#kitkatt0430 answers

[kitkatt0430]

1, 11, 14, 20, and 25 (coldflash please!!!) ❤️

1.) Who would end a heated argument by defending their actions with ‘because I love you!’ ?

Barry. Absolutely Barry.

Len struggles enough with the words 'i love you' that he does not bring them out in an argument. But Barry would absolutely play this card in the heat of the moment only to regret it later. Not because it isn't true because he does love Len but he does get how manipulative it comes off and he doesn't want to be that.

Honestly, I think Len would absolutely call him out on it and have to get away from Barry for a bit until they've both cooled off. (Pun mostly intended.)

Barry has to learn how to reason out his arguments better than that and defending his actions with a 'because I love you' stops being a thing fairly quickly.

11.) Do either try to hide their emotions if upset? Can the other still tell?

They are both terrible about doing this. They are both very much of the bottle things up and pretend they aren't there school of emotional regulation.

Len of course struggles because of the shitty, abusive asshole in his life that was Lewis. Len does get better over time with opening up to Barry, but it is a struggle and he wishes it wasn't but he's so damn glad Barry is patient about it. It does take time for Barry to recognize the signs that Len's bottling something up but he does get fairly good at it. Though Len remains the better of the two at hiding the signs that something has upset him.

Barry has issues of his own because of how things were with Joe not believing him/not believing in him as a kid (and as an adult). Like... I really hate the scene where Joe jokes about Barry being like another daughter to him because here Barry is trying to be honest about his feelings with Joe and Joe... takes the opportunity to be misogynistic about it. Not cool, Joe. Not cool.

So Barry struggles to let himself be vulnerable with others because it backfires on him a lot and he bottles a lot up as a result. He's a lot less successful than Len is about hiding this kind of thing from the get go because he gets sulky about stuff when he's upset, so Len figures out a lot faster when Barry's upset even though Barry thinks that he's definitely not wearing his bruised heart on his sleeve this time, surely.

14.) How do their personalities compliment each other? How do they clash?

They compliment each other's planning skills. They both have expertise in different areas and are good at identifying one another's blind spots. Len is good at boosting Barry's self confidence where others might make him doubt himself. And Barry reminds Len that building a plan that includes room for compassion isn't a weakness. It's one of Len's strengths. But Barry also reminds Len to have confidence when he worries being a thief is all he's good for and Len reminds Barry that compassion is his strength too.

They clash a lot over planning too though. They're both leaders, they're both used to being in charge. And it can get messy if they both want to micromanage things at the same time.

20.) Choose one song that perfectly describes their relationship.

You have no idea how tempting it is to go dig up that Glee rendition of Smooth Criminal. I may not have watched that show, but I have seen that clip a number of times.

Life on Earth by Snow Patrol feels like it really suits them

This is not the love you've had before This is something else, this is something else This is not the same as other days This is something else, this is something else It shouldn't need to be so fucking hard This is life on earth, it's just life on earth It doesn't need to be the end of you, or me This is life on earth, it's just life on earth

25.) What are their vices?

I feel like Cisco would quite loudly declare their greatest vice is lust. Scowling at them as he did. They know what they did. They know.

But I think maybe it's really that they can be a bit jealous and covetous of one another. Barry wants to be Len's first choice after being 'not a choice' to iris for so long. He wants Len's attention, he wants Len seeing him and not just the trappings of the Flash that he comes with. And Len struggles to understand why Barry would pick him after being in love with Iris for so long and fears that he'll never truly be to Barry what Barry had wished for Iris to be.

As they get more confident in their relationship, this settles a lot but insecurities are not easily defeated permanently and will pop up from time to time but with longer and longer intervals between.

[incorrectcoldflashblog]

Answer the Questions and Tag 5 Fanfic Authors

Thank you so much to @kitkatt0430 for tagging me <3

1. How did you get into writing fanfiction?

Well, I got back into Coldflash in a big way a couple years ago, and kind of got frustrated not really seeing anything new in the tag, lol. Desperation is usually my biggest motivator to do anything. If I had unlimited new Coldflash fics coming out, I probably would never have written my own tbh.

2. How many fandoms have you written in?

Just the one. I used to do translations for a different fandom, though, so maybe two depending on if translating counts.

3. How many years have you been writing fanfiction?

My own? Only a year and a half. Translating, maybe roughly ten years.

4. Do you read or write more fanfiction?

I probably write more now, but you wouldn’t know it because I’m such a slow writer!

5. What is one way you’ve improved as a writer?

Oh, I feel like my English has definitely gotten better since I started writing regularly. I always felt obligated to put a little disclaimer at the bottom, like please be nice to me, this isn’t my first language, lol. I feel a little bit more confident about it now (although I still obsessively google every sentence and word).

6. What’s the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

I mean, thanks to Chapter 4 of What Happens in Vegas I know now way more than I ever needed to know about tornado sirens, considering we don’t have them in my country, lol. I also ended up doing extensive (and totally pointless) research about the ancient Sumerian city-state of Ur (located in the South of what is now modern-day Iraq), which is where Len/Cold was supposed to be from in my AU where he was a genie. For those who are unaware, Ur fell in about 2000 BC and had a very famous poem written about it. Here is the cheery opening of 11 stanzas of misery:

For the gods have abandoned us

like migrating birds they have gone

Ur is destroyed, bitter is its lament

The country's blood now fills its holes like hot bronze in a mould

Bodies dissolve like fat in the sun. Our temple is destroyed

Smoke lies on our city like a shroud.

blood flows as the river does

the lamenting of men and women

sadness abounds

Ur is no more

7. What’s your favorite type of comment to receive on your work?

I always appreciate when people point out the parts they liked. But honestly I’m happy for people to comment at all, especially on older fics :)

8. What’s the most fringe trope/topic you write about?

I don’t know that anything I’ve written can be considered fringe, lol. I do have a Lisa/Iris WIP, which I assume would be more of a rarepair, but I only have one scene written for it so who knows if I’ll ever finish it. I guess the Genie AU was kind of strange.

9. What is the hardest type of story for you to write?

Longfics ;-; God, I’ve gained so much respect for people who can do that consistently for 60+ chapters, or over multiple fics in a series. My longfic isn’t even that long, comparatively, and I still feel like I will never get it done.

10. What is the easiest type?

One-shots, my beloved.

11. Where do you do your writing? What platform? When?

On my laptop. I just use Word and I prefer to write in the morning, which isn’t super ideal because it only leaves me the weekend to really get into it.

12. What is something you’ve been too nervous/intimidated to write, but would love to write one day?

I’m too nervous to start more longfics at the moment because I feel like two is my absolute limit but I’d love to be able to write both the TATBILB-inspired fic I had in mind and the Future Fic that I sometimes play around with. I’d have to finish at least one of my longer projects first, or maybe try to get the whole thing written before posting it but I’m usually too impatient to do that!

