#she dropped ANVIL sized hints

[waybeforeyourtime]

"I'm shocked - shocked I tell you - that Wille gave up his title at the end of the series! SHOCKED! Where did it come from?? It all just happened in the last 5 minutes! There were zero clues!"

Literally, the first promo.

[necronatural]

how come you're a "Dante was never real and is a construct made by Angela" truther? idk nothing about that theory or why it's supported by dante's (heh) meltdown

It's not just the meltdown, it's the specificity of their rescue of aeng-du and the kind of lore we're getting.

dante is instructed to extract someone for information.

dante comes across aeng-du and identifies her as the person they need based on "gut feeling". they do reason that the basis is of their feeling is because of how the company tends to set them up, so the way my thoughts switch hard on this was a conspiracy theorist brain pretzel. My thinking is that they identified her because she was a book in the library, and it's why Dante specifically should be the one to pick her up.

aeng-du explains 2 things: the library and the location of kim. because limbus company already had information on kim, they wanted her extracted to get a firsthand account of the library.

iori was the one who suggested the distortion-centric fixer company, yet she is presumably the one who sent those people to kill dante, the presumed manager of a division of that very company. what gives? (my previous theory was that they stole a branch from her. <- LOL)

until this point it was kind of self-evident that the branch is giving dante freaky spacetime powers due to direct access to the Light. but we witness dante having a full-on meltdown. One thing that stuck out to me is the mundanity of it. The cast has either an intimate or a superficial understanding of everything Dante is saying. So why is it important? It isn't a crazy word slurry.

It sounds like they're reciting an eroded text.

And finally, the end of the story update, Vergilius mentions offhand that he himself is waiting for the lore drop; he is depending purely on Faust, who seems singularly responsible for the LCB, and what info she's deigning to give.

Overall, the update was about the mechanics of Limbus Company, from Acquisitions to After to Distortions, and what they prioritize; Distortions and information on the Library, which is the cause of distortions.

Conclusion?

Dante is a construct made by Angela. Constructs cannot leave the Library, but they are being artificially sustained by the Light present within the branch. They're a construct of a separate person, and the facsimile deteriorated due to the improper use of ■■■. The rewinding death function is also the core gameplay loop of Ruina; Dante is using that same process on their own crew. They resemble the Outskirts clock monsters intentionally; Faust - who is dropping anvil sized hints about being an ex-lobcorp employee - is a Librarian, and witnessed these monsters personally. Iori doesn't want Dante doing anything too crazy because they aren't real; there are not a wide array of universes where they exist. She would know them exclusively in terms of the purpose they were built for. This significantly thins the avenues of attack, and Vergilius would put a lot of faith in that, even if he's never been told why the fuck Dante is a free radical and is kind of annoyed and confused this is who he's working with.

I don't think this is a theory that explains everything, or even most things; who was Dante made out of (carmen without a doubt funniest possible option), what is ■■■ (may be library/도서관), what is the "aspect" Dante is trying to carve, how this helps the library, all of that is very ????. But isn't the tension delicious when you think about it that way.

[pilferingapples]

Absolutely wild to think about how Marius' idea of Cosette's childhood is, like

=> her mom died when she was young => her dad came and got her => she went to a good convent school =>after her uncle died, she and her dad moved to the Rue Plumet house :D

THAT'S IT

it's not WRONG but there is a fairly significant chunk missing!! and he doesn't know! he will probably never know! Because Cosette doesn't either! and in the times when Thenardier is dropping anvil-size hints, Marius is NOT picking those up!

Marius and Cosette both about Cosette's younger childhood years like

[marigoldbaker]

i love how currently the doctor is dropping giant anvil-sized hints that he wants to talk about his latest traumatic event and then every time donna (because she is donna) is directly like "ok. do you want to talk about it?" he acts like she said nothing and then immediately changes the subject

[fission-mailure]

Man, I was told that everyone in Baldur's Gate 3 is Extremely Horny for the player character, and they sure weren't kidding.

I talked to Lae'zel once and she was like "'Tis a pity you've chosen not to share my bed with me," and it was just like ... Lae'zel ... we've only had one conversation before this. Every time I talk to Halsin, which is not often, he's dropping anvil-sized hints that he wants to bang my half-elf wizard.

I'd expect Astarion, Karlach, and Gale to be the horniest people in camp, but they've actually been comparatively restrained next to Lae'zel and Halsin. Like they've made flirtatious remarks, but they're not doing Halsin's whole "I AM MARVELING AT THE BEAUTY OF NATURE," while staring directly at you thing, and I think there's a pretty solid in-story reason for that: Halsin is an incel.

[amarriageoftrueminds]

Every scene with Peggy in CATFA is infuriating. But the two scenes that infuriate me the most are: Peggy shooting Steve over petty jealousy and Peggy being so damn rude to Bucky at the bar. The last one is especially infuriating because Bucky was being polite and courteous to Peggy, but she just totally ignored him and continued to oggle at Steve. Like WTF was that all about??? What did Bucky ever do to Peggy???

That second scene is interesting when you factor in the period, and the fact that they thought they were writing a heterosexual scene.

Because you've got Bucky, who's supposed to know all about romancing the dames, who sees a woman walk up to his friend in a bar. And just... stays where he is.

Bro etiquette -- now and then -- dictates he should be hustling across the room to give Steve some privacy. But he doesn't.

(And Steve doesn't seem at all bothered that he doesn't either, does he?)

There is no reason why Steve -- even if he is busy giving his usual Live Slug Reaction to being hit on, yet again, by a woman who can't take a hint -- cannot answer Peggy's clumsy overtures himself.

But he doesn't.

So Bucky steps in, and prevents her from making even more of a fool of herself (twinkling at a man who just gives 🙂), by filling in the conversational gap. Picking up the anvil-sized hints she's dropping since Steve apparently doesn't care to.

(Hitting on a woman who walks up in a vamp dress and a bar would be considered less gallant by today's standards, but by WWII standards? Bucky is being the sole gentleman here!)

So why does he do it?

Did they mean to imply, by casting Jenna Coleman, that brown-eyed-brunettes are Bucky's type? 😬 Eeesh. Doesn't really say much for why Steve would be interested in her then, does it?

(In fact, it's like he only enjoy's Peggy pass as a do-over of the Stark Expo Double Date, but now he gets to succeed with the 'Jenna Coleman' instead of Bucky. It's just another version of Endgame's Hero's Journey-style 'Woman As Prize' motif. 🙄)

Bucky stays where he is and shows an interest because the dudebro writers so transparently wanted Steve to get the Nerd's Revenge; a little wish-fulfillment power fantasy. The handsome popular friend with the great personality, getting punished for being more popular and handsome than the hero in high school, by striking out with The Girl while the hero succeeds.

But -- since they're incompetent and/or cannot control what CEvans chooses to do with his performance 😂 -- Steve is not at all bothered when Peggy leaves, makes no move to go after her, etc. 🤔

No move to 'go dancing' when he has the opportunity, just like he didn't make a move on the original Jenna Coleman character, either...

(Contrast that with: actually-interested Tony Stark who couldn't be prevented from going after Pepper Potts, when he saw her in a 'hero' dress at the party.)

And those idiot writers think this scene is Peggy proving she's a Cool Girl.

Because she, who alone knows the Real Steve, has remembered that Steve is secretly just a great big loser inside...

(Never mind that he's a globally famous film star, a decorated war hero, a superhuman and a heart throb, obviously he's still beneath such an important person as Peggy Carter, nepotism hire!)

...So she has come, in Gaston Red, to announce that she will Allow Steve to date Her!

(Her Royal Highness the Most Specialist- nay, Only Special Person in the Whole Multiverse!!)

And she widens her eyes at him as if to say what a lucky boy he is, what a treat for him!

.

She is rude to Bucky, and won't look at him, because she is written by men who think a Strong Female Character means one who acts like a man.

In this case, it's a 'won't acknowledge the less-attractive female friend of the woman he's relentlessly targeting at the club' sort of a man. 🤡

Bucky's crime is being undateable and yet still in her presence. (Why can't he just have the common decency to not exist??)

No wonder Steve stayed with his bros! If he was a girl, he'd be a girl's girl. 😌

[themollyjay]

The clearest sign that Beatrice is a lesbian is that she spends the entirety of season 2 completely missing the fact that Ava is constantly low key flirting with her and dropping great big anvil sized hints that she’s into her.  I am reasonably sure that if Ava came home one day wearing a t-shirt that said “I am in love with you and totally DTF,” Beatrice would get jealous of this person Ava was in love with and angst over why she wasn’t good enough for Ava.

[bestworstcase]

I probably lack imagination, but Cinder's means of slipping Salem's leash do seem a bit ultimately limited with the goop arm in play. If she manages/discovers some form of equilibrium where the thing stops responding to Salem's will, however...

oh, sure, if the only way out is for cinder to slip the leash then she’s gotta ditch the arm somehow (🔥) but that in and of itself is an assumption that i don’t think is necessarily supported by the text?

v6 dropped an anvil-sized hint that salem isn’t the big bad of this story, which was followed up in v7-8 by the removal of salem from the structural role of main antagonist; the central conflict of the atlas arc hinged not on her siege but rather on ironwood’s plunge into tyranny. v9 is tipped to usher in a massive paradigm shift. all of this lays very promising groundwork for salem to change.

further (and more importantly, where cinder herself is concerned), the first prerequisite for cinder to escape from salem is WANTING to do so, and… she doesn’t. cinder had every opportunity to cut and run after haven, and not only did she Not Do That, she spent that time slowly and carefully planning out how to not just meet but surpass salem’s expectations—and while that was partially motivated by her hunger for the winter maiden’s power, there is also an unspoken but palpable emotional desire to return to the fold. (e.g. of recovering the relics she says to neo “it’s the only way that salem—[sigh] it’s the only way that we can accomplish our goal,” a slip that betrays that cinder’s foremost motivation isn’t to kill ruby or even to acquire more power, it’s to get salem to welcome her back.) and then she’s crushed when salem makes it clear that she wasn’t good enough to earn forgiveness. that’s her knee-jerk emotional reaction—disappointment, sadness, not the resentment that bubbles up afterwards. watch her face in 8.1.

and—okay, like, cinder IS fixated on power but i think the fandom at large badly overestimates the strength of that fixation, and that has a trickle-down influence on how people read her generally that ultimately leads to this perception that salem has her blinkered and on a leash. but here’s the thing, cinder consistently prioritizes salem’s goals over her own except when salem has explicitly told her not to do something.

