#I will forever support your tagline

[hanashiz]

To “Hibi Egao” Kochi Yugo,

A very Happy 29th Birthday to you~! 

This is the very last minute drawing but still, I wanna celebrate it for the first time~!

Sincere your miles away fan.

[tuliptired]

He’s Good People

Chapter 1: Ask me, I Won't Say No (How Could I?)

Pairing(s) Reader/Ray, Reader/Egon Reader/Winston

Summary: Janine's always told you that you had a strong "line of fate". Whatever that meant. When you lose your job and apartment, however, you're offered a (temporary) fix with her ever-generous employers.

Hopefully part of a series! A little Ray-centric- Check Ao3 for more tags and warnings.

read it on Ao3!

Today was the big day. You’d be working at your job at a major TV station for just about forever now, and it was about due time for a promotion. The pay was decent, enough to clothe and feed you and have the slightest amount left over, and you got to specialize in what you loved all day, everyday, while contributing to American television. The varieties of the entertainment industry. 

But you were starting to come to the realization that maybe your skills were a little underappreciated. You worked quickly, feverishly, and passionately, after all. You’d be damned if you said you hadn’t been dreading turning up everyday for a little while now. You put off asking, figuring that you should be grateful to be employed at all, but coaxing from your very opinionated best friend you gained while interning in Brooklyn proved fruitful, as she sat on the phone with you.

“You’re worthy. You’re deserving, they’re lucky to have you, you’re doing them a favor by showing up,” she repeated the affirmation to you, undoubtedly breaking a rule or two as she used her work phone from her receptionist job for a personal call. She'd been your biggest supporter, from every new hairstyle or investment, and she knew you were more than capable of whatever a higher position could offer you. You, on the other hand, stared at your reflection in the mirror. You don't really know what you'd do if turned down. You need this, your heart clenches a bit.  

You steeled your nerves, taking a deep breath in and a light breath out. “I am worthy, I am deserving, they’re lucky to have me, I’m doing them a favor by showing up,’ you chanted. The chord of the landline strained against the stretch you put it through from the kitchen to the bathroom. 

“That’s the spirit,” she praised you on the other end. Before you could respond, a sharp beep interrupted you, and she groaned lightly.

“Other line. Listen, I gotta go, but I want details. You know where to call me- and call me as soon as you get word,” she ordered you, causing the fear in your stomach to reemerge, the moment coming closer. But, her voice did make you feel better, in a way.

“Thanks, Janine, pray for me,” you half-begged, desperation unashamedly showing in your tone.

“Mazel.” The phone clicked.

You took what felt like the hundredth calming breath, and it was only 9 am. As you exited your apartment, the world woke up around you, the walk to the bus a little more packed as you made your way down town. On the bus, there was an ad for the Ghostbusters across from you. You laughed to yourself at its presence, a square poster of the 4 men simply standing in a line. The only other design is a little tagline- ¨who you gonna call?¨

You´d always wanted to ask Janine about her place of employment, naturally. She only ever brushed it off as a day job that took up too much of her free time, but you were a bit more curious than that. Believing in ghosts and spirits and monsters wasn't something you were necessarily taken with, but if there's a ghost up somewhere in Albany, it's not your problem. Leave it to the professionals, if they wanted a call so bad. Their pseudo-celebrity statuses were admirable, though- their ads for drinks and toys and services took up 70% of your network’s commercial breaks.

You were practically dripping with a mix of assuredness, sweat from your walk, and a tinge of fear as you clocked in when inside the giant, bustling company. The walk to your workspace felt like you were walking into war, going over every point you wanted to make the moment you saw your supervisor. He was a little hard to get to, really. He was even able to convince you that the due date he had given you in writing was much, much earlier- and you believed him, until you were working overtime with your entire department for the 3rd night in a row for something you had a month to finish.

You were intercepted halfway to your desk, and your confidence dropped to your toes as his smile wasn’t the half-there, busy and distracted one he often held. It was deliberate. He wanted something from you.

“Y/N! Goodmorning, goodmorning. I need a quick word with you.” God damnit. 

His sudden appearance derailed your ability to form respectable sentences, your fingers fumbling with the lapels of your shirt cuffs. “Actually, I was looking for you too,” your tone betraying you.

He led you into his office suite, a brown set of rooms that got less presentable as they went from reception to official-one-desk-two-chairs territory. He stopped you in the hall, where ambient lights illuminated pictures of happy talent, tv producers, and writers who struck it big under his guidance smiling big with awards in hand. “Spare a minute?” He put his hand on your shoulder. Asshole, you can’t refuse. You were already there.

He didn’t wait for an answer. “It’s been a real busy season, huh? Lots of work. Lots of talented stars. SNL’s really jumping off, isn’t it?” You smiled with a bit of pride, knowing the time you and your colleagues put into the success of an experimental show like it, albeit behind the scenes.

“I’m gonna tell it to you like it is, ‘cause you’re a smart kid. You went to Columbia, right?”

Flattery. You answered anyway. “Yeah. Yeah, I was gonna put some time aside for my masters,” you try and broach the conversation back into your favor. Tell him about your ambitions, your qualifications, and the job will fall into your lap.

He had an unreadable expression, his manufactured appearance unwavering. His mid length brown hair and brown suit nearly blended in with his decor. A blank slate was important in entertainment, he told you one day, you want to be what boys and girls want to see, he said. “You’re gonna have a hell of a lot of time then, kid.”

You blinked, words tumbling out your mouth before you could measure them. “I beg your pardon?” You asked earnestly. 

“Lots of work. Lots of talented stars,” he repeats. “It costs a lot to keep the boys and girls happy. Too much to keep certain departments as big as they are.” He swallows, picking up where he left off. “I figured, you’d feel better hearing it from a friendly face then some corporate robot, huh?”

You don’t remember how you got to the payphone, but you did, and you shakily entered Janine’s work number as tears and snot threatened to spill over the dam that was your face.

So there you were, her by your side, sitting under a tree in a nearby park, leaving work for a “personal emergency”, ignoring the voice of her boss as she made her way downtown. You felt bad, coating her shoulder in your sadness, but you couldn’t help it.

“He sounds like a total jackass,” she insisted. “I would’ve put my foot up his…¨ She looked down at you, your cries resigned to snotty sniffles. “You okay?” She asked softly.

You looked at her weakly. “Am I a loser?” You choked out, feeling absolutely miserable. This was rock bottom if you’ve ever been there. Jobless and bawling in a public park.

Janine grabbed your hands. “Don’t ever say something like that again. I’m telling you, your fate is something bigger.” Your eyes got glossy again, and she shook you around forcefully.

“No more crying! C’mon,” she hoisted you to your feet, head spinning and tears dried out of whiplash. Silently, you let her drag you to a grocery without protest, watching numbly as she stopped at a candy counter with you clinging to her arm. 

“10 Crunch bars. And as many of those red things that can fit in the bag.” The man behind the counter obliged, not without looking at the pair of you like a mother and her overgrown child. She took the paper bag, and loaded up another basket with the supplies to make your favorite dinners from the grocer, not forgetting a large tub of speciality ice cream.

“I can’t ask you to buy all of this,” you said softly, but your voice broke into a quiver as you realized what buying something entailed. “Now that I have no-no money,” your voice, wet and weak, about to break out into another session of hot tears.

“If you start crying again I’m leaving you at customer service,” She threatened as she opened her wallet, making her way to the cashier. 

“D’you think the corner takes applications?” You walked in tandem to the bus that’d take you home. 

“We can find out together. I’ve been telling you, there are men at Playboy who’d pay good money for-”

“WOW, Janine, your voice is a little loud, no?”

Her attempt at making you smile worked, and you felt a little better at her side on the bus. Stuffing the sack of candy in your bag, the bus rocked gently as Janine rested the large grocery haul on her lap. 

You were ready to just fall into bed, with or without Janine there, but your droopy eyes were snapped open upon seeing a white envelope taped to your front door. With further inspection, Janine watched sadly as you read that it was a water bill due ridiculously soon. The best you could do was knock your head against the plaster of the wall and hand her your keys.

You had a whole feast of food to be prepared laid out on your counter as you lay on the couch, weak and unwilling to do anything as you pressed your face into the cushions. “Is your oven always this…not on?” Janine’s voice came confused from the kitchen, a bundt pan full of box-mix-cake batter in her left hand.

“You’re joking,” you peeled yourself from the couch, crouching in front of the oven. One spark, nothing. Two, nothing. Three, four, five…not even a match could lit the stovetop nor the burners in the oven. You slid to the ground, defeated. “Kill me, Janine.”

You could hear her click her tongue, before a tiny bleeping filled the room. She apologetically moved her way to your phone, explaining that her boss(es?) were paging her. While you wallow on the kitchen floor, she dials in a number and waits, a little frazzled.

“I told you, it was an emergency.” Her eyes look to yours, silently asking for permission to spill the worst day of your life to some guy you don’t know. You close them, surrendering as you melt into the ground. Maybe this was rock bottom?

“I'm by the theater, it’s a bus and a brisk walk…you can manage without me for a night…4 grown men can’t problem-solve?...Peter- friend of mine got laid off, and they’re pretty upset, ok?...Yes. No, not that one…yes, that one. Ask them yourself, Peter.” She glances at you, annoyed as she holds the receiver out. Not having a speck of pride left, you trudge over, taking the phone limply. 

The line is silent for a bit, except for distant, deep voices you can’t hone in on, expect for the fact that they were arguing.

“Hello?” A voice starts.

“Hello.”

“Real sorry about your job, dear. Tell Janine to bring you around and we can show you a good-” Whoever the hell is on the other end is interrupted by a frantic voice, interrupting as they take hold of the call.

“Hello? This is Dr. Stantz. Uh, Ray is better. Janine told my friend Peter here about your work situation, we wanted to let you know we’re real sorry. Let Janine know she’s not in trouble, but she needs to get here soon, ok?” Dr. Stantz sounds genuinely sympathetic, and you can’t help but be comforted by his words.

“Thanks,” is all you can manage, if not rudely then a little flat.

“If you ever need anywhere to go, our headquarters are open! We have food, hot water, Janine,”’ he laughs on the other end, a little awkward. And a little on the nose for comfort. You react freely in the safety of the private nature of a phone call.

“Thank you?” You answer honestly. He clears his throat.

“If I could hear from Janine, please?”

You wordlessly pass it back to your unamused friend, and she listens to the other end.

A loud, low rumbling in your laundry closet cuts through the calm. You glance at each other, assuming the worst as you swing the door open.

Bubbles spill out onto the floor, your washer unit shaking and leaking onto the worn out wood. All things, this is what gets you the hardest. Your washer can´t break now. Out of all the horrible, awful things, your washer can not break now. You can't even cry, it's so ridiculous. Standing incredulously in ankle deep suds, all you can do is stare at the appliance spit and sputter liquid onto the floor. Janine breaks your bout of shock, pressing the phone into her shoulder so she can reach you. Her voice urges you to unplug it, and before you could break down again, you´re leaning against the lid, with the sudden realization that all the water and soap could start an electrical fire.

You have to lean your entire torso against the top, arms fumbling for the chord buried somewhere in the dark space against the wall. Soon, your legs are dangling over the edge. It would be a funny sight, if the machine wasn't shaking so monstrously underneath you.

Suddenly, there's a large hand on the back of your thigh. It was a cold, unnerving touch, sharp points digging into the flesh of your leg. As you could look back, to tell Janine to let go, your receiver drops to the ground. Her face is ghastly pale, and she´s suspended in a scream. As you look down towards the front of the washer, the large, reptilian claws try to grab you, to pull you into the washer with it. Your eyes widen, and you scream as you clamor to get out of its reach, to no avail.

Janine’s at your side, prying the digits off of your skin, the claws no doubt leaving marks in their wake. You climb to the top of the machine, legs to your chest, and she slams the door on the arms enough times to force it shut. 

Catching her breath, she backs up to the phone slowly, her eyes on you as if you yourself were whatever beast residing in your washer.

¨Ray.¨ She says his name as if there’s a 3rd party in your little apartment listening. ¨You´re coming to us.¨

4 men in brown jumpsuits are at your door. They look much more frazzled than they do in their ads. There´s…a crocodile? A monster? Living in your house? Your brain can´t form cohort thoughts as you blink, eyes drying out. One of them tries to console you as you sit in your armchair, breaths shallow and skin cold. You can’t even freak over the local legends standing in your home. 

 You only recognized one of them personally, from Janine´s birthday a few months ago. You couldn't stay the whole night, only dropping by to give her well wishes and leave her gift behind, but you can remember a brief conversation. You arrived around the same time, and he had opened the entrance to the building for you with ease, the handle notoriously always needing a bit of extra effort to haul the door open after being buzzed up. He walked you, explaining that her boyfriend forgot to pick up the cake, pointing to the box in his hand, which you shared a laugh over. In the time it took to get into her apartment, he explained that he was Dr. Ray Stantz, and he worked with her. You ingenuously told him he was the splitting image of a young comedian on the show you work for, to which he smiled, wide and a little embarrassed. Your conversation was cut short- Janine emerged from another room and dragged you over to some corner to see a mutual friend. 

One of the men flipped between the paper on a notepad, fixing the arms of his glasses. ¨If you don´t mind, we'd like to see the markings the ghost left on you.¨ He requests in a baritone voice, dark and monotone.

¨Egon!¨ Janine scolded him, rubbing your shoulders as you sat. 

¨Only if you´re okay with that,¨ another mediated, as ¨Egon¨ opened his mouth. He cleared his throat. ¨For research. Their research. Not mine. I’m not really a science guy-¨

¨Unbelievable,¨ Janine mumbled, ushering you up and out the chair. Before she could take you out the apartment, Ray grabs the doorknob- not to keep you inside, but to catch her attention. He looked at you both gently, if not a little urgently.

¨We´ll get rid of it no problem, promise. Real exciting thing you got living in your apartment.” He gives you both a soft smile, before opening the door and letting you out. Before you cross the threshold, she turns her head to address them as you grab your bag.

¨There better not be a hair out of place!¨ She shoots eaaaach and every one of them a look, the targets stiffening in the process. The man with the voice you recognize as Peter over the phone bids her farewell with a mock salute.

¨Yes ma´am, Janine!¨

¨I´m sorry about those guys. They´re,¨ she pauses, hand on her chin as you sit on the stoop, ¨the best in their field.¨ A little hard to believe, Peter had almost knocked down one of your trinkets on the way in and put it back a little too haphazardly for taste.

“They seem like interesting people,¨ is all you can manage. ¨Egon-¨

¨Don´t mind him. His brain´s big, but a little empty. He’s a peach.”

¨I was gonna say he was Columbia´s resident myth. I just couldn´t remember his name for the life of me.¨ 

Janine perks up a bit. ¨Oh? What was he like?¨ She pries, always in the mood for a little gossip.

You roll your eyes, albeit not really annoyed. ¨Well, I remember every girl in my major wanted to be the one to ¨break¨ him. Lots of turned down dates, lots of time wasted pretending to care about mushrooms,” you laughed at the memory. ¨He's still, just, not like that, huh?¨

Before she could answer, the entrance from the stoop is swung open, and said man is barrelling down the steps to the white van they tote around, hastily opening the backdoors and pulling something out.

¨What's wrong?” You and Janine say simultaneously. 

He turns to you, pausing mid-action. ¨Nothing,¨ he shuts the van door, making his way back up the steps at a much more measured pace. ¨Everything is fine.¨ Your apartment window slides open, impossibly quick.

¨EGON! Hurry up and get back here, it's got Winston!¨ Peter´s head is half out the window, face dirty and shaken up. Egon blinks once, and then resumes his pace back up to your apartment.

After what felt like half an hour, the 4 men stagger down the steps, worn and beat as you lift your head off Janine´s shoulder to asses the damages.

¨We got him,¨ Ray manages a weak smile, holding a machine billowing sickly chemical smoke.

¨He got us, ¨ Peter says flatly as he leans against Winston, who´s jaw is sporting a deep bruise. Hair disheveled, faces dark, and clothes stained, the men breathe heavily as they can finally relax, dragging themselves to the van. Janine stops Egon, taking his glasses off and saving a lens from popping out.

¨He was real mean,¨ Ray explains, ¨but a Class III of that size! Insane! I´d love to find out where he came from. Amphibious, malevolent ghost living in my washer- I´d pay to be you!¨ He´s excitable, even when his hands have light cuts littering them, his palms raw and pink.

“I’m sorry- I didn’t expect you all to get,” you pause to address their injuries. All things that will manifest after a hard-night’s rest. “So banged up.” You cringed.

“It’s nothing.” Peter started. “Eges, gimme your calculator, I need to run the bill.”

“No way!” Winston protested, hitting Peter on his tender arm, making the man recoil in pain.

“Don’t worry about the pay,” Egon cut in as he examined the trap in Ray’s hands. “We should be paying you , this particular ghost opens avenues for more experimentation. And I don’t mean that lightly.” His inflection remained the same throughout his entire sentence.

“More?” Peter complained.

“The workbench is getting crowded, Egon. Not everything can be a breakthrough.”

“You can never be too sure,” Ray insisted, opening the van door for the men to haul in. “If this thing’s connected to that beast back in Coney Island that we’re makin’ big strides.” He turned to you and Janine. 

You couldn’t help but ask, noting the deep scuff marks on the workboots each man wore. “Can I count on getting my deposit back?” Ray couldn’t quite meet your eyes.

He chuckled weakly. “Sure-”

“We blasted a chemical-leaking electrical machine inside an enclosed space with unregulated units of atomic energy. If you don’t want a malignant disease, I suggest finding a hotel,” Egon said from the front, the door still open. You could hear the thump of a boot against a car seat immediately after.

Janine bit her lip, thinking, suddenly unphased about how they didn’t heed her warning. “I’ve got my sister and her kids staying over,” she apologized. You weren’t mad, you knew how cramped her place could get, but also how much she cared for her family. Plus, Louis’ spring allergies would drive you up the wall. Ray’s frown deepened, before his face lit up. He got modestly close to you, lowering his voice.

“Tell you what, I wasn’t joking when I said we have space at the firehouse. Spend the night, it’s the least we can do.” He smiled softly in your little aside. His words reminisced of the one’s exchanged between dozens of young men and women during late nights at the TV station when they think no one’s around, and one of them is leaning against the wall. It was always sweet, and a little awkward knowing you’d have to make coffee across from them the next morning, but you couldn’t help but feel a little jealous. Lord knows it’s been a long time before anyone’s even thought of you that way.

You don’t have any other options, really. At least not on short notice. You eventually nod, apologizing for impeding on their space.

