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Loathe as I am to come out of lurking I feel like there needs to be some clarification here.

Disney Hades =\= Hades God of the underworld from Greek mythology.

Actual Hades was not actually any worse than any of the other Greek Gods (fairly sure an argument could be made that Zeus was worse than Hades). This Hades did not try to kill Hercules, that honor goes to Hera, Hercules's step mother. Ironically, in the Disney movie she was rewritten as his loving mother, most likely so it could be more kid friendly. Hades, often gets cast as a villian, in retellings mostly because he rules the Underwood, the world of the dead and in our modern times seems to be a stand in for the devil, but that isn't his role in the original Greek mythology

However, in the world of Descendents, we ARE dealing with Disney Hades. But, even with him been cast as a villian in that telling (and make no mistake this Hades is a villian), he wasn't really jealous of Hercules, he's jealous of the other gods who live on Olympus while he lives in the underworld. In the Disney film he wants to rule Olympus and the other gods, Hercules isn't anymore of a concern than any of the other gods until he finds out Hercules stands in the way of him taking over Olympus (via prophecy). This Hades is a master of deals, he'll make a deal with you if you can help him get his goal. Him helping Mal makes sense, if he helps her she'll probably open the barrier (it wouldn't be impossible to imagine that he knows this is a likely result).

Just as an a side, I understand why everyone is frustrated by the VKs running back to their parents. But actually I think it makes a lot of sense. Part of the reason the cycle of abuse is so tragic is it's so hard for those in it to break out. It's not uncommon for the abused to go back to their abuser, sometimes because they're sure they've changed. The argument could probably be made that they've compartmentalized a lot, so the cycle starts again. If they could do another movie with the core 4 (and unfortunately they really can't), a realistic storyline could explore them rerecovering and realizing their parents really never will change (but this is Disney so it'd probably not go that route anyway), but leaving it where it is is unsatisfying.

(I'm on mobile please excuse typos, and I don't actually post much do please excuse any word things)

Jay's "Rookie mistake" when the bikes get stolen speaks volumes about the isle and how much the core 4 forgot about the isle

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LOT 2/5/17

So, after watching the last 2 episodes, I want to reflect on LOT. I really wanted to see Legion of Doom after Raiders, in part to see how Stein reacted to Mick.

So, what becomes apparent is the writers/creators/what have you are very aware of their viewers.  Is Len completely dead, or is he semi alive, oh no he’s dead…and something from Legion that I can’t recall even though I literally just watched it because I have “cold brain”.   They are keeping us guessing, and changing the answer, which leaves in doubt the answer they settle on.  They finally frame it so that Stein is in frame when Mick is seeing Len.  So, there’s no doubt that Len is not physically there, but there’s the fact we find out there’s a chip in his brain.

Let’s start with the chip, or rather Stein’s ultimate answer. Stein’s disdain for Mick is palpable and it seems very apparent he made up his mind what the issue was before even really talking to Mick.  Because of this it makes me doubt his ultimate answer of “it hasn’t worked in a long time, so it is all in your head.”  How can Stein tell it hasn’t received a signal in a while, he didn’t say it was damaged, so that would indicate there was no identifiable damage to it.  So again, I ask how does he know?  Or is he projecting so he can keep his internal narrative of Mick?

In fact, did he ACTUALLY remove it?  He repeatedly says he’s not a brain surgeon, and he’s smart enough to know you don’t go digging in people’s brains unless you are.  And he’s, from all appearances, not using Gideon to assist him.  I find myself doubting it was actually removed.

In general, the chip idea felt oddly out of nowhere, especially with the back and forth of it being why Mick is seeing Len.

In Legion, we see that Stein still has a low opinion of Mick, given by the fact that he’s sure that Mick will let the cat out of the bag about Lily.  I almost feel like Mick actually did let it out on purpose.  Side note I loved how Mick is like “Yo heroes, you are idiots.”  It’s definitely becoming more apparent how he doesn’t really fit.

I have to say I am amused that the bad guys, once they get their act together, work together better than the heroes.  And Eobard’s motivation is finally apparent, so definitely they are all motivated to save themselves.  However, I still find myself asking, what will Len want to change?  Again, I really wonder if it will have to do with Mick. Or if we are going to get the Len who was at the Oculus, it will be to save himself, or will he be like Dahrk?  I also find myself contemplating will we get some strange mixture, as in Eobard gets an early version and say Legends Len is (for want of a better description) metaphysical, the 2 merge into one. Where he has all those memories even if physically he’s from an earlier time.

Side note, why and how for Pete’s sake did Rip become a guardian of part of the spear?!?  It isn’t a Time Master thing it seems, so why?!?! And if he had that at his disposal why would he not be tempted to use it against Savage?  Is it just that dangerous or ya know because Season 1 vs. Season 2.

Turncoat, with Rip being turned it does seem more likely that it could be referring to Rip, maybe even him turning against the Legion.  However, I still kind of feel like it’s too on the nose.  Especially, since they’ve been playing on expectation so much recently.  I still would not be surprised if it’s Mick changing sides.

