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woodsfae · 2 years

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Babylon 5 s01e18: A Voice in the Wilderness Part I

First Previous

A multi-parter! I'm guessing this is a season finale! edit: tisn’t

A Minbari is showing up right away, so I'm further guessing I'll get to see some more of Delenn!

And some Talia Winters! Hope springs eternal for some glances and meaning-laden touches between her and Susan! Garibaldi, don't lurk in elevators waiting for her. :|

LOVE ME SOME 90'S CGI. Also love me some sci-fi techno-babble, some mysterious energy surges from previously docile planets, and really everything they have going on so far.

It is highly interesting that both Delenn and Londo assume the energy came from present or past life forms.

"What better way to go out than advancing scientific knowledge" Quite so, but also I’m with Ivanova.

This scientist, Doctor Tasaki, is also the type of sci-fi guy I like!

Alas, for I wish to quote basically every bit of Delenn and Londo's dialogue here, but I shan't, so go watch it!

Will Londo ever listen? His death-vision is of him strangling G'Kar to death, so he has no reason to dampen his anger and every reason to keep it stoked. The future strangling awaits!

Delenn has been visited by New Minbari, Draal. I feel like that name has been mentioned before, but can't quite place it.

It's so human that the Mars Colony wants to be independent. And very Western Societal that they aren't being allowed to go their own way after a century of agitating for independence.

(male #4): "Help me. Help me." [funky hologram of a nonhuman]

Number 4 of what?! The subtitles do very odd things sometimes.

"A half truth is the worst kind of lie," worst? idk, but a kind of lie? From a certain point of view, and rich coming from someone who basically only speaks in half truths to the humans, hah.

Minbari are also plagued with murmurs of facism, discontent, desire for control over public good. Draal is thinking of going to the sea, which sounds like suicide? It feels suitable for the Minbari, to seek somewhere to do good before choosing a way and place to die.

Man, Talia is hostile to Garibaldi right now and it seems like he's been harassing her beyond waiting for her in one transport tube. Bad Garibaldi. :| And he wants her help contacting someone he once wanted to marry. How romantic, asking someone you've been lightly stalking to help contact someone you ghosted instead of marrying.

It seems actually risky, asking anyone, even a telepath, on Babylon 5 to sneak your unauthorized message through PsiCorps relays. PsiCorps fucking haaaates Babylon 5 right now. It does remind me that I really want to know more answers to my psicorps questions, such as: how's Talia's telekinesis coming along? Is she a highly level telepath since her ex lobbed a shitload of power at her? Where is Jason hanging out nowadays? When do I get to see Bester again?!

Planetary attack! It does seem like there was life on this planet once, and it was advanced enough that their planet-to-lower-space automatic missiles still work.

Ivanova has more great lines, and has remained in her advanced threat stage: she now gives explicit threats, such as lung-ripping, instead of leaving it up to the threatee's imagination.

Londo is very into talking about his wives like a particularly unfunny boomer dude shittalking his wife who couldn't legally divorce him for the first half of their marriage, and had no resources to do so for the last half.

A scary vision of (male #4) (unlabeled by the subtitles this appearance) for Londo! Gonna comfortably predict it's some long-dead person from the planet B5 orbits.

Ivanova loves away missions, and seems like Sinclair is almost giddy to be away from a station for a bit. They're good buddies, and I love this for them.

Mars PsiCorps will search Garibaldi's ex's name in the wounded list (implies there's no dead), but won't confirm their location to any non-PsiCorps by linking him into Mars' communications. Logical. And I like the PCC relay telepath.

There are so many safety precautions Sinclair and Ivanova didn't take, but it's cool, there's a sick technological hub!

There is no way. NO WAY. That the Hokey Pokey is the human lullaby of choice in 2258 or for several generation preceding it. Londo's information has got to be bad, or the Hokey Pokey undergoes a bizarre surge in popularity.

I do love seeing nonhumans speaking to each other without a human there. It has happened only rarely in the show, and then it's usually very brief, and between an ambassador and their aide. This whole little chat was delightful.

Danger in the underground technological hub! They're cut off from their ship and saw (male #4) one again. Same hologram and message, and it just appeared in front of a little horror vignette of a an alien posed like the vitruvian man diagram, and he's alive.

"Help me. Help me, or your people - all of your people - will die."

Listen to the Vitruvian Alien, y'all. I don't know that "unhook him from the machine without asking," is the greatest idea, which Ivanova agrees with, under the Russian habit of listing one's stupidities while undertaking a foolish course of action.

Wow, they've unhooked him and made it into space and everything, only for a huge ship to come through the jump point and for the cliffhanger to work on me spectacularly well! Due to the cliffhanger and two-parteryness, I've decided to two-parts-in-one this.

Babylon 5 s01e19: A Voice in the Wilderness Part II

The big ship is an earth starship here to take control of "the situation," I'm assuming the suddenly weapons-possessing planet.

Second time being relieved of duty for Sinclair this season, but this time it's an order from the office of planetary security. The Captain thinks all the alien races will want to go down to the planet and seize the tech on it.

Sinclair is out-and-out denying the order. I guess a mere Captain isn't as impressive or imminently threatening as the last one.

Police Brutality is a thing that exists and it's what you're doing Michael Garibaldi. Even so, character development, come quickly.

"get" captain pierce to "accept" shared jurisdiction "for now?" Based on Sinclair's argument - that the president gave him express orders and has not countermanded them to Sinclair himself - I'd say Pierce shouldn't have to be convinced. Sinclair is still running the show, but the show might explode along with the planet. Imminently.

Fusion reactors are some pretty cool tech, that they might blow up the entire station makes them some pretty terrifying tech.

The Vitruvian Alien must be able to send projections of themself or their voice as an ability, since it just happened to Draal.

"What am I supposed to do?" Michael you're supposed to not beat civilians on the station. Especially not a.) while wearing your uniform and b.) using the threat of your position to influence bystanders to not intervene.

Cryptic but also straightforward message to Draal from the alien. Don't approach the planet without the heart, or it blows.

Sinclair's threat to fire on Captain Pierce's launch works. But another ship, that kinda looks like a basalt formation, pops in and scans them blindingly. This is an exciting two parter. Aliens! Super powerful! Here to chill! Well, to live on the planet. Or else.

Vitruvian Alien says they're not cool to take the planet, yeah the planet will blow up, but can't tell them how to stop it because they’re ancient, has been willingly hooked into the machine to guard the planet for five hundred years, and is dying.

Delenn and Draal both deduced that Vitruvian Alien wanted Draal to be the next heart, or wanted to communicate that Draal has the abilit to be.

Londo is a former military commander! He's going to fly Draal down to the planet, and it seems like Draal is planning to be the next heart required of the planet, and Londo is planning on cheerfully facing the possibility of dying along the way.

Londo's such a daredevil pilot that Ivanova, who doesn't know who's in the transport heading to the surface, is impressed. Glad to know a little more of Londo, other than alcoholism and affairs.

Bad Alien ship can split into multiples! And they also look like little basalt formations. Very cool aesthetic.

Oh, Delenn went too! Garibaldi is hilariously confused about following the miscreants down, only to find two ambassadors, the Vitruvian Alien, and Delenn's friend.

Handy dandy air bubble.

Is Draal going to be a friend for Babylon 5? Friendly DraalPlanet would be cool. How long do Minbari live? He thinks he would have centuries to explore.

DraalPlanet: "[the planet] does not belong to you. It belongs to itself, and to the future."

The Babylon 5 Council are being trusted to safeguard the planet, but any ships that go to the surface will be shot down. Regardless, Bad Aliens are heading for the planet, but only for a few seconds before Draal zaps them.

Delenn is comforted by the Vitruvian Alien. "It is a wonder. He will see all the tomorrows, hear all the songs, touch the edge of the universe with his thoughts." Draal is now Vitruvian Draal. It doesn't really seem like he's going to be communicative though, so probably no DraalPlanet friend.

Did the President of earth put the fear of himself into Captain Pierce?

Garibaldi's ex is alive, but wounded, but they weren't informed till communications opened back up. No PsiCorps aid seems to hve been involved at all. It's not exactly out of character that Garibaldi wanted to get back together with his ex, he doesn't seem too devastated that she's married and pregnant.

Delenn is absolutely right that Sinclair would have tried to be the person who became the new Vitruvian Alien. I would like her around saying cryptic things more. She, like Lennier, elevates the performances and likeability of everyone she's around. Londo was positively pleasant this episode! Perhaps it's a Minbari trait, since I also loved Mayan (I want to see her again!) the poet.

#90s cgi #babylon 5 #woodsfae gif #woodsfae b5

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linafinsterwald192 · 1 year

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So I watched the first two episodes of Babylon 5! (Spoilers ahead, duh)

There were so many things I liked! (not chronologically, probably) 1. G’Kar revealing in front of everyone that Londo’s acting against the words of his own government and that therefore, sanctions should be out of question. It’s kinda a shit thing to do, given that his people have attacked a defenseless agriculture people, but it was definitely a powermove 2. Sinclair going “Hi Stephen. You’re gonna watch that soulhunter until I fetch Garribaldi, right? nice” as if Stephen isn’t one of the few people who don’t walk around the station, ready to shoot at any given moment. 3. Nobody has bodyguards. Everyone is ready to kill someone else but bodyguards? pft. 4. Susan actually explains why she is so distant and cold towards Talia, instead of Babylon 5 being like Every Show Ever(TM) and having this whole giant miscommunication arc that probably leads to someone innocent dying just because nobody talks with each other. I really liked it 5. I think the whole idea with the conflicting Minbari/soul hunter beliefs when it comes to what one should do with a soul when it leaves the body is super interesting because both seem to be equally “correct” at first - and then you get the scene where those soul containers fly towards him and he seems like he is defending himself and explaining the situation, making me wonder whether he has never talked to those souls as he claimed or whether an even bigger part of what he said is untrue. 6. I love how everyone loudly proclaims hatred for someone before trying to kill someone else. Not gonna lie, y’all, I think it would work better if you just... didn’t shout it around beforehand. 7. I love how Londo asked Garribaldi whether he was ready to kill him once Garribaldi stopped Londo from murdering G’Kar. I’d fucking hope he was ready to! It’s his job to protect everyone!! 8. I really liked the second soul hunter. Sinclair went “Look, I’m sorry, but we’re not allowing any more of your kind on our station, please leave” and the soul hunter is so understanding about it and not giving anyone the blame, which makes sense because there isn’t really anyone to blame in the first place. 9. In general, I really liked how Sinclair always stuck to their morals (not leaving the first soul hunter to die despite other people on the station fearing him and leaving because of him, helping Ragesh III despite the Earth government not approving of intervention...) 10. Garribaldi not being murdered on the spot for sitting on Susan’s chair handling HER equipment, showing Susan’s respect for him, given that she doesn’t even threaten him or anything. There’s probably more that I can’t remember right now, honestly

#babylon 5 #bb5 #Midnight on the firing line #Soul hunter

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daysofourlivesrecaps · 1 year

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Wednesday, 7 June 2023

At the end of yesterday’s recap, I expressed concern about the show getting a little too real with the whole Colin/Talia abuse thing. And I’m not going to sugar coat it: there was more today, and it was even harder for me to watch. I cannot imagine what this experience must be like for people who have actually been through something like this. This is my typically long-winded way of saying:

1. I never thought I’d have to put a content warning on these dumb things, but maybe that’s a good idea today. cw: psychological and physical abuse

2. I’m going to do my ever-loving best to make jokes about the rest of this, but those parts are just going to be straight retellings of what happened.

Well, at least things kick off with someone I have no problem making jokes about: Johnny Goddamn DiMera. He’s on his thirtieth “one more chance” with Wendy, and he calls to confirm that he’s supposed to pick up some carry-out at the pub and bring it by her place for their date this evening.

Which is a thing that’s definitely going to happen. He couldn’t possibly find a way to Johnny this up again, right?

At the hospital, Chanel (the third most dramatic person on this show) is trying to talk Paulina (the second most dramatic person on this show) down.

Then Julie (the most dramatic person on this show) enters.

Julie has been a character on this show since literally the first episode in 1965. The role was recast in 1968, and this woman — Susan Seaforth Hayes — has played her ever since. I have no idea what Julie got up to in her first half-century on the show, but ever since I’ve been watching, she just sort of barges in to a scene like the Kool Aid Man and insinuates herself into someone’s problems. This is another kind of person I would hate to know in real life, but I adore what she does for this show.

So Julie starts doing her Julie thing to Paulina, and Chanel, picking up on the fact that her mother isn’t a fan of hospital food (am I right, people?) volunteers to go get her some real food. Someplace far from Julie. Nice job, Chanel.

Meanwhile, Colin swings wildly between “I’m going to kill you for what you did to me” (throwing him off a roof) and “I can’t live without you so you should come with me while I lam it.” Talia is, rightfully, terrified.

Meanwhile — oh thank christ this batshit stupidity is still happening — Abe is still being held captive by Nurse Kim Coles.

And he’s continuing to pull some magnificent faces in reaction to her madness.

Speaking of pulling magnificent faces! Sometimes I’m a little harsh in my criticism of Jackée’s performing ability, but she’s giving Abe a run for his money as she’s forced to lie still and endure Julie.

Tripp returns home from Seattle and Wendy informs him that Johnny’s coming over for a date any time now.

I mean, what possible reason could he have not to? It’s not like he’s going to run into his ex at the pub and blow Wendy off.

Wendy starts to get a little impatient, encouraged by a newly-aggressive Tripp (this means he’s now willing to call Johnny a little shitty sometimes because Tripp is still inherently a kind and beautiful man) and texts Johnny. And Johnny replies.

