#its fine to criticize shows obviously but u need to realize its okay the shows and characters arent a shot for shot remake | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ofdreamsanddoodles · 3 years

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if you don't mind me asking, how do you deal with consuming content with 'problematic' aspects? for example, i see you reblog posts criticizing things like racism in tma, and you can still make content while being able to recognize those things. it's hard for me to continue enjoying something when it has even 1 thing slightly bad in it, but i know that's not a healthy way to consume content. is there anything you keep in mind when interacting with a given series? u don't need to answer ❤️ ty

also a note on my ask -- of course you don't need to answer, and you aren't a therapist & etc. i just admire your ability to both recognize flaws in works but still enjoy them, and thought since you seem to have critical thinking skills you might have a perspective that you could offer. being on tumblr from a young age seems to have affected my ability to separate things in my mind, lol. thanks so much for reading even if you don't feel comfortable answering.

I mean... you’ve kind of answered your own question? The only way to consume media is to remember that everything has flaws. My brother came by while I was typing this up and told me the answer is to “just vibe” because everyone is more or less terrible in one aspect or another but obviously, that’s not the answer you’re looking for.

I guess the short answer is just... you have to learn how to trust your own set of morals and understand that you shouldn’t feel guilty if a story you like betrays you. And yes, that’s hard, especially when you grow up surrounded by very rigid rules on what’s “okay” to watch, but if you’re just looking for some tips, here’s a list that I hope will help:

Find people you trust and see what they think of the situation. Think about whether or not they’re coming from an informed place. A friend of mine asked me if I knew about a Jewish tradition a while back. I had no idea what they were talking about. Turns out, it was something popular with German Jews. None of my family is from Germany. Sometimes, just being Jewish doesn’t mean I’m the right person to ask.

Find people who are complaining & see why they’re upset. Think about who is annoyed by this and how many of them there are. Think about what they think the proper response is, if any. Think about whether you have the right to wave off their concerns. Think about how those concerns are treated, both in-fandom and by creators. I saw a lot of people in the tma tag complaining about twitter “overreacting” to MAG 185, but if Jonny felt the need to issue an apology and specifically say that he realizes he’s crossed a line, chances are, the complaints were probably warranted (a thing I’d like to add is that apparently, RQ also issued an apology for a fluff episode they released, which I thought was kind of silly, because the episode was essentially just joking about martin forgetting a word. But also, as a neurodivergent person who sometimes struggles with speech, I do understand why that might upset people. not all apologies have to about incredibly important topics, but even the ones who aren’t show a lot about the cast behind it. Alternatively, if RQ had only apologized for this episode, and not MAG 185, that also says a lot about where there priorities are, and what fans they care about keeping)

Think about what will happen if you continue watching/reading etc. It’s not so much “is it okay if I keep watching this?” but “if I continue to watch this, will I convince myself that this problematic aspect isn’t actually a big deal? Is it so ingrained in the show that I can’t watch an episode without seeing the problems in it? What will I say to others, if they want to watch this?” For example, if someone sees you’ve reblogged a scene from a show you like and asks what it’s about, how many excuses are you going to give? How many trigger warnings are there, and can you justify them? There’s a difference between a piece of media having a character say homophobic slurs, and a piece of media saying a gay person should have homophobic slurs thrown at them. Also: If you think you cant justify getting someone else interested, you probably shouldn’t justify contributing to the show. This might be obvious, but there’s a very big difference in pirating a tv show and buying its merch.

Think about the fandom. If you continue talking about this, who are you surrounding yourself with? Like, there are a LOT of weirdos making content for kids shows, but that doesn’t always mean the show itself is weird. What it does mean, though, is that you should be careful navigating your enjoyment. Sometimes, the only way to enjoy something is to talk about it with a select few friends. Sometimes, it’s to enjoy it by yourself. I do believe it’s possible to enjoy a show in spite of the canon, but at the same time, if you’re watching a show that’s attracting a lot of racists, think about why that might be.

some more thoughts under the cut, because I already wrote them out before I realized I could just make a list.

