#(I say likely just because hand eye coordination can be pretty easy to re correct. At least it was for me)

[voidoffline]

I haven’t lost an eye, tho I did go several months not seeing out of one eye (I kept it closed because in a stroke of stupidity I thought it would help me see better since I have double vision. It just made my eyes and that eye specifically a million times worse-)

And I noticed the neck thing so quickly. Like it was pretty easy for me to adjust (just because I’m good at adjusting to shit Idk) and even though I had no pain then, it was crazy noticing how different things were. Like I walked differently, I always kept to one side of people so I could see them better, I kept bumping my hands into things because of how closing my right eye fucked up my hand eye coordination

And when I finally opened my eye again, after so long of keeping it closed - mostly because at that point my eye had weakened and it was difficult to open it - shit got more colorful. Like I could tell the difference between how much color I was seeing. I doubt a character would go through that - but like if you’re writing a character that’s gotten some surgery done or something and had to wear a patch for a while, well, I think I at least would probably include them realizing things are just a bit more colorful after they take the patch off for the first time

Also rip my neck during the time I closed my eye for months. So much soreness and pain. I am so sorry past neck, I apologize. I was stupid

Also for the last thing ‘thehungwizard’ mentioned - it’s really like that for everything. So when your writing a character with any sort of disability or lack of a sense, keep that in mind. Like I don’t have a sense of smell and people constantly forget that I can’t spell things. I know that’s a lot less drastic and technically a lot less important than a whole eye, but still, the basis is that other ppl forget (no hate on others tho)

I’ve also experienced what op said in #6. It’s wild. And a bit annoying

writing advice for characters with a missing eye: dear God does losing an eyes function fuck up your neck. Ever since mine crapped out I've been slowly and unconsciously shifting towards holding my head at an angle to put the good eye closer to the center. and human necks. are not meant to accommodate that sorta thing.

[pencilofawesomeness]

random NNT wip that I may or may not continue

(and if I do continue it, one day, it probably won’t look like this now that 4KOTA has given me more material to use)

More notes at the bottom, but I was going through some of my wips after thinking about this concept again on a whim, and I re-read it and I’m still happy with this scene, so I decided to post it for the kicks and giggles. It’s smack in the middle (early-mid?) of a whole story that I don’t have time to write (and 4KOTA is making me reconsidering things) so it may not make much sense, but that’s part of the fun. 

Basic premise: a Tower of God AU for the characters of Seven Deadly Sins. I thought of it / wrote this after the NNT manga ended, but before Nakaba announced 4KOTA and published the Lancelot oneshot.

--

Howzer never imagined that he would be a scout when he first decided to climb the Tower. In fact, he was rather upset when Hendrickson labeled him as a scout back on the Floor of Tests, especially when he dreamed of being a spear bearer. Of course, he knew now he was nowhere near as talented with spears as Gilthunder or even Griamore was, though he had gotten pretty good at using his lance in close combat. The point was, Howzer had underestimated the importance and even the difficulty that the position of a scout had to offer.

It was a heavy load to bear.

He panted for a moment, hands on his knees. There was a short window he had to recover from that cheap ambush before he had to keep moving. He could buy himself some more time if he hid their bodies, to hide his tracks, but he was running out of time.

The thirty-second floor was nothing less than a battlefield wrapped up in a fun little ‘game’ the test director had the audacity to call ‘hide and seek.’ Essentially, the teams had to wander through the maze and duck under the hedges to make it to the center. If anyone was out from under the cover for more than three minutes, giant fucking birds would come down and eat them. Oh, and of course, the regulars were fond of killing each other along the way in the spirit of competition.

Lighthouses weren’t immune either, only allowed out in the open for a single minute before imminent, feathery, destruction. The hedges were nigh impenetrable, forcing the teams to funnel through the maze, so the spear bearers were relegated to straight ground attacks with the fisherman, once in engagement. In short, the entire test seemed to boil down to raising hell for the scouts.

Which, as previously mentioned, was him.

Joy.