DiMera, you absolute piece of shit. When someone specifically asks for an ETA, “soon” is not an acceptable answer.

So Tripp makes Wendy some tacos. And I’ll bet if she asked him how long until the tacos are ready, he told her an actual time and not just “soon.”

Side note: I would happily do what this apron suggests if presented with the opportunity.

Chanel has decided that since she’s at the pub and Talia lives in one of the rooms upstairs, she’s going to go up and confront her. She tries to get Johnny to come with her, but he says no. He does agree to stick around downstairs though because, hey, he’s got nowhere else to be.

So Chanel goes upstairs and begins pounding on the door. Which I’m sure would make Talia feel great even if she were here by herself right now.

Colin sees an opportunity to finish the job on her and pulls the gun he stole from Officer Skippy.

Talia convinces him to hide so she can get rid of Chanel.

Naturally Chanel just barges right in, because she shares her mother’s inability to read a room.

Talia patiently (especially under the circumstances!) gets yelled at by Chanel, then leads her back to the door. Then she hands her something, mouths “help me” and closes the door.

Chanel realizes it’s Officer Skippy’s badge.

She tells Johnny about the encounter and Johnny, thank god, does not decide to play junior detective or to charge upstairs hisownself. Instead, he calls Rafe.

Back upstairs, Colin realizes the badge is missing and threatens Talia some more. Like, lots more this time.

But then the cavalry shows up. Colin briefly holds a gun to Talia but Rafe is able to get it away from him and arrest the garbage rubbish fire again.

I said this before and I’ll say it again: this was all extremely difficult for me to watch. One of the things I love about soaps is how they cut right to the raw, base emotions of human experience. Everyone has massive feelings that are extremely easy to read and then they’ll monologue to you about them for awhile just in case you didn’t manage to pick that up. But it’s all usually so exaggerated that you don’t get too wrapped up in it.

This was a combination of “shit, it’s probably really like this, huh?” and a cast that really sold every awful thing that was happening. It wasn’t any better written or produced than anything else they do on Days. It just managed to strike a nerve that made me feel like I was watching a truly artful suspense movie or something. Just for a couple of minutes.

Also, I’m a lifelong pacifist and I’m pretty cynical about cops. But god, I wanted Rafe and/or Talia to shoot this abusive motherfucker right in the goddamn face.

#Days of Our Lives #DOOL #soap opera #Peacock

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exlibrisfangirl · 2 years

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Tagged by @angel-in-a-big-blue-box 😘

I'm going to assume we're talking exclusively about romantic ships here, so...

1. First ship:

Han/Leia (Star Wars)... a looong time ago, in a galax- well, you get the idea. It was a long time ago, way before I knew what "shipping" was (and before the internet existed).

2. First OTP:

Sorry but all of my ships are OTPs. It’s OTP as in they are the ONE TRUE PAIRING FOR EACH OTHER….obviously. <- I am not even going to change a single word of this, because Anna is 100% CORRECT (but the answer is the same as above: Han/Leia).

3. Your ship since the first minute:

Fitzsimmons (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)

Henry Tilney/Catherine Morland (Northanger Abbey)

Ross/Demelza (Poldark)

Jamie/Claire (Outlander)

Anne/Gilbert (Anne of Green Gables)

Aramis/Anne (BBC The Musketeers)

Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)

Rory/Jess (Gilmore Girls)

Olicity (Arrow)

Will/Djaq (BBC Robin Hood)

Captain Swan (Once Upon a Time)

Malec (Shadowhunters)

Danielle/Henry (Ever After)

there are probably more, I'm tired

4. Current favourite ship:

Derek/Chris (Teen Wolf)

Hardison/Parker/Eliot (Leverage)

Supercorp (Supergirl)

Lois/Clark (Superman & Lois)

Penelope/Colin (Bridgerton)

Nina/Matthias (Shadow and Bone/Six of Crows)

Wayhaught (Wynonna Earp)

Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)

5. Ship that most of the fandom hates but you love:

I honestly can't think of any.

Now if you were to ask me about ships fandom loves that I... well, lol. You know what? I'm going to add that question, because goshdangit... I want to answer it!

5b. Ship that most of the fandom loves but you... don't:

Sterek (Teen Wolf)

Darklina (Shadow and Bone)

Merthur (BBC Merlin)

Arthur/Gwen (BBC Merlin)

Guy/Marian (BBC Robin Hood)

Bagginshield (The Hobbit)

Reylo (Star Wars)

Wolfstar (Harry Potter)

Bellarke (The 100)

6. You don’t even watch the show, but you ship it:

Destiel (Supernatural)

Flint/Silver (Black Sails)

Uh... no idea.

7. Ship you wish had a different storyline:

Literally every single one where one half dies and the other is forced to keep going <- BRO, SAME. There are so many of them, too. 😩

Every, single ship I ship from Babylon 5: Delenn/Sheridan, Susan/Talia, Susan/Marcus

Wash/Zoe (Firefly)

Mary/Matthew (Downton Abbey) <- that messed me up so badly I stopped watching, lol

Queliot (The Magicians)

Hotspur/Kate (Henry IV Part I, The Hollow Crown)

Olicity (Arrow)

Jon/Ygritte (Game of Thrones)

I know there are more, but my brain is just laughing at me now...

Then there are the ships where BOTH DIE:

Remus/Tonks (Harry Potter)

[Redacted because I realized it would be a major spoiler for one of my mutuals who is currently watching this series for the first time. *waves* You're welcome!]

Aaand then there's the ship where one of them permanently turns into a TREE:

Eretria/Amberle (The Shannara Chronicles)

Oh, and the one where Half Number 1 spends the rest of her life living in an alternate dimension with a CLONE of Half Number Two:

Ten/Rose (Doctor Who)

8. Ship you wish was canon:

Eretria/Amberle (The Shannara Chronicles)

Kahlan/Cara (Legend of the Seeker)

Supercorp (Supergirl)

Morgan/Garcia (Criminal Minds)

Derek/Chris (Teen Wolf)

9. Ship you wish had become endgame:

Rory/Jess (Gilmore Girls)

Choni (Riverdale)

Ten/Rose (Doctor Who) <- nO, TenToo does not count

Han/Leia (Star Wars) <- I was so upset that the sequels broke them up, I refused to watch after TFA, lol

10. Favourite ship that is endgame:

John/Aeryn (Farscape)

Sheridan/Delenn (Babylon 5)

Stydia (Teen Wolf)

Olicity (Arrow)

Captain Swan (Once Upon a Time)

Will/Djaq (BBC Robin Hood)

Aramis/Anne (BBC The Musketeers)

Fitzsimmons (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)

Monrosalee (Grimm)

Malec (Shadowhunters)

Riker/Troi (Star Trek: TNG)

Jamie/Claire (Outlander)

Danielle/Henry (Ever After)

Faramir/Eowyn (LOTR) <- but honestly more the book version than the films

Xena/Gabrielle (Xena: Warrior Princess)

Anne/Gilbert (Anne of Green Gables)

John Thornton/Margaret Hale (North and South)

Elinor/Edward (Sense and Sensibility)

Fanny/Edmund (Mansfield Park)

Benedick/Beatrice (Much Ado About Nothing)

and probably lots more I am forgetting!

Tagging: @seven-oomen @takadasaiko @dreamersscape @mostly-vo1d @voidstilesplease @oddwriter @magic-multicolored-miracle @rebakitt3n @jchthys @faithfire @woozapooza @ardricael @shieldmaidenofsherwood and/or anyone else who wants to do it!

#angel in a big blue box #answered ask #tumblr friends #brotp: pass the rump roast please #the derek to my chris #etc. etc.#shipping #fangirl problems #this is my design #and the meme goes on #wayyyy too many ships to tag here

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lacommunarde · 2 years

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thank you to @bloodyleavesgoldentrees (also https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloodyleavesgoldentrees on ao3 = check them out their work is absolutely amazing)

Rules: List the LAST lines of the last ten (10) stories you published. Look to see any patterns you notice yourself, and see if anyone else notices any. Then tag some friends.

not tagging anyone: feel free to use it if you want to!

Under the cut.

A New Zhang Qiling and Sea Monkey to Zhangjiaren are still ongoing and so can’t be included, but here goes with others

Effects on a Baixi on Amusing Oneself (by Abusing Oneself) - Novoland Pearl Eclipse, Di Xu/Fang Jianming - Explicit

He sighed, wondering how many times per week he had just agreed to their mutual masturbation sessions. “As long as it pleases you, then, yes, I am willing.”

Big Spanish Flies - Daomu Biji - Pingxie - Explicit

Xiaoge wanted to experience that again, preferably as often as Wu Xie wanted to do it, so he nodded and flashed him a smile. “I’d like that a lot.”

Which is More Cursed - Qilin or Qiongqi - Daomu Biji - Foye making Choices, heartbreaking heartbreaking choices, prior Xiaoge/Foye

The man behind the desk looked intrigued. “Go on,” he said, taking the bait.

Zhang Not Zhang - Daomu Biji - FoBa - Mature

He needn’t be concerned on that front. Less than a week later, Zhang Qishan extended an invite to the Zhang Manor to show off the giant Buddha statue he had somehow brought to his manor, for which he had instantly been nicknamed Zhang Da Foye, a fact he introduced with the biggest, most mischievous grin on his face Qi Tiezui had ever seen, so big it even brought out the man's dimples. And that was that: Qi Tiezui saw the great big Buddha and was never calling the head of the qiongqi branch anything else. Though in bed with him and then out of bed, little by little, that nickname might be shortened to just, Foye.

Rules Lawyering for a Second Qilin Blood Clot - Daomu Biji - Pingxie - Explicit

Xiaoge interwove his fingers with Wu Xie's and felt that for once in the time since they'd met, all was right in the world. What he was looking for was right here.

Kintsugi - Babylon 5 - Susan Ivanova/Talia Winters - General

By the time Mr. Garibaldi got there, while she wasn't ready to trust her completely, she was ready to admit that whatever Winters was, a spy was not it.

Which was enough until she heard whether Talia's mind was in fact healing. She could live with that until they discovered more. Both of them could live with that.

Half-Upir - Daomu Biji - Pingxie

"No, he won't die anymore, Pangzi,"

"Thank fuck for that! We can go find Sanshu, or whatever else he wants to do, as long as he never tries to up and die on me again. And on Xiaoge! Now our Iron Triangle can stay together and in a couple years, maybe we can settle down and retire again to Rain Village. I can retire. Those two won't need to retire of course but at least they can settle down with me and keep me company. And we can give Xiaoge a home and a bed to return to And if Tian Zhen wants to wander like Xiaoge does, it'll be a home and a bed for him too."

Hei Xiazi is owed a lot of money for playing peacemaker to the Zhang family - Daomu Biji - Zhang Rishan/Liang Wan, Pingxie, Zhang Rishan & Xiaoge, Hei Xiazi, Wu Nainai, Li Cu, a baby - fluff

There was a camera flash in all of their faces. Zhang Rishan recovered first. "Heiye, if you try to sell that picture back to us..."

Date Night In - Daomu Biji - pingpang (Xiaoge/Pangzi) - Explicit

They got on their pjs. Pangzi settled in on the couch, arm thrown along the back of the couch. Xiaoge put on the tape and then sat down next to Pangzi, leaning his head back on Pangzi's arm and resting a hand on Pangzi's knee. They both mocked and thoroughly enjoyed the movie until both of them fell asleep still leaning on each other on the couch.

Kunlun’s Godly Seed, Shen Wei’s Ghostly Body - Guardian (novel) - weilan

"Our little lady of immortal jade waters. Hello."

The baby grabbed his finger and gurgled up at them happily. This wasn't a problem at all.

And a couple extra because why not (and because that only included one of my Guardian fics and I want to include a couple more:

In the Days Before Glass Reflections - Guardian (novel) - weilan

Zhao Yunlan gasped. Though he had seen him like this before, it never stopped renewing his wonder at Shen Wei’s beauty. He leaned forward to kiss him. Shen Wei smiled at him as he did but then pushed him gently but firmly onto his back and maneuvered so he was gazing down at him. “Zhao Yunlan, do you merely want to look at me as a Ghost King or do you want me to show you how much of a possessive Ghost King I can be.”

Zhao Yunlan gave an enthusiastic nod, barely getting out a “Yes please, baobai!” before Shen Wei closed the distance between them and anything further he had to say was lost to happy pleasure.

A Ghost King Sends Destiny His Regards - Guardian (novel) - weilan

Shen Wei smiled at him. "Zhao Yunlan, let's go home." He made a portal to their apartment, just by the couch but so no one could look through and see anything else of how either of them had made his life. Zhao Yunlan smiled back, his smile blooming on his face as bright and easy as the peaches on Mount Kunlun in the late summer. Shen Wei wrapped an arm around his back and took them through the portal to home.

So... going off fluffily to have fluffy times and/or sex or one carry out his plans.

A surprising amount of going off to have sex.

Also a surprising number of explicit ones.

Huh.

I should have more with more plot less explicit stuff soon hopefully.

#ask meme #writing meme #writing #my fics #end of fic meme

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wat-the-cur · 3 years

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For a fandom I had never asked you before? Perhaps? Babylon 5

Ooh, this is tricky, because not only have I not finished Babylon 5 by a long shot, but it’s also been ages since I last watched it. Nevertheless, I shall do my best!

The first character I ever fell in love with: G’Kar, no question about it. It was love at first sight.

