#he says 'well meet in the future' so he IS at least in part allen | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

silphine · 2 years ago

Text

ESCAFLOWNE Voice meme (3/5)

[ Escaflowne voice meme made by @drkstars-art ]

PART 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

------------------

3. Which side are you on ? What do you think happens Post-Hitomi when she leaves? Who do you think will be the next opposing power?

Why necessary choosing a side ? (Funny, I never asked myself this question...) Well... As the series focuses/develops way more "good" side than Zaibach’s side and its characters, it's easier for me to empathize and lean more towards main protagonists. But deep inside, I’m a neutral observer. Because each side has its own set of we can label "good" or "bad" moral aspects. - I really love Folken, Narya and Eriya. - I don't see Dornkirk as pure evil despite I don't appreciate him... I would had loved to dive more in Zaibach generals (specially Adelphos), Sorcerers and Dilandau's soldiers psychology. But I don't think staff had planned to explore or develop these points... (Too bad because I love nuances in stories !) I digress but that's why I love Mononoké Hime (Miyazaki) that much or enjoy a big part of Game of Thrones for example.

[ About Post-Hitomi ]

Well... I have more questions than ideas or answers on that matter... - Post-Zaibach is a big enigma in my mind :

Who can rule or give a strong and desirable direction after Dornkirk's reign ?

What could be Zaibach people's opinion on Great War events ?

What would they want to do next ?

As Hitomi says in Ep 18 : " I wonder if Zaibach people are really happy... "

Personally, if many Sorcerers survive, I like to imagine high tensions with Adelphos.

We don't know lot of things about the General, but I noticed that :

He doesn't seem to appreciate or trust Sorcerers

He sees Dilandau as a demon.

He doesn't seem to blindly trust Dornkirk neither.

When he saw Celena in the garden scene, he felt clearly unconfortable. He even said : " I wonder what Zaibach has become (or what's going on in Zaibach)... "

He almost died in Basram's "energist" attack. But didn't go further in the war, unlike Alliance countries - betraying each other right away.

I tend to think he has a moral code and could play a good partition in "Peace" on Gaea. - Globally, it's quite difficult for me to imagine what Post-War Gaea could be because the end of the series doesn't take time to properly explain political, energy and technological context with other countries (like with Basram for example).

I would be definitely interested in translated informations on that subject !

My inner feeling is that true Peace is an utopia because each country has its own point of view, interests, history, concerns, culture and beliefs... so it necessarily leads to tensions with other countries.

But nations have to do their best to aim for this ideal in the interest of the greatest number, respecting everyone’s differences, thanks to a true and permanent diplomacy.

When you know humanity's complexity, it's a huge challenge...

[ On a more character level ]

I am not quite confident in Allen and Celena's future...

I can not imagine she definitely recovered from all she's gone through in Zaibach.

And I think Allen would be (quite understandably) an overprotective brother... (this attitude never brings anything good in a relationship, even a brotherly one.)

Not that I don't wish the best for them. But I simply don't buy it... (or at least, not without a huge and very long psychological work for Celena...)

My opinion on Millerna and Dryden is way more positive.

I really think they would form a great and supportive couple. But they both need a lot of time.

However, I won't be surprised if Millerna relied once again on Allen for a while before going back to Dryden and sincerely falling for him (she is still lost at the end of the series...)

I can imagine her being the new Queen of Asturia, just as Eries

About Van and Hitomi...

It's funny because I can just as easily imagine them never seeing each other again as they will definitely meet one way or another, whatever the form. (single or already married, with or without children from another partner, or even with different ages...) I would bet more on the idea they will meet again. It's how I feel and always felt since my first viewing. But it can also never happen. [ NOTE : If I am not mistaken : Kazuki Akane (director) said in an interview in "Roman Album" Artbook that Hitomi would surely meet Van again. But as they shared a "youth love", they need to grow up and mature before truly going back to one another. ( Please take this information with a grain of salt because I lost the translation many years ago... ) ] Some elements make me question a lot on their non or hypothetical reunion :

Their last dialogue (based on subtitles of Japanese dub)

Time Flow (which doesn't seem to be the same on Gaea and Earth...)

Van’s royal status.

( Their last dialogue ) H - I want to see this world with you, Van. But can I stay ? I love Gaea and Fanelia... V - If you want it, so do it. As long we would share the same feelings, we can see each other again. ( Hitomi cries and gives him her pendant, telling him ) " I will never forget you, even when I will be a grandma. I will never forget you. " (I never get why she gives him her pendant before leaving Gaea...) I'm maybe wrong but I always felt that Hitomi thinks she will never meet Van again, or if : only with a big age difference between them. What does she mean by "grandma" ? That she will go on with her life, probably marry another man, have children, become a grandmother ? Or just an old lady ? It keeps remind me about Hitomi's grandmother and Leon’s story... ( Time Flow )

Too many questions run through my head on this part...

I wonder if we can even define a temporal correspondence between Gaea and Earth. (the more I try, the more I think this story element doesn't follow a strict rule... ) If we stick to chronological events : > it seems Leon met Hitomi's grandma 2 times : 1) A first one (picture above) - Hitomi’s grandma is around 15. - About Leon : No precise idea... Except he is an adult. No direct mention of his wife and his children. 2) A second (Leon’s search for Mystic Valley and meeting with Isaac / Dornkirk) - We know at that point - for sure - Leon is married to Encia and already has Allen. [ In his discussions with Allen, Leon never mentions Celena. " I get married and became father by obligation. I tried to live denying who I was. But men always wish to escape from destiny others impose on them. When I saw this young woman the second time... I realized I loved Encia... and you too, Allen..." ] I guess Leon died 15 (gaean) years before the events of the story. - Leon meets Hitomi’s grandma just before his death and is surprised to see her " like in the past ". He concludes : " I see... Here is the secret of Atlantis... The Power of Wishes..." He gives the pendant to Hitomi’s grandma, telling her : " Wishes become reality. No matter the distance, they transcend time and space." It seems to imply that time has passed for him but Hitomi’s grandma (still 15) is the materialization of his desire to see her, as he knew her. (Not her real appearance on Earth, on that moment.) I tend to think Grandma was not 15 when she received the pendant. Another fact which makes me lean towards this hypothesis : > If Grandma really received the pendant at 15 and told her daughter about her experience when she was still a little girl, then : why did she give the pendant to Hitomi and not to her own daughter ? A part of me wonders if she received the pendant when she was already a grandmother and gave it right away to Hitomi. (But it's just my own hypothesis...) This part of the story leaves me with many questions :

How old was Leon when he met Hitomi’s grandma the first time ? Was he already married to Encia ?

How old was he on the second meeting ?

How old really was Hitomi’s grandma on the second meeting ?

Whatever the answer, it seems time passes quicker on Earth than on Gaea.

But this topic remains an enigma for me... (Van’s royal status)

Moreover, "Hitomi living by Van's side" means sharing her life with a royal figure (and huge responsabilities) of a land she doesn't really know by the way... She, who just wanted to live a simple life... What a pressure for her... Van felt the same at the beginning of the series : he never wanted to be King and always clearly aspired to a simple life. I think he would truly understand her need for time to adapt. But it's clearly a situation that requires lot of compromises... There are plenty of possibilities ! [ > PART 4 ]

#escaflowne #Escaflowne Voice Meme #Thoughts #timeflow

10 notes · View notes

oscopelabs · 4 years ago

Text

Isn’t Everything Autobiographical?: Ethan Hawke In Nine Films And A Novel by Marya Gates

When asked during his first ever on-camera interview if he’d like to continue acting, a young Ethan Hawke replied, “I don’t know if it’s going to be there, but I’d like to do it.” He then gives a guileless shrug of relief as the interview ends, wiping imaginary sweat off his brow. The simultaneous fusion of his nervous energy and poised body language will be familiar to those who’ve seen later interviews with the actor. The practicality and wisdom he exudes at such a young age would prove to be a through-line of his nearly 40-year career. In an interview many decades later, he told Ideas Tap that many children get into acting because they’re seeking attention, but those who find their calling in the craft discover that a “desire to communicate and to share and to be a part of something bigger than yourself takes over, a certain craftsmanship—and that will bring you a lot of pleasure.”

Through Hawke’s dedication to his craft, we’ve also seen his maturation as a person unfold on screen. Though none of his roles are traditionally what we think of when we think of autobiography, many of Hawke’s roles, as well as his work as a writer, suggest a sort of fictional autobiographical lineage. While these highlights in his career are not strictly autofiction, one can trace Hawke’s Künstlerromanesque trajectory from his childhood ambitions to his life now as a man dedicated to art, not greatness.

Hawke’s first two films, Joe Dante’s sci-fi fantasy Explorers with River Phoenix and Peter Weir’s Dead Poets Society with Robin Williams, set the tone for a diverse filmography filled with popcorn fare and indie cinema in equal measure, but they also served as touchstones in his development as person drawn to self-expression through art. In an interview with Rolling Stone’s David Fear, Hawke spoke about the impact of these two films on him as an actor. When River Phoenix, his friend and co-star in Explorers, had his life cut short by a drug overdose, it hit Hawke personally. He saw from the inside what Hollywood was capable of doing to young people with talent. Hawke never attempted to break out, to become a star. He did the work he loved and kept the wild Hollywood lifestyle mostly at arm’s length.

Like any good film of this genre, Dead Poets Society is not just a film about characters coming of age, but a film that guides the viewer as well, if they are open to its message. Hawke’s performance as repressed schoolboy Todd in the film is mostly internal, all reactions and penetrating glances, rather than grandiose movements or speeches. Through his nervy body language and searching gaze, you can feel both how closed off to the world Todd is, and yet how willing he is to let change in. Hawke has said working on this film taught him that art has a real power, that it can affect people deeply. This ethos permeates many of the characters Hawke has inhabited in his career.

In Dead Poets Society, Mr. Keating (Robin Williams) tells the boys that we read and write poetry because the human race is full of passion. He insists, “poetry, beauty, romance, love—these are what we stay alive for.” Hawke gave a 2020 TEDTalk entitled Give Yourself Permission To Be Creative, in which he explored what it means to be creative, pushing viewers to ask themselves if they think human creativity matters. In response to his own question, he said “Most people don’t spend a lot of time thinking about poetry, right? They have a life to live and they’re not really that concerned with Allen Ginsberg’s poems, or anybody’s poems, until their father dies, they go to a funeral, you lose a child, somebody breaks your heart, they don’t love you anymore, and all of the sudden you’re desperate for making sense out of this life and ‘has anyone ever felt this bad before? How did they come out of this cloud?’ Or the inverse, something great. You meet somebody and your heart explodes. You love them so much, you can’t even see straight, you know, you’re dizzy. ‘Did anybody feel like this before? What is happening to me?’ And that’s when art is not a luxury. It’s actually sustenance. We need it.”

Throughout many of his roles post-Dead Poets Society, Hawke explores the nature of creativity through his embodiment of writers and musicians. Often these characters are searching for a greater purpose through art, while ultimately finding that human connection is the key. Without that human connection, their art is nothing.

We see the first germ of this attraction to portray creative people on screen with his performance as Troy Dyer in Reality Bites. As Troy Dyer, a philosophy-spouting college dropout turned grunge-band frontman in Reality Bites, Hawke was posited as a Gen-X hero. His inability to keep a job and his musician lifestyle were held in stark contrast to Ben Stiller’s yuppie TV exec Michael Grates. However in true slacker spirit, he isn’t actually committed to the art of music, often missing rehearsals, as Lelaina points out. Troy even uses his music at one point to humiliate Lelaina, dedicating a rendition of “Add It Up” by Violent Femmes to her. The lyrics add insult to injury as earlier that day he snuck out of her room after the two had sex for the first time. Troy’s lack of commitment to his music matches his inability to commit to those relationships in his life that mean the most to him.

Reality Bites is also where he first positioned himself as one of the great orators of modern cinema.” Take this early monologue, in which he outlines his beliefs to Winona Ryder’s would-be documentarian Lelaina Pierce: “There’s no point to any of this. It’s all just a random lottery of meaningless tragedy and a series of near escapes. So I take pleasure in the details. You know, a quarter-pounder with cheese, those are good, the sky about ten minutes before it starts to rain, the moment where your laughter become a cackle, and I, I sit back and I smoke my Camel Straights and I ride my own melt.”

Hawke brings the same intense gaze to this performance as he did to Dead Poets Society, as if his eyes could swallow the world whole. But where Todd’s body language was walled-off, Troy’s is loud and boisterous. He’s quick to see the faults of those around him, but also the good things the world has to offer. It’s a pretty honest depiction of how self-centered your early-20s tend to be, where riding your own melt seems like the best option. As the film progresses, Troy lets others in, saying to Lelaina, “This is all we need. A couple of smokes, a cup of coffee, and a little bit of conversation. You, me and five bucks.”

Like the character, Hawke was in his early twenties and as he would continue to philosophize through other characters, they would age along with him and so would their takes on the world. If you only engage with anyone at one phase in their life, you do a disservice to the arc of human existence. We have the ability to grow and change as we learn who we are and become less self-centered. In Hawke’s career, there’s no better example of this than his multi-film turn as Jesse in the Before Trilogy. While the creation of Jesse and Celine are credited to writer-director Richard Linklater and his writing partner Kim Krizan, much of what made it to the screen even as early as the first film were filtered through the life experiences of Hawke and his co-star Julie Delpy.

In a Q&A with Jess Walter promoting his most recent novel A Bright Ray of Darkness, Hawke said that Jesse from the Before Trilogy is like an alt-universe version of himself, and through them we can see the self-awareness and curiosity present in the early ET interview grow into the the kind of man Keating from Dead Poets Society urged his students to become.

In Before Sunrise, Hawke’s Jesse is roughly the same age as Troy in Reality Bites, and as such is still in a narcissistic phase of his life. After spending several romantic hours with Celine in Vienna, the two share their thoughts about relationships. Celine says she wants to be her own person, but that she also desperately wants to love and be loved. Jesse shares this monologue, “Sometimes I dream about being a good father and a good husband. And sometimes it feels really close. But then other times it seems silly, like it would ruin my whole life. And it’s not just a fear of commitment or that I’m incapable of caring or loving because. . . I can. It’s just that, if I’m totally honest with myself, I think I’d rather die knowing that I was really good at something. That I had excelled in some way than that I’d just been in a nice, caring relationship.”

The film ends without the audience knowing if Jesse and Celine ever see each other again. That initial shock is unfortunately now not quite as impactful if you are aware of the sequels. But I think it is an astute look at two people who meet when they are still discovering who they are. Still growing. Jesse, at least, is definitely not ready for any kind of commitment. Then of course, we find out in Before Sunset that he’s fumbled his way into marriage and fatherhood, and while he’s excelling at the latter, he’s failing at the former.

As in Reality Bites, Hawke explores the dynamics of band life again in Before Sunset, when Jesse recalls to Celine how he was in a band, but they were too obsessed with getting a deal to truly enjoy the process of making music. He says to her, “You know, it's all we talked about, it was all we thought about, getting bigger shows, and everything was just...focused on the future, all the time. And now, the band doesn't even exist anymore, right? And looking back at the... at the shows we did play, even rehearsing... You know, it was just so much fun! Now I'd be able to enjoy every minute of it.”

The filming of Before Sunset happened to coincide with the dissolution of Hawke’s first marriage. And while these films are not autobiographical, everyone involved have stated that they’ve added personal elements to their characters. They even poke fun at it in the opening scene when a journalist asks how autobiographical Jesse’s novel is. True to form, he responds with a monologue, “Well, I mean, isn’t everything autobiographical? I mean, we all see the world through our own tiny keyhole, right? I mean, I always think of Thomas Wolfe, you know. Have you ever seen that little one page note to reader in the front of Look Homeward, Angel, right? You know what I'm talking about? Anyway, he says that we are the sum of all the moments of our lives, and that, anybody who sits down to write is gonna use the clay of their own life, that you can’t avoid that.”

While Before Sunset was shot in 2003, released in 2004 and this monologue refers to the fictional book within the trilogy entitled This Time, Hawke would take this same approach more than a decade later with his novel A Bright Ray of Darkness.

In the novel, Hawke crafts a quasi-autobiographical story, using his experience in theater to work through the perspective he now has on his failed marriage to Uma Thurman. Much like Jesse in Before Sunset, Hawke is reluctant to call the book autobiographical, but the parallels to his own divorce are evident. And as Jesse paraphrased Wolfe, isn’t everything we do autobiographical? In the book, movie star William Harding has blown up his seemingly picture-perfect marriage with a pop star by having an affair while filming on location in South Africa. The book, structured in scenes and acts like a play, follows the aftermath as he navigates his impending divorce, his relationship with his small children, and his performance as Hotspur in a production of Henry IV on Broadway.

Throughout much of the novel, William looks back at the mistakes he made that led to the breakup of his marriage. He’s now in his 30s and has the clarity to see how selfish he was in his 20s. Hawke, however, was in his forties while writing the book. Through the layers of hindsight, you can feel how Hawke has processed not just the painful emotional growth spurt of his 20s, but also the way he can now mine the wisdom that comes from true reflection. Still, as steeped as the novel is in self-reflection, it does not claim to have all the answers. In fact, it offers William, as well as the readers, more questions to contemplate than it does answers.

The wisdom to know that you will never quite understand everything is broached by Hawke early in the third film in the Before Trilogy, 2013’s Before Midnight. At this point in their love story, Jesse’s marriage has ended and he and Celine are parents to twin girls. Jesse has released two more books: That Time, which recounts the events of the previous film, and Temporary Cast Members of a Long-Running But Little Seen Production of a Play Called Fleeting. Before Midnight breaks the bewitching spell of the first two films by adding more cast members and showing the friction that comes with an attempt to grow old with someone. When discussing his three books, a young man says the title of his third is too long, Jesse says it wasn’t as well loved, and an older professor friend says it’s his best book because it’s more ambitious. It seems Linklater and company already knew how the departure of this third film might be regarded by fans. But it is this very departure that shows their commitment to honestly showing the passage of time and our relationship to it.

About halfway through the film Jesse and Celine depart the Greek villa where they have been spending the summer, and we finally get a one-on-one conversation like we’re used to with these films. In one exchange, I feel they summarize the point of the entire trilogy, and possibly Hawke’s entire ethos:

Jesse: Every year, I just seem to get a little bit more humbled and more overwhelmed about all the things I’m never going to know or understand.

Celine: That’s what I keep telling you. You know nothing!

Jesse: I know, I know! I'm coming around!

[Celine and Jesse laugh.]

Celine: But not knowing is not so bad. I mean, the point is to be looking, searching. To stay hungry, right?

Throughout the series, Linklater, Delpy, and Hawke explore what they call the “transient nature of everything.” Jesse says his books are less about time and more about perception. It’s the rare person who can assess themselves or the world around them acutely in the present. For most of us, it takes time and self-reflection to come to any sort of understanding about our own nature. Before Midnight asks us to look back at the first two films with honesty, to remove the romantic lens with which they first appeared to us. It asks us to reevaluate what romance even truly is.

Hawke explores this same concept again in the 2018 romantic comedy Juliet, Naked. In this adaptation of the 2009 Nick Hornby novel, Hawke plays a washed-up singer-songwriter named Tucker Crowe. He had a big hit album, Juliet, in the early ‘90s and then disappeared into obscurity. Rose Bryne plays a woman named Annie whose longtime boyfriend Duncan is obsessed with the singer and the album, stuck on the way the bummer songs about a bad breakup make him feel. As the film begins, Annie reveals that she thinks she’s wasted 15 years of her life with this schmuck. This being a rom-com, we know that Hawke and Byrne’s characters will eventually meet-cute. What’s so revelatory about the film is its raw depiction of how hard it is for many to reassess who they really are later in life.

Duncan is stuck as the self-obsessed, self-pitying person he likely was when Annie first met him, but she reveals he was so unlike anyone else in her remote town that she looked the other way for far too long. Now it’s almost too late. By chance, she connects with Crowe and finds a different kind of man.

See, when Crowe wrote Juliet, he also was a navel-gazing twentysomething whose emotional development had not yet reached the point of being able to see both sides in a romantic entanglement. He worked through his heartbreak through art, and though it spoke to other people, he didn’t think about the woman or her feelings on the subject. In a way, Crowe’s music sounds a bit like what Reality Bites’s Troy Dyer may have written, if he ever had the drive to actually work at his music. Eventually, it’s revealed that Crowe walked away from it all when Julie, the woman who broke his heart, confronted him with their child—something he was well aware of, but from which he had been running away. Faced with the harsh reality of his actions and the ramifications they had on the world beyond his own feelings, he ran even farther away from responsibility. In telling the story to Annie, he says, “I couldn’t play any of those songs anymore, you know? After that, I just... I couldn’t play these insipid, self-pitying songs about Julie breaking my heart. You know, they were a joke. And before I know it, a couple of decades have gone by and some doctor hands me... hands me Jackson. I hold him, you know, and I look at him. And I know that this boy. . . is my last chance.”

When we first meet Crowe, he’s now dedicated his life to raising his youngest son, having at this point messed up with four previous children. The many facets of parenthood is something that shows up in Hawke’s later body of work many times, in projects as wholly different as Brooklyn’s Finest, Before Midnight, Boyhood, Maggie’s Plan, First Reformed, and even his novel A Bright Ray of Darkness. In each of these projects, decisions made by Hawke’s characters have a big impact on their children’s lives. These films explore the financial pressures of parenthood, the quirks of blended families, the impact of absent fathers, and even the tragedy of a father’s wishes acquiesced without question. Hawke’s take on parenthood is that of flawed men always striving to overcome the worst of themselves for the betterment of the next generation, often with mixed results.

