earth-to-jess

[zukkaoru]

i wanna hear more about yosano x agatha. im a bit curious

OKAY. SO. i actually don't have many thoughts tbh bc we don't exactly. know much about agatha yet. but i imagine she ends up in yokohama on business for one reason or another and yosano bumps into her and is like omg pretty woman 😳 and starts kinda flirting just for the fun of it. and agatha doesn't flirt back exactly, but she's definitely into it ykwim so they exchange numbers or w/e and they keep in touch and the ada all get to tease yosano about her crush. but also this "crush" is the literal leader of what is probably europe's most powerful gifted group. bsd wiki says the top order members can take out entire organizations in one night + agatha's ability is called and then there were none so it is safe to say she must be pretty powerful. and i think she should have a soft spot for yosano❤️ i think she should be a scary dangerous powerful ability user who gets a text from yosano and starts smiling and blushing at her phone. and i think yosano should play all smug and confident until agatha starts actively flirting back and then suddenly yosano is flustered too

also i think it's funny if the ada has romantic ties to yet another (rival) organization. and yosano and ranpo get to be the Different ones who aren't dating someone from the mafia

[athena-xox]

All the known cards from the deck of instructions the Queen of Hearts gave Lizzie. 30/52

Worms speak, indeed they do,

but not to such as me and you.

All they ever say is “mud mud food,” so you need not listen good. Practice Not Listening to worms today. And by worms, I mean people.

Never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever admit there’s something you don’t know. Because you know everything.

You may have just forgotten

a piece of the everything. Also, don’t tell anyone you forgot.

A queen stands and shouts in hollow rooms when feeling faint,

for she is her own echo.

She is the thing that stands between

the been and the seen,

and pushes either side wide.

A queen stands for herself,

and by herself, and on her legs.

For legs are what make her stand.

But not four legs. Or forelegs.

She also stands for land. Her land. Wonderland. Without land, one wonders where one would stand. Especially queens.

In summary: Push. Shout. Stand. Be a queen.

It is better to be gloved than bearded, and better to be fearded than loved.

When in doubt, shout!

If you want something done right, you must do it yourself.

So make sure you personally order servants all by yourself to do what you want done.

A ship is only as floaty as its leakiest timber, and friends are the leakiest timber of all. Sail not on the Friend Ship, Lizzie,

lest you drown in an ocean of tears!

Already Been Chewed food (hereafter referred to as ABC food) can appear appetizing, but not for such as you. Eat no ABC food today.

Frogs are mostly faces. Notice a frog today and make a face.

ON WITH ITS HEAD!

:) JK. Behead something today!

Rugs are the unnatural spawn of Rabbits and Hugs. Beware rugs. (Could also be Rubber and Bugs. In any case, BEWARE RUGS!)

Worms NEED things. But a princess such as you ORDERS things. Today, put your things in order by ordering things to be what they are. And then, for fun, order them to be what they are not

Whether up or down, inside or out, it is yours. Own the down. Own the up.

A queen worrying about others is like a baker worried he’s making too many muffins.

As if there could be such a thing as

Too Many Muffins. Ha! WORRY NOT! AND EAT MORE MUFFINS!

Above all else, avoid these things: vats of poison, Jabberwocks, paper cuts on fingertips,

and Concern For Others.

If ever you detect Concern For Others squirming into you,

shout at people till the feeling goes away.

Or the people do.

Things are never lost to you; you are lost to them. If ever in need of a Thing that has lost you, simply stop hiding from it.

Beware Empathy! Empathy forces you to Understand how others are feeling and to Care! Danger! Danger!

Friends are one R away from fiends. Avoid friends at all costs!

Also anyone to whom the R does not come naturally (pirates are okay).

(A Wonderlandiful World)

Rule my way.

I’ll be watching.

(Lizzie Shuffles the Deck)

Everything has a place and should be put in it. That will be your job, since people, things, and in-betweens tend to forget their place.

Secrets are secrets and cannot be told. If anyone tells you a secret, they are lying. If anyone tells you a lie, they might be secreting. In either case, step away. Lies and secretions are to be avoided.

To succeed in life as a queen and princess, you need four things in your brain and two in your pocket. The pocket things are solid, and the brain things are not. Be sure not to mix them up.

Puddles are the thing you think is the thing, but is really the top of the thing, and the bottom makes you drown.

Hair hides skin, but hide can also be skin, especially if you have four legs. Count your legs and comb your hair.

Depending on where you live, a boot can be a foot case, a trunk case, or a preposition. Be sure you know where you are before getting dressed. When in doubt, go barefoot.

Never believe a lie. Unless it’s the truth—then go right ahead.

Fish love to be confused. Tell a fish a riddle today that has no answer.

Clouds are well and fine up in the sky, but never let one into your mind. Not even if it says “Please.”

Tomatoes are sneaky. They love to trick you into believing they are strawberries or cherries or apples. Before taking a bite, point at the thing and declare, “You are a tomato!” That’ll show ’em!

Yelling “Off with your head!” is a lot more fun than actually following through. Invest time in more pleasant pursuits, like croquet and competitive eating.

(Once Upon a Time)

If you want similar content links to the books, eah slang dictionary and more is here.

[justhere4thevibez]

annual writing self-evaluation

thank you @pipergirl17 and @erythromanc3r for tagging me!

1. List of works published this year (in no particular order):

oh gosh, I've been busy-busy this year with fanfic, so here goes!

Complete works:

... And a Hellcheer New Year 

Galentines and Valentines

Hold Onto Me

Devil in the Woods

Every Time I Run, I Run to You

Eddie and Chrissy Go to a Wedding 

Knocking Me Out With Those American Thighs

Cooking Up Something Sweet

Please Don't Say You Love Me

Let Me Start Over Again

You Got Me Good

Be My Breath (Through the Deep, Deep Water)

This Old Man

Do You Wanna Touch Me

My Words Will Be Your Light

She'll See I'm Not So Tough 

She Knows What She Wants

Give Me a Taste

The Right Kind of Sinner

Release My Inner Fantasy

Hooked on a Feeling

Whiskey & Wine

The Graveyard Smash

Long Is the Road Out of Hell 

In a Sentimental Mood

Set My Soul On Fire

Burnin' Out of Control

WIPs:

Looking For Something Dumb To Do

I Can't Get Rid of You 

If You Fall, I Will Catch You 

2. Work you are most proud of (and why):

hmmmmm, that's a tough one! I love them all for different reasons, but I will say I'm very proud of Long Is the Road Out of Hell because it's my longest fanfic to date (almost 60k!) and at one point I really wasn't sure if I'd be able to finish it. but I did!

3. Work you are least proud of (and why):

tbh if I'm not proud of something, I won't publish it. but I think the work that frustrated me the most was Whiskey & Wine, my kinktober fic. I pushed myself too hard with too big of a goal and burnt myself out halfway through. but I did learn the importance of setting boundaries for myself (and why I need to be careful committing to challenges 😅)

4. A favorite excerpt of your writing:

not gonna lie, once I publish something, the words tend to leave my brain, so I don't always remember what I write lol. I should probably keep a doc of good lines from my fics so I have something to present when people ask me 😂 but here are two excerpts that I'm pretty proud of.

Devil in the Woods: He had loved her since the first time he opened his eyes to find her snuggled up on his chest. He had loved her longer, since the moment he’d held her in his arms on that endlessly rainy night. And longer still, he’d loved the little girl who played jacks with him on May Day and laughed at his wild antics.

Hooked on a Feeling: He knew he could be… a lot, as kinder people said. A goddamn nuisance, according to everyone else. He didn’t mean to be, he just tended to… latch on to things. Kind of like a bulldog (but in a nice and lovable way, thank you, Jeff). And right now he had ChrissyChrissyChrissy clamped tight between his jaws, and he hoped to god she didn’t ask him to let go.

5. Share or describe a favorite comment you received:

I have a few regular commenters who give me the longest, loveliest comments where they literally analyze each chapter section by section 😭 it makes me feel so loved. but as for one individual comment, I distinctly remember a commenter from one of my early fics commenting on a really tough scene I did re: chrissy's eating disorder. they said that they also had an eating disorder, and that chapter was very healing for them. I don't think I'll ever get another comment as powerful as that.

6. A time when writing was really, really hard:

I go in and out of mild anxious/depressive episodes, mostly due to outside stressors, and that makes it really hard to write. writing is the one constant joy in my life, and when I don't even feel like doing that, I know something is very, very wrong. but luckily, they don't usually last too long!

7. A scene or character that you wrote that surprised you:

mike's redemption arc in Long Is the Road! that one was a total curveball to me, and it only came about because it was the closest place I could think of to have Chrissy walk to after her mom kicked her out. total accident, but it spawned on of my favorite sibling-ships for chrissy that I've ever written!

also writing wayne's pov! i never intended to do that, but once I started, his voice just kind of stuck in my head 😂

8. How did you grow as a writer this year:

I wrote a lot. like over 300k of fanfic. and i even got back into writing some original fiction, which I'm so excited about!

I also started writing smut for the first time in 2023, which was something I never anticipated doing, let alone enjoying! but it's been super fun

9. How do you hope to grow next year:

I'd like to work more on my original fiction, maybe get a short story published. I'd also like to get better at world-building! I tend to get so focused on the characters that I forget they exist in a place I should spend some time creating lol

10. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc):

@slumped-in-the-arms-of-fiction all the way! she's been such a wonderful beta reader, cheerleader, and overall positive influence on my writing. I Can't Get Rid of You wouldn't ever have happened without her support and feedback!

11. Anything in your real life show up in your writing this year:

ooh, buddy! pieces of myself get sprinkled all over the damn place 😂 but as for specifics...

Galentines and Valentines opening scene was reminiscent of the girls' nights me and my college friends used to have (and still have sometimes)

Hooked on a Feeling had elements of my own past experiences of being laid up in a hospital (and being very annoyed about it)

This Old Man was absolutely inspired by my love of Columbo

You Got Me Good definitely included some of my own thoughts and feelings about when I get a little too high 😂

12. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers:

give your writing time.

it's so tempting when you have a new idea to jump on it and then get frustrated when it doesn't immediately turn out the way you want, but I've found that if I give myself time to think over a piece before I write it, and let it sit for a little while after I write it, I'm much happier with the end results!

13. Any new projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year:

finishing my three WIPs! and hopefully a little christmas fic 😂 I don't have anything else immediately in the works, thank god!

14. Tag three writers/artists whose answers you’d like to read:

@1lostsoul0fishbowl @pearlypairings @rose-n-gunses and anybody else!!!

[tinyhousepanther]

Todays I-am-very-high-and-have-recently-rejoined-tumblr-because-I’ve-realized-I-need-more-social-interaction-but-tumblr-is-all-I’ve-got-the-energy-for thought is

… drum roll….

the most personal, soul exposing thing I think I could ever do, would be to let some one go through my ao3 bookmarks, even the private ones…. Like the amount of #asexual ♠️ 🐉��who kinda likes monsterfucking vibes but is also a depressed millennial who was into Harry Potter and anime and tumblr of yore. Yeesh, how cringe and vulnerable that would be.

Because I like to write when very high and used to write poetry as a moody teen. A good old internet rant into the void. This will get long and old school text formatting like the book House of Leaves is a thing I really love so weird punctuation and spacing ahead.

Also the recursive footnotes in the bartimaeus series

Also, also recently returned to tumblr… lured like a siren into this hell scape of super niche fandoms…. I blame @strange-aeons for making me nostalgic for this place.

On that note. I am actually editing this but mostly because my brain wanted to add things as I read this over for typos because cringe.

Nostalgia leads to reminiscing. I think it was @blackkatmagic who said in a note, that like some niche pairing of fandom like a ship no one asked for but one person dreamed of and a handful of other people liked, is like being in a little boat with them.

(And I had to go find that post so here it is)

And I really like that idea and I like writing stream of consciousness rants when high and also graphs, like data visualization, because I’m an engineer. So a nerd for Venn diagrams that are cool. Like can I make a web diagram bubble graph combo with bubble size for intensity of interest and lines to show how one community spawned an interest in another community? Maybe throw in a color scale for vibes? Like who are the landmarks I use to remember my internet past. Is this what mark zuckerburg is aiming to make for all of us? Can someone build this digital map of my psyche?

Let’s start listing citations to make this glorious journal paper of a post. Giving @strange-aeons or @danielhowell vibes but also @somemorenews and also @scishow and @fishingboatprocceeds energy.