A character that I used to love/like, but now do not: Hm, I cannot think of any I’ve grown to dislike, but I remember becoming slightly bored with John Sheridan. Also, I liked Kosh better when he was more mysterious.

A ship that I used to love/like, but now do not: Hm, I don’t really have any ships like that for this show.

My ultimate favourite character: A tough choice, but right now I have to say G’Kar.

Prettiest character: Delenn, for sure, in any of her forms, including the one from the pilot film. (Also, Na’Toth)

My most hated character: Morden, and that blonde woman who headed that spy group, Shadow Watch, or whatever it was.

My OTP: I guess the closest I have to an OTP at the moment is Russian Winter.

My NOTP: Susan Ivannova/Marcus Cole, I guess. I’m also not at all big on Londo/G’Kar.

Favourite episode: Ugh, my memory is so hazy! I remember subplots that I liked. I loved the episode when Londo falls for the Dancer, and the one when his three wives come to visit. I loved the whole bit with Londo and G’Kar stuck in the lift, together. I remember lots of sweet bits with Delenn, as well.

Saddest death: Talia’s was unfortunate, I feel like more could have been done with her.

Favourite season: Again, bad memory! I enjoyed the early Sheridan episodes, because I found Sinclair really dull.

Least favourite season: I didn’t like the conclusion to the Shadow wars, but I forget which season that was.

Character that everyone else in the fandom loves, but I hate: Again, a strong word. I don’t really like Stephen Franklin, I’m sorry. I don’t know why, he just doesn’t click with me.

My “You’re a piece of trash, but you’re still my fav” fav: Hm, probably Londo. Also, that huge prey mantis in that smokey room who never came back after the first couple of series.

My “Beautiful Cinnamon Roll who deserves better than this” fav: Delenn, Lennier, Vir, Talia, G’Kar and Zack.

My “This ship is wrong, nasty and makes me want to cleanse my soul, but I still love it” ship: Um, not sure I have one for B5.

My “They’re kind of cute, and I lowkey ship them, but I’m not too invested” ship: Vir/Lennier! Also, a big part of me wants Delenn to have a girlfriend.

#ask meme #asks #hadescavedish #babylon 5 #b5

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jenniferstolzer · 4 years

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Babylon 5 Rewatch Season 2 Episode 19 Divided Loyalties

Another turning point episode of the show. Ivanova finally challenges her own prejudice against telepaths by letting Talia crash in her apartment while Talia’s own is being fumigated (that classic chestnut) while at the same time Lyta returns to the station to inform Sheridan and the command staff all that the Psi Corps have planted a mole in their midst.

Things I liked about Divided Loyalties

1, Lyta is back! In my first watchthrough of the show, I grew way more attached to Lyta than I did to Talia. Behind the scenes, Lyta was supposed to be the station’s commercial telepath the whole time, but scheduling was a problem when it came to start the show and Andrea stepped in to fill the void. As a result Talia was playing catchup from the beginning, trying to fit into the shoes that Lyta already filled by touching Kosh’s mind. The unfortunate thing is that now that she’s finally built her character to match the stat level of the rest of the party she’s going to leave. Bummer. But we get some cute flirting between her and Susan and was sincerely good to see them getting along and laughing together. Their story was leading to this point, and its good to see both of them relax and have a genuine connection with other people. This is where they were supposed to end their journey I assume, but the ending had to speed up because of the casting change. Again. Bummer. But I’m glad we did get to see it! in a show so full of drama, soft moments of peace and connection add humanity and bring us closer to the characters and their struggles.

2, Similarly, the flirtyness of Sheridan and Delenn continues to be adorable. The scene with the newspaper terminal is particularly notable because it explains something about the world as well as the two characters both separate and as a couple. The Zen garden is also cute because it shows the two of them being casual and low key. Delenn is not afraid to admit she doesn’t know certain words in the English language and enjoys watching John flounder and grin as she tries to conjugate the word “butt.” Very cute. Good to see them smile.

3, Susan’s reveal to Sheridan that shes a latent telepath. An iconic scene fabulously acted by Claudia Christian. I can feel the fear and self-loathing as she confesses a secret she’s kept so closely guarded deep in my soul. (Although Susan, breaking into the captain’s quarters is not a good way to prove you’re not the plant.) It’s also interesting that Susan has a coming-out story in the same episode that her relationship with Talia is finally allowed to exist on screen... as tamely as it is.

Things i liked less about Divided Loyalties

1, I know there were outside circumstances in the form of losing and gaining actresses, but that Susan and Talia’s relationship is killed the minute it exists is still weak. And don’t get me wrong, I’m glad we have something. Something is better than nothing, but man does Susan get the short string in love. Every relationship she dares start ends tragically and this one also destroyed Talia’s humanity. This all hurts in a high-drama kinda way which I don’t have to like to respect, but what I sincerely do not like about this is that Replacement!Talia implies that the whole relationship was a shame orchestrated to get Talia closer to the command staff. This is stupid and dumb, because if that was the goal the whole time, Garibaldi was turning into a cartoon wolf over Talia just last season, she could have had access to the entire security suite if she wanted to, but she didn’t because this element was pulled out of fat air to justify her exit from the station. I know no one asked, but if it were up to me I could fix this by leaving everything the same, and having the sleeper personality just dormant in her head the whole time. Have her gain trust and reputation on the station as her normal charming self, and when it’s time for the psicorps to begin spying they would give her the code, destroy her mind, and replace her with the loyal personality to THEN begin the infiltration. That way Talia’s behavior before this episode remains sincere instead of retroactively throwing every thought and action she has under the bus. Its not like her spying led to anything. Did the alternate personality tell the psicorps about the underground railroad? Not that I recall. I’ll keep an eye out to see if it happens but to my memory it stops here.

2, I’m happy to see Lyta, but her scenes in the office are the most expositiony of exposition couches. She stands stage center and tells everyone what’s going on instead of it being revealed in more artful ways. This was done for time, because building it into the previous episodes was not an option, so I’m not really yelling at the ep, its just disappointing that things come to this when at the mercy of television production.

More thoughts I took down while viewing

Lyta shows up and we have to recap the pilot episode, which I dind’t actually watch in my first go-through, so it was appreciated... then she delivers one of the greatest pre-commercial stings ever. “ONE OF YOU IS A TRAITOR AND I CAN PROVE IT!”

The Zen Garden has an office building behind it. Never saw that before. Also HOLY CRAP ITS A MALE ABBAI

Scene:

Sheridan: “You know how Ivanova is about letting any telepath near her.”

Garibaldi: ”Ah well, she’ll get over it”

//scene transitions to Susan and Talia in their bathrobes

BLACK MUSTACHE COP WHAT IS YOUR NAME? I’m naming you Tony.

Oh no RIP Tony!

Lol Cowrin comes in. “You’re doing a very good job” Zack didn’t even get a “You’re doing a good job” lol I wonder if Sheridan is using this opportunity to give some employee reviews. “Hi, thanks for coming.” Lyta “he’s clean” Sheridan “Ok good, I’ve gotten a report.”

Why did Talia2.0 say “My good and dear friend Susan” like she was Centauri? Was that on purpose.

Kosh would sing Lyta to sleep from a distance. She came back for a hit of his true self. It’s the adoration that compelled the Minbari.

on to 20! The beginning of the end of Season 2

#babylon 5 #babylon 5 rewatch #babylon 5 spoilers #susan ivanova #talia winters #art #fanart #jenstoart

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phantomofthepairofdice · 3 years

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The Rosscars 2020

Wow. It’s that time of year again, only this time it’s different because it’s on a blog that no one will read! (hold for applause) Welcome to the first annual online publication for the Rosscars (hold for applause while the reader acknowledges how positively droll it is that I combined my name with “Oscars”). Who can forget such indelible Rosscar memories like when Steven Soderbergh surprised us all and won Best Director for Out of Sight or Bill Irwin’s beautiful speech upon winning Best Supporting Actor for Rachel Getting Married?! The Rosscars mean something different to everyone, but we all know that they mean quality choices made by a committee of one schmuck. This year’s Rosscars are bizarre because in an effort to be more like the Academy guidelines, film’s nominated have been released between January 1, 2020 and February 28, 2021. As usual, theatrical windows be damned, streamers are welcome. Of course, I have my gripes. I like categorizing movies by release year – specifically, when they become available to the plain old public like yours truly – not at festivals, limited runs in NYC and LA. Well, the Oscars are still weeks away and I feel like everybody wants to forget about last year and move onto this one that we’re already three months into - So here are my awards for the films, performers, and craftspeople that stood out in a pretty exceptional year for movies even though distribution was stranger than ever.

**A few caveats and guidelines to Rosscar newcomers (which I imagine is just a formality since we all know the Rosscars so well)**

The rules and categories are a little different around here. First, not every category is honored directly. That’s for a few reasons, chiefly that I don’t feel qualified to reward the technical categories properly – I suppose I should say that I feel less qualified to do so than the “above the line” categories. In keeping with the Academy standard, there are five nominees in each category, except for Best Picture, Best Non-Fiction/Documentary Feature, and Best Ensemble Cast which allow up to ten. Every category, save those three, will have the possibility of honorable mentions, because I want to highlight some things that just barely missed the cut. The narrowing down of a lot of these categories was awfully tough.

Nominees are listed alphabetically, and the winners are in bold and italics.

Also, it’s important to keep in mind that I couldn’t see everything (this isn’t a job and it’s still $20 to rent The Father, y’all) and that these are just the opinions of one (self-described) “bozo on the internet.” If you’re a reader and have different picks, feel free to share!

Special Commendations for some things that I want to recognize: • Ludwig Goransson for his Tenet score which is an absolute banger • The costumes of Emma. (Alexandra Byrne), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Ann Roth), and Small Axe (Jaqueline Durran, Sinéad Kidao, and Lisa Duncan) all struck me as exceptional • Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross with their scores for both Soul and Mank. Crazy that Pixar is working with the guy who made “Closer” • The cinematography of Da 5 Bloods (Newton Thomas Sigel), First Cow (Christopher Blauvelt), Beanpole (Kseniya Sereda), and A White, White Day (Maria von Hausswolff)

The Rosscars red carpet was, as usual, a bizarre affair. People filed into the theater and it seemed like the only encounters were awkward ones. Vin Diesel showed up in character as Bloodshot, Aaron Sorkin started getting really verbose about what a lovely night it was, and it became clear that most of the celebrities in attendance didn’t read their invitations closely enough to realize that this was not, in fact, the Academy Awards.

Everyone’s seated, and the show is under way. After a medley about the nominees this year by Common and Seth McFarlane that was more corny but clever than it was funny, the first official category is here, and the presenter is none other than... Ross!

Best Supporting Actor:

1. Chadwick Boseman for Da 5 Bloods

2. Matthew Macfadyen for The Assistant

3. Jesse Plemmons for Judas and the Black Messiah

4. Paul Raci for Sound of Metal

5. Glynn Turman for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Honorable Mentions:

• Lucas Hedges for Let Them All Talk

• Orion Lee for First Cow

• Bill Murray for On the Rocks

Best Supporting Actress:

1. Vanessa Bayer for Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar

2. Candice Bergen for Let Them All Talk

3. Gina Rodriguez for Kajillionaire

4. Amanda Seyfried for Mank

5. Yuon Yuh-jung for Minari

Honorable Mentions:

• Jane Adams for She Dies Tomorrow

• Charin Alvarez for Saint Frances

• Talia Ryder for Never Rarely Sometimes Always

• Debra Winger for Kajillionaire

Everyone loves a montage. The audience gets comfortable in their seats as the video screens start to show a montage of some of the most famous moments from Hollywood’s most magical movies. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers waltz, gliding across a dance floor like two hovering angels. There’s a clip of Leo declaring himself king of the world in Titanic, the flying bicycles in ET, Bogart stares longingly into Bacall’s eyes, and then there’s some scene where Tom Cruise rides a motorcycle from 2010′s Knight and Day. The audience all seems confused how that last one got in there. The John Williams music swells as little Kevin McAllister screams when puts on aftershave. We see clips of Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver, Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia embrace Harrison Ford’s Han Solo, Bruce Lee smoothly declares that boards don’t hit back and... wait... was that a clip from Michel Gondry’s Green Hornet with Seth Rogen? And that’s a clip from What Happens in Vegas... Bad Teacher... Vanilla Sky... Shrek 2... Any Given Sunday... Everyone is flummoxed. The last clip fades out and a sole editing credit appears: Cameron Diaz. The lights come up and there’s some applause, but mostly confused murmurs.

The ceremony has had a bit of a misstep, but nothing it can’t recover from, especially as the next category is announced over the PA, and it looks like the presenter is... Ross!

Best Ensemble Cast:

1. Bacurau

2. Da 5 Bloods

3. Kajillionaire

4. Let Them All Talk

5. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

6. Minari

7. Nomadland

8. Pieces of a Woman

9. Small Axe

Best Original Screenplay:

1. Danny Bilson and Paul Dameo & Spike Lee and Kevin Wilmott for Da 5 Bloods

2. Lee Isaac Chung for Minari

3. Brandon Cronenberg for Possessor

4. Sean Durkin for The Nest

5. Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles for Bacurau

Honorable Mentions – a very difficult task to weed this down to five.

