#arrow 2x03

[jbuffyangel]

My Life. My Choice: Arrow 2x03 Review (Broken Dolls)

For the CW, “Broken Dolls” is actually really creepy. It’s this episode and Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s “The Gentleman” that give me an absolute wiggins.

Creepiness equals solid bad guy which equals FELICITY IN DANGER and PROTECTIVE OLIVER. This happens to be my sexual identity. Excellent. We also get a very overdue confession from Laurel Lance regarding Tommy’s death.

Source: Paige

Let’s dig in…

Oliver and the Lance Family

We’re kicking off the episode with Oliver surrounded by cops in Laurel’s office. It’s not one of his handy trick arrows that save him however, but the Lady in Black and her sonic thing. A whole bunch of windows explode and everyone collapses except Oliver and the Lady in Black. I don’t think the sonic thing is based in real physics.

With the sonic thing as a clue, Felicity discovers the Lady in Black put five would-be rapists in the hospital and seems to be strictly targeting misogynist criminals. What is not to love about this woman? She’s still not talking to Oliver yet, so he must rely on Roy to find her. He chases Sin to the clock tower where he is subsequently knocked unconscious.

When he wakes, the Lady in Black is standing over him asking, “Are you one of them?” Roy is just as confused as the rest of us. When he gets a call from Thea, the Lady in Black tells Sin to release Roy and she vanishes. Well, that answered absolutely nothing.

When Oliver returns home safely to the bunker, Diggle asks the question everyone is asking, “What were you doing at Laurel’s office in the first place, Oliver?” God bless our logical King. Where would we be without you? Oliver wanted to convince Laurel he was doing things a different way, but acknowledges he was wrong to think he could simply convince her. From now on the Arrow will be steering clear of the Assistant District Attorney. FINALLY.

That’s not to say some of the Lance family can be convinced the Arrow has changed his ways. Detective Lance reaches out to Felicity to contact the Arrow because a serial killer he once arrested is back on the streets. His name is Barton Mathis aka “The Dollmaker.” He suffocates his victims with a flexible polymer he pours down their throats and then dresses them up like dolls (hello to the creepy). He escaped from prison during the earthquake and is killing again.

It’s personal to Lance because Mathis killed eight girls before he caught him. The police department is stretched too thin to stop Mathis before he kills more woman, so Lance is also trying another way and teaming up with the Arrow. YASSS!!

Lance swings by Laurel’s office to check on her and get the name of Mathis’ defense counsel. Laurel is not thrilled her father is digging into this case on his own time because of the way it consumed him the last time.

Laurel: Whatever guilt you’re feeling, you’re just using it to justify a vendetta.

Lance: Well maybe I’m not the only one.

SHOTS FIRED!!!!

Lance stops by the Dollmaker’s defense attorney, but brings the Arrow as backup. Oliver is no longer killing, but that doesn’t mean he’s above torturing.

Lance: I thought you were done killing people!

The Arrow: He’ll live.

Lance: He’s going to report me to my lieutenant.

Source: Paige

Honestly, this is one of the Arrow’s best lines ever. I am cackling. The defense attorney coughs up a possible location – the Bisque Museum. The building reminds him of Germany which is where porcelain dolls was invented. Thanks for nothing, Germany.

Lance and the Arrow track the Dollmaker to the Bisque Museum, but instead of finding Mathis they find a doll, with the article of the Dollmaker’s arrest attached to it, and a phone. Mathis calls to taunt Lance as he kills another woman.

While on a stakeout with Lance, Oliver uses the hood to address his issues with Lance’s daughters once again. He makes a somewhat snide remark about Laurel no longer believing in him. Honestly, I wish Oliver wasn’t so hung up on this thing with Laurel, but apparently he needs someone to explain it to him like a four year old.

Lance: She suffered a loss. Grief’s got a way of shifting a person’s belief. But then you know all about that. You’ve lost people too right?

The Arrow: Why would you say that?

Lance: Why else would you be doing this? My youngest, she died.

The Arrow: I’m sorry.

Lance: Less than a month after it happened, I ended up catching the Dollmaker case. Threw myself into it.  I think on some level, with each girl, I was trying to save Sara. And just like with Sara, I couldn’t.

Not that I’m in favor of Oliver using his secret identity to worm his way back into the Lance family, but this was the first time he could really apologize to Quentin and Quentin receive it. He doesn’t blame the Arrow for Sara’s death. He blames Oliver. He’s just too angry with Oliver to hear anything he has to say – even if it’s just expressing remorse. But Lance can accept it from the man in the hood.

I find it actually shocking at this point that Oliver doesn’t understand why Laurel is lashing out at the Arrow. Oliver’s entire mission is fueled by the grief of his father’s death – and every subsequent loss he suffered those five years. He found countless criminals to target his rage and sorrow at. Laurel is just targeting one criminal. Oliver really needs this explained to him? Buy a mirror buddy. Yeesh. Self reflection is not his strong suit in Season 2 apparently.

