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angelfireeast · 7 years

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You must really dislike Caitlin

Oh, boy this is going to be a long answer. I wish it was as simple as I don’t like Caitlin. I dislike what a waste of potential Caitlin is. I dislike how badly written she is. I dislike how writers always take the cheap way out with her, the lazy way and story always end up sucking because they don’t give crap tell her story the same way they tell Barry, Cisco, Harry and Iris’s stories. Finally, in season three by end of terrible writing, I completely stopped liking Caitlin as a character over the deeds she did as character & interaction of other characters in relation to said deeds. It was the final nail in the coffin of ‘I can’t keep hoping for better or pushing the bad writing side to enjoy the good bits there. I dislike her now in such manner of I don’t even want to see her on my screen without some big changes to how she handled.’ It was such a bad story in s3. It made her look bad in every way possible and not the good kind of ‘oh I love that bad villain’ sorta way. Everything sucked. Season three and spoilers thus far for season four have made lost complete faith that writers will do right by Caitlin Snow.

But lets talking about writing because that’s the root of the problem.

Caitlin has few problems that define her character. She’s static flat character that suffers “factory resets” at the start of every season that means hardly from last season effects her save the odd time here or there. She’s also completely defined as the love interest and makes her character who lacks depth in a sea of characters with way more depth growing deeper with each passing season.

Think about every season:

Her plot in season one was grieving Ronnie & helping build team Flash. At a certain point, she was a fun more happy character.

Season two Ronnie died for real. Six-month time jump & Caitlin magically moved on back into bouncy fun character eyeing Fake!Jay’s abs and making friends with Harry as of 2x02. They did touch on her grief with Ronnie but only with they gunning up kill fake!Jay and start Hunter/Zoom story. S3B ended with Caitlin suffering extreme PTSD due to her kidnapping.

Season 3, post-flashpoint, it’s like Zoom never happened! She’s back to a bouncy fun character again. All the development that should’ve come from Fake!jay/Zoom was completely wiped away. They Flashpointed away all her growth! Even when she started a relationship with Julian it was still like there was nothing that happened in s2. Not even in a way that you go ‘so what happened instead’. No there is just a blank hole like season two never happened to her. A season’s whole juicy development just brushed aside like nothing.

You know who that doesn’t happen to? Cisco. Barry. Iris. Cisco was deeply affected by Eobard’s betrayal. His issues with Wells manifesting different ways carried on into s3 with HR. Barry does bounce back to the ‘happy guy’ at the start of each season but he doesn’t lose the development from last season like Caitlin does. Things from last season shape his actions in the next. Caitlin is the only one not to address Eobard’s betrayal. All she got was angry but didn’t speak to Eobard about it. They didn’t show her feelings after the initial point of revealing his betrayal. That’s where story basically ended because her story served Barry (& Cisco’s) in the prove Dr. Wells was the Man in Yellow plot. Barry, Cisco, and Joe all talked to Eobard in the cell but Caitlin? Nope, she got married. Had to get her heart broken in time for s2 to cause to leave the time for 6 months and then Factory Reset. Meanwhile, Cisco & Barry were deeply affected by Eobard. Joe has affected which in turn affected things with Harry. Iris was grieving Eddie which showed it’s self by putting a stop on westallen for s2B. What did Caitlin get? She got a man with nice abs and it was like she wasn’t grieving for Ronnie at all in 2x02. When Reverse Flash returned we again saw Cisco and Barry’s feelings on the matter. This time with Harry’s feelings thrown in there but Caitlin was a background player. Why? Why can’t we ever hear or see her feelings? She was just as betrayed as others. She lost her husband twice due to Eobard’s evil plans. Okay, that’s now as bad as murdering your mom or being murdered in AU timeline but still. We hear Joe’s voice and even Harry’s voice more Caitlin. Because the writers don’t give a crap about her. They don’t care about telling her story. When you add it all up everything out its incredibility frustrating. Everyone else got have a story dealing with Eobard and fallout from season one and Caitlin got story about new man in her life as Fake Jay then scary Hunter/Zoom.

