#arrow 2x07

[forbescaroline]

235 FAVORITE SHIPS OF ALL TIME (ranked by my followers) 51. oliver queen and felicity smoak - arrow

[jbuffyangel]

No Choice to Make: Arrow 2x07 Review (State v. Queen)

Is there anything better than Oliver saving Felicity? The correct answer is no.  Of course, my feminist side is screaming Felicity can take care of herself (and does in most circumstances), but my inner Gloria Steinem needs to zip it.  I want romance novel heroism and “State v. Queen” delivers on a swoon worthy level.

Let’s dig in…

Olicity

This is easily my favorite Oliver protecting Felicity moment because there are so many nuances in their two primary scenes. However, to understand those nuances we have to review a little background information.

The Count escaped from Iron Heights during the earthquake (and released the Dollmaker while he was at it). I love this explanation for returning villains because it makes total sense. Logic in Arrow is rare jewel – treasure the moment.

Moira's trial is under way, but Diggle is not feeling well. Oliver sends John home, but he collapses in the bunker.

Oliver: I heard you passed out.

Diggle: I told Felicity not to call you.

Felicity: Yeah, but before that you said ‘gaw’ and ‘thud’ so I didn’t take it very seriously.

Felicity has John's blood tested and there are trace amounts of Vertigo in his system. They try Oliver’s antidote, but it doesn’t work. Adam Donner, the lawyer prosecuting Moira, also collapses in court due to Vertigo poisoning. The Count kidnaps him and forces him to take the drug to alleviate the withdrawal symptoms. It’s broadcasted live, so everyone affected knows the only cure is Vertigo.

I feel I would make a pretty good drug lord after watching Breaking Bad, Power and Queen of the South. The key to success is return customers, so this is not a half bad plan. You have to admire the Count’s industriousness. Ghost and Walter White would definitely approve.

Oliver hoods up after Felicity tracks Adam Donner’s location through the city seal of the Starling Municipal Records Department, which is reflected in Donner’s eye. Ok, so science is not sciencing in this episode. Felicity is immediately concerned about Oliver.

Felicity: I know what you're thinking.

Oliver: No you don't. I made a choice not put an arrow in this guy and it was the right choice. There’s no more killing.

Felicity was concerned Oliver would regret allowing The Count to live, but it’s just the opposite. He’s doubling down on his vow to Tommy. Oliver is not a conflicted man. He knows he made the right call. That's called growth, my friends.

Felicity’s little assertive nod means she backs Oliver’s decision one hundred percent. In fact, I’m sure she had a whole speech prepared for why not killing The Count was the right thing to do. It’s not just Oliver who believes there is a better way – Felicity and Diggle believe it too. This is as much their mission as it is Oliver’s. They also made a vow to Tommy to do better.

Unfortunately, The Count has caught wind that The Arrow’s aim is not lethal these days. The Count holds his arms wide open – an easy shot – and taunts Oliver to kill him, while Donner is held hostage by a henchman. It’s always a bit of a pickle to determine how Oliver is going to get himself out of these situations without killing. I’m all in favor of the vow he made, but killing does have some practical applications.

Of course, Oliver always finds another way. He fires on some flammable canisters, which creates a fire in a drug factory – clearly against OSHA regulations. Oliver spins and throws a flechette into the henchman’s arm, so he drops Donner and they make their escape.

THIS SCENE IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. REMEMBER WHAT OLIVER DID.

Felicity and Diggle determine the common denominator between all those poisoned with Vertigo is a flu vaccine, but they need to be sure. Oliver is busy with his mother’s trial at the courthouse and Diggle can barely walk. Felicity decides recon is on her tonight and seeks out the vaccine distribution van.  Low and behold, there is an entire shelf of Vertigo in the van, but The Count catches Felicity as she snoops.

Oliver and Thea are waiting for their mother’s verdict, which could be coming at any moment, when he receives a call from Felicity. But it’s not Felicity. It’s The Count.

The Count: Oliver? Is it okay if I call you Oliver? Surprised to hear from me, right? Not as surprised as I was. You see, I find this… not unattractive blonde getting all up in my business. And what does she have on her?

Source:  laurelscanary 

Oliver can hear Felicity crying on the other line and closes his eyes in absolute horror when he realizes she’s being held hostage.

