The Flash (2023)

The other day, my boyfriend decided he was going to watch The Flash despite basically hearing that it was a dumpster fire and, ya know, despite the whole Ezra Miller thing. If you hadn't heard, it turns out Ezra Miller is a trash human being. He also, if you didn't know, is the star of The Flash. So anyway, we sat down to watch The Flash. I had zero problems with this because I have historically actually enjoyed a lot of "trash fire" "genre" movies. And yes, "genre" is in quotes because frickin everything's a "genre" and calling Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Super Hero movies "genre" is just dumb.

So anyway, we watched The Flash and... it's not that bad actually. The following review contains spoilers. You've been warned.

Not gonna lie, I think the fact that we watched it in the comfort of our own home with the ability to both pause and talk over it made it more fun that it might have been otherwise. I dunno, because I watched it the way I watched it. There were parts where I had to explain to the perpetually drunk man because he'd zoned out or something... and there were a couple parts we "rewound" for funsies or clarification. But yeah, we had a lot of fun.

That being said, pretty much all the CG was a dumpster fire. I watched a good chunk of The Flash on The CW (the TV show) and their CG was better. So, ya know, not great for what was supposed to be a really big movie for the WB, or whatever the company's name is now. The babies in the big "save the babies" scene were faker than Bradley Cooper's baby in American Sniper. The alternate universe stuff at the end was hard to watch. Heck, the entirety of the alternate timeline stuff inside the Speed Force was hard to watch. I honestly didn't enjoy the big fight against the Kryptonians, either. Not sure if that was a CG issue or just the 50th Flash fight scene and it was just real old at that point issue... but whatever.

Alt Barry's laugh was hella annoying. It wasn't as prevalent as I had been lead to believe by Honest Trailers on YouTube, but yes it was annoying. His character... I honestly don't know what to think about it. Obviously Alt Barry didn't have the same maturing crap happen in his past, so he's gonna be more immature than Barry, but... yeah. I guess he was no more annoying than your average stoner college kid.

I really liked Michael Keaton back as Batman. I'm not really super nostalgic for him as a lot of fans, but he was fun. The fight scene in the kitchen was amusing and probably would have been more effective if they hadn't plastered Michael Keaton's face all over the promotional material. It's clear from the "never show his face" thing during that fight that he was supposed to be a surprise but... yeah. I especially liked his spaghetti analogy for the time-travel/alternate universe stuff. Fits right in with my other favorite quote about Time:

"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually, from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball of wibbley-wobbly, timey-whimey, stuff." - The Doctor, Doctor Who

Also, the Batwing was the best Batwing ever. Like, that's what I'm looking for in my Batman. Not the latest in military tech, just a semi-realistic plane shaped like a bat. That I had nostalgia for. On a side note: my boyfriend did not recognize the Hans Zimmer Batman theme and I was very disappointed in him.

Supergirl was cool. No notes.

I was also completely forgot about the George Clooney cameo at the end and was alternately surprised and like "oh yeah..." about it. I definitely have a controversial view on George Clooney as Batman... I liked him in that movie even though that movie was definitely a dumpster fire. Still want my Bat-fleck movie, though...

Oh, and I did not think the Wonder Woman cameo deserved the music sting. It was very out of place. The Lasso of Truth bit here was loads funnier than the one in Justice League.

My boyfriend was very, very confused as to why Nick Cage was included in the alternate timelines at the end. I was highly amused and barely able to explain so... that was fun.

From my admittedly limited, casual Flash fan lens, I don't think the story really suffered from not having The Reverse Flash instead of Alt Barry. I have never really understood Reverse Flash's motivation in fucking up Barry's life, so having it be Barry the entire time made more sense to me. Also admittedly, this isn't a pure Flashpoint story... but it essentially is. Barry's motivation is obviously the same, even though he goes about it differently than more traditional Flashpoint story-lines do. I also clocked Alt Barry as whatever iteration of The Flash pushed Barry out of the Speed Force as soon as Alt Barry got shrapnel stuck in his arm... it was really obvious, though my boyfriend was more surprised a little later...

But yeah... I didn't absolutely hate The Flash. I probably won't watch it again unless my boyfriend decides that's something he needs to do. I wasn't even planning to write this review until it kept popping into my head so... yeah.

