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lignes2frappe · 1 year

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40 ANECDOTES SUR « MENACE II SOCIETY », LE PLUS GANGSTER DES FILMS DE GHETTO

Sorti le 26 mai 1993, le film des frères Hugues a traumatisé toutes les générations qui ont suivi…

1. La voix off de Caine qui conclut la scène d’ouverture de Menace II Society (« Went into the store just to get a beer. Came out an accessory to murder and armed robbery ») s’inspire directement de la voix off d’Henry Hill qui conclut la scène d’ouverture des Affranchis de Martin Scorsese (« Aussi loin que je me souvienne, j’ai toujours voulu être un gangster »).

2. Autre source d’inspiration assumée du film : l’utilisation de ralentis lors des impacts de balles piquée à John Woo.

3. Aussi surprenant que cela puisse paraître, les frères jumeaux Allen et Albert Hugues, réalisateurs et scénaristes de Menace II Society, n’étaient âgés que de 20 ans à peine au moment du tournage.

4. Leur inexpérience derrière la caméra leur a valu de couper l’une des toutes premières scènes qu’ils ont tournées tellement ils l’ont trouvé mauvaise.

« Le troisième jour, nous avons tourné une scène d’émeute dans la prison où Caine se retrouve incarcéré. Le truc c’est que nous ne savions absolument pas comment la filmer. Nous n’avions aucun cascadeur, les coups avaient tous l’air plus faux les uns que les autres… Nous nous sommes dits que nos carrières étaient finies, que nous avions eu notre chance et que nous l’avions foutu en l’air. »

5. Sur le plateau, la répartition des tâches entre les deux frangins se faisait de la manière suivante : Albert gérait la lumière, les caméras et tous les aspects techniques, tandis qu’Allen se concentrait sur l’intrigue et les acteurs.

6. Sur l’affiche, le gun que tient Caine à la main droite a été effacé à la demande du studio.

7. « Menace II Society est un film pour les blancs » dixit Albert. « C’est un film pour qu’ils sachent ce qui se passe dans le ghetto. »

Bon attention, après l’avoir vu, « si vous détestez les noirs, vous les détesterez encore plus après » dixit Allen.

8. Caine, le surnom de Kaydee Lawson (Tyrin Turner), renvoie à la fois à Charles Foster Kane, le magnat de la presse héros du chef-d’œuvre Citizen Kane d’Orson Welles, mais aussi et surtout à Caïn, fils aîné d’Adam et Ève meurtrier de son frère cadet Abel.

9. Si Menace II Society a pu en grande partie être tourné en plein South Central, l’un des ghettos les plus dangereux de Los Angeles, c’est parce que les principaux gangs avaient au même moment conclu une trêve, le fameux Truce Picnic.

10. De nombreux gangmembers ont été engagés par la production, que ce soit pour assurer la sécurité ou pour faire de la figuration – dans certaines scènes en extérieur, comme celle où O-Dog rend visite à Caine chez ses grands-parents, ou celle où la police débarque alors que toute la bande est assise sur un muret, 100% des figurants sont des locaux.

11. Le tournage a dû néanmoins être suspendu deux jours après que le gang des Hacienda Village Bloods a ouvert le feu à Jordan Downs, un quartier appartenant aux Crips.

12. Toute référence trop explicite aux Crips et aux Bloods a sciemment été évitée. Les frères Hugues estimaient que cela aurait enfermé le film dans une case et que la portée de son message aurait été réduite.

13. Tandis que le studio souhaitait voir « un rappeur platine » au casting, le rôle d’A-Wax tenu par MC Eiht a d’abord été proposé à MC Ren des N.W.A.

L’histoire ne dit pas s’il a refusé l’offre ou s’il n’a pas été jugé assez convaincant aux auditions.

14. Autres rappeurs présents au générique : Pooh-Man qui joue Doc, Saafir qui joue Harold, et ce filou de Too Short qui joue Lew-Loc (le mec qui tend un fusil à pompe à O-Dog).

15. A cause des contraintes budgétaires, ce même fusil à pompe, le Smith & Wesson Model 3000, est utilisé par l’un des meurtriers de Caine dans la toute dernière scène.

16. 2Pac devait initialement jouer dans Menace II Society. Il a cependant très mal pris d’être engagé pour jouer le très sage Sharif lorsqu’il a compris que tous ses confrères rappeurs s’étaient eux vus confier des rôles plus street.

Ont suivi des discussions très vives avec les frangins Hugues pour qu’il obtienne le rôle d’O-Dog. Elles se sont soldées par un remerciement.

17. Extrêmement contrarié de s’être fait lourder de la sorte, 2Pac s’est très malhonnêtement mis à clamer sur tous les toits qu’il a quitté le navire de son propre chef car il refusait de jouer « un gangster musulman ».

Pire, quelques mois plus tard, l’auteur de California Love s’est pointé avec une trentaine de ses homies sur le tournage du clip Trigga Gots No Heart de Spice 1 sur lequel travaillait Allen Hugues et a tabassé ce dernier à coups de batte de baseball.

18. Tant d’animosité s’explique également en partie par le fait que 2Pac et les frères Hugues avaient par le passé collaboré sur de nombreux clips comme If My Homie Calls ou Brenda’s Got a Baby.

19. La mélodie de Streiht up Menace, la chanson phare de la bande originale de Menace II Society, n’est pas un sample. MC Eiht l’a entendue par hasard sans se souvenir qui en est l’auteur.

« À l’époque, je me baladais partout où j’allais avec un magnétophone. J’enregistrais les mélodies qui me passaient par la tête. Un jour, je suis tombé sur ces quelques notes sans me souvenir où je les avais entendues. J’ai fredonné l’air sur mon magnétophone et j’ai passé la cassette à DJ Slip pour qu’il le reproduise. »

20. D’après Spice 1, figure de la scène rap californienne, le rôle d’O-Dog lui aurait été proposé en premier.

« J’ai eu le script dans les mains, mais mon manager n’est pas resté en contact avec les frères Hugues. J’aurais aimé avoir une seconde chance. Je n’aurais même pas eu besoin de jouer, j’aurais juste eu à me remémorer des trucs qui me sont arrivés. »

21. Aussi incroyable que cela puisse paraître, Larenz Tate faisait ses grands débuts au cinéma sous les traits du « cauchemar de l’Amérique » Kevin ‘O-Dog’ Anderson.

22. La tristement célèbre réplique « What’d you say about my mama? » balancée par O-Dog après que le patron de l’épicerie a laissé échapper qu’il se sentait « désolé pour sa mère » a été improvisée par Larenz Tate.

23. À en croire les frères Hugues, O-Dog a 15 ans, il ne sait ni lire, ni écrire et a été élevé, non pas par ses parents, mais par sa sœur.

24. Lucide, Larenz Tate n’est pas des plus tendres avec son personnage malgré l’aura de culte qui l’entoure : « Si O-Dog est une idole pour certains, c’est que l’on ne peut rien faire pour eux. »

« On voit clairement qu’il n’est pas complètement développé psychologiquement et émotionnellement. C’est pour cela qu’il réagit de la sorte à la moindre offense. »

25. Tout comme Tate, Jada Pinkett a également décroché ici son premier rôle sur grand écran.

Elle n’était toutefois pas une complète débutante et avait été vue précédemment dans les séries télé True Colours, 21 Jump Street et A Different World.

26. Charles S. Dutton qui interprète Mr. Butler, l’un des rares personnages à se montrer éclairé et bienveillant à l’égard de son prochain, a connu une jeunesse similaire aux protagonistes du film.

Condamné notamment pour meurtre et agression, il a passé plusieurs années derrière les barreaux avant de s’intéresser au combat des droits civiques, puis au cinéma.

27. Dans l’épicerie, le niveau de bière de la bouteille St. Ides 40 que Caine boit au goulot change constamment. À la toute fin de la scène, elle est d’ailleurs quasi pleine.

28. Lorsque Harold gît face contre le sol, atteint de contractions après s’être fait tirer dessus, ce n’est pas Saafir que l’on voit à l’écran, mais Albert Hugues. Le rappeur ne pouvait pas être présent ce jour-là sur le plateau.

29. Quand Samuel L. Jackson, le père de Caine, abat devant son fils un de ses amis qui lui devait de l’argent, il tire huit coups de feu alors qu’il utilise un revolver – un barillet ne peut contenir que six balles.

30. Lorsque Caine est vu couper des cailloux de crack avec une lame de rasoir, « 50% de la drogue est réelle » d’après les frères Hughes.

31. Dans la même veine, le joint que fume A-Wax/MC Eiht alors qu’il conduit Caine et O-Dog en direction des meurtriers d’Harold a été roulé avec de la marijuana.

À bien regarder la scène, MC Eiht inhale bien la fumée, Laurenz Tate lui crapote.

32. La scène dans laquelle Chauncy s’amuse à malmener un assureur qui lui demande de voler une voiture a dû être doublée par les acteurs en postproduction à cause des trop nombreux avions en circulation le jour du tournage.

33. La scène au cours de laquelle Caine rende visite au parloir à son ancien mentor Parnell a été ajoutée à la demande du studio afin de donner au film « plus de cœur ».

34. Si la plupart des personnages font pencher leur arme à l’horizontale, c’est parce que quelques années plus tôt les frères Hugues ont été témoins d’un braquage au cours duquel les assaillants tenaient leurs guns de la sorte.

Là où pour eux il s’agissait d’ajouter une touche de réalisme à leur film, cette prise en main peu orthodoxe sera ensuite adoptée par tous les gangsta rappeurs et drive-byeurs du pays, ainsi que par moult grosses productions hollywoodiennes comme Se7en ou Usual Suspects – plus sur le sujet ici.

35. Magie des fautes de raccords, le Glock 17 Seconde génération qu’O Dog agite tout au long du film Dog se transforme en Beretta 92F quand Caine tabasse Chauncy, puis brièvement en SIG-Sauer P226 lors de la scène finale.

36. Dwayne Barnes, l’acteur qui interprète l’accro au crack qu’O-Dog tue pour lui avoir proposé une fellation, a très mal vécu la manière dont a été perçu son rôle.

« Quand j’ai dit à MC Eiht que je m’étais installé sur Los Angeles depuis un an pour poursuivre une carrière d’acteur, il s’est étonné que j’ai fait tout ce chemin pour ‘jouer un crackhead et raconter ces conneries’. J’étais humilié. »

« Plus généralement, dans la communauté noire, le rôle n’a pas été très bien reçu. J’ai découvert plus tard qu’Allen et Albert Hugues n’avaient en réalité trouvé personne d’autre prêt à jouer ce personnage… »

37. Menace II Society affiche l’un des ratios de « fuck » le plus élevé à la minute: le « F-word » est entendu 305 fois en 97 minutes, soit 3,14 fois toutes les 60 secondes !

38. C’est LE plot hole de Menace II Society : quand la police convoque Caine pour le double meurtre du couple d’asiatiques grâce à la découverte de ses empreintes digitales sur les lieux du crime, elle aurait également dû convoquer O-Dog pour le même motif.

Lorsque les frères Hugues ont compris cela, ils ont tout d’abord coupé au montage tous les plans des mains d’O-Dog dans l’épicerie. Ils sont ensuite revenus sur leur décision en se disant que la fiction pouvait ici primer sur le réalisme.

39. Très ironiquement, le film en noir et blanc diffusé à la télévision quand le grand-père de Caine lui fait la morale est La vie est belle de Frank Capra.

40. Menace II Society a-t-il passé l’épreuve du temps ? Et bien pas vraiment selon Allen et Albert Hugues.

« Si l’on parle des thèmes, oui. Si l’on parle de cinéma à proprement dit, nous avons été victimes de l’époque (…) Le film n’a pas très bien vieilli. Les mouvements de caméra et les dialogues sont très datés. »

« Je pense que les réalisateurs black, pour peu que nous rentrions dans cette case, bénéficiaient alors d’un pass pour leurs gros défauts. Nous n’étions pas nombreux, du coup si l’acting ou les dialogues étaient mauvais, les critiques blancs n’osaient pas nous tomber dessus. Ou alors ils pensaient vraiment que tout ça était réel ! ‘Oh, c’est black, donc c’est vrai. Ce truc est incroyable !’. Vous aviez droit à une sorte de passe-droit. »

LE THREAD TWITTER

Publié sur Booska-p.com le 25 mai 2022.

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ao3feed-brucewayne · 1 year

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Papa Don't Preach

by IDontUnderstandThatReference

When Conner died fighting Superboy Prime, he left more than just a heartbroken Tim behind.

Faced with being a single teen parent, Tim has to struggle between the loss of his father, his two closest friends, and the love of his life. Then Bruce is gone, and Robin is taken from him as well.

Betrayed by what remains of his family, Tim happily stays away, vowing to his son that he will never have to be exposed to the Bats. After all, they never cared for Tim; why would he think they would care about his child? So far, he's been lucky, not having run into any of the Bats despite still living in Gotham.

Sure, his luck was bound to run out eventually, but he hoped his son would at least be old enough to talk when it did.

Or; 5 times Tim has no choice but to introduce his son to a member of his family, +3 times he does so gladly.

Words: 3485, Chapters: 1/8, Language: English

Fandoms: Red Robin (Comics), Batman - All Media Types

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: Gen, M/M

Characters: Tim Drake, Kon-El | Conner Kent, Original Child(ren) of Tim Drake, Jason Todd, Damian Wayne, Titus | Damian Wayne's Dog, Dick Grayson, Stephanie Brown, Bruce Wayne, Cassandra Cain, Alfred Pennyworth, Roy Harper, Lian Harper, Leslie Thompkins, Duke Thomas, Ra's al Ghul, Bart Allen (mentioned), Legion Of Super-Heroes (mentioned), Diana Prince (mentioned), Hal Jordan (mentioned), Clark Kent, Ma Kent (mentioned), Jon Lane Kent (mentioned)

Relationships: Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent, Roy Harper/Jason Todd (Background)

Additional Tags: Mpreg, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Time Travel (Mentioned), Childbirth, graphic childbirth, Child Endangerment (briefly), Single Parent Tim Drake, good parent Bruce Wayne, Secret Relationship, but it isn't the main focus of the plot, Tim Drake is Red Robin, C-PTSD, Tim Drake has C-PTSD, Fight me on it, can be read as trans Tim Drake, because there's never a specification to him being cisgender, so can be seen as tmpreg, tmpreg, don't come at me for that author is trans masc FtM, not great brothers dick Jason and Damian, but they make up for it later, they're all good uncles tho, Cass and Duke are the only unproblematic bats and we stan, Creepy Ra's al Ghul

source https://archiveofourown.org/works/46410481

#IFTTT #bruce wayne #batman #the dark knight #the cape crusader #gotham #dc universe #ao3 #ao3feed

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sanderssidecanons · 6 years

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Sanders incorrect quotes!

