#just these few episodes in the supermax

[crookshanks23]

Season 1, Episode 49: Contact

Favorite moment: Grant and Darryl inch-worming across the ground. It's a beautiful visual moment for an auditory medium.

General thoughts:

Welcome to Jimmy! It is weird to hear someone else start the podcast, though.

So, this is a fun episode, if a bit slow, because it helps establish how all of the characters are going to interact with Jodie.

There are some great hilarious moments, like the dad huddle in the woods, all of Ron's lines and asides, and the funny (yet sad) conversation that Darryl has with Grant. I can just imagine them both inch-worming their way back to the campfire as they both cope with the new situation that is Jodie.

Then we get the joy of Glenn's workout routine and the start of his time at the Meth Bay supermax, which is great. They are totally right - if there was some sort of xp-gaining workout program thingy (which I'm sure exists), I bet a lot of people would hop on that. (I guess Zombies, Run is like that, which is a super fun running app with a story built in. Highly recommend if you're looking for something like that).

Next time... Off to the supermax to break Glenn out.

[gavillain]

Agatha All Along season finale discussion because AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Spoilers on the road ahead!

So a LOT happened in this two parter, so I'm just gonna hit the major points in order...

So despite my thinking that two of the Salem Seven survived because of the number of sword fall sounds last episode, they are apparently all dead. Which, y'know what, I don't mind. They weren't really meant to be actual characters, mostly just Nazgul-esque opponents to add some extra stakes, and having Lilia successful destroy them all with her sacrifice is the most earned ending for them.

When we get to the final trial, it's more or less the three remaining witches stuck in a room having to resolve their purposes on the Road. For Jen, we had her unbinding herself and the reveal that Agatha was the one who bound her. Admittedly, I kinda feel like that reveal was underdone, and it mostly just seemed like a quick asspull to resolve Jen's storyline at the eleventh hour. However, I really felt for Jen and the catharsis of unbinding herself, so I can't complain too terribly much.

Secondly, we resolve Billy's ambitions to restore Tommy, and this one, I was generally more favorable about than Jen's. Billy basically helped put Tommy into the body of another boy who died prematurely, one who was being drowned in an apparently very toxic environment. In the comics, Tommy was in and out of juvie all his life, and the Young Avengers find him in a supermax prison because of his powers. So, I'm assuming Thomas Shepherd, the boy whose body Billy hijacks, is in juvie or some correctional facility, and that's where we're gonna pick up with him in Vision Quest. Also, Agatha's line about "sometimes boys just die" was a fucking ARROW TO THE HEART, especially with the backstory in the following episode.

Then for Agatha, she completes the road's test by growing a sapling that she finds in her locket holding Nicholas's hair and emerges from the road back in Westview, where Rio is waiting for her. And DAMN was the final battle against Rio one of the coolest in Marvel. With Billy going FULL Wiccan mode and Agatha siphoning off his power but not enough to kill him. It was your standard Marvel final battle, but I really enjoyed the spectacle of it and how insurmountable of a foe Rio felt like. Agatha almost betraying Billy so that she can live but then changing her mind and sacrificing her life for his was such a powerful moment of full circle for her. After everything she's done to other witches and to Billy's own mother, for her to finally embrace death (and LITERALLY embrace the kiss of Death) was super powerful and showed how the road genuinely did change her. Personally, I usually hate redemption arcs, but this one, I actually really liked and supported because it wasn't about Agatha giving up her sense of self to be someone else, it was about making a choice out of love in the moment. I thought it was a beautiful way to resolve the story, and I was wondering what the heck else they were going to do with the last episode.

And then we got the reveal that I saw a few people guessing that Billy created the Witches' Road and that Agatha had never been on it, and I think that was a really well deserved reveal that hit for me exactly as it was intended. I loved that Billy created it because he has "the same tell" as Wanda with WandaVision. He made this grand fantasy adventureland, and that's SO cool! He, too, apparently is capable of spontaneous creation like Wanda, and I'm curious how they're going to tie this in with the MCU lore about the Scarlet Witch. In the comics, Billy is the Demiurge, and I'm interested in finding out if Marvel is going to bring in that concept or if they're going to do something new with the prophecy of Scarlet Witch. Maybe a secret hidden verse to the prophecy? We saw Billy's statue in Mount Wundagore in Multiverse of Madness, so maybe old Chthon knew a lil' somethin' else. I also liked the reveal that the Witches Road was a con that Agatha used to lure unsuspecting witches into giving her their powers. That was clever, as was the way that it tied in with her backstory.

SPEAKING OF, that backstory with Nicholas Scratch was the most heartbreaking thing, and I loved every minute of it. Her bond with Nicholas and the way that she showed genuine humanity to him was a side to Agatha we only saw the periphery of in her relationship with Billy, so seeing it fully realized was SO powerful and so well done. Rio giving her a good seven(ish?) extra years with Nicholas also speaks volumes because in Rio's mind, she was doing Agatha a HUGE favor that violated the cosmic order and to some extent, she DID because it showed Agatha a purpose beyond just power. However, it also probably hurt her worse than just taking Nicholas upon birth. She gave Agatha years to love and get attached to her son, and that, I'm sure, made the wound of losing him that much deeper (and Kathryn Hahn's acting with those screams of anguish upon finding Nicky dead were SOUL CRUSHING - she KILLED it). So, yeah, interesting that it was such a double edged sword. I also thought the twist that Nicholas and Agatha wrote the Ballade together as their little song and it eventually spread because of him singing it to other witches was REALLY clever and REALLY powerful.

And, finally, Agatha is back as a ghost, and she's sticking around Billy as his spirit guide/mentor, which I really like. I'm sure some people are going to take umbrage at Marvel cheating death again, but this is a show that racked up bodies of major characters left and right, and Agatha being dead and a spirit I'm sure is going to have big changes for her and her power and characterization going forward. Plus from Evanora Harkness, it's an established part of the lore. So, for me, it works, and I like it. I also like the touch of her looking more like her comics counterpart with gray hair in ghost form, and I'm honestly REALLY excited to see Billy and Agatha as a dynamic duo continue on in future Marvel properties.

Overall, I LOVED Agatha All Along. It was an incredible journey, and it was the most I've enjoyed a Marvel property in awhile. I feel optimistic about the future of this particular corner of the MCU, and I'm so glad I got to go with everyone down the Witches Road :)

[phoenixyfriend]

Your posts have me watching Leverage while working. Would you recommend jumping from 0 to Redemption after a few episodes? What are the important ones to see?

I'd say watch the original Leverage in full if you can, because a lot of the emotional weight in the sequel is built from the death of a main character from the original, and you do benefit from having the full background on how much he meant to them. That said, here's a bunch I'd say are worth considering, and why, so you can decide which ones you actually want to see. I included more than half (unfortunate if you're low on time).

S1E1 - The Nigerian Job (how the team got together) S1E3 - The Two-Horse Job (Eliot backstory) S1E4 - The Miracle Job (Nate backstory) S1E6 - The Stork Job (Parker backstory; I have a lot of issues with this episode but it is important) S1E7 - The Wedding Job (introduces the FBI duo, best meme) S1E10 - The 12-Step Job (heavy focus on Nate's alcoholism) S1E12/13 - The First David Job/The Second David Job (finale two-parter has heavy focus on Sophie and Nate, introduces Nate's ex-wife, addresses what happened to their son)

S2E1 - The Beantown Bailout Job (Irish Mob, which is important, getting the team back together) S2E4 - The Fairy Godparents Job (overall fun, Sophie development) S2E7 - The Two Live Crew Job (another con team gets involved, introduces recurring antagonist Cha0s, played by Wil Wheaton) S2E11 - The Bottle Job (Nate's alcoholism, more Irish mob) S2E12 - The Zanzibar Marketplace Job (Nate's wife again) S2E13 - The Psychic Job (Parker development) S2E14/15 - The Three Strikes Job/The Maltese Falcon Job (it is a finale, but it's just... very much my least favorite ngl; also this is one of the ones where Nate gets shot)

S3E1 - The Jailhouse Job (the team breaks Nate out of supermax prison) S3E3 - The Inside Job (Parker backstory, introduces her mentor/father figure) S3E6 - The Studio Job (this one is just really fun, that's all) S3E9 - The Three-Card Monte Job (introduces Nate's dad, as well as including the Irish and Russian mobs; yes this is why the Irish mob is important) S3E11 - The Rashomon Job (a classic, absolute must-watch, gives you great insight about how the cast worked solo before they became a team) S3E12 - The King George Job (Sophie development) S3E13 - The Morning After Job (Parker fakes her death) S3E14 - The Ho Ho Ho Job (Cha0s is back) S3E15/16 - The Big Bang Job/The San Lorenzo Job (massive Eliot development, the team steals a small country, Sophie fakes her death)

S4E1 - The Long Way Down Job (Eliot and Parker development) S4E2 - The 10 Li'l Grifters Job (murder mystery, just a lot of fun) S4E4 - The Van Gogh Job (the first period piece! the actual core plot is a story told by an old man about a romance he had in the 1940s, with the team playing out his flashbacks; good for Parker/Hardison, period costumes, FEELS) S4E5 - The Hot Potato Job (this is the one where Sophie impersonates Eliot to sell a bit) S4E6 - The Carnival Job (tfw you're just stealing something but the Russian Mob gets involved) S4E7 - The Grave Danger Job (Hardison gets buried alive, good for Parker/Hardison) S4E9 - The Cross My Heart Job (bottle episode, the team has minimal resources and time to save a child's life) S4E10 - The Queen's Gambit Job (Sterling's back, Nate cheats at a chess competition) S4E11 - The Experimental Job (Parker/Hardison development, Eliot development) S4E12 - The Office Job (mockumentary, very fun) S4E13 - The Girls' Night Out Job (Tara, Parker, and Sophie run a con together, Parker's friend from a previous episode makes an appearance) S4E14 - The Boys' Night Out Job (Nate, Eliot, and Hardison run a con together, Hurley from S1E10 is back, we get the Irish Mob again but this time they bring one of the absolute best meme conversations in the show with them) S4E15 - The Gold Job (Hardison takes lead on a con; he's not great at it) S4E16/17 - The Radio Job/The Last Dam Job (Nate's dad is back, the team gathers allies from past jobs, just a lot of fun and a few people die)

S5E1 - The (Very) Big Bird Job (team moves to Portland, fake-steal a giant wooden plane) S5E3 - The First Contact Job (faking alien contact is fun okay) S5E4 - The French Connection Job (Eliot backstory, Parker development) S5E5 - The Gimme a K Street Job (do you hate politicians? Watch this. Lots of Leverage hates politicians but this episode REALLY hates politicians) S5E6 - The D.B. Cooper Job (the second period piece! this one's in the 1970s and has Parker and Eliot playing the happy couple) S5E8 - The Broken Wing Job (Parker and a new friend run an entire con together because Parker's home with an injury while everyone else is running a con abroad) S5E10 - The Frame Up Job (Sophie and Nate fuck with Sterling) S5E11 - The Low Low Price Job (Eliot development) S5E12 - The White Rabbit Job (sometimes you just gotta drug and psychologically pressure a man until he breaks) S5E15 - The Long Goodbye Job (series finale! Very important! Sophie and Nate retire. Everyone fakes their death except Nate. Nate gives Sterling an entire tragic story about how the others died. Parker is put in charge of everything forever. It's great)

[darkstar6782]

3.12: Jus In Bello - My Rewatch Review

This episode is probably still in my list of top 10 not just favorite but best episodes of Supernatural ever. It has everything I love about the early seasons of the show in it: the boys facing peril not just from a supernatural danger but from humans, a smart plan cleverly executed, a moral dilemma that really makes you think, a ton of great side characters, and a lot of really great scenes and brother moments that tell you so much about Sam and Dean without either of them having to say a word. Their every interaction together in that prison cell, the ones between the two of them and the ones between them and other characters, could (and have) been spun out into multi-page character metas on their own. I also love seeing Henriksen finally being brought around to their side (even though I still maintain that, given how easily it happened once he had hard proof, that he really should have been more open to the possibility ages ago), and I always mourn the loss of his character and all the might-have-beens that surrounded the possibility of the boys having a real FBI agent on their side.

What this rewatch is bringing into stark relief for me, though, is just how clearly Ruby is telegraphing her real intentions for Sam, and just how frustrating (though understandable) it is that neither Sam nor Dean see it because they are too wrapped up in their own personal emotional rollercoasters with regards to the clock ticking down on Dean’s deal to see what she is actually pushing Sam towards. Because her every word and action in this episode is the cherry on top of the bullshit sundae that she has been trying to feed Sam about the mindset that he needs to be in in order to win this war. What Sam and Dean did was absolutely the right course of action; they are the good guys, after all, and if you want to be the one to hold any sort of moral high ground at the end of a conflict, you absolutely do not want to start out being the ones that sacrifice the innocent in order to accomplish your goals. It is tragic that, despite their efforts, Nancy still died, and so did everyone else who helped them fight off the demons, but just because the other side retaliated against the people they saved doesn’t mean they were in the wrong. It’s possible that Lilith would have found out what happened anyway, even without the one demon escaping, or maybe she would have wiped the town off the map instead of just the police station, or maybe she would have murdered a bunch of other people instead. Just because she retaliated doesn’t mean that Sam and Dean should have compromised their principles in order to take out those demons. And yet, Ruby has them both so twisted up and around her fingers that she very nearly has them convinced that they were in the wrong, and eventually, she will succeed in convincing Sam, at least, that almost any act is justified when you are fighting a war.

It’s truly masterful storytelling, in my opinion, because it is only now, when I have watched the show enough to be able to detach myself a bit from the Winchesters’ emotional drama, that I am able to see that everything Ruby is doing is a manipulation designed to lead Sam right into the arms of Lucifer. She even knows how to manipulate Dean’s mistrust to serve her own ends, and she also manages to convince the audience, who really isn’t looking for her to be more than who she says she is. Which, now that I think about it, may make her the scariest villain the show has ever written, because she is definitely evil from the very beginning, but unless you know exactly what to look for, you don’t know just how evil until her very last moments onscreen.

