present.

A realistic perspective widens that window of opportunity to intercept thoughts that precede disordered actions. A realistic perspective slows the process down and encourages us to think, challenge the thoughts, and then decide a means of action.

Solely past-focussed perspectives won’t make now better. Mistakes were made in the past, with that past mindset. Sticking our minds back in that frame of mind and action is therefore going to increase the likelihood of the action happening again.

Regret is a powerful emotion. It can make us want to dig deep and claw at something to create change to release it. Really, though, the best way is to work towards what we can change – the future. Bit by bit. Because even if that future contains things we regret, the healthiest thing we can do is work towards a state where those events are minimised.

Breathe in slowly through your nose for five seconds. Hold it for a further five seconds. Release the breath from your mouth over five seconds, and hold that no-breath state for another five seconds. Repeat this three times.

Think of one thing you can do for a healthier tomorrow, regardless of past actions or even your present state. Something simple, like drinking more water, or getting to bed slightly earlier.

I know how hard it is. I haven’t beaten binging yet. But I know that the days where I focus on propelling myself forward are the ones that lead me towards the best success. And the days and moments AFTER I slip up are the most crucial in terms of getting myself oriented back to my intended path.

I wish you peace of mind. Go on!

[paradigmverse-blog]

 TRIGGER WARNING: DRUG USE

            [ MAN OVERDOSES ON MYSTERIOUS DRUG ]

   When that six-worded headline hits the online newspapers late one morning, no one thinks anything of it, desensitized to the prospect of yet another mysterious drug making the rounds. In a city purported to cater to every sin imaginable, it’s almost expected at this point. But what makes this drug so terrifying isn’t the fact that it’s singlehandedly responsible for turning one man’s brain to mush. Its appallingness lies in what it was originally designed to do — conceal the presence of the non-human blood flowing through your veins by diluting the aura of power every non-human is born with ( unless turned . ) It essentially acts as a jamming device but rather than jam sounds, it blocks others from identifying you as a non-human — whether by sight, scent, instinct, or any other method that may prove successful. But it isn’t one hundred percent effective and wears off after a time; not to mention its side-effects are rather ... alarming, seeing as it has a tendency to weaken powers that have already been weakened due to the implementation of Project Stratox, sometimes permanently. Still, for those of you who are leery or fearful of the human government recapturing you — for some of you, it would be a first — the thought of living among humans disguised as a human, with none the wiser; just like it used to be, before they accidentally discovered your previously hidden existences, is almost too much of an allure to ignore. 

And that is how Sovereign Donahue and his cohorts plan to destroy you — 

              —  by preying on your fears.

                                     IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING THIS EVENT:

The year is now 2099 — it took the few scientists currently working under Miroslav Antonovich two years to perfect the drug, Obscuro II, one that was originally introduced to the market prior to the release of the imprisoned non-humans. Its initial purpose was to fool the world into believing you, a non-human, are, in fact, human. What Donahue intends to do with the newly perfected drug, however, is turn the aforementioned non-humans into actual humans, thus neutralizing the threat of your powers, weakened or not. The first man to die — a  terribly weak non-human who was carefully administered the drug; his death made the headlines — was a victim of a test trial, one that only proved successful after its fourth attempt. And now that the sequence of trials has ended on a positive note, Donahue means to unleash Obscuro onto the streets of Las Vegas in the next few days. You better prepare yourself for the worst. Because, unlike most drugs, this one will drive a sane man mad with a rage so uncontrollable that the streets are guaranteed to run red with the blood of the fallen. 

               But that’s what happens when someone tries to bring about a chemically induced change, one meant to alter you on a genetic level.

      And on that note; this drug is lethal to humans. It will kill them on contact.

                                                                      OTHER:

When Obscuro was originally created, it was just like any other drug, with highly addictive properties and a singular outcome — in other words, it was harmless to humans, likened to marijuana in the way their bodies reacted to it ... and not many people knew of its existence outside the few who sought obscurity. But since Donahue has decided to release the newer version into the masses, disguising it as the older one, the level of danger and risk has increased exponentially. Despite all that, no one is aware of just how dangerous this drug is. It also comes in many forms — pill, powder, liquid, ect.

