#a meta

—whenever someone comes to my post and picks what I’m trying to put down and just throws it away.

I mean??? What??? Whomst??? How???

So, there’s a new clip out for The Thing. Knowing that Gabriel is coming back this episode, I just had to look closer at these.

The top post it is fairly easy to see when Sam backs up to the mirror

“Ass Face” 

Pure gold

The second one down is a little trickier, but it is visible for a frame or two

“I’m stupid (something )[more? hare?something that ends in -re?]” {I flipped the image so I could read it easier}

Amazing

I can’t read the third one down at all, the the last one, the yellow one, scared me. from this angle, it says some word then “me”

And I freaked out a little. “Help me” was all I could think.

But when I change the angle

I can see the “ck” at the end. it says “kick me”

Incredible

Now, I don’t know if these were put there by Gabriel or not. Deans indifference towards it makes me think its not his doing. Dean would laugh at any prank he played on his brother. 

Maybe Cas? He’s learning to play practical jokes? Unlikely.

I wanted to say a few words about the spoiler photos of the Olicity wedding that inundated Tumblr yesterday. I was a little surprised by some of the reactions. There were gifs of fireworks and screaming and fainting, but there was also disappointment and a sense that the element of surprise is being taken away.

This wedding has been something a large majority of the fandom has wanted to see happen ever since Oliver came into Felicity’s cubicle and smiled at her, seeing her as a person rather than a threat or a target. The inertia of their chemistry took hold and propelled them forward into inevitability. They captured the hearts of so many fans, and after the debacle of Laurel being the main love interest on the show blew up in the writers faces, Olicity was born and legions of shippers began to envision a happy ending for Oliver and Felicity.

Through Season 2, 3 and half of 4, Olicity was the romantic core of the show, giving us tons of  heart eyes, a few shoulder touches and beautiful angst. It gave us hugs and fondling and straight up glorious sex. They fought and cried and laughed and almost died. They tried to ignore their fears and doubts and give each other a home. Oliver told Felicity in 406 that all of this was new to him. For Felicity as well. Everything they struggled with, everything that could have sunk their ship---it was the love they had for each other that kept them afloat.

Through all this, we as fans felt that a wedding was going to happen. It was only a matter of time. This was verified  to us in 409 when Oliver proposed to Felicity. We could envision (even with Oliver’s lie to her about William hovering in the background) a big, beautiful ceremony. We saw Felicity in a white, flowing gown coming down the aisle; elegant and happy. And Oliver was waiting for her, handsome and strong and so much in love. All of this would be surrounded by flowers and decorations and throngs of family and friends come to support and love (and maybe envy a little) the happy newlyweds.

It was quite a fantasy.

**

I remember reading captions on past posted pictures and gifs like “wifey” and “hubby” and “so married.” It felt true and right. Olicity paid their dues and deserved to be happy. It was true love incarnate.

Then 415 came along and the fantasy turned into a nightmare. Those masses of Olicity fans became disillusioned and even angry. The drama that imploded our happy couple was, for a lack of a better word---bullshit. A war was started (or continued) between the comic book purists who could not accept Oliver being with anyone but Laurel, and the free-thinkers who understood that the story Arrow was telling was an adaption of the comic story. There was even some bickering going on between Olicity fans as well. It was all so sad. Hard words and vitriol were tossed over the dividing line between factions, hurtful and vicious, and in some cases, demoralizing. The show’s ratings suffered and Olicity was left floating in limbo. That fantasy of a big, beautiful  wedding seemed to be moving out of reach.

Season 5 started and the shit really hit the fan. New love interests were introduced. Billy Malone and Susan Williams were brought in, supposedly to take our established couple in a different direction in the name of “moving on.” We got no spoilers for Olicity over the hiatus. Oliver’s character seemed to have regressed back to killing and going it alone. And Felicity was dancing around the edges of still being in love with Oliver while sleeping with Billy as if he was some kind of consolation prize.

It all seemed so pointless.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that Olicity was being denied the happy ending they fought and suffered for---us fans were deprived as well. It felt, at least to me, that all the interest I accumulated in banking on Olicity and their happy ending suddenly defaulted, leaving me broke and homeless and out in the cold.

Then Billy was exited stage left and Susan was not far behind. The walls between Olicity became more fragile now that both of their buffer zones were gone. It felt to me that thought the cracks, a familiar light was trying to break through.

Finally, the excellent episode that was 520 aired. Love or hate the writing, the long drought was over and Olicity began coming back together. Their journey, the one that started way back in a Queen Consolidated IT cubicle, resumed and put them on the path of reconciliation.

**

So, the wedding photos we all saw ignited the fantasy for some of us again. But not everyone was enchanted by them. There appears to be no flowers or decorations, no family and friends. Their attire is casual. And Barry and Iris are part of a double bill. Diggle is the only witness on hand.

But Oliver and Felicity look so goddamn happy.

In the end, isn’t that what all of us have ever wanted for them? Does it really matter if they are properly dressed in flowing gowns and well-fitted tuxes? Personally, I would still be just as happy if they were wearing Easter bunny costumes and getting married at Big Belly Burger.

I was gratified to see again “wifey” and “hubby” and “married” beneath some of those photos. The end justifies the means. For me, everything they’ve gone through, all the pain and disappointment, all the times they denied themselves their feelings and seemed to drift away from the fantasy---it was always about keeping their inner lights on. No matter what or how things tried to derail them, Olicity’s history could not be taken away.

Happily ever after has always been their endgame.

Thank you Arrow for making this happen. Seeing all those happy photos, I can almost forgive the long years of will-they, won’t-they, of groping in the dark to find a way out of impossible and sometimes ridiculous scenarios, of sacrifice and tragedy. I can almost forgive having my emotions being played with through dramatic manipulation.

Having Olicity happy, in love and married---it made the ride getting there worth it.

Almost.