#why I would argue with Oliver is because he became mayor and that's not very anarchist of him

[littlefankingdom]

I'm sorry, but y'all do not know wtf do these words mean, like at all. And I'm tired of people calling Bruce a capitalist when he is NOT (owning a company and being rich ≠ being a capitalist. You can be poor and be a capitalist, because it's an ideology. Being born rich and the heir to a company doesn't make you a capitalist, because it's an ideology. My brother is a capitalist, which is a shame, and he is far from rich) or saying Jason or Oliver are communists just because they have beef with him, when they are not (Oliver calls himself an anarchist, I could argue with him about that but still, not the same as a communist. Jason has not shown to have communist ideologies. I was raised by communists, this boy is not one)

[somuchbetterthanthat]

I'm wondering what would it even take for Emily to start caring about the fact she is not a good person. Does she know she's not a good person right now? Doubtful. She argues that she's not, and she gives all her reasons, but to me it's denial for the sake of appearances, which is Emily's whole thing (that's why she laughs when Nica tells her she could drop out of the Mayor's race, that people could like her for her - no, that's not what the people WANT) ; she grew up rich, most definitely entitled as heck, she went into business in college. I don't think Emily ever really dropped the appearances. She doesn't do it in the council for evil (and oh man, suddenly want to discuss the difference between Emily "of course we're not evil!" and Oliver's "er, yeah, we are" and how that might come from their different backgrounds--), and she doesn't do it in narration either, so not to herself.

Except. Except when it comes to Ethan. The over-the-top lovesickness is appearances still, but the love is genuine, even if at this point I think it's pretty clear both she and Ethan are in love with what they were in appearance too (or well, what the image is reflecting back on them now. Ethan with memories of when Emily was devoted to his projects, and Emily on the day of their wedding, the genuine joy of that single day, but i think it says so much that Emily fought for the image of that wedding, and then embraced it as a marketing ploy -- admitedly that her opposants were going to kind of use already --. She became the bride of Red Line. The wedding, probably a real moment of happiness, turned also into appareances).

Anyway, my point is, the only time she drops the veil is when Ethan hurts her - the day she shows up in the wedding dress at the beginning of s4, when Ethan COMES AND FUCKING ASK HER ABOUT REPROGRAMMED LIKE A ROBOT WHICH IS STILL THE WILDEST AND MOST HORRORY THING EVER - or when she admits, to Nica, how miserable it makes her that Ethan doesn't seem to care anymore. But all of that is still not enough to shake her off, to admit that she's doing horrible things, and I think it's cause... Well, when it comes to Ethan, she's mostly a victim (from what we've seen in the story so far). You could argue her worry about Wonderland and selling it was her big betrayal to her husband, but since then, Ethan has been nothing but awful to her. The only time he's nicer is to manipulate her or for his own interests.

So how to get her to realize and understand? Can she? Maybe with a push, and I don't think it'd be a kind push. I'm thinking - perhaps if she annoys the Narrator a day too much, and he forces her not to hide from her own deepest thoughts anymore? Or are we going to see her loose her mind and she'll never get the chance to perhaps try and do something - different, even if i don't expect her to become a good person in one season? (although. hey. I didn't guess they'd go there for Oliver, he did terrible things too, and what do you know, those last scenes made me fucking cry so). That would be a sort of tragedy, and not every villain is the sort to be ""reedemeed"" in some way.

... I hope we get to see her with Nica again, because if anyone can get through her, I assume it'll be her. But I think it would also be very good to see Emily with someone else entirely, someone unexpected, that gets to her long enough for her to start questioning, at least, if it's all worth it - maybe not change her morals, but at least shift her selfish interests away from hurting people so violently. I dunno.

[raywritesthings]

You’re the Hero, Laurel

My Writing Fandom: Arrow Characters: Laurel Lance, Oliver Queen, Thea Queen, Roy Harper, John Diggle, Felicity Smoak, Quentin Lance Pairings: Laurel Lance/Oliver Queen, Thea Queen/Roy Harper Summary: Part of Oliver's letter to Laurel after the Undertaking makes everything much clearer to her, and she takes a far more literal interpretation of his words than he perhaps intended. *Can be read on my AO3 and FFN, links are in bio*

As she read the letter over, Laurel felt the walls holding up her life, her emotions, her very being tremble and start to cave in, just like the walls of CNRI only a couple short weeks ago had. And no one was coming to save her this time. Tommy was dead, and Oliver was gone.

She didn’t understand. Did he not want to be with her? After what happened with Tommy, maybe he shouldn’t. Maybe it was wrong, even if Tommy had left her weeks before. And yet Oliver was still professing his love in these paragraphs. Claiming he had to go so that she could save the city on her own. Didn’t he understand she wanted to do it with him? Just thinking of the struggles that awaited her alone now was enough to make her want to curl right back up in bed with some tissues and some kind of comfort food. Or wine. She deserved an early five o’clock for this, didn’t she?

And yet, there was one line in the letter giving her pause: You’re the hero, Laurel. There was an implied not me on the end of that sentence, and that was the thing she couldn’t quite figure out.

She had never called Oliver a hero. She loved him, faults and all, but she’d never been one to go overboard with the praise. She thought he’d had the potential to be something more if he just believed in himself, of course, but she hadn’t used the word hero.

She had called the Hood as much.

And suddenly, Laurel’s tears stopped. She couldn’t really be thinking again that he was — but really, what else made sense? The blame he seemed to carry for Tommy’s death, their sudden estrangement; Tommy must have learned the truth at some point. That was why his jealousy had suddenly boiled over, because Laurel had had a connection with the Hood that had seemed so familiar in a way she’d never been able to articulate.

Oliver surviving the attack at Queen Manor by that hitman after Taylor; his disappearance in the Verdant at the firefighter benefit, only for the Hood to show up; the way he’d acted in her apartment when the Triad attacked; that something he’d said that kept pulling him away. It was his double life, which he’d apparently decided to give up in the wake of the Undertaking.

The Hood hadn’t been seen since the quake, and she knew he’d made it out of CNRI alive. If he continued to fail to appear, that would only make sense if Oliver had gone and left the country.

The enormity of this realization had her rushing out of the door with her keys and racing to the airport in the vain hope that he might just still be waiting to board. She had to call Thea once it became clear she wasn’t going to get a look at the flight schedules for private planes. They told Thea that her brother had left just after dawn, which Thea related to her.

Laurel sank into a chair in the waiting area, head in her hands. What did she do now? Where was he going? He said he needed to do this alone, and part of her wanted to scream because didn’t he realize she needed him right now?

Laurel read over his letter again and again. He might come back someday. Was that someday dependent on the city being better? She’d have no way of enacting that kind of widespread change for years, which was how long it would take her to make it up the ranks of the DA’s office. Assuming she even landed that interview. The law just moved too slowly in their city.

But if she was the hero… 

Laurel looked up. Could she really? The Hood had had to save her so many times. But Ollie was saying he thought she could be better than even him. Okay. Then that was what she’d do. If Oliver didn’t want her holding back, then she wasn’t about to disappoint.

---

Months later, Oliver reluctantly returned to Starling City at the insistence of his former teammates. His mother’s trial was coming up, and countless employees at Queen Consolidated were facing unemployment if Stellmoor International was successful in their acquisition. These were things he was willing to intercede on, if only because they required Oliver Queen and not the Hood.

When he insisted that he would not be returning to a vigilante lifestyle, Diggle and Felicity exchanged a look. “Well, you might not have to.”

He blinked. “Why not?”

“There’s someone new in town, Oliver. A woman,” Digg told him. “She showed up a couple months ago.”

“What do you mean ‘showed up’?”

“That’s when the police started noticing her, anyway,” Felicity took over. “She might have been active before, but their presence in the Glades is severely limited since the Undertaking, and that’s mostly where she’s been active. She’s a vigilante,” she added on.

“Has anyone been killed?” If this was another situation like the Savior, then it was his fault. He had brought this into his city.

But Digg shook his head. “Hospitalized, but no kill count. They’re likening her to a guy that was active in the Glades a decade or so ago. Uses her fists, mostly. It’s why she’s so low on the cops’ priority list.”

“Yeah, so you can sit on the bench for as long as you like,” Felicity remarked. Oliver frowned. “Unless, you know, you want to figure out who she is.”

They were both clearly confident this would sway him. Well, he had work to do as Oliver Queen before even thinking about looking into this woman.

First on the list was visiting Thea, who surprisingly had taken to running the Verdant in his absence. He couldn’t exactly judge her decision not to continue her education, and he was glad she was making something of herself in the way that she wanted. Less pleasing was her resolve not to visit their mother in prison, but Thea was refusing to budge.

They were interrupted by the arrival of her boyfriend, Roy Harper. “Oh, you’re back.”

“And you’re still here,” Oliver replied.

“And late,” Thea added. “Where have you been?”

“Sorry, boss,” Roy said with far too much cheek for Oliver’s liking. “Lost track of the time.”

His sister sighed. “Well, you’ve stopped getting into fights, so I can’t complain.” The couple shared a kiss, which Oliver decidedly looked away from. “Oh, don’t pretend to be grossed out.”

“I’m just giving you some privacy,” he insisted.

“Yeah? Why don’t you go see Laurel? She’s the one that told me you’d left in the first place.”

He looked down, guilt churning in his stomach both at his lack of goodbye to his sister and for his cowardice when it had come to leaving Laurel. He wanted to see her badly, but he had no idea how she might feel about it at this point. How could he explain that he hadn’t been able to stand facing her when knowing he was the reason their city was in ruins and their oldest friend was dead?

“Not sure where I’d find her.” He’d seen enough of the Glades on the drive here to know that CNRI still had to be rubble.

“There’s some fancy shindig the mayor’s holding tonight. She might be at that since she’s in the DA’s office,” Thea remarked.

“He’s not gonna get an invite in time. It’s starting in half an hour,” Roy spoke up. When Oliver and Thea both looked at him, he shrugged. “I watch the news.”

“I’ll see if I can find her there,” Oliver said. “You’d be surprised the kind of doors the Queen name opens.”

Diggle turned the radio up as they were heading back downtown. “Chaos as the mayor’s benefit has just been attacked by armed men calling themselves the Hoods.”

“What?” Oliver sat forward, his head poking into the front seat.

“They’ve been robbing banks, not sure what caused them to escalate.” Diggle glances back at him. “But they cover their faces and wear hoods in your honor.”

Oliver’s hands curled into fists around the leather seats.

“Minor injuries have been reported, with one of the perpetrators being captured after a run-in with the unknown female vigilante, who made a surprise appearance at the event as well.”

“Digg, step on it.” If Laurel was at that event with all of these varied dangerous elements in attendance, he needed to make certain she was alright.

But it turned out Laurel hadn’t been one of the guests, he learned when he arrived to find Detective — or Officer — Lance arguing with Lieutenant Pike while ADA Donner seemed to be trying to mediate.

“She’d been under the weather at work, so I suggested she take the night off. I’m glad it kept her out of all this, certainly.”

“Me too, since as your daughter is not present you have no reason to be at this scene, Officer Lance,” Pike stated with a glare. “Now get back to your beat.”

“Alright, I’m going!” Lance declared, marching in Oliver’s direction. He stopped when he caught sight of him and heaved a sigh as he shook his head. “Guess you’re here for the same reason I was.”

There was no point denying it. “Laurel’s safe?”

“Yeah. Suppose she would’ve been anyway, thanks to that woman. But, uh, you didn’t hear that from me.” Lance walked back out to his car and soon left.

Oliver lingered outside the building, pondering tonight’s events. The woman Digg and Felicity had said operated out of the Glades had come to stop the Hoods. Based on the one man they’d caught tonight, it seemed the Hoods might be from the Glades themselves, which perhaps explained her interest. It also meant she needed to have a pretty good source of information about what was happening in the Glades.

He walked around the side of the building, trying to determine which way she might have entered or made her escape. But as he walked further down the alley, he realized he was being watched. Oliver straightened up and looked around.

“Who’s there?”

A noise above had him squinting up into a fire escape. A figure in dark clothing hurried down the steps, jumping the last distance rather than using the ladder. She wore her hair long and blonde, almost platinum, and a nightstick hung from a belt at her side. Before Oliver could decide how to react, she rushed him.

“Hey!” He threw both hands up, figuring that was as believable a reaction for a billionaire, but all it seemingly did was leave him open for her hug. “Um.”

“I knew you’d come back.”

He knew that voice. And that smile, when she pulled back to give it to him. And that kiss… 

Oliver pushed back on her shoulders, staring at her incredulously. “Laurel?”

“Not so loud,” she cautioned him. “Oh.” Laurel took off a black leather glove, licked at her thumb and leaned in to rub it over his mouth. “Didn’t know that brand smudged that bad. Could just be the color.”

“You- I— what is going on?”

“Exactly what you wanted. Come on, we can talk back at my place.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him along, and he was powerless to argue.

Mostly because he was trying to figure out just how this could in any way be what he’d wanted.

---

Laurel couldn’t believe he was back. She’d seen the car approach as she’d stayed hidden, listening to the police chatter and waiting for the right moment to slip away. Then Mr. Diggle has exited the limo and there he’d been.

Part of her was dying to ask where he’d gone all this time, what he’d done, if he’d worked through whatever he needed to and was here to stay for good. But she held all her questions as they snuck back to her downtown apartment and up the fire escape. Laurel went in through the window and waited for him to enter as well with ease before shutting and locking it again.

Laurel watched him look around at the mountain of blankets on her living room couch and several wadded up tissues on the coffee table.

“Neat, right? In case dad comes to check on my alibi with no warning,” she explained. “Speaking of, let me change.” She turned and went back to her bedroom, leaving the door open as she removed her wig and mask.

“Laurel, you- you’re a vigilante.”

“Yep.” She took out a makeup wipe and applied it liberally to her face. She really was going to have to ditch the black lipstick, even if it did better separate her from her usual colors of choice.