The thing about consuming media is that it’s very subjective. I know a lot of people who have given up on tma recently and while that’s not wholly because it’s “problematic,” it definitely plays a part in it. People have different meters for what they can excuse in media. The important thing to remember is WHY they left, and if you’re able to keep that in your mind while also continuing to engage in contact with the media. Will you be able to remember that Daisy traumatized Jon more than any other avatar if you consume context calling her Basira’s hot murderwife? Can you talk about the Flesh and acknowledge the racism in the creation of the Haans?

Personally, I don’t think you can produce positive content about Daisy and also acknowledge the harm she causes. You can’t point at a character and say, yes, she has committed actual police brutality, but I think she deserves a cute lesbian romance anyway. That’s not really a thing tma has done wrong as much as it is a problem with the fandom, but like, at the end of the day, it’s all just a matter of critical thinking. Who is being hurt by these portrayals of the characters? How? Most of the problems with tma aren’t things that are, like, baked into the actual worldbuilding and for a lot of people, that’s enough for them to still justify making content for the show.

If your complaints sound like “oh, if only they didn’t do xy, this would make for a good show,” then you’re probably fine. But if it goes into “i like this, but only if I can ignore (major plot point)” think about why you feel the need to keep watching. There are shows I’ve stopped watching based on principle. There’s manga I read that I only talk about with my brother and no one else, because I don’t want to be exposed to the fans. It doesn’t have to be as simple as “well, this artist did a bad thing, so now I’m going to ignore it forever.” If you think the creators of something are bad people, don’t support them. You can still pirate it or whatever, but if it’s something like hetalia, where the point of the show is just “let’s put all these stereotypes in a room and see how they react” then yes, for your own sake, you should stop watching because this is how stereotypes become normalized, and no one should be consuming media where nazi germany as the protagonist.

Really, at the end of the day, it’s just a matter of becoming media literate and that’s a process that takes time. Remember that being interested in something that isn’t 100% doesn’t make you a bad person, and listen to the people around you. Try and be a safe space for the people who do have complaints and remember not to place your enjoyment of something over the comfort of others. Other than that, just... do your best, I guess?

#this is far much more detail than you asked for i think but thats what you get for coming to me #asks #apologies if this took a while to answer i worked all day and needed some me time before i could tackle this #Anonymous

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bulletdove · 5 years

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if u could change anything about aoaf what would u change?

AAAA this is such a good ask, thank you, i spent Way Too Fucking Long on this

(disclaimer: i don’t exactly support RPF, but i think it’s fine to consume it critically. it’s part of fandom, whether we like it or not. and fandom is an area of academic interest for me, so... you can’t understand something without researching it. yeehaw.)

so here’s AOAF: the extended cut. ideally part of a critical edition, because i have academic aspirations.

AOAF stands on its own really well as original fiction, because it didn’t get into heavy speculation and based itself off of “what if”. but the plot was more emotionally loaded than the characters were, i think? (so as far as RPF goes, it’s not that scandalous or ethically dubious.). extended cut would be an Original Fiction type of deal, the same basis as the original one but taking the characters in a different direction and obviously renaming them

the ship plot was good, but that’s extremely Fic (which is a draw of the genre, but also seriously limits the development of non-romantic relationships) so that’d be changed. more family interactions in the present that aren’t for the sole purpose of advancing the ghostf*cking plot, flashbacks to frank and his mom and frank and ray and frank and dewees. other friends hanging out, getting to know mikey. (i need to do a reread, but ray and bob and co. weren’t really that memorable...)

higher stakes. the kidnapping scene fell flat because you knew nothing was going to happen, mikey couldn’t die because he’s mikey, all that stuff. higher stakes for the dead character, too - i need to do a reread, but plausible risk of permadeath would help intensify things.