13. What made you choose your username?

My username is captainicecube and I picked it because it’s roughly how Captain Cold was translated in the French dub. They translated it as Captain Glaçons (Captain Icecubes), which always makes me laugh whenever I think about it because it’s so stupid XD

Tagging @crestfallercanyon @joanthangroff @tiger-in-the-flightdeck @softboydepot and @moriavis

[coldflasher]

Answer the Questions and Tag 5 Fanfic Authors

Tagged by @kitkatt0430 and @softboydepot - Thank you both for the tag :D

1. How did you get into writing fanfiction?

So I was about 13 years old, I was scrolling through my brand new One Direction tumblr, username "its-a-1d-world", soon to become "curly-and-boobear-stylinson", a harrowing username that genuinely makes me shiver like someone just walked over my grave. Like I'm sure this means nothing to someone who wasn't in the fandom AND an extreme larrie but let me tell you. Imagine the most intensely cringe superwholock url you could have. It's on that level

And I remember seeing what we would soon come to very derisively refer to as a "harry het fic" on my dash. So like, in 1D fandom, you had your standard self-insert Y/N fics, you had the queer RPF where you were shipping the boys with each other, and then you had the "het fics", which is where someone would make up a female character for one of the boys (usually Harry bc that man had and still has an insane chokehold on teenage girls everywhere) to date. If anyone has had the misfortune to read and/or watch After by Anna Todd... that type of deal

ANYWAYS I was totally unaware of fanfic as a concept, which is quite funny because as a little baby writer I'd been writing extremely derivative pseudo-fanfic for quite a few years by that point, like stories inspired by Young Dracula or Narnia or whatever without really knowing what it was. But this Harry het fic floated across my dash and a little switch went in my brain because I was like WAIT. I COULD BE WRITING STORIES ABOUT THE BOYS?? Like this was so exciting to me because writing is like probably my biggest eternal special interest and One Direction was my like, most intense special interest at the time, so I was like WAIT. I CAN COMBINE THESE THINGS. And also PEOPLE WILL READ THEM AND COMMENT ON THEM and I was sooo convinced I was god's gift to writing at the time so I was like well OBVIOUSLY everyone will read MY fics and I'll get super fandom famous instantly.

So I wrote an incredibly terrible Harry het one shot with an original character and literally got crickets. Nobody read it. Very embarrassing. I think I wrote a handful of these and nobody wanted to know, which is fair enough because I'm sure they were very bad. But THEN I was like okay fine, well everyone is obsessed with Larry, including me (though I very much liked it in a "bromance" way at the time, so I'll write a Larry fic instead. This is Louis and Harry for the uninitiated. It was the biggest fandom ship. We shipped all and every configuration of the boys but Larry and Ziam were the hard hitters. I think I wrote a few different one shots for various pairings but then I did my first Larry multi-chapter

ANYHOO the Larry fic was a big hit, I got all the outpouring of compliments and attention that my enormous thirteen-year-old head was convinced I deserved and that was kind of it really lmao. I was hooked. When I tell you I'd update my fics MULTIPLE TIMES A DAY because I was writing so fast and so obsessively, like god idk what the fuck was going on in my head but it was the greatest high I have ever experienced in my life. I also got incredibly deeply involved in the conspiracy theory about Louis and Harry's secret gay relationship and spent the next five years of my life tinhatting obsessively but that's a whole other story

2. How many fandoms have you written in?

In terms of what I've posted to AO3, only a handful—as mentioned, I started off in the One Direction fandom, I've written for The Flash and Legends, and dabbled in Doctor Who. In terms of fandoms I've written little bits for but never shared... so many lmao, the list (as far as I can recall) includes the following:

Batwoman, Supergirl, The Bold Type, The Devil Wears Prada, Once Upon a Time, Supernatural, Torchwood, Twilight, X-Men, and bizarrely, The Witcher, apparently??? I have ZERO memory of that, but it's in my fanfic folder. No idea what that was about

3. How many years have you been writing fanfiction?

I think I started in 2011/early 2012, so upward of a decade at this point... eesh.

4. Do you read or write more fanfiction?

Definitely write. I do want to read more fic, but I have a hard time choosing what to read and I am very bad at using AO3's search functions to find what I want.

5. What is one way you’ve improved as a writer?

I've finally started finishing shit!! Big moment for me lmao

6. What’s the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

I read an entire book on public defenders for a fic where Barry becomes a public defender instead of a CSI. I own a copy of a book called Forensics for Dummies which I'm slowly working my way through for fic reasons... I feel like none of these are that weird lmao

7. What’s your favourite type of comment to receive on your work?

Who doesn't love the mega long comments pulling out random lines the reader liked to yell about them. I sometimes get so excited reading these comments that I lose sleep over it lmao i love them so much

8. What’s the most fringe trope/topic you write about?

Lmaoo this is a very odd one but I once wrote a Larry Stylinson fic where Harry was Slenderman and he was haunting Louis, and either Zayn or Liam was like a Van Helsing type who was trying to hunt Slenderman!Harry down and kill him. Or maybe it was Nick Grimshaw, the at the time host of the BBC1 radio breakfast show. He was the go-to fandom villain at the time

I never finished it but that was a cool time, someone in the fandom actually composed an instrumental piano piece inspired by Slenderman!Harry which is up there with the coolest things that have ever happened to me

In general I don't know if I necessarily go that fringe. I feel like it's somewhat obvious I have a bit of a thing for femdom, and also like. Coldwest/coldwestallen in general lmao, I guess that's fringe-ish

9. What is the hardest type of story for you to write?

Funnily enough probably pwp. I feel like smut is generally considered to be just an easy fun time but I feel like my line-editing process is not conducive to smut writing thing because I write the first draft in a haze of feral horny energy and then edit and revise it over and over to the point where I no longer find it sexy at all and am unable to tell whether it's even still hot or if I've totally killed the vibe in my quest to find the most poetic way of describing the way people fuck nasty. It's very frustrating ngl

10. What is the easiest type?

None of them. This is such a cop-out but everything I write is hard because I'm an insane perfectionist and everything HAS to be beautifully crafted so at this point everything is hard. But ngl I find multichapters easiest to draft in some ways just cos I can kinda cling to the high of "ooh a new idea" whilst also contributing to the same project because the "new ideas" are just new chapters, if that makes sense? It's fitting them all together that's the hard part lmao

11. Where do you do your writing? What platform? When?

I use a combination of Microsoft Word, Scrivener, and a notes app on my phone called Penzu, which is where I scribble down all the random snippets and ideas and bits and bobs that come to me during the day. The bulk of my drafting and editing is done in Word and I basically only use Scrivener for its notecard function where you can move scenes around really easily, and then I transfer everything back into Word because of Tracked Changes. Does Scrivener have that? Probably. Scrivener has everything

12. What is something you’ve been too nervous/intimidated to write, but would love to write one day?

Honestly it's never really a case of "too nervous/intimidated" because I genuinely have never encountered an idea where I was like "hmm idk if I can pull it off", I have extreme faith in my own capabilities to an almost delusional level lmao, it's always just "I do not have time". But I do have this extremely long Coldwestallen fic that's inspired by Hades and Persephone, with Barry as Persephone, Len as Hades, and Iris as a soooort of Demeter figure which i know is weird because Demeter is Persephone's mother, but whatever, she more embodies the familial connection of the whole team rather than being an actual blood relative if that makes sense

So the concept is basically Barry as Persephone spending half his time with Len and the Rogues in the criminal underworld (I thought I was so clever for that one lmao) and the rest with Team Flash, and then the lines blur and it becomes coldwestallen-y eventually, but it's soooo long and basically split into four novels that I have written between 25 and 50k for each. It's gonna take me literal YEARS to tackle this thing so I've kinda put it on hold for now but I miss it so much

13. What made you choose your username?

So I wrote a joke in a fic that I genuinely have no idea whether I even posted it or not, it might have been in Aftermath. But basically Barry's suit gets blown up and he gets photographed literally streaking through the city totally nude (you can't see anything bc he's moving too fast but you can tell he ain't wearing any clothes lmao) and there's a newspaper headline that's like "THE FLASHER???" Let me tell you I was very annoyed the other day when I learned they already made that joke on Supergirl

And then I just added "cold" for Len lmao

[shrinkthisviolet]

For the fandom ask: 6,12,14 please! <3 -@fieldsofview

6. Show us a bit of a WIP!

Ooh with pleasure:

Jesse was supposed to turn 2 in October of that fateful year, 2000, but then…

Then that awful night had happened only days after his own 11th birthday, both of them had lost their mothers…and she’d turned 2 without him. And now she was 13 as of yesterday. A teenager…11 years without him to help her. To protect her.

