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book-place · 1 year

Text

Paradise

Warnings: arrow s1 spoilers, mentions of death, nightmares, weapons, violence, cursing, let me know if I missed any :)

Pairings: Oliver Queen x sister reader, Thea Queen x sister reader, Moira Queen x daughter reader

*not my gif*

Summary: When that yacht went down, you lost everything. But now, Oliver is back

A/N: Welcome to book place’s one year event!!

Inspired by: Paradise by Coldplay

Please don’t plagiarize my work, you may reblog if you like but I’m asking that you don’t steal my hard work

When she was just a girl, she expected the world

“Have fun,” You smiled as you hugged your father, turning your head to place a kiss on his cheek.

He matched your smile, hugging you back tightly, “Don’t get too comfortable around here without us,” He teased, “We’ll be back before you know it.”

“We’re counting on it.” Your mother said with a smile, watching as her husband turned to her with a large grin.

As the two of them said goodbye, you turned towards your twin brother, and you scoffed playfully, “Just get out of here.” You rolled your eyes but couldn’t hold back the smile that broke out on your face.

He matched your sarcasm by crossing his arms over his chest and lightly glaring at you, “Yeah, yeah, I’ll miss you too.”

The grin widened on your face and you took a step forward, wrapping your arms around Oliver’s torso as he hugged you back in return.

Your brother turned his head slightly and planted a kiss on the side of your head in his own farewell.

“Make sure the yacht doesn’t sink.” You joked, not quite understanding the power behind your words.

“Don’t worry,” Oliver reached out and teasingly ruffled your hair, “I know how to swim.”

But it flew away from her reach

“-and then the boat went down,” The officer in front of you had his hat off and he stared at the three of you sympathetically.

Immediately, Thea fell against your mother with a loud cry leaving her lips as tears began to roll down her face like a waterfall. Moira tightly grasped onto her and held her to her chest while they sobbed together for the loss of your father and brother.

But you stood there, feet rooted in place and heart frozen over, you were sure that it had stopped beating.

Your brother- your twin brother- was dead. Your other half was gone. And though the two of you didn’t always see eye to eye on everything, you were still each other's best friend. You knew everything about each other and now that he was gone, you were certain that you would fade away into nothing.

Because without Oliver, where did you stand? How could you be expected to walk through life without your partner in crime by your side?

You were barely able to register the way your mother moved to wrap an arm around you, and how her and Thea clung to you. But you were still yet to move, to show any sign of what you were feeling, to look away from the officer.

“I understand that this is a lot to take in-“ He didn’t even finish his sentence before you slammed the door in his face.

Thea and your mother whipped their heads up and their lips parted in shock to see your arm still outstretched to where you closed the door.

Without a word, you shrugged off their hands and turned on your heel and walked away.

So she ran away in her sleep

“At least take a moment to think about this,” Moiras voice was desperate, begging, “We barely just had a their funeral, I don’t think you’re in the right state of mind-“

You cut her off as you slammed down the top of your suitcase and leveled a glare at her, “I am in the right frame of mind,” You moved around her to begin collecting things off of your desk and placing them in a bag, “And what I’m thinking is that I need to get the hell out of the place that’s reminding me so much of my dead father and twin brother.”

The words made her recoil, as if struck, but you couldn’t find it in yourself to care. You had spoken the truth, it hurt more to stay in a place that reminded you so much of them than not.

“You can’t just leave your family at a time like this,” She whispered, eyes filling up with tears.

It seemed like all of you had cried enough tears to last a lifetime after the reality of the situation had finally crashed over you at the funeral and you had broken down in a pile of sobs. You were surprised to see that she could still cry, you had thought that all three of you would have long since run out of tears.

Finally, you sighed and gently placed your bag down, softening at your mothers voice and making your way over to where she stood before wrapping your arms around her, “It’ll be alright,” It was an empty promise, and you both knew it.

She sniffled, holding you against her tightly and whispering in your ear, “Where are you even going?”

You cleared your throat, slowly pulling away, “I don’t know yet.” You answered honestly, “But I promise I’ll call you soon to let you know I’m alright.”