“Don’t worry about it! My grandma used to tell me- be a fine fellow if you want faithful friends at your funeral.” What a boyscout. You couldn’t stop the grin that spread across your face.

“There’s that smile. C’mon, we’ll take you and Janine.” That definitely made you feel something, somewhere. 

In the front, Ray drove while Egon sat next to him, and in the back, Peter sat on your right, Winston on your left, and Janine ending up having to sit herself on your lap. Ray blushed and apologized as he turned down the radio once the car’s engine turned on, speakers playing 70s rock directly into your ears.

“We never formally introduced ourselves. Not me, at least,” Winston spoke up at your side, Janine leaning forward so he could see you properly. “That’s Dr. Peter Venkman, Dr. Egon Spengler, you know that guy,” he pointed to Ray who looked at him in the rearview mirror with mock-anger, “and I’m Winston Zeddemore.” What a friendly man. 

“You don’t like the sound of  ‘doctor Zeddemore’?” You asked quietly, noting how he was a little out of place with the group of scientists.

He shook his head, not offended. “Not me. I would be- my dad wanted me to go the minister route, but I’m former air force,” he explains. 

“He’s still smart,” Peter adds at his friend’s defense.

“I know I am,” Winston sits back in his seat.

“Hey, you two,” Ray starts as he gets closer to the firehouse, “we have a bust in a few minutes. We’ll be gone for most of the evening. You can sleep, eat something. Ask Janine to read your palm!” He adds enthusiastically. 

You laugh at that as the car pulls into the large garage. “She told me I had a strong “line of career”. Funny how that worked out?” She pushed your head back with her hand. 

“Fate! It’s also the line of fate, ” she reiterated as Winston scoots back to allow you both out. 

“Is it fate that you’ll find a bill for $1000 under our pillows?” Peter mumbles, as Winston slides the door shut again. You can see the guys bickering through the windshield as Ray pulls out, honking the horn twice and flicking on the siren.

Inside, Janine slumps into her chair behind the front desk as you look around in awe. As soon as you open your mouth to ask if you can help with anything, she’s herding you up the stairs.

“You’ve had a horrible day,” she states, “sleep.” Opening the door to a repurposed fireman’s quarter’s, you swallow thickly.

“I can’t sleep in their beds,” you protest.

She surveys the room, examining each bed. “Winston, Egon, that one’s definitely Peter’s..Ray.” She stops in front of his bed. “He won’t mind.” 

You can’t even retaliate before she’s out the door, shutting it behind her. Sighing, you gave in, unbuttoning the top few bottoms of your oh-so-professional promotion-guaranteed outfit. You were pretty spent. But to sleep in this nice man’s bed? Maybe you were overstaying your welcome. A yawn disturbs your thoughts. Okay, you were exhausted, and he offered…

You had the most melancholy nap of your life, the kind you can only achieve after crying all day. You tossed and turned a little, walking up in the weird not-sleeping-falling-back-asleep state a few times. You hugged the thick comforter around you, lulling yourself back to sleep as the natural smell of the bed made its way into your dreams. 

You dreamt of being in highschool again, crushing and writing diary entries about a boy who smelt nice and made you laugh. It all felt so cathartic, that when you eventually dragged yourself awake you realized where the nostalgic scent was coming from- Ray’s bed. Your face got a little warm as you were broken out of sleepiness, remembering where you were. As you slowly sat up, your back pressed against something behind the pillow. On impulse, you reached backwards, pulling out a worn, soft Smokey the Bear plushie. You smiled to yourself at the sight, forgetting your embarrassment.

You crept out the room, praying to whoever was watching over that the men hadn’t returned and seen you slobbering all over their pillows. To your relief, it was only Janine, nursing many papers spilled over her narrow desk.

“What’s this?” You read the documents, what seem to be job reports that get more and more detailed the more unorganized the desk looks. Janine has different colored stamps balanced on her lap, as she juggles with the stability of a thick, 3 ringed diary against her computer screen.

“Notarizing,” is all she says, trying to bite back her frustration. Moving behind her, you can see that her thick tome his open to a double page spread of the different ghost classifications. You found her problem- the hand writing in the journal was abysmal, notes were scratched out, rewritten, written over.

“Do you need any help?” You ask, picking up a paper that fluttered to the floor.

She sighs, pushing her desk chair out and rubbing her eyes. “I need a nap myself.”

She disappears up the staircase, and you hear a door unlike the one with the beds fall shut. Glancing at her desk- and at the clock, you lower yourself into the chair. It’d be a while until they were back, right? And you really couldn’t leave this mess for Janine. It wouldn’t hurt to give her a hand. Plus, stamps were always a funtime.

You’d been stamping for an hour. Your eyes bulged at the clock, and then back at the neat, orderly piles of reports organized by date and class. Suddenly, the garage opens, and the men file out. Ray smiles upon seeing you, holding pizza boxes in his hands.

“I’m sorry! Janine just needed a break and..” your voice falters as Peter whistles at your work.

“You look nice behind a desk. Maybe we should get an extra chair and keep you with Janine full time. And you could understand my handwriting,” he raises his eyebrows, zipping down the front of his jumpsuit.

“Thanks for helping her out,” Ray takes a look, pleased at the sight, passing the boxes to Peter who takes them upstairs. “You’ve got a knack for clerical work!” Odd compliment, but you’re willing to take it.

Egon’s curiosity gets the better of him, peering at the documents as he takes the stairs up. You swear you can hear him hum contently as he looks down over the railing, Winston behind him.

“Wanna eat with us? We didn’t know what you’d like, and we figured everyone likes pizza,” Ray starts to shrug his own suit off.

“I’m sorry, again. I take your secretary, your money, your room, now your food.” Ray shakes his head hard, closing his locker. He waves his hands dismissively. 

“I’m telling you, it’s nothing at all. You’re good people.” His colloquialism makes you smile, stubbornly. You cave, following him towards the stairs as he walks backwards toward it. As you reach the second floor, the other 3 men were already seated at a table, distributing the food amongst themselves. You freeze beside Ray, nerves picking back up for whatever reason.

He leaned over and whispered in your ear. “We’re not freaks, you know. Just, 200-something-pound men who walk around in onesies and share a bedroom.” You laugh yet again, feeling a little dumb whenever you’re next to him, giggling every few seconds like a teenaged girl. 

Upon seeing you smile, Winston smiled in turn and pulled a chair out for you, putting the ice he held to his jaw down for a second. Gosh, you’d have to apologize for that again. Sitting down, he even passed you a plate of food, the two biggest slices out of all the others.

“You live near the Benjamin Fairhooke theater?” He asks, knowing it’ll spark interest in Egon.

“Old spooky haunted Abraham Lincoln theater, Winston.” Peter takes a sip from a beer can.

“Lincoln was shot in D.C.”

“Never seen it.”

You wipe your hands. “Abandoned for years. Some kids got in trouble for sneaking in. They were pretty spooked- they say they saw a headless body walking around.” Egon perks up at that. “They’ve got some strict security there now.” Your brain pings for a second, remembering a not so legal secret you had been holding.

“I had a friend who used to do city maintenance there, before they abandoned the refurbishing project. He moved to the west, and left me with the masterkey.” 

Egon’s eyes widen, ever so slightly. “I’ve been trying to get a reading on that place, but Ray’s not willing to come with me.”

“Ray’s not willing to break in with you, Spenges,” he cuts in.

“Do you want the key?” You offer, before you could think about what you said.

Peter groaned, slumping back in his chair. “You’re encouraging him.”

“Very much so,” Egon nodded. 

After the food was finished, mostly by the 200-something-pound men not realizing how much food they really took. You didn’t mind- you were the guest, after all. Ray suddenly realized that it was fairly late, and you still didn’t have an official place to stay. As the guys stood up to get ready for the night, he spoke up quickly.

He looked hopeful. “You don’t mind staying the night, do you?” Before you could answer, he starts to speak again. “Our extra bed hasn’t been broken in yet, you can take mine if you’d like!” Neither of you realize it, but Peter’s watching with more intent than the other 2 men. 

“Where would you’d sleep, Raymond?” Peter’s suddenly interested in the paint chipping on the doorframe.

“The extra bed, I suppose”

“That’s no good, you’ll mess up your back”

Something was unspoken between the two of them, their eyes having a conversation of their own. Ray’s big brain slowed a bit. “The…loveseat?” He offered, as if asking for permission. 

Peter made a buzzer noise. “I’ve already tried- it’s too small. And ocupado. Janine. She’s tiny. We’ll wake her up, send her home- you two figure it out.” Peter corales the other two, confused men out the room and down the hall.

Ray looked stumped, and a blush was slowly creeping from his ears. He seemed to be battling something in his head, before he refused the force tempting him as he shook his head. “I can take the floor,” he decides.

“What! I can’t ask you to do that.” 

“You’re not asking me. I’m telling you.” He wouldn’t budge. He started to clean up the mess his friends ever so gracefully left behind, before you moved to help him. 

“Just let me,” you responded to his face. Ever the host. You cleaned together quietly, but comfortably.

“I want you to know,” he bent over to put a spray back under the sink, “that we know what it’s like. To lose our jobs.” He stood to face you. You had a flash a shame hit your features, which you really couldn’t help. To the Ghostbusters’ credit, they had a good way of making you forget things.

His face was understanding. “Really, we do. We started this whole thing ‘cause we lost our jobs. It was a dumpy feeling.” You purse your lips, turning your gaze down. His head followed your eyes, and your stomach felt a little woozy as he physically commanded your attention.

“I wouldn’t say it so much if I didn’t think you deserved it.”

You let out a soft puff of air out your nose at the potential to make a joke. “You’re ready to believe me?”

His serious face melted into that of pride, his mouth splitting into a full-toothed grin.

“You’re something else. Hell yeah, I am!” He squeezed your shoulder, before having you follow him down the steps and into a basement. He stuck his head into a door and said goodnight to Egon before entering what looked like a laundry room. 

He swiped a few articles of clothing on hangers, hanging over most of the room’s perimeter. There were t shirts, longjohn’s, plain sweatshirts, smocks, of varying sizes, though they look like they’d seldom been used. He settled on gray sweat pants and a gray sweatshirt, holding them up to you from a respectable distance to measure.

“The firemen before us left all this. Joke’s on them, right?” He folds them loosely, handing them to you before rummaging through a cabinet for a toothbrush.

Your face unintentionally twitches as he holds the plastic wrapped brush out to you, wondering if it’s been here as long as the clothes you had in your arms.

He glances down at it once, before waving your fears away. “Janine bought new one’s last week, I promise.” 

After muttering an apology and leaving for you to change, he leads you back to the sleeping quarters, opening the door slowly. Winston was fast asleep, always the first to be out when the day’s work took a particular toll on him. Ray listened to the silence for a second, piecing together Peter’s absence and the sudden running of the shower down the hall. He leans over, excusing himself to get ready for the night and letting you know there was a bathroom connected to the room, albeit very small. 

After a quick brushing of your teeth, you emerge at almost the same time as him. He nearly jumps out of his skin noticing his stuffed animal still on his bed, stuttering how’d that get there’ s and it’s for memorie’ s. 

“Don’t be mean to him,” you mock-scold him in a whisper. His cheeks are still pink. He’s wearing a matching pajama set- which was enough to make you shake your head and giggle to yourself.

He looks down, noticing his pink pajamas. “It’s light red . And you should be disappointed I passed on my Dr. Thirteen robe.” He remembers the bear still in his hands.

“You want him?” He holds the little toy out to you, Smokey’s been very clearly well loved, as his fur and outfit are fading slightly. “Take good care of him,” he looks as if he’s parting with a child.

“Promise.”

He makes his way to a wardrobe as quietly as possible, pulling out a pillow and blanket for his sleep on the floor. “You want new ones? Sheets, pillowcase? I’m not sure how nice mine are.”

Your mind flashes to the nice smell his bed had, and you promptly shook your head. 

He sets up on the floor, unconsciously choosing to sleep at your technical-side. You set Smokey up next to you, tucking him in, watching Ray lay out the bedding, before he sits back and sighs up at you.

“I know it’s not the Marriott. Sorry you hafta share a room with us.” Sure, he could’ve set his den up next to Winston, or taken Egon’s currently unoccupied bed, but neither of you were gonna complain. He refused to even entertain the idea of you sleeping on the floor of whatever the room the loveseat was in, so this was how it would play out. “I can imagine you don’t often bunk with people you just met before.”

“It’s just a night,” saying it was a little useless- you had no idea how long you’d need to stay with them. You had no idea about anything at all anymore.

He fell silent. “A night?” You couldn’t decipher why his voice had a despondent tone.

“However long you’ll have me.”

A pause. “As long as you wanted.”

The clock on the opposite wall was ticking softly. It was getting late, 11:30.

“Goodnight, Ray. And thank you, really. Thank you.” 

“Goodnight. I can…wake you up before the guys do, if that’s more comfortable for you. We’ll figure something out, ok?”

You nod, and he turns off the lamp on the side table above his head.

12:05. A freshly showered Peter opening the door to two bodies out of the three, softly breathing.

“Raymond Stantz. You were supposed to get into the bed, too.”

“Go to bed, Peter.” He pulled the covers over his eyes.

[reunionatdawn]

My Analysis of the Best Paired Endings in 3H (Part 3: Claude/Hilda)

Byleth: (His easy smile is striking… But that smile doesn't reach his eyes…)

Claude is a Leo, a fire sign ruled by the Sun. Leo traits include being confident, comfortable being the center of attention, drama-adoring, ambitious, loyal, fiercely protective of their nearest and dearest, generous, luxury-loving, sunny, and big-hearted. Like Edelgard, his goal was to usher in the dawn of a new age as supreme leader.

He bears the Crest of Riegan, which is associated with The Moon arcana. The general meaning of The Moon is that everything is not as it seems. It is also the Major Arcana of intuition. It tells you that something about a situation or person in your life is not what it appears to be, and you need to trust what your instincts are telling you in order to see past this illusion.

Claude: When I first saw you wield the Sword of the Creator, I wanted to use your power to my advantage. I wanted to use you to make my dream of a new world come true. But before long, I realized what I really wanted was to see that new world…with you by my side. I still feel that way, you know. I always will. That's why I have to leave.

Claude was taking advantage of female Byleth's romantic interest in him to achieve his dream. He admitted as much himself in his S-Support. That explained why his Goddess Tower scene was all about his political ambitions and lacked any genuine romantic undertones. Supposedly he fell in love with her somewhere along the way. But something felt off to me. He couldn't even attend Byleth's coronation?

Byleth & Claude After ascending the throne as the first leader of the United Kingdom of Fódlan, Byleth sought to rebuild the war-torn towns and villages and to help guide the reformation of the Church of Seiros. After a few months of peace, remnants of the Imperial army joined with those who slither in the dark and marched upon the capital city of Derdriu. The new kingdom lacked the power to repel the invaders, but when defeat seemed imminent, a battle cry rang out from the east. Claude, the newly-crowned King of Almyra, led a mighty army that broke through the rebel forces with ease. This show of solidarity forever altered the course of history, heralding a new age of unity.

If he is paired with Petra, he postpones his return to Almyra for years due to his love. With Lysithea, his love for her compels him to give up the throne entirely. Even when he does return to Byleth like he promised, it's to defeat the remnants of the Imperial army and TWSITD. That earns him the title "King of Unification". But there's nothing in their paired ending to indicate a marital union.

Claude did care about Byleth as more than just a tool. But to me, it felt like the writers were trying to portray that he didn't love her romantically, albeit in a very subtle way. Which I actually found to be a very great idea. He definitely had a reason to marry Byleth for political purposes, considering his dream. And I liked that his reputation as a schemer finally amounted to something in the end after all. Besides, he had more chemistry with Hilda, anyway.

Hilda: It's just a legend, sure…but I prefer to be cautious about such things. One of the guys was pretty handsome, and he came from a good family… But that doesn't really tell you what a person's like on the inside. I want a life partner who's good-hearted and good-looking.

Claude is a very flirty person in general and has a lot of chemistry with most of the girls he can Support with. But he was particularly flirty with Hilda. Even their C-Support was surprisingly sexual. But their connection gradually developed into more than just physical attraction. The tagline for the game was, "Sweet memories twisted by time's cruel hand". Claude has many sweet memories of his childhood and Hilda is the only one who takes an interest in them.

Because of this, she was the only girl he offered to bring home. Claude is usually a very guarded young man who keeps his secrets close to his chest. He was afraid of his Almyran heritage being exposed because he's been the constant victim of racism. While Hilda made the occasional off-hand racist remark (moreso out of ignorance than malice), Claude still offered to introduce her to his family, showing his trust in her character and her ability to be judge people for who they are on the inside, not their heritage.

Holst: But what if the next king of Almyra turns out to be a kind and decent man? What if Hilda even likes him? Claude: Uh, if Hilda wants to marry that hypothetical heartthrob, I'm not gonna stop her. Look, what's all this really about? Holst: Apologies. My imagination ran free for a moment. If that is what Hilda wants, then I will not stand in her way either. Claude: Your imagination's definitely still running there. Holst: I'm just as worried about Hilda's future as I am about Leicester's—maybe even more so. Claude: I completely understand, so let me just say this… I believe that both Leicester's and Hilda's futures are as bright as they can be. All I ask is that you trust me.

Claude and Hilda don't need Byelth to choose the Golden Deer house to get married. Golden Wildfire proves that. Holst approves of their relationship. His A-Support with Claude even foreshadowed the Claude/Hilda paired ending. So, it definitely feels like it's the one Claude ship that's most rooted in "canon".

Hilda: I don't understand why anyone would want to risk their life for someone else. When you die, no matter how you died, it's over. To me, it's more important to enjoy life. We only live once, after all. It's a waste to spend all your time working and being responsible, right?

Hilda was the only character I did not recruit on my AM New Game+. If I had to guess, I'd say she was probably not even gonna be recruitable outside her home route, similar to Dedue and Hubert. I left her behind because I didn't want Claude to be alone. But also because she truly belonged on that bridge in Derdriu defending him. It's the ultimate fulfillment of her character arc, showing how she's changed from a spoiled and lazy girl into a mature woman who will try her best to not let down the people she cares about.

Hilda and Claude were the only lord and retainer I felt comfortable shipping because their differing social status had practically no effect on how they related to each other. Hilda could see through his fake smile because she was just as manipulative, constantly flirting to get people to do things for her. In CF, she died for Claude because she had fun with him and found him sexy, not because it was her duty as a Crest bearer. Claude expected her to run, but she stood her ground.