“don’t kill ruby rose,” salem says, and cinder devotes four fucking volumes to nursing a grudge and conspiring to kill ruby rose with plausible deniability. (meanwhile she takes her lumps from raven branwen, who has a quarter of the magic cinder is nominally obsessed with acquiring, without so much as batting an eyelash, and has yet to breathe a word about wanting to hunt her down.) “don’t go after the winter maiden until i tell you to,” salem says, and after two volumes of exercising restraint and making tactically sound decisions cinder has an entire meltdown that culminates with her defying salem’s orders twice in just about as many hours and then blithely lying about it.

yet. when it comes to the battle in the void—through the ENTIRETY of that fight? where is cinder’s focus? it’s not on penny. it’s on the relics. there is not a single second in that battle when cinder doesn’t know exactly where the lamp or the staff are. when neo gets tossed out of the void holding one, cinder immediately disengages from penny to secure both relics. when winter knocks the staff out of her hands during their duel, cinder tracks it all the way to the ground and then blows up weiss and jaune to force winter to rush to their defense so cinder has enough time to drop down and pick it up again. and by the end of that fight? once cinder has whittled the battlefield down to jaune with his broken sword and broken aura, and an emotionally shattered, distraught winter? SHE LEAVES. she uses the staff and turns around and disengages like it’s nbd.

why? so she can tell salem that she sacrificed getting the winter maiden in order to secure the relics.

and i think a lot of people read that as cinder being so under salem’s thumb that she can’t really conceive of acting in her own interest, but… like… she literally in the same fight orchestrated ruby’s death and murdered watts…? lmao.

but almost every time salem interacts with cinder between v4 and mid-v8 they butt heads over cinder fixating on vengeance or power or both, and salem trying more or less forcefully to redirect her; right up until “you’ve fought your whole life unwaveringly for what you want, and here i am holding you back.” like. salem *gives her permission* to do what she’s been obsessed with doing since she returned. cinder wins the power struggle!! she gets a little tortured in the process yes. but she wins. and then—after getting everything else she wanted, the two things salem overtly or implicitly did not want her to do—she wins the battle, collects the relics, and sails out without a backward glance at the winter maiden whose power she was obsessed with until an hour ago.

salem isn’t yanking cinder around on a shock collared leash with power as bait so much as cinder is embroiled in a convoluted emotional power struggle that i think salem is probably not even aware of where the goal is to get salem to give her permission to do stuff that salem doesn’t want her to do, and half the appeal of the maidens for cinder is that salem has told her “not yet.” she wants to be so powerful that no one can ever control her again but she also, specifically wants salem to be the one to give it to her, and given the choice between taking power and sacrificing power to curry favor with salem cinder… chooses the latter.

so

leaving salem is, at present, directly antithetical to what cinder wants, because while she could hunt the maidens down and become stronger on her own, she can’t badger/cajole/manipulate salem into giving her what she wants if she dips. she’s got to stay—and that’s exactly why v8 ends on a note of cinder lying to salem through her teeth. she’s not thinking about this in terms of loyalty or defection. as far as cinder is concerned this is a game between herself and salem and she is playing to win.

the general expectation that i see whenever i peruse ye olde tags or do the blogwalk thing is that cinder’s arc from here on out looks like a dawning realization that she’s being played like a fiddle and subsequent panic and escape attempt, cue desperate appeals to the heroes to protect her from salem and/or save her from the grimm arm. but that… doesn’t really follow for me from where things stand with cinder at the end of v8, and where i see things going is: cinder is going to keep pushing boundaries and breaking rules and testing the limits of what salem lets her get away with, and salem meanwhile has evidently decided to kid glove her so the answer to what cinder can get away with is probably “a lot,” and frankly i don’t think that’s a dynamic salem can sustain without being forced to change because either she starts giving cinder the emotional validation she’s really after or she loses cinder, and cinder is a load-bearing pillar salem cannot for whatever reason afford to lose.

[misfit-family-of-spr]

Okay, so writing Ghost Hunt fanfic, I have discovered a genre of tag I didn't know I needed:

Pining Naru

(Pining Naru.)

Because:

look, our girl Mai has been pining for long enough. Give me the shoe on the other foot every once in a while. Mutual longing/pining or pining!Naru/oblivious!Mai. Even better when it's both.

Emotional growth for Naru. He realizes he can develop romantic feelings, that he isn't immune, and now he has to figure out how to make a girl that believes he has rejected her (depending on your viewpoint of *that* scene) or has no interest in her understand that he developed romantic feelings for her.

The humor it would bring. Because, oh boy, the course will not be a smooth one. Naru doesn't even know how she started to like him in the first place because he is aware of who he is as a person (and unfairly harsh on himself).

The ANGST. Because there is also Gene who Naru believes (again depending on your viewpoint of *that* scene) Mai actually likes. Sure, his brother is dead (unless AU); Mai can only be with him in her literal dreams (unless AU), but logic is often flawed & the boy can be blind when it comes to matters of the heart. Mai could be dropping anvil sized hints and wearing flashing lights that say she likes Naru and Naru would still be like "it's Gene/because of Gene."

[markantonys]

OK but the show REALLY had Mat looking at Rand up and down when Rand talked about taking turns (with the wood) so yeahhh... It's on them whatever comes from it 😂

LITERALLY jksdjf his INSTANT move from shock to acceptance he's like "ok didn't expect rand to be into this but i'm 100% down. not that this is a situation i've thought about before or anything." no wonder it was right after this that he snapped like. the mortifying ordeal of letting your buddy know you want to have a threesome with him only to realize you greatly misinterpreted what he was talking about.

in the span of 5 minutes mat really went "actually rand i make exceptions to the type you perceive me as having" and "i'm totally down to have a threesome with you" and "why are you so hung up on egwene when she doesn't even love you as much as i do you love her" my man is out here dropping anvil-sized hints and they STILL go right over rand's head bless his heart

[kodzuken]

after this episode anyone that thinks kristin hates buddie is crazy, did you hear the lines she wrote people like lol. It was ANVIL sized hints we're talking about here.

she literally dropped pianos on our heads

[vivithefolle]

I don't really understand, but if Rowling really wanted to Ron worthy of Hermione in HBP, wouldn't she try to make Ron nicer and a better person instead of humiliating him? If she truly thought Hermione was somewhat of a perfect goddess, then why would she want to bash her future significant other? The logic doesn't make sense to me.

The point is to humiliate Ron to “teach him a lesson”.

It’s to “punish” him for “not having seen that Hermione liked him”.

As it is said in the infamous interview:

Jo: I will say, that, yes, I personally feel… Well, it’s going to be clear once people have read Book 6. I mean, that’s it. It’s done, isn’t it? We know. Yes, we do now know that it’s Ron and Hermione. I do feel that I have dropped heavy…

[Everyone laughs]

Jo: … hints. ANVIL-sized, actually, hints, prior to this point. I certainly think even if subtle clues hadn’t been picked up by the end of “Azkaban,” that by the time we hit Krum in Goblet…

But Ron… I had a lot of fun with that in this book. I really enjoyed writing the Ron/Lavender business, and the reason that was enjoyable was, Ron up to this point has been quite immature compared to the other two, and he needed to make himself worthy of Hermione. Now, that didn’t mean necessarily physical experience but he had to grow up emotionally and now he’s taken a big step up. Because he’s had the meaningless physical experience… let’s face it; his emotions were never deeply engaged with Lavender.

[Everyone laughs]

Jo: And he’s realized that that is ultimately not what he wants, which takes him a huge emotional step forward.

Emerson: So he’s got a little bit more than a teaspoon, now there’s a tablespoon?

Jo: Yeah, I think. [laughs]

Okay, so JKR decided that Ron wasn’t ~mature~ enough for her tastes (but catch him being the only one of the three “main” characters who actually apologizes once in a while and also NEVER USED PHYSICAL VIOLENCE AGAINST HIS FRIENDS, but apparently that’s not ~mature~), and so she got it in her head to create the whole Lavender subplot to “make Ron mature emotionally”.

Yes. Okay. Why not. I mean, yeah, that could work.

But...

Because he’s had the meaningless physical experience… let’s face it; his emotions were never deeply engaged with Lavender.

........... but. What.

You say it yourself Jo - it’s “the meaningless” physical experience... If... IF IT’S “MEANINGLESS” THEN IT DOESN’T SERVE ANY PURPOSE!!!

Is Viktor Krum also a “meaningless physical experience” for Hermione? Was that also Cho’s purpose, to be Harry’s “meaningless physical experience”?

But then why is Hermione’s romance with Viktor shown so much respect? Why is Hermione allowed to be all dolled up and make everyone’s heads spin, why is Viktor never shown to be embarrassing or overbearing - yeah my mistake, he does do a thing where he confronts Harry about his relationship with Hermione but it’s resolved quickly and he doesn’t become Generic Possessive Asshole #002145 over it, and even in the end Ron asks Krum’s autograph, thus showing respect and admiration the reader is supposed to emulate.

Cho is treated horribly by the fandom, but in the book it’s mostly Harry who was a massive a-hole to her. Though she was demeaned a bit, Cho and Harry’s romance was shown mostly respect. Mostly Harry was shown lots of sympathy on account of him being an emotionally stunted fuckwad who wouldn’t know empathy if it punched him in the face.

And Ron’s first relationship... Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha... Ron? Being written fairly? Being offered sympathy? Being shown respect? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha... what do you think this is? A book written by a competent author?

So yeah Ron doesn’t get the consideration Rowling gives Harry and Hermione. Life lessons are beaten into him. Anything he goes through is just background noise. Ron doesn’t matter until his emotions are strong enough to impact Harry or Hermione negatively, and when this time comes THEN HE IS OBVIOUSLY THE ONE AT FAULT HOW DARES HE I THOUGHT I HAD ASKED FOR A BETTER SLAVE FRIEND THAN THAT. HOW DARE YOU RON. HOW DARE YOU BE ANGRY THAT EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOUR ACTIONS WILL INEVITABLY BE USED AGAINST YOU AND THAT ALL YOUR SUCCESSES ARE EITHER OFF-SCREEN OR FOLLOWED BY GRATUITOUS HUMILIATION TO TEACH YOU THAT YOUR ONLY PURPOSE IS TO MAKE HARRY AND HERMIONE LOOK BETTER.

It’s really just to get you to think “oh poor Hermione she’s in love with such an idiot :’( but it’s love so it’s ok you can’t control who you love :) bad Ron!!” or something. Ron gets it beaten into him that he’s less important than Harry and Hermione - why do you think the fandom seems to treat this like fact? Why do you think we have so many Ron-bashing fanfics? Because the books actually support this narrative, they actually do say “Ron’s feelings aren’t as important as Harry’s and Hermione’s” and the fans gradually absorb this narrative bias and internalize it, so we end up having stories where Ron is the marginalized one because never once does the narrative respects anything he goes through.

The Silver Doe does show Ron some respect, in the form of Harry accepting him and comforting him and all... only to ruin it with Avenging Angel Of Justice Hermione And Her Fists Of The Fury because “ha ha look guys female on male abuse is hilarious!”

[zaynesnursey]

The Enemy Crypto

Apex Legends short story

Mirage x Crypto (Cryptage)

Warnings: violence, graphic descriptions

Matches were usually long and boring and especially repetitive when you’ve been around long enough to call yourself a veteran. It was usually the same, land get guns and fight and eventually die or live long enough to see yourself become a champion. It was never anything new. Nothing to exciting except when you become kill leader.

It was just the start of the match however, sort of. Round 2 to be exact. And it was quiet. Squads must be looting. Mirage and his squad were doing just that at that exact moment. They were all planning to move towards fragment after leaving Harvester. There’s bound to be some good loot there, especially after hearing all those gunshots. Unfortunately for mirage, he was stuck with some pretty aggressive companions: Wraith and Bangalore. Both were becoming pretty antsy, the bloodthirsty desire for kills beginning to take a hold of them. As much as mirage wanted to stay and loot the rest of Harvester, because there were some spots left unchecked, he couldn’t argue with the two bloodthirsty battle angels.

“Alright ladies, have it your way”. With that, the trickster hesitantly followed. He’d like a few kills himself, he was honestly shocked he didn’t feel to aggressive. Well, he was the laid back type, just kinda went with the flow. He was better at stealing kills honestly, he could sneak a few off of Bangalore whenever she decided to pop smokes. The trip to Fragment, also known as the city, wasn’t to bad. Wraith didn’t spit out any warnings suddenly which meant no one was around. Good. Hopping over some large walls, the finally entered the dangerous territory where most bloodbaths occur. Everyone looking to pick off easy players without guns, then ending up dying themselves. If you survived, you were pretty good.

The sight was already gruesome, death boxes scattered about of all different colors. Blue, purple, grey, gold. Even a red, with undoubtedly a vault key inside. There’s no way that poor bastard could’ve gotten a red Evo that quickly. The squad split up momentarily to check different boxes, snagging anything they needed before moving to the next one.

“Jesus, we certainly missed a party” mirage quipped, picking up a few syringes and a good bit of ammo, even a med kit.

“Saddle up, we gotta move. Rings close, got time but we should get there” Bangalore spoke out through the coms, just letting everyone know. “Copy that” wraith responded. Honestly mirage was to preoccupied with his own loot to notice, still picking off small things he needed, like gun attachments for his 301. However he finally looked up from a golden death box and watched as the two females began to walk away.

“Oh- uh- yeah! I’ll uh- I’ll catch up in a bit you just got one ahead. I can handle myself for a bit” the trickster muttered out but the other two didn’t seem to care at all as they just kept moving on without him. Mirage didn’t expect any answer, as usual. The man just sighed to himself and moved on over to a new area, that area by the train station where the train always stopped. He found himself near the busted up building hanging out by the giant lava patch that anyone could easily fall into if they miss-stepped, kneeling down and opening another gold death box. He was pretty lucky enough to find an anvil receiver, taking in and attaching it to his 301.