I do have one nitpick about this episode, which I mostly find funny rather than annoying, because it’s another one of those setting snafus that only really stands out if you know the location where the episode is supposed to be taking place. This one is a bit of a two-parter: for one thing, Monument, CO is much closer to Denver or Colorado Springs than Boulder, either of which would probably also have SWAT facilities, so the line about them going to Boulder is a little jarring if you know anything about Colorado’s geography. The other thing that’s funny, though, is that Monument is also only an hour’s drive or so from the biggest Supermax prison in the country, so the siege could have probably been avoided if Henriksen had just taken them straight there instead of commandeering a local sheriff’s office as a staging area for a transport to a different prison in Nevada. If he had done that, we would have gotten a very different episode, but not necessarily a better one, and this one is so good that I don’t think I would trade its narrative for one that understands where Monument, CO is, though, no matter how much the writer’s lack of understanding on that issue leaves a few holes in the narrative unfilled.

[naturallysuperbullshit]

S3 E12: Jus in Bello

First || Previous || Next

Apparently "jus in bello" means "the law in waging war" .......yikes

Oh Monument, CO! Finally using a real place in Colorado, third times the charm I guess

I know I say this every time but I LOVE Bela

Oooooh shit Henrickson!!!!!! Nice

Henrickson has fed privilege as evidenced by being pissed that the local cops total six (6) people and one (1) assistant. Monument probably has a few more than that IRL but uh yeah not far off I'd imagine

"Think Hannibal Lector and his half-wit little brother" I can picture Sam's bitchface if he heard that one lmao

"We're not the ones you should be scared of, Nancy." Yeah that's not something non-threatening people say, Dean

NDHSJDJSHSHD I PAUSED ON THE CLOSE-UP OF THEIR WANTED POSTERS AND ONE OF DEAN'S LISTED ALIASES IS "DONALD STRUMP"

Oh wait shit i think this is the episode where Henrickson dies oh no

Okay unless that chopper was coming from Colorado Springs, a hell of a lot more time passed than what they implied. Also, they're taking a chopper from Monument all the way to Nevada? They're really planning on doing a fuel stop with two prisoners on board that have already proven to be incredibly good at escaping impossible situations???? Idk where the supermax is supposed to be but unless it's literally at the CO/NV border, they're probably gonna have to stop for fuel at least once. Especially since they can't refuel in Monument!

Holy shit bro what the hell!!!! Fucking demons i s2g

At least Sam memorized the exorcism at this point

The demons said "fuck blue lives" and i can respect that at least

"Henrickson! Four of my men!" Yeah I'd cut this guy some slack bc that's 80% of his force lmao

Did they ever patch up Dean's shoulder or is he still just bleeding out in the cell

I will give the show a small nod of acknowledgement for having Henrickson remain calm and take charge during this, as the sole black person. A nice change from other episodes (im thinking specifically of "The Magnificent Seven"). However that doesn't make up for the shitty way the writers have treated their BIPOC characters in the past, and the future.

Oh good they did give Sam some bandages for Dean

Nancy is so sweet and I know Sam had a reason but that doesn't mean i gotta like him tricking and grabbing her like that like a DICK

"Its like they're coming right for us. They've never done that before." Yes they have. Azazel and his roadies came after you guys multiple times. So did Meg. The Seven rolled around to fuck y'all up in the first episode of this season. This isn't new Dean.

"There's a SWAT facility in Boulder" yeah and that's like 3 hours north of you, not right around the corner

Woof poor Henrickson. Terrible way to find out that demons exist.

Not the time Dean

Hey since when do the demon smoke clouds contain blue lightning

So they covered all the doors and windows with salt lines but iirc in the plane crash episode, where demons were introduced, that demon used the air vents. So why don't these demons, in their smoke forms, slip through the vents from the roof access?

YOU DIDNT HAND OUT THE ANTIPOSSESSION CHARMS FIRST THING???? YOU HAD TIME WHILE THE DEMONS WERE CASING THE BUILDING DEAN

Oh the tats are finally canonized nice

Wow they really possessed the whole population of Monument huh

Deputy no

Man I bet Henrickson would have made a fine hunter. But I'm pretty sure he dies after this :(

"I think the world's gonna end bloody. But it doesn't mean we shouldn't fight." Another for the tagline list!

Oh shit Ruby!

Dean you can't get angry at Sam for keeping secrets when you are also keeping secrets from Sam. Unless you came clean at some point about how there's no way to break your deal and that being in the Pit will turn you into a demon eventually. But I doubt it.

Dean don't make it weird. Stop questioning Nancy about her sex life.

I can't see shit with all these jumpcuts and shaky cams - I understand it's for the "feeling" of being in a fight but can we PLEASE get a coherant image of what's happening please

NANCY IS FUCKING SAVAGE HSJDJSJJSJDJDJS

So they covered one door and like.... Two windows. Great. Really helpful guys.

Oh okay they are coving the rest of the exits that's good

Pretty sure Sam and Dean should have been released when the demon was forced out of the vessel but whatever

Does this count towards the boys' death counts? It's official after all lmao

O h n o L i l i t h

"One's really tall, and one's really cute" hsjsjsjsjjshs

....yeah goodbye Henrickson and Nancy and Deputy :(

"Jus in Bello" final thoughts: honestly I didn't remember this episode being this good. There's a few technical details that irk me, but overall it's solid. And I guess it sort of wraps up the issue of Sam and Dean being wanted for murder for the time being.

[beesmygod]

this is what riverdale is about (part 1)

on feb 14th 2019, while riding on the most stressful flight of my entire life, i decided to try to distract myself using the on-board selection of movies and tv shows. these selections are usually slim pickings of moderately offensive material that wont cause an on-board riot if a naive idiot (me) chooses something they’ve never heard of before and want to be mildly entertained. that did not happen with “riverdale”, which i watched bc i had heard it was embarrassing and dumb. instead, i was RIVETED. i got off the plane, greeted the love of my life at the airport with a kiss and then immediately sullied the moment by summarizing what i had just seen in the first two episodes.

over the next few months, adam and i sat and watched every ep of “riverdale” in rapt, deeply mortified fascination available on netflix. then hulu. then we watched the most recent season as it released on the CW website. the show defies all explanation, has lead us down multiple rabbit holes trying to understand the psychology behind various creative decisions behind the show (the show-runner is the creative mind behind “glee” which probably explains nearly everything), and has introduced us to the highly magical world of the CW’s teen drama universe.

growing up, i felt like this genre of tv was only for DUMB GIRLS which i was NOT. i was a SMART GIRL who read BOOKS and watched OSCAR WINNING MOVIES FOR ADULTS and now as an adult i would like to go back in time and blow my own ass up with a heat seeking missile for being such a pretentious sack of shit. i cant believe i’ve been denying myself the pleasure of this kind of television. is it good? well, no. but its a hell of a lot of fun and the shamelessness that goes into making this kind of narrative for real is truly, genuinely inspiring to those of us making stories and daydreaming about showing those stories to other people. if “riverdale” can do it, why the hell can’t you?

first we need to establish the facts:

THE SETTING: “riverdale” takes place in the fictional titular city, which may or may not be in the state of new york. adam and i have debated this heatedly: we know veronica moves from new york city at the start of the show, which may indicate that it takes place in rural area of the state, but all the license plates on various cars are simply for “riverdale” and not any specific state in particular. we know riverdale was founded by a “general” in 1941 (?) and has at least one governor. 

riverdale is large enough to contain two high schools, a supermax prison, a juvenile detention facility, a nightclub that’s open on weeknights, a five star hotel and a combination nunnery/asylum/orphanage/home for wayward youth/gay conversion camp called “the sisters of quiet mercy”. the primary export of riverdale is maple syrup.

i propose that the town of riverdale is its own city-state within the united states that has its own set of laws and regulations. the show mostly only works if you consider this.

the town is comprised of both a north and south side. the north side is the griffindor house, a land of milk and honey and opportunity for those who seek it. the southside is where all the evil criminals, drug users, and jughead live. the vast majority of the cast is from the northside. pop’s chocklit shop appears to straddle the north/south binary acting as a place where people mostly go to get murdered.

NEXT: CHARACTERS

[hope-for-olicity]

Fabulous Olicity Fanfic Friday - November 23rd, 2018

Happy Friday! So this is my attempt to both thank awesome fanfic writers for their amazing work and offer my recommendations to anyone who is interested. Here are the fantastic fanfic stories I read this week! They are posted in the order I read them. 

seemingly impossible (but not untrue) multi-chapter WIP by @alexiablackbriar13 - Young genius historian Dr Felicity Smoak unknowingly and accidentally calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript within the Oxford Bodleian Libraries - a book that has been lost for centuries. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Felicity wants nothing to do with magic, despite her unruly and powerful abilities. But her discovery of Ashmole 782 sets the world of creatures stirring; with a mystery afoot and new, dangerous magical abilities manifesting for her to navigate, she is approached by the enigmatic vampire biochemist Professor Oliver Queen, who seems to have a deep interest in both the manuscript… and her. Based on A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. https://archiveofourown.org/works/16224353/chapters/37923743

Angel multi-chapter Complete by @it-was-a-red-heeler - Oliver encounters a stripper by the name of Angel and is blown away. https://archiveofourown.org/works/15961898/chapters/37227686#workskin

The Predator multi-chapter WIP by @supersillyanddorky06 - Oliver Queen is the one anomaly in the Chicago Outfit. He is the only non-blooded member to be a part of the high circle in the family. His reputation precedes him and he is their best hunter. Felicity Smoak, daughter of the Starling boss, infiltrates his house, intent on killing him. But a startling encounter tips the scales. He goes on the prowl and she escapes. Hate, heat, and friction. Sparks. But something bigger is happening in their world. And despite their disagreements, only they can fight it down. Mob AU. Not Bratva. Enemies-lovers. http://archiveofourown.org/works/5077885/chapters/21891689

Love and Little Cupcakes multi-chapter WIP by @christinabeggs - Felicity loved sweets so much that she paid no attention to her lovelife. Until Thea Queen came into her store wanting fabulous cupcakes for her sixteenth birthday. SO ADORABLE! http://archiveofourown.org/works/12400539/chapters/28216053

Dobblegangers by @lostolicityscenes - I don’t know what this is. Just thinking about doppelgangers and this popped into my head. I picked blue-grey hair because honestly I can’t think of a color that hasn’t been used by another female hero or villain and I wanted it to be different. There might be a part 2 to this at some point. https://lostolicityscenes.tumblr.com/post/180150292851/doppelgangers-an-when-you-should-be-writing-the

The Strong Do Not Always End Up On Top multi-chapter WIP  by @godswritingfool - Having passed as a Beta all her life, Felicity Smoak had desired normalcy with a little taste of thrill every once in a while. IT girl by day, hacker by night. Or maybe weekends. Was that too much to ask? Turns out the Bratva Captain, overbearing CEO of Queen Consolidated Oliver Queen, is her Alpha Matched Mate! If that wasn't bad enough, Felicity's revenge against the Triad left a power vacuum in the criminal underworld of Starling City. When the turf war ends, the dust settles, and the new mob takes control, sick and bizarre events and even more disturbing and crazy crimes escalate in Starling City. Can the Bratva and remaining criminal organizations get a handle on the newcomers who are spreading chaos in the streets? Underneath it all, while dodging the Triad, Stalkers, Jealousy, the new Mob, Possessiveness, and Outside Forces, can Reluctant Omega Felicity Smoak and Territorial Alpha Oliver Queen get over their issues and stubborn pride and finally accept their soul deep connection? http://archiveofourown.org/works/7701490/chapters/17547565

In a Perfect World multi-chapter WIP by @smoaking-greenarrow - Based on a prompt: "What if Oliver (being cut off from Queens billions) follows his true passion - photography, meets Felicity and they become THE internet famous family of the world?" Oliver fell in love with photography after he received his first camera at sixteen years old. Now, he spends his time alone, traveling around the world and capturing breathtaking moments- like the beautiful woman he meets on a beach one night. https://archiveofourown.org/works/15758463/chapters/36651615

With the Speed of an Arrow multi-chapter WIP by @academyofshipping - Oliver Queen’s elite and silver-spoon life has taken some blows in the past few years, but he is still the carefree billionaire everyone knows of and loves. When his role in the family business is in jeopardy and he is introduced to a motley of new people, his status quo is threatened. With a changed perspective, Oliver realizes his feeling for his best friend and anchor-in-life, Felicity Smoak, may be more than just platonic. OR A modern adaption of Jane Austen’s Emma with a gender swap* and no island. *Knowing that gender is not binary https://archiveofourown.org/works/16559846/chapters/38799857

There's a Hole in My Soul multi-chapter WIP by @dianasmatthew - Felicity Smoak is the daughter of a powerful and dangerous mob boss. Oliver Queen, who had been an associate until recently being promoted to bodyguard, was given the job of protecting Felicity. Neither of them are very happy about the arrangement. https://archiveofourown.org/works/5827837/chapters/13431532

Vampire Oliver multi-chapter WIP by @tdgal1 - Vampire series, more fall out from Oliver's failed attempt to woo Felicity https://tdgal1.tumblr.com/post/180184554795/vampire-oliver

| ONE | (Oliver the Footballer) multi-chapter WIP @someonesaidcake - Felicity Smoak had a plan; to save enough money to kick her monotonous job and start up the company of her dreams. She made good plans, solid plans, attainable plans. He was never part of her plan. His name was Oliver Queen, the reclusive Brazilian football star with a broken smile and a story to tell. He'd never planned on her either. https://archiveofourown.org/works/15005402/chapters/34779542

The Wine Tasting by @quiveringbunny - Spending the afternoon doing something she thoroughly enjoys may change Felicity Smoak's life. https://archiveofourown.org/works/16637105

The Queen's Mage multi-chapter WIP by @the-shy-and-anxious-fangirl - Words have power, and mages, those with the aptitude to draw on that power, are few in number. Thus, their services are highly sought after by anyone who has exhausted all mundane means of solving whatever problem is plaguing them. Felicity is reminded of this fact the hard way when she is hired by Moira Queen, the Lady Starling, to find and return to her son Oliver, who fled his family home five years ago following the death of his father. With a threat hanging over her should she return without Robert Queen's heir, Felicity begins her search. When she finds Oliver, and ends up joining his vigilante crusade while she waits for him to decide whether to return home, the last thing she expects to do is fall in love with him. https://archiveofourown.org/works/14617068/chapters/33781269