Virgil: I’m like climate change.

Roman: ...hot?

Virgil: Only a few people believe in me.

Patton: NO!

Logan: Only smart people believe in you.

Everyone: ...

Virgil: ...That was a pretty clever way to turn my self-deprecating thoughts around.

#source: me #im virgil #source: ren-allen #they're logan #sanders sides #thomas sanders #virgil sanders #roman sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders #analogical #ish #prinxiety #kinda #Sanders Sidecanons

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wirwerdensiegen · 4 years

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CYC in The Glory of Tang Dynasty (Bromance Edition).

#the glory of tang dynasty #the untamed cast #cao yu chen #cao yuchen #allen ren #i have very little context for this #i think the main character is a prince #and cyc's character is his bodyguard or something #but too much plot would probably ruin the bromance #which seems to be the motto of the mv i giffed this from as well #bless the unknown creator #sorry if the gifs aren't working for you #i couldn't figure out why they sometimes do and sometimes don't...:(#spreading the cyc love #source: weibo #<3

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whump4life · 2 years

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Under the Power: Whump List

Whumpee: Lu Yi played by Ren Jialun or Allen Ren

Synopsis: Genius constable Yuan Jinxia and ruthless secret police officer Lu Yi are at loggerheads, but are forced to work together when the government loses one hundred thousand teals of silver. They gradually became friends and fall in love with each other.

Genre: Historical, Romantic Comedy

Source: Viki

Episode 1-14: Nothing

Episode 15: Unconscious, tied up against a rock totem pole, wakes up, says they are weakened by anesthetic drug

Episode 16-18: Nothing

Episode 19: Stomach gets cut by a sword, gets stabbed in the shoulder while protecting someone, protects Xi Shui and gets hit with a dart, wincing in pain, labored breathing, grabs chest, bends over in pain, gasps, looks pale, asked if he was alright, says he's fine, looks weak, breathing heavy, asked what's wrong, gets his pulse checked, they say he's been poisoned, Xi Shui says the blood clot turned black, concern for him, helped to walk

Episode 20: Jinxia is helping him walk, staggering in the rain, holding his chest, breathing heavy, collapses to the ground, faints, concern for him, Jinxia begs for him to wake up, wakes up, coughing, helped to walk, labored breathing, meditating, looks pale, grabs chest, coughs up blood, concern for him, asked what's wrong, he says the Purple Fame isn't effective, Jinxia says the poison is too strong, sweating, continues to meditate/ to heal himself, Jinxia dabs his forehead and chest with a cloth-- she sees his chest wound, heavy breathing, leans on something for support, looks weak, helped to walk, gets cornered by assassins, sweating, leans on someone, blinking slowly, shaking his head, wincing, bends over wincing, concern for him, becomes delusional-- overwhelming emotion and senses, immersed in grief (painful memory flashbacks), holding his head-- crying, tied up

Episode 21: Helped to run away, looks pale, holding chest, bending over in pain, concern for him, labored breathing, staggering, Jinxia helps him hide from the enemies, wincing, shaking, sweating, helped to stand up, helped to walk, jumps off a cliff, holding himself and Jinxia on a vine, sweating, falls down, holding chest, heavy breathing, concern for him, someone said he used his internal force, told to sit down and rest, they check his pulse, told not to use his internal force or else, holding his chest, slightly gasping in pain, concern for him, labored breathing, wincing in pain, holding his chest, coughs up blood, concern for him, says he's fine, Jinxia dabs his mouth with a cloth, uses a stick to walk, protects Jinxia from a snake attack, starts coughing, concern for him, helped to walk, protects Jinxia from shooting herself in the head, hits body against table, laying on the ground coughing, blood not the side of his mouth, holding his chest, concern for him, in pain, sweating, helped to sit up, gets treatment with needles, stopped the poison temporarily, laying down unconscious, Jinxia says he's burning hot-- and his condition is getting worse and worse, says his forehead with a cloth

Episode 22: Checks his arm, they say time is running out, still unconscious in bed, sweating, his back is being dabbed by a cloth, the injury hasn't been able to be healed, doctor cuts his wound-- and uses snake for treatment, wincing, doctor says the poison is vicious, the poison has spread to his vital organs, in pain, helped to sit up while unconscious, tries to feed medicine, wincing in pain, sweating a lot, shaking a bit, Jinxia fed him the medicine by mouth, wakes up

Episode 23-26: Nothing

Episode 27: Becomes dizzy, staggers, blinks heavily, keeps losing his footing, falls to the floor, told he's been breathing in a sleep-induced aroma, faints, given a elixir while unconscious, found on the floor, concern for him, pulse checked, his face is hot, carried to his bed, Jinxia watches over him, she checks his temperature, has a fitful sleep, yelling Ah De, Jinxia checks his temperature, he wakes up, he doesn't recognize Jinxia, he lost seven years of memory, drops sword and grabs his head in pain, concern for him, hitting his head with his fists, intense head pain, told he will be alright, checks his pulse, says he's suffering from hysteria

Episode 28: Steadily losing more memories, more childlike, refuses to drink medicine, say's he's thirteen years old, loses more memories and becomes 8 years old, scared of the lightning, getting flashback of memories, gains his memories back, pretends to act like a child

29-42: Nothing

Episode 43: Arm is wounded in battle, faints while holding Jinxia, concern for him, sees bloody arm, doctor bandages his arm, says he just needs to rest and recover, wakes up, Jinxia says he was seriously injured

Episode 44-54: Nothing

Episode 55: In prison, emotional whump

#ren jialun #viki #whump #whump list #cdrama whump #asian whump #historical drama

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thinkolicity · 2 years

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Mia on TF Armageddon p. 5

In case you missed it (or just didn't watch 💀) Mia did nothing relevant on The Flush. She was just a tool to attract Arrow viewers and, probably, conclude the Armageddon event with a boom in ratings.

Remember when they said Larry needed her help to prevent disaster, well, in short:

She was searching for William (who's been missing for 2 years) and idk caught someone's "force signal" (Thawne's?), followed it/jumped in a "time window" (?) and ended up in 2021 Central City.

At Team Flush's headquarters they discussed how to stop Thawne. Mia wanted to kill him.

Got a condescending pep-talk from Irish about how Oliver thought the same thing, that killing was necessary to protect his city but ended up "ruining his life" and that's why Mia is afraid to go see her mom?? Like girl whaaaaaaaaat SHUT UP you're talking about the man who, among other things, died to save your pathetic brotherhusband. You know nothing. This b*tch istg. Mia told her the one who's afraid is Irish-fracking-Allen herself bc she doesn't have the balls to kill Thawne after he killed Joe, almost tricked her into marrying him etc and could possibly still ruin her life in the future if she lets him live. Queen™.

Pissed-off Mia got possessed by Despero bc he wanted to kill Thawne.

While Larry was off dealing with Despero, Mia tried to kill Irish, Frost/Caitlin & two others uknown to me. The girls managed to make Mia un-possess herself.

Larry & Co decided to defeat Despero by disconnecting him from the time-force or whatever and take away Thawne's speed to save his life. Larry did it. Thawne then went ballistic bc his speed was his life and by taking it away it's as if Larry killed him. Larry can't do nothing right.

Afterwards, they all glammed up and went to a bar (?) to celebrate Larry's accomplishment. Irish called him a hero. Obvi. Best sisterwife ever.

Now my fave bit: Damien Dahrk appeared at the bar. Mia produced a knife out of thin air, put it against his throat and said "I know what you did to L*urel L*nce" and got all vengeful about it. I was like BABY GIRL YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW HER how about you get mad about, idk, YOUR OWN MOTHER who got shot and ended up paralysed because of him?? My tweet lamenting this brought out the Lollies who told me I'm dumb bc Felicity's alive and LL is not and Mia knowing how close her parents and the team were to LL/read about her/was talked about her/whatever + knowing Black S*ren justified her rage. Nah. Her mother and her trauma should take precedence over her father's unknown ex gf.

After this, Irish gave the hozen back to Mia and said that her super speshul source guy had connections and was able to match one of the symbols on the hozen to a symbol...somewhere else so this can help Mia find William. Somehow. So you really want to tell me nobody on Arrow - Oliver, Felicity, William, Mia herself maybe cuz she's not stupid - never bothered all these years to decode/translate the symbols on that stone like, out of curiosity? I have to laugh. I mean think about it. Mia's had that stone for two (2) years and NEVER ONCE thought about using it to find her brother? Knowing the stone was his? 1+1? Nooo she had to wait for Irish's genius brain. Well thank gOD for her 🙄🙄 give me a breeeak.

Then I guess she went back to her own time but I don't remember. No wait she mentioned she needed a hacker and knew a pretty good one so I guess she went to visit Felicity and her 2yo self ;-; Or she could even "summon" her in the future maybe Oliver too we'll never know ;-;

That's it. Pretty underwhelming if you ask me. Plus the usual shitting on Oliver to prop up Welshalley, the wondrous couple.

Kinda frustrating how they keep portraying Oliver as a cold-blooded killer, a monster full of darkness, who always did the wrong thing by killing and brought all disgraces onto himself blah blah just to inflate the notion that Larry is the morally superior, innocent ray of sunshine, the "true hero" like Cecile I think called him. As if him messing with timelines for his own selfish reasons, erasing lives, is totes ok 🙄

Was nice seeing Mia again though, despite everything. It was like coming home :3

#mia queen #mia smoak #the flash armageddon spoilers #spoilers #arrow #ish #for the first time i was also exposed to we*ta*len stans and damn they're so toxic

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annaraebananawriter · 4 years

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Somewhere Only We Know

Yellow everyone! I am finally back after a while with another Oneshot. Sorry it took me a bit. School has been rough, as you can tell. This is one that I thought of quite randomly and worked on for a few weeks. It involves a couple characters i have not written for before, which is always exciting.

Also, before you start reading, two things to note: first, is that the some I’m using is Somewhere Only We Know by Keane, but I specifically imagined it with a cover of the song by Lilly Allen, which you can find here!

And second, is that @maggicsorceress has a oneshot with the same song and even the same pairing, or at least the first one listed. Of course, it is far better than this one is, but that’s simply because I don’t have the poetic skills they do. Their oneshot is beautiful, and you can find it here. I really recommend you read it after this one.

Besides that, happy reading!

Fandom: Undertale, but specifically Aftertale, Errortale and Reapertale

Characters: Error, Geno (Who belong to CQ) and Reaper (Who belongs to Ren)

Pairings: AfterDeath and DestructiveDeath

Warnings: Language, I think that’s it. Let me know.

Word Count: 4218

~oOo~

I walked across an empty land

~oOo~

As the god of death, Reaper was often alone.

He could touch no mortal because they would die at his touch, making him or his brother reap them. This has been a fact of his life from a very young age, only a few centuries old. He wasn’t to talk to mortals, never come into contact with them. They were beneath him. They didn’t deserve to see such an important figure like himself.

He still remembered the first time a mortal died by his touch. He had been hysterical. He didn’t know that it was normal for him, that it was going to be his curse to bear. At the time, he had thought he had done something wrong. Like any other kid who made a mistake, he panicked and didn’t tell his creator what he had done until he was cornered by the man himself.

“Reaper,” Creator had said, voice betraying nothing of what his mood was. It was always like that. Calm. To Reaper, unnerving. “I see you betrayed my orders.” It wasn’t a question, but a fact.

Reaper wanted to hide. To disappear and never face the consequences for what he did. But that was wrong. That would be digging himself a bigger hole, and therefore a bigger punishment. Creator was law. You always went by his word, for he knew all was always right, no matter what you did. So, Reaper pushed away his fear and straightened, looking his creator in the eye, no emotion present, just as he knew the older liked.

“I did.”

He didn’t say sorry either. Father didn’t like that.

In response, his creator did something Reaper never knew possible. His mouth curved into a smile. Reaper stared, eyes wide. He wondered if this was some weird punishment for his betrayal. If it was, it just took number one as his least favourite.

Creator sighed and gestured for the younger to follow him as he started walking. Reaper followed without a second thought. “I suppose I should have told you sooner,” Creator said, not looking at him. “so that you didn’t accidentally do something like this.”

Reaper blinked. His curiosity outweighed his distrust. “Tell me what?”

And so, his creator began the explanation of why death’s power was so extreme, why it should be fear by all.

It was this discussion that sprouted the seeds that would grow into the dislike he felt for his existence and job. He would feel disgust every time he reaped someone’s soul. The feeling of his powers shifting and expanding as he did his job made him shiver. But he managed it. It was fine, in the long run. At least it was him and not his brother, who got the better part of the job.

His brother got the gentle souls. The good ones.

Reaper got the bad ones. The sinful ones.

It was this way for millennia. Doing his job, acting as the obedient soldier his creator loved him to be. All while keeping his personal business a secret. He visited Life as much as he could, which he knew she appreciated.

It was…manageable, if quiet, boring.

Until he discovered the Save Screen in the AU of Aftertale.

~oOo~

I knew the pathway like the back of my hand

~oOo~

The blackness was intriguing to Reaper. He had never seen a place so desolate before. Even when he entered the realm of magic, there were colours and stars all over the place. But this place? There was nothing. At least, until he reached what he assumed was the middle.