The Count: A Queen Consolidated ID badge. Now, I think to myself, why does that name ring a bell? Oliver Queen. He tried to buy off me last year just before the hood put me in a padded cell. Ipso facto, ARROW.

Source:  laurelscanary 

Oliver doesn’t bother to contain his rage and without a second thought leaves the courthouse. Thea calls after him, reminding him that the jury will have a verdict anytime. All Oliver can tell her is that something came up at the office, but he cannot hide shakiness in his voice.  Oliver is afraid.

Oliver arrives at Queen Consolidated, suit on but hood down. For practical purposes, he doesn’t need to conceal his identity from The Count because he already figured it out – something so many other characters have failed to do with much more information than he had.

But from a symbolical perspective, the hood down is crucially important. Oliver is not here as The Arrow. He is here as Oliver Queen. This is personal to him. So much of this series is about Oliver struggling to reconcile his two halves – the hood and the man, but Felicity is one of the few people who truly knows both sides. He doesn’t have to hide with her.

Oliver approaches very slowly. He recognizes The Count has the upper hand and he cannot afford any mistakes. Felicity is zip tied to a chair and The Count holds a gun on her while he strokes her ponytail. That action alone sends the creep factor sky high.

Source: @yet-i-remain-quiet

There is a sexual element to Felicity’s kidnapping. The Count referenced her attractiveness on the phone with Oliver. Now he’s stroking her ponytail. Oliver asks The Count what he wants and he responds, “World peace and personal satisfaction. Though not necessarily in that order.” He massages Felicity’s shoulders at “personal satisfaction” in the grossest way possible.

Source: @yet-i-remain-quiet

It’s a thinly veiled threat of sexual assault, which does not go unnoticed by Oliver.  There are few things worse than rape and it serves to amplify Felicity’s terror and Oliver’s powerlessness and rage. If the writers intended to keep Oliver and Felicity strictly platonic they would not introduce this terribly disturbing aspect into the scene.

The Count monologues for a bit longer and tells Oliver someone else hates him almost as much. This mysterious benefactor funded the Vertigo operation, so The Count could draw The Arrow out and kill him. (Spoiler alert: it was Blood).

The Count gets the drop on Oliver and fires off a couple rounds. It forces Oliver to run and dive behind a couch. It always surprised me The Count was able to get the upper hand in this moment, which points to Oliver’s fear for Felicity more than anything. He’s not thinking strategically when it’s her life in danger. He can’t.

The Count cuts the zip ties and grabs Felicity by the ponytail. He drags her to the spot where Oliver was hiding, ready to finish him off, but this time Oliver gets the drop on him. He points an arrow squarely at The Count’s chest, but he is using Felicity as a shield. The Count holds two syringes of Vertigo (a lethal dose) to Felicity’s neck. It’s important to remember Oliver’s antidote for Vertigo did not work on Diggle.

Source: @yet-i-remain-quiet

Don’t ever say to me Felicity Smoak is not a hero. She was willing to die to keep Oliver’s vow to Tommy. Felicity was ready to trade her life for Oliver’s soul. She believes in Oliver, and their mission, that much. What's madness is thinking Oliver would put the vow before her life.

The Count orders Oliver to lower his bow, which he does and tosses the arrow to the floor. Then we see him do something Oliver never does – he tries to negotiate.

Again, Oliver doesn’t bother to hide the fear in his voice which makes the negotiating sound a lot like begging.

The Count: Consider this your penalty for making me go to plan B in the first place.

The Count raises the syringes to Felicity’s neck and Oliver manages to pull not one, but three arrows in rapid succession - killing The Count. 

The look on Oliver’s face when he fires the arrows, tell me two things.  First, this kill is emotional. When Oliver shoots to kill he typically only needs one arrow. The Arrow never misses. Three arrows is excessive.  It is literally overkill which means one thing – pure rage.  

Second, the act is instinctual.  The rapid succession in which he fires the arrows shows there is something programmed deep in Oliver’s bones to protect Felicity. Her life was threatened and his body simply reacted.

Felicity drops to the floor and The Count crashes through the window. Oliver closes his eyes and exhales like he’s been holding his breath the entire time. I think it is part relief and part regret. He doesn’t regret killing that bastard, but regrets he couldn’t find another way this time.   

