Hello,

My name is Fawkes Devaue & I am a writer at heart. It is my passion, my purpose, my dream, & my life. (6/23/2016) I'm finally on tumblr. Check me out at: / Also, I'm elena jordan on Pinterest.

I'm not Republican. I'm not Democratic. At this point, I'm just disappointed!

Check out "The Ways of the Universe" by CyberQueens; it is an Arrow fanfiction story that is amazing and does a better job with character and plot development than the writers of the show could ever think to achieve. As is her other story "To Be A Bird of Prey: Origins." NOTE: while CyberQueens can be found on both AO3 & , at this point she is only updating her AO3 account!

The Best Superhero Film: Would be one where the hero dies in the first 15-25 minutes & the woman who was supposed to be the love interest puts on his costume & becomes an even better heroin than the original hero, & all of the advertising will be for the hero & none of the marketing will even allude to this death. Can you imagine how awesome this would be?! (NOTE: I will make this happen!)

But It's Not Comic Book Cannon: Do you know what I think whenever a comic fan whines about this? Fanfiction! The reality is that any adaptations of art is a form of fanfiction but on a much larger scale. So, when comic fans scream "It's not cannon!" I ask, "What is?" There are so many versions of comics that diverge, alter, or blatantly ignore their own cannon that it has become obvious that there is no one cannon. "But it's not cannon!" is a petty, immature, hypocritical, contradictive, & downright convoluted argument for any comic fan to make. So, stop, just...STOP!

Haters Gonna Hate: I hate that saying. It is the most rude, snide, ridiculous response to an apposing opinion to your own, especially one that is strengthened by a valid &/or well reasoned argument.

"What would make a teenage girl feel so lonely and isolated that she would be susceptible to the charms of a vampire?" -Larry Callen

"Harry Potter is about confronting your fears, finding inner strength & doing what is right in the face of adversity; Twilight is about how important it is to have a boyfriend." -Andrew Futral

*I highly recommend everyone watch the HBO show The Newsroom staring Jeff Daniels as Will McAvoy.*

Will McAvoy's Awesome Speech from Pilot Ep. of The Newsroom: (After a college girl asks Will McAvoy & 3 others to describe in one sentence why America is the greatest country in the world. 1 0f the 3 says "Diversity & Opportunity" the other says, "Freedom & Freedom, so let's keep it that way." This is Will's answer to that question.) "W/ a straight face, you're going to tell students that America is so starspangled awesome that we're the only ones in the world who have freedom? Canada has freedom, Japan has freedom, the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Australia, BELGIUM has freedom! Two hundred & seven sovereign states in the world, like 180 of them have freedom." [Turns to the College girl who asked the question] "And yeah, you... sorority girl. Just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day, there are some things you should know, & one of them is: There is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we're the greatest country in the world. We're 7th in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, 3rd in median household income, number 4 in labor force, & number 4 in exports. We lead the world in only three categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, & defense spending, where we spend more than the next 26 countries combined, 25 of whom are allies. None of this is the fault of a 20-year-old college student, but you, nonetheless, are without a doubt a member of the WORST-period-GENERATION-period-EVER-period, so when you ask what makes us the greatest country in the world, I don't know what the fuck you're talking about! Yosemite?" [Long pause] "We sure used to be. We stood up for what was right. We fought for moral reasons, we passed laws, struck down laws for moral reasons. We waged wars on poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors, we put our money where our mouths were, & we never beat our chest. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, & we cultivated the world's greatest artists & the world's greatest economy. We reached for the stars, acted like men. We aspired to intelligence; we didn't belittle it; it didn't make us feel inferior. We didn't identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election, and we didn't scare so easy. We were able to be all these things & do all these things because we were informed. By great men, men who were revered. The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one. America is not the greatest country in the world anymore."

Random Thoughts (NOTE: I am never afraid to speak my mind, you shouldn't be either)...