There was hesitation and fear clear as day present in her face, but you paid it no mind as you picked your bags up and made your way out of the room, bidding her one last farewell.

You froze in your steps though when you sucked in a sharp breath. Thea was standing right outside your door, staring up at you with those wide eyes of hers.

“Where are you going?” She asked softly.

A sigh left your lips and you gently brought the girl in for a hug, “I just have to go away for a little while, Thea,” You whispered, “I need to clear my head.”

She bit down on her lip and averted her gaze from your own, “For how long?”

“I don’t know. But I promise, I will be back.”

Dreamed of para-para-paradise

Your eyes snapped open and you flew up into a sitting position, breathing coming out rapidly and in gasping spurts.

It had been three years since the yacht went down and you were still yet to come home after all that time. You had moved to a nearby city, only communicating with your family every so often to let them know that you were still alright.

But no matter how much time passed, you could never shake that feeling of wrongness.

Somewhere inside you, against every bone of better judgment, you believed that Oliver was still alive. You knew it was wrong and you knew that it was nothing but false hope. But no matter what you tried, no matter how much you begged yourself to move on, you couldn’t.

How could you? After being told what had happened and it was as if half of your soul had been ripped out?

The nightmares began the day you recived the news. Senerios flashing in your mind of what could have happened. Of all the different painful ways your brother could have died. Your mind was a never ending torment of the whole thing.

Once you were finally able to get your breathing under control, you dropped your head into your hands and ran them down your face with a groan.

Your head picked up after a moment and your eyes subconsciously found the small picture frame that sat on your beside table.

In it, Oliver had his arm slung over your shoulder with a wide grin as you doubled over laughing at something that he undoubtedly said. It was your sixteenth birthday and you both looked so happy, so free. So oblivious to what was to come.

It had taken you about two and a half years before you could put that picture up without feeling like you were painfully being stabbed in the heart. But even now, it wasn’t the easiest thing to look at.

Para-para-paradise, para-para-paradise

Five years. That’s how long it’s been. That’s how much time passed and you had finally, after all these years, begun to learn how to burden your pain correctly. How to be able to still live your life without him by your side.

That’s why you decided to return home for the first time since the funeral.

Just a few days ago, you had called home with the news and both your mother and Thea seemed ecstatic, much to your relief. You had been worried that they would scoff and turn their noses up at you that you were finally coming back after all these years of pushing them away.

It wouldn’t be a permanent move, just for a few days, to see how things were. Because despite everything you had been through in the last few years, you still had a life that you built in your new home for yourself, and you weren’t quite ready to abandon it entirely.

Now, as you stood, staring up at your childhood home, the one you had almost never dreamed of returning to, you were hit with a wave of reluctance.

What if too much had changed over the years? What if your family had just felt inclined to allow you back, only doing so because of the guilt that they felt?

You nawed on your bottom lip as you contemplated the possibilities, but ultimately came to the conclusion that you needed to get over yourself and you confidently pushed the door open with slightly more force than was probably necessary.

“Y/n?” Thea’s voice bounced off the walls and reached your ears the second you stepped into the entryway.

Quickly, your head snapped over to where your sister who was not so little anymore and smiling brightly, came bounding down the stairs and flinging herself across the room to come crashing into your arms.

“Thea,” You breathed out, allowing your eyes to flutter shut in contempt as you hugged her tightly to your chest. You had missed her far too much.

A new voice- more like a gasp- reached your ears and you opened your eyes to come face to face with your mother.

Quietly, Thea slipped out of your hold and stepped back to give you and your mother a moment.

Moira brought a shaky hand up to her mouth as tears filled in her eyes. It was almost as if she hadn’t expected you to actually come today.

“Hey, mom,” You greeted quietly, being the one to take the striding steps to meet her where she stood in the doorway and wrap your arms around her.

“Oh,” She breathed out, hugging you to her tightly and placing a tearful kiss on the side of your head, “I missed you so much, sweetheart.”

Every time she closed her eyes

You let out a loud laugh, throwing your head back and letting your eyes crinkle up as giggles left your mothers and sisters lips as well at the story Moira had just told.