Charmed I'm Sure! multi-chapter WIP by @christinabeggs - What happens when three witchy sisters take on the evil in the world? https://archiveofourown.org/works/15852249/chapters/36922482

Knight in Dented Armor multi-chapter WIP by Serendipity16 - 10. That's the message that was left on Felicity Smoak's car that started the downward spiral that has become her life. Sure, she has her amazingly gorgeous-I mean muscular- I mean supportive best friend and CEO, Oliver Queen to help her through this strange time. But will Felicity's past finally catch up to her? And what happens when the countdown runs out? https://archiveofourown.org/works/11156415/chapters/24895272

And So The Adventure Begins multi-chapter WIP by @mindramblingsfics - Felicity spent her first year of college focused solely on her studies. In year two, with the convincing of her best friends Iris and Sara, she lets her hair down a bit. Oliver spent his first year partying with his wingman Tommy and living up to the status that came with his last name. He realizes he should buckle down focus on the most important part: actual school. Oliver and Felicity meet, and even though they are on different ends of the spectrum, they don't realize that they can each bring out hidden parts of one another. https://archiveofourown.org/works/15800025/chapters/36771018

Caught in the Rapture multi-chapter WIP by @bindy417 - AU. Being the daughter of a ruthless and notorious crime lord, Felicity Smoak didn't think her life could get any worse. When her father unexpectedly sells her in marriage as a peace offering to his enemy, she quickly learns it'll take more than just her sharp intellect to survive. But what starts out as a sentence worse than death may actually be her only shot at freedom. http://archiveofourown.org/works/7931917/chapters/18128824

From Somewhere Within multi-chapter WIP by @smoaking-greenarrow - Their connection has always felt natural to them, safe and secure. But others tend to fear what they don’t understand, and as far as their enemies are concerned, the world isn’t ready to accept two people who can know each other the way that Oliver and Felicity do. https://archiveofourown.org/works/16009244/chapters/37356257

Life's All About Changes multi-chapter WIP by Crazyreader2468 - After agreeing to plead guilty to being the Green Arrow in order to get FBI assistance in capturing Diaz, Oliver finds himself in a supermax, a maximum security federal prison, serving a life sentence. As he struggles to become accustomed to life in prison, his family, friends, and teammates struggle to live without him, as well as continually attempting to find a way to get him pardoned. Will they succeed in obtaining a pardon and will Oliver survive until they do? Mostly AU from right before the ending of episode 6 x 22 and after most of 6 x 23. https://archiveofourown.org/works/14936172

Pieces of Always multi-chapter WIP by @so-caffeinated and @dust2dust34 - Life continues after Forever is Composed of Nows. Ongoing non-linear collection of family moments for the Queens. http://archiveofourown.org/works/8220479/chapters/18840356

Arrow Out of Context multi-chapter WIP by @smoaking-greenarrow -  "Well if it's you asking, I'll do it" https://archiveofourown.org/works/14957309/chapters/39043306

// @emmaamelia95 // @mel-loves-all // @oliverfel4 // @green-arrows-of-karamel // @coal000 // @miriam1779 // @memcjo// @captainolicitysbedroom // @tdgal1 // @spaztronautwriter // @lalawo1// @quiveringbunny // @wrongshipper // @thebookjumper // @vaelisamaza // @myhauntedblacksoul // @lovelycssefan // @laurabelle2930 // 

[jbuffyangel]

Selfless: Arrow 6x23 Review (Life Sentence)

Arrow delivers an emotional, but unsurprising finale. There isn’t much we didn’t see coming, but thankfully Stephen Amell and Paul Blackthorne, in particular, brought their A games and made me feel all the feels.

And oh yes, you can bet your sweet bippy we’ll be discussing the whole Oliver-didn’t-tell-Felicity-he’s-going-to-prison-for-life situation.

Let’s dig in…

Preface

Arrow Season 6 is similar to Season 4 in the sense there were certain tent points the writers were trying to hit. It resulted in pushing the story a certain direction rather than letting it develop organically. For example, the Olicity break up was easily avoided just like Oliver going to prison is easily avoided.

However, if Olicity breaking up was the only possible outcome then lying was the lesser of storyline evils. We have to suspend logic for prison to become the only possible outcome like we did in Season 4. Does it make great writing? No. It doesn’t, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles with Arrow sometimes.

The primary issue with Season 6 is the Big Bad. Arrow lives and dies with their Big Bad, since 75% of the story is built around stopping this person. Ricardo Diaz is easily Arrow’s worst Big Bad ever. Supposedly, it’s impossible for Oliver to stop Diaz on his own because he’s always two steps ahead and has the city on lock.

Umm… no. There’s almost nothing in the way Arrow has built or presented Diaz that makes him a viable threat to Oliver or the city. He’s a poor imitation of a gangster who screams a lot. The only reason Diaz is a few steps ahead is because the other characters reacted illogically or stupidly to him. Oliver should have been able to take this guy down long before 6x23. Hell, Diggle should have taken him down in 6x06.

We have to believe Diaz’s is an unstoppable Big Bad, which requires Oliver to ask the FBI for help and make this deal. 

Unfortunately, this is just not true. If this was Adrian Chase as Prometheus then we can absolutely understand why Oliver would go running to the FBI. 

Diaz? Not so much.

The intent of this preface is to acknowledge I see the Grand Canyon sized plot holes. 

Yes, prison is easily avoided. Yes, Ricardo Diaz is the worst and can easily be taken down without all this extra “help.” Or if “help” is required then get it from someone who doesn’t demand 25 to life.

Olicity

No beating around the bush. Let’s dive right in. Oliver has secured everyone immunity (Yeah!!!) and spends the better part of the episode casually dodging Felicity while he goes on a farewell tour with the other characters.  Felicity picks up on it because 1) she’s Felicity and 2) Oliver is ridiculously obvious about it.

Felicity wants to know what Oliver gave Watson to secure immunity for everyone. Rather than patiently wait for Oliver to fess up like she normally does, Felicity offers a guesses - Oliver agreed to give up the Green Arrow. This guess conveniently gives Oliver the opportunity to lie without really lying. He sidesteps the truth by answering, “Sort of.” 

Sure, giving up the Green Arrow is all part of life in prison, my forever gumdrop. Anything else you’d like to know? Of course, Oliver should have fessed up immediately. Lies of omission are still lies and we danced this dance all of Season 4 and Season 5 Oliver Jonas Queen! Learn fool!

Felicity’s reaction to Oliver giving up the hood is something we should make note of.

Source: @callistawolf​

We can insert this gif for every stupid decision Oliver has ever made.

What irritates me about this scene is an argument snowballs on false pretenses. Oliver doesn’t tell Felicity what they are really fighting about. He is giving up being Green Arrow because HE IS GOING TO PRISON. Oliver no longer believes in becoming his best self because HE IS GOING TO PRISON. Watson isn’t stopping Oliver from being who he is because it was OLIVER’S IDEA TO GO TO PRISON.

This is like picking a fight over laundry when you are really arguing about money. Stop talking about detergent when you’re really throwing down over the 401k. I’m also having trouble wrapping my head around prison being Oliver’s idea, 

but of course it was because 1) Oliver is the stupidest to ever stupid and 2) he is that selfless. 

We are led to believe Oliver is just about to tell Felicity the truth, but they are interrupted by Curtis because he insists on annoying me every single episode.

Watson officially arrests Oliver while he waits in the hospital for news on Quentin with the rest of the team. 

He explains to everyone (primarily Felicity) he’s sorry he hasn’t explained what’s going on, but there just wasn’t any time. Umm… how about those few minutes you’ve been sitting in a waiting room with your wife, Oliver? Seems to me there was plenty of time to fess up.

Me: Yup, that’s right. Look away in shame you big, dumb, guilty oak tree!

Also me: My poor-honorable-yet-misguided-selfless-cupcake-in-perfectly-accentuated-leather-pants.

Oliver didn’t confess because he didn’t want to confess. Telling Felicity makes it real. Telling Felicity means Oliver has to face everything he has given up. He’s kept it together as he hunted down Diaz and said his goodbyes to Diggle, Quentin, Rene and Dinah. But now it’s just Oliver and Felicity in a room. He has to tell his wife goodbye and Oliver can’t keep it together anymore.

Felicity is ready. She has a plan and promises Oliver she will break him out of prison with Diggle’s help. Oliver explains he’s being transferred to a supermax. A breakout is impossible.

Source: oliverfelicitygifs

Felicity argues Oliver kept his identity secret because he wanted a life beyond the Green Arrow. This confession, this agreement, sacrifices that dream. It sacrifices a life he was so close to living. Oliver understands that. 

He wanted to save the city more. He wanted to protect Felicity and William more. Without them there is no dream. There is no life. He would have nothing. Oliver would sacrifice anything to keep his wife and son safe, including his freedom.

Source: oliverfelicitygifs

Marc Guggenheim explained in an interview the reason why Oliver did not tell Felicity about the deal he made with Watson is because she would talk him out of it. I agree this is true. I cannot imagine any circumstances in which Felicity Smoak would agree to her husband spending life in prison. Can you? 

Look at her reaction when she thought Oliver was only giving up the hood. Felicity almost had Oliver convinced then and she didn’t even know what they were really arguing about.

Felicity would have convinced Oliver to forego this lunacy because he doesn’t want to make this sacrifice. Oliver wants to go home, make dinner for his family, play a video game with his son, put William to bed, and then make love to his wife. Oliver doesn’t want to go to prison. He’s holding on by a tether. One slight push in the other direction and his will would break. It’s not difficult for Felicity to change Oliver’s mind because he wants her to change his mind.

That doesn’t make what Oliver did okay. He absolutely should have discussed his plan with Felicity prior to making a deal with Watson. Felicity would have argued passionately against it and Oliver would have either listened to her (likely) or did it anyway (less likely, but he can be a stubborn mule, so possible). 

However, my husband doesn’t get a free pass to lie to me simply because he knows I am going to disagree. That’s not how marriage works. This is Felicity’s life too and Oliver made a monumental decision for her rather than with her. I simply understand why Oliver did it. Both things can be true at once.

I suppose my Buffy/Angel history is coloring my opinion. 

Angel became human once, but chose to become a vampire again by the end of the episode. I’m still mad at him over it and it’s been 20 years.

Angel sacrificed the one thing he always wanted, a happy and human life with Buffy, to save her life and the lives of other. 

Unfortunately, Angel didn’t discuss the decision with Buffy beforehand. He made a life altering choice for her rather than with her. Why? Because Angel knew Buffy would change his mind. Where Whedon succeeds is where Guggenheim fails. ANGEL TELLS BUFFY THAT.

“I couldn’t do it if I woke up with you one more morning.” (Angel, “I Will Remember You”)

See? It’s so simple. 

One line explaining a character’s thinking rather than relying on an interview post airing to explain it. It doesn’t mean Buffy shouldn’t have a say, but it made Angel’s choices a lot clearer. At the very least, Oliver needed to explain why he didn’t discuss prison with her. Oliver needed to say he feared Felicity would change his mind. We needed a line like, “I couldn’t do it if I woke up with you one more morning.” Hell, just plagiarizes it. 

Despite Stephen’s assertions this was the most emotional scene ever between Oliver and Felicity, I didn’t feel it. 

Maybe it was the way the scene was shot. Felicity kneeling, rather than sitting across the table and holding Oliver’s hand, felt awkward. Stephen Amell tends to like the scenes where he’s allowed to emote more. The airplane scene in 3x20 is a great example of this. I thought Emily and Stephen’s acting was wonderful, but something took me out of it.  My issue was probably with the dialogue – not with what was said, but what wasn’t.

My frustration with Marc and Wendy’s writing is there’s often things left unsaid. We are so close to the characters saying what needs to be said, but ultimately they fall short. I needed Oliver and Felicity to have their “I Will Remember You” fight, but the scene didn’t even come close. 

Maybe they will pick up this fight/discussion when Arrow premieres in Season 7, but I believe the time for Felicity to voice her anger over Oliver’s decision was in 6x23. Arrow is constantly putting Olicity discussions on hold because of storyline carryover/cliffhanger shenanigans and it gets frustrating. It seems odd for Felicity to say six months later, “Hey remember that time you made a life altering decision for me, went to prison for life, and left me alone to raise our son? That sucked.” But that’s Arrow for you.

I don’t view this lie in the same lens as the lie about William.

I know I know, but I have reasons. Samantha gave Oliver an ultimatum and I wouldn’t have much respect for the man if he walked out on his child. 

However, there was something selfish in Oliver’s lie to Felicity. He was able to spend time with his son and maintain his relationship with his fiancé without dealing with any consequences. The lie allowed Oliver to have his cake and eat it too.

There is no cake here.  There isn’t even a can of frosting. 

Source: olivergifs

Oliver is giving up everything and everyone he’s ever loved. The very definition of selfless is putting the needs and wishes of other’s above one’s own. The William lie exposed trust issues, Oliver’s guilt over Robert Queen’s death, his never ending need to self destruct, and a refusal to let Felicity all the way in. I don’t see any of that present now. This is good because it would unravel all the hard work Oliver did in Season 5, particularly 5x20.  

This isn’t about trust, or being afraid of the darkest parts of himself, or self destruction, or refusing to let Felicity all the way in, or unworthiness. This decision is 100% about falling on the sword and protecting those he loves. Okay, let’s agree it’s 90% about falling on the sword and protecting others. The other 10% is Oliver “Everything Is Always My Fault Even Though It Really Isn’t” Queen. Guilt is absolutely playing a role in Oliver’s decision.

Oliver: I had to look at the way I’ve been doing things. It’s not working. I lost my city. I lost my team. There’s a penance for that. 

What’s so sad is Oliver truly did nothing wrong. What happened with the city and the team was mostly out of his control. His team abandoned Oliver primarily because they all regressed to a toddler like state and threw a never ending tantrum. Oliver offered apologies long ago that were refused. The newbies, and Diggle, chose to leave and that choice was outside Oliver’s control. 