“And you’re okay with me knowing that because…?”

“Because you’re the Hood. Or were the Hood. You don’t have to lie again, I figured it out,” she said, taking off her undershirt and kicking off her boots. She pulled a rolling suitcase out from under the bed and started stuffing everything inside.

“How?”

She hadn’t anticipated him being so at a loss for words. Though when Laurel glanced back, she noticed Oliver’s eyes on her leather-clad backside and chalked some of it up to distraction. Smirking, she pulled her pants down as well.

“Your letter, where you confessed you didn’t think you were a hero.” Laurel covered the distance between them and raised her hand to his cheek. “Which you’re wrong about, but I understood you needing some time after everything that happened in the Glades. So I’ve been doing my best to fill in. Now that you’re back, maybe we can really make a difference instead of just keeping the city afloat.” She reached past him for her bathrobe hanging on the hook attached to her door, but he caught her arm.

“Laurel, when I wrote that, I wasn’t asking you to become a vigilante.”

“Then I’m not sure how you expected me to ‘be the best of you’. I don’t exactly have my own multibillion dollar company to run.” He still wasn’t smiling. Laurel sighed. “Ollie, what the Hood did last year for this city was more than anyone’s tried to do for a long time. You’re the reason anyone in the Glades even survived Merlyn’s attack. I know you feel like you failed, but you didn’t. Not anymore than the rest of this city failed its people.”

“I failed if it means I left you to pick up the pieces.” He shook his head. “You could be hurt or killed out there. If that had happened while I was gone—”

Laurel pulled out of his hold, folding her robe under one arm and walking back over to her bed. “What else was I supposed to do, Oliver? I wanted to do this with you, but I wasn’t going to stop and wait for you to come back. I’m not shutting myself off every time you decide to go anymore. This is my city, too.” She unclipped her bra and shrugged out of it, hearing him walk up behind her.

“What if I help you do this a different way? With the company, with the law.”

“The law’s not going to stop the rest of those Hoods. They’ll be desperate now that their one buddy’s been caught and could flip on them. I really don’t know what they’ll try next, but when I heard the mayor was their next target—”

“Where did you hear that?”

“I’ve got informants. None of them know who I really am.” If Roy Harper, for instance, realized the woman he was passing information to was his girlfriend’s straight-laced mentor, well, he’d probably think he was crazy.

“Give me their names. I can talk to them, handle it—”

She yanked her night shirt over her head and whirled to face him. “That’s not why I did this. I’m not a placeholder for you, Oliver. I’m in this with you, completely. Always have been, always will be.”

His expression turned pained. “And if you die? Laurel, what about Tommy?”

She closed her eyes. “I regret what happened to Tommy every day. But I can’t change the fact he went into that building any more than you could. And I can’t change that, even if he loved me, he was right. We weren’t going to last.” She looked him square in the eye. “Either I could have tried to respect what he did for me by living my life as carefully and quietly as I could while I slowly died inside, or I could honor what he did for me by paying it forward. I’m able to be out there helping people because of what he sacrificed for me. And the more people I save, the more that sacrifice means something. Isn’t that why you do what you do?”

He stared at her, long and hard, without a word. Whatever battle he was waging to find the words, he eventually lost, because instead he grabbed her face and smashed their lips together.

It was a hungry kiss. They were both a little angry, a little desperate, a little bit needing the relief of each other’s company. Her hands roamed up and down his back trying to anchor him, hold him down. His raked through her hair and ran up under her shirt, feeling her abs. Laurel gasped into his mouth when his hands roamed higher, and he stopped. They rested in place, foreheads bent together.

“Are we…?” Oliver looked so uncertain as he gazed into her eyes. Afraid and confused and so, so lost.

Come home, Laurel thought wildly. I left the light on for you. Instead, she snuck her own hands under her clothes and laid them over his. Holding him to her however long he’d let her. “Yes. Always.”

“And forever,” he agreed, covering her lips with his own once more. Laurel reached for his shoulders and jumped, not even needing the slightest boost from him to get her legs around his waist this time. It was a far shorter walk to the bed, too.

Tomorrow, they could navigate how this whole thing worked. In their public lives, in their nighttime personas. Tonight was just for them.

[icanbehardcore]

My top 10 Powerpuff Girls episodes

(PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS WAS WRITTEN BACK IN NOVEMBER SO SOME OF THIS IS A LITTLE OUTDATED SO WE’RE NEARLY INTO FEBRUARY...ABOUT TIME I FINISH THIS DAMN REVIEW!) For some reason, @princess-peachie‘s love for PPG made me want to do this too haha!  Can you believe that The Powerpuff Girls -one of the greatest Cartoon Network shows- has turned twenty? I know it's a little late but I get such great fond memories watching this as a little kid. The Powerpuff Girls was a spunky, energetic, entertaining, action packed, heartwarming and funny show. I indulged myself into watching this whenever I could and I always looked forward to it. It didn't matter if I saw the same episodes repeated again and again, The Powerpuff Girls would never shy away on putting a smile on my face. I LOVED this cartoon, it’s pretty special to me because it came out on the 18th November 1998 (my 10th birthday),  at the time, we didn’t have access to Cartoon Network so I wasn’t aware of this show until early next year. My first glimpse of the Powerpuff Girls was a mention and a brief clip shown of the girls flying and staring at the camera during a line up of Cartoons showing at the time. I actually got curious straight away and had no idea whenever I’d get the time to finally watch it.

Finally one evening after 2 Stupid Dogs finished, The Powerpuff Girls was announced next and this finally gave me a chance to watch it in peace. I was alone in the living room and I quietly sat there like ...well a kid, waiting, I was excited, I would finally get to watch this show after trying to. 

Unlike most Cartoon Network shows in which it took me a while to get into such as Ed, Edd n Eddy, I already found myself smiling to myself and even quietly laughing. If I can remember correctly, the first episodes I got to watch fully for the first time were “Fuzzy Logic” and “Tough Love”. I don’t know why but somehow I knew I was really going to enjoy this show more than I’d expect. The Powerpuff Girls isn’t JUST your average typical cutesy show starring three female leads. It has more than that, it had action, it had a great stories, it had great adventure, it had great voice acting, speed, pizzazz and most of all…IT was actually very funny! Craig McCracken had come a long way since making these characters onto a small card he drew, to his own animated shorts to then one of the most iconic and important shows Cartoon Network had ever put onto their channel.

I loved it more for what it produced, I really liked how it pulls your audience in thinking it’s a cutesy girly show with all rainbows and giggles, but really, it’s a cartoon that captivates the audience with it’s humor, voice acting, soundtrack, atmosphere and even the sneaky pop cultural references and of course: adult humor. I would constantly tape the show whenever I could and when it came to those memorable ones, I KNEW I’d enjoy them again after more than one watch. There was something about this show that really appealed to me and sometimes I couldn’t quite lay a finger on it. When I first watched this show, I was glad I had instantly become a fan because this was one of those shows that I got into and enjoyed before anyone else did in the household. I’m glad it wasn’t just a girly girl’s show. I was happy that the main heroes were unique in appearence and seemed all sweet innocent looking kids which do nothing other than fighting crime, play around and act like little kids. I think what grabbed male audience’s attention more were the villains and I can see why. They were all funny, engaging and their use of dialogue and voice acting were terrific. All well done to a tee!

When you’ve got voice talents such as Tom Kane, Jennifer Hale, Cathy Cavadini, EG Daily, Tara Strong, Roger Jackson, Jim Cummings, Tom Kenny, not forgetting the late Chuck McCann and even occasional to major and minor voice appearances from Kevin Michael Richardson, Rob Paulsen, Kath Soucie, Jeff Bennet and  even Mark Hamill, WHERE can you go wrong? With a good cartoon, comes a good cast of voice artists.

Craig McCracken put his heart into this show and I am glad to have grown  up with this masterpiece. The Powerpuff Girls is no doubt one of my favorite animated shows of all time and I will continue to watch them again and again and never get tired at watching the many episodes that are so dear to my heart. Craig really knew how to create a masterpiece and one that would go onto become a cultural phenomenon. He really knew how to create great characters young, old, male and female, and yet have the main lead cast all female that would appeal to both girls and boys is quite a milestone in cartoon history.

In honor of this series, I will be counting down my top ten greatest Powerpuff Girls episodes. I will however not be including the movie, the Christmas special or the Dance Pantsed Special, also I am only focusing on the original 90s show and not the 2016 reboot. WARNING: Spoilers ahead.

With that being said here are what I consider the greatest episodes.

10 - The Bare Facts This was one of the first episodes I ever got to record onto vhs, I remember so well on Christmas eve and I couldn't wait. I would constantly watch it played back again and again and you can see why.

Most episodes focus on the girls fighting crime and succeeding, but here, all the action is unseen...at first.

Sometimes when sibling characters argue in animation, it can be degrading, unpleasant and makes you want to lose interest in the characters all together, but here, it's done right, to a point where the arguing isn't degrading or stale and actually pretty funny. Also I love how clueless the Mayor is about everything, especially the scene about "the note", this scene always had me laughing as a kid.

Throughout this episode, the setting is all in the Mayor's point of view, complete with various styles of the girls versions of the story on how it all happened, done with an art style shift for each girl. This idea is hilarious and I love how they constantly jump in with different story telling patterns as follows: Blossom tells it mostly focusing on her (all about her, nobody else), complete with a light red tinted scene.

Bubbles tells it in a rather light hearted but adorably accurate way, complete with crayon drawing scenes.

And Buttercup tells it in a rather shadowy olive-green scene, mostly focusing on the action and not the details like Blossom did.

The Mayor however is oblivious to what has happened and is only wondering why the girls were laughing earlier.

I will NOT spoil the ending for this episode for those who haven't seen it, although I really could have done without the narrator's little puns to go with the moment. Again, the episode title just may give you some ideas.

Overall, this episode was great and was even nominated for an emmy with it's brother episode "Bubblevicious".

KEY MOMENT FOR ME: The "pretty clouds" scene. Seriously cracks me up!

9. Just Another Manic Mojo 

I can't think of any episode focusing on Mojo Jojo to be as brilliant as this one, sure "Child Fearing" was hilarious, "Monkey See, Doggy Do" is a classic and "Mr Mojo's Rising" is one that shouldn't be ignored. But if I had to pick any of the Mojo Jojo themed episodes, it would be this one. Just imagine, a day in the life of a villain: Waking up miserable, going through so much hell each day and reading the news to such goody-goody acts.

Watching this episode back to back constantly, I never got tired of it and I knew it almost word for word at some point.

The first half of this episode focuses on Mojo getting up, regular routines such as showering, doing his teeth, ceasing the day and readying up for breakfast...until he discovers drama in the kitchen...ONE EGG LEFT! I just love the little ramble he does here, over a single egg, what follows is an ingenious rollercoaster of comedy gold. Whenever Mojo's onscreen, you can't help but laugh, with his hilariously bad Japanese accent and repetitive Speed Racer-esque sentences, you can see why he was a fan favorite.

What follows the events is the girls accidentally having their ball crash through their window and what do they do? They ask for it back (well, better than busting in through the roof and looking for it, eh?).

I would probably give it away if I were to describe what follows afterward, but if you really want a laugh, then this episode is the one for you. Of all the episodes where the girls drive Mojo insane, this has got to be the funniest.

KEY MOMENT FOR ME: Just Mojo Jojo, he's absolutely hilarious in this episode, the girls being a runner-up too for not keeping still. Also one word: "curses".

8. Supper Villain This episode is hilarious on many levels, most of the story  is done for laughs and the setup is well...average...averagely brilliant. It's great to hear Kath Soucie on the Powerpuff Girls again (true fans should know that Soucie started off voicing Bubbles in the two pilots via What a Cartoon before Tara stepped in for the role).

The repetitive dialogue is great, played out for laughs and builds up for even more laughs, mixed with great voice acting.

The story? Harold Smith spends his life working at a mustard factory, bored with his life, he longs for something more, with a dark secret. But when his beloved wife Marianne invites the neighbors over for dinner, Harold is vulnerable and finally breaks free and shows his true colors.

His outfit reveal (obviously home made) is enough to make anybody laugh off of your seat. With his newly found identity, Harold reveals his first villainy. From here, we get some hilariously unforgettable gags, and one of the best scenes that eventually became an Internet meme:  "Eat your pea, Professor!". No matter how many times I watch it, the dinner scene is just classic. Being a comedic show with guests at dinner, I'm pretty sure you can figure out what happens next. 

Key moment for me: "Eat your pea Professor!" No doubt about it. 

8. Jewel of the Aisle I'd like to point out here that this episode aired right as Kelloggs released a Powerpuff Girls themed cereal. Sadly it was limited and has since discontinued, so good luck on throwing your pennies onto ebay to grab a box. Now, this episode never really gets talked about enough, maybe because the main villain here is a nameless crook who you never really see again. The story's premise is simple, the girls fail to track down a thief who had just stolen a priceless diamond from the jewelry store. Unable to locate him, they retire for the night, swearing they will meet again. The crook however, hiding in a cereal factory accidentally drops his prize into one of the boxes, which then ends up in the local supermarket.

When the crook fails to find his precious gem, he's down to one box -which ends up in the hands of the Professor. The crook follows him home stealthily only to his horror to find out that Professor Utonium is the father of the Powerpuff Girls. Upon his spying, he notices a commercial (with terrifically shifted fluent animation that almost feels Disney or Warner Bros. esque) and comes up with a cunning plan...dressing up as  "Lucky Captain Rabbit King", the cereal's mascot, I'll leave it up to you on what cereal brands they were parodying here.

While these cereals weren't so big here in Europe, heck, I only ever remember eating Lucky Charms in my own youth a lot until they went up in price later on.  I still got the reference easily thanks to the internet. This still didn't stop me from getting laugh, gag after gag.