Where Juliet, Naked showed a potential arc of redemption for a father gone astray, First Reformed paints a bleaker portrait. Hawke plays Pastor Toller, a man of the cloth struggling with his own faith who attempts to counsel an environmental activist whose impending fatherhood has driven him to suicidal despair. Toller himself is struggling under the weight of fatherhood, believing he sent his own son to die a needless death in a morally bankrupt war. Sharing the story, he says “My father taught at VMI. I encouraged my son to enlist. It was the family tradition. Like his father, his grandfather. Patriotic tradition. My wife was very opposed. But he enlisted against her wishes. . . . Six months later he was killed in Iraq. There was no moral justification for this conflict. My wife could not live with me after that. Who could blame her? I left the military. Reverend Jeffers at Abundant Life Church heard about my situation. They offered me a position at First Reformed. And here I am.” How do we carry the weight of actions that affect lives that are not even our own?

If Peter Weir set the father figure template in Dead Poets Society, and Paul Schrader explored the consequences of direct parental influence on their children’s lives, director Richard Linklater subverts the idea of a mentor-guide in Boyhood, showing both parents are as lost as the kid himself. When young Mason (Ellar Coltrane) asks his dad (Hawke) what’s the point of everything, his reply is “I sure as shit don’t know. Nobody does. We’re all just winging it.” As the film ends, Mason sits atop a mountain with a new friend he’s made in the dorms discussing time. She says that everyone is always talking about seize the moment—carpe diem!—but she thinks it’s the other way around. That the moments seize us. In Reality Bites, Troy gets annoyed at Lelaina’s constant need to “memorex” everything with her camcorder, yet Boyhood is a film about capturing a life over a 12-year period. The Before Trilogy checks in on Jesse and Celine every nine years. Hawke’s entire career. in fact, has captured his growth from an awkward teen to a prolific artist and devoted father, a master of his craft and philosopher at heart.

#ethan hawke #boyhood #before trilogy #before midnight #before sunset #before sunrise #reality bites #first reformed #dead poets society #a bright ray of darkness #film writing #film essay #musings #oscilloscope laboratories

140 notes · View notes

linawritesocs · 2 years ago

Note

TEEHEE OKAY SO 16 and 7 for allen, 11 for roland, 13 and 14 for minnie, and 18 for angel >:D

THANK YOU SO MUCH SOL!! and yes, i read that ask about seth and i added him too!

---------------------------------------

16. "if your muse could say one thing to their childhood self, what would they say? would your muse want to meet their childhood self in the first place?"

allen: i doubt that allen would want to see his younger self. thinking about it makes him feel so.. sad, he had to go through a lot when he was a child even though his parents spoiled him. allen wouldn't want to raise his child self's expectations too high, but he also knows that love was his main motivation to keep living for a long time, so if he did meet his child self, then he would tell him to never stop believing that one day he will find someone special.

7. "did your muse have any enemies? playground rivalries? how did that turn out?"

allen: there were some kids who didn't like allen that much and were jealous of him because of how rich he was, so every time he tried to talk to them, they would tell him to go away or they would actually fight him. it's part of the reason why allen is so strong now, he eventually learned to fight back and he got used to dealing with them. also, you can kinda count riley as his enemy, i guess? though allen didn't really hate him back then, he just thought that he was a very weird kid and avoided him.

11. "what expectations were placed on your muse as a child? who had those expectations for your muse? how did your muse feel about them?"

roland: roland's parents are actually kinda similar to riley's parents because they let this guy do anything he wanted and that's why he was such a troublemaker in the past. they never had any expectations for him, they even would be okay with him becoming a bad person because they were just so happy to have a kid. and now roland kinda wishes his parents were at least a bit more strict with him, maybe he wouldn't grow up to become such a cruel and violent person if they tried to stop him. roland is a lot like his parents now, if you think about it, because now he's obsessed with making people like him and he's okay with doing anything they want from him, even if it hurts him and he knows that those people have bad intentions.

13. "what did your muse want to be when they grew up? did they have any childhood dreams, and have they achieved them?"

minnie: little minnie wanted to become a president!! >:D no, when people asked if she wanted to be a princess, she said that it would be too unrealistic because she's obviously not royalty and she's not planning to marry one, she would rather do everything without anyone's help. and about achieving her dreams.. well, uh, at least she becomes seth's vice prefect in the future.

14. "who was a mentor or a hero to your muse as a kid? why did your muse look up to them and what did your muse learn from them? how is that relationship now?"

minnie: the closest thing minnie had to a mentor/hero was her mom and she still respects her a lot. minnie says that her mom was a very admirable and hardworking person before her dad left and that's when her mom lost all hope and motivation. she still loves her mom, however, she's not sure if she wants to go back home, because even though she misses her, she has lost a big part of her life (and it was supposed to be the most fun part of her life, it's her childhood after all) because she was too busy taking care of her and trying to help her get better.. and she's too scared of it happening again. she can't go back home until she's absolutely sure that her mom is doing fine and her brother is okay with taking care of her if something goes wrong.

18. "what's one thing that instantly transports your muse back to their childhood? why?"

angel: it's sugar cookies! angel's older sister liked to bake them often and angel liked to steal them from her when she wasn't looking. also reading outdoors! again, it's because of their older sister, she enjoyed reading in their family's garden more than her room and angel liked to sit next to her while she was reading even though angel found her books boring since there weren't any pictures.

8. "what did your muse do in their free time? How did they entertain themself as a kid?"

seth: oh, he did A LOT of things. he read as many books as he could (mostly fiction and he believed all of it was real), he painted, he played games, he watched movies and videos, he also spent a lot of time online and that's how he learned to do so many things, he just found the info he needed and used it. his sister luna praised him for his work, but she also reminded him not to push himself too hard and she actually found some of his hobbies too dangerous, like there was a time when he accidentally broke his leg when he tried to learn how to dance. he also tried to cut his hair without luna's help once and he ended up injuring himself with scissors and that's why his hair stayed long for so many years, luna refused to let him do it himself and said that she's the only one who's allowed to cut his hair. and whenever seth asked her to help him, she simply said "you look better with long hair, so let's keep it"

#lina plays ask games #friend: sol!#the ultimate simp: allen #the gardening club leader: roland thorn #the mouse girlboss: minnie #a strange but loving dorm leader: angel #the isolated prince: seth

2 notes · View notes

longitudinalwaveme · 3 years ago

Text

Worst Flash Storylines and Plot Ideas of All Time

As you’ve probably ascertained from the general contents of this blog, the Flash is my favorite comic book series. I love the characters and most of the stories. However, just like any series that’s been around for eighty years (counting the Jay Garrick stuff), the Flash does, unfortunately, have some truly terrible stories and plot ideas.

In terms of terrible plot ideas that didn’t completely ruin the surrounding stories:

1. Barry Allen uses the Mirror Master’s mirrors to manipulate Iris into agreeing to start dating him again (Flash #109). Creepy, Barry. Just creepy. The story is great Silver Age fun otherwise.

2. Iris West: meanest woman alive. Iris was, by and large, incredibly awful to Barry up until maybe about a year before their 1966 marriage. Almost every time she shows up in an early Silver Age issue, you will admire her daring and independence (this is good) and be bewildered as to why on Earth Barry would want to spend time with a woman who is constantly calling him slow, lazy, and ambition-less (this is not good). It doesn’t really affect any one issue too much, but when read in a conglomerate, she starts looking really awful. Although as bad as Early Silver Age Iris seems as a romantic interest, she’s got nothing on Silver Age Superman and Lois Lane, the most dysfunctional couple in the DCU.

3. Wally West’s zero-effort code name and costume (Flash #110). It really could not be more obvious how little effort the writers were putting into creating this character. The duplicate origin is also pretty cheesy, but there are enough differences from Barry’s origin for it not to frustrate me. But the name “Kid Flash” and the fact that his first costume was literally identical to Barry’s just feel incredibly lazy. Barry and Wally do have an adorable dynamic in the issue, though, so it’s by no means all bad.

4. Barry Allen waiting an entire year after his marriage to tell his wife that he’s really the Flash. Frustrating and unnecessary; especially since Joan Garrick had been in on her husband’s secret since the 1940s.

5. Iris Allen is FROM THE FUTURE. I both love and hate this idea. It’s so perfectly comic-booky, but at the same time, it opened the floodgates for the Allen family being a confusing, time-displaced mess.

6. The Trial of Barry Allen. This one’s weird. I like many of the individual issues in this arc, and I actually think the last two issues are really great as an ending for Barry Allen’s original run, but this storyline dragged on for waaaaaay too long. There’s a reason I call it the Arc that Never Ends. Also, the titular trial is actually the least interesting part of the entire storyline. His battles with the Rogues and Kadabra are far more interesting.

7. Wally West’s borderline creepy, chauvinistic attitude towards women under Mike Baron (and, to a much lesser extent, William Messner-Loebs). There’s being a hormonal twenty-something, and then there’s going through girlfriends at the rate other people change their socks. Messner-Loebs mostly avoided this issue by making it clear that Wally was under intense psychological stress that was negatively impacting his behavior, but under Baron and in some of his JLE appearances, he comes across as a real creep around women.

8. Kadabra overkill under Mark Waid: I like Kadabra, but when he’s the main villain in like four distinct arcs, it gets to be a bit much. It’s like modern Eobard. He is legitimately written well, though, so he doesn’t drag down any of the stories too much.

9. Pointlessly Dead Rogues: Killing off the Rogues in Underworld Unleashed for no good reason (the rest of the story is great, especially the Trickster).

10. Pointlessly Dead Rogues 2: Electric Boogaloo: The Golden Glider’s pointless death to build up a character who was himself killed two issues later. (The rest of the story is decent.) Also, the treatment of Lisa in general post-Crisis is frustrating, since she becomes considerably more unhinged than she was before.

11. Any time Waid tried to write McCulloch, with the exception of Flash vol. 2 #105 (and even there, he seemed off). It’s like he forgot Evan wasn’t Sam.

12. Apparently, the Top trying to blow up both Central City and half the world makes him a loser? Also, he suddenly hates Piper for no readily apparent reason. (At least the story had some good Piper and Wally bits.)

13. BARRY ALLEN HAS A SECRET EVIL TWIN! DUN DUN DUN! (The rest of the story, where we get to meet a whole whack of interesting future Flashes, is actually pretty good, but whoo boy, the Malcolm reveal feels like it came straight out of a soap opera.)

14. In order for Captain Cold to ANGST, the Golden Glider’s pointless death remained in place for over ten years. It did give us a really, really good Capt. Cold story, at least...but it’s still fridging.

15. Rainbow Raider’s mean-spirited murder by Blacksmith. Poor Roy.

16. Albert Desmond becomes Hannibal Lecter, only twenty times as rude, for a Gotham Central arc that would’ve been terrific without him as the main villain.

17. Owen Mercer is an idiotic child murderer and gets killed by the Rogues. Why was this necessary? (The rest of Blackest Night: The Flash is pretty good.)

18. Josh Jackam-Mardon’s murder. The murder of small children for shock value is pretty gross. Especially since nothing was ever really done with it.

19. Barry’s PARENTS ARE DEEEEAAAAD! (Okay, it’s really just his mom, but still. This is a very frustrating retcon, since originally his parents were alive and well until after his own death.)

20. Albert Desmond was Barry’s jerk coworker; which never impacted the plot or led to anything. As a result, it’s just another frustrating retcon.

21. Sam Scudder murdered someone before becoming the Mirror Master. Yet another Johns retcon that never went anywhere and only serves to darken the Silver and Bronze Age stories after the fact.

22. Flashpoint (a decent story) wiped out a whole bunch of characters I really liked from existence for several years. Evan McCulloch’s still not back.

23. Giving the Rogues metahuman powers doesn’t suit them, on the whole. They work better without them.

24. Roy’s second pointless, brutal death in (I think) Forever Evil.

25. IT WAS MEEEEE, BARRY! After serving as the main villain for like six arcs in eight years, I’m glad that Eobard finally seems to be getting a rest. The level of bad things he was responsible for was getting ridiculous.

26. Sam/Lisa. WHY? (The only time it even kind of worked was in Forever Evil.)

In terms of entire storylines I didn’t like:

1. The Flash: The Most Terribly Written Man Alive. Poor Bart is aged up with no adequate explanation, loses all the traits that made him a likeable character, fights some awful villains, and then is murdered by the badly OOC Rogues. Meanwhile, Inertia goes from an at least somewhat sympathetic villain to a complete psychopath with little explanation, a murder is retconned into one of Captain Cold’s reformed periods, the Pied Piper and the Trickster completely forget that they’re supposed to be reformed, Abra Kadabra inexplicably teams up with the Rogues despite generally being a solo operative, and all of the Rogues act like total morons, willingly following a teenage speedster for no adequately explained reason. UGH.

2. Countdown to Infinite Crisis: Even though Piper and Trickster were probably the best part of Countdown, that isn’t saying much. Both of them are uncharacteristically stupid (especially James), and James is a grade-A jerk to Piper for no reason. Also, both of them continue to forget that they reformed, and then James gets brutally murdered and Piper almost loses his mind. Also, the other Rogues cameo, and continue to act like idiots. Countdown: it really does ruin everything it touches.

Superboy Prime will kill you! He’ll kill you to DEATH! And after you read Countdown, you’ll wish he had killed you to death.

3. The Identity Crisis Tie-In Retcon: So, you know all that awesome character development the Rogues have had over the years? Well, forget all that, because it was all just Roscoe brainwashing them! Which was something he could definitely do before this story! And why did he do this? Why, because Barry Allen, one of the most upstanding men in the DCU, brainwashed him! Also, apparently, the Top had a huge bodycount that we never heard about back in the Bronze Age, because we need even MORE grimdark retcons for our cheerful Silver/Bronze Age history! I like Geoff Johns’ work, I really do....but BOY HOWDY does he need to lay off on the retcons sometimes.

4. Identity Crisis: With the exception of Owen’s introduction and the establishment of the relationship between him and Digger, this story was pretty awful all around. More specifically, as far as the Flash was concerned, it was responsible for Digger’s second pointless death. It also killed off poor Jack Drake and poor, mistreated Sue Dibney, who deserved MUCH better. And the Justice League, including Barry, are A-OK with brainwashing, apparently. Comics are fun!

These last two stories are pretty recent, and they did have some parts I liked, but on the whole I felt they also belonged on the list.

5. The Trickster finally returns! Hurrah! Except it turns out that he’s way more like the Joker now than he ever was before, and he mind-controls the city in a super-creepy way. A very disappointing return for the character, especially since it was set up really well.

6. Forever Evil: Captain Cold becomes a murderous dictator with a stupid Santa Beard, all of the Rogues get horrible costumes, and Sam completes his mutation into Evan-in-all-but-name. There are some good characters bits in the story (even for Cold), but on the whole, I found the story to just be unlikeable and depressing and thought Cold was pretty out-of-character. Poor Commander Cold....

So, what are your least favorite Flash storylines and plot ideas?

#flash comics #flash rogues #dc comics

35 notes · View notes

just-my-fandom · 4 years ago

Text

One After Another (Cisco Ramon x Allen! Reader)

Chapter 1

Table of Contents

Part 1; Reader and Cisco meet their son from the future. Nora and their son admit to why they can’t go back to the future.

Request; Hi yes! Can I request a story? Or two long parts? Where the reader (Barry’s twin sister) and Cisco are married and reader is actually pregnant, and Nora shows up with a boy couple years older than her, and they reveal to be Barry and Iris’ daughter and the boy is reader and Cisco’s son, Dante? You don’t have to if you don’t want! Not forcing!

Tag list; None currently.

. . .

“Are you sure you dont want to know the gender?”

“I’m positive, Ralph,” You nod your head slowly, once, hands at your stomach and holding up your glass cup of (Favorite/Drink), “I mean, it’s not a big deal to me. We’ve already decided on names, Dante for a boy and Nora for a girl, simple,”

“But you guys could have a huge gender reveal party!” Ralph pleas, when Barry gets up to answer the door that was knocked on twice, “You could have party poppers, or have Joe dress up in a diaper!”

“I’ll kill you,” Joe threatens, and you snort, looking over your shoulder when two figures step into the living room, both darting their eyes around the living room as to scan each member of team Flash,

“I’m sorry,” Your brother rubs the back of his neck, brows pinched together as Cisco shifts in his spot beside you, arm along the back of the couch as his free hand held his wine glass- lucky, “Who are you guys?”

“I’m Nora,” The girl hesitates, hands wringing together, “Nora West-Allen,”

Before anyone can question on her last name, the boy next to her shifts, his eyes flicking to you, “I’m Dante,” You feel your chest tighten strangely, “Dante Henry Ramon,”

You feel Cisco cough on his wine, his hand behind you covering his mouth as he looks up at the young male, his brows pinched as his eyes then flicked to yours, “What?”

“I know this sounds super weird!” Nora tosses her hands in front of her, watching as her aunt and uncle stared at each other, before looking back up to her and Dante, “But we need your help,”

“I thought we were done with time traveling,” You sigh, tiredly, Cisco cocking his head in a “seriously?” motion, so you shrugged,

“What-what can we help you with?” Barry stammers, eyes narrowing slightly in thought,

“Dante and I were able to come to the past,” Nora explains, “Which is where we helped you destroy that satellite,”

“Wait, you’re a speedster?” Cisco points to Dante, your son forcing out a nervous laugh and a nod of his head,

“Great,” You murmur, so everyone looked to you, “I lose my speed and my son gains them,”

“Uh, you actually get your speed back after you give birth, Aunt Y/N,” Nora smiles, and watches as your lips pull upwards,

“Seriously?” You punch the air, free hand on your stomach, “Yes!”

“Okay,” Cisco shakes his head, standing up, “You’re telling me that the baby inside her right now,” He points to your bump, then raises his finger to Dante, “Is you?”

“Exactly,” Dante nods, “But I’m from 25 years in the future,”

“So you’re saying,” Barry runs a hand down his face, hand resting at his chin, “You’re my-our daughter,” He gestures to Iris, “And you’re my nephew?” Dante nods,

“I was named after both dads brother and Grandpa Henry,” He explains, looking to Nora, “Nora was named after Grandma Nora,”

“I see it as a win-win,” You grin, Cisco gesturing a hand out to you in disbelief,

“How are you so calm?”

“We’ve seen weirder things than this,” You remind, grasping the edge of the couch to stand, “Get me up, I can’t stand watching you drink wine while I’m stuck with (favorite/fruit) juice,”

“Why don’t we go to STAR Labs,” Iris speaks up, watching Cisco take your hand and raise you to your feet, allowing you to fully get a look at Dante, “We can figure all this out there, let you guys explain,”

. . .

“This is...”

“Weird,” Cisco finishes Barry’s sentence, looking to his brother in law who nods, both watching the two speedsters race around the speed lab, a mix of purple and yellow lightning blending with (favorite/color),

“Man I really miss my powers,” Your lips purse in a pout, hands curled under your stomach as your eyes easily kept up with the two speedsters,

“Can you really believe that’s our son up there?” Cisco murmurs, your eyes flicking to him, smiling at the grin on his face, “No matter how weird this is, it’s cool as hell,”

“I just can’t believe that we have a son,” You glance up to the running speedsters, “I was pretty sure Baby Ramon would be a girl,”

“Okay, we both know I was routing for a boy,” Cisco reminds, and you laugh, head tilting back with a grin.

“We need to be responsible with this,” Barry speaks up, your smile faltering as you look to him, “We need to find a way to send Dante and Nora back, and fast,”

“Yeah, I kind of agree,” Cisco purses his lips, “Even though this did ruin the “find out the gender at birth” scheme we were going for,”

Two figures speed to a stop behind you, your body turning to look to Nora and Dante both grinning at each other, them then looking to their parents in front of them,

“Okay guys,” Caitlin steps up, ordering the two to give her a hand, where she pierces their finger with a needle, “This is gonna link us up with your biometrics,”

“And these scrunchy things,” Cisco nods, moving in front of Dante to clasp the device around his wrist, “Is gonna analyze your connect with the Speed Force,”

Both teenagers nod as they both in sync look at their devices, grinning at each other before sprinting back around the speed lab,

“And what does it say?” Barry asks Caitlin, who types up the screen in front of her,

“A quick analysis of their DNAs show patterns that are familiar to all of you,”

“I knew it,” You nod, pursing your lips, “They’re our kids,”

“Well of course, Dante’s got my amazing hair,” Cisco twirls a lock of his hair, grinning when you shake your head.

“What about them being stuck here?” Barry continues, watching the quick interaction between his sister and best friend,

“Everything’s normal,” Cisco mutters, his own eyes on his screen as you move next to him, “They both have the speed force in their systems, they’re just... not going fast enough to open up the portal back to their timeline,”

Barry nods as his phone vibrates, glancing down with a short huff, “Damn, I was supposed to meet Singh at CCPD an hour ago,”

“Be safe,” You demand, your brother nodding before he speeds off, allowing you to look back up at the two speedsters, smiling lightly before looking back down to Cisco, his eyes looking up to meet yours before his hand presses to your bump, winking,

. . .

