#allstartstofade

An excerpt from Chapter Two of The Firebird, by allstartstofade and mystarsandmyocean (myself): 

“Take it,” Thea demands, her palm curling around her gift.  It isn’t quite a brooch, Felicity amends - that description too stuffy - but a golden circle, from which a bird emerges, both symbols backed by a pin.  Thea’s hand shoves her offering closer, her smile folding into wide eyes and a trembling lip, reminders that for all her bravado, Thea is still barely past childhood.  

Tracing the circle with her middle finger, Felicity notices tiny, golden flames falling from the bird’s wings and tail - not a bird then at all, but a phoenix, like in the stories that had preceded the Dark Days.  Felicity’s never seen something so beautiful - or so old.  Not much remains from the times before the Games; most relics locked away in Capitol museums.  “Thea,” she murmurs reverently, “I can’t accept this.”

“Mom gave it to me this morning,” Thea scoffs, pressing her palm into Felicity’s.  “She said it would protect me from being reaped.”  She pulls away, leaving the pin in Felicity’s hand.  “Stupid, I know.  But….then again, they didn’t choose me.”

They chose you hangs unspoken between them.  Another puzzle pieces clicks into place for Felicity.

“What happened today wasn’t your fault,” Felicity says, placing her free hand on Thea’s knee.  She waits until Thea meets her gaze before continuing.  “They didn’t choose you - that’s a good thing.  But that doesn’t mean that you chose me instead.”

Felicity would never ask anyone to make that sort of choice for her.    

Thea nods, a tentative smile not quite there.  “I still want you to keep it,” Thea insists, a Queen in every way but victory, “I wore it, and I didn’t get reaped.  Maybe if you wear it, it’ll help you win the Games.  Or, I don’t know, brighten up your outfits.  Those interview clothes have to be flashy, right?  Ollie always looks like such a peacock up there.”

This time, Felicity’s laugh is the one just shy of tentative, her struggle with the pin’s old clasp hiding the tears in her eyes.  She’s never worn anything but hand-me-downs and stitched-together remnants; she can’t even imagine wearing the glamour of the Capitol.  She’s suddenly glad she took a bath that morning, though she’s sure it won’t be enough to make her fit for Capitol couture.  The door to the room swings open before she can answer, Rob interrupting with a firm, “Miss Queen?”

“Thank you,”  Thea whispers, pulling Felicity in for one final hug, “I believe in you!”

@allstartstofade is a GODDESS and I am now going to see @hamiltonthemusical next month.

They'd all get arrested/tried/convicted. Felicity's the next easiest person to connect to the Arrow, but Diggle, Roy, and Laurel aren't far behind. Lance wouldn't be able to control it. They'd all get charged, and Laurel would likely get disbarred.

I’m about to post about Laurel for you. Xoxo.

that seems very much not right

Have we discussed how much I love Charlotte Martin??

How I feel about this character: LAUREL FUCKING DINAH LANCE. HOW MUCH DO I LOVE THEE? A lot really, let me fucking tell you.  Laurel gets the short end of the stick, I think, quite unfairly, in terms of fandom affection, when she is such a wonderful character + person.  I’ll admit, season 2 is a little shaky for me in terms of her writing, but I really liked her in Season 1 and if Season 3 has done anything right for me, it has taken that like and turned it into full on adoration and love. Laurel is fierce and strong and fights for what she believes in, even when she’s lonely and lost and hurting. She - as much as Oliver or Sara or any other broken, battered character on the show - holds herself to impossibly high standards and deserves love and light just as much after all the loss she’s endured.  

All the people I ship romantically with this character: I did so love Laurel and Tommy together; they were REALLY GREAT (and Tommy was so much more Laurel’s “one true love” than Oliver ever was).  My ideal love interest scenario, in another world, would be revived anti-hero Catwoman-esque Tommy, prowling the city with his LOA training + just toeing the line between his LOA teachings + his own memories of wanting to be a better person for Laurel as they flirt their way around the city.  I’ll admit I didn’t really ship Ted with her - he was too serious for my tastes - but I would love someone with a solid sense of comedic timing for Laurel to come onto the show for her? Laurel’s a lot like Oliver in a lot of ways, and like Felicity balances him out, I think Laurel needs someone to balance her more serious side as well.  

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Currently? HOW MUCH DO I LOVE FELICITY + LAUREL’S BURGEONING FRIENDSHIP? A lot, LET ME TELL YOU. They have SO MUCH in common, more than anyone ever talks about, these two girls who have been left, time and time again, by the people who are supposed to love them, the people they love, and I just really adore how we’ve seen that subtle shift from wariness to respect to admiration and now friendship on the show.  As much as I love solid female friendships, I think there is something to be said for showing women who don’t get along, or don’t know how they feel about each other, at first, learning their way around each other before they become good friends. 

My unpopular opinion about this character: Well, this is DEFINITELY an unpopular opinion.  I think Laurel was completely, 100% understandably worried about telling Lance the truth about Sara.  Should she have kept it a secret? No. BUT - and this is a BIG but to me - Laurel was in the precarious position of having seen how he had reacted to this news once before. And while we’d certainly gotten hints of it in Season 1- the discussion of Lance’s divorce with Dinah, his slide into alcoholism, etc - the flashbacks in 3x14 only solidified it for me.  Quentin Lance was an emotionally abusive, manipulative asshole to his daughter - the only living daughter he thought he had - when he found out Sara had died the first time.  So for Laurel to be worried about what telling Quentin Sara had died yet again would do to him - would do to their relationship + her position as not his daughter, but as his caretaker - makes complete and utter sympathetic sense to me.  Defend Laurel Lance from Quentin 2k15, basically.  Also, WHAT SORT OF FATHER LEAVES HIS ALCOHOLIC DAUGHTER A BOTTLE OF SCOTCH IN FRONT OF HER DEAD SIBLING’S GRAVE? What Quentin said to Laurel at Sara’s grave was vitriolic and completely, in my opinion, justifies Laurel’s fears about his  reaction, as wrong as she was to keep Sara’s death a secret.