This is like just feeling the need to give a good old trying to describe a very specific mood rant that live journal used to be for.….

Those vibes somehow. Also of course I listen to a lot of podcasts. Like @tanispodcast or @welcometonightvaletranscripts

Who is in this very niche intersection? How narrow of an audience am I?

Or ,

am I yearning for early days Facebook where you just liked a bunch of shitty pages that were just topics. Like quizilla was a window of my internet childhood/preteen (that’s a lie Neopets was first…….)

Which reminds me to also include @dilfosaur and @drawfee. Why do I love the sonic butthole saga so? Is Todd from Mario made manifest into the universe like a tulpa? Am I getting to last podcast on the left now? Do we need to get a net for me??? 🗑️ trap me under a wastebasket like a cat?

God I feel like I’m trying to write a phd thesis on my personality as described via citations of tumblr blogs and other early internet social media. Can I put footnotes in a tumblr post? No. Does my probably autistic ass want them so I can make a hyper detailed thing fully describes a hyper focus moment? Yes. Can I make a whole power point of just internet citations? Yes. Do I have the energy? No.

Should

Be narrating this? I wish, would be interesting if someone I’m citing replies or interacts with this.

Not to brag, but hey I actually did write a phd thesis and some one said it was good enough to give me a fancy piece of paper. I am doctor. Why am I still sad then? Oh, that’s mental illness right. Another citation for a mood elyse meyers

Is this stream of consciousness prose that I am writing while very high and curled in a blanket on my couch while having been overcome by emotion from a fanfic I was reading about a super random cross over of two media from my childhood? Then yes this is me. I am a garbage gremlin of a person who is shockingly successful in life despite my very fun depression and health issues who has way too many parasocial relationships in proportion to real world actual humans I see and interact with on a daily basis.

Is it not the human experience to try and communicate who we are to the world? The innate desire to be seen and known?

Or is that way to high brow for me just wanting to list a bunch of things I like so when I’m having a bad day I can come to this post and just be like…. Oh yeah I did like that one thing.

Like that one video by Drew/Danny/Kurtis that somehow always makes me laugh. Like that friend I had who I could also make laugh by playing the look at this graph vine? 📊. Yes like that. So this my reminder that hey stuff is good and joyful and cringe sometimes, so on the bad days go look at this stuff. I feel @danielhowell has thoughts on this.

That’s it. I should go to sleep. It’s midnight and I have work tomorrow and my cat is glaring at me because we are not snuggling yet.

P.S.

Tumblr really is just MySpace but somehow worse? Yet it’s what we have.

And really the porn had never left. What were they thinking they could do/are doing about it? Like hello tumblrlive makes this app so nsfw to scroll at work when I’ve got time to kill. But also sometimes I want to look at art someone has posted and I’ve got a notification.

[oven-thermometer]

Darksiders week Day II

Day 2: Shipping - Any rating (so long as nsfw works are tagged properly!) and any trope, so long as it involves shipping. Please note that a ship does not have to be canon (i.e. presented as a ship in the existing material) to count–in some other reality, they could have loved each other. Also, I hear human survivors have been reported by the Hellguard, so feel free to bring your OCs as well!

This is my first time writing anything with an OC, I'm happy it was Aurora because I love her so much. Also I know it's day 3 today but I didn't get to post yesterday and my work gave me the day off??? For some reason?? So I get to post today :>

What Aurora looks like and her different forms It helps to just check this post out to make the story easier to read

Warnings: blood, fighting, angst, lying, description of bad wounds, animal harm (by demons) and death.

The large golden doors swung open violently, slamming into the adjacent walls. Darkness in the hallway was chased away by the piercing light from Hell’s eternal fires raging across it’s plains. Taking her hands off from the doors, her hung head lifted up slowly. Her eyes caught the large throne situated at the end of the hallway, it’s impending presence making her swallow the invisible lump in her throat. ‘At least he’s not here.’ She thought, making her way down the dimly lit hallway, the candles burning to life as she walked past.

“Aurora.” her name was called in a monotone voice. Turning her head, she located the voice at one of the side doors next to the throne. Emerging from said door, was her mother. The woman that constructed her and made her into what she was today. She held neither malice nor love towards her. She had been made into a monster but she never knew the proper way to be treated by someone you were made by so she really had no point of reference. Coming out of her musings she walked further towards the woman. “Lilith.” she said, nodding her head in greeting.

Lilith sauntered closer, stopping in front of the taller creature. Aurora shifted her legs, waiting for her to speak. Lilith hummed and narrowed her eyes before quickly turning around. “You have a new mission. This one pertains quite importantly to the grand plan Samael and I have,” turning half her body to look over her shoulder she made clear eye contact with Aurora, “success is the only outcome that will be accepted. Are we clear?”

Lilith punctuated her last words by closing her fists, reminding Aurora of he last time she hobbled back into Samael’s castle with defeat written all over her wounded body. Shuddering slightly at the thought, she nodded. Lilith turned fully towards the throne again and stepped towards it. Picking up a small scroll of decaying paper from the stone and opening it, she spoke again, “You are to travel to Earth.”

Aurora looked up, her long ears perking up at the name, “Earth? Why there?”

Lilith slid her tail along the floor, signifying her annoyance at the question. Aurora looked back down and mumbled an apology. Lilith drew her shoulders back and closed the scroll once again, “The apocalypse will soon be triggered, Earth will become the battleground for monumental forces. You will travel there and, using your human-form, you will find the horseman that will be sent to find the cause of the trigger.”

Aurora shifted on her legs again, she hated being in her human form. It meant she had to lie. She could deal with the killing and the war but lying and infiltrating made her stomach turn. Deceit was what came with that form.

Pushing her feelings down, she held one of her hands out for the scroll Lilith was holding. Lilith left it in her outstretched hand, making her way back to the side door before adding, “You must seduce him Aurora. You’ve done this kind of thing before and I have complete faith you won’t disappoint me.”

Aurora nodded again, her eyes scanning the contents of the page for more details. “Oh and Aurora, bring him to that location before the third torch atop of this castle is blown out by the dry winds.”

Blood curdling screams replaced the quiet alleyways with sheer terror. Stepping out of the void portal Aurora took cautious steps further out of the alleyway – more screams making her turn her head towards the impeding invasion of demons from a large tear in the Earth. Large orange lava spewed from the enormous crack as demons screeched and hollered from rooftops and street lamps.

Aurora sneered from her place in the alleyway, she may be part demon but this was never who she was. Innocent humans were being torn apart right in front of her and all she could do was look on for the being she was meant to trick into her plans. She had never met any of the Nephelim, even before their demise due to four of their own. Everyone knew the story, even her. She felt sorry for the remaining four, they had been forced to murder their entire family and proceeded to work for the very beasts who bargained with their lives. Lilith also spoke of them often, cursing the four mostly. That was why Aurora was made, so that one day the spawn of angel and demon might continue.

Shaking her head, she returned to her search. Spotting another large tear and a large trail of fire and smoke further into the streets of the city she identified the crash site of the warrior. She swiftly brushed off her clothes, stopping midway as she realized she had to look dirty and beaten for him to take pity on her. Sighing, she threw her head back in sarcastic amusement.

Aurora had made her way from the alleyway towards a building used as a parking lot across the road. Smears of blood and bodily fluid littered the floor, the faint noise of muffled grunts off to one corner caught her attention. A man, a human, was being pinned to the wall as a pack of small demons overpowered him and took their opportunity to rip the scared features from his face. As the life left his eyes and his last whine of pain escaped, his head lolled forwards. Stopping in her tracks, Aurora’s face held no emotion. Seeing this as her opportunity to gain the injuries she required, she started attracting the group over from their feast. She stomped her feet and shouted at them to gain their attention. “Hey you stupid mongrels,” she put her hands on her hips and gave a low whistle, “how’s the invasion going dimwits?”

The mindless demons quirked their heads at her - they could smell that she wasn’t human, but she didn’t look supernatural. Snapping out of their daze, as if acting with a hive mind, they snarled and charged violently forwards towards her. Aurora lifted her forearms to act as guards, awaiting the attack.

Her breath felt like it was made of lead. Her arms and legs covered in bruises, welts and scratches. The vicious pain of her combined wounds made her head dizzy as she leaned against one of the concrete walls. Slouching forward she slid down slowly to sit down on the cold floor. Her mind was blank. Only focusing on keeping her healing magic at bay so as not to erase the work the now squashed demons did. As soon as she was content with how much damage they did, Aurora began her offense. Making quick work of them, she needed a moment before venturing out of the building again. She wiped the blood pooling on her chin, the viscous material flowing freely from her nose and mouth due to broken cartilage and cracked teeth.

A small scratching noise caught her attention, lifting her head she looked towards the cars sitting in their lots. It was coming from there, she was sure. It only got louder, a pitiful whining shortly accompanying it. Was it…another human? The demons would’ve killed them before though, or were they sparing them to witness the torture? If it was a person she would need to make sure they won’t get out of this alive: they could’ve seen her use her powers after all.

She stalked closer to the collection of crashed and parked cars, broken glass and more blood breaking beneath her boots. The whining and scratching continued to increase in volume, making her cock her head to the side in confusion. A thin tarp laden with dust and dirt covered the small opening between two cars that had evidently been in a bad crash. Aurora could now also hear deep and scratchy breathing – similar to her own. The whining seemed one akin to an animal, this only deepened her confusion. Lifting the tarp she readied an attack spell in her flesh hand, but what met her eyes gave her pause. A large, white hound met her vision. It’s thick fur stained with it’s own blood. It was slightly smaller than the Hell Hounds that she was used to. Awkwardly shifting again, she pulled more of the material away and threw it behind her. The dog’s labored breathing and flowing wounds made her heart ache – humans had minds, and some of them were vile beings. But, animals and beasts with no sentient choices only wanted peace. They never deserved whatever terrible treatment they got – quickly realizing Aurora made her think of her own situation, she shook her head and lowered herself to her knees. Banishing the attack spell she replaced it with her healing magic.

As she healed the creature she thought to herself, ‘Was that man your owner?’ She didn’t dwell on that thought either.

It’s breathing improved and it’s gashes closed, but it remained unconscious out of exhaustion after her magic had stopped. Sighing, Aurora questioned why she even did this. It was going to get found again. It may be almost as big as a Hell Hound, but it clearly couldn’t fight as well.

Again, another noise drew her attention away from the situation. A large crash near the entrance to the building made her quickly clamber to her feet. ‘More demons??’ she thought, exasperated. But, it was no demon. In fact, it was the one being she needed on this hellish mission.

War’s voice boomed, calling after the pathetic demons that had run from their battle. “Scum!” he shouted, “I saw you running in here with your tail between your legs, come out for a merciful decimation!” ‘Geez, he isn’t one for pleasantries, huh?’ Aurora thought to herself. Swiftly slipping into her role, she began limping her way away from the cars – although the limp wasn’t fake.

Accidentally tripping on a large piece of fallen concrete, her hands automatically came up to cushion her fall. Her metal limb creating a sharp noise against the floor caused her to cringe.

Stopping his intimidating rant, War looked over to the small human. His stony features showed no shock or confusion of any kind. Not any emotion at all. Aurora gave a small grunt, quickly getting to her knees before her eyes landed on the impressive height of War. Scrambling backwards, her face showed a feeling of utter fear. Her mouth hung open as she raised an arm in mock defense, her bionic arm. War’s eyes flashed a light of pity before turning back to their normal cloudy blue. “P-Please..Don’t - hurt me.” Aurora kept her widened eyes on him, showing nothing but the want to live another minute.

War turned fully to her form, acknowledging her wounds, her tired eyes and how she didn’t even seem to have the strength to stand. Forgetting the beasts he was chasing, he wracked his brain for what to do. He had a mission, a purpose – but this, thing, looked so helpless and in desperate need of help. Walking the short distance towards her, he took a healing potion out of his supply belt and set it down in front of her. “Use it.” Is all he said before leaving the building, and Aurora. Rearing her head back in confusion, she lowered her arm and tsked in annoyance. Grabbing the large container of green liquid, she ran as fast as her bleeding legs could take her after the Nephilim. He wasn’t going particularly fast, his normal walking pace, but to Aurora’s state it was difficult to catch up with.

“Wait!” she called out after him. War stopped and looked back at her over his shoulder. Huffing, Aurora got closer and looked up to him, “Are you just gonna leave me here?!”