I am positive that Mick will go with Len, when the time comes.  I recently saw an article where they were talking about Mick, Len, and even Amaya. I find it reassuring that the actors and writers seem determined that Mick and Amaya are just friends; however, I find it interesting that Dom said Mick “loves” Len.  He literally said love.  Dom and Wentworth are great actors, who really get into their characters’ heads, and have great chemistry (and honestly anyone that has them working together should take advantage to it to the fullest extent), the fact he said it that way and Wentworth said Mick was Len’s trusted partner, it’s telling how they want their characters’ relationship to be.

The big question remains which version of Len will we finally get.

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Len’s sacrafice

So as we are fast approaching the rest of Season 2 of Legends, I’ve found myself reflecting on Leonard, his sacrifice and return.’

I recently saw an article that quoted Wentworth as saying he’d see Leonard being from an earlier time, never having been on that first trip.  Which may or may not be what happens, we’ve always know that; I hope not because letting Leonard keep that growth and him still chose to not be a hero is much more dynamic and really highlights that he isn’t just a bad guy and isn’t really a good guy.

Anyway, while that has some interesting thoughts like maybe both could still be canonical just out of order (ie joins bad guys and later leaves but goes back in time and later chooses to go on the Waverider), it also really highlights that he was a hero, and he sacrificed himself for the team.  See that statement often enough in fandom and even canon I believe.  But is that TRUE?

I don’t think so.

Leonard always does things for his own reasons, we see it in why he initially decides to go on the Waverider and convinces Mick to go.  In the first few episodes we easily see that he doesn’t really care, he signed up for this crew to do his own thing he’ll sort of help but doesn’t care.  Then Savage threatens Mick and you can almost see him actively decide to make sure this man dies.  Then Mick ends up in the Gulag and this vendetta becomes cemented, he may not be a hero but Savaged has done wrong to one of his people, and that does not get a pass.  Once, these are in place you see him start to care a bit more about the crew, but overall you can see he’s doesn’t care about all of them, they are crew and just parts needed to complete the score.  We see him care about Sarah, who is in some ways a kindred spirit, what with being an assassin.  We also see him have some sort of care for Jax when he is turned into a mutant, but being the youngest and with Len’s past he might feel some sort of warped paternal feelings for Jax.  We also see him defend Stein from being shot but one, Stein dies Jax dies, who we already know he has some sort of affection for; and two Stein is crew, an important part of the crew.  So we never really see him really care about the whole team, beyond as they are the people he has chosen to work with and they are all needed.

But then the Oculus. The thing is he didn’t sacrifice himself for the crew or mission.  That was already done, first when Ray decided to stay, then when Mick decided that Ray had to live so he would stay.  To break the Oculus’s manipulation, something Len would definitely hate and want destroyed, Len didn’t have to do it, he was free and clear.  But he chose to do it, for Mick.

He didn’t sacrifice himself for the team, he did it for Mick.

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Ok, I think another POV needs to be heard here, because I AM a lurker, and I’ve been one for 15+ years; to the point that this is very atypical of me to do; I’d much rather stay in my corner.  I’ve even seen the days when creators would hold work hostage for comments, which might very well have colored my view. I hardly if ever comment.  Why you might ask, well there are several reasons, firstly I am one to choose my words and make sure they are firstly more than squees, and second say SOMETHING; which usually means some sort of concrit. Yes I’m aware that most don’t care if it’s just squees, but I want my words to say something, it’s why if I make a post it’s not a short.  But concrit, you might say we LOVE concrit…no you don’t or rather a good number that say that don’t.  I’ve given such reviews and I’ve been basically yelled at and one time told I ruined Christmas.  Now tell me why should I be encouraged to do anything of the sort when in the past, my very long fandom past I might add, when I have had the courage to speak up I get torn down.   Not to mention taking the time to write out such a detailed reply takes time and energy as well, and as equal risks of the same passive response or even worse negative response, especially in the public place of the internet; a fact I would like to say is I’m experiencing with this post itself.   Basically, reviewers are putting themselves out there just the same as writers are.

 I would much rather communicate privately.   Even then I’ve been left to feel after awhile in private communications that what I’m saying is not wanted.  Could that be in my head?  Sure, but in this land of tumblr where similar things are talked about at length, would it really be fair to disregard that just because it may be just my perception (there is at least one person in this specific thread I have communicated privately with on occasion and I want to assure you, that this has not been the case with you J).  And from what I’ve seen here it seems even this private communication isn’t enough for some.

 Second, I have never been one to demand updates or try to dictate how a story would go (at least to the author, my earmark for my all-time favorites is do I start developing plots based on their stories), closest I could ever come would be “can’t wait for the next update”, but that comes back to my previous point.  I understand authors lose interest or have less time; and I’ve been the believer that the story is the authors to do with as they wish. So, for me those just aren’t options.

Now I will admit I could hit Kudos button more, but I have to admit I have a bit of a…I guess… dissonance with it.  I do not like the “Like” button, never have, and somewhere in my brain the Kudos button stands for the same thing, even though they do different things on different platforms.  Makes sense, nope, and I fully admit that.  Also, I’m from the era before this button was a thing, so it never crosses my mind when I’m reading, if it had my relationship with it could be different. Add to that for me it’s putting a story in a very class, I don’t think everything I read and even just read and like, should necessarily deserve a Kudos, it’s a high honor in my mind, one for a complete story, and I wouldn’t hit it for everything I like.