“I’ll take care of her! I promise!”

“I know you will.”

...maybe he did feel sick, actually.

~CF AU reunion fic

12. Answered here!

14. Is there a character or ship you were so sure you would never write/draw but now you've changed your mind?

Westhallen, Snowest, Barrisco 😅 thanks to @kitkatt0430, @fezwearingjellybananas, and @alittleflashvibe respectively. These (along with Barriscowest) are my favorite non-canon ships, and I've written quite a few ficlets about them (see my prompt fills). None yet for Barriscowest but I'm open to writing that too 👀

Oh, and as for character...Savitar. Never expected to care so much about him, but some kind of switch flipped in my brain last summer, and I've been obsessed with fixing his story and exploring his full potential ever since.

In that vein, because of that Savitar switch flipping...Saviris too, especially after I wrote a fic about them (and I'm currently planning another 😅). And in the past few months, I’ve had my eyes opened to the Savisco, Savecho, and Saverb potential 👀 three more ships I never considered until recently but would be open to writing!

fandom ask game!

Taglist (send an ask or DM to be added or removed):

@arrthurpendragon @ocappreciationtag @raith-way @vexic929 @ironverseocs

@thechaoticfanartist @goldheartedchaoticdisaster @negative-speedforce @starstruckpurpledragon @angst-is-love-angst-is-life

[starstruckpurpledragon]

🌹

“If you can call his cavalier disregard for the timeline a ‘good’ thing,” Gideon cut in, grumbling. “All the timelines are the real timeline… come on board my ship and argue philosophy with me, will you?” she subsided while everyone looked rather… bemused by the outburst.

From "The One Where Barry Steals Mick From the Legends"

couldn't resist doing more than one line here. Legends!Gideon has some... issues with Impulse's way of doing things.

for every "🌹" received in my inbox i'll post one random sentence of a random WIP i'm currently writing

[ao3feed-coldflash]

Real Life Urban Legends

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/3mCBbKQ

by kitkatt0430

Len arrives at Barry's apartment planning a surprise date. He was not expecting the sassy thirteen year old who answered the door.

Words: 2047, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 2 of ColdFlash Halloween Bingo 2021

Fandoms: The Flash (TV 2014)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Barry Allen, Leonard Snart, Hartley Rathaway, Jerrie Rathaway

Relationships: Barry Allen/Leonard Snart

Additional Tags: Urban Legends, Barry and Len babysitting for Hartley, well Barry is babysitting for Hartley, Len just kind of shows up, Jerrie is an awesome kid, Background Cisco Ramon/Hartley Rathaway - Freeform, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Hartley is Jerrie's guardian

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/3mCBbKQ

[hartmonfest]

Hartmon Halloween 2020 Masterlist

A big thanks to all who made fanworks for this event, but also to those who spread the word, and anyone who liked/reblogged/kudosed the fanworks too. It was great to have a little more Hartmon content with this long weekend. 🎃 💚 If you haven’t already, please do show the creators some love if you’re able to.

FANFIC: “Trick or Treating” by @fezwearingjellybananas - tumblr | AO3

It's Halloween and Cisco's volunteered himself and Hartley to take the kids trick or treating. 

GRAPHIC: autumn/halloween ‘sweet treats’ moodboard + headcanons by @purpleyin - tumblr | AO3

FANFIC: “The Sweetest Treat” by @kitkatt0430 - tumblr | AO3

Cisco's been a little down all month, knowing that his usual Halloween plans are off thanks to the ongoing pandemic.  Though he's pretty interested to find out just what his husband's been plotting to cheer him up...

FANFIC: “Pumpkin and Ghost” by @fezwearingjellybananas - tumblr | AO3

Cisco hadn't planned on going to the S.T.A.R. Labs Halloween Party, but Caitlin talked him into it, and he did have a good time. He did have to run before finding out exactly who was under the sheet though.

GRAPHIC: halloween 80s party moodboard by @purpleyin - tumblr | AO3

FANFIC: “Party to Death” by @kitkatt0430 - tumblr | AO3

Would you stay in a haunted house overnight for a million dollars?  For Hartley, the answer is yes.  After being disowned, he needs the money to finish his degree and, besides, it's all fake anyway... right?

FANFIC: “Urban Legends and Suburban Nightmares” by @kitkatt0430 - tumblr | AO3

Cisco's suggestion of swapping scary stories bites him on the butt when he winds up having nightmares that evening.

FANFIC: “Ghosting” by @fezwearingjellybananas - tumblr | AO3

Hartley didn't like Cisco. So, if he was desperate enough to be asking Cisco for help with his apparently haunted house, maybe Cisco should take him seriously. There had to be an explaination for it all somewhere. Maybe with the electrics. Flickering lights definitely sounded like an electrical fault. Not ghosts, ghosts weren't real.

There's something going on with this house though.

FANFIC: “Broken Tree” by @fezwearingjellybananas - tumblr | AO3

Barry had dragged Hartley out to the woods on some kind of Bigfoot investigation, but at least this new superhero is incredibly attractive

[ao3feed-hartmon]

The Home We Build Together

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2VOOid1

by kitkatt0430

One morning, Hartley belatedly realizes that his apartment is now home to three people and a dog. It's a one bedroom apartment. There really just isn't enough room for everyone anymore. The obvious answer is that they find a place big enough for them all and then move in together, but that's easier said than done.

Hartmon Fest 2019 – Mar 8th - family

Words: 2266, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 4 of Missy Verse, Part 18 of Hartmonfest2019

Fandoms: The Flash (TV 2014)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: M/M

Characters: Cisco Ramon, Hartley Rathaway, Lisa Snart

Relationships: Cisco Ramon/Hartley Rathaway, Hartley Rathaway & Lisa Snart, Cisco Ramon & Lisa Snart, Hartley Rathaway & Lisa Snart & Cisco Ramon

Additional Tags: Hartmon Fest 2019, qpr, Moving In Together, House Hunting, Missy is going to get a whole backyard for squirrel chasing all to herself, Found Family, Aromantic, Aromantic Lisa Snart, Aromantic Allosexual Lisa Snart

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2VOOid1

[ao3feed-westallen]

Here There Be (a) Dragon

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2Un3bml

by kitkatt0430

Magic Researcher Cisco Ramon is a devotee of the god of technomagery - Harrison Wells - but something has been off about the all powerful Wells ever since he ditched his last apprentice for the speedy demi-god known only as The Flash. Cisco isn't quite sure what's going on but he knows where he can get some answers... but Wells' former apprentice, Hartley Rathaway, is a difficult person to get a hold of, especially since he seems to have turned into a dragon.

Hartmon Fest 2019 – Mar 6th - mythology

Words: 6428, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 16 of Hartmonfest2019

Fandoms: The Flash (TV 2014)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: M/M

Characters: Cisco Ramon, Hartley Rathaway, Eobard Thawne | Harrison Wells, Barry Allen, Original Harrison Wells, Iris West, Caitlin Snow

Relationships: Cisco Ramon/Hartley Rathaway, Barry Allen/Iris West

Additional Tags: Hartmon Fest 2019, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Mythology, Dragon transformation, fantasy and technology fusion, Pansexual Cisco Ramon, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, sort of urban fantasy?, it's weird - Freeform, Mythology - Freeform

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2Un3bml

[kitkatt0430]

17, 33, 35, 44, 50 for OTP Asks (coldflash) please

17.) Who's more likely to pull the other in by the waist and kiss them passionately?

Hmmm, this is a tough one. I think it's something they both do, but who does it most?