Night Broken by Patricia Briggs

A Spoiler Free Review

I really enjoyed Night Broken. Like, really enjoyed it. Like, crying at the end when everyone was being all fatalistic. Night Broken was awesome. However, that does not mean I did not have thoughts. So here goes:

Okay, Mr. Gywnn ap Lugh, who knows he’s dealing with a ridiculous and changeable person such as Coyote, please set an arbitrary deadline for getting back an artifact you literally spent a bunch of time not caring about. Good plan. Probably not going to work out for you. I hate this kind of crap so much. You are an incredibly powerful, incredibly long-lived person so a week is nothing. You know this. You also know who has the damn Walking Stick so… why don’t you maybe try to contact Coyote? I’m assuming that’s within your power. Instead, we must make vague threats at Mercy. Good plan. Solid plan. You’re an asshole. Leave it to Zee to point the time thing to Mercy. THANK YOU. I was overall pleased with how that whole thing turned out, just got real annoyed at that first meeting.

I very much dislike Christy. Probably picking up what Mercy’s laying down, but also… I dislike women who play the kinds of games she’s working on and yeah. Hate it. So much. So very glad that relationship drama didn’t actually become relationship drama because I despise relationship drama more than I despise Christy. Make no mistake, I despise that woman. The revelation that she basically won’t take responsibility for her own shit on top of the manipulation… ugh. Keep her away from Mercy and the rest. Forever, if possible.

I really do enjoy learning about mythologies, especially those that aren’t as “well trodden” as the ones we hear about in the US… ya know, mainly the Greek/Roman and Celtic ones. Getting the Guayota story from Kyle was neat. I did look Guayota up immediately upon seeing the name. First thing that comes up is the Wiki article, which I only read the blurb about due to potential spoilers. Honestly glad I didn’t read further due to Kyle’s retelling.

Honestly, things were progressing pretty okay, then Wulfe up an throws a wrench into things. I sometimes love that this world feels so lived in; that’s partially due to the amount of characters. However, when 15 thousand of them show up at random intervals for random reasons, it really feels too full. Especially when, say, Mercy has barely gotten any sleep and everyone suddenly want to see her tonight. And just… ugh with that whole bit. Definitely smacks of something needed to be dealt with right now that I feel like could have waited. Which shows how much I know, because having Stefan at the ready was ultimately helpful. Still felt stupid as it was happening. I am very glad Mercy’s exhaustion is shown “on screen” cuz protagonists who just keep going like the Energizer Bunny are odd.

It is very interesting to me to get to see some of the politics involved in the supernatural community basically vs the humans. I saw a very little of that in The Hollows series by Kim Harrison and a bunch of it in the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series by Laurel K. Hamilton. The Anita Blake series focuses on it from a police perspective, as Anita becomes a Federal Marshall throughout the series and often liases with police. It’s interesting to see it from a purely political standpoint here. I mean, it’s a clearly corrupt political standpoint, but that’s politics for you. I am glad Mercy and Adam have some pretty heavy hitters on their side, as far as political maneuvering goes, apparently. It is quite nice to see idiots put in their place by smarter people, especially in regards to politicians and trumped up government agents.

Night Broken ran a mile a minute and barely let up. There were points where I felt about as exhausted as Mercy. But it was good, ultimately. Everything hung together pretty well and made sense —Wulfe notwithstanding. I’m a pretty happy camper with this one, even though reading the first paragraph of the blurb made me very scared I wouldn’t be. Seriously, there are reasons I don’t read blurbs after the first one gets me. But anyway, Night Broken = fun and intense and good.

Oathbreakers by Mercedes Lackey

A Spoiler Free Review

Oathbreakers is, by far, the best of the three Vows and Honor series. It follows one story from beginning to end and does that very well. It was the most fun I’ve had reading a Valdemar book in a while.

Sometimes I’m glad I decided to read the short stories that accompany a series. This is one of those times. Essentially knowing who the dead man Tarma, Kethry, and Jadrek came across is and what that sword is… makes it a bit more fun. Just being like “ah, so they are getting it back.”

I am absolutely fucking pissed about Kethry being able to work magic in Valdemar. No vrondi appear to pester her. Everyone around her can still talk about magic perfectly fine. It’s like the rules surrounding Vanyel’s lovely anti-magic spell thing suddenly just don’t matter and it doesn’t exist. What. The Actual. Fuck. Lackey. I probably wouldn’t be so mad if I hadn’t read these in chronological order and hadn’t had it hammered home through three back-to-back series about how vrondi swarm magic users in Valdemar and magic can’t be talked about very easily within Valdemaran borders. As it is, I’m pissed.

So… where on the scale of Susan to Renesmee does the name “Megrarthon” rate?