Think of this episode as a Yogi Bear cartoon, but instead of stealing a "pic-a-nic" basket or a pie cooling off on the window sill (or a plate of hog jowls if you're thinking Ren and Stimpy), you've got a box of cereal with a hidden unknown prize not included in most boxes. The comedy in this episode is hilarious, for example, how much cereal did the girls go through and not notice a diamond? Also, the classic usage of oblivion and determination is brilliant, it's like watching classic golden age cartoons of the 40s and 50s again. The crook taking on a role parodying the Trix Rabbit is just so funny to watch, no matter what he does, he is being outsmarted by three adorable kindergartners. I love how the girls just play along with the gag and constantly kick him out,. My favorite part would have to be when the crook disguises himself as a monster outside off the front window complete with a Townsville scenery. YOU know you're going to laugh out loud when an idiot pulls this gag out of his hat and fails to succeed.

On a spoiler's note, I felt a little sorry for the crook when he broke down, forgetting about the jewel and focusing on the cereal, I don't know, maybe it's when Bubbles (who is honestly the sweetest little living being on two legs in cartoons) actually gives in and offers t it to him. While most stories like these do tend to have a happy ending for the determined victim, we don't get that here, which is why this episode works. Again, while I've probably spoiled most of the plot, it's too simple anyway. With that being said, "Ridiculous Lucky Captain Rabbit King, Lucky Captain Rabbit King Nuggets are for the youth!". Okay, I'm actually craving junky cereal now, especially imported from USA!  Key moment for me: The comedy in this episode. 

7. Telephonies This is another classic episode, the comedy and timing is perfect, the plot is great and gives us a look into the lives of the villains when they are chilling out and not plotting evil schemes. When something is funny, it has to have speed at exactly the right time, otherwise the joke falls flat and loses it's cool, that's if you can pinpoint that in your head and understand where I'm going with this.

When the Gang Green Gang start making crank calls throughout Townsville, they are lacking in great ways to pull them off. So, after calling the Mayor with Grubber impersonating Ms Bellum, making him leave to "cut the ribbon for the new mall, declaring it open", giving them the free run of the Powerpuff Hotline. What we get is a  rather "interesting" insight of the villains at home doing their own thing as the girls burst in and constantly beat the living hell out of them, only to learn that they were NOT even committing any crimes. Here, we learn that Mojo Jojo is more sophisticated than you think (yet we see him in Manic Mojo actually buying eggs at the supermarket), he listens to classical music and reads the paper and even takes naps in an armchair. Also, what can be more funnier than the "evilest of all evil" ("Him") working out in complete aerobic equipment? That is just friggin hilarious, I also love how polite he is when the girls break in, but the one that gave me the most laughs out of the villains was Fuzzy Lumpkins. Nobody likes having their privacy invaded, especially when you're taking a relaxing bath, the delivery here from the girls was priceless, especially when Bubbles ended it. I love how the violence and beating up here is played more for laughs and not action itself.

Another thing that still cracks me up in this episode is that these villains are all pretty close friends and even keep in touch by landline, that's right, even down in the depths of hell, HIM has his own phone to make calls. When's the last time you've seen cartoon villains in conversation over a phone? Brilliant!

The ending too is pretty funny and I like how the girls don't believe the Mayor after three cock-ups in one day.

Key moment for me: As I said, Bubbles' delivery to Fuzzy was "tell it like is is funny",  BUT the true comedic gem in this episode personally is Professor Utonium. The running gag with him still at the receiver on hold is fantastic. I will forgive the fact that near the end, you see him outside the girls door but I guess that adds to the comedy. 

6. The Powerpuff Girls Best Rainy Day Adventure Ever. That's right, that is the actual name of the episode and by god it's a mouthful. Now THIS episode just gets better and better every single time with each watch, whose genius idea was it to create an episode where the girls play pretend? In this case, literally playing The Powerpuff Girls. This includes them playing various roles for other citizens in Townsville and as all kids do when playing together, arguing on who gets to be who? 

Honestly, this episode's premise is spectacular. I love how the girls hardly even use superpowers at all, not to mention the unforgettable one liner from Buttercup while playing as a monster. Also, it was nice to actually see the girls here get more comedy than they usually do. For most of the part in the series in general, the comedy is thrown around depending on the characters, story and situation, but here, the girls really do steal the show. 

I'm pretty sure a lot of us as kids can relate, with our friends or siblings role-playing as our favourite characters from cartoons, but as each other, that's unique. 

PPG Best Rainy Day Adventure Ever is definitely one of the funniest episodes of season 2, so next time you're having a bad day and it's raining, not up for walking the dog, cos it's rai-, okay, enough spoilers. Go watch this one next time you want to see a lead female cast of kindergartners at their funniest. 

Key moment for me: The Mayor. You'll have to watch it so not to spoil it.

  5. I See A Funny Cartoon In Your Future Seasonal rot is painful, especially cartoons that were so highly well received by critics and fans alike. After the Powerpuff Girls movie, the show followed the upgraded animated style which kind of watered down the true charm of the first four seasons, as well as lacking in great ideas for stories, most of seasons five and six were...mediocre with sour pickles on top.  Luckily, this one made me laugh. A hell of a lot!

The entire story is told like episodes of Jay Ward's Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons, complete with cheesy but hilarious and witty puns, fourth wall breaking and running gags. We also have the main one off villain here voiced by the late June Foray (voice of Rocky and Natasha Fatale). I like how she and her goosey sidekick are drawn to mimic the style of Jay Ward's characters and the little commercial near the end of the episode spoofing the Nicotine Patch. It's such a shame this episode wasn't traditionally animated, for I would have really liked to have seen some lush fluid animation to boot up this episode more. Interestingly, I never saw the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons as a kid, since they weren't very big in England, but  I got into the franchise when I watched the movie on VHS non-stop and loved it (it's a guilty pleasure haha), so you can see why this episode gave me loads of laughs. 

  Also note that sadly, June Foray passed away in July 2017, leaving a legacy of cartoon voices behind and fond memories. Since her passing, Mrs Strong herself went on to provide the voice of Rocky for the new Rocky and Bullwinkle series, keeping the spirit alive as always. Good one Tara! Great work. And I mean it!  KEY MOMENT FOR ME:  The voodoo dolls. Seriously, I quote this a lot haha! Also, just the whole episode being a tribute to Rocky and Bullwinkle.

4. Meet The Beat-Alls Okay, this is definitely getting close to what a WatchMojo list would look like, no? WELL I'm gonna jab this list and have it up before you can say "Ringo Starr's a Powerpuff Girl!", but how can I NOT make a top 10 Powerpuff eps. list and NOT include this episode, and I quote @UmbraMagna, "This episode is absolutely fantastic!", never have truer words been spoken? Telephonies made way with great laughs, but that was more focused on the Gang Green Gang, here this episode focuses on Him, Mojo, Princess Morbucks and Fuzzy in what is probably the funniest Beatles parody I've ever seen.

  Craig McCracken himself has always been a huge fan of the Beatles, so when season 3 was ending soon it ended with the sister episode to Moral Decay and you know what? It saved the season finale. Every second, there's a reference to...well, the Beatles. Sure, "Homer's Barbershop Quartet" of The Simpsons was fun and had lots of references to the band and other acts, but an entire episode where it's nothing but Beatles second after second, how can you go wrong? 

From the Abbey Road walk, to the musical style, to the Yoko Ono reference, to just everything about it, it's one episode that will have you laughing after a Hard Day's Night. EG Daily (voice of Buttercup) has stated during a Comic-Kaze guest panel that this was one of her favorite episodes. 

Show creator Craig McCracken himself even listed this episode as one of his top ten favourite episodes of all time. There is one little nitpick, but I guess it doesn't matter, since it still makes way for great comedy and I like how a SINGLE rock actually defeats the girls (back when cartoons weren't very pc, just the way I like'em). Whether you like the Beatles or not, Meet the Beat-Alls is a great episode with the villains at their best. Key moment for me: The whole episode, brilliant! 

3. See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey. NOTE: WATCH THIS EPISODE WITH CAUTION! CONTAINS FLASHING IMAGES!  I LOVE THIS EPISODE! Remember what I said about seasons five and six suffering from seasonal rot and mediocre episodes? Well, here's one that I probably consider one of the best of them during the Chris Savino era. The entire episode is much longer since the intro is cut short to make way for what comes next. An unbelievable half hour of a pure masterpiece. 

For many, being a  great voice actor means they have to know how to sing and here, we have a lot of it. It really gave the voice actors' chance to show off their singing voices a great workout and boy, did they nail it right out the park? While it's not the most comedic, it's still epic, fun and unforgettable. This episode was like an evil apocalypse, not even fighting on who gets to defeat the girls or who gets to cause destruction or rob banks. It's a real shame they never released this as a true soundtrack, it's so beautiful. 

It's got an Andrew Lloyd Webber and Pink Flloyd's "The Wall" feel to it. I really wish this was the episode's true finale, since it's been debated and rumored to, unfortunately the true finale (not counting the specials) was that of What's the Big Idea, a complete let down, since both McCracken and Savino agreed that the show had run it's course, even though Cartoon Network did ask for a seventh season. If only...sadly, we can't have everything. 

The Gnome -the main villain of this episode- was quite interesting, exchanging peace to Townsville for the girls' superpowers, yet making everyone bow down to him. Sadly, this episode was banned from airing in the USA, some say it was because of the message of communism, but the true reason for the ban was for the red and white blinking lights that flashed during the Gnome's spell. It's too bad this was never edited for safety so the US audience could experience it at the time but luckily, it was included in the complete tenth AND twentieth anniversary box set, just proceed with caution, I'm saying this for your own safety. I love the Gnome's setting, in a large rose where he lives in peace, I forgot to mention that he was voiced by the legendary Jess Harnell and boy, was he a perfect choice? Have you ever heard Jess sing OUTSIDE of cartoons? Why don't voice artists get more love? Seriously.

Speaking of which, Tara Strong and EG Daily (who only just recently released a song "Impeachable" (parodying Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful") together for charity) really got to show off their vocal talents here more.  Also not to leave her out since I love all three of these amazing talents, Cathy too has a remarkable singing voice! God bless these ladies!  In conclusion, See Me, Feel Me Gnomey is a fantastic episode, mixed with action, drama, music and sheer brilliance from start to finish. Key moment for me: The whole episode. I can't pick one moment. I really loved the harmonizing from Strong and Daily during Cavadini's singing solo in "You Wanna Make Us Feel Real Good". Seriously, once these three sing, it just seems unreal, yet magical.

2. The Rowdyruff Boys Okay!  I'm pretty sure a lot of fans saw this one coming, I mean it's one of IMDB's highest rated episodes, as well as another one of Craig McCracken's favorites. This episode not only marked the debut of the titled characters of the same name, but was the first of many half hour episodes and of all of them, this one was at it's best.   While not the MOST comedic and the boys at the time didn't have as much personality as they did in their later appearances, this episode still left a huge impact on the fans, in a good way. The action in this episode is some of the best I have seen during the McCracken era (something the later episodes lacked), probably along with Stuck Up, Up and Away and Bubblevicious. Tired from constantly being defeated day after day and thrown into jail, Mojo Jojo comes up with the perfect plan to get rid of the girls by creating a trio of kids of his own. Instead of the sweet ingredients for the perfect little girls, Mojo gathers up several ingredients to create the not so perfect little boys. I love how the idea was a reference to the little rhyme "What Are Little Boys/Girls Made of?". 

There's some pretty funny but questionable moments, such as...why would the prison serve escargot? I love how the caterer actually smiles in response. Also, why is the Talking Dog suddenly a prison guard? Oh what the hey? It still makes for hilarious gags such as having his tail snatched to finish the ingredients. What I don't get though is Mojo's breath as he flushed the ingredients down the toilet...then again, maybe it was because of when the girls were born causing the chemical reaction to still have an affect which in return passes on to others, in this case, the Rowdyruff Boys. Interestingly, the boys named themselves, while the Professor named his girls. What made this episode great was the voice acting, Roger L Jackson as Mojo yet again was perfect, as well as providing the voice of Butch, Buttercup's counterpart. Cathy, Elizabeth and Tara's energy in this episode were spot on and we even get to hear the legendary Rob Paulsen as Brick and Boomer. 

When the two teams meet face to face, they start a huge brawl, the action as I said is amazing, some of the best in any episode, it's like the teams have lept right off the screen.

There is a little problem I have with this episode and...well...it's the whole counterpart vs counterpart thing. I mean...is it really that hard to tell the difference between a little boy and girl with the same hair color? Especially when they use the same chunks of animation for each member fighting against each other, take  the cartwheel scene for example.  Other than that, the animation in this episode was terrific.

This was also one of the first episodes in which the girls were defeated and nearly for good. But with the Disney-esque tears of life trope, they are revived in seconds. I can forgive this trope here but NOT in Pokemon: The First Movie.  Shamed and crestfallen by their defeat, the girls decide to leave Townsville, only to be given a pep talk by Ms Bellum. 

And what we get after a little subtle adult joke followed by a defeat from the girls...without the violence, in Sara Bellum's words, "try being nice".  I just love how the boys are distracted by the girls as they are standing looking pretty...well, pretty. Pretty as any little girl could be, I laugh my head off every time in this scene, it's both cute and funny, especially with the flirtatious "come hither" eyelashes and sassy “Hey boys!” expressions on the girls that aren't usually seen. You'd expect this kind of thing on a more mature character, one with an hour glass shaped figure and heels. But alas, being kids, the boys can't stand the thought of ...cooties and somehow, this kills them. Literally. No, seriously, they actually die, in a rather humorous way after a long battle with the girls. What makes this scene great is that there's no dialogue, not until the boys scream at the top of their lungs. 

I may have spoiled it a little but hey, visualizing it in your head isn't the same as watching it and believe me, it is a really funny scene. Think of it has a "distracted by the sexy" trope but toned down. Also, what I said earlier about the counterpart trope, I'll make this an exception since it was clearly obvious that it was going to happen. 