(4/01/2016) The Dynamics of Rumplestiltskin & Severus Snape: "She made me who I am." In Rowling's Harry Potter books, Snape is portrayed as the bully-w/-a-heart-of-gold. Readers spend the majority of their time hating him, except during those strange moments when he does something good & it confuses the hell out of them. Snape is a wonderful character but perhaps not the greatest person. As a character he's dynamic, cunning, intellectual, & complex. We want to feel sorry for him (many of us do) but can't deny that despite his epic love & being brutally friend-zoned by Lily (a woman who is only perfect in his eyes, just saying) he's definitely got a sh!t load of darkness coating his proverbial character resume. He sacrifices his entire life by protecting the son of the woman he loves b/c he feels guilty for the part that he played in Lily's death (understandable). He counteracts that sacrifice when he spends just as much time bullying said child & every other non-Slytherine-child of Hogwarts; he's a bully just like James Potter was, basically becoming his own worst enemy. While he does eventually grow to respect & care for Harry, that doesn't excuse his past sins, neither does his sacrifice though it does make it more noble. Is he good, evil? No. Snape is what most people are; irrefutably in between. He is who he is. Mr. Gold/Rumplestiltskin from ABC's ONCE is very similar. While Snape was shaped by an abusive/neglectful childhood, his short-lived friendship w/ Lily (ending due to him saying a mean word that he immediately regrets), influenced of Dark Arts & his peers, & a need for Lily which drives him to join Voldemort (he thought Voldemort would help him win Lily's love) who in turn influences him, not to mention a life of regret & heartache, Rumplestiltskin is shaped quite similarly. Rumple grows up w/ a neglectful (later absentee father) who abandons him, is put down by his entire town for being the son of a proclaimed/condemned coward, later marries Milah whom later chastise Rumple (calling him a coward for leaving a war to be w/ his son & make sure his son was safe), Rumple is also condemned/proclaimed the town coward while Milah tries to get him to kill (she was also furious that he wouldn't have more children w/ her b/c it would ruin her reputation), Milah cheats on Rumple w/ Hook who convinces her to run away (Milah abandons her son) & leaves Rumple to be a single parent, he's later tricked by a beggar (disguised Dark One) & Rumple becomes the new Dark One, which effects him as most Curses do by making him hungry for power (he's Cursed as the Dark One for the better part of 300 yrs.), which leads him to abandoning his own son. Though, Rumple does create the Dark Curse in his regret in order to get his son back! But, he does kill Milah in front of Hook the next time he runs into her. Neither of which are probably the best way to go about things. He's used repeatedly by Cora (for power), Regina (revenge against Snow; locks Belle up to use her against him & erases her memories), Peter Pan/father (whom he kills as well as himself in order to save everyone else), Zelena (controls/imprisons him) & he's imprisoned by Cinderella who was working w/ Prince Charming & Blue Fairy. Plus, for 300 yrs. as the Dark One he's treated as Evil. We become what people perceive us to be, as the saying goes. In a sense the entire cast of ONCE have made Rumple the bad guy he is; they've made their own worst enemy! While Rumple/Snape show remorse/regret for the Evil they've done, Milah & Lily do not! (Lily abandoned their friendship b/c of a WORD!) While their good deeds & mutual suffering do not excuse their evil moments, it's no wonder they revert back to the Darkness considering how everyone treats them as evil nonentities! Rumple/Snape are AMAZING characters & for that I love them. They are US in the most exaggerated sense; flawed people neither good nor evil.

(3/14/2016) Nora Roberts' Syndrome OR Plagiarism: Nora Roberts has a habit of writing a few good books, but then plagiarizes herself by re-writing said books many times, changing 10% of the original plot & the main characters' names in an attempt to make it look like a different book, when it's really the same. Where have I seen this before? Oh, yes! In Angel & BtVS, Angel has a not-so-secret dark side (Angelus); on the Vampire Diaries, Stefan also has his own dark side much like Angel does. Seriously! It's practically the same plot but the character names were changed!