Oh, you don’t understand I can hear the replies now, you just consume…Nope.  I’ve written in a couple fandoms, fandoms that are not very active anymore; I even hope to revisit (I have a difficult relationship with writing, that has nothing to do with response).  For Pete’s sake I had concrit on porn once, which I found equal measures amusing (because…porn) and wonderful.  For me, I never judge my popularity of my story based on reviews, or kudos or favorites or follows, for me because I know that there are those that are not comfortable interacting, or can’t I’ve always looked at my hits or views, with the understanding that I have to scale the number back to get a better estimate.  And any I do get I collect all of them and consider them a whole no matter what platform.  But I also do not expect a huge response, not like I know some do. However, that’s just me.

I don’t have a solution for anyone wanting to get more people to interact, because while I’m sure I’m not isolated in my views and such I’m also sure there are plenty of others with more reasons, including lack of knowledge or understanding. Which may be one of the larger ones, especially as newer generations find their way to our fandom corners, and possibly see some that have been discouraged from interacting like me.  And honestly, I’m not sure you’d want it even if I did have a suggestion, because you may not like it.  And doesn’t that just bring me back full circle.

TLDR: Not everyone “passively” consuming is just lazy.

Now I need to get to bed…only stayed up 2 hours writing this…and may end up deleting it later…

I’ve seen five different authors take down, or prepare to take down, their posted works on Ao3 this week.  At the same time, I’ve seen several people wishing there was more new content to read.  I’ve also seen countless posts by authors begging for people to leave comments and kudos. 

People tell me I am a big name fan in my chosen fandom.  I don’t quite get that but for the purposes of this post, let’s roll with it.  On my latest one shot, less than 18% of the people who read it bothered to hit the kudos button.  Sure, okay, maybe that one sort of sucked.  Let’s look at the one shot posted before that - less than 16% left kudos.  Before that - 10%, and then 16%.  I’m not even going to get into the comments.  Let’s just say the numbers drop a lot.  I’m just looking at one shots here so we don’t have to worry about multiple hits from multiple chapters, people reading previous chapters over, etc.  And if I am a BNF, that means other people are getting significantly less kudos and comments.

Fandom is withering away because it feels like people don’t care about the works that are posted.  Why should I go to the trouble of posting my stories if no one reads them, and of the people who do read them, less than a fifth like them?  Even if you are not a huge fan of the story, if it kept your attention long enough for you to get to the bottom, go ahead and mash that kudos button.  It’s a drop of encouragement in a big desert. 

TL;DR: Passively devouring content is killing fandom.

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Legends The Chicago Way Additional thoughts

So, I realized I forgot something important about what happened in the Chicago Way…well most probably think of it as a throwaway line.

Gideon all but states that she has been treating Mick’s brain.  Which honestly isn’t hard to believe he’s seemed less unstable (minus depression and suicidal tendencies).  But the question is when she started this treatment, and is it really something as in depth as fixing the oxygen deprivation damage in Nesse.  Or could it be more likely getting him treatment that he normally has?  That’s what’s up for debate.  

So when I first realized this I thought could that be why he seems unnerved now with dying, Gideon has treated his suicidal thoughts, helped with his depression?  Maybe, I could see it going either way.

BUT, more importantly while this may or may not make Mick’s final reaction in the episode work if Len is a hallucination, it does make it unlikely he’s HAVING hallucinations.  I did some quickie research and looks like while there are multiple causes for hallucinations, they are all either mental illness or some sort of brain disease, which I should add none of which are depression. Even if Gideon has not been treating his depression, it would be safe to assume that if she’s treating him she would have corrected any of the brain abnormalities she found, just like she’s doing for Nesse, Mick has no reason to be having hallucination, unless he’s suddenly developed Schizophrenia.  

That means Len can’t be a hallucination, there is no medical reason for it.  What sounds like a throwaway line from Gideon is actually the biggest tell, and pretty much everyone MISSED it.

Of course, that’s assuming the writers did the research, but that line, that exchange seems out of place, and for all the historical errors, the lack of following rules, they do seem to be adept at laying the groundwork, the clues, and that’s my bet here.

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Legends 12/10/16

So latest Legends was interesting.

There are a few things I want to talk about here but let’s start with Mick and my last post.

I’m kind of surprised they were so direct with the framing of promo, even if it was reversed and the conversation pretty much went similar to how I thought.  It was also a surprise that we’re not seeing the “real” Leonard. Or are we?