Satisfied, the man stood up to leave. But something suddenly caught his ear. Mirages body instantly froze, whipping out his gun and turning around, facing the source of the noise. It had sounded like a groan... a very soft groan. Enemies. Possibly. But mirage wasn’t so sure, but he’d definitely remain at the ready. He was dumb enough to stay behind, but there was no point in turning back now. He decided not to ping, this seemed a little to odd to him. He wanted to check it out on his own.

And it may be a good thing he decided to.

Mirage slowly stepped out of the building he was in, staring at the rock where the sound had seemed to produce from. From behind it that is. His steps may be able to be heard, but he didn’t care. Another groan sounded, but it sounded softer, more alert and distress, like the person knew he was coming, knew he was here. Mirage tensed and moved a little quicker, he didn’t want whoever was behind that rock to get away. He suddenly moved and slid over the rock, landing directly in front of the source of the sound.

What he saw next had mirage frozen in... shock?

“...kid?”

Crypto... propped up against the rock, one hand covering what appeared to be a pretty gruesome sized bullet hole in his abdomen. Oh man the poor kid. That looked like it hurt. The blood completely soaked the hackers hand, along with his dark green tank top he wore under his jacket, which was also splattered with a good bit of blood. The sight was pretty horrifying... and sad almost. Yeah mirage had seen this stuff before plenty of times. But for some reason seeing a victimized crypto just had his heart ache a bit.

He may have a soft spot for the kid.

Crypto had been there for a while, clutching his wound and just focusing on breathing. His squad had decided to land here in the beginning, feeling a little to blood thirsty for his liking. Even after he said it was a bad idea they still dropped, and they were very quickly wiped. His squadmates were killed, leaving only him alive with a Wingman. As he had tried to recover the banners he was shot right through the back with... a gun obviously. He collapsed and crawled his way over to the rock where he remained downed as the rest of the squads around him fought until the last of them either parished or moved on. He was stuck here. And now mirage was here... hopefully he’d just kill him. He was in pain and couldn’t take much more.

The hackers eyes slowly opened, gazing up at the trickster kneeling before him, clenching his teeth as a bit of blood seeped through them.

“What are you doing-.. gh-.. old man....” the hacker just barely breathed out, his eyes rolling closed as he winced, the effort of speaking burning his torn diaphragm.

Hearing crypto try to speak just hurt mirage in the chest, wanting to shush him but that may only distress the hacker more. He was obviously left here to bleed out. That wasn’t very fair...

“Well kid, I was just looting around and I caught the sound of a damsel in distress so I figured I’d check it out and well- you’re hurt” mirage summed it up. Crypto didn’t seem to react to his words, only breathing heavily and occasionally letting out low soft moans of pain.

“You should just kill me...” crypto then mumbled out, a small cough leaving his throat afterwards. His eyes opened again, locking with mirages. There was a little hint of nervousness in the hackers deep dark eyes. That was pretty rare to see from crypto, but he couldn’t blame him. If he was in a situation like this is crypto’s position, and crypto was the one that found him, he’d be pretty nervous to. And damn did it hurt to see the kid nervous. Nervous about what? Dying?

Looking at the situation right now, it seemed dying would be the better option, for crypto of course. But that would just be cruel... he didn’t want to do that to him. As much as he hated seeing crypto in this much pain, knowing he could end it all for the hacker in one shot to the head, he wouldn’t kill him. He just couldn’t. Mirage didn’t have the heart to do that. Especially to crypto...

“That would be easy, but nope. Sorry kid” mirage finally huffed, standing up and moving closer to the wounded hacker. To his crypto actually flinched, his eyes widening as mirage got closer.

“What are you-“

“Just relax. I got this under control” the trickster shushed before carefully gripping the hackers shoulder and trying to move him to lay him down. To this crypto had flinched again, grunting in pain but he didn’t fight the man. How could he in this state? He allows mirage to lay him down on the rough rocky ground, groaning out in pain as the hand still covered his bloody wound. His eyes were trained on mirage, wide and worried almost, like a scared animal. But crypto didn’t look scared, only nervous. Mirage pulled out the familiar syringe you would use to revive a teammate. He planned to use it on crypto. An enemy. Someone of an opposite team. Was that against the rules? Most definitely

Crypto stayed quiet, but as mirage moved his hand down and suddenly jabbed him in the shoulder with the syringe, crypto couldn’t help the small but semi loud groan that left his mouth. Mirage winced a bit but slowly began to help the kid sit up as the syringe did its work, slowly but completely healing the wound in crypto’s abdomen. “There we go”. Mirage hummed and slowly lifted crypto to sit up again, leaning back once the hacker had his back against the rock again. “Good as new right?” Crypto didn’t have the words, staring at his stomach before looking back up at mirage. He was still in pain.

“Oh right- sorry. Take this” mirage said before handing crypto a medkit he pulled out of his blue back pack. He set it down on the ground for crypto to take if he desired. The hacker didn’t move for a while, staring at the offer before actually taking it. Wow! Mirage couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face as he watched crypto use the medkit. He felt good. Really good for helping the hacker.

Crypto stuck his arm with the syringe, wincing as the affects took a hold immediately and completely healed him. He sighed and dropped the useless syringe once it was empty, slowly sitting up a little more. He felt a lot better, no more pain. Reguvinated. “Thank you...” came the hackers low but smooth voice. And another bright smile bloomed on the trickster face.

“Hey you my friend, are very welcome” mirage said back happily before standing up. “Alright kid, the rings closing, we should probably get going”. He informed the hacker before stepping back and surveying the area.

Crypto was quiet, staring at mirage with an unreadable expression. What an idiot... what an actual idiot... did he really think saving him was going to change anything? This was still a game... they were still enemies. You gained nothing from helping an enemy. You only screwed yourself, and that’s exactly what mirage did.

“You’re a fool... old man”. Suddenly crypto stood up, aiming a gun to mirages head, the wingman he had picked up earlier. To this sudden action mirage jumped back in alarm instinctively pulling out his own 301 and aiming it at the hacker defensively.

“Whoa whoa whoa kid- this doesn’t have to be this way- c-come on! I just saved you!” Mirage almost whined to the hacker, who in return glared are the trickster. If mirage had to kill crypto then he would. This was threatening but he wouldn’t back down. Maybe he could talk crypto out of it? “Kid- what are you going to do against me with a pistol? Huh? And no shields? I know you’re smarter than that-“

“You should have just killed me. You’re an idiot to think helping an enemy would aid you” the hacker bit back as cold as ice, his eyes narrowing as his finger applied pressure to the trigger. Mirage tensed and also added a little pressure. He really didn’t want to have to do this... “crypto- easy! Come on- I’m giving you a second chance! Your match wasn’t fair and you know that! Hell- if I were you I’d die for a second chance right now! Come with me and we’ll get you suited up, and then you can go kill as many people as you want! Hell you can even kill me if it makes you feel better” the trickster tried you reason.

The words seemed to have crypto thinking, and mirage loosened up a little bit, feeling hopeful. Crypto blinked, looking down as the air gently blue his long black locks around in front of his face and over his eyes. If mirage wasn’t focusing he’d think that was pretty hot... huh?

Crypto seemed to focus back on the man, giving him a cold wary glance before lowering the wingman, his arm slowly dropping to his side. “For now...” the hacker mumbled and put his gun away. Mirage let out a breath of relief he didn’t even know he was holding in, lowering his own weapon as well and putting it away.

“Phew- for a second I thought I’d actually have to kill you. You know that would’ve broke my heart” mirage cooed, covering his heart with his hands dramatically. To this crypto rolled his eyes and walked past the goofy man with a soft groan. “Just find me some loot and I’ll be on my way...”

“Of course! Just follow me and you’ll have plenty!” Mirage piped up and gently grabbed crypto’s arm and pulled him along, to which the hacker flinched but followed. Crypto seemed to be relaxing a little bit which was good for now. Maybe mirage could convince Bangalore and Wraith to... hm... adopt crypto? A 4th partner would be awesome! But a little unfair... he knew he strict Bangalore was with the rules. Maybe he could sweet talk her into keeping the kid? I mean, mirage felt pretty bad for crypto in this situation, he wanted to help even if the korean seemed to deny any and all help. He seemed to want to blow his face off for helping him more th an anything.

Mirage didn’t dare mention his squad to crypto though, he didn’t want to risk panicking the paranoid weirdo. Last thing he needed as a bullet going through his skull or a drone whacking him across the face. It wasn’t pleasant. It really wasn’t. Mirage lead crypto through that small tunnel that lead to more buildings and that one tall building with the Respawn tower on top of it. That’s where his team was.

“Why did you help me?” A low korean tone suddenly spoke out. Mirage was to distracted with calling his teammates down to notice crypto speaking, but when he did he turned to face the kid and shrugged his shoulders.

“Because I know if I were stuck in your position I’d love some help. Plus I felt a little bad for you because I know how unfair it is to be killed off so quick. Well- overall I felt bad” he summed it up and sighed. Crypto stared long and hard at mirage with a confused expression before looking away and just walking along side him. He secretly appreciated mirage not actually killing him. Maybe he’d express his gratitude later.

“If it had been anyone else you probably would’ve killed them” crypto then said which was unexpected. This even caught mirage by surprise, looking at the kid before smiling with a small chuckle.

“You’re probably right. I’ve only got a soft spot for you”.

This had crypto’s eyes widening, glancing to mirage before looking away.

“You’re weird, old man...”

The sound of loud footsteps slowly approaching the two, a mirage froze, standing in front of crypto with a wide and hopefully convincing smile. Slowly Wraity and Bangalore appeared, looking none to thrilled to see the trickster alive, but whatever was behind the mans back had them clearly puzzled. Mirage could barely contain his excitement, moving out of the way to reveal crypto, who immediately looked up and took a harsh step back.

Was this man crazy? Crypto grit his teeth together, his hand hovering over the hilt of his gun. Mirage didn’t seem to realize the danger he just put crypto in. Instead, he spoke.

“Ok, I know this may be against the rules and all but, I just happened to find crypto bleeding to death in the city and- well you know me and my big caring heart, I couldn’t leave him there! So I helped him and brought him with me. I was hoping we could spare some shields or something? Help him out a little?.... maybe even keep him?” Mirage said, looking like a child begging their parents to by them a toy.

Wraith and Bangalore both had hard gazed pointed towards crypto, who also returned the gaze, now clutching his wing man. Although, the two women found themselves listening to mirage babble, exchanging glances before looking back at mirage, then to crypto.

The moment was extremely silent, a cold atmosphere seeming to fall over them all. Mirage grew tense, noticing how both the women were staring down crypto. He looked between the three and was about to step in front of crypto to protect him. “Hold on- before we do anything rash-“ and suddenly a shot rang through the air, and then a familiar groan of pain as the sound of a body hitting the ground.

Mirage barely had time to register what happened, seeing wraith holding up her G-7, the end of the barrel smoking, signaling that she had fired the weapon. Mirage then glanced behind himself, seeing the poor hackers body, laying on the ground with a bullet hole in his head. Mirages skin went white, the sight a little to hard for him to bare. Yes he’s seen worse! But for some reason seeing this happen to crypto was just unsettling... mirage immediately fell to his knees and gathered up the hackers limp body, his head lulling to the side, hitting against mirages shoulder. Mirage felt upset, really upset. After helping the poor kid this is what happens to him...

“Why!- why did you do this! He could’ve helped us- you didn’t even give him a chance!” Mirage spoke up, looking back to his two teammates who only exchanged glances before Bangalore spoke up.

“Can’t have tangos hangin around the squad. It’s against gameplay. You of all people should know that...”. Her words had mirages heart aching. He knew he was stupid for trying to help but how could he just leave crypto there to die?! Well he really was wrong to try to help. He just got the poor kid killed... it was his fault... he stared down at crypto’s lifeless body, something inside his chest snapping, which was probably his heart.

“She’s right. But we need to keep moving” wraity spoke up, looking to Bangalore who nodded and turned to walk away, in which wraith followed. Mirage was stuck staring at crypto’s bloody face, a shaky sigh leaving his lips as he closed his eyes.