                              HOW MY CHARACTER CAN UTILIZE THIS EVENT IN WRITING:

Have your character react to reading the online article(s) about a new drug circulating on the streets.

Have your character be directly involved in its consumption; perhaps they know someone who has or intends to take it.

Have your character purchase it from a dealer with every intention of taking it.

Have your character try to convince someone else to either take it or throw it away.

Have your character find themselves in a situation where they are threatened by it.

The ideas listed above are merely examples we’ve provided; you needn’t use them in order to participate in this event. That said, you’re free to do whatever you like with it. The ball is in your court, after all. 乂⍲‿⍲乂

You may even draft a self-para or create an aesthetic in lieu of interacting with other members / characters.

Please tag any posts directly related to this event as paradigmevent. This is also completely optional and can be written / completed at the members’ leisure. If you choose not to participate, however, please bear in mind that while this may not have directly affected your character, it still did, in fact, happen and will be added to the timeline, as it was created to move the plot of the verse along — in a direction we believe is fitting. 

[willidleaway]

Doctor Who, series 12, mid-series thoughts

In short: series 12 right now is looking like a real mess, but I’m honestly not sure if in a good way or a bad way. Chibnall has been bringing back a big chunk of RTD-era elements (and seemingly destroying a few Moffat-era ones), after the decidedly continuity-nod-averse series 11. It was fun at first but is now starting to look like Chibnall could end up amplifying the worst excesses of RTD and Moffat’s tenures.

In the span of a single episode, we have gone from ‘god I hope Chibnall doesn’t mess up the space rhino police’ to ‘god I hope Chibnall doesn’t mess up the entire show forever and ever’, because the arcs that he’s set up ... well ...

Moffat may have implicitly threatened to reveal the name of the Doctor in The Name of the Doctor, but to his credit he knew not to actually show that card. Chibnall, I suspect, feels too clever to show such restraint. What he’s getting up to may well permanently ruin the character of the Doctor for me, and I don’t think I’d be alone.

Spoiler-filled further thoughts behind the Read More break.

Overall thoughts on where series 12 is going: Boy do I not know where it’s going, but I know where it needs to not go.

OK, so thinking about where series 12 is going basically requires thinking about Fugitive of the Judoon. We get two major mystery points set up:

Captain Jack (who I am not entirely sure I’m glad to see back) has this warning about the Lone Cyberman.

Jo Martin plays an incarnation of the Doctor that cannot possibly exist.

I say I’m not entirely sure I’m glad to see Captain Jack back not because I don’t think his character is delightful or because John Barrowman is older, but because of the way he seems to solely exist to pull the companions out of the interesting story and set up this mystery point.

One of my problems with Moffat-era Who was all of the Doctor worship—and perhaps in retrospect it’s really unfair when it was RTD with his series 3 finale (a key example of RTD’s mixed legacy in terms of the direction RTD took new!Who in his later years, and the ways in which I genuinely think it encouraged a lot of trait that Moffat gets so much flack for in the fandom) and all the Oncoming Storm-type stuff that really started the show on that train. But in my defence, Moffat treated Clara as a living MacGuffin for much of her tenure—with a central plot point being innumerable split existences that revolve entirely around the Doctor—in a way that RTD never treated any of his era’s companions.

With Chibnall at the helm, I had hope that perhaps we’d return to compelling, active companions—especially after Moffat gave us series 10 with Bill and Nardole—and the series 11 premiere looked quite promising in this respect. But series 11 ultimately had at best mixed success on this front, partly because Bradley Walsh is in such a different class from the other two that it doesn’t even make sense. And series 12 so far has simply reverted to a group dynamic where the Doctor has all the answers, Graham has all the quips, Ryan has none of the dyspraxia, and Yas (Yaz? never sure about that one) has nothing.

And when it feels like the companions are doing nothing or even getting in the way of the narrative rather than actively driving it—to the point where you have Captain Jack literally scooping them away from the main thrust of the story—then something’s not right with this show. Why even have a companion, then, let alone three?

All that aside, let’s talk about Ruth!Doctor, who I’m going to assume is actually an incarnation of the Doctor, rather than the Master or the Rani or the Meddling Monk or some other Time Lord simply disguised as the Doctor. Having ‘Introducing Jo Martin as the Doctor’ in the closing credits sure seems to dispel that alternate notion—but certain past show runners have definitely taken part in circulating falsities!

