#this one is a long one because eobard has a lot to say about him

[zeroducks-2]

Do you really think reverse flash is in love with Barry? I don't mean for this to sound snarky I'm just confused. Thawne killed Barry's mom how can you say he's in love with him? I like all the things you post and rb about them I really enjoy the ship. I just don't get it can you explain?

The question "how can Eobard be in love with Barry if he hurt him" has both a short answer and a long answer. The short answer is that people are very much capable of hurting the ones they love, on purpose or by accident.

The long answer is that Eobard is a deeply disturbed individual who has never been the recipient of love, and because of that and of many extremely traumatic events (including but not limited to being brainwashed in prison, being trapped in a timeless limbo alone for years, being tortured and treated like cattle and put in sensory deprivation for ludicrous amounts of time, dying at the hands of the only person who had ever shown compassion towards him), he has a skewed perception of a lot of things and is extremely bad at emotional regulation.

Moreover, and this is something which is easy to overlook but it's actually very important, Eobard is not human. His actions are informed by his traumas, but the way he approaches pretty much everything (including his "problems" with Barry) isn't done the way a human would.

Eobard is a timeless, deathless creature which embodies one of the driving forces of reality itself (the Negative Speed Force). He lived probably more than a few hundred years considering how he keeps running around through time doing stuff, and how he keeps going back to watch past events and adjust the way he will interact with the timeline next.

He knows the huge impact that killing Nora will have on Barry, but from a moral and ethical standpoint it's not a big deal for him. Nora is less than a speck in time, an NPC who served her role for that briefest moment in which she existed. She is a big deal because she is a big deal for Barry, not because she's meaningful in any other way.

"But then he did want to hurt Barry when he killed her" Yes, absolutely he wanted to. Eobard didn't "just" kill Nora Allen - he went back in time and changed everything about Barry's life, made it so he had no friends, made him grow isolated and insecure and shy, lacking confident in his abilities. And he did it because he is very, VERY angry with Barry for one, and also because isolating Barry makes it easier for them to grow closer.

And it worked! Back in the Silver Age, when Nora and Henry were alive and not in prison, Barry couldn't be bothered with Eobard. For him Eo was just a random criminal with superspeed, and sure he was threatening because speedsters always are, but not that much of a big deal.

Now? Now Eobard is a primary element in Barry's life, a constant he's had to deal with basically since birth, someone who rewritten his entire life to make himself part of it in an indelible manner.

It worked because now Barry is more likely to fall for Eobard's manipulation, to listen to him, to just accept that he's THERE because he's always been. Near the end of Running Scared, Eobard tells him "run away with me", and Barry says yes.

Back in the Silver Age there would have been no way.

It's worth mentioning that to understand Eobard, you need to understand that everything he does, every single thing, has the end goal of being with Barry. Whether he's trying to protect him or trying to hurt him or trying to manipulate him, whether they manage to work together against a common enemy or they're on opposite sides of the fight, every single one of Eobard's actions is motivated by love (his personal, inhuman version of love).

"But if that is the case, then why doesn't he just tell Barry 'I love you'?"

Two reasons, and one is meta.

The in-story reason is that every time Eobard tried to do something good without masking it as horrible, it went sideways and backfired spectacularly - mix that with poor emotional regulation, and you have someone who's not going to be able to handle rejection and is outright scared of doing good things openly. I think if he told Barry "I love you" and Barry reacted badly it would hurt too much. Also he wants Barry to understand, and thanks to a couple of competent writers who sadly don't work on Flash anymore, we were getting there.

The meta reason is because DC is homophobic, plain and simple. Eobard DID SAY I love you many times except with words, because DC editorials won't let him. That's it. It's the same reason why Joker can't tell Batman "I love you" and has to do weird ass word plays and even more weird ass attention seeking maneuvers. They're stunted by reasons which no one but DC itself can control.

So in short. How can Eobard be in love with Barry and hurt him so much at the same time? Because he doesn't have many ways of express love, he has a hard time being caring, and every time he allows himself to be soft it backfires. Because he wants Barry to belong to him and will isolate him and make him suffer to get there. Because he's angry with Barry -- Barry hurt him too, rejected him and left him alone and refused to accept that Eobard is his lightning rod for a long time.

Eobard easily lashes out when he's hurt, and the less grounded he is the more vicious and violent he turns.

"But Zero, how can Eobard think that Barry will ever forgive him for having killed his mom?"

I don't believe Eobard was ever looking for forgiveness, but fun fact. Barry did forgive him already. Barry is not human either, and at this point I think he'd forgive Eobard just about anything, and despite how difficult everything is between them, he really wants to get to a place where they don't need to hurt each other.

The problem with this, and it's one of the reasons why they have so many issues communicating, is that Barry is in denial about many things - about being the Speed Force, about Eobard being in love with him, about how they're two constants through time and two sides of the same coin and basically can't exist without each other, about how they're each other's lightning rod.

Their relationship is very complex, absolutely not what it looks like at first glance, and it's colored by all the hurt there is between them. But again, ultimately understanding Eobard is understanding that love is what motivates him, even when he does the most horrible unhinged things.

In conclusion, have this panel from The Flash Age which is one of my favorite Flash comics, in which you can see the way these two manage to trust each other and fall into the right rhythm, despite the oceans of misunderstandings and suffering between them.

Pages from The Flash Age, by Joshua Williamson. In which Barry tells Eobard to "do the right thing", and Eobard just does it.

#thanks for asking anon #you didn't sound snarky at all no worries #I tried to be as exhaustive as possible without writing a wall of text #idk how well I managed #I just know I could talk about these two forever #my asks #eobarry #barry allen #eobard thawne #my meta

[gatorbites-imagines]

hope ur having a good day! i wanna ask for some Eobard Thawne x Male Reader where reader is just a normal dude. Like just some guy, i think itd be a funny concept :]

Eobard Thawne x male reader

Headcanons

I love Thawne sm, he’s my bbygirl. He’s a lil crazy, but that’s okay.

Now Thawne is literally just the biggest hater in all of existence, like God damn. He runs on hate and spite, and I appreciate that, because its relatable.

Youd most likely have met after he’s been in a fight with some hero or similar. Maybe he crashes into your yard or into your apartment. You don’t know much about heroes, you know the main ones sure, but you don’t keep track of all of them.

So, when you see someone who looks like a yellow flash in your yard bleeding out, you just kinda shrug and drag him inside, patching him up to the best of your ability. You get the head part of his suit off him and your pleasantly surprised at how red his hair is, you’ve always liked redheads.

You know nothing about speedsters’ preferences for food, and your used to cooking for just one person and have meal prepped for that. But you pull out some snacks you got laying around and a bottle of water, and put it on table beside Thawne, where you flopped him onto your couch.

When Thawne wakes, he’s immediately ready to fight, until he notices he’s just laying on someone’s couch, in a random living room who knows where. He’s honestly confused, because he’s a well-known villain and was in the middle of a fight.

He almost jumps up to throw hands when you walk into the room, eating whatever dinner you had prepped the day before. Imagine his surprise when you just go “hey, your awake. I found you in my yard, you good?”

Insert very confused Thawne, he tries to pull the whole, evil villain thing, but you are so chill and unamused that he just ends up giving up. One way or another you two just end up sitting on the couch and watching the newest episode of your current show.

It becomes a thing honestly. In the beginning he shows up after fights for you to patch up, even though you know very little first aid, but whatever. You put up with it, because if that’s the payment you have to pay for a hot redhead to sit shirtless on your couch, so be it.

Thawne won’t admit it for a long time, but he starts to enjoy your company quite a lot. Maybe it’s the fact that you couldn’t care less about him being a villain or what he does that has heroes after him. Or maybe it’s the fact that you don’t put up with his shit either.

The first time you scolded him and called him an idiot, his heart stuttered, and he won’t ever admit but his face got almost as red as his hair.

You tell him with a flat expression that he’s eating you out of house and home, because of speedster metabolism, so Thawne starts bringing groceries and helping around the house.

At some point you two realize he’s just kinda moved in, like a big street cat you’ve been feeding on your porch, that walked inside and just never left again.

You two never outright say you are dating, it just hits Thawne one day that you guys are cuddling on the couch and watching movies, and that you guys give each other kisses before you go to work, or Thawne runs off to be a villain like normal.

Its honestly quite domestic. I could imagine Thawne taking care of housework since you are the “breadwinner”, since you are the only one with a legal job. Sure, Thawne steals to get money, but he also starts stealing stuff you guys can use around the house.

Imagine Barry and the other speedster’s confusion when Thawne steals a brand-new dishwasher, or a whole porch set, chairs, tables, and all.

You never stop Thawne, since being a villain is kinda his whole thing, you just tell him not to do it with you around, so you have plausible deniability. You do appreciate the gifts he brings you too, but you never mention how most of the shirts he brings you are a little tight, you know he likes looking at you.

Thawne goes a lil crazy when you come home after work wearing your slacks, your button up and your tie. He always wants to be the one to undo your tie so he can pull you into a kiss.

He gets you expensive accessories you can wear to work, think watches that cost more than what you make in six months, tie clips, rings, etc. Everyone at your job honestly think you have some super rich sugar daddy.

You are both quite happy with your relationship, and theres nothing better than coming home to Thawne in an apron, cooking up in the kitchen. He always purrs when you come in through the door and swaggers over, drapes his arms over you, and asks about your day.

