#so i think it makes his determination to rescue her twofold. before‚ it was his responsibility as her brother - now‚ it is his duty as her | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

andrea-lyn · 5 years

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I’ve been meaning to write this for ages, but now that I started to think about it regularly, I absolutely need to get it out because the ideas keep hounding me. Below the cut, you’ll find If I Could Tweak S1 Roswell, New Mexico. For the most part, I wouldn’t change much. There was so much good about the season, but the big flaws in my mind were twofold – Maria’s lack of connection to the central plot, and rushing Caulfield. So, without further ado, this is what I would have done if you’d given me control of the episodes. Note: This will stay pretty canon compliant ‘ship wise, so there won’t be any ‘I would unwrite this ‘ship completely’ within.

Basically, all the Michael/Alex stuff, the Kyle plotlines, the Cameron ones, 90% of the plots, I wouldn’t change and they would follow the same beats. The rest, though? Here’s what I would have done…

The first change I’d make is that Michael and Maria would have a regular friends with benefit arrangement over the last ten years. When she’s feeling down, when he’s needing connection, they hook up and though for years, Michael never talked about anything, he started to open up and while he’d hesitate to call her a ‘friend’, he does deeply care about her, second only to Isobel. That said, Maria’s not really in danger of falling in love with him, because…

The biggest change I would make is adding a new character to the cast. Let’s call him Ben. Ben is a few years older than our cast and came to Roswell two years after they graduated high school. He’s a biology teacher at the high school who spends a lot of time at the Wild Pony, most of which is spent flirting with Maria. They’ve never been on a date, but there’s absolutely chemistry and something between them, and Maria feels a sort of connection to him. When Liz and Kyle are investigating aliens, Ben gets yanked into the investigations a lot, where they try and get his help/equipment without tipping off the alien thing

Noah is still an alien, he’s still in love with Rosa, and he still used Isobel’s body to manipulate her and get close to her. The murder of the three girls still happened when the pod squad was younger, Isobel still injects herself, still goes into a pod, and Texas and all that still happens as-is

The other murders of the vagrants and those who wouldn’t be missed also happened, but they all discover that it wasn’t Noah when they’re in his mind during the UFO Emporium re-opening, when someone is possessing Maria to do their bidding

Through Max and Jenna’s investigations, they discover that the murders all took place at the Wild Pony during Ranchero night, but that witnesses placed the local biology teacher with them; they discover that Ben is an alien and he’s the murderer, because…

He’s the product of alien breeding at Caulfield and one of Jesse’s attempts to understand the aliens. His parents were forced to have children and he only escaped during a prison transfer with a new guard when things were chaotic and he had his powers when he should have been nulled. He changed his name, his appearance, and spent a few years getting himself in a position in Roswell. His main and only goal is to dismantle Jesse Manes’ legacy and to do that, he’s been murdering people to amplify his powers

This is how everyone learns about Caulfield and Maria learns about aliens. They don’t actually put Caulfield under siege in S1, however, as they just learn about it

When Maria confronts Ben about all of this, she’s fully brought into the alien knowledge fold. He also tries to attack her to free himself, but her necklace prevents him from hurting her. Knowing everything, she goes to Michael to demand explanations at his Airstream. She also gives up her necklace to him once he gives her an overview of the alien thing and admits to being one. They’re having a tender moment because she feels stupid for being tricked and he feels bad for lying, which is when Alex comes in to find them (ready to give a speech about how he’s not his father’s son).

Alex, thinking something’s going on, bolts. Michael takes off after him.

Michael doesn’t need to be healed either body/hand, so after Max kills Ben in a showdown, they find Rosa in the pod and he’s able to heal her without killing himself. With Rosa back to life, now Isobel and Noah have to navigate that, plus the fact that Noah had been taking advantage of Isobel all those years. While no one wants to admit it because he’s a super creep, he’s also their best answer for their connection back home, but also their best resource against Jesse Manes and the prison

At the end of the season, Alex would turn up where everyone is decompressing/interrogating Noah/tending to Rosa. Maria would ask if he and Michael hashed things out and figured out that while she and Michael absolutely love each other, it’s only as extremely close friends