But Oliver always looks inward rather than place the blame on others. He’s much more comfortable holding himself accountable than he is holding others to the same standard. This is why Oliver is more than a hero. He’s a martyr.

I do not believe Oliver is hitting another self destruct button on his life like when he slept with Sara and brought her on the Queen’s Gambit or when he lied to Felicity about William. The darker parts of Oliver’s soul are not driving his decision - his light is. Oliver’s protectiveness, self sacrificing, and honor led him here. He’s not running from who he is. Oliver is being the very best version of himself. This is what a hero looks like.

Source:  arrowdaily

But that doesn’t make it any easier on Felicity. 

Source: oliverfelicitygifs

I went back and reread some of my 5x20 review and landed on this:

If Felicity gave it time, if she let things continue the way they were, then she’d fall right back into his arms. It’s so easy to love him. It’s so easy to lose herself in him. Felicity couldn’t do that because she didn’t want to wake up twenty years later, with her marriage crumbling around her, because Oliver Queen abandoned her again to another lie or another choice that didn’t include her. Felicity doesn’t want to become a ghost in her own life.

But isn’t that exactly what happened? Didn’t Oliver abandon Felicity to another lie, another choice, that didn’t include her? Didn’t he leave Felicity on an island all over again? 

Yes, that’s exactly what happened. I expect Felicity will express some anger towards Oliver when Season 7 premieres. She sure as hell is entitled to it.

However, it won’t be a deal breaker like it was in Season 4. Felicity isn’t walking away this time because she knows exactly what she walked into with this marriage. We already know Felicity’s stance because she told us or, that is, she told William in 6x11.

This is probably the most important monologue of Season 6. Even though Felicity is talking about Oliver the scene isn’t really about him. This scene is about how Felicity views loving Oliver, marriage, and making peace with the life they’ve chosen. 

Felicity knows, without equivocation, what it means to be married to a hero. The fear of losing Oliver is what kept Felicity from marrying him. 

She thought if they could just keep the status quo and not rock the boat then she would never have to face losing him again. And Felicity has discovered there’s many ways to lose Oliver Queen. 

However, she remembered life is precious. 

Felicity would rather live knowing everything can be taken from her in an instant, while holding on to Oliver, rather than live life without him.  

But Felicity recognizes Oliver’s imperfections. 

He’s made many mistakes that have torn their relationship apart. Oliver swore he would never lie to Felicity again and yet… here we are.

Felicity predicted this day in her break up with Oliver and Felicity Smoak is never wrong. Back then it was a knowledge Felicity couldn’t live with. It’s the reason she walked. She couldn’t be married to a man who at any point would leave her on an island. She couldn’t be married to a man who would exclude her from decisions. She couldn’t be married to a man who would lie to her.

Or can she?

The truth is we all have pieces of ourselves that are hardwired a certain way. We all have imperfections that creep up no matter how hard we work on them. Those imperfections rear their ugly heads in our relationships and, for better or worse, we argue again and again over them with our partners.  There is no perfect human being. Love is about dealing with the bad in our partner as much as it is about loving our partner for all the good.

For all of Oliver’s faults, and there are many, what remains hardwired is his protectiveness. Oliver Queen loves deeply and there are no limits to the lengths he will go to protect those he loves. Oliver will make sure that he is the one to fall on the sword because there have been too many times he’s watched loved ones fall before him.

I joked in my 6x22 review it was almost as if Oliver and Felicity were competing over who gets to die for who. This is a competition Oliver will always win. He will lie, cheat, beg, borrow, steal and, yes, even kill to ensure Felicity’s safety. There is no line Oliver won’t cross. 

Felicity danced with her darkness in Season 5, but she still didn’t come close to Oliver and that’s the way he’s determined to keep it. He will sacrifice his light to save hers. The only thing more unbearable than going to prison is Felicity going to prison. Oliver doesn’t fear his own death, but the deaths of those he loves. This is what will always drive him. There is no changing this. This is simply who Oliver Queen is.

What happened just before Oliver went to Agent Watson? Felicity almost suffocated from smoke inhalation. Oliver was carrying her lifeless body in his arms. She was prepared to die to stop Diaz and almost did. So, there are no limits to what Oliver had to do to make sure that didn’t happen again. And yes that includes lying.

Does it make lying okay? NO OF COURSE NOT.

I’m saying this is an imperfection in Oliver. He has a God complex. All heroes do. 

Felicity told Oliver post coital in 5x20 if she could understand why he lied then maybe she could find her way back to him. Felicity understands why Oliver lied then and she understands why Oliver lied now. 

He is imperfect, but it comes from a pure place. His choices are not always good, but his intentions are. Oliver Queen is an imperfect heart trying to love perfectly.

Source: oliverfelicitygifs

Felicity knew there would come a day where Oliver would sacrifice it all for the greater good because that’s what this life requires. That’s what it means to be married to a hero. Oliver Queen is selfless. 

Source: oliverfelicitygifs

That selflessness means sacrifice for Felicity too. It means there will be times she is alone on an island. Felicity said I do anyway because an imperfect life with Oliver Queen is better than a life without him. Oliver’s selflessness is what Felicity loves most about her husband… and what she hates most.

Derek: I promised that I’d love you –

Meredith: Even when you hate me.

Derek: Even when I hate you. (Grey’s Anatomy, 8x03)

Felicity allows her husband to be who he is. She loves Oliver for who he is and in spite of who he is. She shares this man with the city he’s sworn to protect. Felicity understands Oliver will never entirely belong to her or the life they’ve built together as long as he’s Green Arrow. The mission will always come first.

But Felicity chose this life and Oliver Queen.  She will go into witness protection, with her son, and face this island. She won’t be entirely alone. Felicity will have William and he will have her, but that’s a cold comfort to what lays before her – a life without Oliver.  

Source: oliverfelicitygifs

This will be a long, dark, lonely and painful journey for Felicity. A journey she wasn’t given a say in. As angry as Felicity will be at Oliver, and she should let him have it, she will also understand why because she would do the same. Felicity would do anything to protect her family and city. Her sacrifices are equally selfless as Oliver’s. It’s why they are a perfect match. They are both heroes.

Source: gothsmoak��and  olivergifs

Quentin Lance, Black Siren and Oliver Queen

Quentin finally dies for his fake daughter due to his overwhelming guilt over his real daughter’s death. A few therapy visits would have helped immensely and would have been far less costly Q, but go off I guess. 

Arrow failed to write any meaningful storylines post L*urel’s death for Quentin. I had hope when he dated Mama Smoak, but that went nowhere. He was reduced to a prop for Bl*ck S*ren this season and I’d rather see him gone than used like that.

Arrow keeps flip flopping back and forth between Bl*ck S*ren being Quentin’s daughter to Bl*ck S*ren not being Quentin’s daughter so much I have to take migraine pills. 

Sadly, the flip flop is all they have with the character. This push/pull with the redemption arc is all Bl*ck S*ren has going for her. If they settle on evil then it renders Quentin’s sacrifice pointless. If they settle on good then the writers are back in their LL writing box and I firmly believe they’d rather eat their young than go back there. 

So we flip flop. Sometimes Bl*ck S*ren is acknowledged as Quentin’s daughter. Sometimes the other characters go out of their way to point out Bl*ck S*ren is NOT his daughter. Sigh. I just don’t care anymore.

Let’s be clear that BS is an absolute waste of character space regardless. 

Source: katie-mcgraths

The entire reason Felicity and William are going into witness protection is because she decided to use her Canary Cry against Diaz for the first time all season and at exactly the wrong moment. 

Did BS really believe the fall off the roof would kill Diaz? It looked like she pushed him off a waterslide. I guess we can add stupid to the long list of unpleasant characteristics. 

The only upside of that scene was seeing Oliver’s crazy angry eyes. I’m gonna abuse this gif.

Source: katie-mcgraths

He wanted to throw her off the building right along with Diaz. Have at it, big boy. God bless.

Before Quentin runs off to save Evil L*urel, he and Oliver reminisces about how long they’ve known each other and how far their relationship has come. Yup, we get it Arrow. Quentin is going to die. No need to hang a neon sign.

Quentin not so casually mentions his pacemaker to Oliver (Ha! Remember that 2x23-3x01 plot line that was never spoken of again until now?!), so Felicity is able to track Quentin’s and thereby zero in on Diaz. It’s one of the few times Quentin’s crazy actually made sense and proved useful. Way to out on a high note Captain.

Unfortunately, he’s a moron because he jumps in front of the bullet meant for Evil L*urel. He just stayed put and BS moved a little to the right we would have a mortal wound. A girl can dream.

Quentin’s willingness to put it all on the line for his fake daughter leads to a very nice goodbye scene with Oliver. 

Source: @olivergifs​

Both Stephen Amell and Paul Blackthorne brought their A game. Oliver tells Quentin he’s like a father to him and it made me feel all the things. Yup, I was a sobbing mess.

See? Oliver didn’t need to marry LL for this father/son relationship to develop between these two men. 

That road began in 1x23 when Felicity defended The Hood to Quentin and he began to see the vigilante in a different light. Oliver and Quentin managed to carve out a relationship that had absolutely nothing to do with L*urel and it’s one of the series best arcs.  

All Oliver Queen ever wanted was to earn Quentin’s forgiveness and respect. It was a long, difficult and painful road, but they eventually arrived at a place Oliver never dreamed possible. 

Not only did Quentin forgive and respect Oliver, he loved him like a son. 

It’s easy to forget Oliver Queen is an orphan. Quentin was Oliver’s foster father in more ways than one. Everything Oliver said to Quentin was true. One of the primary reasons Oliver is a good father to William is because he had Quentin Lance as an example. One of the reasons Oliver is the man he is today is because Quentin Lance was in his life.

So this is goodbye Quentin. 

I believe it was time to let the character go, but I will miss his snarky yet on point remarks about the ridiculousness of Arrow and his sage wisdom. 

I’m sorry Arrow didn’t give Paul Blackthorne more to do because he is an acting rock star who had the power to make me cry whenever he felt like it. We’ll miss you Paul, but I am excited to see what he does next.

Source:  sirenfrost

One thing I am super ticked off about is Sara didn’t get a goodbye scene with her father, ya know, his ACTUAL DAUGHTER.  The real one who is alive and standing in the hallway!!!!!

What was the point of having Caity Lotz on the show if she didn’t get a scene with Paul Blackthorne? I’m a big Sara/LL fan, but that little chat with BS in the hallway could happen anytime. Rene rated a goodbye scene with Lance, but nope, not his daughter. Honestly, this show makes absolutely no sense sometimes.

John Diggle

Oliver makes up a second Green Arrow suit (I want to know who makes those. I feel like this is an important character we are not meeting) and offers it to Diggle during his farewell tour. Diggle turns it down because their “disagreement was never about the uniform.” 

This is true. It was about Diggle’s mid life crisis.

Diggle: I really thought I wanted this mantle. It means something. You’ve made it mean something. When our city looks at it – it gives them hope Oliver. It would be diminished if there was more than one.

So now Diggle doesn’t want to be Green Arrow? Or he wants to be Green Arrow if he’s the only one? My head hurts. Can we just move on from this ridiculous storyline? 

Put on the Spartan suit Diggle and come home. As far as the Green Arrow giving hope to the city – we are talking about the same city prosecuting Oliver right? The sentiment is nice, but Diggle doesn’t exactly have his finger on the pulse on the will of the people.

Oliver became almost everything Diggle ever asked him to be. He was a husband, father, mayor and vigilante all at once. Oliver becoming the best version of himself caused Diggle to spiral. If John is not counseling Oliver on how to beat back his demons then where does that leave him? John Diggle’s mission was Oliver Queen, but the student became the teacher this season and John couldn’t handle it. Diggle lost his way when Oliver found his. He no longer knew what his purpose was. Diggle couldn’t see that even though Oliver may need him differently it doesn’t mean he needs John any less.

Hopefully, Oliver selflessly going to prison for everyone on the team and securing them immunity, will remind Diggle who Oliver Queen is. He is a man worthy of John’s respect, admiration, friendship and love. Prison will present a huge emotional challenge to Oliver and he’ll need Diggle’s guidance more than ever.

However, when Oliver emerges from the darkness of prison and finds his way back to the light of heroism, I hope John emerges from dark as well. Hopefully, John is able to move past his mid life crisis and find a purpose beyond Oliver Queen. Maybe Diggle will realize being Spartan is plenty of purpose. Maybe he’ll discover something new like Felicity did with her company. I want Diggle to find whatever he’s searching for because Oliver Queen casts a long shadow. Oliver’s light should illuminate the man Diggle helped mold rather than blind him. Diggle will see Oliver clearly again when he sees himself clearly again.

The Newbies

Does anyone understand why Oliver is apologizing so much? What in the sweet mother of freaking Moses did he do that requires this much apologizing? 

Source:olivergifs

Dinah and Rene finally cough up a sort of apology and admit to admiring Oliver, but only after he apologies to them for what feels like the tenth time. Why did it take so long to get here? The simple answer is a 23 episode season and there couldn’t be “peace” until the final episode. But there is very little difference between Oliver’s apology in 6x10 to his apology now.

The newbies acted like entitled, whiny and violent brats for the better part of the season. Suddenly flipping the off switch to their petulant behavior and offering Oliver a couple measly compliments doesn’t get it done for me. 

There wasn’t even a conversation with Curtis, which can be viewed one of two ways. 1) He’s not a blip on Oliver Queen’s radar screen and the character doesn’t rate a conversation or 2) The writers are blind to Curtis’ abhorrent behavior and think he has nothing to apologize for which is INSANITY.

These people do not deserve Oliver Queen’s selflessness, but he didn’t do it because they deserved it. Oliver did it because the newbies needed protection. It says far more about Oliver’s character than it does theirs.  

My sincerest hope is they feel an extreme amount of guilt and realize what jackasses they are. Their finger pointing, fits, and fighting all contributed to Oliver ending up in jail. Rene’s betrayal is the primary reason the FBI zeroed in on Oliver in the first place. The newbies have a massive uphill climb to redemption and I remain skeptical the damage done to the characters can be repaired. Time will tell.