After some time, you two get engaged, it just kinda happened. You guys already act like a married couple, but one of you would have proposed. If it was you, you’d pull out a ring on a date or just during one of the evenings you are cuddling on the couch. You would use your family’s heirloom ring.

If its Thawne, he would go out of his way to make a huge deal out of it. hed rob the highest security jewelers in the world, or force the best jewelry maker to make a custom ring.

When the heroes show up its most likely Barry, maybe some of the others since Thawne has been MIA for a long time. They assumed he was planning something big, but he’s been busy playing househusband for you this entire time.

When they learn he’s trying to get a wedding ring they all thing “wait he’s got a lover???”. Thawne is gone before they can catch him though.

The heroes assume the worst, and assume his partner is as much of a villain as he is. Then Barry gets a wedding invite, written by you, since Barry’s been Thawnes nemesis for who knows how long.

Barry has always been a good guy, and since the invite specificlally says not to start anything at the wedding, he goes. Barry goes with the plan to scope out Thawne and his partner, but also to support him cuz its Barry.

Then he sees that Thawne is marrying you, the most normal guy he’s ever seen. When he talks to you, he realizes that you truly love Thawne, and though Thawne doesn’t say it with words, it’s clear the way he looks at you that he’s completely smitten.

The wedding goes great, and Barry is a big supporter, especially when he realizes Thawnes villainy has gone down a lot because he’s so happy with you, that he doesn’t wanna put you are risk.

It ends up becoming a peace thing, Thawne doesn’t do anything huge and Barry wont lock him away for life or have him thrown in the phantom zone. Thawne wont target Barry’s family and alike, and Thawne gets to stay with you.

#male reader #dc #eobard thawne #reverse flash #professor zoom #justice league #dc imagine #dc headcanon #dc x male reader #dc x reader #eobard thawne imagine #eobard thawne headcanon #eobard thawne x male reader #eobard thawne x reader #reverse flash imagine #reverse flash headcanon #reverse flash x male reader #reverse flash x reader #professor zoom imagine #professor zoom headcanon #professor zoom x male reader #professor zoom x reader #justice league imagine #justice league headcanon #justice league x male reader #justice league x reader

[kitkatt0430]

role reversal AU with Barry and Iris? :)

So I've written a couple of these before - and I no doubt will again. [I Know (Do You?) and Hurry Up (To Slow Down)] I do enjoy a good role reversal for these two. :D

So in a role reversal specifically from Iris' point of view, I think she'd initially promise not to tell Barry when Joe asks, but quickly realize from Barry's interest in metahumans and the Flash that keeping him in the dark is pretty cruel. Instead of trying to gaslight him about it or talk him out of investigating, Iris would come clean. Forewarned is forearmed and Iris wants him to be safe about things.

Depending on how long it takes for Iris to tell him, Barry may or may not be upset about it. But if he's upset? He gets over it pretty fast. Iris has always been amazing and his hero and so he's so proud of her for being everyone's hero now.

Eobard is not thrilled. In retrospect he realizes that it isn't that surprising that Iris West had the right genes to become a speedster considering Wally West is destined to become a speedster. Or was destined. What does Eobard know. Maybe Linda Park will become a speedster. *he's waving hands wildly while Gideon wonders if she can get smoke to come out of his ears if she says yes*

since Iris was still in college getting her Masters degree at the time, there would be focus on her trying to maintain her GPA while juggling Flash duties and frustration with EoWells perhaps not respecting her class time, maybe her pointing out that she's not exactly getting paid for her Flash work inspires him to create an internship for her so that she does get paid and can't complain about that anymore.

Because, honestly, Iris doesn't have the Jitters job anymore. it's not her fault she couldn't work while in a coma but what are the odds a part time barista job would get held open for her that long?

There's so many ways things could play out relationship wise. I've done both the Westallen and Westhallen routes, but why not some Barriscowest? Or Snowestallen? Snowest & barrisco? Thallen and Newsvibe (is that what Iris/Cisco is called? that's what I'm going with) There are a lot of possibilities and I do enjoy so many different ships.

Iris and the pipeline... I don't know where she'd stand on that. I'd like to think she'd be against it and so that's the track I'd take writing another one of these AUs, because Iris is the voice of reason. But canon probably would have put her on the pro pipeline train if she hadn't been sidelined like she was. :/

I think Iris would probably try harder to talk things out with the metas. Not always a good idea, but she's much more likely to try to de-escalate a situation than Barry is. So she'd probably be able to talk Shawna down, but trying to empathize with Hartley would likely end with him taking advantage of her sympathy. Though she'd also be less sympathetic towards Snart since, unlike Barry, she doesn't really have the experiences Barry has that made him empathize with Len.

Iris would be tempted to go back in time to save Nora because she loves Barry and she wants him to have his mother. Whether or not she actually does it depends on how her conversation with Henry goes. He was not in favor of changing the timeline to save Nora even though he no doubt wanted her to have a chance to live, so he might be able to talk Iris out of it if he can articulate his feelings on the subject well enough.

a lot of this has focused on Iris, but I think Barry would settle well into back up. He'd probably still get a chance to be a battle couple with her similar to the incident with Tony in canon. Maybe the return of Becky Cooper turns out to be a bad thing when she turns out to be a powered stalker with a crush on Barry?

Barry's also got a pretty close friendship with Cisco and Caitlin already by the time Iris wakes up, which I think would factor into Iris ultimately deciding to tell him pretty quickly. Keeping the secret would not only be potentially putting Barry in danger but damaging his new friendships and Iris wouldn't want to do that to him.

#au headcanon game #thank you ^_^ #kitkatt0430 answers #the flash #fanfiction #role reversal au #barry allen #Iris west

[gretahayes]

love ur repair shop au love all ur yj stuff <33 what kind of hero adventures would happen/how often would they happen? idk just any thoughts abt it bc it seems so cute and nice

so I've already mentioned dimension shenanigans, but also supernatural shenanigans?? every now and then obviously there's some major crisis that sends one/all of them back home or like an alien invasion, but mostly it's dimension and supernatural stuff. need these kids to not have Any main nemesis', no jokers or eobards (I would go evil too if my name was fucking EOBARD) or luthors or cheetahs or big giant monsters, nobody dedicating their life to hurt them.

bart's shaken awake at two am by a grumpy tim tromping into the bedroom and saying theres a dimensional rift opening up in their living room. bart deals with it then comes back to see tim's taken his place in the cuddle pile so he wiggles in between cassie and kon (didn't betray him) and wakes all of them up in the process. they get back to sleep eventually but half on top of bart as revenge (it doesn't work, bart likes the pressure) then cassie cracks open an eye to ask, "hey, why were you even up?" and they're back awake again.

they've got to deal with wayward spirits and confused ghosts, plus people who got dragged through the thin spot in space time their shop is based in. bart multitasks by also keeping an eye on it, so wally can't mind his business west has no reason to keep popping in. speedsters are still their most reoccuring visitors because it's a convenient place to dimension hop so bart's learnt to suck it up.

their hero stuff is less big flashy monsters and tech geniuses. its supernatural stuff they have to deal with, and it sent everyone off-kilter a bit because this is Odd yeah but so relieving actually?? nobody waiting to stab them in the back except for the creepy vampire that's been following them all day, and they can deal with that well enough. a huge but needed change of pace.

kon's got the neatest handwriting because bart and tim both scrawl unintelligibly (the consequences of being geniuses whose brains move too fast for their hands), cassie scribbles only barely legibly (why does this girl write like she's always in a hurry?) and kon's handwriting is neat because he cares about how it looks. the others don't really—they can make it look nice, tim especially, but you have to understand; they can't be bothered. so kon tends to do all the writing for everything, and thank god for ttk otherwise he'd have permanent hand cramps.

they have a garden! it took a lot of trial and error, but now they're finally growing more things than they kill (it took several trips to the farm to figure that out—books didn't help much against their non-existent green thumbs. they're not complaining though, they love ma and pa).

of course, they're still called home for big events and all brought together when there's a huge world-ending event or whatever, but their shop and their home are sort of a break from that, y'know? after a long day of saving humanity they shed their armor and collapse in a pile together and know there's nothing that'll hurt them as they are, right then and there. and that's reassuring.

#asks #core four repair shop au #cassie sandsmark #kon el #tim drake #bart allen

[negative-speedforce]

Tell me one weird fact/hyperspecific detail about each of your OCs?

Siv: Was born (created?) with 6 fingers on her right hand, which Eobard had removed so that she'd be as normal-passing as possible, despite it being unneccesary.

Jay: Implanted a series of chips into his non-dominant hand in order to be able to control his wheelchair remotely using only hand signals

Cassandra: still only uses Facebook like some kind of grandmother

Hailey: Cannot be in proximity to Siv when she's in eldritch mode for too long because Siv's eldritch powers make it difficult for her to maintain her physical form.

Arya: Claims they have difficulty both reading and writing human languages, but they're actually just dyslexic

Ember: Has two teacup chihuahuas, named Gucci and Prada, that they carry around in a tiny pink handbag. Prada and Gucci pictured below-

Gina: Would have made valedictorian if she hadn't died at the end of the school year

Esme: Started her career as a model at 15, much to Eobard's disapproval.

Cat: Is wanted by the governments of 14 different countries for her hacktivism

Kyle: Has four bullet scars in his back from a particularly nasty situation in which he was helping an abuse victim escape her boyfriend. Needless to say, the shitty ex got electrocuted.