“Aw... I’m so sorry kid....” he murmured and opened his eyes again. It was his fault... it was... and the guilt was really beginning to eat him up. He should’ve just killed crypto. It would’ve been so much easier for the both of them... he slowly opened his arms and laid crypto down on the ground on his back, stepping back and watching as his lifeless body finally faded into a death box like the rest of them did. Mirage let out another soft whine of sadness, starring at crypto’s banner. The banner made him smile softly, before that smile slowly faded as he turned to walk away, so he could painfully finish this game. Suffering through the rest of the match knowing that he got crypto killed. He should’ve just branched off away from his squad...

The rest of the match had been painful, the guilt eating away inside him made it hard to fight. But eventually their squad had been wiped. What a relief for mirage. He had been so done in that arena. He just couldn’t stop thinking about crypto...

When he had finally repawned back on the drop ship he was sat in his chair in his room. He gazed around and let out a sight before standing up. Finally some peace... he stretched and groaned, brushing his hair back with his hand before heading out of his room. Everything seemed the old same old same old, nothing new as usual. Octavio playing video games, Makoa and Ajay chatting on the couch. The normal. Mirage was happy to see everyone, walking into the room and letting his charming presence fill the room, saying hi as he walked by.

His presence wasn’t unnoticed, at least by one person.

Mirage had moved to the kitchen to grab himself a drink, for he so desperately needed one after that dreadful match. He grabbed a cup and filled it with some water before drinking it and setting the cup down in the sink. “Woo, that feels much better” he mumbled to himself before walking out. Once the living room was out of view for mirage, walking down another hallway, a voice seemed to stop him in his tracks.

“Elliott...” a very familiar korean voice spoke out from behind him. Mirage froze in his tracks, immediately spinning around on his heels to face the hacker now standing infront of him. Crypto seemed to be partially hanging out of his room, his legs inside his room while the rest of him stuck out. Once he seemed to have mirages attention crypto sighed and slowly moved the rest of himself out of his room, gazing up at mirage with a nuetral expression.

Mirage seemed excited and relieved at the same time to see crypto ok and alive. His arms moved along with his mouth, gawking at the kid.

“I- hey- kid- oh- you’re alive...” he couldn’t stop himself from speaking. Crypto raised an eyebrow at the mans excitement and almost seemed a littl uncomfortable with it, taking a step back with a small grunt. The hacker opened his mouth to speak.

“I wanted to-“

He was suddenly cut off... but not by mirage speaking, no... it was a feeling. A physical feeling. The trickster has suddenly moved forward with open arms and wrapped them around the lean hacker in a form of a hug, a nice warm hug. Mirages head was rested on crypto’s shoulder, his eyes closed as he just gently squeezed the hacker in a nice hug. Crypto was frozen, his eyes wide and confused. Normally he would be very sensitive to physical contact, pushing people away and even snapping at them. But he could almost feel the relief washing off of mirage. He could tell the man sort of... needed this. So crypto let it happen surprisingly. His expression softened only the slightest, but only because mirage couldn’t see his face for now, standing still and letting the man hug him.

“I’m so sorry kid- I shouldn’t have- I was stupid...” mirage muttered out, opening his eyes as he stared at the floor. Crypto rose an eyebrow to those words, hesitantly placing a cold hand on mirages back, as a small form of comfort.

“Don’t apologize you idiot” crypto muttered back. The hug had lasted long enough and crypto grew a little tense, so mirage pulled back, a small smile covering his face as he even looked a little flustered. Crypto wasn’t mad at mirage if that’s what he thought, but he just brushed it off and straightened back up, shoving his hands back into his pockets.

“As I was saying. I... wanted to tell you... I’m grateful you helped me” the hacker stated, the hesitation very clear in his voice. “Even though you should’ve killed me...” he then added lowly.

Mirage couldn’t help the smile that grew on his face, even bigger than before. He waved his hand in an ‘aw shucks’ motion and chuckled. “Don’t mention it kid, just doin my duty. Just couldn’t let you die there all alone” he said with an added wink.

Crypto’s eyes narrowed and widened at the same time, looking a bit disgusted by the words and the wink. “Never say that again...” he scoffed.

“What? Duty? Sorry I have no filter kiddo” mirage teased back with a shit eating grin. Funny that some words could annoy crypto. And that certainly had made the hacker groan, rolling his brown eyes at the man.

“Whatever, old man...” crypto said before turning away to walk back into his room. But before he went in he stopped inside his door frame, casting a side glance to mirage. For some reason he just felt the urge to he nice to the man after he helped him. “Goodnight Elliott” he spoke softly.

Mirage smiled at this, not even caring if his cheeks hurt from smiling. “Goodnight Crypto, sweet dreams” he sing songed before watching the hacker disappear into his room again, closing the door.

Mirage sighed and walked away with a soft smile. Something felt warm in his chest, his heart was fluttering. Could he be feeling... attached? Inside the dark bedroom a certain hacker may be feeling the same sensation. Crypto lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling wondering what exactly he was feeling right now. His heart was beating and his cheeks felt hot. Of course crypto understood emotions, but he just couldn’t force himself to believe he was feeling them. He couldn’t...

But he was...

“Damn you Elliott...”

[seokjins-wings]

my mom’s dropping anvil sized hints that she wants grandchildren........... but................. well, actually they’re not anvil sized hints, she outright TELLS me that she wants grandchildren every 4 months. it happened for the first time at the beginning of the year when we walked by a baby bed in a furniture shop and she asked, “when will I finally get to put my grandchild to bed?” today we were at a christmas fair with my aunt, and her son, my cousin, is the same age as me (27) but we’re both............. like.......................... NOT interested in dating at all, so obviously there are no grandchildren in near sight on either side. my mom and my aunt were kinda joking about it? making fun of the fact that they still have no grandchildren? but then my mom seriously said to me, “remember, if you waste more time and get a child at 30 you’ll be as old as me when you get grandchildren!” AS IF I CARE. AS IF SHE SERIOUSLY EXPECTS ME TO WANT CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN. I know breaking it to her (that I have NO plans to press a 3kg piece of meat out of my vagina) while we’re having fun at a christmas fair just ISN’T IT, so I kept quiet but. at some point I’ll have to sit her down and tell her and that’s gonna be.... bad, I think

[siren-theories]

Repeating the past - Ben and Ryn as modern parallels to Charles Pownall and his mermaid?

When I wrote my previous post about the Pownall Massacre I noticed just how many parallels between the massacre and our trio exist, especially for the characters of Ben and Ryn. In fact, I saw so many parallels that I started writing the following as the last part of my analysis. But I soon realized that this was too large and merited an article of its own. 

If you are unfamiliar with the story of the Pownall Massacre feel free to read my previous article on it (or alternatively you can just accept my conclusions at face value).

Gifs in this post are either taken from the official freeform site, Crayonboxhearts, koortega or sirensource. 

Due to the characters involved in the Charles Pownall story this analysis has to mainly focus on Ben and Ryn. I apologize beforehand if it seems as if I am ignoring Maddie. You will understand why once you get to the last part of this article. 

Hypothesis: The story of Charles H. Pownall and his mermaid might be repeating itself in the form of Ben and Ryn (and to a certain extent Maddie).

(Polymarine fans upon reading the previous sentence)

The looming threat of Ben turning into his ancestor and Ryn into the original mermaid is always present in the show and adds drama and spice to their relationship. A huge part of what makes their relationship worth watching is experiencing how they overcome the past - or not - and how they make different choices than their respective families / societies. This piece will examine how the show creates parallels and in which way they differ from the original characters. 

Part I: The Parallels

There are multiple obvious parallels between the story of Charles and his mermaid and our trio, so many in fact that this is very unlikely to be coincidental. 

1. Charles Pownall was the first of the Bristol Cove community to meet a mermaid and became entranced with her and her song

(ELAINE: “I*m curious, how did you and Ben become friends? RYN: Ben almost hit me with car.”) 

Likewise, Ben is the first person in close to 150 years to meet a mermaid and he too becomes entranced with her song in Episode 101: “The Mermaid Discovery”.

2. Both Charles and Ben were already in a committed relationship when they met the mermaid. 

Charles was married to an unnamed woman (presumably Bens great-great-great-grandmother),  Ben was dating Maddie for several months until Ryn arrived on the scene. 

(Player 3 has entered the game) 

As with Charles, the new presence complicates the existing relationship, to the point that Ben and Maddie break up for a short while in Episode 110 when he (under the influence of the song) consistently put his need to protect Ryn over communicating with Maddie. 

3. Charles and the mermaid lived together on land. 

(”Ryn choose[...] I stay on land with Ben and Maddie”) 

Ryn too lives with Ben and Maddie on land, As of 209, she wants to stay on land permanently even though it might put her in danger. 

4. Charles Pownall suffered from alleged mental illness due to the song.

Likewise, Ben and Maddie experience visions and exhibit poor impulse control after being exposed to it. This ranges from visions of Ryn being in danger to a unique way of telling your prospective inlaws about the nature of your relationship with their son and the “friend from Finland”. 

5. Charles tried alcohol to cope with the effects of the song. 

(Episode 209 “No North Star” and Episode 211 “Mixed Signals”)

Maddie and Ben start drinking alcohol whenever missing Ryn or daydrinking when under the effect of the song.

6. Charles started to act abnormally when his mermaid was gone.

Ben and Maddie also act abnormally whenever Ryn might have left them for good. Ben takes risky trips to sea at night in Episode 105 "Curse of the Starving Class" , both Maddie and Ben self-medicate with the song in Episode 209 "No North Star".

7. As with Charles the song causes brain damage in Ben and Maddie.  

(“My song do this? Make Heads go dark?” - from Episode 211: “Mixed Signals” )

8. It is likely that Charles’ mermaid was the one initiating the sexual part of the relationship. 

"I have a dream. About Ben.[...]Maddie says it is because I want you."

While Ben and Ryn discussed having feelings for each other before, it is Ryn who pursues him in 204 “Oil and Water”. 

Ryn is the first to kiss both Maddie and Ben (mimicking human behaviour in episodes 105 and 106 with first true kisses happening in episode 204). It is Ryn who first states the wish to have sexual relations with the other two.

All subsequent sexual encounters we see depicted on the show happen with Ryn being the one initiating them. 

(Episode 208) 

(Episode 209) 

(Episode 210)

(Episode 213)

9. According to other humans the mermaid was a woman of ill repute, even slandered as a tavern prostitute after her disappearance.

Likewise, Ryn is seen as a drug addict, murder suspect and person-who-holds-wild-orgies-at-the-cabin-with-Ben by elements of the police force. The look on Deputy Marissa Staub's face when Ryn appears besides Ben at the Cabin in Episode 203 “Natural Order” speaks volumes.

(Tfw you discover the local prince is way too intimate with the local druggie, offending conservative sensibilities everywhere.  Oh the humanity.)

Marissa also likely views Ryn as a home-wrecker (considering she knows Maddie is dating Ben and is close to Dale), much the same way other humans would have viewed Charles mermaid.

10. Charles and the Mermaid had a baby

One thing missing at this point in the show is the presence of a hybrid baby but that might (and I think eventually will) change in the following seasons. There were multiple scenes in Episode 213 where both Ben and Ryn clearly exhibited signs of wanting to have children with each other and one scene in particular where they both had to force themselves not to do so within that episode.

[Sidenote: The acting in Episodes 213-216 was on point.] 

Wwhether there will be a baby in the relationship due to Ryn getting her full-blood baby back (although I think it more likely that one - if it survives - will end up with the other sirens in the sea) or a hypothetical future hybrid baby she might have with Ben (something I personally thnk will be the direction the show will eventually take in the penultimate, maybe ultimate season) the massive anvil sized hints the writers dropped in 213 are too huge to ignore.

[Sidenote: Would Ben and Ryn need IVF to conceive? Probably not. As the tests showed in Episode 213 "The Outpost" there was nothing wrong with Ryn. I believe the problem with getting pregnant was firmly on the male side as infertility in apex predators (and humans) is most often a male problem and the procedure they used is typically used to fix low sperm count in male humans. More on that maybe in a later article.]

