arjumand

Yeah, I was going to say that maybe the poster is meant to represent red shift except when I looked it up three websites gave three different meanings (granted, one of them was a Doctor Who fansite so YMMV). So I think it was just 'his suit is red, right? So let's make it ALL RED.' I don't know, I like Oliver and his not so little friend; and I don't mean his bow! BOOM. To be serious, that kind of shot is a clear 'hero shot' - looking up at the hero. Then we have his bow bisecting the frame and in the foreground, and the city as a background and a Star frame. Great composition, me like. Much better than Barry's weird expression and ocean of RED. LoT - eh. It's ok. Nothing new, though.

Ok. Huh. Is that going to be directed by James Bamford too (she asked with trepidation)? Because I wasn't impressed by last season's efforts.

"But Oliver speaks fluent Mandarin! He's so good an actual Chinese person was fooled!" "Now you're just making shit up. When did that happen?" ~ You have opened my eyes to the truth, Calliope1975. It must be hell to be continuity person on a show which couldn't give a shit about continuity. This is angering me so much. Every time I see those useless newbies striding around like they own the place, my blood pressure goes up. Maybe that's just a Flashpoint thing? Like, when Barry fixes things (and he fucking has to), Curtis walks in one day and goes: "Where's Useless Fake Canary?" and everyone turns around and goes "Who?"

Yeah. And remember Malcolm's sob story about looking in on Thea as a widdle baby? Which directly contradicted his season 1 finale "Your mother and sister will be following you soon"? Ugh. Good thing I never use my twitter - I'd be tempted to tweet at the writers / whoever: you know we watched this, right? We watched Oliver just putting himself in front of the gun. I also had to laugh when I read a tweet here about the continuity person on Arrow, and what she does. LOL! WHAT?! I've only been reading the spoilers here and there, ''cos I'm finding them depressing. But WHAT. Oh, man. WTF. Imagined conversation in the writers' room follows: "So, Havenrock. Let's say a guy was on a business trip out of town that day, and the nuke came down, and his whole family was killed-" "No no dude." (sound of someone sucking on crack pipe) "He was there. He survived the blast. Because of his magic rags." "I hate you guys."

What you said. The fact that we were still trying to figure out how many times Oliver went to see William because the show never made it clear seems to argue that the Arrow writers didn't get enough notes- and I'm not counting the offscreen comments by show runners. Unless it happens on screen it doesn't count for me. The fact that they didn't get how terrible the optics are on our hero visiting his child (and by extension, the mother of his child) in secret, while his wheelchair bound girlfriend sits at home suggests that they doubled down on not seeing the problem. And Josh Friedman is the guy I mainly blame for running TSCC into the ground. The season premiere had ratings of 18 million viewers. The entire first season had an average of 10 million. So much goodwill was squandered in the second season, it was painful to watch. Those are ratings MG and co would sell their souls over. The second season was a mess- plot and character wise. Even when he knew the writing was on the wall, Friedman just stubbornly went forward with pointless plots, focus on ancillary and useless characters, ideas which went nowhere. When the show is on the bubble is not when you air an entire episode inside a character's head. no, I'm not bitter, why do you ask? Lol. Exactly. And then, once everyone's confused and angry, you give Thea that terrible speech which is so obviously the WORD OF GOD brought down from the mountain that it's horrifying, for me, that anyone- script supervisor, executive- let that get past without at least making it less blatant. I appreciate that Friedman praises the visuals and envies the freedom on Luther, cos I love that show. But he had a fandom loved by millions all over the world for 20 years, a budget the entire BBC couldn't even dream of, and a chance to do what neither T3 nor T4 ever managed - show us what was so great about John Connor anyway. But he was more interested in the stories of Shirley Manson-bot and T-Garrett Dillahunt. So I guess we'll never know.

Huh. You know that never occurred to me. That would be a brilliant twist, much better than Now I'll be disappointed if that isn't it, heh.