Caitlin is the most underdeveloped character on the show. All her relationships, save Cisco, are defined by being a love interest. Even her friendship with Barry was based in bonding on a shared understanding of loss in s1. Ago connected to Ronnie making her love interest. Which would be no problem if did repeat the being love interest every damn season. Season two the only character she becomes real friends with was Harry and rest of her story was about being a love interest to Jay and minor friendship stuff with Cisco/Barry. The writers choose NOT to give Caitlin and Iris a big friendship story when it was the perfect time to give them one! These two women just have in a proximity friendship or as the writers liked to call it ‘work friends’. Iris learned the secret, she joined team Flash, both women were going through the same thing losing a lover it was the perfect time to build their friendship. Instead, they choose to build Caitlin & fake!Jay & focus on that. Caitlin has no close friendship with Joe, Wally or Jesse. Think about it when has Caitlin ever had one or one scene with Joe? or Wally? Harry tried to get Caitlin to talk to Jesse on bases of ‘great close relationship’ and even she was like ‘we’re not even close!’. The writers do not care about writing her beyond the tiny little box. I don’t feel that distance with Cisco/Iris or Cisco/Joe as I do with Caitlin. How many close female friends does Caitlin have? None. Work friends with Iris & Felicity. She had a random friend from her six-month job when the show needed a one-off villain. The writers let Iris be friends with Linda and Cecile. Yes, there more of connection but my point is the writers don’t try to make ANY connection with Caitlin and other women on the show. Given Harry & Julian, they prove Caitlin is easily more to friendly and open and welcoming on the team. They just don’t care about writing it. Harry is the only non-romantic character who the writers actual spend time letting Caitlin develop a relationship post s1. Which is ridiculous given how much the team has expanded since then - Iris, Jesse, Wally, HR, and allies like Cindy, Cecile, Linda, real Jay + every other superhero.

So yeah, I don’t like Caitlin anymore. I’m beyond frustrated with the writing. I’ve given up hope of better things. If they can’t put the effort into Killer Frost plot then when will put the effort into her character? There is no reason she can be written with same respect and development as everyone else on the team. This show has a problem with misogynistic writing. Just because Iris gets off lighter then Caitlin does make it less of problem. Two women on the show but they friends till one is married and they bridesmaid? The narrative problems with that be damned. Upwards of four women on the show at best but we are lucky if two interact in a truly positive way. (I’m talking Iris/Linda or Iris/Cecile because of she as hell never Caitlin or Jesse or Cindy with someone.) We don’t have strong female drive plots on this show. Iris’s mom plot? That was a nothing story, terrible, didn’t get to see much of Iris’s feelings or even Wally with his mom over in two seconds. Jesse become Jesse Quick? The only speeders to hand-me-down suit. What other hero or villain wore the same suit as another character? Besides the two actors playing Reverse Flash. They don’t care enough to give Jesse Quick her own suit. They gave Fake!Jay a suit, Zoom a suit and the real Jay a suit modified twice plus Rival got a suit! That’s not even touching on Jesse’s rushed plots lacking logic or the disrespect of characters not thinking her as skilled as male speeders or letting her do things ‘because think of her father’.

Caitlin is always defined as a love interest. Frist Ronnie, they fake!Jay/Hunter, and Julian. Even Killer Frost story had love interest tacked on. Julian trailing around behind her telling her he loved her when there was hardly time for to fall in love with her. Her feelings weren’t that strong but it doesn’t matter. We suffered through the plot. Julian’s voice ended being louder then Cisco and Barry when it came to Killer Frost. Never did hear Iris, Joe or Wally say a damn thing because it was always Julian, Cisco or Barry talking. The only thing Iris ever got to save was ‘We have to help Caitlin. Think of Caitlin. What about Caitlin’. Yet we never got see KF and Iris confront things.

Killer Frost should’ve been her biggest story but instead, it was an inconstant mess that left me hating her. I can’t enjoy Killer Frost the villain or Caitlin Snow “the hero” because didn’t commit to either. Caitlin sure as heck didn’t act like a good person in s3 but show kept having the other characters abolishing her all responsibility for everything. From KF or betraying the team with stone. Likewise, the story started Killer Frost isn’t Caitlin’s fault it’s evil meta powers but wait no it isn’t, but wait for the characters on the show still, hold don’t her responsible even the show proved she had a choice in her actions. The writers tried to have cake and eat it too when it came to Killer Frost or maybe they just stopped caring. She had clear motives then it became meta power=evil just because. She started with logical motives in s3A. She used her powers with and without becoming Killer Frost. It was very clearly an emotionally driven thing which like she became very angry and lashed using her powers. Such as trying to kill the man who tried to kidnap her, all the times you start eyes go in 3x07 because she was more and pissed at Barry & upset and situation. Everything made sense. Till it stopped making sense… She was scared of becoming KF, but acted counterproductive to preventing it, KF just seemed cartoon evil. Evil for the sake of it. It looked for a minute like KF might have ‘anit Caitlin Snow thing’ and the show was going play two personalities but then made clear nope one person. So that just left KF as power high that comes out during emotional distress? I guess. Caitlin decided powers=evil so was she was evil? Why? What made the evil. it seemed like she saw E2 KF was evil and decided that what her powers were. S3B KF just wanted to as powerful as god. The writers didn’t even care enough to play angle like she was sick of feeling & was choosing KF/power to get away from pain. She just wanted to be God didn’t give rat behind about killing Cisco her best friend. It was too big of jump just wake up evil & not caring killing Cisco. Didn’t even flinch on three times she tried to kill him. I’m supposed to take that fact that saved him after he threw the cure at her AFTER her side was had clearly lost (so no goddess power for her)? It felt hollow. Completely and totally hallow. I had no basis in which to understand anything or sudden change so she feels hallow. If they stuck with one thing like Mupility Personality or made it clear she was making choices because X or had other characters react better SOMETHING maybe I could get my head about things.