11. There is persistent symbolism associated with Charles Pownall, Ben and Ryn in Season 1

In Episode 109 “Street Fight” the most tragic event of Season 1 (Donna getting fatally wounded) happens right near the statue of Ben's Ancestor, with the camera panning over to the statue multiple times to make sure the audience gets the hint. 

It also featured a storyline of Ben acting increasingly irrationally (albeit in a very mild manner compared to Charles) while trying to protect Ryn from Katrina. 

 Conclusion: 

So there you have it. The Siren trio is just a retelling of the Charles Pownall story adapted for modern times, destined for the same tragic ending. After all, the parallels are there. Charles = Ben, his mermaid = Ryn. 

(Polymarine representatives gather near the author’s house to register their difference of opinion, 2019, decolorized) 

Maybe not.

Or rather, this is not the same story and the show tells us that they are not reliving the past.

B) Differences

Whereas the story of Charles Pownall was that of a tragedy and eventual separation, the story of our trio is not. In fact, what the writers are going for seems to be the kind of story that shows that people in similar situations might act in a different manner than their ancestors and thus that similar situations might have different, better outcomes.

Let us take a look at the ways the show differentiates the trio from the Pownall story and also the ways the show outright tells us that this is not the same story.

1. Ryn and Ben’s motivations are different than those of their ancestors

Unlike the mermaid which helped Charles find material wealth, Ryn's initial motive is to find her sister, then stop the overfishing, then safeguard her pack, then save her species from extinction. This of course is accompanied by the motive of Ryn to stay with Ben and Maddie, a motive which might even have taken priority if Ryn leaving her pack to stay on land permanently in Episode 209 is any indication. 

The initial motive on the actions of Charles were profit (and maybe fame), which is definitely not the case with Ben who seems to not care much about material wealth as evidenced by Episode 108 where he declines a new car.

ELAINE: "Your car is disgusting." BEN: "I like my car" ELAINE: "We could buy you a new one, you know. One of those electrics....good for the environment."

Ben could easily become famous and have a huge career boost by "discovering" Ryn and publishing his findings but he does not. Instead his main motive seems to protect both humans and Sirens from harming each other - something that Ryn comes to eventually share as well.  

2. The characters act as a bridge between the cultures, not as dividers

The show sometimes attaches imaginery to fit that purpose, as in Episode 203 “Oil and Water”.

(Let's just look each other in the eyes for 30 seconds while the merpack safely sleeps between us and hope that the viewers are not too distracted by the sexual tension to not notice the symbolism) 

The writers further bring up the idea of characters (specifically Ryn) acting as a bridge between the cultures in Epsiode 206.

RYN: “Shapeshifter like me” DALE: Yes. And in those stories, the ones like you often represent the idea of two worlds coming together. [...] But maybe that is your calling, to lead my kind and your kind to a peaceful existence in this new world.” 

In 208 Ben reveals his hope that eventually the two species can live together (again) in harmony (something that Ryn, Maddie and Ben already practice on a smaller scale).

3. When facing a choice between their respective societies/families and their relationship the trio consistently chooses the relationship

After becoming Alpha in Episode 109 "Street fight" Ryn still choses to leave her pack behind to stay on land.

In 207 Ryn decides to volunteer as a military test subject in order to get Ben out of jail. 

This was a very risky choice - she had no reason to trust the military, no reason to believe they would ever let her go and she also risked her entire pack's welfare by placing herself in the hands of the military. Yet she still did it for Ben. 

In episode 208 Ryn leaves her pack to spend the night with Ben and Maddie and in episode 209 she reveals she permanently wants to stay with them no matter the costs or risks attached, even though it might expose her to capture by the military and thus risk her colony. The vehemence with which she defends her choice is telling. 

RYN:"Ryn hurt inside. Need Ben and Maddie" BEN: "We need you too. There is a woman looking for you". MADDIE: "She's with the military. RYN: "Yes. I help her." BEN: "Why?" RYN: "She get Ben out of cage." MADDIE: "You agreed to work with her to get Ben out of jail?" RYN: "Yes." BEN: You shouldn't have done that" RYN: "Ben is love" BEN: "Look you shouldn't have put yourself in danger for me." MADDIE: "We think it's better for you to go back to the water. Just for a while." 

At this suggestion, Ryn gets visibly angry.

RYN: "Ryn choose...Military was bad to sister, but good to Ryn."   MADDIE: "For now. But we don't know what they want to do to you." RYN: "I stay with Ben and Maddie."

Ben likewise rejects his family business and refuses to follow in the footsteps of his ancestors. When presented with a "dark" vision of himself in Episode 214 he rejects it with horror. He consistently lies to his family to keep Ryn safe  and to help her. Most importantly at the end of Episode 215 “Sacrifice” he puts Ryn’s safety above the health of his own mother, who might very well die because of this choice.

Kyle, slimeball extraordinaire and commander of the military facility had previously told Ben that his mother would need another injection of Ryn's stem cells soon in order to continue healing, leading to the following conversation:  

MADDIE: “As soon as he finds out what we did, that'll be the end of our relationship with him.” BEN: “Yeah. This is what matters right now. For Ryn and her species. All the rest we'll just have to figure out.”

Maddie likewise choses to protect Ryn and breaks a solemn vow to her father to do so in Episode 107 “Dead in the water” . While maybe not on the same level of the above-mentioned sacrifices made by Ryn and Ben there is not a single reason to doubt that she too would choose her two mates over anybody else.

4. The human families of the trio are not openly hostile to them being together with Ryn 

Charles Pownall's family was hostile to the mermaid with the Hawkins being permanently ostracized by the Pownells.

The human families reaction to the relationship between Ben, Ryn and Maddie are different from that. Maddie's mother, Susan, is concerned - but not about the nature of the relationship, instead she is concerned about Maddie getting hurt. We do not know what Dale thinks about the relationship or if he even knows about it though I find it hard to believe Maddie would keep it from him. Thus I would argue he at least tolerates it). 

Ben's father seems completely unfazed by his son being in a polyamorous relationship. If anything he seems more amused by the display Maddie made when she announced that she, Ryn and Ben were in such a relationship instead of the fact itself.

HELEN: "That was quite the show" TED *laughs* : "That's one way to put it. I just hope those three figure it out, whatever it is." 

Elaine was shocked but that might have been more due to the nature of the announcement - she certainly did not have any problems with Ryn kissing Ben in Episode 209 despite knowing that Ben was with Maddie. 

There are a few caveats to the above. Nobody except Dale knows Ryn’s true nature. Ted's reaction might very well be different and even hostile in the future considering he is on the verge of finding out about Ryn. Of course the Sirens having something to do with the boat accident that crippled Elaine or that Elaine might suffer more in the future due to Ryn having to withhold stem cells from her might also cause Ted and Elaine to react negatively in the future.  

5.  (Human) society has evolved a bit since the 19th century

Humans in the 19th century would not have reacted kindly to an unmarried woman (the siren) spending time with a married man (Charles) , even if they did not know her true origin,

[Sidenote: If you want to have a “fun” time read up what people did in the 19th and early 20th centuries to sabotage relationships that were considered abnormal. In the infamous example of Virginia Woolf this even involved a plane chase across two countries.] 

When the trio's human friend Xander learns about the relationship, his reaction is one of surprise and shock. (You can watch the scene here). However a discussion between him and Maddie in Episode 212 confirms that this is not due to a rejection of the nature of the relationship but more about Xander's worry that the Siren song is controlling Maddie. After being told this is not the case, he drops that objection and while he certainly does not like the relationship he is not taking active steps to sabotage it unlike 19th century people might have 

In fact it seems as if nobody in Bristol Cove much cares about the relationship the three have. There must by now be a considerable amount of people seeing the trio interact in public like this: 

(Yes officer, this scene right here)

And multiple people in the anchor saw Ryn and Ben dancing together in 204 in a manner that was way too intimate to just be friends.

(Taking bets on the number of gaskets Deputy Marissa will blow when she hears about this happening.) 

Especially in a small town like Bristol Cove where everybody knows each other the gossip mill must already run wild about the trio. However nobody seems to mind. 

This of course is a major difference of today's society to the 19th century society of Charles and his mermaid. Today's society cares much less about things like adhering to strict heterosexual norms and two-person relationships. Unlike in the 19th century where even marrying below your station would be considered a betrayal and seriously threaten your standing in society,  the acceptance of sexuality and relationships as fluid concepts is at an all-time high.

There is only one person who openly is hostile against Ryn spending time with Ben and Maddie in the show and that is Deputy Marissa. However Marissa also believes that Ryn is a drug addict, possible dealer, possible murder suspect and person-who-holds-wild-drug-orgies-at-the-cabin-with-Ben. No wonder she is hostile to Ryn given that it is her duty to protect Bristol Cove from bad influences - which her inaccurate version of Ryn definitely is. 

If anything it seems that the Siren society is less accepting of the relationship than humans are (at least Cami and Katrina are appalled by it). But as long as Ryn is Alpha then what are they going to do about it without risking an immediate beatdown by an enraged Ryn? 

[Sidenote: At this time I feel it is my solemn duty to link you this great video of humans reacting to the trio, edited by Koortega.]

6. The reactions to the Siren Song might be different from those of Charles

This is more speculative than the other parts of this post because we do not know the specific reactions of Charles Pownall to the song. Yet so far - and speaking strictly about the effect of the song on the relationship - whenever the song is used it does not have negative effects with regards to threatening the relationship. 

Ben's visions are not about domineering or being possessive about Ryn, but ultimately about protecting her (Episode 110 “Aftermath” and to a lesser extent Episode 203 “Natural Selection”), realizing he might hurt her through his behaviour and reaffirming how much he loves her (Episode 214 “The last mermaid”).  

Likewise Maddie, despite being exposed to the more harmful defensive variant of the song only wants to tell the world about how much she loves Ryn and Ben. 

[Sidenote: There is also the unlikely possibility that the relationship between Charles and his mermaid was solely based on the song, which in any case is not true for our trio.]

A cure for the brain damage due to the song also exists and the experience of obtaining that cure together brings the throuple closer together. 

(From Episode 212: “Serenity”)  

So there you have it. There are enough differences between the trio and Charles Pownall and his mermaid to not have them go down the same dark path. But in this case the show goes even further. 

C) The events of the last episodes of Season 2

The writers themselves tell us in no uncertain terms in the last four episodes of Season 2 that this is not the same story because Ben and Ryn are not their respective ancestors. 

In Episode 213 and 214 as the Pownall massacre as well as Ryn’s mating drive and her unilateral actions based on that drive put the relationship to its hardest test. 

It is important to note that the writers used multiple contrivances to arrive at this point. For the biggest example, Ryn seems to have suddenly developed complete memory loss with regards to her knowledge about Ben being a Pownall. Which is more than a bit contrived considering Ben and Maddie discuss his father owning Pownall’s two meters away from her while she is clearly listening in Episode 106 “Showdown”. 

This was not something Ryn overheard considering later in the same episode: 

DONNA: I see his face. In that place take our food. RYN: That was not him. That was his father. Writers of Episode 213: FAKE NEWS.

Oh and if there was any doubt left there is also that time Bens father was called Mr. Pownall in front of Ryn in Episode 108. 

(WRITERS: “You saw nothing.”)

In Episode 110 Helen explicitly names the father of the hybrid baby as “Charles Pownall” and also confirms that Ben and her are related through Charles. This is done while Ryn is listening and participating in that conversation (I have transcribed the whole conversation in my previous post about the massacre)

Ryn also seems to have paid no attention at all to her surroundings while living with Ben and Maddie for months (c’mon, does that sound anything like the hyperobservant, inquisitive and highly intelligent mermaid we know?). Anybody who walks around a modern human name would shortly know the name of the homeowner. Given all these factors, her not knowing before Episode 213 makes no sense at all. 

So why the contrivance? 

Of course one possibility is that the writers were too incompetent to remember what they wrote a year ago. But I do not believe this to be the case, especially with how few contradictions there are in the show otherwise and the great attention to detail the writers usually have. Maybe they  wanted to score cheap drama? But there already was enough drama with Ryn trying to save her species from extinction (plus the effect this had on Ben and Maddie) and it seems odd to go to such great lengths just for that. Therefore I would argue that the Pownell revelation was (at least partly) included here to make a specific point.