It was War’s turn to be confused, not visibly though, “Excuse me?” Motioning to her wounds as she spoke, Aurora replied, “Well I am arguably not in the best of states and seeing as you obviously don’t want to kill me, could you at least escort me to a safe place?”

Aurora’s heartbeat roared in her ears, she couldn’t believe she was talking this way to a Horseman. But she needed some way of being near him. War grunted, turning his head back to look onward, “Move quickly, I will take you to the angels.”

Smiling to herself, Aurora followed closely behind as he made his way towards a horde of angels a few blocks away.

[skztalkergo]

stray kids playing among us

chan

as the impostor

the absolute Worst at being the impostor

feels too bad about killing people so instead he just calls emergency meetings and lies to try and save himself

except he’s also a terrible liar so he immediately gets voted out

as a crewmate

having the time of his life

hasn’t quite figured out how to do the tasks but he’s getting there

minho and jisung think it’s funny to hunt him down so he’s usually the first one dead if either of them are up as impostor

minho

as the impostor

in talks for a lifetime ban from skz among us game nights because he’s just a little too good

no one can tell when he’s lying

seriously no one

he’s also scarily effective at killing people - sometimes he can run around and k/o almost everyone before a single body is reported

as a crewmate

doesn’t take his crewmate position half as seriously as he takes his impostor position

likes to call emergency meetings and then say “i just missed everyone”

doesn’t do his tasks in favor of following people around and calling it detective work

changbin

as the impostor

stab-happy

gets voted out instantly because he killed someone 0.5 seconds after spawn

gets caught because he doesn’t understand how venting works

as a crewmate

nags people in the chat for not finishing their tasks

always sounds like he’s lying even though he isn’t

it’s mostly because he can’t remember the names of rooms

accused of sabotaging even though he was just standing still in the cafeteria for 5 minutes so he could consult the map

hyunjin

as the impostor

not particularly good at it, doesn’t kill people often because he psychs himself out

most effective once he figures out he can just stand in a vent and aggressively hit the sabotage button

king of spinning suspicion around when he’s accused

“i saw hyunjin in the electrical room right before the body was reported”

“changbin kinda sus tho”

*spearb was not the impostor*

as a crewmate

calls the tasks “minigames” and everyone hates him for it

not allowed to host servers anymore because he delays the start by 20 minutes while he picks out a hat

jisung

as the impostor

self-reports and then starts crying in the meeting room

kills his friends and then spearheads the investigation to ‘avenge them’ as they are forced to cuss him out in the ghost chat

as a crewmate

him and felix stand directly in front of each other so that when one of them gets killed the other can immediately report

(they’ve technically been banned from doing that, doesn’t mean they stopped)

does the same tasks multiple times because he wants to “beat his high score” even though everyone has told him that the tasks aren’t scored

felix

as the impostor

the best at venting

has the entire map memorized and can get in and out of rooms like he’s invisible

things fall apart if he gets accused because he’s terrible at lying

sometimes he can whip up some tears and then chan uses his dad voice and everyone votes changbin out instead

as a crewmate

takes the tasks extremely seriously

finishes them absurdly fast and then sits in front of the security monitor until he gets murdered

seungmin

as the impostor

gets accused and gives an elaborate play-by-play of his whereabouts that leaves everyone too confused to accuse him anymore

effective at killing multiple people in one round

sits with a body until someone else walks in on them, then immediately self-reports as a power trip

as a crewmate

a detective and a human lie detector, can find the impostor in minutes

somehow knows where everyone was at all times

“it couldn’t have been me, i was in navigation”

“no you weren’t, i saw you walk into the reactor room one minute ago and it takes at least forty five seconds to finish the task”

*spearb was the impostor*

jeongin

as the impostor

good because no one ever suspects him

doesn’t even have to lie, he just says “it wasn’t me” and everyone takes him at his word

waits at the security cameras for everyone to be on one side of the ship and then hits the sabotage button on the opposite side

as a crewmate

doesn’t finish his tasks because he thinks it’s funny to let the impostor win

accuses people for no reason just to cause chaos

“i saw jisung in the greenhouse 👀”

“no you didn’t! i literally didn’t even have a task there!”

*jone was not the impostor*

[cicinicole-14]

Hi for the ship thing and headcanons, please do jolex 🥰

Who is a night owl:

dont get me wrong, they both most definitely will stay up late together or both pass out before 9pm on a Friday night, but some days when the depression hits, its jsut different and Jo is definitely more of the night owl. Alex is more of a morning person and Jo would rather sleep like the dead. 

Who is a morning person:

as we’ve discovered, more so Alex esp when they have kiddos. Alex is the one to get up with them early and let Jo sleep, he makes breakfast with the kids’ help and keeps their room quiet for jo to get some extra sleep but will unleash their evil spawns when he deems she’s slept in long enough. 

Are they cuddlers:

some days, yes, mostly. jo definitely loves the affection from someone who genuinely loves and wants her back. but there are days where she literally is like “do not come near me with your (temperature) hot body Alexander Michael Karev, you are a heater and I am already too warm” 

Who is the big spoon and who is the little spoon:

Alex is def the big spoon. Jo likes cuddling into him because sh feels safe, he feels like home. but she def has big spooned him too it’s a 50/50 relationship we have equal roles people

What is their favourite sleeping position:

no lie, both spread out like starfish in their bed. 

Who steals all the blankets: 

Jo. Alex is a space heater and doesnt need blankets she freezes and likes being snuggled up and warm

What they wear to bed:

I mean some nights, nothing, but like jo def loves Alex’s old Iowa state shirts or his wrestling shirts from HS that smell like him. an old worn in t-shirt, anything with a pair of booty shorts or his boxers even. and Alex will just wear a t-shirt and boxers or flannels in the winter. 

Who likes seeing the other wearing their t-shirt:

Alex wholeheartedly loves when jo wears his shirts unless its his favorite flannel and she steals it “come on, jo. you know that’s my favorite one. I wear it all the time.” its exactly why she takes it. 

Who falls asleep mid-conversation:

jo, unintentionally. sometimes the insomnia hits and she won’t have slept for a couple days so when life catches back up to her she will fall asleep randomly. even more so while pregnant and right after their daughter is born. she just “night night Josephine” 

Who wakes up in the middle of the night with nightmares:

they both have their fair share of horrid nightmares. Alex’s deal a lot with his trauma of growing up. his mom pulling various knives on his siblings and dad attacking them. even nightmares of jo leaving him like Izzie did and he wakes up without her. 

jo’s are terrifying as well. she dreams that Paul’s death was just an illusion and that hes still out there and he’ll still come and get her. she wakes up drenched in a cold sweat and Alex holds her and they pull up his death certificate on the gsm database to prove it. she also has nightmares about being abandoned again. dreams of herself as a baby, dreams of her mother leaving her at that firestation. horrid nightmares. and Alex just holds her. she also has many nightmares about Alex abandoning her too just like her mother abandoned her but he’s never done that he’s always there when she wakes up and everything is okay again

Who accidentally punched the other in their sleep:

jo is an absolute horrible bed partner. she does NOT sleep still. she will move around so much during sleep its dangerous. yes, Alex did wake up with a bruise across his cheek one night from an elbow to the face...

Who can’t keep their hands to themself:

both of them. theyre notorious horndogs no autocorrect they are not corndogs please stop correcting me when you’re wrong 

and just because, im throwing in the parenting meme one too bc my heart melts

packs the lunches

Alex. he gets up with the kids in the mornings and also we do not trust jo to make their children food. she’d feed them boxed Mac n cheese and take out the entirety of their lives. and while they love that and Alex wouldn’t care if it was jsut them, their kids need real food. he packs them lunchables and uncrustables but at least its a little more of a variety. 

blows raspberries while cuddling

jo, more so. they both do, but jo LOVES a good chunky baby belly she can blow raspberries onto. and yes she leaves maroon lipstick marks on chubby cheeks and bellies. 

is the tickle monster

Alex. and she runs to mommy to save her from daddy! “oh, now you want mommy, huh? as soon as daddy is the tickle monster all you want is mommy? not when I wanted cuddles, or we picked you up from daycare or I dont know, I gave birth to you and wanted snuggles you cry and want daddy but now hes the tickle monster you want me?” and jo scoops her up and tries saving her but ultimately they lose and get attacked in their very large bed by the tickle monster. 

gives life lesson speeches

they both do just depending on the situations. 

when the girls start dating, jo sits them all down separately, and explains to them a bit of her past. letting them know that no man should ever lay hands on them. she teaches them how to defend themselves and Alex ofc shows them in example how women should be treated. Alex makes it clear that if a guy or girl ever should treat his daughters or his son in any other way than he treats jo, that he needs to know and gOD forbiD one of them lay a finger on one of his children there WILL be hell to pay. jo obviously consoles him in front of her children but tells him “u already have a record. if anyone lays hands on our children I will be putting them in the ground not you”

kisses the boo-boos

Alex he is a pushover and 100% makes sure all boo-boos are kissed and even when the kids are way too old for having their boo-boos kissed, he makes sure the bandaids that are no longer avengers or dinosaur or unicorn or princess themed, have been properly kissed. even through protests of “dad, im not five anymore I dont need my bandaids kissed” “how do you expect them to heal, then, CJ? you’re my most clumsy kid, and I have had to kiss all your boo-boos and never once have I not. thats why you’re still in once piece” 

breaks the bad news

jo makes Alex do it most times. she claims she’s the fun parent and tries to stay the fun parent by making Alex break bad news like “we cannot get another dog” she blames it on Alex but then brings home a puppy the following week. 

joins the PTA

listen. LISTEN. when Greyson started big kid school, in kindergarten, they placed her in private school to give her everything they didnt have growing up. jo was determined to make sure she gave her daughter everything made sure she felt loved and was spoiled it was terrible. so jo, of course, sent her to Seattle Elementary academy and was not paying attention when she signed some forms signing up to be in the PTA. she loathed it so much and “Alex im sorry I cant do this. I know we wanted to give Gracie everything we didnt have growing up but I cant take it I cant take the private school. the volunteer hours the strict dress code violations? she is FIVE. I also have to volunteer FORTY HOURS this year alone. no! I am a surgeon, a mother of two and im pregnant! I do not have time for this! all these PTA moms are stay at home moms who have nothing better to do than gossip about their neighbors and drink wine. and I swear to god if I have to hear about Jessica’s fucking essential oils pyramid scheme one more time I will shove those oils so far up her a––” “Jo! Look, Ali, mommy’s here!” Alex interrupts her just in time. he doesnt blame her. those private school moms are quiet the handful. every time, one of them has the nerve to hit on him. “and I swear, if one more of those moms hits on you in front of me, im going to backhand her with my engagement ring on. no hate to most of them, but theyre too much” they end up ending Gracie, and Ali and the rest of the kids to public school just like they had grown up in and did just fine. 

crashes sleepovers with embarrassing stories

oh one hundred and ten percent Alexander Michael Karev. he will find any moment to break out embarrassing stories and photos. hell, even when Zola, Bailey, ellis, Sofia, Harriet, scout, any of the bunch come over he’ll embarrass them too!  

gives the crazy nicknames

not really either of them (that ive figured out in the moment) (the kkc kids do not have crazy nicknames yet) (we jsut have Gracie for Greyson, Ali for Alice, and CJ for Cristina Jo. Alexis goes by Sissy because of Alexis and Alexa and Eli usually goes by bubba seeing as how that’s what the twins have called each other growing up with Izzie and that stuck) 

thank you so much for these! I loved loved loved doing them! even threw in some KKC universe things so if yall have questions about that feel free to ask I will share! tho there is yet to have a fic out about them yet… its been a bit difficult with writers block /: 

[thecursedhellblazer]

❤ + either Oliver or Demon John as those are the ships I seen you on the dash most with

Ultimate Ship Meme || Selectively Accepting !

