#also thinking about who I want dinah's bff to be

[cissie-queen-jones]

Ollie and Kon for the ask game

Ollie

What made me like them in the first place

Tbh I don’t remember but I think it might have been his sheer dad energy

Who I ship them with

Hal and Dinah….and also kind of Eddie just because I think it’s funny

Random headcanon I have about them

Ollie whistles the song from Disney’s Robin Hood all the time. Drives his family nuts

My favorite moment of theirs

Only one?? Uh…chili is God’s perfect food. Or any time he hugs his kids. Or making gay marriage legal as his first act as mayor. THERES TOO MANY

Plotline/story I want to happen

I just want him to be treated well again and to be an actual shouty leftist again

Any issues or insecurities I think they have

SO MANY HES SO INSECURE but mostly I think he just has a timer counting down to when he’s going to disappoint everyone that they’ll abandon him

Favorite quote

Once again. God’s perfect food

Kiss, marry, hug, or kill

Hug. I think it would fix me

Random thing that reminds me of them

Cabled sweaters

Any talents I think they might have

I think he can sing really well

On a rate from 1 to 10 how much I love them

10

What I think about their family

Love them. They’re all great

Who I think should be their bff

Eddie. Uh tbh I personally can’t think of anyone he gets along with other than Hal and Dinah and I ship them so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

What animal they would be

Honestly a fox. They’re both clever and fixes can also scream so they have the loud factor. And the Robin Hood reference is right there too

Three songs that remind me of them

Land of the Free by the Killers

Welcome to the Black Parade by MCR

Archers by the Ballroom Theives

Favorite episode/issue/thing centered around them

Grell run. I’ve heard good things about JLU but I need to watch it

How badly they need hugs

1000000000/10. He needs hugs always

Favorite thing about their personality

He’s an asshole (affectionate)

Favorite thing about their appearance

The goatee. It would look dumb on anyone else but it’s Ollie’s source of personality

Why I love them so much

We are very similar in a lot of ways but also in some ways he’s who I want to be. Also he’s dad

Kon

My boy!! I don’t talk about him enough! This is specifically about 90s Kon. I don’t acknowledge t shirt Conner

What made me like them in the first place

I actually first saw Kon in the animated Young Justice cartoon and I latched onto him like a baby duck as soon as he came on screen. @thequiver can verify. There really wasn’t a reason, I just went “that one” and it stuck. Then I read his comics and it got even worse

Who I ship them with

No one. Kon dates a lot in his solo comics and there’s a lot I could say about it but pretty much they’re not good relationships. So I’d really rather see Kon be single and become more comfortable with himself than see him in a romantic relationship

Random headcanon I have about them

He has Lex’s eyes, so he wears the sunglasses to cover them because he’s insecure about it.

My favorite moment of theirs

This is a good one I have saved

But I also just love every moment he’s on page so. All of them?

Plotline/story I want to happen

I want 90s Kon and Jon and Chris sibling bonding

Any issues or insecurities I think they have

Kon also has a lot of them, mostly centered around living up to the Super name and being related to Lex.

Favorite quote

The scene from YJ98 where he gives the quote from Peter Pan about dying being a great adventure hits hard. It’s not technically a quote from him but it so quickly shows you how much of his personality is a front

Kiss, marry, hug, or kill

Hug and kiss on the forehead

Random thing that reminds me of them

Sunglasses, undercuts, red pants

Any talents I think they might have

Can quote any Buddy the Vampire Slayer episode at the drop of a hat. 90% of his brain space is dedicated to TV from the 90s. I also think he’s pretty good at geography

On a rate from 1 to 10 how much I love them

Also a 10

What I think about their family

The Supers? Fantastic, love them. Lex sucks and so does Dabney, though Dabney can occasionally be funny

Who I think should be their bff

Literally all of Young Justice. I love they.

What animal they would be

Dog. Im trying to think of a specific breed and I’m blanking rn. But something fluffy and eager to please but also able to be scary

Three songs that remind me of them

I Don’t Care by FOB

Some Nights by fun.

Numb by Linkin Park

I have a playlist for him here if you’re interested

Favorite episode/issue/thing centered around them

The Reign of the Supermen movie. It’s one of my comfort movies

How badly they need hugs

So, so badly. Let me hug him, DC. Please.

Favorite thing about their personality

He’s funny!

Favorite thing about their appearance

Uh everything? I have a lot of gender envy for him and am trying to put together a cosplay for him

Why I love them so much

Idk, he just hits the right buttons. I like his personality and his look. He blorbo shaped

Game here

#ask game #anon #green arrow #ollie queen #kon el #Superboy

[amlovelies]

here we go again

#let's redo the lt #because I want a little (controllable) angst in my life #also thinking about who I want dinah's bff to be #originially it was farah but now I'm thinking maybe morgan #it's the loyalty plus abandonment issues thing

[wordsoflittlewisdom]

Watching bop again

I kinda forgot Cass was at the roller derby game. Love how all the characters are connected

Why does Roman’s voice...sound like that

Boss Bitch is weirdly nostalgic now

I like that the whole roller derby team is wearing like. team jackets. and harleys got her whole fringe sleeves thing going on

YES LOVE WHEN SHE THROWS THE NECKLACE AWAY

The chemical plant blowing up as fireworks was a very Harley choice

“So I’ll start where I fucking want” four minutes ago

huntress huntress huntress huntress huntress

I read somewhere that this huntress and Montoya scene was one take and they just changed the lighting to show the change

romans middle name being beauvais is probably the clearest clue they could have given that he was from a rich family

Love that Renee finds the necklace and knows Harley and the joker broke up. I like this idea that superheroes/villains are kinda like celebrities in this world

The egg sandwich scene is great what more can I say

Love that there’re cars and people just living their lives in this city

It’s a crime that we never see Harley wear this glittery fanny pack

The music is really good in this

It’s neat how the line between her narration and her dialogue is blurred, like how she’ll say the first part of something in narration and the second part in dialogue

Huntress’s little flute theme

And Montoya knows Cass; c o n n e c t i o n s

Montoya’s been going after Roman, too

And now we’re flipping back to the bertinelli massacre and diamond

Even if the whole missing diamond plot isn’t that unique, everything’s woven together so neatly

And now Dinah and Renee are on the phone about Cass and the diamond

It’s all connected

Harleys whole “I’m here to report a terrible crime”—she could have just run in there but she wanted to be Dramatic

I do wish the vocals were a little louder here maybe?

Big fan of this fight choreography

Harley pausing on a frame where she’s making a weird face before rewinding to explain about the diamond—it’s so rare to ever get to see women like. making weird faces in movies. All the women in his this are gorgeous but they don’t always have to be; they look beat up after fights and get dirty and make weird faces and it’s great

Dinah singing? Exceptional

“Loans, liquidity, laundering” ah yes the three L’s of illegal business

I unironically listen to Black Canary’s man’s world.

I like that everyone just calls Dinah “Canary”

“I’m all on my lonesome. It’s great” Harleys even an unreliable narrator when she’s just talking

I’ve really never seen a movie that feel like it’s from the female gaze visually as much as this one—all the rings and earrings, the hair, the makeup, it feels like what women might fantasize about dressing like

Dinah yelling “you motherfucker!” While beating some creeps up is quality

What time of day is it? Dinah would probably be leaving early in the morning, but I Refuse to believe that Roman would be awake particularly early any morning

She either canary is leaving her nightclub singing gig in the late morning/early afternoon or roman is still awake from the night before and is going to go to sleep soon

Cass and Dinah in the same building. (Bernie voice): I am once again talking about the connections

I’ve riffed on this before but i refuse to believe that Roman can drive

This Dinah and Renee scene establishes character, backstories, and moves the plot along all at once

Jesus some of ewan mcgregor’s acting in this is painfully bad

I love that Cass has a big bomber jacket and longer, looser shorts

Jurnee’s abs wow

The lights from behind the hands with the eyes behind Harley, who’s surrounded by people and then Roman and Victor emerge from the back, whispering to each other? Beautiful

One of the grievances roman has against Harley is “constantly interrupting him, like I’m doing right now”

Harleys “you’re really not as complicated as you think” bit is almost satirical of this cult we’ve created of “complicated” white male movie villains who have massive fan followings (cough cough joker)

Interesting that Roman holds the knife to Harleys face but hands it off to Victor to do that actual cutting

Someone handed Roman a bowl of popcorn

Harleys pocket tampon

It’s diamonds are a girls best friend yeah babey!

The male backup dancers are wearing muzzles/masks (Roman has one too for a split second) is an interesting flip on the way women are typically the ones being silenced, as well as Harleys desire to silence the men around her and be the one telling and controlling her own narrative

“Hey! you’re that singer no one listens to!” “Hey! You’re the asshole no one likes!”

Harley with her glitter gun

Harleys reaction when the sprinklers go off is perfect—Margot makes her feel like a living cartoon

This cell block fight scene is a showstopper

I like that cass doesn’t immediately want to stay with Harley. It gives her some agency in a story where she’s mostly just following the curveballs life throws her

Harleys little stare straight into the camera when cass admits to eating the diamond

Harley at the grocery store really emphasizes that she’s a total weirdo

I think I heard somewhere that the pic of child Harley with the nuns is a pic of young Margot??? Not totally sure though

Cass not knowing who the joker is goes with the whole supers are like celebrities thing—cass probably follows a whole different group of them (like how most kids follow different celebrities than their parents)

Huntress huntress huntresssss

“Give me number 32. Mild”

This kid in helenas flashback doesn’t really look like she’s grow up to look like Mary Elizabeth Winstead

This filming in this flashback has so much style

Helena practicing in the bathroom mirror with her drawing and her multiple bottles of travel mouthwash

We’re in the scene where Roman makes the girl dance on the table and oh god it’s so uncomfortable

No no no no no not this hate this

Alright that nightmare’s done

“and that’s why you should never pay federal income taxes”

Harley offering to bring cass to Roman after hearing doc say “business is business is interesting

OH ITS HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT TIME

Dinahs car is yellow because it’s...canary yellow

Roman putting on the mask is cool and all but he’s just gonna have to take it back off to get changed

This Harley vs Renee fight is fun because they keep mirroring each other—they’re fighting each other, but they’re really on the same side

The way the women all kind of circle each other at first and don’t immediately get along

Cass popping up with the gun also gives her some agency—she’s at the end of her rope with the diamond and being betrayed by Harley

“I am nOT THE CROSSBOW KILLER”

The way Huntress sounds so uncertain when she says “...and now I’m done” Mary’s acting really popped off

Roman’s a bitch but I like his outfits

Helenas little smile when Harley says “you just killed his BFF”

I love how excited Harley is when they all agree to work together

Roman’s giving his little speech in the back of a pickup truck?