He hadn’t really wanted to kill those guys, but they were annoying and bent on doing the same to them. There wasn’t the time to make a proper decision anyway. Howzer rounded the corner and dove back under the hedge, eyeing the three seconds left on his pocket’s timer. There wasn’t time to regret anything: he had to move.

No one had reached the end yet, which was both a good and a bad thing. Good, because it wasn’t a full-on race yet; bad, because Howzer’s specialty was following people, not mazes. However, he liked to think he was getting better at this kind of stuff. It was a shame his observer could only last as long as he did out in the open—but at least they weren’t on the same timer. When Howzer ducked into the hedge, he sent the observer out.

Luckily for him, his observer was picking up no more lifeforms. Well, no more living ones. It looked like a team found the wrong path before he came and paid the price for it. However, now Howzer knew the correct path for the next few turns, and they were all clear too. “I just sent the directions,” he spoke into his device. “You guys got it?”

“Yes,” Margaret’s voice came through from her lighthouse. “Although, I don’t think ‘take a left at the bush’ is an adequate description in a…hedge maze.”

“Nah, it’s obvious when you see it.” It was a different color and everything! His teammates were so picky… “But I gave the coordinates too.”

It was away from the receiver, but he heard the sigh. Picky and judgmental… “We’re on our way.”

Howzer rolled his eyes, grateful Margaret and Guila weren’t there to notice and gang up on him. Don’t get him wrong, he was beyond happy that Margaret joined their team (especially since Griamore was terrible at being a light bearer) but sometimes there was no winning with her. Not unless you were Gilthunder. Or Guila. Or Tristan… Okay, maybe it was just him. The fated tension between light bearers and scouts, he supposed.

“Not even a thank you…” he muttered to himself before jumping back out in the open. He already stashed his observer at the destination, so he just needed to reach it, quick and easy— “AH!”

“Agh!”

Howzer collided with a body as he turned the corner into the new path. He stumbled back a few steps, and the other person was sent flying on their butt. For a moment, he stared at her, dumbfounded. His observer excelled at sensing signs of life based on their heartbeats, so unless they had some crazy technique, not even shinsu could cover it; and this girl just came out of the dead end—where everyone had appeared dead.

Although, he was pretty sure he didn’t remember seeing her in particular. She was a slight thing, but with bright pink hair with a short cut and a sweeping bang that covered one eye completely. Plus, she was wearing armor, which wasn’t all that common. Surely, he would have remembered… Unless she was in the hedge. But even then, that should have picked up on his observer.

“Sorry,” she gasped. “I was in a hurry.”

He glanced at his pocket. “No kidding.” He wouldn’t make it to his observer now. Damn, a short break then. “Come on!” Howzer yanked the girl into the nearest hedge with him. Sure, she was an enemy, but she didn’t look like she was in good shape. Her armor was scuffed, the needle on her side looked damaged, and her skin was unnaturally pale. And Howzer wasn’t gonna’ let a girl die like that—especially not to frickin’ birds.

“Thank you.” The fisherman got back on her feet. “I was just trying to get my bearings. My observer broke though.”

“You’re a scout?!” he exclaimed reflexively. Damnit, he thought he pegged her. “I thought you were a fisherman.”

She glanced down at her needle and huffed out a quiet laugh, almost like she was remembering some past joke. “Our team doesn’t have a real scout, so I multi-task.”

“Damn, that sucks.” That was beyond reckless. Not that Howzer could say much, because his team tried to function with a proper light-bearer for nearly fifteen floors before Margaret joined them.

“Yes. It does. It worked out enough, though.”

Howzer can’t help but to wonder if the slaughtered team around that bend was hers. The far off look in her eye seemed to match his suspicions, too. Worked out, huh? Not forever…

She snapped out of her daze. “I’m Liz,” she introduced, offering a hand.

Howzer took it after only a brief moment of hesitation. She didn’t look like she had the strength to take him in a fight anyway. Besides, if she wanted to kill him like that last group did, then she had the opportunity to shove him to the birds a while ago. “Howzer,” he returned. “Here, let’s hurry up around this corner. My observer is there.” He couldn’t afford a new one if it was destroyed or stolen…again.