As a lord, Claude was in the middle. He was ambitious like Edelgard but not quite as ruthless. He shared Dimitri's distaste for war, but would compromise those ideals in pursuit of his goals. What I liked about Hilda as a retainer was that she supported him emotionally, but she also challenged him on his decisions when it was necessary. She questioned whether being king was really what he wanted when he was a natural free spirit at heart.

Claude: You and I may not hold any grudges, but if you look to our history, you'll see it was the Kingdom who tossed us to the wolves first. When our people were fighting for independence from the Empire, Faerghus attacked and conquered Leicester for themselves.

Claude certainly had good intentions, but in the end, he was perhaps a bit too motivated by self-interest. In VW, he realized that, which is why he stepped down in favor of Byleth. In GW, there is a chapter called "The End of the Alliance". Claude becomes king of the Federation and allies with Edelgard. He announces his intention to eliminate the church and invade the Kingdom using historical disputes as a justification, however questionable that may be.

Claude: If you're going to lead Fódlan, then the Alliance lords will follow you. Back in the day, the Alliance split off from the Kingdom. I'm just putting us back together again.

In AM, there is a cutscene called "The End of the Alliance". Claude puts aside all historical animosity and willingly unifies with the Kingdom. Why the change of heart? He admitted he wouldn't do anything unless he had something to gain, but Byleth and Dimitri selflessly came to his rescue. And because of that, he gives his Hero's Relic to Dimitri, something he did not to for Edelgard. Symbolically this gesture is so important because he always thought he needed the power of the relics to realize his dream. But he doesn't.

Claude & Hilda Trusting the affairs to his comrades with whom he had fought, Claude departed for his homeland. While in Fódlan he was no more than a noble, upon returning to his homeland of Almyra, he was a prince of the realm. Having grown strong and mature, he gained recognition among the royal family and eventually wielded influence in national politics. Several years later, the king of Almyra retired, and Claude succeeded to the throne. Simultaneously, a queen was introduced – none other than Hilda. Leveraging her brother's support, she unexpectedly demonstrated diplomatic prowess, contributing to the establishment of diplomatic relations between Almyra and Fódlan. Furthermore, with two consecutive queens from Fódlan, the values of Almyra began to evolve.

In AM, Claude's fate doesn't change much compared to VW. He still goes back to Almyra, presumably with Hilda if she wasn't recruited. So, I don't even think their VW paired ending would be any different in the AM timeline. And their marital union is what will help Claude achieve his dream. He didn't need Byleth, the Hero's Relics, or to become supreme leader. Marrying Hilda opens Fódlan's Locket. This is the only ending where Hilda gets involved in politics instead of making accessories, but it is better for her character development, and I think she'd be happier that way in the end.

[best-underrated-anime]

Best Underrated Anime Group G Round 2: #G7 vs #G3

#G7: A romance between a prince and a herbalist

#G3: Slime farmer kid travels around helping people

Details and poll under the cut!

#G7: Snow White with the Red Hair (Akagami no Shirayuki-hime)

Summary:

Although her name means “snow white,” Shirayuki is a cheerful, red-haired girl living in the country of Tanbarun who works diligently as an apothecary at her herbal shop. Her life changes drastically when she is noticed by the silly prince of Tanbarun, Prince Raji, who then tries to force her to become his concubine. Unwilling to give up her freedom, Shirayuki cuts her long red hair and escapes into the forest, where she is rescued from Raji by Zen Wistalia, the second prince of a neighboring country, and his two aides. Hoping to repay her debt to the trio someday, Shirayuki sets her sights on pursuing a career as the court herbalist in Zen’s country, Clarines. Akagami no Shirayuki-hime depicts Shirayuki’s journey toward a new life at the royal palace of Clarines, as well as Zen’s endeavor to become a prince worthy of his title. As loyal friendships are forged and deadly enemies formed, Shirayuki and Zen slowly learn to support each other as they walk their own paths.

Propaganda:

This is my absolute favourite romance anime of all time. The characters are delightful, and the romance is well-paced, with plenty of healthy communication between the two leads. The story never feels boring, managing to pull off both gentle slice of life and exciting adventures with ease. It features gorgeous animation by Studio Bones and a lovely soundtrack.

Trigger Warnings: None.

#G3: By the Grace of the Gods (Kami-tachi ni Hirowareta Otoko)

Summary:

Deep in the forest, far from any human contact, there lives a child named Ryouma Takebayashi. He engages in the rather strange hobby of keeping various types of slimes as pets. Furthermore, despite his young age, he has a sturdy physique and good compatibility for magic. All of this is because, having endured much hardship in his previous life, three gods grace Ryouma with a second chance to pursue one goal: savor the wonders of life.

After three years of comfortable solitude pass by, Ryouma meets people that will change his current life forever. When he encounters and helps some soldiers tend to their wounded comrade, the group convinces him to accompany them to visit the nearby town's ducal family. Ryouma agrees and soon embarks on a journey to explore the vast world beyond his home.

Propaganda:

It’s a calming, adorable anime about helping people and being fulfilled with life. Honestly, not much happens, but it’s the sort of series that you can just watch at the end of the day and feel healed. The protagonist is an adorable and levelheaded kid, people around him are NICE and everything feels good.

Trigger Warnings: None.

When reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

If you want to criticize one of the shows above to give the one you’re rooting for an advantage, then do so constructively. I do not tolerate groundless hate or slander on this blog. If I catch you doing such a thing in the notes, be it in the tags or reblogs, I will block you.

Know one of the shows above and not satisfied with how they’re presented in this tournament? Just fill up this form, where you can submit revisions for taglines, propaganda, trigger warnings, and/or video.

[salsa-and-light]

"the media doesn’t want you to know that we exist. the media will not acknowledge the presence of gay Christians who have chosen celibacy"

Oh no the media was perfectly content, eager even, to spread the word for a good few decades

The simplest answer is that people don't really feel threatened enough by Queerness to be invested in changing the lives and sexualities of complete strangers anymore, so why bother showing it on TV if no one's that interested.

But really a good portion of why "ex-gays" don't really get any airtime is just the sheer data about how few of these people are still "reformed" at the end of it.

Even cherry-picked data from the organizations themselves can barely keep the majority of their.. subjects, "straight" or celibate for more than five years.

Then there's also the ethical dilemma of supporting yet annother ex-gay or Queer celibacy group that is involved in some breach of morals, as has happened. Repeatedly.

Giving unlicensed and unmonitored groups of people unprecedented amounts of control over the lives and sexualities of primarily young and vulnerable people has a tendency to go awry- unsurprisingly.

But in short, no one believes it, no one trusts it and no one cares either way.

So it's not exactly common fodder for conversation as it dwindles out of existence.

But I do care, because this ideology hurts people, and I'm not a fan.

"or bi Christians who have chosen to renounce same-sex romantic relationships,"

Yeah people really don't care about that. A bisexual dating someone of the opposite sex has never really been shocking but even then, why are we supposed to believe that someone is bisexual?

Plenty of "ex-gays" were bisexual the entire time and we're just supposed to trust that a person who's only dated the opposite sex and has been a homophobe the entire time is really Bi because they said so? Maybe it is true, but it's not as if homophobes pretending to be Queer to hurt Queer people is something confined to the past.

Although in fairness the straight person in that case isn't homophobic and didn't even know that he was being used as a fictional gay person to fight against gay rights.

Homophobes are comfortable making up wacky hypotheticals, who knew.

"according to the popular narrative, a queer Christian must have their sexuality fully affirmed and celebrated in a progressive church with the tagline “this is what REAL Christians act like!”"

If by affirmed you mean treated as an equal member of the congregation then yeah.

Being a dick or being "polite" while demoting Queer Christians into second-class citizens is vile.

"if this is not affirmed, they must seethe and suffer and spend their whole existence trying to suppress any and all aspects of themselves they have been told are wicked, before ultimately exploding and leaving their church to be Free and Totally Themselves. "

You're treating this as if it's some crazy hypothetical.

I know Straight people, who have left the church because of how Queer people are treated.

Half or more of what I hear about the "celibate gays" is specifically about struggling, "carrying your cross daily", "we all have different burdens to bear" in a way that more or less correctly takes note of the massive toll it's exacting while also trivializing it by comparing to something minor.

"You have to be alone forever which is tough, but I can't cheat on my wife so really we're the same."

I'll grant that I'm more involved than some, but this is very common.

"there is apparently no such thing as a Christian who chooses not to act on their desires out of love for the Lord, and is truly okay with it."

Well then bully for them, but as you may recall from 1 Corinthians 7 being unmarried is highly recommended point blank for all Christians, and yet virtually no Christians stay unmarried, let alone by conscious choice.

Expecting all Queer people to do something that scripture never demands of them while most straight people ignore the explicit recommendations of scripture is hypocrisy.

And more to the point if someone were in the tiny minority of people willing and capable of being unmarried then their celibacy isn't exactly a relevant argument.

Just because Martha who never wanted children is happy childless that doesn't mean that it's not an absolutely devastating thing for other people to go through.

"we don’t and can’t exist, because we don’t fit the narrative."

"The narrative" oh boy.

As a matter of fact it is the Queer community, not the church who has been leading the way on healthier views of sex, marriage and family in recent decades.

Most American Christians say that you do need marriage, you do need sex(as long as it's the "right" type) your family can only be a nuclear heterosexual couple and their children(grandparents only in extreme circumstances).

I grew up in the Southern Baptist Convention, which lists one of its values as "God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption." Or in otherwords the nuclear family. Notably the SBC is over a century older than the normalization of nuclear families in America, and indeed has outlasted it. God never "ordained" any family structure or institution as "foundational" to society

Meanwhile in the Queer community it's totally fine if you're not married, sex is optional, 40 year-old virgin? Cool. Never wanna have sex? Also cool. Never want to get married or want to get married? Fine. Do you want a platonic family of you and your best friend. Sure.

Queer people can and do go without any or all of these things, the difference is that they are allowed to pursue them or not, on their own terms.

They're not arbitrarily cut off from any avenue of exploration or satisfaction of their personal needs: socially, sexually, psychologically or otherwise.

The "narrative" as you call it, includes you. You just seem content to exclude the nuanced reality of other Queer people.

And asking for understanding while giving none is not a good way to convince people.

"I’ve never been to conversion therapy- I actually loathe the very concept of it."

Points for the bare minimum.

"I don’t hate myself. I’m not disgusted at my “bi-ness”. nobody pressured or forced me to make the decisions I’ve made."

Doubtful.

On the one had because homophobic people being bisexual is very suspiciously convenient.

On the other, even if you are a real bisexual, no one had to say anything. If you're over the age of seven in the Western world you know how the church treats Queer people.

No one ever had to say anything to you to make you do anything because it was obvious that the consequences for being an openly Queer person were dramatically bad. Complete impartiality is next to impossible.

I myself spent almost no time rejecting my orientation, not because I was specially immune to homophobia, but because the very concept of being Queer, even in total secrecy, was so shameful that I never even allowed myself to allow the idea of it enter my conscious awareness.

The shame was so total that I wasn't even capable of even recognizing it.

That's not something that someone does when they're giving equal consideration to all the options.

So I find it highly unlikely that you, a person who is living in the same society as I was, is capable of being truly impartial.

"I love the Lord. I’ve read the Scriptures. I know what they say. I’ve carefully weighed the alternate, more liberal interpretations, and found them lacking in hermeneutical integrity."

And where did you find these "liberal" interpretations?

Did you hear about them from homophobic sources?

Because in my view the anti-Queer interpretation is held together with bias and chewing gum and taking a text that repeatedly affirms Love as a moral good and states the irrelevance of gender and making it say that some Love is evil because the gender is wrong is a much harder sell.

Frankly I'm surprised that the anti-gay interpretation has held up as long as it has. I'd chock it up to mass-ignorance of scripture in favor of folk beliefs.

"I actively fight against lusftul thoughts regarding both men and women - something every Christian should do anyway."

No..

Lust is not a sin, it's a morally neutral human impulse, the Bible never says that lust is bad.

"I think Christ is better. I think He’s worth it. and this is the path I chose, out of love, and because He loves me. it’s that simple."

While I'm happy that you've made your peace it doesn't change the fact that this is an arbitrary human convention not a divine command, and by promoting it, you are harming people.

"the thing that does truly eat me up inside? is the total unwillingness from both the media and a decent portion of the church to acknowledge that I exist. that we exist, our experiences exist."

Yes, I imagine so

Most of the outside world doesn't believe you and half of them feel bad for you.

Whereas the church, well.

Let's just say that there's a long tradition of not paying attention to Queer people and wanting them to go away,

Hence why people are concerned for you and people like you.

"that my desires are what they are, and I don’t need to try to force them out of me, but I don’t need to act on them either. they are just desires. they are merely feelings."

You see, most people have no issue with that, as I said Queer people are actually pretty chill about being perpetually single, by choice or by habit.

But you're not just saying that your feelings and experiences exist, or just saying that Queer people can be happy single, you're implying that your rules and feelings should be normative, that they are morally mandated, by God no less.

Where people object is when you or people like you start to insist that everyone should be like you, or that any suffering brought on by the attempt isn't legitimate because you don't experience it.

"and my real identity isn’t in how I feel on any given day"

That's also true for Queer people, just so we're clear.

"I’m here, and there are countless others like me. but. we will not be represented in the news. there won’t be characters like us in movies or shows or books."

Yes and I've already explained why, it's not compelling enough for the news, nor is it common, which is why it's not featured elsewhere.

You seem to be someone who's had access to representation for a long time but that is not the reality for everyone.

Up until the last five years, Queer media was a rarity. So why would you expect there to be any significant representation of your very small and often temporary grouping of people?

Even if it existed I get the impression that you wouldn't know.

Because if I had to assume I'd guess that you don't engage much with Queer media, which is where most discussions of celibate Queer people are going to happen.

Most Christians don't even like to acknowledge Queerness let alone delve into the lives and stories of Queer Christians, as you seem to acknowledge,

But if it something that you value then I can suggest you look into a show called We're Here, a reality show where drag queens travel America giving voice to hidden Queer communities. Season 1, Episode 3: Branson, Missouri actually features a formerly gay man, who discusses his history and explains his change and in the discussion Bob, one of the show's leads, reveals that his mother is a former lesbian.

In general, Queer people are the ones who are aware of "ex-gays", we're the ones who interact with them.

"we must be tortured souls raging against the throes of organized religion"

I hate to be the one to tell you this but that perception is based on a very common reality.

Queer people are a minority, Queer Christians are a subsection of that minority, Queer Christians who are completely celibate for religious reasons are a tiny minority of that, and of those people most of them are not.. having a great time, putting it mildly.

There are plenty who are fine, even happy, don't get me wrong; but there's a reason that it's called a trial, a cross, a battle et cetera.

If you're fine and unconflicted that's great, happy for you.

But you're not gonna see that often because it doesn't happen often.

I hate to bring this up, but you said that there are "countless others" like you.. how many people like you do you even know? I've met very few Queer celibates or "ex-gays" and none of them treat their enforced celibacy as something trivial.

"there’s no room for us in the media. the Body of Christ struggles to make room. but we’re here. whether anyone is comfortable with it or not."

There's room in media it's just that no one's trying to get in. Churches often don't want to make room for Queer people, that's only more common when the church rejects the moral goodness of Queer Love.

...

Like I said, if you're happy that's great, but no one is trying to hide you, no one who doesn't despise Queerness anyways. If you want to spread the word, good on you, but you are fringe minority of a fringe minority and even among that group you seem to be unusual. You're not going to see common representation of that.

the media doesn’t want you to know that we exist.

the media will not acknowledge the presence of gay Christians who have chosen celibacy, or bi Christians who have chosen to renounce same-sex romantic relationships, entirely of their own volition.

according to the popular narrative, a queer Christian must have their sexuality fully affirmed and celebrated in a progressive church with the tagline “this is what REAL Christians act like!” if this is not affirmed, they must seethe and suffer and spend their whole existence trying to suppress any and all aspects of themselves they have been told are wicked, before ultimately exploding and leaving their church to be Free and Totally Themselves. 

there is apparently no such thing as a Christian who chooses not to act on their desires out of love for the Lord, and is truly okay with it. 

we don’t and can’t exist, because we don’t fit the narrative.

I’ve never been to conversion therapy- I actually loathe the very concept of it. I don’t hate myself. I’m not disgusted at my “bi-ness”. nobody pressured or forced me to make the decisions I’ve made.

I love the Lord. I’ve read the Scriptures. I know what they say. I’ve carefully weighed the alternate, more liberal interpretations, and found them lacking in hermeneutical integrity. 

and so, because I love the Lord, and because I believe His Word, I willingly give up the possibility of ever having a romantic relationship with a woman. I actively fight against lusftul thoughts regarding both men and women - something every Christian should do anyway. and… it doesn’t tear me up inside. it’s not always an easy path, sure. sometimes I wish I could date whoever I want- and that doesn’t just include girls. but you know? I think Christ is better. I think He’s worth it. and this is the path I chose, out of love, and because He loves me. it’s that simple.

the thing that does truly eat me up inside? is the total unwillingness from both the media and a decent portion of the church to acknowledge that I exist. that we exist, our experiences exist. that my desires are what they are, and I don’t need to try to force them out of me, but I don’t need to act on them either. they are just desires. they are merely feelings. and my real identity isn’t in how I feel on any given day, it’s in Christ. nobody led me to that realization but Christ Himself, and it’s been a freeing and healing revelation.

I’m here, and there are countless others like me. but.

we will not be represented in the news. there won’t be characters like us in movies or shows or books. we must be tortured souls raging against the throes of organized religion, or free to act as we please at any time. there is no room in the narrative for a picture of submission that isn’t terribly unhealthy. and we’re lucky if pastors know how to talk about us either, if they realize we exist at all.

there’s no room for us in the media. the Body of Christ struggles to make room.

but we’re here. whether anyone is comfortable with it or not.

[oldstorynewart]

Of Fiery Friends and Faltering Fairy Tales

"What's your favorite fairy tale?"

I'm always a little conflicted when someone casts that question upon me. On the one hand it tells me I'm dealing with a wondrous spirit who still loves to be enchanted, while on the other I'm always a bit cautious. Fairy tales are tricky business – for they often contain overly conservative morals – and you never know when your conversationist is going to leave you in the woods for supporting the wrong worldview. This is why I love a good subversion of fairy tale tropes. Thankfully, the forest of fairy tale subversion films has been lusciously blooming for ages – think Shrek (2001), Stardust (2007), and Tangled (2010) – and because I adore all of these features I was very excited to see a new Netflix release with the tagline 'this is not a fairy tale'. The new Juan Carlos Fresnadillo feature Damsel (2024) achieves exactly what that tagline suggests, but maybe it should have been more careful what it wished for.