When all the guys turned around with masks on I got chills

“I love this chick she’s got rage issues.” “I DONT HAVE RAGE ISSUES”

Huntress stabbing the guy while going down the slide is peak cinema

This set lights up as the scene progresses and reveals more

I love love love that Helena is genuinely caring towards Cass and recognizing that children shouldn’t have to go through trauma like her

“When the fuck did she have time to do a shoe change?”

THE HAIR TIE YEAH

Forgot to mention this but it’s a stroke of genius for this place to be called the booby trap

Love me some canary cry

“Told ya she had a killer voice”

Harleys chase was a real group hurrah—the canary cry cleared the way and pushed her forward, Huntress towed her, Renee gave her the gun with one bullet

Cass and Roman are just sitting in the back seat. That must have been an awkward car ride

Cass pulling the gun away from Roman when he tries to shoot up at Harley when Harleys on top of the car is elite

Damn this is one foggy pier

When Harley starts with “your protection is based on the fact that people are scared of you” you expect her to say that it’s wrong or something but she says “I’m the one they should be scared of” this movie messed with tropes so much

That also includes the whole “one bullet” thing—Harley misses with her one bullet, and you don’t really know what’s gonna happen next

“I took your ring”

You can pinpoint exactly when Harley and Roman realize what Cass did

I’d put the entire taco scene here if I could

Renee moving the drink away from cass shows her caring side—she doesn’t want a kid to get into alcohol and make the mistakes she did

“Does she always talk like the cop in a bad eighties movie?”

Harley and Cass stealing the car is a fun way to show that she may be on the side of the good guys sometimes, but that doesn’t necessarily make her one

“Woman” by Kesha

Wow the outfits in this scene are iconic

I mean they are in the whole movie but I especially like these

Cass riding around with Harley and a hyena, wearing cute outfits and learning the ways of chaos

Harley got her sandwich!

The credit art for this movie is cool

Especially how they represent each character

In conclusion this is still my favorite movie

I know I’ve been kinda absent recently, but watching this again has really reminded me how much I love it. I got really busy but I’m going to Make An Effort to be a contributing member of the bop fandom again.

#birds of prey and the fantabulous emancipation of one harley quinn #birds of prey #harley quinn #huntress #black canary #Renee Montoya #Cassandra Cain #Roman sionis #Victor zsasz #words of little wisdom

[tzigone]

Bat and Arrow family dynamics

I was just thinking of this earlier and how I don’t really subscribe to the idea of all the kids acting/feeling as siblings to one another, but some do.  So I was thinking on which dynamics seem stronger or more important to me.  It’s heavily dependent on my era of reading and of which titles I read.  So it basically ends up my headcanon from a mishmash of eras.

So to me, Roy isn’t especially close to any of the younger ones. He was grown and living in another city by time they met Ollie.  Also for me, Lian does not die.

So, Roy has some acquaintanceship with Mia and Connor.  Hang out with Connor occasionally when visiting each other’s cities. But they are in no sense close.  He just doesn’t have that relationship with the younger kids, who he mostly sees when he sees Ollie or Dinah.

Connor is absolutely close with Mia to me.  Siblingesque.  Family.  He gets along with the younger ones but not in any one-on-one special closeness sense. Already covered Roy.

Mia

is close with Connor. Definite big sister to Sin. I don’t know about Emiko, since she’s a different continuity.  She and Mia could complain about Ollie being a drag about school sometimes, I guess.

Emiko I could see getting along with Mia or Sin, but she’s been written different ways and different ages and it depends her age relative to theirs somewhat.

The biggest thing with Sin to me is how long does it take her to warm up to Ollie.  Dinah is immediate. I can see Mia quick. I think she’d like Ollie right off, too, though Dinah is most important, but am unsure.

-------

The Bats.

Dick is obviously close to Tim and Damian.  He definitely was a big brother to Tim in some great stuff I read in the 1990s, and of course there was his and Damian’s Batman and Robin time.  I don’t think of want him as particularly close to Jason.  It’s just a thing with me that when Jason was with Bruce (post-COIE), Dick and Bruce were fairly estranged. So by consequence he and Jason didn’t know each other well. He did offer a phone number, and did have Jason at Titans Tower a couple times. They got along. But neither of them regarded the other as a brother. And this isn’t some horrible thing Dick did to Jason. Jason had no interest in Dick as a brother, either.

I ship Dick and Barbara, so I’d have them close, but even besides that, I like the partners thing they had in the 1970s comics when he was in college.  No reason for Dick to be close with Steph.  He may have made some efforts to overtures for Cass and Duke, but isn’t particularly close with either.  They’re more distant family.

Jason, being dead for a long time, and not exactly getting along with the family, has had less opportunity to build relationships. I like the idea that he and Tim build a good, close, dynamic. I kinda fond of the idea of Tim drawing Jason back into the family.  I do not want Jason and Steph close. And for the record, Steph was not raised in crime alley - she lived in a house her family owned in the suburbs.  I could see him having some understanding of Damian, but that’s something I’m more interested in coming out in a few key moments than ongoing.  Unsure on the dynamic with Cass or Duke. Early Duke would be intimidated by him, I think. 

Jason is also not close with Barbara, and never had a crush on her.  Hated that.  Back when he was Robin, they barely interacted on-panel (she wasn’t heavily used in the era, to say the least).  So I don’t like her as his tutor or any of that.

Tim obviously had a close relationship with Dick in the 90s comics.  That was important and mattered at the time. They talked and visited in civvies and so forth.  I don’t like Barbara as Bat-tech-support, but they did get to be kinda casual pal-ish. I mean, they didn’t actually meet until the earthquake when Tim was a couple years into being Robin, though, right?  He was keen on Steph immediately, of course, though reasonably hesitant to pursue it. I ship ‘em.

Tim and Cass is not really my thing. I know he said she was a sister and all, but I wasn’t reading in that era, and it doesn’t mean much to me.  Back when I read, he first found her a bit creepy, and then didn’t have a lot to do with her.

Already mentioned the Tim/Jason dynamic.  For Damian...rocky start is massively understating it. He very reasonably did not like Damian at first.  I would have them make peace, and be allies and have each other’s backs, but never be close buddies.  I have read almost nothing where Duke and he interact, so have no opinions there.

Cass is Steph’s bff. That relationship is important to me.  I did enjoy Barbara in a pseudo-parental role to Cass as well. I know that Cass and Duke have been in Outsiders together, but I haven’t read those, and so it doesn’t mean much to me. Especially because I think of the larger, preboot age gap between Cass and Damian.

Damian wasn’t exactly interested in making friends. But obviously he and Dick became very close.  Already covered the earlier introduced characters and him.  I do find the idea of ongoing friendship with Damian and Duke interesting. I’m mixed on the Steph thing. He was more obnoxious then, and I really, strongly prefer Steph as Spoiler to Steph as Batgirl, too.

Duke, as I already said, I want to be buds with Damian. Probably shouldn’t necessarily like him right off, because Damian can be a pain. But l liked in some of those early ones how Duke might not actually like Damian so much, but respected him. And I keep Duke pegged as 2-3 years older than Damian, so 4ish years younger than Tim, 6 than Cass, and 11+ with Dick, which can (but doesn’t have to) make barriers when a character is younger.

Didn’t give Barbara or Steph their own entries because they were never living in Bruce’s home. If any other New 52 ones were, I don’t know them well enough to comment.

#Batman #Green Arrow #Nightwing #Connor Hawke #Duke Thomas #Sin Lance #Roy Harper #Dick Grayson #Bruce Wayne #Barbara Gordon #Batgirl #Oracle #Robin #red robin #speedy #arsenal #Red Arrow #Emiko Queen #oliver queen #cassandra cain #Stephanie Brown #Tim Drake #Damian Wayne #Mia Dearden

[trustymikh]

In contrast to the last question, let's go with something more positive. What are your favorite pairings in the Batverse / DC universe? And why do you like them?

Dinah/Ollie. Just yes, I love them separately because they are fun characters, and together they are so cute. I love some superheroes who sass each other and bicker like an old married couple while saving the day. Also Ollie 100% was showing JL pictures of Dinah when they just got married "Have you seen my amazing wife?" "We work with her!"

Harvey/Bruce. I think they have great potential and great dynamic. They already were so supportive and close to each other in canon before the accident. Bruce is still not giving up on Harvey, Harvey's sub-arc being that he knows who batman is, but struggling to hide it from Two Face. Two trobled men trying to make it work. As much as I love BatCat, I think Selina won't settle down, while Harv wanted a hubby since prehistoric ages, plus I think he'd be the one to explain to Bruce why bottling up emotions is not healthy. This ship his all check marks for me, it got trauma, bffs to enemies to lovers, some fluff, some angst.

Eddie/Bane. Biased about that one. Crack ship #1. I love both of them on their own, I am a sucker for height difference. I like that thy are sort of nerd/jock, except there is a bonus aka Bane is well educated, so he and Ed would be able to have some enthusiastic long conversations. Plus, being so different makes them interesting on their own and lets them support the other in the areas he's lacking in. Mutual empowering baby

Clark/Lois. Clark is a big puppy around her, I have a soft spot for the bigger and stronger in the couple melting around their partner. Lois is a strong unbiased person who lets Clark see if he's making mistakes/thinking too much, plus she provides him comford regarding his insecurities. They have a very organic healthy relationship

Nora/Victor. Literally the reasons from the prevous post.