Stray Thoughts

Oliver giving up his happy life with Felicity and William, a life without the mask, just sets up his endgame even more (or what I think will be his endgame).

I’m hoping there’s more to this “deal” Oliver made with Watson. Maybe some undercover work like my buddy @callistawolf suggested.

Anatoly’s excuse for missing the raid is Big Belly Burger. That is all kinds of awesome. Never change Anatoly.

Longbow hunters mention! Hello Season 7 villains!

Quentin should list L*urel as “Evil L*urel” in his phone to help him tell the difference BECAUSE THERE IS A FREAKING DIFFERENCE.

“Or L*urel dies a second time.” YOU CAN ONLY DIE ONCE YOU TWATWAFFLES. THIS WOULD BE THE FIRST DEATH FOR THIS L*UREL BECAUSE SHE IS A DIFFERENT L*UREL.

“I gotta say they are a lot easier to operate when they aren’t being hacked.” I love this perfect cup of fruit salad.

Rene did make me cry with that goodbye call to his kid.

How stupid are you FBI agent? You don’t stand there and look at the fire as it comes blazing toward you. WE CALLED THESE GUYS FOR HELP? WHY????

“From what Oliver tells me she’s not even your daughter.” Don’t you love how on Oliver’s “I was wrong about everything” tour he sticks to “BS is not L*urel and she is evil.”  Awesomesauce.

“Would you be taking this risk with our L*urel or was this the kind of risk that got her killed in the first place?” Quentin needs to rewatch Season 4 because it was time for LL to go.

Oliver stops Diaz with a few measly punches and IT SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED WEEKS AGO.

The FBI didn’t help very much. Oliver and Felicity figured out a way to get the list of all Diaz’s city officials. Watson brought some man power to the raid on the precinct, which Oliver could have gotten from the many superhero shows he’s launched. Furthermore, I thought the whole point to expanding the team was so that Oliver had help. So, why are these dingbat newbies around if they can’t take down a couple cops?

Sara & BS scene only bolstered my belief that BS belongs on Legends of Tomorrow. 

Disclaimer: Any gifs on the blog are not mine. If you would like a gif removed from my reviews, please message me. 6x23 gifs credited.

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[douxreviews]

Arrow - ‘Training Day’ Review

“We have to be something else... something better.”

The episode where Oliver learns, once again, he’s not always right, Dinah figures out who she is, Emiko shows her true colors, and William and Mia go on a treasure hunt.

To assuage the Mayor’s concerns, Dinah persuades Team Arrow that a little SCPD 101 might be in order. Not a bad idea if they intend to convict the people Team Arrow captures. However, limiting them to only SCPD issued uniforms and firearms kind of defeats the purpose of using Team Arrow in the first place. This goes over about as well as can be expected.

The SCPD officers believe that Oliver and company don’t understand the reasons for their procedures and resent the implication they are inferior. The former vigilantes feel handicapped by the chain of command, the chain of custody and the limits imposed by SCPD budget and technology. Dinah does her best to straddle both sides of the SCPD/Vigilante debate. Repeatedly asking Team Arrow for patience.

Her position changes when on her first outing as both Captain and Canary she discovers she cannot use her cry. While it’s true that Oliver and Felicity’s actions put Dinah in a difficult position it is also true that she’s made the calculation that if she cannot be the canary, then she’ll side with the SCPD. Rene reminds her that her Cry isn’t what makes her the Black Canary. If the flash forwards are any indication, in the not too distant future he will regret that conversation.

Oliver freely admits that patience is not his strong suit and he proves his case here. Although willing to attend classes and to submit to Dinah’s authority within the confines of the police station, the moment his authority in the field was compromised he declares his partnership with the SCPD a failure.

Felicity, in a moment of willful blindness, convinces Oliver that if he captures Midas, a well respected CEO who has given so generously to the SCPD in the past but is now suspected of creating poison bullets, all will be forgiven. After all, who needs a warrant, or proof for that matter. Both Oliver and Felicity are shocked when this is not the case and make plans to clean up Star City without SCPD assistance.

Diggle to the rescue. After congratulating them on the latest addition to the family, he promptly reminds the couple they would once again be in violation of the Vigilante Act and subject to arrest and imprisonment. Good luck cleaning up Star City from Slabside. Like Dinah, he has experience with both law enforcement philosophies and convinces Oliver there is another way. Felicity finds a viable (and legal) lead that ties Midas to his crimes. Team Arrow and the SCPD join forces to capture Midas, his gun-toting goons, and the evidence.  This forces Pollard to both acknowledge Team Arrow’s value and make some concessions.

I applaud The Powers That Be finally addressing Team Arrow’s penchant for ignoring private property, probable cause, and rule of law in general in their pursuit of criminals. It’s been a long time coming. I was also pleased they explored Dinah’s conflicting values. Unfortunately, both stories were given short shrift in order to set up new storylines and to tie up a few loose ends.

While it was clear Dante was behind Diaz’s death, I doubt anyone believed he did the deed himself. And as luck would have it, there was a witness – the partially reformed Ben Turner. He offers to spill the murderer’s identity if D.A. Laurel Lance frees him. She’s working on it but makes no guarantees. Alright, then get him a visit with his son.

The moment the word “son” spilled from Ben’s lips I realized we were witnessing Connor Hawke’s origin story. Unfortunately, it means Ben is not long for this world. Ratting out Dante, even indirectly, does not come with a long life expectancy. At this point, we can only hope for two things. First, for Oliver to keep his promise and arrange for Ben’s freedom however short-lived it may be, and second, for Ben to earn the redemption he’s been hinting at for years.

Which brings us to Emiko Adachi. Her ability to fault Oliver for any of his transgressions is at an end. For all Emiko’s talk of justice, she had no qualms about straight up murder. Oliver has walked many a dark path but I can’t remember him ever killing someone who had no means to defend himself. Waltzing into a supermax, dousing an imprisoned man with gasoline, and setting him on fire is hard to defend even given Dante’s apparent threat level.

Emiko had little fear of Star City’s D.A. either. I have to assume Dante filled her in on Laurel’s true identity but I’m hard-pressed to see how Emiko can use it to her advantage. Team Arrow already knows Laurel's identity and since she has successfully served as the D.A for months now, outing her as a metahuman criminal from an alternate universe to Star City might prove difficult. Just sayin’.

As for our flash forward, Mia and William join forces to acquire a microcassette player and listen to Felicity’s message. Considering they are both supposedly geniuses the ensuing comedy of errors should be but wasn’t unexpected. Mia, realizing William has no experience with Star City’s seedy underbelly tells him to stay put and “not do anything” and for some reason expected him to follow directions. William, understanding the true nature of his genius sees no reason to heed her advice. And like his father before him, he would be wrong. But in the true spirit of family, they work together. By marrying her knowledge of both the SCPD and the criminal element with William’s tech skills they succeed in getting the cassette player and give Felix his comeuppance as an added bonus.

Felicity’s message turns out to be coordinates for what’s left of Team Arrow and a plea for her children to get safely out of Star City instead of searching for her. Like that was ever going to happen. Does she remember who their parents are?

This episode neither carried the emotional weight nor the exuberance of last week. However, it did answer a few more questions of the “how did we get from the present Star City to the flash forward version” variety as well as succeed in setting up multiple story lines for the back half of the season.

3 out of 5 cryptic messages

Parting Thoughts:

The Powers That Be weren’t exactly subtle about foreshadowing Oliver and Felicity’s failure to make the better world for their children.

I really want to know where Felicity gets all her money. Is she embezzling from Helix again?

After everything his parents did, Oliver is still trying to honor their memories. Mia was named after Moira. Go figure.

When the truth about Emiko comes out, will Oliver or Rene feel the most betrayed?

Quotes:

William: “Are they all staring at you or me?” Mia: “Both. You reek of money, and, well, I’m undefeated.”

Laurel: “I don’t know what you thought was gonna happen here, but you’re wasting my time. There’s no way that I’m– Fine, I’ll be right there.”

Rene: “Pollard’s taking away our threads?”

Tech officer: “What did I tell you about off-the-books hacking?” Felicity: “You said no public resources. This is private. Loophole.”

Dinah: “There is no more vigilante-way. There is only the SCPD-way.”

Oliver: “Our partnership with the force is not working.” Diggle: “Then we have to find a way to make it work. Compromise, do whatever you have to do because if you want a new future for this baby of yours, it won’t come by doing the same thing we used to do.”

Mia: “You’re a genius.” William: “I am. Like, literally.”

Felicity: “Overwatch to Team Arrow. I have confirmation on Midas and a crapload of gun-toting goons.” Midas: “Now I’ll have your badge and your costume.”

Rene: “So, we’re like the black ops for the SCPD now? That’s cool.”

Felicity: “Then get the hell out of Star City and whatever you do, don’t come looking for me.” Mia: “So we’re ignoring her.” William: “Definitely.”

Shari loves sci-fi, fantasy, supernatural, and anything with a cape.

[theinsanecrayonbox]

so the She-Hulk finale

i agree with mother, the opening was awesome

but aside from that...we jumped too fast forward i think. we last saw her smash a few tales at the Gala, how does that earn her supermax? feels like we missed an episode here (again why is the season 9 episodes? that’s odd). interesting that the skeezey guy said he “blamed her grandmother” for her crazy...is that the Banner grandmother???

but the meat of the episode. ok, if they were going to recreate the old days when she would jump comic panels to interact with the bull-pen, i guess...but yeah, that ending was...very choppy. you only get so many meta jokes before it gets tiring. and honestly, Jen never did the 4th wall as much as Deadpool, and this was even a bit much for him. i like the calmer ending over the insane fight fest sure, but we didn’t even see what fight should’ve been there. it skipped so many scenes. 

and i guess...that is the message, that when fans complain enough and even when it’s justified, if Marvel doesn’t wanna do it, they just won’t do anything so you get nothing at all? idk, i’m confused now. but a robot writing Marvel makes a lot of sense for all the bad so *shrug* funny?

[lucindarobinsonvevo]

I feel that the implications of Robert being in "supermax" are never really touched on in the show. While he is arguably the most dangerous Neighbours villain, it would be interesting to explore the idea Robert is considered one of the most dangerous individuals in Australia. Imagine Paul's guilt that his son's vendetta against him produced a national security risk...

To be honest with you, I don’t think that he does. I feel like Paul can only see things on the level to which they affect him. Which isn’t to say that he doesn’t feel bad the Bishops are dead, he clearly does, but it’s only through the lense of hurting Harold -- One of the few people who he does truly care about. Then, extended beyond that, even when Rob confesses that he did the plane crash, Paul just stares at him, and then asks if he would ‘kill his own sister to get back at him’ which I feel like sort of sums up Paul’s guilt pretty nicely on the subject. Yes, he feels guilt but not about the plane crash or the good of the Commonwealth...But because it hurt someone he loves dearly. Elle. 

I think Paul does harbour a lot of guilt about Robert, but I don’t think it’s for anyone other than Robert himself. I feel like we see that Paul does love his son, there’s no moment where Paul disowns Robert, or indicates that he thinks of Robert as something other than his child. I feel like Paul’s guilt from his own fractured relationship with Jim plays a huge part in that. I feel like the guilt is more about Rob’s wasted life, about not being there for him, rather than anything Rob did. If that makes sense? 

Fully agree that Rob is one of the most dangerous neighbours villains, purely because he’s probably the person who got closest to actually killing Paul Robinson. Which narratively makes total sense that it would be one of Paul’s children who kills him snake -> tail etc 

I wonder how we could explore the idea of Robert being so evil and well known? Through the media maybe? I feel like there have been a lot of in-universe true crime podcast episodes about Robert, and I feel like Elle has probably gotten a lot of interview requests about him and she and paul have a pact to turn down every single one. It could play into Neighbours anti-true crime stance they’ve had in recent years. I wonder if them downplaying Rob’s sentence is related to that in any way, because it’s implied by Harlow that you can find out a lot about Paul by googling him or whatever. Hm. I dislike it as a retcon but the idea from 2021 where Rob was portrayed as someone who just snapped one day is interesting as like. mythmaking about him by people who don’t really know him. Again, a bit like the Finn story from 2019. Hm. Maybe Rob was on to something when he said that he and Finn were alike lo. 

[penniesforthestorm]

“I’m officially requisitioning this chicken”: ‘Justified’ Season 1, Episodes 6-9

As we move into the second half of Justified’s first season, things are heating up all over Kentucky. We get more insight into the operations of the Crowder clan, plus some even larger adversaries who’ll come into play further down the line. These notes cover Episodes 6 through 9, the next batch will be 10-12, with the finale getting its own entry. Notes on the pilot are here and Episodes 2-5 can be found here. Drop me a line any time-- if I could be sitting next to you in a dive bar, I would be. (Not much for Jim Beam, though, or, if I’m being honest, bourbon in general, owing to some unfortunate shenanigans in my early 20s. Mine’s a Jameson and ginger ale, with a squeeze of lime.)

Episode Six: “The Collection”

-We open with Raylan visiting Boyd, on his feet again after the shooting, and Boyd bending Raylan’s ear about his newfound ministry. Raylan doesn’t buy it for a minute, and he asks Boyd for dirt on Arlo.

-Raylan passes along Johnny Crowder’s warning to Ava about Bo-- she’s not overly concerned. Art, coming to pick Raylan up for the day’s work, is not terribly pleased to find Ava in his motel room.

-Case of the week: civil forfeiture, centering on a man named Owen Carnes trying to offload paintings purchased with stolen cash. Art and Raylan pick up a gallery owner, Karl Hanselman (Robert Picardo) in Cincinnati, and drive him down to Carnes’ place. Carnes and the gallery owner begin discussing his collection of Hitler paintings. Art, in disbelief, asks, “You mean Adolf?”

-Raylan, disgusted, wanders out and finds Carnes’ wife, who doesn’t seem particularly surprised or upset at the turn of events. I have in my notes “another blonde in trouble Jesus Raylan”--there’s nothing untoward, but... dude.