“I can’t believe I’m wearing the same tachyon enhancer my dad used to meet Supergirl for the first time,” Nora grins in excitement to her cousin next to her, who allowed Cisco to make adjustments to the same advice on his chest,

“I know, right?” Dante nods, gesturing to the device, “Mom had one too. But just the thought of them meeting Supergirl- cool as hell,”

“Alright,” Caitlin laughs, stepping back from Nora, “You’re both all set,”

“Did all these suits shrink?” The team looks up to Barry pulling at the bottom of his old Flash suit, your nose scrunching, “And why does it smell so bad?”

“Because it’s the one you used when you swam against King Shark, Uncle Barry,” Dante snickers, Barry nodding in realization,

“We should get going,” Barry presses his lips together as Dante and Nora frown to each other, Nora nodding in agreement, sadly,

“Then this is goodbye,” Dante says, clapping his gloved hands together as he glances to you, where you smile, softly, “It’s good to see you again, mom. I guess I’ll see you in a minute,”

“It was great meeting you,” You nod, “Even if it was six weeks too early,”

Dante laughs, glancing to Cisco, who holds up a pointed finger, “Answer this for me. Do I keep my long gorgeous locks even when I’m in my fifties?”

Dante holds up a finger to his lips, Cisco’s eyes widening in terror as he looks to his wife, where you laugh and snort against your hand, watching as Dante moved to the side of Barry Nora wasn’t at.

You wait, patiently, when the three speedsters rush off, looking over when Wally speeds up next to you, his hand at your arm, warningly, “Did they already leave?”

“Yeah, why? What’s up?” Iris asks, Wally shaking his head as he releases you,

“We have to stop them,”

Your eyes flick in alert to Cisco, flinching in alert to the explosion heard from behind the doors,

. . .

“Sorry I was too late,” Wally leans forward on his elbows, looking up to Nora on the labs bed, Dante and Barry both holding ice packs to their heads, “We got their Gideon to scan Nora and Dante’s blood samples,”

“Whatd she find?”

“Negative tachyons,” Wally sighs, your brows pinching as you glance to Cisco next to your chair,

“Negative tachyons?” Cisco questions, “So what, instead of speeding you up they slow you down?”

Wally nods, warily, Cisco frowning and huffing, “Well damn I was just joking, that’s a real thing?”

“Yeah. Ava and her team at the time bureau have encountered them before, but no one knows where they come from or how they’re generated.”

“Like Dark Matter for the space time continuum,” Barry nods,

“Exactly. They’re keeping Nora and Dante from entering the Speedforce,”

“Okay. I’ll work on this, you guys go help Ralph with the Gridlock crime scene,” Barry demands, ordering Dante and Nora to stay at the labs,

. . .

“We have to tell him,” Dante leans against Cisco’s desk as he watches Nora stare at the group photo of their family, his eyes staring down at the floor, “Uncle Barry at least deserves to know,”

“Nora,” Barry speaks up, so both Dante and Nora looked up at him, “What happens to me? In the future?”

Nora, Dante and Barry all stand in front of Gideon’s screen, the bright words, “FLASH VANISHES IN CRISIS,” shining in their faces,

“How long?” Barry orders, Nora tapping the screen so a new news article shined, saying, “25 YEARS LATER- FLASH STILL MISSING,”

Barry clenches his jaw, Dante clearing his throat, “You never come back,”

Barry glances back to look at him, then Nora, “How old were you when it happened?”

“I was born a few years before you vanished, I was at the age where I don’t have memories, but Dante, was,” Nora answers, shortly,

“Youre not stuck here, are you guys?” Barry realizes, Dante glancing down at his feet before looking up at his uncle,

. . .

“So you’re not stuck here,”

“No, we’re not,” Nora glances up to look at Iris, who sits in the seat in the corner of the West living room,

“So the reverse tachyons in your systems?”

Dante looks to Caitlin, “Were put there because of us,”

“Are you kidding?” Cisco asks, leaning on the couch beside Ralph, “Do you know how many credit card points I just blew just trying to get rid of those negative tachyons? I just bought a brand new spectral tachyeometer when I could’ve taken Y/N on our Fiji get away,”

“Why didn’t you guys tell us about this before?” Iris asks, “And why tell us when Y/Ns not here? She will be thrilled to know Dante gets to stay longer,”

“We can’t tell Y/N,” Barry instructs, Cisco looking up at him with pinched brows,

“And why not?”

Nora lifts her wrist to show the hologram of the same news letter from earlier, Cisco sitting up to read it more clearly,

“Barry never returns?” Cecile gasps, looking over to Cisco,

“Y/N doesn’t even know I disappear,” Barry explains, “And she can’t know. Not now,”

“And why not?” Cisco repeats, “You just want to throw it at her last minute as if we don’t know it’ll happen years in advance?”

“We don’t know what the news will do to her,” Barry reasons, gesturing to Dante, “She could go into early labor, complications can happen due to stress,”

“When uncle Barry does vanish later, mom falls into depression,” Dante tries, Cisco looking to him, “The realization of her losing not only Grandma Nora and Grandpa Henry, but uncle Barry disappearing, it takes a huge effect to her,”

“That’s why you came here,” Joe points to Nora, “To see your father,” Then Dante, “And your mothers brother before he vanished,”

“Well,” Iris stands up, Nora glancing up to her, “Looks like Dante and Nora will be able to train some more, after all,”

Dante and Nora look to grin at one another, Barry announcing to meet at STAR Labs in the next hour, “We’ll make an excuse as to why Dante and Nora are able to stay longer,”

. . .

“Babe? We’re home,”

You look up from the stove with pinched brows, stepping in the entrance of the kitchen so you see not only Cisco, but Dante,

“We?” You question, Dante pressing his lips together with a wave, “Were you not able to get him and Nora home?”

“Actually, yes,” Cisco nods, setting down his jacket, “But, Barry has decided to let them stay longer, train them more on their powers,”

“Will it not affect the future?” You ask, glancing up at Cisco when he moves up to you,

“Barry’s got it all under control,” Cisco nods, “Dont worry,”

“Okay,” You sigh, hands at his torso as you look to Dante, “Well. Welcome home I suppose. Why don’t you go get settled in the guest room, since, you know. Your bedroom is still a nursery,”

Your son laughs, nodding, “Yeah. Thanks mom,” You watch as he disappears down the hall, glancing up at your husband of three years,

“Mom,” You repeat, Cisco smiling as your eyes flash with warmth, “I’m never gonna get used to it,”

“Two more months,” Cisco reminds, hands slipping from your waist to your stomach, hands under your shirt, “And we get to meet baby Dante,”

You laugh, nodding, hands sliding around his neck to tangle in his hair, “I love you,”

“Mm, not as much as I do,” Your husband teases, leaning forward so his lips met yours, hand sliding to your back to pull you closer, so your stomach pressed to his,

You release a sigh against his mouth, smiling as you lean back, “C’mon, I made your favorite,”

179 notes · View notes

backtothestart02 · 4 years ago

Text

Husband and Wife - 1/1 | RC - 5x19

A/N: Soooo long overdue, but here it is finally, @westallen94! (Another of your fics for staying spoiler-free for me in our DMs - this one is for doing it for 5x16. Many more to come.) The make-up sex following the convo where they uh...make-up, lol, in 5x19. Half this fic is directly pulled from the scene in the ep, fyi. Tagging @wanderer765 too b/c I know you wanted to see this.

Enjoy!

...

Synopsis: 5x19 - Barry and Iris make up: an extended version of their last scene in the episode.

...

“We should talk.”

Those words, which should’ve been a beacon of hope for Barry, still left him on edge and tense all the way home. The last time they had ‘talked’, their voices had risen, hurtful words had been spoken, and it left with them going their separate ways, madder and more hurt by each other than either thought would’ve been possible before.

How would this time be any different?

For starters, Barry realized Iris was much softer with him. It probably had something to do with the unwanted tension between them, but it made him respond with equal softness. Both of them wanted to be okay again. They just had to find a way through their currently buried anger and hurt to the love waiting for them on the other side.

At the doorway to their loft, they each hesitated, waiting for the other to walk in first. A strained laugh seeped out of them when they both tried to enter at the same time.

Barry cleared his throat. “You.” He gestured, even as she tried to say the same.

She went inside and took a seat by the table. He followed suit, and they sat in silence for a few achingly long seconds before finally Iris spoke up.

“I just wanted my family back together.” She paused. “Even if that meant doing something drastic like…time-travel.”

“Yeah, I get that. More than anyone,” he offered, recognizing even as he said it that he’d been the one to tear their little family apart.

“You were right about Thawne,” Iris continued. “I think he’s manipulating Nora. But I also believe him. Nora is back here in our time.”

Barry sighed, looking away, trying to gather his thoughts. Then he sat up in his chair and turned to his wife.

“I was wrong. I shouldn’t have left Nora, or- made that decision without you. Whatever it is that we have to figure out, we should’ve done it together. Family doesn’t leave family.”

“Well, I mean you weren’t the only one to make that mistake. I shouldn’t have gone to the future without you. I shouldn’t have left you like that. I mean, that was the same thing that I got so mad at you for.”

He hadn’t really been mad about that. After all, he deserved her not returning his calls for the way he had talked to her earlier. But she’d always been so loving and forgiving and grounded. He knew he couldn’t take away her part in their rift any more than he could take away his own.

“But…I know now that we can’t solve this if we don’t stick together,” she concluded.

He nodded seriously, but the worst of it was over. He couldn’t help the smile that slipped through.

“I can barely solve things with you, so without you…”

Her smile was brilliant.

“Are we making jokes already? Really?”

He leaned in, sifted his fingers through her hair, and pulled her to him, capturing her lips in a single breath. The kiss stirred their senses, made them feel like they were truly home again.

“Let’s bring our kid home.”

Iris hesitated before meeting his eyes.

“There’s something else that I wanted to tell you. Barry, the way that Thawne looks when he talks about Nora… I’ve only ever seen that in one other person. You.”

Worry crept into him again.

“What are you saying?”

“I think Thawne might actually care about Nora.”

Barry did his best to keep any panic from showing on his face. He’d always believed Thawne cared about no one but himself. Yet here Iris was saying he might care about Nora, their daughter. There was no one Barry trusted more than Iris.

And if Thawne did care about Nora and wasn’t just manipulating her for his own personal gain, that meant Nora probably sensed it and would lean into it after her father had abandoned her in the future.

Before he could fall any deeper down the rabbit hole and blame himself even more for acting so rashly, Barry felt Iris’ hands on his face. He heard her calling his name gently but firmly and finally looked at her.

“What?” His brow furrowed.

“She’s our daughter. Yours and mine. However Thawne feels about Nora won’t matter once you tell her you love her and you forgive her. Okay?”

It took a moment for him to react, and when he did, it wasn’t with a nod or a smile or some sort of verbal cue. He moved in quickly, feeling her hands tighten on his face when he kissed her. Then he picked her up and carried her towards the stairs. In an instant they were upstairs and undressing madly.

Once fully naked, Barry kissed Iris again, pulled her close to him, and picked her up, moving with her onto the bed. They didn’t speak, didn’t say one word. Barry didn’t know whether this could be labeled as make-up sex or if it was the result of Iris reassuring him about Thawne and Nora’s potential bond. What mattered was they were together, and they were desperate for each other, and for this moment at least, everything was okay between them again.

Hovering over Iris on the bed, Barry looked down into her deep, brown eyes. His own eyes had darkened with lust, and the tip of his tongue snuck out between his lips as his gaze traveled down her face to her parted lips waiting for him.

Iris’ hands tightly clutching Barry’s hair, she yanked him down to her for another smoldering kiss. Her body arched up against his as her calf slid over the back of his thigh, her toes digging into the sheets. She gasped when she felt his thumb on her nipple as he tugged at her bottom lip with his teeth. She trembled in his arms.

Barry’s hand covered one dark breast as his kisses moved across Iris’ jaw and down her neck.

Iris hissed when he sucked her sweet spot.

“Barry.”

She squeezed his body with her legs and rubbed her pussy against his sweaty skin.

“Shit, Iris.”

Moans escaped her as she bit her bottom lip hard and dragged her nails down his back, pushing her head further into the pillow and breathing heavily.

Barry’s cock was heavy on her stomach, and she was aching for it deep inside her. Still, he would not stop his ministrations – his mouth on her breasts, swirling, flicking tongue on her nipples; sweet, surrendering kisses down her torso, and his hands gripping her hips as he pressed a string of kisses over the top of her dark mound.

Iris’ chest started to heave when she felt his breath inside her. Her fingers held tightly to his sweaty locks of hair, her only thing left to hold onto after he lifted her legs up and held them firmly down on top of his shoulders.

He found her clit and vibrated his tongue around it in swirling circles, driving her pleasure up so she was gasping for air and nearly levitating off the bed. She tried to say his name, any form of it really, but she was overwhelmed with pleasure. Her eyes rolled back, and she released her grip on his hair to clutch at the sheets on either side of her head instead.

She was close, so unbearably close, and Barry knew it. He was close too.

Without warning, he rose up, keeping her calves resting on his shoulders and pushed his cock into her dripping hole. At once, they both moaned loudly. Then Barry pulled back a little just to push in again. The steady push and pull of his thrusts drove them both to ecstasy. And when he sped up, fucking her to drive him over the edge, she cried out his name. Tears seeped down her cheeks as she came unraveled beneath his grip, Barry’s guttural groan finally pushing her over the edge.

“Fuuu-” Barry growled.

Then he released her and fell onto the bed beside her, complete putty in her hands when she reached for him moments later.

“That was make-up sex, right?” he asked, breathing heavily.

“Whatever it was, was fucking fantastic.” Iris chuckled darkly.

He turned his head to look at her and reached for her hand to kiss the back of it.

“I love you, Iris West-Allen.”

“I love you, husband.”

Chills raced down his spine. He kissed her ring finger, the diamond brushing his nose.

“Wife,” he said, stirring her possessive nature.

Re-energized, she moved on top of him, her eyes wide with excitement. Barry guided her steadily, and she hissed as her head tipped back when he found his way inside her again.

“Damn straight.”

...

*will post on AO3 and FFnet when beta’d.

#westallen #fanfiction #westallen fanfiction #backtothestart02 fanfiction #roll credits series #husband and wife #tf 519 #for westallen94

45 notes · View notes

dccomicsimagines · 5 years ago

Text

Preventing the Fall - Bart Allen x Reader - Part Two

Part One

Requested by Anon - Hello, can you make a part 2 to preventing the fall ? (The one with Bart Allen) I loved it

Requested by Anon - Part two of ‘preventing the fall’

Requested by Anon - Preventing the fall part 2?? Xx❤️

***

Bart wrung his hands as he sat on the bench next to Jay Garrick. His leg bounced at super-speed. Jay didn’t tell him to stop. In fact, Jay hadn’t said a word since he told Bart they were going to pick you up from the airport.

Two years had passed since you came to live with the Garricks and Bart. Living with you was great until you went away. Bart shivered, closing his eyes when he remembered the day you got the acceptance letter to go to an art school in San Francisco. He felt betrayed. You never told him you even applied to such a school and that you were planning on leaving. Part of him was terrified you would become the monster he had worked so hard to prevent you from becoming. At least that was what he thought he was terrified of.

However, you left anyway. You came back for breaks, but it wasn’t the same.

Bart glanced at Jay again, his foot bouncing even quicker now. Of course, you weren’t coming back for a break this time. His heart ached as he thought about something to say to get Jay to stop looking so moded.

He opened his mouth to comment about the weather, but someone spoke first. “Sorry, I’m late. I was in the back of the plane,” you said, appearing in front of them with a backpack and suitcase in hand.

Jay looked up, smiling at the sight of you. “(Y/N).” He got up and hugged you tightly. “I’m so glad you’re here.” You hugged him back with tears in your eyes. Bart watched, slightly jealous that you got such a reaction out of Jay. You met his eye from over Jay’s shoulder. One of your hands reached out toward Bart. He eyed the hand before slowly taking it and hugging Jay from behind.

Jay’s shoulders shook, a sob slipping out. His arms tightened around you. You squeezed Bart’s hand. Bart sighed. Even though old feelings contradicted otherwise, Bart realized he was glad you had come home.

***

Bart laid in his bed, strangely motionless. He normally buzzed around his room until he was tired enough to pass right out, but today he was trying to be quiet for Jay. Jay went to bed right after dinner.

He sighed, rolling onto his side to stare at his wall. You put Jay in a better mood, something Bart couldn’t do. He closed his eyes. At least that confirmed you didn’t become a monster while you were gone.

A soft knock on his door made him flinch. He zoomed to the door and opened it to find you. “Yes?” You jumped slightly in surprise before relaxing.

“Can I come in?” you whispered, biting your lip. Bart saw you were wearing his old pajamas. The ones he gave you to wear so long ago. “I don’t want to be alone.” He looked into your eyes and couldn’t refuse.

“Sure.” He zoomed back into his room to turn on a lamp and lounge on his bed with a comic in hand. Pretending to read, he watched as you entered and closed the door behind you.

You came over to sit at his desk. He swallowed hard while you looked around the room. “I didn’t think you would have a Space Trek 3016 poster.”

“Well, Gar gave it to me. It’s crash,” Bart mumbled, still eyeing you.

“I only watched a few episodes, but Gar seems happy.” You bit your lip, finally meeting Bart’s eye. “I heard about the Outsiders. You’ve been doing a good job.”

“Thanks.” His patience snapped suddenly and Bart zoomed off his bed to stand in front of you. “What are you doing in here?” He narrowed his eyes, annoyed with small talk.

Your eyes widened in surprise at Bart’s reaction. “I guess I just wanted to make sure you are okay. With Joan gone...I just wanted to know if you’re okay, because...I don’t think I’m okay.” A tear slipped down your cheek. Bart’s stomach dropped to his feet.

“You left.” Bart’s voice became almost unrecognizable even to himself. The anger and betrayal floated to the surface. He couldn’t stop himself. “You left us and ran off to some school. You don’t have the right to be moded. We get to be moded, because we were here!” Bart shouted the last word. You flinched away from him.

“I didn’t leave. I called all the time, and Joan wanted me to go. Jay wanted me to go. I couldn’t stay here, Bart. I’m sorry.” You gasped through a sob, unable to turn away from him.

“Shut up!” Bart swung around to kick a stray shoe lying on his floor. It flew at super speed and smashed into the wall. A dent was left behind, but Bart didn’t care.

You stiffened, covering your face with your hands. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here.” Sobs shook your body. Bart watched you, panting heavily. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

“What the hell is going on?!” Jay snapped, barging into the room. He froze when he saw you crying and Bart standing over you. “Bartholomew Allen, what have you done?!”

“It’s not his fault.” You got to your feet. Wiping your tears with your sleeve, you started toward the door. “I came here and bothered him. I’m sorry.”

Jay trapped you in a hug before you could leave. He whispered something in your ear that Bart couldn’t hear. The shock from his outburst was quickly replaced by jealousy and anger again.

You left Jay’s arms and went back to your room. Once your door closed, Jay turned to Bart. “I know you’re grieving, Bart, and I know you feel (Y/N) betrayed you by going to school far away, but you don’t need to act out now.” He ran a hand through his hair. “We’re all hurting from losing...” He took a shaky breath. “Joan, but that’s it, we’re all hurting. So I ask you to try to keep it under control.”

Bart’s shoulders sank as the anger left him. He couldn’t be mad at Jay. “Yes, I’ll try to be more crash.”

Jay smiled. He clapped a hand on Bart’s shoulder. “Thank you. Now, go to bed. We have to be up early tomorrow for the...funeral.” Jay squeezed his shoulder before leaving the room. Bart ached to see him shuffle away like an old man that Bart often forgot he was.

“Moded,” Bart mumbled, closing his door again. He paced the room at super speed for what felt like hours before eventually passing out on his bed.

***

Bart sighed, looking up at the cloudy sky above as the preacher rambled on. The funeral had been nice, but much too long for Bart’s standards. Besides, you were distracting him the whole time with the pretty outfit you were wearing. He knew it was wrong to be distracted at a time like this and he was angry with you, but he couldn’t stop himself.

“You alright, hermano?” Jaime asked once the preacher finished and people started to go back to their cars.

“Feeling the mode.” Bart watched Jay lay his hand on the coffin. You were beside him with your arm through his. He was glad you were comforting Jay when he couldn’t. Joan’s death was hard. He didn’t know how to feel. It hurt, but he knew it was coming. He was grateful Joan’s death was more peaceful than it had been in the future he came from.

“It’s nice that (Y/N) could make it.” Jaime crossed his arms.

“She is really pretty like you said,” Traci whispered with a frown. “I can’t believe she killed you in the...old...future.” She wrinkled her nose. “What do we call that? Bart’s future? Old future? Past future?”

Bart sighed. “We can call it nothing.” He turned away, heading back to the car. His stomach hurt.

“Hey, wait up.” Jaime ran to catch up with him. “You’re not still mad at (Y/N) for leaving, are you? This is not the time for pettiness, ese.”

“Petty?” Bart snapped, zipping around to face Jaime. Traci played with her phone several paces away. “Why the hell would you say that now?”

“Because you are being petty, hermano. (Y/N) went off to school a year and a half ago and ever since you have been mad at her.” Jaime shook his head. He narrowed his eyes. “I know you felt betrayed, but you are in love with her. The whole time she was gone, you were always dropping her name, saying you were mad. You weren’t mad though. You just missed her.”

“Shut up!” Bart threw his hands up in the air. His entire body vibrated. Jaime took a step back. “So maybe I was moded when she left, but it wasn’t because I missed her! It’s because I’m scared to death that she’ll become the monster from the future! The one who killed you, and hundred more!”