We are definitely being lead to believe that we saw were Mick’s hallucinations, that’s definitely what Mick thinks; but I find myself questioning whether that is actually the case. Len definitely sounds like himself, but we can safely assume from their long history Mick could easily imagine a realistic Len.  However, there is just something that doesn’t quite sit right with me.  Len sounded like he regretted his decision and the Oculus, and I find myself questioning would Mick really imagine that?  I also find some parts of the conversation about Amaya odd, Mick definitely sees her as a friend, it seems off that his hallucination would be confirming feelings and squashing them at the same time. Actually no, that is feasible, but there is just something there that doesn’t sit right, but I’ll return to Amaya in a moment.  Then there is the framing, yes I realize my guess on it last time was off, but it strikes me that Len is not in frame when anyone else is around. Not once.  Now, that doesn’t disprove he’s a hallucination, but it doesn’t prove he is either.  If he was in frame when others were there and they couldn’t see him it would be a nail in the coffin that he’s a figment of Mick’s imagination.  The oddest discrepancy is Len actively pointing out Mick will die if he stays.  We’ve seen repeated instances where for Mick that dying isn’t a bad option, and having a new friend doesn’t make suicidal tendencies go away; but after some prompting from Len he seems bothered by the idea.  

Then there’s the story aspect.  Mark my words in “Turncoat” Mick will leave, I’m now convinced of this, and likely Snart will be in the Legion in “Legion of Doom” and we’ll most likely see more “hallucinations” in the next episode.  If we assume that Mick will go to Len, it makes actually leaving more sense if he has his Len to go back to.  So I’m really inclined to say he’s not hallucination.

Then how could be appearing out of nowhere?  Likely the answer is in the fact he basically blew up inside the timestream, which would not surprise me if that gave him some sort of time powers or, he’s trapped and what we see is only some sort of semi-there projection.

But let’s talk about Amaya. At the end she seemed very open to Mick, seemingly wanting him to come close but Mick himself turned away breaking the connection, which we could read any number of things into especially given Len’s interference, but with what we know of Mick he might not want that kind of entanglement.  I also find it fascinating that Mick is actually trying to replicate his partnership with Len yet again.  By encouraging her to commit crime and crime is fun he’s trying to recapture that. And she even stole some alcohol for him, which actually impressed me.  But I still doubt this will last long, despite she’s trying (props for that) she’s a good guy through and through and she will let Mick down, because she is not Len and that is who he’s trying to make her.  She certainly ticks more boxes than Ray did, but she can never fill his shoes and once there’s a real Len back, Mick’s Len, Mick might struggle a bit but ultimately he would choose Len.  

Speaking of partnership, again Mick says something that seems awfully foreshadowy, again don’t have a guess on how but he says to Ray and Nick “You’re supposed to be partners, and partners have each other’s back.”  Which besides the foreshadowyness of that, also could be the most clear look into how he and Len have operated and worked so well, despite their differences.  Which also speaks to the high level of trust they must have had in each other, because even when one broke the trust they still trusted each other again later.  But it also makes me wonder how Mick views Season 1, first he obviously feels that Len betrayed that trust (and on several points he did, but I contend that Mick also stopped listening), but does he feel that he over-stepped that line of  retribution as Kronos? Or does he feel that it was even payback?   Some odd mix of both.  We’ll likely never know but it’s an interesting question.

Now the other interesting thing in the episode for me was the Legion.  Or rather WHY they are there.  First Eobard is obviously in charge here, he has a plan and he’s dangling fruit for the others to get them on board.  What is that fruit?  Changing their personal tragedies.  Dahrk had absolute zero interest in teaming up until Sarah spilled the beans about his wife and child dying before he himself is killed, it’s very clearly stated that’s why he’s here. Malcolm isn’t so directly stated but he offers to basically fix everything for Sarah and Sarah obviously hits the nail on the head when she says he could save his son that way.   Eobard is the mystery here, but my guess it has some connection to that watch he has that went off when he was about to kill Amaya.   It seems to me there are 2 likely possibilities, either he’s on a time crunch and he only has limited windows of opportunity to do certain actions or it alerts him that the action he’s about to take would destroy things he doesn’t want destroyed in the future.

Now why do I find this interesting?  Because it tells us more why Len might be willing to get into bed, so to speak, with these guys.  Len firstly has shown he’s more than willing to improve his personal timeline so that might appeal, however it could also be a way to save Len himself from the Oculus, which if that is the case would also bring Mick on board.

In short something doesn’t sit quite right with me that we are just seeing hallucinations, but honestly, I’m not sure if I can or did explain why.  Just something seems off, and I can’t fully put my finger on it.

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Legends of Tomorrow

So ignoring the fact I’ve ignored this thing for the last, I don’t know 2 years?

 So I watched Season 1of Legends of Tomorrow, given how I love characters that are less SHINY, I really shouldn’t have been surprised I loved Leonard Snart/Captain Cold and Mick Rory/Heatwave.  But love them I did, in particular Snart, and gained a great appreciation for Wentworth Miller.

Then of course they killed him, or did they.  After some research and I saw Wentworth signed as a series regular for the entirety of the Flash/Arrow/Legends Universe, I figured that he would come back in the flesh one way or the other, as time travel isn’t a thing in all of those shows.

 Given that he blew up in what was essentially an opening to the Time Stream, there’s probably a few ways, big question is how much of the Leonard we saw grow in Legends Season 1 will he be, especially with the revelation he’s coming back as part of the Legion of Doom.