Max: Found out Siv was alive because they took the same pole dance class because he wanted to be able to give Kyle a very special birthday present

Eric: Spent most of his childhood and young adulthood under Apartheid, and has significant trauma from it, leading to him being very protective of his children

Jacob: Met Eric while on a study abroad trip to South Africa in college

Khalil: Watched his uncle disintegrate himself by overloading on magic and that's why he fears using his own

Antonio: Once killed 4 cops by telekinetically shattering the glass of several skyscrapers around him, and subconsciously creating a tornado of broken glass to protect himself

Reggie: Accidentally caused a week of panic for her parents when she tried to shadow travel for the first time and ended up getting stuck in the shadow realm, leading to her parents believing she had been kidnapped

Ameerah: Has been the victim of "Millenials and Gen Z can't read cursive" because the bank teller at a bank she wanted to rob couldn't read "This is a robbery".

Rania: Torched Eobard's lab after finding out what he had done, before confronting him. It was definitely a nice surprise for him to come back to, all of his life's work and research reduced to ashes.

Meredith: Built the text-to-speech/speech-to-text system that she uses to compensate for her deafness at the age of 8.

Kelsie: Has been mistaken for Poison Ivy due to her plant-based powers, despite Poison Ivy being literally GREEN.

Cory: Has a highly successful TikTok account where she posts about Decora-kei fashion, which is her primary source of income.

Director Hawke: Killed her daughter when she found out what she was doing, because she considered her a "deviant-sympathizer", whatever that's supposed to mean.

Torryn: Has both meta-powers (psychometry/seeing an object's past by touching it), and magic abilities, though they're quite weak, considering that his closest Witch ancestor was his 3rd great-grandfather.

Onnie: Despite being an extremely powerful speedster, she prefers to drive places, because most of her clothes are extremely expensive, and she doesn't want them to be destroyed.

Pippa: Goes through a villain arc because she is so sick of being walked all over due to her kind and forgiving nature (also a bit of Negative Speed Force corruption via Onnie might have a part to play in it)

Jessi: Has a net worth of nearly a billion dollars, from both legal activities (her music career) and illegal activities (being a mob boss)

Hyun-Ki: Is a classically trained countertenor, and can hit an A6 on a good day (plenty of warmup and sleep, lots of water, etc). However, he primarily uses his lower register to sing because he got bullied in high school for his voice.

Marie: Had her least favorite coworker assimilated because she was fed up with him constantly insinuating that she was a traitor or spy because she's half Romulan and got in deep trouble for that (it was totally worth it)

Liah: Was almost the first Cardassian Bollywood star, but chickened out and joined Starfleet because she hated the attention. She still occasionally performs for her coworkers.

Qiara: Learned how to harness starlight in order to supplement her own energy reserves because her powers are significantly weaker than the average Q

Soraya: Can't stand Ferengi, since they're always really creepy to her despite her being a starship captain.

Thalia: Spent 3 months institutionalized after killing her Master to save her squad, due to reckless choices including stealing and crashing the Chancellor's speeder on a whim

Reyna: Matchmade her former Master and the guy that her stepmom tried to force her to marry

Athena: Is still somewhat illiterate due to only learning to read when she was in her mid/late teens and managed to get her doctorate in biology by transferring all her textbooks onto audio files

Laila: Is a massive tea snob. Don't give her some crappy bargain tea, she will in fact kill you for that.

Pyrrha: Had to be taught how to swear due to her extremely controlled upbringing. A stormtrooper who said "heck" in front of her was subject to execution.

Aldrich: Speaks like the protagonist of a Bronte romance, due to being British and being turned during the Regency Era.

Samira: Her father, who is an Imam, was surprisingly supportive of her desire to marry a vampire, and married them in secret, because he would rather his daughter have a forbidden romance than be miserable because she couldn't marry the person she loved.

Matt: His joints are in worse shape than they probably should be, because his stepfather is EXTREMELY traditional and believes he can just macho his EDS away, putting him through intense training.

Vanessa: Is quite literally invulnerable (at least for the next few years) due to all the changes that Venator St. James did to her with his experiments, and needing time for her original DNA to reassert itself.

Dolores: Got a job at the Red Cross and had her fangs filed down so she could pass in normal society as human. She feeds on the rejected and expired blood bags, i.e. the donor had a bloodborne illness or it expired or something.

Sohelia: Despite her vampire heritage meaning that she would be naturally more vulnerable to sunlight, thanks to *melanin* from her mom's side, she's surprisingly resistant, and is only as vulnerable as your average Northern European person (aka steps in a sunbeam and gets a bad burn)

Victorie: Occasionally creeps people out with her usage of modern slang, which she technically shouldn't know because she's been isolating herself for 200 years, but knows because of her ability to dreamwalk

Kayla: Was fully conscious while committing all the atrocities that HYDRA forced her to do after capturing her post-CATWS, due to them forgoing the brainwashing and instead choosing to control her via an implanted chip

Dori: Is usually seen as unnaturally pretty/handsome (depending on which form they're in) because they used their shapeshifting abilities to rid themselves of any perceived flaws.

#ask revan #oc shit #practically-an-x-man

[skylarmoon71]

Eobard Thawne - (Flash) AU Chapter 10

“(Y/N)!!”

Barry’s face lights up when he sees your face. The red suit, that crazy brown hair. This has to be your Barry. His first instinct is to approach, but then he takes in the person next to you, and his face changes. There’s so many emotions that cross his face.

“Eobard!! (Y/N)!! Why are you shirtless!! Why is he here!! Where are your clothes!! WHY IS HE HERE AND YOUR CLOTHES ARE GONE!! OH MY GOSH!!!”

Yep, without a doubt, this is your Barry. You zip forward, buttoning your shirt in ample time as you clear your throat. Barry keeps looking between you and Eobard like if he does it’ll somehow make sense.

“I’m unconscious, I must have hit my head.” He starts pacing and ranting.

“Were you two- No! Nevermind I don’t want to know!! Cisco told me I would end up in a crazy reality so I prepared myself but not for this. I mean that’s Thawne!!”

Eobard’s annoyance is growing with every passing second.

“I’m standing right here.”

You let out a deep sigh. You really wish that he’d caught you in a less compromising position. Still, it was nice to see him. You walk over to him, taking his arm to stop his mumblings, and just like that you hug him. Because it feels like it’s been years. Barry’s thoughts are still running, but your embrace seems to calm him down. He relaxes, returning the hug. He buries his face into your shoulder, holding on tight. A part of you never thought he would find you. Maybe you even considered that you were erased from his universe.

“I missed you so much.” You admit. Barry nods, laughing despite himself.

“I missed you too.”

Eobard just observes from the side. It appears that in every universe you have a very good relationship with Barry Allen. It sort of annoyed him. Barry pulls back, sending an uneasy look at Eobard.

“The fact that you haven’t driven his face into the pavement must mean that this isn’t the same Eobard that we know.”

“Are all of you so aggressively hostile?” Eobard grumbles. You smile.

“He’s good Barry, trust me. I knocked him out when I first got here.”

“I let you knock me out!”

It’s cute that he thinks that’s the case.

“I can’t believe I actually found you. We’ve been trying for so long. I was starting to think that you were really gone but there was a surge in the Central city and then Nora visited us.”

“The speedforce did?” You say in awe.

He nods.

“She told us that you’d been transported to another universe. Your particles were just scattered. So was Eobard. Cisco and Harry built a machine to track your speed force energy. I'm so glad you’re okay.”

You can’t express how happy it is to hear that they’d never given up on you.

“This whole time..you were looking for me..”

“Of course we were. We love you (Y/N).” Your eyes water, and you hug him again. Since you got here you’d wanted nothing more than to see anyone from the universe you remember. Now here was Barry.

“I came to take you home.” your eyes pop open, and you see the way Eobard shifts on his feet at Barry’s words. He pulls away.

“We don’t have a lot of time. I have about twenty-four hours before another portal opens up for us to go back.” He points to the bolt on his chest, and you see the small metal device that’s clipped to it.

“When this timer goes off we’ll be out of time. I only have one shot to take you back.”

You should be running or celebrating, but you can’t just abandon this team.

“I-I can’t Barry. Not yet. “

“Why not?”

“Godspeed is here. Things are twisted here, but he’s my version of the Reverse Flash and he’s hunting me. He’s hunting the entire team. I-I can’t just leave them here to do this alone. He’ll hurt them. “ Barry doesn’t need to hear anymore.

“I���m in. Let’s stop him."

#eobard thawne #timelines #change #Barry Allen #reverseflash #Heroes #villains #eobard x reader #scaredoflove #friends #family #rescue #love

[fezwearingjellybananas]

🍛🍢🍙

🍛 Have any comments, tags or reactions to one of your fics every made you laugh or cry or both?

I don't know if I've ever fully cried (I say I'll cry about a lot of things, but actually in real life I don't that much), but I do have a happy excited little wiggle if I get a long comment on something. You've definitely left some that have made me emotional.

As for laughs, I got one once that was just calling Barry an overgrown gazelle child and that did make me laugh. And if I get an email that says @avatarskywalker78 has left a comment on a fic featuring Eobard I do get excited to find out the insult being thrown at him this time (he deserves all of them the wanker)

🍢 Have you ever gotten hate on a fic?

Yeah, I filled a prompt and the prompt itself I think maybe they were actually hoping for character bashing which I'm not into, and they didn't seem impressed they asked a person who writes predominantly short, dialogue heavy fics to write something and got a short, dialogue heavy fic out of it. It was this quick succession of guest comments all with different names but I don't think they realised I could actually see the hit counter was not going up as the comments were so it seemed safe to assume it was just one person, presumerably the prompter since they used the same name as they had initially to leave the first not hate comment. They are currently still on the fic, I haven't actually managed to go back to that fic to delete them, I don't want to have to see them and I have to to press the delete button.