• Shaka King and Will Berson for Judas and the Black Messiah, from a story by Kenny and Keith Lucas

• Steve McQueen, Alastair Siddons, and Courttia Newland for Small Axe

• Kelly O'Sullivan for Saint Frances

• Thomas Vinterberg and Tobias Lindholm for Another Round

Best Actor:

1. Ben Affleck for The Way Back

2. Chadwick Boseman for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

3. Delroy Lindo for Da 5 Bloods

4. John Magaro for First Cow

5. Mads Mikkelsen for Another Round

Honorable Mentions:

• Riz Ahmed for Sound of Metal

• John Boyega for Small Axe

• Daniel Kaluuya for Judas and the Black Messiah

• Hugh Jackman for Bad Education

• Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson for A White, White Day

We have a break in the action and it looks like Darius Rucker has showed up to perform what he would have nominated for Best Original Song. The crowd is absolutely furious as he starts playing a song that apparently was in Trial of the Chicago Seven. An ocean of sonorous boos and curses overtakes the the once docile crowd. The Rock just ripped his chair from out of the ground. Jane Lynch somehow smuggled in a civil war era flintlock pistol that she’s now pointing at the stage! Suddenly, the crowd unifies around what started as a confident chant of one lone audience member - John C Reilly. It’s growing... Ja Ja Ding Dong, Ja Ja Ding Dong, Ja Ja Ding Dong - it’s like the macabre circus performers from Tod Browning’s Freaks, but instead of chanting “Gooble Gobble” they’re clearly pining for Darius to change his tune to the silly and delightful jam from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. Darius, scared for his life, leaves the stage, but here come Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams to deliver the goods. Busy Philips and Michelle Williams burst into tears. Tom Hanks nods in approval. A segment saved by brave artists placating a toxic group of fans... we’ve just witnessed a live version of the Snyder Cut, folks.

Jack Nicholson seems completely unfazed, giving a thumbs up to the camera and blowing a kiss to the next presenter. Coming to the stage is... Ross... again...

Best Actress:

1. Jessie Buckley for i’m thinking of ending things

2. Carrie Coon for The Nest

3. Han Ye-ri for Minari

4. Sidney Flanagan for Never Rarely Sometimes Always

5. Vasilisa Perelygina for Beanpole

Honorable Mentions – these cuts were especially painful

• Haley Bennet for Swallow

• Morfydd Clark for Saint Maud

• Frances McDormand for Nomadland

• Christin Milioti for Palm Springs

• Geraldine Viswanathan for Bad Education

Best Adapted Screenplay:

1. Charlie Kaufman for i'm thinking of ending things from Iain Reed's novel

2. Sarah Gubbins for Shirley from Susan Scarf Merrell's novel

3. Kelly Reichardt and John Raymond for First Cow

4. Simon Rich for American Pickle from his short story "Sell Out"

5. Mike Makowsky for Bad Education from Robert Kolker's "The Bad Superintendent"

Best Non-Fiction/Documentary Feature:

1. Boys State

2. Collective

3. David Byrne’s American Utopia

4. Dick Johnson is Dead

5. Feels Good Man

6. In & Of Itself

7. The Painter and the Thief

8. Time

Jimmy Fallon has come out on stage to do a bit about the pandemic and watching movies at home. People are just absolutely not having it. He tries not to laugh at his own jokes while doing what I guess is technically a pretty good impression of Dr. Fauci interviewing James Corden as Martin Scorsese (the less said of this impression, the better) on what is or isn’t cinema. The bit doesn’t track and Fallon is absolutely tanking. The producers cut away from the stage to spare the viewers at home from this monstrosity. We see crowd shots of Millie Bobby Brown shaking her head in dismay, Colin Firth is simultaneously grimacing and trying to stave off laughter, Cynthia Erivo is texting, and director Tom Hooper is taking notes for his next film. Corden yells, “Carpool Karaoke! Remember?!” Ron Howard has fainted. This thing is almost completely off the rails.

Coming back to the stage is the next presenter, a clearly embarrassed... Ross! He’s in a total flop sweat, but stumbles his way through a joke about how Fallon should try co-hosting the Oscars with James Franco sometime. There are scant chuckles throughout a crowd that mostly just wants to see who won and go home.

Best Director:

1. Christopher Nolan for Tenet

2. Spike Lee for Da 5 Bloods

3. Steve McQueen for Small Axe

4. Kelly Reichardt for First Cow

5. Chloé Zhao for Nomadland

Honorable Mentions:

• Kitty Green for The Assistant

• Eliza Hittman for Never Rarely Sometimes Always

• Charlie Kaufman for i'm thinking of ending things

• Thomas Vinterberg for Another Round

Best Picture

1. Bacurau

2. Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar

3. Da 5 Bloods

4. First Cow

5. i'm thinking of ending things

6. Judas and the Black Messiah

7. Never Rarely Sometimes Always

8. Nomadland

9. Small Axe

10. Tenet

Accepting the award for best picture is none other than Eve, the cow actor who played the titular First Cow! The audience is enamored with how graceful she looks in her cow gown, and her speech, though indecipherable, is likely simple, observational, and deeply profound for those who speak cow.

Wow, what a ceremony! Hearts were broken, property was damaged, dreams were fulfilled... blood was shed? Damn it, Meryl Streep came in and mugged Charlie Kaufman before absconding with the trophy. Oddly, she’s a previous winner, so the attack isn’t out of need for hardware. People are reading through articles about production on Adaptation for potential motives. Streep made time for a photo opportunity, but remains at large.

I could go on ad infinitum about all of these nominees and winners themselves and why they did or didn’t make the cut, but that’d be better served in a different piece. For now, my thoughts on most of these can be found on the Best of 2020 write-up and over on my Letterboxd. And, as always, these awards can be revoked and redistributed at will, so don’t get too cozy with that statue, Danny Bilson!

On behalf of the RAOGL (Rosscars Association of One Guy at a Laptop), thanks for reading, and stay tuned as we’re establishing a tip line for anyone has seen Ms. Streep or her stolen valor Rosscar. We’ll see you next year. Keep watching movies, and keep arbitrarily quantifying them in terms of subjective quality!

#awards #movies #film #Rosscars

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raywritesthings · 4 years

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Happy Accident 3/3

My Writing Fandom: Arrow Characters: Oliver Queen, Laurel Lance, Thea Queen, Susan Brayden, Adrian Chase, Susan Williams, Quentin Lance, Talia al Ghul, Curtis Holt, Rene Ramirez, Rory Regan Pairing: Laurel Lance/Oliver Queen Summary: Felicity’s punch has consequences no one intended, driving Oliver to take drastic measures with their own unexpected result. *Can be read on AO3, link in bio*

Laurel didn’t know what to think upon stepping through yet another strange portal into their base to find a couple strangers standing there. She’d heard the others mention recruits, of course, but it seemed odd not finding her teammates there waiting for them. At least, not both her old teammates.

Thea stood from a chair at the computer monitors, arms crossing as she eyed Laurel with a mix of mistrust and pain. “Rene and Rory filled me in. So, any sudden, overpowering need to kill a person yet?”

“Aside from your usual moods,” one of the men added. Laurel cringed; Iris had told her that a number of the others’ Earth-2 doppelgangers had also been criminals, but she did not love being judged as one herself.

“Where’s Felicity?” The other man asked.

“Felicity is taking a leave of absence,” Oliver answered simply, which Laurel thought was probably for the best rather than getting into details. She was still shocked it had even happened. “And we’ll be monitoring the situation with Laurel to see if the Lotus is necessary and if we can acquire more of it.”

The first man raised his eyebrows. “I thought the plan was bring her back, lock her in a cell.”

“Well, considering I haven’t even been read my charges let alone my rights, I’m not sure I agree with that plan,” Laurel decided to interject. “There’s also the fact that I’m not really who you think I am. When Ollie tried to bring back my doppelganger, it didn’t work, but somehow he found my soul and brought me back instead.”

“And you are…?” The second of the two men asked.

Oliver stepped up beside her and laid a hand at the small of her back. “Rory, Rene, I’d like you to meet the Dinah Laurel Lance original to Earth-1, the Black Canary and someone very important to me.”

The one she could guess was named Rory gave a start; Rene looked skeptical; but in that moment, Laurel really only had eyes for Thea, who gasped and swayed a half-step forward before catching herself.

“You’re really…?”

Laurel nodded, a smile growing on her face as Thea rushed forward.

Before her friend’s arms could circle round her however, Rene called out. “Wait a minute. Hoss, how do we know she isn’t just playing you again?”

“I mean, the Flash team thinks it’s her, so if she’s not that’s gonna be awkward,” Curtis remarked finally. “I mean, I only met Laurel — the real Laurel — once. I only met her doppelganger once, too, so that doesn’t help much, I guess. But if I had to say which one this Laurel reminds me of more, it’s probably the real one. I think?”

“Thanks, Curtis,” Oliver said, not doing much to disguise how insincerely that was meant. “Laurel - this Laurel - knows things that only the version I knew would really be aware of. Cisco tested that for himself as well.”

“Maybe people would feel better with one more test?” Rory suggested.

“I’ve got something,” Thea said. She turned to Laurel and asked, “What did I tell you about Alex compared to Roy?”

It took Laurel a moment to recall, but she nearly laughed when she did. “That you’d be surprised who uses more tongue?” Beside her, Ollie pulled a disgusted face.

“It’s you,” Thea declared, then practically squealed as she launched herself into Laurel’s arms. Laurel grinned from ear to ear as she hugged her friend back just as tightly. This, in some ways, truly felt like a homecoming.

Thea pulled back abruptly, her eyes darting from Laurel to Oliver and back again. “But this is — I mean you guys — did you tell her?”

“Tell me what?” Laurel asked, looking back at Oliver who had gone a remarkable pink color.

“One thing at a time,” he said. “First thing’s first; Thea, I’m gonna need your help drafting a proposal.”

“Okay. To City Council?”

“To the President of the United States.”

More than a few jaws dropped, and Laurel waited for Oliver to break or otherwise indicate he was joking. Yet apparently he wasn’t.

As it turned out, only the previous month Oliver’s team, Barry’s team and Sara and her crew had all repelled an alien invasion — because of course there were aliens — along with a different alien from a totally separate world and had been declared heroes by the President. Who had been the Vice President, last thing Laurel knew.

Ollie’s plan was to use that goodwill from their Commander in Chief to parlay some kind of deal for Laurel to receive immunity against being prosecuted. It wasn’t a terrible idea, all things considered, except for one small problem.

“This might just cover me for everything I did as Black Canary in the past, but it’s not going to hold up for anything I continue to do.”

Oliver looked at her. “What do you mean?”

“I mean when I go back out in the field with you guys. I’m going back out there,” she added before he could even start. To her annoyance, the Queen siblings shared an uneasy look. “I understand that what happened last spring was traumatic. It was for me, too. But I am not going to let some kind of fear from what Darhk did to me make me waste my second shot at life.”

“We know,” Thea said. “We just — it’s been hard without you. I haven’t even been going out in the field much. Things were rough.”

Laurel rubbed Thea’s shoulder with one hand. “I’m sorry, and I’m glad you’re giving yourself some space to figure things out. But I don’t need time off. In fact, I’m pretty sure you need as many hands on deck as possible,” she added to Oliver, “considering Felicity is taking time off and John also doesn’t seem to be around.”

Oliver and Thea both looked down. “John’s in prison.”

“What?”

“He was framed by a superior officer,” Thea said. “Cause he went back for a fourth tour. Like I said, things were rough.”

Laurel couldn’t believe what she was hearing. John couldn’t be sitting in prison; he had a family to take care of, a daughter to watch grow up. “Can we get him pardoned with me?”

“I have a friend working on his case,” Oliver told her. “That’s the best hope we have for him right now.”

Privately, Laurel made a note to review said case and said friend’s handling of it so far, but there wasn’t much else she could say now without knowing all the facts. She’d have to see John as soon as she was allowed to walk about without risk of ending up the block above or below him.

All too soon, Laurel found herself standing in one of Oliver’s beta sites in front of a large screen that currently displayed the president’s seal. Oliver stood beside her dressed in his Green Arrow uniform.

The screen finally changed, showing President Brayden sitting at her desk in the Oval Office. “Green Arrow, Miss Lance.”

“Madame President,” Oliver said. “Thank you for agreeing to meet with us in this manner.”

“I’ll admit, there was some debate on my part as to whether I should insist on a meeting face-to-face. This is a very sensitive matter. But why don’t you explain from the beginning what happened to you back in April, Miss Lance?”

Laurel nodded, taking a deep breath as she recalled the story they had practiced. She didn’t relish getting to lie to the president, but all of them had agreed that the less world governments knew about the Lazarus Pits, the better. “Last April, I was taken from the hospital by men working for Damien Darhk. I guess they must have substituted some kind of fake body or something for me to make everyone think I had died. According to them, since I had lived, he wasn’t done punishing my father for betraying him. But I guess Darhk was killed before he could make good on his promise

“I was moved from place to place. They didn’t seem to know what they were going to do with me, and there wasn’t a good window of escape for a long time. I wasn’t tortured, but they would starve me or leave me without water for periods of time, and I was still recovering from my injuries.

“What allowed me to finally escape was me discovering my metahuman abilities.”

“And these are?”

She’d been expecting that question; she and Oliver had agreed it was best to be forthcoming about this development so it didn’t look like she’d been concealing something on purpose from the Commander in Chief. “I can produce screams at loud enough frequencies that the sound waves are visible and can physically impact a target. I’d offer to demonstrate, but I imagine that wouldn’t be very good for your speakers.”

“No, probably not,” Brayden agreed wryly. “And upon escaping, you returned to your city and your team.”

“Yes, Madame President,” Oliver confirmed. “We were unbelievably grateful to have Laurel back with us. But we’re afraid to lose her again.”