Barry definitely has a kink for being manhandled and taken care of. He's constantly having to be the hero and on top of things and so having Len take charge, pull him close and demand kisses... it's nice to just give in. He trusts Len whether it's with something small and romantic like this or, uh... other things. ;) So Len enjoys taking advantage of this in order to draw Barry close and kiss him whenever he wants.

Conversely, Len likes that despite being a twig in human form (until his thirties anyway), Barry can still push him around if he wants. Len definitely enjoyed being shoved around by Barry in S2, though he was definitely wishing for a kiss there. So I think his preference is less being pulled in by Barry and more by being shoved against a hard surface and crowded in by Barry, but he does enjoy getting pulled forward, into Barry's arms, and kissed senseless too.

I think, ultimately, Len is more likely to pull Barry into a kiss, but it's definitely something that goes both ways.

33.) Who's the better cook?

Barry. Len's not a lethal chef or anything like that and he enjoys cooking with Barry because it's something he's doing with Barry. But for it's own sake, Len's more of an 'eat what's convenient' type. Whereas Barry is very much a 'shows love through food' type.

Mick supports the relationship in part because he's no longer the only one making sure Len doesn't wind up with scurvy for avoiding his veggies.

35.) Who's more artistic?

Probably Barry. He can sketch really well and I can see him doing the ADHD cycle through various artsy hobbies. (I do this. Best to keep the projects in what are doable chunks for me or something I can put down and pick up again a few months or a year down the line.)

I think Lewis really stunted Len's artistic talents. He strikes me as the kind of father who sees his son taking art classes or home ec and gets super homophobic about it. Len expresses his creative side through his heist plans. He's maybe starting to allow his creativity roll into creating things - starting from learning how to repair and then recreate the Cold Gun to adapting what he learned to create ice grenades and the like. But overall, Barry's much more of the artsy sort.

44.) Who would dance in the kitchen making dinner? Would the other join in or watch from the doorway?

Barry is absolutely the dancer. We see that in canon with him dancing around in the kitchen in his boxers making breakfast. He will dance around and sing to music on the radio/streaming on his phone when he cooks alone - especially if he's cooking something special for Len. Romantic dinner? Barry is extra bouncy while he cooks and sets up a candle lit dinner.

Len won't admit it, but he finds it really charming how Barry romances him and he does try to romance Barry in return. But when Barry's dancing around in the kitchen, he definitely loves to stand back and watch. Just kind of take in that this ridiculous man loves him so much.

50.) who's more likely to do something out of spite?

I'd say initially it's Len. He's used to pushing people away and he expects eventually he'll push Barry away too and gets snippy and spiteful about things. But Barry's stubborn and as Len realizes that it'd take a hell of a lot to run Barry off, he starts to relax and accept that what they have is actually going to last and his tendency to say spiteful things while angry tapers off.

Barry isn't at first because he's had to learn to be very careful with his relationships and choose his battles with Joe. He'd argue to hell and back about his dad's innocence, but he was very afraid of Joe not wanting him anymore so he got in the habit of swallowing down his feelings about things until they boil over. He's a lot more likely to do this when something's triggered his trauma reactions. The first time Len realizes that Barry flipped out over something relatively minor with him and talking it out later reveals it was really because Barry was already on edge over something Team Flash did that triggered him that his team dismissed as inconsequential? Len absolutely reads them the riot act about the way they treat Barry's mental health so dismissively.

I think once Barry's trauma responses start being taken seriously and his boundaries are better respected, the spiteful responses become less likely to show up too. That said, I think maybe he still struggles with it more than Len.

[kitkatt0430]

if you don't mind 51 for coldflash, harrisco and hartmon?

51.) What’s a non verbal way they say I love you?

ColdFlash:

Barry is feeling down and suddenly oh no. Captain Cold is stealing from a jewelry store/museum/whatever. The Scarlet Speedster must surely stop him... sure there's a lot of verbal flirting involved, witty repartee and puns flying around. But it's the gesture itself. Barry knows Len's doing this to cheer him up and if that doesn't say I love you then no crime possibly could.

Meanwhile Barry has absolutely also stolen things to cheer Len up. It started with stealing Len's stuff and being rewarded like a cute puppy but it has evolved into them occasionally stealing stuff together. And Team Flash just goes 'I pretend I cannot see and it is not happening'.

Harrisco:

Harry really likes to brush Cisco's hair and then braid it for him. Especially once he let's it go past shoulder length. There's something really comforting about the whole experience for both of them and it's kind of a big deal in that it's Harry asking for something he wants and then being very gentle about it. And then Cisco trusting Harry with his hair which is... not something he really allows to someone he isn't in love with.

Hartmon:

Cisco likes to dress Hartley up in his t-shirts, something Hartley has accepted as gracefully as he can. It helps that the t-shirts are actually really comfy and soft and worn in and smell like Cisco. It eventually becomes Hartley outright stealing Cisco's clothes to wear when he wants to feel comforted/closer to Cisco which, of course, absolutely delights Cisco to no end.

Cisco eventually started stealing Hartley's clothes too. They might be more formal/less whimsical but they were warmer for winter and also soft and worn in and smell like Hartley, which was a bit like getting to have a hug from Hartley all day.

They both know it's something they do because they love each other and so when one of them is committing clothes theft the other feels loved just seeing this. But also knows that the other perhaps needs more feelings of love and support today too.

[kitkatt0430]

for the AU 5+ headcanons ask game, Cisco takes a leap of faith and tells Barry he's in love with him somewhere in the middle or second half of season 1. i hope it's a prompt that works for you?

I do love a good Barrisco headcanon. This'll be cute. ^_^

So Cisco tags along to karaoke night with Barry and Caitlin and instead of Linda showing up to hit on Barry, Cisco takes the opportunity while Caitlin is singing to tell Barry how he feels. And Barry is surprised - not necessary blind sided, but he's definitely having a 're-evaluating events' moment. Caitlin calls them up to sing with her before Barry can really respond. So Cisco just kinda assumes that they're gonna leave things as friends and be a little awkward about it at first.

However, Barry is aware that being left hanging sucks and so as soon as they've squared away drunken Caitlin on Cisco's couch for the night, he asks Cisco on a date. And apologizes for not responding earlier. He was surprised and taking care of their drunk friend was kinda the priority, but he likes Cisco a lot and the idea of going on a date with Cisco is giving him all the butterflies, so... Cisco cuts him off with a chaste kiss before Barry can get too into rambling mode and agrees to the date.

Their first date they start off both trying a bit too hard because they're nervous but once they realize that's why things are a bit stilted, they both laugh and unwind and it's a wonderful date.

Barry realizes that something is up with Cisco with regards to Hartley and it's more than just Hartley being a jerk to Cisco in the past. So Cisco loops Barry into the whole thing about Ronnie maybe being alive and how guilty Cisco feels about being the one who closed Ronnie into the pipeline in the first place. So Barry gets to be a supportive BF both in helping Cisco deal with his survivor's guilt and with getting info out of Hartley regarding what really happened to Ronnie the night the accelerator exploded. Hartley still winds up escaping somehow but Cisco doesn't have to bear that weight alone this time.

I think Barry would turn down the bowling double date here, citing that it's still early in his relationship with Cisco and he wants their date that evening to be just the two of them. Since Cisco is well aware of Barry's feelings for Iris, Barry wants to make sure Cisco feels secure in their relationship before doing any double dates with Iris.

During the day that wasn't, Barry and Iris do not kiss (hate that kiss anyway, any reason to throw it out) but Barry does call Cisco for help with the oncoming storm problem that's poised to decimate both Central City and Keystone. Only EoWells answers Cisco's phone because, um... Cisco cannot come to the phone right now. Barry doesn't think hard on it at the time because DANGER ahead is more pressing. But after resetting time it definitely sticks out to him as strange.