A patch of glass highlighted with a light that had no source.

Two floating buttons: CONTINUE or RESET.

His curiosity increased. It was like nothing he had seen before. He had seen many snowy forests, heard echo flowers saying the same thing over and over, felt the heat of the CORE all too many times…but he had never seen this. The inner workings of the world. A place he had believed to never exist.

The Save Screen.

“Who the hell are you?!”

The voice startled him and he turned, looking down at the origin. A small skeleton monster, with white clothing and a torn red scarf. He was drawn to the monster’s eye. A patch of white boxes covered it, the other formed into a glare that the god thought looked…not threatening. Maybe cute, but not threatening.

Reaper blinked. He smiled.

He decided he liked this monster.

He was gonna keep him.

“Why,” Reaper started, lazily floating forward into the monster’s face to look him in the eye. “I’m a thief.” He winked. “And I’m here to steal your heart.”

The monster blinked, slowly.

Reaper stayed smirking.

Then the monster punched him.

~oOo~

I felt the earth beneath my feet

Sat by the river and it made me complete

~oOo~

Geno was adorable.

Whenever Reaper teased him, flirted with him, or talked dirty with him, a blush would rise up and consume his cheeks and he would tense up like a cat, usually telling the god to shut up. But the god didn’t care. He knew the other liked it. He saw the smiles and amusement dancing in his eye when he tried to hide it. It made him feel smug that, no matter how much he denied it, the mortal liked having the god around.

But that wasn’t the best part.

Geno didn’t die at his touch.

Neither knew why, but the mortal just…didn’t. Maybe the glitched around his eye worsened a tad bit, but that was the significant effect. Nothing else. It baffled Reaper and confused Geno. They just decided to accept the gift for what it was.

Reaper loved it. He exploited it as much as he could, relishing in the times when Geno got fed up and punched or slapped him and he didn’t dust away, leaving the god alone. He liked the feeling of picking the other up whenever he wanted to and the other would struggle before he saw the god’s grin and then settle down, grumbling as if he was truly angry.

(He wasn’t. He was just acting like the cat he was.)

The years of this relationship were the best of the god’s life. He found that he was the happiest he ever was. His face always held a grin. His brother had asked what made him so happy, on the rare days that he was now home. Not wanting to put Geno’s life in jeopardy, he lied and made up some random excuse. Not that his brother believed him. But he stopped asking.

When Reaper realized that he had fallen in love with the mortal, he had panicked. This went against one of the main laws in place: never speak to a mortal; never befriend one. Well, he had certainly done more than speak and befriend one. He didn’t know what to do.

So, he went to the person who gave him the best advice.

His brother.

After a lecture on lying, his brother had told him to simply confess. If it didn’t go well, it didn’t go well. It didn’t matter. The two of them would probably remain friends, with as close a bond that they had. The advice gave him confidence. Reaper decided to confess right away. There was no use delaying the inevitable.

But when he got to the Save Screen, it was empty.

~oOo~

Oh, simple thing, where have you gone?

I’m getting tired and I need someone to rely on

~oOo~

Reaper was devastated.

He searched through all of the AUs over and over again, but he found no trace of the one he loved. He refused to give up. Geno had to be here, somewhere. The mortal couldn’t just…up and leave, could he?

His brother had to find him and force him back home, as he had been neglecting his duties. He was put on watch by the king, to make sure he wouldn’t run off again.

He hated it.

He tried to focus on his job because he understood that he shouldn’t be turning a blind eye to his job, but he just couldn’t. No matter what he did, something would remind of Geno and he would get angry and sad again. The mortal never left his thoughts.

He wanted him back.

He was…lonely without him.

He didn’t like being lonely.

~oOo~

I came across a fallen tree

~oOo~

Error, the destroyer, was someone Reaper didn’t interact with.

He heard rumours about the other and had seen him work from a distance, but he had never gone up and talked to the other. He was still hung up on the disappearance of Geno, even though it had been years since the last time he saw him. But when he saw the destroyer, for some reason, the curiosity that had drawn him to Geno was drawing him to Error.

If he was honest, it frightened him. Also infuriated him. Geno was the only person who had made him so happy and he had left. And here was Error, someone he had never talked to, who so ruthlessly murdered countless innocents every day, who he felt the same initial attraction to. Was the destroyer trying to replace the mortal? How dare he!

But he wouldn’t know why until he talked with the other, no matter how much he didn’t want to. It would all be cleared up. He wanted it to be cleared up. He just…didn’t want to talk to him. That’s when he thought of something that would act as a compromise, that would let him see why Error was so special without him talking to the other.

He stalked the destroyer.

…

…what?

…

In hindsight, Reaper would think later, when he was dangling from some blue strings in the Anti-Void (a place that reminded him like the Save Screen, but made him feeling unease unlike the other did), stalking someone who destroyed AUs in a snap and heard voices probably wasn’t the best idea.

Since Error wasn’t around at the moment, he looked around the place, eyeing the dolls distrustfully.

“Okay, who the hell are you and why are you stalking me?!”

The glitchy voice made Reaper blink and look down. The destroyer stood there, tense. He was glaring at the god. Something about the way he did so seemed…familiar to him, in a painful way.

(“Who the hell are you?!”

“Why, I’m a thief. And I’m here to steal your heart.”)

The god shook the past away.

He glared right back at the destroyer.

Then he noticed it.

There in the destroyer’s eyes. A look that told the god he was trying to cover something up, something that looked like…pain? But why? It wasn’t like he knew Reaper…unless…a thought formed in his head, one that seemed impossible.

~oOo~

I felt the branches of it looking at me

~oOo~

“Are you going to answer me?” Error snapped, crossing his arms defensively.

Reaper tilted his head, looking the other over thoughtfully. He needed to test this thought, to have the proof in front of him before he believed it. “Can I see your soul?”

The destroyer blinked. It took him a minute to process it. Reaper could tell when he did because a blush appeared across him checks, the blue and yellow gradient perfect. “What!” The answer resembled a squeak.

“I said, can I see your soul?”

“No, I know what you said—”

“Then why did you say ‘what’?”

“Because it’s an inappropriate thing to ask!”

Reaper raised an eyebrow.

“Shut it!” Error said, bush increasing. “I’m not showing you my soul.”

Reaper sighed. So, it’s the hard way, is it? “I was afraid you’d say that.”

Error blinked, confused. “What—”

The destroyer yelped and scrambled back a few steps as Reaper summoned his scythe and ripped himself free of his strings. The god approached the destroyer calmly and the other prepared to fight. Before he could make a move, the god thrust his scythe under his chin, the blade resting just shy of his throat.

The destroyer froze.

By the magic of the scythe, his soul was summoned forth and Reaper stared at it, no emotion present. Well then…

The destroyer’s soul was just a sliver of a piece, like it had been ripped from its owner.

It looked just like Geno’s.

The thought made Reaper’s mask break. Why did Error have Geno’s soul? The only explanation would be that somehow his love had turned into the glitch before him, who looked like a wild animal that had been cornered. The god didn’t want to believe it…but the proof was too strong.

He looked up into the destroyer’s eyes.

The truth was written there, too. Underneath the angry front he put on, there was a panic and pain that Reaper longed to take away. He didn’t want to see his love feeling any of that. The worry he had been reserving for when he found Geno overflowed and made tears gather in his eyes.

He saw Error’s eyes widen and he knew the other had seen the tears.

The god of death retracted his scythe and reached forward. “Gen—”

In a blink, he was sent through a portal and into a random AU, away from Geno Error.

~oOo~

Is this the place we used to love?

Is this the place that I’ve been dreaming of?

~oOo~

Reaper tried to talk to the destroyer many times after that.

He never succeeded.

The pain of having someone he loved always running away from him was almost too much to bear. But he kept trying. He promised himself that he would make his way through to the other. Make him realize how much he loved him, no matter what name he went by or what he looked like.

He wasn’t going to let him go this time.

Never again.

~oOo~

Oh, simple thing, where have you gone?

I’m getting old and I need something to rely on.

~oOo~

Reaper watched as Error fought Ink.

He had a plan this time and just had to wait for the right moment to use it.

He winced at every hit that landed on the destroyer and felt pride every time his love had an attack hit the other. One particular hit made him twitch with worry, fighting the urge to interfere and hold Error in his arms, making sure he was okay and stayed okay.

But if he did that, he would probably be kicked out of a job, which would just be bad for everyone.

So, he waited.

Eventually, Ink retreated, leaving Error alone in the AU. The destroyer stayed for a minute to catch his breath and Reaper watched, preparing to go over and interrupt him once the time was right.

The destroyer stood and turned, raising a hand to open a portal.

Reaper’s hand twitched on his scythe and he shot forwards.

Now.

~oOo~

And if you have a minute why don’t we go

Talk about it somewhere only we know?

~oOo~

Just before the destroyer left, Reaper grabbed his hand and pulled the other towards him and through his own portal.

Once they landed, Error pushed the other away, which Reaper allowed. He watched with a smile starting as his love gazed around to find out where they were. He watched as he froze at the sight of the dark void and two glowing buttons in the air.

CONTINUE or RESET.

~oOo~

This could be the end of everything

So why don’t we go

Somewhere only we know?

~oOo~

The Save Screen. Aftertale.

Their place, a place only they knew.

The destroyer tensed. “Why did you bring me here.” It wasn’t really a question with the way he said it so stiffly. So…scared.

“Well,” Reaper started, ignoring the hurt he felt from making the other scared. “I figured that if you won’t speak to me regularly, as normal people would, I had to kidnap you.” He tilted his head, smiling even if the other wasn’t looking. “I had to bring you to a place you can’t refuse.”

He could see the way the other struggled with himself. Should he drop the act or continue playing as if he didn’t know where he was? Reaper saw how the other really wanted to go with the second option, keeping this place in the past, forgotten. He didn’t want anything to do with this place anymore.

Reaper knew that. And he decided that, if Error chose that option, he would respect that. He would put Geno in the past and try to be friends with Error. If he was still refused, then he would leave the other alone. It didn’t matter how he felt on the topic.

Error wasn’t Geno anymore, not entirely, and he had to accept that.

But to his surprise, Error went with the first one.

~oOo~

Oh, simple thing, where have you gone?

~oOo~

“I never liked it here.” Error whispered, making Reaper freeze for a minute. “I still don’t.”

He blinked at the other, close to openly gaping at him. Then he shook himself and straightened, playing with his scythe in hopes to calm himself. “I’m sorry.” He really was, too. “This was the only way you would listen to me.”

That actually got a little laugh out of the other, who turned to face Reaper. “I suppose. But now that you caught me, can we leave this place?”

Their eyes met; one pair full of hope and the other full of pain.

Reaper tilted his head again. He echoed Error’s words. “I suppose.” He paused and reached up to rub his chin. “Well, that is if you promise not to run away from me. Again.” He gave a grin.

Error looked at him without amusement.

“What? It’s a perfectly reasonable request.”

“I make no promises.”

“Aw. Then I guess we’re staying here.”

“No, we’re not.”

“You’re not promising.”

“We’re still leaving.”

Reaper only laughed and Error turned and opened a portal.

They left for Outertale.

~oOo~

I’m getting old and I need someone to rely on

~oOo~

They continued bantering as they walked. It felt natural, like a piece of the puzzle clicked back into place and now everything went more smoothly. They stopped for a minute to rest, looking up at the stars.

Reaper looked over to Error.

The destroyer looked magical, sitting there and staring at the stars with a smile and eyes full of awe. He was glad that the pain so prominent in his eyes had gone away, for now. What was left was someone who deserved everything, able to sit with peace of mind that everything was alright. He deserved to be alright, to be loved. His glitches had even calmed significantly, only one or two remaining. Besides that, the mostly black bones glowed elegantly in the lighting.

He looked perfect.

Reaper smiled and an itch grew in the back of his throat. He longed to say the words he had been holding in for so long, but he wasn’t sure if it was time. They had only just reconciled. He didn’t want to ruin things before they started to get better.

But then Error turned to him with a questioning smile, looking even more beautiful that he couldn’t build up a block in time, so the words came blurting through:

“I love you.”

~oOo~

So tell me when you’re gonna let me in

~oOo~

They both froze.

Error blinked for a minute, the surprise openly shown on his face.

Reaper internally panicked. He was so screwed! Why did he do that? He had just found his love again after years of searching—years of haven given up—and now he just threw it all away. But he couldn’t just say he was kidding, too. That would just make him a jerk.

He had to calm down and explain himself. Make sure that Error understood that he wasn’t messing around, that he truly loved the other no matter what he looked like or how he acted. The fact was that he loved the destroyer.

That was it.

Reaper cleared his throat and continued. “I have for years. I was going to tell you, but then you disappeared. And now I’ve found you again. So…

“I love you, Error. And I mean that. It isn’t just something to make you feel better. It’s not some leftover feelings from Geno. I mean, I don’t even care that he’s gone! Well, I care, you know, because I loved him—like I love you! But my point is, that if you want to move on from being him, then I get that. I accept that, and I would say I moved on from him a long time ago. I just didn’t realize it because I didn’t know he had turned into you.”

Reaper inhaled shakily and swallowed. His vision had become a bit blurred from tears that had appeared with how nervous he was. Error was silent. The god of death concluded his confession in a whisper. “I love you, whatever that may be. Whether Geno or Error. I love you. Nothing in the world can change that.”

He stopped and held his breath.

Error was still silent.

“You’re an idiot.”

Reaper blinked, vision still blurred. “What?” He winced at the shakiness of his voice.

Error shook his head and laughed lightly, something soft hidden in it. “I said, you’re an idiot.” His expression changed, becoming something sad. “Why would you love me? I mean…I get loving Geno. He was normal and nice and…a monster with unfortunate circumstances. But me? I’m a monster. I’ve killed thousands of people, more than half of them innocent. I hear voices in my head and fight people on a regular basis.” He laughed again, this time in a self-deprecating kind of way. “How can you love someone like that?”