The three of you were sitting around the dining room table, chatting about what had happened in the last five years and eating lunch.

At first, you thought it would be an awkward and stiff conversation, but you soon realized that your family missed you just as much as you had missed them, so you were able to flow into a lunch that consisted of laughter and catching up.

“Ma’am,” A voice tentatively called out from the doorway, a worker stood there hesitantly, seemingly embarrassed for interrupting, “There’s a phone call for you.”

Moira was still sobering up her chuckles as she answered, “Take a message and tell them I’ll get back to them as soon as I can.”

“Ma’am,” She said again, a little bit more confident this time, “It’s the hospital.”

All three of you fell into complete silence as the words dawned on you. The only family you still had was sitting in this room, so what could they want?

Wordlessly, your mother stood up and followed the worker out of the room, leaving you and Thea to share a worried glance behind her back.

A few moments later, you heard a sharp gasp come from the direction and you and your sister immediately shot to your feet and rushed into the room.

Your mother stood in the middle of the room with a phone grasped tightly in her hand and tears flowing freely down her face with a hand placed over her mouth for the second time that day.

“Mom? Mom?” Panic began settling in the pit of your stomach as you hurried to her side and gently took a hold of one of her shoulders, “What is it? What’s wrong?”

Painfully slow, she turned her body to face you and over her shoulder you could see Thea watching the two of you with worry.

Your mother then breathed out the one thing that made your heart stop.

“Oliver…”

“Ollie?” Thea came to your side, “What about him?”

“He’s… he’s alive.” Moira cried out, dropping the phone onto the carpeted floor and throwing her arms around the two of you.

But you were frozen in shock.

Oliver was alive. Oliver was alive. Oliver was alive. Oliver was alive. Oliver was-

“Oh my god,” You sobbed out, legs giving out and falling to the floor. You could no longer support yourself.

He was alive.

When she was just a girl she expected the world

“He’s right through here,” You barely even registered the doctor's words as he led you through the halls, “But just be careful Mrs and Miss Queen, this isn’t the same Oliver that you lost.”

Forcefully, Moira made herself plant her feet as she watched you practically float through the air and towards the door that had just been guestered to. As much as she longed to follow after you, she knew that you needed more than anyone to go in before a single other person could see him. She owed you that much.

For some incomprehensible reason, your mind was completely blank, almost as if you had gone into autopilot. Nothing of what you had done as soon as you heard the news had been by your own free will. It was as if something had possessed you and tossed your conscience to the side.

You opened the door and took a step inside. The snapping sound of it closing seemed to finally break you out of whatever trance you had been placed in and you blinked once. Twice.

A very tall figure that stood with his back facing towards you turned around at the sound, and you felt like you were going to pass out.

He was Oliver Jonas Queen, there was no doubt about it, but he had changed so much. He was taller, more muscular, so much more mature looking.

There was something behind those stunning blue eyes of his that automatically led you to believe that he had become a guarded man, holding secrets that you couldn’t even begin to guess.

Something about being on that island- as you had briefly been informed on the way over- had changed him. The only thing you couldn’t tell from a single glance was if it was for better or worse.

“Ollie,” You breathed out. It was the only thing that you could say.

“N/n,” He smiled softly, striding across the room and gently wrapped his strong arms around you.

“I-I-“ You stuttered incomprehensibly before throwing your arms around his torso in a desperate manner, “Ollie-“ You sobbed into his chest, a fresh set of tears emerging from your eyes and staining his- no doubt- new shirt.

He didn’t seem to care in the slightest though, only strengthening his hold around you, letting out an almost inaudible sigh of contentment as he did so.

“You’re here,” You whispered, almost as if saying the words aloud would send him away again, making him disappear into nothing.

“I’m here.” He repeated, placing a kiss on your forehead, “I’m here.” There was such intensity in his relief that you began to fear all the things he had been forced to go through.

You pulled away with a tearful smile, the first genuine one that you wore since before his disappearance and cupped his cheek with a disbelieving laugh, “You’re really here.”

But it flew away from her reach

“Thea?” You knocked on her open door and stuck your head in with a wide grin, “It’s time for dinner, you coming?”