Or was there? Upon this rewatch I noticed a couple things. First, Laurel was held hostage by the Dollmaker and Oliver did not kill him. (Sara did the honors that time). But consider the scene with Donner. Oliver threw a flechette into the henchman’s hand to free Donner. The henchman let go of Donner as a reflex to the pain. Could Oliver attempt the same with Felicity? Would a flechette in The Count’s arm free her as well?

The point is we’ll never know. Oliver made a calculated risk at the municipal when he fired on the flammable liquid and injured, but didn’t kill, The Count’s henchman. Oliver was willing to take the risk when Donner and Laurel were involved, but not Felicity.

I’ve been watching a lot of Bridgerton, so the next scene screams romance novel to me.

Source: AARONSWARNER

Oliver makes his way to Felicity who remains crouched on the floor and crying.  He gets down on one knee and tenderly touches her shoulder.

Source: AARONSWARNER

Felicity immediately flinches in fear at his touch, so Oliver in a voice so soft it’s almost a whisper, gently reassures her. She finally looks up and sees Oliver staring back at her with concern and love. She exhales with relief.

Source: AARONSWARNER

The shock wears off quickly once she hears Oliver’s voice and feels his hand on her shoulder. Oliver’s first thought is for Felicity, but her first thought is for him. SHIP COUPLES WHO WORRY ABOUT EACH OTHER FOR CLEAR SKIN.

Source: AARONSWARNER

Oliver moves his uninjured arm from Felicity’s shoulder and cups her face. The man has an actual bullet in his shoulder, but can feel no pain because Felicity Smoak is alive and safe. She is all that matters to him.

Source: AARONSWARNER

These physical moments are no small thing. Oliver keeps an extremely rigged line with Felicity that he rarely crosses. Shoulder touches are the maximum physical contact he allows and even those are on rare occasion. But she almost died tonight, so Oliver allows himself to take it one step further and touches Felicity’s face.  Oliver’s whispered reassurances in his reserved-for-Felicity-only voice unveil the real intimacy between them. He comforts her. Not in the way Oliver would like, but in the way he can allow. The line is still there, but it’s blurred at the moment.

There is no moment which better encapsulates the two sides of Oliver Queen than this scene. One moment he is a rage filled killer and the next he is a soft spoken, loving and tender man. It is not an accident the two sides merge into one for her. Darkness and light working in perfect cohesion to be the hero Felicity Smoak needed.

Source: @laurelscanary

Oliver makes his way back to the courthouse. He is so visibly shaken that Thea asks Oliver if he’s okay. She touches his injured shoulder and Oliver flinches, but it’s not the bullet that’s bothering him. He came too close to losing Felicity. Way too close.

Source: @laurelscanary

Sadly, this somewhat reinforces what Oliver said to Felicity in 2x06. There is a direct correlation between proximity to Oliver and danger, so he thinks it’s better to remain emotionally unattached. In his mind, keeping Felicity at arm’s length means keeping her safe.

But there’s what Oliver says and what he feels. He can refuse to acknowledge or act upon his feelings for Felicity, but that does not eradicate them. If Oliver is truly worried about proximity then why does he allow Felicity to be part of the team? Two reasons, Oliver needs Felicity and firmly believes they can protect her. But this was a frightening close call and Oliver’s fear is stemming from a more than friendly place. Felicity Smoak has become too important to him and it is scaring the crap out of him.

Source: FERRISBUELLER

Oliver returns to the bunker after his mother’s verdict to check on Diggle and Felicity. The way he looks Felicity up and down y’all is… a lot. Queen Consolidated is formulating a non addictive antidote for the people with Vertigo poisoning. Moira is not guilty. All’s well that ends well, so Oliver tells Diggle and Felicity to go home and rest.

But Felicity needs to get something off her chest.

Felicity: Oliver, I uh…

The way this man spins at the sound of her voice like he's a golden retriever who saw a squirrel. He is so gone for this woman.

Felicity: I just wanted to say thank you.

Oliver: (nods) Yeah.

Source: laurelscanary

He truly cannot fathom what she is apologizing for and steps much closer than necessary.