Liz nodded, and they took off. Despite her pallor, she was fast. He had the feeling that had he not been leading the way, she could easily outrun him. Strange, that someone with the ability to move through shinsu like this would be in the position she was…

They made it to their destination without a hitch, and Liz hadn’t even broken a sweat. Still, the question bothered him. “So, where’s your team?”

The beat of silence was answer enough that his first hunch was correct. “…they died. I’m…the only one that survived.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” He really was. The thought of losing a single one of his teammates was painful enough, but all of them? Howzer didn’t know if he would have the motivation to still keep going. “…What are you going to do, then? Finish the test alone?” It was nigh impossible, but for a fisherman who knew the ways of scouting…

“I don’t know.” Liz picked at her armor, looking uncomfortable. He imagined it was a sore question, but he wanted to know her motives. She seemed capable enough, so if she wanted to get out of the maze, Howzer was willing to vouch for her and absorb her into the team, at least for the test. “There’s someone… I want to see. I can’t die until I see him.” The steel in her blue eye was testament to her resolve. She had something to live for.

“Hey.” Howzer laid a hand on her shoulder. “I know we’re not your teammates, but my team can get you to the end of this test. You go find that guy you’re looking for.” He was sure his team would be sympathetic, too. Gilthunder wanted to find his missing father. Guila wanted to make it back home to her brother and her hometown to protect them as a ranker. Jericho wanted to avenge her brother. Tristan wanted to find out who his family was. Everyone had someone they wanted to look out for.

“Thank you.” Liz smiled, and Howzer thought he saw a glisten on her cheek.

There was always sorrow behind resolve.

“Who are you?!” A needle pressed itself to Liz’s back. Oh, crap.

Howzer yanked Liz forward and intercepted. “Oi! Easy there, she’s with me!”

Jericho frowned, but she sheathed her needle. “If you hormonal boys don’t stop picking up girls, I’m leaving.”

His face turned red. (But not as read as Gilthunder’s and Margaret’s, a fact he was very proud of.) “H-hey, it’s not like that! I just offered to help her clear the maze, that’s all!”

“Whatever, lover-boy.”

Liz laughed, a short and sweet but very unapologetic sound. “Oh no, it’s not like that at all. I’m far too old for him, anyway. You must be Howzer’s team, correct?”

“Y-yeah.” Gilthunder cleared his throat, recovering from Jericho’s heckling. “We are. I’m Gilthunder.”

“Liz.” She gave a short bow. “Thank you for helping me.”

At their questioning gaze, Howzer filled in. “Her team died to the birds. I offered to help her reach the end, so she can move on and find someone.” He grinned. “We’re close to the end, too. I can feel it.”

“With what?” Griamore grunted. “Your impatience?”

“Nobody asked you, big guy. Anyway!” He clapped, turning on his heel to his beloved observer. “I’ve been tracking the paths on here. They’re narrowing and getting tighter around the curves, so we must be approaching the center of the circle. A few more trips, and I bet we’ll have made it.”

“That’s…” Margaret gave a soft smile. “Actually smart.”

“…’actually’?!”

His brow twitched. Whatever. They’ll appreciate his genius one day! Maybe. Howzer turned back to his observer with a sigh, ready to send it out again, but something caught his notice.

The observer counted seven lifeforms in the vicinity, including himself.

With Liz, there should be eight.

He had assumed it was a fluke that he didn’t see Liz on his radar the first time, and because she wasn’t hostile, he hadn’t thought of the implications too hard. But she was right there, and the observer wouldn’t read her. It was possible it could be some weird shinsu trick, but she wasn’t a wave controller, and he had never seen a regular with that level of skill otherwise. Besides, there was absolutely no point in her expending energy to hide herself now that she had allies.

It seemed like Guila noticed something about her, too. Howzer noticed the black-haired wave-controller frown pensively, her eyes opened to slits in a rare moment of appraisal. Howzer couldn’t ask her what she sensed without raising suspicion, however, so he would have to wait. He could send a message by pocket once they started scouting again, when messaging wouldn’t be abnormal.