First off, no matter what happens: Ruth!Doctor needs her own EU material. Books. Radio plays. Overpriced cheaply-made replica props. Yes. All of it. We’ve only gotten a couple dozen minutes of this Doctor so far and yet I am already utterly convinced.

Second: has post-RTD Who just completely forgotten about parallel universes? I mean, pocket universes, sure—Gallifrey was in one for a good while. But the Turn Left-style parallel worlds? The kind of parallel world seen in Rise of the Cybermen? Sure, the latter ep sets up the fact that the Time War fallout made it impossible to travel freely between parallel worlds, but with Gallifrey returned (well, before Chibnall burned it all down again), you’d think that would have changed. It doesn’t even seem to occur to 13 that Ruth!Doctor might be a parallel existence, which strikes me as astonishingly odd.

Third: if Ruth!Doctor is an actual incarnation of the Doctor in the prime timeline, then where does she fit? Pre-1 is the actual worst idea, because the TARDIS is already shaped like a police box and only like a police box, and Moffat already showed the TARDIS being stolen by 1 in capsule form. Granted, maybe the Doctor was captured by the Time Lords at some point, regenerated into 1, and stole another TARDIS that also had its chameleon circuit fried, but it seems needlessly complex.

I like the Season 6B idea a little better—the 2/3 interregnum—and maybe Ruth!Doctor is an extra regeneration granted by the Time Lords as reward for 2′s services to the CIA or whatever. One other possibility is simply that Ruth!Doctor had her memory altered—but this is possibly the least interesting idea and thus the least likely, because Chibnall clearly wants to provoke rather than catch a breath and be actually thoughtful with all of his twists this series.

Whether Ruth!Doctor fits in before Hartnell or after Troughton, it will represent a major shift in lore. Moffat was competent enough to make 8.5 work, arguably making better use of RTD’s Time War than even RTD ever did. But we are on shakier territory where Chibnall isn’t really building on anything. And if Ruth!Doctor is the Zeroth Doctor, and Chibnall really wants to provoke, well ...

Part of the fun of the Doctor, at least for me, is that at the end of the day, the Doctor really is a mad man in a box, an idiot that wants to be kind and help out along the way. They’re a Time Lord, sure, but amongst Time Lords they don’t have some overriding power that does not arise from their own initiative. For all of Moffat’s faults, I think he knew this to be at the core of the character. If he didn’t always show it, he at least always tried to tell it, even alongside all of the most egregious Doctor-worship.

And the Doctor’s origins are vague, even mysterious, but only because the Time Lords as a whole are rather mysterious. Their social psychology is eccentric, to be sure. Their control of time and space is unparalleled. But we’re not sure whence they arose and that’s fine. It’s not necessary, because the show was never about the Doctor, but about how the Doctor affects those around him. Much of Moffat-era Who had maybe a more Doctor-centric tilt to this, but nonetheless it was never quite all about the Doctor!

Meanwhile, in the Chibnall era, now we’ve got the Master talking about the Timeless Child and lies about the history of the Time Lords, and Captain Jack scooping the companions out of the way so that we can get all this new Doctor lore set up. And, well ... forget RTD’s Oncoming Storm. Forget Moffat’s literal origin of the word ‘doctor’. I think we’re about to see Chibnall elevate the Doctor to being literally the Genesis of the Time Lords, and it makes me very, very uncomfortable.

Hmm, I do wonder if we will get an episode actually titled Genesis of the Time Lords, only I want it to be about Gallifreyan prog pop-rock.

Additional thoughts, episode by episode:

OK, so I already said my bit on Spyfall and the latest ep. So that leaves two.

—Orphan 55: I think everyone’s had their curb-stomp on this one. I’d just like to say that it was particularly disappointing because Ed Hime’s previous contribution to Doctor Who was ‘It Takes You Away’, by far one of the most brilliant episodes of Series 11. It was ambitious and witty, and the characters were interesting and compelling, and basically it succeeded so well at everything that Orphan 55 fails at so badly.

Orphan 55 is like Midnight except the villain all along was man. It just feels like Ed Hime was playing a bunch of Metro games and then Chibnall told him to write a Very Special Episode about climate change, and everything suddenly clicked together. At least someone thought it did.