Now, what season four is coming along and it sounds like another factory reset is coming. Sure we might still get some minor Killer Frost stuff but all her relationships? Her being the team? Back working as a hero? All factory reset. It borders on negative continuity a lot of the time. In fact, failing to address things with Killer Frost like stuff between Caitlin & Iris is outright negative continuity. Caitlin’s going change her style and work bar. Maybe that will something but given way KF is just being pushed aside in her relationships. The show is just acting like Iris and Caitlin was even bigger pals then before. Caitlin picked herself, the fear of the possibility of becoming KF, over Iris’s life every day for months when she kept that stone. That’s 100% Caitlin Snow and it’s never been addressed with Iris. Just Julian because all the love interest’s feelings matter remember. Suddenly I’m supposed to think Caitlin cares about Iris as a friend after no friendship for four years? After how she treated her as Caitlin in s3 on top of KF? As if. Caitlin stood there watching the West family suffering in a family for months testing that piece of the stone. Watching Iris tearful confess to her father that she was going to be murdered. Watch, Iris, Wally, Joe and Barry’s total heartbreak as they struggled to find a way to save her. To stop Savitar. Much like Caitlin’s sudden show of friendship for Cisco after trying to kill him three times it rings completely hollow.

I have interest in putting any more goodwill and hope of better things in Caitlin’s character when each season the writers find a new way to fail her character and let me down. They really excelled at failing her in s3 and it’s already blowing over in s4. So yeah, I really don’t like Caitlin anymore. I don’t like how other characters are being negatively affected by the lack of growth and bad storytelling Caitlin gets.

#anti caitlin snow #the flash spoilers

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theliterateape · 5 years

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Getting Paid to Type as a Writer

By David Himmel

I woke up this morning, which means I have to sit down at this computer and type. This computer, the one with the screen that never seems to be without smudges and smears despite my strict adherence to never placing a finger or thumb upon it. Oh well. There’s no such thing as a perfect writing scenario. No amount of notebook, cup of tea, or neatly-sharpened pencils strategically organized next to this filthy computer screen and its attached keyboard will ever exist. There’s nothing cute or neat about having to go to work. Swiffer rag the dust off the desk is about the best it gets. I have a hard time trusting writers who make a thing about their writing workspace. Organization comes in the editing. And to get to the editing, one must first get past the writing.

Today, I’m at a loud coffee shop sucking back a dark double espresso. I don’t really need the caffeine right now but this place tends to frown on anyone who props open their laptop and attempts to drain the free wifi without making a purchase. I would have stayed at the home office but my wife is in there today and this is one of those days where our shared workspace feels a little crowded. Despite her headphones secure over her ears, the sound of my untrained clicking and clacking on the keyboard drives her nuts. So, too, does the sound of me chewing gum. And I need to chew gum. It helps keep me from biting my nails — a sound she loathes more than any other sound I have ever made.

The volume of the music in this coffee shop is so great that I could bang on these keys for hours like a coked-out pianist, smack my gum like an ’80s valley girl and bite my nails with moans of ecstasy and no one in here would be the wiser. And it only costs me a little over four bucks investment in a double espresso for this kind of freedom. But that four dollars and change spent means I need to type enough to earn that money back on top of the debts and fiscal needs I had fueling the burning fire in all four of my pockets before I stepped foot inside.

✶

It’d be nice if I could make a living as a writer by focusing on one kind of writing. Sit down, write a book. Sit down, write a script. Sit down, write some short fiction. Sit down, write a proposal. Sit down, write a social media campaign. Sit down, write a feature piece for some magazine. But this writer’s life and living comes from bouncing between all of the above and more. And that makes the day at work more strenuous that it would be if I had my druthers.