Although I am largely enjoying Oathbreakers, I am finding Kethry and Jadrek pining after each other really gross. Just from a personal standpoint. I don’t enjoy mushiness, especially when the people being mushy just aren’t talking to each other. I am glad they worked themselves out in the end. Getting the back-and-forth that wasn’t really a back-and-forth was annoying. Add to that Jadrek thinking Tarma was unaware of he and Kethry’s relationship… ai yai yai…

I like that Kethry is able to siphon off the energy from all the Hawks being pissed off. Using anger as magical energy is pretty neat when someone thinks to use it.

Favorite Lines

"You can't stop knowledge; you shouldn't try. If you do, half the time it's the wrong people that get it first." - Kethry

"Keth, power brings with it the need to make moral judgments; history proves that." - Jadrek

Scarlet Adventures #6

I spent most of my day off playing some more Pokemon Scarlet, pretty much just working through the Outbreaks and leveling up and evolving a bunch of random Pokemon. For those who don't know what Outbreaks are, they're basically when a bunch of Pokemon from a particular species appear altogether and, well, that's basically it. Outbreaks first appeared in Pokemon Legends: Arceus and they continued to be used in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. I must say, I much prefer the Legends: Arceus form, for reasons that will become apparent through the captions of the following pictures.

I appear to have exhausted my Deerling...

How come no one told me Pikachu and Raichu could swim?!

As you can see in my little map, I have arrived at the place where with Basculin Outbreak was occurring. No Basculin here.

Second spot, still no Basculin.

Third spot, still no Basculin.

The biggest "lake" here... Still. No. Basculin. WTF.

This is much later, as you can see from the lighting. NOW there are Basculin.

I spent several hours running around this area to reset the spawns. HOURS. This was easily the most frustrating Outbreak since my first Flamigo one where they spawned one at a time. Seriously, HOURS went by and I STILL didn't finish the Outbreak. Didn't even get a notification telling me the numbers were going down. I was pissed off.

Drowned myself twice on top of this waterfall, too.

At least in Pokemon Legends: Arceus, the Outbreaks would happen in a contained bit of space with IMMEDIATE respawns, so you could just sit there and either catch or fight to your hearts content. Most of the Outbreaks in Pokemon Scarlet are like this, but I've had enough that refuse to respawn unless you've left or are running around an area. This Basculin one was THE WORST.

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

A Slightly Spoilery Review

Originally Posted to GoodReads: August 25, 2020

Grabbed me and didn’t let go. Pretty easy to read, quick pace. Enjoyed every moment... except for the melodramatic relationship stuff, but then, I’ve never really been a fan of that stuff so... yeah.

I liked the Grisha and their powers and the explanation of their powers. I kind of liked the reveal of The Darkling, if we’d gotten more with him, it probably would have been better. There didn’t really seem to be a villain to the piece until late in the game, but that wasn’t really a detriment to the story. I like villains hidden in plain sight so long as they work well. This one definitely did.

I enjoyed the characters themselves as well. Alina was a good heroine, I think. She isn’t floundering around unsure of herself, mostly, but when she does, it’s believable. I find that refreshing. Genya was probably my favorite. Unabashedly herself, even though she’s in service to the queen and looked down upon. Mal was... eh. There, I guess. He’s not entirely fleshed out.

Anyway, I loved this book a lot. Gotta go read the sequel now.

Bonus TV Show Quick Review

Shadow and Bone is a TV show on Netflix, if you weren't already aware. It's a lot of fun and mixes the Shadow and Bone Trilogy with the Six of Crows Duology, which makes sense from a timeline perspective. It does change some things, the biggest being Alina's appearance. It's not a bad change, to be honest. I quite like the Jessie Mei Li in the part and I feel like she's a lot more enjoyable as a character.

Mal got a bit more fleshing out, but he's still largely just around... which is addressed at the end of the second season, so that's fun. I love me some Jesper. Nina's amazing and I can't wait to see how she progresses in the show. Her book counterpart goes some interesting places. I'm still reeling from the Genya/David thing that I won't spoil... just know it's reel-worthy. I love Bagra in both book and show; Zoe Wanamaker is awesome. I cannot not mention Ben Barnes as The Darkling. I've been in love with him since he played Prince Caspian, so... yeah.

The effects in Shadow and Bone are pretty good. Nothing can match what's going on in my brain as I read the books, so Alina's powers were honestly a little underwhelming in that aspect. Everyone else's powers were just fine. I feel like Alina's were probably the most difficult to get right... there's a lot of aurora effects going on, which kind of makes sense but wasn't what I envisioned. Much shrugging. Adaptation gotta adapt.