(( Not to play favourites, but I just can’t not play favourites when one of my choices is John & demon John. Sorry x’D ))

Affectionate; Platonic Hugs (they don’t stay platonic or hugs for long) | Greeting Hugs | Holding hands | Cheek kisses | Hugs from behind | Cuddling (even if they almost never call it that) | Hand kiss (John, mostly) | PDA (only around very few selected people...unless they’re try to annoy the hell out of someone on purpose) | Spooning | Shared baths (unless demon John is occupying the bathroom for...whatever he does in there for hours) | Whispers | Affectionate letters (more like affectionate notes with heavy insults left here and there) | Caressing | Stroke hair (for some reason they both like to do this) | Foot rubs (does it count as a rub if it’s done with your tongue? ‘Cause that’s what demon John does) | Massages (John, mostly) | Braid/Comb hair | Take care of if sick (does it count if it’s made of a cospicuous amount of complaining while subtly caring?) | Platonic Snuggles | Romantic Snuggles | Forehead kisses (John, mostly) | Noseboops (totally happening in the kids thread) | No displays of affection

Sex; One night stand (I mean that’s how it started? An unplanned, violent roll in Hell?) | Shower sex | Wall sex | Quickie | Neck bites | Possessive Markings (voodoo seals and tracking runes are possessive enough? Aside from the “normal” ones ) | Oral | Mutual kink exploration | Morning sex | Drunk sex (when John finally manages to get his demon drunk) | Forbidden (cheating) sex | Public sex | Drug-fueled sex | Back of a wagon in motion (Chas’ cab anyone?) | BDSM | Threesome (they probably say they would but...idk. They are both the possessive jealous type) | No sex (Yeah, there’s very little they haven’t done / want to do)

Dates; Picnic | Theater | Restaurant (that would be kinda funny) | Fighting Tournament | Hike | Coffee (aka breakfast at the cabin) | Museum (family trip includes culture too) | Club | Bar | Beach | Concert | Park | City Trip | Boat ride on a lake | Fishing | Hunting (‘cause what John does at times counts as hunting too...right?) | Home cooked (by Chas if possible) meal & cuddles | Burlesque | Fancy Restaurant | Adventuring (again...once John manages to convince demon John to tag along) | No dates

Would my character…

Be the first one to ask them out? Yes | No (( weeeell...technically speaking, demon John was the first to bring up the idea of them going on an actual date...but he was just mocking John thinking that he would have refused. Instead John actually brought up and planned a real one ))

Confess their attraction first? Yes | No (( It’s still very unclear how they whole thing started. One moment they were ripping each other apart, the next they were ripping their clothes off. No real verbal confession ))

Have sex on the first date? Yes | No (( First date happened after a lot of sex ))

Lie to them? Yes | No (( ...but not about something important. And usually with a reason ))

Fail to show for a date? Yes | No (( Out of spite, totally. Even if it means putting up with a lot of grumbling and moody whining later ))

Cuddle after sex? Yes | No (( they don’t acknowledge it...or do they? ))

Marry them? Yes | No (( ...we plead the Fifth on this one ))

Bail at the altar? Yes | No (( if the marrying thing was on the table, hypothetically, John would never ))

Live till old age with them? Yes | No (( assuming that one of them doesn’t get killed first. Or, as probably will happen if they survive, demon John will find a way to keep John alive and not-aging ))

Cheat on them? Yes | No (( John isn’t the cheating type in general, and he would never ever do it to someone he is truly in love with ))

Have children/adopt? Yes | No | ??? (( Can male demons spawn? Tiiiiiiiim!!! There’s Tim, who sort of is John’s sort of adoptive son (and demon John has to suck it up, because that makes Tim his sort of adoptive son too). Would they make little human-demon hybrids (who would come out more demons than humans)? Or adopt? Bad idea. Doesn’t mean it’s out of question ))

Die for them? Yes | No (( Not that John is ever going to admit it to himself or, even worse, to say it, also because demon John would totally lash out at him, but he would. Without question ))

(( @thedemonconstantine - Tagging you K just in case, ‘cause...obvious reasons ))

[radioactivepeasant]

Fic Prompts: Star Wars Wednesday

This is one I've had for a few years. Amusingly, it shares some of its premise with one of @littlesparklight 's In Which Our Intrepid Hero Doesn't Get Away chapters, though I've played around with the idea since before I discovered Intrepid Hero

He knew Vader was tracking him closely. When they'd come out of hyperspace at the same time as the Executor, Luke had barely had enough time to warn the Rogues and Home One to make themselves scarce. The other Rebels had scattered into lightspeed jumps quickly, even as TIE fighters roared out of the destroyer in pursuit. Miraculously, they only lost two pilots. One of them was Luke.

He'd known the shot would clip his wing, but it was that or let Wedge take a direct hit, and he wasn't about to lose another friend. As he went spinning off into the atmosphere of a nearby planet, he managed to make some vague reassurances of catching up to his squadron before they were out of range and in hyperspace. The planet below was a kind of resort world, not one fancy enough for the elite of the galaxy to frequent, but a modest little place full of archipelagos and beautiful, crystal clear waters. Tourism had actually gone down in recent years -- making the northern hemisphere's economy suffer -- and Luke was about to discover why.

He had flashbacks to Dagobah when he crashed, and this time had the presence of mind to eject Artoo just before impact. Hopefully they'd done enough work on the droid's old booster rockets that he'd be able to make it to the narrow spit of land jutting out from the nearest island. Luke braced himself and ejected his own seat just as the X-wing hit the water with a thunderous crash. He landed a bit further away than he would've liked.

Luke knew how to swim. You didn't run missions with the Rebel Alliance for three years and two months without learning at some point. He just...wasn't spectacular at it. The X-wing had not, surprisingly, sunk, and a bit of flailing paddling got Luke close enough to see that the ship had caught in something covered in coral and barnacles that was holding it up mostly above water.

It was the remains of another, older ship.

Luke might have been interested in exploring the old craft if it weren't for two things: first, it required swimming down where the light didn't quite reach. Second, there was a deep sense of foreboding hissing through the Force, warning him to escape. Which probably meant that Vader had left the ship to come finish what he'd started on Bespin.

Something brushed against his leg and he jolted so hard he nearly forgot to tread water. Luke scrambled up on top of the X-wing -- a feat only made possible, really, by the spindly remains of the sunken ship's control tower holding it up -- and perched on the socket where Artoo usually sat. As he tried to calm his racing heart, Luke laughed nervously.

"It's just a fish. There's always fish in the ocean. You're going to see and maybe feel a lot more of them when you swim to shore."

When this didn't make him feel better, he tucked his feet up under him and tried again. "You're not scared of fish. You're just freaked out because Vader is up there and...and..."

And he might be telling the truth?

And everything I thought I knew about myself might be a lie?

And there's a slight chance I'm gonna get killed by my own f-

No, that was a step too far. He was not going to even entertain the idea that Vader hadn't been lying. This Sith was terrifying enough on his own without adding that kind of complication to the mix.

Luke eyed the distance between himself and the sandbar just before the island. He could probably make that with a Force assisted jump. Then it would be a much shorter distance to swim from there, something more in the range of his abilities. Something cold and powerful and nearly overwhelming tugged at his senses hard, as though someone had grabbed hold of his hair and yanked it to turn his head in a specific direction. He heard, if "heard" was the right word, his name being called in the voice that haunted his waking nightmares.

He was out of time.

Luke slipped and slid on the wet metal as he wobbled his way to the nose of the ship. That would be his jumping-off point. Something splashed just at the edge of his vision and Artoo screeched a warning. When Luke turned to look, he caught a brief glimpse of a massive shadow under the water, and a dorsal fin at least as long as his leg breaking the surface.

"Mm. Nope. Don't like that," Luke muttered.

He still sensed Vader. Too close now to not be on the planet or in the atmosphere. He could just barely contain his panic relating to that, but this new "friend" was making it very difficult for him. The huge something circled the X-wing slowly, almost lazily, and Luke hoped it was more curious than hungry.

As it turned out, he’d landed very very close to the creatures' spawning grounds, and they felt an instinctive need to defend their territory. Luke Skywalker was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The serpentine fish's barrel-like head rammed into the sunken control tower under the surface, sending waves across the surface and sending Luke flying into the water. He broke the surface with a gasp and frantically tried to climb back up onto his ship. But the impact had jarred the X-wing from its perch, and it was sliding further into the water.

"Not again!" Luke spat out a mouthful of water. "Twice in one year?!"

There was nothing for it. He'd have to swim for the island.

The huge fish, unfortunately, didn't seem to think he'd learned his valuable lesson about trespassing yet and started to circle him as he paddled towards the sand bar. Luke, distracted by the massive creature's increasing proximity and loud hostility filling up his Force senses, barely caught the sound of Artoo on the shore, trilling and beeping to warn him about something. This time the droid wasn't warning him about the fish.

Luke saw hinged jaws snap open wide directly beneath him and couldn't help a spike of panic. That mouth was big enough to crush a speeder with ease! Before he had time to think about whether using the Force might be to his benefit, he was abruptly yanked out of the water by the back of his flight suit and dropped unceremoniously on a cold metal surface.

Luke stared, bewildered, over the edge of a curved black wing to where the fish still looked like it was preparing to break the surface. With a rush of upward movement, it breached just about a foot from him and Luke got a good look at it for the first time.

"Holy-!" Luke jolted backwards. His stomach dropped to his boots with a feeling like ice when a heavy hand dropped onto his shoulder, not so much steadying as confining.

"Be still. You will overbalance the craft."

Darth Vader stood over him, somehow piloting his TIE without even being inside it -- was it a remote? Or could he actually do that with the Force? Luke wanted to know but he definitely didn't want to ask. Fear clawed its way up his throat and constricted his heart and he dug his fingers into the panels of the ship as much as was possible.

He had two choices, the way he saw it. One, let Vader -- who was most likely going to kill him considering how their last encounter had ended -- land on the beach and try to escape that way. Two, take his chances with the monster fish -- who was also most likely going to kill him -- and try to make it to shore on his own.

As if in response to his thoughts, the hand on his shoulder tightened and pulled him none too gently to his feet. "Enough, Luke. There will be no escape this time."

Luke tried very hard not to lose hope at that. Luckily, (or perhaps unluckily) Skywalkers had a stubborn streak. He'd said there was no escape at Bespin, too, but Luke had still gotten away. The day wasn't over yet.

The sudden realization that the fish had gone quiet again came just as an enormous impact struck the TIE and sent Sith and Jedi alike careening into the trees. Luke recovered a few minutes later and staggered to his feet. No point wondering if Vader had survived the fall: he could sense him, and worse than that Vader could sense him. Which meant it was now a matter of evading him long enough to get further inland and maybe find another ship.

Right. Because that was totally going to work.

[jbuffyangel]

Family: Arrow 6x07 Review (Thanksgiving)

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! I hope you had a wonderful holiday with your family. We get an extra treat tonight because Arrow is on! I watched with my 14 year old nephew. He's hardcore about Arrow and believes Olicity is the only acceptable ship - I feel good about the future.

"Thanksgiving" explores all aspects of family within Team Arrow. There’s love, partnership, having each other’s back and putting relationships above all else. There’s also disagreements and pain, but it leads to truth. In the end, the family comes together to celebrate a miracle and one another. 

Let’s dig in...

Olicity and William

We kick things off right - with an Olicity scene. William and Oliver are busy accepting food donations and the Queen of DCTV is fending off a reporter.

Source: oliverfelicitygifs

Overprotective William may be even cuter than overprotective Oliver.

Telling that reporter The Flash is more her type is the biggest lie Felicity Smoak has ever told. A+ cover skills girl.

Source: oliverfelicitygifs

No. Overprotective Oliver is still cuter. Well, it's hot. Hot plus cute equals a combination that can't be topped. Sorry William. I appreciate you joining the "Protective Felicity Smoak At All Costs" club though.

Felicity's little head tilt onto Oliver's shoulder while is Protective Husband mode is activated makes me want to throw glitter everywhere.

Source: amanitacaplan

So I'm gonna throw glitter everywhere.

This is 100% the scene where Emily pinched Stephen's butt and they absolutely used that take. No one can tell me different. Don't @ me. (X)

William: Did Oliver save you?

Felicity: He is heroic that way.

Oliver: She was doing just fine on her own.

That's it. That's the show.  Any questions? No? Good.

Source: felicitysmoakdaily

I know I should be listening to Lance and Dinah talk about important mayoral duties, but mostly I am just watching Felicity link her arm through William's and those two smiling at each other.  It's giving me flashes to William's wedding day. Felicity & Oliver walking William down the aisle. Excuse me... I need a minute.

What I love about Oliver's speech is he includes Felicity and William as an extention of himself. 