She snapped her head up from staring at her hands from where she sat on her bed and you immediately realized the way her eyes were red and puffy, cheeks stained with tear marks.

Worry grasped onto your body and wrapped itself around you as you automatically rushed to her side and crouched down before her, older sister instincts kicking in, “Hey, hey,” You said softly, “What is it? What’s wrong?”

Your sister shook her head, chuckling tearfully and wiping her tears away with the back of her hand, “No, nothing. I’m just so happy.”

A smile of relief grew on your face when you realized that she was alright and you reached up to gently swipe a stray piece of hair away from her eyes, “I know, I am too.”

“It’s just- I finally have both of my siblings back.” She breathed out with a wide grin.

Your smile, however, faltered at her words, “What do you mean?” You asked quietly.

Her eyes flitted up to you and she bit down on her lip guiltily when she realized what she said and she shrugged, “No, it- it’s just- it always felt like I lost both you and Oliver when his ship went down.”

Your heart dropped to the bottom of your stomach and your breath caught in your throat, “Oh, Thea-“

“I’m not trying to make you upset,” She immediately rushed out, “It’s just- you left right after Oliver disappeared and it just felt like both of you had died even though I knew that you hadn’t.”

Tears of your own began to fill your eyes, one of sadness for the first time that day, “I’m so sorry.” You whispered, “I never- never meant to do that to you, Thea. I-I just couldn’t stay after everything-“

“And I know that,” She gave you a soft smile and squeezed your hand, “I know that you had to do what you had to do. I’m just happy that you’re both back.”

A smiled sadly, moving another piece of hair behind her hair, “I am too.”

And the bullets catch in her teeth

“Come on, you have to admit, that was fun.” You spoke with a large smile as you swung your arm around and linked it with your twin brothers.

Oliver smiled, placing his hands in his pockets with his arm still wrapped around yours, “It was.” He agreed.

The two of you had just gone out to lunch with Tommy, figuring that it would be best for all three of you to catch up at the same time, given that you all used to be- and still are- best friends.

You turned down an alleyway to take a shortcut to where you parked your car, happily chatting away with one another.

Ever since he got back, the two of you hardly left each other's sides. It felt more comfortable- safer- to be in the vicinity of each other whenever you could. Almost as if that would lessen the chances of the other being taken away once more.

“Freeze!” A deep voice sounded behind you all of a sudden, and you both halted in your steps, “Now turn around with your hands up.”

Quickly, your panic filled eyes flitted over to Oliver, making brief eye contact with him and he gave a subtle nod of his head to let you know to do as was said.

You both turned on your heels with your arms partially raised, and your breath caught in your throat when you caught sight of a man pointing a gun straight at you two with a ski mask pulled over his face.

“Give me your wallets.” He demanded.

No. No. No. No. No. No-

This couldn’t be happening. You just got Oliver back, you would not let anything take him away from you once again.

Quickly, you reached into your pocket and pulled out your wallet, drawing the man’s attention away from your brother long enough for him to shift his body in front of yours slightly.

You stuck your arm out to hand it to the man, and when he moved the gun into one hand and began to reach for it, Oliver quickly stuck his own arm out, slamming his fist into the side of the man’s face.

You stumbled back as the man’s eyes rolled back and he fell unceremoniously to the ground. Knocked out cold before he even hit the pavement.

Oliver let out a sigh through his nose, not even flinching upon the impact of his fist with the man’s jaw before turning back towards you.

“Are you okay?” He asked worriedly, eyes scanning over you for any sign of injury.

All you could manage was a small nod of assurance.

Before the island, the only fights Oliver ever got in were bar fights. Ones filled with sloppy punches and slurred insults. Never had he ever actually learned how to fight for real, let alone know how to punch a man out cold in one go and not look even remotely fazed.

“What happened to you on that island?”

It was the dreaded question. The ‘do not go there’ topic. Something that every single person had been avoiding since his return.

The man stiffened in front of you, “I don’t want to talk about the island.”

There was that look again. The one you saw in the hospital when you first went to retrieve him. That guarded, cold look that held secrets that clearly had restricted access.