Was it really that bad? I’d say it was no less messier than Fugitive of the Judoon, honestly. I think with time, people will either look more kindly on it or completely forget about it, because frankly its reputation can’t get worse. The fact that Orphan 55 did not have the blockbuster Who-lore reveals and twists of Fugitive of the Judoon will be either the reason it becomes forgotten or the reason it becomes more favourably looked upon.

—Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror: My main qualm with this story is the over-romanticisation of Tesla. The show acts as if Wardenclyffe was this amazing proto-Wi-Fi apparatus that would have worked if only JP Morgan hadn’t pulled his funding, when in fact it was the epitome of this big wireless tech bubble and a folly in the most literal sense of that word. They mention the Gilded Age right near the start of the episode and somehow view Tesla as this pure-minded inventor and almost a human Doctor for the 20th century, rather than someone who basically lived off of Gilded Age capitalist money, and a shrewd man knew how to game the press and public opinion in his time.

Don’t get me wrong. Tesla was legitimately wronged very badly, both by Edison and by Marconi, and he seems to have had a real intuition for electrical engineering in ways that few in his time did. But intuition is not the same as scientific enquiry, and that seems to me to be no small part of why Tesla after Wardenclyffe never enjoyed the success and admiration that he did before, and why he was rather badly forgotten for so long.

And then Edison seemed a bit too softened??? Caring for his workers at some level, sure, but surely he would absolutely never be the sort of person to offer Tesla a job with him ... ?

That said, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better actor to cast in the role of Tesla, and generally I found the episode pretty good. I believe others have sufficiently pointed out the mild hypocrisy of the Doctor’s criticising the scorpion!Racnoss for stealing technology (still can’t be bothered to remember what they actually were, sorry), but I generally found it more amusing than problematic.

[goingnerdyofficial-blog]

DC TV Shows on the CW Recap for 2/6-2/8

This week in the Arrowverse, plots were advanced, and characters were developed. It wasn't a huge week for these shows, but it was an interesting one. On Supergirl, a White Martian comes searching for M'gann and ends up getting loose in the DEO. While Barry trains Wally on The Flash, a meta-human capable of causing people to decompose at an advanced rate targets Joe, and ends up putting Iris in danger. On Legends of Tomorrow, the Legends are trying to save George Washington and the Revolutionary War in 1776. And, Team Arrow travels to Russia and meets up with Oliver's old friend Anatoly on Arrow.

Important Things to Know This Week:

Everything seems to be in a tender place with the Supergirl team. J'onn recently made peace with M'gann, and now she is being hunted down. Winn and James finally told Kara about being Guardian, and she refused to support them, and Kara shut down Mon-El when he tried to share his feelings. Team Flash, barreling toward the potential reality of Iris' death, are desperately trying to change anything they can about that timeline. That means that Barry is willing to train Wally to get to the speed necessary to save Iris. The Legends have started to figure out the plan and reasoning behind the Legion of Doom's actions. They are going to try to rescue Rip Hunter and do anything they can to stop the Legion of Doom before they get the Spear of Destiny. Last week we saw Oliver begin learning under the tutelage of Talia al Ghul, and then take Dinah Drake under his wing as the new "Black Canary" and the newest member of Team Arrow. Meanwhile, Felicity was reminded of the world of hacktivism when she started searching for a way to save Diggle.

The Biggest Moments This Week (Spoilers!):

Supergirl: (S2 E11: The Martian Chronicles)

Kara seems to feel bad about Mon-El, she is still throwing Shade at Winn, and she is upset with Alex for canceling on her "Earth Birthday" plans. It definitely seems like Kara is having trouble accepting that people don't always agree with each other. She has grown up a lot over the last season and a half, but this is definitely a lesson she needs to learn if she is going to have any success as a hero. Because they are commonly in their human forms, it is easy to forget that M'gann and J'onn were a part of a massive civil war 300 years ago. I say that because I was surprised when Armek showed up, and revealed that he was M'gann's mate. The way they all get trapped in the DEO is awesome, but is it really surprising that Armek is disguised as Winn. We saw Winn run away when everything went crazy, he was the most logical option. I love the way the episode unfolds as the DEO team has to split up to find Armek and Winn. We get some amazing scenes between Kara & Alex and J'onn & M'gann. Then there is the drama when it is revealed that there is a second White Martian acting as Alex. The action from that point on is some of the best we have seen on Supergirl, and it helps to solidify the way the team is able to operate when they work together. The team is not doing that at the moment, so I really hope this brings them all to the same page for the rest of the season. Seeing M'gann leave is tough, but it makes sense. It needed to happen that way.