Except, Alex says with growing panic, Michael never reached him. He never saw him after he left the Airstream

Which is because Jesse Manes, embarrassed and determined to have a new pawn, kidnapped Michael before he could make it, and intends to use him to blackmail Alex into helping with the family business

That would set up a S2 that looks like thus:

Noah, Isobel, and Rosa navigating the consequences of what Noah did

Kyle and Liz figuring out what it’s like sharing a half-sibling

The group, including Maria, figuring out how to rescue Michael so they can pry Alex from his father’s influence and having to do things so Jesse doesn’t hurt Michael

Caulfield, in a multi-episode arc where they have time to figure out their powers, their people, etc.

Alex vs Jesse Manes showdown

Maria coping with the fact that a guy she thought she could love turned out to be a murderous alien and bonding with Isobel over lack of trust in the men they thought they were close with; she’d definitely have growing feelings for Michael, but more as a friendship, knowing what Alex feels for him

More into the lore of her necklace (how it protected her from Ben, why Jesse took it from Michael when he got kidnapped)

Alex facing his father and putting that enemy in the past, allowing him and Michael to start over

Max and Liz dealing with the fact that all the Caulfield aliens look at him with a sort of reverence, figuring out his position/authority/past

#roswell new mexico #ideal season 1 #rewrite #it'd stay canon compliant with all the ships #I'd retain 90% of what we were told #I'd just add a new character #save caulfield #bring maria in #and make m/m a little less romantic device and more real #so there's my dream

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ganymedesclock · 6 years

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Your meta is singlehandedly responsible for all my opinions and characterization of Shiro tbh and I kinda just realized something. Tell me if I'm wrong but I get the feeling what you're trying to say about after-s2 Shiro is just: This is Shiro, except now all his stressors are Worse.

I mean, Shiro’s not the same person he was in the first two seasons just as much as none of the other paladins are the same person they were in the first two seasons, but, I definitely think Shiro since then has built on what was established as his essential character that’s growing and changing.

Part of it is he’s under a lot more pressure. Part of it is, when Shiro first came to the position in s1 he basically took all of his trauma and survivalism and tried to stuff it back into the mold of the Garrison’s Golden Boy. And ironically, I think it’s s1 Shiro who’s a lot more callous- look through the early episodes and see how many times Shiro interrupts, corrects, shoves or silences Lance in particular.

He’s determined to make a good impression early on, and, frankly, Shiro’s first impression of Lance is not favorable- he seems to regard him as just fooling around when the paladins need to be serious, they need to commit to this.

He’s also the one to chew out Keith for demanding Pidge can’t leave and was about to make, frankly, a very bad decision by letting Pidge wander off alone into the universe without even questioning how even a very resourceful and clever fifteen year old intends to survive in a hostile spacefaring empire they know almost nothing about. And it’s pretty clear, I think, rather than fair judgment, Shiro’s letting his personal sense of guilt, believing he failed the Holts, rule in this context.

Yes, people shouldn’t be shackled to paladin duty, but given Pidge’s custom jet booster had a good chance of making the pod explode (and by good, seemingly as high as 50% since it was used twice and the second time it detonated) on top of everything else, it’s clear if she’d gone off alone the way she meant to, she would have died.

Shiro in s1 is trying to be a perfect leader for everyone and frankly, who he’s become since then is better. It stands that he’s come a long way that Hunk, Lance, and Shiro himself all agree it’s unlike him to snap at people and bark orders.

At a glance, Shiro might seem as if he’s doing worse, but to me, I think it’s an incredibly heartening sign that Shiro’s character development appears to be an exercise in learning to ask for help.

Because while Shiro’s not a tyrant of a leader the way Zarkon leaned alarmingly close to in s3e7 on multiple occasions- it stands that Shiro, too, especially early on, suffered from that disconnect. He kept his own problems incredibly close to his chest. It’s obvious that he desperately latched onto being Black Paladin as a way to cope- as a way to redefine himself by something other than what had just happened to him.

Shiro in s1 is a tight-coiled spring. He’s uptight, he argues with Lance over the littlest things, in s1e1 on two separate occasions he breaks up arguments just by yelling for them to stop or “Stow it, cadets!”