Source: felicityssoliver

This is a family, these three people, and they are functioning both privately and publicly as one. In a way this in the Queen family debut (minus the white cotillion dresses). Felicity's face is lit up like Christmas as Oliver is speaking. She is so proud of her man. So happy to be part of this family.

As with anything on Arrow, blissful happiness and peace are but a fleeting moment. Just as Oliver is about to unveil the newly remodeled precinct, Agent Watson shows up and arrests Oliver for being the Green Arrow. 

Source:  olivergifs

CAMERAS AND ALL. IN FRONT OF WILLIAM.  Stone cold, lady.

William calls Oliver "Dad" as he is being hauled away in hand cuffs. 

Source: olivergifs

As my nephew correctly pointed out, this is the first time we've heard William call Oliver "Dad." William's pointed "Oliver" in the premiere meant Oliver had to earn the moniker. Being a father is more than genetics. So... has Oliver earned it? Yes, of course. He gave up being the Green Arrow to be more present to his son. That very sacrifice is one of the reasons why William began trusting Oliver more. So, it's a heartbreaking connective thread that the first time William calls Oliver "Dad" he's arrested for being the Green Arrow.

So, why does William choose this moment? It's less of a choice and more instinctual. William is a little boy and he's scared. Fear makes us vulnerable. We reach for protection and security when we are afraid. We want reassurance from the people in our lives that make us feel safe. That is who Oliver is to William. He is home base, security and safety. Oliver Queen is Dad and he’s exactly who William needs reassurance from. There are often moments in life, no matter how old we are, when fear and vulnerability makes us reach for our parents. We just want our mom and dad to make everything better. That's the eternal magic of parents. We believe they can make it all go away.

Source: felicitysmoakdaily

Oliver promises William that everything will be fine. Felicity has a protective and reassuring arm around William. I do take issue with the idea that Oliver in prison (or dead because of the Green Arrow) would leave William as an orphan. Yes, his biological parents would be dead. That technically leaves William as an orphan. I always imagine orphans like Oliver Twist - alone and fending for themselve. William will never be alone as long as he has Felicity.  He will always have someone to take care of him - who will love William as her own. This is why it is spectacularly important to legalize this relationship and get some documentation up in here.

As Oliver is hauled away, William clenches his fists just like his father does when he is angry, worried or stressed. So, let's just run down the list:

William looks like Oliver.

He is Smoaked like all of us, but particularly his father.

William is overly protective when it comes to Felicity

He does the hand clenching thing.

William can cook

Is this Oliver Queen's genetic spawn or what? Give him a bow & arrow and let's see what he can do.

Source: olivergifs

Oliver is FURIOUS Agent Watson arrested him in front of William. It was a harsh move, but she's not looking to make friends with you Queen. She wants to rattle you. Personally,  I am enjoying Agent Watson. It's been awhile since law enforcement was a legitimate threat to Oliver and it's nice getting back to our roots. She runs down the list of all the times Oliver fooled the city into believing someone else (Roy Harper or John Diggle) is the Green Arrow. Girl has it on lock and she does it by using basic logic. It's so refreshing to see on my television screen.

Oliver: Agent Watson, when I get out of here, and I will, I’m going to sue you for  malicious prosecution. 

So, now Oliver is ready to lawyer up for William? Where was this attitude in Season 4 big fella? We could have saved everyone a lot of headaches and heartache if you just hauled Samantha into court. Custody is a thing, buddy.

William is scared and mildly miffed because he believes Oliver broke his promise. 

He didn't kiddo, but there doesn't seem to be a statue of limitations on vigilanting - particularly murder. 

Source:  olivergifs

Oliver reassures his son once more and then sends him home... to Felicity (and Raisa).

Home = Felicity. Facts only. 

Arrow is exploring the concept of a team within a team. We saw this last week with Lyla and Diggle's and now we are seeing it with Oliver and Felicity. The first person Diggle confessed to wasn't Oliver, Felicity or anyone else on Team Arrow. John confessed to Lyla because his marriage supersedes any relationship he has on Team Arrow - including Oliver and Felicity.

This seems like one of those things where we could just say "Well duh." Of course, Diggle prioritizes his marriage with Lyla. Yeah, except that's not as common as you think and it's not as easy as you'd imagine. Also, it's important to build moments like this. We have to witness Diggle choosing Lyla and vice versus to solidify the relationship. These moments are what make a fictional couple real.

How Oliver and Felicity function as a couple within Team Arrow has always been more than just ferns, pep talks and making adorable bag lunches. There are a many relationships within Team Arrow and those relationships can often conflict. So, the question is - what relationship gets prioritized?

Oliver and Felicity's relationship is superseding all of their other relationships on the team to a degree we haven't seen on Arrow.  Rather than tip around their vigilanting life (Season 4) or tip around their feelings for one another (Season 5), Olicity is meeting both head on. There is conflict within the team, but Oliver and Felicity prioritize their relationship and one other above all else.

Source: oliverxfelicity

Felicity uses her start up money to bail Oliver out of jail. Oliver is obviously uncomfortable with Felicity using that money, but it's either that or get comfy in that prison cell. Not surprisingly, Oliver's objections fall on deaf ears. Felicity is ride or die. This is what she's doing with her money. Oliver has also learned nobody “let’s” Felicity do anything. This is her choice. Oliver would do the same for her, so he stops objecting. See? Isn’t this nice when we respect a woman’s agency Oliver? 

(The problem is - it's not just Felicity's money. It's Curtis' too and she doesn't consult him about the decision, but more on that later).

Source: westallenolicitygifs

Oliver is determined to not make Felicity a FBI target more than she already is, but Felicity is prepared to do whatever it takes to clear Oliver of these charges. Oliver and Felicity are determined to put the other first. The entire episode is an ebb and flow of selfless love. Even when they don’t agree, they are loving one another with everything they have.

John asks Felicity to keep quiet about his injury after she finds out. John's logic sounds reasonable. The rest of Team Arrow kept it secret from Felicity until finally they were forced to tell her what's going on. So, will Felicity keep it from Oliver?

There are no more secrets between them. No more lies. John being injured and compromised out in the field is absolutely something Oliver needs to know. If Felicity didn't tell him it would absolutely hurt their relationship. It may feel like a betrayal to John, whose friendship is incredibly important to Felicity, but her relationship with Oliver matters more.  

Perhaps in Season 5, Felicity would have made a different choice. We know in Season 4 Oliver did. However, both characters have learned from those mistakes and we are witnessing a more honest approach to their relationship. They aren't hiding from the things that complicate it, but facing them head on. Their relationship comes first. This is marriage. And that's why they are ready for it.  

"Thanksgiving" ends with Thea waking from her coma. 

Source: amanitacaplan

I’ve never identified with Oliver more. I MISSED YOU SO MUCH THEA!

Oliver wraps his arms around Felicity and William, his sister recuperating in bed and John Diggle at his side. 

This is the family Oliver has built.  This is the family he fights for. He may have returned from Lian Yu to become the hood; he may be the Green Arrow, but this is the family Oliver survived for. This is living. For a man who doesn't fear death, that is something to be truly thankful for.

Source: gothsmoak

Oliver and Diggle

I think the most important "team within a team" on Arrow (after Oliver and Felicity) is Oliver and Diggle. 

This is where Team Arrow started. These men are brothers. They are family. The problem is we don't always get along with our family.  Sometimes we fight. Sometimes the truth is painful.

This confrontation between Oliver and Diggle is a long time coming, maybe even years. The fact that it is honest and needed doesn't make it any less heartbreaking to watch.

John Diggle has been doing some very un-Diggle like things. He's lied to his wife, his team... and his brother. Oliver and John's friendship has been set in stone for nearly five years: John knows what is right and Oliver eventually listens to him.

It's a format that's worked well for them - until it doesn't. The problem is, if Oliver always depends on John to be the moral compass then he never forms a moral compass of his own. If Diggle always has to toe the line, then he's never allowed to make mistakes. This ultimately creates a pressure cooker situation, one neither may be fully aware of until it blows.

And boy does it blow. Scenes like this, when Oliver, Felicity and Johnconfront one another, are rare on Arrow.  It becomes very easy to glaze over the emotional side of things because Original Team Arrow is so busy saving the city. However, that doesn't negate the necessity. This is what makes the scenes so juicy when emotions and secrets are confronted. The backbone of this show is built on Oliver, Felicity and Diggle's relationships. When one of the "team within a team" falters - the whole foundation shakes.

Felicity is obviously hurt and angry Diggle kept a secret like this from her, but to her credit, she is only compassionate on the phone with him. Her empathy will always be her superpower. 

Source:  felicitysmoakgifs

Felicity does her very best to convince John to be honest with Oliver. I don't envy Felicity when she is in these positions. Oliver and Diggle can be very stubborn and when they are at odds it's like brokering peace between warring nations. When Felicity's pleas fall on deaf ears, she takes matters into her own hands and tells Oliver what is going on. She's right. This is something Oliver needs to know and John is wrong for lying to him.

Oliver. Is. Mad. And with good reason. First and foremost, John is Oliver's brother. If he's hurt, if he's in pain, Oliver wants to know. He wants to help. Second, there is no way Oliver would risk Diggle's life, or the lives of the team, by putting him in the field. Third, drug use? 

The sacred tenant of Arrow is both Oliver Queen and John Diggle's bodies are temples. They are to be treated as such.

Stephen Amell tweeted this line out several weeks ago and it did not disappoint. 

Source:  olivergifs

GUT PUNCH. 

Oliver and Diggle have disagreed. They've been angry with one another, but most of the time that's Oliver's fault. This is entirely new territory for Oliver. He's never been disappointed in John because Diggle has never done anything disappointing.

But that's the problem with this relationship. There's no room for error for John. The expectation to always be dependable, to always be right, to always put others first is what led to this situation to begin with. It's why John was able to rationalize lying. Oliver, Felicity, the team and the city are more important. They come first. John Diggle always puts himself last. The lies were for the greater good and that is how even Yoda falls off the moral high ground.

John, however, is not in the mood for Oliver's righteous indignation. 

Dude, really? YOU KINAPPED MY WIFE AND KID FOR THE "GREATER GOOD" OR DID YOU FORGET? 

Oliver has made more than his fair share of mistakes. He made tough calls time and again while wearing the hood. They were calls Diggle disagreed with, but they were ultimately Oliver's decisions because he wears the hood. That's the job.

A job Oliver gave up and handed to Diggle. It's easy to judge when standing on the side lines. When the lives of the city and the team are no longer on your shoulders.

Oliver bites back, rather quickly I might add, that John doesn't get to claim the moral high ground. This is why I've been saying this fight may have been years coming. Diggle has always pushed Oliver to be better. He's always been the moral authority in Oliver's life. As much as Oliver needed someone like that, it can also create a push/pull effect. Diggle has to be beyond reproach. Otherwise, Oliver can snap his fingers and say, "HA! You aren't any better than me!" which is kind of what he did here.

Oliver is also right. Diggle doesn't get to claim the moral high ground. Not this time. This time... Oliver has it. It's a strange place for both of these men to be.

Diggle believes his only responsibility was to the team - to those whose lives he put in danger. That doesn't apply to Oliver. This has nothing to do with him. Oliver is no longer on the team. That was HIS choice, so Diggle doesn't owe Oliver any explanations. Eh... works in theory John, but I'm not really buying.

Diggle would have told Felicity if this was true. Yes, Felicity was spending time with Oliver and William when Diggle confessed to the team, but that was a week ago. Diggle couldn't have squeezed in a second with Felicity and let her know he's been injecting an illegal steroid? Sure he could have, but he didn't.

Felicity is obviously stung she's finding out second hand. This is OTA. They are the core. They may not say it out loud, but that relationship supersedes the relationships with the new team members.

That's why Diggle couldn't tell Felicity the truth. He could confess to Lyla, who is his home. He could confess to the newbies because there isn't as much history there. 

However, telling Felicity and Oliver is more difficult because Diggle is embarrassed. He can't stand the thought of disappointing the two people who have always depended on him. A lot of John's self worth is built upon being the rock for everyone he loves. He's failed this time. Confessing to Felicity and Oliver is putting up a mirror John isn't quite prepared to face.  Sometimes telling the people closest to you is harder. It makes it real. It's not just about admitting the truth to Oliver and Felicity. It's about admitting the truth to himself.

So, Oliver's "I've never been disappointed" is soul crushing to Diggle. That's exactly the response he feared. Furthermore, Oliver can't be more disappointed in Diggle than Diggle is with himself. So, he responds to that hurt with anger. I'll see your "disappointment" and raise you a "Go to hell."