mikey subplot is of utmost importance. barely anybody who writes RPF seems to know what to do with him as a “character” - since his public persona is/was awkward, super quiet, but still super well-liked? and nobody really wants to figure out the why and how for a minor character, since he always ends up being a minor character - but i’d like some in-depth exploration. bringing out the parallels and differences between him and frank, the dead kid and the maybe-dying kid (assuming heightened stakes), and having them hang out more, is something i’d really like.

i’d have mikey and frank be friends, but also butt heads a lot and rub each other the wrong way - mikey’s a kid and he’s terrified of dying, doesn’t want his mom and gerard and his friends back home to go on without him, wants to explore this freaky town that feels like it’s breathing down his neck [it’s creepy, but he has a good feeling about it], wants to get the chance to be a kid again but also doesn’t want to die before he has the chance to grow up, and keeps having these freaky dreams about a marching band dressed in black. frank has (mostly) made his peace with being dead, thinks his family and friends have moved on without him and been pretty okay, wanted to get the fuck out and grow up but not sell out (gay punk rights), and he knows everything about this shithole and hates that it kind of feels like home. he’s a perpetual kid who knows he can’t grow up until he leaves; mikey’s too grown up already but he’s younger and moodier and both more and less at peace with life and death. they have a lot in common, but they can seriously butt heads.

i’d give mikey a heightened awareness of the supernatural, more mobility (definitely an ill-advised wander through the woods or three), and have him and frank have weird effects on each other.

i liked the sense of weird-hazy-small town that exists out of time, and not wanting to be there but also not really being able to leave (in different ways - frank’s literally trapped, the ways are just waiting and don’t know how long they’ll be stuck there, and their estimates keep changing.) deliberately developing that by having the teenage characters thinking about college and stuff or mrs. way thinking about plans for when they move away again and finding that those plans don’t feel pressing, that they might end up there forever, and maybe that might be liveable? (there’s definitely something wrong with that town, and it’s not just frank) good shit, more emotional depth, frank freaks out but they don’t know he’s a ghost at that point and don’t get it, fuck yeah

a more complicated plotline. more subplots. i think bringing in a different mystery than frank would make it more of a traditionally Literary work, and bring out unexplored dimensions in the characters and the worldbuilding. this time maybe it’d be donna? things around town are pretty strange, the police department is definitely corrupt, her kids keep vanishing in and out of the woods and not telling her the whole truth, gothic etc etc. haven’t thought that part out very much, tbh.

more character depth and development for gerard - AOAF would be the perfect time for him, a depressed kid with a sick brother and dead ghostfriend, to get really fucked up about life and death and his relationship to them, and stop feeling like an early death is some kind of romantic inevitability and realize oh god he really doesn’t want to die, he doesn’t want mikey to die it’s not fair, frank being a ghost is cool on the surface but really it’s just awful, and is it really fair for him to be dreaming about his plans for after he graduates when frank is trapped here forever, and mikey might be too? (could bring this in in the kidnapping bit, idk. and some late-night chats with donna.)

more explanation of Why Frank Is The Way He Is. more flashbacks, more backstory, more insight into how he has seriously mixed feelings about his undeath and is trying to be okay with being trapped in the woods forever but really fucking isn’t but also feels like him and the water washing over his bones run at the same frequency - it’s part of him, but he wants more. more detail about that part.

ray and frank interactions. frank looking in on ray’s family, years later.

frank exploring more of the town than the woods - he has to have stood at the edge of the woods and stared as far as he could, he must have been curious, he must have wanted to know what was going on. he gets out of the woods, runs around town, is proud of it for changing and getting kinda-sorta-better? in parts? but hates it for moving on without him.

better ghost mechanics - i really disliked how it felt so easy and handwaved. blegh. the tree-phone was cute tho... (frank would gain mobility in degrees, not all at once, i think. and there would be side effects. more thought needed.)