Upon the first half an hour, the movie features exposition plenty, and mostly everyone we meet reveals themselves to fit a classic fairy stereotype. There's the broke king who must marry off his daughter, there's the morally ambiguous stepmother, and there's our lead princess Elodie, played by Millie Bobbie Brown. The royal fellowship sails south in its entirety, for Elodie must wed a prince to settle her family's debt. As it turns out, prince Charming isn't such a good lad, and he tosses Elodie into a dragon's den.

Although I desperately wished to be captured by the movie's magic, I simply couldn't get behind it's burning unoriginality. At times I wished for a snow queen to come kiss my head so that I might forget having seen every scene before time and again. Sadly, destiny didn’t agree to that.

I must admit to the delight Damsel's dazzling dragon's den sequence – which takes up nearly half of the movie – brought me, ironically because it doesn't try to subvert any tropes. It sees Elodie trying to trudge her way out of the grasp of an angry serpentine (Shoreh Aghdashloo), and that's the whole plot for the next hour of runtime. Once the movie accepts it's better as standard monster horror, it absolutely excels. It's simple, suspenseful, and at times wonderfully campy.

Then Damsel draws to an end, or at least it seems that way, except it goes on because it suddenly remembers that once upon a time, it paid heed to a wretched royal drama plot. It aims to take hold of this once more, but this falters for reasons twofold. One, the movie simply seems incapable of handling fairy trope subversion, hence the setup never developed enough for it to resolve in a satisfactory way. Two, the film abandoned having-a-plot half an hour in, when said plot literally threw the main character off a cliff and walked away. In an attempt to wrap it up regardless, the tale continues with a very strange twist of events. Elodie befriends her intergenerational-genocidal captor, and the now Stockholm-syndrome-celebratory movie aims to set the skies aflame with a Targarianesque trope, which falls flat on its face completely. The ending is clearly meant to be euphoric, but for every problematic trope it questions (yes, Morally Ambiguous Stepmother is now Kindly Stepmother and Greedy King Father sacrifices himself to save his not-such-a-damsel of a daughter) it invents two new ones.

I guess the tagline does ring true, but not in the way the filmmakers might have hoped. Although I love a good fairy tale, as well as a good 'this-isn't-a-fairy-tale' fairy tale, Damsel is neither. It's like a witch's spell befell the film, and an oh-so-simple monster movie took on the false appearance of complex high fantasy. Upon my guess, Damsel’s solemn destiny is to forever gather dust on Netflix's shelves. Which is probably for the best, because here’s a proper cautionary tale: mention this as your favorite fairy tale, and it's bound to get you killed.

[enigmaticxbee]

✖️✖️ 11x09 Nothing Lasts Forever

The one where... Mulder and Scully investigate another anti-aging cannibalism cult and finally talk about their relationship in a church.

Tagline: I Want to be Beautiful

Best: Their series of conversations in the church throughout the episode, especially the final one. Communication, we love to see it. Mulder: I don’t know if any God is listening, but I’m standing right here, and I’m listening. Right beside you. I’m all ears. That’s my choice.

Worst: It’s not really this episode’s fault, but the absolute fury I feel at the promos making us think we would get a kiss, when in fact we get no kiss all revival 🤬

✔️ Flashlights

❌ Woods/Desert

❌ Slideshow

❌ Autopsy

❌ Evidence Disappears

❌ Scully Misses It

❌ Mulder Ditch

❌ Sunflower Seeds

❌ Voiceover

❌ Catch Phrase

❌ Scully is a Medical Doctor

❌ Mulder is Spooky

✔️ Scuuullllaaaaayy!

❌ Fox/Dana

✔️ Inappropriate Touching (that I am here for)

❌ Casual Scully

❌ Casual Mulder

✔️ Trench Coats

❌ Bad Tie Watch

✔️ Glasses Watch

✔️ Taking! It! Personally!: Scully

50 States: New York x16 (45/50)

Investigate: Together

Solve Rate: 80%

✔️ Bechdel Test

MSR: 🐝🐝🐝🐝

Goriness: 👽👽👽👽👽

Creepiness: 👽👽👽

Humor: 👽👽👽

Rewatch Thoughts:

William check-in: Scully: I believed I could protect our son, and I failed.

Break-up check-in: Scully: I believed that we could live together, and I fled. I gave up on that, too.

Mulder doesn’t blame her for those things. She doesn’t blame him for all the bad things that have happened to her either, and I love that we get to hear them have that conversation. She doesn’t want another life, she wants to move forward, together.

Are the doctors listening to Tad O’Malley talk about chemtrails in the opening scene?

Someone in the writer’s room is convinced about the healing and anti-aging properties of human flesh. How many episodes is this that feature cannibals? This episode’s like a mashup between the chicken cannibals from season 2 and the the organ stealing Frankensteining from IWTB.

Have we seen/heard anything else about Scully’s relationship to religion/the Church during the revival? I didn’t get the impression she turned there for support during seasons 8 and 9. I wonder if this is something she turned back to more recently - since leaving Mulder? Since the death of her mother? Since everything with William this season? Of course she was working at the creepy Our Lady of Sorrows during the IWTB period so maybe it was something she returned to after giving up William.

Mulder back to his old scaring off the local investigators with enthusiasm over paranormal knowledge tricks

Mulder: Did you get your hair cut? Scully: Are you kidding me? Ace investigator there 😂

Mulder: I finally know why I’m not a Christian, Scully. My parents never got me a puppy. Scully’s story reminds me of when my little sister tested whether Santa was real by not telling them what she asked Santa for - she didn’t get what she asked for but she decided what she got was even better therefore Santa must be real. She wanted to believe lol.

I can never decide if Scully is supposed to know she’s pregnant at this point and that’s what she’s struggling with? But if that’s the case wouldn’t that be what she told Mulder at the end of the episode? After their talk I can’t buy (or maybe just don’t like the idea of) her hiding it from him, even if it’s just a suspicion and she hasn’t confirmed it yet. So is it supposed to be angst over William even though to our knowledge nothing has changed since they saw him go off at the end of Ghouli? Or angst over their future together, ala the conversation in Plus One?

The Morning After - classic cheery song over a scene of violence, fun stuff. If you listen to the lyrics it’s also really resonant with where Mulder and Scully are at at this point in the series, trying to figure out how to move forward together. We’ll escape the darkness… We won’t be searching anymore…

Their exposition about putting a tracker in the cooler is so awkward, also completely unnecessary, of course that’s what they did!

What’s the point of the vengeance plotline? It could have been completely cut out and not affected the plot (it was the organs they tracked that led them to the cult). Is there something it’s supposed to be doing thematically? I will deliver… I think it’s just one too many things going on in this episode, which don’t all tie neatly together.

All the cult members coming out of the darkness and swarming them is creepy.

Mulder: You know how many times I’ve envisioned that scenario, where you left that basement office before I even needed glasses? Has anyone working on this show even seen the show?? 😳🤯🤨 You mean she should have walked in that first day, saw him sitting there wearing glasses and walked out? 😂

Scully: That’s not my four-year-old self looking for a miracle. That’s my leap of faith forward. And I’d like to do it together. Mulder: I’ve always wondered how this was gonna end. On it’s own I like this scene. When I try to make it work with what happens in the finale my brain short circuits and nothing makes sense.

[the-far-bright-center]

The thing about learning true spiritual detachment is that you have to be allowed to *have* attachments in the first place. (And destabilising a child from his familial attachments is NOT going to help his fears surrounding losing people he cares about.) And the thing about Luke 'risking' falling to the Dark Side is actually THE POINT here—you DO need to sometimes take such risks in order to learn and grow from them. I honestly feel like the Jedi of the Prequels-era had become so afraid of the posibility of sinning falling to the Dark Side that they wanted to remove any and all possible 'temptations' altogether. Even the idea that 'once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny' is blatantly wrong. People look at Anakin's tragedy and think it's true, but the fact is that Luke proved it wrong. He did have a brush with the Dark Side and felt temptation—even in the RotJ Throne Room scene he has a moment where he nearly sucumbs to the anger he is feeling, but he manages to overcome it and throw down his lightsaber. The problem with the Prequels era Jedi is summed up in the AotC promotional tagline: "A Jedi shall not know anger, nor hatred...nor love." These are basic HUMAN emotions. Emotions that arise naturally, and which not everyone can easily just brush aside. (Note that Padme, who is established as the Voice of Truth in this story, tells Anakin that 'to be angry is to be human'. Aka, it's something you have to accept as a normal part about yourself before you can try to overcome it.) Along with fear, which is ALSO deemed a 'path to the Dark Side' by Yoda. And while on one level Yoda is not 'wrong', on another level we are also meant to see it as a self-fulfilling prophecy. Anakin may experience intense fear of loss (which is a manifestation of his fear of death), but the Jedi are likewise so afraid of the 'unknown' (aka the return of the Sith, and the growing power of the Dark Side) that they are harsh and cold to a young boy whose future is NOT set in stone and is merely 'uncertain', and ultimately this leads to their own downfall.

Regarding the more general discussion of the Jedi Order having lost their way by the time of the Prequels, I've been talking a lot recently about how the Jedi Order =/= the Jedi religion, and at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I think this is an important distinction to make. Not only had the Jedi lost their way in the more obvious manner of becoming embroiled in corrupt Republic politics (and then in a galactic war), but it's entirely plausible that the Jedi did not always have such strict rules for behaviour (or at least such strict interpretations of the Code), and that the forbidding of romantic and familial relationships might have been added on later (an idea that is in fact supported by supplementary material). Also, at some point the Jedi became a formalised 'Order' of warrior-monks that specifically served the Republic, and monastic orders do tend to have more strict rules than a religion.

On a related note, I've noticed some discussions of the Jedi seem to get stuck on the Buddhism angle, despite the fact that the Jedi Order are not meant to be viewed soley in relation to one particular eastern religion. Rather, they are a synthesis of a variety of both eastern and western religious beliefs and practices. One monastic order in particular that discussions of the Prequels-era Jedi should take into consideration are the Knights Templar. Originally they were protectors and defenders of pilgrims en route to the Holy Land, but eventually became used as advance shock troops during the Crusades. They had many strict rules such as being forbidden from contact with women, including members of their own family. Their infamous and dramatic downfall was orchestrated by King Phillip IV of France and is one of the historical inspirations for Order 66 and the Jedi Purge.

Finally, I want to address another major issue with the Old Order that I don't see discussed often, which is their long-established central location on Coruscant. In the Prequels, Corsucant is meant to symbolise the corruption rotting the heart of the Republic, and the fact that the 'core' of said Republic had become far removed from the natural world (along with the rest of the galaxy it was supposed to serve). I'd like to think the New Jedi in a post-RotJ scenario would be more decentralised, in more natural settings (hinted at by the location of Endor in the finale of RotJ), and focused on helping and serving 'local' people, rather than corrupt governmental bodies. A side effect of this would be that the Jedi could live more 'naturally' with their own family units (for those who wanted to have them), because they wouldn't have to be taken from their families to go live at the Grand Temple on Coruscant. If the training of children was still deemed necessary, then it would be more like a school they could (voluntarily) attend but still have daily contact with their families. (This is just my personal view based on what I feel would be the ideal outcome of a post-RotJ scenario, I don't take any of Disney nonsense as canon.)

Just saw a post that is driving me insane because it's trying to rationalize the whole "Jedi can't have attachments" thing as being like Buddhism and just being about letting things go and like, if it is supposed to be that.... they are doing a bad job. Because what I've seen and heard in canon is.

Children must be taken from their parents extremely young, otherwise they might bond with their parents and gain attachments. Parents that give their children to the Jedi are supposed to never see or contact them again because apparently bonding with them will lead to attachment and the dark side.

I did read a thing about how, in Legends content Shmi actually tried to tell Anakin that she was free and invite him to her wedding and the temple refused the message, and yes it's no longer In Canon but I can't not think about that.

Padawans that grow close in childhood are expected to give up their bonds in adulthood because those are attachments and they can't have them.

Romantic relationships are forbidden because they are also attachments which will lead you to hell the dark side.

Having children is also forbidden because loving your child is also an attachment and will lead you to the dark side.

Like try to justify it as really actually just being about toxic attachments if you want but! That is simply not what is happening! As far as the Jedi are concerned, any relationships or intimacy will lead you to the dark side and you should not and cannot have them.

If you don't want this, you are allowed to leave, but you won't have anyone to help you, because you won't have any outside connections. You won't have a relationship with your parents to fall back on, you likely won't have friends to fall back on (all of your friends were in the order) and you don't have any idea how the outside world actually works.

So like. You can leave. But how easily can you really fucking leave?

[dreamescapeswriting]

BTS Reaction | Future Daughter Visits You [Request]

A/N: Follows alongside the first one I did where the son visits the member, you can find that HERE 

SEOKJIN:

"After all the lectures you've given me over the years," You heard someone scoff, you slowly lifted your head from your desk to look at whoever was sitting in your dorm room. There was a girl around your age sitting there with a bag of popcorn in her hands, 

"What?" You mumbled, wiping the drool off your cheek wondering who she was and why she looked strangely familiar to you as she continued to watch you. 

"Who are you?" You shook your head looking around to see if she was just one of your roommate's sisters or something but none of them appeared to be home, 

"Your daughter. My brother came to see dad and I decided I wanted to see you, I can't believe you lecture me for staying up late to study when you're doing the exact same thing," She scoffed but you only frowned more as she claimed to be your daughter and that she'd come to see you,

"I think you must be confused, I don't...I don't have a daughter," She started laughing while nodding her head, 

"Of course, not yet anyway. Not for another-" She looked over at the calendar and laughed, 

"Six years, then I'll be with you," She smirked looking at her watch as an alarm began to go off, 

"I've got to go but dad will be at the door in like four seconds so you might want to go and brush your teeth really quickly!" She yelled right before a flash of green light happened and she was gone, nothing but the bag of popcorn she'd been eating left behind as you tried to wrap your head around what just happened. 

"Y/n?" You jumped when you heard the door to your apartment open and Jin appeared holding snacks and drinks for you. Dad? Jin...You and Jin had a family in the future?

YOONGI:

Right as you were about to walk into Yoongi's studio there was a teenage girl standing outside the door looking around nervously, 

"Hi? Are you looking for someone?" You asked softly thinking she might have been lost but as soon as she looked at you she jumped, 

"No! Yes! No?" You frowned as she questioned herself, 

"Well, I can help you look if you want...Is it your dad? Brother? Uncle?" You glanced around to see if there were any staff members she could have been related to but she kept nervously looking back at the door behind her which was Yoongi's room, 

"Did you sneak in to meet Yoongi?" You laughed softly as she shook her head, 

"My brother is in there, I just- I wasn't expecting to meet you...I told him we didn't have to come but I just-" She stopped speaking as though she was taken back at the sight of you, 

"I never thought I would see you this young, mum it's great to meet you," She hugged you tightly as you frowned at the way she called you mum, you patted her back. 

"Did you hit your head? Do you want me to call a nurse?" She shook her head as she snuggled into your chest, 

"No, it's fine. It doesn't matter just...You and dad are so happy now and in the future, we wanted to come back and well...Dad grounded him so we used the time machine to come and see you guys," You blinked at her not knowing you were believing it or if you were just so sleep deprived you were seeing and hearing things. 

"Right...Well, I'm going to go into the room now," You mumbled opening the door to see a teenage boy with Yoongi,

"I didn't know you had a friend-" You were cut off when the boy turned to look at you, he was almost the spitting image of Yoongi,

"I was just leaving, have fun." The boy got up and headed to the door, you stared over at the girl who hit him over the back of the head, 

"That's dad," She mouthed before dragging her brother by his ear lobe out into the corridor, 

"Weird." You mumbled sitting down on the sofa.

HOSEOK:

After getting back from your date with Hoseok you smiled to yourself, falling down onto your sofa with a giant smile across your face. 

"Dad's right, that smile is contagious," You sat up and stared over at the kitchen to see a teenage girl pouring milk into a bowl, 

"How did you get into my apartment?" Your voice cracked and the girl smiled, 

"I know about the spare key under the frog outside, you told me it was where you kept money too, you should be careful what you tell your kids mum. I mean who knows when we're going to come back from the future to steal you cash," You blinked at her and then touched your head, maybe you'd bumped your head when you were ice skating on your date. 

"Don't worry, you and dad go on another date soon, it just takes him a week to call you because he's so worried, but don't give up on him." You tried to question what she was talking about when she mumbled a bunch of curse words, the next thing you knew was the bowl she was eating from was on the floor and the spoon was clanging around on the side, 

"What. The. Fuck." You mumbled as you got up to clean up the mess, wondering what had just happened.

NAMJOON:

"Careful! You might fall!" Someone yelled as they steadied the ladder that you were standing on, you looked down to see a teenage girl smiling up at you. 

"Hi, thanks." You laughed as you climbed down, holding a box of books you were attempting to unpack up onto the top shelves, 

"Maybe I should call my friend Namjoon to come and help me, it's too tall for me." You laughed nervously, taking the box over to the counter and asking if the girl needed anything but she was playing around with a watch on her wrist, 

"I put the stupid thing wrong, I meant to add another two years on." You frowned watching her struggling around with it before she smiled in achievement, 

"You're not going to remember a word of this so this doesn't matter, hi mum. You and dad will start dating in about six months so stop calling him your friend, Namjoon will walk through that door in like two seconds." The girl pressed something down on her watch and a flash of green happened in front of you before the bell above the door sounded, then everything was gone and you couldn't remember what you had just been doing, 

"Joonie? Here, can you help me?" You called out as your best friend walked into the shop.

JIMIN:

"Hey, Jimin didn't tell me he had a sister," The girl in front of you froze as she slowly put down the photograph she was holding and turned to look at you, no one was supposed to be home she'd come back to this date thinking it would be safe so she couldn't be seen. 

"Hi, I'm Y/n...Your brother's girlfriend, he said he introduced me to everyone but I guess he forgot you," The girl laughed nervously as she shook your head, not taking her eyes off you as she teared up a little. 

"Sorry...You're just...You're so beautiful, dad is always telling us how pretty you were." You frowned at her as she used past tense and mentioned her faster, 

"Your dad is too kind, I can't believe Jimin never introduced us-" You stopped speaking as she suddenly wrapped her arms around you, hugging you so tightly you couldn't move. 

"Oh, Hi." You laughed hugging her back as she cried against your arms. 