Heh, sometimes I feel like doing that and that's when I back away from the keyboard. At least watch a movie or two, or a tv series set in that time. Re. the forties, there are so many WW2 propaganda movies filmed in that time to get a feel for the dialogue. Hell, the first Captain America works for that too. I get that, but there's a core Oliverness, so to speak, which I think a writer needs to convey. Same with Felicity. I don't usually bother too much with the others, as long as they're not completely unrecognisable (like one or more of them become the villain of the story - I just roll my eyes at that), but for me, those two have to be done right.

Re. bolded part - I usually do that, but in this case, all she's doing is Hell, no, ain't nobody got time for that! #oldmeme #iregretnothing I haven't tried Canaries - This: Because it sort of looks like it might go in the direction of Oliver being a vigilante without the island experience would be a deal-breaker for me too. Though usually the story would have the 'no island' tag in that case, unless she's not tagging everything. I started reading hannasus, and I liked it initially, but you're right, sometimes the AUs are too AU, if you know what I mean. That's why I really liked you have not failed this 'verse - both Oliver and Felicity were recognizably themselves, and that's what I require. Though it's one of so-caffeinated's perpetually unfinished WIPs, but that's another issue. And hannasus's is one of the fics I meant by slow-moving - I checked the story length, and it's supposed to be 11 chapters, and we're 3 chapters in. It's not really sustaining my interest for another 8 weeks. Maybe I'll check in once it's nearly finished. I've had a look at the WW2 AU - eh. At least dettiot did some careful research into 30s slang and such - this is simply 'we're going to squish everyone into WW2!' Everyone talks like they do in 2012-2016, which is a massive deal-breaker for me, but it might not be for you (it's one of the reasons why I can't read any type of Regency AU unless I'm sure the dialogue will be done right, and why I can't read any Game of Thrones fic where they keep asking each other whether they're ok). Also, and is really is my issue, I find it in bad taste to use a real life horrific event in one's tv show based fanfic, especially with the images accompanying the fic. In the spoiler I explain why I won't be continuing this fic.

Have you read the new chapter? I don't know if Felicity ever said 'oy vey' on the show (in a post-modern, ironic kind of way, of course), but OY VEY. I mean the second chapter is bad enough with the out of character Felicity but this one is special, in that Oliver has transmorphed into wish-fulfilment Oliver, complete with To be honest, I'm kinda disappointed by this year's OFBB entries. I'm enjoying TrueMyth's a lot, but the others, I don't know. With dettiot, the thirties setting is throwing me for a loop. I like the computer genius part of Felicity's characterization, and without it, I'm finding it difficult to get invested in her character. And the others are pretty slow-moving. Maybe I just need to not read anything until the fics are finished, heh.

No, it's always been that way for Arrow Big Bangs; I remember last year I came across it and I was surprised to find that a Big Bang (which is technically meant to have the entire fic in one go - otherwise, how is it different?) had WIPs with chapters being posted on a weekly basis. When I participated in another fandom, I posted the whole thing in one go. Maybe it's to ensure continued readership? I remember when I posted, I had no feedback until I cross-posted on AO3 and dreamwidth, I think.

Oh, ok - I thought everyone was posting Wednesday. To your second point, NOOOOOOOOOOOO. J/K, I'm sure it'll be great nevertheless.

All I know is that I've just spent five minutes looking for the right facepalm gif for the situation. Is this the summer of Arrow fic meltdowns, or what? What is HAPPENING? Actually, I do have something to say, and I'm not in the OFBB, so I have no skin in the game. I don't agree that "wouldn't it have been worse for them if the most well-known fic at the moment had been posted along with everyone else's and received all the attention/comments?" - the good thing about well known fics being posted along with others, is that once you've finished reading that, you'll go on to the other participants in the OFBB. By posting it so early, there's not going to be that effect. The anonymous commenter must have felt that maybe by Wednesday, everyone will be all OFBB'd out . And first prize for the worst way to react to a problem of their own making goes to . . . . so_caffeinated and bre, for reacting so maturely. I mean, come on. No matter how one falls on the divide (bad decision versus no big deal), taking your toys and going home is never a good look on anyone, in my opinion. What was so hard about keeping to a deadline? I'm still looking forward to Wednesday, 'cos I want to read Macha's fic. Yay for !