What point would that be? Let us recap what happens in those episodes, especially 214. 

After “suddenly discovering” (excuse me while I go grind my teeth in the corner) in Episode 213 that Ben’s last name is Pownell Ryn gets very upset and concerned, culminating in the following exchange in Episode 214: 

BEN: "Charles." RYN: "He loved one like me and his love turned bad. It makes him angry. He killed my people. And it starts with love. Like *crying* Like Ben love Ryn."

Ryn is clearly concerned about a repeat of the original Pownall story. And in this episode Ryn (and the audience) is explicitly told by Maddie that Ben is not his ancestor - just as Ryn is not hers either. 

MADDIE: "You know my mother, Susan?" RYN: "Yes" MADDIE: "Remember I told you how she was? The pain she caused me?" RYN: "Yes. She was weak and sad." Maddie: "Am I like her?" RYN: "No. You are strong." MADDIE: "Just because your family thinks or acts a certain way doesn't mean you have to repeat that. Ben's ashamed of what his family did. And many in your colony don't trust humans. They want to fight them. But you came on land, you trusted us, fell in love with us." RYN: "Love can be good or bad." MADDIE: "Yeah. But I trust Ben. I trust you. I trust that our love is good."

(Take ALL the Applause Maddie, you earned it.)

Ryn accepts Maddie's argument. The speed at which she does so as well as her obvious concern for Ben when he disappears during the episode seems to indicate that she was more conflicted about her own feelings than anything else - like Ben himself in that episode one might say. When Ben finally reappears, Ryn is visibly relieved at the sight of him and the following exchange happens: 

RYN: "You are okay?" BEN: "No. Not okay." RYN: "Angry with me?" BEN: "Confused. About myself." RYN: "Ben. I know you would not hurt me. I know you are different from your family. Those who kill. BEN: "I want to believe that." RYN: "I believe. Our love is good." BEN: "You trust me?" RYN: "I don't want you to feel any more pain."

The relationship between her and Ben survives the stress test and trust seems to be fully restored through Ben’s following actions in Episode 215 (some of which have already been mentioned before). 

The relationship seems to have been fully repaired by the end of 215 but if there was any lingering distrust I think Episode 216 would have dispelled that as Ryn is clearly willing to move forward with the relationsip at the end of Episode 216. Letting Ian drown might have been taken by Ryn as a display of trust, especially as she knows that it took a toll on Ben.

This of course is a parallel to another Season 1 episode. In Episode 106 “Showdown” Ben steps in to prevent Ryn from killing another antagonist that was a threat to her (Aldon Decker). Her reaction to Ben refusing to let a human die to keep her safe is one of anger and feeling betrayed.

RYN: "Why you help the bad man?” [Ben refuses to let Ryn kill Decker by placing himself between them] RYN: You choose him. You should choose me."

In Episode 216, Ben does so. He clearly chooses Ryn and her safety over the life of a fellow human.

Even without that choice it was in my opinion already clear from the looks they share at the end of Episode 215 that they will move forward with each other. 

(Protip to a happy life: find yourself a relationship where the persons involved in said relationship can still look at each other like that even after they just finished putting each other through hell for several days). 

Due to all the factors involved in Episodes 213-216 (Ryn unilaterally deciding for much of the storyline and expecting the others to go along without giving them a say, the whole fertility crisis amongst the Sirens and of course the Pownall “revelation”) this probably was the worst stress the relationship could ever be under at that point. 

I therefore posit that if the relationship between Ben and Ryn would be “Charles Pownell 2.0″, this would have been a fracture point instead of a successful stress test.

And the relationship between Ben and Ryn surviving is of course in no small part due to the largest stabilizing element in the relationship, the one element that was missing from the story of Charles and his Siren.

D) The third element

Imagine how different the story of Charles and his mermaid might have happened had they lived with the Haida - people who knew how to deal with human-siren relationships, how to help hybrids and who were most likely used to that kind of relationship happening. 

The present-day relationship the show is depicting has such a large stabilizing element to it. I am talking of course about the one person I have so far criminally neglected in favour of focusing on Ben and Ryn (because they are the parallels to charles and their mermaid and also because this allowed me to give this post a better structure).

Maddie might not be Haida biologically, but she is a Haida in the cultural sense of the word. She was raised by a Haida man and one of the first stories she tells Ryn to calm her down in Episode 102 “The Lure” is a Haida story. Now of course Maddie is not the solution to all the problems the trio faces. She does not have any Haida knowledge on how to deal with hybrids or Sirens.

However, she is by far the largest stabilizing element in the relationship as evidenced by episode 214 and the episodes before. Whenever Ryn and Ben are acting out of character or have communication issues (either between them, others or with Maddie), Maddie appears as the mediator that manages to get through to the other two and makes them see reason. Even when she initially fails (as with Ben in 110 and with her first discussion with Ryn in 214) she still manages to have enough of an impact on them to get them to reconsider their actions, change their behaviour and attempt to fix the situation. 

Her second long dialogue between her and Ryn Episode 214 (which is quoted in the segment C of this post) is the best example of Maddie’s exceptional communication skills. It probably is one of my top 5 Maddie scenes of the show and highlights just how integral Maddie is for the story of the trio. The way Maddie (without recriminations) manages to make Ryn understand that she got the wrong impression of Ben, the way she focuses the communication on the love that is the basis of the trio relationship is unbelievably on point.

Or to put it more bluntly: The story of Siren is not the story of Ben and Ryn alone. It is the story of Ben, Ryn and Maddie. It is a story about the unique love and trust that develops between the three. 

And this is why I firmly believe that we are not seeing a repeat o the CharlesPownell story here. Instead, what we are seeing is how the more enlghtened and more evolved characters of Ryn and Ben and Maddie make different choices than their ancestors. In short, just because History might look similar, it does not - and will not - repeat itself in this case.

Does that mean there will be no challenges to the relationship in the future? Of course not for otherwise there would be a lot less in the show. We already see the groundwork for multiple future stress tests of the relationship being laid  (Ted having footage of Ryn underwater, the Sirens attacking Ted in the water when Elaine had the boating accident, the reaction by some sirens like Cami to the relationship, Ben letting Ian drown, him and Ryn keeping this from Maddie etc.) 

But there is one certainty the show tells us over and over again, even chosing it as the end screen for season 2.

They are love. 

And on that note, we shall end the analysis of the parallels between our throuple and the Pownall Massacre. Thank you for reading and for sticking with this rather long post until the end. I shall endeavour to make the next post a little shorter, I promise. Alternative interpretations, additional info or critique are always welcome.  

[Final sidenote: Anybody wishing for the trio to become a duo (whether it be Ben/Ryn, Maddie/Ryn or Ben/Maddie) is asking for the show to be a lot poorer in terms of character interaction, to be less inclusive and to have fewer opportunities for future storylines.

Could the story work with just Ryn and Maddie or just Ryn and Ben? Yes, the love between each of them might be strong enough to survive without the third.  But such a story would not be Siren, it would be another star-crossed-lovers story that has been done countless times before. 

And this is why it was immediately clear that Episode 216 was a giant fake-out as soon as Maddie was fatally wounded in it.]

[jbuffyangel]

Blessed: Arrow 7x13 Review (Star City Slayer)

It may be difficult to form coherent thoughts right now because of all the screaming, but I shall do my level best fam because WE ARE HAVING A BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Warning: gif explosion ahead.

Let’s dig in...

Olicity and Mia Smoak

OLIVER AND FELICITY ARE HAVING A BABY 

AND IT’S A GIRL

AND SHE GROWS UP TO BE KAT MCNAMARA FROM SHADOWHUNTERS

I AM DYING Y’ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WE’VE WAITED SO LONG FOR THIS DAY!!!!!!

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EVERYTHING IS AMAZING!!!!

Of course, there are plenty of other things to discuss in the episode and we’ll get to it, but right now I want to bask. 

This reveal was EPIC. 

It actually exceeded my expectations because I didn’t think we’d get all the goodies all at once. “Star City Slayer” is basically my Christmas Wish List and Beth Schwartz just put delightful rainbow colored check marks after each request.  *falls to knees to worship Beth*

We knew Arrow was dropping a bomb because Kat McNamara gave us all a heads up in her promotional press tour for “Star City Slayer.” But it’s wasn’t just one bomb. It was several.

First, Felicity is alive which DUH. 

This reveal felt fairly perfunctory and it tells me the Arrow writers didn’t really expect us to believe Felicity was truly dead because, as I always say, they ain’t that crazy. You do not throw out the lightning in the bottle. You keep the lightning in the damn bottle for as long as you possibly can until she starts screaming to get out and you are absolutely forced to let her go otherwise you’ll be charged with kidnapping.

But was I laughing my ass off at all the antis who thought this was their year and Felicity was truly dead? You’re damn right I did. SUCK IT HATERS!!!!

Everything was revealed to us in the last three minutes of the show, which felt like the writers throwing a confetti and glitter bomb at us in a dark hole. 

AND I WILL TAKE IT. Please and thank you. 

We already had a mountain of evidence Mia is Olicity’s daughter, but there are extremely big hints throughout the episode telling us exactly where we are headed.

There is an absolutely beautiful transition from Felicity’s face in the darkness to Mia’s face.  In fact, Felicity’s face almost melts into the Mia’s, so it is pretty damn clear Gregory Smith (the director) is trying to draw a substantial connection. These kinds of shots are important guys. This is how Arrow Arrows. Transitions, cuts, focused shots – it’s all trying to tell the story visually. When Arrow cannot give us the answer directly then they will drop crumbs the size and weight of anvils.

Dinah and Zoe are using Felicity’s Archer program to find where she planted the bombs, but thus far haven’t been able to locate them. Roy believes Felicity could have hid the bombs in the old, but still secret, Team Arrow bunker. But of course we know two people who are already in the bunker!

Mia and JJ tranquilize everyone, tie them up, and begin the interrogations. I like these kids. They’re nifty.

Mia wants the codes to the Archer program from William so she can find Felicity. Nobody questions Mia’s ability to kick William’s ass, least of all William, so he doesn’t last long. He also wants Mia to stop hitting Zoe. Awww… this is the Arrow equivalent of these kids playing Legos together.

Mia tells William Felicity is alive. It’s unclear if Mia knows because she has actual proof or if this is more a gut feeling type of thing. Either way it’s significant. Felicity’s circle of trust is pretty limited in the future. If she trusts Mia then she is incredibly important to Felicity. The only other person Felicity has reached out to for help was William, her son, and she sent him to get Roy, the brother-in-law (I’m just calling it like I see it).  QUEEN FAMILY REUNION!!!!

This whole “Felicity is evil” angle is total crap too. Toss that nonsense out the window.

I think Felicity, Mia and JJ are trying to stop the destruction of Star City by infiltrating the Glade because Rene’s Chief of Staff is evil. Even if I’m wrong about plot points I am not wrong about Felicity being one of the good guys.

Mia can’t quite figure William out and the feeling is mutual. 

William not a vigilante like Zoe, but finds himself embroiled in this bomb plot.

The differences between the two aren’t difficult to see. Mia is street and William is luxury condos. William is tech and Mia is Krav Maga. William is gentle and Mia is punch first ask questions later. To say these two come from different worlds is an understatement and yet they find themselves circling around each other. 

She mistakes his interest in Felicity as romantic and we all gagged right along with William.

Mia’s reaction to Felicity being William’s step mother was a massive tell, which means Oliver isn’t the only one in the family with a terrible poker face.  

Source: plotbunnyshipper

It was similar to Mia’s reaction when William told her Felicity was dead. 

There is a person who cares under that hard exterior. There is someone who loves under all that pain. Sounds like someone else we know doesn’t it?

Oliver made his famous chili tonight, which is something the comic canon nuts have been after for years. But Arrow is going to put their spin on it. The comic canon folks will get their chili, but Oliver is making it for Felicity and William (and not LL like they want and ridiculously still believe they’ll get). It was two spicy for William, but Felicity was having seconds because SHE IS INCUBATING THEIR LOVE CHILD!!!!