-On the way back to Cincinnati, Hanselman tells Raylan, with a smirk, to come see his “collection” any time. Raylan, never one to mince words- “I’d rather stick my dick in a blender.”

-Raylan finally meets ADA Vasquez, after some folderol at the office involving the now very dead Owen Carnes. Later, Winona shows up, asking Raylan to run a list of names through various criminal databases. Raylan visits Gary, and informs him that if Winona comes to grief through association with any of Gary’s shady dealings, Gary’s going to make another enemy.

-Back at the Carnes place, Raylan unravels the scam Caryn Carnes and the horse trainer, Greg Davis, are trying to pull-- he knows Owen didn’t kill himself, and he pulls Davis to his side by telling him, in an abstract way, about Gary, and how many more people he might have to kill. “Where will it end?” he asks.

-Finally, he goes to see Hanselman, and reluctantly agrees to see ‘the collection’. This is a great moment- the camera stays on Hanselman and Raylan as H. explains how his father used to work for Hitler, “a very charismatic man who knew who was to blame”. After the war, dad recanted publicly, but held onto his repugnant views in private. The camera then shows us shelves of glass jars filled with ash-- Hanselman has been tracking down Hitler’s paintings and burning them, in revenge.

-Raylan goes to see Boyd, and asks him to forget about Arlo. “I met a man whose whole life was crippled,” he explains. “I’m just going to let that old dog lie.”

Episode Seven: “Blind Spot”

-We open with Ava in the hardware store. Johnny Crowder comes in and loudly asks the proprietor for some specialty items-- rope, duct tape, plastic sheeting, and a shovel, on orders from the soon-to-be released Bo Crowder. Aunt Helen sees his bluff and raises him, aiming a shotgun at him-- a warning he wisely heeds.

-Later, Raylan visits Ava and she talks about Bowman, explaining that things weren’t miserable all the time. “I keep going back and forth, between light and dark,” she tells him. Just as they’re getting comfy, a masked intruder bursts in, blasting away, but Raylan manages to wrestle him out through the open second-floor window, firing off a few shots.

-Sheriff Mosley takes Raylan to question Johnny Crowder. On the drive, he explains his beef with the Crowders-- a certain Henry, widely known as ‘the good Crowder’, raped and killed Mosley’s ten-year-old niece. Johnny, for his part, knows nothing about the shooting, and confesses his affection for Ava.

-the next morning, we see a man watching Ava outside the Harlan County Sheriff’s Office. We then catch up to the actual shooter-- a cringing kid called Red, and we get a name for Ava’s watcher, Mr. Duke.

-Raylan gets chewed out by Art, since he has now literally tampered with the investigation against Boyd Crowder-- “Were you in her bedroom?” Unusually, Raylan has no smarty rejoinder.

-Ava and Winona share a strained conversation in the courthouse-- “You ever get tangled up with a law enforcement officer?” Winona asks. They’re interrupted by Sheriff Mosley, who asks Ava to come with him.

-Raylan visits Boyd, looking for answers. After a false start, Boyd explains that Bo didn’t order Ava to be shot, and plants a flea in Raylan’s ear-- what if Ava wasn’t the target?

-Answers arrive quickly: Mosley is in cahoots with the Miami cartel. Duke was supposed to kill Raylan, but, since Duke isn’t familiar with Kentucky, Mosley supplied Red. Mosley shoots Duke to prevent his mistake being exposed, and hatches a plan to bring Raylan to the cartel. Red, driving a bound and gagged Ava, gleefully expounds on Ava’s desirability among the straight men of Harlan County. Ava frees herself enough to strangle him, and the chase ends with Raylan and Ava free and Mosley under arrest. In a passing comment, Mosley brings up the Dixie Mafia, and their current alliance with Miami.

-Finally, we meet Bo Crowder (M.C. Gainey). Boyd’s ongoing conversations with Raylan have not gone unnoticed by his fellow inmates, and just as they start beating on him for being a snitch, Bo intervenes. “It’s good to see you, Daddy,” Boyd says with a smile.

Episode Eight, “Blowback”

-At a diner in Lexington, the newly-released Bo slides into a booth with Ava. He’s out early courtesy of Mosley’s arrest, and he delivers a truly nasty innuendo about ‘homemade pie’ before Raylan arrives on the scene.

-Case of the week: a prisoner, Cal Wallace (Deadwood’s W. Earl Brown), is in Lexington for a few hearings, pending transfer to a ‘supermax’ facility.

-Winona arrives home in the middle of the afternoon, to find an unexpected guest-- Wynn Duffy (Jere Burns), self-styled ‘home security consultant’ and possessor of a luxuriant blond coiffure. Right away, Winona smells a rat, and sends Duffy packing, but not before he snidely sends his regards to Gary.

-Prisoner Wallace places the Marshals’ Office under a hostage situation, and Art tells Raylan that if he gets a clear shot, he should take it. Raylan, due for a meeting with Vasquez, begins chatting with Wallace, attempting to defuse the situation. Wallace is a colorful sort-- he has no particular illusions about escape or amnesty. Eventually, Raylan teases out that Wallace is furious with the prison system for dehumanizing him, and under mounting pressure, offers Wallace some fried chicken, sending Tim Gutterson out to get it before Lexington SWAT arrives.

-Winona confronts Gary about Duffy’s visit-- he initially tries to play dumb, but then gets irritated when he realizes how much she knows. Duffy was on the list of names that Winona gave to Raylan in E6.

-Another parable from the Book of Raylan Givens: “People in terrible situations stay alive not because they think things will get better, but because they want to see how the story ends.” For now, Cal Wallace’s story ends in fried chicken, a shot of bourbon, and not dying on the carpet.

-Unfortunately for Raylan, he still has to meet with Vasquez, who brings bad news: thanks to Raylan hopping into bed with Ava, the case against Boyd Crowder has essentially disappeared. Raylan goes to greet an ebullient Boyd. “Who are any of us to fight the will of God?” Boyd proclaims. Raylan promises that he’ll see Boyd locked up again before long, as Boyd practically skips into his father’s arms.

Episode Nine: “Hatless”

-Raylan, on a week’s suspension, is drinking away his sorrows when he eavesdrops on two bros talking derogatorily about women. “I didn’t order assholes with my whiskey”, he sneers, and all three go outside. Hilariously, it’s the middle of the afternoon. In short order, Raylan gets the tar kicked out of him, and one of the troublemakers even steals his hat. Winona, who he was supposed to meet, finds him on the ground. (One has to wonder how many times she found him in these exact circumstances.)

-at Raylan’s motel, Winona asks him about Duffy as she tends to his wounds. As yet, he doesn’t know much, but it paints an unpleasant picture.

-Gary, meanwhile, goes to visit his old college friend Toby, a former football star. He’s trying to worm money out of him, but Toby tells him he can’t spare any. He offers, instead, to provide a little intimidation.

-Raylan tracks down Duffy in his shabby office. Duffy’s lackey makes a few menacing remarks, and Raylan, his face still raw from the bar fight, calmly says, “I already got one ass-kicking; I’m not looking for another”, but mentions that if Duffy goes after Gary and Winona, they’ll have more to discuss. After Raylan leaves, Duffy orders his pal to tail him and ‘put him in the ground’.

-Duffy makes a phone call to his boss, a Mr. Arnett, asking him for more instructions. Gary shows up with Toby, who gets slightly carried away with his role as a heavy. Gary, meanwhile, blabbers on about how Arnett could double his money on the land deal if he just waits.

-And it’s our buddy Arnold Pinter, back from a disappointing sojourn in Tahiti. (An aside: in my experience after more than a decade in NY, there are few people more parochial than born-and-raised Brooklynites. And, y’know, fair dues, it’s a great place, but it’s really fucking funny to this Montanan.) Pinter gives Raylan the rundown on Duffy and Arnett-- Arnett is with the Dixie Mafia, operating out of Frankfort, and Duffy is a dangerous loose cannon.

-Raylan tracks down Duffy’s sidekick Billy, who turns out not to be so tough on his own-- he reveals that Duffy plans to kidnap Winona that very night. Raylan immediately goes to get Winona. On the drive to safety, she tries to explain why she’s with Gary, and says maybe the most devastating thing she’s said so far, “I needed a little hope in my life.”

-After a talk, Raylan and Gary go to confront Duffy and Arnett. Gary offers Arnett the deed to his proposed ‘shopping destination’, and to everyone’s surprise, Arnett accepts. Duffy quite literally goes ballistic, screaming at Arnett, “Show me the Benjamins the homies are always rapping about!” But cooler heads (eventually) prevail, and Raylan takes Gary back to Winona.

-Finally, Raylan recovers his stolen hat, thanks to the bartender. He mocks the thief, saying, “That’s a ten-gallon hat on a twenty-gallon head.”

[recentanimenews]

Crunchyroll's 2017 Co-Productions

At Crunchyroll, we’re dedicated to sharing anime with the world and are always looking for ways to further contribute to the industry at its home in Japan. While most series on Crunchyroll are licensed through a revenue-sharing model, for the second year in a row, a significant number of anime simulcast on Crunchyroll are the result of co-productions, where we invest in the project at its conception alongside our partners in Japan. These are exciting opportunities to help get series off the ground and represents how much creators in Japan value the participation of fans overseas in the creation of anime! With the year coming to a close, we want to highlight a few of the 2017 titles we’ve played a part of directly financing and co-producing!

  Chain Chronicle - The Light of Haecceitas -

  Based on the hit mobile game, Chain Chronicle brought some serious production to match the scope of their setting. The last stand by the forces of good against a darkness that can decay the land and corrupt allies. Along with some amazing visuals and combat, Chain Chronicle’s tale isn’t just about fighting evil, but defying hopelessness.

  NANBAKA

  The goofiest anime about a supermax prison ever made. NANBAKA’s irreverent comedy set in a strangely glamorous (and sparkly) penitentiary staffed by more guards in military dress made for maybe one of the most unique anime this year. Who would have thought escape attempts, death traps, and fighting tournament arcs could be so funny?

  Masamune Kun's Revenge

  A romantic comedy built on bad intentions. Instead of getting the girl, Masamune-kun wants to earn Aki’s love just to leave her in the dust as revenge for a childhood slight. This anime has all the hallmarks of a wacky high school romance balanced with some surprisingly sincere moments, as Masamune begins to overcome his childhood angst and cope with his destructive insecurities.

  Kemono Friends

  The charming anime about animal girls that became a cult sensation. Kemono Friends’ endearing characters and goofy style hid a surprisingly sophisticated slowburn story surrounding its seemingly simple setting. Their exploration of Japari Park and conflict with the blue gel-like Ceruleans eventually reveal a hidden history at odds with the anime’s sunny disposition.

  Minami Kamakura High School Girls Cycling Club

  A wonderful slice of life following the members of a high school cycling club set in the Kamakura city in the Kanagawa Prefecture. In addition to providing its own wonderful story, this anime highlights Kamakura’s charm with gorgeous backgrounds of its cozy town and beautiful coastal roads. Each episode is followed up by an educational segment about bicycles to help you start on your own road.

  Piacevole

  The anime about Italian cooking you didn’t know you needed. Piacevole follows Morina’s first job as a waitress at a tiny Italian trattoria. We learn about Italian cuisine along with Morina as she waits tables while learning how to cook on her own. A cozy anime for foodies or anyone looking for a quick, 4-minute vacation in their rustic restaurant.

  Idol Incidents

  An unusual collision of idol anime with politics, Idol Incidents is half concerts and half candidacy, as Natsuki runs to represent her prefecture in a world where idols also act as politicians. Japan needs more than good fiscal policy to solve its issues -- it needs the inspiration only idols can provide. Natsuki’s group is looking to join the Diet and save their country!

  Love Tyrant

  An irreverent comedy poking fun at storytelling tropes from its fellow romantic comedies and beyond. Seiji is visited by an unstable angel named Guri who has a magical notebook called the Kiss Note, which forces people who kiss to become a couple. What follows is an increasingly complex shipping war complete with all the expected archetypes from imoutos to yanderes.

  Shonen Ashibe - GO! GO! Goma-chan 2

  Everyone’s favorite spotted baby seal is back in Shonen Ashibe! Goma-chan and his best friend Ashibe are inseparable, even going to school together! The two get into all kinds of hijinks with an expanding cast of wacky neighbors in this hilarious adaptation of the classic manga that made Goma-chan a cultural icon in Japan.

  The Reflection

  Stan Lee and Hiroshi Nagahama team up to create one of the most visually arresting and unique anime of the year. A story of Western-style masked heroes and villains in a battle to decide the fate of humanity. It’s a mystery turned roadtrip with a ton of twists that leave just as many questions as it provides answers for.

  Restaurant to Another World

  This relaxed series has all the pros of a slice of life and cooking anime set against a world of fantastic environments and creatures. A strangely laid-back episodic story that takes you on small vignettes where the pressure never gets too high, since you can rest assured it will end in a warm meal.

  A Centaur's Life

  Just another high school anime, except in an alternate world where evolution took a different course, leading to people with wings, tails, cat ears, and fins. Himeno is a centaur girl navigating the uncertainty of her high school years along with her friends Nozomi and Kyouko. Through their humorous misunderstandings the anime reveals a surprisingly deep setting that asks what the world would look like if humans had an extra set of limbs or a horse body for a behind.

  Classroom of the Elite

  The Tokyo Koudo Ikusei Senior High School has a reputation for instructing the next generation of Japanese leadership. It’s students must survive a cutthroat system of accruing class points to reach the top of their school. Ayanokoji and Horikita are placed in the problem class 1-D and must scheme and politic against the other classes and their own classmates to the top of the school.

  Recovery of an MMO Junkie

  One of the most heartwarming romance anime in recent memory, MMO Junkie is equal parts funny and relatable. It explores the appeal of MMOs and how meaningful relationships can form and blossom into true love online. The lead Moriko has left her job and devoted herself to playing her hot guy character online, where she meets a colorful cast of new friends and a surprising romantic partner.

  URAHARA

  The owners of PARK, a clothing store in the fashion mecca of Harajuku, must defend their city against an alien invasion. Unable to create on their own, Scoopers arrive on Earth to siphon up its culture for their own. The PARK girls quest to stop the Scoopers explores the nature of creativity and friendship of its three leads with a visual style that's unforgettable.