Source: laurelscanary

It seems Felicity has inherited a little bit of Oliver’s guilt complex. YOU WERE KIDNAPPED MY PRECIOUS CUPCAKE!!!

Source: laurelscanary

HE. TAKES. HER. HAND. We had a shoulder touch, tender face caressing and now holding hands. At this point, this equivalent to first base for these two. MY BRAIN SHORT CIRCUITED.

Source: laurelscanary

Earlier in the episode, Oliver and Felicity discussed not killing The Count previously and how it was the right decision. Oliver’s certainty in the rightness of the decision solidifies his commitment to his vow to Tommy. It is not something Oliver is questioning or wavering on. 

But Oliver is not qualifying what happened to Felicity in those terms. This is not about right or wrong. In fact, it wasn’t a decision at all. Oliver was not calculating the risks. Oliver was not thinking about a vow, or honoring his best friend, or the mission. His only thought was Felicity and her safety. Oliver simply reacted. All he could see was Felicity. All he could feel was the unbridled rage that came from anyone threatening her life.  It is programmed deep into Oliver’s bones to protect Felicity. There is no rational thought when it comes to her.

Nor does he care if it was right or wrong now. Oliver is not Monday morning quarterbacking the situation. Someone raised a hand to her, so that person is dead. End of discussion.

There is a war happening between Oliver’s mind and his heart. Oliver was clearly thinking with his head when he told Felicity in 2x06 that he will not allow himself to love her. But this episode was a completely different story. Sometimes life and death circumstances bring a much needed moment of clarity. Oliver may believe he has a choice whether or not he loves Felicity, but his actions show his heart knows different. There is no choice to make.

Moira Queen

The trial is not going well, so Moira is forced to testify. Laurel is lead prosecutor now that Donner is infected with Vertigo.  "Conflict of Interest" is flashing in a neon sign. On any planet in the solar system, Laurel would recuse herself. THE INSANITY GIVES ME A MIGRAINE.

Laurel also decides she’d like to get disbarred and visits Moira in prison because they are “family." Yack. Give me a break. She doesn’t want Moira to take the stand because Laurel will have to prosecute her to the best of her ability and use their smoking gun. Sure, because now she cares about legal procedure.

So, Moira comes clean to Oliver and Thea and tells them she had a one night stand with Malcolm Merlyn while married to their father.  The kids are shocked to say the least. Oliver has a solid case of the yicks. Thea is more than a little angry since she accused her mother of having an affair with Merlyn last year. Moira assures Thea it was not an affair, so technically she didn’t lie. Moira should teach Professional Gaslighting 101.

Inexplicably, Moira is found not guilty. (In my notes: Hahaha suck it Laurel)

Even Oliver is wondering what the fuck just happened. Upon release from prison, Moira is driven to a secret location to meet up with none other than MALCOLM MERLYN. His explanation for being alive is basically, “I’m a super awesome actor and faked it.” Oliver – did you check his pulse? What happened to the body? Did we miss a step Team Arrow? CLEARLY WE DID.

Merlyn bought the jury and Moira’s freedom (Ummm thanks I guess?) so he can deliver the second bomb. He ran a DNA test and knows he’s Thea’s father. PLOT TWIST! Honestly, this makes a lot of sense. I wasn't that surprised. Thea looks more like Tommy than she does Oliver.

Wait, this means Thea kissed her brother. Are we just going to Star Wars this and never talk about it again? Works for me.

Stray Thoughts

Oh shut up Laurel. Quit your bitching - me every time she opens her mouth lately.

Ivo is looking for the hosen because it contains coordinates to a sub that sunk in WWII. Whatever is on the sub can save the world. Shado and Oliver hope it can save Slade, so Team Island is going on a submarine field trip!

Slade has burns on half his body and yet he can still move. The man is not human.

"I have this thing about needles, all pointy things, which is ironic given who we work for.” I just love her so much.

David Ramsey is so enormous he doesn’t fit on the table. The mind cannot conceive of all that muscle.

 “Mom secrets are what put you into this situation. Secrets and lies. And now is the time to give truth its day.” Oh the irony, Oliver.

Donner took drugs on live television. Re-election is going to be a real bitch for the DA.