Diggle: I don't owe you a damn thing.

SHOTS FIRED! Oh man y'all. THIS IS PAINFUL. MY CHILDREN ARE FIGHTING. Oliver's reaction?

This relationship hasn't been one sided. Oliver has been a brother to Diggle just as much as Diggle has been one to him. Oliver has pulled John from the darkness too. He gave Diggle a purpose in life and means to do real good. The beauty of this friendship is these men saved each other.

Oliver: For the sake of our friendship I hope that's withdrawal talking.

What Oliver is failing to see is confessing to him is the most difficult for John. Diggle thrives on being needed. His life's blood is being the "go to guy." More so with Oliver than anyone else. So, how does John Diggle tell Oliver Queen he failed at being the Green Arrow?

John tells Oliver the truth and it's a long time coming. 

He puts Oliver above everyone and everything - including his own health. John feels like he can't make mistakes because he's always cleaning up after Oliver. John has built his life around supporting Oliver Queen and the pressure is breaking him. He can never put himself first because Oliver has claimed that position. Or rather Diggle has allowed him to. The fate of the friggin city now rests on it for god sake. Oliver is furious Diggle is trying to blame him, but he's not. He's simply stating out loud how their friendship has worked for the last six years.

It's painful for Oliver to hear, but it doesn't make it any less true. As good as Oliver is, he can also be little narcissistic. That said, Oliver has his own truth for Diggle. He thought John could be a better hero because he always believed Diggle was the better man. Oliver may have been the Green Arrow, but John Diggle was his hero. The fall off the pedestal may be painful for John, but it's crushing for Oliver. So, he bites back with an equally crushing comment. 

Source:  starcitygifs

This is everything Diggle has feared the moment he put on the hood. It's why he lied. Yet, here we are.

Source:  olivergifs

Both men are right. Both are wrong. It's why the scene is so intense. This is the richness a six year relationship can deliver.

Source:  olivergifs

We know the foundation of Oliver's world is shaking because he goes to see Thea. He tearfully pleads with her to wake up. Oliver is reaching for a familial relationship he is sure of because another has imploded. He doesn't know where to turn because he can't ask the man who always has the answers for him. And Oliver can't ask Thea how to fix it.

However, this isn't Season 1-5.  Oliver doesn't need Thea or Diggle to tell him how to fix it. He already knows how to fix it because this boy is raised. Felicity, Diggle and Thea have given him all the tools necessary. Now, Oliver has to put them to use. If Oliver is truly meant to be a superhero, what better place to start than with the man who set him on that path in the first place?

Source:  legends-of-today

Oliver apologizes FIRST. 

Felicity would be proud.

Perhaps Oliver has a clearer view of Diggle's perspective on the moral high ground. Perhaps Oliver remembers he's been wrong more than right. Perhaps he realizes the moral high ground doesn't matter as much as his friendship with John. Whatever it is, Oliver recognizes his myopic view on "taking on the hood" and admits he didn't properly consider everything he was asking Diggle to do.

And just like that these men remember they are family. Oliver is incredibly thankful, as is William, that Diggle is the Green Arrow. Unfortunately, the nerve damage has spread to Diggle's back. The damage is permanent because of his steroid use.  If he continues out in the field he could end up paralyzed.

Uhhh... but Curtis and Felicity could put in the microchip if that happens. See? Problem fixed. No? Is that wrong?

Oliver is heartbroken Diggle went to these lengths for him, but John admits it wasn't all for Oliver. Diggle finally tells the truth. Something Lyla (and I) have long suspected. The lengths Diggle went to, the lies he told, weren't for Oliver. John did this for himself.

What comes next is some screwy logic, but we'll work our way through it. Diggle tells Oliver the "perfect life" the Dominators created for him last year was being the Green Arrow.  Oliver giving the hood to Diggle wasn't selfish. It was an honor.  John wants to be the Green Arrow. He just never knew it.

Time for a reality check. Listen boys, that "perfect life" the Dominators created wasn't perfect. They took bits and pieces of your subconscious and created the ILLUSION of perfection. In the immortal words of Cher from Clueless, " No, she's a full-on Monet.... It's like a painting, see? From far away, it's OK, but up close, it's a big old mess.” Dominator dream world is a full-on Monet.

Also, it was OLIVER'S "What if?" not John's. 

We know next to nothing about John and Felicity's life in the Dominator's dream world. Felicity had Smoak Technologies and was engaged to Ray Palmer. Diggle was the Green Arrow... and that's about the it. Somehow I think their dream world runs a little deeper than that.  We're saying Felicity's dream man is Ray Palmer? Come on now. 

He's de facto fiancé. It's what life would be like if Oliver Queen was removed from the equation, but that doesn't automatically equal a perfect reality. Far from it.

John has absolutely no idea what led him to become the Green Arrow. People don't normally start wearing masks for kicks and giggles, Diggle. Exhibit A:

Where was Lyla or JJ? Or better yet SARA? John certainly wouldn't sacrifice his wife and child to be the Green Arrow.

The same could be said for Sara Lance. Her sister was alive, but we know nothing else about her life. I'm sure Sara was thrilled about Laurel being alive, but she is not the be all and end all of her world.

This was an extraordinarily Oliver focused dream because he had a lesson to learn. He is the one who was living life in the past. The lesson the dream world taught Oliver is the illusion of happiness is no comparison for what is real and true- even if that reality is painful.

The Dominators did pull from everyone's subconscious, however. There are bits of truth in those dreams. There had to be because that's what made it so tempting to stay.

"He lies with the truth."  - Cordelia Chase, Angel

The truth is Oliver wants his parents to be alive. He wants to settle down, get married and raise a family. Oliver wants to define himself, outside of his father. That doesn't mean the Dominators fulfilled those truths with all the right people in all the right ways. Especially when the lie with the wrong person is built upon the real memories of the right person. It's one of the reasons Oliver was able to walk away.

WRONG

RIGHT

NO

YES

It's the same with Diggle. The underlining truth isn't necessarily that Diggle wants to be Green Arrow.  

“You know what the difference is between you and me? I want to be the guy. You want to be the guy the guy counts on.”  President Bartlet, The West Wing

John Diggle is the guy the guy counts on. He's been content with that role for six years and it's a vitally important one. The team, and the Green Arrow, cannot be without him. 

Let's not forget Spartan is no slouch. Diggle can, and has, inspired people as Spartan. He saved the city as much as the Green Arrow. So, is this just about a wardrobe change?

No, the truth is John wants to be "the guy." The Green Arrow is team leader even when the team functions as a democracy. As long as Oliver was on the team that would never be John. After the mind numbing fear faded, Diggle wanted to be the one making the calls. John wants to lead. He wanted his moment in the sun. It's a natural and very human reaction after spending six years in Oliver Queen's shadow.

Even Diggle's job as security for the mayor revolves around Oliver. Perhaps Diggle is just looking for a way to define himself beyond Oliver Queen the same way Oliver was looking for a way to define himself beyond his father.  However, there's lots of ways to fulfill that need than wearing the hood.  In fact, one could argue wearing the hood only connects Diggle MORE to Oliver Queen. John isn't defining himself beyond Oliver. He's trying to BE Oliver.

I don't believe John was secretly discontent all these years. Maybe the Dominator dream simply revealed he was ready for more responsibility. However, even that is a slippery slope. Yes, John felt the added weight upon his shoulders when he first took on the mantle. He even required a pep talk from Oliver. Does it mean John has felt the full weight of responsibility the Green Arrow carries? No. His losses have been... manageable. 

 As heroic as the Green Arrow is, there is a darker side to this hood. There’s sacrifice and loss. Maybe once John experiences that as the Green Arrow it won’t be as appealing. Maybe that won’t even be necessary. Time will tell.

John is absolutely going through something and maybe it's simply a case of "the grass is greener on the other side." Pun intended. Right now John believes it is. He still wants to be the Green Arrow despite his injury.

The agreement between the men is Oliver will put the hood back on in the short term. Once Felicity and Curtis find a way to fix Diggle then Oliver will hand it over again. This is how Oliver rationalizes lying to his son about going out into the field again.

There goes that moral high ground Oliver. It was nice while it lasted. 

Lying to William is a colossal mistake. Somehow I don't think it would be too difficult to explain to William that John is hurt and Oliver needs to be the Green Arrow for the interim.

If William is angry or upset with Oliver's decision he has a right to those feelings. The point is  to work through them together just like Oliver has done with Diggle. But why would he remember the very lesson he just learned for more than five minutes? That's no fun! Of course, Oliver has to screw this up before he gets it right. Please marry Felicity as quickly as possible. You need her help desperately with raising this child, Oliver.

Perhaps Oliver lied because, deep down, he knows this isn't temporary. What if Diggle's nerve damage can't be cured? Both men have to acknowledge that is a possibility.

"When you can do the things that I can, but you don't... and then the bad things happen, they happen because of you." Peter Parker, Spiderman: Homecoming

Everyone on Team Arrow has chosen this life - except for William. He's had it thrust upon him. I do believe Arrow is moving William towards a moment when he realizes the gifts his father has. Responsibility comes with those gifts. There is a certain amount of culpability in not helping when you can. Arrow has gone to lengths to point out the areas in which William is similar to his father. However, the biggest similarity is still coming. William will tell Oliver to be the Green Arrow because he knows it's the right thing to do.

Of course, the Green Arrow has to live beyond Oliver Queen or else he hasn't created much of a legacy. John Diggle is absolutely a capable Green Arrow. However, I don't believe he'll be wearing the hood again.

There's a beautiful shot of Diggle between the Spartan and Green Arrow suits. He's split between the two identities, uncertain which one fulfills him more. Hopefully John's trajectory will make him realize how important Spartan is.

The question of how John defines himself beyond Oliver Queen is one I am hoping the writers continue to explore through this season. Oliver and Diggle are brothers. They will always be family. They will always have each other's back. However, it's no different than Felicity and her company. John Diggle needs something that's just his too.

Felicity and Curtis

Oliver and Diggle aren't the only "team within a team" facing dramatic tension this week. Curtis and Felicity aren't very happy with one another and it reveals the seams in this partnership.

Felicity is upset Curtis didn't check with her before he injected their proprietary tech into Diggle. Curtis feels justified in doing so because Felicity never checked with him about the name or their company or the tech they would be making. It is after all HIS technology.  Felicity feels they work independently and that's what makes them a great team. They don't need to check in with one another over every little detail. However, there seems to be some grey area on what details they do need to check in about.

Not unlike Oliver and Diggle, both Curtis and Felicity are right and wrong.  They manage to get through the weekly threat before apologizing to one another. However, Curtis doesn't look to pleased to hear Felicity has "one more thing" she didn’t check with him on. We don't get to see his reaction to Felicity bailing out her boyfriend with their start up cash. The only threat to that money is if Oliver skips town and he’s not going to do that. So, hopefully Curtis is as willing to help out Oliver as Felicity is. 

I am a little... I don't know what I am. Yes I do. I’m annoyed.

Curtis has a legitimate beef with Felicity. I won't argue that. I also recognize as Felicity Smoak goes, so goes my nation. That said, this fight does bring my issues with Curtis to the forefront.

Curtis' integration into the team has been the weakest and it's often to the detriment to Felicity's character. There were so many times last season when Curtis "mansplained" something to Felicity or she suddenly required Curtis' help with a hack she could have done in her sleep the previous seasons. There were even times Felicity acted completely out of character either by ignoring or not caring about important details, just so Curtis could be the "smart" hero and save the day. My personal fave was when Curtis lectured Felicity ( a victim of gun violence) about gun violence.

This went on all season last year and it made me dislike a character that I'd previously been pretty fond of. Season 6 has been better. Arrow has been dividing Curtis and Felicity's talents into separate spheres. Felicity is the hacker and Curtis is the inventor.  These were always the spheres the characters should have been in. Curtis stepping all over Felicity to make himself relevant was completely unnecessary last year.

It's difficult to believe the Arrow writers didn't hear out complaints with lines like these:

Curtis: Can you come back and do this? Because you’re like way better at this than I am.

Arrow has even gone to great lengths to show Felicity is the alpha in Helix Dynamics. She is the Jobs to Curtis' Wozniak. She’s the leader.