Jaime’s eyes went over Bart’s shoulder. Bart turned at superspeed before stopping cold when he saw you and Jay standing behind him. Jay shook in anger. The blood drained out of your face. Your eyes were so wide. Bart’s heart shattered to pieces.

“Bart, now is not the time for this,” Jay snapped, coming toward him. “I understand this is hard. It’s hard for all of us, but this is not the time nor place to bring this up.”

A blush of embarrassment came over Bart’s cheeks. His eyes never left you. You stared back at him, frowning and shaking your head. “I can’t believe you haven’t figured it out,” you whispered, causing Jay to look back at you.

“(Y/N), go to the car.” Jay gestured to the car. You shook your head.

“I’ll walk.” You turned away and started walking away. “I need to be alone for a while.”

Jaime ran after you, trying to talk to you. “I’m feeling the mode. What is she talking about?!” Bart exploded, vibrating. Barry and Iris noticed something was happening. Iris stayed with the twins while Barry came over.

“What’s wrong?” Barry asked. Jay explained it to him. Bart couldn’t listen to them as he watched Jaime try to talk to you. He saw you turn to Jaime with tears in your eyes. You held up your hand, gesturing to Bart. Jaime’s shoulders slumped and he came back to Bart’s side. You kept walking off until you disappeared into the woods on the edge of the cemetery. “Jay, take Bart home. I’ll see if I can catch up with (Y/N),” Barry said, snapping Bart’s attention back to him.

Jay nodded, looking very tired. He put a hand on Bart’s shoulder. “Come on, Bart. Jaime, you and your girlfriend can come too.” They headed to the car. Bart glanced over his shoulder to see Barry disappear into the woods after you. He frowned, moded over what he hadn’t figured out.

***

Hours passed as slowly as years for Bart. Jaime and Traci left to go look for you after the first hour when Barry called to say he lost you. Jay sat in the kitchen, staring down at a cup of coffee. It had gone cold long ago, but Jay didn’t notice. Bart buzzed around the house, messing things up only to clean them up again.

“Bart, stop,” Jay said when Bart buzzed to pull all the dishes out of the cupboard again. “We need to talk.” Bart zoomed to sit opposite of Jay, fidgeting.

“I know. I’m already feeling the mode.” Bart zoomed over to dump out the old coffee and start a new pot. He went back to his seat before Jay could blink. Jay shook his head. He hadn’t used his speed ever since Joan died. “I know I shouldn’t have blown up at the funeral. I’m sorry.”

Jay sighed, narrowing his eyes. “We should have talked about (Y/N) before...but now is a better time as any.”

Bart watched the coffee drip in the coffee pot. His leg bounced, humming against the floor due to how fast he was moving. “We don’t need to talk about (Y/N). It doesn’t matter. We’re crash.”

“No, you’re not. You haven’t been since (Y/N) left.” Jay tapped his coffee cup. He started to take a drink, but stopped when he realized how cold it was. “(Y/N) wanted to leave and it wasn’t because of you.”

Bart’s blood went cold. “How could it not be? She didn’t tell me until she got the letter.” His hands shook, becoming a blur. “Wally had died only a few months before and then she was going too. Maybe I was too annoying or I scared her off?”

Jay smiled tightly. “I knew you weren’t upset because you were worried (Y/N) would turn out to be the person she was in your future.” The coffee machine beeped. Bart zoomed, taking Jay’s cup. He dumped the cold coffee in the sink and refilled it. He put it in front of Jay and sat back in his seat. “Thank you, Bart.” Jay reached over to pat Bart’s arm. “I don’t know what I’d do without you, son.”

“Probably drink cold coffee.” Bart’s heart glowed at being called son. Jay laughed for the first time in a long time. The sound was music to Bart’s ears.

“Probably.” Jay took a sip. His eyes lit up at the taste. “This must be the special coffee (Y/N) brought back from San Francisco. She gave us some for Christmas and promised to bring us some more next time she came home.” He frowned. “Of course, I hoped it wouldn’t be for something like this.”

Bart bit his lip. He waited for Jay to continue, but Jay just stared into his coffee cup. The front door opened. Bart jumped to his feet and dashed out only to stop in his tracks. You glanced at Bart before taking off your coat. “I’ll see you later, (Y/N),” Dick Grayson said from the doorstep. You nodded at him and closed the door.

“What was that about?” A lump grew in Bart’s throat. An odd feeling came over him as he thought about you and Dick Grayson together. He blinked, realizing this was the first time that he saw you and didn’t feel betrayal rotting his gut.

You sighed, giving that amused look he didn’t realize he missed so badly. His eyes watered. “He gave me a ride home after he found me at where the cave used to be.” You hung up your coat. Jay burst into the room and trapped you in a hug.

“Thank goodness. You gave us a scare, (Y/N).” Jay kissed the top of your head. You patted his back.

“I’m sorry.” You met Bart’s eye over Jay’s shoulder. “I needed some time to think.”

“It’s alright now that you’re back.” Jay pulled away to study your face. “I’m going to heat up some of those casseroles people dropped off.” He glanced over at Bart. “The two of you need to talk and I want you to figure out what’s going to happen from now on. Whatever the problem is, you’re going to fix it.” Jay went back into the kitchen.

You looked at Bart for a moment. Bart’s heart skipped a beat. It had been a long time since you did that to him. Back in the days before he got to know you, he always thought about how deadly beautiful you looked in the future. The moment that always popped into his head was when you killed Blue Beetle. Now, all he could think was the day you said you were coming to live with him and the Garricks permanently.

“Well, I guess we can sit down.” You went to the couch and sat. Bart raced to sit next to you, but made sure to leave a generous amount of space between you. He glanced at you, waiting. However, you kept staring at your feet.

Bart’s patience ran thin. He tapped his leg on the floor fast enough for it to hum. A minute passed so slowly, Bart was convinced he had aged three years. His words burst out of him. “What did I not figure out?”

You sighed, eyeing him carefully. “That I had to leave. Why I had to leave.” A tear slipped down your cheek. Bart had to stop himself from brushing it away with his thumb.

“You didn’t have to leave. That was the point. I was moded when you left.” Bart jumped to his feet, vibrating. “And you didn’t tell me! You didn’t say anything until you knew you were going!”

“I had to leave because I knew about your future!” Bart froze, shocked you shouted back at him. “I knew about what I would become, and how I killed Jaime! I couldn’t stay here knowing that!” More tears ran down your cheeks. “Damn it, Bart! How could you be so blind? Joan and Jay knew why I needed to leave, but you never figured it out! You just stayed mad, and I lost my best...friend.” You slumped against the couch, sobbing hard.

Bart shivered, sinking down onto the couch next to you. His knee brushed yours. You didn’t react. “How did you find out? I was so careful not to spill the beans.”

A shaky gasp escaped you. “I overheard Jay telling Joan the day you first brought me here after I...almost shot that man.” You bit your lip, wiping away tears with the back of your hands.

“You knew the whole time?” Bart ran his hand through his hair. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I didn’t want this.” You gestured between yourself and Bart. “The tension, I didn’t want you to act like I was a ticking time bomb. You never did until I went away, then it happened anyway.” You grabbed a tissue from the coffee table to try and mop up your face.

The blood drained from Bart’s face. “I’m totally feeling the mode.” He groaned, rolling his head against the back of the couch. “I’m sorry, (Y/N)...for everything.” He jumped to his feet, pacing because he couldn’t keep still. “I thought maybe you couldn’t stand to be here with me. I thought you hated me, and you left to get away from me.”

“No.” You shook your head. “I do...care about you, Bart. I needed time.” You gulped for air, a sob threatening to spill out again. “I know now that I won’t become who I was in your future-past or whatever we call it. Dick helped me see that.”

Bart wrinkled his nose. His entire body vibrated. “Dick? You call him Dick now?” The odd feeling from before returned and he realized it was jealousy.

“Yes, he wanted to apologize to me, and make sure I got home safe.” You blinked at Bart, frowning in confusion. “Don’t tell me you’re jealous, Bart.”

“No. I’m crash.” Bart waved his hand. “Nope, not me. Don’t even know what that is.”

You snorted. “Sure.” Getting to your feet, you held out your hand for Bart. “Can we go back to how things were before I left?” Your eyes pleaded with him.

Bart’s heart melted into a puddle. He took your hand tightly. “Crash.” He zoomed, kissing your cheek so fast that you wouldn’t notice. You laughed.

“Good, because I missed you.” You pulled Bart toward the kitchen where the smell of the casseroles floated from. “You know you could have come visit me anytime. It’s only like a minute run for you.”

Bart hummed, not sure what to say. He squeezed your hand. For the first time in a long time, he felt at home again.

#bart allen #bart allen x reader #bart allen imagine #impulse #impulse imagine #impulse x reader #kid flash #kid flash x reader #kid flash imagine #dc comics imagines #dc reader insert #young justice imagine #young justice imagines #yj imagines

388 notes · View notes

kitkatt0430 · 4 years ago

Text

the flash and the problem of the pointless sacrifice

It starts at the end of season one. Eddie Thawne picks up his gun and shoots himself, dying to protect Iris, Barry, and the rest from his dangerous descendent Eobard Thawne.

Season two ends with its reversal, Barry creating the Flashpoint Timeline that, though its eventually set back to 'normal-ish', leaves a time remnant of Eobard Thawne alive and well (if running scared from the Black Flash/Hunter Zolomon as a speed zombie) to wreak havoc once more.

And I get it. The Reverse Flash is one of the Flash's most iconic villains - killing him off in season one couldn't be permanent. But apparently Eddie's suicide could be and the message that sends is... unfortunate.

Eddie is an extremely kindhearted person and we see that about him again and again throughout season one. He always has a smile for the people he cares about and he's an absolutely terrible liar. But we also know that he was bullied as a child/teen and since he never brings up the subject of his own family, it's likely he doesn't have a support structure outside of Central City. And the support structure he does gain in Central City was Barry's support structure first. There's not a single person we see Eddie spend time with in season one that didn't know Barry first.

And that's a big part of what wears him down over the course of the season. When both Barry and Eddie need support, Barry gets it first. Barry's secrets are treated as something Eddie has to prioritize over his relationship with Iris. Barry's loved Iris longer than Eddie's known her and while Iris loves Eddie, she also loves Barry and she's infatuated with the Flash - not realizing he's Barry's alter ego. Over the course of the season, Eddie constantly tries to connect with Barry and Barry constantly holds back. Their relationship is never equal. And that's what leaves Eddie open to Eobard's manipulations with the future news article.

And Eddie tries to make his own future with Iris anyway. But even with Iris accepting his proposal, Joe makes it clear he'll never truly accept their relationship and Eddie's sense of self worth is at an all time low. And that's the state of mind he's in during the fight in the pipeline. When Barry chooses not to let Eobard go after all, it puts them all in a position of potentially having to deal with this fight between the two speedsters just... never ending. It puts Iris in danger because Barry cares about her and because while Eddie is Eobard's ancestor... Iris isn't. From Eobard's point of view, Eddie's the only one who isn't expendable and from Eddie's point of view... he's the only one who is expendable.

His answer is suicide. And his death immediately erases Eobard from the timeline, but its also implied to have contributed to the re-emergence of the singularity. But at least Eobard was dead.

At least, until Barry created Flashpoint at the end of season 2. Presumably Eddie was alive in Flashpoint, but we never see him. Maybe he stays in Keystone instead of transferring to Central City. Never meets Iris. Never gets worn down to feel like he's not good enough. Never kills himself.

When Flashpoint is reset, Eddie's dead again but now his sacrifice has been rendered moot because Eobard's still alive as a time remnant.

It sets a rather nasty precedent for the show.

Season two also ends with a suicide. This time it's Barry's.

Much like Eddie the year before, Barry's been worn down. He had his place in his family's come into question, with Henry leaving at the start of the season and Wally's arrival midway through the season. His back is literally broken by the stress of fighting Zoom and despite everything he's suffered for the city, his honor is called into question the instant a different speedster takes to thievery. He has to give up his speed to protect Wally only for that to immediately put Caitlin in danger. His colleagues are brutally murdered by Zoom to teach him a lesson. His father finally comes back for good, only to be murdered in the same place as Barry's mother.

Honestly, there is no question (to my mind anyway) that Barry's suicidal at the end of the season. And because Barry his time remnants are fundamentally the same person at the moment of their split, the time remnant Barry creates is suicidal as well.

That time remnant tears himself apart to stop Zoom's plan to destroy the multi-verse. His very existence also lures in the Time Wraiths that take Zoom away, transforming him into the mindless Black Flash. All at the cost of a version of Barry killing himself, going unlamented and forgotten. But at least the multi-verse was safe.

Until the Red Skies Crisis when the multi-verse is actually destroyed and rebooted.

Another sacrifice rendered pointless.

HR does not kill himself in season three. But he deliberately places himself in a position to be killed in Iris' place. He arrives on the heels of a scandal on his Earth where he's been revealed to have been taking credit for someone else's work - with that person's blessing, but its still ruined his reputation. He comes wanting to reinvent himself, but from the start he's not the person the team really wants. They want Harry. Cisco wants Harry. He gets it hammered in that his strengths aren't appreciated by the team because he's not a scientist. His efforts to help STAR Labs are dismissed entirely. The only reason any attempts to help his museum venture succeed are because changing the future might save Iris.

It's not that HR is disliked, but he's left acutely aware that he's considered 'a bit much' and that he's always going to come second to the people he puts first. In fact, Tracy's probably the only one who truly and completely appreciates HR as he is.

So HR swaps places with Iris, knowing that he's going to die when he does. And while HR doesn't kill himself, there's an argument to be made that what he did was still suicide by proxy.

And this is a sacrifice that sticks, because Iris West is the love interest. She's never going to be killed off for real.

Three seasons ending with a suicidal sacrifice. And only one of them doesn't have that sacrifice reversed or nullified. Unfortunately, that's not the end of it either.

Harry leaves his Earth at the start of season four. His relationship with his daughter, which was shown to still be strong in season three, has somehow deteriorated to the point where she's thrown him off her support team and he comes to Earth-1 to reconnect with the found family he forged during season two. He's in the midst of a crisis and his understanding of himself as a parent is unraveling. And then DeVoe calls the other pillar of Harry's self identity into question, because Harry's genius isn't enough on its own anymore. He's not smart enough to out think DeVoe and his Earth-1 family is suffering. So Harry creates his own downfall, burns out his own brain trying to be the smartest. And he sacrifices his last moments of lucidity to find the answer to stopping DeVoe. In doing so, Harry puts Barry in the position to save Ralph's life.

But DeVoe still gets the last laugh when he causes the STAR Labs satellite to come falling down, nearly destroying the city and creating Cicada in the process.

But unlike previous seasons, Harry doesn't die. He gets some of his intelligence back and immediately gets exiled by the writers back to Earth-2 due to the massive problems with ableism this show has. But that's a different conversation.

Season five is probably the only season not to include a suicidal character who's kills themselves. Nora dies when she erases herself from the timeline by accident, but we know now she'll be back in the back half of season seven, along with her new brother. But one out five seasons not taking a suicide (or similar action in Harry's case) and painting it as a noble - but ultimately useless - gesture is rather... bad as far as track records go.

Season six has the alternate Barry Allen - implied to be the Barry from the 90s show - who dies in place of this show's Barry. To save the multi-verse and let this other Barry go home to his wife, something he'll never have with Tina again. And the multi-verse is destroyed anyway.

Season seven opened with Nash Wells, whose usual method of investigating mysteries and hoaxes led to the Anti Monitor's freedom and the multi-verse's destruction. His home Earth destroyed so he can never go home. He's confronted with an alternate version of his dead daughter, who can barely stand his presence. He begins to hallucinate alternate versions of himself and is possessed by the Reverse Flash and all his research on how to create a new Speed Force - to try to make up for some of the damage he's caused - points to a single conclusion. The only way to make things better is for him to die.

Instead, Nash's death immediately makes things worse. The artificial speed force is flawed and Barry destroys it in the very next episode. And while one could argue that Nash's death allowed Barry to save Iris and ultimately restored the original Speed Force, it doesn't negate the fact that Nash's suicidal state of mind wasn't addressed by the people who called him friend. And his legacy was immediately deemed a failure and destroyed.

While I wouldn't say the show is glorifying suicide, there's a subtle and incredibly troubling repetition in the story telling on the show that frames suicide as the right decision in certain circumstances. Even though what's being sacrificed for often comes to naught. And it's incredibly uncomfortable, seeing it all laid out like this.

I'm still really not sure what to make of it all, but I've got no doubt it ties into the show's ableism with regards to mental health issues. Because every time its someone whose mental health has been brought down to a low point who commits these acts of 'sacrifice' and while the team grieves these losses... they don't seem to learn from them either. Because it just keeps happening.

(Think I missed something? Please, by all means, add on.)

#the flash #the flash meta #tw suicude #some of the story telling trends on this show can be a little disturbing when you take a closer look at them #discussing several characters on the Flash who commit suicide (or make self-destructive decisions) across the seven seasons #ableism on the Flash

12 notes · View notes

austarus · 4 years ago

Text

Harrison Wells (Eobard Thawne) x Reader - Integrated Revelations (2/3)

**A/N: The picture/edit/gif does not belong to me.

*Tbh, I was attempting something and I don’t I feel like I’m getting really bad at writing Eobard.. I’m trying ;-; bear with me things will deviate from the plot. Please don’t forget to comment, like, and reblog. It means a lot to content creators of all kinds!

Part 1 Part 3

Word Count: 4687

You shut your eyes, upon reopening them you soundlessly shifted over to your boyfriends’ side as he spoke with a raspy, chilling voice. Like a Queen should to a King. “I mean, who are you really?” Eobard questioned skillfully; one leg crossed over the other. You glanced between both men before your blank gaze settled upon Barry.

“Dr. Wells, what are you doing?”

Eobard’s demeanor did not falter at Barry’s question. The villainous speedster dropped his leg from where it was and sat forward. He hunched himself, elbows pressed onto the edges of the armrests. “None of it adds up. The interference with the comms, the speed equation, the Time Wraith.” You pressed your lips into a thin line as Eobard shook his head while continuing. Barry eyed the dark-haired scientist closely. “That's what we call them. Time Wraiths. Scary, aren't they?” Eobard chuckled darkly to himself. “I thought, ‘Oh, no, a Time Wraith has found me.’ But then I thought, ‘No, no, no.’ You know what you're doing.” He snapped for emphasis. You dropped your gaze, running your fingers over the back of his chair before deciding to take a step back and lean against the pebbled wall. No matter how many times you were in the Time Vault, it always unsettled you the amount of power and knowledge and secrets Eobard can keep within it “Now, the Time Wraith is after someone who's travelled through time...” Eobard tilted his head at Barry, “and doesn't know what they're doing.” A smirk remained plastered on the Wells imposter while Barry’s eyes flickered up at you momentarily. His apprehensive green hues met Eobard’s icy gaze.

Your speedster boyfriend’s words clicked. This version of Barry doesn’t have the faintest idea of how to manipulate time travel like Eobard. He can easily get caught by those monsters. You crossed your arms as you observed the two speedsters. One in control- potent, as always, and the other rendered helpless in those meta-dampening cuffs. Unlike the other version we met. The one who knows about my powers, who denied me an answer.

Barry looked incredulously at Eobard. Choking out a nonchalant laugh, Barry glanced away while feigning his innocence, but the two of you knew this was not your Barry Allen. “Dr. Wells come on. It's me. It's... it's Barry. I don't...” Barry reached out to touch the cool metal of the cuffs. You wanted to step forward to help him out, but you couldn’t find it in your heart to trust this version of Barry either. At least this one’s not giving me headaches.

“Really? You are good.” Eobard puffs out a curt laugh, shaking his head one more and clapping mockingly. “You are good, and I would believe you, except that…” The scientist sped off from his chair, icy blue eyes with a piercing gaze as he towered over Barry. You took a step forward at Eobard’s sudden display with a frown grazing your features and eyes widening a fraction. Intimidation exuded from the older speedster. But your eyes quickly flickered to see Barry’s response. Nothing. “Nothing? I move like this, you barely flinch.” Barry glared up at Eobard with such abhorring emotions in his eyes. “You know who I am. Don't you?” You watched Eobard taunt Barry as he stepped back beside you, leaning back as well. Tension hung thickly in the air. Barry crinkled his nose at you and Eobard then attempted to phase his hand out of the cuffs but to no avail. He should have known better than to try that with those cuffs on. You cleared your throat as Eobard snickered at the younger speedster. “Oh! And you're from the future. Do you know how I know that? Because I haven't taught my Barry Allen how to phase through objects... yet.”

Barry laughed mirthlessly dismissing your existence, but the speedster knew he was defeated. He wasn’t as skilled in the art of deception as you and Eobard were. “Let me out of here, Thawne.”

You heard Eobard sigh at the utterance of his name. Rolling your eyes at his dramatics, you eyed the speedster while he pushed off the wall. “I know. You're upset.” Eobard dragged his white chair to take a seat once more. The genius deceiver coyly grinned at the scarlet speedster, bound to the wheelchair. “But it does me good to hear that name again. Now, onto the bigger question.” He fumbled with his fingers, anticipation- ideas- possible reasons on exactly why The Flash had decided to take another detour to the past whirled inside his mind.