When he looked back to her, however, Liz was completed fixated on something else. Her eye was wide, and her mouth was parted; it was slight, but there was a tremble to her muscles. It looked like she was afraid, but it wasn’t the kind of fear that Howzer saw on the battlefield. Her gaze was locked…

…onto Tristan.

He wasn’t sure how long this had taken place, but Tristan just noticed, meeting her gaze like an equally spooked deer. Parallel to each other’s, their blue eyes looked similar—but there was something deeper to Liz’s than in the kid’s. Something Howzer couldn’t quite recognize, no matter how it hurt his pride as a scout.

“You…” Tristan blinked owlishly, taking one cautious step towards the woman. “Do I know…you…?”

“…no.” Liz’s voice was thick. The entire team was frozen around their encounter, as if time or the test didn’t exist outside of the two. “N-no, I’m afraid you don’t.” She matched Tristan’s hesitant step forward, her hand reaching out slowly. “But can I…?”

There was recognition in her stance, however—in her hungry, pained gaze, and in her outstretched hand. No one knew Tristan, not really, but rumors of him spread around the tower. This wouldn’t have been the first time someone hailed Tristan as some savior, whether because of his strange shinsu control or his status as an irregular. However, this seemed different. Normally, those willing to cast their hopes on a complete stranger were not the hesitant type.

“Uh…” Tristan looked as confused as ever. “I’m not sure I’m following but…”

He didn���t stop her, and Liz inched towards him like she was still afraid of something—of him, maybe. Guila looked like she was about to stop her, but she was frozen in place just like Howzer was. Maybe it was curiosity that made them useless. Maybe it was something else.

Tristan gasped. “Your heart—!” Her heart? Has Tristan figured out why Liz mysteriously didn’t show up on his radar? “It’s not… It’s not beating!”

“I know,” she whispered solemnly. What?! It wasn’t beating at all?! Then how was she even alive?! “But don’t worry about me.” Liz didn’t take her gaze off of Tristan. “It’s beating somewhere else.”

Howzer blinked. What?

“What the hell…?” Jericho whispered, echoing his thoughts perfectly.

Liz looked up sharply, forcefully tearing her gaze away from Tristan, who still looked baffled and dazed. She bowed quickly in Howzer’s direction. “Thank you for your hospitality, but I must be going.”

Before he or anyone could even respond, and with one last longing glance at Tristan, she took off faster than untrained eyes could track. The team looked to him, but Howzer could only shrug helplessly. “I don’t know if I can catch up, but wait here.”

He did see which direction she was going, but he knew her speed was greater than his unless he reinforced himself with shinsu. However, there wasn’t the need, because she was headed back to the dead end.

If she was there to get information from them, she didn’t stick with it, and he knew for a fact that she was too distracted with Tristan to ever mess with his observer. It was almost as if Tristan was the one that she was looking for—or at least a sizable distraction to her goal, based on the fixation. However, she took off without accomplishing much besides confusing them; she took off with a level of panic too. They were safe in the bush though, and there were no teams nearby.

Howzer heard her before he saw her, and he slowed his approach out of both caution and respect, hovering on the other side of the corner. Liz screamed, wailing unabashedly with pent up sorrow that he could not fathom. She would have been out of earshot of the rest of the team, but just barely. But hers was a cry that came as a deluge; there was no holding it back.

He thought about just turning around and leaving her alone. He was intruding on something delicate and personal, but, as a scout he couldn’t remove himself without a final glance. Howzer peaked around the corner, in no way prepared for what he saw.

Liz was not the one crying. She was but a body on the ground, limp and lifeless. A white entity floated above her, with long silver hair and those same blue eyes, holding her stomach in her ghostly hands as she wailed.

This time, it was hard to ignore how much she looked like Tristan.

It wasn’t a suspicion he could follow at the moment, however. The test was still running, and they couldn’t afford to lose their chance at going to the thirty-third floor. Howzer turned around and left the woman to her sorrows, with the inescapable feeling that they would see her again.