“We have to at some point,” Your voice was now coming out as begging, “It can’t be healthy to keep all that bottled up! God knows what you were forced to go through. And I just want to help-“

“You can help by leaving it alone.” He snapped.

At his words, your spine snapped upright and a hard look of your own overcame your features, “Fine.” You said in a cold tone that could rival his.

All at once, he softened and ran a hand down his face with a sigh, “Look, I’m sorry, n/n. It’s just-“ He took a stuttered breath, “It’s just a lot.”

You softened as well, “I know that,” You mumbled, crossing your arms over your chest, “And I’m not trying to force it out of you. I just want to be here if you need to talk about it.”

“I know,” He walked over and hugged you, “I know. And I appreciate that, n/n, I really do.”

Life goes on, it gets so heavy

“I feel like I don’t even know you anymore, Oliver!” You shouted.

Ever since that day in the alleyway, something seemed to change in your twin brother. No longer did he stick by you every available moment, he now distanced himself from you- from everybody.

“You’re always running off to god knows where, doing god knows what!” You continued, feelings anger and betrayal and nervousness rising inside of you, “We just got you back, and you seem hell bent on making us lose you again!”

Oliver stood stiffly across from you in the living room, arms crossed over his chest and head bowed to the floor. Not once did he shout back, he just took your words with that guarded exterior of his.

“Just talk to me!” You begged now, “I’m not asking you to tell me about those five years- that’s your own business to tell at your own leisure. But I’m your twin sister for god's sake! Tell me what’s going on with you now- in the present.”

“It’s… complicated.” He finally spoke and raised his head to meet your burning gaze, “I promise, I’m only trying to protect you-“

You let out a loud scoff, throwing your arms up mockingly, “Yeah, sure feels like it!”

Anger finally seeped through his mask and painted his features, “What do you want me to say, Y/n? What- you want me to be the same person that I was before the island? You want us to tell each other everything again as if we aren’t grown fucking adults?” His voice gradually raised throughout his small speech until you physically flinched back at the volume of it.

Both of you stood, chests heaving up and down in short pants as you tried to catch your breaths, and for a few moments, that was the only sound echoing in the vast room.

“Fine.” It was your turn to put on a cold exterior, “Fine, you’re right, Oliver. We don’t know each other and we don’t have to. Why would we? We’re ‘grown fucking adults’. We don’t need each other anymore. We’re not children.”

His arms dropped to his sides, “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

You shook your head and backed up, holding your hands up in surrender, “No, no. I think that’s exactly what you meant.”

“Y/n-“ He called, but it was too late. You had already stormed out of the room.

The wheel breaks the butterfly

“How did you know I’d be up here?” You mumbled, not lifting your head from where it rested upon your knees that were pulled to your chest.

Moira sighed, carefully lowering herself to sit beside you on the roof, “You used to come up here all the time whenever you and your brother got into a fight.”

You winced slightly, “You heard that?”

She hummed, “Put on quite a show for me and Thea… while on the other side of the house.”

“Sorry about that,” You whispered, taking your sleeve and rubbing the tear stains off your face.

“Oh,” She breathed out sympathetically, reaching over and rubbing your back comfortingly, “It’s alright, sweetheart. You both just said some things you didn’t mean, nothing you can’t come back from.”

You looked at her uncertainty, “Are you sure? We were both pretty brutal.”

Your mother wrapped her arm around your shoulder and allowed you to rest your head on her own, “That’s true, but you and I both know that you two can’t go very long in an argument without making up.”

“I know that,” You whispered, “But that was before. We’re both different people now.”

You missed the way she lifted her head to look at the window she had just crawled out of to come see you, “That’s true. I don't think either of you could last in your arguments as long as you used to.”

Confusion overtook your features and you turned your head up to her with furrowed eyebrows, but her eyes were trained elsewhere. You followed her line of vision and paused. Oliver stood on the roof, looking as if he had just climbed out.

Moira left a lingering kiss on the top of your head before walking back into the house, offering your brother a reassuring smile on her way.

Wordlessly, Oliver sat down beside you, staring out at the garden that you could overlook from where you were perched.

At the same time, you both turned to each other and synchronously said, “I’m sorry.”