Lisa does not manage to honey trap Cisco because Cisco is flattered, but not interested and this is his boyfriend right here, isn't he so cute? Which means that the Snarts + Rory go with plan b which is kidnapping both Cisco and Barry. Cisco stalls for time until they're down to just Mick watching them and when Mick isn't paying attention Barry knocks him out and rescues Cisco and Dante. Dante comes out of the ordeal shaken but otherwise unscathed and impressed with his brother's courage. It's the first step towards mending their relationship and moving them more towards being the close & supportive brothers Cisco and Dante are in the comics.

Somehow Len does figure out Barry's identity from this (hidden camera?) and thus Barry does still have to make his deal with Len. But Len's outta luck if he wants Cisco to build him new guns. Good thing Len made blueprints off the original guns in case he had to make new ones the hard way. (Barry - that is not in any way a good thing >_<)

The experience is still traumatic enough for Cisco that it triggers his nightmares/early manifestation of his vibes of the timeline where he died. Good thing Barry is there in bed with Cisco to hold him after startling awake from that. Barry soothes Cisco back to being calm and listens to Cisco talk about the nightmare afterwards and while he doesn't know what to make of Cisco's subconscious associating Dr. Wells with the Reverse Flash, he does know that the idea of losing Cisco terrifies him. And, huh, for some reason he's reminded of how weird it was for Dr. Wells to answer Cisco's phone in the day that wasn't...

Being with Cisco mellows out Barry's 'don't tell Iris' reflex so when Eddie finds out about Barry being the Flash and wants to tell Iris the truth, Barry agrees over Joe's protests, noting that keeping her in the dark hasn't actually protected Iris the way Joe insisted it would. So the whole situation actually makes Iris & Eddie closer instead of causing the relationship drama from canon.

Finding out that Cisco's nightmare actually happened for real? Infuriates Barry. Cisco has to talk Barry down from going after Wells immediately, but Barry is just done with Wells taking away the people he loves. Killing his mom, framing his father, and now killing Cisco in another timeline? Which might also be when Barry realizes that he's fallen in love with Cisco and doesn't want to be without him.

The Iris West-Allen newspaper byline is explained by Gideon to be from the OG timeline, but it still shakes Cisco, who doesn't quite realize Barry is relieved that's not from this timeline. Eddie questions his decision to propose to Iris afterwards, but Barry pushes him to go forward regardless of what Joe might think. That timeline is gone and they should focus on living their lives for themselves, not live up to the destinies of people who lived entirely different lives from them.

Eobard still tries to break up Iris and Eddie while he has Eddie kidnapped, but Gideon nonchalantly updates the by line to West-Thawne and Eobard takes the psychic damage instead.

Eobard tries dangling the whole 'save your mother, reset to the real timeline' carrot in front of Barry but Barry talks things over with his dad and admits he doesn't want to give up the life he's building with Cisco for the life he could have had with Iris, but he wants to save his mom so much... Henry is able to talk Barry out of the time travel this time.

Cisco is of course very surprised when Barry comes back from Iron Heights and puts an end to any time ship building. They're not helping Eobard Thawne in any way. They wind up talking through everything and Barry tells Cisco he loves him.

Cisco - *heart eyes* I love you too, Barry.

Eobard escapes and tries to force Barry to cooperate anyway, but Cisco uses his vibe blasts instinctively to protect Barry. Eobard swears he'll be back, but he's concerned about risking Cisco accidentally severing him from his speed entirely - made easier by Eobard's speed still being so unstable - so he hoofs it out of town, faking his death in the process. The Harrison Wells identity is well and truly burned, so he might as well give Barry something he wants. That way it'll hurt all the more the next time Eobard takes something - someone - away from him.

Thus Ronnie and Eddie survive the S1 finale, but there's a lead in for a Rogues centered S2 with Snart getting the gang together - not just the metas from the pipeline that he rescues from Team Flash, but Hartley as well - pushing the Earth-2/Zoom story line to Season 3.

[kitkatt0430]

do you have a favorite season or episode of Leverage? i love seeing you post about this show :)

Leverage is one of those shows that it's so hard to pic favorites because it's all so incredibly, satisfyingly good.

The first season is probably the worst which is still putting it head and shoulders over the best season of so many other shows that I love. It was hurt by being aired out of order, which thankfully the other seasons didn't suffer from, but it has so many little details in there that become running gags throughout the series. Plan M, Hardison dies. Let's steal an <X>. Parker stabbing a guy with a fork. Hardison's stories about his Nana. Eliot's very specific catchphrase. Sophie's struggle with being an actress vs being a grifter. Alice White. Hurley. Sterling. Old Nate.

I think the Pilot and the two-part finale are my favorites from that season though it is a very close call with basically every other episode.

The Pilot of course gives us the crew and becomes incredibly important to understand the motivations of the final villain of S4. So, so much is established in this episode. The heist at the start, the mini-con at the hospital, and the main con to get their revenge. The walk-away where they all fail to walk away.

And then the two part finale. Nate's ex wife shows up and everyone basically falls in love with Maggie because she's awesome. Sterling truly establishing the Sterling always wins rule with his second win. Nate being able to punch - in the face - the guy who turned down the insurance claim for the medical procedure that might have saved Nate's dying son. Sophie trying to have her cake and eat it too, only to ultimately chose the team over herself. Old Nate becoming the Leverage mascot (to real Nate's chagrin).

Season 2 is probably my second least favorite because I think Sophie leaving the team is somewhat... mishandled? Overall they handled the actress needing time off while pregnant well, but she leaves the team to find herself but is upset that Nate gives her that space and encourages the team to do so as well? Like, yeah, he needs to be better at asking for help and it's his big failing this season but he's very much trying to respect what Sophie asked for and given shit about it. But this is quite possibly the only overarching storyline the show fumbled which is sooooo impressive. (Glances at the Flash and it's many fumbled storylines.)

The first episode of this season is hands down favorite. The team gets back together. Parker as a lock picking nun. The Team taking over Nate's apartment (and then refusing to leave for three seasons). The fact that this episode sets up the series finale. Because it does. The whole reason Nate decides to give in and rejoin the team for more than just this one job at the end? Is because this is where he realizes what really happened behind the scenes of the 2007-08 financial crisis, which leads directly to the target of The Long Goodbye Job.

(holy shit is this show amazing at callbacks and maintaining continuity)

I also really love the Two Live Crew Job for introducing Chaos and The Lost Heir Job for bringing in Tara for the rest of the season (only complaint is we barely get any more of her after this season). Though if I were to pick a second favorite episode of the season it'd be The Bottle Job because I love them saving the bar together and it has the first hints of Jimmy Ford being revealed (explaining further why Nate is the way he is).

I think Season 3 and 4 tie for me as second favorite seasons. S3 has the plot with the Italian and finally stops using Nate's personal failings as the driving impetus of the season finale. Eliot being so very ashamed of the man he used to be is incredibly touching (someone hug this man) and makes it all the more impressive what kind of man he's become now.

I love The Inside Job for putting Parker front and center. Introducing the man who raised her, but also failed her in a way that makes Nate quite likely want to punch Archie in the face. The show never outright calls Parker autistic, but she is. She so clearly is. And it's very plain to see that was factored into the set design for where Parker lives. It was part of Archie's reasoning for keeping her separate from his family - though he can say 'she wouldn't fit in' all he wants, the truth is clear in how he says it. But despite how he failed her, the episode is about showing that Parker does have a family now. The Leverage Crew. And they love her because she is the way she is. Because if she were any different, she wouldn't be their Parker. And they are willing to fight for her and trust her and follow her lead.