(3/13/2016) How Arrow Trashed it's 2 Main LGBT Females: Arrow still has a gay Mr. Fantastic/Curtis, but he's a guy so I have a feeling he's safe from the misogyny of Arrow. 1st, Sara get's killed by a barely trained Thea & then is dumped on top of a dumpster. Now, Arrow had to go & take it's only other female LGBT, Nyssa, who's repeatedly proven herself as a tough, strong, independent woman/warrior...but she (for no reason) needs Oliver's help to defeat Malcolm (whom she's beaten before on her own) & regain power over the League. Where's the logic in this subplot? As if the ridiculousness of Arrow's Baby-Mama drama wasn't enough! Why does Nyssa need Oliver to defeat Malcolm for her? Throughout this verse, she is the only one who HAS successfully defeated Malcolm in combat (cf. 3x15). Oliver, also canonically, had to stab himself through the chest in S1 to beat Merlyn, & didn't even succeed in the end, & the last time someone hired him to come at a Ra's with a sword, he got his ass handed to him and fell off a mountain. Logic? There's no logic! Just the glorification of mediocre white men at the expense of formidable women. Arrow is just desperately trying to make Oliver relevant in his own show at this point. What's even more horrifying is the FACT that (not only was Nyssa disowned by Ra's & replaced w/ Oliver & later Malcolm also takes away her birthright as leader of the League) when Oliver pretends to be brainwashed he was actively letting Nyssa believe she was about to be forcibly married & by extension possibly/inevitably RAPED was just...HORRIFYING?? Like, Oliver - this guy who does this sort of thing is the hero of your show? What the fuck! That's not messed up. That's SICK! To top it all off, the Arrow writers have Nyssa referring to Oliver as her husband after all this SICK CRAP he put her through, AND he still allows Malcolm Merlyn to live all for Thea's sake. This point also stands in the fact that the writers also still actively have Thea referring to Malcolm as her 'dad.' He kills 503 people, not including her 1/2 brother (Tommy) & her supposed father (Robert Queen) who knew Thea wasn't his but loved her anyway (enough to end his affair & change his mind about running off with Isabel Rochev), & who ALSO spent the better part of 6 years manipulating/using her mother (Moira). Yeah, father of the year. (NOTE the sarcasm)

(3/11/2016) Laurel's Death: There is great speculation (rumors) stating w/ clear evidence that at the end of season 4, Laurel or Quinten (both?) will die. I concur w/ this working theory b/c in BTS photos of the funeral, Laurel's mother is seen in attendance. W/ Quinten & Laurel as her only connection in the direct story & other characters, this makes sense. For those who believe it's just Quinten (& those who believe it could still be Felicity or Digg) argue that such a character death will help the Laurel character have an actual purpose on the show. It would drive her to avenge the death of yet another loved one. But, such a storyline has already been done w/ Laurel & it clearly did not improve her real problem w/ this particular theory is, if any of the characters have to die to make Laurel likable/interesting, than what does THAT say about Laurel as a character. In S.1 she was defined by her love triangle storyline & being the love interest, in S.2 she was defined by Tommy's death & it's effect on her, throughout S.3 Laurel was defined by her need to avenge Sara. Thus far, in S.4 her main storyline was to bring her sister back. She has no real storyline of her own that has improved upon her. Laurel does nothing to define herself as her own person. I conclude that Laurel, w/in Arrow, is a character lost & beyond fixing.

(3/05/2016) Albus Dumbledore: It surprises me to no end that people dislike Dumbledore for being manipulative despite all the good he's done, while still declaring Snape a hero despite all the bullying he has done. What makes Harry Potter so great is just how complex all the characters really are. In the technical sense, Snape is essentially the hero of the story, or at least just as much as Harry is. One can't deny that Snape's bullying of students proves that he let anger & bitterness rule him & basically treated others as badly as James treated him, becoming his own worst enemy. I love Snape, but I certainly don't let that blind me to his faults. Dumble, like Harry, is the main champion for good, but despite being a Gryffindor he shows a great deal of cunning & manipulation that is similar to the Slytherine House, while Snape shows courage & boldness that attributes more to Gryffindor rather than that of Slytherine. House labels do NOT dictate a person's character. As for Dumble's lack of trust in people (he kept many secrets) I find it unbelievable how people don't realize that it all goes back to Dumble's relationship with Gelert Grindlvald. While (as JK pointed out) a child reader might realize that Gelert & Dumble's were close friends, an adult reader might realize that they were much more than that (a gay couple). Dumble's put a lot of faith, love, friendship, & trust in Gelert which only led to the destruction of Dumble's family. Suffice it to say, I can wholeheartedly understand the man's overwhelming trust issues with others, & why he kept secrets even from Snape & Harry. Dumble's did suspect that Petunia was not the kindest or most loving guardian to Harry, something that he himself said, & yes he did put Harry up to going through a lot of the "adventures/trials" that he faced, but to me he was doing what he believed he must in order to help prepare Harry for the inevitable battle that would happen between Harry & Voldemort. Was it wise & smart to prepare him for that battle? Yes. Was it kind? No. Was it manipulative? Yes. But Dumbledore, as I have often viewed him, is like a General in a war. He doesn't have the luxury of looking at any one soldier & being able to care about them & them alone. He has to look at all of his soldiers, all of those fighting the war & all of those he is trying to save. It is a hard thing to contemplate but something that must be done. Dumbledore made the risk of caring "too deeply for Harry." Everything that happened to Harry made him the man he was by the end of the story, therefore if he hadn't had to go through all those horrors, he wouldn't be Harry Potter: beloved character we all care so deeply about.