 So in general I think he either will be or will be restored to the version we saw.  Now there’s a few reasons I think that, first of all is when asked if it would be the same Leonard, the head people’s response was basically a non-answer, a ”you’ll have to see”.   But more recently we have the trailer, which I want to come back to.

 Now my big quandary is WHY is he in the Legion.  Snart is a thief, that is his primary objective, yes he likes going toe to toe with super heroes, but it reads as he does it more for the sake of doing it rather than having an objective; certainly nothing like the goals of Dahrk or Reverse Flash. So why would he work with them.  My theory at the moment is to get Mick back.  

 Which brings us to Mick, and this season has not exactly been kind to him.  In general, we see his otherness intensely highlighted, his quest to find a new balance without his partner in crime of the better part of 30 years.  I don’t care if one ships or not (should be no surprise I do), but one does not spend the better part of 30 years working with someone, and returning to work with that someone unless they care about each other in some way, no matter how well they work together.  And we’ve seen that Mick misses Leonard, and feels isolated to the point of apparently being suicidal.  

 I don’t believe for one minute that Amaya will be what he needs any more than Ray was.  It might work short term but long term, I doubt it. She’s shown scorn for him and his profession, she’ll want to FIX him, change him. And he seemed to be annoyed by her telling him they need an alien alive in Invasion; like he didn’t know that. Mick for his destructive nature has shown that he knows his job and does it.

 So prior to Invasion I was thinking that they’ll see Len, who may or may not remember.  Len will offer for Mick to come with him; and Mick will go with him, sooner or later.  I had the thought prior to the latest promo that Mick would leave at Turncoat, and honestly that might still be the case.   People seem to be speculating it’s in reference Leonard or Rip, but honestly, I’d place more bets on it referring Mick leaving to go with Len.

 Now after Invasion, there were a few things.  First though, now despite some time traveling rule fails, to an excessive amount sometimes (but honestly time travel/non-linear story telling is difficult and not everyone can manage it effectively, and the writers/creators here are not the worst I’ve seen), they do however do a decent job setting up for twists. I saw indications last season that there were signs of something a foot with the mission timeline in episode 2 or 3, and that the Time Masters were involved as early as Mick is Kronos reveal.  As I said Mick’s difference and isolation has been very prominent, but there were some interesting things in Invasion, that were different than the standard lack of trust from the team (Amaya in this case).

 Firstly, what he said to Barry when Barry was going to turn himself over.  He said, “But when you got a crew, you don’t take a hit for the rest.” Also after the big victory, when they are saying “we did it” and they do the dramatic wide shot, Mick is standing fairly separated from everyone else.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like everyone is standing all close together, which means you have to really look at it to notice it, but he is standing further apart than anyone else.

 Now what Mick says seems oddly foreshadowy, now what exactly for, I’m really sure yet.  Does it mean he’d be less likely to leave the Legends if/when Len comes for him?  More likely to go with Len?  Is this an explanation of why he’s stayed?   I’m not sure, there are a lot of possibilities, and where it’s going is hard to say without more clues.  But I come back to how it’s been emphasized that Mick doesn’t fit in….and I’m not sure how this new part fits in yet.  It also despite what Barry said, doesn’t strike me as actually motivational, or I guess rather counter-intuitive to super heroes.  On one hand I can kinda see how it’s highlighting working with your team to get the job done so everyone get home; but on the other, it also says that you don’t put yourself out there for the rest of the team, look out for yourself.  It seems to have a double meaning with the way it’s worded, which just makes it seem all more like it’s significant.

 Now the promo…and finally the return of Leonard Snart.  Now let’s start with what he says; “And I’m here to set you straight.”  Which means it’s following another statement; now I’d say there are 2 possibilities, first one or more of the rest of the Legion are there going on why they are there.  Second is it’s just him and whoever he’s talking to where the conversation could go something like…

 “Why am I here?”

 “You’re hear for xyz. (maybe “to listen”?) And I’m here….”

or

“How are you alive?  Why are you here?”

 Depending on which of the 2 it is we might see very different outcomes.  If another member of the Legion is there it’s more business and could be more intimidating, however one on one could be more personal, with someone he has a connection with that he values.

 Now who is he talking to, well based on framing we’re lead to believe it’s Mick, and it might very well be. I don’t see it being one of the other Legends, the only conversation I would see him having that way would be with Sarah, setting her straight he’s a bad guy.  Other possibility would be another member of the Legion, which would be a conversation that doesn’t seem to have a much of a point and doesn’t entirely make sense.  If it is indeed Mick, it’s much less likely to be about intimidation, more likely to be about resuming a partnership that has been fruitful and important to both of them (again they wouldn’t keep going back to each other if that wasn’t the case).

 Who he’s talking to, who else may or may not be there, could drastically change everything.

 Now what he says.  Ok, based on the wording I’d say it’s less likely that it’s a member of the Legion he’s talking to; so most likely Sarah or Mick. And again, who it is changes the scenario a lot.  But in both cases, it shows prior relationship, for Sarah to have that familiarity he would have to remember.  However, with Mick whether Len remembers his time as a Legend or not they have that familiarity; but even then what would he need to set Mick straight on? From this small snippet, he doesn’t seem more hostile than normal, actually he sounds pretty neutral, almost friendly, but he also has his arms crossed, which could be showing closed off body language.  This is Len though, who is a liar and closed off in general so that may or may not be anything.    Unless Len is setting straight that he’s not their Len, in a passive aggressive way, I really feel like this is a conversation with Mick on why Mick is mistaken to stay with the Legends and that Len at least partly remembers he’s time with the team.