--

another A/N

The story is/was going to be about the youngins’ dream-filled trek to becoming a ranker in the Tower, with the team consisting of Howzer, Gilthunder, Griamore, Jericho, and later Margaret, who are all regulars with various aspirations and goals, along with Tristan, a young boy who met the first four on Floor 1, who was sent to the inner Tower from outside known Tower boundaries, making him an irregular. 

The main mystery was going to be finding out how Tristan came to be (which is to say, finding out what happened to his parents and the Sins) because his only memories are of a mysterious woman named Nimue caring for him, though much of his childhood was spent alone in her domain. 

I’m pretty dedicated to the HTRYDS series right now, but maybe after 4KOTA gets farther along, I’ll rework the story to incorporate the new worldbuilding tidbits and the new characters. I had wanted the main team to be the “babies” but that required using the OG children and aging them down a bit to match Tristan, though they all still would have been older than he was. 

Tbh, I had more fun comprising the backstory/alternate story that involved the sins and such than I did trying to figure out what the main group would be doing. I might just post my ideas and call it a day. Who knows.

[ah-maa-zing]

The Longbow Hunters (Arrow 7.02)

I’d like to start off this review by stating the freaking obvious: I love Felicity Smoak. 

I mean, I’ve always loved her, even when the writing has failed her, and even when I haven’t loved her choices or her actions. But when she’s written with the kind of agency she deserves, the determination, the drive and the steely-eyed focus as she has been in ‘The Longbow Hunters’, well, nothing could be better. 

Two episodes in, and I’m really enjoying Beth and her team’s style. The show is as dark as ever, but there’s an intensity - particularly in the prison scenes - that feels like the characters’ actions have real stakes that won’t randomly disappear into the ether because “reasons”. Many (most?) of the complaints about 6B were that characters were contorted, pretzel-like, into unrecognisable caricatures of themselves - previously decent characters turning into assholes overnight. And yes, while in some cases it may feel like a bit of a stretch to develop a speedy redemption, I can certainly appreciate the new writing team’s attempts to course correct as quickly as humanly possible. 

One of the things that appears to be gone for good is “Team Arrow”, in whatever iteration it has taken over the years. Which makes sense, given that the Arrow part of the equation is off the grid for now. Still, it’s somewhat unsettling as a viewer (especially seeing it from Felicity’s perspective) to come into a new status quo where there are new rules and restrictions, and where Felicity no longer has free rein over information and intelligence gathering, which has typically been her domain. Even if she weren’t already desperate for personal reasons, I’d expect her to be feeling pretty unempowered by the whole set-up. 

Curtis doesn’t seem to be having that same problem, and if I can just get on my soap box for a second (I really hope I don’t spend the entire season complaining about him) - what exactly is his role on the show anymore? There are already, in my view, far too many ‘regular’ characters at the moment and it does at times feel a little crowded. But of all of these characters, for me Curtis is the one that seems to have no unique utility at all. There are better vigilantes than him, and there are better hackers than him. So far all I see as his purpose is continuously whinging about how hard his life is (when he’s the one who’s suffered the least), and for other characters to crack “grab your balls” jokes (which, while funny, aren’t exactly essential). Like I say, I hope I don’t keep repeating myself on this point as the season goes on, so if Curtis could just take a job in a neighbouring city or disappear into a hole or whatever, that’d be grand (sadly I think the opposite is probably going to be the case). 

Anyway...I really enjoyed the conflict between Felicity and Diggle, which feels both warranted but also really sad. I said last week that all the characters barring Oliver, Felicity and William have found a way to move forward with their lives over the last five months, and none more so than John, who has a new sense of order and purpose within ARGUS. Setting aside that brief insanity of last season, this has always been his MO -- finding a place for himself within an established structure, be that the Army or Team Arrow or ARGUS, and do his job really, really well. 

All that to say that I do understand where he’s coming from on the Diaz front. He’s got the ARGUS Deputy Director on his back, which again is a realistic situation (a black ops organisation as regimented as ARGUS would never allow the Director’s husband to run amok with its resources), and he feels the need to maintain order and colour within the lines, if you will, so that he and his family don’t face the blowback. I get it. 