Source:  lucyyh

Stan the Fan, who was fantastically creepy, put some kind of drug in the chili to paralyze Oliver, Felicity and William. They went to the hospital and Felicity commented on the “mountains of blood” staff took to confirm there were no lasting effect.

DID SHE SAY BLOOD TEST? 

I didn’t jump off the ground quite yet at this point. It was a fairly offhand remark from Felicity and I wasn’t sure if they’d reveal she was pregnant at the same time they confirmed Mia’s identity. I know I know. It makes complete sense to do it at the same time, but since when does Arrow ever make complete sense? I was being cautious.

And then all the bombs drop. 

Source:  oliverxfelicity

Felicity gets a call from the hospital regarding her blood test and SHE’S PREGNANT!  THIS IS WHEN THE SCREAMING STARTED!!!!

We immediately cut to the flash forwards.  Mia & JJ are fighting Dinah, Roy, Zoe and William. This is a fantastic fight sequence. It really feels like the old guard meeting the new. Roy gets the upper hand on JJ, but Mia gets the upper hand on Dinah. That’s my baby girl!!!!

William nervously holds a gun on Mia, but she’s cool as a cucumber. She knows he won’t shoot.  

And why? *saythewordssaythewordssaythewordssaythewords*

Source:  katie-mcgraths

BOOM!

BLACKSTAR IS MIA SMOAK!!!!!!

THAT’S DAMN RIGHT SHE IS!!!!!!!!!

My screaming went ultrasonic STG. 

It’s so much goodness all it once I almost hyperventilated. 

This reveal was like setting off fireworks in this dystopian nightmare world. 

I AM ALL IN ON THE FLASH FORWARDS.

Is it awful William and Mia don’t know each other? Of course it is. My heart is broken Oliver and Felicity didn’t get to live an idyllic life, raising their babies in peace, and the city is still a hot mess 20 years in the future. I wouldn’t have picked it as a storyline, but if I was writing this show then Olicity would’ve been married in Season 3 and we’d be on our second set of triplets by now.  

I don’t know how the family became splintered, but I am dying to find out. I want to see Felicity reunited with both her son and daughter. I want to know what the hell happened to Oliver. I absolutely want to see William and Mia’s relationship as brother and sister develop. It reminds me of the Season 1 between Oliver and Thea or more accurately Oliver and Emiko now. If everything is a mess in the future then at the very least I want to see the Queen family fighting to make it better. SIGN ME THE HELL UP!!!!!!

It’s not just about the Queen family either. Roy and Dinah officially confirm Connor Hawke is John Diggle’s boy JJ. Finally someone from present day recognizes these kids. 

It’s clearly been YEARS since Dinah or Roy have seen JJ. What the hell happened? Where is Diggle? (Thank you David Ramsey for confirming you’ll be in the flash forwards).  If JJ is working with Mia and Felicity then hopefully it means Diggle is as well.

“Star City Slayer’ felt like the birth of new OTA (William, Mia and JJ). Did you notice how JJ came running in as Mia interrogated William and Dinah, all protective and concerned for her? My ship is setting sail!

Kat McNamara said in her TVLine interview, “Beth has said they’re trying to combine the best qualities of Oliver and Felicity — his physical strength and her intellectual strength. “ 

And she is the best qualities.

Mia is the perfect blend of Oliver and Felicity. Everything we saw in the show was put there for a reason - the scotch,

the fight style, 

her reaction to Oliver’s documentary, 

her reaction to Felicity’s death, 

Mia’s intellectual smarts 

along with her street smarts. 

It was all to show Mia’s connection to her parents. We didn’t imagine anything family. This fandom called it right from the start.  

Let’s rewind a bit and go back to present day. I love how Felicity finds out she is pregnant. A blood test is irrefutable proof. Sure, pregnancy tests have come a long way, but you always get a blood test to confirm. I was happy to skip the whole “Is she sure?” trope.

It’s the perfect way for this child to happen.  I never thought this baby would be planned. Look at Oliver and Felicity’s lives! It’s going to be difficult to find “a good time” and Felicity is extremely pragmatic. I like how Mia’s arrival is unexpected. That’s life folks. If you want to make God laugh tell Him your plans.

If you are screaming “But birth control!!!” lemme tell ya I know plenty of folks who have gotten pregnant on birth control. It would be easy to miss a step here or there given the craziness of Oliver and Felicity’s lives.  I am also of the opinion Oliver “The Sex God” Queen has super sperm.

Felicity is understandably stunned, but she instinctively puts her hand on her belly as she watches William being ushered away to Central City with his grandparents for a “normal life.” 

This is the life Oliver and Felicity chose, but it’s not the life their children chose. Felicity’s desire to protect William and her unborn child is completely understandable and what any mother would do. This news is unexpected and life changing, but Felicity’s hand over her belly shows her instantaneous love. Even though this child was unplanned it is already adored.

Source: olicitygifs

I’m not sure if the costume department specifically chose red on purpose, but Felicity finding out she’s pregnant dressed in a red sweater is a beautiful visual call back to Arrow 3x01 “The Calm.” 

This is the episode where the seeds of this future were sewn. Their dinner at the Italian restaurant didn’t meet the qualifications of a first date, even though it came with all the nerves, because Oliver and Felicity already knew each other really well.  They were already in love.

This was never about one date, a one night stand or even a fling. Oliver put those days behind him the minute he realized he loved Felicity Smoak. 

It was always about forever for him.

Oliver is not a man of many words and it’s difficult for him to talk about emotions or the past. But Oliver owed Felicity the truth after their “ruse” to stop Slade. She needed to know there were no lies in that “I love you.” 

Oliver tells Felicity how much she means to him and the life he dreams of having with her.  

Felicity waited two long years to hear everything Oliver said.

This is why their breakup was so painful. 

Oliver wasn’t just saying no to a relationship with Felicity. He was saying no to everything he dreamed. He was walking away from lazy days in bed, 

failed omelets, 

love ferns, 

brown bag lunches,

soufflés, 

ying yang kisses,

Christmas trees, 

vows in the park,

homework help,

video game wars,

breakfast for dinner, 

Thanksgiving,

and experimental cookies.

Oliver said no to a home, children and a love strong enough to build it all around.

Oliver could picture that life any time he looked at Felicity. He saw their children in her eyes. He knew exactly what he was giving up.  Oliver gave himself one moment to live that dream 

and love the children who would never be.

Anytime you think Oliver only loses I want you to think back to “The Calm.”  You think back to the beginning of the series and remember how far Oliver Queen has come. Remember everything he has built with his blood, sweat and tears. We’ve gone from a man who was emotionally cut off, suffering under the weight of his pain, because of his self hatred and guilt, 

to one who believes he deserves to be loved, fights with everything he has to hold on to love, and shines his light for the world to see.

The fans didn’t introduce the Olicity baby into the story. 

The writers did and they did it for a very specific reason. 

This has always been what Oliver is fighting for. Arrow is not just about saving Star City. It’s about saving Oliver Queen too. Felicity’s love and the family they will build together is his salvation. 

This family is everything Oliver dreamed of. It’s everything he believed he didn’t deserve. It’s everything he’s fought to earn. Love, family and purpose. This is what it means to be alive. From the moment Oliver stopped surviving and truly started living again, this is the promise he’s always been headed towards.

Mia is the fulfillment of that promise. 

She is the final piece to the puzzle.

Mia closes the loop around the life Robert and Moira Queen wanted for Oliver.  The life they died to give him.

Maybe the Queen family is broken and splintered in the flash forward, but they will be put back together. Don’t doubt it for a second. Arrow is mass array of broken pieces which will ultimately fit together to unveil the final image. Salvation for Oliver, Star City, his family and the team is all the same thing. It’s all connected. You don’t get one without the other.  Oliver will save his family just like they saved him. 

It’s also important to remember how far we’ve come as fans who love this romance. We were told constantly Olicity would never happen. The NOlicity haters, L*urivers and antis from every nook and cranny said everything we saw on screen was our imagination. There was never a chance for Olicity. The writers would never abandon comic book canon for a love story of their own creation.

And yet… they did. Felicity became the female lead. Olicity became the central romance of Arrow.  We didn’t imagine anything. Everything we saw was intentional. It was real. The smile was magic. 

Her belief made him believe. 

The lie was the truth. 

The kiss led to 

the sunset drive. 

Everything broken 

would be repaired. 

Shame 

would bring forgiveness.  

The bouquet 

promised the wedding.

And the dream 

would become a reality.

Oliver and Felicity are blessed, and we as fans, are blessed to have them as our OTP.

Olicity and William Clayton

Oy. What a couple of weeks with William. He still hasn’t coughed up a reason for his expulsion, so Oliver and Felicity play good cop/bad cop with him over breakfast. 

Is anyone surprised Oliver is the good cop? No. 

He wouldn’t have been on the damn boat banging his girlfriend’s sister if Robert and Moira Queen said no when he was two. The fact Oliver continually found himself in trouble with his parents is a clear indication whatever discipline the Queen’s used didn’t work. 

In fact, I remember Oliver having this fight with Moira in Season 1 over Thea. It’s a different story when it’s your kid, you’ve been in prison for several months and you just want bond with “Buddy.” Well, hike up the big boy pants and strap on those green tights Oliver. You’re a father now which means NO PANCAKES.

Felicity is the most adorable bad cop to ever walk the face of the earth, but her husband knows better than to question her benevolent rule. 

Bae is still Queen.  Felicity says one word and it’s see ya pancakes. 

Oliver even takes William’s knife and fork away. I died. He’s like a light switch she can flip on and off. Let’s see what else Felicity can make Oliver do!  Sounds like a good use of 45 minutes to me!

Source:  myhauntedblacksoul

I have to be honest if I was expelled, refused to explain why, copped an attitude and stormed out on my parents I would not live to tell the tale. Instead, I would be buried in the backyard next to our pet bunny Petunia. I had no desire to piss my parents off. I valued my life thank you very much.

William does unload on Oliver and its pretty friggin great. The attitude needs to go, but William makes some valid points. 

There’s been a lot of discussion about the “mistakes” Oliver has made and what he needs to do to be a better leader. I’m drawing a blank whenever this topic comes up around the Newbies because they are all awful and Oliver should’ve let them rot in Slabside.

However, the next phase of the Oliver Queen evolution is listening and his teachers are his wife and son. Keep your expectations low fam. Oliver is still a heterosexual male. There’s only so much listening he’s physically capable of doing.

William is cheesed off Oliver went to prison without discussing it with either Felicity or him (FACTS KIDDO), because his father does whatever the hell he wants to do (TRUE STORY). Simply because Oliver was heroically falling on the sword doesn’t erase his inability to ask for opinions. 

Oliver feels this is an unfair characterization, but we only need to look at Felicity’s face and to know William’s remarks are on target.

Source: olicitygifs

Felicity changes into her good cop hat and approaches William with Oliver’s world famous chili and a Rubik cube lesson. 

(FLASH FORWARD CALL BACK!)

Source: ebett 

Oliver acknowledges William’s right to be angry and apologizes. The kid has been through a lot in the last couple years, which is why Oliver wants to bring him home. 

It is at this point Samantha Clayton’s parents show up on Oliver and Felicity’s doorstep.  

That’s right folks! A ticked off William called Grandpa and Grandma to complain. Jeez William. This is how those awful Lifetime movies about custody battles begin. Put down the phone dude.

I’m laughing right now because I’m imagining calling my grandfather to complain about my parents. He would have reached through the telephone to bop me on the head. Then he would’ve said my parents were amazing, I’m the luckiest girl on the planet and I should apologize right the hell now. Then he would’ve sent me fifty bucks. My Papa was the best.

Grandma and Grandpa Clayton have a different approach. They want custody of William. Sigh. I’m not saying they don’t have a point. They didn’t know Oliver was the Green Arrow and the dude is convicted murderer. He just did time in a maximum security prison! Also, he knocked up their daughter and his Green Arrow activities are pretty much the reason she’s dead. So Oliver isn’t going to win the Claytons over anytime soon.

They may think it is an open and shut custody case, but WHERE THE HELL WERE THEY? 