(3/01/2016) Arrow's Baby-Mama-Drama: It really is the worst storyline, it's cliché, empty, ends w/o any resolution other than the fact that Felicity learns about the secret (a secret driven by the fact that Oliver's Baby-Mama, wanted to keep her son safe & out of the limelight, but in the end they go away so exactly what purpose did this storyline serve, other than to break Olicity up). That doesn't include all the plot-riddled-holes the storyline has, which are many. What baffles me the most is the fact that Baby-Mama laments at how Oliver's mother treated her & the situation by paying her off: blackmail. Yet, she seems all to quick to do the exact same thing to Oliver! She blackmails him into keeping William a secret just as Moira blackmailed her to keep William a secret from Oliver. Samantha may be trying to act like a good, concerned mother, but in the end she proved herself to be just as manipulative as Moira. This storyline was one big cluster!fuck.

(2/24/2016) I blame Joss Whedon for inspiring every other author, T.V. show, & film into thinking it was ok to have a vampire get knocked-up or be able to procreate AT ALL. He destroyed vampire mythology in creating vampire-babies/procreation storylines.

(2/01/2016) Laurel Lance! A big problem with her is that in the Arrow soap-opera, she never changes. She was self-righteous, hypocritical, bitter & angry at the beginning of the series. Granted, she had her reasons. Now? She's grown...more bitter & angry, more self-righteous & hypocritical. Thea: ignorant to knowledgeable. Felicity: innocent to experienced. Digg: noble war hero to jaded friend. Oliver: world weary killer to superhero. They all change...except Laurel Lance. Also, when it comes to her hypocrisy, the 2 exp. that piss me off are: she's willing to blame Roy for the possible murder of Sara but when she finds out it was Thea (who was drugged into killing Sara like they thought Roy had been) she isn't angry at all, & she always blames Oliver for cheating on her years ago but she was willing to get in a love triangle between Oliver/Tommy. Granted, it's not her fault, but the writers. It doesn't make liking her any easier.

(12/13/2015) Arrow's 4x09 episode where they put Felicity in a Gas Chamber was sickening in the worst possible way. It put the degradation of Sara's death scene in 3x01, & Thea's manipulation by her father, M. Merlyn throughout S.3 to complete shame. It's no surprise that Arrow is a misogynistic show with only one black man, Digg, who is thankfully not a bad guy; but to take the entire Jewish race, culture, religion & historical horrors of the Holocaust & its 6 million victims & use them as just another plot point was the lowest point Arrow has ever made. Seriously, accompanied by Felicity's possible death (another female that might be killed off) it degraded its lead female character, said character's race, culture, religion, & entire way of life in one fell swoop! I am disgusted!

(12/01/2015) Fanfiction: I hate it when writers on fanfiction will write in their summaries that they are "bad at writing summaries". It shows poor writing!

(11/13/2015) Byronic Heroes: While I like Byronic-tragic-brooding-male-heroes as much as the next girl, their is a limit to how broody they should get. The whole "woe is me" act gets old very quickly.

(11/03/2015) Edward Cullen Complex: When a character(s) is openly in-love with one character, but still sleeps around with everyone else on the show, contradicting said love. OR the, "I can't be with someone I truly care about b/c it would be too dangerous" is so cliché! I have read this in practically every fandom fanfic. This goes for all those male characters that try to put their women at arms length do to their "I'm too dangerous" spiel, which only serves to insult the woman's agency!

(10/26/2015) Laurel Lance Cannon Issues: how are she & Oliver meant to be? In the comics they have an on-again-off-again relationship which does lead to marriage. However, they get a DIVORCE & Laurel actually marries someone else whom she ends up being happy with. Basically, Lauriver is NOT cannon!