Reaper tilted his head. It seemed, to him, that Error believed he was unworthy of love just because of something he couldn’t control. By being the destroyer, he had to kill people. There’s no way around it. And just by looking at the pain in the other’s eyes, he could see that it wasn’t something he was actively choosing to do.

So, if he was doing something he didn’t want to do, why would that make him unworthy of love? In the god’s opinion, that just made him more loveable. It told him that he was a good person at the core. It was one trait that he still shared with Geno. They both were doing things they didn’t really want to do, just had or thought they had no choice in the matter.

However, just because Reaper saw it that way, did not mean Error did.

And that was something he had to change.

~oOo~

I’m getting tired and I need somewhere to begin

~oOo~

Reaper laughed, making Error jump. “And you think that one of the gods of death hasn’t killed people?” He smiled more coldly than he intended. “It’s part of my job. I reap souls. In order to do that, I need to make sure they’re dead. That’s where my curse comes into play.” He held up a hand. “Whenever I touch someone, they instantly die. Same goes with plants. Anything living, really. I touch them and they die.”

He looked over at the destroyer. “But not you. You never dusted when I touched you. I’m still not even sure why. But that doesn’t matter.” He put his hand down. “The point is, I’ve killed people as well. You’re not special.”

Error blinked twice. “But—”

“They were innocent? I know. But that’s not your fault. It’s part of your job. You destroy AU’s, doesn’t matter if they’re designed to be good or bad. Your job isn’t about that; it’s about making room. Without you, the AU’s would crash into each other and collapse, in turn killing the entire multiverse.” Reaper smiled. “In a way, you’re protecting the multiverse instead of destroying it. Aren’t you?”

Error looked at him. “I don’t understand how you can think that way.”

“Give it a few weeks. It’ll grow on you.”

He snorted. “I doubt that. Idiocy isn’t contagious.”

“After all that, I’m still an idiot?”

“Oh, definitely.”

~oOo~

And if you have a minute why don’t we go

Talk about it somewhere only we know?

~oOo~

When they parted ways for the evening, Error stopped Reaper as he turned to leave.

Before the god could do anything, the destroyer leaned up and kissed his cheek. It was like time froze for a minute. Reaper almost didn’t believe what was happening was even real, but the warmth on his cheek was too pleasant to ignore. All he could do in turn was blink and gape when the other pulled back, a light blush on his face.

“I may not understand how you think now,” Error said, “but I think I might like to try to, if that’s alright?”

The god of impure deaths blinked and smiled, said smile full of love and affection for the destroyer in front of him. “I’d love that.”

~oOo~

‘Cause this could be the end of everything

So why don’t we go

Somewhere only we know?

#my writing #my fanfiction #oneshot #undertale #error sans #reaper sans #geno sans #mentioned ink sans #errortale #aftertale #reapertale #afterdeath #destructivedeath #error x reaper #language #tw language #i think that's all the tags i need

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kanasmusings · 4 years

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[Translations] StarMyuMyu Spin-off “Storytellers” - Cast & Staff Messages

FIRST OF ALL, HAPPY 5TH ANNIVERSARY STARMYU~!!!! (o^▽^o)

I have been waiting eagerly with my friends for news about this, and now that it’s here, I can’t help but just cry!! It’s what I’ve always been waiting for and I can’t believe that it really is happening soon...!! ☆*:.｡.o(≧▽≦)o.｡.:*☆ Also the fact that Kuga and Toraishi are part of the story just really gives way for a lot of shenanigans considering Ren’s relationship with the both of them LMAO

No story synopsis and cast visuals yet, but that’s part of the things we can always look forward to~! All that I know from Shibuki-kun’s post is that it’s “another story after 3rd season.” (◕‿◕)

Anyways, below the cut for the cast and staff-san’s messages~! (o_ _)ﾉ彡☆

Please check the official site here or official Twitter here for more updates~!

[STAFF MESSAGES:]

Source: https://star-mumu.com/

FROM: DIRECTOR - Yoshitani Koutaro

The first time I met the [Storytellers] actors was during the previous musical (See: StarMyuMyu 3rd Season).

I often saw them working so diligently during rehearsals, obviously not wanting to lose to the other teams. I think it’s fair to say that seeing them work so hard made this new show possible. I wanted more people to see them as the main characters.

Improving each other through friendly competitions and through butting heads would make for a good story, don’t you think? Please do come and see a new side to these boys as they grow and develop together.

FROM: SCRIPT WRITER - Harada Sayaka

StarMyu’s protagonist is Hoshitani Yuuta. But each of them have their own stories to tell. Stories that make them shine as the protagonists of their own lives. I feel that strongly in my heart whenever I look at the other characters, too.

I really am grateful for this opportunity. I think it’s a good turning point for them to make their mark in the entertainment industry. I hope that everyone will watch over Team Yuzuriha’s strong will and Team Sazanami’s toughness.

[TEAM YUZURIHA CAST MESSAGES]

FROM: AGEHA RIKU – Ohmi Takuto

Hello, I’m Ohmi Takuto who will portray Ageha Riku for “Storytellers”. I am really happy for the chance to have an independent revue with Team Yuzuriha and Team Sazanami. It’s all thanks to all the support that you’ve given StarMyuMyu.

I felt a strong affinity with the rest of the Storytellers team the moment we met each other during StarMyuMyu 3rd. I’m really happy that I get to stand together with the three of them this time, too. I believe that we’ll be deliver our own unique kind of StarMyuMyu as well.

FROM: HACHIYA SOU – Ishida Shun

The moment we were told about the spin-off revue, I felt so happy about getting the chance to live in StarMyuMyu’s world again. And just thinking about how I get to be on stage with Takuto, Ryou, and Allen again made me happier.

We were given the chance to be in this production thanks to everyone in the staff, cast, and crew who have been here since the beginning. We want to carry their feelings with us as we head into a new performance! I plan to do my best for all of you who support StarMyu, so please watch over us!

[TEAM SAZANAMI CAST MESSAGES]

FROM: KITAHARA REN – Shibuki Ryou

It’s thanks to everyone’s support that we can return to StarMyuMyu’s world. Thank you very much! We have had a lot of encounters since participating, and I look forward to the encounters that we will have in the future.

I am a little nervous about an independent revue, but I know I’ll be fine as long as I’m with Team Sazanami & Team Yuzuriha! Well, at least to me, they make me feel at ease. I will do my best to bring Kitahara Ren to life in front of everyone, so please continue supporting us!

FROM: NANJO KOKI – Kohatsu Allen

I had never imagined that an independent revue would be decided so quickly right after StarMyuMyu 3rd Season. The Storytellers balance as a group was really good that we were given a lot of scenes together during 3rd Season. I still want to believe that the reason they’re able to butt heads but still grow together is because of their impeccable teamwork.

As Nanjo Koki’s actor, I’ll do my best with Shibuki Ryou-chan to bring Team Sazanami to life. We won’t lose to Team Yuzuriha, so please watch over us as well.

[TEAM OTORI & TEAM HIRAGI CAST MESSAGES]

FROM: KUGA SHU – Shinzato Kota

It’s been a while, everyone! This is my fifth time saying that!! (laughs) I’m Kuga Shu’s actor, Shinzato Kota! This time, I will be appearing as a guest for Musical StarMyu Spin-off “Storytellers”!

Since it will be focused on Team Yuzuriha & Team Sazanami, I thought I would’ve been satisfied with just being able to watch them live! I never imagined I’d actually get to be a part of it. But now that I am, I’ll do my best to support them in any way I can! I hope that everyone looks forward to it as well ^^

FROM: TORAISHI IZUMI – Takamoto Gaku

First of all, I’m just very happy that I get to return to StarMyuMyu’s world as Toraishi Izumi!! I first joined last year during StarMyuMyu 3rd Season, and I’m really thankful to everyone in the cast and audience for making me feel welcomed.

This time, the focus will be on Team Yuzuriha & Team Sazanami, but I will do my best to help support them. Let’s meet again in the theatres!

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ashes-in-a-jar · 28 days

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The Sheridan Tapes episode 99

Finally here at the last stand where all the loose ends are neatly tied up... Except one

Omg love peter so much, it's like he's waiting for his first date xD

The backwards theme sure is a Choice for the intro omg my brain is scrambling from it

Okay the whole part with Sam and Allen 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

I can't believe they brought him back only to break us all again. And he fully knows what's going to happen to him, he's really sharp and genre savvy. And Sam crying, like fully bawling oh god my heart.

On a lighter note, I'd like to imagine that this whole finale Sam is just constantly wet, coming in from the lake, getting back through the well... He had no time to dry and he's our literal poor wet little meow meow that needs a thousand Allen hugs and a towel.

Somehow Anna rolls a nat 20 on persuasion against Amy to return to her life while Amy somehow agrees to be left behind and help Anna close the loops... Explains the tapes disappearing from Meriwether in the season 3 finale... but it puts them in a weird time loop where they get to Anna's van, found and eventually taken to Meriwether to be taken back to the van again... how were they created in the first place if they are in that infinite loop? Timey whimey stuff is confusing.

It's kinda sad that in the end Anna's mother spoke to Amy in an Anna disguise rather than Anna herself because she wasn't feeling well enough for it... Hope that now that Anna comes back she'll speak to her mother properly even as her memory goes.

Good for Ren saving everyone from their nightmares with the power of music and imagination. Finally they manage to see the dawn of a new day because Morrison is weakening

Mann the fight with Morrison was intense. Once they close all of the loops he suddenly is poisoned? Unable to control the gate to the source? And then Ned sacrificing himself to push Morrison into the source to be killed by the Guardian... I refuse to believe he's dead it wasn't on screen and Sam saw him still alive when returning with Anna so it didn't happen 😭😭😭

So now the bubble is gone, Morrison is in the void with Ned and Anna is back and everyone else is fine(ish). The worst of it is over and now we have to wait for the finale to see what they will do now and of course how they rescue Ned :D

#how did they find their way back in the end i didn't get that? what pulled them back?#thinking about maria and the gang waiting shore? if that worked now why didn't work for sam before #because he still had unfinished business with the loops? its still confusing #tst relisten #the sheridan tapes #and with that the relisten is over! see your at the finale this Friday!

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jbuffyangel · 5 years

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The North Star: Arrow 7x08 Review (Unmasked)

Well I wasn’t expecting this that’s for sure. I’m not listening to reviewers with screeners anymore. Their descriptions of the episode are almost identical, but inevitably whatever episode they watched is not the one I watched. I’m starting to wonder if reviewers are paid for writing agreed upon talking points. Then again I might just be moody.

“Unmasked” has a lot of good stuff. It also has a lot of bad stuff. And then there’s the WTF stuff.

Let’s dig in…

Olicity

Before I dive into our faves, I wanted to clarify a few things. I’ve been noticing some push back online about the phrase “dark spiral” in terms of discussing Felicity’s current arc. The general complaint seems to be when Oliver does whatever it takes to protect his family he is called a hero, but when Felicity does the same thing it’s called a dark spiral. Therefore, there are some misogynistic connotations using this term regarding Felicity’s arc. Since I am someone who frequently uses dark and light terminology to describe our characters I thought I should address this.

Dark spiral does not mean evil to me. It means a moral crisis. Every hero, at one point or another, goes through a moral crisis where they reexamine how they look at the world. This is typically brought on by trauma, loss, anger, grief, etc. This means the hero is not in the best emotional place to be making moral judgments.

Please note I am using the word hero. A character does not stop being a hero simply because they are going through a dark spiral. The hero doesn’t suddenly become a villain because they are crossing some lines to get the job done.

Light and dark are terms to represent the best part of ourselves and the worst. We all have light and dark in us. We all have the ability to make wonderful, righteous, selfless and virtuous choices. This is the light. We all have the ability to make bad, questionable, uncompassionate and immoral choices. This is the dark.

It doesn’t matter if you are male or female; we all have these opposing sides in us. We all have the space between light and dark, the shadows, or white and black, the grey, where our morality and choices are not clear cut. This is what it means to be human.

I don’t describe what villains do as darkness either. Damien Darhk, Ra’s Al Ghul and Diaz are evil. Can our darkness lead to evil? Yes, this is why we must be vigilant about it. However, Oliver Queen, Felicity Smoak and John Diggle aren’t going to become the villains in this story. They are the heroes who will sometimes experience a moral crisis and make questionable choices.

Oliver Queen is a character who consistently makes questionable choices and whenever he does I call it darkness. It doesn’t mean Oliver stopped being a hero. More often than not, his intentions are very good and he has a moral justification for his decisions. The problem is we can justify just about anything, which is why it is important to have some kind of moral code. This isn’t a standard I merely hold fictional superheroes to. It is one I hold myself to.

Arrow is being extremely sloppy about the kinds of situations they are putting their characters in, particularly Felicity. They are conflating very different scenarios into the same scenario and then saying it requires same response. This could not be further from the truth.

There is a very big difference between self defense and murder. If Felicity had to kill Diaz after he broke into her apartment, while in witness protection, then it would be self defense. It would be a completely necessary and reasonable decision. Felicity absolutely has the right to protect herself and her child.

However, killing Diaz when he’s unarmed, handcuffed, and in protective custody is not okay with me. That wasn’t about self defense. That was about retribution. Felicity wanted to take Diaz’s life because he took hers. That is murder.

I apply the same morality with Oliver Queen. Oliver had to kill Ra’s Al Ghul when they fought on the mountain. He couldn’t work out an agreement over Sarah’s death over tea with Ra’s Al Ghul. However, I had an issue with Oliver killing a de-magicked Damien Darhk. Yes, I know he killed thousands with a nuke. Yes, I know he was only de-magicked because the city imbued Oliver with hope and he was able to repel Damien’s powers.

However, there’s the rub. There was another way to stop Damien short of killing him. Would Oliver have to think outside the box a bit? Yes, but my frustration with Arrow is they never allow Oliver those types of outs, even though Barry Allen is given multiple options to avoid killing the villain. It’s always about killing or not killing with Oliver. He couldn’t even use the friggin underground prison he had on Lian Yu. This is one of the reasons I am very excited about Arrow giving Oliver the option of the justice system.