I also feel like "constructive criticism" can very easily fall into hate, a lot of people leave out the constructive part, it's just picking holes in what's there, and they very rarely actually want to have a conversation, they just want to tell you what you're doing wrong. I had a spate of a few on the rude end on ffn, had a panic attack about it, now I no longer have fics on ffn and that did mean some got lost because I didn't get around to transferring them all the AO3 before panicking and I do regret losing a few of them now.

🍙 Is there a fic you wish had gotten more attention?

The Questing Flower I knew as I was writing it it was not going to get much, it's a gen fic, gen fic never gets the attention ship fic does (gen is my most common category and if you sort my work by hits you have to go to page 3 to find the first gen fic), it's a long, fantasy AU (Iris is the main character, it's her on a quest), it was just never going to be a fic that got much and that is what I knew would happen. It's a fic I wrote it for me, I was the one who wanted to read it, and I got a few really nice comments on top of that too so I am very happy about that, but I really loved writing that fic so I think there was this little hope while I was writing it that I didn't really let myself acknowledge that maybe it could defy my expectations.

Thank you!

[Asks]

#replies #shrinkthisviolet #*

[thefinalboss387]

For a very long time, I LOVED Eobard Thawne in The CW’s Flash TV series. I mean, I still love him, but... hoo boy his characterization has been shaky over the show’s 8 seasons. Excuse me for a minute while I rant about the downfall of one of my favorite characters ever under the cut. Watch out for spoilers.

In season 1, he was arguably at his peak. He was the big bad of the season, hiding in plain sight as the mentor helping and growing not only the Flash, but his entire team. Despite being a good guy 95% of his screentime, his whole character was shrouded in mystery... why is he pretending to be in a wheelchair? Why is this nice mentor killing people when the Flash isn’t looking? Why do so many people have murderous grudges against him? How many secrets is this guy holding onto? Why does he seem so unhealthily obsessed with the Flash? What is it he’s after? Who exactly is Harrison Wells?

And as we got the answers to those questions... they didn’t disappoint! Thawne was a complex, compelling character. He traveled back in time and got stuck in the present, and in order to return to his own time, he had to be the one to give his greatest enemy the Flash his powers and get him fast enough for the task. In the process, he actually grew to love and respect his enemy, despite holding onto so much hatred and contempt for his future self. It created a fascinating dynamic between Flash and Reverse-Flash. Both sides loved each other as friends, as mentor/student, as teammates, but they also hated each other, and all the conflict and hesitation that came with holding those two extremes for one another.

And that dynamic didn’t even just stop with Barry/Flash... He had an almost-familial relationship with Cisco and Caitlin, with Joe... he was one of the team, even though he was secretly plotting to destroy the people he was growing to love.

After season 1, though... it feels like a lot of the complexities and nuance of the character just kind of... fizzled out.

I mean, don’t get me wrong, there are still some noticeable glimpses of it. In season 2, he left a video will where he gave all of his belongings, the laboratory, etc to Barry, and even confessed to his mother’s murder to get his father out of prison. When a different world’s Harrison Wells comes around, it takes Barry a minute to come to terms with someone wearing his greatest enemy’s face, and he needs to let go and forgive Thawne before he can move on.

In season 5, Thawne ends up being the big plot-twist villain of the season, secretly pulling the strings behind Nora, Barry’s time-traveling future daughter. Similarly, he was using her to achieve his own ends, but grew to actually love her and care about her. He still didn’t feel as complex as he used to... but there was something there, and it was appreciated.

Beyond that, though... Thawne kind of just became a typical, mustache-twirling hate machine. He kept coming back, time and time again, looking to destroy the Flash’s life. All of the conflicted emotion and love is gone - not just from Thawne’s side, but all of the heroes see him just as a villain they need to stop.

In Legends of Tomorrow, Thawne becomes the main antagonist of season 2, and creates an entirely new reality that is shaped in his image -- and none of the Flash team is present in it. The Legends are all in subservient minion-type roles to him, Thawne is even at STAR Labs again, but the Flash is dead and his team is nowhere to be found. After all the love he had for Barry, Cisco, Caitlin, etc., you mean to tell me they have no place in his “perfect” world?? He mentions his work with Team Flash in passing at one point, so this version of Thawne did experience that, but has none of the emotion attached to it anymore. My personal headcanon is that he still kept them all onboard as doting lab assistants or something, because I refuse to believe he wouldn’t want them back in his life after openly saying how much he cared for them all only a few seasons ago.

There is a storyline where a version of Thawne stops being a supervillain and settles down. But it also comes with amnesia and pretty much becoming a whole other character, so that was kind of disappointing. We’ve seen firsthand that Thawne has good qualities and is capable of love and friendship... but apparently he needs amnesia to really embrace it at all... with brand new characters we’ve never seen before.

By the time season 8 comes around, Thawne becomes an avatar of the negative forces and essentially loses all of his humanity and becomes a big beast of a final boss for the Flash to take down. Which, for a big final battle to settle the score once and for all, is kind of cool, but it’s disappointing that the road leading to this final confrontation was so generic. Thawne had lost his humanity a long time ago, and was just an obstacle to take down now.

I want the Thawne that actually loved Barry and his team, who still battled them and tortured them, but had to stop and wince in hesitation and conflict before doing so. The Thawne who complimented how smart Cisco was and called him a son before killing him. The Thawne who constantly told Barry he loved him and tried to emotionally manipulate him out of fighting. The Thawne that Barry, Cisco, and Caitlin looked up to and saw as a mentor and an idol, despite the evil he’d done.

Sorry for the rant. Eobard Thawne, the show version of him, was - and is - one of my favorite characters of all time. But I feel like, as the show went on, they moved away from the fascinating new take they created and moved closer to the generic, spiteful villain of the comics. And that is truly a shame. It wasn’t how much he hated the Flash, or how many times he kept coming back, that made him a great character. It was the history he had with the heroes, the relationships, the conflict. How he came off as so caring and kind, and lifted them up while secretly stabbing them all in the back. I realize that there is only so much they could’ve done with that dynamic once the facade was lifted, but... the show hardly even tried to capitalize on that past and add depth to their conflict moving forward. It was just.... hatred. On both sides.

The show started right out the gate with Flash’s biggest enemy. And while his initial arc was great, I feel the show overall suffered for it. Of COURSE the Reverse-Flash was going to end up coming back again and again - anyone who has read a Flash comic knows that that’s his thing. But, in season 1, his story was already fully completed and satisfying. It felt like his return in future seasons (with the possible exception of season 5′s Nora arc) was just checking off a checklist of necessary things to do, not so much doing any actual service to his character or storyline.

#Eobard Thawne #Harrison Wells #The Flash #Reverse Flash

[squireofgeekdom]

“trust” for the ask game? Or “please”?

this long post brought to you by oh boy do i have a lot of open wips

'trust' from Tony Stark's Space Roadtrip aka What If? 2.4 grabbed me by the throat and I wanted what happens next:

Being angry at yourself? Well, that’s a renewable source,” he let out a huff, almost a snort. “Trust me, I would know.”

'please' from Somnolence, my post-SM2 Insomniac Spider-Man wip

A relief. A revelation. No power. No responsibility. Please.  Harry.

several instances of 'trust' from Running Laps, Eobard and Cisco centric time loop wip

“You can pick,” Eobard says, “I trust you.” He realizes it’s true as he says it. It should feel like a shock, to trust someone he’s only just met - at least as far as he can remember. But it just feels right.

+

He believes he can trust Cisco. He’s been thinking about it for the past hour. “I can trust you, right?” he says. “I know that’s - that’s not something I need to ask. I’ve - I guess I’ve known I can trust you since I woke up. But I - I need to - I want to tell you something that’s going to sound crazy.”

and one 'please'

“He’s kept me away from this project. This project that has a problem.” He looks at Cisco. “Please tell me you’re not so dense you can’t put that together.”

a selection of 'trusts' from In Spite of the Uneven Odds, the season 2 gang crashes in to Earth 0 & herobard fic, because there are a lot of them

Ramon shakes his head. “We thought we could trust him too.” “I trust Eo - our Eobard with my life.”

+

“Hey, you’re the one who’s out here trusting Thawnes.”

+

“Other me insists you’re a good guy, but it’s going to be hard for me to trust a guy with your face, y’know?” “That… is entirely understandable. I have a hard enough time trusting my face and name sometimes,” Thawne says.

+

“I’m a bit of a proud bastard,” Thawne says. “I haven’t met an Eobard Thawne who wasn’t. If he asked you for help at the end, he trusted you.

and a couple 'please's

“My name is Eobard Thawne, but I am not the Reverse Flash, though I - am aware that that is my counterpart’s identity in most other universes. An Eobard Thawne who is the Reverse Flash did intersect with this timeline, but you will be pleased to know he is currently in a speedster-proof cell in Iron Heights.”

+

“Hartley please.” Allen pinches the bridge of his nose.

and from my collection of Daniel and Chozen centered Cobra Kai wips, tentatively titled 'acts unseen' as a series, one trust and several please's

Carmen Diaz - someone Daniel trusts - is right there.

+

“Please don’t hurt -” but he doesn’t have to finish his sentence, Daniel is reaching into the compartment between the two seats for a pen and the back of an old grocery list.