Lance is arrested for obstruction after attempting to arrest the Dollmaker on his own (with Team Arrow’s help), but having an ADA for a daughter comes in handy and Laurel gets the charges dropped. This leads to a very interesting argument about the Arrow. Do I love that Lance officially renamed him the Arrow? Yes, I do. He came up with the Hood, so it seems only right.

Lance: A guy with a bow and arrow can’t save a guy who’s had a building fall on top of him. What’s going on with you is not about the Arrow.

Finally, someone said it to her face. Lance cannot understand why Laurel feels guilty about Tommy’s death (*COUGH*WE CAN*COUGH*), but targeting the Arrow is not going to bring Tommy back. Lance is genuinely worried about Laurel, but she blows her father off like she’s does to anyone trying to help her lately.

The Dollmaker ups the ante and kidnaps Lance AND LAUREL by the end of the episode. Now, I am not a huge fan of Laurel at the moment. I have my issues with her, but seeing her tied up with a tube shoved down her throat, as her father begs for her life, was sufficiently scary.

Lance: Laurel, sweetheart, close your eyes. I’m here. I’m here, honey.

UGH. A parent telling their child to close their eyes during traumatic events traumatizes me!! Anytime the Arrow would like to show up would be swell.

Source: @dinahlaurellancesource

The Arrow saves Laurel of course, but he’s not the only masked vigilante the Dollmaker must contend with – the Lady in Black has shown up too. Well, this fits her MO since the guy is a freaking SERIAL KILLER OF WOMEN. In fact, now that I mention it, where the hell have YOU been Lady in Black?

Oliver is prepared to bring the Dollmaker back to prison after he immobilizes him with a couple of arrows, but the Lady in Black is not having it and puts a baton through the Dollmaker’s chest. You know, I’m not worked up about this kill. It's fine with her resolution skills.

Laurel cannot understand why the Arrow saved her, particularly since she’s been hunting him like prey.

Laurel: He came… he came to save me.

But this time, Laurel is not talking about the Arrow. She’s talking about Tommy.

Laurel: Oliver, he told to me to stay out of the Glades and he told me to get out of CNRI and I didn’t. Tommy was only there because I was too stubborn. Too stubborn to get out when I had the chance. You were right. I was blaming the Arrow because… Oh, my God. It’s all my fault, Dad. It’s all my fault that Tommy died.

Laurel collapses into her father’s arms and he comforts her as Oliver secretly listens to her heart wrenching confession, hidden away in the dark alley.

It’s a callback to the scene in the pilot when Oliver watched Laurel and Tommy from a distance. It foreshadowed that Oliver and Laurel’s superhero journeys would be linked and the tether was Tommy. It was simply not in the way either of them imagined.

We are not at the end of Laurel Lance’s Season 2 story, but the very beginning. While her confession is necessary, it will not solve all her problems. Acknowledging guilt and grief is one thing. Being ready to deal with it is another.

Did you notice that Quentin didn’t immediately tell Laurel she was wrong? I am not so inhuman that I hold Laurel completely responsible for Tommy’s death. Malcolm Merlyn killed his son. Not Laurel.

But she bears some culpability. If she had listened to Oliver or Quentin – Tommy may have lived. It’s possible he could have died another way, but what we know for certain is he never would’ve been at CNRI. He was there because of Laurel and only Laurel. That is the guilt she must carry for the rest of her life. Laurel doesn’t hate the Arrow. She hates herself.

That is a feeling Oliver Queen knows all too well. He goes to Laurel’s apartment to check on her and Quentin. When Lance thanks the Arrow for saving his daughter (again) Oliver’s response is surprisingly detached.

The Arrow: She needed help.

Just like Quentin. Just like all the other citizens of Starling City the Arrow has sworn to protect. I am not delusional to pretend that Oliver Queen doesn’t care more for Laurel Lance than a stranger on the street, but there is a note of dispassion. Oliver is not there because he’s trying to change Laurel’s mind about him or chase after her forgiveness or use the hood to weasel his way back into her personal life. He’s there because she was a person who needed help. That is all. And that says a lot. It’s quite a shift from the Oliver Queen of Season 1.

Source: @dinahlaurellancesource

You cannot help someone who doesn't want to be helped. I think this pull back is necessary. Oliver cannot always save Laurel - she has to learn to save herself. This her life. These are her choices. The road Laurel is headed toward is one that neither Oliver nor the Arrow can follow her down.

Olicity

After the Dollmaker’s latest victim is discovered, Team Arrow wants a peek at the forensics, but the police have sent everything to a private lab. Felicity can’t hack it because their system is offline. Seems she did too good of a job last season. FIELD TRIP TIME!