It’s like going to the gym and spending a minimum of eight hours there working legs, arms, back, chest, neck, knees, bones, delts, glutes, knuckles, etc. Moving the focus from machine to machine to get the best from each part puts you at risk of not giving your legs the best effort you’d like. You try to focus on the legs but you also have to keep an eye on the clock and the next opening on that machine that’ll make your arms look like Michelle Obama’s. It can be distracting. And sometimes, you have to make a sacrifice. Some weeks you end up putting most of the focus and effort on the arms and you end up looking like Mr. Incredible. Or Ronnie from The Jersey Shore.

It’s a good look and you’ll save the day, but it becomes a little more difficult to kick down the door of off-Hollywood with that script that desperately needs your attention because you know in your soul that the people need that script. You’re a genius and now you feel like you’re wasting your talent and you’re missing opportunity and oh, my god, what’s the point in all this!?

Is it time for a drink?

No. Drinking at the gym is frowned upon.

Besides, drinking while writing usually just puts me in a place of nostalgia, and I’m trying to write for the future, man. The past is prologue, but writing prologue doesn’t pay the bills.

Every day, I make a to-do list on a Post-it Note. Today’s list, in general detail:

• Literate Ape -LA Press --Finalize publication proposal -Edit -Write --Reconciling with an abuser -Catch up with contributors • Write live radio show script • Spoof Script -Write death scene -Write character descriptions • Product client -Research -Draft notes -Draft presentation script • New work -Follow up with forthcoming job -Follow up on invoices sent • That kids book about your dog -Synopsis -Pitch artist • Last DJ -Build marketing campaign -Organize campaign budget • Gilda’s Club meeting -6 p.m. • Holbox -Continue booking trip details • Spend time with wife • Make a dent in reading that big book • Open new IRA -Fund • Drink water, you chimphole

It’s not an unusually busy day. It’s just a day. And this is the life. And sometimes, it’s hard to keep it all straight. Sometimes, most things don’t get crossed off the list. Sometimes, they do. And then I don’t know what to do with myself other than to go back and edit or re-edit. Or zone out in front of the cable television fro which I’m paying way too much. Or have that drink. But with extra ice because I didn’t drink enough water.

A day with a handful of different mental demands is not unique to the typist — I say typist because a true writer often feels more like a keyboard jockey pecking away at the letters than they do a seasoned writer like E. L. James or Stephenie Meyers or that On The Road guy. I’m not complaining here. But I do routinely dream of a workday where I get up, shower, get dressed, feed the kid, walk the dog, kiss the wife, and head out to a job ideal for an autistic person. Plug and chug. Churn and burn. Follow the directions. Something that demands more of my whole body than just my brain having to construct something from nothing or from disjointed client thinking. I’d rather feel physically exhausted from the physical labor than just the mental labor that manages to make my feet ache even though I’ve been sitting on my ass all day. I suppose that’s the feeling of my body embracing atrophy.

So why haven’t I closed the laptop and secured a job as a waste management professional? Because the allure of self-imposed mental illness is too magnetic for me to pull away from. Because when I get it right, it’s worth it. I killed my ego a long time ago, but it’s nice to go to the graveyard and visit it.

✶

Not everything has to be gold. Not everything has to be a bestseller. Most things won’t be either. But it’s nice to work toward something like that. Spending your days trying to leave something that will survive you, something that will separate you from the herd, something that your wife and kid and parents and grandparents and friends can be proud of. Something you can be proud of. Something that means anything to anyone anywhere. Even for a moment. Because if you can do that, then you’ve got proof to show the gods you’ve done something of value while you were here breathing the free air. It wasn’t a life spent taking; it was one that gave back, too.

If I complete the list, or most of the list, will I have earned back the money spent on that espresso? Yes. Will I have earned much more? Potentially. It’s a long game. Although, today’s list includes a lot of spending money. But as they say, you gotta spend money to make it. And yes, I firmly believe that a trip to Holbox, Mexico is a wise investment into my career because it’s investing in myself. Because there’s nothing better than productive writing, and the best way for me to achieve productive writing is to bask in warm saltwater and nap in my SPF-protected skin.

And sometimes, the other best way to achieve productive writing is to write about the great and constant fear about not being productive. The fear is necessary. And it should not be dressed up with cute writing memes. All that shit is a distraction — like someone typing and chewing gum in your office.

#Writing #Writing for a Living

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