#mik ansewrs #mik rants #Otps #dc comics #superverse #justice league #Batverse #Ships #Otp #arrowverse #dc villains

[dstarstories]

Sneaking Out

Just a note ~ This one stars Presley Hawke (Steele & Easton’s daughter) along with her best friend Jett Wilder (Dinah Grace & Kyson Wilder’s - @ohsimtastic / Easton’s BFF - son who is close in age). For reference, P is 15 months & J is nearly 9 months old now so this takes place when they are teenagers. Enjoy!

Sixteen Years From Now...

Presley rolled her eyes & tossed her cell into the cup holder before examining her nails as if she didn’t have a care in the world. “Ugh, chipped!” she huffed, internally cursing her now ruined manicure. Not that it really mattered too much. Her fathers wouldn’t question her if she asked for the money to get it fixed the next day. She was more annoyed with the typical behavior of her best friend & his reluctance to live life on the edge. She thrived on the danger & excitement. 

A shadowy figure walking around the back of the house & approaching the car caught her attention. She grinned, unlocking the doors as her best friend approached. “Took you long enough,” she muttered as he slipped inside & fastened his seat belt.

Jett rolled his eyes. “I didn’t want to do this, remember? I had to get dressed. Buckle up or I’m not going anywhere with you.”

She growled, clicking her belt in place. “Happy?” she asked as she slapped her hands down onto the steering wheel.

“Not really because my parents will seriously murder me if they realize I snuck out. You might get away with everything, Princess Presley, but not all of us have that luxury,” he grumbled, leaning back in the seat & slumping down as far as he could while she put the car into reverse. “What do you think Easton would do if he knew you stole his car for a late night joy ride?” 

“He’s not going to find out, Jett,” she spit. “Just like he never has before. Both the car & I will be home before he finds out we were ever gone. I’m honestly much more concerned that he’ll realize someone pinched some from his hidden weed stash.”

Jett’s face paled & he sat quietly as he replayed that last part over in his mind. “Wait. What?” He looked over at her & shook his head. “You expect me to sneak out then sneak back in smelling like pot? Are you out of your mind?”

Presley rolled her eyes, her usual go-to reaction, motioning towards her purse on the floorboard. “You assume I didn’t think about that? Jesus,” she scoffed.

He turned, reaching for her purse & looking inside. Being her best friend meant she wasn’t concerned with him doing that. He wouldn’t be shocked at anything he found in there. Pulling out a pink & purple bottle of flowery scented body spray, he smelled it then grimaced. “Wonderful. I’ll go back smelling like pot and a girl. That’ll be great. They’ll think I snuck out to have sex & do drugs.”

“Quit being so dramatic,” she chided. Jett always thought of the worst possible scenario & she hated that about him. “Besides, I am never going to have sex with you.”

“I don’t want to have sex with you either,” he quickly declared.

“I mean...” she shrugged, not liking the rejection, even from someone she never viewed in that way & never would. “Being your friend, I’d help you out if you were that desperate to finally lose your virginity. Only as a friend though.”

“Shut up, Presley. You’re a virgin too,” he mumbled.

The remainder of the car ride was silent as they drove to a park. It wasn’t one that was ever busy during the day so Presley knew it was sure to be completely abandoned at this hour. She pulled in & parked at the far end of the lot, in a dark area that was away from the lights so nobody could see them. As she turned to grab her purse, her companion still sat stoic in the passenger seat with his arms crossed. “Get out,” she demanded. “My father will know if his car smells tomorrow. We have to do it out there.”

“This is a bad idea, a really really bad idea.”

“You always think everything is a bad idea. Let’s go,” she mumbled, climbing out of the driver’s side & slamming the door to let him know she was annoyed.

Jett watched her for a moment then sighed loudly, following her. It wasn’t unusual for her to drag him into situations that he wasn’t comfortable with & no matter how hard he fought her along the way, he always followed her. She was his best friend after all & had been since they were in diapers. Their fathers had been practically brothers & once his uncle Mateo married her uncle Cyrus, they all become true family. He’d never leave her alone regardless of how much trouble he could get into because that just wasn’t who he was.

She wandered around until she came to a small collection of trees at the back of the park. One tree was wide & would be big enough for them to sit & lean against while they talked. From there, they were hidden enough to not be immediately seen but could also watch the road to make sure that nobody was coming. Dropping her bag in the dirt, she watched as Jett slowly shuffled towards her chosen spot, her hand resting on her hip as she did. “You are the slowest person I know, I swear.”

“Just be happy I showed up, okay?” he shot back.

#Presley Hawke #Jett Wilder #ohsimtastic #dstar writes #writing prompt #i may write a part 2 #didnt want this to end up too long #where it bored everyont to death 😂 #im bad at keeping things short #🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️ #Presley lives up to her name #shes confident & bossy like her grandpa Toby #future blurb #hawke stuff

[sebeth]

Young Justice Outsiders: “Princes All”

Warning, Spoilers Ahead…

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 Young Justice: Princes All

 I accidentally spoiled myself of a small part of the episode.  Of course, it was the plot element that would fill me with rage and disgust.  If you’ve read my Young Justice posts, you can guess what it was – Conner’s proposal to Megan.

I’m very puzzled why the writers insist on reuniting the pair.  The creators consistently display a fine attention to detail – there is no way the writers can be oblivious the manipulative, obsessive, and abusive overtones of the relationship.

Conner’s reunion with Megan is simply a case of an abused person returning to their abuser.

Is there a big Conner/Megan fanbase?  Honest question.  The majority of fans preferred pairing for Conner is Tim.  I’ve also seen fan works pairing Conner with Bart Allen, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, and Cassie Sandsmark.  I don’t often see fanworks supporting the Conner/Megan pairing.   As for Young Justice fans, I would say Wally/Artemis, Bart/Jaime and even the very brief Dick/Zatanna have bigger fanbases.

Color me optimistic but I don’t think the marriage will happen. Conner has apparently been carrying the ring around for over a month.  That’s not the actions of a man certain of his decision.

I feel Conner returned to Megan simply because that’s the only non-familial love he’s known.  Besides his family and super-hero friends, Conner is pretty isolated.  And he’s not great in social situations.  The return to Megan, as nauseating as it is, probably feels like a return to normalcy.

I don’t know, I just have a feeling something will happen to end the relationship.  Megan will either revert to her mind-ripping ways – once again breaking Conner’s trust and ending the relationship – or Megan dies by the end of the season.

The prequel issues stated Psimon is back and holding a grudge.  Megan has other victims – that may or may not have recovered – that will hold grudges.  If you’ve read the 1980’s Teen Titans comic you know that Psimon is a vicious and vindictive man.  And he’s all about the sneak attacks.  If I was Megan, I’d be worried.

The creators are rather determined to ignore any consequences for Megan’s actions and to make her life “happy-happy”. I think it’s suspicious.

A hero dies in every season of Young Justice.  Season 1 had Kent Nelson. The video game had Tula.  Jason Todd and Ted Kord died during the time jump.  Wally died in the second season.  The odds of a hero not dying during season 3 aren’t great.  Why promote Megan so hard in the prequel comics? And handwave away any consequences of her actions? Could it be because Megan has a target on her back?

Maybe Psimon strikes during the wedding – causing the erasure of Megan’s mind and later death? Talk about karma!  

Or it could be wishful thinking on my part as I loathe the Conner/Megan pairing!

On to the episode…

We replay the ending of the final episode of the previous season.

July 4, the Watchtower

Kaldur argues with Dick: “This is no time for you to resign.”

Dick insists he’s not resigning, simply taking a leave of absence.

July 4, Markovburg, Two years later:

A young man is told of his sister’s death. Said sister is not only alive but is being experimented on: “Initiate tar protocol”.

Poor Ana’s metagene is not only activated but she is transformed into an energy-tar creature and transported to Rann.

The confused Ana-tar creature attacks members of the Justice League – Ice, Wonder Woman, Black Lightning, Superman, John Stewart, Martian Manhunter – Alanna, and Adam Strange.

Ana dies. Alana scans the creatures and realizes it is a 14 years-old earth child.

The “Young Justice Outsiders” theme is haunting and ominous.  It also clearly displays Apokolips.

July 27, the Watchtower: Megan, rocking the White Martian look, praises the Alpha squad while mentioning the Gamma squad still needs training.

Steel and Black Lightning arrive at the Watchtower. The Justice League are holding a meeting to determine Black Lightning’s fate.  It was his energy blast that killed poor Ana.

Surprise!  Kaldur is now Aquaman and the leader of the Justice League!  It would explain why Kaldur was absent from the promotional trailers and materials.

Megan is leader of Young Justice.  Boo!

Bat(Kaldur), Wonder Woman, Black Lightning, Black Canary, Green Arrow, Doctor Fate, Captain Marvel, Steel, Rocket, Zatanna, Batman, Red Tornado, Plastic Man, Katana, Flash, Hardware, Batwoman, Superman, Ice, John Stewart, and the Martian Manhunter.

Hardware is from the same Milestone universe as Rocket, Icon, and Static.  

Batwoman is a surprise.

Diana confirms meta-human trafficking has spread from earth to other worlds.

Batman, Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Black Lightning are very frustrated with the lack of progress in stopping the meta-human trafficking.

Lex Luthor is the United Nation’s secretary general – and is using the position to be a pain in the League’s rumps.

Batman is done: “But all that matters is the mission. If the UN is a roadblock to that mission, then we remove it by removing the League.”

Kaldur and Diana are not down with that plan.

Bruce and Oliver resign their League memberships.

Bruce’s resignation is accurate to the founding of the Outsiders in the comic books. Back in the 1980s, Bruce needed to rescue Lucius Fox from a foreign country.  The Justice League’s agreement with the United Nations didn’t allow Batman or the League to enter said country. Bruce said “I quit”, formed the Outsiders, stormed the country, and rescued Lucius.

Hardware, Plastic Man, Katana, and Batwoman promptly resign. Katana and Kate aren’t a surprise – Kate is Bruce’s cousin and a Gotham gal and Katana has always been Team Batman.  Plastic Man has been a strong ally of Batman since the late 1990s. Hardware is a surprise as he has no connection with Bruce or Oliver.