That said, I’m still incredibly disappointed in him, which I think is partly the point and is definitely a great source of angst. His explanation to Felicity about not wanting to sacrifice his family makes sense, but at the same time, Felicity and Oliver are (or were) also his family, and her point about the last six years actually meaning something to her is such a gut-wrenching moment. I think this is the point that Felicity realises she’s all alone in this. It’s not that John doesn’t love Oliver or that the others won’t help (though “whatever you need” seems to have its limitations), but the way she sees it - Oliver just doesn’t matter as much to them as to her. So he went to prison to sacrifice himself for them - so what? None of them are willing to go the extra mile to save him like he would them. As for John, when he was in prison, and Lyla went to Oliver for help in breaking him out, he didn’t even hesitate. Against all odds he went in and broke his brother out, and while that might not be possible in this case, Felicity must still feel the sting at the lack of reciprocity from John. 

Which is why I enjoyed her being at odds with John on this, even if they came to an understanding by the end of it, and which is also why I loved her move at the end of the episode. Going to Samanda Watson, not to break Oliver out but to fulfil the terms of his imprisonment, is such a baller move, and I am really looking forward to them working together. 

I’m excited about Felicity’s arc in the upcoming episodes, especially while Oliver’s in prison and she’s essentially on her own. If the trajectory continues the way it has been, I think we’re in for a ride. 

Speaking of prison, Oliver is finding his footing a little bit now, though how long that lasts remains to be seen. This storyline continues to excite me because it is so unlike anything we’ve seen before and the possibilities are endless. Oliver ‘found another way’ this time (I’m glad he didn’t kill Yorke. I know he’s an asshole but I kind of liked him), but will he be able to do so again? At a certain point, the net will tighten and there won’t be any more loopholes to find. And that’ll be an interesting place for Oliver to be. 

I still think Stan the Fan is a Diaz plant; he’s too shifty by half. But I am temporarily enjoying the dynamic between him and Oliver, esp. because it gives Oliver a chance to roll his eyes and be the straight man to someone else’s banter - a role that Oliver has always excelled at. I loved that he fashioned a makeshift slingshot from a broken pencil (of course he did), and it reminded me of him making a bow and arrows out of curtain rods in ‘Corto Maltese’. Oh Oliver, you are such a McGyver. 

Like Felicity, Oliver’s entire focus now is getting Diaz off the board in order to protect his family. The fact that they are on parallel paths towards the same goal frames their individual storylines incredibly well, and makes anything else in between almost superfluous. 

I don’t know quite what to make of the Dinah Double Act™, and I’m not sure I entirely buy both of their seemingly easy acceptance of each other. Why Dinah feels the need to protect Laurel from Diaz is beyond me - surely they would be using her as bait if anything? - especially since, from what I can tell, Diaz doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to hunt her down. Still, I can buy that Laurel feels something towards Quentin and his death at Diaz’s hands, and I can live with that fuelling her motivation to live the way Quentin would want her to. I also think that this episode allows all of the women who appear in it to maintain their own agency and motivations, however complex (or unearned), and that can only be a good thing. It’s no surprise, given this episode was written and directed by women, but it does feel a long time coming. 

I do think that the fight against Silencer was pretty effective - man, that is an interesting power. In fact, all of the Longbow Hunters seem to be pretty formidable in their own right. Kodiak, the guy with the shield, broke John’s assault rifle IN. HALF. Goddamn, it’s about time we had some menacing villains. The Longbow Hunters present a significant threat to no-longer-Team-Arrow, and it doesn’t pass me by that the only way Silencer was defeated was by Laurel and Dinah sonic-crying her together. Methinks no-longer-Team-Arrow may need to re-form again in some way soon enough. 

I’m sure I’ve only scratched the surface here on many of these plot points, but there is so much going on (in a way that it all seems to hold together) that it’s fascinating to see how it will all come together. Especially given the apparently bleak future our characters have in store for them. 