“Why are you here?” You piped up unfurling your arms, instead tucking your hands into the back of your pants pockets. “You’re from a different time obviously, couldn’t you figure out your own problems from there? Why bother looking for solutions in a past you clearly despise?” Barry refused to answer you. “Or do you always need to run to Dr. Wells whenever little Barry Allen gets stuck?” Eobard glanced back at the venom dripping from your words. The hard look on your face, the sheer coldness settling within your eyes at his archnemesis. It made his heart swoon yet… Eobard felt worried at just how frigid you can be. How easy it was for you to turn off those positive emotions that you carry on inside. Would you do the same to him?

“Because I want to go faster,” Barry’s sneered, an abrupt response after your malicious tone caused Eobard’s head to snap back at towards him. “And he’s the only one who can teach me.” The forensics scientist forced out the statement, a steely expression on his face. Barry narrowed his eyes from you down to Eobard, a hint of curiosity in those hazel-greens. “You're the only one who's figured out the equation. The Speed Force. You've manipulated it. How did you do that?”

Before you could say anything, Eobard stood up with crossed arms, whispering to himself. “No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. No.” The older speedster locked his gaze at the wall, running the tips of his fingers over the pebbled half-spheres. Curiously, you quirked an eyebrow before your eyes met with Barry’s, who only slightly shrugged at you. Eobard circled Barry, like a predator circling its next kill. Instead… you sensed something was off by the way his shoulders tensed. “You'd only come here if something went wrong.”

You uttered; a wave of uneasiness flooded over you, “What-but-”

“-If you're still alive, then that means...” Eobard turned to Barry with a grimace. He was one the other side of the room now. You were between the two men, a good distance between each. Your fingers fidgeted as they now remain beside you, heart clenching that all of this wouldn’t work. Dread began stirring inside you, fueling the headache you head earlier, and a sense of insecurity snatched your heart. So, the other Barry was onto to something, he just didn’t want to tell me… I don’t-We don’t get our happy ending. “I haven't beaten you. If you're still alive... that means my plan fails.” Eobard swallows thickly as the words escaped him, avoiding your gaze as a pained expression crossed his face. I don’t go home. I don’t end up taking her with me, making her my bride like I promised all those nights ago. Living far away together from The Flash robbing me from anything else that brings me joy. He blinked a few times, his moment of realization that he would fail turned to pure ballistic intentions in milliseconds. “And if my plan fails,” you shuddered at Eobard’s frustration flourishing as he kicked the chair over. You felt stunned in your place. You felt small. You hated whenever he was in these rage fits, especially when they were about Barry. “I don't get to go home, and if that's the case, well, then-” Eobard had aggressively rounded in quick strides to the restrained speedster, a phasing hand slicing through the air to strike Barry.

“No, no, no! Hey, hey, hey! It's the opposite! It's the opposite!” Barry shouted rapidly to stop the futuristic speedster, holding a hand out to protect himself from Eobard’s phasing hand. His other arm reflexively pulled at his restraint, wishing he could phase out of the cuffs and manifest his speed again. “It... you trick me. You harnessed my speed. We turn on the accelerator to create a path for you to go home. I go back in time. You go back to yours.” The scarlet speedster nodded his head in your direction as he spoke up again before letting his eyes meet Eobard’s heated gaze. You dare say that you saw a hint of sadness in the young speedster’s eyes when he looked at you. “She goes with you. You won. Yeah.” Barry took a breath in, muscles taut at the prospect of his enemy killing him before he got the chance to stop Zoom and his reign of terror.

“Eobard, stop.” You didn’t know when during the exchange you had found yourself right by his side, maneuvering yourself to stand in front of him, promptly blocking his view of Barry. “Eo, look at me.” He did. The dark-haired man gave you a dangerous look, jaw clenched while you reached out to hold onto his raised arm. Your fingers touched his wrist gently. “Breathe,” you spoke intently, searching his eyes for any sign of reason that he normally held. “Anger blinds even the strongest of people- the smartest of people, including speedsters.” You told us that. The phasing hand subsided as you lowered it with ease. Eobard shut his eyes, his hand slipping into yours as he reopened them. The speedster knew what you were saying, knew that he needed to rationalize before acting- before he executed this version of The Flash.

A disposable version, if it means anything to you.

Barry ran a hand over his opposite shoulder, his arm was beginning to numb in place, but his eyes never left the two of you. He clenched and unclenched his hand to circulate the blood. As volatile as Harry is back in his time, Eobard was on equal par. The only difference being that you never knew exactly when the Reverse Flash would bite back, or to what degree. Barry made no comment when you linked hands, but the brown-haired CSI caught the flicker of change in Eobard’s eyes. The yellow speedster’s anger dissipated behind those baby blue hues as his gaze softened for you. Barry observed how you and Eobard deeply cared for each other. All over again. He almost felt bad for the events that would surely lead to Eobard’s removal from existence and your forever broken heart. How the two of you would be forever separated. Almost.

You were conflicted. Hurt. Frustrated. You dad no clue what to think. Barry’s your best friend. He wouldn’t… intentionally hurt you, would he? But then a way future version of Barry seemingly dismissed your existence and your concerns over Eobard. Now this version treated you with the same dismissal, if not with even more loathing. Both versions clearly knew you were with the man in the yellow suit, but… Your heart is a kind one, no matter how damaged or twisted it could get. Deep down, you knew that whatever version of Barry you meet along the way, he’d always be your best friend. Even if Eobard did despise the young speedster and his existence.

“Then why are you here? Why are you here now?” The yellow speedster reverted to a more defensive stance; eyes now locked with Barry’s. You turned to look at this version of your best friend.

“Because when I got back, a singularity had formed. And now the only way for me to learn how to get faster and stop the singularity from happening was to come here. Now.”

“Well, that's good to know.” Eobard sighed to himself, icy hues glancing to yours as a twisted smile greeted his features. Barry looked up at you for any indication that you would help get him out. You pursed your lips regretfully with hesitation. Eobard walked over to his chair, setting it back before pacing once more in the Time Vault. The heroic speedster was increasingly growing uncomfortable on the cold ground. “There's just... Just one thing that occurs to me. I don't need you. Do I?” You watched him turn to Barry, dismissing the look you shot him. “Not this you certainly. Oops. You probably should've thought of that before you came back here. Shame...” A malicious laugh left Eobard as he slowly approached Barry’s helpless form, his fingers twitching to use the powers of the negative speed-force to end Barry Allen. “You ran all the way back here just to die.”

“You can’t be serious,” you hissed at the man you love, side-stepping in front of Eobard. The corner of his lips twitched in an unsettling manner; amusement slightly present in his eyes. “You promised me you wouldn’t hurt him!” A quiet air of relief left Barry. He didn’t… He never knew of the promise you had made with Eobard. That his life wouldn’t be in the hands of death in any way. But he could use this.

“This isn’t your Barry,” Eobard protested in a low voice.

“This is a future version of my best friend, whom you promised me you wouldn’t hurt, maim, and/or kill! Our promise includes any version of Barry Allen.” Eobard chewed on the inside of his cheeks at your words, a sour planted itself on his face when he glanced once more at Barry. The man in the yellow suit knew he would honor his promise to you in the end. He keeps his word, after all.

“You heard her, I’m untouchable.” A cocky smile crossed Barry’s face, shooting it right at Barry. You threw a glare at him, shut the fuck up Barry. I’m the only one holding him back from phasing a hand right through your heart. Any version of you. For once, think before you do something like speaking, especially when you aren’t in a state to be taunting an evil speedster that has you bound. “But by all means, you kill me... Barry... this Barry, your Barry, he learns it all.” He gestured to you and Eobard. Dread filled Eobard as Barry continued to tout out words confidently. The speedster had carefully planned this out, just in case he was to get caught by Thawne. “There's a hidden letter telling him how it ends, how to beat you, everything. Anything happens to me; you never make it back home.” Barry turned to you with stoically cold eyes. “She never sees you again.” Take those words as you will, Thawne. Your hands fell limply beside you as you Eobard clenched his hands into tight fists. You heard your heart drum loudly in your ears at the prospect of this Barry’s threat. With heavy feet, you padded away from Barry before turning to eye him with cautious eyes. Eobard’s face was devoid of any emotion as he took a seat while you settled beside him. “Go on. Kill me, Thawne. See how this all ends.” Eobard held his breath, weighing his options. Pros and cons. Gains and losses. “Now, you're gonna help me get faster.” Resting a hand on Eobard’s shoulder you squeezed it, trying to use your touch to convey ease into him while Barry smirked triumphantly at the two of you. Eobard’s face twitched in silent fuming.

“Dr. Wells, Ms. (L/N),” Gideon’s voice cut through the deadly second of silence, “the time wraith has appeared.” The AI broadcasted a screen of Cisco and Caitlin running to the Pipeline, entering the cell that Hartley resides in and sealing it. Its grotesque body swayed in the air. Half-formed limbs scratching the glass as your friends screamed for any indication that this thing can be yoinked away and out of existence.

“Barry! (Y/N)! Dr. Wells!” Caitlin shrieked as the Time Wraith pounded on the glass, shattering a segment, but not piercing through into the cell. Ghostly fumes emitted from the hauntingly decaying figure. Cisco and Hartley were fumbling with the gauntlets while another piercing scream echoed throughout that sector of the labs.

“Oh my god, we have to do something! It’s going to kill them!” You whipped your head to the two of them. They’re the ones with speed.

“You let it track you here,” Eobard turned with a pointed look at Barry.

Barry shook his restraints, with an anxious look, “Get me out of here! Come on!”

Eobard sneered in a gruff tone, “If that thing comes after me and messes with my plans, you're all dead.”

“Now’s not the time to be making death threats, especially when he’s the one with max speed-force in his veins!” You reprimanded Eobard, who threw you a look while rolling his eyes at you before setting Barry free. Standing up, Barry felt his speed return to him as he shook his numbed limb. The two men nodded at each other, yellow and red electricity crackling in the air. Eobard wrapped a lithe limb around your waist, his other hand firmly grasping the back of his wheelchair. Both speedsters sped out of the Time Vault in a torrent of lightning.

***

“I'm sorry that we didn't come sooner,” Barry apologized, for the 2nd time as he stepped quickly into the Cortex with you trailing behind him and Eobard. His heart was heavy at the prospect of his presence here was causing his friends more trouble than he intended. Caitlin and Cisco took their respective seats at the main Cortex monitors while you and Dr. Wells lingered a bit behind.

“It's all right, Inky's gone. I don't see anything,” Cisco breathed out, eyes focused on the computer screen. He flipped through all the camera footage before turning his head to Dr. Wells. “You know, we'd be toast if wasn't for Hartley and those gauntlets.”

“Well, self-preservation is a very strong motivator, but he stays in the cell until I say otherwise,” Eobard starkly dictated, subtly out of breath from the little run around the labs to the Pipeline. Your eyes raked over him worriedly. He didn’t have all his speed, especially since he used up a good amount on Christmas. Eobard’s body’s still feeling the side effects of his speed-force in a state of flux.

Cisco turned back to the monitors, “Okay, I'm just saying.”

“So, the two places this thing has attacked are here and CCPD.” You took your tablet and ran scans over the Labs then the city for an abnormal particle signature. You also had Gideon secretly run a scan over Barry’s lab, just in case it decided to make a reappearance there. Particularly ones of tachyons or from the speed-force.

“The common denominator being...” Caitlin trailed off, swiveling her chair towards Barry.

“Me. Yeah, I know. I just... I don't know why.” Barry let out an exasperated sigh.

“Well, you must have done something to piss him off.” Cisco added in; his computer pinged negatively after a couple of scans. “Satellite hasn't found anything.”

Eobard nervously wrung his hands, eyes meeting yours for a moment. “We need to find a more permanent solution to this problem.” He gestured when he continued to Caitlin and Cisco. “Start by repairing Hartley's gauntlets. That's about as good a first step as any.”

“I got some parts for it.” Cisco nodded at Dr. Wells, glancing at you. You already knew what he was about to ask.

“I’ve got any vitals and scans for the city until you two come back.” You held up your tablet with a little smile on your face. “Don’t worry, I’ve go your back.”

“Let's go for it,” Caitlin grinned, turning to Cisco. The two of them took their leave. Once they were out of earshot and out of sight you whipped around with an incredulous look on your face.

“You don't know how to stop a Time Wraith?” You and Barry both quired, which irritated Eobard at the sync.

“None of us do.” The speedster responded roughly. You felt bad for Eobard, his entire plan to get home is in jeopardy because of a future version of Barry. “That's why we always try and avoid them in our travels.”

“‘We’?” You and Barry just gave each other looks, simultaneously responding together once more. The scarlet speedster sneered at you, that was enough to shut you up and take a seat back at the monitors.

“‘Speedsters’... we're not the only two out there, you know?”

“This isn't the first time I've time traveled. How come I've never seen one of these until now?”

Eobard stood up, his demeanor clearly showed he was pissed and exasperated, but he kept his emotions in check. Especially with the Time Wraith looming around somewhere. He stepped closer towards Barry. “Because you ran out of luck.” You watched Barry lean against the railing, shaking his head when Eobard continued before grudgingly meeting your eyes. You offered him a sympathetic smile, he reluctantly returned it. “And Time Wraiths hate it when speedsters manipulate the timeline, and now that thing's gonna do everything it can to end you.” You wanted to say something but decided against it. Barry scoffed at Eobard, rolling his eyes when the man turned away from him. “Here's what we're gonna do. You're gonna go to CCPD. You're gonna see what you can find to help us stop this thing-” Eobard nodded at you. You collected your things and got up, ready to work. “-We'll do the same here.”

“Well, what am I supposed to be looking for?

You started, “Barr, You're in forensics-“

“-Figure something out.” The man in the yellow suit only sent a warning glare to Barry, pulling his damned wheelchair along with him.

“Hey, what about the equation? Me getting faster?” Barry’s nostrils flared, stepping forward and gesturing to the clear board that held the speed equation.

“If we don't stop this thing, there's gonna be no point in me teaching you anything.” With that the two parted, Eobard sat back in his chair and he wheeled to his side lab whereas Barry let out an exhausted sigh. He rubbed his face, eyes meeting yours once more. Grabbing his coat, the young speedster pushed past you, his shoulders bumping yours. The action didn’t go unnoticed by your boyfriend, who narrowed his eyes from afar then turned back to his work. Your eyes lingered for a moment before an idea popped into your head.

“I think I should go with him,” you turned towards Eobard, running a hand over your hair and loosening your hair out of the hair tie. Maybe that’ll help with the headaches.

“What?”

“With Barry”

“No, absolutely not!”

“Why not?” You pouted, taking a seat beside him. You subtly wanted to see how many buttons you can push while this version of Barry was here.

“Over my. Rotting. Corpse.”

You froze at his comment, his body was already turned away from you. A mental image of Eobard’s corpse vividly plagued you. Blinking a few times, that phrase echoed in your head. It’s like I’ve heard that before… but where? You needed to shake the feeling off. “Don’t say things like that! If anything happens, I’ll let you know what’s going on.” You lightly slap his arm. The corner of Eobard’s lips turned up slightly then he leaned over for a kiss. You gave him a chaste one to finish your defense on the situation. “Plus, you and I both know you can handle things here at the lab. You don’t need me around.”

“I will always want you to be around me, even if I’m working. Besides the point- stay away from Barry.” He emphasized. “The Time Wraith is here for him; it hasn’t detected me. I don’t…” Eobard sighed through his nose, his gaze locked onto yours and you felt your breath hitch. “I can’t lose you to that monster.”

“…”

“Please, kitten.” He looked at you desperately.

“Only because you said ‘please’,” you kissed his cheek fondly, giving in to him. You didn’t miss the way his voice strained at the thought of losing you or the fact that he asked. Eobard generally never asks, not until he met you. The speedster glanced at you when you were recalibrating the satellites, he noticed the fake grin that you plastered on your face at his corpse comment. He made a mental note to ask you what’s wrong later. It hurt his heart to see you put up a wall right now, but it was understandable, to say the least. “You know, I always like watching you work.”

“Why is that?”

“Dunno, maybe I just like watching you work your magic with those capable hands of yours.”

“I can show you just how capable these hands are tonight.” Your speedster wiggled his eyebrows at you, eliciting a deep blush and giggle. His hand left the device on the table, resting on your thigh. You felt your body temperature spike up even more at his touch.

“Eobard, you can’t say things like that at work!”

“Why not? I’m the boss.” The speedster whispered to you, his blue eyes hypnotizing you. Eobard leaned close, slotting himself to kiss your neck a few times.

A sweet sigh left your lips. “What if the others walk in on us?” You pressed a hand against his sturdy chest. Eobard pressed a kiss below your ear before a chuckle left his lips.

“I’m sure they’ll allow me a free pass, just this once.”

***

After a few hours or so, Cisco and Caitlin came back with the gauntlets. The two explained how the managed to save every piece and analyze their potential. Cisco and Dr. Wells remained in a heavily – mechanical engineer type of conversation that you and Caitlin stayed silent for.

“So, can these gauntlets be salvaged?” Dr. Wells questioned, wheeling closer to the displayed Hartley’s sonic gauntlets.

“Their electron guns are fried,” Cisco shook his head.

“So, it shorted the wave tubes-“

“-And destroyed the amplifiers.” They both finished the thought.

“Yeah, but to be honest with you, I don't know how to manipulate the frequency variance.” Cisco spoke, glancing at the three of you.

“Hartley would know.” Caitlin added in, hands on her sides, “He's the one who did it.”

“As much as a dick that he was, he seems to be an expert with sound waves and frequency variance of such caliber,” you mused, nodding with Caitlin.

“See if he can help, but he stays in the cell,” the genius scientist instructed,

“But then what? That thing's gonna come back.” Cisco retaliated

“I don't know,” Dr. Wells stated exasperatedly. He didn’t know what to do, Hartley’s guns were the only thing he’s known to deter the Time Wraiths. If only the electron guns weren’t fired then he would have been able to dissect and adjust the gauntlets.

“Hey, its going to be ok,” you tried reassuring everyone, mainly Eobard. “We always end up crossing over these kinds of bridges. We’ve got the smartest minds and the most skilled scientists here.” Cisco and Caitlin smiled a bit at you. But you saw the calculating look on Eobard’s eyes. The futuristic villain was taking this harder than Barry himself, walking on eggshells particularly with concealing his speed. Taking any precaution to ensure his safety as well as yours. Your boyfriend explained that if you had gotten closer to the Time Wraith it would sense you. You blushed slightly at the next thought Theoretically, he said his speed-force signature particles had rubbed off on me… Probably from one too many nights of-

“Where is he? Where's the other Flash?” A different Barry demanded. Your version of Barry demanded, out of breath and pissed as hell. Your eyes widened at the sudden appearance of this time’s Flash, mouth open for a bit before closing it. Eobard just covered his face, silently counting to 10 before he choked a bitch.

Well shit, I totally forgot about our Barry.

“Right here.”

Well fuck

86 notes · View notes

creationandpeace · 4 years ago

Text

I Should Tell You.

Season 2 Barry and Iris New Year one-shot.

“Barry, just ask her.” Cisco demanded impatiently pushing Barry out one of the lab rooms.

“I can’t.” He cried gripping his feet to the ground stopping Cisco from dragging him any farther.

“What do you mean you can’t.” He huffed. “You confessed your love to her when she was still with Eddie, you’ve kissed her in a different timeline, you kissed her on Earth-2 and now all of a sudden you’re too afraid to ask her out.”

“It’s different now.” He defended burying his face in his hands.

“Yeah.” He started. “She finally likes you back.” He exclaimed petulantly.

“See that’s the problem.” He explained.

“Man, what?!” Cisco questioned a bit concerned for his friend’s sanity. “All this time, you’ve been so in love with Iris and now you’re afraid to ask her out?” He shouted confused.

“What if she realizes she doesn’t really like me and-” He paused. “It’s going to make everything weird.”

Cisco combed his hands through his hair in frustration. “You literally told this woman you were in love with her while she was with someone else, why would it be harder for you to do it when you’re both single.”

“Cause what if it messes up our relationship, she’s my best friend.” He explained in worriment.

“Again, you confessed your love for her while she was in relationship.” He repeated. “If that didn’t ruin your relationship, I don’t know what can.”

“Thanks Cisco.” He said sarcastically.

“I mean what’s the worst that can happen?” Cisco encouraged. “I mean she already knows how you feel, and the obvious flirting you two have been doing it’s getting hard to watch.”

“Iris hasn’t been flirting with me.” He answered obliviously.

“Whatever.” Cisco huffed rolling his eyes. “Just ask her out.” He demanded heading out the lab. “The worst she can say is no, which I highly doubt she will.”

“Okay, I will.” He swore nervously scratching the back of his head.

“Hey Iris.” Barry heard Cisco say from the hall. “Perfect timing, Barry was just telling me how he had something to ask you.”

“Cisco.” Barry grumbled.

“Okay.” She stated perplexed. “Do you know where he is?”

“He’s in the lab.” He informed her.

“I’m going to kill him.” He grimaced swiping his hand over his face.

“Hey Barr.” Iris greeted with the smile that melted his heart.

“Hi, Hey.” He rambled nervously crossing his arms over his chest.

“Is everything okay?” She asked gently rubbing his shoulder. “Cisco told me you had something to ask me.”

“Yea- no-” He stuttered. “I-um.”

“Barry.” She hummed grabbing a hold of his face. “What’s going on?”

He placed his hands over hers closing his eyes and taking a breath. “Yes, everything is fine.” He assured her.