“Green Arrow and the others wanted me to ask you for a pardon,” Laurel said. “But if I was granted one, it wouldn’t allow me to continue to operate as Black Canary.”

“And that’s something you wish to do.”

“Yes. Being the Black Canary is a part of me, and it’s the best way I know how to help people.” Laurel shrugged. “As much as I have loved being a lawyer, I know there’s no practice or District Attorney’s office that would take a publicly known vigilante. A lot of other jobs would be leery of it, too. That’s why I have a proposal.”

President Brayden steepled her hands together and leaned a little closer towards the camera. “I’m listening.”

“I understand that last month you gave an address commending my fellow heroes. You see the need for what we do, but I imagine there are some in Washington who don’t like the idea of trusting us blindly.” Laurel laid a hand over her chest. “With my identity known, I could act as a liaison of sorts between my team and your administration. I’m accountable to both sides since everyone knows who I am.”

Brayden thought for a few moments. “That would be a tremendous responsibility for you to take on, answering for any of the actions your fellows take.”

“It would be my honor to represent each and every one of them, Madame President,” Laurel said. Okay, so she didn’t actually know Rene or Rory or even Curtis all that well, let alone most of the people Sara traveled with. But Laurel trusted Oliver and Sara’s judgement in who they would choose to fight alongside them.

“And we would be honored to have Laurel representing us,” Oliver added. “Not one of us is going to take the trust she, you or the greater public have placed in us for granted.”

“Let me say that this arrangement is an attractive idea,” Brayden finally said. “But I will need time to discuss it with my advisors. You can expect a call from me as to my final decision within two days, Black Canary. Thank you for your time.” With that, the president signed off.

“I think that went well?” Laurel said, turning to Oliver.

“I’m inclined to agree. No matter what happens, though, we’ll handle it,” Oliver told her.

A week of negotiations ensued. All the details of Laurel’s new appointment had to be worked out; how and when and to which agency or body Laurel would be reporting to, what she was expected to disclose and what infringed on the other’s expectations of privacy. She remained down in the beta site the entire time, visits from Thea or Oliver with food and reminders to sleep breaking up the monotony of video calls and working out, testing the limits of the body she had woken up in. She really was going to have to send a blood sample to Caitlin for analysis; whether it was the meta gene or something about Earth 2, she felt stronger and more durable than ever, and part of her was itching to get out into a real fight to see for herself.

She took a round trip on a private plane to sign the final documents in D.C., shaking hands with President Brayden immediately after doing so while Secret Service members stood incredibly close. She supposed a metahuman would present a highly unique risk to the life of their charge.

“I’m hopeful that this is the start of a beautiful partnership, Laurel,” the president told her as the White House cameraman snapped their picture for the next morning’s press release. Laurel would not be attending since she would be in a special closed court session back home getting her death overturned.

“I’m hoping with you, Madame President.”

It was still early evening when she arrived back in Starling even though a whole day had passed for her. “I’m exhausted, and I miss a real bed,” she admitted to Oliver, who had been waiting just outside the tarmac to pick her up. She was sure once she had fallen into the cot in the beta site she wouldn’t care what she was sleeping on, but right now with her freedom very nearly secured, she longed for those kind of simple comforts.

“Why don’t you come back with me instead?” He asked.

Laurel stilled for a moment, then gave a quiet, “Okay.”

She was still so confused about what was going on with Oliver. She had wanted to chalk up his happiness, the frequent touching and the near-constant praise to just the newness of her being back, but it had been nearly two weeks and there was no sign of it slowing. Then there was the sort of excited buzzing about Thea seemed to do whenever Oliver so much as entered the same room as Laurel. Laurel recognized the behavior from Thea’s childhood; she had a secret, and she wanted to tell it. If she hadn’t been so busy working out the details of her new life as a publicly sanctioned vigilante, Laurel would have demanded her friend just tell her already.

Stranger still was the continued lack of Felicity’s presence and Oliver’s continued lack of seeming to care about that. Laurel had honestly thought the couple would have made up by now and resumed their lives together, yet her resurrection had seen them further apart than ever. She didn’t have the whole story yet; Laurel knew something had happened to a man named Billy who Felicity had obviously cared for, and there also appeared to be tension surrounding the way Felicity and Oliver had been clashing on leading the team’s new recruits, but Laurel would have thought Oliver would be devastated to be experiencing even more troubles with the love of his life. What exactly was she missing here?

All these thoughts were running through her mind as Oliver parked the car in the garage attached to his new home as the Mayor of Star City. He came around to lead her up through the house and to what looked to be an unused guest bedroom. Laurel bid him goodnight and climbed beneath the covers, letting herself succumb to sleep. Tomorrow was going to be an extremely important day, and Laurel wanted to be prepared for it.

She woke up to Oliver’s soft knock on her door the next morning, a breakfast tray in his hands. Laurel smiled and combed some of her hair back from her face. “Breakfast in bed? Careful, I might not want to go back to my apartment.”

“Well, I wouldn’t mind the company,” he replied, his eyes soft once again as he gazed at her. Laurel took a bite of her eggs so she wouldn’t be expected to reply. “I also thought you might like to call your dad before the big announcement from the president this morning.” He took out his phone and a piece of paper, setting both down on the edge of her bed. “That’s the number to the rehab facility.”

“Thank you, Ollie. For everything. Really, it’s kind of impossible to sum up how much I owe you for all this.”

Oliver shook his head. “You don’t owe me a thing. It’s what you deserve from me.”

She was speechless again. Laurel looked down, taking up the paper and fiddling with it.

“I’ll let you make that call,” Oliver said, backing out of the room.

Laurel willed the heat rising up her neck and into her cheeks back down as she tapped each number in its sequence. She waited as it rang twice before a woman with a pleasantly calm voice answered. “Evergreen Care Center, how can I help you today?”

“Hi, my father is staying at your facility right now, and I was hoping to speak to him. Quentin Lance?”

“Date of birth?”

Laurel gave it, followed by his phone number and the last four digits of his social. She’d memorized such information years ago after her mother had left them and Laurel had realized she would be his designated representative in any emergency situation.

“Let’s see here. Oh, yes, we do have Quentin with us. I’ll see if he’s up to a phone call this morning,” the woman replied, and Laurel felt her heart sink lower in her chest. She should have called sooner. “One moment, please.”

Laurel waited as she was put on hold, her fingers drumming on the bedspread a counterpoint to the soothing music that played. Eventually it cut out, and her father’s voice — tired to her ears — came on the line.

“Sara? You’re back in town?”

Laurel’s lips pressed together for a moment before she answered, “I’m not Sara, daddy.”

She heard a sharp gasp, then a thump that had her worried, but her dad asked, “Laurel?”

“Mm-hm. I’m alive. Ollie — it’s complicated — but Ollie found out about another Pit, and I’m okay now.”

“Oh, God. Oh, thank God. You — I’ve missed you so much, missed your voice, baby. Where are you?”

“I’m in the city. Listen, I’m going to get myself declared alive again today, and I’ll come visit. Please don’t check out of this place, dad. If you need it, you need it. I want you to get the help you need.”

“I needed you, honey,” he argued. “This stuff, this was just to keep me going. But I’ll be fine with you back, I promise.”

“When does the program end?” She asked.

“Nother two weeks,” was his grudging reply.

“Then just do the two weeks. I’ll still be here. I want you to learn how to do this without me or Sara, because you know we lead crazy lives. Anything could happen.”

“Hey, you just said you’re still gonna be there.”

“I know.” There was a knock on her doorframe, and Laurel looked up. Thea was standing there with a suit bag that was probably holding her court clothes. “I need to get ready for my appointment. We’ll talk about this when I come see you, okay? I love you.”

“I love you too, honey. I never said it enough, before, but I- you’re my world, Laurel.”

She swallowed down the lump in her throat and said, “I’ll see you soon, dad.” Laurel drew in a breath as she hung up and let it out before getting up and facing Thea. “Okay. Shower?”

“Bathroom’s down the hall to the left,” Thea told her.

Laurel took a quick one, realizing belatedly that she had left the suit bag with Thea in her temporary room. She pinned her hair up and wrapped a towel around herself, hoping to sneak down the hall unnoticed. But as she drew up towards the guest bedroom door, she heard voices.

“I can’t believe you still haven’t told her,” Thea complained.

“It’s not exactly something that comes up in a normal conversation,” Oliver replied.

“Yeah, but how you feel at least? Ollie, you have a real chance to be happy, and I don’t want to see you walk away from that because you think you’re unworthy or something like that.”

As much as Laurel desperately wanted to know what Oliver’s response to that would be, she was hearing a conversation that was clearly meant to be private. She was also in danger of running late if she didn’t get dressed soon, not to mention that she was starting to get a little cold out in the hall with nothing but a towel on.

So Laurel pushed the door open the full way. “If I can have the room for a few minutes?”

The Queen siblings looked her way, but only Oliver sucked in a sharp breath. His eyes unmistakably flicked up and down her body for a moment, and Laurel flushed with heat a second time that morning at the way he licked his lips.

Thea crossed between them, but it wasn’t until she called, “Ollie, coming?” that either of them seemed to snap out of it.

“Right. Uh, sorry.”

Laurel backed up to give him room as he practically fled out into the hall, and she thought she caught Thea smirking as her younger friend shut the door. Laurel fanned her face with one hand as she grabbed her clothes to finally change.

Her day in court was short-lived considering all she was being required to do was appear in person and give the judge the written version of the statement she had delivered to the president, signed by both herself and Brayden. Judge Moore reviewed the document before adding her own signature.

“Welcome back to the land of the living, Miss Lance.”

Laurel smirked. Moore couldn’t know how literally that statement applied to her case. “Thank you, judge.”

She was shepherded into the car around the side of the courthouse. “Brayden’s press conference just finished up,” Thea told her. “You’re officially the world’s first publically-sanctioned hero. You ready for a gig in PR?”

“I guess we’ll find out tonight,” Laurel answered. Oliver had scheduled a gala for tonight, ostensibly to check in with some of the higher-society constituents, but really to serve as Laurel’s reintroduction to Star City. It was strange how fast everything seemed to move now that she was alive again. And she was so, so glad for it. Her life had always been messy and complicated and confusing. She hadn’t known what to do with all that peace.

---

Adrian Chase had a problem. And he hadn’t planned for problems.

Everything he had worked for these last five years, every piece he had put in place, had ensured that Oliver was walking right down the path he had designed for him without even knowing it, all the while thinking he had a fighting chance. There simply weren’t room for mistakes.

But one had apparently been made, and as the morning news told him, it all came down to Dinah Laurel Lance.

Adrian had been satisfied overall with the Black Siren’s performance and the effect she had worked on Oliver and his team, the trauma that having to fight a woman that looked like their departed friend had brought on. Even if he had had to remind the woman of her place now and then, she had always been meant as more of a blunt instrument than anything. Something to let out and play for a while before she was rounded up by ARGUS’ agents.

At least, that was what Adrian had assumed had happened to her. That had been his first mistake.

Next had been not trying harder to learn why Oliver had taken a sudden trip out of the country or why he had come back looking as though he were walking on clouds. Strange, considering that his spying had informed him that Felicity Smoak was no longer going to the Green Arrow’s base of operations. If Oliver’s team had truly splintered so badly, what could he be happy about?

In his guise as DA, he had had no luck getting his ‘friend’ to open up to him about it, or the impromptu press conference and gala he had scheduled two weeks after his strange behavior had begun. All Oliver had said was, “You’ll see.”

And he was seeing it now. He was seeing her right on his television screen.

“President Brayden, surprising the nation and perhaps the world this morning with a stunning revelation — Star City’s own Dinah Laurel Lance is alive and well. In a written statement, Miss Lance explains that she was taken captive by men associated with the late terrorist Damien Darhk and managed to escape only last month. Lance was famously exposed by her friend Mayor Oliver Queen as the vigilante known as the Black Canary. In the president’s release, she indicated that not only will charges not be brought against Black Canary, but instead Miss Lance will be taking on the role of official liaison between the Capitol and the growing roster of masked men and women we have seen take place over the years. We at Channel 52 say welcome back, Miss Lance, and Star City should be happy to know their Canary has flown home.”

He wanted to break something. How dare that woman? Who did she think she was, turning her back on him after he had rescued her from the Flash’s pipeline and running into Oliver’s arms? What sort of game was she playing?

Since he was on the guest list for Oliver’s gala tonight, he intended to find out. After all, he was pretty sure who the guest of honor was going to be.

Sure enough, that night Adrian stood in a crowd that applauded as Oliver led who everyone thought was their miraculously returned hero up to a podium with her arm looped through his. His eyes practically shined as he let Laurel go and stood just off to the side to give her the floor.

“Thank you,” she began, a picture of grace and humility. She had perfected her act in the weeks since Adrian had seen her last, and he would be hard-pressed to tell the difference now between her and the original. He could acknowledge a guise well done.

“I’m thankful and relieved to be able to stand here in front of you all tonight and be welcomed back to my home. I can’t wait to get back to work making this city the best that it can be, and I hope you all feel the same.

“I’ve been doing everything I can to catch up on what I missed while I was gone. One of those things is the significant damage done to the Glades district last spring, a section of our city which has already suffered too much over the years. There is a donation plate available tonight to help fund the relief efforts Oliver and his administration have put in place. Please consider giving if you are able.

“That’s all I really have to say at this time. I’d rather speak to you all personally. I ask that the questions about my captivity be limited. It’s not exactly a period of my life that I want to dwell on.”

Adrian fought down a smirk at that. Clever, he had to give her that.