This episode is a fan favorite, unfortunately, it did have a reputation of inspiring fanart and fan-fictions and McCracken himself actually poked fun at this scenario in The City of Clipsville. This episode was not afraid of almost killing off the main characters and three children in fact, but then again, there was so much edge in this show, there was nothing like it at the time. The mix of action, humor and drama is perfect. It's too bad the follow-ups with the boys didn't get the same impact as this one. In conclusion, The Rowdyruff Boys is incredible and really shows that girls are tougher than they look. Take Buttercup's quote "It takes more than a couple of cheap shots to make us cry!". Inspiring. 

Key moment for me:  The boys' defeat...by cooties. Hilarious. After nearly an entire episode of nothing but non-stop action, violence and a huge brawl in Townsville, we get a comedic flirt scene. 

NOW before I finally get to number one, here are some honorable mentions. 

Him Riddle Diddle - I love the suspense and how it already started with peril, it felt like some kind of action movie. HIM sets the girls up on a riddle-fest or else the Professor will -in Him's words - pay. I could have had it on this list but...the one bit that bothered me was Buttercup piloting a helicopter...umm...when did she learn to...okay, Uh-Oh Dynamo, they are controlling a large robotic being of themselves but a helicopter? I don't know, maybe it was all done for comedy but yeah, it's still a great episode. What makes this episode great is that it builds up with suspense, from one riddle after another, still filling comedy in the cracks and gaps of course. Also when you have Him as the main villain, he's always coming up with something unique, yet nasty. I won't spoil the ending but it is hilarious, I love the girls' reactions after working their butts off to save their father ONLY to...well see for yourself.

  Superfriends - @KarToonComics has already kind of gone on about this episode and I have to agree with her on what she said. I have had lonely problems growing up and found it hard to make friends and socialize.  Also, I've personally lost friends due to someone else cutting in the way and excluding me by taking over them and. I don't like to go into it, but we have all had that experience. 

The girls meet Robin, their new next door neighbor and befriend her, it's really satisfying to actually see the girls being kids, having fun and playing together for once. 

I shut this one off the list though,  because...well, some of the later episodes, I can't stand the sharpness in Bubbles' accent, it's noticeable especially in her Ls. It's like she's getting a bit of a Spanish brogue in there (which probably makes sense since she can speak the language), but I just find it really distracting. 

Also, while I really liked Robyn, she somewhat looks similar to one of the other kindergartners in school. Watch Stuck Up, Up And Away and see for yourself. Her friendship with the girls was cute, I really like how they all bonded together like all little kids, but of course, being superheroes, the girls didn't always get enough time to meet their new friend, their next door neighbor in fact. That's pretty sad, you can tell the girls themselves could feel it inside them that they wish the hotline would once not ring and they could do their own thing but Townsville seems to have problems every single time. 

Robin and the girls walk to school together the following week when a limousine pulls up carrying Princess Morbucks as a passenger. She offers the girls a lift in the car IF they let her be a Powerpuff Girl, the girls' decline the offer (by the way, I love Blossom's expression during Princess's little bribe). 

I can't really go on more without totally spoiling the episode so see for yourself what happens from here. It's a great episode, also a BONUS for Robin's hilarious one liner and of course the entire sequence set to the song Signal in the Sky by The Apples in Stereo, damn, why couldn't we have more episodes like that, that'd be just brilliant. I'd have loved to have seen a cameo appearance of Bis, or Dressy Bessy. 

Helter Shelter - I don't know why but I wish this episode was longer, then again with a premise as stupid yet funny as this one, it would probably lose the comedy after a while.

Bubbles loves animals, we all know that. In fact, she loves them so much, she has a habit of bringing them in the house. 

The following afternoon, Bubbles brings in a baby sperm whale into the house and the results of trying to hide it from the Professor are hilarious. I love the way the girls panic and all the hiding spots aren't very well hidden for a large mammal such as a whale calf. 

The dialogue and gags are some of the stupidest yet funniest in any episode, yet they somehow add up nicely. I also love the running gag of the Professor yelling out Bubbles' name, he kind of reminds me of Dave Seville in Alvin and the Chipmunks. . 

You'll have to watch the whole episode to find out what happens but I can't say if it will make you laugh or not. 

Equal Fights - This was a great episode, in fact I felt it could have been longer, but then it would probably drag on and go nowhere. The girls become sexist to all males after meeting and releasing Femme Fatale, a master thief, bank robber and also bit of a hypocrite. 

While Grey Delisle did a fantastic performance with her role here, I felt that Femme Fatale was one of the more forgettable minor villains.

If this were a double length episode, I would have liked to have seen more of a backstory on why she's a misandrist. 

Also I felt the character was eye-candy and fan-service material, from her slender figure to her skin-tight outfit. Also, I love how precocious the girls themselves are on a brief history lesson about Susan B. Anthony. 

The morals were great but personally, this along with a similar episode Members Only just didn't quite make the cut for me.  I did love the references to the Justice League though. 

Child Fearing - I love the Mojo Jojo themed episodes, especially where he's with the girls throughout and they make each other's lives a living hell. Unfortunately, some were a fluke and hit and miss while others like Slumbering with the Enemy and this one; Child Fearing are great.

Late for science presentation in a rather clumsy fashion, the Professor hires a babysitter to look after the girls. There's a wonderful reference to a certain N64 game here, I don't want to spoil it in case you may haven't seen it. But it's a great laugh if you know your games.  I also love the little smirk the girls give each other when they know they are alone and the Professor forgot to ring for a sitter.

Anyway, the Mayor is too busy to sit for the girls because he's playing video-games, so the girls get an unexpected visit from their arch-enemy Mojo Jojo and the results are pure hilarity, one after the other. 

The girls aren't stupid, without a simple huddle or plan, they immediately decide to take advantage of all this and become incredibly obnoxious, mischievous and bratty as any little kid can be. I usually hate obnoxious characters but it's played here perfectly. 

It's impossible not to laugh at Mojo here, but also feel sorry for him at the same time. It's a real shame there weren't anymore episodes that had this kind of comedy, because this one is absolutely hilarious from start to finish. Also, the TV scene is absolutely brilliant, the highlight of the episode. 

Buttercrush - This was one of the many episodes that immediately got me into the show. Already silently into it that is lol. Anyway, this was an episode I felt went on just too quickly, but if it was extended, it would drag on. 

The Gang Green Gang reek havoc at a playground and when the girls show up, the gang's leader Ace throws drops to his knees and does a pathetic routine of guilt. Reluctant, Blossom (being the leader of the girls) agrees, but Buttercup begins developing a crush on Ace, after a tip of his shades, a soft thank you and a wink of charm, Buttercup believes she has just met Mr Right. 

Interestingly, Buttercup barely has any dialogue in this episode, heck she only has one or two lines top and tail (if giggling counts). This episode was not afraid to tackle the precocious crush issues, here we have a kindergartner falling for a teenager. It's amazing what the writers got away with in this show.

 Buttercup would sneak out every night to visit the gang, I don't know HOW she managed to avoid the Professor checking in on her or anything. 

This is one of the few Buttercup themed episodes that was actually good, if not the best one. Although I put it in the honorable mentions because...well...Buttercup's crush didn't last long, in a way it's a good thing otherwise her sisters would have been history, but makes you wonder how much love suddenly poured out of her own heart. 

Overall, it's a wonderful episode and deserved a mention. 

Cat Man Do - I was SO close to putting this one in the top 10, I saw this episode a lot on Cartoon Network when I was a kid, seriously, they repeated this one again and again yet it never bothered me. 

I guess I put it here because...well...the origin of the cat is unknown and who was his master? We never see or hear from him again (minus a brief cameo). 

While I haven't found of thought up any theories, that doesn't stop this episode from being a classic. I did feel like the heist scene with the Professor went on a bit too long for a ten minute short. Also, if I were to pick a moment that had me roaring with laughter (not just this episode, but the entire show) every single time, it would be the "We can keep Kitty" scene. The reactions of the girls are priceless and I love how they suddenly lighten up in seconds. Comedy like this in cartoons is rare now, especially with such speed. Also a bonus for the cat himself being voiced by Mark Hamill. 

Bought and Scold - Of all the Princess Morbucks themed episodes, this has to be one of the best. Here, she buys all of Townsville and makes crime legal, making the girls' and other citizens' lives miserable. This even leads to everybody's belongings becoming property of the Morbucks household and the villains get to do what they want. Most of all, the Mayor gave the key to the city to Princess, causing her to take over Townsville.

 That is until the girls think up a plan to get all they had stolen from them back in a rather hilarious twist. I also love when Morbucks finally snaps and eventually agrees to make crime illegal again, the girls just go off to do what they do best. Seriously, how can you not love the dialogue free scene with the Gangreen Gang, also Blossom's little smug expression when she shows Ace the legal and illegal papers is just brilliant. 

As satisfying as it is to see a happy ending again, I can't help but feel bad for Princess here, yeah she's rotten and spoiled but maybe she was raised like that. In fact, you never see or hear of her mother in this show and her father comes off as a bit abusive as seen here with the newspaper, obviously not giving his own daughter a chance to speak. That's why I left it out here. 

Super Zeroes - Kids will be kids! Whether they play make believe, go on adventures with their toys or are influenced by cartoons and comics. Which is pretty much what inspires the girls to create their own alter-egos here. Well, sort of. 

The girls are sad because they don't feel like "better" superheroes. They don't have an interesting backstory, nor are they dark and tormented, nor do they even have interesting costumes.  So they decide create their own alter egos complete with new costumes. 

Don't question where or how they got these outfits or maintained the little abilities, I guess that adds to the comedy. I love how when a monster does hit Townsville, the girls go their own way in their own fashion, very slowly and the results are hilarious! I love how Buttercup's alter-ego "Mange" only goes out at night, kind of a not to Batman. I love how Bubbles' alter-ego resembles My Melody and other Sanrio esque characters while Blossom's got a Wonderwoman vibe to it. I can't really give the episode away without spoiling the plot truthfully but I guess the moral is to be yourself and stick up for it. Which is exactly what the girls did at the end. Only a little spoiler. The moment that really makes this episode is the fact that the girls take so long to fight, you'll have to see it for yourself to get the laughs.

Mime for a Change- Season 1 of the Powerpuff Girls was terrific, there were so many memorable and great episodes and one that particularly comes to mind when you think "Craig McCracken" is this one. I used to watch this episode a lot back in the day and loved the concept of it. I'm not too keen on clowns but Rainbow is just the average friendly harmless kind of person who does his job. She he sounds pretty obnoxious and irritating but he doesn't have many speaking roles. His villain alter ego was pretty unique power-wise, but the question I'm pretty sure we're all asking is...was the bleach radioactive? Was there Chemical X in it? Guess we'll never know, but in a way, that's what adds to the charm. Either way, the bleach seeps out not only the color on Rainbow, but his cheerful personality too. His good kind heart and light sense of humor has gone sour and his love for bright colors has switched to black and white. 

Upon realizing what he can do, Rainbow or in this case, Mr Mime can now takeover Townsville by draining all the color right out of it. Not only that, but also affecting those cheerful moods of the citizens of Townsville, also they can hardly speak due to the power of mime. It's really clever. We also discover in this episode that Bubbles loves to draw and colour, especially with crayons like most little girls her age. Upon discovering the black and white atmosphere, she goes on a rampage scraping wax of colour with every crayon she has. Seriously, it's like her box of crayons never ends or run out! Ah cartoon logic. 

I have to admit, Tara Strong's performance for Bubbles here during her little panic is pure gold, just listen to those vocals! Keep in mind that she was only 25 at the time. Mega talent! 

Her sisters soon take action and look for the suspect. When they finally find Mr Mime, they make chase until they are at a dead end and are ambushed by him. Why couldn't the girls just fly away? Bubbles meanwhile, thinking she had proudly saved the day all by herself wonders where her sisters went and when she discovers them depressed, colorless and mute, she sobs but brightens up immediately remembering she had a crayon but to no avail, it doesn't work. Realizing that her crayons aren't magical, Bubbles thinks up the next best thing...of all 90s cliches in cartoons, she and her sisters save the day...with ROCK MUSIC! Yeah, it's cheesy and all but also a beautiful message. A message of love. Love Makes the World go round is one of the few times the girls ever actually did a musical number and oh my god was this one memorable? I wish there was an extended version of it and an official release, but I guess we'd have to make do with the hidden track on the Heroes and Villains CD. Just listen to that chorus. This is the song that Cavadini, Strong and Daily all used to warm up their performances and vocals whenever they were together in the studio.

I put this episode in the honorable mentions because of the ending, it was a bit hypocritical, one minute the girls are singing and putting a smile on everyone's faces, the next thing, they send Rainbow to jail when it wasn't his fault. Of course, he may have been forgiven later on. But who knows? Overall, this was a memorable episode. KEY MOMENT: Seeing the girls hug, it was adorable! 

Ice Sore - Blossom discovers that she has a power that her sisters don't have, causing her to show it off. I put it in the honorable mentions because it deserved it, I felt that Ms Keane making all her class go outside in the frying heat to be a bit irresponsible though. 

A Made Up Story - Phyliss Diller's performence as the villain was great and the comedy in this one a bit slow but did have some hilarious moments, plus that ending! It feels like what would happen if Stephen King’s Carrie was turned into a comedy. 

Tough Love - One of the first episodes I ever saw and caused me to fall in love with the show as so as I watched it. The concept is dark, creepy and yet unique. When I saw those girls get beat up, punched, kicked, beaten up (heck even by adults), I couldn't believe it. I knew this was the cartoon I waited for, all my life. 