Dinah accuses Bruce, Oliver, and company of planning this in advance.  Oliver asks Dinah to join the group, she refuses.  It’s safe to say Dinah and Oliver are taking a break.  Breaks are standard operating procedure for Ollie and Dinah so I’m not overly worried for the future of their relationship.

Jefferson swears he wasn’t part of Bruce and Ollie’s stunt but he came to the meeting to resign in person.

Kaldur and Diana decides to issue a statement disowning their former members’ future actions.

The Young Justice team are chilling in the waiting area. Jaime and Bart are chatting – BFFs or dating? If they are dating, will the show ever make it official?  Tim and Cassie are next to each other – they were thrown together in the season finale – so, still dating? Is it serious? Steph and Cissie are hanging out – a friendship that has strong possibilities.  Unfortunately, the girls never had much interaction in the comics.

Batman strolls in and announces “It’s time.” Robin and Arrowette leave with their mentors.  Tim doesn’t surprise me.  I’ve always felt Tim was the most loyal to Bruce out of all his Robins.  Dick, Jason, and have always banged heads with Bruce.  Damian, if forced to choose, would side with Dick over Bruce.  Tim is Bruce’s “ride or die” Robin.

I’m surprised over Stephanie and Cissie.  As I said earlier, Steph routinely goes against Bruce’s wishes.  Cissie has never had much – if any – interaction with Ollie in the comics.

Bruce asks Jeff to join his group – Jeff refuses as he doesn’t trust Batman and doesn’t want to be part of Batman Incorporated.

Jeff and Bruce have a different relationship as Jeff is very “Team Batman” in the comics.

Are we going to get Batman Incorporated? With a Knight & Squire appearance?

Jeff apologizes to Static: “I’m sorry, Virgil.  Maybe you can find a new mentor. One who is less damaged.”

The duo doesn’t have any type of connection in the comics but it’s a natural relationship.

The rest of Young Justice – especially Cassie and Bart – are very confused as to what is going on.

Moscow, July 28: A disguised Dick Grayson, in communication with Oracle, rescue a few meta-human trafficking victims.

So how long will the writers wait until the identity of Oracle is revealed to the viewers? And will the Joker be responsible for Barbara’s paralysis?

Dick is tracking down Bedlam, who is responsible for the tar mutation goop.

Oracle has spent time around Bart as she refers to something as “crash”.

We switch to Markovia. King Viktor and Queen Illona DeLamb-Markov are holding a press conference. Princess Tara disappeared two years ago.  Brion has recently returned from studying abroad.

The royal couple speaks out in support of Quarqi refugees – fleeing the recent invasion of a Queen Bee-led Biayla - and against metahuman trafficking.

Brion asks Dr. Jace about the results of his meta-gene testing. He tested positive. Brion wants his meta-gene activated.

Dr. Jace was a supporting cast member of the Outsiders in the comic books.

Dick is in Star City. Barbara informs Dick of Bruce and company’s mass resignation. Dick insists he “can’t worry about that now.”

Babs has determined the likely location of the meta-trafficking in Markovia but insists Dick will need backup.

Dick is way ahead of her.

We discover Artemis has moved to Star City and lives with Roy Harper and Lian.

Roy is going by “Will”.

Where’s Cheshire? Did she go back to the dark side?

Where’s young Roy? I don’t remember seeing him on the Watchtower.

July 29th” Future Halo is in the Markovian castle. She lets in others who quickly murder the King and Queen.

Queen Illona’s brother kills the intruder. I’m very suspicious of Queen Illona’s brother.

Dick approaches Happy Harbor.

Hey, there’s Wolfe! Enjoying a nice nap.

Conner is worried about Superman being off planet for so long. He feels a burden to step into Superman’s shoes.

Dick arrives to recruit Conner. Conner agrees. Dick reminds Conner that it’s a non-super suit mission. As in, you can’t wear the “S” shirt.

Dick leaves to find his next recruit.

It’s both interesting – an odd- that Dick didn’t ask Megan along.  Her powers – telepathy, shape-changing, invisibility, phasing – are perfect for covert mission.  Conner’s abilities and personality are the exact opposite of covert.  The reason can’t be that he’s afraid of leaving Young Justice without a leader – Dick states it’s a one-day mission.  So why not bring Megan? Has Dick discovered her mind-wiping spree? Or her assault on Conner’s mind? Has he lost trust in Megan?  I am baffled as to why Dick wouldn’t recruit Megan unless its due to personal issues.

Megan falls back to her manipulative ways: “I don’t want to be that kind of girlfriend, but…I just lost a big chunk of my team to whatever Batman’s got going. I was sort of counting on you.”

Conner’s only going to be gone for 24 hours! Stop being so clingy, needy, and manipulative.

Conner hastens to assure Megan: “You can always count on me. I can prove it.”

Cue the vomit-inducing proposal scene.

Conner, you poor, poor fool. Megan’s playing you like a puppet and you don’t even realize it.  I don’t buy Megan’s “surprised” act.  Megan’s a very powerful telepath – even if she wasn’t purposely reading his mind, there is no way she didn’t catch hints of Conner buying a ring.

I’m very cynical about Megan.  How can we be sure she hasn’t been pushing Conner to propose? Megan is prone to living/retreating in a fantasy life – and she’s been obsessed with and molded Conner from day one.

Sure, Megan’s rocking the White Martian appearance, indicating more acceptance of herself, but her human form is still very “Hello, Megan”.

G. Gordon Godfrey is back. He wants martial law. Queen Illona’s brother claims it was a Quarci metahuman refugee who assassinated his sister and brother in-law.

The Baron states that he will serve as regent as Gregor and Brion, the royal twins, are only 17 years old. If I was the twins, I would be very worried for my safety.

Brion contacts Dr. Jace – he wants his meta-gene activated post-haste.

Metropolis: Jefferson kisses his daughters goodnight.  Hi, Anissa and Jennifer!

Jeff informs Lynn that he’s giving up the costumed life.

Lynn doesn’t believe him: “I’m the sister of a Green Lantern and the ex-wife of a Black Lightning. I know how this quitting the life thing goes.”

Lynn is the sister of John Stewart? That’s a new twist.

Jeff leaves the house and immediately tells Dick “No”.

Dick persists. Jeff insists he “can’t” – his powers aren’t working.

Dick informs Jeff that he “came for the man, not the powers”.

July 30, Midnight: Dick is at the meeting spot. Artemis zetas in. Conner arrives in the sphere-ship, Jeff shows up, and the group head to Markovia.

Cute ending scene – Artemis’s dog sleeps with a Wally plush.

I enjoyed the episode minus the Megan parts. It was pure set-up but I’m very intrigued by Bruce and Oliver’s upcoming shenanigans.  And you can’t go wrong with the Dick-Conner-Artemis trio.

And we have two more episodes! Exciting!

#Young Justice #Young Justice Outsiders #Superboy #Miss Martian #Dick Grayson #Tim Drake #Black Lightning #Bruce Wayne #Oliver Queen #Artemis #Roy Harper #Halo #Geo-Force #Batman #Conner Kent #Green Arrow #Black Canary #Arrowette #Stephanie Brown #Spoiler

[sofhtie]

tbv “set it up” au

okay this was originally inspired bc i saw @chidi-anagonye posting abt this movie, which ended up leading to me sending in a long series of anon asks and me actually watching the movie last night but!! i ended up actually doing this!!! yay!!!!

so, the characters/premise:

Haled: v flirty, generally bad at his job (he can’t concentrate for more than like .5 seconds on any one task), but really does admire and respect Tewfiq. He wanted to be a musician, but didn't think he could make money at it, so figured working for one of his fav composers would be a good thing to do instead- actually still rather sad he doesn’t like what he’s doing, but tries to hide it.

speaks a ton of languages so logically should be great at communications but nope

the kind of person who dresses really well wears his clothes in a rly purposely messy way 

Zelger is his roommate, thinks his constant drama is hilarious 

Tewfiq: Used to be a composer, but found it too hard to write after his son and wife died, now owns a major record label. Still very upset about wife and son, so keeps himself closed off, kinda done with Haled but also rly needs him and sees him a bit like another son 

About ready to murder the next reporter who tries to ask him why he isn’t composing/conducting anymore, bc he still does miss it but for now owning the label is a less painful way to stay in music 

Papi: trying His Best, but also highkey a disaster. ppl love him bc he’s the absolute sweetest but he also can barely get through a conversation. Also rly good at remembering little details, great with organizing. if people would please stop asking him about future plans that’d be great thanks 

 That one bit in the movie where Harper said she’d gotten a full refund on a jacket but both her and the employee ended up crying?? That’s Papi 24/7

Got to work for Dinah when she moved to NY bc their families were friends in Israel 

BFF is younger Itsuki, he gets married and is happy and nothing goes wrong 

Dinah: Lead movie reviewer for big company, also heads/editor in chief for the culture section. she moved to NY from Bet Hativka after her first husband left, now super busy all the time, misses being able to just enjoy stuff and be a performer but overall pretty happy

loves to rip into over-hyped and boring movies, but secretly rly loves romcoms 

really loves Tewfiq’s music and but she doesn’t realize that he,, yknow,, works Right There 

is NOT up for ppl writing anything but their real thoughts: 

“Okay so what did you think of this new film” “well, the critics seem to love it, and it,, uh,, offers a really unique-” “what do you actually think” “it’s boring and i hate it” “good write that”

the plot: 

all i know is that  they first meet at like 5am in Starbucks or something when they’re both getting coffee for their bosses and it’s basically just: 

papi: hi can i get one iced coffee and one quadruple shot latte pls 

haled: haha how are you even alive are you trying to destroy your body lol, get some sleep

papi: have you looked at yourself recently

haled, with huge undereye bags and the most sugary, frou-frou drink starbucks has: um. well. 

and when they first meet in office it’s bc one night papi just straight up falls asleep on the lobby floor or smth and haled trips over him

everybody gets a happy end

also plot irrelevant but the time when the roommate (which would be Zelger) is playing a song and he’s like “no we can’t go in there that’s his hooking up song”? yeah that song is Sunny 

anyway this turned out rly long and i’m clearly way too invested in it but i’ve also run out of ideas so feel free to add on!! 