+

Breathe in, breathe out. “Start, please.”

+

“Chozen - you’re -”  Daniel coughs. “Stay. Please.”

+

“The lights are on and we will get to the hospital as quickly as possible, but he is stable for the duration. The bleeding is under control. Please try to stay calm.”

Meet in the Middle aka i swear im still working on the last chapter, just trust me --

“What, you encounter a couple of fake-me’s and suddenly you’re the expert?” Ratchet says finally, an attempt at humor.  “Trust me.”

-- please

M looks over at him from his largest frame, one hand extended toward the high ceiling. “Still Minimus today, please. I just needed to make some adjustments to the alarm and sprinkler system.”

My duo of High Rollers Aerois wips, Lucius and Fayeth centric

“Well, that sort of thing isn’t important to Aridan, he’s much too sensible for that. He knows that he can trust you, and that means a lot. But only if you want! I mean, of course the rest of the wolfpack, you wouldn’t have to just - ”

+

“Fayeth, please,” she says, looking up from where she had momentarily rested her head on her desk.

thanks for the ask! this was really fun

Send me a word and I'll share bits of my WIP(s) that include it!

#squire talks #wip meme

[ageless-aislynn]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💗 

I received this from both @authortobenamedlater and @lialacleaf thank you so much! 🤗🤗

I decided to spread the love over all of the fandoms I’ve written, not just focus on the recent ones *coughHalocough* 😂😉 or the fandom I’ve written the most in *coughTheFlashcough* but if somebody should happen to want my list of top [whatever number] fav Halo or Flash fics I’ve done, just let me know. Otherwise, enjoy the multi-fandomness! 🥳🎉

In alphabetical order by fandom, because that’s the way I roll... 🤷‍♀️😉 Edit: now with bonus matching vids because vidding is one of my fandom love languages so if I’ve written it, I’ve probably vidded it, if it’s possible, lol! 😇😉

I don’t want to push you away, I don’t want to hold you at arm’s length I don’t want to push you away, it’s just a knee-jerk reaction...

I was going to borrow this vid to make a GIF for this post and realized... the vid itself actually supports the fic pretty well. Or vice versa. They’re both from 2014 and I don’t remember which I made first, oops! But if you end up watching it and reading the fic, let me know if you think they kinda do pair pretty well. They were both made in season 1 of Arrow, so maybe that was inevitable, I dunno! 🤷‍♀️😉

1. “Five Times Oliver Held Felicity (And The One Time She Held Him)” (Oliver Queen x Felicity Smoak, Arrow) This one has about the “prettiest” writing I’ve ever done, if that makes sense? I don’t fall into this sort of voice often but I hope it worked well for this one.

2. “Balancing Act” NSFW (The Tenth Doctor x Donna Noble, Doctor Who) My very first multi-chaptered fic and will always be a sentimental favorite. 💖 It’s also where I developed my love of writing humorous smuttistuffs. 😉 I’ve also vidded them a time or two. Here’s a happy one: “Short Skirt, Long Jacket”

3. “15 Minutes” WIP (Master Chief John-117 x Reader, Halo the series) This is truly one of my most favorite things I’ve written and I don’t say that lightly. This fic is my place to take refuge in and, while I don’t look forward to it ending, I’m also excited to share the entire story. However, if I don’t have chapter 8 ready to post not long after 7, I’m going to feel verrrrrry guilty. There’s a pretty big cliffhanger about to land. *whistles innocently* 😳😉

Now, since you can’t properly vid a Reader fic (since you don’t want to physically show that character), here’s my AO3 collection of Halo vids. The vids for the series are all pretty much John/Kai but you can always go straight for the AU Party Warthog and jump in, if you’re so inclined, lol! 😇😉

4. “Cold Hands” (Jordan Mahkent x Caitlin Snow, Stargirl/The Flash) I don’t often cross fandoms like this but ended up really enjoying the chance for these two to meet! Naturally, I also made a vid for them as well: “Gasoline”

5. “The Thousandth and the First” NSFW (Eobard Thawne x Caitlin Snow, The Flash) Snowells, my beloved, lol. I ended up writing them in their many variations and dopplegangers and such but this fic here? This one gave me the chance to both write a soulmate AU, which I’d wanted to do for a while, as well as to come up with an idea as to how a relationship could’ve actually worked between them as “realistically” (she says, having just told you this is a soulmate AU, lol) as possible. I’ve vidded them a lot but the one I’m going to suggest to pair for this particular fic is “I Know You” (where the GIF actually comes from as well) 😉

Honorable mention:

“Cherryished” (Peter Hale x Lydia Martin, Teen Wolf) Ohhh, I’ve wanted to write them for years and finally had a request that gave me the opportunity to make it happen. I should note that the vid I’m about to rec you uses a mix of the Teen Wolf series and Ian Bohen’s appearance on The Client List, so is quite suggestive, though nothing is graphically shown. “Get It” (password: peterhale)

Tagging any writer who sees this and would like to do it! *boops your nose politely* Please tag me so I can read your answers! 💖💖💖

#fav 5 fics of your own #tag game #arrow #olicity #doctor who #ten x donna #halo the series #halo paramount+ #master chief x reader #john-117 x reader #stargirl #jordan mahkent x caitlin snow #the flash #snowells #eobard thawne x caitlin snow #teen wolf #pydia #peter hale x lydia martin #*boops your nose politely* #ageless aislynn

[avatarskywalker78]

🤔👻🦖🫘 - for the New Year writer ask

🤔 Are there any new characters you want to write about?

I'd love to start writing for Star Wars and particularly for the trio - I once wrote a scene with young!Han for a wip but that was years ago and I've never done much for Star Wars since. I'd love to write for Luke and Leia for sure (and Wedge too). And I'd also love to start writing for ATLA and the Gaang, it's just that so far I've not really had many ideas (I think a rewatch is due.)

👻 Is there a new genre you'd like to write?

Actually I'd love to write an epistolary fic - I'm trying to experiment with POVs and writing styles more and it could be interesting to write a fic in letter form.

🦖 Are there any fandoms you wrote for in the past that you'd like to return to?

The proper original Thunderbirds - I never published fic but I did write a few scenes for a story, and I'd like to get back to that as it's a show close to my heart. I'd also like to get back to writing for the Super Mario franchise because that was my first fandom and one I regret not having written as much as I'd like for despite have loads of ideas, but I really do want to explore that world more.

🫘 Spill the beans. What's a new project you're doing this year?

This year I'll be working on the Theo Thawne AU - a series of fics focused on my OC Theodore Edward Thawne, the son of Malcolm and Laura Thawne and the second Cobalt Blue, and his experiences with time travel as he gets swept up in the events of the series. It's going to start out in S5 as he finds out just who his old childhood friend Nora has been talking to and races to help her and stop Eobard, and then deals with events like Crisis and Armageddon and the like (won't go into too many details but they're going to be written a lot better), with Theo having to deal with the timeline changes, and it will end in S9, when he comes face to face with his (by 2049) long-dead uncle, which brings up strong emotions for everyone involved.

I won't give too many spoilers, but needless to say Theo's presence in these events will change things - but one event remains the same and it will haunt him across the whole series.

Fic writer ask game

#Answering my asks #Thanks for asking! #Fic writer ask game

[zeroducks-2]

(Espero que se me sea entendible)

Que opinión tienes de que Eo haya dicho:

"because it's the only time you'll spend with me."

En vez de:

"because it's the only time I'll spend with you

Te entiendo sì :) Sorry my Spanish isn't good enough for a complete answer but I do understand it well enough.

So the reason why Eo says "It's the only time YOU will spend with me", and not "the only time I will spend with you", is because he does spend a lot of time with Barry even if Barry is normally not aware of it.

Eo follows him around, spies on him, literally stalks him day and night and keeps him under control, he does spend a lot of time with him. It doesn't work the other way around though! Barry doesn't know Eo is there (and even when he suspects it, they don't really interact), so he doesn't in fact spend time with Eobard in return. It's a one way thing in which Eobard watches and looks and observes but never acts, like when he came back from the however many years he was tortured in prison and started just following Barry around, watching him without ever interacting (Eo was being ridiculously shy about it, and the funny thing is that at that point, Barry would have likely been happy to see him and greeted him like an old friend).

Conversely, when Eobard is actively making his life impossible, Barry is forced to react to the things he's put through, therefore he will "spend time with him".

See, Eo has this distorted view of relationships in which spending time with a loved one means that the ONLY WAY he has to be noticed and get the other person to give him attention, is through breaking things. As a child he was ignored by his parents who locked him in a playpen and never even turned towards him, and the only way he had to get them to pay attention to him was to break expensive toys. That would get his father to finally notice his existence and beat him up, which hey, I'm sure it won't traumatize a small child at all!

If you can go past the terrible art, this is what his life has been like for a good chunk of his childhood (then his parents genetically engineered another child and forced him to be his little brother's primary caretaker, while continuing to treat him like garbage).

And sure, now Eobard isn't a child anymore, but the 25th century is a bleak place and beside for the Flash comics he found refuge and comfort in, he didn't have any other guardian figure (or any friend really) who taught him how love even looks like. So, when Barry loses his entire shit in Running Scared, absorbs the Negative Speedforce and beats the everliving hell out of him, from Eobard's perspective he's still giving him attention! It worked, he broke "enough toys" to get Barry to spend time with him! ... In the sense that he was a menace for long enough and threatened Iris enough times, and it's interesting to me how in Running Scared he is so disoriented and so overpowered that he could do 200% more damage, but truly his only goal is getting Barry to spend time with him therefore he keeps said damage to a minimum.