"Everything okay? Are you having boy troubles...I can beat them up if you want? Maybe you can talk to me about it?" She shook her head before glancing up at you, 

"I just...It's weird seeing you at this age, it's nice but weird." You frowned before nodding along with her, the front door to Jimin's house opening as he called out your name, 

"I'll be right there! Hey I just met your-" As you were about to say sister she was gone, leaving you alone with an empty head wondering what you had been doing on the landing.

TAEHYUNG:

Taehyung walked away after asking you out on a date and you couldn't help but smile uncontrollably, 

"You know he's always going to be crazy about you, it's quite cute to see how you guys interacted before you were my mum and dad," You turned to see a teenage girl watching you from the doorway of the studio you were standing in, 

"Mum and dad? What's this? A joke?" The girl shook her head, 

"My brother convinced Taehyung to finally talk to you so I decided I wanted to see your reaction in person, I've heard all the stories but having a front seat is so much better," It was hard to make sense of what she was saying, 

"What are you talking about?" 

"You're my mum, Taehyung is my dad...You guys end up together, live happily ever after and all that," A flash of green happened behind her and a teenage boy was standing there waving at you, 

"We have to go, dad found out we were using the machines again," 

"Bye mum," They said in unison before vanishing without another word, you stumbled backwards and leant against the desk you were near for support. 

"Mum?" You mumbled as you rubbed your temples.

JUNGKOOK: 

"This isn't going to last forever, Taehyung forgives you both." You stared over at the teenager that was sitting in your living room, you were surrounded by tissues and empty ice cream tubs having just cried your way through a breakup with Taehyung. You told him you were in love with his best friend and he didn't seem to take it so well, not that you blamed him. 

"Whoever you are, can you just leave?" She handed you a tissue and you took it, wiping your eyes as you thought back on everything that had happened that morning. 

"Just try to stay positive...Taehyung comes around to the idea of you guys and you and Jungkook end up very happy together, trust me." You had no idea why you were trusting someone who was in your house who you'd never seen before a day in your life but you nodded your head, thanking her for the tissue before thinking on the idea that you and Jungkook had a future together.

Tagline: @lyoongx @mitzwinchester @rjsmochii @taestannie​ @kneel-begyourpardon​ @sw33tnight​ @sweeneyblue1​ @innersooya​ @agustdjoon​ @jin-from-the-block​ @acciocriativity​ @mwitsmejk​

[randomoranges]

i keep going to hockey games and getting silly ideas. i keep thinking of silly ideas for silly olympic au.

Game Night

 “Ladies and gentlemen, please direct your attention towards center ice for a special presentation.”

 Étienne bounces from one leg to another and holds his breath for a moment.

 He still remembers the call, a month ago, from his agent that had led to this moment. At first, Étienne thought that his agent was contacting him for another guest appearance on a sports show, or something of the likes. The normal, usual type of call. Instead, his mind had been blown away, surprised really, when he was informed that the Devils wanted to do a special evening to honour him.

 To say that he’d been shocked would be putting it lightly.

 He’d barely had time to get his career going.

 It had ended before he’d even realised it.

 There were so many other players who’d done far greater things.

 Yet, despite his bewilderment, his agent assured him that it was very real, and eventually, he had acquiesced and had numbly hung up the phone.

 A night to honour him.

 Lord.

 The news had travelled. His mother had cried. His father had wordlessly hugged him. Emma and his sister had declared that they wouldn’t miss it for the world.  Edward and Calvin had booked tickets on the spot.

 That, had been a month ago.

 Now, he is back at the arena where it had all started and for as much as there are new faces on the team and fancier gimmicks on the screen, some things still feel the same.

 Before his eyes, on the Jumbotron, the greatest moments of his career play for the thousands of fans at the arena, in a cleverly made montage. His first goal. The saucy pass that had lead to a game winning goal. The goal that had won them the division title and such.

 It’s surreal. To see it all again. To witness it from an outside perspective. It looks like an illustrious career, from this vantage point, really.

 He looks away from the screen and takes in the packed arena. He spots a few handmade signs and recognises a few with taglines that had been popular when he’d played. Love is Maisonneuve, his number in rainbow colours, and the ever popular Who doesn’t want to have fun? (A popular sound bite quote he’d often said in post game interviews when asked about his attitude during particular gruelling games.)

 The more he looks, the more pride flags he sees and the more signs he spots. It’s ridiculous, really. Some of the people here – some of the players on the bench weren’t even alive when he’d played, and yet, they cheer and chant his name, as if a favourite son finally returned home.

 He spares a glance towards the luxury box where he knows his family and friends are and he swears he sees one of them brandish a sign of their own. Hell, he’s sure he hears Calvin whistle and he’s convinced Edward’s the one holding the flag. He can’t quite wrap his head around the fact that they’re both here. He can’t quite wrap his head around the fact that they’re still here, really. Yet, somehow, in the second act of his life, he’s managed to forge a deep bond and connection with both. To have them here, present, supporting him... it means the world. He hasn’t yet found the words to express just how much he appreciates them.

 The video presentation ends with a side by side image of the two times he got to hoist the cup and he remembers those times as if they had happened both yesterday and to someone else. He takes in a shaky breath, already raw with various different emotions coursing through him, and when he steps out of his spot from the tunnel, he’s greeted with louder cheering.

 It’s a lot. He’d never thought he’d be an impact player. His goal had always been to have fun. It’s what he’d tried to do at every game. He thinks he’s succeeded, overall, but it’s still a lot to see all these people on their feet, giving him an ovation.

 He waves at them, forever thankful and grateful for their existence and they cheer louder, showering him in love.

 It hadn’t always been this way or this easy.

 He’d known, when he’d chosen to not hide that he’d been hindering his chances, yet this team had seen past that. Had seen the potential in him and had given him a chance. For that, he’s always been grateful. The fans, in their own way, had come to adopt him and he’d quickly become a favourite.

 He thinks back to the early days of his short career and to the struggles, he had been met with. He thinks of the slurs and the naysayers who had criticised everything about him. It is astounding to see so much support and he supposes that things really have changed and that maybe, just maybe, he had an impact after all.

 For the first time ever, he starts to believe that perhaps, after all, he has left a legacy of sorts. That maybe, just maybe, it’s a little easier now. That a path has been paved. And – maybe – he’s allowed to feel proud of himself.

 (He has letters, at home, from people from all over the world, who wrote to him. People from all walks of life, who have found inspiration in him. As a queer athlete. As a disabled athlete. As a human being. He re-reads them, frequently. He makes it a point to personally write back.)

 He tries to blink away the tears that build up in his eyes as the crowd starts chanting his name, the cheering never seeming to want to end. There’s a shot of him on the screen as he smiles a watery smile and it only seems to encourage the crowd to keep going. He gives them his old classic salute, a flourish of a bow and wave he had coined years and years ago, whenever he’d score a goal when they’d play in a different city that liked to boo him. Devils fans had loved it and it had become his trademark signature.

 Now still, with a new generation of fans mixed in with the old, they love it even more and it kicks of another loud cheer. It is humbling, in its own way, to receive such recognition, when it had never been his goal to get it. It is one thing to have dreams and aspirations; it is a whole other experience to get so much in return, and for that, he is thankful still.

 Eventually, the ovation comes to an end, minutes, and seconds later. Étienne is left speechless and touched by the display from the crowd and it takes him a moment before he’s able to exit. He leaves with a last shot of himself, young and full of hope, on the screen and for a brief spell, he is that person again. (And maybe, just maybe, he still is.)

 As he heads out for a brief presser, he grins as he thinks to the family and friends waiting for him in the box. He thinks of the love and support he has gotten and gets from them and realises once more, that despite everything, this journey has been worth it and he is richer for the experiences. He thinks back to his younger self and wonders how that man would feel seeing all of this.

 (And just before he leaves, at the end of the game, after having spent a good evening with the people he cares for the most, the team – his team – the one who’d believed in him all those years ago, will offer him the game winning puck, as a memento and as thanks for everything he’s done.)

 FIN

[the-bisexual-veg]

I noticed your blog has the tagline “leave lesbians alone” and like genuine question here, does that also extend to trans men? I know some will try to get with lesbians since trans men are rejected by a lot of ppl. I know they have female parts, but like they have facial hair and Adam’s apples and everything, some of them even have dicks. Not saying that women can’t have facial hair and whatnot, but like it honestly makes less sense for a lesbian to date a trans man than a trans woman

I extend that to all women that men should stay the fuck away from them because men are parasites and drain women of life and their dreams. I extend an open arm to trans men as well because these are women who suffer from body dysphoria. They suffer within a society that tells them that they aren’t women because they enjoy masculine things, that they do not fit within the box of the “dainty feminine woman” that society tries to force them into. As a GNC woman, I will forever extend my feminism to support them.

You cannot change chromosomes, no matter what surgeries you get. I support those who want to go by he/him pronouns because I understand why they’d want to. And I want to make this clear for everyone who doesn’t have the best reading comprehension, I understand there are some trans men who fetishize gay men and try to force themselves into spaces they don’t belong in. I can still criticize that and still support trans men as a whole because not all of them are like that, I have met some amazing trans men who I would consider us mutuals.

Trans men are women and in terms of dating, a lesbian could get with one but unfortunately I am not a lesbian. I cannot make a concrete statement on that, only that lesbians can get with any woman they wanted to, and they’re allowed to reject any woman they wanted to for any reason. That’s all I got to say about that.

[missclassy01]

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[engekihaikyuu]

Hyper Projection Engeki Haikyuu

Stage Natalie - Interview Translation with the new Karasuno generation!  Fly High everyone!

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Full interview translation and more photos under the Read More! Please do not repost my translations.

Q1. Please write a tagline for your character.

Daigo Kotarou: He jumps a lot.  -The Ultimate Man of Positivity- Akana Ryuunosuke: The model of a volleyball maniac.  A genius setter that controls the court with perfection. Yamamoto Ryousuke: Karasuno’s one and only, lazy heartthrob.  ~Lately, volleyball’s gotten fun~ Oribe Yoshinari: “I won’t let anyone call me a coward anymore, I’m going to save my team in this pinch situation!”  Once he has the jump floater serve as a weapon, the one he shows of in the Aoba Johsai match, I thought that Yamaguchi was so manly and so dependable so I want to use that line for his tagline.  

Q2. Who is your rival? Please explain why.

Daigo Kotarou: The Hinata Shouyou from the manga.  The reason: His positive personality, his never-give-up attitude, the strength to put in the work necessary to improve, he’s someone I respect as a person, and a presence I want to surpass.   Akana Ryuunosuke: Everyone else in my generation.  Even though we’re the same age, there are people who can give others hope and I think they’re amazing.  They might be athletes or actors, there are so many different types of people, but they’re all my rivals.   Yamamoto Ryousuke: Our director, Worry Kinoshita-san.  I’m working hard every day to make a play that goes above and beyond what Worry-san wants or expects of us.  When he says that something’s funny or interesting, I get excited. Oribe Yoshinari: As Yamaguchi, Kinoshita is a pinch server too, so he’s my rival there.  But because of that, we encourage and motivate each other.  For me personally, everyone is my rival and my friend.  

Q3. When it comes to Engeki Haikyuu, what’s something you want to challenge yourself to do?  

Daigo Kotarou: I want to be able to incorporate all of Hinata’s good points, like his positivity, into my daily life and not just on-stage.   Akana Ryuunosuke: Bungee jumping or sky-diving. So that I can “fly high.” Yamamoto Ryousuke: Overseas performances!!  Haikyuu is popular overseas too, so I want to go overseas.  I think the reactions will be different compared to Japan, and that’s a challenge I’d love to take on.  

WE’D LOVE IT TOO

Oribe Yoshinari: I want to try going on a trip with all of the Karasuno members.  And then we can all challenge ourselves in different ways and grow even more unified and close.  It’s not just because I want to go on a trip or anything, okay!!!!! (laughs)

Q1. Please write a tagline for your character.

Kanegae Kou: With his special attack, Enter the Dragon, captain of the first squad, with a mind of STEEL, who’s sometimes nice. Kitazawa Yuuma: He loves everyone!!  A man among men!!  Nishinoya Yuu!!  Someone that any man would look up to!!  That’s Nishinoya Yuu!!!  With an excellent sense of humor!!  On top of that, a volleyball genius!!  He can easily switch on and off and many many people can’t help but feel his charm!!  Karasuno’s leading actor is ME!!! Nakatani Yuushin: With short bangs, a refreshing and serious boy.   Osada Sean: I have no confidence and I’m really pessimistic, but I’m a passionate kouhai that’s loved by all.  

This entire section is just a lot... from all four of them.

Q2. Who is your rival? Please explain why.

Kanegae Kou: Everyone on the cast.  We have such a great cast with so many great individual personalities.  Simply put, everyone has their own charm that just can’t be compared, and we all motivate each other, help each other improve, and I want us all to push forward toward the actual performances.   Kitazawa Yuuma: Nishinoya Yuu.  He’s so manly and so bright and strong, I look up to him a lot.  I don’t have that level of manliness or fighting spirit, or that mental strength.  In order to present all of that, I’m going to borrow Noya-ssan's passion and apply them to myself.  As a man, I want to grow and improve!!   Nakatani Yuushin: Myself.  I’m trying to stay mindful so that the character I play can be even more charming within the play.  For the Ennoshita that already exists in Haikyuu, in order to make him even more wonderful, I have to face myself, I have to face my character, and go to war within myself.  I want people to love Ennoshita more and want to get to know him more because of how I play him.   Osada Sean: My biggest rival is probably myself.  Because this is a show that’s always seeking new ideas, my task is to constantly do better than myself.  I have to not shut myself away in a shell, I have to struggle with myself while exploring for solutions and these days have been very fun.  I want to keep challenging myself from here on out.  

Q3. When it comes to Engeki Haikyuu, what’s something you want to challenge yourself to do?

Kanegae Kou: In my life as an actor, I’ve never played a character like Tanaka Ryuunosuke before, so the role in and of itself is the one major challenge for me.  It’s so fun playing him, and I’m excited every day because of rehearsals.  As we work on the show, I want to keep having fun like this right up until we start touring.   Kitazawa Yuuma: I want the Japanese flag to fly into the world again.  I want the scale of this show to get bigger and bigger.  I want to raise it up with everyone else in our Gekidan Haikyuu family, and I want to be friends with them forever and ever.   Nakatani Yuushin: As the tour goes on, I want to try things I’ve never experienced before.  Since I’m personally very keen on trying new things, I think the tone of our new Karasuno genearation will come through too.  Also I’m very excited to tour in places I’ve never been before. Osada Sean: Since my character, Kinoshita, has been limited to the manga up to this point, there’s not a lot of information about him, and my biggest challenge is figuring out how to create my interpretation of him.  From now on, Kinoshita will be getting more and more encouragements from his teammates and accumulating experience in matches, so I’m looking forward to seeing how he’ll fly.

Q1. Please write a tagline for your character.

Higano Shou: With his huge, expansive heart, he makes the ground on which Karasuno stands. Their reliable captain, Sawamura Daichi.   Ichinose Ryuu: He’s always looking after those around him, Karasuno’s refreshing leader.   Fukuda Yuuya: A man who’s given up once but has since gained immeasurable strength and will.  As the Ace, he’ll inspire his team and rise up again.  

Q2. Who or what is your rival? Please explain why.

Higano Shou: Personally, my rival is myself.  I always want to do better and better and go further and further than I did yesterday.   Ichinose Ryuu: Kitazawa Yuuma.  In this group, he’s the only one that’s the same age as me.  Twenty-two.  He’s such a good guy to his core that I can’t hate him!  He’s always doing something funny or interesting, and I feel like I can’t lose to him.  I feel like he probably said something cool like, “my rival is myself,” or something like that.   Fukuda Yuuya: Azumane Asahi-san.  He’s going to be someone I coexist with from now on, but also someone I have to tackle head-on.  I want to take all of Asahi-san's strengths and weaknesses, the parts that we have in common and don’t, and absorb them all into myself as I face him.  

Q3. When it comes to Engeki Haikyuu, what’s something you want to challenge yourself to do?

Higano Shou: I would like to take this world that Worry-san has made and give everything a new and fresh feeling, not sparing even a single second to present on-stage!   Ichinose Ryuu: I want to be proactive about talking to all sorts of people!!  I’m shy and really not good with first-meetings, so I want to do my best and not hesitate so much this time.  If I want to become friends, it’ll be faster if I can at least start there!   Fukuda Yuuya: I want to be able to take everyone to a place where they can all go about their day as they like.  I want to know about everyone’s hobbies and interests, and share in them if possible.  I would love for a day like that to become possible.  

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Translated by @nimbus-cloud Please do not repost my translations

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If you’d like to read the original interview, you can find it here: (x)

[bunjywunjy]

THE LAST DRAGON

if you want to learn about dragons, you’re usually restricted to the Fantasy section of your local library. because dragons are made up, and don’t exist except in the minds of small children and George R. R. Martin. 

apart from the ones that live in Indonesia, of course. they may not breathe fire or threaten hobbits, but these dragons are very real and perfectly willing to rip your face off and ask for seconds.

watch out, because it’s the

I AM FIRE, I AM DEATH

Komodo Dragons are actually a kind of lizard, but one on the scale of life on earth back when the dinosaurs were in charge. they’re fucking huge. these behemoths can reach lengths of ten feet and weights of over 300 pounds. big enough to ride, if there were a human out there brave enough to try it. (DON’T DO THIS, YOU WILL DIE. THIS IS EVEN WORSE THAN THE OSTRICH THING, I’M NOT KIDDING.)

naturally these enormous reptiles scared the everloving shit out of the first Dutch explorers to reach the area, forever earning themselves the name “Dragon”. for once, those old European maps with little doodles of monsters everywhere were pretty accurate!

don’t go looking for Krakens, though. those are still mostly fake.

Komodo Dragons are the largest lizard on earth, and the largest of the monitor family Varanidae. but this wasn’t always the case! they’re actually the last and least of an ancient line of giant reptiles that once inhabited the south pacific. the largest of these was Australia’s Megalania, an 18-foot titan that died out at the end of the last Ice Age with the rest of its kind. but not the Komodo Dragon! they’re doing just fine, thanks.

like Megalania, the Komodo Dragon seems to have evolved in Australia. (OF COURSE. THIS EXPLAINS EVERYTHING.) and when the seas rose at the end of the Ice Age, it stranded a population of dragons on five remote islands in Indonesia, where they survived whatever the fuck killed off their continental relatives. (probably us, to be honest.) you thought it was just a tagline but it’s not: these guys are truly the Last Dragons.

go ahead and shed a tear, but don’t expect them to appreciate it.

their isolation and last-dragonism is very sad, yes. but don’t feel too bad about it, because Komodo Dragons are one of nature’s most dangerous predators. there’s a reason locals call them Ora, the Land Crocodile. (actually there’s multiple reasons, and they’re all terrible. stand by!)

their lazy lizard stylings and charming smirk conceal a mouthful of inch-long serrated teeth, razor-sharp claws and a nightmare bullwhip of a tail. Komodo Dragons use all of these weapons, and more! (this is the Super Cool part of the article kids, make sure to read it EXTRA CAREFULLY so you can impress your friends later during recess.)

and yes, they swim! hurray! there is no escape.

the Komodo Dragon is an apex predator, which is unusual for a lizard. they’re filling an ecological niche that would normally be taken by a large mammal predator like, I dunno, a tiger or a lion or a bear. (OH MY!) this means they have some pretty big shoes to fill (metaphorical, bears don’t wear shoes.) but they do it in spades!