You chuckled slightly when you did so, each relaxing slightly.

“I didn’t mean it- any of it.” Oliver said, turning apologetic.

“I know,” You stated, “Neither did I. It’s- it’s just that after everything we went through-“

He cut you off by wrapping an arm around your shoulders like your mother just had and pulling you into his side. Oliver dipped his head to give you a kiss on the top of your head, “I know. I know.”

The two of you fell into a silence that lasted until you finished watching the sun fully set.

Every tear a waterfall

“This is the first time I’m seeing this since the funeral.” You admitted, swinging your arms back and forth by your side.

Oliver turned to you, “Never felt like coming to visit me?” He teased.

You shook your head, “It wasn’t that.” You admitted, “I moved out as soon as the funeral was over.”

Your brother faltered in his steps before catching up to where you now stood, feet planted in front of his and your fathers empty graves.

“You moved out?” He asked in surprise, this being the first he was hearing of it.

“Yeah,” You laughed slightly, “The day you came back was actually the first day I had come to visit home. Looks like we both thought that would be the perfect day to do so. Maybe it’s a twin thing.” You hummed thoughtfully at the end.

“I-I didn’t know you left.” He stuttered out, turning to look at you.

You were slightly taken aback by the way he was taking the news, “Well, yeah… it hurt too much to stay here.” You explained, head tilting slightly as you tried to figure out why this was such a big deal to him.

“I thought- I thought you were still here after all this time.”

“Oliver,” You laughed slightly, “What’s the big deal? I’m here now.”

He shook his head, “It’s just- I thought you had mom and Thea to look after you all this time- and now I find out that you were alone for everything?”

You fell silent, finally seeing what the big deal was for him, “Oh,”

Tears shone in his eyes, “I went through all of it alone- but that doesn’t mean I wanted you to as well.”

“Ollie…” This was the first time since his return that you saw him get so emotionally upset over something.

“Why didn’t you stay with them? Why didn’t they stop you from leaving?” He asked suddenly, “They could’ve taken care of you-“

“Hey.” You cut him off sternly, taking his hand in your own and shaking it firmly to get his attention, “That was all my own decision. And besides, we’re both back now, so it doesn’t matter. We’re alright now.”

In the night the stormy night she'll close her eyes

You laughed loudly as Oliver threw a piece of popcorn at you, “Oh, come on! You know it’s true!”

“It is not.” He scowled playfully.

Thea joined in your amusement, “Oh, it totally is!” She snickered, “You used to be too scared of the dark to sleep alone! I remember- you would always sleep with mom and dad!”

The three of you sat around the couches in the living room, munching on popcorn with a long- forgotten movie playing in the background.

“I did not!” He protested.

“Oh, yes you did, young man.” Moira smiled at the sight of her three children, all playfully bickering with one another as she entered the room.

“Mom!” He complained as yours and Theas cackling grew louder at her admitted statement.

“I’m sorry,” She shrugged, completely unapologetic, “I can only speak to the truth.” She jokingly wagged a finger at Thea, “And don’t you be laughing, young lady, remember what happened during the Christmas party when you were eight?”

Your sister's eyes immediately widened with horror and it was then Oliver’s turn to join in on your laughing.

“Mom!” She shrieked, “That’s not cool! Don’t bring that up!”

“And you,” Moira playfully narrowed her eyes at you, “Need I remind you of your seventeenth birthday fiasco?”

“No! No!” You quickly shook your head back and forth.

Your mother was the only one left laughing after that, but you couldn’t deny that this felt good. Joking around as a family again. All together.

In the night the stormy night away she'd fly

You tiptoed across the hallway towards Oliver’s room as if you were a child again. The two of you used to sneak a candy bar or two up to your rooms during the day and stash them under your pillows for the nighttime and would oftentimes have a mini party with one another while feasting on your treats.

This time though, it was different. There were no more candy parties. No more stifled giggles in the middle of the night. No more childhood.

About a few minutes ago, you had woken up with the feeling that something was off- that something was wrong. It was such a strong feeling that it became practically impossible to ignore. So you found yourself throwing off your covers and creeping to your twin brother's room to try and figure out what was wrong.