Every Big Bad deserves to die. They are all horrible, evil people, who murder innocents, have unstoppable ninja skills, magic, super strength, armies, a city under their control, and the ability to escape from prison. So why does Slade Wilson get to live? Why does Malcolm Merlyn? Oliver is making emotional decisions when he’s choosing whether or not to end someone’s life. This is why he picks up and sets down his no killing vow as it suits him. That’s not having a moral code. I’m not losing sleep over any of these bad guys dying, but it doesn’t mean I agree with the decisions. Nor does it mean I believe this is the kind of hero Oliver Queen should be.

There have been several times Felicity Smoak is acting in self defense and that is perfectly acceptable. There are other times she is making the same moral judgments I disagreed with Oliver over and I’m going to call her on it even though it is Felicity. Am I saying I don’t like Felicity or believe she’s a bad person who has gone all evil? No, absolutely not.

This is part of the hero evolution process and Felicity Smoak is as much of a hero as Oliver Queen. This is why exploring a darker arc is vitally important. Is Felicity morally justified in some of these more questionable choices? Yes, but simply because you can morally justify a choice doesn’t automatically make the choice morally right. I also hold Oliver, Felicity and Diggle to a higher standard than I do a regular Joe because they are heroes.

I also recognize killing a villain is not the same as killing an innocent person. Let’s say Felicity killed Diaz while he was in police custody. This is not the same as Bl*ck S*ren murdering a bunch of innocent people. If a hero kills a villain it doesn’t automatically make the hero a villain. If I believed Oliver Queen was a bad person because he killed bad people then I wouldn’t have watched the show. I recognize Oliver’s heroism when he’s making decisions nobody is willing to make and accepting the responsibility for those choices.

However, I don’t believe killing is right. There are very few circumstances where I believe killing is justified. This is just my personal morality. It doesn’t have to be yours. However, I am applying the same morality to Felicity I apply to Oliver. I am going to keep describing it in the same terminology as well. So, I hope this clears up any confusion regarding my meaning behind dark, light, dark spiral and my general view on morality in regards to Arrow.

Okay. Enough of this. Let’s talk about the sex.

To be honest, it was a letdown.

We started out so good.

We were micro inches away from shower sex y’all! But Oliver goes into full prison PTSD mode.

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He pulls the shower curtain back to reveal a startled, but silky robe clad Felicity Smoak. She was about to hop in the shower with him. Nobody can tell me different. I know my truth.

Oliver is available to zip up her dress though. ( I want you to zip it down you big pine tree. We really should be united on this. I am shocked I have to explain it to you.)

Felicity leans into his touch as he slowly zips the dress up.

She rests her head back against his chest and broad shoulders and feels the warmth of his breath as he whispers in her ear.

This is what she missed. Not simply having someone around to help with her dress, but the physical reassurance she is not alone.

Felicity can finally lean against the man she loves, take comfort in the strength of his arms, and find reassurance in his soft, gentle voice. The voice meant only for her.

There’s no more glass separating them. Felicity can touch Oliver again. He’s real. Her husband is home.

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Oliver tries to wiggle out of going to the fundraiser being held in his honor.

He’s clearly nervous about seeing his friends and citizens of Star City post prison. Oliver is quieter, softer, reserved and more withdrawn after his violent life at Slabslide. He’s gingerly dipping his toe back into the water, unsure of his next steps, like a child walking into the ocean for the first time. Oliver has returned from yet another island. After seven months, everything that was once familiar is now unrecognizable.

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Everything except Felicity… or so he thinks. She still believes in him, even if Oliver is uncertain. He knows the people of Star City are angry with him. He feels apprehensive because Oliver also understands they have a right to be.

Star City citizen’s can clock a 2 on an angry scale of 1-10, due to the inordinate amount of times Oliver Queen/Green Arrow saved them from mass destruction and certain death. Not to be a stickler on the maths, but facts are facts. At least the ungrateful twats are publicly recognizing Oliver as a hero. I’m still waiting on the key to the city though (side eyes B*rry All*n bitterly).

However, Felicity explains this is finally Oliver’s opportunity to show Star City who he truly is without a mask. Oliver may be apprehensive, but Felicity knows once the city sees Oliver for the hero he is they will fall in love with him just like she did.

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This is what he missed. Not simply the softness of her skin or the way she looks in that dress, but Felicity’s unwavering unconditional love and belief.

Oliver could feel it while he was in prison, but it’s very different when she’s kneeling before him and he can stare into her big, blue eyes while holding her hand. There’s no more glass separating them. Oliver can touch Felicity again. She’s real. He is home.

Oliver runs his fingers over her wedding band, the infinite loop reminding him of the promises they made each other one year ago today. Remembering the anniversary is Husband 101, but Felicity is trying to give Oliver time and understanding as he eases his way back into everyday life. So, Felicity is thrilled when Oliver repeats a line from his vows.

Girl, he’s been separated from you for months and you are the literal air he breathes. Anniversary also equals guaranteed sex and it’s been seven months. Oliver ain’t forgettin’ it.

We start out with so much promise.

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Stephen Amell and Emily Bett Rickards should teach a course on how to kiss on camera. We shall call this course “How to Be Hot 400.” Yes, it’s an upperclassmen course. Sorry freshmen.

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Oliver takes off his shirt (no invitation needed - thatta boy) and Felicity runs her hands over his chest.

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Oliver lifts her up into his arms and they fall back onto the bed. Yes, yes… go on.

AND THEN THE CAMERA CUTS AWAY.

We didn’t even get that great of a shot in the mirror’s reflection.

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I’ll take a lower half shot if Oliver is getting handsy, but there’s no handsy. WHERE’S THE HANDSY? It’s been seven months. He should be migrating to the glorious Felicity Smoak arse in record time. The dress should be off by now. I should see it fly across the room in the mirrored reflection as Oliver moves other… places. I won’t get into too much detail. I’m a lady.

Listen, I’m a nice person. I deserve nice things. We waited a year and a half for a shirtless 15 second make out session???

We didn’t get post nuptial sex and now they shorted us on anniversary sex.

I demand angry sex as recompense.

At least they had the common sense to include some dirty innuendo.

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Hehehe. Oh, we all know your first meal, big fella. Say no more. Wait, isn’t a double double four? WELL DONE SIR.

Felicity, girl you deserve it.

Every time Oliver returns home from an island there is the inevitable mob of aggressive reporters and cameras. One of the loneliest scenes in Season 1 is watching Oliver fight through it on his own.

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Now Oliver has Felicity and she not only holds his hand through it, but is his friggin bodyguard to boot. (Yeah, I said what I said Diggle.)

Ugh, Max Fuller. This douche bag again. Weirdly has not aged a day, so he may be a vampire.

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At least his asshole comments provide an opportunity for Felicity to mark her territory and that never gets old.

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No, Oliver was not the marrying type until he met this genius, funny, warm, insightful, bullshit detecting, red pen-chewing, blonde sunshine and then all he wanted was to have lots of sex and babies with her. Catch up Fuller.

Bl*ck S*ren swings by to keep up appearances and Lyla asks in a not so hushed tone, “Are we friends with her now?”

This cracks me up any time any character says it. I’m comfortable with the classification of frenemy. Bl*ck S*ren is the Cordelia Chase of Team Arrow. You know, if Cordelia was a murderer. Scratch that. Bl*ck S*ren is the Spike.

Felicity reminds everyone the only person who actually helped her get Oliver out of prison was BS.

Oliver for his part tries to be gracious and thank her.

Bl*ck S*ren’s response is a back handed compliment, but it reveals an uneasiness between Oliver and Felicity not even four orgasms can fix.

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Worth a shot though.

Olicity has the fight we’ve been waiting for after Max Fuller sends one of his goons after Oliver. First, we need to talk about Felicity’s state of mind. She is clearly traumatized from her experiences with Diaz and as a result is obsessed with security.

When Curtis asks Felicity what is next she tells everyone she’s building a new security system. It’s her Spidey sense tingling, and not Oliver’s, when she realizes the security system she installed didn’t go off when Oliver entered the apartment. Then, Felicity hides behind her chain linked curtains, which can stop arrows, when the goon breaks into the apartment. And finally, she goes for her gun.

So, clearly Felicity is experiencing PTSD no different from what we witnessed with Oliver in the shower earlier.

Oliver is handling the situation with the Fuller goon. It’s one guy. Arrow has finally remembered Oliver Queen can take down ten without breaking a sweat. This will not be a problem. Is it taking a minute? Yes, but he’s still Oliver. He dove over counter tops and furniture to throw his body in front of arrows to protect Felicity. He’s got this.

Oliver throws the goon into a wall and he’s essentially down. He begins to question said goon in his big, scary, lower octave, Green Arrow rumble when Felicity joins in with her gun.

I agree with Oliver’s reaction which is, “What the fuck are you doing?”

This distracts Oliver for a microsecond and the goon gets up.

Prosecutable in a court of law? No, the goon broke in. Technically it is self defense, but also whoa babe! Stop shooting suspects!!!

Let’s holster the happy trigger finger.

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Do I feel the use of the gun is necessary in this circumstance? No, Felicity is married to The Terminator. He’s home now and perfectly capable of protecting her from one guy.

However, this break in is clearly meant to echo the one we saw in the premiere with Diaz. Her security system failed then too. Only she was home alone with a 12 year old boy and Diaz was the one with a gun. All Felicity had to defend herself was a pot of coffee and a poker stick.

She is literally reliving Diaz’s attack, so Felicity responds to this goon with what she wished she had back then – a gun. It doesn’t matter Oliver is there now because her trauma is triggering this response.

It’s no different than Oliver with the shower curtain.

Do I think it is madness for Felicity to carry a gun? NO!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oliver’s response to it drove me nuts. He’s more concerned she has a gun than with how she’s using it. This is missing the forest through the trees.

I don’t have any problem with Felicity carrying a gun. I’ve had a general annoyance with Oliver and Diggle for the past seven years regarding Felicity’s training. They’ve trained her to defend herself somewhat. Is she as physically proficient at self defense as everyone else on Team Arrow? No. Not even close, which I find grossly irresponsible on Oliver’s part.

While we’re training L*urel, Rene, Dinah and Curtis to be ninjas, Felicity is just sitting at the computer typing. We can’t toss the girl a staff and go a few rounds? Instead, they send her out into the field in high heels and a mini skirt as she uses a stick, laptop, or whatever she can find to defend herself. Give me a break.

Diggle warned Oliver about this when Felicity joined the team. Oliver’s entire defense strategy for Felicity was HIM.

She didn’t need to know how to fight back the same way other team members did because Oliver always planned on fighting for her.

He would throw himself in front of any bullet or arrow before he let it touch her.

It’s romantic, but not very practical. Oliver also never planned on Felicity going into the field as much as she has. As soon as she did he had a responsibility to train her more and he didn’t.

Generally speaking, Oliver has does an extremely good job protecting Felicity.

He is true to his word. Oliver always uses his body to shield Felicity from anything coming her way.

Oliver did teach Felicity to defend herself too.

We’ve seen her defend herself time after time.

By no means am I saying Felicity Smoak is a damsel in distress.

She was not, however, capable of defeating someone like Ricardo Diaz. Felicity Smoak is the wife of the Green Arrow. The minute Oliver made that announcement to the world he put a target on her back and then disappeared into his island.

The only defense Felicity has against someone like Diaz, or anyone else with a fighting capability beyond her own, is Oliver. But he was gone. She was alone to defend herself and their son.

The security system Felicity had in witness protection was A.R.G.U.S. and they were completely worthless. What does A.R.G.U.S. do besides screw up? Their big plan was to watch Felicity and William, which equated to a failed security system and taking five minutes to respond when she’s under attack. News flash: it doesn’t actually take that long to kill someone.

It is irresponsible for Felicity not to have some kind of weapon to defend herself with. Oliver, Diggle, Dinah, Rene and L*urel all carried guns, but the minute Felicity does it’s, “GASP. OH NO! SHE’S EVIL.” Talk about your Madonna/Whore complex. She has a gun so she’s a whore! Unbelievable.

I have a problem with how Felicity used the gun. I have no problem with Felicity having a gun. It is just smart. In the immortal words of Frank Castle, “You still got that hand canon?” Start packing baby girl. Go with God.

But we’re not dealing with Frank Castle. Unfortunately, we’re dealing with Oliver Queen. Who has apparently forgotten all the bullets and arrows he’s pumped into suspects the last decade, because he’s super judgey.

Oliver: Where’d you even get a gun? You’re new best friend Laurel?

Felicity: Of course not. I got it from your ex-best friend Anatoly.

Oliver: You what? I’ve barely been gone seven months and you’ve aligned yourself with two of the most immoral people we know?

Listen, pretty boy. I am glad you’ve found moral enlightenment and are now walking the higher plane, but you’ve been there for all of five minutes.

Let’s not forget you’ve made an entire career of aligning yourself with the most immoral people on the planet. In fact, you worked with Talia and Turner inside of prison!!! Neither one is exactly a Care Bear. Turner may have some good in him, but he’s also a murderer. So, dial down the moral condemnation.

Thank goodness Felicity is not taking any of Oliver’s crap.

Felicity: Oliver, you don’t get to judge me.

Oliver: You just shot a man in our living room.

Felicity: Something you’ve done a million times.

What’s frustrating is Oliver isn’t asking the right questions.

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He’s not focusing on the clear trauma Felicity has suffered. He’s not asking why she feels unsafe, what her fears are or how he can help her. It’s all about who Felicity has been working with, which is again, missing the forest through the trees.

I have a real beef with Oliver’s remark, “This isn’t you.” Felicity is going through a dark spiral and is reexamining her morality. However, this concept Felicity is this lily white Virgin Mary character is baffling to me.

Felicity was already breaking the law as a hacker before she even met Oliver. Then, she signed up with a guy who was dropping bodies regularly and fell in love with him. We aren’t dealing with Rainbow Brite! Felicity’s morality was light years ahead of Oliver’s, but she could reconcile murder and breaking the law for the greater good. That’s a darker skew on morality.