Komodo Dragons will eat anything, and that’s barely an exaggeration. They eat plenty of carrion, and lots of small creatures like squirrels and really unlucky snakes. they also eat medium animals like goats, WHICH THEY SWALLOW WHOLE. (if the prey is too big to fit down their throats, the Komodo Dragon often rams its open mouth into a tree until it fits. sometimes they actually knock down the fucking tree. I wish I was making this up.) Komodo Dragons also eat animals you normally wouldn’t be able to take down without a rocket launcher, like water buffalo and uh, other Komodo Dragons. they’re cannibals, because the food chain just moves backwards sometimes.

and yes, they absolutely eat humans. good thing they’re trapped on five remote islands in Indonesia!

WAIT, THEY SWIM. FUCK, HOW COULD I FORGET.

so how does an overgrown gecko hunt animals that normally require an entire pack of lions to take down? well, there’s some Science Controversy(tm) about that. Komodo Dragons have a pair of MYSTERIOUS GLANDS (which would be a good name for a garage band) in their lower jaw, which scientists used to think were full of venom. they thought that the Komodo Dragon was basically using this venom to cheat its way into a niche that should rightfully belong to a more advanced mammal, but THESE SCIENTISTS WERE WRONG AND DUMB. 

it turns out these MYSTERIOUS GLANDS (I want this on a t-shirt) actually don’t do a whole lot as far as hunting goes! they secrete what MAY be a mild anticoagulant, but it’s not really strong enough to have much effect. yup, turns out that the Komodo Dragon just mauls the shit out of things until they die, like any decent ‘advanced mammal’ predator. they EARNED that apex niche as honestly as any predator can. (not that predators really have a concept of “honest”, or that it matters, since they’re the ones with the inch-long teeth.)

LIZARDS RULE AND MAMMALS DROOL! 

but maybe it’s not such a surprise that these real-life dragons are still on top of the food chain, because they’re some of the smartest reptiles on earth. and okay, maybe “the smartest reptile in the world” doesn’t sound like an impressive title. but Komodo Dragons and their cousins have elaborate social structures, can count to six, recognize individual humans, and play nice games of tug-the-carcass with their friends. (both humans and other dragons can be friends! friends are not for eating.) that’s a better track record than most human toddlers!

and they’re totally trainable, but don’t get your hopes up about owning one or several. (DANG.) Komodo Dragons are a protected species, so having a loyal army of them trained to lay waste to your enemies and fetch the morning paper is still very much a pipe dream. (this is a joke, they make terrible pets.)

FOR NOW.

and speaking of being a protected species, how is the Komodo Dragon doing these days? well, shortly after scaring the absolute pants off the first Dutch explorers to meet one, Europeans became obsessed with them and they were granted immediate protections by the Dutch colonial government. (please note that the Komodo Dragon was also doing just fine before the Dutch came along, thanks.) in fact, the first expedition sent to capture Komodo Dragons for scientific study was the basis for the movie King Kong! (a niche film you may possibly have heard of.)

these protections kept the Komodo Dragon from becoming just another hunting trophy for rich Europeans. (unfortunately this cannot be said of lions, tigers and bears, all of whom decorated the drawing rooms of rich Victorians.) they’re still doing pretty well today, though they are threatened by rising seawater and their limited range.

we hope these gigantic lizard genius cannibals stick around for a long time to come! and remember, if you want to avoid getting munched: BEFRIEND. (very carefully.)

HUMANS ARE FRIENDS, NOT FOOD. 

–

thanks for reading! you can find the rest of the Weird Biology series on my tumblr here, or check out the official archive at weirdbiology.com!

if you enjoy my work, maybe buy me a coffee and support Weird Biology!

and if you’d like to see exclusive Weird Biology content, check out my Patreon today!

–

IMAGE SOURCES

img1- elpais.com img2- Time Travel Turtle img3- Smithsonian National Zoo img4- Komodo Tours img5- Michael Pollack img6- Animal Sake img7- ZooChat img8- Calgary Herald

[jbuffyangel]

The New Eve: Arrow 7x16 Review (Star City 2040)

“Star City 2040” is a backdoor pilot and I loooooooooved it! GIMME.

Let’s dig in…

Mia, Felicity and William

The nice thing about backdoor pilots is if the episode is not announced as a backdoor pilot and the show isn’t picked up or doesn’t happen for some reason, then the episode can just be a regular episode. However, if the spin off does get picked up, then the audience will point to this “regular episode” as the one that launched the new show.

This is the situation we find ourselves in for “Star City 2040” and Mia Smoak. There’s no official word yet, but there’s been some buzz about a potential spin off centering on Katherine McNamara’s character and Beth Schwartz signed an overall development deal with the WB. Throw in this episode, add it all up and it spells

“Star City 2040” is setting up Mia’s backstory and the writers don’t waste any time. We open on Felicity delivering the PRINCESS THAT WAS PROMISED (yes that is her nickname) in the Olicity love cabin. Y’all I want the back story on this love cabin. How long did Oliver and Felicity stay there? How much sex did they have?  I’m only asking for the important details. For science.

There is a beautiful shot in the mirror as the camera pans into the room where Felicity is laboring. 

Source:  feilcityqueen

Oliver’s bent forehead is resting against Felicity’s head as she struggles to bring their daughter into the world. Labor and delivery is one of those deeply intimate moments in life no matter who is in the room with the mother. It’s such a simple yet profound moment of devotion from Oliver.  

Maybe it means even more because we know Oliver is missing in the future. Felicity is going to raise Mia entirely on her own, but in this time and place Oliver is here, witnessing the birth of their daughter. He is loving and supporting Felicity any way he can. In this moment she is not alone and they are in this together.

Source: oliverxfelicity

Facts. Your affection towards the man who impregnated you dramatically increases once labor and delivery is over. During delivery it may be a different story. For me it was weeks upon weeks of never ending pain, so by the time the doctors knocked me out for the c-section I was pretty much done with everyone.

Source: oliverxfelicity

Felicity squeezes Oliver’s hand tight, her wedding ring shining in the sun, as she pushes one final time. This image of them holding hands as she brings Mia into this world is a powerful symbol of where their story began and what their love created.

The reason we wear wedding rings is because they are an endless circles. The commitment we are making to our spouse is forever.  We wear our ring on our fourth finger of our left hand because the Romans believed the vein in this finger lead directly to a person’s heart.  Love is eternal.

Their daughter is entering the endless loop of love that resides within Oliver and Felicity’s relationship, the commitment they’ve made to each other and their children. 

Source: oliverxfelicity

Mia will always be wanted and adored. Oliver and Felicity’s marriage is forever and, as we’ll soon learn, there’s nothing they won’t do to keep their family safe.

Source: oliverxfelicity

This child represents so much of what Oliver believed he could never have. He was a lost soul who thought life was merely about survival and he didn't deserve one worth living for. Oliver couldn’t fathom being worthy of love let alone creating new life from that love. 

And yet he found himself hoping and dreaming.  Mia is the final piece of the Queen family and Oliver Queen puzzle. She is proof sometimes dreams come true.

Of course, Oliver and Felicity’s daughter is born in the morning with the sunlight brightly shining on them. 

It’s always the light. Oliver lost his innocence long ago, but this child is a new beginning. We can recapture what was lost because children open and fill places in our hearts we never knew existed. Mia shines her light the moment she was born. This is why children are a gift.

Felicity whispers a soft and perfect, “Hi,” as she welcomes her daughter to the world. As the tagline in the 7x16 promo said, “A hero’s legacy is born.”  This is how the story continues. What Oliver and Felicity built can live beyond them through Mia. She has her own hero’s journey to walk, but this is how the light never fades.  

Source: oliverxfelicity

We watch as Mia grows from a small child, to a tween 

Source: ebett

and finally into a young woman through a series of training scenes with NYSSA AL GHUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Source: ebett

YASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!! 

I screamed with delight over Nyssa training Mia. Do you believe Mia is a badass? Damn right you do because she was trained by the best. Nyssa trained Sara, who was under her tutelage with the League of Assassins for years. 

Mia spent even longer training with Nyssa than Sara did. She has something no other character on Arrow has, including Oliver. Mia was trained to fight almost as soon as she could walk.

Arrow has a bad habit of characters learning skill sets it took other characters (cough*Oliver/Sara*cough) years to learn in a few short months. I’m not just talking about L*urel. Thea and Roy were guilty of this treatment too. However, Oliver trained Roy and Malcolm trained Thea. It took a slightly smaller logic leap to believe those characters could get up to speed in a few months because of their instructors.

L*urel was a mess though. BOXING?

She went from barely being able to throw a bunch, falling off cars and incapable of handling one guy with a knife to taking down five assassins in a matter of a couple weeks. REALLY?

The only mildly believable explanation for her newly acquired skill set was Nyssa trained her OFF SCREEN. 

We watched more training with Mia than we ever saw with L*urel and it occurred in a believable time frame. Way to learn the lesson, Arrow writers. BRAVO.

Ready for some petty? I legit cackled, yes CACKLED, they went out of their way to bring back Katrina Law so Nyssa could train Mia. Katrina has another television show and just had a baby. One would think it’d be easier to use an actress already contracted with the show.  So many of the antis were convinced Bl*ck S*ren trained Mia or maybe even raised her. After all, Felicity and L*urel have a burgeoning friendship in Season 7, but noooooope! Classic.

I love the shot of Felicity holding a cup of coffee and watching little Mia intently as she trains with Nyssa in the backyard of the Olicity love cabin. 

Source:  hollandrooden

First, her hair is long again and swept up like it was in 2x08 and I LOVE THAT HAIR STYLE. 

Fair warning, Felicity’s hair is really important to me this episode. I’m bizarrely excited she grows it long again in the future.

Second, keeping Mia safe requires more than keeping her hidden. Felicity turning to Nyssa to train her daughter so Mia can protect herself is a direct result of everything she went through with William while Oliver was in prison. 

Witness protection wasn’t enough. The bad guys always find a way. When Diaz came for Felicity and William they barely escaped with their lives. Felicity gave as good as she got and saved William, but the only reason she survived was because A.R.G.U.S. showed up.

Felicity Smoak is a badass in many ways, but her fighting skills don’t compare to Oliver’s. That’s just facts. Felicity was never more acutely aware of this fact than when her husband sacrificed himself, went to prison, and left his family wide open for the wolves to feed on. 

Felicity can’t depend on the love cabin to keep her daughter safe anymore than she could depend on A.R.G.U.S. or Witness Protection. If Mia has to deal with all the dangerous consequences of being Oliver Queen’s daughter than her mother is going to make damn sure their daughter can fight like her father.

Source:  felicittysqueen

This might make me the stupidest person on the planet, but I was really jazzed when Nyssa broke out the bow and arrow. 

Source:  ebett

We haven’t seen Mia with a bow yet, so I wasn’t entirely sure what her choice of weaponry would be.  Listen, sometimes I don’t know stuff and am easily surprised by this show. It happens. 

Mia had to work her way up to the bow. She learned all the hand to hand combat first. I feel like it went in the opposite order for Oliver. Didn’t he learn the bow first from Yao Fei and then Slade taught him how to fight later? I need to rewatch Season 1… and maybe write some reviews (ducks as people throw things at me).

Honestly, Mia’s life with Felicity in the love cabin seems almost idyllic in many ways. I’m not saying Oliver missing is unimportant. Of course, he is a huge gaping wound, but when you think about all the ways the writers could have written a miserable childhood for this girl I was surprised by how regular it seemed. The character descriptions for Mia included a wildly unpleasant sounding past, but essentially she grows up in a small town and doesn’t ever venture into the city.

Neither does Felicity. She runs Smoak Tech from home because she is a mind blowing genius who can run can operate a multi billion dollar corporation from a forest.  

Felicity’s aging makeup is practically nonexistent 

Source:  felicitysmoakgifs

because if you came from the gene pool of the immortal Donna Smoak you’d look banging at fifty one too. 

Also, Felicity Smoak is the Queen of DCTV and as such it is mandatory she look amazing in any timeline.

How much do I love her hair let me count the ways? It has a very Moira Queen vibe and I dig that. 

I questioned if it was Emily’s real hair for a second, but @callistawolf assured me it’s a wig. So it is possible for Arrow to create good wigs. This might be one of the seven signs of the apocalypse. PREPARE YOUR SOULS.

Future Felicity is very… chill. There’s a reserve to her twenty years later. It’s almost a quiet calmness. Still waters run deep sort of vibe. There’s less babble and exuberant cheerfulness, but she’s still Felicity. 

Source:  lucyyh

She talks boys with her daughter, weaving in all the Wizard of Oz references, without missing a beat in her rapid fire delivery, but there’s a measured tone to it. This is older and, if possible, even wiser Felicity. Life has taken its toll, but it hasn’t stolen her light. Felicity is still our girl and she’s created some kind of happy life with Mia. No matter where Oliver is this is what he would want for his wife.

But Mia is getting antsy to spread her wings beyond the small town of Bloomfield as young women often do. If Oliver was the hero Felicity claims then why does she have to keep it secret? Why can’t she scream she’s Mia Queen from the mountain tops? Yeah, I wanna know that too. Unfortunately, we aren’t offered an answer other than Felicity ticking the “It’s complicated” box.

Source:  olicitygifs

Mia shatters a photo of Oliver and Felicity holding her as a newborn. One perfect, happy moment when life seemed limitless and their family felt complete captured on film and frozen forever. The arrow goes through the apple Mia was aiming for and straight through the glass picture frame. 

This photo constantly reminds Felicity what she’s fighting for, which is why it leads to the Overwatch lair. Extremely on brand Ms. Smoak. I totally fist pumped when the arrow short circuited the tech and revealed the secret door GoGo Gadjet style. The whole room has a very Dr. Claw vibe, except we know Felicity is not evil, so it’s more like Penny grew up and got herself a do-gooder lair once her uncle retired or something.

The screen savers on the two computer screens are photographs – one of Oliver dressed as the Green Arrow and the other of William with Felicity. The same photograph Oliver kept with him in prison at the beginning of the season. 

If you feared William was out of sight and out of mind think again. He was with her every moment of every day.  Everything Felicity lost and is fighting to get back encompassed in two photographs. Both are powerful images and we realize how much Mia doesn’t know about her mother.

I love the shot of Mia sitting down at the computer. She is sitting directly in the middle of the split between screens like a missing puzzle piece. The past meets the present and Mia is split between the seam. For the first time all members of the Queen family are represented in one room. The screens are connected and angled at a point. It almost looks like the photos and screens make the shape of an arrowhead and Mia is the shaft.

Mia tries to get into the system and immediately an image of old man Rene and resident Flash Forward bad buy Kevin Dale. We first met Dale in 7x10. Rene had a meeting with Dale to inform him the Canaries have “the plans” and questioned him about Felicity Smoak’s death. More on Rene later though.

The system starts to shut down and Felicity overrides the self destruct protocols. The cat is out of the proverbial bag and Felicity tells Mia she’s been trying to take down a corrupt company in the city as Overwatch. Except, she’s not Overwatch because there’s no team so it’s a totally different thing!

Yeah Mia ain’t buying that either.  She gets angry fast and furious style. There are multiple levels to Mia’s anger, which took me a couple viewings to understand because the writers were throwing so much information at us so quickly.

Bottom line is Mia feels betrayed. Oliver being a vigilante is the entire reason Mia was never able to go to a normal school or go anywhere outside Bloomfield. It’s also the reason she grew up without a father. Oliver wasn’t killed in a car crash. He isn’t living in Zurich with his new wife and family. Regardless of what happened to him we know it was vigilante related because that’s the show.

Now her mother, who is the only person in the world Mia loves, is engaging in the same type of behavior that cost Mia her father annnnnnd Felicity lied about it. 

Just switch hacking with snorting cocaine. It’s like Mia walked in on Felicity doing a line. Extremely dangerous behavior Mia thought her mother had left behind. She thinks Felicity is a vigilante junkie.

Source:  olicitygifs

Of course, we know different. We know being a hero is who Felicity truly is, but to Mia she’s just Mom and she feels betrayed. Felicity tries to explain the promise she made with Oliver, but she can’t really get into what she’s trying to save beyond “the city.” 

Listen, I get saving Star City is the entire mission of Arrow, but it doesn’t really pack the same punch as, “I’m trying to save the city so we can be reunited with your brother.” Am I right? Unfortunately, William is another secret Felicity is keeping from Mia. I am confident all of these decisions are to keep the kids safe, but the lies can’t stop the relationship between mother and daughter from cracking.

Mia cannot understand why the lies are necessary if being a vigilante is so honorable. She’s starting to believe the “propaganda” as Felicity calls it, which is more evidence that Oliver working with the police and the city accepting Team Arrow doesn’t last long. Eventually, the city turns against Oliver AGAIN. Ungrateful twats.

Mia is fed up with being kept on the sidelines while her mother plays vigilante. She feels like Felicity has lied for her entire life. Eh.  I mean… kind of? 

I love Mia but I’m automatically programmed to defend Felicity Megan Smoak at all costs. The writers needed Mia to separate from Felicity, run off to the city, and become a bitter and cynical soul to throw us off the Olicity baby scent. This scene doesn’t entirely work for me in terms of creating a wedge between mother and daughter. It feels a little bit like Mia throwing a temper tantrum, which hey happens with the youths sometimes. I had far less issues with this scene once the episode ended and I’ll explain why in a bit.

Just to play devil’s advocate with my own brain (cause it’s fun), Mia’s reaction isn’t any different than Tommy, Quentin or even Diggle’s when they found Oliver was The Hood. All three were spectacularly ticked off and did not view Oliver’s nightly extracurricular activity as a good thing. Of course, they all came around (some faster than others) and viewed Oliver as the hero he truly is.