I remember this as irritating me most (along with the retconning of Laurel as the very best of the best, she's their inspiration, yada yada). This is what I said back in April: Also, I'm apparently psychic, or their storytelling devices are incredibly transparent: Why did I have to be right about that? WHY? When she bites it (oh please, oh please), will we have to listen to all the characters say how awesome she was and watch a lot of retconned flashbacks?

Oh lord, I forgot about him completely - my idiot August-heat-drunk brain immediately went to the horrible Legends of Tomorrow flying non-actors. Still, if this means the return of horribly bearded, terrible age makeup, one armed Oliver, then the NOOOO stands. Sorry, Dig's hypothetical future kid.

I know exactly how you feel - Wonder Woman is my girl, has been ever since the days of Lynda Carter, and I need them to do her right. Maybe after WW1 is over, she took Steve Trevor back to Themyscira, they had a great life together away from the world, but when he died of natural causes, she was stuck in her grief until the Man of Steel fiasco? I mean, the trailer looks awesome. And there has to be a reason they changed her story from WWII to WWI. And Zack Snyder isn't directing. I hate the Hawkpeople SO MUCH.

WHAT? I use that kind of summary to remind me to NEVER EVER read that fic. There's an absolutely hilarious one which I'm dying to beg the writer to fix, but I restrain myself, 'cos the fic itself is even worse. I think the issue is that she's written COMPLETE in the summary, but hasn't marked it as complete - so it still shows up as a WIP in listings. I mean, 52 chapters and there's a sequel? Whoa. I'm getting tired just thinking about it.

This is the best thing ever. I now want one of these for everything that got smashed in the city in season 4 - like a train, traffic lights, that huge underground dome which got built with no-one knowing anything about it - no, really. How the hell did that happen? Invisible construction?

Oh, lord. That "five year plan for the show" makes perfect sense as something Mallozzi came up with. He is the uber-"characters must be sacrificed for the plot" showrunner. And he's done it again - he thought of a cool idea and now he's forcing everything to fit it. Thing is, after two cancelled shows, I doubt that Syfy will be giving him much more rope, especially with the ratings in the toilet the way they are. I know I complained about One more than most over here, but I do miss him, or I miss complaining about him - same difference. I just don't see the point of bringing in characters for the COOL, you're blowing my mind brah! moment when they get offed.

I think the majority of the viewing audience agrees with you - having had a look at the ratings, I'm thinking that unless Mallozzi and co. are pulling a Jon Snow on us, the show isn't long for this world. *See, this season started at around a 0.8 million viewing audience, which is down from last season, but only a little. Marc Bendavid was in that episode, in two roles: Jace Corso and Derrick Moss. Then the viewing audience starts declining, episode per episode, with an all-time series low in episode 4 with 0.563. Then, lo and behold, in episode 5, we're back up again, the first time this season, with 0.734 million viewers. What changed? Well, as we saw in the previews, Marc Bendavid is back, as Jace Corso. Who gets shot in the face in the same episode. Episode 5: ratings back down again to 0.654. Now this isn't perfectly clear cut - there's dvr etc. But what this is telling the network is that people are watching the promos, and if the character they're interested in isn't in it, they're not gonna bother watching it live. The ratings spell the message out quite clearly - the two episodes Marc Bendavid was in and had actual lines got the highest ratings this season. As for myself, I freely admit to missing Marc Bendavid - whether it's Derrick Moss or Jace Corso. Like you said, the atmosphere on the show has changed, and not for the better. I think the Jace Corso issue could have been handled much differently - I fully expected them to knock him out, drag him on the Raza, and mind-wipe him: "You always wanted to be part of our crew, right? Well, here you are! You're welcome!" It would have created an actual redemption arc, where you have someone who's truly a scumbag, not like the others who are simply diamonds in the rough or whatever (an exiled Prince? What is this, Game of Thrones?), and who really redeems himself by starting afresh. Just shooting him in the head was stupid, unless it turns out he was a clone all along, and the real Jace Corso is out there somewhere. I do think that after last Friday's ratings came in, there were some pointed questions asked at meetings between the network and M&M. *My source for ratings info is here: http://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/dark-matter-season-two-ratings/

Yeah, that's what I'm getting from the combination of statements too. The problem with his 'gardening' technique of writing is that now all his main characters are spread out far and wide, there's lots of ancillary characters who've been given pointless (and space consuming) adventures, and his false protagonist and false antagonist are still in play. And, as a writer, to pare all that down must seem like an insurmountable job now. Farming it out to a ghost-writer seems like a good idea to me, but it's also admitting that you've given up. I don't think he can do that.