the epilogue/sequel/whatever was cute, i wouldn’t change that except to make gerard’s eventual successful career a bit more ambiguous - and maybe mikey would die instead of your suggestion of gerard dying, i think that could work maybe. might be between the main plot and the epilogue, though.

showing more of frank’s unlife, and more of the other ghosts - absolute must. mikey spends a weekend at home, sneaks out, sees a dog in the woods that isn’t there, dreams about guitar lessons.

i swear there was other stuff that i talked about with you but i don’t remember... i didn’t mean to make this a whole Manifesto but i’m trying to get everything in in detail sfdklkfsdl rip

slower development of the romance plot, slower realization that frank is a ghost (but less over-the-top oblivious gerard), more developed main and side characters, more side characters (this story was a dudefest! where are the girls.), making the ending feel less contrived (all of their friends are suddenly there, and everything is okay? it needed a more drawn-out conclusion)

this wasn’t supposed to be this long, or take this much time >.

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justanotherwriter243 · 7 years

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Complicated (Prt8) - Barry Allen x Reader

Complicated (Part 8) - Barry Allen x Reader A/N: Lmao rip. Feel free to message me if you have a question, if u would like to know more about the story, or if u just wanna talk lmao. oh also I can never find the perfect gifs 😵 Summary: After checking out the new crime scene, things start to get a bit hectic. Disclaimer: I’ve never actually watched Arrow, I apologize for that. If you notice any huge mistakes or gaps, please, message me and let me know. Constructive criticism is encouraged ! Warnings: suggestive themes, cursing, anxiety ig Word count: 2960 more or less hhhhh —

“Body was found by that bicyclist” Joe turned to the guy then back to the corpse, “Same M.O. as the first one. The victim was performing here last night. He’s a lounge singer named Julio Mendez” “Julio Mendez?” Barry inquired, “In Flashpoint he was Captain Mendez” “Flashpoint?” I cut in, “Like your parents, Flashpoint? Ramon Industries, Flashpoint?” I paused, “You and me, Flashpoint?” I raised an eyebrow at Barry. His expression changed as he seemed to remember the time he spent in the alternate timeline. It went from a sheepish look, to one of realization, to one of embarrassment. Barry turned a bright red, and I couldn’t help but wonder why. He swallowed hard before coughing. “Yeah,” he averted my eyes, “that Flashpoint” “So, in Flashpoint, this alternate timeline that you lived in, he worked at the CCPD?” Asked Julian, trying to get rid of the awkward situation I’d just created. “Yeah,” Barry answered him, he thought before speaking again, “Wait a second, the other the other vic, Stuart Holzman do we have a photo of him?” “Yeah” “Can I see it?” Barry asked eagerly. “Yeah, hold on” Julian said as he took out a his phone to show Barry a photo. “That’s him” Barry said, his face finally turning back to its normal shade. “What is it?” “He was a cop there, too” “Damn, cops gettin’ hate” I added. “So this is the second dead cop from Flashpoint?” “Yeah” “We got to figure out who this guy is” Joe obviously stated. “Well, if we hurry, there’s still a chance we can get some of the attacker’s residual DNA before this corpse disintegrates, but we’ve got to move quick” Julian said. “What are you waiting for, Allen?” I turned and teasingly raised an eyebrow at Barry. “All right,” he smiled back at me, “come on” he said to Julian. There was a whoosh and lightning trail. Before I knew it he was back and had dropped off Julian at S.T.A.R. Labs. “Did anybody see me?” Asked Barry. “Damn, I barely saw you” Said Joe. “I will never get used to that” I said. “Look, we got to get going” Joe told Barry, completely excluding me. “Where you guys heading?” I tried asking nonchalantly, but couldn’t help sound a bit jealous. Obviously, I was new here and wouldn’t be included in every hang out or get together they had, but that didn’t mean I had to be okay with it. I mean, Joe’s a great guy. Everyone here is. The thing is, they’re great together. They’re a family. They know each other. They’ve all been through so much. I’m the outsider here, and I’m making my way in one way or another. “We’re meeting up with Cecile and her daughter for lunch” Joe quickly told me and I frowned.