To which -- Future William. I find it hard to believe that Oliver and Felicity would just abandon William, unless “leave” is a euphemism for something more sinister, which it appears might be the case. Otherwise, why would Felicity install a tracker in the hozen (called it!) and set the coordinates to Lian Yu? Furthermore, did she set those coordinates in 2018 when she gave him the hozen the first time? Did she want him to go to Lian Yu in some interim time before the 20 years? What on earth did she expect him to find there? And why was Oliver’s bow buried in a box? Who buried it? What did that note say? Why did Roy burn it up? Why are they heading back to Star City? Why did Roy and Thea break up (or what happened that he ran to Lian Yu to forget about it?)? SO. MANY. QUESTIONS. Isn’t that exciting? So many things we have yet to learn, so many mysteries, big and small. I’ve missed this. 

I continue to enjoy Future William and Old Man Roy’s dynamic; William is such a passive-aggressive asshole and it’s hilarious. I find it interesting also that he states he doesn’t even know how to use a bow and arrow, but he is a tech genius. Guess we know which parent he takes after. One question I have is whether the future we are seeing is ‘fixed’ or immutable, or whether whatever has happened in the interim 20 years can be undone or redone in a way. I still wonder whether William is the “new Green Arrow”, back to correct whatever went wrong in the intervening years that caused Oliver and Felicity to disappear from his life. The framing shot of him holding the bow hints towards that, but given that he claims he doesn’t know how to use it suggests that either he’s trained by Roy in upcoming episodes, or the wielder of the bow is someone else. Intrigue. Also intriguing is the question of when in time William is abandoned by his parents; if we expect to see young William in the present-day timeline (as I hope we will), then when exactly is it that their paths diverge? Time will tell. 

“My wife taught me a thing or two” - HIS. WIFE. TAUGHT. HIM. A. THING. OR. TWO. Ask me when the day will come when I stop reacting like a crazy person to every mention of Felicity as his wife and Oliver as her husband. Answer: NEVER. THAT DAY WILL NEVER COME. Bless.

“What’s an Overwatch?” made me laugh. Especially since Oliver doesn’t bother answering. 

“My wife and son were attacked. I’d do anything to protect them.” - a) I love the intensity of the way he says that, and b) isn’t it great that he then uses Yorke’s love for his wife and son against him? 

Speaking of, Oliver stabbing himself and pinning it on Yorke is THE most Oliver thing he’s ever done. LMAO. I definitely laughed at him overplaying the “you stabbed me! HE STABBED ME!!!” dramatic writhing. Even Brick looked amused. 

“There’s only one Green Arrow, and he’s in prison” - you tell ‘em, Felicity. 

The dialogue feels a lot tighter this season, and as I’ve mentioned before, characters’ motivations make much more sense. Long may it all continue. 

Okay, but I really do enjoy snarky Laurel. I’d rather that than a fully redeemed member of Team Arrow. I think she plays better as a (semi-)villain.

I miss Felicity’s pink hair. Sob. 

Diaz’s flamethrower gun was cool, but John giving him a well-deserved beatdown was cooler. 

All this ARGUS focus makes me miss Lyla. Bring her back, show. 

Felicity needs some actual friends like, right now. GIVE HER SOME FRIENDS WHO ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT HER MORE THAN THEY CARE ABOUT THEIR STUPID JOBS. 

Nice thrown in mention about William being gay. 

Also, does Old Man Roy just wear his Arsenal suit all day and night? Doesn’t that get...itchy? And smelly? And uncomfortable? And unnecessary? Oh Roy! 

Felicity is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more forgiving than I would have been. I’d have told everyone to fuck off and firebombed the place as I walked out (not so much on that last part, but ya know). 

I’m glad the show knows that Quentin wasn’t really Laurel’s father, even if they can’t seem to make that distinction in interviews. 

Honestly, Beth is just about the best thing that could have happened to this show right now. Imagine this team two years ago?!

Felicity and Oliver are each other’s ride or die, and I cannot wait for their reunion.