Mia is struggling with what she sees and what she’s been told in the same way. She’s been told vigilantes are heroes by her mother, but everyone else is telling her vigilantes are to blame for all the misery.  It’s not a difficult to understand why Mia would start to believe vigilantism is to blame for everything wrong in her life too. Also, Felicity lied and her daughter is just ticked off about it.

She runs away from home and writes Felicity a letter that’s basically a neon sign blinking “MY HERO’S JOURNEY STARTS NOW.” We meet a rougher, darker and far more depressing Mia in Star City.

Source:  ebett

She chooses the name Blackstar because she wants to be erased. Whatever light we see in Mia isn’t really there. It’s already faded to black.

Yeesh, girl. You don’t need to be as broody as your old man. At least Mia hasn’t skinned anyone for practice, but she’s getting a tattoo and is generally pessimistic about life. Close enough. The cage fighting pays homage to Oliver’s Bratva initiation. The writers want to make sure we really see the parallels because OLIVER AND MIA ARE THE SAME.

In case you missed the Bratva parallel, they follow it up with two more. Mia is doing handstand push ups and she pulls her bow from the case just like Oliver did in the pilot. But they aren’t thinking about a spin off. Nope. Nothing to see here!

Source: mia-smoak-gifs

William and Mia join forces for another brother/sister team up. First up is scaling the wall to enter into The Glades undetected. 

Source:  ebett

I feel William on a spiritual level in this scene.

This polar-opposite-yet-so-much-in-common thing between Queen siblings is really working for me. Ben Lewis is hysterical and he’s the perfect funny man to Katherine McNamara’s straight man err woman. They are way more fun than Oliver and Thea. I say this as someone who deeply loves the OG Queen siblings, but we never quite found our way to fun with those two.

I also appreciate the begrudging mutual appreciation of one another’s skills. 

William marvels at Mia’s physicality while she is thoroughly impressed with whatever tech he’s cooked up. 

Source:  ebett

Yeah, I could do this for another eight years. Sign me up.

William finally gets annoyed with Mia’s whole anti vigilante shtick. Listen, my little lemon drop love child. You are on a vigilante show. You are the offspring of vigilantes. You are going to star in a vigilante show. It’s time to get on board with vigilantism, Mia. It’s in the blood baby. Listen to your big bro.

Felicity’s coordinates lead directly to Galaxy One. Their headquarters is in The Glades and they are one of the richest and most powerful companies in the world. It’s safe to assume this is the company Felicity was trying to expose as Overwatch. 

William and Mia assume Felicity is being held there and they are gonna break her out by going undercover. YASSS! Let’s do this 1x22 style. 

Where’s the elevator shaft?

William pretends to be a CEO while Mia is his executive assistant 

Source: felicitysmoakgifs

and this is such a feels inducing and hilarious callback to Season 2 Olicity my heart almost burst. William had Oliver’s smug arrogance and pragmatic thinking down cold while Mia adamantly refuses to be anyone’s assistant. Like mother like daughter! But someone needs to tell these kids a single cup of coffee is one of the main reasons their pine tree of a father realized he was falling in love with their mother.

William, as CEO, gets through the body scan just fine, but drops bombshell information on us. HIS NAME ISN’T CLAYTON ANYMORE. IT IS HARRIS. 

I know a lot of people have been concerned with the William side of things. If Oliver and Felicity went to such great lengths to keep Mia safe why did they leave William hanging with the grandparents in Central City?

Like I’ve been saying you don’t keep two precious jewels in one spot. It seems anywhere outside Star City was safe, which is why Felicity kept Mia in Bloomfield for her entire life. If we follow that same logic then William should be fairly safe in Central City or anywhere other than Star City. Perhaps, Oliver instructed the grandparents and William to change their last name. If Olicity is afraid enough for their baby to go into hiding and not tell anyone about her existence, I’m thinking requesting a name change for their son wouldn’t be too outside the realm of possibilities.

Connor shows up at just the right time and he’s done recon on the Galaxy One building. He thinks Felicity is being held on one of the sub levels, but they need the CEO’s DNA to get through security - Kevin Dale. And it all starts connecting.

As William works Dale he reveals the name of his company is Harris Consolidated. Immediately, I feel a flood of warm fuzzies as I remember the dynasty which made the Queen family their billions. But then it hits me.

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. (Yes. I type all my thoughts. I’m weird. )

William changed his name from Clayton to Harris. How much do you want to bet that when Arrow is all over William changes his last name to Queen? Perhaps he changes the name of his company to Queen Inc. It could be the reason we’ve seen the name Queen Inc. in The Flash’s future newspaper. 

All this time I thought Oliver would get the company back, but nope it’s William’s company.  I suppose Felicity and William could also merge their companies to form Queen Inc. when Arrow ends and Felicity wants to retire to Aruba with her husband. Of course I could be wrong, but the use of Consolidated in William’s company’s name feels more than just a nod to the past for me. 

As William flirts with Dale, so Mia can steal the necessary DNA, he explains the quick success of his company was due to an angel investor named City of Emerald’s Capital. I legit yelled, “It was Felicity, William,” but he couldn’t hear me. 

Source:  smoaktechs

I’m a tad disappointed a boy this bright hadn’t figured it out yet. Of course, Emerald City is a nod to Felicity’s love of the Wizard of Oz as Mia explains later, but also EMERALD = GREEN. She hung a sign out there kiddo. Pay attention.

Connor has some technology that can replicate a DNA signature and fool a full body scan. Yeah, I don’t really get it, but Connor says it works and where he goes so goes my nation. I’m sold buddy. Also, take of your shirt please while hero-ing. Why didn’t we put that in Joseph’s contract? Someone get me legal!

This feels like more technology Felicity invented and is somehow related to Archer. Diggle did say A.R.G.U.S. would love to get their hands on her technology. If the tech sounds awesome then it is safe to assume Felicity invented it.

Source:  smoaktechs

There’s some fun brother sister banter in the elevator because that’s the family way and Mia actually admits to caring about William. QUEEN SIBLINGS FOREVER.

After battling their way through some security goons the trio finally finds Felicity. It is such a great reveal.

Mia: Mom.

William: You are alive.

Felicity: I told you not to come!

Me:

QUEEN OF DCTV IS ALIVE AND IN THE FLASH FORWARDS.

Dear antis and annoying anons in my inbox insisting Felicity is dead,

These writers would rather write the show in the depths of hell while burning in eternal torment than kill Felicity Smoak.

Love,

Me

The Flash Forwards immediately felt 800% more hopeful with Felicity’s presence. God I missed her. The writers must never again keep her out of a timeline for sixteen episodes. It is just wrong and hurts my soul. There are only a few episodes left and I demand my goddess in all show timelines. I shall not be deprived of Felicity Smoak goodness any longer. Yes, I am saying this in my very best Scarlett O’Hara voice.

Of course, she gives the classic mom response which immediately ticks Mia off, but it is William’s reaction to Felicity that touched me the most. 

He hugs her and his forgiveness is almost immediate. 

Source:  felicittysqueen

William truly believed Felicity was dead (thanks for nothing Dinah), so whatever mistakes she made seem smaller in comparison. William is so much like her. He wears his heart on his sleeve and is guided by his compassion as much as intelligence. Felicity never forgot her son. She watched over him and has been fighting every day to be part of his life again. This hug is twenty years in the making.

Twenty years apart is awful. I agree Oliver and Felicity deserved to raise their children in peace together. But this is Arrow and the story is not going to end without a big sacrifice because there is always sacrifice in a hero’s story. Oliver hasn’t “deserved” any of the horrible things that have happened to him. That’s not really the point. 

The point is suffering can be redemptive. Good things can come from bad things happening. The upside is the really bad thing already happened. Oliver and Felicity have made their sacrifice, so there’s no way the future isn’t going to end happily for them.

I wasn’t sure how I would feel about the reunions in the future knowing this family has been separated for so long, but I found myself quite affected by William and Felicity’s hug. I didn’t have to live through the twenty years. They’ve been separated for a couple of episodes in terms of actual hours spent watching Arrow.  I don’t know if relieved is the right word, but as I watched Felicity and William reunite I thought, “Okay. They are together now. They can at least begin rebuilding whatever damage has been done to this family.”

Source: arrowdaily

As Mia watches her mother hug her brother there’s a mixture of feelings on her face. She is happy, angry and maybe even a little jealous. Mia can’t forgive as easily as William and I think part of her envies the way he can access all of his emotions so easily. Mia doesn’t know how to do that yet. It’s almost as if she shut down a part of her heart after her fight with Felicity because the betrayal hurt too much. Sound like someone we know?

Mia is furious Felicity wants to stay and dismantle the bombs because, once again, she is choosing being a vigilante over her family. 

Felicity doesn’t deny sacrificing her safety and her family for the greater good. That’s the job. 

Source:  felicitysmoakgifs

Being a hero is who Felicity Smoak is and selflessness requires sacrifice. She can’t shut that part of her down because she’d only be half alive. This isn’t just Oliver’s hero’s journey. It’s Felicity’s too.

Yes, Felicity is a mother, but her love for her children is not all she is. It’s okay Felicity has a purpose beyond her family because women are not just one thing. Fighting for Star City is what fuels Felicity and it is the life she chose. It’s why we love her. Felicity does what others can’t or refuse to do. It’s what makes her a hero.

William, as Felicity 2.0, chooses to help his mother stop the bombs. It is a team up worth waiting twenty years for. Not so long ago, Felicity was explaining to William what it was like loving a hero, the strength it requires and the sacrifice. 

As furious as young William was at Oliver for being the Green Arrow and being unable to provide the normal life he craved, he also understood who his father was. Oliver’s heroism is what William loves most about his father and what he hates most. It’s the same with Felicity.

Derek: You stood in front of a bullet for me. I know why you do all of it. It’s what I love about you.

Meredith: And what you hate about me.

Derek: Yeah.

I love these lines from Grey’s Anatomy so much, and I quote them often in these reviews, because it perfectly encapsulates what it is like to love a hero.  William and Mia love their parents very much, but it doesn’t mean loving them is easy.

Rene shows up to tell the team the bombs have already been moved off site. I thought it was weird how he used the phrase “impeccable genetics” when describing his daughter, but then I realized the writers wrote it so Felicity could use the same terminology when she dropped the bomb on Rene.

Source:  feilcityqueen

LINE. OF. THE. SEASON.

Felicity needs to destroy the brain of the bomb, which is the cube Dale was fidgeting with during the meeting with William. Rene gets the team into the masquerade party in The Glades where Dale will be.  Everyone wears a hooded cape and mask, which is a fun homage to Mia Dearden’s superhero suit in the comics.

Felicity and William track Dale

Source: ebett

and Mia zeroes in on him prepared to take him out all on her own. 

Source:  dcmultiverse

This is another one of those “this feels like a pilot” moments, because Mia’s fight with Dale and his goons is almost exactly like Oliver’s fight in Adam Hunt’s office in the Arrow pilot. 

They even turned the lights off. It’s a great scene and proves Mia is just as capable of taking down twenty guys just like Oliver Queen. Plus she gets to throw on her cape in a very superhero way at the end, which is just nifty.

Dale escapes so Team Arrow ditches the capes and a fight breaks out in order to find him. Mia zeroes in on Dale and Connor tosses her the bow.

Source:  felicittysqueen

The lights of the party stream behind her as she takes aim at Dale. Mia Smoak looks like a star and she’s anything but faded. 

Source:  mia-smoak-gifs

The light seems to stretch out infinitely as it guides the arrow along its path. She destroys the cube and stops the bombs from detonating just as the party fireworks explode in the night sky. 

Source:  lucyyh

Once again, Mia is illuminated like a star in the night sky and looks like the hero she is destined to be – just like her parents.

The bomb plot is foiled, but the team still needs to take down Galaxy One from the inside. Rene will continue to play patsy and has issued a dead or alive reward of ten million dollars to capture Arsenal, Bl*ck C*nary and The Calculator. Galaxy One’s plan was to remake Star City just like The Glades, so they could expand Archer globally which is like Skynet launching the nukes. We don’t want computer programs going global. It always ends badly in television shows and movies.

Felicity thanks William for holding on to the hozen and answering her prayer. 

Source:  feilcityqueen

It’s a little too much emotional family bonding and makes Mia uncomfortable, so she walks off in classic Felicity Smoak style 

Source:  felicitysmoakgifs

fueled by her Oliver Queen genetic broodiness. I love this kid.

Mia and Felicity have an outstanding mother and daughter scene where they hash out all their issues. Mia hated vigilantes because she hated her mother. She hated her mother because Felicity lied to her. But no matter how much Mia hated the lie, she also understood why Felicity did it.

It’s reminiscent of the hospital scene in 5x20 when Felicity forgave Oliver for lying about William. 

Felicity had to walk in Oliver’s shoes to understand his perspective (and vice versus), which is exactly what happened with Mia in “Star City 2040.” She walked in her mother’s heroic shoes. Mia finally understands the danger, responsibility and sacrifice this life requires, which is how she finally reaches compassion. 

Source:  oliverxfelicity

Because after everything her parents sacrificed, including a peaceful life with their children, the city turned their backs on vigilantes. Welcome to the Star City Is A Bunch of Ungrateful Twats Club Mia. Have another scotch, honey.

The break in Mia’s wall gives Felicity the opportunity to tell her what we’ve all thought and needs to be said. 

Mia Smoak is just like her dad – a stubborn, lethal, compassionate, badass with a heart of gold. Mia loves deeply and when she’s hurt it cuts just as deep, so she shuts down. But she cannot wall her heart off forever anymore than Oliver could because love is what fuels the fire in Mia. Her light is not extinguished. It shines brighter than she ever realized possible because of course it does. Mia is Oliver and Felicity’s girl.

Source: felicitysmoakgifs

As independent as Mia claims to be, she also yearns for what any child wants. We all want our parents to be proud of us. As much as Felicity wishes she could keep Mia away from this life and these choices, she also recognizes it is her daughter’s decision to make. At the end of the day, Mia stepped up. She is so much like both her parents. As Felicity and Mia find some healing between them, somehow it feels like Oliver is in the room with them too.

Quite frankly, I am floored they resolved the fissure in Felicity and Mia’s relationship so quickly. I was mentally prepared for Mia to hate her mother at least for all of Season 7 and perhaps well into Season 8. I love that I was wrong. This is the reason why I have fewer problems with their big fight. It may have felt rushed, but since it was resolved within the hour I’m bothered by it less. Now we get to watch Felicity, William and Mia become a united force and find a way together to bring Oliver back to the family he loves more than anything else.  

Maybe Oliver is dead and will be resurrected (although I really doubt the writers killed him at this point). Maybe Oliver is simply missing and cut off from his family. We may not know what happened or where he is, but we do know how this family will be reunited. Felicity told us tonight. It’s what she said to Oliver not so long ago, when they were first falling in love, and they often repeated it when whatever struggle they were facing seemed impossible.

“There’s always another way.”

The Yellow Brick Road and the Garden of Eden

There are many references to the Wizard of Oz because it is Felicity’s favorite story. Her Scarecrow remark to Roy in 3x19 wasn’t a toss away line. The reason Felicity Smoak loves the Wizard of Oz is because she loves heroes and that story is one of the great hero’s tales.  There are a lot of really important lessons in Wizard of Oz, which we can apply to “Star City 2040” and ultimately Oliver’s legacy.

The Glades/Star City is clearly Emerald City. The twist in Wizard of Oz isn’t when Dorothy kills the Wicked Witch of the West. It’s when she pulls back the curtain and discovers there is no wizard. There is no magic man granting wishes.

All the characters already had everything they needed deep inside their souls to be exactly who they wanted to be.  William, Connor, and Mia all have what it takes to be heroes even though they may not fully realize it. 

They need to tap into what’s already there just like Scarecrow, Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion did. Just like Felicity, Diggle, and Oliver.

Source:  lyricalarrow

The grass is not always greener on the other side, which Mia quickly discovers when she leaves Bloomfield for Star City. Dorothy realizes she had the power all along to go back home. She simply had to choose the people she loves. Mia makes the same choice as Dorothy when she forgives her mother and accepts what Felicity has been telling her about vigilantes is true.

The Yellow Brick Road is symbolism that lacks any real subtle because it’s literally the road Dorothy walks on her hero’s journey. It can’t get much clearer. Dorothy never wavers on the road. She is determined to find the Wizard so she can go home, despite all the trials and tribulations the Wicked Witch throws her way. Felicity is Mia’s home. She will always be home and Mia stopped at nothing to get her mother back.

Trust is another massive component to Dorothy’s story. She made friends in the unlikeliest of places and their success was truly a team effort. Each person had special gifts, which proved vital in the defeat of the Witch and ultimately the salvation of Emerald City. Mia is so much like Oliver and she is always ready to go it alone, however she couldn’t this time. She needed William and Connor to help save Felicity. And she will need the whole team to save Star City and her father too.

Honesty is freedom. Once Dorothy pulled back the curtain the Wizard was free of the lie. He no longer had to live behind the curtain hidden away. I view Oliver as the Wizard because what happened to him is shrouded in so much mystery. However, the Wizard is just a man who wants to return to his normal life like Dorothy does. The Wizard wants to be free of the curtain as much as he needs it. This is no different than Oliver needing the hood and wanting to be free of it someday.

Mia: I need to find out the truth about everything. About who our family really is. What I’m meant to do with my life. I can’t hold back anymore. I need to forge my own path.

Mia may mourn for what was lost like Oliver does, but she is at the beginning of her Yellow Brick Road whereas Oliver is at the end. Salvation for Star City is not the eradication of crime. There will always be another Wicked Witch. So, there must always be a hero lighting the road in the dark.

The gift Oliver Queen will give the citizens of Star City is hope. His legacy will live on when someone else chooses to become that hope.  And then Oliver will be free to find his happiness at the end of the Yellow Brick Road.

This brings me to Galaxy One being a front for Eden Corps, which is a supposedly defunct terrorist organization that nuked cities at some point. Since Dante funds terrorist organization I feel the Chart of Evil will ultimately connect from Dante to Eden Corps to Galaxy One. It’s all fruit of the same poison tree.

The name Eden is not coincidental. Mia shatters the family photo aiming for an apple. The arrow goes through the apple and directly into the family photograph, which opens Felicity’s secret lair. Eden is from the Garden of Eden or the paradise Adam and Eve lived in until they disobeyed God’s command. They ate the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil after being tempted by the Devil. Adam and Eve’s eyes were opened and were cast out of paradise.