Lance and the Arrow break into the lab, so Felicity can download the forensic records. There is a list of chemical ingredients of all the make-up found on the victims. Lance recognizes one of the chemicals - ethyl paraben sodium laureth sulfate, which is found in skim cream. Lance remembers one of the victims was wearing some kind of Mermaid skin cream, which had the same type of formula.  Felicity quickly tracks it down, which leaves Lance gobsmacked by her abilities and Oliver smiles with "That's my girl" pride.

The Dollmaker picks his victims by their skin and the skin cream is how he finds them. All the victims use Mermaiden Skin Cream, which is very expensive and only carried at limited boutiques. Felicity volunteers to buy the skin cream at the four boutiques available in Starling City. Both Oliver and Diggle balk at that prospect of Felicity in that much danger.

Source: @smoakgifs

The boys can’t help but be a little awed by her bravery. Slade makes a similar comment about Shado when Oliver worries about leaving her behind in the plane so she can examine the Japanese soldier bones.

Slade: Her life. Her choice.

Oliver is romantically involved with Shado at this point, so it’s extremely telling the writers are drawing a direct parallel from Shado to Felicity. It’s also clear at this point that Team OTA is paralleling Team Flashback. This was such a cool shot:

Lance: Just for the record, I’m not a huge fan of dangling helpless girls in front of psychopaths like meat.

Felicity volunteers because she’s an absolute bad ass, but she also knows without a shadow of doubt that Oliver (and Diggle) will never let anything happen to her.

Source: smoakandswan

Once again, Felicity’s belief is proven right when the Dollmaker snatches her. Even though Diggle, Lance and Oliver are close there is still enough time for the Dollmaker to drag Felicity into a back alley. CREEPED OUT ALERT!!! Every woman has this exact fear every time they leave their house. #pickthebear

Oliver lands an arrow in this sick son of a bitch (YASSS MY KING!!!) and the Dollmaker releases Felicity. Unfortunately, she stumbles and hits her head as she falls to the ground. Lance chases after the Dollmaker, but Oliver does not.

He immediately runs to Felicity’s side and gently checks her head and tells her not to move. He stays with her until Diggle arrives.

Source: Paige

SWOON. This is not the “Mission is all that matters” man we saw last season. Some things (or someone) matter more.

Unfortunately, the Dollmaker escapes like he’s freaking Houdini. He kidnaps Laurel as ultimate retribution for Quentin arresting him.   

Dollmaker: You know I could maim you, I could slice you up into a thousand pieces, but if your soul remains intact what have I wrought? Huh? Nothing.

The goal is to hurt Quentin by killing his daughter, which will cause the emotional pain the Dollmaker desires. However, "If your soul remains intact what have I wrought?” feels like a reference to Oliver. Not Quentin.

If Oliver loses himself to the darkness of the hood, if he allows all the pain and suffering to destroy his soul, then it doesn’t matter how many bad guys he arrests or how many times he saves the city. The villains will win.

It’s an argument Oliver has been having with Slade the last few episodes. Slade disapproves of Oliver’s relationship with Shado primarily because he’s madly in love with her. That said, Slade made no moves towards any type of romantic relationship with Shado, which means he could truly believe what he’s telling Oliver – attachments get you killed.

Oliver: You think caring about people is what gets you killed. I think it’s what keeps people alive.

Slade: I was wrong about you. You’re definitely an idiot.

The question then becomes how do we go from Oliver believing in love in the flashbacks to emotionally closed off in present day? I say closed off purposely – not shut down. Oliver still feels very deeply, but he keeps those emotions in check, hidden under a hood and layer of steel forged during those five years away. Something happens in the past that changes Oliver mind about caring for others.

What’s so wild about Oliver’s statement to Slade is that he’s right and Island Ollie is seldom right about anything. It is crucial for Oliver to maintain his connections to Diggle, Felicity and his family. However, present day Oliver is not entirely wrong. Love can save his soul, but it can also destroy it. If a villain discovers who Oliver loves then it makes that person a target.  How many people can Oliver lose and his soul remains intact? Maybe it’s not a question of how many, but WHO. Regardless, it’s a risk Oliver has been reticent to take. For now.

The flip is the people Oliver cares about get a vote. They get to decide for themselves how much risk they can accept. And because they believe in Oliver so much they are willing to risk their lives. At the end of the day, it's their choice. Oliver gave Felicity the respect she deserved in making this decision - this respect should apply to all aspects of her life.

Source: smoakandswan

Stray Thoughts

“He’ll be out for 36 min.” That is an oddly specific time for a tranquilizer dart.

Shado was pre-med. I feel like Slade & Oliver should have known this sooner than a year later. What else do they have to talk about?

Prosecutor is seeking the death penalty against Moira. Oliver keeps saying he’ll never let that happen, so I’m thinking he has a Mom jail break plan.

Sometimes you need a good old fashioned gratiutious shirtless scene.