I love any episode where Hardison gets to be artsy, so The Scheherazade Job is beloved. How dare he be so talented? So, so, so multi-talented.

The Studio Job gives us Eliot's softer side and Christian Kane's wonderful country singing voice.

The Three Card Monte Job introducing Jimmy Ford in the flesh and giving us the wonderfully fucked up relationship he has with Nate. They love each other but they're too much alike to get ever get along. Each one has a very different code of ethics that clash irreconcilably.

The Rashoman Job is just incredibly well played, with the actors in the flashbacks being slowly updated as it's revealed this person or that person was actually one of the Leverage Crew pre-show. Sophie's accent in the flashbacks getting increasingly incomprehensible until she's basically speaking what the wingdings fonts look like when you try to type normally with them.

The King George Job giving more artsy Hardison who hacks history and probably needs a nap. Sophie's complicated backstory and her realization that cons where she thought no one really got hurt may have actually gotten people hurt after all - a character story beat that Leverage Redemption picked up for her and continued beautifully.

The San Lorenzo Job is absolutely stunning. Sophie shines here (and yet again does not know how to keep out of sight at her own funeral) absolutely stunningly as she builds herself up as a sort of Princess Diana/Evita type before her "assassination" that helps seal the deal of their election theft scheme.

Season 4 tying itself so neatly back to the job that started it all when it turns out the rich dude trying to manipulate them is working with Dubenich. It's impressive how well they pull off the reveal. But he's not the only big call back to Season One we get here. Parker's Alice White persona and the friend she made - Peggy - come back. Hurley comes back.

The Van Gogh Job is the best, best, best of the season. It doesn't pull any punches in saying "hey, this romance we're doing between a white girl and a black man? that used to be illegal. It is in living memory that these relationships could get black men lynched by racists with little to no repercussions. And talented black men would have their achievements handed to white men because 'that's the way it was.'" It puts the main actors into the roles of characters in the past just to make sure it hits hard because we know these faces. We're emotionally attached to them. Holy shit this episode.

The Hot Potato Job where the problem kid of the school field trip Nate and Parker hijack just needed people to treat him like a person, not a problem, to behave well. The way he bonds with Hardison and helps them smuggle the potato out at the end? I love this kid, I want to learn he's working for Leverage International one day.

The Carnival Job where the mark's kid is kidnapped and they burn their con because a child's life is more important. Eliot fighting concussed and with his eyes shut because he will be damned if he fails to save this little girl.

The Grave Danger Job managing to be the best 'buried alive' plot I have ever seen on a tv show (and it is a staple plot of tv shows from the 90s/early 2000s). They steal a police car and an ambulance for the sirens. It gets series with Parker calling Hardison 'Alec' and being at the most emotional we've seen her all show.

The Office Job being done in the style of The Office (and then the mockumentary follow up in the behind the scenes featurettes) is just priceless.

The Girls Night Out/The Boys Night Out Jobs being so perfect in how they intertwine over the course of the same night.

The Radio Job showing us just how much Jimmy Ford loves his son.

The Last Dam Job giving us "my son would be ashamed of me for killing someone. My father? My father would buy me an ice cream." Dubenich ultimately destroying himself while Nate walks away.

Season 5 is my favorite season, though. It's the culmination of where the show was heading from the start. Parker has grown so much from the first season that she's able to run her own con - something Sophie and Hardison have both attempted and failed - and with the rest of the team out of town to boot. Parker and Hardison clearly got the brew pub as a gift for Eliot, while realizing he'd never accept if they don't reverse psychology him into it. Sophie buying the theater and finally discovering her talent for directing as well as overcoming the blocks that kept her from bringing her prodigious acting talent to the stage floor. Nate achieving the goal that's driven him since the start of Season Two.

I love the French Connection Job for giving us more Chef Eliot. His relationship with food is lovely and this is my favorite exploration of it. Parker finally learning to appreciate beauty in art because of how she grows to understand how Eliot connects with cooking and learns to appreciate the artistry that goes into food.

The Gimme a K Job hits home personally for me - one of my sister's best friends (who was also the older sister of one of my best friends) was a cheerleader who hit her head in a cheer stunt gone wrong where the spotter messed up. It took a very, very long time for her to truly recover from that concussion (and thus why I know tv shows are bullshit for having people just walk that off) and knowing her injuries might have been less severe if cheerleading safety were taken more seriously...

The DB Cooper Job being another excellent episode built around Flashbacks staring the main cast in different roles. Agent McSweeten has to know something is up with the Leverage Crew, but he clearly respects and admires all of them. Especially Parker.

The Broken Wing Job giving us Parker on her own putting together a temporary crew from the wait staff and pulling off a con all on her own, while injured. (The whole reason why she wasn't with the team, in fact.) And it's so damn impressive of her.

The Rundown Job being as close to confirmed Eliot/Parker/Hardison as we're going to get outside of word of god (which we have!!!!) and it's beautiful to watch them work together without Nate and Sophie. It's also foreshadowing for them working together when Nate and Sophie retire.

Similarly, The Frame Up Job gives us how far Nate and Sophie have come as a couple and is as close to Nate/Sophie/Sterling as we'll probably ever get. (No word of god on this one, just me being overwhelmed by Nate and Sterling's impressive divorced-couple vibes. They're more divorced than Nate and Maggie, who are actually divorced.)

The White Rabbit Job where they almost push too far with their gaslighting routine but Parker is able to save the day by connecting to their mark in a way she didn't know how to when the show began. Her character development is such a highlight of she series so the repeated payoffs in this season are just... golden.

Every single thing about The Long Goodbye Job. Once again, all the callbacks to previous seasons. Eliot/Parker/Hardison being heavily hinted at again. Sterling letting Nate go because Nate was right, no matter what the law says. Parker inheriting the lead of the team from Nate. Sophie performing on stage the same play from the pilot, but being excellent at it this time. The episode's whole plot - again, cannot stress this enough - being a callback/having been foreshadowed by the season 2 premiere.

As you can tell, I love this show. It's beautiful and incredible and I was so, so relieved when Leverage Redemption premiered and I could instantly see that they'd done the impossible all over again. They'd recaptured the magic of the original show.

[kitkatt0430]

Oooh how about an AU where Hartley’s part of Team Flash from the start 👀

I have soooo many thoughts on this kind of AU. Some of which may or may not be contradictory. :D

So first and foremost, I do not see Hartley agreeing with the pipeline. Either he convinces the team not to go in that direction at all or it becomes the sticking point that makes him leave the team when it becomes clear the pipeline isn't going to be the short term solution he was assured it would be.

Hartley does leave the team at some point regardless of the pipeline. I could see this either as EoWells swaying Hartley to his side and pitting him against Barry only for Hartley to learn the truth of his friend/lover in the worst way, or him splitting from the team due to being unwilling to work with Harrison anymore over his growing number of secrets.

I really like the idea that if Hartley still knew about the flaw ahead of time and that's what splits him from the team, that he turns whistleblower about it and goes to Iris. He may not trust EoWells anymore but he's grown to trust Barry and, through Barry, Iris too. It'd be good for Iris too to get something big to her name early that has nothing to do with the Flash (that they know of anyway) and I could see it spurring Mason to be more respectful of Iris and give her an in for picking up Mason's investigation into Wells when it gets him killed.

While Hartley would split from the team during S1, I think S2 he'd be firmly back in with the team. It'd be awkward at first and take time for ruffled feathers over S1 events to settle, but he'd be a permanent part of the team going forward.

Romance wise, I'd either want him to meet Roderick but not necessarily start dating him yet, meet David Singh and get to have his canon love interest from the comics, or have a belligerent UST thing with Cisco that settles into dating eventually (but maybe they both casually date others first). Admittedly, Hartmon is my preference but I could see any of these working out really well. (Or I could go even more AU and do pre-Barry/Hartley...)