“Thank you.” Laurel Lance stepped back from the podium and rejoined Oliver as the two made their way out to the floor to speak with groups of people here and there. They made a fine couple, which begged the question: what had she told Oliver? How had she convinced him to go along with this? Adrian had clearly underestimated the power even a shadow of the woman Oliver had lost last year would have over him.

Eventually, the pair of them made their way around the room to where he stood. “Laurel, this is Adrian Chase, my DA.”

“Well, it’s good to meet you.” There was not a hint of recognition in her features. Did she hope that here, in public, they were trapped into playing their roles, that he wouldn’t be able to get the truth out of her?

For now, he smiled politely. “You as well.”

“Adrian’s agreed to help with John’s case,” Oliver added in an undertone.

Her eyes lit up. “I was hoping to hear more of the details on that.”

Well that was interesting. Was she angling to speak with him now?

“I’d be happy to get such an accomplished lawyer’s position on it. Who knows? If things had been different, we could’ve been working this together,” Adrian said, his one hand clenched right where it rested in his pocket as she failed to give any hint that she understood his double meaning. “If I could borrow Miss Lance for a moment, Oliver? Shop talk, you could call it.”

“That’s fine with me. I’m sure you and Laurel have a lot to say on the subject. I’ll just be making the rounds.” With a last smile in Laurel Lance’s direction, the man turned and walked back through the crowd.

“It’s a little loud in here, don’t you think?” Adrian asked, not waiting for an answer before he turned and left the main hall. There was a smaller, unused room in the venue just across the hall, a few tables and chairs being stored and little else. It would do.

“So, Oliver told me you were able to have John remain here by invoking the Star City charter,” she said as she entered the room.

Adrian rolled his eyes. “What exactly is your plan here?”

She blinked. “I’m sorry?”

“You can drop the act, Siren,” he said, stepping closer and lowering his voice. “I highly doubt Oliver is listening in considering how well you’ve apparently wrapped him around your finger. I have to wonder how you did it.”

She stared at him. “How do you know about Black Siren?”

Adrian was about fed up with the games. “How does the man who sprung you from a four-by-four cell know who you are? You can play dumb with Oliver, but it won’t work on me.”

“You’re Prometheus,” she breathed, and the shock looked so genuine, he found himself honestly wondering if she somehow hadn’t known, no matter that he knew she did.

“I’m glad you’re caught up, but you seem to need a reminder of who exactly is in charge here,” Adrian said, reaching swiftly to circle his hand around her throat.

Her eyes bulged as her nails dug sharply into his hand. He threw her down before her kick could connect with his side; he just felt the scrape of her heel against his pant leg.

“This new life you’re trying to build yourself here on this Earth, you wouldn’t have it without me. I can take it away just as easily.”

She shot up and lunged at him immediately, and Adrian sidestepped her, letting her careen straight into one of the tables. The crash did not seem to faze her, for she whirled around and was on him before he could dodge a second time, clawing and punching at every bit of him she could reach. Her eyes were wild, and without his training he might have been overwhelmed.

But he rammed her with his shoulder to send her staggering back, one of her heels snapping.

Adrian straightened his jacket, reaching into an inner pocket for his stars as she rallied, lips pulled back in an animalistic snarl.

One thing was finally clear: this was not the Black Siren. This was something else. Something worse.

---

Oliver walked through the throng of people, nodding in acknowledgement whenever he caught the eye of someone he and Laurel had already spoken to. So far, the night had gone off without a hitch, for which he was immensely grateful. Laurel deserved a night of celebration like this.

He kept waiting for some sign that he was dreaming again, some indication that it was all about to be ripped away. He didn’t get lucky like this, not ever.

There was so much he wanted to say to her, it was hard to put the feeling into words. Thea made it sound so easy, but then Thea didn’t know how he had failed to let Laurel know what she meant to him that night in the hospital when she confessed her own feelings. Feelings she hadn’t spoken of or acted on since. Not even now that he and Felicity were well and truly estranged.

He had expected to feel more regret over that, but truthfully it had made some things easier. The recruits had started shaping up more, whether that was out of fear of being kicked off the team or what he couldn’t exactly say. But he was glad to be able to feel in control of this unit he had agreed to take on. Thea was coming down to the base more to borrow the training area, too, and he had a feeling she was inching back towards the life of Speedy now that her partner in the field had returned. With Laurel’s new role official, she would be joining them down in the bunker rather than the beta site as well. It would be good to have more people with experience than just himself out there.

But how to show Laurel that, that he was happy and hopeful about the future again? And a future with her. It wasn’t even a question of if he should tell her; he didn’t think he could hide the way he felt for very long. When she had come back to her room that morning looking so much like the dream he had had, Oliver had forgotten how to breathe for a moment. Forgotten, too, that he was not her fiancé with the permission to look upon her with awe and desire.

She deserved to know. He just had to get over this old fear of his, convince himself he wouldn’t screw it up this time, and tell her.

Oliver wandered the perimeter of the room as these thoughts played out in his head until he found himself standing near the door he had made note that Adrian and Laurel had left through. He wanted to be able to catch her when she came back, missing her by his side already.

“I was starting to wonder if I might catch you alone.”

He froze. “Susan…”

It was not that he had forgotten the reporter he had taken on a date. But guilt churned in his stomach all the same as he turned to face her fully. There was no reason for it; Laurel had been, as far as he had known, beyond his reach in this life, and had given her deathbed blessing to him finding happiness without her — even if she had felt that would be with Felicity at the time.

“You must be really happy to have her back,” Susan said.

“I am,” he answered with a small smile he couldn’t help. He felt guilt towards Susan as well, considering what he knew was really in his heart. He should have called her to end things before now. “Listen, about, um—”

Susan held up a hand to stop his halting attempt. “It’s been nice, Oliver, but I’d have to be blind not to see what Laurel Lance means to you. And I’m big enough to know there’s little point getting in between that.” She smirked as she added, “Probably better I don’t get too heavily involved with the politician I’m trying to cover anyway.”

Oliver nodded. “Thank you. Really.”

She nodded and turned to leave. The relief that Oliver felt was cut short when he heard a loud crash from somewhere out in the venue. Susan pivoted on the balls of her feet.

“What was that?”

“I’m not sure.” Oliver slipped out of the door, unsurprised when Susan followed him. He was fairly certain it had come from the room directly ahead. “Stay behind me, okay?” He asked as he cautiously approached the door, which had been left just slightly ajar. He peered through the gap, eyes widening in alarm at what he saw.

Adrian stood in the middle of the floor, his suit and hair rumpled and a split lip slowly leaking blood. And Laurel, missing one shoe and the other snapped off at the heel, struggled to free the skirt of her dress from where it was pinned to the wall by three throwing stars.

“I’d love to understand what you really are, but Oliver isn’t ready to know my secret yet. I’m afraid there’ll be need for a fresh grave in Starling Cemetery.” Adrian flicked his wrist with practiced ease, another star sailing through the air.

Oliver threw the door open and leapt in front, remembering Susan’s presence at the last minute. He forced his instinct to snatch the weapon out of the air down, instead letting it slash his upper-left arm, teeth gritting at the pain. But the weapon clattered uselessly several feet from Laurel.

He turned to see Adrian’s shocked gaze, and Oliver willed his voice to remain steady as he asked, “What’s the meaning of this?”

Adrian’s answer was cut off by the rip of fabric, and Oliver ducked as Laurel released a sonic scream, features contorted with blind rage. Adrian fell to it, hands clapped over his ears as he cried out in agony.

Laurel marched towards him, her intent to worsen Adrian’s suffering clear. Oliver reached out and caught her around the waist. “Laurel! Laurel, stop!”

The scream died, and she blinked as if coming back to herself. “I- I wasn’t — oh, God.”

“Hey, it‘s okay.” He rubbed her back as she sagged against his shoulder. It was clear what must have happened; the blood lust had been triggered during whatever fight had broken out here. He was just glad he had intervened in time to keep a life off her conscious. Even if it was the life of a man who must have had some sort of long game to betray Oliver planned. Who really was Adrian Chase?

He caught Susan’s eye as she surveyed the whole scene and asked, “Can you call 911?”

She nodded. “I take it the DA is actually our Throwing Star Killer,” Susan remarked, gesturing to the weapons still in the wall, little strips of Laurel’s dress hanging from them.

“Looks like it,” he agreed. “I don’t have a statement on that just now. I, uh, I’ll see what the police are able to find out about it.”

They stuck around long enough to see Adrian taken away. He was only just beginning to stir as he was led away in handcuffs to be looked over at the hospital before being transferred into the SCPD’s custody. Oliver also placed a discrete call to Lyla’s office to see what ARGUS could do about assuming jurisdiction over the case as soon as possible. Adrian knew far too much, even if Oliver didn’t yet understand how.

Laurel’s other shoe was located, and he helped her to hobble towards the back entrance of the venue, hoping to shield her from as much of the press as possible. The last thing needed right now was the press photographing her in a dress with the skirt torn halfway up her thigh.

The driver took them back to his place. Oliver knew it was likely only Laurel’s shock at how she had lost control that was keeping her from asking to be dropped off at either the beta site or the old apartment Thea still owned. She would probably return to the latter soon if he didn’t say anything. Didn’t make any kind of sign.

Once they were inside, Laurel bent down and undid the straps that were barely holding her broken shoes on. “Well, some night,” she remarked with her head still tilted down, hair half-hiding her face.

“It wouldn’t be Star City if something eventful didn’t happen,” he replied. “Was, uh, was that the first time you’ve used…”

“The sonic scream? On purpose, yeah. I didn’t really know how strong it would be. I could’ve killed him.” Her eyes had a haunted look to them as she continued, “One second we were just talking, the next was like he just flipped personalities, was trying to threaten me. He thought I was her. Siren.”

“If he’s really Prometheus, then that makes sense.”

“The way he talked about me – her,” she amended, giving a slight shake of her head as if to clear it. “It was like he thought he owned her. The others told me the things she did, but nobody should be talked to like that.”

“I know,” he agreed. “She told me that she wanted out. I never found out if it was the truth or a lie.” Seeing the way his Laurel felt about it now, he thought maybe it just might have been a truth, even one that Black Siren hadn’t actually wanted to admit to herself. Or maybe that was wishful thinking; thanks to the others, he would never know.

“Then he attacked me. I just lost it, and when you were hurt—” Her hand reached out, just barely brushing his arm below the gaze bandage a paramedic had applied. “If you hadn’t stopped me, I would have killed him,” she stated. “I guess I’m not as different from her as I thought.”

“Maybe, but that’s not such a bad thing,” he said. She looked up at him in surprise. “If I hadn’t seen some of you in her, I might not have gone so far to try and bring her back. I might never have known there was a way to save you. Black Siren wasn’t evil, no matter what the others say,” he added. “I think she was just lost. You know what that’s like.”

She nodded.

“But you’re not a killer, Laurel. That was the effect of the Pit.”

“I was hoping the new one wouldn’t have the same side effects.”

“So was I,” he admitted. “But we’ll get more of the Lotus. You’ll be fine, just like Thea.”

Laurel’s lips twisted in a funny half smile. “Thea doesn’t seem fine right now. I think she’s going to lose it if you don’t tell me whatever it is she wants you to.”

Oliver swallowed. There it was. He was being handed a perfect opportunity to open up, to be truthful about his feelings. There was never anything half as terrifying as that. “Thea… what she wants me to tell you, it wouldn’t make any sense to come right out and say. There’s things you have to know.”

“Like?”

“Like how much losing you hurt. That it caused me to look back on the last few years and think of all the time I wasted. How much I wished things had been different for you and me.”

Laurel’s throat bobbed, but she remained silent, listening.

“And a couple months ago, my wish was granted.”

“A couple months?” She asked, and he didn’t blame her for the confusion. Laurel had only been back for a month.

“Yeah. See, when the Dominators came to Earth, they took a few of us hostage, to try and study us for potential weaknesses. We were placed in some kind of stasis where our minds went to a made-up reality based on our dearest-held dreams. Thea and I were back at the Manor with mom and my father. They were alive.”

“Oh, Ollie,” Laurel said softly.

“Yeah. The thing was, you were there, too. And it was almost our wedding day.”

Laurel’s mouth fell open. He didn’t know if the shock on her face was a good or bad thing, but Oliver also knew that he needed to say this no matter the outcome.

“I love you, Laurel,” he confessed. “And I know it doesn’t make up for all the years or the ways that I’ve hurt you whether I meant to or not. All I know is, when you told me how you still felt, all I could think about was what could’ve been for us. It haunted me the whole time that I thought we’d lost that chance.” Even now, he could see her in that beautiful white gown, her face so sad as he was forced to leave to help the others. “I wondered how I hadn’t seen it, why you couldn’t have said something before.”

“You were happy,” she said, as if that was all that needed saying. Her eyes shone bright with unshed tears. “You were happier without me.”

He shook his head. “The one thing I haven’t been this past year is happy without you. This, right now, is the best I have felt in a long time.”

He didn’t just mean because he had finally given voice to his feelings. Oliver had a team that was learning to respect his judgement calls in the base and in the field; he honestly didn’t miss the constant back talk on the comms. He felt better, too, seeing Thea happier and knowing that once Quentin finished his rehab program that he would come home to his daughter and be whole again. The looming threat of Prometheus had been ended as abruptly as it had begun. None of this would have been possible without Laurel.

“I know this cannot be an easy decision to make. I understand if, whatever our feelings for each other are, you’d prefer to remain as we were before that night. All I’ll ever ask of you is to be part of my life, Laurel, because it’s a far less full one without you,” he finished.