Source: Paige

What secret is Moira willing to die to keep? It is something she believes will cost her relationship with her children. So that’s a big pile of yikes.

I am completely comfortable with the way Diggle & Oliver pass the time.

Slade’s hands and face are seriously burned from freighter bombing. Oliver is imprisoned on the boat. Who knows where Shado is. Flashbacks are straight up hell again!

LADY IN BLACK IS IN KAHOOTS WITH RA’S AL GHUL!!! Batman Jen squeals with delight.

Listen to the Watchover podcast reaction to 2x03!!!

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

[angst-is-love-angst-is-life]

OLICITY MY LOVES

[inahandful-of-dust]

Grisha Powers

Shadow Summoner

Sun Summoner

[laurelsource]

Put your weapon down.

laurel lance - 2.03 “broken dolls”

[winnie-the-monster]

“How the hell could she do that?”

Oliver: proud

[itachi86]

wait how did sin know that roy was working for the arrow?he didn't tell her or sara. did sara just figure it out then tell sin

[goodwhump-temp]

Takashi Natsume Whump | Natsumes Book of Friends

1x01 Slammed against tree, trips, lonely childhood, pinned 1x02 Head grabbed x2, nightmare, passes out (18:30) 1x03 Lonely childhood, jumped, [flashback; heartbroken, crying] 1x04 Falls down the stairs 1x05 Restrained x2 1x06 Passes out, possessed, head thwacked, elbowed, nearly trampled, crying 1x08 Falls off cliff, trips 1x09 Trips, caught mid-air (kinda hot ngl), nightmare, restrained x2, choked, caught in spell 1x10 Pinned, possessed, carried, sneeze, nightmare, jumps off cliff, unconscious 1x12 Cursed, worsening pain, head thwacked, trips 1x13 Trips

2x01 Ball to the face, choked, nose thwacked, pinned, grabbed 2x02 Nightmare, choked, hands burned 2x03 Restrained, dragged, nightmare, subconsciously crying 2x04 Trips 2x05 Fever, passes out (10:10) 2x06 Nightmare, cursed, captured 2x07 Missing/captured, restrained by the neck x2, falls down cliff, rope burns, poisoned/youkai blindness, head thwacked, knocked down, passes out 2x08 Thrown out the window, choked, drowning 2x09 Uppercutted, freaked out x2, coughing, knocked unconscious, fever, passes out 2x10 Chewed, weak 2x11 Arm bit 2x12 Uppercutted, bullied, hand bleeding, bandaged, tackled 2x13 Depressed, restrained, knocked unconscious

3x01 Passes out (06:30), collapse/unconscious (09:35), shoulder painfully bit 3x02 Choked 3x03 Lonely/bullied childhood, nightmare, snatched 3x04 [Childhood; bullied, ambushed x10, crying] 3x05 Choked, freaked out x3, mini-smacked x18, SNATCHED, knocked unconscious 3x06 Choked, dropped from the sky, knocked down x3, pinned, dragged, knocked unconscious 3x07 Captured, restrained, large fall down cave, grazed by arrow, bleeding, knocked down, held 3x09 Falls down bridge, freaked out (09:00), pinned, crying (happy tears :)), fingers pricked x4, knocked unconscious, nurses bed 3x10 Mirror absorbs into eye, great eye pain x5, head grabbed 3x11 Mirror absorbs into eye, hit with hammer 3x12 Collapse, fever, nightmare/jolted awake, subconsciously crying [Flashback; knocked unconscious, flown off a cliff, hospitalized, crying] 3x13 Lonely childhood, falls into pit

4x01 Manhandled, choked, knocked down, captured, briefly unconscious, restrained, catslapped 4x02 Imprisoned, knocked down, falls down slope 4x03 Hands scratched up, poisoned, pain, choked, cheek grazed, restrained 4x04 Pinned, protected 4x05 [Flashbacks; lonely, neglected] 4x06 Trapped in a bottle 4x07 Trapped cont., scared, collapse, exhausted 4x09 Knocked off the balcony, knocked unconscious (log trap) 4x10 Panicked running/trips, passes out, sick from exhaustion 4x11 Passes out, nightmare, parent lore, denial, crying, emotional pain 4x12 Childhood bullies/trauma, manipulated, restrained, catslapped, possessed 4x13 Possessed cont., unconscious, [Childhood; emotional pain x3, scared, bullied, hit x20], choked, crying

5x01 Nightmare, jolted awake, passes out, scared, squeezed 5x03 Blackmailed 5x04 Choked x3, manhandled 5x05 Unconscious (20:20) 5x06 Pinned, voice taken, soft coughing x5 5x07 Passes out 5x09 Tired as fork 5x10 (Different POV of 3x16; Lonely, bandaged/after hospital) 5x11 Fever, collapse, hallucinating, very sick for multiple days, headache, nightmare, worsening sickness 5x12 Passes out, carried 5x13 Repetitive nightmare, tired