(10/15/2015) The Problem w/ Laurel Lance (P. II): Ever notice how whenever it comes to Laurel, even though she has all these so-called feminist qualities, she still can't do anything herself? Never mind the fact that she can kick butt on her own, but when Oliver/Arrow are around, most of the time she completely forgets how to defend herself & needs to be saved? She's also supposed to be this big-shot Lawyer/ADA, but she can't even win a court case without Oliver/Arrow & his Team's help! Plus, every scene she's in seems forced b/c she doesn't really belong. E.g.) in S.2 when she figures out (thanks to Slade; why she believes the word of a known villain, I will never understand) that Oliver is the Arrow: We switch to Laurel going to the hospital to check on Sara. Does Sara actually need to be in the hospital? No. The doctor points out she's not badly injured. This is after countless episodes demonstrating that Team Arrow prefers to do almost all medical stuff inside the Arrow Cave to avoid awkward questions; a point made later in the same episode. So why is Sara there? So that Laurel can find out information about Sara & have her suspicions confirmed. It's yet another case of the plot bending itself to give Laurel something to do, not a plot that needs Laurel in it. It requires both Sara & a random doctor to act out of character. This leads to Laurel discovering Sara & Oliver's secret. Suddenly Oliver is special & she knows, so she wants to be part of something special. It feels like Laurel is glomming onto Oliver not because of any real feelings but because she has this built up fantasy about being part of something special just like she didn't really know Ollie when she was fantasizing about living happily ever after when she wanted them to move in together. She's off connecting dots to her wedding day & Oliver was so freaked that he ran off with her sister. To be honest, I'm more upset over the fact that she seems to have no other agency other than to be a possible love interest for Oliver! I have a problem w/ Laurel Lance being the BC b/c despite the fact that it would have been much more interesting if she'd been trained by her sister, not to mention more moving emotionally for her story arc instead of said sister having to die, I could never take Laurel seriously as a superhero b/c she is, "impulsive, reckless, runs off half-cocked, mad, & repeatedly does stupid things that almost always get her hurt if not killed, not to mention jeopardizes anyone who has to go after her & rescue her, then the consequences are never her fault." Seriously, Laurel never takes responsibility for her own actions, all she does is blame everyone else for how crappy her life has turned out. She also constantly hypocritically demands everyone to treat her w/ respect, loyalty, & honesty. But, she's gullible enough to believe what the enemy tells her (Slade) while keeping secrets of her own from the same people she demands honesty from (keeps Sara's death secret from her father). I can honestly say that I want to like Laurel. I love any example of strong female characters! The problem is that Arrow often gives Laurel actions/lines that contradict those strengths. How am I expected to like or condone Laurel when her entire storyline has caused every other main female character on the show to be degraded, used, & otherwise screwed over? Sara had to die for Laurel to become Black Canary, Thea had to be victimized/manipulated by Malcolm Merlyn for Sara to be killed in the first place, & Felicity's character had to be isolated from the rest of Team Arrow just so Laurel could get her own spotlight. I dislike women hurting other women just so they can gain power & more strength. The Arrow writer love pitting their viewers against their female characters.

(9/23/2015) The death of Sara Lance: This is Sara Lance! She'd fight like hell to stay alive! Instead she just stands there & gets shot. Let's not forget that the real reason they killed her off was so Laurel could become the Black Canary & the fact that the only reason they didn't have Sara fighting back was so there would be time for Laurel to see her demise. This is just another example of the show catering to Laurel even though it was unnecessary. To top it all off, Laurel's ever growing back story is becoming ridiculous! The writers are isolating every other character from the rest of the Arrow Team, just so Laurel can rise up & be the Black Canary. Basically the writers are going to degrade, devalue, & destroy every other character just so Laurel can be strong, which will make her rise to Black Canary that much more unbelievable & unlikable. When Laurel speaks about the "fire inside her" being gone when she tried to fight, b/c it's the only way to quench the "fire" (referring to her need for revenge) she can't get rid of it with booze or pills. She's trading one addiction for another. She wants to BE Sara & in doing so she also wants to find vengeance, which is a very selfish act. She doesn't really want to become the Black Canary to honor her sister! She's doing it b/c it makes herself feel better. AND, apparently Laurel will be wearing her Black Canary costume by season 3 episode 10. It took Oliver 5 years to be the Hood/Arrow & it took Sara 6 years to be the Canary. Are we really supposed to believe that Laurel is going to be the Black Canary, & actually do the part justice, in such a short amount of time? I mean, all she has is some self defense & boxing classes from Ted Grant! Undoubtedly we are going to see Laurel get beaten up repeatedly, which is just misogynistic!