Ronnie and Hartley are friends. Which probably bewildered Cisco until he and Hartley begrudgingly became friends too.

Hartley would at least talk about having a younger sister, if not have Jerrie show up. (If she didn't appear in S1, then she'd definitely show up in S2.)

Hartley has pet rats! They are cute and he's so soft for them. :D

S2 events would have Hartley's parents reaching out to him and the struggle there for reconciling with them. Hartley wants it very much, but not to the point of compromising on certain things his parents need to keep working on if they're serious about wanting their son back. I can see him pointing out that them trying to be less homophobic is great, but he can't trust it if they aren't going to work on not being transphobic or otherwise queerphobic.

The Rogues! I can see him teaming up with Snart in S1 perhaps, making his choice to side back with Team Flash in S2 rockier with a more Rogues focused S2. Snart wants Rathaway's skills back on his team and Hartley is running out of polite ways to say 'no'.

I've got a lot of ideas for this kind of AU, really. And it's one I very much want to write at some point.

[kitkatt0430]

2,8 and 56 for Harrisco, please ;)

2.) What would they do if the other woke in a manic state after a nightmare?

When it's Harry having the nightmare? Cisco breaches them to STAR Labs and then gives Harry some space. Harry's got a lot of trauma and his nightmares tend towards the violent and I think one of his fears about his nightmares is that they might cause him to hurt Cisco in those moments between sleeping and waking, so sometimes he just needs some time alone to calm down after.

But while Harry's cooling off - maybe blowing off steam in the lab or hitting something in the STAR Labs gym - Cisco makes some coffee or goes on a Jitters run. Gets some donuts. And when he checks on Harry usually it's been enough time that Harry is ready to have Cisco there with him again and accept the comfort that Cisco's presence brings.

When it's the other way around, Harry hold's Cisco and pets his hair soothingly. Talks him down quietly from the panic that's got a hold on him and then bundles him up in blankets in front of the tv. Depending on the hour, Harry will also make coffee and breakfast items first before settling down with Cisco to watch something familiar on tv. Star Trek maybe. Or Stargate. Just something fun that is easy to tune back into if Cisco looses focus because he knows the episodes by heart.

8.) What happens if one of them gets sick?

Harry absolutely pretends he's fine until he's just about collapsing from fever, so when he starts getting sick Cisco usually has to threaten to sit on him to get Harry to stay home and take medicine. He's very much a grumpy cat about the whole thing, but he likes the way Cisco takes care of him. He likes getting to sleep in too and the way it feels to trust someone else to take care of him.

Once Harry relents and lets Cisco get his way, he'll stay put until Cisco lets him go back to work. For all his grumbles, when given a chance to cuddle with Cisco while recuperating, Harry will take that cuddle time every time.

Cisco on the other hand is typically sensible when he's coming down with something. Harry will make him soup and stay with him - working from home, he's a workaholic, though he's definitely not as productive while he worries over Cisco. But once Cisco starts feeling better? He wants to get back to it and that's when Harry has to turn the threats back around onto Cisco and make him stay home and finish resting until he's actually well enough to do more than veg in front of the tv all day.

This makes Cisco grumpy because he wants to do science. He really, really does. And it is not fair that his lack of energy is conspiring with Harry to make him rewatch his favorite TMNT cartoons and he is not being a pouty brat about this, just shut up Harry. >_<

56.) What do they do turn the other on/put them in the mood?

Honestly, Cisco being brilliant turns Harry on. He's somewhere on the ace spectrum and Cisco being just so damn smart... and a smart ass too... Harry likes the way Cisco's eyes light up from a challenge, the flush to his cheeks when he argues with Harry, the fond smile on Cisco's face when Harry brings him a cup of coffee... And depending on Harry's own mood this could easily turn from appreciating Cisco's intelligence, kindness, wit, and/or how pretty he is to... wanting to drag Cisco off somewhere comfy to canoodle.

Cisco really likes to romance and be romanced, so they'll often do romantic things for each other. Date night, wine on the balcony watching the sun set, leaf peeping picnics... Cisco really likes to feel special. Appreciated.

Of course, Harry bragging on how smart Cisco is to others gets Cisco all flustered and sometimes that might lead to the two of them breached back home for a quick (or not so quick) roll in the sheets.

[kitkatt0430]

Something that's been rattling around for some years now...how exactly would Slade have reacted if it had been Oliver who was the one killed by Ivo? How would that have rippled out into the Arrowverse? Would the Undertaking have succeeded or would a Mirakuru enhanced Slade along with Sara and Shado - presuming they also managed to survive the Island - have managed to get to Starling anyway, if they'd managed to retrieve The List?

I had not considered this kind of AU before but now you are giving me ideas... ^_^

So I do think Slade would still have reacted really badly. Honestly, I think the only death out of the trio he wouldn't have reacted badly to while hopped up on Mirakuru is Sara because he didn't know her well enough. But while Slade was in love with Shado, he'd still come to care a great deal about Oliver despite Oliver sleeping with Shado. (Oliver still in the 'cannot do relationships that aren't super messy' stage of his life, it's still hilarious to me that his relationship struggles on the 'present' day part of the show are still improvements on his past relationship screw ups.)

Slade would probably handle things a bit better at first, but much like how canon Slade started hallucinating Shado in his anger/grief over her death, I think he'd start to see Oliver as the representative of the Mirakuru anger/paranoia/mental instability it induces and he'd still wind up become a problem that Shado, Sara, and Ivo's prisoners have to deal with after Ivo himself is killed.

Rewind a bit to the moment of Ollie's death. He's still put on the spot by Ivo, who is a rapist and misogynist and all around piece of shit. Ollie can't choose who lives and who dies. At least not between Shado and Sara. So Oliver says "me. Shoot me" and Ivo does it. He thinks it'll be easier to keep two women in check anyway, he doesn't know that Shado's a badass and that killing Oliver in front of Sara (after threatening to kill her first) is gonna be the snapping point for his 'docile lab assistant/rape victim'.

For drama, Oliver's death isn't immediate. He's shot in the chest maybe? Somewhere where he has just long enough to make a dying declaration, passing on the List and what little he knows about it to Sara and Shado. I think Sara would hang on to it, but it could honestly go either way.

Events would then play out similarly to how they did in canon. Except I think Shado would be more willing to take the chance that the cure would work on Slade. She just lost Oliver and despite Slade probably physically assaulting her in his growing anger... she doesn't want to lose Slade again to. She knows she's losing him to the Mirakuru but as long as he's alive there's a chance of saving him.

Of course, we don't really know if this iteration of the cure was correct or not. It looks superficially like the cure Caitlin and Cisco come up with years later but it wasn't developed off the real Mirakuru serum. Ivo made it based off his faulty, bastardized version of Mirakuru.

So this could go one of a few ways. It works, Slade returns to normal, he has to come to grips with his behavior over the last few days and the way he threatened Shado, but it's better than having to live with years of hurting people in a mentally altered state and then having his sanity forced back on him to have to live with it.

Or it doesn't work, it doesn't have any effect, and Shado has to kill him and she's more effective at it than Ollie was at that point in time. So Slade dies. Or maybe she's not more effective because she does return Slade's feelings after all but found Oliver more approachable of the two for a casual relationship. She can't bring herself to be as brutal as necessary to kill someone with Mirakuru, assumes Slade drowns, and instead Slade's attraction turns into a burning hatred that focuses on Shado and her sister down the line.

Or the cure reacts badly to the OG Mirakuru and it kills Slade stone dead and Shado has to live with the fact that her attempt to save him was what killed him.