  Dies irae

  Produced with the help of crowdfunding from fans, this famous visual novel turned anime follows an apocalyptic conflict taking place in the heart of Japan. Ren Fuji has to defend his city from a threat that has been gathering strength since WWII, a cult with mystical abilities sufficient to destroy the world. Dies irae is a grand conflict with an epic soundtrack.

  Kino’s Journey -the Beautiful World- the Animated Series

  A reboot of the classic anime following the journeys of Kino, a mysterious traveler who never stays in one place for more than three days. Their journey leads them to a variety of countries with unusual laws and cultures often anachronistic or outright dangerous. Expanding on its predecessor, the Beautiful World explores additional stories penned by the acclaimed author Keiichi Sigsawa.

  We’re proud of the anime we’ve played a part in, and we hope that you’ve enjoyed watching them! Next year, our team in Tokyo will be even busier, so keep an eye out for more great series’ in 2018! Speaking of which, here’s a sneak peek at two co-productions we have slated for the January season!

  Junji Ito Collection

  From one of the biggest names in horror, now celebrating his 30th year in the manga business. Junji Ito Collection brings together the living legends most terrifying tales in a series of shorts that are sure to make you miss some sleep! We’re excited to finally see some of Ito’s most iconic characters finally make their way from manga page to animation!

  citrus

  The smash hit yuri manga citrus is also making its way to your monitors this winter! When the trendy Yuzu Aihara ends up in a conservative all girls school, she immediately starts making trouble for the student council president and her new step-sister Mei. This series follows the winding romance between two nearly opposite girls forced to live in the same room and come together through adversity.

  Were any of these anime among your favorites for 2017? Do you want to see more? Let us know in the comments!

---

Peter Fobian is an Associate Features Editor for Crunchyroll, author of Monthly Mangaka Spotlight, writer for Anime Academy, and contributor at Anime Feminist. You can follow him on Twitter @PeterFobian.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[thelion-thehound-and-thelam-blog]

Title: Inversion

Series: Hannibal (TV/Novel Hybrid)

Rating: Everyone

AO3: http://archiveofourown.org/works/11994324

Pairing: Clarice Starling/Hannibal Lecter

Summary: Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lecter role reversal AU. Takes place in Hannibal TV verse after season 1 episode 5. Right now it's a oneshot, but I might write more stories in this verse later.

Serial murderer Clarice Starling, once a shining star of the FBI, is now imprisoned in the Baltimore Hospital for the Criminally Insane.

---

In the dreary gray of the basement of the Baltimore Hospital for the Criminally Insane, Hannibal Lecter found himself across a startling pretty and intelligent young woman.

Death Angel Clarice Starling, the tabloids called her.

Clarice Starling, convicted murderer of 7, and killer of serial murderer Jame Gumb, known by the public as Buffalo Bill. That was only counting the ones that the FBI knew of.

Up until her incarceration, Clarice had been a brilliant agent at the FBI. Her teachers constantly scored her at the upper tier of the top 5% in all areas. Her discovery and murder of the high profile serial killer was just a cherry on top. She was the lioness to Will Graham’s hound in Jack Crawford’s pack.

It was this same lauded intellect and ability that allowed her to go uncaptured for years. Although Hannibal had long wished to interview her, his motive for his visit today was...a little more personal.

An orderly offered to take Hannibal’s coat when he entered the front office, which he politely declined. The man mentioned that the director was out at the moment, but would be back very soon and let him into the hospital director’s office.

Hannibal was left standing in the middle of the office and gave only a cursory glance at the gold plaque reading “Dr. Fredrick Chilton”.

The director’s office of the hospital was a room furnished considerably in contrast to the bleak grays and greens of the mental institution. On the wall hung many academic achievements in their ornate frames and waxy parchment, lauding the director with many degrees and accomplishments. This too, Hannibal only spent a few seconds glancing through.

The door behind him creaked. The same orderly from the front office opened the door for in a small, short man with oily hair that reminded Hannibal of a certain pigment secreted by the gall bladder.

“Are you Hannibal Lecter?”

“Dr. Hannibal Lecter.”

“I’m Dr. Fredrick Chilton, director of this hospital.”

Although the man emphasized on the doctor, in the short five minutes Hannibal spent conversing with Chilton in his tasteless office, he learned that the man had no medical degree at all.

“I can see why they sent you,” Chilton tugged his cuffs, his beady eyes narrowing at Hannibal’s tailored designer suit. “Starling rarely gets to see anyone so put together, not in this place. I’d rather not go down myself, you see.”

Hannibal only gave the man a nod. “I’m certain you have your reasons.”

“Indeed I do, she’s a terribly disturbed woman. You wouldn’t expect it, not from such a pretty face. But it’s so rare to get my hands on someone like her, alive. A female serial killer.” Chilton beamed. He reminded Hannibal of a schoolyard boy showing off a prized possession - odious. “She’s housed in the basement ward, where the worst go, under maximum security.

Chilton opened the door to his office, leading Hannibal down the hall to where they would take an elevator down to the lower level, his chatter never stopping as he spoke of all of his cases in the hospital basement.

Hannibal had little interest in Chilton’s collection quest of the vile and sick. Upon exiting the office, his fingers skillfully picked a business card off of the large wooden desk and whisked it into his suit pocket in one fluid motion; Chilton none the wiser.

---

The heavy steel of the gates lowered, making a clattering noise upon contact with the cement floor. Hannibal turned to face Chilton as they reached the basement cells that held the hospital’s more infamous inmates. “Thank you Dr. Chilton. However, I believe it would be best if I faced Miss Starling by myself.”

Chilton stiffened for a moment, before amicably holding out his hand. “You should have told me earlier, I would have sent you with an orderly.”

Hannibal knew, much to his distaste, that the slick shine of the man’s hand was from lanolin. He grasped it for a moment, holding it only as long as society dictated acceptable.

The moment Chilton turned around, Hannibal unfurled his handkerchief from inside his jacket, wiping off the oil in a practiced motion. He then carefully folded the handkerchief and placed it in his pocket opposite to Chilton’s business card.

At the door to the basement stood a different orderly and a prison guard. A nametag with Eric printed on it, gleamed in the fluorescent light of the ceiling lamps of the orderly’s work uniform. Chilton had sent a message ahead of time, thankfully, and Eric was waiting to let Hannibal in.

“Walk straight in the middle.” Eric instructed, his voice reedy in the cool air. He led Hannibal down the hall, the prison guard bringing up the rear. The basement’s ambient atmosphere, contributed partially by the lights within the cells, cast a dim blue against the cement and glass. “They’ll shout and scream as you walk by, it’s nothing personal. The cell you’re looking for is at the end, to the left. Don’t hand her any pens, she has her own. Make sure any paper you hand her is free of any metal. Don’t go near the glass, don’t touch the glass, or we will have to escort you out of here by force. Do you think you’ll need a chair?”

Hannibal appreciated the man’s courtesy and affirmed that he, indeed, would require a chair. Eric walked to one of the lockers at the end and pulled out a folding chair.

As he took a seat, Hannibal observed Clarice in her cell. She kept her back turned to him as she occupied herself with a magazine, seemingly unaware of his arrival. Books, periodicals, and newspapers were piled on the edge of the desk bolted to the wall, as well as the head of the sleeping cot. Mail was scattered to the corner, an afterthought.

The thick partition of solid glass that separated the woman from Hannibal reminded him of a specimen box for insects. Clarice’s fiery hair, incapable of being dulled by the atmosphere of the prison, shimmered like the vibrant color of butterfly scales.

He sat there, for a moment, observing her. When it became clear that Clarice had no intention of acknowledging his arrival, he spoke up. It was quieter at this side of the ward, carrying his words clearly.

“Hello Clarice Starling, I am Doctor Hannibal Lecter, may I speak with you?”

The woman smoothly closed the magazine in her hand and set it down, next to the letters and books. With a practiced twist, she turned to face him, her arms and legs crossing. Clarice Starling sat as if she were in her office at Quantico instead of in a tiny harshly lit supermax unit.

“Hello. Dr. Lecter.” There was a slight ghost of Clarice’s southern accent in those words, dripping a barely concealed amusement in the way she spoke his name. Her stare seemed to weigh him from the other side of the glass, glinting with a great intellect. “Are you here to poke around my head like everyone else?”

“Only if you wish me to, Clarice Starling.” Hannibal kept their gazes locked, speaking her name softly.

Clarice tilted her head.

“If you're not here to deconstruct me, then what are you here for?”

“My own interests and personal research. I read your paper in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, Clarice, it is brilliantly written.”

A snort. Clarice leaned back, her hand brushing her vibrant hair back casually. “I’m amazed, Doctor. Exactly how much research have you done on me already?”

“Not much. I’d very much prefer to speak with the genuine person."

Silence. Then Clarice began to tap her fingers, as if thinking. “Personal is it? Dr. Lecter, what reason do I have for answering any of your questions?”

This time, Hannibal graced Clarice with a small curve of his mouth. “If you so happen to wish for a fairer method, perhaps we could do a quid pro quo, Clarice?”

The silence returned, and they sat in mutual solitude. Clarice pondered for a moment, her tapping resuming. Next to her, lay the last month’s copy of Vogue.

“You tell me something and I tell you something. But Doctor, what do you have to offer me?”

There it was. Hannibal kept his eye contact with Clarice and spoke in a measured tone.

“I may be able to bring in Will Graham for a visit, Clarice.”

Clarice pursed her lips, as if she found the idea unappealing.

“And how would you be able to do just that, Dr. Hannibal Lecter?”

“He is my patient, unofficially. Some more recent cases have...upset him. I thought, since he has mentioned you before, that it might help him to center himself to see you.”

Clarice leaned back again, staring at her fingers. She seemed to ponder the offer for a moment.

“Dr. Lecter. Are you aware that the man who put me here was Will Graham? What makes you think that I would have any motive to help him?”

“Because, Clarice, you were the one who surrendered yourself to him.”

Clarice exhaled through her nose and wrapped her arms around herself. That was the one detail that both she and Will had left out during her surrender, left out during all of the court trials. “How is Will?”

Pleased, the curve once again graced Hannibal’s thin lips.

“Not in the best shape, unfortunately. Crawford has chosen to involve him once more in his quest for righteous justice.”

Clarice furrowed her brows. Her last face-to-face talk with Will had been after her prosecution. At that time, Will told her that he chose to formally retire from fieldwork, wishing to focus on teaching at the academy. Did Jack attempt to replace her spot as Will’s anchor with this man in front of her?

How quickly does faith slip away, how weak is the material that trust is made of. Gratitude, as Crawford liked to say, had a short half life.

“I see. Your turn.”

“Why do you kill, Clarice?”

Silence. Then the tentative shift of Clarice’s body as she straightened her posture. “Dr. Lecter, I cannot fathom why you would ask that question.”

“Why do you think I wouldn’t?”

“I am sure my motives have been thoroughly examined and analyzed by the press and scholarly journals. Journals, I am quite sure, that you read.”

“They only talk of simple minded speculation. I doubt, Clarice, that your reasons are as banal as ‘man hating’.”

“What makes you think I don’t hate men?”

“You certainly don’t hate Will. You tolerate Jack Crawford.”

Silence again.

“You’re right. I don’t.” Clarice laced her fingers together. “I do it to silence the screams.”

“What screams, Clarice?”

“The lambs.”

“Why lambs?”

“What case is Will working on right now?”

“He just finished with the Angelmaker. Jack has, for once, allowed him a moment of peace before plunging him head first into another gruesome case.”

“The lambs are from my childhood. My mother sent me to live with my aunt whose husband owned a slaughter barn. Do you think you could tell Will to stop, Dr. Lecter?”

“I believe Crawford already offered him that option. He refused.”

“That-” Clarice stopped herself, her laced hands clenching in anger, as if offering prayer. She grasped that anger, tamping it down with great willpower and used its edge to clear her mind. “I apologize for that, Doctor. Your question?”

“Why did your mother send you to live with your aunt?”

“My father died and there was too many mouths to feed. There’s only so much you can do on a high school education. What was the first case Crawford dragged Will into?”

“A missing girls case. He believed they were being murdered, but lacked evidence.”

“And so he sought out Will Graham, thinking he could find the murderer even with the lack of evidence. How did that turn out?”

“Badly.”

There was a pause - one final time - as their conversation reached its end. Without looking away, never looking away, Hannibal asked one more question.

“What, Clarice, was the memory that led to the screaming of the lambs?”

Like a thin stream, Clarice’s voice quietly slid through the glass partition, through the small holes in the barrier.

Any person other than Hannibal would have had to struggle to hear.

“When I came to the farm, I was happy. I’d always loved animals and my aunt’s family treated me well.”

“You were happy, Clarice. Until you learned they fed out animals for slaughter.”

“Yes. The farm mainly fed out slaughter horses, although they did other animals depending on the season. All of the horses on the farm were either sick or lame. I hadn’t realized it at the time.

“I became attached to a blind mare. None of the slaughter horses on the barn had names. They don’t tell you when you’re feeding them out, so I called her Hannah.”

“What happened to the horse, Clarice?”

“We ran away. It was summer, we could sleep out.”

“Did you lead her or ride her?”

“A little of both. I had to guide her to a fence for me to climb on to ride her. We rode out to a livery stable outside of town. For 20$ a week, I could keep Hannah in the corral. There was enough on me to pay for it but the owner’s wife called the sheriff on me.”

“What happened after?”

“My aunt decided to let me go. They sent me to a Lutheran orphanage after.”

“Did they slaughter Hannah?”

“No, she went with me. The orphanage was on a farm, they let her plow the garden.”

“Why did you run away with the horse?”

“They were going to kill her.”

“Did you know when?”

“No, but she was getting fat.”

“At what time did you set off with Hannah?”

“Early, it was still dark.”

“Something woke you.”

“Screaming. The walls on the farm were pretty bad at keeping sound out and I woke to screaming in the dark. They were slaughtering the spring lambs.”