akhfd;klj i’ve realized i didn’t even get to the shippy part bc i can’t do anything without spending way too much energy on unnecessary worldbuilding oops maybe i’ll add more later 

#W O W this turned out so much longer than i meant it to #welp #i think i'll add more in the morning or something #tbv #the band's visit #set it up #haled #papi #dinah #tewfiq #these guys probably have last names but i don't know any of them whoops #hapi #haled x papi #dinah x tewfiq #nicki talks #this is kind of the worst thing ever but oh well #also tumblr mobile keeps messing up the formatting and it's killing me

[barbarasminerva-remade]

dc heroes highschool au

so i was thinking about this and its my new baby but its really long so im putting part of it under a read more

the school is called justice academy and the school colors are blue, white and gold

theres a martial arts class at their school that bruce teaches bc he’s lonely and we all know he doesn’t have a real job

clark is the lunch lady who reminds kids to eat their vegetables

everything made in the caf is grown in the school garden that he has and he shames kids into not picking the unhealthy foods

bruce is smashing the lunch lady aka clark n he thinks no one knows but really the whole school gossips about how rich dude/part time gym teacher bruce wayne is banging sweet lunch lady clark

also clark and lois have an open marriage so they don’t have to hide their relationship but bruce is like........yeah but i don’t want ppl to know i’m dating someone who says y'all'd've'st

Kon HATES it bc he and tim are also dating

diana is the wrestling coach and everyone marvels at how good she is except donna and cassie (bc thats donnas mom and cassie’s aunt and she  loves to embarrass them) n she’s known for having a rivalry with her the arkham academy coach, barbara minerva, aka her ex girlfriend

also diana is an ancient/world history teacher teaching history as it happened

Diana during the first day of class: The common theme in world history is that White Men Ruin Everything 

donna is captain of the wrestling team

she’s really good and everyone on the wrestling team aspires to be her and everyone on the rival school’s (arkham academy) team wants to beat her

kory was an exchange student during her freshman year and eventually decides to stay. she’s cheer captain but also known for arguing for equality and stages like school walkouts and things and no one ever challenges her bc she’s tall and buff and her gf is the captain of the wrestling team

wally runs track and field

wally is iris's nephew and barry and iris met at a track meet when iris came to pick him up and he was like hey wally what's ur aunt's number? and wally was like ‘sorry coach barry my aunt isn’t looking rn’ bc he thought it’d be weird if his coach dated his aunt but barry shoots his shot anyways and now barry and iris are engaged

also wally is a senior n bart is a freshman so when barry makes bart co-captain wally is like what the fuck is the point of you being engaged to my aunt if i dont get nepotism?????? n barry's like wally he's ur cousin and wally's like not if he steals my scholarships and they fight a lot but they l*ve each other 

roy is president of the archery club with his sorta sister artemis crock and jason is a lit nerd who roy flirts with but jason just thinks he wants homework so he ignores him

roy struggles with being a good dad while also fighting his addiction and work part time to try and save up for college after ollie kicked him out all on top of being a senior in high school

artemis is good friends w mia and conner bc first they were in the archery club together and then she joins the family after jade has lian and she’s like i’m sorry jade is vicious and tries to help out with lian as much as possible and mia and conner respect that

artemis is a really good aunt, she loves lian so much and spends all of her pocket money on taking her niece places. she ditches school to get slurpees w her girlfriends zatanna and m’gann. m’gann helps her study for her classes and with her homework. both make sure she stays in school cause artemis almost flunks out at one point bc of family stuff. also artemis is in lit club bc Z is in it and she supports her

jason lives in an apartment and he makes bruce pay for it as reparations for being a bad dad. but he also works bc he’ll be damned if he has to live off of bruce’s money permanently and eventually starts paying for his own bills and stuff

dick is captain of the gymnastics team and he’s really good. he’s the best in the region and has only ever lost a meet once (which was nationals, he came 2nd place)

tiger, dick, and helena went to summer camp together. tiger doesn’t go to their school, he goes to a gotham boarding school and dick sneaks into his room at night to hang out/make out and tiger comes to dick’s meets and helena tags along

also wally has a big crush on dick and he has since they were kids and dick liked him too. but wally thought dick wasn’t interested so he never went for it and then dick being dick just moved on and now wally just pines after him and it’s sad :/

damian is a snot nose 9 year old kid who hangs around the gymnastic team’s practices to hang out with his big bro and he sneers at the team and says he could do it better (which he can)

the summer before jason’s sophomore year he disappears after an incident and no one knows what happened to him but afterwards bruce sends him to boarding school to correct his behavior (which is where he meets amazon artemis and bizarro) until jason says fuck this and comes back junior year and everyone spread rumors that he like died while he was gone bc no one ever saw him so when he returned everyone was like :O and dick is really excited he’s back but jason is pissed at him bc he didn’t like support jason in fighting w bruce to let him stay

jason has bruce’s number blocked for the drama of it and bruce refuses to think his son blocked him so he's like "oh his phone must be off he's so busy love that guy (:" and no one has the heart to tell him. the rare times he does answer the phone when bruce calls, he recites a monologue and hangs up. he’s also president of drama club and also of literature club

jason recites historic and iconic monologues and soliloquies (bc he has them memorized for certain situations) except he just sprinkles curse words in

jason’s english teacher is about to fucking quit their job bc jason always tries to teach the class

cass is the best student in bruce’s class and also his daughter and she’s fairly quiet and hangs out mostly with her brothers. people like don’t really know who she is other than like hey that’s the kick ass dancer on helena’s dance team or oh! that’s the girl who kicked my ass sparring in Mr. Wayne’s class. she meets steph in one of bruce’s classes and she’s like wild and outgoing and funny and cass has a really big crush on her but she doesn’t think steph feels the same way (she does though) also steph can drive and she’s always taking cass on these really fun adventures but bruce doesn’t approve of steph so cass like sneaks out to go hang out with steph but bruce never knows bc he thinks she’s the perfect daughter and like steph brings cass out of her shell. she’s also on the gymnastics team with dick and is the second highest placing athlete on the team.

my boy duke thomas and his parents were good friends of bruce right so when during the summer before his freshman year his parents die in a freak car accident bruce takes him in. he’s a sophomore now and he’s still adjusting to life with bruce and he thinks his new siblings are kinda weird but cool. he’s also really focused on making sure his grades are immaculate so that he can get into his dream school and make his parents proud. he is in the school band and he’s really great and tim is also in band bc bruce made him but he’s not as good as duke 

jason met duke at a family dinner he was forced to go to and thinks he’s cool unlike his other loser brother and makes him join literature club 

tim drake is a freshmen and gets shoved into lockers. his only friends are kon, bart, and cassie. he joined the coding club bc he thinks babs is extra cool and wants to be like her

jason is the one shoving him in the locker and tim’s like what the fuck you’re the nerd here and jason’s like funny isn’t it and then closes the locker

bart hangs out with tim and kon and cassie. except cassie is cool from being on the wrestling team and being donna’s cousin so she’s always really busy but she tries to make time for them. wally shoves him into lockers sometimes and kon has to get them both out.

kon is in his rebellious teen phase where he's like fuck u dad i don’t wanna be a farmer but its justified bc kon is techinically an illegitimate child from a previous relationship and clark is kind of a dick to him bc he treats Jon better than Kon

helena and dinah make out under the school bleachers before helena has dance practice and when helena has to go dinah smacks her ass and says knock em dead babe

helena originally took mr. wayne's martial arts class because she needed PE credit but now she kinda likes it. the whole time she’s there she objects to bruce's passive approach to fighting 

bruce: fight to disarm or incapacitate ur partner helena: thats dumb, fight to kill ur partner 

bruce wayne voice: helena this is a PE class please stop trying to murder your partners

kate kane subs for bruce sometimes but she supports helena's kill ur partner attitude so they don’t hire her very often

helena is captain of the dance team and they perform at all school rallies and football games and shes really hard on her team mates but only bc she wants them to be their best and babs & dinah make her music mixes for performances bc they love her

babs is president of the coding club and even though she’s a nerd everyone respects her. her and dick went on a date once and then when he kissed her good night she realized she was a lesbian. they’re still buddies though. she dated dinah for awhile but they decided they were better as friends. helena and babs became friends in the martial arts class and babs introduced helena and dinah and the three have been bffs ever since.

#this is so long n theres a second post w more stuff hghjkhghfhj #creds to the sapphicdcnet for some of the ideas #esp mason #justice academy au #sapphicdcnet #justice league

[raywritesthings]

arrow :)

Because I’m dumb and reblogged two different ask games, you get two for the price of one!