6x01 Transformed as child, amnesia, manipulated, terrified 6x03 Freaked out x3, pinned 6x04 Knocked off roof, pinned, SNATCHED 6x05 Head bonked, awakes/cared for 6x06 [Flashbacks; lonely, nightmare, found unconscious] 6x10 Squeezed

[aadmelioraa]

Lost Lovers, Dead Mothers an Isildur x Estrid fic set during 2x03

part of a series with @butcharondir

The flames jump up the pyre, lapping at the verdant branches upon which the dead woman rests. Isildur looks to Estrid, wonders if she will shed a tear. But she stares ahead, her gaze unfocused. His thigh aches. He shifts his weight, and his elbow brushes against Estrid’s arm. She jumps back, startled. “It’s alright,” Isildur wants to say. “It’s just me.” But he can’t summon the words, and he doesn’t know what good they would do if he could.

Read on AO3

In the glow of the torches which surround the funeral pyre, his clothes stiff with sweat and ash, Isildur fights the panic which rises in his chest. The smoke drifts towards him, then away, and he can breathe again. He wonders if the smell of fire will always bring to mind Ontamo’s lifeless face. His eyes smart and he works hard to keep his hands from trembling. He’s still not sure how long it’s been since the darkness erupted, only that the new world in which he woke is entirely foreign to him.

Beside him, Estrid shivers, clutching the front of her cloak. She’s exhausted. They both are. His wound aches, the adrenaline which had coursed through him upon their rescue is long gone. He rests his hand on the pommel of his sword, then thinks better of it. He tries to relax his shoulders, finally among friendly folk.

A solemn assembly surrounds them, broken into groups of three or five. Fractured family units, all missing at least a mother, a father, a child. A pair of women nearby whisper about the person who had died. She’d been a healer, a very skilled one, but could not heal herself from the poison of an orcish arrow. Isildur imagines this woman lingering, trapped between life and death with her loved ones at her bedside, praying in vain for her recovery. Would that sort of loss hurt less than a sudden death, or would the devastation build with time?

“There’s her son,” one of the women says, and points to a tall young man with dark hair who shuffles into view. “Theo, she called him. Hasn’t spoken a word to anyone since she died, poor lad. Not even to the elf, that who was his mother’s lover.”

The young man takes the torch from Arondir without ceremony, drops it onto the pyre, and shuffles on.

Isildur shudders. It’s been a long time since he’s dwelled on his own mother’s funeral. Best to keep such memories buried. But it’s impossible not to make the comparison now. His mother had been draped in fresh cloth too, and buried quickly. Isildur’s chest grows tight again. He swallows the lump in his throat, taps a thumb along his good leg. He should have made more of an effort to visit her grave in recent years. But Rómenna isn’t his home any longer. And Armenelos never has been.

The flames jump up the pyre, lapping at the verdant branches upon which the dead woman rests. Isildur looks to Estrid, wonders if she will shed a tear. But she stares ahead, her gaze unfocused.

His thigh aches. He shifts his weight, and his elbow brushes against Estrid’s arm. She jumps back, startled.

“It’s alright,” Isildur wants to say. “It’s just me.” But he can’t summon the words, and he doesn’t know what good they would do if he could.

Estrid’s eyes follow Arondir as he makes his way to Theo. A line parts her brows. Perhaps she is thinking of her own lost lover.

…

They sleep in a large room with a dozen other refugees, each on their own cot. Isildur lies near the door, his damp boots and scavenged sword beside him. He doesn’t think he will need the weapon here, but he has yet to shake the feeling of the monstrous spider’s legs gripping his body.

Estrid sleeps an arm’s length away, facing towards him. She makes herself small, tucking her knees beneath her chin, her cloak still draped over her shoulders. The blanket she’d been given was threadbare. Isildur switched it with his own when she wasn’t looking.

He stares at the roof above them. The original roof had caved in and been replaced with simple thatch covering, the straw still fresh. The sweet, earthy scent reminds Isildur of the stables back home. Of Berek. His throat feels thick. He must sleep, or he’ll begin to sob. He closes his eyes.

At some point in the night, he’s startled from a sea-dream, the sort that is part grace and part torture. His mother’s face, beautiful and kind, the setting sun on western waters, mixing deep blues with fire.

He catches his breath before turning over, hoping no one is awake to note his distress. His eyes land on Estrid’s face. She finally looks at peace, exhaling the soft breath of sleep. Beneath her cot, the handle of her knife is just visible. He smiles, settling onto his back once more.

When the dawn comes, she’s nowhere to be found.

...

Isildur’s leg is too stiff for him to stand on his own in the morning. Fortunately, Arondir helps him to his feet, and accompanies him to the infirmary. The fog of the elf’s grief seems to have momentarily lifted, and he tells Isildur the function of each building he limps by—a mill, a fishery, a carpenter’s workshop. The settlement may have seen better days, but it had once been the sort of place men were proud of. Arondir seems to think it may be such a place again.