“So, what is it?” She asked giggling nervously.

“Are you busy this Friday?” He blurted out taking her aback.

She paused. “New Year’s Eve?”

He nodded anxiously. “If you already have plans it’s ok-”

“No Barr, I don’t.” She replied. “What did you have planned?”

“Cisco, wanted to go to this karaoke bar downtown and I was wondering if you wanted to come?” He inquired losing some of his apprehensiveness.

“Sure, that sounds like a lot of fun.” She grinned. “But you have to promise me something.”

“What?”

“You have to sing at least one song.” She requested happily. “I’ve heard you sing in the shower, you’re amazing.”

He was going to protest against it, but he couldn’t say no, not with the way she was staring at him she had him wrapped around her finger. “Fine.”

“Great.” She squealed jumping up and down before pulling him in for a hug.

“But you have to promise me something.” He countered with a chuckle.

“And that is?”

“You sing a duet with me.” He insisted.

“I don’t know.” She debated.

“I’ve heard you sing too, and you have a beautiful voice.” He complimented.

“What would we sing?” She smirked.

“I guess we’ll figure out when we get there.” He told her.

____

“It’s almost our turn to go up and we haven’t picked a song yet.” Iris stated flipping through the karaoke book.

“How about this one?” Barry suggested showing Iris.

“Yeah sure.” She told him adding their names to the list.

“Can you pass me the list; I want to sign up too.” Cisco lied wanting to know what song they picked to sing together. Cisco sighed disappointed with their safe song choice, so he decided to take matters into his own hands.

“Cisco!” Caitlin scolded. “What? Barry loves musicals and has made us all watch Rent; I think it’s the perfect song for them to sing.”

“Let’s hope you don’t make them run off stage.” Caitlin told him.

“Here’s Barry and Iris singing I should tell you from the musical Rent.” Announced the host as Barry and Iris made their way to the stage.

They both looked at each other panicked just as the music started, they’ve both seen the musical it was one of Barry’s favorites, and even though they’ve watched it together Barry didn’t know how well she knew the lyrics. She nodded ensuring him to start the song, she didn’t know the song perfectly, but the words were on the screen how bad can it go she thought.

Barry looked right into her eyes when he started to sing. “I should tell you I’m disaster…”

She was immediately got lost in his eyes as he started to serenade her, almost missing her cue to go. “Let’s just make this part go faster…” She murmured her eyebrows furrowing together trying her best to get the nervous strain out of her voice. “I should tell you…”

“I should tell you…” He gave her a smile of encouragement as they fell into the flow of the song, they harmonized well together getting more and more comfortable as the song went on. Barry knew Iris had a beautiful voice, but he was surprised on how strong her voice actually was. “Well, here we go now we…” No matter how much his brain reminded him he in a bar surrounded by hundreds of strangers his eyes never left hers they just drew him in closer and closer until they were inches apart. “Trusting desire starting to learn…” She took his hand in hers threading her fingers through his as the song was coming close to the end. “Here goes, Here goes, Here goes.” Once the song finished his mouth fell open astonished. “Wow.” Barry buzzed causing Iris to giggle shyly burying her face in chest.

As they walked off stage, they were meet with loud cheers and claps, receiving praise after praise from strangers at the bar.

“That was so good.” Caitlin complimented. “You guys should sing more duets together.”

“Okayyyy.” Cisco roared. “Mimi and Roger have some competition.”

“We know you changed the song Cisco.” Barry grumbled straight faced.

“Oh please, no one wanted to hear you guys sing You Got A Friend in me from Toy Story.” Cisco told them crudely. “I basically made you two famous.”

“Right.” Iris snorted. “It’s fine we had a good time.”

“Then you should be grateful.” Cisco insisted patting Barry on the shoulder.

Barry just starred at Cisco petulantly before quietly mouthing some insults at him which only made Cisco laugh, he never took Barry’s insults seriously.

“Caitlin and I are going to get a drink at the bar, you guys want anything?” Iris offered.

“Just a beer.” Cisco requested passing them over some cash.

“Barr?”

“I’m good thanks.” He informed her.

“We’ll be back.” Caitlin told them as they travelled towards the bar.

Barry sighed just eyeing Iris as she walked away, Cisco’s song choice didn’t really help his situation he really wish he could just tell Iris how he felt. “Why did you pick that song?” Barry frowned.

“You’re going to thank me one day.” Cisco mouthed. “She might be Iris West-Allen, sooner than you think.”

“Futures change.” Barry panted. “She was going to be Iris West-Thawne, not that long ago.”

“Listen, Eddie was nice and all.” Cisco started. “But even if he hadn’t decided to be the hero Iris would still have ended up with you.”

“You don’t know that she really loved Eddie.” Barry told him somberly.

“And she really loves you, everyone can see that.” Cisco assured him. “She was the one who reached out to hold your hand as you two sang.” He recapped. “She’s drawn to you like a magnet, how can you not see that?”

“I-”

“How much longer till midnight?” Iris asked wrapping her arm around Barry’s waist.

“Just a few more minutes.” Barry said looking down at his watch.

Between the music and the people, the noise was deafening, and it only became louder as the countdown began. “5…4…3…2…1. Happy New Year!” Everyone yelled drunkenly shaking hands, toasting and hugging.

“Happy New Year.” Caitlin announced pulling everyone into a group hug. “Happy New Year.” They echoed.

“Happy New Year Iris.” Barry mumbled into Iris’ ear kissing her temple.

“Hey, can we talk to you for second?” She wondered looking up at him.

“Sure.” He muttered before letting Caitlin and Cisco know they were stepping out.

“We’ll be right back.” She told them before taking his hand in hers leading him to a quiet hallway.

“Is there something wrong?” He asked in worriment.

Without thinking she wrapped her hands around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss. “Happy New Year Barry.” She whispered against his lips.

When she began to pull away, he gently grabbed her by the chin and invited her closer kissing her again. “Happy New Year Iris.” He beamed kissing her one last time.

“We should probably head back.” Iris stated shyly.

“Yeah.”

“Heyyyyy.” A tipsy Caitlin welcomed. “As great as you look in red, I don’t think it’s a good lip color for you.” Caitlin uttered noticing Barry’s cherry colored lips. “Looks better on Iris.”

“Caitlin, come dance with me.” Cisco interjected before looking back at Barry and mouthing you’re welcome.

Iris giggled pulling Barry into her embrace. “It’s going to be a Happy New Year.”

“A very Happy New Year.” Barry added kissing her.

#westallen #westallen fanfiction #The Flash #the flash fanfiction #Barry Allen #iris west #Iris West Allen #barry and iris #iris and barry #barry x iris #iris x barry

23 notes · View notes

angeltrapz · 4 years ago

Note

hhmmmmvnfj asks abt Lawrence? umm in a selfship way: what’s ur favorite gift he’s gotten u? — in a character analysis way, bcuz I’ve posted a lil abt it n u mentioned it in DMs too: if William had survived, bc Lawrence was handling new disciples at that time (like Brad n Ryan), how do u think Lawrence n William would’ve interacted? (esp bc we know William was at least vaguely aware of who Lawrence was pre-trap bc of their connections to John)

dfhskj thank u!!! finally getting 2 this

okay fr the selfship part: mentioned it a little bit when replying 2 the other ask u sent, but it’s a worry stone made out of rhodonite (which looks a lil like this), bc he knows how interested I am in gems + rocks n stuff like that but also bc he wanted me to have smth to fidget with in case I forgot my lil lanyard of rolling beads when we went somewhere! it’s smth I just run my thumb along bc it’s smooth n soft n fits perfectly in the palm of my hand. a lot of times if I’m in an uncomfortable situation I can’t get out of, having that w me helps a lot bc it’s grounding n it reminds me of him 💞💞

fr the character analysis part: KJSKFS YEAH I love getting 2 talk abt that bc I actually think abt it quite a bit. as u said, William and Lawrence have always been vaguely aware of each other on account of being connected thru their interactions w John, the doctor who he felt wasn’t kind/sympathetic enough n the insurance agent who denied his (EXTREMELY experimental, mind u) foreign treatment request. I’m not sure that they ever interacted face-to-face PRIOR to John’s death, but after William survives his test it’s just kinda like... who else does he have 2 talk to that might be able to understand even the tiniest bit what he went thru? he loves Pamela to pieces, of course he does, she’s his only family - but she didn’t see what he’d had to do, doesn’t rly KNOW like Lawrence would.

but I still think he’d absolutely be Cautious, bc even w the desire to be understood n maybe even have someone he could confide in, William knows now that Lawrence has been helping John for quite some time - as we see in 3D and as u said, Lawrence is the one handling new disciples, something that only John ever did; Amanda didn’t have her own apprentices, n Hoffman sure as hell didn’t either. that, n William doesn’t know how much involvement, if any, Lawrence had w his own test - that’s smth that wld haunt him a lil, I think. it’s hard to be comfortable around a person who is not only directly involved w the person who felt it necessary to put u in a trap, but who Also may have been the one to put fucking explosive bracelets/anklets n tattoos on u + SEWN A KEY inside of u, which is INCREDIBLY violating of his bodily autonomy. that could warrant a whole discussion of its own tbh.

but. Lawrence is the closest John ever got 2 having a TRUE successor (which I have conflicting feelings on; my reading of Lawrence in SAW 2004 was not someone who wld have joined up w someone who caused him so much pain, but fr the sake of exploring this, I think tht after going thru something as horribly traumatizing and irreversibly changing as he did, he sought that life of control n routine that he felt he had prior to his game, and well, John could certainly provide that,,,) n William would likely know this. Amanda’s dead, Logan is off doing who knows what n living his life, Hoffman is only doing it out of a weird sense of obligation?, and Jill isn’t rly a disciple, just some1 who’s been dragged into it too. (I think William n Jill actually would’ve gotten along tbh,, it’s a different thing entirely whether William would WANT to interact w her.)

I think Lawrence wld want to be able to reassure William that he had no hand in what happened to him (I don’t even know if Lawrence is the one who fitted the bracelets/did the key?), but he like. wouldn’t even know where 2 begin bc how can he explain that in a way that William could ever rely on? how could he ever convince William that he truly wasn’t responsible when all the other man wld have 2 do is look at all of th ppl he assisted John in securing/operating on? Hoffman was the one who put William in his trap, but Lawrence doesn’t know he’ll ever b able 2 prove that in a way William can believe. n I don’t think he’d expect William to believe him, not at all, but I think Lawrence at that point truly doesn’t have anyone - he and Alison are divorced and she has Diana, Adam isn’t around obviously, John + Amanda are gone, Hoffman doesn’t know he exists, so who does he have? I think he longs fr that sort of connection, even if it Is forged thru smth as terrible as what they were both individually put thru by John - they have tht common ground of being involved in his diagnosis + the way he responded to them (petty fucking grievances... kramer I will literally knock yr teeth in u fucker) n being ppl he considered partially responsible fr his downfall in a way (Lawrence wasn’t “kind enough,” William said no to a highly expensive and experimental international treatment that they weren’t even sure wld WORK). and like, not necessarily 2 the same extent, but they were both physically altered by what they went thru. Lawrence is missing his foot. William has scars + tattoos that he could get covered up, sure, but the experience isn’t going away. the scar on his side where the key was hidden is never going away. Lawrence’s prosthetic is functioning but the fact that he cut his fucking foot off isn’t going away. n that’s not even TOUCHING the lasting mental effects.

so I think William wld be feeling rly lost. he just doesn’t know what to do. he doesn’t know if he can even go back to the life he led b4 (if he does, it’s not for a very long time) n he has a hard time looking Pamela in the eye bc he feels personally responsible fr her having been there too + bc of what he’d been made to do to so many ppl. he feels alone, much more than he ever has before, n that’s saying smth bc his personal life was already extremely solitary bc he felt it was safer for him + his career. no one could possibly understand what he went thru, bc nobody saw it. nobody saw the way he tried so hard to keep every1 alive, the way he tried to help the people he worked with + CARED FOR even if he had 2 put himself thru pain to do it (holding onto those pulleys until his shoulders were almost DISLOCATED fr Addy n Allen, burning himself w the steam so Debbie could get thru the maze, the entirety of the shotgun carousel). Tara + Brent didn’t see him sacrifice himself fr his coworkers, n neither did Pamela. nobody knows. William wants some1 to connect with, n that just doesn’t seem like a possibility given that what he went thru in there is knowledge that only he himself + Hoffman carry.

but Lawrence knows. he understands n he's the one 2 kinda make that offer, to just be like “u don’t have 2 trust me right now, or even ever, but I understand n if u want some1 2 talk to, I’m here.” bc what does he have to lose? Adam is gone. Alison n Diana are gone. he’s by himself. and so is William, though he has Pamela. they’re both men who went thru smth unspeakably terrible bc a dying man wanted 2 play god n they came out of it much worse off than they ever were b4 John “helped” them. n William is just like. how much worse could it get? after Jigsaw, what could possibly be worse than what he’s already gone thru? so he’s just kind of like, “okay, we can work this out, I can’t say I trust u right now but maybe I can in the future. we can do this together. we can help each other.” n that’s how they end up meeting for coffee or breakfast/lunch/dinner every so often (coffee meets are at least weekly), n it’s just kind of like. the reassurance that some1 has seen the very worst parts of u and are still around. the relief of knowing someone sees u and knows how hard yr fighting to rebuild a life that’s been shattered into a million tiny pieces. n they’re struggling against that current together, and maybe it starts in a place of “I have no one else so I might as well chill w u,” but eventually William and Lawrence kind of fall into this uneasy friendship. they’re there for each other. William calls Lawrence when he has a nightmare that keeps him up fr hours after, shaking n w his heart beating out of his chest bc he doesn’t want to remember. Lawrence spends th night at William’s place every now n then bc he can’t be alone w his thoughts n the phantom pain in his leg just won’t quiet. they meet for coffee. they have breakfast sometimes. Lawrence has clothes n a toothbrush at William’s and vice versa. they’re in this together.

n maybe that escalates into more (which I believe wld only happen after they get 2 a point where they’ve discussed, at length, John’s legacy n who exactly would be continuing it + if anyone WLD be, n after Hoffman is “disposed of” in a sense), but even if not, they both know they Have Someone who looks at them n doesn’t see them as a monster, not the horrible person John thought he needed to “fix.” they both carry scars, both physically n mentally, frm what they went thru. they’re both struggling to get their bearings + Lawrence is still coping w what he’ll need to do after John’s (and eventually, Jill’s) passing. it won’t be easy, but they’re not walking alone. they’re wading thru the mud together, hand in hand, and fr William n Lawrence, that is enough.

#yes I also hc William as trans!!! not rly mentioned directly but putting that here #thank u thank u!! LOVE getting 2 talk abt stuff like this #saw #william #lawrence #I had. way more thoughts on this than I thought I did oops #long post #asks

4 notes · View notes

365days365movies · 4 years ago

Text

February 24, 2021: Annie Hall (1977) (Part 1)

Well...Woody Allen.

I, uh...OK, look, I could get into the whole Woody Allen thing, but INSTEAD of me doing that, I’ll just say this: look into it. Because there is a LOT on this subject, and it’s controversial as HELL. At the end of the day, I’ll recommend this upcoming series on HBO, and just recommend that you look into it.

Because, uh...yeah, it’s not great. That’s all I’m gonna say, because I need to educate myself on it more as well. Instead, let’s talk for a few seconds about divorcing the art from the artist. But ONLY for a few seconds.

I understand why some of you might be surprised I’m doing this one. Because, again...Woody Allen. But, yeah, I always try to do my best to divorce the art from the artist. Because some people suck, but they still make nice things, or at the very least, things that should be open to interpretation and appreciation.

“Superfreak” is a classic song of 1981, and everybody’s heard at least some of it, but Rick James fuckin’ kidnapped two women and kept them in his basement, WHERE HE TORTURED THEM. Edgar Degas made beautiful paintings of ballet dancers, and was also A MASSIVE ANTI-SEMITE. And before he was (RIGHTFULLY AND JUSTIFIABLY) outed as a roofie-ing piece-o-shit...I grew up with - and genuinely enjoyed - this guy’s comedy.

And you can judge me for this, but...I still think his stand-up was and is genuinely funny, and I still appreciate the cultural impact that The Cosby Show had on society’s perception of African-American families, divorced from the stereotype of the ghetto. Fact of the matter is, works themselves deserve to be separated from the artist who made them. That’s my philosophy, and I’m sticking with it Entirely fine to disagree with me, by the way, I get it.

But in that spirit, I’m watching Annie Hall, despite its creators likely transgressions. After all, this is technically his magnum opus, and it’s a good look into the man himself. And so, with that in mind: Annie Hall! SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Recap (1/2)

youtube

Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) is talking directly to us about his outlook on life, and his view on the potential future. He tells half of a joke, then an amusing anecdote, and a bit more until telling us that he’s broke up with Annie, and he’s still thinking about it, trying to figure out exactly where things went wrong. He goes back to the beginning, which is punctuated with flashbacks.

He grew up in Brooklyn in World War II, and a young Alvy (Jonathan Munk) is with his mother (Joan Newman) at the doctor’s. He’s depressed after learning that the universe will one day end after a period of expansion, and is having his first real existential crisis. I had mine around the same age, actually, went I learned that the Earth will one day get swallowed by the sun. And THEN came the realization that I’d be dead by that point. AND THEN came the realization that I’d die one day, and that was a WHOLE NEW crisis to...anyway.

He grew up under the Coney Island rollercoaster according to him (although his analyst says that he exaggerates), and that’s what he blames for his “nervous personality. He’s also got an active imagination, often blurring fantasy and reality. His Dad ran the bumper cars on Coney Island (a place that I’ve never been, but desperately want to go).

He continues on talking about his former schoolmates, and not really that well. While in class, young Alvy kisses a...little girl...ahem. And then, when reprimanded by the teacher, current Alvy notes that he was always...like that...and he also says this to the little girl, and they talk about Freud’s latency period, and Alvy said he never...had...one...that’s uh...that’s fuckin’ SOMETHING, now isn’t it?

OK, well, shoving that forcefully aside as hard as I can, Alvy wonders aloud on where his classmates now, and one of them says this:

This also involves a little girl saying she’s “into leather,” which is...awkward as FUCK, but WE’RE GONNA MOVE THE FUCK ON. Alvy recounts his paranoia, and was so even after he became a famous comedian (which we say after a VERY good joke about qualifying for the army as a hostage). He speaks to a friend, Rob (Tony Roberts) about potential anti-Semitism from a person in a passersby meeting, then heads to meet Annie.

Annie Hall (Diane Keaton) arrives at a movie theater, late and in a bad mood. The two are late to their intended film, argue briefly, then head to another film that they’ve already seen, The Sorrow and the Pity. In line, they’re in front of a man loudly soliloquizing on film, much to Alvy’s annoyance.

Annie and Alvy continue to argue a bit, while Alvy openly berates the casual film critic. In the middle, he talks to the audience about it, only to be followed by the crtiic himself, who also acknowledges the audience! Huh! Anyway, he’s a professor at Columbia, and starts continuing his line speech, this time on the work of Marshall McLuhan, one of the most important early media theorists ever. And then, Alvy brings out Marshall McLuhan (Marshall McLuhan) to debate him on it, only for Alvy to turn to the audience and wish aloud that life could really be like this!

I’m beginning to understand why people like this film. It’s metacontextual before metacontextuality was really a thing in film. It’s a fourth-wall breaking movie in some fantastic ways. But will it still hold its muster after breaking the fourth wall’s become so commonplace? we’ll see, I guess.

After a showing of the film, the two return home, and Alvy tries to initiate sex. But Annie’s not really into it at the moment, and Alvy complains that they used to have sex all the time, and it’s been a while since. So, I guess that retroactively awkward scene at the school was meant to foreshadow Alvy’s high libido, that will probably cause some conflict in the film. Anyway, Annie notes that Alvy once went through something similar with Allison, his first wife. Who’s Allison? Flashback!

Allison Portchnik (Carol Kane) is a graduate student in political science, working for a campaign that Alvy’s about to perform for. He’s nervous, as he’s going on after another comedian. She comforts him by saying that she thought he was cute, and he does well. But we flash-forward to a night after they’re married, shortly after the death of JFK, which Alvy’s obsessing over, entertaining various conspiracy theories.

However, Allison rightly points out that his obsession is simply a way for him to avoid having sex with her, which mirrors the present-day situation him him and Annie. Flash forward TO Alvy and Annie, and there are just lobsters...everywhere, on the floor in their kitchen. After that commotion, they talk about Annie’s past romances.

And by talk about, I mean they LITERALLY WALK THROUGH her memories. And I gotta say...I fuckin’ love this method of storytelling. One of her previous boyfriends is an actor (John Glover), and his over-dramatic prose sickens Alvy. We see a second marriage of Alvy’s to New Yorker writer Robin (Janet Margolin), who’s dragged him to a stuffy high society party of intellectuals that he has no interest in going to. Same her, Alvy. I bet the caviar’s canned.

He tries to initiate sex with her - in the middle of the party, mind you - and she turns him down. later, when they get to it in their apartment, she’s unable to, uh...reach satisfaction. From there, we flash-forward after that marriage ends to a tennis match with Rob, where he meets one of his mutual friends: Annie Hall.

And for the record, Annie’s pretty obviously got a crush on him, and she’s adorable as fuck. Also, that outfit, real talk...that outfit rules. She offers to give Alvy a list, during which he’s quite worried about her driving, but the two still get along well enough. Annie’s an amateur photographer, during a time period where photography is considered a relatively new art form. The two go to her apartment, and share familial anecdotes and personal stories about themselves. And as they talk, we also see a set of subtitles on top of each of them that betray their inner feelings and thoughts.