Who I will protect at all costs: Dinah Laurel LanceWho deserves better: Dinah Laurel LanceWho was killed off too early: Dinah Laurel Lance (and Shado, and Moira, and Amanda Waller...)Who I used to hate but now I love: I wouldn’t say hate but I wasn’t sure how I felt about Thea at first. She seemed to be written to be a bit of a brat at the beginning, and I think in a different actress’ hands it would have been unbearable. But Willa brings so much to the role and to the pain that Thea experiences from losing her family over and over and over again while still managing to remain a fun character. Thea’s easily one of the most developed characters on the show from where she started to where she is now and all I can say is I want more Speedy, damnit. Also I loathed Quentin at first and tbh he will always be very problematic but I have grown to appreciate his complexity and what it brings to the show.Who I used to love but now I hate: I still stand by Malcolm was the best villain. I’m not really here for Slade’s Shado-induced manpain and his constant targeting of women. But Malcolm sucks after s1 so now I hate him. Also Felicity gets real stale real fast after s1. And I soured on Sara despite the show really trying to make me sympathize with her in s2 because she continues to take the people who love her for granted (i.e. Laurel and Nyssa, dear god, tell the poor woman you’re not interested in a relationship anymore or something, don’t just skip off and start sleeping around all across time while she continues to call you her beloved) and she’s just generally never held accountable for anything she did thus making her seem like a very self-centered person who never thinks about anyone else’s pain and I’m not a fan of it.Who needs to be killed off asap: Malcolm Merlyn needed to die a while ago. I used to think they shouldn’t do it because Dark Archer is such an important part of GA but like...he’s barely been Dark Archer since s1 and his characterization has become so weak in the latter seasons plus the fact that he continues to live while all these amazing female characters be getting fridged left and right turns my stomach.Who is unfairly hated: Dinah Laurel LanceWho is unfairly loved: FelicityWho needs to sort out their priorities: Felicity “No, Ray, Oliver!” Smoak and Oliver *drives off into the sunset leaving his traumatized sister behind* “why can’t I save the city and my relationship” Queen.Who needs a hug: Thea and Oliver. Basically they should just hug each other, like, all the time. They’re about the only two regular characters I still care about. Also Quentin could probably do with a hug. And Laurel should be resurrected so she can get a hug.Who needs to get out of their current relationship: I don’t really know Oliver’s current relationship status because I haven’t been watching really but he could do with being single for a while. Not forever, necessarily, but his romantic history is so freaking messy at this point and it’s exhausting to care aboutWho the writers love: For god knows what reason at this point, FelicityWho needs a better storyline: Part of me wants to say Felicity but they’ve wasted so many storylines and so much screen time on her already to no avail, so I’m gonna say Diggle. I miss when he wasn’t just the third wheel on O/T/A and had his own relationships with characters and his own concerns about the city. Now it just sort of feels like he shows up to fight just cause.Who has an amazing redemption arc: Nyssa going from “attempting to kill the Lance family” to being like the unofficial guardian of the Lance family was pretty great tbh. I’m also seriously hoping for a Black Siren redemption because it would be amazing, so fingers crossed!Who is hot af: Dinah! Laurel! Lance!Who belongs in jail: I mean they’re technically all lawless vigilantes lmao but I’m gonna say Felicity for all this Helix bs or Curtis for basically manipulating Felicity and Oliver into have drunk nonconsensual sex.

Who needs to be revived from the dead: Dinah Laurel Lance

Favourite Female: Hey guess what, it’s Dinah Laurel Lance!Favourite Male: I guess either Oliver or John especially from the earlier seasons. I miss their Big Belly Burger hangouts, man.

3 Other Favourite Characters: Thea Queen, Quentin Lance, Nyssa al Ghul

3 OTPs: Lauriver, Moira/Walter, and uhhhh I guess Dyla? I mean, I feel like they keep having the same argument about ARGUS over and over again which is kind of troubling but hopefully they can resolve it and move on.

Notp: O/F please stop torturing those characters and us with their terrible, terribly written angst-fest.

Funniest character: I’m gonna go Thea or Quentin.

Prettiest character: Dinah Laurel Lance (is this a surprise? I literally tag all her gifsets with “a goddess”)

Most Annoying Character: Felicity although Curtis is really trying to usurp her so they might tie actually.

Most badass character: Laurel or Nyssa. I love both their journeys and how it’s shaped them into the amazing people they are. But tbh almost every character on this show is some form of badass.

Character I’d like as my BFF: I’d want to be best friends with Laurel and Thea together cause c’mon they’re a package deal.Female Character I’d Marry: You can put me in an alien dream world if you want if it’d let me marry Dinah Laurel Lance.

Male Character I’d Marry: Hmmmm. Pretty much every male character currently on the show is kind of fucked up in some way or form. I’mma go Walter. Or maybe Constantine. Does Constantine count?

Character I hate/dislike/least like: Felicity purely because for inexplicable reasons they keep wasting screen time and storylines that never go anywhere on her. If she were less focused on it’d probably be Malcolm here.

#arrow #emerson replies #anti felicity smoak #anti olicity #adding those tags to be safe #i know how this fandom can be boy #queencanaries

[queenarrow]

The Crow’s Nest: A few thoughts on Oliver & SW

For those hating on Oliver right now: I feel you. I understand that you’re confused, that a character you just don’t get is making stupid choices.

From my experience with people, everyone is just plain stupid. Including me. I did a stupid thing yesterday that I had to pay the price today. It happens. We are irrational, skeptic, fearful, biased, and imperfect personages. We’re human.

And saying that one person is never at fault is not true. Even if it’s only 1% of the blame, we all make mistakes.

For Oliver, Susan is easy. In 5x05, Human Target comes into play, and tells Oliver that Felicity has moved on, and he should to. HT sets Oliver up to correspond with SW. He tells Oliver that since he’s become Oliver, he tells him that he should go for it.

Oliver goes for it. I mean, HT essentially tells him what to do. Have you ever wanted someone else to make a decision for you? To have your doppleganger to appear out of the sky and say, “Look! Date that one!” And so he takes an easy road. His life is hard. He’s mayor by day, hero by night. When does this guy sleep? 6am to 8am probably. And here is this guy telling him that a beautiful woman is interested in him and he should go for it.

Before he does though, he talks to Felicity.

“ I want you to be happy, and in the spirit of that, I think that you owe it to yourself to find out if what you have with Billy is real, and I owe it to myself to embrace whatever's next for--for me when I'm not (the GA)”

They essentially go their separate ways. And Oliver owes it to himself to find someone who isn’t Felicity, and to seek a future for himself. He doesn’t want to die in the bunker. He wants to be more than a criminal, more than the hood, more than the mayor. He wants to live to be 86 years old with kids. He wants to be married. And if he can’t get it with Felicity, then dammit, he’s going to go find second best.

She asks him to drinks and he goes. She gives him advice which turned out to be sound. He invites her as his date to a Christmas party.  He ends up at her door after he killed Billy, seeking some woman comfort. Slowly and surely he starts to trust her, not knowing what she’s doing behind his back.

Sure, dating SW is a conflict of interests. But Oliver dated McKenna when he was the vigilante and she the cop. He hasn’t seen himself as a politician. He sees himself as the GA in charge of the city by day. He’s a hero in the light, not a back-stabbing two faced, person who wants power. He wants to make the city better. Dating a reporter is no big deal to him.

Then out of the blue, his girlfriend comes to him and asks him if he’s the GA. He doesn’t bat an eye. He plays it off as a joke, since he’s done it before. If you tell the truth, then act like you’re joking, very few people suspect otherwise. He thinks he took care of it, that her suspicions are laid to rest.

A few hours later, his current gf, the person that he kissed that morning, She tells him that she’s fired, and she’s blaming him because she found out his secret. Like, WTF? Oliver didn’t do anything,   He didn’t touch her profession at all and wonders where the heck this came from. His gf blames him for her life being ruined, and he knows that he didn’t do anything. Someone he cares about as a friend and maybe a little bit more life is ruined. And of course, Oliver blames himself, and by extension, his team. 

So he confronts Felicity. She’s the one with the ability to hack SW computer, and she has expressed her dislike of SW vocally, but when Oliver finds out that it’s Thea, he knows it’s her fault. He knows that Susan was mean to her originally, that SW made a mistake but Thea still holds a grudge. Thea doesn’t like Susan whatsoever. And what Thea did reminds him of Moira.

So he tells her to make it right. Here, it’s a bit hypocritical of Oliver to tell her not to protect him, but it’s a case of do what I say, not what I do.

Oliver’s on the backs of all his teammates for making “dark” choices, because he’s been down that road. He knows where that road leads, and it’s taken him years to even start to see the way out. He doesn’t want anyone to experience what he has, the darkness of a lonely island. He is doing everything he can think of to protect the people he loves from the pitfalls he’s experienced. Despite coming off as a hypocrite.

Think of it this way.

 You’ve traveled a backroad from one town to another. It’s full of speedtraps, potholes and cattle guards. It’s a third gravel, a third dirt, and a third paved. It’s rough, it’s hard, and it’s damaged your car. When you get to your destination, you find out that there was a longer, but easier road to the same place. You never want to experience that road again.

Then your best friend decides to take that road. And you try to tell him what awaits for him down it. You warn him. He doesn’t listen. Another friend goes down that road. Then another. You’re standing there, watchign the people you love go down that same backroad that is damaging, and they refuse to listen to you. They call you a hypocrite: “You went down that road and you’re just fine” They say. “That’s the only path to this destination”. “This is the shortest way.”

This is how Oliver feels. He’s watching his loved ones follow in his very hard, very dark footsteps, something he regrets every day of his life. Actually a quote from Iris in the Flash is very telling:

B: “Oliver has killed.He's still considered a hero.”

I: “Yeah, and he lives with the weight of that decision every single day.”

This is why Oliver is confronting them. Diggle, with the General; Felicity, eventually, with Helix; Thea, with Susan; Dinah, with Sonus. He wants to spare them the pain of what he went through. They’re supposed to be better than him. Oliver is still learning that they make their own choices. He can advise, but he can’t bully them or force them into doing the right thing. They have their agency and to learn from their mistakes, not his.

He’s a poor excuse for a human being. To save Starling, he sacrificed himself, the Green Arrow; a personae that has become his own, the only good product of those five terrible years. Oliver has horrible self-esteem, rarely seeing the good in himself.

This is what I see his character development is. A man who thinks of himself as a monster, who needs to hide that side from anyone and everyone, becomes a person who sees himself as a hero, who can cheer-lead himself, have faith in himself, and reveal that side to the world.

Now, this doesn’t excuse your feelings. This doesn’t mean that you as a viewer are not entitled to your emotions. You are. But to every story there are at least two sides.

Oliver experiences loss a lot. It’s an occupational hazard. Yet the reason I believe he tries so hard to fix what is happening between him and Susan is because he failed with Felicity. With Sara. With Laurel. With McKenna. With Helena.  Every relationship he’s been in, he’s screwed it up some way, and has tried to fix it. Now it’s Susan’s turn. Oliver thinks that if he can make it up with Susan, that maybe he’s not a total failure at relationships. That he can do this. That he can prove to Felicity that he’s not a screw-up, and that maybe she’ll take him back.

(as an aside-- I have no excuse for Oliver being so callous to Felicity and asking her to help him make up with Susan. None. That was him being a dick/jerk/bastard)

This is why he’s trying so hard to “save” SW from Prometheus. He wants to fix the relationship, and if she dies before he gets their, it’s another screw up. There’s a reason why Felicity didn’t want to be a woman he loved. Something terrible always ends up happening to them. Oliver wants to save this one, to not let the darkness that surrounds him to touch SW, as it has everyone else. He doesn’t want to prove Prometheus right.