The infirmary is a single room in a wooden hut. In his mother’s stead, Theo has picked up the healer’s mantle. Though his manner is rough and his tone disinterested, he appears well-trained. Arondir ducks outside, promising to return before long.

Theo cleans and prepares Isildur’s wound, rubbing a salve along the ridges Estrid’s knife had created, softening the skin before it’s stitched. He must know Isildur did not come by his injury from an orc—it is far too clean a cut for that—but he doesn’t ask what happened. He doesn’t say anything other than “this’ll sting” as he dabs a sharp-smelling liniment onto the wound.

Isildur inhales through clenched teeth. “It was a mistake,” he says, clutching the underside of the table upon which he sits.

“What was?” Theo asks dully.

“Being stabbed.”

Theo snorts. “For you, maybe.”

Isildur watches him thread a curved needle. “You didn’t happen to see any of the Númenórean company come through Pelargir, did you? A Lieutenant Valandil, perhaps?” Elendil would have accompanied the queen, but Valandil may have lingered for a few days, if the ships sailed separately.

Theo shakes his head.

Isildur winces. “I had a single friend who believed I was alive, and I’ve lost them too.”

Theo stares, needle at the ready, not quite interested enough to ask the question.

“Berek, my horse,” Isildur explains.

“Your horse was your friend?” Theo says, his voice cracking slightly. “Did orcs kill it or something?”

“A group of wild men ambushed us and took him. Your…” Isildur clears his throat.

“Arondir rescued us.”

“Us?”

“Me and Estrid.”

“She’s not your friend, this Estrid?” Theo asks.

Isildur laughs softly. The word “friend” could not begin to encompass the strange depths of his brief acquaintance with the brave dark-eyed Southlander.

He considers telling the full story—how Estrid had stabbed him, how he’d pinned her down and held a sword to her throat only to find, rather than an enemy looking back at him, a face bearing pain that matched his own—but he feels sure Theo would not be in the mood to receive it. So he keeps quiet, digging his nails into the wood table as Theo resumes his work.

…

A weary-eyed woman hands Isildur a bundle of clothes and directs him down a narrow stone hall. His heart warms as he realizes he’s entered an old Númenórean bathhouse, though it’s no longer functional. The aqueduct must have been damaged long before the mountain spit flames. Instead, the people of Pelargir haul water in wooden buckets to fill a central reservoir. Isildur washes poorly, but begins to feel more like his old self.

The tunic and trousers he’s given are made from a sturdy fabric that has softened over time, worn thin around the knees and elbows. The leather doublet is stained and too large. Without his soldier’s uniform, he blends in. Unless he speaks, this group of men won’t recognize he isn’t one of them. Perhaps this will be his life for the foreseeable future.

...

He doesn’t see Estrid all day.

She’s probably found her betrothed, he thinks, as he tucks into a portion of stew that is more hearty than it is flavorful. He picks at a dense chunk of bread and tries not to think of the tavern in the Old Quarter where he used to dine with his family. Tomorrow, he will fish and catch his own supper. He’ll catch enough to share.

Theo slinks into the hall, snatches half a loaf of bread, and slinks back out. He gives Isildur a meaningful look as he leaves. Moonrise. Isildur hasn’t forgotten.

Across the room, Arondir frowns into his lap, the plate before him untouched. The noise of many small conversations ebbs and flows as people come and go.

Isildur is watching the entrance to the hall when Estrid hovers on the threshold, ever cautious, her wide dark eyes scanning her surroundings. Isildur raises his hand without a second thought, and Estrid catches his gaze. One side of her mouth pulls into a slight smile, and she makes her way to his table. A man to Isildur’s left slides Estrid a steaming bowl, and a young woman across from him shares her bread.

“How’s your leg?” she asks Isildur, her tone almost cynical. She doesn’t appear to have rested much since their arrival, and seems ill at ease. It’s warm beside the fire, but she still wears her cloak.

Isildur smiles. “Good as healed.”

Estrid lifts an eyebrow, glancing towards Arondir. “Did your elf friend work some magic then?”

Isildur laughs. “Not that I know of, but don’t get any clever ideas about stabbing me again to find out.”

Estrid smiles weakly, dragging a crust of bread across her bowl and back. “You’ve really never been in a brawl or battle back home, across the sea?”

Isildur clears his throat, clears his head of Valandil and Ontamo, of alleyway arguments, of his ill-fated adolescent scrap with the Queen’s Guards. “Nothing serious. Not until the battle for the Southlands.”

They had spoken of this on the journey to Pelargir, Estrid’s arms around his waist as Berek brought them to fresher air and earth. Estrid hadn’t asked many questions, leaving Isildur to fill the silence, or let it settle around them like a fine mist.