The thing about Brienne is that she is massively, massively in love with Jaime. And while I'd love for the sword to be returned to the Starks, or at least be altered somewhat, so that gaudy Lannister lion pommel doesn't get her into any more trouble (is it canon or fanon that people call her the 'Kingslayer's whore'?), there is no way Brienne could do that. It's the only thing she has of Jaime's. Re. Meera and Dark Sister - I've watched that scene again, more carefully this time. While Meera does grab a sword from the entrance to the cave and uses it to dispatch a wight, when the White Walker comes in, she throws a spear with a dragonglass head to kill him (which makes a lot of sense - spear and net are kind of her things). So it's inconclusive, I guess. I think the sword she picked up was left behind in the cave. I know it seems to be too late to introduce new weapons, but would they be new? We've heard about Valyrian steel since season 1, so how about in Season 7 we're shown a sequence in which a Valyrian steel sword is forged, like we saw when they split up Ice into two swords? It could be a great case of dramatic irony, with the audience knowing how the key weapon is made, but none of the characters do.

As Needle isn't Valyrian steel, it will be pretty useless against White Walkers, and Wights will keep fighting, even with bits chopped off (fire is the real weapon here) - but I've read a couple of theories stating that Arya will end up with Dark Sister, the famous Targaryen sword wielded by the Visenya. One of its characteristics was that its 'slender blade was designed for a woman's hand', so it should be easy enough for her to get used to. Now, how she's going to get it is another question - it was last seen in the hands of Brynden Rivers, who ended up being the Bloodraven, but who before that was Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. Maybe the sword is at Castle Black? One thing Jon needs to do is start tracking down any Valyrian steel swords left in Westeros - while dragonglass works against the White Walkers, it's useless against Wights, and Valyrian steel can deal with both.

Yes, exactly! What the hell, MG? Does he think we didn't watch seasons 1 or 2? I think I'm most enraged about the terrible, terrible Madison McLaughlin (fake canary from last season) stinking up the joint. I mean, the five seconds she was in the trailer were already terrible. Oh, I forgot. We're finally going to find out what Laurel asked Oliver in that weird scene where it looked like he killed her, or faked her death. Wooo. I haven't been sleeping because the suspense is too great. I'm not even going into the whole Flashpoint and how asshole Barry changed things. I already had that rage stroke after I watched last season's Flash finale, which I only watched because I anticipated them pulling something that shitty.

OMG, those candles! And all the SECRETS and LIES stuff! I really hate to say this, but she's starting to remind me of the way Lana Lang was portrayed on Smallville. It started with her complaining about secrets, and now the candles clinched it. To be fair, Laurel also had all the candles whenever we saw her and Oliver in her apartment. It kinda breaks the willing suspension of disbelief, for me. Every time I see a scene like that, I used to think, WTF Laurel? Do you have an intern? Or some kind of indentured servant? Maybe she left him/her to Thea in her will.

I sent you the link, but not mine (it was wrong) - bijoux found the correct one! Oh, Thea. Don't get me started. It was bad enough that as soon as we had the reveal, and Oliver started lying to Felicity, their whole relationship was ruined for me at that point. I couldn't enjoy any of the charming, quirky stuff, because inside I was just churning with frustration that he was acting like a cheating husband. Then we come to that Thea scene - after having to sit through two and a half seasons of Thea's INSUFFERABLE whining about secrets and lies, we get that speech which was a typical 'take the gentle reader by the hand' which I thought had died out with Dickens. For fuck's sake. And now she's gone off to whereverthefuck. Don't hurry back.