And apparently Oliver has just erased all of Season 5 because he clearly has no recollection of Helix. Maybe one of his head wounds is more serious than I thought and he’s experiencing amnesia.

Felicity showed she would do whatever was necessary to avenge her boyfriend of five minutes. What did Oliver think she was going to do when her husband and child were threatened? She wasn’t going to Pottery Barn to pick out fabric swatches for the new apartment, Oliver.

Arrow is really focused on Oliver putting people in boxes because he has to learn not to. I get it. However, it’s resulting in some sloppy writing because he’s blatantly ignoring Felicity’s history to keep her on this pedestal. Oliver needs to realize his wife is human. I thought he already realized this in Season 5, but I guess we’re repeating it in Season 7. It’s fine. Hopefully they do a deeper dive on it than they did in Season 5.

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“This is me because of you,” is the line I’ve been waiting seven months to hear Felicity say. We had a little taste of it when she visited Oliver in prison, but she couldn’t unleash her anger full force because he was in prison.

Oliver is home now though and it’s time to deal with this.

Felicity reminds Oliver he destroyed their lives. He left his wife and child to the wolves without even discussing it with her Felicity. I mean, sweet mother of Moses, what did he expect?

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Oliver’s response to Felicity’s completely warranted anger pissed me off too. He’s very, “How many more times do I have to apologize for this?” MORE THAN ONCE ASSHOLE.

But Felicity isn’t looking for an apology anymore. What good is an apology at this point? What’s done is done.

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Oliver’s actions have consequences. He continually lies and believes an apology will somehow be a magic wand erasing all the damage he’s done. Marriage doesn’t work like that. Life doesn’t work like that.

I just had this fight with my husband, which is why I respond so much to Felicity in “Unmasked.” She is saying very similar things I said to my husband. Believing you are not going to impact each other’s personalities over the years is naive. You can’t continue the same hurtful behavior and expect it not to change who your partner is.

Felicity has told Oliver several times she feels abandoned when he makes decisions without her. This behavior hits Felicity where it hurts. This is her greatest fear. Her pain is raw and exposed. Yet, Oliver continues to make decisions without consulting her. I don’t even think he checked with her before going back out into the field as Green Arrow. I hope to God he did, but if not this is exactly what she’s talking about.

Felicity is required to make changes inside of herself due to the impact of Oliver’s decisions. Oliver abandoned her. He left her alone, with a child and defenseless. As did their “friends.”

So, Felicity had to learn how to defend herself. She had to learn how to survive.

Oliver Queen wasn’t the only one on an island. Felicity is on one too, but her island was made by her husband. Oliver may be home, but Felicity is not.

Felicity is still on that island, fighting alone every day to survive, because she can’t trust Oliver won’t make another decision without her. Felicity doesn’t trust Oliver won’t abandon her all over again.

Felicity is making decisions for herself that, yeah Oliver, maybe aren’t typical to the woman you knew seventh months ago. His behavior in this marriage is impacting the decisions Felicity makes and those decisions are changing who she is. It is cause and effect.

Oliver can say he’s sorry all he wants, but it doesn’t erase the trauma Felicity is dealing with now. Oliver needs to walk through these consequences with his wife and understand the impact he’s made. There’s no magic wand.

I understand Oliver is dealing with trauma too and acclimating himself to life outside of Slabside. He’s missed a lot and needs a moment to catch up. We are dealing with two traumatized people. However, Felicity has always treated a traumatized Oliver with compassion. One of my main frustrations with Oliver in “Unmasked” is he’s coming to this fight with a lot of moral condemnation.

We’ve been down many dark spirals with Oliver Queen. He is constantly reexamining his morality. Oliver is constantly pick up and putting down his “no killing” vow. He expects everyone to get on board with whatever he decides whenever he decides it. Felicity has never approached Oliver’s darkness with moral condemnation. If anything she treated him with kid cloves.

Felicity harnesses Oliver’s light with cups of coffee, reassurance, forgiveness, belief and unconditional love.

Oliver’s response to Felicity’s dark spiral in “Unmasked” is, “Who the hell having you been working with?”

Oliver realizing criminals are human too does not make him morally superior to everyone else. Felicity has been arguing this kind of morality for the last seven years. I’m happy Oliver has finally gotten on board, but he’s not suddenly Jesus.

That said, Oliver’s experience in Slabside, and his new found moral code, will make him into the superhero Felicity Smoak needs right now. He is absolutely capable of harnessing her light, but unfortunately we did not see much of that hero in this fight.

There is a glimpse of that hero though. We get a clear view of the deep hole Felicity is in when she tells Oliver the person she was before was weak.

Oliver is just completely dumbfounded by this. How can Felicity believe she is anything, but the strongest person Oliver knows?

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I shared Oliver’s shock because I too cannot fathom Felicity ever viewing herself as weak. The line really bothered me, but it’s supposed to. This is another manifestation of Felicity’s trauma. She’s viewing herself as weak both physically and emotionally. The person she was couldn’t physically protect herself. The gun and new security measures are all coping mechanisms for Felicity’s deep rooted fear.

Felicity can feel her fear inside and she views that as weakness too. She never wants to feel afraid like this again. So, she’s reviewing her morality. The woman who was not willing to do whatever it takes was weak.

This is a very Oliver Queen Season 1-3 attitude. Oliver always believed his humanity was a weakness.

Now Felicity is viewing her humanity as a weakness, which is so heartbreaking.

Oliver is shocked and saddened by Felicity’s remark because her humanity inspired his humanity.

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It’s why Oliver believes Felicity is the best part of him. Anything to the contrary is unfathomable. Felicity needs to see herself through Oliver’s eyes, just as Oliver saw himself through Felicity’s eyes. He needs to be a hero to Felicity like she was to him. That’s the love, the light, which will illuminate the path out of the dark.

However, there’s another reason Oliver repeated those vows. “You’re the very best part of me” assigns an ownership and responsibility to Felicity over her husband’s soul that is unfair. It’s something Felicity touched on when she tells Oliver ultimately who she is, and the decisions she makes, aren’t on him. Those decisions are on her.

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The same goes for Oliver. Felicity can’t be responsible for harnessing Oliver’s light all the time. He has to inspire himself. Oliver has to harness his light on his own. He did a good job in Slabside, but now that he’s home he can’t fall back to relying on Diggle and Felicity to be his cheerleading squad. Oliver has to be a good person all by himself without someone holding his hand.

This pushes both Oliver and Felicity in new and important directions. This dark spiral gives Felicity’s character a freedom she’s never had before. Oliver’s enlightenment gives him a new sense of accountability.

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We finally achieve a moment that has been a long time coming in Oliver Queen’s journey toward becoming a fully realized superhero. Oliver lied to the people of Star City and understands the only way to gain their trust is by being honest (*cough*apply this to your marriage Oliver*cough*). He decides to go out into the field as Green Arrow with his hood down and without a mask.

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For the first time, Oliver is merging both personas. He realizes part of being a hero is being accountable for his actions. He doesn’t remain in the shadows, but steps into the light as Green Arrow for the entire world to see.

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This is a moment I’ve written about for years and it fills me with a lot of joy watching Oliver finally putting the pieces together.

While their argument is necessary, it also feels mishandled by the Arrow writers because Oliver and Felicity are acting so extreme. Oliver’s reaction to the gun is extreme. How Felicity uses the gun is extreme. They cram a discussion we’ve waited seven months for into two little scenes. There’s way too much other nonsense going on. The Olicity scenes don’t get the time and attention they deserve. It feels sloppy as a result.

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The two circle back to one another at the end of the episode to find some way to merge their diverting paths. This time Oliver tries the softer and gentler coffee approach. See? He’s learning!

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The last seven months has impacted each of them in permanent ways. Felicity is right. Oliver simply can’t talk her down to the old Felicity chewing the red pen.

Life changes us, but I don’t believe this is about getting the old Felicity back. Oliver’s journey was never about restoring an old version of him. It was about finding the new person, the new hero, he had become. It was about learning to balance the light and dark.

Oliver may not be able to talk Felicity into her old self, but maybe he can inspire the new hero she wants to be. Someone who has light and dark. Someone who is impacted by their trauma, but not ruled by it. Someone who makes choices not out of anger, fear or pain, but from compassion. This is the hero Felicity inspired Oliver to be. So, now it’s his time to return the favor.

I am not remotely concerned about Olicity. There is no shortage of love between these too. They didn’t spend seven months fighting to be together just to separate.

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I know they are on different paths right now, but they will find their way back to one another. This happens in marriage. Learning how to repair broken bridges is a large part of being married. My sincerest hope is they continue with Felicity’s moral crisis and keep examining the kind of hero she wants to be.

She’s going through the same trajectory Oliver went through. It’s a mini trajectory. It won’t take Felicity seven years to get there, primarily because she’s smarter than Oliver, but I do hope the writers give the character the freedom she’s earned. I certainly was patient with Oliver crossing lines, so I have to give her character the same in turn.

That said, Felicity Smoak is always a person who valued human life. So, the moments she’s not are when I am questioning her moral justifications. She admits to Oliver she would have killed Diaz and I don’t mind Oliver being shocked by her actions. Killing an unarmed man in police custody is A-typical Felicity Smoak behavior and Oliver has a right to be concerned.

What drives me nuts about this final scene is when Felicity says this:

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The idea that Felicity’s darkness is incompatible with their relationship makes me want to pull my hair out.

I realize Felicity is channeling Season 1 – Season 3 Oliver and he always used his darkness as a reason why they couldn’t be together. However, they weren’t married at the time. Yeah, that’s right kids. You signed the paperwork. You are legally required to wake up next to each other. Felicity doesn’t need to be sunshine and rainbows all the time for their marriage to function. It’s okay if Felicity gets lost. Oliver needs to put on his big boy pants anyways. This gives him a perfect opportunity to do so.

The line doesn’t even really make all that much sense given the context of their conversation.

To be honest, it feels like the toss away divorce line. NO I AM NOT SAYING THEY ARE NOT GETTING A DIVORCE. In fact, that’s why I’m annoyed with the line because I know they aren’t getting a divorce. Arrow isn’t even considering divorcing Olicity. It’s just relying on a tired, old television trope to bring viewers back after winter hiatus. “Oh no! I better tune in January to see if Oliver and Felicity get a divorce!” This is spectacularly lazy writing.

If Arrow is incapable of drumming up drama in Olicity’s marriage without threatening divorce every time there’s a bump in the road then they are just crappy writers. Plain and simple. Dig deeper, Arrow. There’s plenty to mine in Olicity’s relationship without fake threats of legal proceedings.

I’m not ending on cranky though because I found some additional hope, should you need it, in the flash forwards. Yes I found hope in the flash forwards. It’s a friggin miracle.

Dinah shows William a tattoo on her wrist.

Source: mei-pellegrino

It’s called the Mark of Four and is something Oliver came up with. It represents the four pillars of heroism: courage, compassion, selflessness, and loyalty. It’s the reason Roy came back to Star City with William.

Dinah: We all got them as a reminder that no matter what happened if one of us was in trouble the other ones would be there.

The tattoo is shaped like a compass. Three of the marks have arrows as end points, but the one at the top faces north with a star end point. Oliver’s legacy, the kind of hero he inspires, is one who embraces courage, compassion, selflessness and loyalty. If they follow the four pillars like the North Star then they’ll never become lost in the dark. Everyone on the team has the tattoo. Everyone decided this was the kind of hero they wanted to be.

We can look at symbolism multiple ways to find more than one meaning, which is the fun. This tattoo also tells us everything we need to know about Felicity’s trajectory. Dinah began at the star when she listed the four pillars. She started with courage. Courage is the North Star and Oliver always says Felicity Smoak is the strongest person he knows.

Her strength has never been physical to Oliver Queen. She may not be able to take down Ra’s Al Ghul in a sword fight, but Oliver believes Felicity is stronger than him. Why? Felicity embraces her humanity even when the world has given her every reason to shut off her heart. For Oliver Queen, this is the most courageous thing a person can do. This is why she has always pointed the way for him.

We know Felicity has the Mark of Four tattoo because she inspired it. Courage, compassion, selflessness and loyalty are the very best parts of Oliver Queen. The Green Arrow encapsulates the four pillars because of the light Felicity harnessed in Oliver. When Oliver became lost in the dark he looked to Felicity for his way out. She was the North Star for Oliver, so he could become the North Star for everyone else.

Felicity is on the same path. She is not only Oliver’s great love, but his equal in every way. They are becoming full realized superheroes together. Oliver will remind Felicity her humanity is the very best part of her. We all become lost in the dark at some point, but Felicity will find her way again. She simply needs to find the North Star inside herself again. Felicity inspired the four pillars because she is the four pillars. The Mark of Four is the kind of hero Felicity will become because it’s the hero she’s always been.

Flash Forwards

Maya is Blackstar. (Waves excitedly at Katherine McNamara).

Source: Source:veronica-lodge

Well done fandom.

However, William, Dinah and Zoe don't know who Blackstar is.

Does this mean she is not Olicity’s daughter and William’s sister? No. I still believe she is for reasons I’ll get into in a minute. I genuinely wasn’t expecting any kind of confirmation from William or even a hint she may be his sister because it blows the lid off Beth’s big surprise. If Felicity is pregnant at the end of the season then it’s Arrow’s big May sweeps shocker.

So, they aren’t going to confirm anything in the mid season finale. In fact, the smart thing to do is to cast a lot of doubt she has any connection to William.

However, there are signs she does. Arrow made a really big show of Oliver drinking scotch this week. Max Fuller breaks out an expensive bottle and Oliver sits down for a drink.

Source: whoeveryoulovethemost

Oliver ordered scotch on his first date with Felicity.

It was his drink of choice while drowning his sorrows in the Arrow bunker in 5x19

Scotch is Oliver’s drink.

He only switches to vodka when he’s drinking with Diggle.

William asks for Blackstars’ help at the bar while she’s drinking, you got it, scotch.