 Now the other thing that strikes me is the framing and setting.  Now in the background of Len, it really looks like the Waverider, or another ship.  Which in either case is very interesting.  Now behind is Mick is a white background which seems might not match the background Len is in.   The lighting also doesn’t seem to exactly match, I’m not really sure that the light behind Len could light Rory’s frames that way.  So I think we are not seeing them sequentially.  I do think that is Mick’s reaction to seeing Len, but I think Len’s conversation, whoever it’s with is later.  

 I also noticed the way the lighting of that light hits Len as he’s walking around, intense almost halo then back to normal.  Is it foreshadowing?   Would they even consider that?  I know some directors would, but here it may just be a coincidence.  Or it might not, who knows.

 I’m also of the mind that this will actually likely happen late in the episode, so likely not much Len until after the break, but seeing how this sets up will be very interesting.

 I desperately hope that we don’t loose the complexity of Captain Cold, but guess we’ll have to wait and see.  Besides if they do mess it up there’s always fanfic :D

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Legendary Combinations - Mick Rory + Leonard Snart 

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Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers!

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Sooo, lots of things happening…including I’m finally able to move and be in a position where I can type…long story…

Anyways…Doctor Who…

Which implies her leaving was her decision but then she decided, presumably last minute to not.  I’d hypothesis that her decision to leave was even late in the development process.  Why do I think that you may ask?  Well for one as I said Danny’s end was a cop out, and with this it makes me think there were other plans but her decision to leave came after at least a few story line decisions which then had to be altered, especially the finale (which personally seemed to have a lot of holes and if this was the case that it had to changed late in the process honestly that makes it, well not make sense, but it’s easier to see how it went wrong). Not to mention her blurb in the promos about hoping Twelve would be Clara’s best friend.  And deciding to come back late because again the finale kind of left little doubt that they were done traveling.

What prompted any of this we’ll probably never know, but it seems fairly sure that both decisions were late in process.

It was in general a good Doctor Who episode with just a light Christmas feel, which I don’t mind.  And it seems like they intend to take Clara’s character in yet another direction based on the end, or at least that’s my speculation, based on their interactions at the end.  This Clara honestly felt more like the type of Companion we know, instead of the most recent I know you but I’m better than you type thing I’ve been getting, and instead of the “impossible girl”.  While if correct this could be great improvement for her character it’s possibly the poorest character development I’ve seen from Moffat, however I said that from the beginning about Clara’s character.  Seems he built the mystery and thought that would be enough to establish the character, but it wasn’t so he was stuck trying to develop Clara when she was already established.

The Librarians:

I’m rather enjoying this show, again I kind of get a Leverage type vibe off of it but it’s a nice twist.  I didn’t really watch The Librarian movies prior to this but I did watch the marathon that ran before the premier ;)

I found myself really liking the world and the characters, which is probably why it got a regular TV show.  And the pilot did a great job of establishing it in that world, but my biggest bone to pick is that in subsequent episodes the lack of Flynn makes it feel a bit disconnected, and personally I’d prefer if he was in more episodes.  But I can see why they made the choice to disconnect the Library and lose Judson and Charlene with it, and the choice to make Judson a “ghost” (personally with the hints that were in the third movie I’m more inclined to think that it’s a bit more complicated than that), in particular Judson with Bob Newhart’s advancing years makes how he’d be in the future of the franchise uncertain.  However I hope they choose to bring them back more in the future.

But the Christmas episode has to be one of my favorite episodes of ANYTHING EVER.  It had me in tears the way Eve disrupted hope to the world.  The one that really got me was the girl in the protesters (I’m assuming against tyranny or for peace) who were shot at and then gave her hope to continue.

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not surprised

Oh and surprise, blog from my rant awhile ago was deleted…I’m not really surprised.  Still don’t really get it (to each their own as I said before though), but not surprised.

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I find it interesting that in the second from the bottom he kind of looks like he'd like to be anywhere else but there (and the bottom but they all look like that in that one).  Not to mention at least from this pictures he seems to not be making eye contact with anyone or engaged with anyone.  Would be very interesting to know the whole story.

Robert Kazinsky as Fili  from AUJ EE behind the scenes.

That hair and beard doesn’t look good on him that almost disastrous.

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Doctor Who season/finale

Sooooo I’m lazy…

So Doctor Who, I’m a bit disappointed they choose not to introduce a new companion this season while we still had Clara, and Danny ended up being a bit of a throw away character.  They could have really done some interesting things with him.  Especially as I feel he made assumptions about the Doctor and never really tried to see beyond what he first perceived.  But to be honest the ending with him was a cop out.  In no realm of suspension of belief does it make sense that he blows himself up, and goes to, let’s say Heaven, and have a device that was put on his physical body.  And that’s after somehow turning off those pesky human emotions he still is, well human and saves the day.  It was the poorest writing I’ve seen from Moffat.  He seems to have a weakness in his creative process in endings/separations, which for the most part I’m willing to forgive (I have a high tolerance to suspend belief), but this was poor.  Actually overall this whole season was not very well done, mostly because it was so focused on Clara and trying to show how important she is to the Doctor, it left major gaps in logic that I have a hard time coming up with any plausible explanation for (baby!Pink episode being one of the more prevalent in my mind, to the point I’m ready to disregard it).