Her head tilted as her lips pressed right together for a moment, considering him. Then at last she stepped forward, cupping his cheek with her hand. “You know I never do things halfway, Ollie.” She rose onto her tiptoes, her hand at his cheek guiding his lips to meet hers in that perfect synchronous dance he had longed for, so much better than his dream for knowing that it was real.

Oliver smoothed his hands over her arms, down her back and up into her hair, unable to choose now that he was granted it all. Laurel seemed of a similar mind, hands cupping his face then smoothing down his shoulders, then up and his suit jacket. They were each aware of the time they had wasted before and how they could never get it back, and it spurred them on towards making the most of the time they had ahead. The time they very nearly hadn’t had.

He regretted what had happened to Laurel’s counterpart from Earth-2. No version of her deserved a violent end in his eyes. He took some comfort at least that she was now free from men like Adrian or Zoom. Maybe her soul had gone to whatever was next beyond the grave to find the Ollie she had truly loved and not just the man that looked like him. He chose to believe that, since he’d been granted the same beautiful dream in its own way.

For all that he and Laurel had suffered through, if it meant they arrived at this point together, Oliver wouldn’t change it. No matter how tempting it could be to fix the past, he knew how fragile time could be. And this time, at last, was theirs.

---

Talia al Ghul was more familiar with disappointment than one of her ability and lineage would like. Her first disappointment had come from her Beloved. Bruce had been a fine warrior, full of discipline, intellect, skill and honor. Yet he had lacked the conviction to bring a permanent end to those who committed evil in the world and so he had left her and her father’s League behind.

Then there had been her father himself. She could admit with chagrin that Bruce had been the one to initially question her father’s intention to pass on the title of Ra’s al Ghul to her. As the years had worn on, Talia had seen for herself that he would never do so. And so she had left, forming her own following to carry on the mission she still believed in.

Yet now, two of her own students had disappointed her one after the other. Oliver Queen and the one who called himself Adrian Chase. The former had killed her father and handed the League of Assassins to a traitor which caused it to fail less than a year later, and the latter had failed to be her instrument of revenge. Instead, she currently watched as the news continued to cover his arrest and the accusations mounting against him. Something would have to be done, and quickly. She was not ready for The connection Mr. Chase had to her to be revealed, as it might should he be questioned.

Talia had left it up to her student to plan the reckoning Oliver should face, who it would involve and where it would be. All of this would have to be abandoned now, and more planning would have to be done. Especially to accommodate the unexpected wrinkle that had developed: the return of this Earth’s Dinah Laurel Lance, Oliver’s own Beloved.

Talia’s spies had followed Oliver and his associates’ progress to the mountains of Siberia and confirmed to her that one of the rumored Lazarus Pits was in that location. She had also been made aware of the comings and goings of Miss Lance to and from the United States’ Capitol. Yet she had not realized until tonight — nor had Mr. Chase, it seemed — that rather than the copy of her from another Earth, Oliver had somehow managed to resurrect the original. It would be like him to play with those kind of forces with little regard for any consequences.

Talia left her current base of operations to deal with one of those consequences. Mr. Chase was going to be moved from where he was being seen at Star City General to a holding cell at the downtown precinct. It was her task to ensure this never came to pass.

She took up her position only minutes before Mr. Chase was escorted out the front doors towards a waiting transport van. From the rooftop across the street, she watched her chosen spy approach at a walking pace, the umbrella he had taken from their supply store tucked under his arm. She saw the moment he fired the jet of poison gas from a crushed cyanide ampule, though it was truly invisible to the eye, then smirked as an officer moved to intercept him from fully crossing paths with the police escort. Her agent backed away, feigning as though he had not realized what was going on, and crossed the street to continue his walk.

Just as Mr. Chase was walked up the steps of the transport van, he collapsed to one knee, the poison already taking its effect. None of those around him would realize that was what it was, of course. To them, it would appear as though he suffered a sudden heart attack. They would see the matter as closed and put the unfortunate memory of their fallen District Attorney behind them.

Oliver would suspect, of course. Oliver always suspected. But he would only have his suspicions. For now, Talia would retreat and reassess the best way to bring retribution to her former student. Let him grow complacent with his loved ones; she had all the time the Lazarus water allowed her to have her revenge.

#lauriver #laurel x oliver #laurel lance #oliver queen #arrow #green arrow #black canary #my writing

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kurtty-drabbles · 5 years

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Healing au (3/3)

N/A: Lat part of this AU and it will be incomplete, well, in an opening end of sorts.

@djinmer4 @dannybagpipesarecalling @sailorstar9 @discordsworld @look-ma-no-hands336

The new Kingdom wasn´t annexed in his belt of conquest because, in Kurt´s eyes, that kingdom he raises from ashes is to Zaorva, and Kurt does not need to make a powerful enemy in Zaorva, so, this Kingdom works under her laws and this seems to please the deity.

The healer, an immortal healer that Kurt can´t shake her image out of his mind, is his faithful company, in a sense, his allies may die, his women may die, but, this enigma of the healer is always by his side, of course, not as he wishes to.

“Stop that, Necromancer!” Kitty screams as her hands are glowing. Kurt has to give credit, Kitty Pryde has more energy and courage than many enemies he faced, however, is not enough. “No, I´ll conquer the entire world, Katzchen”

Kitty shakes her head in disbelief. “Why?” and she was expecting a grandiose speech or maybe a sad childhood memory, instead, what she gets is. “Why not?” and Kurt has his army of zombies outside, new additions can be seen and Kurt is now gazing into her doe eyes.

“Look, why do we need to fight? Join me, we can do so much together” Kurt starts and Kitty can pinpoint how many of his students used something similar on her and in the others healers, of course, they must have learned from the best and evilest wizard ever.

“Kurt, I can´t be your evil queen, as my place is next to Zaorva´s light and I know you fear her, and I know you don´t believe in love ever since Alma did die” Kitty replies in an honest tone, if the intention was to level with Kurt, it manages to do the opposite.

“Who do you know about Alma? I only told….this to Bob” Kurt said in a hissed tone and Kitty is ready to end this cat-mouse game. “Look, let´s cut the chase, I know, you know, we both know. I was Bob the entire time and my first mission was to make sure you didn´t have the spear, however, I have no clue people already destroyed the spear…even knowing that information I still keep as a Bob because I like to be around you…when you aren´t the EVIL Necromancer, you can be a nice guy”

Kurt is blinking slowly and re-thinking everything he thought he know. Kitty was Bob? She thought he knew? Suddenly, this makes so much more sense, why Kitty knows little details about how Kurt likes his coffee or beer if he only has this conversation with Bob?!

Kurt is gracious enough to not say anything, no words can be formed in his lips, as he silently leaves along with his army. Kitty Pryde is sure the man is thinking on the next move of their game, while the kingdom is afraid of what this will mean for them. People start paying tributes to please Kurt, who ever since that big revelation, is in a silent mood, the tributes are far more luxurious than anything Kurt could ever hope if he had come and conquered the city/kingdom himself, in fact, is more lucrative this way.

Kitty goes to speak with the necromancer, but, his mansion is gone and no one knows where he is. Time is incredibly relevant if you have all the time in the world, and the next time she saw Kurt is in a creepy circus…he runs.

“Katzchen, I´m glad fate brought you here” Kurt speaks and Kitty can see his white hair and how that makes him look old and completely different from their last conversation. “I did leave without saying a word” there´s a tone of apology as he continues “in reality, I was dealing with personal affairs, well, it wasn't a nice excuse for leaving without saying a word, but, if we can be friends, no secrets this time” Kurt adds much to her surprise “I would be happy”

Kitty smiles amused. “ Of course, I heard you lay off the whole conquistador thing” she is visible proud and Kurt can see she does not know his others “business” well, conquer kingdoms are too complexed in the end. Kitty seems to accept his apology as she accepts shaking his hand firmly.

Kurt offers a smile as he walks along with the healer, too trusting and not aged a bit, somehow this is good, somehow this is bad, the contrast of evil and good is always a cliché Kurt didn´t believe until now. “Still a healer of Zaorva?” Kurt asked still fearing the name itself. Fear is a way to show respect.

“Oh, of course, I also work with the X-men…sometimes” then she adds “and you decides to use your amazing abilities of a detective to be a ringleader, that´s impressive,” Kitty speaks honestly. Kurt blinks, amazing abilities of a detective?

“Why you said that?” Kurt asked confused. “Wait, why you never told me before you were Bob?” the question is laced with confusion and more confusion(the anger? It vanished along the years)

Kitty blinks as if he´s making a dumb question. “Kurt, you always knew I was Bob and we were always playing this game, but, now we don´t have any motivation to keep up the game anymore, we can finally be honest with each other” Kitty declares.

What? Is all Kurt Wagner is thinking.

Kitty Pryde is a trademark in Kurt´s life at this point, to the point, their kids Damian and Talia spot the woman several, several times in their father´s house, a lovely woman in their opinion, she has one flaw.

“Your father is a great detective, I´m sure he knew Princess Susan and his own student Mortis were a couple all this time and he did all that confusion to allow the two women to marry each other” Kitty confessed with such sheer honesty that makes Talia and Damian look pissed and disapproving at Kurt who is looking at his own tea.

“Yeah, that´s dad, the greatest detective ever!” there´s a heavy sarcasm tone in their line that Kitty is not understanding and Kurt still is talking about his own tea. The scene is being watched by Zaorva and Venus.

“I was right, Venus!” Zaorva exclaimed proudly.

“About him being an idiot or she being too sweet/naïve?” Venus asked.

“Well, both in this case, but, they will stay together from now on” Zaorva concludes impressed with herself and Venus can risk one chore done out of her list.

#healing au #kurt wagner #evil wizard kurt #kitty pryde #healer kitty #she really think he is a great detective #Zaorva is always right #talia and Damian are gazing at you Kurt

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susiecarter · 6 years

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Could we have a list of your OTPs and regular ships for any and all fandoms that you can think of off the top of your head?

/o\ :D Oh, man. PLEASE GET COMFORTABLE, ANON. This could take a while ... and in fact, let me summarize my typical feelings about most of the canons I encounter first, and then put the actual list behind a cut.

Thing 1: I rarely ship canon ships particularly hard. Sometimes I like them, sometimes I don’t; sometimes I’m watching solely for them, but the canon is already about telling their story, so I don’t feel any particular need to tell my own stories about them. (As you may have noticed, I like to play around with all the possible ways that, given a canonical starting point, people could get their shit together and make out. If the canon’s already about that, then my urge to see it happen is satisfied, and I don’t write anything.) Thing 2, which is also sort of Thing 1B: I don’t have many m/f ships, and when I do, they’re Diana/Alfred. :D (Which is to say that they’re pretty much always rarepairs/somewhere canon isn’t going to go or isn’t even interested in hinting at, but there’s some kind of dynamic or potential dynamic I really like anyway.) Thing 3: Beyond that, pretty much anything goes. :D I’m here for sweet, I’m here for screwed up, I’m here for both at the same time.

So, yeah. Sticking to the things I have the shippiest feelings about (because listing every ship I’m regular-strength interested in for, like, Dragon Age would just ... we’d be here all day /o\), there’s a category of canons with ensembles where I ship multiple things:

Babylon 5 (and offshoots thereof): Susan Ivanova/Talia Winters, Marcus Cole/Stephen Franklin, David Martell/Dulann

Dark Matter (TV): Nyx/Two, One/Three, Six/Three

Detroit: Become Human: Connor/Hank, Markus/Simon, and then Kara/North mostly because of the way it works in my head :D (I do also like Connor/Markus, and Markus/North, and also North/Josh and North/Simon because of the way they’d work in my head; but I’m a sucker for buddy cops and weak for age gaps, so *hands*)

Justified: This is just a big old pile, because I like Boyd/Raylan, but also Raylan/Tim, but also Rachel/Tim (... and for that matter Rachel/Raylan, now that I think about it, which maybe means what I really want is a drawling sassy Marshal orgy, oops), and ... everyone on that show was so attractive and messed up, basically :D

Krypton: Adam/Seg-El, and then also Lyta-Zod/Nyssa-Vex, again because of the way it works in my head :D

Mass Effect: Andromeda: Liam/Jaal, Peebee/Suvi, and just about anybody/Reyes (IDENTITY PORN :D)

Sense8: ... Just everybody/everybody, it’s all canon, there’s no list here!

Sinbad (TV): Sinbad/Gunnar, and then I multiship various combinations of Rina/Nala, Rina/Anwar, Rina/Tiger, and even hypothetically Nala/Tiger

Star Trek: I don’t dislike any canonical relationship I can think of in any Star Trek, but I’m an old-school Kirk/Spock kind of person, and my second-favorite DS9 ship after Bashir/Garak has got to be Jadzia/Kira

Stargate: Atlantis: John/Rodney, Elizabeth/Teyla, and I actually did like Ronon/Keller a fair amount, but I also wish that scene of Alicia Vega hitting on Keller hadn’t been cut because it was so wonderful and I’d have shipped that in a heartbeat *_______*

And then there’s a category of canons centered around a single relationship between people I think should bang, and that’s the main draw for me:

Almost Human: John/Dorian

Battle Creek: Milt/Russ

Common Law: Travis/Wes

due South: Fraser/Ray K

The Exorcist: Marcus/Tomas (I like Peter! I do! But I just don’t have as many feelings about him, and also, well, canon ship. *hands*)

Maleficent: Aurora/Maleficent

Professionals: Bodie/Doyle

Snow White and the Huntsman: Ravenna/Snow White (... I maybe have a thing about evil/dark queens and the Too Good, Too Pure princesses they’re obsessed with)

Whitechapel: Chandler/Kent

Wild Wild West: Artie/Jim

Xena: Xena/Gabrielle

And then I’m sure there’s more I’m forgetting. /o\ But that’s probably more than you even wanted to know, anon! SORRY.