Bubblevicious - While not a favorite of mine, I still had to put it here in the honorable mentions list, because, well Strong's performance as Bubbles was absolutely brilliant. Hearing her growl that epic drawn out "haaardcoore" was the cherry on top of Bubbles' character and we see a more stronger side to her. Fed up with being treated like a baby, she does things her way, something even Buttercup probably wouldn't do. My problem though was the way she treated the Talking Dog, threatening to hurt him, a bit hypocritical for Bubbles' taste since she loves animals. This episode was Craig McCracken's all time favourite and you can see why it was nominated for an emmy. 

Speed Demon - I gave this episode a mention for the creepy-factor and I mean real creepy. Sometimes I don't know if I'm watching a creepypasta or an episode of the Powerpuff Girls. The show is usually full of action, bit of drama but going as low as this is unusual, this was another dark episode. Everyone chanting "your fault" to the girls  is like the equivalent "They're all gonna laugh at you" from Carrie. Can you just imagine travelling so fast that you went fifty years into the future? The concept of this episode is both creepy, unsettling and disturbing. 

Knock It Off - Again, an episode that isn't often talked about. This double length episode is one of the darkest in my honest opinion. Dick Hardly is one of the nastiest, sadistic and cruelest one time villains I have ever seen. Cloning the girls with a full vile of Chemical X and shipping them all over the world just sounds like yet another creepy pasta. 

Also, have you seen how deformed these clones looked? Enough to disturb any audience. The scene where the Professor discovers the base and suddenly freaks out at all the hideous deformed clones is probably how anyone would react if this happened in real life. Also, seeing the girls die onscreen was heart wrenching, of course, if this show ended now, it would have been one sad finale.

 Did I forget to mention that Dick Hardly's monster form was just terrifying! Those tentacles on his chest just really seemed off.  On the funny side, I love how it’s like the writers were trying to push it on how many times the girls say “Dick”. Also, what was that nerd doing with his PPG doll? 

The Boys are Back in Town - The sequel to The Rowdyruff Boys, this half hour romp sees the girls meeting their match for the second time. The girls learn that the boys were brought back to life from HIM and had given them a cootie vaccination, so they are now strong against the girls. I left it off the top ten list because...well, again, the counterpart battle technique just got stale and I found that the boys personality resulted in some rather gross and painfully vulgar scenes. It's like they were trying to compete with Nickelodeon's 90s shows. 

Also just a side note and personal opinion: I do prefer the boys' hairdos here. Also the scene where the girls discover the weakness was hilarious. A bonus for Blossom’s cheeky little one liner. 

Beat Your Greens  - This was a classic episode. I remember watching it a lot as a kid. The moral is simple: eat your vegetables. 

This was the time when Craig McCracken was still at high stakes on the show and this was only it's second season. A time when morals weren't  always the key of the show. Also Buttercup's brief pep talk/speech to one of the kids was great and really motivating. Also I love the little Star Wars reference. 

Curses - I left this one out because this trope has been done before in other shows including Spongebob Squarepants and Arthur. But that doesn't stop the episode from being funny. The villain was hilarious, a literal talking potty-mouth who basically just talks gibberish as if he's swearing and every time the girls swore, it was bleeped out with various sound effects and the results are hilarious. I think the funniest moment was when the girls flipped out on the Mayor all over a pickle jar complete with swearwords and their mouths washed out with soap. Overall, this was a funny episode but sadly, when a trope has been done to death, is there really any high stakes for it to be in a top ten list? 

And the number one greatest Powerpuff Girls episode is...

1. The Powerpuff Girls Rule! I am counting this one as an episode! Argument invalid! WHERE do I begin? This was all drawn and animated on Flash and released as the 10th anniversary special and you know what? It's absolutely brilliant. Everything is thrown at you in seconds, the humor, the pacing, unpredictable moments, the voice actors returned again and are just as great and the best part? Craig McCracken came back to write this masterpiece!

Not only was this special a breath of fresh air for the fans, but it felt like a new revival for the Powerpuff Girls done right! Sadly, this was Craig's last involvement with the Powerpuff Girls...when you think about it though, it’s not the same without Craig McCracken as writer and director, so you can see why there are lots more funnies here compared to seasons five and six. 

Originally, this was planned to be an hour long but instead was reduced to a full length episode, which is why everyone suffers from motormouth syndrome throughout!

I love all the little callbacks to the classic episodes, including the villains and nearly every second had me laughing with tears streaming down my cheeks! THAT'S the true essence and formula of The Powerpuff Girls. Try watching this special with a straight face if you are a die hard fan of this show, seriously! It's impossible!

Ten years before, the reviews poured in calling this cartoon "gut-bustingly funny", well, this really shows! It's like the show had won back the brilliance when Craig came back and I really wish there was more!

The plot is so ridiculous yet hilarious and I quote the PPG wikia: The key to the world is sent to Townsville, and The Mayor has the responsibility of keeping watch of it. However, he misplaces it, and all the villains of Townsville break free from prison to search for the key, each one of them wanting to obtain it and rule the world, especially Mojo Jojo. The Powerpuff Girls must find the key and return it to The Mayor, before the villains get to it.

Everything about this episode is absolutely fantastic. I will forgive the little reference to a certain 2000s meme thrown in, although it wasn't really needed, but who can complain, right? It was bound to happen since every decade, cartoons tend to have that trend that will blend in with show's plots.

The moment all the motor-mouthed dialogue starts, it's impossible not to sit back with an enormous smile on your face. This was like a true love-letter to everyone who worked on the show, filled with crazy gags and some of the funniest build up on the show, complete with crazy references and everyone filling in on tickling the funny-bone.

The moment Blossom does her impression of Mojo Jojo (COMPLETE with camera angles, close ups and a shot of the entire planet earth) is hilarious! Her sass and smug attitude here just makes it!

I love how cartoony and slapstick this special was, although a little out of character, I don't care, I find it rather hilarious! There's surprise after surprise, after surprise! I've never seen The Powerpuff Girls go beyond the mark of full-on craziness!

I will admit, the motor-mouthing did feel a little forced and rushed but the plot still made up for it with all it's glory! I can't give anymore away without spoiling the entire cartoon so go watch this special when you can!  

The Powerpuff Girls Rule! is -in my opinion- the greatest episode of all time. Now ten years old, it makes us all wonder what is in store for the twentieth anniversary. With the reboot having mixed reception and the merchandise still selling, we can only dream on having another special just as fresh and funny as this one.

"Key" moment for me (okay, that pun was lame): The whole episode was filled to the brim with timeless and hilarious moments but if I were to pick one, it would have to be Mojo singing a Jimmy Hart version of Part of Your World. Honestly, the funniest thing ever done on the show, period! Kudos Craig McCracken! You can’t spell slaughter without laughter and this episode did just that almost! A new meaning for the term: gut-bustingly funny! 

And with that, ends my top 10 greatest PPG episode list! What are your favorite episodes of all time? Which ones make you laugh the most? I'd love to read and/or hear your opinions! :) With that being said, after twenty years, this show still holds up and I will always enjoy it again and again whenever I have a bad day. If you really want to see every classic episode again, then go buy the complete dvd set, it’s just been re-released as a twentieth anniversary box set!  Thanks for reading and thank you to @crackmccraigen for this masterpiece! 

[hindsite20]

Arrow 7x08

Emiko Queen Welcome! Like most of the fandom I figure out who this character was back in September but it’s nice to finally have it revealed on the show.

Her introduction was the perfect parallel to Oliver in the pilot. That training is totally a Queen sibling thing.😏

One of my biggest curiosities. Who is her mother? I can say with some certainty it isn’t Isabel Rochev. She may have had an affair with Robert but she is a White woman and Emiko clearly is...NOT. And since I don’t believe the show will have it be some random woman we have never met before. I think there are only three options:

Option 1)Mei Gulong. In the comics Shado is Emiko’s mother so they could make it her sister but my issue with this is the ages. She would be too young to have a child Emiko’s age.

Option 2) China White. This is definately more age appropriate. She was frequently in Star City so it’s possible her and Robert met. I also noticed that they mentioned the Triad this episode so...🤷🏽‍♀️

Option 3) Talia Al ghul. Ties to the league explain Emikos training and skill with a bow. Plus, a past connection to Robert would explain why Talia sought out Oliver and became his mentor.

So far they have told us very little about this character. They haven’t even verified her name. All we know is the she has a list and is determined to honor her father. Just like someone else we know.

My biggest questions right now are around Emiko’s backstory and her connections to this list. How did she get it? Did she find it in Roberts possessions? Did she know him as a child? In the source material she was taken during infancy and raised by his enemy, so it would be interesting if show changed her origin story.

As for the list itself, I think it ties back to The Ninth Circle, which is basically the bank of evil. It probably includes all the criminals they provide funding to. Courtesy of the Undertaking in season 1 I know Robert, Malcolm and all their associates were wealthy and powerful so I’m not shocked he would know about an organization like this. Then we have Dyla looking into this Dante painting and Dante is the name of the leader of the Ninth Circle. I’m just going to go ahead and predict that the deputy director of Argus and Mayor Pollard are members of this organization because I don’t trust them. At some point Dyla working with Diaz is probably going to come into conflict with Emiko crossing names off her list. Gimme! I can’t wait!!!! So much drama!

All in all, I am excited about this storyline. While I agree with many that say the cast is too large, i don’t mind this addition because I have missed the sibling dynamic that was a cornerstone of this show for so long. The Oliver and Thea relationship was so special & can never be replaced.

But the addition of Emiko gives the writers a chance to put a twist on some of the superhero sibling storylines they didn’t get to do because of actor availability. And it gives Oliver a new Robert Queen secret to unfold and a new bond to form.

[jbuffyangel]

Would you say this season of Arrow is going to be yet another rebirth for Oliver Queen? If supermax is the new Lian Yu, does that mean it's going to be another rebirth by fire (once again stripping him of his warm and fuzzy and molding him back into the machine we met in season 1) and the end of the season will be another rebirth by water (finding his back to the light and becoming Green Arrow again)? Will Oliver Queen's soul need to once again be saved in season 7?

Love this question Anon! Every season Oliver regresses in some way. However, as the years go on those regressions get smaller or maybe the lesson Oliver learns gets bigger. We can look at it either way. The point is, each season is ultimately one piece to the full Oliver Queen puzzle. So, I don’t believe we can ever take him back to ground zero, the pilot, and the emotionally shut down/almost machine like man who returned to present day Starling City. Why? Because it ignores six years of character growth. 

Every season is essentially a mini restart in a way. Similar themes will be explored. Oliver is always on a dark to light hero’s journey cycle. It’s a matter of varying degrees year to year however. In order for the show to make any sense, and for us to believe in Oliver Queen as a hero, he has to learn from his mistakes and grow as a person. The character is faaaaar from perfect and he is known to make the same mistakes, but I defy anyone to argue that Oliver Queen has not grown from the man we met in the pilot. He is night and day in many respects.

Just a little side note - I used the word “machine” as sort of an all encompassing way to describe how Oliver had shut himself off emotionally due to severe PTSD. However, the concept of “The Machine” was never one devoid of humanity. In the pilot, Oliver very clearly loves his mother, sister and Tommy. 

He’s deeply invested in saving the city. It’s more about how Oliver is able to express that love and allow himself to feel those emotions. He has compartmentalized himself into a machine like weapon. He has a function to perform and a duty to carry. Anything that gets in the way of that, or clouds his judgement, or makes that function more difficult to perform in any way Oliver cuts himself off from. 

He packs it away and stores it deep inside where it cannot be touched and where it cannot hurt him. Like I always say, Oliver didn’t shut down because he didn’t feel love. He shut down because he loves so much. All that loss became too much. It was a survival tactic. Love was something that brought him pain. Love meant dying. 

Oliver needed someone to show him love could bring him joy. Oliver needed someone to teach him love meant living.

So, no I doubt there’s anything Arrow could do that would revert Oliver Queen back to the man I met in the pilot nor do I think it would be wise to. Can they do something that would require a season level regression? Sure and I absolutely expect them to. Oliver is someone who acts on instinct, so I anticipate some of his choices inside the supermax to be based purely on survival- almost animalistic. Surviving isn’t the same as being a hero. They are quite different.

If this season is about redemption they’ll need to do something in the premiere that Oliver requires redemption for because quite honestly he’s the character who needs the least redemption at this point. I was Team Oliver all the way in Season 6 and felt he was acting reasonably compared to the newbies. They should be the ones in jail, but alas Oliver is too selfless for that.

Oliver is a man who will always have demons inside him. There’s always going to be an edge of darkness to him and he will always fear “the monster” to a certain extent. The wonderful point we got to in Season 6 was he really faced those darker aspects and deeper fears in Season 5. He began to see the Green Arrow, the mask, for what it truly was - an extension of the man inside and not the monster. 

What’s intriguing to me about Slabside is Arrow is stripping Oliver of everything. No Felicity, Diggle, William, team, mayor’s office or city. Take all of that away and what’s left?

The hope is Oliver discovers even alone he is enough. He may stumble and resort to un-heroic and darker actions in the beginning, but he’ll dig deep and eventually find that light. He’s always had Felicity and Diggle by his side to help him. Season 6 was Oliver at his most evolved, so much so that he was able to start being the light for others. (Until it wigged everyone out so much they lost their shit on him). But Oliver going to prison, when in reality he’d done nothing wrong, is just about as self sacrificing as he can get without actually dying. 

But to find his way out of the darkness without Diggle or Felicity’s help? That’s something Oliver hasn’t done before. Season 5 was monumentally huge for Oliver’s character growth, but Felicity and Diggle were absolutely coaching him through it at crucial moments. 

I’m not even sure Arrow will go there. We may just return to business as usual and Oliver enters darkness rehab when he breaks out of prison and is reunited with his family. But if he’s able to dig himself out alone…  that’s a redemption Oliver hasn’t achieved yet. That’s a self sustaining light no one can ever take from him no matter what happens. It’s one thing for Felicity, Diggle and even William to believe in Oliver. But it’s another for Oliver to believe in himself.