“Cecile?” I thought for a second, “Work Cecile?” “Uh, yeah–” Joe started, but Barry cut him off. “They’ve got this thing going,” Barry explained to me, “And we’re meeting her daughter for the first time” “Oh,” I realized, “Oh! Wow, okay–um–well, good luck I guess. You guys will be fine. Just gotta let your true selves shine for who you are. Um–I guess I’ll see you guys later then” I smiled politely at them. “Did you want to do something?” Barry quickly asked me, “Because I can skip th–” “No! No, that’s okay” I told him, “I was just going to go check out one of the apartments–” “Apartments?” Joe asked me. “Yeah, I’m finding a place to stay at. It’s just that I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to get around the city easily. I’ve literally been here a few weeks–but I think I’ll be fine! You guys have your lunch thing” I tried to not show my disappointment, but Barry saw through me. “I can meet Cecile’s daughter another time. I’ll help you get around town, let me just–” “You are not skipping this lunch, Barry” Joe firmly told him, “(Y/n) just said they’d be fine, so let’s get going” Joe motioned for Barry to follow him and started walking off. Barry gave me an apologetic look before shrugging. I gave him a soft smile and a wave. “Jitters later?” He said, walking backwards. “Jitters” I nodded.

I watched as he jogged over to Joe. I watched them visibly arguing, even from where I was at. I watched as they bickered about the lunch, or possibly me. I watched as they not-so sneakily turned around to look at me. I watched as they waved at me when they noticed I saw them. I watched as they walked off and disappeared behind a corner. I watched as they left me alone.

“Of course not, Cisco!” I walked down the streets of Central City while talking to Cisco on my phone through my earbuds. Which, Cisco had made and designed both items himself. He installed a bunch of apps on the phone including a Meta Human app that could notify me of an attack. The phone had been waiting for me when I first woke up. Apparently, Cisco had a feeling I’d be needing a new one and just decided to make me one. I was grateful, but confused as to why he had made me one. My phone was in my pocket as I spoke through the mic in my earbuds. “What? Why not?” Cisco asked on the other line, “It has an amazing view and was at a good price” “Exactly, it was at a good price,” I told him, “until that douche bag found out I was loaded with money and raised the price on me” “But,” Cisco asked carefully, “are you loaded?” A lot can happen in two years apparently. “I–” I sighed, “I-I have s-some money in a bank that wa-as stored for me back when … ” I rubbed my temple as I walked, “Yes, okay? I’ve kind of been doing my own thing with the whole money situation– ”–a-and I may have parted some money aside back when,“ I dropped my voice, "back when Oliver was running the company,” I groaned, “Of course I took some money, I knew he wouldn’t be able to handle it, so, yes! I am, kind of, loaded. Jesus, I’m such a bad person” I looked up at the sky as I continued to walk restlessly. “Girl,” Cisco started his pep talk, “You were doing what you thought was right at the time. You’re not your family and that was your money, too. You were being cautious and prepared” “But–”