He could have killed Ace, but he just tossed him around a bit. He could have killed Iris, and he barely even touched a hair on her head. He brought her to the 25th century after realizing that she didn't remember barely anything about him (unacceptable! One of the most important people in his life forgot shit about him!!), but beside scaring her, the whole RS arc ends with Iris sporting not even a bruise. The entirety of Running Scared could be summarized with "local time traveler gets brought back to life by his crush, is disoriented as fuck and in his need for attention makes a mess and gets himself killed again (by his other crush)". And in my strictly personal opinion, the reason why his antics look especially childish in Running Scared also comes from the fact that he's indeed extremely disoriented, both by the whole flashpoint paradox situation (he can't forget anything while everyone else has altered memories!), and by the fact that he literally just died and came back to life. Imagine the headache.

#long post #my asks #eobard thawne #my metas #I went on a bit of a tangent sorry abt that! I hope you don't mind! #zippy thot #my little meow meow

[asm5129]

Flash Thoughts ⚡ A New World Part 4: Finale

Well, here we are. The last episode of the flash, and a farewell to the arrowverse–at least, for the foreseeable future. God damn, i’ll miss it. I don’t care what anyone says, this world, these characters, they’ve meant so much to me. They’ve been by my side through the worst moments of my life, through into a better time where I feel more fulfilled and happy, I feel genuine joy in my life, my family is healthier, and my pain, while not gone, is lessened. That kind of reliable companionship, whether through a human or a story, is rare. And I will treasure it, always. My hope remains that in a few years, people will start softening on the Arrowverse the way they have Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man or the Star Wars prequels, and maybe all the work that was put into this world–ten years, 6 shows not counting Superman and Lois or Stargirl–can get a bit of a resurgence. It’s already built out the most complete multiverse brought screen after all.

 But anyways. The finale. I liked it a lot. It was imperfect to be sure, a bit rushed, and it really wasted it’s returning villains. But I liked it. It was really lovely and hopeful. And I know Grant Gustin pushed for a hero’s death, but I actually stand with Eric Wallace on this one. The Flash, long before Wallace was showrunner, was about hope, and love. We can argue whether he took it to places it didn’t work, but that was always what it was about. Barry brought a light Oliver couldn’t. That was established in the pilot episode. So him meeting a similar end to Oliver I think, as epic as it may have been, wouldn’t have made sense in the grand scheme of things. No, ultimately, it was the right call to make The Flash’s final episode about hope, and love, and family, and–most importantly–coexistence. 

 While I liked Khione, her inclusion had no real grounded logic to it. There’s no reason what Caitlin did in the season 8 finale should have created Khione. Yet regardless–I think she was the perfect vessel for the message of coexistence. As long as Thawne was the Avatar of the negative speed force, there was no chance for coexistence. There was no path forward with him. But the NSF screwed up when it chose to try and corrupt a good man. This is, genuinely, the first time Barry talking a Big Bad down worked in Eric Wallace’s Flash, because Eddie was a good man who was in pain. He hadn’t chosen to be cruel, so much as he felt he had to make someone cruel happy for him to be happy. But it wasn’t natural for him. And while it was a bit rushed, I think it worked well.

 There will always be those we butt heads with, those standing in our way. But if we’re smart, and we’re kind, that doesn’t always mean there has to be pain. Conflict and contrasting viewpoints are healthy and important, as long as it doesn’t spiral out of control. Barry could have sworn off Eddie as just another Eobard, but he knew Eddie. He knew there was more to him than the pain and the fear that was pushing him to these extremes. So he chose peace, and let Eddie see the man he was becoming. I know it’s very idealistic, but fuck it, there are a billion other stories that refuse to entertain the idea of coexistence, that have the heroes just murdering whomever they consider a threat, or even just getting mad and pursuing vengeance without any care for the lives of others. There’s maybe ten mainstream stories that entertain the idea that maybe some people could change and that could make a better world. Less, most likely. If you wanna expend your energy getting upset over that, god, what a waste.

 I also really, really like that Barry’s choice to let Thawne kill himself ended up really mattering here. I felt that was very strange in season 8 and the beginning of season 9 because such a big deal was made during Armageddon about saving him, even though he was only a victim of his own actions just as he was in the S8 finale So for Barry to know the same thing could happen to Eddie and being desperate to not repeat his choice in season 8 was a great payoff to that. You can argue whether it’s rational to want to save those trying to kill him and his loved ones, but it’s who Barry is. He values every life. Every single one. We need hope. We need idealism. We need kindness. And The Flash didn’t always execute it right, and it’s failures at it deserve criticism, but I don’t feel this episode was one of those failures.

 Onto some criticism though… As I mentioned, I think this episode absolutely wastes its returning villains. 

 The first episode of A New World really oughta have been the last appearance of the Reverse-Flash I think if this was all they were gonna do with him. I don’t think this episode cheapened that one at all, but it still felt like a much less satisfying final appearance. And Chester having black hole powers that protected him from being murdered by Thanwe was just cheap. 

 Savitar did almost nothing, and everything that made him interesting from season 3 was gone. 

 Godspeed was just…ugh. He did less than nothing, because he did something and it had zero impact on anything and then Cecile just knocked him out with a thought. Godspeed really was the most underwhelming of all of them, he was mediocre in season 7 and mediocre here, and I wish his slot was filled by the Red Death, just to at least connect her to the rest of the season somehow. Bart finally got a mention in the last 15 minutes or so, but he wasn’t part of the episode despite Godspeed supposedly being “his Thanwe”. I guess the actor just wasn’t available or something, but God it’s so weird that they have spent so, so much time this season on Nora and there was just a single mention of Bart all season. and Zoom was eh.

 Did kinda enjoy all their egos clashing and their grandstanding, and I did appreciate the tension between Eobard and Eddie. Honestly what I might have done instead of these villains would be to have Matt Letscher’s Thawne and Tom Cavanaugh’s Thawne be recruited together. Could have made for some fun dynamics, clashing egos and both Thawnes hating that they were recruited by Eddie–plus finally seeing the two Thanwes onscreen together would have been a great way to say farewell. 

 Ah well. Not sure how I feel about the return of Caitlin, but I did very much like that her and Barry got a chance to talk again and reconcile what happened between them. So regardless of how I feel about the fact that she’s suddenly safe and sound, I do like something we got from it. And Frost still being dead at least makes this not a total about-face. I do like Chester and Allegra together, but I do think the will they/won’t they didn’t need to go on as long as it did. I did however adore Joe FINALLY proposing to Cecile. There were times I had to actually look up whether they were married or not, since they were dating so long, living together, had a kid, etc 

 And after Joe having such a hard time with love before Cecile, in retrospect I actually really appreciate that she didn’t push him. Sure, the ring and everything is nice, and it’s made clear she wanted it, but she clearly didn’t need a ring or a binding piece of paper to know that Joe was in it for the long haul. It was a really, really nice moment for the finale. Nora being present at her own birth, and even holding herself as a baby…yeah barry was right, even for the Flash family that’s a lot. 

But I really appreciated all the moments with baby Nora, especially Joe singing with iris’ memories flashing across the screen and Barry asking baby Nora to believe in something impossible. 

and actually on that note, let me close out by saying–I fucking love that that line, the very first line of the pilot episode, was at the core of the finale. “I need you to believe in the impossible.” It began as a way to describe a world of metahumans, aliens, time travel and multiverses. 

 But here, it’s about believing in a new world, a better world, one that doesn’t accept that a cycle of pain and violence could ever pass for the natural order of things. And I dunno–maybe it’s also a little message that the Arrowverse might have a future some day. That it will get it’s due. Some say that’s impossible, but maybe I’ll listen to Barry on this one, and believe in it anyway. 

 Thank you for following my Flash Thoughts during this final season. It was really enjoyable to write them up for folks. Chat soon folks. You’re all wonderful. stay safe.

#arrowverse positivity #arrowverse #flash thoughts #flash spoilers #flash cw #flash season 9 #grant gustin #candice patton #hope #coexistence #peace #love #idealism #future #series finale #season finale

[kitkatt0430]

Okay, so it's actually Monday, but I was busy yesterday. :D

The still as of yet unnamed sequel to Closer and Closer Still has stagnated a bit during my struggle with an ongoing wasp invasion of my house (check out 'the wasp invasion' tag on my main for more details if you're curious) but there has been progress all the same.

Eobard’s heart was suddenly thudding in his chest too fast. Did Barry know what he’d just said? Just implied about his feelings for the Reverse Flash? Someone… someone he loved…

“Let’s get dinner.” The words just slipped out without permission. “My treat. You’ve had a difficult day.”

Eobard is all worried that Barry will deliberately slow his own progress to keep the Reverse Flash around, but maybe he should be worried about his own resolve to go home should Barry ever confess being in love with Eobard directly.

My Flash Finale Fix-it has also been suffering under the wasp invasion writing-block stress, but it's inching in the direction I want it to go so that's good. It's Westhallen endgame and Barry's not exactly being subtle about his feelings about Eddie. Though Eddie's not connecting the dots yet because he knows a.) Barry's married now and b.) Barry's always been in love with Iris. Just Iris. Right?

And then he asked, "what's the Negative Speed Force?"

Barry's turn to grimace.  "Either it's an artificial Speed Force that Eobard created in the far flung future or it's the Negative pole to the Positive represented by the Speed Force I get my powers from.  And, honestly, the first explanation makes more sense as Eobard's ego talking because he thought he created something that he actually just woke up."