Source: veronica-lodge

She’s cage fighting in Max Fuller’s old club. It doesn’t hurt Katherine McNamara tweeted about the booze.

What’s the reason for making such a big deal out of such a small detail?

The second big hint Blackstar is Oliver Queen’s daughter is her fighting style.

Source: veronica-lodge

The cage fight is very similar to the Oliver’s fights we’ve seen this season. She’s obviously been trained by Oliver Queen or at least by someone who knows Oliver Queen. Not to mention her whole attitude and vibe felt very Oliver Queen.

Source: veronica-lodge

Why does it matter if she is similar to Oliver Queen? Well, Arrow has spent a lot of time showing how similar William is to Felicity. Their connection may not be biological, but it is familial.

I think they are doing the same thing with Blackstar only she is her father’s daughter.

There are still more clues:

She has a Queen Bee tattoo on her back shoulder – the same place Oliver once had his tattoo.

Her code name Blackstar could be a reference to the Mark of Four. As I explained earlier, the first pillar has a black star as an endpoint and it faces north. Blackstar seems to be a particularly on the nose code name for someone who doesn’t have any relationship to Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak, the people who inspired the Mark of Four.

The camera transitioned from the Olicity love scene directly to William looking for Blackstar during her cage fight. These transitions are extremely important to pay attention to because they connect the dots.

Blackstar is protective of Felicity Smoak as well. At first, she pretends not to know her, but when William informs Blackstar Felicity is dead she immediately looks upset.

Source: veronica-lodge

Blackstar confirms she worked as a broker for Felicity to obtain trigger mechanisms for a bomb. But her warnings sound more like a threat.

Source: dctvladies

Sort of like, “I’ll slit your throat if you mess with my Mama.”

Did you notice how quickly Blackstar changed the subject when William said she has a lot in common with Felicity? Maybe they are not only working together, but are mother and daughter.

Finally, the characters went to great pains to avoid calling Blackstar by her real name or even asking what it is. She didn’t even use the name Maya, which I still maintain is an Arrow code name to avoid spoiling the surprise. There’s something about Blackstar’s name which gives away her identity. Could her name be Moira? Methinks yes.

Could Blackstar be Arrow’s version of Mia Dearden, Oliver Queen’s ward? No, I don’t think so. Marc Guggenheim said many times in early interviews Thea Queen was Arrow’s version of Mia Dearden. Thea’s middle name is Dearden and she used the code name Mia Dearden while living in Corto Maltese with Malcolm Merlyn.

Technically, Roy was Oliver’s ward. Roy was essentially homeless and Oliver took him in. It is Roy who ultimately inspired Thea’s superhero identity – Speedy. Mia Dearden is Speedy in the comics. There are too many Mia Dearden threads in Thea’s character. They’ve already been there and done that.

Is it possible they are repeating the character because Thea is off the show? No, because they already have replacement sister waiting in the wings with Emiko Queen. If there’s a character who is trying to fill Thea’s role on the show then it’s Emiko, not Blackstar.

Source: arrowdaily

Stephen welcomed Katherine McNamara to the show by tweeting, “Welcome to the family.” This is also what he tweeted to Sea Shimooka and Ben Lewis when they joined the show and they are playing Oliver’s blood relatives.

“But Jen these are such minuscule details! They don’t meaning anything!” We’ll have to agree to disagree these subtle not so subtle hints don’t mean anything. I think they do. This is how it starts. We often have very little evidence of the direction Arrow is going in the beginning of these mysteries/surprises.

The bouquet was the first hint for the wedding.

In the beginning of Season 4, we had very little hints as to who was in the grave. K*tie C*ssidy’s lack of storyline discussion at SDCC was honestly the biggest clue.

These minuscule clues Arrow offers via symbolism or imagery are often all we have to go on.

As the season progresses there will be more clues. Once the big surprise is revealed everyone will look back at the earlier scenes and realize the signs were there all along. So, yeah I’m going all in on scotch.

If Blackstar is William’s sister then it’s heartbreaking to realize he doesn’t know or recognize her. This means William has been separated from his family for much longer than we thought.

If Olicity gets pregnant this year, then William will be at least 12 years older than his sibling. He’ll be leaving for college in about six years. Maybe whatever happens to break the family apart happens after William leaves home. It is possible he wouldn’t recognize his sister if the last time he saw her was around age 5 or 6. Or maybe William doesn’t recognize his sister because he believes she’s dead.

There are tons of plot holes right now because we don’t have all the information. However, there are many plausible explanations for William and Blackstars’ separation. It echoes Oliver and Thea’s separation in the beginning of the series only on a much larger scale. If Arrow’s goal is to expand the show, and William and Blackstar are brother and sister, then this gives the writers tons of story potential to build the relationship going forward.

So, either Felicity or Oliver don’t have any more children other than William, which makes me sad or William has been separated from his family even longer than we anticipated. This also makes me sad. Neither option is great. Fingers crossed William is just pretending not to know Blackstar to keep her cover (but I doubt it).

The essential problem with the flash forwards is there’s just bad news on top of bad new week after week. I know Arrow is a dark show and I like that it is because it means there are consequences. However, Arrow isn’t only dark. There’s a lot of hope too.

Unfortunately, we aren’t getting a lot of hope in the flash forwards and it’s casting a shadow over any happiness in present day. This is why we’re not supposed to know the future. Not that there’s much happiness in present day because the writers are trying so hard to sell Felicity is becoming evil. I know the flash backs were dark too, but the present day scenes countered it because we knew Oliver was moving towards a happier place, even when things weren’t going well. Unfortunately, we don’t have that balance this season.

It’s making me very concerned about a tone shift. I know I said the minute the flash backs were introduced the writers expanded the story and they needed a Lian Yu level event to kick it off. However, I understand the frustration and sadness. Oliver either never saves the city or his happy life with Felicity is destroyed in a relatively short amount of time. It’s difficult to get hammered with despair on top of despair every week. Oliver needs a win at some point.

Stray Thoughts

Emiko Queen is the new Green Arrow. Oliver has another sister. We been knew.

Oliver is now a Green Arrow consultant for the Star City police department. He’s a legal vigilante. Uhhh... okay?

Dinah has her own Canary network and Blackstar hates vigilantes. So who are the good guys and who are the bad guys?

Diggle and Lyla are the stupidest to ever stupid by going to Diaz for help. They could have talked to Oliver and Felicity about it beforehand, but noooo. Can the whole “Diggle only gives a crap about himself” storyline end now?

I’m extremely irritated Diaz is back on my television screen, but if Arrow kills Curtis that’ll make it up to me.

I wrote a scene in The Gift where Oliver helps Felicity by zipping her dress down, so dreams come true.

Seriously Oliver you’ve been in prison. We couldn’t break William out of boarding school for a long weekend?

I love crab cakes.

Isn’t Max Fuller a character on Fuller House? Hahaha. That’s funny to me.

I like WASP-y sweater Oliver. Feels very S1. We could throw in a leather jacket again though.

“We didn’t get this treatment when we put Diaz behind bars.” Rene, you’ve been released from time out on account of good behavior, but if you keep saying narcissistic and arrogant crap like this I’m going to throw you back with Dinah, Curtis and Diggle.

“If anyone in here actually gave a crap they’d use that money to help people in hard up neighborhoods who end up in the system because they don’t have anything else.” This sounds very similar to the anger rumbling around The Glades in the city hall meeting. It also sounds very similar to the “Defend the Glades ” attitude in the flash forwards. Calling it now. Given Dinah’s remark about running for office, Rene is the mayor of Star City in the future. Yeesh.

I looooved Bl*ck S*ren’s sparkly jacket and wanted to purchase it for myself, but it was $1700 on sale. I think not.

Oliver catching the arrow with his bare hand was sweet. And hot.

Curtis had one line. This is the way it should always be.

Stop wasting my time with all the Newbie crap. I swear, this show is tone deaf to what an audience is interested in. I also need about 50% less Dinah.

Arrow took 2 ½ minutes to replay the same crossover set up scene they showed on Supergirl the night before. There could have easily included this scene once at the beginning of the crossover during the, “Previously on Arrow/Supergirl and The Flash.” There’s no reason to cut into my show and steal minutes which could have been used for sex.

Disclaimer: Any gifs on the blog are not mine. If you would like a gif removed from my reviews, please message me. 7x08 gifs credited.

If you’d like to support the blog, please buy me a cup of tea!

#arrow #arrow 7x08 #olicity #oliver and felicity #arrow reviews #arrow season 7 #oliver queen #felicity smoak #mia smoak #arrow review #arrow spoilers #season 7 episode review #season 7 episode reviews #arrow season 7 reviews #maya queen #william clayton #queen family

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sports-sanders-sides · 5 years

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Hello all! I need some assistance!

Many of you are probably wondering what’s taking so long for me to put out the first chapter. Well, it’s because Patton makes an appearance in the first chapter and as you may remember, I made Patton Native American and Irish. I’ve stated that Patton stays true to his Native American culture in dress and actions and such, but here’s the thing. I know absolutely nothing about Native American culture and online sources aren’t helping. Can someone (preferably someone Native American for primary experience/resources) maybe message me or reply to this post and tell me important things to include when writing a Native American character? I want to honor the culture and practices correctly and not fall into stereotypes.

@ascreamingstrawberry @simplesuccessions-is-very-dead@patchworkofstars s @abrownswann @chaoticcharm-stone-posts @emo-sanders-sides-loving-unicorn @starryfirefliesbloggo @thefallendog @ultimate-queen-of-fandoms2 @silly-aesthetic-me @accidental-sanders @ninjago2020 @yeet-ya-chickenstrips @vampiregeek2002 @hissesssss @moonstonefox12 @book-of-charlie @shanisaur @randomfanderfriend @thatonetuesdaywhensam-deactivat @saltlouie @i-sold-my-soul-to-thefandom @sunshine-in-a-petal @spacenerrrd @demonalisa2004 @moxietytrash @tinysidestrashcaptain @rangercorpses @pattonly-anxious @ren-allen n @kanejandkruge

If you don’t know how to help please reblog and get this around!

#native american #damien is deceit #damien sanders #deceit sanders #emile pecani #emile picani #high school au #my au #patton sanders #remy sanders #roman sanders #virgil sanders #logan sanders #advice #writing help

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ao3feed-brucewayne · 1 year

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Stormwatch

by Lumina_Allen

Era para ser um evento comemorativo mas se tornou uma preocupação quando sai uma garotinha em um portal quase a beira da morte com uma pedra verde em seu abdomen.

Todos sabiam o que era aquela pedra mas havia a pergunta que restava uma pulga na cabeça.

Quem é essa garota e o que aconteceu com ela?

Words: , Chapters: 0/20, Language: Português brasileiro

Series: Part 1 of The Childrens Future

Fandoms: DCeased (DC Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Superman - All Media Types, Justice League - All Media Types

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death

Categories: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi

Characters: Original Child(ren) of Joker (DCU) and Harleen Quinzel, J'onn J'onzz, Hawkgirl (DCU), Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, Diana (Wonder Woman), Arthur Curry (DCU), Barry Allen, Hal Jordan (Green Lantern), Oliver Queen, Dinah Lance, Vic Sage, Helena Bertinelli, Lex Luthor, Victor Stone

Relationships: Clark Kent & Bruce Wayne, Barry Allen/Hal Jordan (Green Lantern), Arthur Curry & Diana (Wonder Woman), Arthur Curry/Mera (DCU), Jinx/Victor Stone, Pamela Isley & Harleen Quinzel

Additional Tags: Past Joker (DCU)/Harleen Quinzel, Past Clark Kent/Lois Lane, Minor Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne, Past Selina Kyle/Bruce Wayne, Past Diana (Wonder Woman)/Steve Trevor, Minor Arthur Curry/Mera (DCU), Mentioned Carol Ferris, Past Barry Allen/Iris West, Past Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak

source https://archiveofourown.org/works/45129994

#IFTTT #bruce wayne #batman #the dark knight #the cape crusader #gotham #dc universe #ao3 #ao3feed

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sanderssidecanons · 6 years

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Sanders incorrect quotes!

Virgil: I’m darling.

Logan: What?

Virgil: I have no idea where that came from.

Logan: I mean, I don’t disagree with you.

Virgil: I disagree with me. That's sleepy me. Sleepy me doesn't know what he’s talking about.

Logan: No, sleepy you is a genius.

Virgil: Falsehood.

Logan: I FALSEHOOD your falsehood.

Virgil: I falsehood your falsehood to my original falsehood.

Logan: I falsehood your falsehoods falsehood that falsehooded my falsehood with my own falsehood.

#source: me #im logan #source: ren-allen #they are virgil #sanders sides #thomas sanders #virgil sanders #logan sanders #analogical #ish #sanders sidecanons #we both lost track after that

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today-only-happens-once · 6 years

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Break

Title: Break

Summary: Logan, a high school science teacher, gets a text from his high school-counselor husband on his day off. Active shooter. I love you so much, Logan. Human AU. Logicality, Familial LAMP.

Warnings: Active shooter situation observed from the outside, death mention, angst, crying, cursing, violence.

A/N: Because I’m tired and angry and scared. They say write what scares you? Here you go. I needed to put my thoughts and emotions somewhere, and this is what happened. Don’t feel obligated to read it, please. I know many of you are probably exhausted from this subject matter, and that’s more than okay. But I sat down to write it and I got emotional over the subject matter while writing and it’s almost 3k words so just…. I thought maybe it’d be worth putting up on here? I dunno.

I wrote this all in one sitting... It’s mostly a vent fic, if I’m going to be very honest with you all. Just... sorry, I guess....

Tags: @helloisthisusernametaken, @ren-allen, @lizaelsparrow, @princelogical, @random-pianist, @erlenmeyertrash, @milomeepit, @at-least-seven-pretty-potatoes, @rileyfirstname, @pinkeasteregg, @sassy-in-glasses, @vigilantvirgil, @generalfandomfabulousness, @lacrimosathedark, @monikastec, @heir-of-the-founders, @yourworstnightmare999, @artistictaurean, @kanejandkruge, @cdragontogacotar, @candiukas, @damienswifeolicitydallysgirl

Logan is standing in the kitchen when he gets the text.