The Flash: (S3 E12: Untouchable)

The race. Everything about it. The narrow win. The fact that Wally only loses due to being unable to phase. The betting. The off-hand comment about betting being banned on HR's world due to an "unfortunate incident with 'President Capone'". The whole thing is absolutely amazing. I fully anticipate seeing a rematch in the future with Wally coming out on top. The way Yorkin's attacks seem to set up the future where Iris dies is creepy. I like that The Flash is transitioning to more of a darker tone, similar to Arrow, and this is a perfect example of that happening. Of course, this leads to Barry being more concerned with Wally's training. The training leads to some hilarious scenes of Wally slamming into a solid, wooden wall. We also get some awesome scenes of Julian and Caitlin working together. Of course, it links back to Flashpoint and Alchemy, which adds yet another layer to this week's story. Joe learns about Iris' future in this episode, and he, rightfully, is furious about being lied to. When Iris is attacked by Yorkin, it brings them all together, but this isn't going away. Hopefully it is a catalyst to improve Wally's training and alter the future where Iris dies. Wally is able to phase when he absolutely needs to by the end of the episode, which shows that the training has a better chance of working than it would have seemed earlier in the episode.

DC's Legends of Tomorrow: (S2 E11:  Turncoat)

I don't remember Rip deciding to work with the Legion of Doom last week, but apparently that's what we're dealing with this week. The trap dealing with George Washington's murder was definitely to be expected, but the way they lost use of all electronics made things incredibly interesting. The team has always relied far too much on Electronics, so having the opportunity to overcome that is a huge moment for the team. The interactions between the team members, and the way they take on new roles and responsibilities really helps to advance the growth of the various team members. This show has often lacked in character development, which makes sense concerning that there are so many characters in the show. With that being said, though, this episode does a lot to develop essentially every character in one way or another. This is a great option for masking an episode that is, otherwise, filler. I can only hope that next week we will get more plot advancement. They way everything comes together at the end of the episode is great, and just the right amount of cheesy. It also sets up the rest of the season, and I'm way excited for that.

Arrow: (S5 E12: Bratva)

Quentin coming back from rehab is absolutely amazing. I didn't even realize how much I had missed his character before seeing that he was back. As he gets back, he, of course, is determined to jump right back in to everything. Oliver decides to leave Rene back in Star City to help Lance prepare for his interview with Susan Williams as he and the team head to Russia, which seems like an odd choice. It does bring together two incredibly interesting characters though, so I'm happy about it. The way they are able to set aside their differences and actually get Lance properly prepared is awesome. The reveal by Rene about his first experience with Quentin takes everything a few steps forward, though. Meanwhile, in Russia, Oliver and the team work together, and use their unique talents to locate and stop an illegal weapons sale. Watching Felicity use her hacking to help the team reminds me of the early seasons, but Rory is right about there being a potential problem there as well. The final fight also shows Dinah master harnessing her Canary Cry, Rory using "The Rags" to contain the nuclear explosion, and the rest of the team working together to save the day.

Overall:

This week didn't have any cross-series plots or stories. Each episode, though, took a huge step toward advancing the development of primary and secondary characters. I have a feeling there will be more crossovers and mini-events as the seasons carry on, and the character development we saw this week could significantly amplify those events.

Ryan’s Speculation of the Week:

There were two significant moments in Arrow that stood out to me. One was Anatoly telling Oliver that oaths are not temporary, and the other is Susan Williams potentially figuring out about Oliver's connection to Bratva, and piecing together that he might be the Green Arrow. These moments will definitely be defining for the rest of the season. Maybe not Prometheus-level problems. But those type of things are not just going to disappear. Supergirl airs on Mondays, The Flash & Legends of Tomorrow air on Tuesdays, and Arrow airs on Wednesdays on the CW. Leave a comment and let me know what you thought about this week's slate of episodes. Click to Post