I like the Thea’s boxing moment with Roy. Nice foreshadowing. Girl is going to have a lot of rage to work through.

Laurel did make a good point about Walter and Merlyn. See? I can be positive about her.

OLIVER. STOP. ASKING. LAUREL. IF. SHE. IS. OK. Her whole “how can you possibly forgive me” speech was also nauseating and not believable. I like her better drunk.

“I’m pretty sure they aren’t interested in Buddhism.” Slade is burned over half his body but he jokes.

30-30-175-12 I’m sure that has something to do with the comics but I don’t care.

Some guy named Cyrus survived Blood’s Frankenstein experiment. So that’s not good.

Listen to the Watchover podcast reaction to 2x07!!!

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

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

MALCOLM MERLYN I’M GOING TO STAB YOU

[winnie-the-monster]

[inahandful-of-dust]

Grisha Powers

Shadow Summoner

Sun Summoner

[itachi86]

i like the count's coat

[markantonys]

Top 5 Adar who FUCKS moments?

LMAO okay, just off the top of my head and in no particular order:

-the one that made us all collectively Lose Our Minds. i'm so glad i caught up with ROP just in time that this could be my first (maybe second) live episode and i could experience the mass Awakening™ that occurred because of this moment.

-he likes to be held at knifepoint by girlbosses but he ALSO likes to choke out twinks. he has the range.

-making halbrand put his head in the dirt at his feet to swear loyalty to him. he was fully suspecting halbrand was sauron at this point and STILL chose to humiliate him even further and piss him off even more AND be kinky about it in the process, just because he could.

-sitting atop his throne in the 1 moment of true contentment he got to have in between thousands of years of torment and then more shit immediately hitting the fan

-screencaps don't do this one near enough justice, but when he fiiiiiinally enters the battlefield in 2x07 and just TANKS through everyone there (and catches an arrow in midair). he 👏 fucks 👏

and honorable mentions to:

"[calmly puts out the flaming arrow galadriel shot at him with his hand] a star shines on the hour of our meeting, lady galadriel" like sir leave some rizz for the rest of us good god (in hindsight i think this was probably my Hot Adar Who Fucks awakening and my adariel shipping awakening, and then the knife-throat moment in the next episode just solidified it)

"why didn't you defeat sauron back then?" "because i hadn't yet met you" or whatever, once again, leave some rizz for the rest of us

channeling his inner mr. darcy by creating some period-drama-5-alarm-spice Hand Shots with galadriel

"you have the beauty of your foremother and if you've also inherited her wisdom then you'll know you can't defeat me in battle" just tell elrond you want him to be your pretty little sugar baby, it would be quicker

i will also add an s1 moment, when galadriel threatens to obliterate him and calls him an orc and puts a knife to his throat and he just looks at her and quietly corrects her "uruk" and almost smiles a little, homeboy was Ready to be on the receiving end of some knifeplay but alas sauron interrupted

[goodwhump-temp]

Takashi Natsume Whump | Natsumes Book of Friends

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

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

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

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

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

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

[aceofwhump]

Hi ace ☺️!!!!! My fav trope is forced to watch/listen (especially if they are in the same room and whumper does nothing to the caretaker but keep asking them to reveal their secrets if they want it to stop 😏) but I cant find nearly enough of this trope

So if you know any media with this trope in it can you share ?🥰

(Also it has nothing to do with the ask but whenever I think of people outside of tumblr I imagine them with their pfp so your face is aaron in my mind sk3kdkdk 😅)

Mmmm yes that is a very good trope and yes it's also hard to find. Sometimes it pops up in fanfiction but off hand I can't think of any (I read so many it's hard to remember sometimes and I haven't updated my masterlist in a little while with tropes). Let me see what I got to rec.

My immediate thought was Chicago P.D. 3x01 when the team watches via video while Jay Halstead is beaten and tortured.

Hawaii Five-0 10x22 Steve is forced to watch a beaten and bloodied Danny through a video sent to him.

There's also this scene in Red Notice where the Rock and Ryan Reynolds are tied up and The Rock's character is tortured.

In Iron Man 3 Tony is forced to watch as Pepper is injected with Extremis

The Following 2x07 has a scene where Mike Weston is forced to watch

Stargate Atlantis 3x07 John is tortured and a video of it is shown to the team.