Shiro’s growth as a character involves climbing off the pedestal he was sitting on at the beginning of the show. And he’s not the only one who was enforcing it, either- Lance flat-out says Shiro was his personal hero.

In the comics, Pidge can’t conceive the idea of defeating Shiro at all even though he’s really not that much a better fighter than the other paladins- before she gets her head in gear and is able to knock him out, she just reflexively looks to him as an invincible paragon which is a pretty big cognitive slip in an issue all about Pidge’s ability to gather and keep data.

In s3e1, none of the team can really see themselves conceptualizing Shiro and a lot of their overtures seem to suggest, more than none of them are suited to the Black Lion like Shiro is (fair!) that... not a lot of them really understand what Shiro was doing. Even Keith, the closest to Shiro, leads as a Red Paladin. He says he can’t do this like Shiro can but he never seems to clarify what that entails.

What I personally think began in earnest in s3, though there were small things building towards it all along, is the systematic demystification of Shiro as the perfect leader, as the team’s paragon.

There’s kind of a point that, as Zarkon’s specific counterpart, enemy, and successor, Shiro is going to be called upon to succeed where Zarkon failed.

And Zarkon’s failure, what led to his death and downfall as a paladin, was twofold: he failed to listen to his team when they had valid points, and he kept all of his personal suffering privately away from them.

Zarkon gambles everything to rescue Honerva in s3e7, and it goes disastrously because he lies to his team the entire way leaving them completely unprepared- so when he ends up outside of his Lion and faced with a devastatingly powerful opponent, he’s surrounded and killed while the rest of the team is not in a position to do anything to help him.

Shiro in s1e11 leads the team in an equally desperate gamble to rescue Allura, and it works out. It works out because Shiro has the team’s consent beforehand, and even people who disagree (Keith) still consent to go. So when Shiro ends up outside his Lion and faced with a devastatingly powerful opponent on two fronts, it’s not his personal skill as a fighter that keeps him alive.

It’s Keith going toe to toe with Zarkon to buy Shiro time to get back to the Black Lion.

It’s Lance, Pidge, and Coran holding off the majority of the empire’s forces.

It’s Hunk smashing in to break Allura out, and it’s her and him together that come to save Shiro’s bacon from Haggar who had already seriously injured him and could easily have killed him in that moment.

It’s pretty obvious that Shiro being honest and transparent with his team is what’s keeping him from getting killed. They’re his saving grace, time and time again, Keith especially- which is a big deal, when Keith is Alfor’s successor, and while Zarkon broke with the entire team, it was his refusal to listen to Alfor that was the nail in his coffin.

And in s5e3 and s5e6, what’s steadily moving into position to save his bacon from Kuron? It’s not just Lance being the team’s interpersonal Heart as usual- but rather, that Shiro is finally, decisively, opening up and connecting to the person he’s been at odds with from the start.

And while a lot of people take that as a “boo hoo, poor Lance”... it’s really more to Shiro’s detriment than Lance’s. After Shiro and Lance argue, Lance is the one who has multiple people verbally taking his side (Hunk, twice, and Allura personally talking to him about it with her concerns, and Shiro himself apologizing)- while Shiro clearly is falling back on bad habits and withdrawing from the team about his issues.

Because Shiro, in a very catlike manner, starts avoiding people when he’s feeling awful. Which is why I think it’s such an unsung glorious moment when in s5e6, when Lance hasn’t even brought it up again or prompted it- Shiro is the one to bring it up and basically tell Lance to keep looking into this because something’s really wrong.

S5e6 is a glorious day for Shiro’s character because, some time before the car has set on fire, Shiro’s actually rolling down the window and telling someone “hey, the door’s locked and I don’t know where this thing is going, and this is kind of a problem. Can you... get help, please, I’m terrified”

So in that sense, much as I purport to be take it or leave it about clone theory, that’s why I really hope this is the original Shiro at hand... because everything he’s learning here is incredibly good and important for his long term emotional health and I’m pretty sure what we’re gonna get out of Kuron is a strong positive emotional arc for Shiro and Lance.