His phone buzzes on the corner of the table and he sees the ID as Patton’s name. He sets the mug of coffee down on the countertop beside him with a quiet click as he reaches for the phone.

It wasn’t entirely unusual that his husband would text him randomly throughout the day. The contents of such texts varied: sometimes they were reminders about eating and sleeping, sometimes they were quick affirmations, sometimes they were dog pictures or random science jokes that Patton thought Logan would appreciate. And he always did, the corner of his lips curling in a smile when he’d quickly check his phone between classes. Every once in a while, Patton would send him an “I miss you” and Logan would affectionately roll his eyes and reply, “you realize my classroom is right down the hall from your office?”

Logan, however, had taken the day off. He had been at a conference for K-12 STEM educators and had got the red-eye flight back. He hated not being in school, but he couldn’t stress the importance of physical and mental health to his students and not lead by example. Besides, he had never taken a day off before in his life until now.

Logan quickly swipes in the code to open the phone and pulls up messages. He stares at the message even as his stomach drops.

P: Active shooter. I love you so much, Logan.

Logan’s jaw jumps before he types out a reply. Stay calm. RHF. He pauses and swallows hard. I love you too.

He grabs his keys and tears out of the house so fast he almost forgets to put on shoes.

…

He speeds the entire way. He very nearly runs a red light, slamming hard on the brakes at the last second. His hands are wrapped around the steering wheel in a white-knuckled grip. The radio is turned to the news. He can’t bear to listen to it. He can’t bear not to.

Why did he have to have taken today, of all damn days, off?

Logan can’t help the tightness in his stomach. The faint feeling that he might throw up. That same feeling making him slam a hand against the steering wheel. He checks his phone. Nothing.

The light turns green.

Logan’s fingers twitch as he hits the gas again. He thinks of Virgil—his son, in his junior year at the high school. He wonders if he should text him. A second later, Logan shakes his head quickly. Texting him could put him in danger. The alert, if not silenced, could give away his location. Did Virgil make it out? Did Patton?

Why had none of them texted him yet? Logan glances at the clock on the dashboard. He had received Patton’s initial text three minutes ago.

Had it only been three minutes?

Logan drives in a distant haze. He parks on a street in the neighborhood surrounding the school. He’s barely slammed the gear shift into park and yanked his keys out of the ignition before he’s out of the car and running towards the school. He can see police cars lining the streets, areas roped off.

“Mr. Sanders!” The sound of his name grabs his attention. Logan stumbles to a halt, looking around for the source of it.

He sees her a second later. Valerie. Senior. She was in your AP Chemistry class last year, Logan reminds himself. She had always been one of the sweetest, smartest, and hardest working kids he’d ever had the pleasure of working with. She’s sprinting towards him, her cheeks streaked with dark mascara. Her eyes are wide in terror, red from tears. Logan catches her by the arms as she sags with a sob.

“Valerie,” Logan says. “Valerie, look at me.”

She hiccups and blinks hard. Logan can feel her shaking. “Mr. Sanders,” she says, taking in a few breaths. Logan can feel his heart in his throat. “Have you seen my mom? I need—I...”

Logan takes in a breath of his own, closing his eyes for just a moment. Pull it together, he tells himself. These kids need you. He doesn’t know if Virgil has made it out of the school yet. He doesn’t know about Patton. But he cant stand here and do nothing but worry. Not when these kids—these children—need him.

“I haven’t seen her,” Logan answers her. “Did you call her?”

Valerie nods. “Y-yeah. I—yeah.”

Suddenly, a soft feminine voice interrupts them from behind. “Valerie?”

Logan hears Valerie gasp. “Mom?”

The teacher releases a faint breath and lets go of the girl in front of him. “Oh, mi amor, I’m so happy you’re safe,” her mother says through tears, wrapping her daughter up in her arms. She locks eyes with Logan for a brief moment. Thank you, she mouths. Logan can’t manage a smile, even a polite one, but he nods.

Part of the job, he thinks, and realizes with a faintly nauseous feeling in his stomach how messed up it was that it was true.

“Valerie,” Logan says, his voice tight, “did… did you, by any chance, see Virgil? Or my husband?”

Valerie shakes her head, brushing at her eyes again. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Sanders. I just… I just ran. I don’t remember seeing either of them.”

Logan swallows thickly but waves a hand. “Don’t apologize. Please. Your safety should absolutely have been your number one concern. You did the right thing.”

“I’m sure they’re okay, though,” Valerie says as Logan starts to walk away.

Perhaps it is rude of him, but Logan keeps walking. Every part of him wants to believe her with a desperation that scares him. Logan feels his eyes burn and he picks up his pace as he walks closer to the school.

He checks his phone. Nothing.

…

The police stop him before he gets much closer. Logan wants to yell at them. He doesn’t. They’re just doing their job, he reminds himself.

It’s just… his entire life is inside that building.

He thinks of Patton’s bright smile through the video camera the night before when they’d FaceTimed while Logan was in the airport. He thinks of the warm giggle he’d let out when he’d made an airplane pun and Logan had groaned and bit back a smile. He thinks about how Patton had made him biscuits and bought a new jar of Crofters for when he returned from his red-eye with a small note reminding him to sleep today.

Logan twists his wedding band around his finger and wonders if he’ll ever sleep again.

He thinks about Virgil, too. How much better their house and family was once they’d adopted him. Virgil meant the world to him. He thought about Virgil’s witty, snarky quips. He thought of that faint smile he’d let out once in a while that showed he felt loved and safe and accepted. He thinks about all the times he’d helped Virgil through a panic attack. Virgil was the bravest, most wonderful kid Logan had ever met. Adopting him had been the best decision of his life.

Losing either one of them would be to lose everything.

“Logan?”

The voice startles him out of his thoughts. Logan stops twisting his ring around his finger and tears his gaze away from the swarm of police cars in the distance to look at the man beside him. A colleague, this time.

“Emile.” Dr. Picani. Another school counselor alongside his husband. Logan’s left thumb brushes the smooth metal of his ring again, fighting down the rising hope. “I’m glad to see you’re safe.”

The counselor’s eyes—usually warm and sympathetic—have something else behind them. Something darker. Guilt, maybe, and a bit of anger as well. Logan isn’t sure. Patton’s the better one at identifying emotions. “Wish I could say the same. Unfortunately, I can’t honestly say that I’m glad about much of anything right now.”

Logan shoves his hands into the pockets of his dark jeans. He understood all too well. He swallows. “I hate to ask this, Emile, but you didn’t… my husband…?” Logan hates how he can’t get the words to form.

Something softens in Picani’s expression. “I’m afraid I don’t know,” he says. “I was walking through the hallway when the first gunshot went off. Patton was already in his office. I think he was working with someone.”

Logan presses his lips together in a thin line. He doesn’t know what to say. He doesn’t trust himself to speak. He feels Emile squeeze his shoulder before he steps away.

Logan checks his phone. Nothing.

…

Logan doesn’t know how long it lasts. He wanders through the streets, running into students and faculty alike. None of them had seen Patton or Virgil. He checks Twitter for news updates.

It won’t be reliable information, he tells himself, and he knows that but at least it’s something. At least it’s something.

He helps a student (Andrew Reinfeild, Logan remembers him from CP2 Chemistry last year) find his brother in the growing crowd, swallowing the lump in his throat at the desperation of their embrace. A student—Brayden Chase, a senior that Logan was convinced hated him for getting an F last year in his Astronomy class—sobbed against his chest until his girlfriend found him. Another student (Harmony Gibbins, Logan reminds himself, an incredibly bright freshman that was on the robotics team) stared numbly at the school until Logan approached her and said her name, told her that she was safe now. She burst into tears.

Logan waits with her until her friend appears and then he quietly dissolves back into the crowd. He keeps looking for son. He keeps looking for his husband. He feels like he’s moving in slow-motion.

He’s never felt so damn helpless in his life.

He listens to the murmurs and rumors in the crowd. One person says they heard four gunshots. Another says seven. A girl sobs that she heard there were casualties. The local news tweets out that there have been no confirmed deaths.

A student still in the building tweets a love note to her dad and her baby sister.

Logan checks his phone. Nothing.

…

“Suspect is in custody,” the police officer is saying with a bullhorn to the crowd that had been collecting in the streets of the neighborhood, far enough away that they could barely see the school. “I repeat, we have the shooter in custody. We are evacuating the rest of the building right now. Please be patient and calm—“

Logan is stiff and tense. He feels a bitter taste flood his mouth at the words.

“—as we continue to investigate.”

Someone shouts over the crowd as the officer starts to lower the bullhorn. “How many people died?”

The crowd falls silent. Logan watches, his gaze narrowed, as the officer hesitates and glances around the crowd. Finally, he turns the bullhorn back on and says quickly, “We are still evacuating the building.”

Logan pales. He can hear what the officer isn’t saying. People had died. Patton. Virgil.

“Mr. Sanders?”

Logan whirls around at the familiar voice. He stops short at the kid in front of him. “Roman.”

Roman Prince. A junior, and rising theatre star. Also Virgil’s best friend since freshman year. Logan practically considered him to be another son (only spurred further by the fact that he knew Roman’s parents were frequently absent from his life). Professionalism be damned, Logan says to himself. He shouldn’t, and it’s not like him, but his nerves are frayed. So he grabs Roman and pulls him in. The teen doesn’t need much encouragement before he’s hugging Logan back fiercely.

A moment later, Logan can feel his shirt by his shoulder getting damp and he realizes Roman is shaking like a leaf. The science teacher just runs a hand up and down his back slowly a few times. He doesn’t know what to say. In the corner of his eye, he sees a news camera pointed at the interaction and a part of him wants to march over and break it in half.

Roman pulls back and Logan relaxes his grip. The teen sniffles and wipes quickly at his eyes. “Have you heard from Virge?” he asks hopefully, and Logan’s heart somehow sinks even further. He’d been about to ask the same question.

Quietly, Logan shakes his head. “I’m afraid not.” And he is. He is so afraid.

“What about Mister Mr. Sanders?” Roman asks, the rawness in his voice overshadowing the lame attempt at humor. Roman had always referred to Patton as “Mister Mr. Sanders”. Usually, it made Logan smirk.

But all he can think about is Patton’s bright laugh when he’d hear Roman call him that the first time. Virgil’s eye roll and quiet snort of amusement. Wordlessly, Logan shakes his head again.

Roman frowns. “Mr. Sanders, you don’t look so good. Maybe you should sit down.”

“I’m fine,” he says hollowly.

“Pardon the language, but that’s bullshit,” Roman says. “Nothing is fine. Least of all us.”

The teacher doesn’t argue with that.

Logan checks his phone. Nothing.

…

The minutes—the hours? Logan can’t keep track—tick by. Logan does, eventually, sit down on the grass. He puts his head in his hands. Roman sits beside him and, for perhaps the first time since Logan met him three years ago, is silent.

At some point, the officer announces that they’ve cleared the building. He sends a text to both Patton and Virgil the second he says it. Where are you?

The death count is somewhere in the double-digits. Logan only half-listens. Every time the screen on his phone dims out, he presses the button to light it up again. After a while, Roman quietly takes his phone and makes an adjustment in settings so that it won’t go to sleep. The teen’s own phone sits in front of him. Every time it lights up with a message, Logan glances at the ID to see if it might be Virgil.

It never is.

People around him are sobbing. Others are silent.

Logan can’t feel anything except an overwhelming, aching emptiness. The crowd grows thinner as parents arrive to take their shaken, terrified children home. Every reunion twists a sharp, hot pain in Logan’s chest as he thinks of Virgil.

“C’mon you two,” says a voice behind him. Logan lifts his head out of his hands. It’s Dr. Picani. “Let me drive ya home.”

“You don’t have to do that, Emile,” Logan says, his voice distant. “I can take Roman home.”

“Nonsense,” Emile replies firmly. “I’m not letting you drive in the state you’re in, Logan.”

Logan doesn’t have it in him to argue. He doesn’t have it in him to do anything. Numbly, he nods and stands up, motioning for Roman to do the same.

“Hey,” Dr. Picani says softly to him after a moment. “Don’t give up hope. They evacuated people in all directions. And they might’ve gotten out earlier. They’ll call.”

Logan checks his phone. Nothing.

…

The ride is silent. Roman mutters an empty thanks when he’s dropped off. Logan snaps out of his haze long enough to make Roman promise that if he needs someone, he’ll reach out. You have my number, Logan reminds him. Roman just nods and slams the door closed.

When they get to Logan’s house, the high school science teacher stares at the drive way. His eyes burn. Part of him feels, not for the first time today, like he might be sick. Because there in the drive way is Patton’s car. Logan blinks hard a few times, and he expects it to disappear. His mind is playing tricks on him.

But the car stays there in the driveway. Logan’s hands are shaking. Dr. Picani gives a soft, relieved smile. “Well look at that.”

Logan is still staring at it.

Emile chuckles. “Logan, you can gape at the car all you want but you should probably go inside. I have a feeling there’s someone there who wants to see you.”

His edges of his vision blur and he blinks again, shaking his head. “Y-yes. Yes, of course.”

He fumbles with the seat belt and practically falls out of the car. He breaks into a run for the front door, trying the handle and cursing under his breath when he finds it locked. Logan pats his pockets for his keys, digging them out of his front left pocket. He drops them in the process and curses again.

When he finally gets the door open, he calls out tentatively. “Patton?”

The first person he sees isn’t Patton. A young, familiar face stands in the entryway to the kitchen in that signature black and purple hoodie. The hood is pulled up over his long bangs but his eyes are wide and familiar beneath them. A second later, a flop of brown hair, thick black glasses, and a bright blue polo appears behind him.

“Dad?” Virgil asks at the same time Patton says, “Logan, honey…”

Logan breaks.

…

#sanders sides #sanders sides fanfiction #logicality #familial lamp/calm #active shooter #tw active shooter #tw death mention #tw violence #vent fic

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