It’s not that he’s irrevocably in love with the woman. It’s not that at all. Oliver wants to save her because he’s a hero. A dark hero, but one all the same. If Prometheus had taken Caitlin, or Iris, or Patty, or Felicity, or Thea, or Dinah, or Evelyn, or Donna, he still would’ve had the exact same reaction. Oliver doesn’t want someone else to pay for his sins.

Also, those promos are meant to misdirect and obfuscate. They hide the good stuff, the important bits. The sex scene promo hid the fact that Felicity had to walk away from him. 3x09 promo hid that Oliver said I love you and fell off a cliff. They’re shock and awe. A promo will have a dramatic scene, maybe two, but something that in the long wrong isn’t really important.

Remember this as we go through the next few episodes. When next year rolls around, season 6, we’re going to forget about how much we hated Susan Williams. The intensity we feel now will die down and go away.

How do I know this? Because we’ve been here before.

Last night, when I was raving and ranting about how much I hated Susan Williams, my BFF turned to me and said, “ Do you remember how much you hated Ray.” I paused because it hit me-- I no longer hated him. In fact, I kinda enjoy him on Legends.

But for you followers who weren’t around for S3, let me tell you-- the same vitriol we’re spewing at SW is the same we were spitting at Ray. We called him names-- Paymond Farmer is a memorable one-- called him manipulative and a stalker. We yelled at Felicity for sleeping with him when Oliver wasn’t available (paralleled to now when F isn’t available so Oliver sleeps with SW). He was hated, and dissed. There was even the Red/Blue theory.

The whole conflict of 17 episodes was wrapped up in three scenes. Oliver and Felicity fight about Ray (3x17). Ray breaks up with Felicity. Felicity confesses love to Oliver and they sleep together. A season long nastiness, so much that it led to me having insomnia on Arrow nights and a feeling of heartbreak and dread for the next day, was wrapped up in a tight little bow with one episode. 3x20.  Felicity could hardly look at Oliver until 3x17 when Ray found out Oliver’s secret. They fought, they had a whole discussion about being happy, which was one of the points at the very beginning of the season.  Then at the very end, Oliver declares that he’s happy.

And entire season of heartbreak and dread and angst and tension, and being broken up before they’re even started, done, fixed, over with.

My point is that I had forgotten how much I had hated Ray until my BFF pointed it out. The emotion had faded from my memory even though it was the cause of an entire year’s trial.

So hold on tight fandom. We’re in the midst of the storm, but there’s land on the horizon. Come up here to the crow’s nest, and see it too. We’re almost there.

--Genie

#arrow meta #pro oliver queen #oliver queen meta #arrow #5x15 #fighting fire with fire #anti susan williams #oliver queen #my musings #mine #oliver queen metas #oliver queen analysis #oliver queen defense squad #ray palmer

[decoding1432]

Anons opinions (p.2)

On Camila’s tweet (quoting Ellen)...

Anon 1: Camila’s tweet about Ellen and 5H tells me a lot. Seems like she wants to grab the attention away from 5H and wants people to talk about her too not just them. Why would she tweet it otherwise. She's literally using 5H to get attention from the media and Ellen acting as the victim. She clearly has intentions while tweeting that. Anyone who says it was just a funny tweet is lying to themselves. If she didn't tweet that the media will spotlight to Ellen and 5H, camila wanted to be part of it too😒  

Anon 2: Hmm if camila wanted attention she would have @ ellen's twitter directly but she just quoted it.

Anon 3: Haha this situation is kinda like a divorce and when you see your ex in new situation, and you're already making jokes like "oh they'll love you better than I ever could" and it's just awkward because it's too soon. We need more than 2.5 weeks Camila. Too soon.

Anon 4: So many people are afraid to say anything honest about Camila. Really interesting. I adore and stan her still, but she's not perfect. She does have a few attention-seeking moments. Ellen chose to highlight OT4 and that was really nice. She has a huge platform. Camila could've been more self-aware and realized that moment wasn't about her, but that's sometimes hard to do as a celeb. Yes, she had humorous intentions, but also only retweeted 5H because of Ellen and the attention factor.  

Anon 5: Even though I do think the tweet was just a joke, I feel she should keep herself from mentioning or referencing 5H in their current guise whenever possible. From here on out nothing that they do really has anything to do with her and so any reference to them she makes is only going to make her look bad or like she's piggybacking on the attention their getting. I'm actually a bit surprised by the tweet because her and her team are usually smarter than that.

Anon 6: It's not about the joke. It's about attention. Camila needs to stop throwing herself in the center of 5H or celeb attention. She's solo now. She'll get plenty of her own. Now 5H has to debut as OT4 without Camila making jokes about 5H every time they get attention. Because every time she does the press has no chill and it's Camila + 5H again. And her and Roger know this. I'd be equally annoyed if 5H kept responding to tweets to Camila from other celebs. We all just need space for a few months.  

On the situation as a whole...

Anon 7: i still hate the label but we shouldnt forget that there couldve been no fifth harmony if they were to be dropped.

Anon 8: Love that breakdown on the genius of EPIC's 5H vs. Camila split. I think it slightly overhyped how OT4's felled about Camila though. That feeling is closer to indifference. You have to consider we have been over her antics for much longer than this PR whirlwind - since Summer of 2015. So all of this was more of confirmation of our doubts. Not necessarily revelations. It was incredibly sad to realize how calculating EPIC was behind all of this. That is infuriating. We don't blame Camila for that.  

Anon 9: Even though it was dramatic AF. Lowkey glad we learned everything WHEN we did. Otherwise it would've been this passive aggressive game of pop stars. The Cabello's obviously had little chill, Camila was recognizing 5H as little as possible, her indirects "I can breathe again" were picking up, and who knows what else Roger was going to setup or say. Everything coming to the light just made all sides address it swiftly. I cringe thinking we could be in January still thinking she was in 5H.

Anon 10: Guys, Billboard is very much a mouthpiece for the industry and labels. All of their sources are direct. The long narrative on Camila's exit? That was directly from Roger and Camila. It was actually her response to the last 5H response. Different platform, same agenda. It's pretty obvious when you read through it. Describing Dinah Jane as an "occasional ally" and attempts at therapy sessions as 4 on 1, and directly saying OT4 was simply jealous. How does any of that sound unbiased or outside pov?   

Anon 11:  Please god don't let the fans buy into EPIC's 5H vs. Camila feud. Let's all move on into a peaceful and prosperous 2017!                    

On Laucy...

Anon 12: "Epic wanted a follow-up on marketing to the LGBT community." But...Laucy has been playing out your "PR" schemes since late 2015. Lmao. All those fiends, classmates, family, trips, posts, private vacations, kisses, and more. Some elaborate schemes my friend. Elaborate schemes. I love Camren as much as the next delu. It seems like some of y'all are working double time to invalidate a real relationship tho. Lol. Lauren hasn't been a PR love puppet for over a year guys. Let's consider it's real.  

Anon 13:  Still highkey hilarious to me shippers think Laucy is the BEST industry PR advantage for Lauren. Oh babies. We just skipped right over actual celebrities who would give Lauren big U.S. headlines and assumed her childhood friend which NO news outlet in the states covers, is somehow a gain for Lauren or 5H. If it's all just to deny Camren, Camila's about to do that pretty effectively in the next few months. Lauren doesn't have to fake love her BFF for limited fandom drama. 😂                                

#fifth harmony #anonymous #opinions

[strongtvwomen]

DCCWTV Thoughts and Ramblings 10/9-10/12

*contains spoilers for last week's episodes*

Supergirl

Week's Ranking: 4th place

Let me start by saying, I loved last season of Supergirl. I loved it for the same reason Wonder Woman is my favorite superhero movie of all time, it shows "feminine" qualities as strengths not weaknesses. Historically socially constructed "famine" qualities have been seen as weaknesses. For instance care, compassion, humility, and mercy. The message this sends to the world is a terrible one. The world needs more of these qualities and they shouldn't be seen as exclusively feminine. These qualities should never been seen as weaknesses either. They are strengths. It's much easier to be fueled with anger, arrogance, vengeance, and revenge than it is to be fueled by care, compassion, humility, and mercy. It's high time we see more Wonder Women and Supergirls out there in the tv/movie superhero world- hopefully we also get some males superheroes with these qualities as their motivation as well.

Ok long rant over. Supergirl is usually my favorite but I did not really enjoy this episode of Supergirl. I do understand it needed to happen. Kara loved Mon El. It would be weird if Kara wasn't affected by what happened last season. So this episode needed to happen, even if it was painful to get through. I like the message of friendship getting you through tough times and helping you remember who you are. I am also pretty intrigued about the weird mental connection Kara and Mon El seem to have going. I know it might be controversial but I personally loved Mon El and want to see his character develop further.

The Flash

Week's Ranking: 3rd Place

I'm not quite sure why but The Flash is usually my least favorite of the DCCW slate. I really truly don't know why. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy it and watch it every week but it's just not my favorite. I usually watch it last. I think I would like it better if Jessie were around more. I love my strong and multi-talented women. I also completely ship Jessie and Wally.

Anyways Jessie wasn't in this episode and I can't say I liked it overall too much. I had it on in the background as I cleaned my house and it never really drew my attention in. The only storyline that seems interesting so far is Caitlin's. She has a Jekyll and Hyde situation that is pretty compelling. Killer Frost and Caitlin Snow are such different personalities it's intriguing to see who is going to win out. I also really want to know what has happened with her since last season. And what happened to Malfoy? I know he left the show but he seemed all in with her last we saw him. It would be weird if he just walked away. Ooooh maybe she accidentally killed him? That would add some dramatic layers for her.

Legends of Tomorrow

Week's Ranking: 1st Place

This show gets the win for me for best premier episode. It was so incredibly fun. Sara is such a badass. Goodness I loved her this episode. From her job at the box store to her kicking Cesar's ass in Aruba- she was just a delight. I just love how it's her and 5 guys and it's not even a question that she is their leader (side note: I love it when Rory calls her Boss).