Shiro’s moving away from being the team’s perfect leader, but that’s nothing to mourn, because instead of a perfect leader he’s becoming an honest, emotionally healthy person who knows he can actually trust his team. And my multiple posts talking about how Shiro really wasn’t that perfect once you take the rose-tinted glasses off isn’t dunking on him or calling him lame-

it’s pointing out that he really wasn’t doing anybody a favor by pretending to be ideal leader. In s1e9 he had a full-tilt panic attack and immediately jumped into realizing Allura was still in danger and they had to act fast to prevent them all from being destroyed- which is fine, except the part where... he didn’t unpack or process any of that afterwards.

Sendak dug up a huge volume of Shiro’s insecurities, trauma, and frankly fear of himself, of the idea of being irreconcilably changed by what the empire did to him. This is a big problem. The implication is on some level Shiro is genuinely not comfortable in his own skin and that... wasn’t the only allusion to it.

S4e4 is basically a whole exercise in the paladins and how they relate to image (and how they really don’t) and with Shiro, the main thing Worm!Coran focuses on is Shiro’s body.

Shiro’s body, that, seemingly, he prefers to keep covered as much as possible given even though he prefers pretty close-fitting attire, he’s also pretty consistently one of the most modestly dressed of the paladins. That, as mentioned, Sendak was able to maliciously play on the fact that Shiro has some lingering anxieties of what was done to it, and that pervades his flashbacks and reactions to his missing year- the repeated implications of medical torture emphasized less by pain (sedatives are frequently shown) and more that things were done to him, that he doesn’t know the extent of, and he was powerless to stop.

And Shiro- perfectionist, anxious about how people see him (s1e6 for example), with these very serious insecurities about bodily autonomy and the aftermath that he’s been living with...

(he has a large facial scar, lost color in part of his hair, and is missing an arm, to say nothing of any other scars he might have that we as an audience haven’t seen, and, personally, his body type to me suggests that he lost weight in prison and his super-defined musculature is less about athletics and more a lack of proper subcutaneous fat)

...has Worm Coran repeatedly telling him to show off his body. The relatively innocuous (before Coran gets brain-wormed) start of it all even has the script make a joke about how Shiro only has one hand, that he gives a “really?” aside look at.

I can’t help but feel like the implication there, when all of the other prompts poke at existing insecurities-

Allura feeling like she’s just an ineffective replacement for the person no longer with the team when she was one of the loudest unhappy voices about him drifting away, Hunk being relegated to his gastrointestinal problems and his genuine quick wit and keen sense of humor ignored, Pidge being ignored because “nobody cares what you’re saying anyway!”, and Lance the actor basically spending the entire time indulging the fake, flashy casanova persona he uses to cover all of his own insecurities

-that there’s something significant that, again, all of s4e4 for Shiro is talking about his body, especially his muscles, which is seemingly another change after the missing year- he doesn’t seem nearly that built in the Garrison pictures, though it could be that he’s just wearing more modest clothing, it’s still very suspicious especially when Haggar’s endeavor was to turn Shiro into her personal fighting machine.

Shiro’s got a huge amount of things that have been quietly eating him from the start, and the good news is, they’re actually starting to bubble to the surface- he’s actually breaking down and talking about them with less and less impetus, which is important, because back in s2e7, Shiro made it clear that his connection with Black, that any ideal connection, needs to be rooted in trust. And while he’s heavily spun that as, he needs to be trustworthy to others...

If Shiro never talks to the team about his problems, no matter how he might spin that as not wanting to burden them or that he’s able to deal with it on his own, he’s not trusting them.

And again, that Lance is seemingly the catalyst for this is amazing to me, because Lance?

Lance is the trust guy. Lance is the feelings guy. Lance is the uncrowned king of literally every thing Shiro has been struggling with the absence of here.

Lance is both the guy who genuinely gets in Shiro’s face when he feels like Shiro isn’t listening to him, but he’s also the guy talking about how Keith needs to trust the Black Lion because Black wouldn’t ask him to do this for no reason (when Black is Shiro’s Lion, and Keith draws many obvious explicit parallels between Shiro’s requesting him to fly Black and Black taking Keith as their replacement paladin).