(9/09/2015) The Arrow show writers/producers need to stop stealing plot points from the Batman Universe. Seriously, everything to do with The League of Shadows/League of Assassins is from the Batman storyline. Hell, everything about Arrow is copyright infringement on the idea of Batman. It's a poor man's Batman. I wonder if someone in the Arrow writer's room said, let's make this as much like Christopher Nolan's Batman as possible, most likely b/c Nolan's Batman Trilogy was so successful. The Laurel/Tommy relationship is built upon the Rachel Dawes/Harvey Dent relationship from the film. To top it all off, the residential respective vigilantes/heroes (Arrow/Batman) were pining away after one of each. Batman loved Rachel who died & Oliver was obsessed with Laurel & in the process his friend Tommy died. The parallels to Rachel Dawes being the ADA as well as Laurel eventually becoming ADA. Those are just some of the little details they stole, don't get me started on the big details!

(11/26/2014) Stephen Amell & Emily Bett Rickards' stunt doubles are married to each other. Basically, Olicity are actually really married. The UNIVERSE ships Olicity!

(11/13/2014) The Problem w/ Laurel Lance (P.I): It's clear, due to the characters eventual Black Canary transformation & comic relationship w/ Ollie/Arrow that Laurel would be set as the show's main love interest for their leading male. Honestly, I think this is where the writers went wrong. Instead of focusing on her independence as a strong women who would later become a vigilante herself, they focused on the romance of it all. Labeling (shackling) her to the narrowness of being just another love interest. The problem was, there was also all these expectation to make her tough, make her strong, give her a meaningful job, all of which would lead to her transformation to BC. Obviously, these expectation were (to most of the fans) not met. The writers shoehorned her into a box labeled, 'Love Interest' which in turn removed her agency as a woman as well as her own person!

(10/18/2015) Why Fans Love Felicity Smoak: With Laurel already set as the show's love interest, the writers seemed to feel no need to go that rout w/ Felicity when she was first brought into the story. Thus, opening many doors for Felicity's character w/in the future of the show. At first, she is just a friendly source of information that helps Oliver. She also has wit & comedic timing, bringing about Oliver's first real smile on the show! This leads to her saving his life (S.1 "Odyssey" ep.) & inevitably becoming a member of Team Arrow. This gives her many opportunities to stand up to Oliver, showing she's not gonna take any of his sh!t. This gives her strength. She shows knowledge at her actual job which extends to her vigilante work. She shows loyalty, love, friendship. This allows Felicity to have agency. I don't think it was until mid way through S.2 that fans & the Arrow writers finally decided to make her the leading love interest, but even when they did it never took away from her agency as a character & a woman b/c that had been established long before she had been selected as a love interest! Felicity is also a relatable character. She's the ordinary girl thrust into an extraordinary world & her reactions are often mirror images of what the audience would do if they were in her place. She's relatable enough for the audience to appreciate & understand her, but she is different enough with her own back story that ensures that she will never be a Mary Sue. There's a normal simplicity to Felicity. The rest of the characters all have problems that center around the chaos of the vigilante world that they live in. Meanwhile, Felicity's issues stem from a much more normal if not original psychological view point. She has daddy issues b/c her father abandoned her as a child, causing a tense relationship with her mother whom she wasn't as close to & doesn't share the same mindset or passions, thus complicating her daddy issues even more b/c not only was he her father but obviously they were extremely close when he abandoned her, making the psychological ramifications of the abandonment more severe. Felicity has a genius level intellect that makes her socially awkward which everyone has felt at one point or another. Her open mindedness, understanding, ability to forgive, & tough/brave attitude also helps her not just in her every-day life as a business woman but also with her work for the Arrow. She is a strong minded, strong-willed individual that shows through her extreme femininity which is rare in today's world which revolves around the idea that for a woman to be strong she must succumb to the stereotypical traits of men. Felicity clearly breaks the mold, never following the cliché. She is femininely strong which is a nice change to see, & shows that there is nothing wrong with being feminine.