I do genuinely like the stylings of the movie, goddamn. This conversation leads to Alvy asking her out on a date, although they end up scheduling it after Annie auditions at a nightclub as a singer. And while it doesn’t go great, Alvy tells her she was fantastic, and they share a kiss before they head to dinner. They head to her place afterwards, and we cut to later that night, post-coitus.

And then, we get a flash-forward back to the next day, where the two are at a bookstore, and Alvy speaks on his personal philosophy of life.

I'm obsessed with uh, with death, I think. Big - big subject with me, yeah. I have a very pessimistic view of life. You should know this about me if we're gonna go out. You know, I - I feel that life is - is divided up into the horrible and the miserable. Those are the two categories, you know. The - the horrible would be like, um, I don't know, terminal cases, you know, and blind people, crippled. I don't know how they get through life. It's amazing to me. You know, and the miserable is everyone else. That's - that's - so - so - when you go through life - you should be thankful that you're miserable because you're very lucky to be miserable.

Iiiiinteresting.

Shortly into their relationship, they admit they’re in love (or “lurve”, as Alvy says). She moves in with Alvy, which he initially isn’t the biggest fan of, having been burned in two previous marriages And already, their relationship is showing a few bumps. Alvy’s also always trying to push her to take college classes, while she uses mariuana whenever they have sex, which Alvy doesn’t agree with.

But as they have sex one night, without the marijuana at Alvy’s urging, Annie’s mind wanders - LITERALLY.

This film...this film has a VERY unique style of visual storytelling, and I am HERE for it! Seriously, I genuinely love this method of storytelling and comedy, it’s extremely engaging to me.

Soon enough, Alvy gets an interview to write for a talk show host, which he ABSOLUTELY despises. But in doing so, he decides to go into stand-up for himself, and is actually quite successful at it! But before we get to that, we’re at the halfway point! See you in Part 2!

#annie hall #woody allen #diane keaton #tony roberts #carol kane #paul simon #shelley duvall #christopher walken #romance february #romance movie #romcom #romantic comedy #user365 #365 movie challenge #365 movies 365 days #365 Days 365 Movies #365 movies a year

15 notes · View notes

crimsondomingo · 5 years ago

Photo

In honor of @barryallenweek, this being the last day, I am posting an image set and prompt for a potential fic combining all 7 days.

So, this hits Fake Relationship, Time Travel, Online Friends, Coffee Shop, College, Misunderstanding, and Celebrity in some form or another. Maybe I’ll write it out in full someday if there is interest, but for now, here’s:

REWIND

While Barry Allen is going through his divorce, he doesn't blame his wife – ex-wife now – because it isn’t Iris’s fault. It isn’t either of their faults. It had just never been right between them.

Nothing had been right since Barry became the Flash—the most popular superhero ever to get a movie franchise. He’d always wanted to be an actor, but he hadn’t thought much about being famous.

Sometimes he wondered if he would have been better off sticking with theater, smaller scale acting, and stayed in his hometown, working part time at that little coffee shop.

He still remembered the day he was scouted, during college after a big production, approached while making an espresso by an agent who said he was headed for big things if he got the right representation. The agent was right, but sometimes Barry wished he could go back, say “no thanks, I’m not interested in film or TV.” Maybe then he wouldn’t be alone in a big house without any friends or family close enough to him anymore to lean on.

After signing the divorce papers, he spent hours sifting through fan emails, trying to remind himself why he did this. Some made him smile. Others were creepy. A few were just trolls. And far too many would have been inappropriate even for Thirsty Tweets.

But then, just when he was going to call it quits, shaking his head at himself for wasting an entire evening, a new email came in from a familiar name.

Leonard Snart—an old acquaintance from college who Barry hadn’t thought of in years.

Heard about you and Iris. Sorry, Barry. Sometimes the love of your life isn’t who you expect. I always enjoy watching you on the silver screen, but if you’re ever passing through Central, a seat at Jitters has your name on it.

Barry and Len were friends in passing, never close, and more like rivals, since Len had done a little acting too. They were even Romeo and Mercutio senior year, and Len had killed at the Queen Mab speech. Len hadn’t considered pursuing acting though, Barry remembered, because he needed to stick close to home, get a practical job to help support his sister.

Barry and Len had worked at that little coffee shop together, and Barry had always preferred their joint shifts to working with anyone else.

Now, stalking Len a little online, Barry saw what ‘practical’ had amounted to. Len had bought the coffee shop. He owned Jitters now.

And wow, the past decade had done him well. Had he always been that handsome? In college, Barry was so hung up on Iris, he hadn’t noticed anyone else, even though it wasn’t until senior year that they got together.

He remembered that day too, a couple months before the agent showed up, with Iris just suddenly there at the shop flirting with him—blatantly, unmistakably—and after years of pining, Barry had finally asked her out.

It had been a happy memory once, but even more than meeting that agent, that was when everything had started to change. Back home in Central City, at Jitters coffee shop, with Leonard Snart working beside him, and Iris West strolling up to take a seat at the counter, was the moment when everything started going wrong, even if, at the time, Barry had thought it was perfect.

He had no idea how to respond to Len’s email. ‘Thanks’ didn’t seem sufficient, and he couldn’t go to Central City now. He was between shoots, but he didn’t have more than a handful of days set aside for the divorce before he’d be on the press circuit again.

That’s when the questions would start. He couldn’t bear the thought of fielding questions about his failed marriage…

Closing his laptop without responding to the email, Barry slumped into the kitchen and pulled an expensive bottle of scotch from his liquor cabinet. If only he’d realized back then that Iris wasn’t the right choice, he could have saved them both so much heartache. If only he’d never asked her out. If only he’d done everything differently, starting right from that—

“Barry, I’m pretty sure he said with room.”

Barry jumped, nearly sloshing the coffee pot he was holding.

No, he was holding a bottle of scotch.

Wasn’t he?

“Barry?”

“Huh?” Barry could only stare down at his hands, because his kitchen was gone, and so was the scotch. He was holding a coffee pot and had been filling a to-go cup that was nearly to the brim.

Everything seemed so… bright, because it had been dark out a moment ago, and Barry had been in his kitchen—alone.

“Never mind. I got it. Have an all-nighter or something?”

That voice. Images of the owner swirled in Barry’s mind before he finally looked up—at Leonard Snart. He really had always been that handsome, with his close-cropped hair, knowing smirk, and sparkling blue eyes.

Barry kept staring, as Len took the coffee pot and to-go cup out of his hands, carefully dumped a little of the coffee back into the pot, and finished the order to hand to a waiting customer.

This was Jitters, late afternoon, so besides that customer, there wasn’t any line. Barry was working a shift with Len—ten years ago.

Only ten years ago was now.

“Better wake up,” Len said with a crook to that incredibly handsome smirk. “The love of your life just walked in.”

Barry startled again, snapping his attention forward to see Iris coming through the door, looking so different from how he’d last seen her. Not only because she was ten years younger, but she was smiling instead of looking so sad.

“Hey, Barr,” Iris greeted as she took the stool in front of where he was still gaping, unable to move. “You okay? Something on my face, or did I really knock it out of the park with this dress today?” She batted her eyes at him, smiling coyly.

It was today—that day.

“Um… I, uhh…”

Love of your life, Len had said, but all he could think about was Len’s email.

Sometimes the love of your life isn’t who you expect.

“Did you want coffee?” Barry blurted. At least basic coffee and decaf was made from an older coffee maker and kept in pots. If she or anyone else asked for something that required the espresso machine or frother, he had no idea how to use those anymore.

“Latte?” she said.

“I can get it for you, West,” Len offered, nudging Barry not so subtly out of the way—and closer to where Iris sat.

He was being a good friend, encouraging Barry, since Barry had probably spent more of their shifts talking about Iris than actually making drinks, but now…

Now, Barry thought there was a dip to Len’s smirk with Iris’s arrival, despite his friendly nudge.

“Thanks, Snart. So, Barr, you don’t have practice tonight, right? And, knowing you, I bet you don’t have any homework left leading into such a lovely weekend. How were you planning on passing the time?” Iris propped her elbows on the counter and rested her chin in her hand, batting her eyes again, so lovely and dark. “Not working too hard, I hope?”

She was fishing for him to ask her out, leading him there like she had the first time.

This time.

And oh, she was beautiful. She’d always been beautiful, still was in the future, and he loved her, he did. He hoped they’d manage to be friends again someday after the pain wore down, but Iris wasn’t the love of his life. He knew that now.

“I’m… working a little.” Barry snapped his mouth shut after that, unsure what else to say.

Her brow furrowed at her lacking success, but then she smiled again and sat up straighter. “How about I make this easier. Do you want to go out tonight?”

Shit.

He didn’t want to hurt her, he’d never wanted that, but even if he was certain that this was a dream and he was passed out on his kitchen floor, he couldn’t go down the same path twice.

“I can’t.”

“Busy? How about tomorrow night?”

“No, um… I can’t because… because…” Feeling the presence of someone beside him, Barry turned once more to see Len staring at him inquisitively as he held Iris’s finished latte, silently asking with his beautiful blue eyes—what the hell are you doing?

“Because?” Iris pressed.

“I’m going out with Len,” Barry said, and Len’s one raised eyebrow became two reaching for his hairline. “Sorry, Iris.” Barry turned back to her. “I hadn’t gotten around to telling you yet.”

“Oh…” She deflated but perked back up with a wave of her hand. “No big deal. My loss for waiting. You two actually make a lot of sense.” She reached to accept her coffee, but Len didn’t notice, still staring at Barry.

Barry took the cup from him and handed it to her. “On me.”

“Thanks, Barr,” she said and slipped away, seeming happy for the excuse to make scarce.

“Hadn’t gotten around to telling her yet? And when were you going to tell me?”

Barry knew he’d read Len right by the way the crook to his smirk returned. “Want to go out after work?”

Len chuckled, staring for several more seconds as if trying to read something he hadn’t seen in Barry before. Finally, he said, “You’re on.”

#baweek2020 #coldflash #crimson's fics #image set #drabble

84 notes · View notes

queerbutstillhere-writes · 5 years ago

Text

Fantasy(Medieval) AU

The day Kon had been knighted had been probably the proudest moment of his life. Sure, the long ass prayer hadn’t exactly been the highlight of his evening, but he’d gone from a squire, being called boy or just Conner, to Sir Kent and honestly that was pretty cool, even if he now got mixed up with Clark a lot. It didn’t help that they looked nearly identical, Kon was just younger.

He couldn’t wait for the day Jon was also a knight. Having three Sir Kent’s would be so worth it, just to watch Clark twitch.

He had two blissful weeks of being freshly knighted, running around, partying and causing havoc, while also following the knight code, and then he had been contacted. By the King, no less. He had been summoned to the royal castle - which was admittedly, only in the next town over - to receive a royal assignment. He didn’t know what the hell it was going to be, but it must’ve been important. Why he, a brand new knight, and just 18 at that, was chosen, he had no idea, except for maybe his relation to Clark.

So he had packed up his things, said goodbye to his family for the foreseeable future, and saddled up his horse, heading up to the castle, Krypto trotting or running alongside him as they rode. It was stupid hot, and of course he had to chose to set out in the middle of the afternoon. Between the hot sun beating down on him and the fact that he had worn his armor - don’t ask him why - he was a sweaty mess by the time he reached Gotham Castle.

He wasn’t given any time to wait, just had his horse snatched from him by a stable boy and then was led deep into the castle, to what appeared to be an office waiting room. He was deposited by the servant girl, who he may have been flirting with, inside the waiting room in front of a desk with a middle aged, grumpy looking man.

“Who are you?” He grumbled, barely glancing up from where he was scratching away at a ledger.

“Sir Conner Kent, I have summons from the king.”

Conner held out the envelope. The man glanced at it, the broken seal on the back and then up at Conner. He grunted, pointing at a chair with his quill.

“Go sit down, I’ll let him know you’re here.”

Conner turned and sat down in one of the two wooden chairs against the wall, letting his bag thump to the floor beside him. The old man gave him a grumpy look, writing for another moment before putting down his quill and standing, slipping through the doors. Conner tapped his fingers on his knees as he waited, looking out the open window, out into the castle courtyard.

Gotham Castle was a huge, beautiful, but intimidating structure. She was built out of fairly dark stone, and stood at an impressive height, but judging from how high all the ceilings seemed to be, there likely wasn’t that many floors inside the castle itself. There were, of course, the towers, which stood several floors taller than the main structure, with their high peaked roofs and rippling flags. There were huge courtyards and gardens in the middle of everything, and turn out pastures for the horses, still within the castle walls. Just down the hill from the huge castle was Gotham proper, the sprawling city in better shape now, under King Bruce’s rule, then it had ever been before in history.

“Sir Kent, he’s waiting.”

Kon hopped up and started to grab his bag.

"You can leave that there," the attendant said, waving his hand to dismiss Kon's current course of action. "And the dog will have to stay."

He dropped the bag, ordered Krypto to stay, and headed to the door, his thumbs in his sword belt, armor clinking uncomfortably as he walked. He paused at the door and let the attendant step in and announce him.

"Your royal highness, Sir Conner Kent."

Conner stepped the rest of the way into the office and looked around, noting it to be an alarmingly cluttered space. The windows were open, allowing a soft breeze in. The office was crammed with book shelves, cushioned benches, a dining table that was stacked with papers and scrolls. There was a rather large fireplace against one wall, the mantel overflowing with paintings and knickknacks and other assorted items.

At the large wooden desk, which was shoved back towards one corner also covered in papers and books, was an older gentleman, his black hair streaked with white, and his beard nearing more grey than black. He was wearing an off gray linen shirt, the sleeves pushed up past his elbows, and black breeches. A golden crown had been plopped down onto his desk, and he glanced up, dark blue eyes meeting Kon's, and a tired smile slid onto his features.

Sitting on one of the cushioned benches, curled up against the armrest was a younger man, reading from a book. Kon noted a permanent ink stain on his right hand between his middle and ring fingers. His hair was longer than the older man's, nearly down to his shoulders, and was currently half pulled back, so it was out of his eyes at least. He was wearing a red shirt, black pants, and brown riding boots.

"Sir Kent," the older man said, standing, and Kon knew this to be King Bruce Wayne.

"Your majesty."

Conner immediately bowed, keeping in his low bow for a few seconds.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you." Bruce stepped around the desk and held out his hand. "I swear Clark talks about you almost as much as he talks about Jon."

"I think that's impossible, your majesty. I swear he never shuts up about that kid."

Bruce just grinned, moving to lean against the desk once they had shaken hands.

"Sir Kent, my son, Tim."

Conner turned to the Prince behind him and bowed again. He knew quite a bit about the royal family, due to his attachment to Clark, but he'd never met them. Timothy Drake-Wayne was Bruce's second youngest, and apparently a dashing young man. The prince smiled tiredly and waved, before looking back at his book. Conner turned back to Bruce.

"Well, I suppose we should get to business." Bruce walked around the desk again and sat down. "I called you out here because I have a bit of a job, that I feel like you'll be perfect for."

"What is it, your majesty? I'm happy to serve."

Bruce smiled lightly. "I figured as much. I need you to act as a protection detail for young Tim there."

Conner glanced behind him again, and caught Tim looking at him. The Prince quickly looked away again.

"Of course, your majesty. . . Might I ask what I'm protecting him from?"

"Let's call it an old family enemy, of his parents, and of myself, has decided to specifically target Tim after he refused an offer of an alliance with this man. He's tried multiple assassinations, and almost been successful more times than I'm comfortable with. The normal castle guards aren't trained for this, and as much as I appreciate our knights, they're not quite as spry as they once were."

"Of course. What will all my duties be?"

They spent the next five minutes going over every single aspect of Conner's new job, and by the end of it, he was a knight in the employment of the Royal Family.

He was shown a set of rooms by a servant, got to freshen up, and then headed to diner with the Wayne's.

......

After a week of tailing Prince Timothy Drake-Wayne around, Kon had gotten settled with the Wayne's. But mostly Tim. He was a fairly quiet guy, not because he didn't have anything to say or was too shy to say it, but because he spent most of his time observing his surroundings. Originally it had creeped Kon out, because Tim had spent most of his free time watching Kon, but now he almost appreciated it, having watched Tim work as an advisor to Bruce, and having witnessed him helping quite a few village people just because he had observed a situation and been able to stop it.

When he wasn't doing this mildly creepy observation thing, Tim was generally reading or writing. He had this huge book that he was about two-thirds through, and nearly always had it in hand. He was wildly creative, and while Kon had only had the pleasure of hearing a few of his writings, he was pretty damn good at it.

One thing he had not been expecting, was Tim's servant boy. This little ginger teenager, who ended up actually being Tim's age, was almost always with Tim. He was a little ball of energy and chaos and happiness. He was like sunshine, and Kon found himself being eager to spend time with him whenever possible, laughing and grinning with him. The boy, Bart Allen, was a whole head shorter than Kon, he had wild, auburn hair, that was more poof then not, and hazel eyes that were so light they looked golden.

For the first week, Kon had spent nights in his own set of rooms, attended to by some of the castle maids. And then on his ninth night there, there was an attack. Kon had just been leaving Tim's rooms for the night, when he heard a crash from the room behind him, and then shouting. He spun on his heel and sprinted back to Tim’s room, bursting through the door, which luckily was not locked yet, and found Tim pinned to the floor, a dark figure over the top of him, holding a knife. Kon had easily fought off that attacker, but the incident had led them to their current situation, which was Kon, moving all his bags to Tim’s room.

The room itself was fairly big, as big as Lois and Clark’s downstairs, but it was separated into two parts by a dividing wall, Tim’s bed hidden away behind the wall, the door to the privy tucked away, out of view unless you were really looking for it. Most of the room was filled with bookshelves, and there was a table that mostly served as a writing desk. There was a small, connected servants quarters, that was Bart’s strangely neat living space, though he seemed to spend a lot of his freetime hanging out with Tim, for whatever reason. But Kon, since he was Tim’s protection detail, had a bed set up in the corner of the main room, opposite Tim’s, though most of his things were being stored in the servants quarters, or at least, he assumed that’s why Bart had snatched them away unceremoniously the second he had set them down.

Tim didn’t seem bothered by this new development, just vaguely waved his hand around the room and said “Make yourself at home” and then returned to his book. So Kon did, set up a nice little miniature living space around his bed with what supplies he had, and settled in. Krypto had quite happily made himself at home on Kon's bed as well.

“Sir Kent.”

Kon jolted slightly, looking up from the sock he had been attempting to mend.

“Uh, Yes?”

“Why don’t you let me do that,” Bart offered, holding out his hand.

Kon hesitated. He wasn’t useless, Lois taught him how to mend his own things, and he was perfectly capable of doing so. Granted, he wasn’t the best at it, his big hands made it a little less neat then Lois could sew, but he got by. But this cute servant boy was holding out his hands expectantly, so Kon shrugged and passed it over. Bart plopped down beside him on the bed, tucked his feet up under his legs, and started sewing away, fingers practically flying over the hole in the sock, fixing it faster then Kon could have ever done. He looked up and found Tim fully invested in a book.

“So, how long have you been a servant for him?” Kon asked softly, turning to face Bart a little better.

“Oh, the past three or four years? I don’t remember really.”

“Wow. How old were you when you started?”

“Uh. . . Thirteen.”

“That’s a while.”

Bart looked up and smiled, then looked back down at the sock. But Kon, Kon was absolutely floored by that gorgeous smile. Bart gave it away so freely, to everyone, but this specific smile had felt . . . special. Which was odd, considering the reason for it. Krypto looked up from the floor and whined.

“There you go!” Bart quickly tied off the string and cut it, holding the mended sock out to Kon. “In the future, just bring me anything that needs repaired, and I’ll fix it right up!”

“Thank you!”

Bart flashed that blinding, beautiful smile at him again.

“Of course!” He hopped up and twirled to Tim. “I’m gonna go get lunch!”

“Okay, Bart,” The Prince replied without looking up.

“Any special requests?”

“I’m not terribly hungry.”

“Okaay dokeeey! Sir Kent?”

“For you to just call me Kon?” Kon asked, with a bit of a flirtier smile then he had intended. . . . or, well, maybe he had intended it.

Bart blinked at him, then grinned sheepishly. “Okay. Kon it is.”

Bart slipped on a pair of shoes and then disappeared out the door.

“He’s quite the bundle of energy.”

Tim looked up from his book finally, just looking at Kon for a moment before responding. “He’s a good person. And a very loyal friend. I’m lucky to have him.”

“You two do seem awful close.”

“I’ve known him since we were little, so I should hope so.”

“How’d he end up as your servant then?”

“His Uncle, Barry, is one of Bruce’s servants, so he sometimes ended up tagging along for whatever reason, and we became friends that way. He needed a job for personal reasons, and I happily offered."

“That’s kind of you.”

Tim tilted his head. “What did you want me to do? Let him go panhandling or working in the fields?”

“No. I’m just saying, not many nobility I’ve met would do something like that for someone like him.”

“What is that supposed to mean, Sir Kent?” Tim’s voice was clipped and defensive, and he had fully set his book down.

“. . . I think that came across wrong. I’m meaning. . . not many nobility would help a peasant like that.”

Tim’s eyes narrowed, and then he shrugged. “Maybe not. But I’m not most nobility, am I?”