Anyway, the point is that I ship a lot of things, and also I’m pretty flexible, and also I’m here for relationships that are complicated for various reasons. So if there’s any particular ship you want to know my thoughts on, I promise to answer thoughtfully and honestly; I don’t do ship wars and there are very few ships I can’t talk myself into liking if I have five minutes to consider how I’d write it. ;D

#asks:anonymous #susie is a multishipper #susie is a multifandom fan #susie isn't any better at disliking ships than she is at disliking anything else #and she's never met a canceled tv show she wouldn't watch #asks

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woodsfae · 2 years

Text

Babylon 5 S01E07: The War Prayer

First

ToC

That is an ominous episode name if ever I’ve seen one. Gonna be pretty funny if this is a light, filler episode.

I hope this is Delenn-heavy because I’m ready to feel the hype this website has for her. And her friend is a poet! I want to hear this poem they’re talking about.

Do the Minbari all have fake ears as part of their makeup? Or do they only cast actors with tiny, low-set ears with attached earlobes?

Hate crimes. Sad days.

“Than make them give a damn,” yeah you need a good social media person.

That’s a badass decision by Mayan the poet - keeping the hate crime brand.

Not the coffee plants! C’mon Garibaldi.

I don’t like Susan’s ex. And am going to go ahead and predict that he’s involved in the hate crimes.

Not sure I’ll ever be able to stop immediately thinking “they have manes and tails, oh my god,” whenever I see Centauri. It’s etched into my neurons.

The Centauri not only have slavery but also have forced marriage. Lovely. “Yeah forced marriage is miserable, but we were all miserable in our marriages so you should be too,” one of my favorite justifications for continuing awful traditions.

Kosh is kinda hilarious. Just chillin and watching the highlights and lowlifes of human history and refusing to talk to the other ambassadors unless explicitly officially necessary.

Hope the Centauri lovebirds run away before they’re sent back. Seriously, if arranged marriages are to keep power and influence within the right families and build alliances - there’s no reason they can’t marry each other! They’re both aristocrats! But our own history shows us that people aren’t that sensible.

“Do you ever regret leaving me?” HELL NO SHE DOESN’T. Calling it harder. this “I shouldn’t have let you go,” dick is one of the home guard. And just assuming they’ll be together since he moved here? jayzus. That’s some entitled behavior.

Tensions are at a boil, and seem to be about to boil the fuck over.

“If he dies she will experience enormous grief. But every moment together will make her grief a little less.”

I agree. Missing moments and wishing for more time are some of the main hallmarks of my grief.

Incitement is happening on all sides. Everyone’s riling their people. Including this asshat ex. And Sinclair is going straight for them. I knew Susan’s asshat ex was up to no good.

Why don’t fin-headed people have an ambassador on Babylon 5? I’m a little baffled as to why each species doesn’t have an ambassador. And Sinclair, “he’ll recover,” is not at all reassuring to people worried they’re going to be attacked and murdered, even if you’re saying it to get asshat to think you’re on his side.

This exchange of looks. I choose to interpret them thusly:

Sinclair: How’m I doing? Ivanova: Fuckin’ terrible but he seems to be buying it, and I’m increasingly baffled as to what I ever saw in him if you’re fooling him with this hamfisted dialogue. Sinclair: Fuck yea

OH the Centauri kids are literally children, at least legally so. Aww, Londo is on the side of love now. And probably assuming their infatuation will end sooner or later anyway. And in any case, this fosterage gets everyone off his back to Do Something About the Kids!

Secret military prototypes. Of course they’re in fascist hands. Ambassadors Down. The berries on this asshat demanding a loyalty test from the most powerful person on Babylon 5.

Whew! So this was not a lighthearted filler episode misnamed amusingly. It was a good episode, just pretty heavy. I am bummed that this wasn’t actually all that Delenn-heavy, but it did have slightly higher Delenn content than the last few, so I am content for now. It was also sadly bereft of Talia/Susan but so have they all lately. I’ll be content with quietly meaning-laden glances and tension thick enough to cut, but it hasn’t even been giving me that yet!

Next Episode

#babylon 5 #woodsfae b5

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believerindaydreams · 6 years

Text

though I would like to write a story called “dreaming of oranges”

Upon quiet, thoughtful reflection, a whole “AU rewrite with Sheridan and Sinclair switched around” would require a rewatch of everything up to “Into the Fire” and at least twenty thousand words to do properly. And a lot more guff about Minbar than I can probably handle convincingly. And writing Sinclair, who strikes me as being one of those sneaky bastards who are great on the small screen but hell to write dialogue for.

(cut for spoilers. Lots of spoilers)

Counterpoints: the fascination of dealing with this Minbari paradox, with the Grey Council struggling to grasp how their greatest icon could possibly also be Starkiller. How long it takes them to tell Sheridan why they asked him to be ambassador; around the end of Season Two or so, I think. In this version, Sheridan thinks he’s been posted to Minbar because new Clark wants him off-stage for some reason. In this version, he’s right; Clark’s heard just enough rumblings about a White Star fleet in the making to want a war hero on the spot to keep an eye on developments (Clark can always blame any unfortunate developments on Minbari War Syndrome, if necessary). Sheridan would, I think, have some genuine Earthforce concerns about helping Minbar build an entire flippin’ warfleet of White Stars, and want some very solid evidence about this whole Shadow War...so enter the Rangers, and Sheridan spends a year thinking they just wanted him to be Entil'zha.

Probably some reluctant mutual admiration with Neroon, and Sheridan finding he gets on better with the warrior caste, ironically enough; there’s some common ground there and they agree that the religious caste’s five hour dinners are ridiculous. And Marcus shows up! With a lot of terrible jokes resulting, no doubt.

Back on the station, everybody’s getting used to Sheridan’s replacement, the restrained and thoughtful Sinclair (and his on-and-off girlfriend Catherine). Garibaldi’s glad to have his old friend back; Susan takes somewhat longer warming up to him. Londo and G’Kar run into each other at the post office, one carrying a bag of oranges and the other parcelling up a set of Narn heating stones, and find themselves actually agreeing on something- namely, that landing up stuck on Minbar must be one of the worst possible fates for any hot-blooded sentient in the entire known galaxy.

(Cut to: Lennier, holding a letter and pointedly not looking annoyed.)

So Sheridan starts deciphering the Shadow War, based partly on data gathered by the Rangers. Though some he’d be getting straight from Babylon 5, because Ivanova bullied the Epsilon III crew into providing them a reliable and secure communication system (you know she would). Gotta keep Sheridan in touch with the main crew somehow, especially if he’s going to fall in love with Delenn long distance...

who is aware that falling in love with Valen is an exceptionally terrible idea, but finds herself doing it anyway. Not that she intends to mention this to him; she’s already keeping far too many secrets from him, so what’s one more...until the end of Season Two (or thereabouts, anyway). When Sheridan calls her to say, well, this year on Minbar’s been fun, but now he’s going to pull every string he has in Earthforce to get back the Babylon 5 posting. Or anything that’s not planet-side, really...

so now she has to explain to him that he’s Valen, and destined to stay on Minbar. Sheridan’s reaction would be amazing to write- contradictory, frustrated energy, partly fascinated by the odd culture that he’s spent a year aiding, and partly completely exasperated by that culture and wanting out already. Anger with the very notion of being forced to do anything because of fate, and a very worried realisation that if he was to accept the truth of this duty, it’s not in him to say no. Not when the fate of billions might depend on it.

But then, he argues with Delenn, if he’s going to be Valen then his destiny is to fight Shadows, and it might just be that he needs this experience to help save Minbar’s past. They settle on a temporary compromise; Sheridan’s given the first White Star to captain for as long as the war continues, on a top-secret basis. No longer.

(Sheridan sleeps very hard, his first night back in space; and she spends it watching him.)

As for what’s been happening back on the station....Nightwatch is starting to make things nasty, Sinclair’s girlfriend has vanished under mysterious circumstances, and he’s starting to question why everybody leaves him out of the loop on things. Garibaldi notes that after all the hard work Sheridan went through on Babylon 5, a lot of people are gonna be cool on any replacement- and also that anybody taking lessons from Vorlons is going to sound a little touched after a while.

As a way of asserting his authority, and also because he shares Delenn’s philosophy that all lives are precious, Sinclair forbids Lyta Alexander to search for a possible spy who can only be uncovered via murder. Talia gets to live; Lyta makes a break for it to Vorlon space. Susan decides that her instinct to keep some of the particulars of the anti-Clark, pro-Hague campaign away from Sinclair were probably wise, if he’s going to be such an idealistic with weird delusions of godhood and mutterings about Z’ha’dum- concerns that Garibaldi makes light of. Even after Sinclair falls out of a tube and gets saved by an angel in front of half the station.

Season Three, Sheridan’s on the White Star and Sinclair’s on Babylon 5, with Delenn splitting her time between both (Lennier is concerned that Delenn is plunging through Minbar relationship rituals with accuracy but unseemly speed.) Sheridan offers Vir a few tips about life on Minbar. Sinclair concentrates on maintaining Babylon 5′s diplomatic status, trying to walk the line between keeping the station’s ideals and keeping in with Clark’s administration. All’s going well until some idiot blows up a ship at Ganymede, whereupon martial law is declared and everything goes haywire. Sinclair reluctantly declares that Babylon will secede, but emphasizes the unarmed, neutral nature of the station (he previously forbade the GROPOS crew from using the place as a base for combat operations, which is helpful in terms of propaganda and unhelpful in that the station still doesn’t have a decent defence grid).

“Is he seriously expecting God to reach out of the heavens to save us?“ Susan asks Garibaldi, in complete exasperation.

“...when a guy like Jeff asks, it might just happen.“

Severed Dreams happens, with everything much the same as before except that Sheridan comes riding in with Delenn to save the day. ISN declares Sheridan a Minbari-tainted traitor, and the White Star attracts a good deal of fascination. Nobody cares about Sinclair, still. Franklin asks if they arranged it this way on purpose, with one dramatic hooligan drawing attention away from that station’s real work. Sinclair smiles and says nothing.

Some time later, Garibaldi spends an annoying day stuck in Grey Sector, and shoots a monster with some old-fashioned bullets. Nothing else happens that days.

The campaign to fight the Shadows is progressing, slowly but surely, and the scope of Sinclair’s behind-the-scenes work is becoming slowly evident; he’s been quietly soothing small conflicts from breaking into worse conflicts, garnering favour with alien governments, and there’s a sturdy compact of ships to join up with the White Star fleet. All seems well, until Catherine comes back to Babylon 5 for the first time in months- and asks Sinclair to come with her to Z’ha’dum.

Kosh says that this is not the time. Sinclair ignores the Vorlon and asks Sheridan for a White Star; Sheridan reluctantly agrees.

Time passes. Sinclair doesn’t come back. But Shadow ships start coming out, attacking everywhere- many, many Shadow ships, far more than anyone had expected, or even thought possible. Despite a huge smoldering crater in their planet.)

The Babylon 5 crew take council in the War Room, how to proceed next; and Sheridan gives a rousing speech to the Non-Aligned Worlds about honouring Sinclair’s memory, by putting up the best resistance they can. The appeal to martyrdom works; the anti-Shadow alliance vows that they will fight on whatever the cost.

“You have forgotten something,” Kosh says to Sheridan.

And Sheridan looks at the Vorlon, out at the planet below, and knows he can’t delay any longer, that the full fury of the Shadow forces must be lessened a thousand years earlier. Epsilon III is waiting for him.

Delenn goes with him. So does Ivanova, who won’t let her old captain go without one last mission, so does Marcus, following the One. They ride the station backwards in time; Sheridan’s previous encounter with the rift causes him to age- but very strangely. Zathras clucks and tells him that he’ll probably only have twenty years more to live, though you wouldn’t know it by looking at him.

Station prepared, there’s nothing left to be done but take leave of each other. Marcus offers to go back instead, and Sheridan sharply tells him not to play tempter; Susan salutes her old captain, and thanks him for giving them all a chance. Delenn stands before him, waiting, and can only say she has no ritual for this.

All Sheridan can say, through his own tears, is that if his sacrifice shapes a world that’ll nurture her one day, it’ll be worth it-

and Sinclair walks through the door, serene as none of them have ever seen him before.

“When did you get here?“ Susan asks.

“Before,” Sinclair says, in obliquely Vorlon fashion; and provides little more explanation when he’s pressed. Franklin was right, he explains; Catherine was a Shadow of her former self, quite literally, the Army of Light needs its martyr more than a figurehead, the universe needs him no longer- not here, that is. But it could use him elsewhere. A thousand years in the past...

“But who are you, to think yourself Valen?“ Delenn asks him, uncertain, unwilling to take hope too easily.

“One who came back from Z’ha’dum alive.” Sinclair takes the triluminary, and it glows blue at his touch...

(Back on Babyon 5, Sheridan and Delenn talk the matter to pieces. How the triluminary must have reacted to shared ancestors in either direction, human or Minbari. Whether it requires Vorlon-inspired madness, to carry through the attempt at godhood. If she would have risked paradox, to follow him back; if he would have shirked duty, to stay.)

But that’s all for the future.

For now?

Nothing more or less than a miracle.

#spoilers #babylon 5 #fic #if wishes were horses

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