“No but’s. Your family did the best they could and it’s up to them to decide how that goes for them. Now, you have that money for yourself so you can spend it on a nice apartment. Eat a good meal, settle down until you get your life back in check. "It can’t be that much money, right? I mean, what do you have? A couple thousand dollars?” “More like 6,” I swallowed hard. “Thousand? That’s nothing. Maybe you should’ve taken more–” Cisco tried joking around. “Million” I winced as I closed my eyes. “ … (Y/n)” Cisco said on the other line. “It’s not like Oliver would’ve realized I took anything! Like I said, he did stupid things with his money back then!” I defended myself. “You are so buying me pizza this week” he told me and I gave a weak laugh. “Shut up,” I shook my head. “I just don’t understand, you liked the place, why didn’t you just buy it?” Cisco asked me in confusion as he referred back to the apartment I was checking out earlier. “I wasn’t going to give the guy selling the satisfaction of winning me over,” I rolled my eyes, “Besides, I have a tendency to buy ridiculous things–er–that’s what my mother used to say anyways” I scratched he back of me neck. “Dude, video games are not ridiculous–they are amazing” Cisco told me and I laughed. “As great as they can be, I still haven’t found a place that I really like” I sighed, “Also, I think I’m lost” “Keep walking, another 2 blocks, and you’ll find Jitters on your right” Cisco informed me. “Really? Thank–” I stopped myself and stood in place for a second, I opened my mouth to speak, but quickly closed it. I looked around with a frown on my face, “Cisco–” “I may or may not have put a tracker on your phone” Cisco’s voice went up a pitch. “Dude,” I held my hands out in exaggeration and shrugged my shoulders, “don’t put a tracker in my phone without my permission” “It was just for precautions” Cisco told me.

“Great,” I started walking again, hopefully towards Jitters, “I don’t think I’ll ever find a place” Cisco was quiet on the other end. As I walked, I felt my phone vibrate. I took my phone out and saw it was a message from an unknown number. ’Yo u think I could help me out later ?’ I frowned at the number. “Hey, you know, if you don’t want to go through the trouble of looking at more apartments, you could just stay with me for a while?” I was taken back by the two suggestions. I was quiet for a moment. “I mean–only if you want to,” Cisco quickly added, “It’s just that, being here, waking up, missing everything–it just all seems like so much and I thought maybe–” “I’d love to stay with you, Cisco” I quickly said, “I’ll pay rent and I’ll buy you pizza and video games and” I smiled, “thank you” My phone vibrated again with another message. ’This is Wally btw lol Cisco gave me ur # Just wanted advice on speedster stuff thought maybe u could help idk’ I hummed at the message. “Great,” Cisco’s voice was enthusiastic, “I guess I’ll take that pizza tonight. Dinner is on you” I could practically hear the smile on his face. I laughed at that and we said our goodbyes. As I hung up, I went to respond to Wally’s messages. ’boiii Ur supposed to be having lunch with Cecile and her daughter stop texting me !! also y me ?¿’ I sent the messages and took the earbuds out of my ears. I held the middle of the two earbud cords and swung the tips around as I continued walking. I could see Jitters in the distance. I silently thanked Cisco for putting a tracker in my phone. I checked my phone again to see if I had gotten any new messages. Wally must type slow, huh, that’s ironic. While I was at it I went ahead and added Wally as a new contact. I started looking through my phone for things to keep my distracted while I walked. Then, I got a message. ’Idk i mean after all u did get struck by lightning, too Barry’s also telling me to pay attention to our lunch ugh u guys r the most annoying parents ttyl’ I chuckled at him comparing us to his parents. However, I was confused as to why he would do such a thing. I mean, his sister was dating Barry, wasn’t she? I didn’t bother responding, but I couldn’t stop staring at that first message. He was right. I was struck by lightning, too. Did that make me a speedster? Does it take a while for the powers to accumulate? Since I was in a coma for longer–does that mean I don’t get my powers early on? Or at all? Am I overthinking this? Am I not thinking enough? Questions raced through my head as I thought of the possibilities. What was to become of all this? My pace picked up as did my thoughts. I put my earbuds away and started fiddling with my hands to distract myself. I sighed, trying to relax myself, but only became more frantic. As I approached Jitters, I wondered if coffee was the best thing for me right now. However, I didn’t have much time to wonder. People starting coming out of the cafe in a frantic manner. I sped my way towards a woman of my age. Joe and the others could still be in there. “Excuse me!” I called out to her. She turned to face me with a sour look on her face. “Hi, I’m sorry to disturb, but what’s going on?” I said, my voice shaking. “There’s a metahuman in there, you should probably run” she told me, starting to frantically run again. “Oh! Wait! No, I’m actually–” I tried yelling and catching up to her.