This is supposed to be a quick review (might do a longer one at some stage, but I'm not sure right now), so I'll leave off with this: I really enjoy the TV show for what it's brought to screen. I'm a little disappointed we didn't get a lot of Alina in The Little Palace, but they condensed that bit a lot so... eh, it works well enough. Anyway, if you haven't seen it, head over to Netflix and enjoy yourself.

Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs

A Spoiler Free Reread Review

Okay, I’m all for sudden changes in the status quo, however, I feel like something as big as the Fae essentially disappearing would get more than a “oh hey, this happened off screen between books.” Especially given how big the Far have been in Mercy’s recent life up til now. I assume since it actually has nothing to do with Mercy personally, that’s probably why it’s in the category of “this happened off screen between books,” which, again, is fine. I am just shocked. Shocked, I tell you! The only thing I remember from my first read of Frost Burned was that Mercy and Jesse went Black Friday shopping.

I don’t know if it’s just my mood or lack of sleep, but Frost Burned has me tearing up at random points. They’re clearly tear-jerking points, but I’m not sure I was so teary on my first read. It’s really the little things: Tony showing up, Kyle hiring Hauptman security, etc. Mostly happy tears. Frost Burned has a bit of a feeling of a finale book. Just about everyone Mercy knows showing up somewhere.

If I didn’t love Kyle already, this book would have done it. It takes a very special person to stand up to kidnappers the way he did and then he took care of Mercy after. So great. Love him. I also quite like Asil. He’s my brand of ancient, dangerous, and amusing at the same time. Kind of reminds me of Laurel K. Hamilton’s Wicked Truth.

It really very much sucks that Mercy had another will-stealing Fae artifact used on her. Sucks big time. Again, though, I’m both happy and not that her trauma continues to be an issue, if only for the realism.

Despite the fact that the late villain of the piece was actually behind the plot the whole time, he did still feel exactly like a sudden third act villain. I did find him a little bit interesting, for all his entire story was info-dumped by Marsilia, Stefan, and Hao. I did manage to remember a bit about that last battle, mostly about the ice, as that whole scene started… but that’s where I’ll leave it for spoilers sake.

Frost Burned really does have the feel of a finale. That’s not a bad thing and probably helped me leave the series alone for so long. That said, it’s also a lot of Mercy running around, trying to keep those she could safe. Also our first real run-in with the government vs the werewolves, since that bullet was dodged earlier in the series. It’ll be interesting to see how or if that shakes out in the rest of the series.

Favorite Line

"I am always careful with the truth. It is a powerful thing and deserves respect." - Tad Adelbertsmiter

River Marked by Patricia Briggs

A Spoiler Free Reread Review

It is really amazing to me how your brain can just discard information on a whim. You can read a book and really like it, only to forget pretty much everything about it in the space of a few years. Makes rereading more fun, I guess. I remembered the otters, well otterkin actually, in River Marked and that Adam and Mercy were on their honeymoon, but virtually nothing else. River Marked is chock full of lore pertaining specifically to Mercy and Mercy's heritage... and I remembered none of it. Well... a tiny bit... but that tiny bit is spoilers, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

I teared up twice during River Marked. Once during Adam and Mercy's wedding and the second time reading Mercy's letter to Adam at the very end. I am a sap for people coming together in unexpected ways and for the love letters, apparently.

So, the lore. I love me some lore. I'm not sure how true-to-life this particular lore is, given it's Native American lore or based on it anyway. I haven't done much research into that area of things, though given I've heard basically nothing in the way of controversy on how Particia Briggs handled it, I'm willing to bet she did. It definitely seemed authentic enough to me. Insert much ignorant white person shrugging here. I am very glad they spent a bunch of time here making damn sure we knew Mercy wasn't anything like a skinwalker. 'Cuz yeah, definitely an entirely different thing than what Mercy is.

Coyote really reminded me of The Doctor from Doctor Who, complete with the whole "thinking out loud while problem solving" thing. I quite liked him and his characterization makes loads of sense. Again, insert ignorant white person shrugging here. Oh! The Maryhill Museum and Stonehenge replica are real places that you can visit and they've definitely earned a spot on my "I would like to go to there" list.

I quite enjoyed River Marked. The story was fun and pretty much ran a mile a minute, so it was also a fairly quick read the couple of times I had time to sit down and actually read it for long stretches.

Favorite Line 

"Wal-Mart is the Happy Shopping Grounds for the financially challenged." - Mercy Thompson Hauptman