There were plenty of times the Claytons could have intervened, but it takes William calling and complaining for these two to get off their asses? The kid was put into Witness Protection for god sake. Open and shut I think not.

Obviously, Oliver goes growly papa bear and tells them nobody is taking his son. Damn right. He didn’t even get that mad at the Claytons until they insulted Felicity’s ability to parent. I thought Oliver was gonna put an arrow in them. DO NOT SPEAK ILL OF THE WIFEY. HE WILL COME FOR YOUR LIFE AND A LIFE IS WHAT HE WILL TAKE.

I know William is going through stuff, but this is a really dick move. He knows Oliver and Felicity adore him and threatening a grandparent custody battle simply because he’s mad at Dad is completely inappropriate. Anyone can discipline this child at any time. I’ll wait.

Oliver finally finds his angry voice! 

There ya go big fella. It’s the same one you use to interrogate suspects, but with less torture.  And they say the hood didn’t prepare him to be a family man. Pfft.

Oliver and William basically have it out. 

As parent versus child fights go this is a pretty good one. Obviously, Oliver wants to have his son home and give him a normal life, but there is no normal when you are running around in green leather pants shooting arrows every night. 

Am I saying Oliver and Felicity should immediately ship William off to his grandparents? No. There’s a way to build the Queen family version of normal. They’ll do breakfast for dinner, but will occasionally be held hostage. It’s a give and take.

Parents have jobs where their lives are at risk every night. Do police officers ship their kids off to the grandparents? No. Do John and Lyla, who work for the least secret spy agency in the world, ship JJ off to Lyla’s parents? No. Zoe isn’t going anywhere. So why is William flipping his shit?

Source:  olivergifs

Because William lived ten years with his version of normal and that life was with Samantha. It was a life with no masks, kidnappers blowing up islands or incredibly dull mob bosses. As wrong as it was to keep Oliver out of William’s life, Samantha did insulate their son from all the crazy.

William’s mother died pretty recently and this child has adjusted to a lot. He meets his father, but loses his mother. He gets to live with his father and gains a step mother, but he has to move away from his friends, school, grandparents and city. Then, just when he’s adjusted, everything is torn away again. His father is sent to prison and he’s put into Witness Protection with his stepmother. I understand why William is having difficulty adjusting to the Green Arrow life.

Felicity broaches the subject, but even discussing letting William go tears Oliver apart. 

Source:  olicitygifs

Felicity thinks William is old enough to decide for himself what kind of life he wants to live. And right now that life is with his grandparents.  So Oliver lets him go.

Source:  thegayfleet

This is why I’m still mad with writers for killing Samantha. 

If the intent was to protect William from all the insanity of Oliver’s life then why kill his mother? Why bring back Raisa? Why send him off with the grandparents when William simply could be splitting time 50/50 with his mother in Central City? 

Samantha’s existence didn’t preclude Felicity from having a relationship with him. It would have been interesting to see Oliver, Felicity and Samantha co parent.

The only reason Arrow killed off Samantha was to make Oliver a full time father and for the whole father/son sin cycle to continue. Eh. That was never a good enough reason for me, but especially now because they are looking for an escape hatch to throw William out of.  If the endgame was always to route William back to Central City then they should have left his mother alone.

The argument Oliver and Felicity can’t provide William protection or a normal life, when they achieved those things all last season while living a pretty idyllic life, is a lot of nonsense.  Yes, I know Oliver went through a time in Season 6 when he hung up the hood, but Felicity was still on the team. And Oliver suited back up eventually. William could adjust to the new normal just like JJ and Zoe have.  Are JJ and Zoe getting shipped off to their grandparents? No.

It’s difficult to believe Oliver and Felicity willingly letting William go, even though I understand the kid’s frustration and anger. 

Oliver is right. William can’t call his grandparents for back up anytime he’s mad at his parents. But by letting him move to his grandparents, Oliver and Felicity are just reinforcing this behavior! The Queen family needs to learn to fight without someone packing up and moving.  

Perhaps, if we didn’t have the flash forwards we would see Oliver, Felicity and William work through this, but the writers want some distance between the three to sell the future storyline. I’m still not even sure this is the “abandonment” William is still bitching about 20 years from now, because guess what son? You left Oliver and Felicity! Not the other way around. It still boggles my mind Oliver and Felicity would allow this given how hard they fought to reunite their family this season.  

It seems a little ridiculous to me William peaces out after his dad is released from prison or Felicity being so willing to let him go.  William’s present day storyline feels slapped together with tape and glue. It flies in the face of everything this family established in Season 6 for the sake of the flash forwards. I’m having a very difficult time buying any kind of separation between William, Oliver and Felicity no matter how ticked off this kid is.

Of course, as William is walking out the door Felicity finds out she’s pregnant with his sister. I have no idea why William doesn’t know about Mia. I don’t think Oliver and Felicity said goodbye to him forever in “Star City Slayer” so there’s a lot of plot holes needing to be filled. I can’t even venture a guess and I really don’t want to. There’s too much information we don’t have and it feels like a fruitless endeavor. My plan is to wait and watch.

Curtis Holt

The Olicity baby wasn’t the only thing on my Christmas Wish List! Beth booted Curtis Holt off my show too !!!!!!!! YAHOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

Honestly, I felt a little bad for Echo because this was the least important development in the episode. The Olicity baby bomb blew him out of the water.

No, it doesn’t bother me he isn’t dead. I’m perfectly fine with Arrow shipping Curtis off to Washington D.C. for his dream job. I didn’t need him dead. I needed him GONE.

At first, I wasn’t quite sure what route Arrow was going. He tells Diggle about the job in DC but then John, who is determined to piss me off at every turn this season, offers Curtis a bigger job at ARGUS. 

He’ll be in charge of their science division because what would we do without Curtis! HE IS SO VITAL. 

Dammit Diggle! You had one job! JUST LET HIM GO.

Curtis goes out into the field with the team to hunt the Star City Slayer and I felt certain we were headed into L*urel L*nce territory. She decided to suit up “one last time” before taking her DA job and then BAM! Arrow right to the gut.

Amazingly, Curtis makes it out relatively unscathed and he even saves Dinah’s life with one of his T-spheres. I think. I didn’t really care other than he wasn’t dead. I was too busy thinking, “Shit he better not take John up on the ARGUS job.” 

But I was prepared folks. As long as I got an Olicity baby I was prepared to deal with whatever other disappointments came my way.

But NOPE! Beth decided to be Santa Claus and give me allllllllll my goodies.

Curtis decides to take the job in DC. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! The minute Curtis said it I went online to buy him 15 plane tickets – one for him and his 14 PhDs.

Of course, he gives full ownership of Helix back to Felicity. 

See this is why he needs to go. He acted so magnanimous - like it was his to give. Curtis gives Felicity some pompous talk about finding her purpose. OMG THIS GUY IS TOO MUCH. IT WAS HER COMPANY AND YOU ROAD ON HER COATTAILS. MAYBE SHE WOULD HAVE HER “PURPOSE” BY NOW IF THE WRITERS WEREN’T CONSTANTLY SIDE LINING FELICITY TO GIVE YOUR USELESS ASS SOMETHING TO DO. Ugh. Is the plane here yet? I’m so done with this douche.

Anyways, what matters is Curtis Holt is GONE!!!!!!! 

And it looks like we’re full steam ahead on Smoak Technologies. 

Source:  felicitysmoakgifs

I don’t know why Arrow continually compartmentalizes Felicity. It seems to me she could be deputized and work with Team Arrow as Overwatch while creating Smoak Tech. Maybe that will happen, but for now it seems only one activity at the time. But at least her storyline won’t be stripped and ransacked to serve Curtis Fucking Holt anymore. WE CONTINUE TO BE BLESSED FANDOM. ALL MY PRAISE TO JESUS AND BETH SCHWARTZ.

Stan the Fan

Last, but certainly not least, “Star City Slayer” finally delivers a villain worth watching. Stan the Fan is back and is more creepy, diabolical and terrifying in one episode than Diaz was for a year and a half! 

Brendan Fletcher is a genius and the smartest move Arrow made was not killing him off at the end of the episode. WE WANT MORE STAN!

The back story even made sense. WILL WONDERS EVER CEASE? 

Stanley was abused and tortured by his parents until he finally killed them. Stanley’s older brother, who always tried to protect him, was horrified when he found out.  So, Stanley killed him too. Now he seeks out older brother types to look up to and endear himself to. Stanley tries to protect his new “big brother” just like his brother did for him. He kills anyone he believes are bad for the person he admires – friends and enemies alike.

Okaaaaay. My man Stan has some legit issues. 

Oliver: My teammates would never hurt you.

Stan: But they’re still bad for you!  Worse even because they don’t understand you.

Soooo… not for nothin’ but I found myself nodding along with Stan the Fan. 

He was making many of the same arguments many of us have made about the Newbies. 

Is Stanley wrong? Are we wrong? HELL NO THEY ARE THE WORST! Is it a little worrisome I’m agreeing with the psychopath? Well sure, but I think it’s find to agree with crazy people when they make sense.  Did Stan back into the right opinion via Insanity Street? Sure, but facts are facts no matter what route you choose.

I also completely understood his desire to hang out with the Queen family and make a new team just the four of them. I’ve had that dream myself. 

But let’s be clear - I’m not a crazy fan like Stan. I AM COMPLETELY RELAXED ABOUT OLIVER QUEEN!!!

Slicing Dinah’s throat was a step too far over the line though Stan my man. 

Source: arrowdaily

I just want her to take a job in Central City like Curtis moved to DC and bring Rene with her. Relocation would have been fine. You didn’t have to fricassee her vocal chords, bro.

I think the scariest movies are when you are physically restrained from defending yourself in any way. You can’t move or scream. The scariest Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode is “Hush” and it remains one of the most terrifying hours of television I’ve ever seen. I’m still traumatized.

Obviously, Oliver can take Stan the Fan in a blink of an eye so the paralyzing drug really shifted the power dynamic. It made Stan a real threat not only to Oliver, but his whole family. 

Source:  plotbunnyshipper

It’s completely unnerving to listen to a powerless Oliver Queen trying to reason with Froot Loops. Stephen Amell always does such a great job with making his voice melodic like Oliver is trying to lull Stanley into submission.

But you can’t fix crazy Oliver! I love how the Queen family worked together to stop him. William slides the bottle, 

Felicity pisses Stanley off to get him to attack her, 

and Oliver takes him out in one shot. BAM! 

That’s how we do! It’s gonna be so great when all four members of the Queen family are reunited, kicking ass, taking names and saving the city together.

Stray Thoughts

Wait. So Bl*ck S*ren isn’t even IN the episode where Mia’s parentage is revealed. HAHAHAHAHA. Obviously, KC was on her honeymoon and that’s lovely, but it never ceases to amaze me how wrong her fans are. Just when I think they’ve hit a new low they reset the whole scale by digging even deeper into the Pit of Wrongness. Am I being petty? YA DAMN RIGHT I AM.

Ben Lewis’ scream when Dinah shoves William off the platform made me laugh until I cried.

Roy’s parkour made its triumphant return!

When my parents asked me to unpack the groceries it wasn’t a request I could refuse. My parents are lovely people, but next to Oliver they look like the Gestapo! Someone in the Arrow writer’s room needs to take a parenting class.

Felicity’s apartment security system is great and everything, but can’t she install a camera or something so they can see who the unidentified persons are? It’s called The Ring. Quite handy.

Loved the pink. Felicity was checking off all her signature colors. Source:  lucyyh

Dinah lost her Canary Cry. Since she was having trouble dealing with being an outed meta it’ll be interesting to see what her reaction is. She doesn’t need to be a meta human to be part of Team Arrow. Although, I think this gives Team Arrow more of a reason to occasionally reach out to Bl*ck S*ren. 

This was such a mom moment. Source: EBETT

This was such a dad moment. Source:  olivergifs

Followed by another mom moment.  Source:  olivergifs

The woman loves her man and his chili. Source: feilcityqueen

This is the zenith of my shipper life. I have reached the top of Everest. Time to take stock of my OTP journey.

One taught me patience

One taught me pain

One taught me love

Thanks to @callistawolf for the review title!

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