“You’re actually helpless in the situation,” she said, cutting me off, “Unless you’re the Flash or Kid Flash, I suggest you run like everyone else” She then quickly ran off. I watched as she ran off, as everyone ran off. I instinctively reached for my phone to call for help–Oliver, Felicity, Thea–anyone. I stopped myself when I realized I couldn’t call them. A wave of anxiety washed over me again. I had to do this on my own. I couldn’t fall into old habits. I tried calming my breathing as I carefully walked up to Jitters’ entrance. I stayed by the wall, creeping my way up. If there was a metahuman attack, I’d have to be extra careful. I slowly peered over the glass doors. I saw a man in dark clothing speaking to a group of others on the second floor. On closer inspection, I realized it was Barry and everyone else.

As the man, assumingely the meta, approached the others, Joe pointed his gun at the man. My eyes widened and I took my gun out as I quietly walked in. As I did so, Joe shot at the man. Three bullets moved through the air in what seemed like slow motion. The three bullets disintegrated as they touched the man, and the remains fell to the ground. I stared in shock at the way the world seemed to move slowly around me. However, the feeling quickly went away as the man spoke. “Told ya,” the man said, reaching for a pillar holding up the floor everyone else was on. “Freeze” I spoke, pointing my gun at the man. The man stopped and slowly turned to look at me. He took me in, stared me down. He looked at my shaking hands and raised an eyebrow at me. I quickly glanced at Barry, giving him a signal to get everyone else out. Barry just shook my head at me, his eyes full of worry and panic. I looked back at the man and stood my ground. “They didn’t work when he did it,” The man gestured with his head to Joe, “Why should they work when you do it?” “Because I’m not going to shoot” I calmly said and the man frowned. I heard a swoosh and I felt a gush of wind. Oh, thank god, I thought. I didn’t move my gun, but I noticed Barry was still up with everyone else and that Wally wasn’t. “Stop,” Wally told the man, walking towards him. My eyes flickered between both of them. “Ah, ah, ah!” The man snickered, “You can’t touch me speedster” I noticed Wally and Barry look at each other, Barry signaling hand movements. Wally stopped and turned to me, I shrugged my shoulders. Wally rolled his eyes and gestured for me to leave. I frowned and shook my head. He gave me a desperate look and I started giving in. I backed up, not completely leaving, but out of the way.

Wally turned back to the man and started waving his hands around, I watched as, again, everything moved in slow motion. Wally created air funnels and the amount of wind caused the man to fall back and crash through the back glass door. I saw Wally normally run out of the room, while everything else still moved in slow motion. I felt myself shaking, a lot more than usual. Everything returned to its normal speed, and Barry came running towards me. His eyes were wide as he approached me. I looked down as I saw my hands moving in an inhuman speed. I dropped my gun in surprise. I felt myself start to freak out. I felt Barry grab my hands and keep them from vibrating. I looked up at him in shock. “I was struck by lightning, too,” was the only thing I managed to say. “(Y/n), listen to me, we need to get you out of here” Barry began guiding me out of Jitters. “Barry? Queen!” Cecile called out as she saw us rush out. Barry didn’t mind her as he opened the door for me. He quickly took me to an empty alley. My whole arms were shaking now, too. The rest of the world decelerated and I felt electricity run through my body. Barry seemed to be the only thing that was moving with me. “Barry, what–what do I do?” I looked at him with bewildered eyes. “We need to get you to S.T.A.R. Labs” he told me as I felt my whole body vibrate. “I can’t” I shook my head. As I did so, Barry slowed down. He stood there, slowly taking me in. I felt myself worry again. I was alone. Not even Barry could keep up with me. My legs were starting to shake harder and I needed to move. Calm down, I told myself, you’re okay–you’re okay–what would Barry do? I tried calming down my breathing. Concentrating on slowing down. When I did, I managed to understand what Barry was saying. “Run, (Y/n),” his voice echoed through my head, “run”

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