We can't go ONE EPISODE with Curtis feeling slighted, ONE EPISODE where he feels like Felicity stepped on him, ONE EPISODE where she takes imitative and doesn't consult with him, without ending with Felicity apologizing to him. Meanwhile, Felicity is still waiting for an apology for all his behavior last season.

Hell, we're still waiting for Arrow to RECOGNIZE the misogynistic behavior. Felicity was never allowed to defend herself, push back on Curtis or express even the slightest bit of displeasure anytime he walked all over her. But Curtis is upset about the company name! Better devote 10 minutes of the episode to it! Felicity better apologize!

Give me a fucking break. Somehow if Curtis was the alpha in the company I don't think these conversations would be happening. Yes, they are partners, but as we've seen with Team Arrow there's always someone making the tough calls. There's always a leader even in the most democratic of partnership. Arrow has been pretty clear that person for Helix Dynamics is Felicity. So, stop making her apologize for it.

Quentin Lance

This week on "As The Lances Turn" Quentin decides he's done with his doppelganger daughter. Or is he? Dun dun DUNNN!!! *cue dramatic soap opera music*

Lord, I cannot tell you how much I don't care about this storyline. One week Quentin wants to redeem BS. The next week he wants to put a bullet in her. Only to regret not putting a bullet in her the following episode.

We are officially at character whiplash stage. Every time he's on screen I ask, "Which Quentin are we getting this week?" It's not unlike when L*urel was on the show. It's like the inconsistent LL writing has spread to Quentin like a disease. WE MUST SAVE HIM FANDOM. WE'RE LOSING HIM.

For the record Quentin:

BS is not LL

You do not need to redeem her just because she looks like LL. My husband's cousin just married Candice Accola’s look-alike. Did I ask her for an autograph, her perspective on Caroline Forbes, or what it's like to film with Paul Wesley? NO! THEY ARE NOT THE SAME PERSON!

All of those murders are on BS. END. OF. DISCUSSION.

There's a nice little scene between Lance and Dinah where she admits she let her boyfriend go because she wants to see the good in him. Julianna Harkvay and Paul Blackthorne do their best with what they are given. My problem is not with the acting, but with the writing. We are seven episodes in and Quentin has had the same conversation with anyone he's shared a scene with anytime he's on the damn show. Either get him a new storyline or move it along with this one.

It's difficult to move the BS redemption storyline along because that would requires BS to be on the show. Seriously, they put her in the EPISODE DESCRIPTION and I think she clocked 3 minutes of actual screen time. And those three minutes weren't much. BS is nothing more than Cayden James’ hired thug. 

But sure, Arrow is itching to redeem her.

Stray Thoughts

Billy Joel needs new people who listen to the mayor when he says there is a viable threat.

Oliver's growly voice is my sexual identity.

Really hope the discussion between Oliver and William isn't recorded, because the kid totally outed his dad as the Green Arrow. LEARN SOME COVERT SKILLS KIDDO.

Diggle gives a very Green Arrow speech. I was all inspired and motivated. So, I got up and went to the fridge for more stuffing. Inspiration and motivation look different on everyone.

Can a needle penetrate muscles this size? Source:  fellicityqueen

Diggle has a sexy scar on his shoulder. I feel like a scar is a pre-requisite to wearing the Green Arrow suit.

Was that Moira's attorney?

"I will distract myself by clearing your good name." It’s so beautiful how far Oliver and Quentin’s relationship has come.

Rene is becoming the One-Liner King:

“I'm going to work on algorithm over there after I figure out what an algorithm is." 

“I happen to like a wide variety of music and "The Stranger" is a treasured piece of rock and roll history.

“I wanted to see Billy Joel.” Same Rene.

Auntie Thea = Jen pile of mush. Source: gothsmoak

My childhood: a summary. Source: gothsmoak

Does Arrow realizes babies come in another gender? This gender is called FEMALE. What's with all the sons?

Alright, but who's Cayden James' son?

Felicity issuing orders. YASSS!!!!!

Felicity voting #TeamDinah is the kind of female solidarity I like on my TV screen.

Of course Oliver had to make an entrance. Good to have him back in the suit. Source:  olivergifs

Agent Watson double dared Oliver to reveal his identity. Get ready for a Tony Stark moment by the end of the season!

Disclaimer: Any gifs on the blog are not mine. If you would like a gif removed from my reviews, please message me. 6x07 episode gifs credited.

[just-a-hopeful-storyteller]

Feeling Betrayed-Splatoon 2

*Spoiler warnings for the single player mode in Splatoon 2 even though this is an AU. It does spoil the final boss* I stand ready to go. Although I've never been this nervous before. I've done this before. I've played this stage before. But yet, I'm nervous. Maybe because I've never played this stage like I am today. I am joined by Crusty Sean, Annie, and Sheldon. They agreed to help me, but I'm not sure if this is what they were expecting. Of course, my cousin Callie and I, along side our grandpa and another agent, were the only ones who knew about the SquidBeak Splatoon. We were the only ones who knew of this long war against the Octatians. I knew one of these days, even though Agent 3 beat the boss of the Octairians, we would be here again. I knew eventually they would find a way to break him free. We are up to battle against some Octolings right now. So why am I so nervous? Maybe because I didn't expect Callie to be on their side. Sure, I've battled against Callie in Splatfests and for fun. But this is different. It feels so different. This time, Callie isn't coming home with jokes of how we messed up. She isn't going to come with me for our after-Splatfest buffet. She is on the side of those who stole our power. She is on the side of those who are out to threaten our way of life. That's the difference, and I know I need to treat Callie like any other Octoling. But I'm hesitant. I don't want to think Callie as bad. I want to sit and have lunch with her to talk about why she did this. Why she is on the side of the Octatians despite being trained to fight against them. I want to ask her why she is here, willingly fighting against her cousin and friends just to defend them. I have so many questions but it appears I won't get answers. Sheldon has been going on and on about proper use and strategies for each weapon we have. Annie has a charger, Sheldon has a Splattershot, Crusty Sean has a Slosher, and I ended up with the Blaster. I'm not sure what Sheldon has up his sleeve since I've been lost in thought, but I hope it works. I also wonder how any of the Inklings that go to his shop for Turf Wars gear stand listening to him ramble like this. I get up and hold my Blaster. I think I am ready to go. "Ready to go, Marie?" Sheldon asks me. "Do you want me to go over the strategy again?" "No, I'm good." I lie. "I'm ready to go." Sheldon nods and we head out to the stage. Moray Towers. It's good for Annie's charger, but I'm not sure how the rest will fair. We get to our spawn point and wait for everything to be ready to go. This match will play by different rules. Instead of just being about how much Turf is Ink, like in the actual Turf Wars, it's about who sends all four members back to the spawn first. After you get Splatted, you cannot leave the Spawn area. That's just he rules for this one. We hear the horn to go, and we do. Annie gets into a good place to sneak out shots, Sheldon and Crusty Sean both seem to have the same idea of brute force, and I'm just sneaking around the edges. I don't care about winning, I want to see Callie. For a little while, we thought Callie was brainwashed or something like that. After all, her clothes are completely different and her attitude was nothing like it was before. But that was disproven when Annie knocked the glasses off somehow. When I went to talk to Callie, she took no time in splatting me. "What, you think I would be dumb enough to get brainwashed by some glasses?" She said before she Splatted me. "Not a chance. I just like being bad." That was the last thing she said to me. Since then, the four of us have been trying to get Callie alone to talk sense into her. But each time we do, she mercilessly splats us. Won't lie, I was surprise Annie, Crusty Sean, and Sheldon could get Splatted and go back to the spawn point. I guess I've always assumed only Octolings and Inklings could do that, but it seems everyone can. The more you know. I don't know what has gotten into Callie. I might never know. But I have to keep trying. So, I Ink my way up to their tower when I hear someone got Splatted. It was Crusty Sean. He was in the middle of the whole parkade, so he got caught in the middle of a harsh battle. 3 on 1. Not too long after that, Annie gets taken out. She wasn't looking our behind her and that's how she got Splatted. Then Sheldon. How he got Splatted, I've got no idea. I couldn't see it. But I know I'm the only one left on my team. So, I'm the only one going up against three Octolings and Callie. I find Callie and throw a splat bomb behind her. It will at least limit her movement. I jump out of the ink I'm hiding in and point my Blaster at her. "Callie, I just want to talk to you." I say. "There is no talking in this Turf War!" Callie says. She points a duel wielding weapon at me that I've never seen before. I wonder where she got it. She starts shooting and I do the same back. I mostly dodge though. I know I won't hurt her, but I just can't bring myself to splat her. It's not any different from the Splatfests or Turf Wars. It's just different cause she isn't coming home. She got me cornered and I know this won't end well for me. It will only take one more hit for me to be Splatted. But I guess that's the way it goes. I try one more time to reason with her. "Callie, why are you doing this?" I ask. "We are best friends!" "Were." Callie says simply. "How does it feel now to be the fan favourite?" With that, I'm Splatted. I figured it was about that. I figured it was about the fact I won the final Splatfest. Never did I think before it hurt Callie so much. But I guess it did. I end up back at the spawn point, looking on to Callie and her Octolings friends. They seem close from what I can tell. Without saying much of anything, I leave the stage. Once everyone gets back home, they all come check on me. Crusty Sean gives me a demo of some of his food he is trying out for his food truck, which is so good. Annie shows me around her new store, which is actually just a website. Annie didn't like directly selling hats, so she is moving on to an online shop where she just has to ship the stuff. It's actually pretty cool. Sheldon comes by and we talk about the weapon Callie was holding. Annie helps him in the shop so it makes sense that Annie told Sheldon about the weapon. Somehow, Sheldon made a replica of it that almost works. He still has a few quirks to work out, but it's pretty great overall. Even though I appreciate everyone of them helping me wit Callie and trying to comfort me, I can't help but feel this is my fault. I allowed the Final Splatfest to happen. I allowed myself to win. I should have known it was a bad idea. But I let it happen anyways. I can't blame anyone but myself for it. "You shouldn't blame yourself." Annie says as she works on her site. "Callie took it personal. You can't control that." "I know that much." I say. "I just wish I made her feel loved. With what happened to Grandpa and Agent 3 just disappearing, it must've been a lot for her to take in." I wonder if that's what this whole thing boils down to. Love. How unloved Callie felt. I thought about it before. I thought Callie would've been mad, or at least upset with everything going on. But I thought if I was thinking that, I was just being stuck up. I guess now I know, now that it's just too late. Now it's too late to save her. I stand in the Square one day. This place, the Inkopolis Square, is the new spot for Turf Wars. So, all the newest and freshest Inklings are here. So, it makes sense to come here and try to recruit new members for the SquidBeak Splatoon. As one inkling comes over, I go into the drain that leads to Octo Canyon. I go through an introduction, a little surprised these Inklings know nothing of Callie and I. Maybe that's for the best though. When they look at me confused when I mention the Octatians, I say one thing. "They are here to steal what's ours. They are lead by two people." I say. "DJ Octavio and Callie."

[lanphes]

Thoughts on Pokémon GO Fest

I've just returned from an impromptu trip over to Chicago to attend Pokémon GO Fest, beginning on Thursday when I decided to grab a wristband for the event on eBay. My band arrived Friday afternoon after the overnight shipping treatment, and my wife and I booked plane tickets and a hotel room for early Saturday morning - the day of the event.

We woke up at 4am on Saturday to finish packing and headed to the airport for our 7am flight to Chicago. After a brief and uneventful flight, we touched down and went to the hotel to check in. We "enjoyed" an extremely tired quick bite to eat and then off I went to Grant Park so I could begin catching Pokémon!

The park was only a 20 minute walk from the hotel, so I connected my Pokémon GO Plus and set off. As I neared the park I saw small groups of people also walking to the entrance and was looking forward to walking in around noon without much trouble. I was so wrong. As I neared the main gate I noticed a line forming and snaking around the corner. And around another corner. And around another. And then to a large separate park with a large fountain in the middle. And then it snaked around the fountain and wound up and down the concrete as thousands upon thousands of people waited in line to enter the Fest at 12pm - two hours after the gates opened. What have I done?

After a few minutes of searching I finally found someone in an official event staff t-shirt who represented the end of the line and took my place. It took me a solid five minutes of walking at a brisk pace to reach the end of the line from the main gate entrance, and this ridiculously long, city blocks-spanning snake of a line was moving very slowly. I kicked myself for not bringing sunscreen and angled my face away from the sun as I waited. It took me nearly two hours to get to the entrance.