“No. In many ways.”

They went silent, and Kon had this distinct feeling that he may have edged a little further onto Tim’s bad side.

That evening, when Tim was at dinner with his family - a safe time in which Kon didn’t have to be around him - he found himself in Tim’s rooms with Bart, who was humming to himself as he picked up, organizing books and papers, refilling Tim’s inkpot, changing linens, those types of things. And then they just started chatting, about anything and everything. Kon found out that Bart had lived with these two elderly farmers named Jay and Joan Garrick for most of his childhood, sometimes living with his uncle, Barry Allen, as his parents had both died when he was little. His trips to the castle with Barry, was indeed how he befriended Tim, and they were actually really close. Kon actually ended up finding out more about Tim through Bart, then he ever did from Tim himself.

By the time Tim returned from dinner, Bart had plopped himself down on Kon’s bed, his knees touching Kon’s thigh as they chatted animatedly.

“Good to know you two get along, this certainly won’t cause troubles for me,” Tim said, with a tired, but fond smile.

“Aww, Timmmm, we’re just getting to know each other a little better,” Bart said, looking up at him and grinning.

Tim walked over and plopped down on the bed, leaning forwards so he was leaning against Bart’s back, causing the smaller teen to groan and lean into Kon, who just chuckled and held them both up.

“I’m exhausted. Damian was being a little shit again and Dick wouldn’t shut up,” Tim groaned, moving so his head was on Bart’s shoulder, and he could look up at Kon as well.

“Aw, I’m sorry. I thought he was doing better?”

“He was. And then he saw Talia this weekend and it’s like someones stuck nails in his ass.”

Bart giggled, reaching around to wrap Tim’s arms around his stomach, rocking them slightly.

“Hmm, sometimes I wonder why your dad lets him go visit her.”

“Because she’s not with Ra’s anymore, that’s why. And because he’s still weak as hell for her.”

Bart was grinning at Tim, and Tim had his eyes closed as he laid against Bart’s back, practically plastered against him. They looked comfortable and natural like that. They looked . . . happy. Then something clicked for Kon.

“Wait. Ra’s? Like the maniac who’s trying to kill you?”

Tim looked up, frowning. Bart also frowned, but down at his lap.

“Yeah. . .”

“And . . . who’s this Talia lady?”

“Damian’s mom.”

Kon scowled. Something here wasn’t adding up. Tim sighed and closed his eyes once more, putting his head against Bart’s.

“Damian is Ra’s grandson. Bruce and Talia fell in love long ago, and I don’t think I need to give you the Talk , but not long after they split, Damian was born. We- Bruce only got custody of him a few years back. And I know what you’re thinking, but Damian is a good kid, and he doesn’t like Ra’s. He hates his grandfather.”

Kon just looked at Bart, who shrugged faintly, causing Tim’s head to shift. Kon stayed silent, digesting this information. It was certainly a lot to take in.

“You wanna go to bed early then?” Bart asked quietly, finally breaking the awkward silence.

“No, I want to go for a ride. Do you want to come with me?” Tim answered softly.

“Of course!” Bart exclaimed, grinning.

Tim opened his eyes and looked up at Kon again. “I’d ask, but it seems you don’t have a choice whether you come or not.”

Kon chuckled, pushing Bart off of him so he could stand. “It does appear that way, doesn’t it?”

After three weeks of tailing Tim and, consequently, Bart around, Kon had settled into their way of life quite easily. They had a pretty steady pattern to their days, and soon Kon had figured out times when he was needed and when he could go do things like train or nap or have a little bit of personal time. There were still the occasional attempts on Tim, though usually they were fairly random and small, and there hadn’t been any direct attacks in his living quarters since the first one after Kon arrived. But he wasn’t relaxing his guard yet, not until they were sure Tim was safe. Not that Tim couldn’t defend himself, Kon had seen him training with his older brother, Richard, but he had been hired for a job and intended to fulfill it.

After three more weeks of tailing Tim, Kon had become pretty certain of one thing. And that one thing was that he was pretty sure Tim and Bart were romantically involved with each other, dating, whatever the word for it was. It was pretty obvious, in Kon’s opinion. Hell, a lot of nights, they slept in the same bed together. They walked around holding hands and leaning on each other and grinning at each other, and just acting cute and coupley. And he was totally fine with this.

So fine with it.

He wasn’t sad about it all.

Except he was.

Because he may have fallen for Bart a bit. And Tim was really pretty and Kon also really liked him. And he was screwed because of this. Because they were probably dating each other, and Kon was just the bodyguard, third wheeling his way through life.

An interesting fact, Kon had learned over the past few weeks, was that Tim got nightmares, pretty frequently. And somehow, Bart had like this sixth sense about when Tim was having these nightmares, and would just appear at his bed and wake him up out of it, and then they would lie there, Bart softly singing until Tim drifted back to sleep. That was another thing about Bart. He sang and played the lute. And he was amazing at it. Kon could sit there and listen to him sing for hours. Bart the Bard, Tim called him occasionally, and Bart would just giggle and give him a lovesick smile and continue on playing.

Kon wasn’t going to say anything to either of them, after all, he’d either get over it, or be dismissed from his guard duties eventually, so why was it worth bringing up? It wasn’t. He was fine leaving it be. After all, it wasn’t the first time he’d fallen for someone he couldn’t have, but he was mature enough to know to not pursue someone.

But one day, he was sitting in Tim’s room with Bart and Krypto while Tim was off with his family. Bart was tuning his lute, humming softly as he worked, and Kon had been reading, but had given up after a while, to just stare vaguely in Bart’s direction, listening to the plucking as he made sure it was in proper tune.

“What’s got your head in the clouds, oh brave Knight?”

“Huh? Oh.” Kon fully focused on the bard, and found him leaning on his lute slightly, grinning at him. “Nothing. Lost in thought?”

Bart chuckled. “What were you thinking about?”

Quick! Come up with a lie!

“Home, I guess. Wasn’t really thinking about anything in particular.”

A soft hum came from Bart, and he walked over, sitting next to Kon, Krypto immediately stretched his big white head over Kon’s lap to receive pets.

“Got anyone special back home, Sir Kent?”

“Dating wise? No. . . My little brothers are back home though.”

“Oh? Are you the oldest?”

“Kind of? It’s a weird situation.”

“Trust me, if anyone understands that, it’s me,” Bart said with a smile.

Kon chuckled. “What about you? Got anyone special?” he asked, lightly nudging Bart.

“Oh. . .Uh, No.”

Kon raised an eyebrow. “Really, I thought you and. . .” He gestured vaguely around the room.

“Tim?” Bart asked, eyes going huge. “No. Nonono, we’re not- . . . no it’s not like that.”

“Huh. . . interesting, you guys just kind of act like you’re together.”

“No, I mean, it’s not that I wouldn’t-” Bart stopped and sighed. “It’s complicated.”

Kon frowned softly and put a hand on Bart’s knee. “It’s okay, I’ve been there.”

Bart looked up at him with a scowl. “I don’t need your pity, Kon.”

“It’s not- No, I didn’t mean it like that.”

Bart just shrugged and looked down at his lute. Kon let silence hang for a bit. Should he? I mean, his obstacle had just been removed, why not shoot his shot?

“Do you wanna go out for dinner or drinks or something tonight, while Tim is with his family?”

Bart stopped playing, and sat there for a moment before looking up at Kon, blinking. Then he grinned.

“Sir Kent, are you asking me out on a date?”

Conner smiled and shrugged. “And what if I am?”

“Well then, I might just have to say yes. But only if it’s a date.”

“Well it’s a good thing it was a date, then, isn’t it.”

Bart giggled. “We’ll have to make sure Tim really is going to be eating with his family, but probably yes.”

Kon grinned. “Fantastic.”

That evening, once they were excused by Tim, they got dressed and headed down into Gotham proper, chatting and laughing the whole way down. They found an inn that was serving some good stew for dinner and wasn’t terribly full, and spent a little bit of time there, just enjoying themselves. And when they got back to the castle, with time still to spare, Kon whisked Bart away to the gardens, finding a little secluded spot so they could sit down in private. They just talked for a while longer, Bart sitting on the back of their bench so he could play with Kon’s hair. And then he leaned down and kissed Kon.

Kon didn’t hesitate to push up against him, hand on his knee to help support himself, due to the slightly awkward angle.

"There they are, Timothy."

"You two having fun?"

Bart yanked away from Kon and tumbled backwards, right off of the bench. Kon yelped and dove after him, but only managed to snag his ankles, unable to prevent him from falling into the bush behind them. He looked up to find Tim and his youngest brother, Damian, standing nearby with a couple of guards. Damian looked annoyed, but Tim had this mildly amused, mostly closed off look.

"Uh, hi," Kon said, then turned back to Bart, reaching down and grabbing him by the arms, hauling him back up over the back of the bench.

Bart tumbled into Kon, giggling, even as his face turned bright red. They quickly picked leaves off of him, and then Bart sat up, looking at Tim.

"You startled me."

"I noticed."

Bart hopped up, brushing a few more leaves off.

"Are you okay?" Kon asked, standing as well, eyeing Bart.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Didn't hit your head?"

"Nope!"

"Now that you have your . . . " Damian trailed off, giving them a look of contempt. "Whatever. I'll be going."

Damian spun on his heel and walked away, followed by the guards. Tim just looked at them, shook his head and turned to walk away. Bart scurried after him, and Kon? Kon just sighed softly and followed, feeling a little annoyed that they had been interrupted.

But it was fine. At least now he knew how Bart felt.

......

After another two weeks, Kon was finding himself with another issue. See he had been dating Bart this whole time, and was quite happy with it. He and Bart got along amazingly, and Bart was . . . hot damn. Bart was something else. Kon could spend hours kissing him without complaint. Well, he actually couldn’t, because they both had jobs to do, and Bart wasn’t comfortable with kissing around Tim, which was understandable. And frankly, neither was Kon.

Because he was still crushing on Tim, even though he was pretty much dating Bart.

So yeah. He had a problem. Because he wasn’t about cheating on Bart, but at the same time. . . Tim. Tim was gorgeous and kind and smart. He and Kon had become fairly good friends, over the time he had spent as his bodyguard, and it was nice, because they could now just sit and chat or be together in comfortable silence, unlike in the past, when they would sit there in awkward silence, trying to figure out what to say to the other. And Kon wasn’t dumb, he could see Tim eyeing him, watching him, zoning out while staring at him. But he knew Tim would also never try anything as long as he was with Bart. Tim was too loyal for that.

“Bart.”

“Hmm?”

Kon rolled onto his back, looking over at Bart, who was in the middle of folding laundry. It was one of those odd days that Kon got off, as Tim was completely surrounded by his family and their various bodyguards.

“I need to tell you something,” Kon said with a sigh.

He decided it was best if he was just honest with Bart. Then at least Bart could keep him accountable or something. . . . Hopefully he wouldn’t be too upset.

“What’s up?”

“Would you come sit down?”

Kon pushed up into a sitting position, and Bart set down the pair of trousers he had just folded, turning and walking over, sitting on Kon’s lap, arm around his shoulders.

“What’s wrong?” Bart asked, tilting his head, looking concerned.

“I . . . Don’t want to hurt you, but I think you should know?”

Bart pulled back some, his scowl becoming even more concerned.

“I think . . . I think I have feelings for Tim,” Kon said softly, then rushed to continue. “But I don’t intend to do anything about it! I like you! I like being with yo-”

“Wait,” Bart said, holding up a hand, effectively silencing Kon.

Kon blinked at him, feeling worry rising in him in the form of bile in his throat. Bart was silent for a moment, then he started grinning.

“Kon. Kon. Conner!”

“Uh, What?”

“Do you realize what this means!?”

“Uh? No?”

“I’ve had a crush on Tim since I was like, eight! And I’m almost completely sure that Tim has had a crush on me for nearly that long, and that he has one on you now!!!”

“Bart-”

“I can work with this!” Bart exclaimed cheerfully and jumped up.

“Bart, what are you planning?!” Kon exclaimed, feeling more panicked now.

“I’m gonna ask him if he wants to date both of us!”

Bart had already returned to folding clothes, and Kon was left there, staring at Bart’s ass.

“Wait, you’re going to what? ”

“I mean, if you’re okay with it, I suppose? Sorry I should have asked first. . .”

“No it’s-” Kon hesitated, taking a moment to think about it.

He wasn’t . . . Not okay with it? But it was a strange concept to him. . . dating two people at once. A lot of people would consider that to be cheating. Hell, normally Kon would even consider that cheating, but. . .

“Wait so. . . all three of us? Dating each other?” Like I’m dating you and him, and you're dating him and me, and he’s dating you and I?”

“Yeah!”

“And that’s not . . . cheating?”

“Nope, it’s just like dating normally, but this time there’s two people you’re dating, instead of just one.” Bart stopped folding and looked back at Kon. “It’s not a terribly popular thing, and I know why. . . but, it can be the best thing on the planet.”

Kon didn’t respond, so Bart returned to his folding. And they sat there in silence for ten minutes until Bart finished folding and climbed into Kon’s lap so they could start kissing.

“I think . . . If you wanna ask him,” Kon said, after pulling back a bit. “Then ask him. But please don’t make him uncomfortable.”

Bart just grinned and immediately leaned in to kiss him again. “I’ll ask him, privately, later.”

Kon could tell the moment Bart had asked. He had been bathing, and when he got back, they were yelling at each other. Bart and Tim never yelled at each other. . . Okay well it was mostly Tim yelling, and Bart was trying to reason with him. It was clearly not going well, and the moment Kon closed the door, Tim whirled on him.

“And you!” Tim all but thundered. “How could you put him up to this!? Is this some kind of joke to you!? Does your relationship with him really mean that little!?”

“Uhhh,” Kon wisely said, and looked from Tim to Bart. Bart just sighed and shrugged.

“I can’t believe the both of you! I was fine with you two dating! I was willing to live with that, but now this?! Am I a joke to you!?”

Tim was putting on boots as he ranted.

“I’m guessing that’s a no, then?”

“Of course it’s a fucking no!! Gods!” Tim snatched up a cloak and then stormed out the door.

Kon looked at Bart, slowly moving to set down his dirty clothes. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah I’m. . . he’s never yelled like that before.”

“I’m gonna go after him, he can’t be wandering around alone. Are you going to be okay here?”

Bart nodded numbly. Kon quickly strapped on his sword and then walked over to Bart, gently grabbing his chin and tilting his head up.

“It’ll be okay,” he said softly, kissed him, and then hurried out the door.

He found Tim twenty minutes later, sulking in the library. Tim looked up from the books he was glaring murder at and saw Kon, and his face immediately hardened further.

“What do you want?”

“To do my job? I’m supposed to make sure you don’t die, remember?”

Tim just scoffed. He glared at him for a moment, then looked away, sighing. Kon stood nearby, hands on his sword belt, waiting for a good moment to talk.

“Bart didn’t mean to upset you that bad. And he’s pretty shook up that you yelled at him.”

Tim sighed again, shoulders falling a bit. “I know. I shouldn’t have. . . But it was just-”

“Startling?”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah, I understand. I was pretty taken off guard too.”

Tim leaned against the bookshelf and looked up at him.

“It just won’t work, Conner, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t . . . You don’t need to apologize to me for this. I understand, and honestly didn’t expect it to go well. But. . . “

“Yeah, I’ll talk to him later.”

Tim went silent, and Kon let him, looking around the library. It was fairly empty, except for the old librarian, and Kon was perfectly okay with this. They stayed in there for twenty minutes before Tim decided to leave, slowly walking around the castle, Kon just trailing him lightly.

“Can I ask why you’re so against it?” Kon asked randomly, after a while of walking.

“I just. . . With me being a prince. . . the whole view on homosexuality. I know it’s not . . . bad, but it’s not great either, and this? A relationship between three people? It's unheard of, and for royalty to get involved in one. . . “ Tim just shook his head.

Kon was silent for a bit. “Did you know Bruce and Hal are totally sleeping together?”

“I beg your pardon!?”

“Bruce and his one guard, Hal Jordan, awesome dude, by the way. But they're totally sleeping together.”

Tim slammed on the breaks and turned back to Kon, crossing his arms. “And why do you say this?”

“Because I’m friends with one of Dick’s guards, Kyle, and he told me that Hal mentioned it to him.”

Tim just blinked at him. “Wow okay. Information I didn’t need to know today.”

“Do you wanna know about Dick?”

“Of course.”

“He’s totally sleeping with Wally.”

Tim scoffed. “Everyone knows that, Conner, that’s old news, get with the times.”

“I’m just saying. . . Nearly everyone in your family seems to be into guys. It’s not like any of them are gonna judge you for anything,” Conner said with a shrug, returning to tailing Tim as they started walking again.

Tim didn’t respond, just led Kon back to his room. When they got inside, they found Bart missing.

“He’s probably just finishing a chore,” Kon said softly, shrugging and tugging off his sword and boots, collapsing in bed. Then he looked around. “Wait, Krypto is gone. He probably took him out to pee.”

“Yeah. . . You’re probably right,” Tim said, after having stuck his head in Bart’s room. He walked back and sat on his bed, grabbing at a book and settling in to read.

Bart returned a few minutes later, Krypto on his heels, and glanced between the two, looking a little nervous. He just disappeared into the servants quarters. Tim gave a heavy sigh and stood, following him in. Kon just smiled to himself and waited patiently.

After Bart and Tim had a little talk, things settled, mostly back to normal within the next day or so. There was still some awkwardness, and Bart seemed very timid with showing affection to Kon around Tim, but it was manageable, and they were all still pretty friendly.

Kon assumed the topic had just been dropped, and wasn’t planning to ever bring it up again.

But he wasn’t the one who brought it up, so it was fine.

In fact, Tim was.

There had been an attempt, the other night. It had been peaceful for a long time, and then when they had been out riding, someone had attempted to shoot Tim off his horse. The arrow had barely missed his head and grazed his ear instead, and the second Kon realized what had happened, he had yanked Tim to the ground and covered him with his own body. Tim had been fairly shook up about it, and hadn’t been sleeping well because of it.

But tonight, he woke up screaming, and both Kon and Bart rushed to his bed, Bart immediately throwing himself under the covers to pull Tim in tight, quietly shushing him and trying to calm him. Kon awkwardly sat on the edge of the bed, watching them in the dim moonlight.

“It’s okay, Tim, you’re okay. You’re safe,” Bart reassured, humming his words softly.

Tim let out a shaky sob and buried his face into Bart’s chest, body shaking slightly as he took ragged breaths. Bart looked up at Kon and pointedly looked down at Tim, signalling him to come closer. So Kon did, pushing back the blankets enough that he could slip under them, and then scooted over until he could pull both Tim and Bart against him. Tim tensed for a moment, then relaxed back into him, hips pressing into Kon’s thighs.

It took a bit for Tim’s crying to stop enough that he could talk, and even then he barely pulled his face away from Bart, desperately hugging the ginger.

“What’s wrong, Tim?” Bart asked softly, eyebrows knit together in concern.

“I dreamt. . . “ Tim took another deep, shaky breath, then rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. “I dreamt that Ra’s got a hold of you two, that he was using you against me. . . that he was going to kill you, and then me.”

Bart looked at Kon over Tim, reaching up to lightly push his long black hair back out of his face.

“He’s not going to get you, Tim. Not while I’m still here,” Kon reassured, instinctively putting an arm over Tim’s stomach. Tim grabbed onto it tightly, like it was a lifeline.

“You don’t know that,” Tim breathed out, looking up at him.

“Yes I do. I’m here to protect you, and that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to protect you, even if it means I lose my own life.”

“But why?” Tim asked. “Why would you do that for me?”

“Because I care about you,” Kon answered without hesitating.

Tim blinked up at him, and then suddenly he was surging up, pressing his lips to Kon’s. Kon made a muffled noise of surprise, eyes going wide for a second before they slid close and he lightly pressed back into the kiss, arm tightening over Tim’s stomach. He felt a hand squeeze his forearm and pulled back, looking up at Bart, who was grinning slightly.

“Tim-” Kon breathed out, looking down at him.

“I thought-” Tim squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. “I thought I could get over both of you. I thought I would be fine. . . “

He looked over at Bart next, just looking at him quietly for a moment. Bart grinned back.

“But, damn was I wrong.”

Kon watched him lightly kiss Bart, pulling away from Kon as he pushed a little harder into Bart.

“So this means-” Bart immediately asked, once they had pulled away.

“Yes, I want to try it.”

Bart made a little squeal noise of excitement and grinned at Kon. Kon smiled down, then looked at Tim, who still looked a little shook up.

“Hey. . . Tim, you know I meant what I said, right? I’m here to protect you. You’re safe with me. With us.”

Tim just nodded vaguely, looking at Bart. “Will you sing me a song?”

“Of course!”

Tim settled back against Kon’s chest, while Bart sat up so he could properly sing to them, some soft love song that had Kon drifting off, arm wrapped protectively around Tim. He dozed off to Bart soft singing, and Tim’s gentle breaths. He vaguely remembered Bart slipping underneath one of his arms as well, but then he was out of it, waking up the next morning to just Tim in bed, and Bart already up and working. And Kon couldn’t help but grin to himself as he tucked Tim up against his chest.

This was good.

@core-disaster-week-2020

#timkonbart week #core disaster week #timkonbart #core disaster #tim drake #conner kent #bart allen #queerbutstillhere writes #queerbutstillhere

46 notes · View notes