So, yes at a certain level it’s about rebirth through fire/water because every season is about that cycle for Oliver to some degree. But I will give you that this year could be more so since he is literally returning to an island of purgatory. I say both fire/water because Arrow uses those symbolic images somewhat interchangeably. Ollie “dies” when the Queen’s Gambit sinks and he resurfaces in the ocean, like a baptism and cleansing of sin.

But he hasn’t paid for sins yet, or the sins of his father, so the fire is Lian Yu. It’s another rebirth only this time from ashes. 

I’m zeroing in on Season 1 specifically because Beth said they are returning to Season 1 thematically in some ways. 

Stylistically speaking the imagery used in the prison scene feels like a callback to the pilot. 

Personally, I think this may be more effective than repeating the Season 1 killing scene in Season 5, but I need to see where 7x01 leads.

What Oliver does or how far he regresses remains to be seen, but every season is ultimately about saving Oliver Queen’s soul because that’s what the show is about. The differentiation for Season 7 is maybe this year Oliver learns how to save himself.

[withgraceandlight99]

I Don’t Dance - Story Repost

A/N: I’m feeling a little down on my writing, which led me to dig around in my fanfic folder, which led me to find this. It will be canon in my head until something else airs. :) 

Oliver Queen didn’t dance. He could vaguely remember dancing with his baby sister at a wedding reception when she still wore dresses that puffed out. During his partying days, he avoided the dance floor, preferring other…activities. After the island, he didn’t even like parties―only holding them and running a nightclub to hide his now worthwhile activities. According to some people, at least. The only wedding he’d been to since he stepped foot in Star City again was his best friend’s, and he spent most of it staring wishfully at him and his wife, swaying to the music while they stared into each other’s eyes, so full of love.

So why, tonight, did he have his arms around his new wife, leading her in their first dance together as husband and wife?

He didn’t really know. Couldn’t imagine how he finally figured out how to love a woman so much that he wanted to spend the rest of his days with her by his side. Couldn’t believe that she would actually want him by her side for another fifty years.

But he did. Somehow, some way, he did. They did. It hurt to think about how many rocky hills they had to climb before they reached the top of the mountain, but with their love for each other, they made it, and tonight, they were waving that flag from the mountain peak.

In a tux and a wedding dress.

The song that Thea picked out for them played on, but Oliver couldn’t hear or see anything but his wife. His wife. Tears filled his eyes as he thought of his younger self. Never would twenty-three-year-old Oliver Queen have imagined that eight years later he would be dancing with the most beautiful, kindest, gentlest woman on the face of the earth. The thirty-year-old version would’ve had a hard time imaging it.

Felicity twirled in her gown and then came back to rest her head on his chest. “Whatcha thinkin’ about?”

“About you.”

“About how I hacked your phone to see where we’re taking the jet tonight?”

“Felicity!”

“I’m kidding. What exactly were you thinking about?”

“How if I could get Barry to take me back to seven or eight years ago, my younger self would never believe me if I told him what was happening right now.”

“My younger self wouldn’t believe it either. Getting married to a handsome man like you? I could go on but I already rambled about you enough in those embarrassing vows.”

He spun her around again and chuckled. “They made me cry.”

“Probably from embarrassment.”

“Never.”

“You have another sixty years with me, Mr. Queen. I will make it a point to embarrass you at least fifty times.”

This time when she twirled, he pulled her back and wrapped his arms around her waist. He buried his face in her blonde hair and whispered, “As long as you’re with me for that long, I’d be okay with that.”

The song picked up, and Oliver pulled Felicity along to the beat. Several times, one of them stepped on the other’s feet. Personally he thought her heeled shoes had to hurt more than his normal ones did.

But didn’t that symbolize them? They had their missteps; sometimes those missteps felt like high heels had just been slammed down onto shoeless feet, and sometimes they were just little slips.

Nevertheless, they found each other again. They swept along to the music; they found a reason to dance together. Just like now.

Diggle, Thea, Barry, and the rest of the crew cheered as he lifted Felicity in the air and spun her in circles. She squealed and gripped his forearms, throwing her head back laughing as he rotated twice before setting her down.

The music reached the end, and Felicity pulled away just enough to look at him. And smile. “I love you, Oliver Queen.”

He dipped his forehead down against hers and allowed a moment to catch his bearings. Everything that she said moved him to tears, even the little ‘I love yous’ that he’d heard a million times. Her look of love that she’d given him since the very beginning made his body wilt. Somehow he caught this amazing woman who saw him not as he was, but who he could be.

“What did I do to deserve you?”

Felicity’s arms came around his neck and she laughed. “You brought a bullet-ridden laptop into my office, remember? I knew you had a good heart from the beginning. And after a little while, I knew that I could love you. And to answer your question…you loved me. That’s all you needed to do.”

He bit his lip and nodded. Nothing else could really come out. How could it?

“Hey.” Her hands slid down his cheeks, her voice soothing away any doubts he still had. “You deserve me, Oliver. Don’t tell yourself any different. I’m your partner for life now. And you’ll definitely have to get used to me giving you these kind of pep talks.”

This time he smiled at her. “I’d be okay with that.”

Their kiss was met with roars of approval. Most of the noise came from Diggle and Thea. Oliver smiled as her lips claimed his, holding him captive for just one last moment before the night flew by them in a flurry of dancing and partying. He loved her. He loved this woman.

As the night wore on, he danced with his sister, his new mother-in-law, and countless other girls whom he knew. He and Sara Lance even took a turn.

“I’m happy for you, Ollie. Really, really happy.”

“Thanks, Sara.” He spun her around twice, careful not to reinjure her broken wrist. “I’m happy too.”

“It’s been a while since I’ve heard you say that. And before…you weren’t really telling the truth. Because you weren’t really happy before then either. Your soul was looking for the right girl. And you found her.”

“Yeah.” His eyes travelled the room until he found her, laughing with Roy and Thea. By the mortified look on Roy’s face, it had to have been wildly disturbing. He chuckled. Poor Roy. Felicity could pack a punch when it came to distasteful comments. Part of the reason he loved her so. “Yeah, I did.”

Because he did. Oliver Queen, former party boy and ex-killer, had found his light. With her help, he became the Mayor of Star City. With her help, he became the Green Arrow. He became a better man with her by his side. She changed him. And if someone wanted to argue that changing into a different kind of vigilante wasn’t true change, he had one fact to give them: Oliver Queen didn’t dance.

But tonight, he did. Because Oliver Queen could dance. As long as it was with one girl.

Felicity Smoak.

[blooblooded]

3 pages of Flick

RIP random secret police teen goons who get mindlessly slaughtered, what is this, game of thrones?

Anyways just fleshing out a thought.

##

Flick had his back turned when the shot rang out. He had been looking at the wall of screens on one side of the room, considering how useful something like that would be back home. And of course he had let his guard down, of course he had not been close enough to do anything even if he had been paying attention. In a civilized society, people did not murder their guests! Much less guests who are part of an ambassadorial party. They had been in this strange, ugly city for two weeks. Violence was completely unexpected.

It was just another meeting, like the handful of others they had attended already. Just another discussion regarding the centuries-old embargo. The elected leader of Eden was there, along with the woman who pulled his strings and three of the helmeted and black-clad soldiers. And from the North were himself, the Prime Minister, Beatrice, and Olive. Jules, the naggy little witch, had disappeared days ago; he did not have the characteristics of a person who could survive underground for very long. None of this was out of the ordinary.

So Flick had believed it to be safe for him to check out the wall of screens while more politically-minded people talked. He wasn’t a thinker, he was an observer and a gatherer of information. Eden was more carefully monitored with technology than any area of the North could hope to be with his network of informants. They were not industrialized enough for that yet, and there was too much space...but if he was only able to utilize more cameras! It was a wonderful tool for rooting out strife or rebellion, although Eden seemed to be on the brink of that anyway. Shame.

And then, that single gunshot. Time slowed down. Flick’s broken, useless body reacted faster than his mind did. He turned just in time to see the Prime Minister crumple to the floor with a hole in her head. Behind her stood Botega, the woman who was really in charge of Eden. Botega held a small firearm that had previously been on the belt of one of her faceless soldiers.

Before Florence fell, Flick caught a glimpse of her face, grotesquely ruined by the exit wound. So much like his face. It made him freeze. Against all his experience, all his training, he froze as his shock washed over him.

He had never loved her, of course, just like she had never loved him. He had been unwanted in every way. But now, faced with this sudden and horrific loss, his ability to breathe was compromised.

Botega, lit by the bright blue lights of this strange room, did not hold the gun like she was familiar with it. But she held it like she was perfectly comfortable using it. For two weeks she had dressed in gray, worn her hair back, and studied the Northerners from behind her thick glasses. She appeared to be a boring intellectual, not a killer. Now the intent to do so radiated from her ageless face. Her puppet Mayor cringed back with his hands up near his face. The three soldiers just watched; only the one closest to Botega stood in a way that indicated he was ready for action.

While Flick stood petrified, his comrades acted.

Beatrice screamed as she saw Florence drop, and even as Botega paused to ascertain that she had accomplished her objective, the bulky woman was unleashing her invisible hands. She shoved Olive behind her. Her late brother used his ability to rip, tear, and crush, but Beatrice’s approach was less lethal even in her anger. The force of her abilities slammed down on Silas’s arms, causing her to drop the gun and cry out.

And already Anatole was unsheathing his killer sword, bloodlust distorting his handsome face.

“Silas!” shouted the masked soldier who was closest to Botega, as he saw her stumble and reel back from Beatrice’s strike. Quick as a cat, he threw his arms around her and the two of them vanished into thin air. Teleportation. This left two enemies. In that moment, it became clear that these elite forces employed by Eden were people with abilities, people like Beatrice and Dog.

That sort of thing was where Dog came from in the first place: trapped in a kennel his entire childhood, used for his powers. It was not a new idea, but it was a bad idea. It was kinder to kill people than let them live that kind of life.

Move, thought Flick. Why can’t you move? His breath was not getting into his lungs, his throat was closing up. He tried to will it to stop. In his peripheral vision he could see Olive kneeling on the floor by his mother’s body, her red robes in disarray. She had her hands on Florence’s body and was muttering something in her dark language; praying.

Green electricity coursed up the arm of one of the masked soldiers, in the same way that it had with Marty’s friend Esther all those months ago. He made a fist, directing the blast towards the entire Northern party. Anatole brought his sword up to block it. The witches’ magic in the steel blade rendered the electricity useless and for a second the room was illuminated in a green flash as the two forces met. As the soldier panicked, unused to anything that could challenge an ability, Anatole slashed down with his full strength across his torso, sending him twitching and dying onto the floor. The other one was slower, or maybe shocked and stupider. He was unable to pull a weapon or react before the sword was twisting into his guts.

The room filled with the smell of death. The soldier who had been eviscerated cried as he lay dying. Anatole stepped over his body, his boots tracking through the blood and piss. His gaze roved around the room, looking for something else to kill. This rage would not leave him for hours, it never did. In his mind he was once again on the battlefield; but trapped alone and underground, his odds of survival were worse than ever. He bent to yank the helmet from the dying soldier, only to reveal the face of a boy no more than 17. His mouth twisted and he put his enemy out of his misery.

“What the fuck are you doing, standing there like that?” he said to Flick savagely.

Flick wheezed and thought about anything other than hyperventilating. He had his hands uselessly on his chest, which was not expanding as it should.

Olive rose. Her dark hair fell around her face like a curtain and her eyes were glowing red. Beatrice grabbed her hand and she shook her away. Even in her grief and anger, she emanated coldness and pride. She had noticed the Mayor.

Mayor Malena was on his knees in the corner with his arms protecting his head. Without Botega and without the soldiers, his charm and good looks disappeared. He became just an awkward middle aged man in a suit. “Don’t kill me,” he sniveled. There was nothing worse than a coward. “I can help you, don’t kill me! You won’t get out of here alive without me!” Olive said a spidery word that Flick’s mind had no comprehension of and Malena began to cough up clots of blood. It dripped down his chin and onto his jacket. His body thrashed. Beatrice watched grimly, desensitized to the necessities of violence.

Far below them, an alarm was sounding.

At last Flick fought through his shock. His breathing did not return to normal but he could finally move and think and speak. As long as he did not look at the body of his mother, he was 60% sure he would not have an asthma attack. “Wait,” he hacked. He stumbled toward Olive and Beatrice. Anatole gently caught his elbow before he tripped and fell. If Flick had been in complete control of his body at that moment, he would have stabbed him. “Don’t kill him.”

The wave of blood magic subsided and Flick had the attention of everyone around him. He kept coughing. “You two have to get home,” he told the women. And it was true. He and Anatole were expendable. The North would die without firm leadership, it had been so close to dying for so long. They could not let that happen. “Use him as leverage if you need to. We’ll rampage, cause mass panic, draw everyone off. You might just be able to sneak away, the surveillance cameras will malfunction around the two of you. But you have to get home. I mean, you can’t let all of this have been for nothing.”

For once, perhaps because there was no time to lose in arguing, they listened to him. Beatrice seized Malena by the collar and pulled him up as he whined. She nodded curtly at Flick.

Anatole was still supporting Flick by the elbow. It was strange that he was capable of expressing such tenderness towards him when he was capable of becoming blood-drunk on such brutality; that made Flick wish he could stab him as well. His curly brown hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat. “Are you up for this?” he asked.

Flick thought about the gunshot and did not look at the floor.

“What else is there?” he wheezed. His mother was dead and he was a defective person about to get hunted down and killed in a place far away from his home.

What else was there.

[rfhusnik]

Memories:  Gethsemane Underground

                                  Written By:  F. John Surells

              His spirit still walks amongst the olive trees here. His body is gone, but his challenge to join him and his father lives on.

           W used to hide whiskey bottles by the river. Sometimes when he and T argued about how best to live out their remaining days on Earth, he’d sneak down there and imbibe.