As soon as you stepped through the already opened door, you realized what the problem was.

Oliver was sitting on the edge of his bed with his head dropped like a rock into his hands while his elbows rested in his knees. He had a nightmare.

You didn’t know how you knew, it just came to you and there wasn’t a single doubt in your mind that it was what happened.

Wordlessly, you shuffled into the room and sank down onto the mattress beside him.

At first, he tensed up and whipped around to face you, only to relax when he realized that it was just you.

The silence carried on between the two of you for a few minutes before you spoke up in a small whisper, “I used to get nightmares almost everyday after you and dad…” You trailed off and swallowed thickly.

“What did you do about them?” His voice was as soft as yours was. Your brother didn’t even question how you knew.

“Not enough,” You admitted, hugging your knees to your chest, “I let them plague my mind because I didn’t know what else to do about them.”

“What were they about?” You could tell from the sound of his voice that he didn’t want to push, but curiosity had taken over.

“How you- I mean how you could’ve…” You harshly blinked tears away, “Every nightmare would be a different scenario of how you could have died.”

Without another word, he wrapped his arm around your shoulders and brought you into a strong, side hug, planting a kiss on the side of your head as you leaned into his chest.

“They stopped, though.” You craned your neck to look up at him with a teary smile, “As soon as you came back. I haven’t had another one since.”

He shook his head softly, “I’m sorry you ever had to go through that.”

“Don’t apologize.” You copied his head shake, “There is absolutely nothing that you need to be sorry for. The ship going down wasn’t your fault.”

Oliver gazed at you with sad eyes, “But I wish it hadn’t happened.”

You let out a small laugh, “Of course,” Small giggles continued to pour out of you, “You can’t actually be glad something like that had happened.”

A smile pulled at the ends of his lips as he turned his head away from you to look out the window, “No, I suppose not.”

Dream of para-para-paradise

“What the hell is all of this?” You asked quietly, turning in a slow circle from where you stood.

“You know what this is.” Oliver called softly from behind you. His arms were crossed over his chest and he looked- dare you say- nervous.

About an hour ago, he had rushed into your room, rambling nonsense about not wanting or being able to lie to you- his twin sister - anymore, and had practically dragged you out of the house and to an old abandoned warehouse that used to belong to your father.

“You’re the vigilante.” You breathed out.

Deep down, you felt as if you had somehow known all along, because now, it all made sense. The obvious secrets, the interaction with the mugger, the difference in, well, everything about him.

“Oliver.” You turned and looked him directly in the eyes, “You have a lot of explaining to do.”

Chaotic Hero’s 🤍- @lovanitu @mukbee @i-writes-things @kiyomi-uchiha777

#book places 1 year event #platonic #platonic imagine #x reader #arrowverse x reader #arrow x reader #oliver queen x sister reader #oliver queen x reader #oliver queen x reader platonic #thea queen x sister reader #thea queen x reader #thea queen x reader platonic #dc x reader #song fic #song inspired fic #song imagine

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e-adlirez · 7 months

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The art style of Cloud Castle is absolute ass bro why are their eyes so big

Idk man it just looks.... off

I wish they brought back the og art style like Blue Scarab Hunt because that was gorgeous

Well if you’re referring to the book's artstyle as a whole, then calm down buddy the illustrations as a whole are pretty good all things considered (believe me some of the illustrations in the later books are waaaaayyyyy iffier)

But if you are referring to Danilo Barozzi’s illustrations in the book then uhhhhh… yeah I don’t blame you, I didn’t like the big anime irises either, she didn’t cook with this one,,,

The interesting thing is Barozzi also did pieces for Secret of the Snow and those looked fine (she did well enough that I have to squint to determine which ones were done by her). My guess is either she did a lot of the illustrations for the latter half of SotS and we just got used to it, or it’s because the artstyle of special editions 2 and 3 were more… experimental? Books 4 onwards developed a very specific… look for the artstyle that adhered very closely to the main book illustrations of Spanish Dance Mission onwards, thus the illustrators had to follow suit, resulting in whatever looks off to look especially off.