Speaking of Rory, he was also a complete delight. No one plays lovable, lethal, drunk better than that actor. Gosh I loved him in Aruba (I loved that he made it to Aruba).

Nate is a complete idiot. He's one of those book smart guys with no street smarts. It's funny to watch. I enjoy his buffoonery. Ray can also be that way but I find it charming because he is such a handsome Hufflepuff.

I really liked that Time Official lady as a foil/frienemy. I hope we see her more.

I really want Jax to find a new other half of Firestorm because I want Martin to get to be with his family.

We need some more ladies on this team. Way too many dudes. At least their leader is a kick-ass goddess queen.

Is Snart back yet? I'll ask this every week until he is back for good.

Arrow

Week's Ranking: 2nd Place

My original favorite. My crush on Stephen Amell pretty much knows no bounds. My desire to have Emily Bett as my BFF also knows no bounds. Sorry if I offend anyone but if you haven't figured this out yet, I am total Olicity trash.

I think the producers and writers of this show finally realized that this show is at its best when Slade Wilson is in it. Season 2 will always be my favorite season and last season started finally getting back to that season 2 glory. Adrian Chase was a great villain, he is up there with Slade.

I am not into kids coming on shows. However so far William hasn't ruined anything like most kids do so I'm ok with him (for now). He adds more sweet angst for Olicity so I guess he's ok.

Speaking of Olicity, they are totally together right? They just have to take things slowly as Oliver and William get use to each other first right? I think Oliver and Felicity will get married this season- my bold prediction. I also think William will have shared custody with his grandparents and Oliver at some point so he won't cramp everyone's style (as most kids in tv shows do).

There is totally something going on with Dig and Dinah right? They have such great chemistry but it makes me feel gross because he's still married to Lila, the mother of his child (Speaking of which that kid hasn't ruined anything so I guess not all tv kids are the worst). I wonder where the writers are going with this- it's making me nervous.

I love Mr. Terrific. I want him to be my BFF (along with Emily Bett). I wouldn't mind him joining Legends to give him more screen time. although that would make the whole too many dudes problem worse).

I really didn't care about many other story lines. I hope Thea is alright. I want Black Siren to be the big bad cause Katie Cassidy is rocking this whole evil thing. I really hope they don't turn her good cause she is amazing at being evil. It will be interesting to see where that guy from Lost will fit into the larger story this season.

That cliff hanger was nuts right?!

This episode (and really the end of last season) gave me hope for Arrow moving forward. I stopped watching Arrow for some time but now I'm back watching and loving it.

If I feel inspired I might keep doing these every week. I think I still only have 12 followers so I'm sure no one will read this but I'll do it for me- to express my nerdiness.

#supergirl #the flash #legends of tomorrow #arrow #dctv #the cw #olicity #karamel #sara lance #quickwest #spoilers

[danithebookaholic-blog]

Long-Distance Relationships

I feel like handling long distance relationships is something that I should be good at by now. While Jack and I were high school sweethearts, we did not attend the same high school. Actually we didn't even live in the same town. We lived 30 minutes from each other, and for a couple of teenagers, 30 minutes is long distance. Then once we got married we moved around a lot with him being in the military, and then of course there were the times he was on deployment as well. My life has been built around long distance relationships, and yet I don't feel like I do a very good job of managing them.

Now, don't get me wrong, over the years I have become better with maintaining them. In the beginning I was terrible at it. Remember I got married practically straight out of high school, so my maid-of-honor was my best friend in high school. And you know what? I haven't spoken to her in almost 10 years. She was my best friend, my rock, we did everything together. She stood by my side and supported my marriage to my husband, and I haven't talked to her in almost as many years as I've been married. How sad is that? It makes me sad!

But I get it. People change. They grow up for one, and move in different directions and grow apart. It happens every day. I mean, think about it, when was the last time you spoke to your best friend from high school? Are you even still friends? Or are you now just acquaintances? Or are you complete strangers?

Jack somehow got lucky on this front. His friends from high school were not only his groomsmen in our wedding, but they're still his best friends and Fantasy Football teammates. How in the world this man still has friends from high school is beyond me, other than his friends try very hard to keep the friendship going. Since he has joined Fantasy, their lines of communication have been a bit better, but it wasn't always so. Most of the time, Jack's friends know that if they really need to get in contact with him they have to call me and I hand him my phone.

But me, I try. Or at least I think I do. I was in a sorority in college, and I haven't spoken to pretty much all of my sisters since my wedding. Granted, it didn't help any that I was in it one year before getting married and then bounced around between a couple different colleges due to the military life, but they're my sisters! We should have had a closer relationship, right? Even my college roommate I pretty much don't talk any more. We occasionally like something of the others on social media, but that's it. At least it's more communication than I have with my BFF from high school.

Somehow or another I, like Jack, lucked out when it came to my closest friends. Mine just came later in life. Ashley, Laurel, Shelby and Sheri are the best of friends that I could ever ask for (not that my MoH or roommate aren't amazing too!) Laurel has never met the others. She only knows them through stories, and they her the same way. The other three have met, but mostly just in passing or during a random run session when two of them wanted to run on the same day. They all are complete opposites, but yet exactly the same, and I think that's why I get a long with them so well, and try extra hard at keeping their friendships, even though they all live at least a couple hours away.

Ashley is exactly like me when it comes to loving with all of her heart (and that includes wine!) She is always looking for a new workout to keep herself in shape and sane (you can thank her for the weekly workouts, I started making those for her!), and she is always there to lend an ear when you need it. However she is exactly like Jack in every other way! And I know this is what makes me love her even more than our similarities. After all, they say opposites attract.

Laurel is my fun-loving, cool-mom friend. She is the only one with children out of my close gal pals, but she is the coolest mom! She's an educator and a real life librarian! (Now you see why I love her! - She loves books just as much as me!!) But I love her for more than her love of books. She's funny and always keeping me on my toes. She wonders where her daughter gets all of her silly crazy faces. Well, Laurel, they come from you! The best person personality wise that I can equate Laurel to is Taylor Swift. And I know she will take that as a compliment!

Shelby is a lot like me. Probably more so than the others. She's quiet, strong willed, and when she speaks you probably need to listen. She is my personal running coach. She's the reason why I ran my first half-marathon at the pace in which I did, and it's because she is a gazelle and no hill could ever wear her out! Ha! Seriously, she would run circles around me during our long runs while I was barely standing because I couldn't breathe! I also consider her my "educated" friend - not that the other aren't educated, one is an educator, another a doctor, and the other recently went back to school for a doctorate degree - but I say this because she knows something about everything, and on the rare occasion she doesn't, she has no problem admitting that she doesn't, followed by researching the topic until she knows just about everything about it. While most people would think that the fact that we're so much a like would probably be what I love most about her, it isn't. It's her "educated" status that I love most. 

Sheri is my youngest and fun-loving friend. On top of this, I'm not 100% positive, but she might be part of the mob. Just kidding. But I do know that if I ever came to find myself in a bind - possibly with a body that needed taken care of - she's the friend that I would call. She's that kind of friend. She's full of life and ready for adventure, and still has those wonderful childlike virtues. Not that she's virtuous in the slightest (as I'm sure the mob comment above implied.) Besides Jack's childlike behaviors, she's the reason that I'll stay young and I love her most for this.

These four women have have somehow gotten me to do more to keep our relationship alive than all the other people I have met in my life. I randomly send them "thinking of you" texts, have 20-minute catch-up phone calls, and even go 45 minutes out of my way just to catch a quick bite to eat on their lunch break. To be honest, these are things I don't even do for my own brother! (Sorry Osc!) But it's something that I wish I could do for all of those really great friends I once used to know - my BFFs from high school, my college roommate, my KD sisters - and I wish they could do it for me. 

"Surround yourself with greatness and you too will become great." I don't know who said these words (I'm positive someone famous did), either way, I agree with them wholeheartedly. Without Jack and these women and their spouses in my life I would not be great. I don't know why I work so incredibly hard on these long distance relationship more so than I do others, but I'm sure that when I made the decision to do so it was because subconsciously I saw something great in each of them and knew they were people I needed to surround myself with. They've got a death-grip on my heart, and this is what I really love most about each of them!

 From one loving bookaholic to another, I hope I’ve helped you find your next fix. —Dani

  Love this post? Check out The Dixie Swim Club by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten. While it's not an actual book, but a screenplay, these five women remind me so much of me and my adult BFFs. Their friendships with each other are something I strive for in my own.

Five Southern women, whose friendships began many years ago on their college swim team, set aside a long weekend every August to recharge those relationships. Free from husbands, kids and jobs, they meet at the same beach cottage on North Carolina's Outer Banks to catch up, laugh and meddle in each other's lives. THE DIXIE SWIM CLUB focuses on four of those weekends and spans a period of thirty-three years. Sheree, the spunky team captain, desperately tries to maintain her organized and "perfect" life, and continues to be the group's leader. Dinah, the wisecracking overachiever, is a career dynamo. But her victories in the courtroom are in stark contrast to the frustrations of her personal life. Lexie, pampered and outspoken, is determined to hold on to her looks and youth as long as possible. She enjoys being married—over and over and over again. The self-deprecating and acerbic Vernadette, acutely aware of the dark cloud that hovers over her life, has decided to just give in and embrace the chaos. And sweet, eager-to-please Jeri Neal experiences a late entry into motherhood that takes them all by surprise. As their lives unfold and the years pass, these women increasingly rely on one another, through advice and raucous repartee, to get through the challenges (men, sex, marriage, parenting, divorce, aging) that life flings at them. And when fate throws a wrench into one of their lives in the second act, these friends, proving the enduring power of "teamwork," rally 'round their own with the strength and love that takes this comedy in a poignant and surprising direction. THE DIXIE SWIM CLUB is the story of these five unforgettable women—a hilarious and touching comedy about friendships that last forever… (source)

Start a conversation: What do you do to keep long distance relationship going? Is there someone out there that you wish you could reconnect with?