           My thoughts herein may be confused and random, but at least they’re authentic. And today I think I’ve finally learned what Joseph Same meant when he said “I can feel the cold bitter winds of Eden blowing from out its eastern gate.”

           And today, like him, I’ve also been expelled from a biblical garden. The angel of literature appeared here this day and said “In honor of the celebration of his birth, we’re going to ask that for three minutes now only those mortals who’ve never sinned would remain in the garden. Would all those who’ve, during their lifetimes been tainted by Lucifer’s devices, please exit the garden now, and return again, if such is their wish, after those three minutes have expired.” The garden then became completely emptied of humans.

           And upon exiting the garden, I and the others who’d left with me heard a prophet postulating on a pedestal. His words were: “Unleash the corporate and corporeal bodies. Let the freedom bird fly uninhibited through liberty’s skyline.”

           “I’ve got a feeling that this time the movers who control the chess board aren’t playing games anymore. What’s that pounding sound behind us? Whose flag waves before us? Oh, it’s a cloth of words:  ��Save the republic! It belongs in-house, not out-landerish.’”

           And then it seemed that some sort of fog lifted from my recognition. And then I realized that in regard to actual deeds performed or accomplished, one’s physical location may not always be as important as one’s mental state. And I understood then that sometimes we might gladly book passage on a magic carpet ride, simply to once more see a smile on the face of someone known to possess keys to the kingdom.

           X ran off the road late one evening as he was driving home. His windshield had fogged up, and he turned the steering wheel too quickly. His car needed to be pulled from the ditch with the aid of a farm vehicle, and FJ was extremely angry.

           No one, I’m thinking, can reach backward or forward on the clock hands and change what has been, or alter what will be. Yet, we’ve learned that there are mind riders who, within their own comprehensions, have come to believe realities of deeds which sometimes weren’t, aren’t, and/or someday won’t be in actual correspondence with what verifiably was, is, or may still be. Nevertheless, no one can stop the mind riders. Their scopes of possibilities of fact are limited only by their own possibilities of imagination.

           And on one of their transports of focus, I’ve today ridden back to a famous garden. And I’ve been allowed entrance. But then I’ve been asked to leave, apparently for a remembrance of next month’s great holiday. And so, I’m standing here on the outside now. And I’m very fearful now. And yet, though I never asked to, or had any desire to journey here, today perhaps I’ll meet the man who actually is one part of a trinity which, I believe masters all of time; and that means not only the way in which it passes, but also all that it’s ever wrought, or will yet grant.

           And there’s supposedly a convention (or gathering) of “the people of the underground” occurring here today. And the “goings on” of those people at that gathering will, I guess, constitute the majority of “underground memories” I’m to disclose in this piece. And, as is often the case with matters of concern to our city and its enigmatic population, our mayor, Ralph Hawk, has once again decided to make certain aspects or memories from this rendezvous known to the public at large.

           Thus, as I said, I’m standing outside the gate. And now, suddenly, in violation of what we’d normally consider a normal passage of time, night has fallen. And just inside the gate now, I can see that his friends, whom the Master brought with him to pray tonight, have fallen asleep. And I guess they’re sleeping in an innocence of unknowing, or perhaps in an innocence of an inability to know.

           No, they don’t know how their friend prays in wretchedness now. And they don’t know what lies ahead for him. Nor do they know what, in a few hundred years, will befall the empire that rules them now. They can’t comprehend that foreigners from outside a domain can destroy that domain simply through infusion, without ever acting militarily.

           But the Master approaches now. He sees his friends asleep, and with words that awaken them he says “Your spirit is willing, but your flesh is weak. Couldn’t you have watched with me here for one hour?”

           And then seeing me standing outside the gate he said “John, I know my father has sent you here from your existence two thousand years hence. I hope you know that symbolically you and all God’s children were with my disciples and I earlier this evening as we consummated one last supper together. Go back now to pages of memories that occurred much closer to your allotted time on this planet. Relive now some glimpses of the future, or the past, depending upon your interpretation of my father’s book of eternity.”

           And then suddenly the Master and his disciples were gone from my sight, as were all others whom I’d previously seen both inside and outside the gate; and I found myself riding (apparently in someone else’s stead) once again in that car on those icy roads. M loses control, slides off the pavement, enters the ditch, and hits an electrical pole. Much of the front of the car is severely dented inward, but FS tries to comfort M. And he tells another passenger from the car, whose identity is meaningless today, to walk away and summon FJ, who in anger then drives along with the unknown person to the scene of the accident. And as soon as FJ opens his car door upon reaching the sight, he’s stopped from unleashing the tirade he’d expected to pronounce. FS immediately confronts him, tells him to keep his mouth shut, and do what is necessary to extract the car from the ditch and the pole.

           W was standing by a bridge which permitted the crossing of a small river. And W was angry that day. And he was drunk. And he was complaining to FS that although he had plenty of money, he couldn’t do anything with his life anymore. “I’ve got money to burn” he said. “But what good does it do me? All I can do is sit in that house all day long. T won’t let me do anything. And it looks like all she’s living for now is her expectation of her and my deaths.”

           And W took a ten dollar bill from his wallet then and lit it on fire. But FS grabbed it out of W’s hand, and before it would have become worthless, put its fire out; and, with the blessing of W, gave it then to an unidentified person who also happened to be there at the time.

           In preparation to attend a convention of so-called undergrounders, wouldn’t one’s greatest goal be to at least attempt to learn and understand the mindset of such people? I thought so. And in my endeavor to do so, I was very strangely aided. As I looked about at the people entering the garden that day, I actually recognized an elderly gentleman from our city! It seemed obvious to me that this chance meeting must have been orchestrated by some otherworldly force. Nonetheless, I called out to the man “Hey, I recognize you as being from my city! Why are you here, waiting to enter Gethsemane?”

           “I’ve lived my entire life in our city” he said. “I was born and raised there, on the south side. And I graduated from elementary and secondary schools there; and then worked there for forty some years in the factory owned by Mr. Havess. And nowadays, of course we know what’s become of our city. While many still work for a living at the factory, there’s now a whole new bunch of people in our town – artistic types – or whatever they call themselves. And the funniest thing about it is that their leader, a guy named Hawk, actually works full time at the factory, even though he’s now been elected mayor of our city as well.”

           “Oh yes, I know Ralph very well thank you” I replied. “But what’s our greatest problem as you see it?”

           “To me, our greatest problem is a national rather than a local one” he said. “I’m getting so sick and tired of the constant criticism people such as myself are receiving from this nation’s liberal politicians and media. People like myself worked many years to support ourselves in this nation, and now that we have a chance to perhaps enjoy our elder years, all we hear about is that during our lifetimes we didn’t care enough about lazy people who didn’t want to work. And now we’re also being chastised because we’re trying to stop people from entering our nation illegally.”

           “And some of the things you see on television, or hear in the news nowadays are just plain shameful – like what happened in those Supreme Court hearings recently. And now we have people who publically encourage Americans to commit acts of violence against government officials.”           But then suddenly my discourse with this gentleman ended, and I found myself seated in a church pew, attending an evening Maundy Thursday worship service. And the officiant was speaking about the Lord’s anguish at Gethsemane, when suddenly a significant noise was heard by the congregation. FS, who had a drinking problem, had been more or less forced to attend church that evening, even though he’d been drinking during the day. (He always drank on the five weekdays, but on the two weekend days he wouldn’t touch a drop)

           “My wife made me go to church that night” he’d later say. “I was alright for about the first half of the service, but then my head started to swirl, and I knew I had to get up and leave. On my way out, I fell down in the aisle between the two sections of church pews, and my fall made a large noise. But FJ then came to my aid, and helped me get out of the church. And boy was he mad at me! He said I’d embarrassed our family, which I guess I’d done. But RS shouldn’t have forced me to go to church that evening in the first place.”

[briangroth27]

Arrow Season 6 Wish List

Full Spoilers…

I loved Season 5 and thought it completed Season 4’s return to Arrow’s Season 2 high point. I can’t wait to see where the show will go next, but here are some things I’d love to see in Season 6!

Oliver Queen/Green Arrow I love that Ollie fought through the darkness of the “monster” inside him and it seems like we’re headed for a more hopeful hero.  Ollie doesn’t need to be as sunny as Flash or Supergirl, but an arc arguing that you can always come back from your sins (no matter how awful) is a great tack to take with a character so steeped in personal improvement as Green Arrow. There’s a valid story in becoming a beacon of hope after overcoming your mistakes, and watching Oliver and the rest of Team Arrow lift each other up and stay in the light despite the darkness of their pasts will be great to watch. Despite being a show about redemption, it doesn’t have to become any less gritty: Ollie can be the light and center of hope in a dark world. I do want them to define the “pleasure” Ollie took when he liked killing criminals. My feeling is his “monster” was the awareness that killing was never off the table for him and the fact that he would gladly do whatever it took to save others (connecting to his role as Star City’s sin-eater), coupled perhaps with a bit of happiness knowing he’d permanently made the world a little safer by eliminating a criminal (that was never implied and I can’t believe we were supposed to infer Ollie is a serial killer who became a vigilante to scratch his murderous itch). Assuming everyone he loves isn’t dead, I can’t wait to see a happier, free-from-his-past Oliver!

I’m also very interested to see how Ollie develops now that William is back in his life. I felt Season 4 missed an opportunity to play with that entirely fresh relationship, so hopefully William will stick around for a long time and we’ll see Ollie grow into a father. The scene or two we got of him bonding with William last year was sweet, but with what seems like Samantha’s death, I’m sure Ollie and William’s relationship will take a dark turn this year. I hope they can work through it.

What I still want to see most—and what I think Amell’s version needs to fully be Green Arrow—is his left-wing politics. Comics Ollie stands apart from other heroes for railing against the system that creates criminals and societal problems in addition to fighting supervillains, so that should translate here. Oliver’s mayoral arc in Season 5 saw him making several baby steps and at least one major leap toward this iconic status, so I hope that continues. Executive Producer Marc Guggenheim told me in a Tumblr ask long ago that it’s difficult to get too far into the political aspect, so I appreciate any strides they can make. I’d settle for Ollie becoming the voice of the common man—something similar to Chris Evans’ Captain America, perhaps—if they can’t go full-on liberal with him. They could incorporate Ollie’s time as a Bratva captain to utilize his first-hand experience with the criminal perspective; if he understands what motivates criminals, not only can he fight them better, but he can work to ease the systemic issues that create crime. Ollie can also use the darkness of his past to better understand and connect with the criminals he faces, both as Green Arrow and as mayor, to hopefully lead them down a better path. Whether those factors come into play or not, Ollie trying to run a broken government and realizing it needs to change to truly save everyone would be a great step forward. If the theme of Season 6 is family, perhaps it’s time Ollie took an even bigger interest in the larger “family” of Star City’s residents.

While I’m glad there will be danger in the form of the Feds looking into Ollie’s  Green Arrow connections—a good outgrowth from being investigated by Susan and a perfect result of making GA a target—I hope they don’t derail his mayoral administration. There’s so much more drama they can mine from that setup. They can frustrate him with companies who don’t want to pay to help people who “don’t help themselves” and the limits of his mayoral position that don’t allow him to make the changes that will really help save the city. Ollie navigating how to convince people to care could be his hardest fight—and an especially relevant one—yet. Give Ollie as many obstacles he can’t just shoot as possible!

Allies -Thea Queen/Speedy: Thea’s fear that her darkness is leading her to become like Moira is a brilliant idea, and while she went away to deal with it in Season 5, I think we definitely need to see that battle onscreen in Season 6. Malcolm’s death will surely complicate things and I can’t wait to see where Thea goes from here because of her complex feelings towards him. Were she to truly embrace her inner Moira, I wouldn’t be opposed to Thea becoming a villain for a bit.

-John Diggle/Spartan: I’d like to see more conflicts about the legality and limits of superheroes vs. the government overstepping its bounds with Lyla. I’d also love for these two to meet Connor Hawke/John Jr., particularly now that he’s been rewritten into the timeline via Flashpoint. If there’s more for John to deal with in terms of his guilt over killing Andy, then let’s see that too!

-Felicity Smoak/Overwatch: While I’m all for most of the characters fighting past their darkness, Felicity indulging in hers is kinda fun. I liked her subplot with Helix in Season 5 and I absolutely think they need to deal more with her choosing to destroy Havenrock than they have. I wouldn’t mind Felicity’s spinal tech being damaged in the destruction of Lian Yu to the extent where she has to deal with her paralysis far more than we saw in Season 4. That was a rushed arc in Season 4 that could’ve yielded much more drama and growth to her character, in addition to being a realistic and relatable chance for greater representation on the show. I’d love Donna Smoak to return too, which could be especially interesting given the darkness Felicity has experienced since we saw her last. I’d also love to see more of her relationships with her father and Ollie; Noah leaving is full of possibilities and I really like how Felicity fits into Ollie’s arc of becoming a better man (even if conversely, I like Felicity going darker).

-Roy Harper/Arsenal: I’d love Roy back on the team full-time! I really liked the partnership he and Ollie forged and if his return in Season 3 showed us nothing else, no one Thea dates holds a candle to the connection she has with Roy. I’d love to see where Roy is now and if he’s continued his heroics in his own way. If we can’t ever get Dick Grayson, Agent of Spyral because of the Batman rights limits, what about Agent Harper? Roy worked with the Suicide Squad in the comics, so this wouldn’t be that big a change from the source material. The world even thinks he’s dead—like they did Grayson when he went undercover in Spyral—and Spyral is too cool and fun a spy organization not to use on one of The CW’s shows. Reinventing Roy as Ollie’s mole in a mind-bending international spy ring could be an awesome arc! Colton Haynes said he’d be back soon, so I can’t wait!