Galaxy One’s goal is to eradicate vigilantes and create a new world order with the Archer program. This new world is promised to be a paradise behind walls and Galaxy One/Eden Corps decide who lives or dies. It’s like extermination based on zip code rather than religion/ethnicity like the Nazis did in World War II. This biblical reference feels somewhat similar to Damien Darhk’s Genesis plan in Season 4. It is mass genocide in exchange for paradise. Not unlike Malcolm Merlyn’s Undertaking in Season 1. The ends justify the means to these villains.

No one can say with 100% accuracy what kind of fruit Adam and Eve ate, but the apple is the fruit most commonly depicted in popular culture. Mia shoots an arrow through the apple and it immediately launches her hero’s journey.  She discovers Felicity’s lair, they fight, and she leaves for Star City. Then she must enter The Glades to save her mother. Mia’s eyes are opened to the truth about her mother even though she doesn’t fully grasp what that truth means in the moment. She leaves her idyllic life in Bloomfield for the harsh reality of Star City.

Mia is essentially at a crossroads in “Star City 2040.” She can either continue alone as a fading star or she can embrace the truth of her past and let it lead her towards a righteous path. The greatest gift God gave us is free will. Every hero has to decide to be a hero at some point.

I often say superheroes are Christ like figures because of their pure hearts and willingness to sacrifice for others at the expense of their own happiness and/or lives. I’ve been teasingly calling Oliver Jesus this season because he is a fully realized superhero. We are witnessing an evolved Oliver who has grown leaps and bounds from the man we first met in the pilot.

Oliver no longer lives in a black and white world. He sees the grey and operates from a true sense of justice where killing has no real place. He lives openly as the Green Arrow, which means no more lies. Oliver has embraced his team and is leading from example. He is far more patient, understanding and accepting of others, particularly when it comes to opinions which differ from his. Oliver has accepted he deserves love and has embraced it. He’s living life fully as a husband, father, brother and friend. Most importantly, Oliver is trying to save his city by instilling hope and honor through his example. His light shines on the darkest corners of Star City.

Do you know what Jesus is also called? The New Adam. Christians believe Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose again in fulfillment of God’s promise that one day we’d be delivered from the sin Adam and Eve introduced into our world. Our souls are saved because God loved us so much that he sacrificed his only son. Jesus’ mother Mary is sometimes called the New Eve. She was born free of original sin and remained sinless until ascending body and soul to heaven.

But this a superhero story, so it’s not going to be an apples to apples comparison (HA! Get it?), particularly since this is coming from the CW and not the Vatican. However, the writers are using biblical symbolism for a reason. Star City has gone to hell in a hand basket without Oliver. Eden Corps is essentially the Devil and Star City needs their superhero-Christ-like-figure to deliver their souls from the eternal torment of hell. Cool right? Oliver is that deliverance. He is the Christ like figure. Oliver Queen is the New Adam.

Arrow is not stopping with Oliver Queen. Saving Star City will be a family effort. It’s impossible for Oliver to eradicate crime just like we can never truly eradicate the evil Adam and Eve’s sin allowed into the world. But there is promised salvation.

Oliver may save the city, but he cannot be the Green Arrow forever. He doesn’t want to be the Green Arrow forever. What Oliver wants more than anything is to hang up the hood and live his life in peace. However, in order to do that he needs someone to take up the mantle of Protector of Star City. There must be a new superhero waiting in the wings. Not the New Adam, but the New Eve like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz.

Mia.

SmoakNHawke

DID Y’ALL HEAR THAT? IT’S THE SOUND OF MY SHIP SETTING SAIL! 

Connor gets Mia through security scan because he’s AGENT Hawke. Umm… say what? Honestly, I don’t know why I was so shocked by this. Both of his parents were A.R.G.U.S. agents, but I’m wildly excited and dumbfounded when any of these children pick up their parents’ tools of the trade. I AM JUST SO HAPPY FAM! I’m overwhelmed by the wealth of goodies.

Connor started working on credentials and clearance once he realized Mia and William would be heading directly into the belly of the whale. It’s 100% apparent Connor is going to be the planner in this group. He obtained a pass to Galaxy One as an agent for Knightwatch, which is the good version of A.R.G.U.S. It seems A.R.G.U.S. goes all evil no matter what timeline we’re in.  

The details on Connor and Knightwatch are fuzzy for a reason because the writers don’t want to fill all the blanks in the backdoor pilot. Then there’s no show. However, I think it’s safe to assume Knightwatch may be perceived as anti vigilante, otherwise why would the Galaxy One security guard release Mia into Connor’s custody? However, the reality may be Knightwatch is operating on some kind of undercover/double cross capacity.

Long story short – Connor is one of the good guys and he has a badge. So he’s hot and useful. Excellent.

He apologizes for not telling Mia the truth and she responds by slamming him up against a wall. 

Oh my friends, scenes like this are how ships are made. Get it girl. I was not expecting this line to come out of Mia’s mouth though -

Source:  mia-smoak-gifs

WHAT DID YOU SAY CHILD? DID YOU SAY “WAS ANY OF IT REAL?” MEANING Y’ALL WERE HOOKING UP? IS THAT THE REAL WE’RE DISCUSSING? JUST SO I AM CLEAR – REAL IS A EUPHEMISM FOR SEX?

SmoakNHawke is definitely a go and more importantly THEY’VE ALREADY HAD SEX. You could hear my screams for miles.

Yeah, I know we didn’t get to see anything YET. Listen cupcakes, this is what the spin-off is for. They’ll fill in the blanks. Arrow uses flashbacks and flash forwards. The probability is high the spin-off will too. I ain’t worried about it.

The backdoor pilot just gave us a canon ship to root for without a disastrous backstory like sleeping with sisters or foster siblings hooking up. I wasn’t expecting SmoakNHawke to happen this quickly. The OTA babies falling in love is a wonderful idea the fandom cooked up and I was sure the writers would either ignore completely like most of our good ideas or let it simmer for years on end. We just went from zero to sixty with one sentence. This is a moment to rejoice.

More importantly, if the spinoff doesn’t happen, and this is where the story ends for the Flash Forward characters too, then the writers made damn sure Mia and Connor were a thing before Arrow went off air. They understand the importance of Diggle’s son and Oliver’s daughter being together. It’s Christmas y’all. All we do is win.

Connor assures Mia “all of it” was real and I’m swooning. Felicity asks what Mia’s type is in a later scene and I yelled, “HER TYPE IS CONNOR HAWKE.”

As angry and hurt as Mia is, she still couldn’t let Connor get his ass beat and saves him from a couple of the security goons. I love this flip of gender dynamics.  Not that Olicity remain rooted in traditional roles, quite the contrary. However, it’s not all that often we see a female hero saving a male.

Mia is too angry with Felicity’s choices to help her with the bombs.  William leaves with their mother, but Connor stays with Mia. He is ride or die. If she wants to help then he’s there. If she wants to leave then he’s cool with that.

They have a pretty epic fight too. Mia can’t decide if she’s angrier about the lying or Connor believing she needed protection.

Mia defines whatever is between her and Connor as a relationship, so I feel they are more than just a hook up, but short of boyfriend and girlfriend. Connor is sorry he lied, but he’s not sorry he stuck around and kept an eye on Mia just like his father instructed because he truly cares about her.

“When you like someone, proximity is a good thing, regardless of how they feel about you." (Pacey Witter, Dawson’s Creek)

They sure fight like they are boyfriend and girlfriend. Connor gives a fairly epic speech about choosing to be a hero and learning how to selflessly share their superhero parents with the world. 

Connor didn’t like Diggle and Lyla choosing the city above their family time and again, but as he grew older it became something he admired in his parents. Their sacrifices only made Connor love them more.

Source:  oliverxfelicity

I’m curious about Connor’s backstory because he says he chose to be a superhero in training whereas it was more or less forced upon Mia. But today is the day she can make the choice for herself. If Mia walks out on Galaxy One then it is her decision. She can’t put the responsibility on Felicity this time.

Mia simply doesn’t trust Connor anymore and believes he has an ulterior motive just like Felicity and William. So, he uses a little reverse psychology. Mia walking away from danger is exactly what her mother wants and doing directly opposite of what Felicity wants is extremely appealing to Mia right now. God bless the rebellious youth. I swear Diggle must have discussed with Connor how to manage a Queen. This is straight out of the Yoda playbook.

Connor has to earn Mia’s trust back, but their story is just beginning and I cannot wait to see what happens next.

Roy, Dinah and Rene

Once again I am the least interested in Team Newbie. Yeah, they are still Newbies after twenty years. I wish I could be more positive about Roy, but he listened to Dinah’s nonsense about Felicity being evil and dead. It’s swell they are all happy Felicity is alive and one of the good guys, but none of them get any points because they believed the worst about their friend who has proven to be a spectacular human being time and again. Dinah’s first inclination should have been Felicity is pretending to be evil to infiltrate a Big Bad because DUH. Morons.

They decide to finally look into Felicity’s death in EPISODE 16 and discover the shock of all shocks, “The case files are a mess.” YEAH BECAUSE SHE ISN’T REALLY DEAD YOU DINKLE TWITS!

Rene confessing he knew about the bombs isn’t a shock because we knew he was in on some kind of plan in 7x10. Galaxy One can expand The Glades in a fraction of the time and he thought Star City would be evacuated before the bombs. Rene being the biggest dumbass to ever live isn’t a shock. That’s just a regular Arrow Monday.

Rene aligned himself with Galaxy because he liked feeling powerful and respected. He was no longer living in the shadow of Oliver Queen. Now he was the mayor who saved the city. Unfortunately, aligning with the Big Bad at any point requires a redemptive arc. It’s great Rene is working undercover with Team Arrow now, but I am not expecting him to survive Season 8.

Source: felicitysmoakgifs

Dinah is thrilled to see Felicity alive, but she is not overwhelmed with joy over seeing Dinah. Felicity almost looks distrustful as Dinah hugs her. At the very least she’s ticked off Dinah believed she went all evil. There’s definitely more to the story and everything is not one hundred percent between these two.

The only other piece which interests me is Roy’s rage issues. It’s not Mirakuru related, but it’s completely possible he took a dip in the Lazarus Pit and banished himself to Lian Yu because he couldn’t control the rage. The fact Nyssa is available to train Mia for several years means the Lazarus Pit mission was over. Thea is LOA trained and Oliver’s sister. She would have been Felicity’s first choice to train their daughter, but instead it was Nyssa. This does not bode well for Thea’s fate. Everyone mentally prepare. Thea is dead.

Stray Thoughts…

It’s like Mia was tailor made for us. I will never tire of Arrow sticking it to comic book fans with lines like this. Yes, that’s right folks. The non comic book couple is canon on the TV show and they spawned a non comic book character to carry on the Green Arrow’s legacy. Suck it.  Source:  oliverxfelicity

It’s a little odd Mia’s first question wasn’t, “Hey! Who is the kid in the photo?” but given the potential canyon sized plot holes this storyline could have I’ll let it slide.

Itty bitty Mia was played by Bam’s daughter. I was wondering where you find a mini ninja and of course she is BABY BAM. Source: ebett

Clary Fray was a pretty physical role on Shadowhunters, but Katherine has really had to step it up as Mia and she’s doing a fantastic job with the stunts. She’s no Stephen, but he’s insane so we won’t grade her on that level of madness.

Oliver’s Yao Fei box keeps showing up everywhere. First it’s on Lian Yu and William digs it up. Now it’s in the backyard of the Olicity love cabin. This thing gets more miles than Delta.

WHAT DOES THE KEY TATTOO MEAN?

Where the friggin frack is Bloomfield? I’m sure there’s some comic book explanation.

The pairing of Mia and Connor romantically makes me smile because I always said Diggle was Oliver’s first wife. Hehehehe.

“Oh good now there are two of you.” William is Felicity 2.0 officially. It’s canon now.

Felicity’s mask was sparkly green. I was wildly excited about this color choice.

I love how Felicity pesters Mia about boys because Donna used to do the same thing to Felicity and it drove her nuts, which is proof we all become our mothers someday. Source:  felicitysmoakgifs

I’m still not over Mia’s loft being the same set as Olicity’s loft back in Season 4.

“No one gets to kill my mom except me.” I have a super great relationship with my mother, but I don’t know any woman who can’t relate to this line on some level. Sometimes your mom just drives you nuts, but she’s still your mom and only you get to murder her. Nobody else can mess with her.

Rene didn’t think Roy was alive. Thinking people are dead is like an epidemic with the Newbies. Not blown away by their powers of deduction.

So much same William. Source:  mei-pellegrino

Felicity blames herself for Galaxy One and Eden Corps because she invented Archer and somehow the bad guys get their hands on it. However, I do not think Felicity is blaming herself for Oliver. There’s two different trains moving at the same time on parallel tracks. There’s Dante/Eden Corps/the Ninth Circle/Archer and there’s the promise Oliver made to the Monitor. I believe the reason Oliver is missing/presumed dead etc is because of the deal he made with the Monitor. Perhaps Archer is a hurdle when Oliver is finally free to come home to Star City, but I don’t believe it’s the reason Oliver is gone. The reason Oliver was not around to help protect Felicity and Mia from Dante/Eden Corps/the Ninth Circle/Archer is because of his promise to the Monitor and Felicity had nothing to do with that. Source:  felicitysmoakgifs

Disclaimer: Any gifs on the blog are not mine. If you would like a gif removed from my reviews, please message me. 7x16 gifs credited.

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[howtohero]

#265 Leaping Tall Buildings in a Single Bound

Let me make this clear from the outset, the “boast” of “being able to leap tall buildings in a single bound” is probably the greatest marketing coup in superhero history. In layman’s terms it’s just “can’t fly but really trying.” And honestly I applaud that. Those flyers think they’re sooo great with their ability to soar like a bird and feel clouds. (I personally think they feel like soft marshmallowy pillows but I’ll never know for sure. {And I personally resent birds for having knowledge that I can never have!} We’ve all got our hangups about this.) But they don’t have a cool tagline to go with that. The leapers beat them to it! Now if they want to have a cool tagline they’re stuck with “able to fly over tall buildings in a single... a single swoop? Is that anything? Dammit” which isn’t catchy at all! So today, as a special Friday post, in honor of Leap Day, let’s take a moment to examine this historic phrase. 

The phrase originated back in the ‘30s and was coined by superhero marketing czar Dylan Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt had been hired by the superhero Bullet Bolt, who had become ludicrously famous for his lightning bolt shaped bullets. You see, those were the days before bullet-customization had become mainstream and everyone was making bullets that were shaped like sharks (or that were literally just tiny live-sharks) or hand-cuffs. So yeah, Bullet Bolt was a pretty big deal and so he fired his entire support-squad in order to hire a crack marketing team. This obviously was not a great idea in the long run and without the help of his guys in the chairs and combat medics he quickly died. (His bolt blaster misfired and he got a taste of his own lightning bullet medicine.) And, according to a correspondent we’ve got in the ghost community, it tasted pretty bad. Apparently he really regrets the lightning bolt bullets that made him famous. (Wait, do we know a ghost?) What? (You said we had a correspondent in the ghost community. Do we know a ghost?) I don’t remember saying that at all. (What?) ANYWAY, Bullet Bolt’s career was short but thanks to his marketing team, he will be remembered forever! Let this be a cautionary tale. Don’t fire your entire support-squad, but if you do at least use the savings to hire someone to come up with a cool tagline for you so you’re remembered forever in spite of your short lived and otherwise completely unmemorable career.

Up until that point, Vanderbilt had only ever represented superheroes who could fly. He was known for either saying “flyers have more fun” or “flyers have more funds” records are spotty but either he only worked with flyers because they had access to the coolest cloud parties, or because they paid well. I guess we’ll never really know for sure. So this guy was not going to take the meeting with Bullet Bolt, a superhero famous only for having weirdly shaped bullets. Having weirdly shaped bullets isn’t remotely anywhere near flight. Write that down. That’s important to know. But Vanderbilt ended up having to take the meeting when Bullet Bolt crashed through his office window one day while fighting a Yowie. Well it just so turned out that Dylan Vanderbilt had another, lesser know rule about taking meetings with anybody who fought a Yowie right in front of him. It didn’t get talked about a lot because it almost never came up but hey, a self-imposed rule stemming from an offhand, probably drunken comment made at a cloud party is still a rule. It’s interesting to think about all of the strange and unlikely coincidences that go into creating a historic moment isn’t it? So Vanderbilt meets with this guy and he says “All right, so I’m thinking we print up some posters that depict you soaring through the air while-” and Bullet Bold says “Hey hey hey, let me stop you right there. I can’t fly.” So Vanderbilt is floored, he’s never had a client like this before. He’s gotta throw out his usual playbook here. He’s gotta start from scratch. But that’s not big deal, you don’t become a superhero marketing czar by crumbling under pressure. There’s actually an online course you take. (If you’re reading this and thinking: “What! Guffaw! The internet??? That didn’t exist in the ‘30s!” Then sit the heck down. If you’ll recall, we’ve already established that in a world with superheroes, technology develops at an accelerated pace. Additionally, we did not specify which ‘30s we were talking about.) So this guy, this Vanderbilt fella looks Bullet Bolt right in the eyes and says “Well how are you at leaping?” And thus, history was altered forever. 

“Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound” is truly a rallying cry for those heroes who have powers that are almost the cool A-list ones but just don’t quite make the mark. For people who run really fast but only after building up energy on a magic treadmill. (Shout out to Flint Fast, who drove around in a van with a treadmill in the back of it in case he ever needed to build up super speed to fight crime.) For folks who can only use their super strength when they’re asleep. (Unfortunately, people with sleep strength are also disproportionately affected by sleepwalking so they tend to wake up with a lot of holes in their house.) For heroes who can teleport but it takes them the same amount of time to do so as it would to walk. (It doesn’t save them anytime but they get a lot less sweaty.) All of these heroes look to Vanderbilt’s slogan and realize that they can achieve greatness too, it’s just about how you brand yourself. 

Super leapers might never be able to reach the clouds. They might not get places the fastest. They might be useless in terms of air support. (Technically they can act as projectiles and launch themselves at airborne enemies provided that they are not flying higher than any nearby buildings.) But by golly are they memorable. These folks can be spotted in big cities jumping over skyscrapers in order to get around. (Come to think of it, might it not be quicker to simply... walk around these buildings instead of leaping over them?) They can be observed springing away from superazzi reporters who want to see them “do the thing!” They can be see in advertisements for shorts thanks to their incredible calf muscles. If you look at your window right now, you might just catch a glimpse of one bounding across the skyline. On this Leap Day, let’s take a moment to appreciate the fact that while these guys can’t fly, they can definitely leap even the tallest buildings in a single bound. (As opposed to multiple bounds? How would that even work? Once you’re in the air you’re either gonna clear the building or you’re not!) From all of here at How To Hero, Happy Leap Day!