Lance is the one who tells Allura that Shiro is ultimately not their enemy, that they’re on the same side, and who’s vindicated when Shiro is now clearly working with Lance against Haggar, telling him that something’s wrong and that he doesn’t feel right, hasn’t felt right for a while, which is the last thing Haggar wants Shiro to do.

Lance trusts Shiro, but not blindly. He’s compassionate, but not to the point of self-neglect. He is exactly the head that Shiro needs on his team right now. And that experience is gonna mean a hell of a lot to Lance, as well.

#voltron legendary defender #vld #Shiro #Lance #readmore #guess who's pumped for Shiro and Lance in season 6 #this guyyyyyy #Anonymous

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geneshaven · 7 years

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Family Outing

PART 5

Felicity was sitting at the computer console with Dinah. On the screen in front of her was a map; lines like musical notes were glaring out into the Bunker. The lines were old tunnels beneath Star City, an abandoned subway system that played a big part in the Undertaking; now some five years ago. Felicity sat remembering the earthquake Merlyn unleashed on the city. Somehow, it seemed tame when compared to all the death and devastation the city has endured and survived since then. In a way, it was a tribute to perseverance and determination. Felicity sometimes wondered how her life would have evolved without Oliver coming into it and showing herself to herself.

“Oliver,” she spoke into their private coms. “Lyla’s trace signal is showing the brass whistle is about two hundred feet ahead of you. It’s not moving. I’m guessing that’s where they are.”

“John and I are almost there,” Oliver replied. “By the way, thanks for this plan. I’m going to write it down in the books as The Twofold Plan. You’re remarkable, Felicity.”

“Yeah, so you said before. Just don’t rush in there and save the day all by yourself. Let the rest of us do our part too.”

“Felicity, c’mon. You know…and so do I, that I’m nothing without you guys having my back. You be careful too.”

“Oliver, the signal is moving. It’s coming toward you.”

Over her com, the sound of gunfire erupted, sending a jolt of fear through Felicity.

The T-Sphere hovered three feet off the ground; its sensor software was activated. Inside the abandoned warehouse at the southern tip of the Glades, Curtis was able to see inside the structure via his remote pad. The infrared images showed him and Rene how many Helix targets were waiting for them. Twenty. Curtis could also detect Argus’s stolen laser technology; its signal was gathered at all the entrances of the building. With the codes Lyla provided, Curtis hacked into the activation nodes and disarmed the weapon.

“Okay,” he nodded to Rene. “I just slew the dragon and gave us access to the castle.”

“Curtis,” Rene looked at him with impatience. “Will you stop with all the fairy tale stuff. I’m still not okay with being out of the rescue of Zoe. Oliver and Felicity’s plan is solid, but I should be under the city with my daughter.”

“Rene, Oliver and John are not going to let anything happen. They’ve been at this for a long time. Zoe and the others are going to be okay. Remember what our last lesson in vigilanteing was--- trust. This is a team we’re on. If you can’t trust that, you wouldn’t be here.”

“Great,” Rene mumbled. “I’m being schooled by Mr. Terrific. Hoss, just make sure James doesn’t find a way around your tech stuff and turn us into sliced meat.”

Curtis shook his head. “Not happening.” He activated his com. “Felicity, we’re ready. I just hope one of these blips is James.”

“Yeah, he’s there. Most of their complex is underground...I guess it’s there version of the Bunker.” Felicity answered. “Argus has had eyes on him since we left our family outing up in the mountains. As long as he retains the laser and the still undiscovered tracking software Lyla had installed…he’s not going anywhere we can’t find him.”

“Why do I feel like I’m getting ready to run into a burning building,” Curtis pondered out loud to himself. “Okay Felicity, whenever you’re ready.”

“Stand by, Curtis. Oliver and John are already engaged with Talia’s goons. As soon as the kids are safe, I’ll give you the green light to move. Don’t jump the gun on this…”

Curtis knew that last statement was mostly for Rene, but Curtis nodded in response. He started to activate another T-Sphere and waited for his cue to go and be a hero.

Felicity watched all the teams’ signals moving across her screen like video game characters. She could never play real video games, mostly because when she did, the algorithms programmed into the games gave her the advantage to foresee what it was going to do before the action unfolded. It was sort of like chaos theory---it was the unpredictability of outcomes. It was how her life had gone over the past half-decade.