Clara, oh Clara, the more I saw her this season the more obvious two things became to me.  One she doesn’t get it, she doesn’t get what the Doctor is about.  She wants him to swoop in and save the day, and that’s not what he does, and nor should he.  There are times when we have to save ourselves and there are times when not everyone can be saved.  And she never seemed to get that the first rule of the Doctor, the Doctor lies.

I think the most telling thing about her was in the tree episode, she didn’t go with the Doctor when they thought the world would end, not because the man she loved wouldn’t go, no it’s “I don’t want to be the last of my kind”.  But even despite that statement I got the distinct impression she wants to BE the Doctor, in so far as he saves the day and has grand adventures, that’s the second thing that became obvious to me.  Though she did get the Doctor lies part down pretty well.

This season she became a good character, but she didn’t become a good “person”.

The Master, or rather Mistress aka Missy.  So my favored theory wasn’t correct, but it was one that at least made sense.  However I find myself not favoring the whole she’s the one who brought the Doctor and Clara together, mostly because her reasoning is BS.  The Doctor would and I’m fairly sure has gone to great lengths for most if not all of his Companions (at least in recent years) to single Clara out as she’d be the one to try and get him to go to…to use a Harry Potter reference “behind the Veil”, is BS.  I have no doubt he’d do it for Rose, Donna, or Amy (just the ones I have no doubt he would, I’m fairly certain he’d for most of the rest). 

But in looking at that list maybe it’s not that HE’D go for her, it’s that SHE would ask him to go.  I can see no other having the audacity to ask that of him.  And from this perspective it makes so much more sense, Missy chose someone who would be that type of person, and wouldn’t that just be so Masterish to have that motive and then twist it.  Which makes me ask myself was Clara good for the Doctor?  And I’m left thinking probably not.

And side not NOOOO YOU KILLED OSWALD????  Though I’m not entirely sure she actually was because ya know what that looked like, the transporter thing from the bank episode.

To further that theory, I don’t believe for one minute Missy would just stand there posed for the Doctor to kill her and I’m fairly sure she’ll be back, now HOW I’m not entirely sure as it seems the General killed her instead of that potential transporter thing.

And on that note, that was the most perfect wonderful thing in these last few episodes.  (That said I thought that would happen when they said “the only thing he wanted was for you to salute him”, but it was still perfect).  You just know that the General, or really anyone the Doctor has traveled with, would not fall for that BS that Missy was peddling, that when he “revived” he’d help.  And honestly I think that’s the reason why they set it up for her to be executing this plan for all of time just so they could do that.

To return to Danny I’m perplexed what he thought Clara would do, go up to Mr. and Mrs. X and say “Hi here’s your son who was killed Y years ago, alive and well”?  How would he even think that would work, aside from the fact it’s very in character for him, but it’s also not practical. 

I understand the Doctor’s reasoning for letting Clara go (he thought Danny was back [despite logic!fail] and he and Clara would ride off into the sunset), and obviously he seems to think she needs to think he doesn’t need her anymore for that to happen, which again I think shows how different she is from most other Companions.  Most others, the ones that weren’t just LEFT or died knew when they’re time was over, Clara, Clara honestly should have gave it up long before (of course that would have defeated the whole finale but still she definitely seemed to not be traveling for the right reasons anymore, if she ever was).  But what is Clara’s reasoning for wanting to quit now?  She literally had nothing left holding her back

Well thinking back now she might not have wanted to stop, but at the time my impression was both were coming to say the same thing.

But either way, why did she not ask for one last trip so she could get the boy to his parents, because that’s the only way for insanity not to happen (dead kid coming back to life…yeah that’d go well anywhere let alone the Middle East) and fulfill Danny’s last wish.

Overall the season was too focused on Clara, the Companion is supposed to be the viewers gateway in the Doctor’s world, not the star player.  This meant a weak season in general, though I wouldn’t say it’s through any fault of Capaldi, but I’ve never been gladder for a new Companion.  Clara unfortunately from the start was not done well, at least the “real version” (I still contend the Victorian version was AWESOME), they tried to make her too special to start and then had to play catch up to make her a good character, but while they succeeded it was at the cost of better storytelling, and even then they still tried to impress on the viewer how important/special she is.

Also through the course of the season the Doctor seems to have got better at hitting his target at least.

In other news I didn’t even try to watch Atlantis.

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"My name is Henry Morgan. My story is a long one. It might sound a bit implausible. In fact, you probably won’t believe it but I’ll tell you anyway because beyond all else I have lots, lots of time…"

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Fall 2014 fandom thoughts

Very belated fandom thoughts

 Ok first, old stuff. 