That got a snort of amusement from Eddie.  "When he kidnapped me, he ranted on and on about how I wasn't a scientist or a politician and didn't live up to his expectations.  Sounded like my parents, like my achievements only mattered based on how they reflected on him.  Or them.  I hate to say it, but the ego is a Thawne family trait."

"Skipped you, then," Barry said, gently squeezing Eddie's hand in his.

Barry's been holding Eddie's hand the entire time they've been sitting on the couch in future!Joe's house.

By the time I get to Eddie's PoV, he's a lot calmer about what's going on than canon!Eddie was. He's been dead and it's not like he didn't realize it'd end up being Barry that Iris would most likely move on with in time - Eddie just hadn't expected to suddenly be alive in that future and it's being dropped in the middle of a point in time where he knows neither of them really need him that makes him sad.

I've also been working, on and off again, on the next entry in my Flash Back series. This entry would be set right after the now altered events of Flash Back in S2. In which Barry's memories of the new timeline have filtered in alongside his memories of the original (to him, anyway) timeline.

Eddie's alive now and still engaged to Iris. Ronnie is alive and gone with Stein to join the Legends, which is straining his relationship with Caitlin. But at least they're alive.

“Without me, Eobard Thawne couldn’t exist anymore…” And Barry can see those wheels turning in Eddie’s mind.

So Barry hugged him. Too tight, maybe. “If Eobard dogs my steps for the rest of my life, I don’t care. Not as long as you’re here and safe. You are worth more than you know, Eddie.”

Eddie hugged back, a shaky breath let out against Barry’s shoulder. “Got it,” he promised softly.

I didn't go in to this series intending Westhallen, but... I am a sucker for that ship. I can't guarantee it'll go that way, but the hints of it are there now. (All I really intended was one-sided EoBarry on Eobard's side and Barry recognizing that things between them are really weird for two people who hate each other.)

#six sentence sunday #okay so really six sentence monday (whatever) #the flash #fanfiction #barry allen #eobard thawne #eddie thawne #barry x eobard #barry x eddie x iris

[lonelywretchjervistetch]

Adapting Zoom (Hunter Zolomon)

I can’t believe I’m doing this, but...

Here’s the context: I went on a massive rant about one of my favorite Flash villains, which was basically just a summary of his comic book history, and why I love him so much. It was also about why The Flash on The CW detroyed this character. So, because this is what my ADD is making fixate on today, here’s a version of Hunter for the small screen. I’ll give you a version of Hunter Zolomon that doesn’t use Wally West, and that still works in the context of the series starting in the first season. Hell, we can even go with some of the elements that they put into the original Zoom for the show. Maybe one of these days, I’ll post my ideas for a different Flash series altogether...but this is close enough to fanfiction already, in my opinion.

Introduce new criminal profiler Finn Webb, instead of Patty Spivot. Patty Spivot is another character that was ruined in the show, and they used a storyline for her that could’ve been used or adapted for Hunter. Additionally, we get rid of the stupid will-they-won’t-they romance shit between Iris and Barry for this season. So, here we go. Hunter goes by the name Finn Webb because he’s on the run from a criminal! Walking with a limp, he’s actually in the program because of the actions of Lyle Corley, who killed his father-in-law due to a mistake he made as a profiler. Said death caused the alienation of his wife and disgrace to his position. So, he changed his name and moved to Central City, to get away from the stigma and restart his life doing something he loves. Finn doesn’t think the Flash is as efficient as he could be with that speed, but he still appreciates him and his efforts. Why Finn Webb, you ask? because it’s the name of a minor supporting character and love interest of Barry Allen in the Silver Age of Comic Books, and has a major tie to the Reverse Flash mythos. And by the way, Lyle Corley will be coming back in this theoretical season I’m making.

Replace the multiverse with...y’know, fucking time travel. We introduced the idea of time travel in the first season, and then we...use the multiverse as the second season gimmick instead? Yeah, OK, that makes a TON of sense. Look, instead of that, let’s start the season off with time-travel, as well as acknowledging that Eddie’s sacrifice in the first season finale makes no logical sense when you think about it. At this point, Eobard Thawne has appeared in every season of the series. Eddie killed himself for absolutely no reason, because Eobard is still around. Even the Wiki says this in the trivia for that episode, stating “Ultimately Eddie's suicide is pointless, as Thawne keeps returning akin to whack-a-mole no matter how many times he dies or time is rewritten.” If your fans say that, then you’ve done something fucking WRONG, writers! Plus, killing Eobard could open up a shit-ton of paradoxes. And yes, I realize that Eobard essentially comes from another universe in the multiverse...BUT THEY DON’T FUCKING KNOW THAT!!! So instead of having the Multiversal fugitives, or whatever the fuck you called them, why not fuck with time a little bit instead? Make Zoom a time-traveler, and have Barry see glimpses of the Man in Yellow all over Central City. Y’know...BECAUSE THE MAN CAN FUCK WITH TIME AS HIS MAIN SUPERPOWER??? Hunter, being the irresponsible dude that he is in the comics, just comes back in time to try and kill Barry and his loved ones, just like Eobard did. But this gives us a two-fold mystery. One: wait a fucking second, Thawne is dead...right? If so, how is the Man in Yellow back, and who is this? And two: Why is this guy trying to kill Barry and his loved ones? And why is he strangely silent, and doesn’t stay in the past for long? There’s a mystery for you. But this Man in Yellow is sporadic and fleeting, and a LOT faster than Barry because he has the ability to manipulate time. Which is yet another thing they’ll need to figure out. And yes, they obviously did this with Thawne already, but this will be very different for a number of reasons. One, they now know about time travel, so they’ll be thinking around it, possibly by inventing the Cosmic Treadmill. And two, the writers could figure out something in the pilot episode that makes this Man in Yellow obviously different from Thawne from the first season.

Iron Heights Penitentiary. Let’s give Barry even more problems, and let’s bring in Iron Heights Penitentiary as a major location this season. Let’s be honest, these guys having villains in the Pipeline during this series is...super-duper fucked up. Star Labs is not a prison, Iron Heights is a prison. In the first episode, introduce Central City’s new measures for metahuman criminals by bringing in Iron Heights as a renovated prison, with Barry and STAR Labs helping build it. For that matter, let’s have the Warden be kind of incompetent, and unable to handle metahuman prisoners. His assistant warden, on the other hand, is Gregory Wolfe, and he’ll not only have his own ways of dealing with these super-criminals, but he’ll also be a metahuman, with the ability to induce paralysis and change muscle tone with his mind. He’ll be a major antagonist to Barry towards the middle of the season, especially considering that HENRY IS STILL IN PRISON!!! Because why...WHY on Earth would Thawne give Barry the chance to free his father and be happy? The dude fucking hates Barry, and he’d never do that, sorry. No happy ending there yet. So, Henry’s still at Iron Heights while this work is being done and metahumans are arriving in the prison. It’s here that all the Rogues meet up and formulate a plan.

The Rogues. For fuck’s sake, the Rogues. While Barry is figuring out the whole “Man in Yellow” thing again, do what you should’ve done and bring back the Rogues, in one form or another. I cannot stress enough how disappointed I am at both the TV series and the upcoming movie starring the horrible person I will not mention in terms of how they’re treating Flash villains. Hell, at least the show attempted...pathetically...to bring in the Rogues. I mentioned this before, but the Rogues are the most iconic villain group in DC, purely because they act more like a union than supervillains. Loyal (to a point), and only messing with the Flash when they have to, this team of villains (usually led by Captain Cold) works together to commit crimes, make money, and just genuinely enjoy themselves and their lives. Season 2, as it stands, introduces, Doctor Light, Turtle, Tar Pit, Fallout...THAT’S IT? Wait, wait, wait, those are the only Flash villains introduced this season? No Mirror Master, Top, Abra Kadabra, Doctor Alchemy? Fuck, I’ll take the Fiddler, man! Plus, Trickster, Weather Wizard, Heat Wave, Captain Cold, Golden Glider, Gorilla Grodd, and Girder all appear in one way or another this season, so why not bring back some of the old Rogues and have them actually organize? Yeah, sure, Cold and Heat were on the Legends of Tomorrow (which...yeah, no, why?), so they’re out, but replace them with some others and you still have a great team on your hands! Make these guys the recurring villains of the series, and have the Rogues be the secondary threat throughout! I mean, goddamn it. In the first half of the season, the team of Rogues are established. I’m thinking Top, Mirror Master, Abra Kadabra, Pied Piper, Trickster, Captain Boomerang, and Golden Glider to lead them. use all the big ones. Except for...

Gorilla Grodd. We only get him once or twice a season because of VFX budget, right? So, let’s bring him in for a two-part midseason finale, huh? Grodd returns, and begins a rampage in Central City. He’s caught by Barry, then sent to Iron Heights. However, this time, while this is happening, the Rogues’ plan has finally come to fruition, and they decide to use their abilities to stage a breakout. Choose whichever way you want to get them out of there, writers, but the point is that they’re getting out. In the process, Grodd also is able to escape, and while Barry is fighting against him and the other Rogues, who else should be there...but Finn?