“I suppose you found what you came looking for, one way or another,” she says. She doesn’t speak with bitterness, but the words land strangely to Isildur. “I expect you’ll be returning home soon as you can.”

“I’m not sure when Númenor will return. And there’s no ship in these parts that could make the journey there.” Isildur swallows a bit of dry bread with difficulty. “You haven’t had any luck finding him, then?”

Estrid looks up sharply.

“Your betrothed,” Isildur says.

“Oh.” Estrid releases a soft quiet breath. “No.”

“I’m sure he’s looking for you elsewhere. Perhaps he hasn’t made it this far south yet.”

Estrid presses her lips into a firm line for a brief moment, and Isildur wonders what he’s said to offend, and how he can make it better, but then her face softens. “Perhaps not.”

[mrs-jamesbbarnes]

Don’t mind me simultaneously rewatching Wynonna Earp and Arrow and cackling when I get to 2x03 of Arrow because I heard and saw the bad guy and went “BOBO???”

[queermania]

currently thinking about this from 2x03:

DEAN ... So. I pick up this crossbow. And I hit that ugly sucker with a silver-tipped arrow right in his heart. Sammy's waiting in the car, and uh, me and my dad take the thing into the woods, burn it to a crisp. I'm sitting there and looking into the fire, and I'm thinking to myself, I'm sixteen years old. Most kids my age are worried about pimples, prom dates. I'm seeing things that they'll never even know. Never even dream of. So right then, I just sort of - GORDON Embraced the life?

and how this probably came shortly after his time at sonny's and how dean is probably omitting some truths here about how he knew that he was never going to have what other sixteen year olds had and it was less about embracing the life and more about thinking he didn't have a choice

and i'm feeling so totally normal about it

[startrekucast]

Star Trek 2x03 - "Friday's Child" Review

Dr. McCoy slaps Catwoman, and as a result, only he is allowed to touch her kitty, maman! Somebody mixed Klingons with my Capellans, and now there's civil unrest, babies in caves, and guys who took arrows to the knee! But at least we're keeping things light with funny hats, maman.

Episode Reviewed: Star Trek 2x03 - "Friday's Child"

Hosts: David C. Roberson Effie Ophelders

Note: This episode of Star Trek Universe continues young Effie's first watch of Star Trek in production order. Guiding her on this journey: Dave, a stalwart fan of almost four decades who rewatches along with her, provides trivia, insights and the occasional excitement-stoking minor spoiler. 

Join Us: Site: http://startrekucast.com Apple: http://bit.ly/StuCast Spotify: http://bit.ly/StarTrekUCast Spreaker: http://bit.ly/StuCastSpreaker

[raayllum]

After the new short story drop... forget about Ezran and Callum's arguments, HOW IS EZRAN GOING TO REACT TO RUNNAN'S BOW W/RAYLA????????????

I am deeply intrigued by the potential of Callum finding the bow (the literal weapon that spilled their father's body) and subsequently willing to work in tandem with Rayla wielding it in S5 vs Ezran finding the arrow - a symbolic representation of the murder - and well, breaking it under his boot. (Garlaath's merciless boot of crushing, anyone?). It makes me wonder if an old theory I had, of Runaan's remaining binding on his arm providing a tether to Ezran, may come into play with both brothers aiding in freeing the Moon fam, but we'll have to see.

I admit, I had assumed that Ezran's lack of immediate long term proximity to Rayla - thereby not having to interact with Runaan, really, more than he'd want to, in comparison to Callum, who will presumably be his son-in-law someday - would mean that Ezran would have an easier time with Runaan than Callum would... but in some ways, Runaan took more from Ezran than he did from Callum. Runaan took not just Ezran's last remaining parent, but the only parent he'd ever known, and one he was fully comfortable with. He was far younger, so Runaan took his childhood, and saddled him with kingship from age 9 onwards, which... yeah, be pissed as hell, baby boy. (You could argue that Runaan and his patterns / assassin-y encouragements that were passed down to Rayla are also what took her away from the boys, particularly Callum, for two fitful years, but that's a post for another day.)

Ezran is also crueler, I think, or at least more outwardly angry, towards Rayla in 2x08 than Callum is to her in 2x03 each time the secret comes out. Part of this is I think because Callum already had an inkling/basically knew and just didn't want to accept it (and was older) whereas Ezran was blindsided. I've long thought that Ezran would have good reason to be angry at Callum and Rayla, still, for not telling him in S2 (it was understandable, but also fucked up, and could easily lead to a breach in trust there, however subconscious).

I think Ezran will have an easier time understanding Rayla's side - he's friendly with Zubeia, who ordered the hit and who he's gotten to know as a Person ("Zubeia is gentle and kind and funny") - because no matter what Runaan did, he's still her father, and well... Ezran sure as hell misses his Dad, too. Rayla will also, most likely, be against any sort of dark magic risk as well, so they're more aligned there.