 NCIS:

Does what it does and does it well.

  NCIS LA:

Pretty much the same as NCIS, but I have to wonder if they’re positioning of have Granger take over for Hettie, which would be unfortunate in that Hettie is AWESOME.

  Person of Interest:

Ummm…well I’m happy they’re back to doing what they do and I find it quite amusing that Reese is now a cop and partnered with Fosco, and I think it would be a good permanent change if they did that.  However, I’m still not sure what to think of Sumaritian.

  Criminal Minds:

Jennifer Love Hewett’s character is actually rather refreshing after her predecessors.  But again it does what it does and does it well.

  Now new things

  NCIS NO:

They have a great cast, with great chemistry, and they’re using the tried and true formula, but with their New Orleans twist. 

  Scorpion:

I’m really enjoying this so far, it kind of has a bit of a Leverage feel to it.  I love that the “mechanical genius” is an against stereotype girl, and one with anger issues at that.  The cast thus far is great and is working well.  The idea is a fresh twist on CBSs typical formula.  What confuses me is it’s implied Walter is from Ireland, why does he have an American accent?  And until the most recent episode the title made no sense, but it’s recently been revealed that it relates to their “theme song”, which I still find a bit of a stretch.

  Forever:

In an uncharacteristic move I watched something not on CBS.  Typically either things on other channels don’t interest me, or don’t interest me enough to replace  something I’m already watching. However, I decided to give Forever a chance (admittedly I forgot it last week and will have to catch it online), and found it interesting.

Henry Morgan strikes me as a cross between Captain Jack Harkness and Sherlock.  I have no doubt the similarity to Captain is likely unintentional but Sherlock probably isn’t.  And this odd mix I find very intriguing, despite this type of thing making me a bit squeamish.

I love the reveal that Abe is the baby that Henry adopted, and that they still take care of each other is beautiful.

That’s all that’s going on so far…apparently Atlantis will be back soon….joy…on the bright side it couldn’t be any worse than last season?...wait I forgot who the people making it are…it can

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Favorite Studio Ghibli Quotes

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Time for new fandom thoughts, after me being lazy for awhile.

Now that doesn’t really make me entirely like her less, I’m a firm believer that sometimes the characters with the worst flaws can be the most interesting.  And I actually like her more with these showing through.

However it does make her leaving less of a sad event, unlike Rory and Amy’s.

On that note, PLEASE PLEASE give us either 2 new companions or a male one…or both.  Rory is one of the best imo.

When it comes to the Robin Hood episode I have  to ask, after what appears to be at least over a year of traveling with Clara why is the Doctor just NOW asking where she wants to go??? Isn’t that one of the first questions he always asks a Companion?

Now to a certain extent I can see the postponement up until the end of season 7 he was more focused on the mystery of her than anything else, but obviously more time had passed between that point and this one and he still hadn’t asked?

Then “Listen”, which is so obviously written my Moffat, by its sheer creepiness.  Here I’m left with first thoughts is that it feels like they’re doing a lot of set up for Clara this year…possibly to make up for not developing her previously?  But it almost feels too focused on her, but OMG I LOVE PINK, he’s so sweet.   I love how the Doctor acts like he’s never been to the end of the universe before.  But so everything was in the Doctor’s head?  Brought on by Clara catching a young him when he was hiding in the barn? (side note OMG REFERENCE TO WAR TIMELORD LOVE)  Ok I can buy that as it’s the kind of circular timey whimeyness Moffat is excellent at, but then what was the blanket monster with baby!Pink????  Maybe this relates to something to come later?  That aside this comes back to my early statement that this feels very Clara focused.

Now the bank heist episode.  I really love how Moffat is so good at creating characters I care about Psi and Saibra.  I’m actually considering incorporating them into Blue Child...

Speaking of Blue Child, while Clara is not really my favorite with all her development this year (and actually even last season but this season is really cementing it) I have some interesting plans to include her…but I just have to get off my lazy butt and write.

Next thought Intruders…this is an interesting premise, but for me I’m finding myself bored.  I don’t really care about Jack and his story line, but I’m very interested in Nine/Madison.  Unfortunately, that means I’m entirely uninterested in half to two thirds of each episode. Moving on…Guardians of the Galaxy…I finally saw it and I LOVE LOVED it!!  As I’ve said or at least implied I like those rough and dirty characters.  The ones that aren’t perfect.  I’m more inclined towards Batman than Superman, Ironman or Spiderman than Captain America.   I’m not a comic book person so my exposure to all superheroes is purely through movies, and animated TV shows (LOVED Avengers Earth’s Mightiest Heroes… RIP), but just because I don’t know them through their original medium doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate them.  Back OT, I LOVED  the Guardians, they are these wonderful multifaceted characters that aren’t actually that extra ordinary, for the most part; Rockets modifications just make him humanoid (that’s probably the most simple comparison) and Gamora has some modification apparently from Thanos, which are regeneration (assuming my research is correct) but that really isn’t a supped up thing.  But other than that they all seem to be operating within what is normal for their species.  They are not GOOD guys, but they are doing what is RIGHT and I love that.

Well that’s it for now.