Stargate SG-1 5x07 Danny is forced to watch Jack be tortured

Legends of Tomorrow 1x05 Mike and Ray are tortured in front of Stein.

Arrow 1x18 Roy is tortured in front of the others via video.

Killjoys 1x05 D'Avin is tortured and Johnny watches the video

Graceland 1x08 Mike Warren is forced to watch and participate in torturing someone.

Falling Skies 5x05 has a great listening scene

Avengers Infinity War Loki watches as Thor gets tortured

Teen Wolf 3x04 Derek is tortured by the Alpha pack while his sister Cora has to watch

A Discovery of Witches 3x06 Matthew is tortured in front of Diana

Hudson & Rex 3x09 when Charlie is buried alive and the team is shown him via live video

Sense8 2x11 (finale) when Wolfgang is captured and tortured

NCIS 3x08 when Tony gets beaten in front of Ziva and NCIS 7x01

9-1-1 5x17 when Chim is tortured in front of Hen

Also, to your last point, that's so funny and I honestly do the same thing and I'm honored to be seen as just Aaron Tveit running this blog lol.

[raayllum]

in reference to what i mean in this post bc now i'm just thinking about meta as a structured debate it'd go like (arrows for 'rebuttals')

I see Callum as more focused on the greater good because he left Harrow in 1x03 in order to help return the egg → That's one of the reasons I see Callum as selectively loyal to just Rayla and Ezran in the manner / have never posited that Harrow was part of his 'inner circle'. He cares about the greater good but will ultimately put Ez and/or Rayla above it when push comes to shove, and he knew the castle wasn't a safe place for the egg or his brother.

Building on that idea of Callum's loyalty being tethered to Ezran, in 1x06 Callum is willing to leave Ezran under the ice to retrieve the egg, even if he's worried, showing he is willing to put the mission and the egg's safety first. → I view that interaction as one Callum reluctantly participates in given the fact he 1) is stopped by Rayla from going after Ezran, 2) has to be convinced not to, and 3) doesn't settle down until Rayla points out they have to stay up on the surface in order to be able to pull Ezran out.

Unlike Viren (pre-5x09) and Claudia, Callum is disgusted and put off by dark magic, showing that he has a different view of dark magic than they do. → I agree that Callum has a different view of dark magic than either Viren or Claudia do - he's not using it for power (Viren), appearances, or casual uses (Claudia), but that just emphasizes his choice to use it, which from 2x07 onwards always felt very "I know something is Wrong and I will do it anyway," as while we can understand and rationalize his decision in 5x08 as 'not that bad', he is clearly fucked up over it and does view as something bad. He just did it anyway, which in some ways makes it all worse.

For both cases, information and specific examples are being offered to explain the interpretations. If someone does view Harrow as having been in Callum's inner circle, than an interpretation of Callum being more globally focused makes sense, but if you're like me and you don't view Harrow and Callum's dynamic that way, then you're probably going to lean more towards Callum not only being selectively loyal but prioritizing that loyalty, etc etc. Understanding where people diverge and then respecting it accordingly by being able to provide well thought out, consistent examples for either (or both) interpretations for a character is not only a great way to gear up a brain for more analysis, but can also help you greatly develop worlds, stories, and characters of your own.

[forbescaroline]

11k celebration: top 50 m/f friendships (as voted by my followers) #35. oliver queen and thea queen - arrow

[jbuffyangel]

I make no apologies for the Polin gif fest that is about to befall this blog. I will also probably have to write some thoughts on this season because as I am sure you've all noticed - I'm obsessed.

Arrow 2x07 is up next for review!!!

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

If I had a nickel for everytime an Arrowverse hero received a back related injury from a villain dressed in all black —during their first encounter with said villain— that caused them to lose confidence in themselves and have flashbacks during training that are totallyyyyyyyy not symptoms of PTSD— nope— they’re fineeeee

I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice right?

[winnie-the-monster]

“He had you and he was gonna hurt you. There was no choice to make.”

[inahandful-of-dust]

Grisha Powers

ETHEREALKI or The Order of Summoners

Squallers

Inferni

Tidemaker

[itachi86]

slade is so awesome