Ezran going back to stomp the arrow reminded me a lot of Claudia tricking Rayla in 4x09, which is to say - younger, typically more passive siblings who were forced to be more active in uniquely taking up the heavy burden of their father's powerful mantle, while their older brother got off comparatively scot free? Yeah.

I think Ezran could have a harder time with Callum's involvement because 1) this man took their dad away, and Callum has no personal relationship to Runaan (although I'm sure meeting Ethari, which Ez has not, impacted him) and 2) the anger and fear at Callum being willing to risk himself as well could be a wedge. Even maybe getting at "You're going to risk yourself for Rayla when you nearly died last time" mixed with "You're not going to listen to me when I've been right here the whole time?" because well - she did leave both of them. And if they make plans or discuss the coins and wait to bring Ezran into the loop? It's their joint secret keeping in S2 all over again, and he has every reason to be hurt about that.

But yeah as someone who's wanted Ezran to have Big Messy On Screen Feelings explored in depth for a while, a possible "Ezran feels hopeless/angry" arc, and a Broyals conflict episode/arc (for those sweet Viren-Harrow parallels) I am thrilled. This is everything I could've ever wanted for him tbh

[angst-is-love-angst-is-life]

FUCK THIS IS NOT AN EPISODE FOR NIGHT TIME CREEPY CREEPY

[jensensitive]

It’s not just the fact that Billie goes after Dean’s heart in 15x18 directly before Cas confesses to him, or even that Cas fell in love with Dean because of his heart, that he loved the whole world because of Dean’s heart. It’s also that it’s always Dean’s heart, Dean’s heart that a gay man died giving him in 1x12. And it’s the invocation of a barely concealed gay-slur-adjacent vampire slur as established in 2x03. It’s Dean literally dying via acting out on his attraction to men, it’s Dean literally dying by choking himself because of his queerness. It’s that every possibility that Billie lists, every possible way we’re told Dean could die is related to him being a queer man. It’s that when he does die, it is via vampire, vampires who rip people's tongues out, the suggestion of this death nestled snuggly in here between dying via his heart or his dick, two arrows and an f-slur, here via berens and dabb at the very first rumblings of dabb era, a warning sign and a bookend.

[scripts]

[ambersock]

Hello! I'm back to bother you again with a question about dean this time: what do you think about the spn meta I've seen recently that says dean is a secret romantic and wants a normal family life?

Thanks for the ask @mostlybbucky!

Long winded answer after the cut:

I’ve seen people make claims like that before, but I’d say that canon not only doesn’t really support it. From 3x08 A Very Supernatural Christmas and 4x13 After School Special, we know that Dean grows up idolizing John and the hunting life, further bolstered by this scene in 2x03 Bloodlust:

DEAN: ... So. I pick up this crossbow. And I hit that ugly sucker with a silver-tipped arrow right in his heart. Sammy's waiting in the car, and uh, me and my dad take the thing into the woods, burn it to a crisp. I'm sitting there and looking into the fire, and I'm thinking to myself, I'm sixteen years old. Most kids my age are worried about pimples, prom dates. I'm seeing things that they'll never even know. Never even dream of. So right then, I just sort of -

GORDON: Embraced the life?

DEAN: Yeah.

And there’s this observation from Lisa in 6x02 Two and a Half Men:

LISA: Dean, can I be honest? Maybe we're safer with you here, maybe gone. I don't know. The one thing that I do know is that you're not a construction worker. You're a hunter.

She then suggests that Dean take a shot at both having a family and being a hunter, and the final shot of the episode is Dean alone in the garage, grinning as he uncovers Baby. It’s clear that he missed hunting and that he couldn’t wait to get back out there.

3x10 Dream a Little Dream of Me reveals that there was a time when Dean genuinely thought he wanted to settle down and have a family, but he tried it with Lisa and Ben, and it simply wasn’t in him to leave hunting altogether. He came to file domestic life under, “nice place to visit, wouldn’t want to live there”.

Finally, after Dean and Sam defeated Chuck, there was absolutely no reason they couldn’t have passed the baton to other hunters and stepped back, and yet they kept hunting. We know from 12x02 Mama Mia that Sam stayed in the life to be with Dean, not because he had his own desire to hunt:

MARY: Dean said you got out of hunting.

SAM: Yeah.

MARY: And yet here you are.

SAM: Well, this is my family. My family hunts, you know? It's what we do.

So it was Dean’s will, not Sam’s, that kept them in the life. Had Dean at any point expressed a desire to quit, Sam would have been right there with him.

I think a lot of the insistence that Dean wanted out comes from people who are in denial about the fact that Sam is the central character of the series. The finale concludes Sam’s Hero’s Journey with him attaining the life he sought all along and reveals that Dean’s role was to be the catalyst for Sam’s story.

[itachi86]

i don't believe for a second that some run of the mill serial killer could even stand up to sara