(Even with this set of pictures, I’m only about 70% sure these are Barozzi’s because of how alike yet different the styles are from each other in the book. The first one could be Barozzi’s, but it could also be Giuseppe Facciotto’s, since he also did illustrations for SotS and his stylization means he sometimes puts the eyes really close to each other in a way that’s weird but still makes sense somehow.) On the contrary, books 2 and 3 (and I would probably even include book 1 there) had a more experimental look to the illustrations, which seems to be based more on (and this is just a theory of mine) Giuseppe Facciotto’s iconic work for the covers of Mouseford Academy books 2-12, 14, 15 and 17 in the English books (he did waaayyy more covers for the Italian Mouseford books— he was basically the cover guy for the Mouseford books for a WHILE) as well as the books from Spanish Dance Mission to Lost Letters. If you’re wondering why those covers go as hard as they do, then now you know why.

(These aren’t all of Facciotto’s works for the covers we know in English but you can see that he popped off <3)

But yeah as you can see with special editions 2 and 3, the art direction seems to be heavily inspired by Facciotto’s artstyle.

However, when Barbara Pellizzari’s works became the aesthetic poster child of the books’ brand, that was reflected in the illustrations and how their aesthetic changed, as seen in the main books and how they look currently, special editions 4-9, and the Treasure Seekers trilogy.

This new profile thing of the girls? This was done by Pellizzari (coloring was done by Flavio Ferron), and thus it became the main reference for how the girls look in the book’s illustrations.

And it’s not just in the general direction to the artists for how to draw the Thea Sisters, but also in the direction given to the colorists. Alessandro Muscillo was the colorist for the special edition books since book 1 and the Treasure Seekers trilogy, and you can see that the direction for the style varied through books 1-3, like maybe direction was experimenting with the mood the illustrations were to convey, beginning with the cartoony and bright colors of book 1, easing into the more grounded and layered palettes of books 2 and 3

Then book 4 was when they transitioned to using digital art /j

I jest, but seriously book 4 was the debut of the coloring style we end up keeping for the rest of the special editions and for all of Treasure Seekers, which is very… bright :D

(I would show more picture examples but I manually took pictures of my physical copies for the Cloud Castle and SotS illustrations and gwuh I’m too lazy to grab my entire collection just to take pictures,,)

Bright as in like… the colors are very defined and saturated. I dunno how to describe it, but when you see it, you get what I mean. It’s very bright and pretty and colorful and it stands out. There are still variations that happen on occasion (Star Fairies in particular uses a good dose of airbrush for the lighting and shadow effects, and Crystal Fairies looks like someone had a bit of fun using sparkle brushes), but other than that, it’s very bright. I don’t hate it, but I do acknowledge that yeah, if I was introduced to the series when it had fully transitioned to the new style, I never would’ve gotten into the series in the first place, because the older books had something that didn’t make it feel specifically catered to girls. The colors were bright, but not too bright. Colorful, but unified. They weren’t that complicated, and they didn’t have to be because the colorists (plural, there were at least 3 per book once upon a time) were popping the hell off with the colors they were given. But y’know, the newer books’ consistent style did give me a good spot to practice drawing mouse furries so I’m not complaining too much about the newer style, haha.

(Tiny baby E’s (it’s literally from 2020 what’re you on about mate) her first mouse Violet drawing using Barbara Pellizzari’s artstyle in Treasure Seekers 1 as an anatomy guide!!)

With that said tho, yeah I miss the old books -m- dunno if it’d fit the aesthetic of the special editions but m a n we could’ve had it and it probably would’ve looked cool

Also the illustrations go way harder in the older books, like Prince's Emerald? I've talked about Prince's Emerald and how it goes hard before, and I still stand by it and say that it does in fact still go hard

Maybe it won't fit the uh splash of color they gave the hardcovers, but imagine they grabbed Giulia Basile's coloring work for the graphic novels and used that as sort've a basis for the coloring style of the hardcovers. Not exactly the same-- would probably still add a touch of whimsical watercolor and/or paint to the very cel-shaded style, but we could've had something pretty dope -m-

Anyway that's my ramble simultaneously defending the hardcovers' artstyle and reminiscing on what could've been haha