-Curtis Holt/Mr. Terrific: I want to learn more about him and see how the show deals with super-science beyond what Ray brought to it. Personally, I’d like to see him become the low budget/homemade tech guy to differentiate him from the heroes of Legends, Supergirl, and Flash. Curtis found a good balance between using his fists and his brain to fight crime this year and I’m excited to see that develop even further. Curtis is also working really well as the beacon of untainted light/hope on the show (with a sense of “fair play”) and I’d love for that to continue. We saw his marriage to Paul fall apart this year, so I’d like to see more fallout of that, in addition to flashbacks or something to show us their happier times so we have a better idea of what Curtis lost. I really think Paul is Vigilante, so that’d be a great conflict! I also wouldn’t mind if Curtis and Rene became a thing.

-Dinah Drake/Black Canary 2: I still would like to see more of why the team needs Dinah. I like her, but Team Arrow doesn't feel more complete with her on it. Ollie brought her in reasoning that Laurel left a hole they needed to fill and while her death definitely left the team feeling shattered in Season 4, it felt rebuilt before Dinah was brought in. I don’t think she’s extraneous, I just don't see what Dinah's bringing that no one else is; had Ollie not made that declaration, it wouldn’t stick out like it does. That said, I think there’s great potential with her job as a cop to look at how the rest of the force views superheroes and a chance to examine when it’s appropriate to deal with a crime as a cop and when being Black Canary is necessary. Her policework is also a good source of conflict for her superhero ID, since things like her fingerprints are now on record and she’s surrounded by detectives who’ll notice if she slips away and Black Canary appears; she’ll have to be that much more careful when in the field. I’m also very interested to see how she lives up to Laurel’s legacy in both her and Quentin’s eyes, and how her ongoing conflict with Black Siren develops.

-Rene Ramirez/Wild Dog: I don’t know anything about Wild Dog in the comics and while it took a while for him to grow on me, I left the season a fan. I hope he and Quentin can get his daughter back and I’d also love to see their working relationship at City Hall to continue: that was key to improving and rounding out Rene for me and I loved the bond he built with Quentin. I’m up for anything with his character, but one idea for a fun subplot I had was for him and Zoe to have a playdate with Ollie and William. I doubt it would happen, but I’d absolutely be down for it. At the very least, it seems like it’d be logical for the two kids who seem like they’ll be on the show for a while to bond and become friends. The other key relationship Rene had in Season 5 for me was his friendship with Curtis, so I’d definitely love to see that expanded on and fully explored.

-Quentin Lance: If any member of Team Arrow were to die in the destruction of Lian Yu, my money would be on Quentin. He seems to have mostly cleaned himself up, approved of Dinah carrying on Laurel’s legacy, and found a renewed purpose; it might seem like his arc is complete. However, I think there’s plenty of potential with Laurel-2 around. Black Siren’s presence and the attempt to save her soul can fuel at least another season of plotlines for Quentin. The writers also found a fun reversal of his relationship with Ollie by working as his Deputy Mayor last year and surprising bonds with both Thea and Rene, all of which I’d love to see continue in Season 6.

-Slade Wilson/Deathstroke: I loved the older and wiser version we met in the Season 5 finale, so I’m up for whatever his deal with Ollie to find his son brings. But will the fact that Slade killed Moira be a sticking point for Ollie, no matter how much he wants to believe his old friend has changed?

-Nyssa al Ghul: I just hope she survived Lian Yu. She’s one of my favorites, so I’d love it if her feud with Talia could continue! I’d also like to see her reunite with Sara at some point.

-Dick Grayson/Nightwing: Dick Grayson would be an awesome example of a vigilante who permanently beat the darkness, since Robin came from tragedy yet helped Batman move into the light. Dick’s bright and friendly attitude mixed with his background with a much darker mentor would make for an interesting combination and he’d be a cool foil for Roy or, more pressingly, Thea. This is highly unlikely given Nightwing’s not only getting a movie but leading the Titans…but since that’s a Greg Berlanti show too, I hope they can cross over down the line!

-Barbara Gordon/Oracle: I doubt we’ll get her on the show (maybe on Titans, though), but Ollie has mentioned she exists so it’d be fun to develop a friendly rivalry between Babs and Felicity. Even if she only appeared offscreen via text or email, like Superman in Supergirl Season 1, it could work: they could encounter her Birds of Prey operatives and we wouldn’t necessarily have to see her in the flesh. If that’s the most we can get, I’d take it.

-Helena Bertinelli/Huntress: Guggenheim says she could return and I’d be all for her development beyond the angry vigilante she’s been so far. How does Ollie’s administration deal with a vigilante who isn’t working with his team? Could she be working with Vigilante? With Helix? Perhaps she could mention that she’s working with “someone new,” and she could be one of Oracle’s Birds of Prey operatives. Regardless, I’d like to see her and Ollie patch things up and forge a healthier relationship.

-Vic Sage/The Question: Vic Sage’s brutal style of vigilantism clashes with Ollie’s efforts to find peaceful solutions (think Daredevil and Punisher), while his day job as a reporter would allow him to put pressure on Ollie’s mayoral position as well as threaten to expose his Green Arrow double life. Though it’s true Vigilante and Susan Williams just played very similar roles, Question’s insane Mulder-esque conspiracy theories—which are usually right—would be extremely entertaining with everyone around him thinking he’s completely nuts. Question has struggled with whether or not to take a life in the comics, which would be a cool parallel of Ollie’s recent internal battle. The character’s original objectivist beliefs would be a great contrast to Ollie’s growing liberal mindset too. I’m also up for introducing Renee Montoya (the second Question) as his partner-in-training or as the current Question (and maybe Dinah’s partner on the force!)…though she’s appeared on Gotham so she’s probably off-limits.

 Enemies -Robert Queen-2: Either as an enemy or an antagonistic ally, I’d love to see Ollie meet this alternate universe version his father, who became the Arrow of Earth-2. Not doing this would be a major misstep, particularly as Ollie will be a father this season as well and the season’s theme is family. I’d love to see how Robert-2 has developed differently from Ollie and how Ollie reacts to seeing his father in his role. I don’t see them really getting along for some reason (at least at first), but I’d love to see them try! It’s also likely Robert-2 has some history with Black Siren, so that’d be a great connection as well! 

-Laurel Lance-2/Black Siren: I’d love to learn about her history on Earth-2 and I can’t wait to see where she goes next season, since Laurel-2 is one of my favorite additions to the show. What does she want now that she’s marooned here? Whether Oliver and Team Arrow are successful in redeeming her or if she goes completely evil, I’m down. I can’t wait to see her battle with Dinah over the Black Canary legacy and how she reacts to Quentin on an extended basis. I’d love to see her interact with Sara over on Legends too! Whatever she does, I hope she’s an independent operative this season rather than working for another bigger bad. There’s a team of villains this year, but I hope they’re equal partners rather than Laurel-2 being a lackey. I’d also like to see a flashback to when and how Barry broke the news to Team Arrow that they had her locked up—and how Ollie reacted—since Team Flash chose to keep her a secret at first.

-Dinah Lance-2: I’d love it if Alex Kingston could return as Laurel-2's mom and the original Black Siren of Earth-2. Either as a hero disappointed by Laurel-2’s villainous turn or a villain who passed her mantle on to her daughter, this would be a cool twist on the comics’ Black Canary legacy, as well as an awesome evil version of Laurel’s legacy on the show. And what if she met our Quentin? Was her Quentin a corrupt cop?

-Vigilante: I can’t wait to find out who’s under the mask and I’m certainly hoping he’s Paul Holt. The clash between him and Curtis—not to mention Curtis’ reaction to finding out Paul is a vigilante too—would be fantastic. I wonder if he’s working with Helix as their muscle, but either way, I hope to see more of his “kill all the villains” philosophy clashing with Ollie’s new mindset.

-Evelyn Sharp/Artemis: I would’ve loved to know how she felt about finally getting to work with Laurel’s old team. Did she feel she was living up to Lance’s legacy? Did once holding the Black Canary mantle make her second-guess her decision to side with Prometheus at all? In hindsight, she was one of Season 5’s bigger missteps, as she had both built-in tension with Oliver from Season 4 that could’ve been focused on and they could’ve done a lot more with her journey from Canary acolyte to villain. She had the makings of a solid supporting enemy and I liked what McLaughlin did with the screentime she had. Unfortunately, she didn’t get enough time to really dig into Evelyn’s potential. If she survived the island, I’d most like to see her played up as a dark foil for Thea; an externalization of Thea’s struggle like Chase was for Ollie. Evelyn being driven by her parents’ deaths is a perfect parallel to Thea feeling the darkness of her parents taking hold of her.

-Werner Zytle/Count Vertigo: An actual count would be awesome—I really like the idea of a criminal with diplomatic immunity—but I doubt we’ll get it now that we’re two Vertigos deep (though Werner Zytle could be disgraced foreign royalty for all we know…or maybe he’s distantly related to royalty and doesn’t know it yet). I loved Seth Gabel’s insane Count, but Zytle could use more personality and grander ambitions IMO. What does he want? What drives him? Could he get into a turf war with Brick? The comics’ reality-warping Vertigo device falling into his hands would give him a more powerful attack and an awesome visual effect! Most importantly, warping Ollie’s perception of reality would be a wholly unique way to mess with Green Arrow’s primary attack strategy. If nothing else, it feels like Vertigo could fill the mob boss role Brick and Church have tried to hold over the course of the series. They could do so much more with Zytle, so I hope they explore him to his fullest!

-William Tockman/Clock King: I’d like to see him return in a larger supervillain role, maybe as someone who organizes other criminals’ crimes so they’re more effective.

-Onomatopoeia: An extremely tough assassin who only speaks in onomatopoeias, he’d be cool and creepy. He’s one of the few major Green Arrow villains who haven’t appeared on the show yet, so it’d be cool to finally get him in live action!

-Lonnie Machin/Anarky: I have no idea where Thea’s arc is going to take her, but I bet there’s a good chance it leads directly to him. I loved the point he made about her always following others and I hope that the two of them have a few more climactic battles. 

-Owen Mercer/Captain Boomerang: I don’t see how Digger Harkness could have survived Lian Yu, so perhaps Arrow—or Flash—can introduce his metahuman son! Owen has super speed that manifests in bursts (allowing him to bring a whole new level to his boomerang attacks), but he’s more interested in family than he is in crime. With Season 6 being about family, it’d be cool to see him introduced this year!

-Spyral: A UN covert operations agency from the Cold War, they recruit lone operatives like daredevils and mad scientists rather than agents from established espionage agencies. They’re spies with tech like hypnos implants that create illusions and hallucinations in the minds of enemies, can link operatives’ vision, and can upload information directly to the mind. They also have identity protection implants that “swirl” their face in the minds of enemies and on camera so they can’t be remembered. Maybe they’re interested in taking advantage of the worldwide lack of nukes Damien Darhk caused. Maybe their Cold War ties could connect to Ollie’s time in Russia somehow. They’d also give ARGUS an interesting opponent, to loop Lyla into the story.

-Cheshire: If Roy is coming back, they should introduce her! As the world’s “second-deadliest assassin”—an excellent fighter and acrobat who employs poisoned blades and other weapons—she’d be a great challenge for the team. Her comic history with Roy (she’s the mother of his child) could be twisted in new and interesting ways on the show; if they went with Spyral, maybe she could be his handler or partner. Perhaps a semi-redeemed assassin like post-Roy Cheshire could be a cool foil for Thea as well.

-Edward Nygma/Riddler (or Enigma): It’ll probably never happen, but I’d love to see Team Arrow go up against Riddler, my favorite Batman villain and an entirely different type of challenge for the team. If Cory Michael Smith could play the Berlanti-verse doppelganger of his Gotham character it’d be perfect, as he’s one of the best parts of that show. But since he likely can’t, maybe they could use Riddler’s daughter Enigma instead. Just have her refer to wanting to impress her dad by “improving” on his methods to take down a superhero. I doubt Gotham will ever get to her and if we can have an unnamed Harley Quinn cameo on Arrow, Enigma shouldn’t be that big a stretch.

 I don’t have specific ideas for what they could do, but I’m always game for more Cupid, Brick, Chien Na Wei, Liza Warner, Talia, and Calculator! I love that CW villains recur like in the comics and hope that continues. If Season 6 features villains who are deliberate opponents for specific members of Team Arrow, perhaps they could team up to form Arrow’s very own Injustice Gang!

 General Show Notes I hope Arrow—and Oliver himself—continues taking on real-life social issues and systemic problems to the extent that Supergirl takes on feminist struggles. Our ongoing real-life political standoff between the rich and poor—as well as the movement for greater equality and representation—makes this the perfect time to dive into that aspect! Dealing with the issues of today could be the key to reinvigorating the show's ratings, direction, and purpose in Season 6 and beyond. Arrow's CW’s grounded show and Ollie is one of the most political characters in comics (in addition to Ollie literally being involved in the politics of Star City), so it’s already a perfect fit!

I certainly hope that any future flashbacks follow Daredevil’s example: use them when needed, but don’t put them in all or even most of the episodes. I like that they’re something of a metaphor for drawing an arrow back before letting it fly, but it’s time to move past them. I can’t wait for the majority of episodes (at least) to use their full runtime—flashbacks took up an average of eight minutes each week—to flesh out the present-day adventures!

This is the absolute smallest nitpick I could possibly come up with, but I’d still like them to start calling the Arrow Cave “The Quiver.” Ever since Harley Quinn pointed out how much more sense that makes for Green Arrow’s base of operations in an issue of Injustice, I’ve thought it should be the canon term. It sounds cool and pulpy too!

Finally, I’d love for them to find a way for Justin Hartley to appear on the show. I don’t know who joked about it years ago, but the idea of Hartley being the actor hired to play Oliver in a movie would be funny! However, if we can go to Earth-Smallville, I’d love to see Team Arrow’s reaction to a much lighter Oliver!

I can’t wait for Arrow to return tomorrow! What do you want to see?