I've been watching both the Flash and Agents of Shield since their first episodes aired. I thoroughly enjoy both shows since their beginnings. However, especially in the most recent seasons, the shows have become very different.

When Agents of Shield began, it was lighthearted and humorous. This doesn't mean that dark things didn't happen in the show, but for the majority of the first season, it maintained a lighter tone. By the time the second season rolled around, the show had taken on a significantly darker tone, and that has continued into the present season. This doesn't mean that the show has diminished in quality at all. It has just taken on a different tone than it had to begin with.

The Flash, on the other hand, is a different story. Just like Agents of Shield, the first episode promised a humorous, lighthearted show. And again, just like Agents of Shield, there have been several emotionally damaging events for the characters in the show. However, there's one major difference between the two shows. Unlike Agents of Shield, the Flash has maintained a much emotionally lighter, more hopeful tone.

One of the things that I've noticed about my choice of shows and of books is that I tend to look for things that carry that hopeful tone. I generally gravitate away from shows that show no hope in the plot or the characters. This is why I don't tend to watch or read dystopian fiction very often. It's simply too emotionally draining for me to surround myself with despair, even if it's just in fiction.

I'm a very hopeful person myself. It's very difficult to dampen my optimism. I look for hope in every situation, whether it's in reality or in fiction. Still, one of the things that I find difficult to handle in fiction is a loss of hope. Now, for it to really make an impact, it has to be either the tone of the show or the whole cast of characters that reflect this despair. It also has to be more permanent.

The Flash has dark moments and rightfully so; every show needs some. But they move past them. Even in the process of these dark moments, they're always grasping at hope, even if it eludes them for a while. There's an innocence and hopefulness that pervades, not only in the characters but in the entire attitude of the show, and that is something I really love about it.

I feel like this is something that Agents of Sheild has lost. The show began with this quality, but that's fallen away. Now, the situation of the entire plot itself gives no reason for total despair, unlike some pieces of dystopian fiction. However, the events of the series have impacted many of the characters in such a way that they seem to have lost their hopefulness, and some seem a little jaded. This isn't without reason. Some pretty rough, emotionally traumatizing things have happened in this show.

As a writer, I find it very easy to see fictional characters as if they were real. It's my job, in fact. I would probably have a hard time writing fictional people if I didn't find myself capable of connecting with other people's fictional characters.

I find myself feeling very sad for the characters in Agents of Shield. They've been through a lot, and it has deeply wounded and changed some of them, as well as the entire tone of the show. Maybe it's just because optimism is so deeply ingrained in me, but I feel sad that the characters seem to have lost some of their hope. It's not something that I want to see happen on the Flash. I don't anticipate that it'll happen any time soon, but I didn't expect it when it happened on Agents of Shield. Hopefully Team Flash won't loose their hopeful nature.

Hope is important in fiction as well as in reality. This article compares the hopeful tone of two shows. I feel like a lot of current shows and books have a darker tone as a whole. It doesn't mean they're not quality pieces of fiction. It can just mean that they might be a harder to read for people like me, who do need to feel that there's hope in the plot and in the characters.

Everyone needs to have hope in their lives. Even if today isn't so great, there's always hope for a better tomorrow! Here's hoping you have one!