Finn gets fucked up. So, by middle of the season, Finn is a new member of Team Flash. He essentially replaces Wells for that season, and we should really sincerely like this guy. But the cracks of his past are starting to show, especially because Lyle Corley should show up in one of these episodes, and Finn should almost kill him out of revenge. Or hell, maybe Finn DOES kill him, I dunno. That might be interesting, honestly. In any case, Finn’s an interesting character that people like. Time to fuck him up. Finn is at the prison when the breakout happens. Hell, the two-part midseason finale should be called Breakout. So, when Breakout: Part Two opens, Grodd has gotten out of his cage, and the Rogues are facing Barry down alongside him. Barry has to fight them all off somehow, and gets the everloving shit beaten out of him. Grodd, after doing whatever he wants to do, goes to leave the prison. But standing in his way it, you guessed it, Finn. And at this point, every comic book fan watching figures out who Finn is meant to become. Grodd attacks Finn, paralyzes him, then escapes. In this case, he’s actually found and located by the scientifically advanced gorillas of Gorilla City, which exists...in the future. Yup. I’m literally pulling a Planet of the Apes with this series. Now, the episode concludes, and Finn is permanently paralyzed. Knowing Barry’s identity at this point, he asks Barry to help him out, and Barry understandably refuses, knowing already that time-travel is a bad idea, based on last season. And this, of course, pisses off Finn, whose name is officially revealed as Hunter. In the last scene of the episode, we hear an explosion in STAR Labs, as Finn has messed with the still unfinished Cosmic Treadmill, which was possibly a secret side-project of Cisco’s meant to show glimpses through time, based on Gideon and all that. Hunter tried to go back in time, that didn’t work, and they find him smoking in the ruins. He’s back in the STAR Labs medical bay soon after, and the season ends with him opening his eyes to show that they’re full of red lightning. Y’know, all dramatic and shit, but also like the comics.

Stuff starts getting worse. We’re going for some Batman: Knightfall vibes with this one. The second half of the season begins with Barry trying to recapture the Rogues, who are now officially working together in groups with a united plan. At the same time, however, bits and pieces of Barry’s life are going awry, as Hunter starts to mess with the little things as he recovers and discovers his abilities, like producing damaging concussive waves with his snaps. As we draw closer to the ending, Hunter becomes a straight up villain, and we learn about his past and ex-wife Ashley who comes to Central City to find him. Barry will try to save Hunter, but Hunter’s going to claim by the end of the season that tragedy will make Barry a more effective hero. And as the Rogues wear Barry down, and Barry overworks himself a bit throughout the season, something’s going to happen that will change the trajectory of another character: Caitlin Snow. 

Killer Frost is not my favorite character. BUT, having this be the way to change her character is a better idea to me than Flashpoint. Giving Caitlin an accident that turns her into Killer Frost is not only accurate to the comics, but also ramps up the tragedy that Hunter wants Barry to feel. At this point in the actual series, we already knew this could happen at some point, so it makes sense to introduce it here with an accident, rather than directly making it Barry’s fault, which also makes no sense in context, when you think about it. But back to the season finale...

The lesson begins. At this point, the truth is revealed. After Barry defeats a fully-fledged Rogues, he’s caught off-guard by someone he trusted: Hunter Zolomon. Revealing his motivations, Hunter goes full-heel, and turns against Barry in full, turning into the new Reverse Flash. The name “Zoom” could come from the noise of the time windows he’s been opening up with his abilities. Oh, right, the time windows! Remember those glimpses I mentioned earlier? Well, it turns out that Hunter’s abilities have actually  been sending out little tears in the timestream, exacerbating the damage Thawne did to it in the first season. Those have produced windows from the future into the past, which the Team has glimpsed throughout the season. With all cards on the table, Hunter easily beats and outruns Barry, which is a fallacy considering the fact that Hunter is manipulating time, rather than running. At this point, we can use the Cosmic Treadmill as our gadget of the week to defeat Hunter, especially since we would’ve been building it up for the entire season. But Hunter’s going to have one more trick up his sleeve before this whole thing is over. And no, it’s not killing Henry Allen, because that shit was kinda dumb anyway in the original series. No, no...it’ll be a completely different kind of loss. because hey! Hunter can open up windows through time, so...

Bye, Iris. Now, before ANY of you say anything, I’m not killing Iris. Not only is that reductive to literally any female character, but it’s also a copout. Killing characters isn’t the only way to increase dramatic stakes. No, no, we’re not killing Iris. We’re sending her to some point in time that even Hunter doesn’t know of. I’m futzing with Zoom’s powers a little bit, but the Cosmic treadmill’s existence, as well as Hunter’s existence outside of the timestream, makes this sort of thing possible. More importantly, this is an important reference to the comics, as Iris is tossed through time in the comic books as well, ending up in the 25th century and having children with Barry there. This also fixes something in the original series: Barry’s stupid-ass decision to start Flashpoint. He doesn’t have the best rationale in the show, and just sort-of dooms his universe to erasure. It also doesn’t really make sense, when you think about it, because we see that he erases his past self in the process. It’s...it’s a bad decision in a bad ending. Instead, let’s now give Barry a reason to go into the timestream, where he really shouldn’t go. How does this change the upcoming third season? I don’t know. Will I write ideas for that? I mean...maybe? But I’ll tell you one idea now.

Put the Multiverse in the third season, after we fuck with time travel. Seriously, time-travel is a more important part of Flash’s history and mythos than the multiverse ever was. Not to discount Jay Garrick, who should officially appear starting in the third season. Now, if you want a super-cracked out idea...

Bart Allen appears at the very end of the second season. Yup! As son as Barry goes through time to find Iris, Bart appears through another portal! And that’s the sting ending of the season! Where’s Barry? Where’s Iris? The fuck happened with this kid? See you next season on The Flash!

...There. Fuggin’ there. I did the thing. Imma go sleep now, at 4:30 in the afternoon.

#the flash #flash #dc comics #dc comics superheroes #the flash cw #superhero #superheroes #zoom #hunter zolomon #rewrite #rant #rant post #he flash dc #flash dc #barry allen

[negative-speedforce]

Superpower Asks for Siv, Jessi, and Kyle please!

2, 5, 16, 22, 24, 37, and 48?

2. How often is your character underestimated?

Siv: Near constantly. Siv's a fairly physically small person, and because they tend to wear baggy clothes that hide their musculature, people often assume they won't be able to fight back when attacked.

Jessi: Constantly. Jessi's powers are completely unknown, and anyone who figures them out will just get hypnotized into forgetting about them, so most people don't even know that she's basically a mob boss.

Kyle: Not that often. Even without his powers, he's still over 6' and built like a quarterback (which he was). He tends to intimidate people, albeit unintentionally.

5. Under what circumstances would your character willingly give up their powers?

Siv: As long as Eobard was dead, pretty much any. Siv isn't exactly fond of their abilities, since they tend to cause more harm than good for herself and others.

Jessi: If it benefitted her in the long run, sure. More money, more power, more fame, etc. Otherwise, it's not going to happen.

Kyle: While his powers are really more of an inconvenience than anything else, he loves what he's able to do with them, so he probably would only give them up for the greater good. Like if a supervillain said he had to give them up or the city would be destroyed.

16. Who is your character most likely to turn to for guidance?

Siv: Probably Jay or Ember. Before finding out he was a murderous psycho, she would have turned to Eobard, but that didn't exactly work out.

Jessi: Doesn't really believe she needs guidance. I mean, she has her PR manager and her agent, but that's about it. Otherwise, she prefers to just do what she wants and let her legal team take care of the rest.

Kyle: His family. He's still pretty close to his parents, even though they still haven't really gotten their heads around him being gay, they're at least trying.

22. How would your character’s civilian self speak about their supersona?

Siv: Would make the Dark Streak sound like way less of a loser than she actually is, and would defend the name to the end, despite picking it on a whim while panicking because people were asking for their name and she hadn't picked one yet.

Jessi: Would say that Sonata was a horrible person who should be in jail and publicly condemn her actions, despite quite literally being her.

Kyle: Would talk about Blackout like he was a super chill guy, like a friend that he knows. He'd probably make Blackout sound way cooler than Kyle himself actually is.

24. How would your character feel about someone trying to impersonate them?

Siv: Probably would kill them outright. Siv already walks a fragile line between good and evil, and anyone trying to push the scale either way is just going to ruin their image and get in the way.

Jessi: Would roll her eyes. Jessi already has to deal with cover bands, tribute bands, whatever, especially unlicenced ones that her legal team has to go after, so it wouldn't be that big of a deal to her.

Kyle: He'd be really concerned. After all, he's not really one of the big league superheroes, and he's not really much of a superhero in the traditional sense either, just a guy trying to do the right thing with his powers.

37. What are your character’s views about others in their field?

Siv: Hates them all. They all want to kill her or throw her in a cell, regardless of moral alignment, since they've backstabbed basically all of them.

Jessi: Thinks she's above them. They're all a bunch of stick-up-their-butts wussies that are too afraid to play dirty to be as much of a girlboss as she is.

Kyle: Tolerates them, but sometimes they cause more harm than good by creating a lot of collateral damage that smaller heroes like himself have to clean up.

48. What kind of merchandise would best suit your character if they had to get branded?

Siv: Energy drinks. Both with the whole speedster thing and the fact that Siv is the most ADHD person on the planet, something designed to make people skittery would be perfect for Siv.

Jessi: Tee shirts. She's got an extremely iconic image, and she's a highly successful international pop star, so her face would be perfect for tees for her fans to wear.

Kyle: Self-defense stuff, like tasers and pepperspray and stuff. In his line of work, he knows a lot about that kind of stuff, so he'd be great to endorse them.

#ask revan #oc shit #practically-an-x-man #jessi juno #siv thawne #oc: kyle spencer