I favor the Slade lives but is still Mirakuru Man option, but all of these scenarios are really interesting ideas to explore and there are probably more variations that could be considered. These were just the big ones that stood out to me immediately.

If Sara still washes up where Nyssa finds her - Sara still in possession of the List because it's all she's got left of Oliver - then this of course complicates things. A lot. Canonically Sara doesn't go back until after the Undertaking, but I could see the List burning a hole in her pocket, as it were. The League offers her a chance to develop her skills, but she's basically saying screw you to Oliver's memory if she hooks up with League permanently.

While Sara is dealing with League bullshit, Shado would take Oliver's place in washing up in Hong Kong. But I honestly don't see ARGUS being interested in her the way they were with Oliver. Oliver was useful because he was considered dead already, amongst other reasons. But Shado wasn't missing that long comparatively and is able to return to her life as a pre-med student and reunites with her sister Mei.

It takes some doing, but Shado is able to transfer to a school in Starling City to complete her pre-med education abroad. There she's able to track down the Queen's easily and the Lances only slightly less so.

She makes an appointment with Moira first and while she doesn't have the List, Shado does have Oliver's picture of Laurel which proves to Moira that Shado is telling the truth. It's a sanitized version of the truth, but Shado basically tells her that Shado met Oliver when she was kidnapped and brought to an island off of the China coast and used to blackmail her father into behaving. Oliver was there, someone her father had been mentoring to survive, and he'd been entrusted with protecting Shado. And he'd done so with his life. Probably vaguing things so that Ivo sounds like he's part of the group that murdered her dad, leaving out Sara and Slade entirely, and crying rather than being specific about Oliver's death because there are some things Moira doesn't need to hear. Shado is able to confirm Robert Queen's death too, which maybe gives Moira the push she needs to move on with Walter if she hasn't already.

Shado's visit with the Lances goes differently in that she's telling them that Sara might actually still be alive. Oliver's photograph of Laurel is once again Shado's ticket to being believed, which she gives to Laurel. She explains again how she knew Oliver, but actually brings up Sara here and Ivo being someone who both rescued and abused her. She probably still leaves out Slade and connects herself and Sara being lost at sea again to Ivo's death after Oliver's murder.

I think Quentin would probably still think Sara was dead despite Shado's earnest belief that Sara was strong and survived, but he'd greatly appreciate Shado telling him about his daughter and offer to be someone she can count on like family while she's in the states. Laurel - and definitely Dinah - would take hope that Sara is alive and will come back to them eventually, however.

Shado probably also got back into contact with Anatoly and some of the other survivors of the island, though not to the degree that Oliver did. Instead, Shado starts looking into what she remembers of the List immediately, setting herself up as the vigilante the Hood years before Oliver would have. She can only remember a few names from the List but she also knows that if Robert Queen had one then it stands to reason Moira might have one or at least that Robert had a backup.

So her first point of order is to get her hands on a copy of the List. She targets one of the names she remembers first, and while Shado can prove he's a shitty person by the time she's done and the guy goes to jail, she's SoL on the List. Shado turns to breaking and entering, sneaking into the Queen's home while they're out one day and there she eventually strikes paydirt, finding a little book that looks just like the one Ollie gave Sara. It's blank, but it's got the symbol of the Undertaking stamped in it, so Shado takes it and books it. Moira probably assumes Malcolm took it and the two have some bitchy power plays that eventually settles back into a frigid status quo.

Meanwhile, back at the League. Sara's got a mission already. The List. Fulfilling Ollie's last wish, to right the wrongs Robert Queen was part of. But she's also got a cute girl and her long-lived assassin-leader father to contend with. I can see her making a deal with Ra'as, who clearly does not approve of Nyssa's attraction to Sara. Train her, use her, and let her be a distraction for Nyssa for a while. When he tires of Sara, let her return to her old life as a sleeper assassin should he have need of her.

Honestly, it's not a bad deal for Ra'as because it gets Nyssa out of his hair for a while as he figures out who he's going to betroth her to. (Let his daughters marry for love or accept that one is a lesbian? Ra'as? Nope, he's not doing that.) Sara, of course, falls in love with Nyssa, but what's a girl to do? She knows better than to think she can save Nyssa from Ra'as, and so in a few years when he decides Nyssa's infatuation with Sara is getting to be too much of a distraction instead of just enough of a distraction, Sara returns to Starling City. She feels woefully unprepared to return because she's an assassin now and her family deserves better than her.

But still. She has her mission and she's gonna fulfill it. So Sara gets 'rescued' somewhere in maybe India or the Middle East and returns home.

All this time, Shado has been using the List 2.0 to figure out what the hell Robert Queen was involved in. She's become a local hero, no longer the Hood but the Green Arrow. With Laurel's non-vigilante-as-of-yet help after shenanigans. Tommy's too, he's the financial backer until he gets cut off but this Tommy planned ahead and had some money squirreled away in his name, maybe some stocks (including some STAR Labs stock that's lucrative right now but'll bite him in the butt come a couple more years), and a night club set up atop the arrow cave as a nod to Tommy and Oliver's childhood dream of running one together. Maybe Shado even got to name it Verdant, or maybe it's named something else entirely.

When Sara shows up, I think she'd confide in Shado about what happened to her but on the promise that Laurel never finds out. Sara would take up as the Canary and help try to stop the Undertaking too. Malcolm is, unbeknownst to them, the bad guy they're trying to stop.

Since Oliver was the connection that brought in Dig and Felicity, they're having relatively normal lives. Tommy's been learning to use a bow from Shado since he doesn't want her out there alone - Sara showing up and being her backup is a big relief for him. There's probably some Tommy/Laurel going on with Shado having bad luck with relationships - men and women alike. So maybe some Shado/Sara while Sara mourns leaving Nyssa behind and Shado is well aware this is more of a friends with benefits thing.

I could see this team up discovering that Malcolm is the Dark Archer and the mastermind behind the List - the Undertaking - eventually. Likely when Malcolm brings - successfully this time around - Tommy into his panic room for some reason. Tommy would have to essentially be undercover as himself trying to figure out what's going on and while I don't think they'd find the second bomb in time, I think they'd at least learn about it a little earlier. They'd still defuse bomb #1 and save a lot of lives. Tommy and Laurel would both survive, though they'd be evacuating as many people from the Glades as they could. Moira probably wouldn't fare as well in the aftermath, though, without Oliver to convince her to do the right thing at the last minute. Though perhaps Tommy gets through to her?

Of course, they'd have a lot of different issues from canon to deal with. Shado would have to worry about her student visa and transitioning from pre-med into a rigorous medical degree course that probably meant she was very slow about targeting the List compared to Oliver going after a new villain every week. She'd also likely be trying to gain citizenship in order to stay in the life she'd made for herself there, which would be easier for her than some given her lawyer friend Laurel helping out. And the power of being the protagonist.

Obviously it could all play out as a worst case scenario - Shado stays in Hong Kong with her sister, Sara doesn't return until after the Undertaking, and Tommy dies saving his girlfriend Laurel.... but I like the idea that in spite of a nail, there would still be a Green Arrow in Starling City.

Of course, if Slade survived and is still Mirakuru Man, then it could be the Undertaking that brings Starling City, and thus Shado, back into his crosshairs. This would also wind up dragging Mei into the middle of things, because I could see Slade going after her to bait Shado. And perhaps as a side plot, Tommy learns that Thea is his sister and that Malcolm is still alive. Despite Moira's protests, I could see Tommy recognizing what would protect Thea from Malcolm most is knowing the truth. And he'd tell her.

Honestly... I don't see Moira and Thea's relationship ever recovering in this timeline. Maybe they get back on good terms one day, but Thea's never close to her again. Thea has Walter and Tommy and that's all the family she wants or needs.