So when Black Siren’s voice spoke out from behind Felicity and Dinah, Felicity already knew what was going to happen.

“Well, isn’t this cute.” The scorn and anger that filled BS’s voice was like a cold draft reaching out to freeze her victims in terror. “It’s time to die,” she announced.

Dinah spun around and opened her mouth; canary song flowed out in shimmering waves, throwing tempests at BS.

Black Siren opened her mouth at the same time, expecting to counteract Dinah’s song. But nothing came out except a strangled shout. Her eyes suddenly filled with panic and BS took a couple steps backwards, as if she could dodge Dinah’s sonic waves.

Then Black Siren was flying backwards in an uncontrolled flight, smashing up against the far north wall of the Bunker. The impact on the wall crumpled her body to the floor, where she lay motionless.

Then Lyla stepped out of the back entrance to the Bunker and went up to the fallen evil villain. “I really love Curtis,” she exclaimed, looking down at the unconscious Black Siren. In her hands, Lyla held onto Curtis’s sonic dampener like clutching onto victory. “I really need him to work for Argus’s tech department.”

Dinah and Felicity came over to help Lyla gloat. “Yeah,” Dinah agreed. “I’m always going to win as long as that man keeps bringing me his toys.” She tugged on the little focusing device around her neck. It has helped her to control her song, taking away the threat of collateral damage and making her more effective when she sang.

Felicity smiled at her two friends. “Well, at least there’s one less villain we have to fret about.” She raised her hands and Dinah and Lyla gave each other high fives. “But, Talia is still out there. She’s gone underground again, you know, her League training and all. We still have to help Curtis and Rene.” She shook her head. “Man, I’m kind of getting tired of all these villains filling up all my free time. I’m still pissed we had to leave our camping trip. Oliver really wanted to catch some fish.”

Then, Felicity turned back around and returned to her computer. There were still more bad guys out there keeping the three women from breaking out the champagne in celebration.

“Felicity,” Oliver spoke in her ear. “John and I are secure. The kids are safe.”

A great big sigh of relief settled Felicity into her chair. “Oliver, thank god. Black Siren is out of the picture as well. Is William…were they hurt?”

“No honey, all three of them are alive. A little shook up, but okay. In fact, I think they are a little excited by the excitement.”

“So, do I send Curtis and Rene in now?”

“Yeah, copy that. Once John and I lead the kids out of these damn tunnels, contact Quintin and have him call in the SCPD for pick up. We’re going to be enroute to the warehouse. I want to be there in case James finds another way to escape.”

Felicity reached out and gently brushed her fingers over Oliver’s illuminated signal on her screen. It was moving towards the rendezvous with Lance and his cops. “Oliver, I know I’ve told you this before, but please be careful with James. You’re right to not trust him. The man is a genius and dangerous. If he can, he will try to take you guys out without hesitation. We’ve been lucky so far that he hasn’t found Lyla’s secret software we’re using to track him.”

“Felicity, I trust you having my back. I will risk any danger as long as it’s you guiding me. Let Curtis and Rene know we’re coming to them.”

Felicity opened another com line to Wild Dog and Mr. Terrific. “Okay Curtis,” she said. “The Green Arrow has given the go. He’s coming to you. You guys be careful.”

“Finally,” Rene’s voice answered. “Hey Blondie, tell Oliver me and Curtis will have this bastard in custody before he gets here.”

“Rene, Zoe is safe. Stay focused. James isn’t someone you can take for granted. He’s not going to surrender just because you’re wearing a hockey mask.”

“Okay, we’re going in…” Curtis spoke. “Stand by…”

As Felicity watched their signals move on her screen, a sudden alarm rang out into the Bunker. She threw her gaze to the screen monitoring the laser software and saw that it was blinking red.

James had found the secret tracking software and had turned it off. The laser grids were active again. Curtis and Rene were seconds away from walking right into it…”

@louiseblue1 @hope-for-olicity @it-was-a-red-heeler @memcjo @dmichellewrites @almondblossomme @lovelycssefan @olicityloveolicity @scu11y22 @casydee @melolicity

#team arrow

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