“And this prompted you to run away.” He spoke it as if it were a fact and not a presumption. It irked her, but Clarice found herself unable to rebut his statement.

“Yes.”

“Yet you still hear them. Are they in your dreams, Clarice? Or do you hear them even when you are awake?”

“Dreams, mostly.”

“Mostly?”

“Sometimes I hear them even after I wake up, even though they couldn’t possibly be real.”

“And does killing stop these screams?”

“Depends. If it’s just killing, no. They stop when I save someone.”

“And then you’re free, for a time. But later you find that you must do it again, to make them stop.”

“Yes.”

Hannibal leaned back, his face still with calm and at peace. Clarice, given time to ponder, wondered what this man wanted. He held no notepad, nor did he ever break eye contact with her. He seemed too proper to wear a wire and Clarice could not see anything on him that would suggest such an instrument. He didn’t even seem to carry a briefcase.

“Thank you, Clarice.” There was warmth in the thank you that had not been present in their earlier conversation. A good-humored crinkle appeared at the edge of his eyes. A genuine smile. “I will be sure to bring Will next time.”

Clarice watched from her side of the glass. Watched as Hannibal stood and gestured to Eric. Watched, as he gave her one last look as the guard led him away. Watched long after the doctor’s silhouette vanished from the hellish basement ward of the Baltimore’s Hospital for the Criminally Insane.

[hope-for-olicity]

Fabulous Olicity Fanfic Friday - December 7th, 2018

Happy Friday! So this is my attempt to both thank awesome fanfic writers for their amazing work and offer my recommendations to anyone who is interested. Here are the fantastic fanfic stories I read this week! They are posted in the order I read them. 

Earth 2 Felicity Q-Smoak by @cruzrogue - A look into Earth 2 Felicity's life and how she may meet Oliver http://cruzrogue.tumblr.com/post/180523358099/earth-2-felicity-q-smoak-having-fun-with-this-i

Homecoming by @alexiablackbriar13 - The journey home from Slabside is exhausting for Oliver, who is already bloody, battered and bruised from the riot. Felicity takes care of him and stops him from fracturing. https://archiveofourown.org/works/16764172

Love and Little Cupcakes multi-chapter WIP by @christinabeggs - Felicity loved sweets so much that she paid no attention to her lovelife. Until Thea Queen came into her store wanting fabulous cupcakes for her sixteenth birthday. SO ADORABLE! http://archiveofourown.org/works/12400539/chapters/28216053

Just Beneath the Surface multi-chapter WIP by @smoaking-greenarrow arrow - When an S.O.S signal is sent to the FBI from a woman named Felicity Smoak, Director Oliver Queen knows that she is in grave danger. He can’t help but notice the haunting similarities between what’s happening to her and what happened nine years ago; in thirteen unsolved cold cases that drove ex-agent John Diggle out of the bureau. With a race against the clock, Oliver enlists the help of his old mentor to reopen the investigation, and hopefully save Felicity’s life. https://archiveofourown.org/works/16239002/chapters/37963052

The Gate by @foreverfelicityqueen - What might have gone through Oliver's head as he was being released and seeing his wife for the first time in a while. https://archiveofourown.org/works/16768138

To Have and To Hold by anythingbutplatonic - It's been six months and twelve days since she's seen him. It’s been five thousand, four hundred and sixty-eight hours since she’s really, really seen him. https://archiveofourown.org/works/16761286

Carry You Like You Carry Me multi-chapter Complete by inlovewithimpossibility - three-shot on post-7x07, dealing with the immediate after-effects of Oliver's release https://archiveofourown.org/works/16760950/chapters/39324724

The Numbness of Disuse by @juvinadelgreko - A short one-shot about Oliver and Felicity’s return from Slabside. https://archiveofourown.org/works/16758562

(Tear Me To Pieces, Skin and Bones) Hello, Welcome Home. by @inenochian - Oliver and Felicity spend their one year anniversary in their bed. Recovering. Healing. Loving. (pure and unadulterated fluff because that's what we deserve) https://archiveofourown.org/works/16773454

With the Speed of an Arrow multi-chapter WIP by @academyofshipping - Oliver Queen’s elite and silver-spoon life has taken some blows in the past few years, but he is still the carefree billionaire everyone knows of and loves. When his role in the family business is in jeopardy and he is introduced to a motley of new people, his status quo is threatened. With a changed perspective, Oliver realizes his feeling for his best friend and anchor-in-life, Felicity Smoak, may be more than just platonic. OR A modern adaption of Jane Austen’s Emma with a gender swap* and no island. *Knowing that gender is not binary https://archiveofourown.org/works/16559846/chapters/38799857

Doppelgangers P2 by @lostolicityscenes - Oliver is taken by Faux Felicity who believes she can spice up his sex life https://lostolicityscenes.tumblr.com/post/180592892411/doppelgangers-part-2-part-1-nsfw-more

Home To You multi-chapter WIP by @the-shy-and-anxious-fangirl - Oliver Queen has never done what his family expected of him. He took a gap year after high school instead of going to college right away. He quit his fraternity sophomore year to join the student newspaper, switching his major from business to journalism. He became a photojournalist for a wire service instead of taking a place at Queen Consolidated. He went missing after six months instead of coming home for his sister’s twenty-first birthday. He survived five years of captivity in a war zone when everyone thought he was dead. He came home. But home didn’t have a place for him in it anymore. His parents were both dead, casualties of their own mistakes and a city they had turned against them. His sister was all grown up, the CEO of Queen Consolidated with a fiancé and a dog and a life of her own. Oliver didn’t belong in his old life, but there was nowhere else for him to go. He was a man without a home, without any way of finding one, until he stopped by the IT department of his sister’s company to get files off an old, battered memory card, and found a woman with curly blonde hair and bright, intelligent eyes chewing on a bright red pen and swearing at a computer screen. https://archiveofourown.org/works/12613188/chapters/28734552

Time for a Story multi-chapter WIP by @smkkbert - This fic shows Olicity and their life as a (married) couple with family. Although Olicity (and their kids) are the protagonists, other characters of Arrow and Flash make appearances. YOU NEED THIS STORY IN YOUR LIFE. https://archiveofourown.org/works/3912157/chapters/8757172

The Queen's Mage multi-chapter WIP by @the-shy-and-anxious-fangirl - Words have power, and mages, those with the aptitude to draw on that power, are few in number. Thus, their services are highly sought after by anyone who has exhausted all mundane means of solving whatever problem is plaguing them. Felicity is reminded of this fact the hard way when she is hired by Moira Queen, the Lady Starling, to find and return to her son Oliver, who fled his family home five years ago following the death of his father. With a threat hanging over her should she return without Robert Queen's heir, Felicity begins her search. When she finds Oliver, and ends up joining his vigilante crusade while she waits for him to decide whether to return home, the last thing she expects to do is fall in love with him. https://archiveofourown.org/works/14617068/chapters/33781269

Charmed I'm Sure! multi-chapter WIP by @christinabeggs - What happens when three witchy sisters take on the evil in the world? https://archiveofourown.org/works/15852249/chapters/36922482

Hard To Find Love multi-chapter WIP by Mellowyellowdiamonds - Through a tragic twist of fate Felicity finds herself left with an orphaned young William Clayton. Keeping her promise to her friend, Felicity raises William diligently, loving him as if he were her own child, only to have Moira Queen storm into their lives several years later demanding custody of her grandson. Locked in a war with Moira Queen, things get complicated when Felicity finds herself developing unwanted feelings for William's biological father, Oliver Queen. At the same time she must try to manage her meddling 13 year old son, who has it in his head that if Felicity would just cooperate and fall for his father, everything would be right in the world. https://archiveofourown.org/works/15941786/chapters/37173917

Different People by @geneshaven - Olicity after their talk in 7x08 https://geneshaven.tumblr.com/post/180822452124/different-people

Arrow Ficlet: Oh the Past, It Wanted Me Dead by @theshipsfirstmate - post-7x07. It’s hard to believe she’s seen him look worse. https://archiveofourown.org/works/8435797/chapters/39324094#workskin

Rebels Connected multi-chapter Complete by @mindramblingsfics - Felicity Smoak is an escaped mutant on the run. Oliver Queen, leader of an underground safe house for mutants to call home comes to her rescue. Everything changes once he brings her into the organization and his life. https://archiveofourown.org/works/16014089/chapters/37369784

From Somewhere Within multi-chapter WIP by @smoaking-greenarrow - Their connection has always felt natural to them, safe and secure. But others tend to fear what they don’t understand, and as far as their enemies are concerned, the world isn’t ready to accept two people who can know each other the way that Oliver and Felicity do. https://archiveofourown.org/works/16009244/chapters/37356257

Pieces of Always multi-chapter WIP by @so-caffeinated and @dust2dust34 - Life continues after Forever is Composed of Nows. Ongoing non-linear collection of family moments for the Queens. http://archiveofourown.org/works/8220479/chapters/18840356

My Thoughts on You multi-chapter WIP by @rachelrenalove -Felicity Smoak is sure of 3 things: 1. She's a badass and she is damn good at what she does. 2. She hates the man in the green hood. 3. Oliver Queen is a pain in her ass and she cannot wait until the day she can quit her job at Queen Consolidated. Or Felicity Smoak goes undercover at Queen Consolidated and meets Oliver Queen. She quickly realizes that she doesn't like him and wishes she was never chosen for this mission. Outside of QC, she is dealing with her hatred towards the man in the green hood that has found out exactly which buttons of hers to press in order to piss her off. https://archiveofourown.org/works/15089954/chapters/34989344

Life's All About Changes multi-chapter Complete by Crazyreader2468 - After agreeing to plead guilty to being the Green Arrow in order to get FBI assistance in capturing Diaz, Oliver finds himself in a supermax, a maximum security federal prison, serving a life sentence. As he struggles to become accustomed to life in prison, his family, friends, and teammates struggle to live without him, as well as continually attempting to find a way to get him pardoned. Will they succeed in obtaining a pardon and will Oliver survive until they do? Mostly AU from right before the ending of episode 6 x 22 and after most of 6 x 23. https://archiveofourown.org/works/14936172

Re-Airrow 2x10 by @lostolicityscenes - Just one scene for the episode: A riff on the line that Oliver says to Felicity about Barry. https://lostolicityscenes.tumblr.com/post/180799804486/re-airrow-2x10

If I Tremble multi-chapter WIP by @smoaking-greenarrow - A collection of prompts and ficlets, with all the smut! Olicity sexy times are the best times. https://archiveofourown.org/works/15409122/chapters/35762643

seemingly impossible (but not untrue) multi-chapter WIP by @alexiablackbriar13 - Young genius historian Dr Felicity Smoak unknowingly and accidentally calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript within the Oxford Bodleian Libraries - a book that has been lost for centuries. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Felicity wants nothing to do with magic, despite her unruly and powerful abilities. But her discovery of Ashmole 782 sets the world of creatures stirring; with a mystery afoot and new, dangerous magical abilities manifesting for her to navigate, she is approached by the enigmatic vampire biochemist Professor Oliver Queen, who seems to have a deep interest in both the manuscript… and her. Based on A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. https://archiveofourown.org/works/16224353/chapters/37923743  

// @emmaamelia95 // @mel-loves-all // @oliverfel4 // @green-arrows-of-karamel // @coal000 // @miriam1779 // @memcjo// @captainolicitysbedroom // @tdgal1 // @spaztronautwriter // @lalawo1// @quiveringbunny // @wrongshipper // @thebookjumper // @vaelisamaza // @myhauntedblacksoul // @lovelycssefan // @laurabelle2930 // 

[hithelleth]

Killjoys 5 x 04 “Ship Outta Luck”

The usual rambling/notes-to-self under the cut.

Dutch, Johnny, and D’avin tried to escape the supermax prison the Lady had them stashed in with the instruction to the warden to keep one of them alive as bait, but promptly failed, which got Dutch sent to solitary and D’avin to psych ward.

Johnny, however, was able to go about stealing some tech and rescuing them, although then their escape attempt failed again because they had wrongly assumed they were in an underground site whereas they were really on a prison ship.

Then they got sent into maximum security wing with a task to find who wanted to assassinate the prisoners’ top boss, but when they tried to befriend him they nearly got killed when one of his top goonies whom they arrested in one of the earlier seasons’ missions outed them as killjoys.

However, they convinced the warden to send them back in to catch the assassin, which they did – but then they turned down the pre-agreed reward to be sent to a low-security wing.

Amid all that Johnny managed to find the same base programme as Lucy was on his stolen hand device and named her New Lucy aka Newcy.

D’avin raised concerns about Johnny’s well-being with Dutch regarding losing her as his fake memory wife.

Dutch figured Johnny is not okay because he lost the love of his life (!!!! <3333) aka Lucy. Poor Johnny.  

Speaking of, I really, really hope that whatever they are doing with this whole fake memory Johnny/Dutch and Johnny losing Lucy doesn’t end with Johnny dying or being miserable and alone.

I guess I could sort of accept it as the show coming full circle if they ended with Johnny/Dutch and D’avin gone elsewhere (but not dead). But I don’t want that either.

What I want is these three to all be happy and together in whichever capacity, platonic or romantic or a mix of it, I don’t care.

Don’t disappoint me, writers. Just this once on this one show.

(Yeah, I know I’m repeating myself.)

Anyway, back to the episode.

Meanwhile, Zeph did after all manage to follow her reminder to her nest and wake herself up again, then remembered TAF had been caught and went to get some help to save them, that is wake up Turin the “angry ‘who I need to write up for this?’ ginger” (LOL) and Pree.

Together they found one of the Lady’s black root ships that were seeding the clouds with the memory altering agent and then destroyed a few of them.

Which again made the Lady who was pumping Khlyen for info on humans very upset.

Because the Lady wants to subjugate humans with her parasite species to make it stronger, because she figures emotional memory of the past and dreaming of the future is what makes humans the dominant species.

But Khlyen enlightened her that comes with the price of emotions and also that it’s not memory that makes humans fight her but hope.

Cue end scene with lonely Dutch that made me wonder whether we were supposed to take it as Dutch losing hope. But considering the next week’s promo, I guess she was just plotting hostile takeover.