I mostly enjoyed my time inside Grant Park for Pokémon GO Fest, but there was much that went wrong. Niantic clearly was not prepared for the enormity of the attending Pokémon Trainers, despite having known exactly how many wristbands they had sold. It was amateur hour. It was disappointing. It was hot. There was nowhere comfortable to sit. Everyone was bummed out, and the mood was far from energetic, excited, or happy. I want to punch myself for writing this because I was so incredibly excited to go, but nobody seemed excited to be there.

What went wrong?

Everything. Everything went wrong. The problems began well away from the main entrance gate, where trainers were required to find the confusingly long and ever-changing end of the line.

“Everything went wrong.”

One member of event staff was present to manage the line, and they wore only a green t-shirt in a sea of colored t-shirts. They also did not manage the line. A line of thousands aimlessly flowed throughout the park, winding this way and that and around a fountain with no logical rhythm or progression. Not only were we standing in the baking sun and drenching humidity for hours without a hint of shade, but we had no idea how long this torturous slow march might last. Rumors of two hour, three hour, and five hour waits to get in circulated throughout the crowd like a terrifying game of telephone, sapping our morale and causing at least one trainer to cry precious tears of hydration. There was no food or water available without leaving your place in line and hoping to not be forever lost trying to find your way back. It was nearly 90 degrees, sickly humid, and people were getting frighteningly sunburned while still more hours in the sun lie ahead. I am shocked that medics did not have to take anyone away for sun exposure, heat stroke, or dehydration. I never saw any medics available for Trainers outside of the event.

Niantic could have and should have prevented this from happening. A small gaggle of ten or so event staff could have managed the line, given it organization, provided wait time estimates, and manned some coolers full of cheap store brand bottles of water. Large tents similar to the Team Lounges inside the event, but set up for the line, would have prevented almost all of the discomfort of waiting, but could only be seen beyond a large fence, taunting us with its blessed shade. A small cart selling sunscreen would have also been trivially easy to offer, with a chance to bring in a small profit but a guarantee of bringing a large morale boost to waiting trainers.

“... walking a large goat on a leash...”

Before I walked through the gates I saw a man in a tie-dye thawb walking a large goat on a leash on the sidewalk. I blinked hard and asked someone next to me if he saw this too or if the heat had finally gotten to me. He laughed and nodded. I assumed this meant he saw it too, but I can't be sure.

Once inside, hundreds of trainers huddled under a few trees in the wet, muddy, and patchy grass to try and check into the event inside the Pokémon GO app. This is when I discovered the next problem: there was no connectivity. Trainers hopelessly wandered around with phones hoisted above their heads trying to find a trickle of usable signal so that we could scan the QR code on our welcome sheet and actually participate in the Fest. Yes, we were in but still not quite in. Sigh.

Those interested in grabbing some water saw only lines of hundreds waiting for food and drink - again completely uncovered and in the scorching sun. Those interested in buying some merchandise were greeted with long lines - again completely uncovered and in the scorching sun. Those interested in viewing the main stage for another update on connectivity issues, server problems, and game crashes were greeted with a mosh pit of a thousand or more hot, burned, and sticky sweaty trainers - again completely uncovered and in the scorching sun. Are you getting this?

When you were able to find some usable signal, and the app stopped crashing for a while, you found yourself walking at least half of the time through flooded grassy areas peppered with spots of semi-dry mud and wet grass. Shoes were ruined and legs were covered in mud all over the park. I guess some free sunblock was provided after all. There was a storm the day before, but leaks of biblical portions from the hydration stations only helped to replenish the mini lakes. Thankfully there were many interesting and rare Pokémon to catch, and exciting raids not requiring a raid pass were plentiful. I was able to catch many great monsters and even do a few raids when I found a good spot for signal.

“Charging plugs were tossed haphazardly on the sopping wet and muddy ground...”

After catching some Pokémon, doing some gym battles, raids, and buying some water I decided to find a nice place to sit and have a look around. This just wasn't possible. There were many bench and beanbag seats available under each team's lounge tent, but not nearly enough for everyone that was there. The Lounges fit hundreds, but thousands wanted a break from the heat and a chance to relax for a few minutes. Not only were the Lounges packed, but they were also hot without a breeze or even a fan to blow the hot air collecting under the tent away from everyone underneath. They were oppressive. Oppressively hot and packed with trainers. Hardly a lounge. Charging plugs were tossed haphazardly on the sopping wet and muddy ground, just waiting for a Zapdos to come by and fry the trainers who thought they were lucky to find a place to sit and a plug for their phones. Again, surprised that I didn't see medics removing anyone for injuries. Trainers mostly migrated to the outskirts of the park, huddling by port-a-potties by the street but under the shade of some trees. My phone's signal seemed to be the worst here, forcing me to choose between playing and being slightly comfortable - two things that never went together at GO Fest.

Speaking of port-a-potties, they weren't really half bad all things considered. They are hot boxes that hold other people's pee and poop, but they were clean enough. I saw a pair of socks sitting inside the poo tank in one of them. Unfortunately my hands weren't clean enough after using one, since the water basins of the many hand washing stations I tried were empty early and never got refilled. Staff members placed strategically near them to manage an always-deserted photo spot in the middle of a muddy wasteland seemed uninterested in the problem. Thankfully I had wipes in my backpack. I'm guessing many people didn't.

On the other hand, Niantic nailed potable water inside the Fest. Numerous stations providing many taps of cold, clean, and refreshing water were available throughout. I used these stations many times and never had to wait long and never had an issue getting plenty of water.

Unfortunately the Fest as a whole felt mostly chaotic and unorganized. There wasn't really that much to do that you couldn't do right outside of the Fest. There were many rare Pokémon with increased spawn rates and raid bosses were incredibly easy due to the high attendance, but there was just a missing special feeling that I fully expected to be there. I sometimes envied the people on the other side of the fence hanging out in the shade, sitting on a bench, and eating lunch. My goals shifted from trying to socialize, hunt rare Pokémon with others, and take down as many raid bosses as possible to survival mode instead. I was just trying to stick it out long enough to find out how we could get our first Legendary Pokémon and then I would leave. I easily spent an hour at the back of the park with at least a hundred others sitting on a dirty metal fence grate on top of muddy grass waiting to hear when I could leave. There were many other packs of hundreds of trainers scattered throughout the edges of the park seeking shade and doing the same. There were no organized or ongoing events to encourage us to leave our dirty but shaded refuge, and the only times I saw mass mobilizations of trainers was when the next announcement about continued connectivity issues and promises of ticket refunds trickled from the distant speakers. Once concluded, hunched shoulders burned red like a Charmander's skin slowly skulked back to the shade. Shout-outs about a potential rare spawn sighting would have added excitement. Adding small challenges for in-game badges also would have been very enjoyable. We needed organization, guidance, and motivation.

There was a small moment of excitement as a bomb sniffing dog analyzed a surprisingly large abandoned backpack. I briefly wondered if its owner had simply melted away from the heat and heavy load, and considered why we had not been asked to move to a safer distance. Thankfully the backpack's trainer appeared shortly thereafter, sparing us the indecency of literally dying in a fire.

“Yes, you had to scan your wristband to leave.”

I thought about leaving for a while to grab some food in an air-conditioned restaurant but heard there was a line to get out that was over twenty minutes long. I went to investigate anyway, turning back after seeing what looked like a crowd gathered to catch a Legendary bird but was really just a line of shame, desperation, and defeat. Some wanted to leave, but had to wait in the sun again. I stayed. Yes, you had to scan your wristband to leave.

Pokémon GO Fest was surprisingly quiet. There were very few shouts of excitement about rare Pokémon spawns or unique raids because the same Pokémon showed up at the same places seemingly on a schedule. There was monotony, silently wandering trainers, and the hum of air conditioned cars zooming by to exciting destinations as I sat and sometimes aimlessly wandered around the park. This is what made it so surprising that you couldn't hear the frequent apologies from Mike (Quigley, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Niantic) through the loudspeakers throughout the park. If you heard what sounded like speaking, you rushed to the center in hopes of hearing about a Legendary appearance. Instead we were nearly always greeted by a sullen executive, sadly apologizing for the constant problems and promising refunds and PokéCoins to every attendee. Don't get me wrong: this was a very nice gesture, and it didn't stop there.

Somewhere around 5pm I heard the familiar echo of an omnipresent voice speaking in the distance. I scraped my backpack straps across my sunburnt arms and headed to the muddy center of the park to hear the announcement. This time there was good news. All of the challenges had been completed at the Fest and worldwide (with gold medals, to boot) and so we would be introduced to our first Legendary Pokémon. It had been many hours since anyone had seriously thought that any sort of battle, challenge, or capture attempt would be even remotely possible with the cell network connection issues and game crashes, so we were unceremoniously told that we'd all receive Lugia in-game at some later, undetermined, time - automatically and without any further effort. There was literally no other choice besides simply not introducing a Legendary Pokémon at GO Fest, which surely would have caused a trainer riot of Legendary proportions.

The news was delivered and the final nail in the coffin of my attendance was hammered in. I jogged to the exit gate, scanned by wristband, and power-walked back to the hotel to finally eat. I saw the lines for food a few times during the Fest and decided it was simply easier to not eat for six hours than to stand in the sun and get a side of skin cancer with my cheeseburger.  My mistake for not bringing sunscreen or food, of course.

What went right?

The wristband system for GO Fest was a pretty great idea. Each one contained an NFC chip that made it unique to you, and a QR code provided after entering allowed you to check in to a special PokéStop to participate in the Festivities. This prevented spoofers and campers outside the Fest from comfortably and freely taking what we all worked so hard for. Having to wait to get in and then wait to leave was disappointing and should be reevaluated for next year and made easier, however.

“There was nothing anybody could do about the issues.”

Communication to attending trainers was also pretty great when you could hear the announcements. Niantic trucked out their CMO more times than is humanely reasonable to apologize to us. He sounded genuinely bummed out and felt bad for us, and bad for what the Fest had become. He sounded like he cared that we were upset and disappointed. There was nothing anybody could do about the issues, but Mike sympathized and eagerly presented us with the latest tips for trying to get around some of the problems as they were discovered. Thank you, Mike.

As I mentioned earlier, potable drinking water was everywhere. If you survived the death march in the heat and sun and passed through the mirage-like entrance gate you were assured hydration salvation. It was really wonderful.

There was so much PokéPotential at GO Fest and there was obviously much thought put into trying to make this a great event. Team Lounges were a nice idea and the frequent, short timeframe raids of unique Pokémon made it fun to try and get some great raiders and gym defenders/destroyers. A new GO Fest next year is something that I would definitely attend, if not just for the hope of seeing Niantic nail it.

I wanted Niantic to nail it. I love Pokémon, I love Niantic, and I am so appreciative of all the effort and work that went into creating Pokémon GO and GO Fest. These events are very hard to do, and unfortunately Niantic's stumble was so publicly visible. Some of the issues were out of their control. I had a far harder time getting a reliable data connection from T-Mobile than I had with app crashes, despite seeing many visible small cells attached to lamp posts throughout the park. Cell phone providers did not have enough capacity dedicated to the event and its surrounding areas and floundered under the load. Whether this was a mistake on the providers' end or a result of poor planning or limited budget from Niantic will probably never be known. For what it's worth, Niantic was not so subtly blaming the providers in their announcements at the Fest. I definitely put a majority of the blame on T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint. Nobody had a good connection.

“... I enjoyed being there.”

Pokémon GO Fest will be considered a failure, and it was. I am not sorry that I went, and will attend again if they decide to give it another go. I enjoy catching Pokémon and enjoy doing this while meeting new trainers. I didn't enjoy every second of GO Fest, but I enjoyed being there.

I had captured many new Pokémon, expanded my Pokédex, met some truly great people, and participated in some fun raids. It may not sound like it, but I did have some fun and don't regret the expensive wristband from eBay, cross-country pricing on a 1.5 hour last minute plane flight, or the overpriced hotel near the park. The fellow trainers that were not all consumed with anger and misery were actually very pleasant, kind to others, and passionate about Pokémon. The variety of PokéStops, spawn points, and rare spawns was quite enjoyable for a time. The staff I interacted with were almost exclusively friendly. The potential for Pokémon GO Fest was there, but it wasn't seized. It wasn't well executed. But it wasn't a waste, either.