(9/11/2014) I HATE the Twilight Saga! There! I said it & I feel a lot better for it!

Why would Bella fall in love with Edward? He's hot? That seems like a really superficial reason. He's a bad-boy? Not really. I don't know of any bad-boy types that would want to sparkle in the sun like a fairy. What exactly is wrong with Bella's life that she would want to give everything up? She has a fun-loving mother that may be on the eccentric side (whose mother isn't a little weird) & a typical over-protective father who takes good care of her even when she doesn't realize it. Sure, she's a teenager that feels left out & isolated from the normal world, but that's what being a teenager is all about. We all feel that way at one point or another, but usually we grow out of it (unless you're Bella who doesn't seem to grow at all in the entire series). So, why would Bella be drawn to someone as overbearing, controlling, & deadly as Edward or Jacob? She has no identity of her own & is under the constant influence of the male figures in her life. That type of nonchalant attitude towards her manipulation isn’t something that should be projected, especially to women in her age group who are starting to date for the first time. Bella constantly needs a male figure in her life. First her dad, then she's immediately infatuated with Edward. In New Moon when he leaves what’s a girl to do? Find something in them self? NO! Find another man! Enter Jacob, another troubled male figure who helps her cope with her loss & then leaves her hanging. Whatever happened to sitting down & having some me time? Edward is pretty much a stalker. He lurks in the shadows & follows Bella’s every move, he even goes as far as watching her sleep. I get that they have a chemical bond, but they both exhibit actions towards one another that looks more like a drug addiction not a relationship. Hell, they can’t even have sex because of it; it sounds like they truly just need a fix. What kind of role model is that for 13-year-old girls who think that their crush on Johnny is exactly the same? It’s not okay! Twilight objectifies women! Typically when you think of women being objectified it has to do with sex. In this case it has to do with both Edward & Jacob’s constant coddling of Bella. It’s as if she’s a fragile flower who always has to be protected. Where’s her brain? Where’s her own sense of self? Edward gets Bella to leave her family & friends to appease him, which eventually leads to marriage & a half vampire baby (which negates from the vampire mythos as a whole)! It’s not OK for anyone, let alone a teenage girl to toss everything to the wind at a boyfriend’s request. For something created by a woman directed at young women it’s sad to see so many negative characteristics in a female driven story.

(9/01/2013) Hogwarts' Lost Boys: Ever notice the parallel between the characters Voldemort, Snape, & Harry Potter? They all had horrible childhoods in a questionable, abusive environment. However, J.K. Rowling points out the very psychological fact that you can take a group of people, put them in a relatively similar situation & they'll all react differently.

(8/05/2013) Vlad the Impaler & Dracula: I am always surprised when people don't realize the significance of killing vampires with wooden stakes, especially when Bram Stoker was inspired by Vlad the Impaler when writing his legendary story, "Dracula." Vlad the Impaler would impale people on long wooden stakes, so obviously the one thing that would kill him in his undead lifetime would be a wooden stake to the heart. It's called parallelism, people!

How To Create An Epic Story:

A) Select a young male (or female) protagonist...Examples: Frodo Baggins, Harry Potter, Luke Skywalker

B) Remove parents; make him (her) an orphan and live with Aunt/Uncle...Examples: Uncle Bilbo, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, Luke Skywalker's Uncle whose name I can never remember.

C) Introduce an old, wise, and bearded mentor...Examples: Gandalf, Dumbledore, Obi Wan Kenobi.

D) Add some supernatural help...Examples: Evil-self-possessing-ring, wands/magic, lightsabers.

E) Include a super-evil-villain who wants to be master of the universe and rule the world...Examples: Saroron, Lord Voldemort, SithLord.

F) Finally, add a character striving for redemption...Examples: Sméagol/Gollum, Severus Snape, Darth Vader.

Severus Snape's Inner Thoughts...

The love of my life married the man who tormented me everyday of my childhood at Hogwarts, they have a child, &then they all die! I turn double agent for Lily's sake, constantly risking my life for her memory as well as her son. Who, by the way, despises me bitterly (Ok, that may be my own fault!) & is convinced that I am utterly evil. The only upside to my ironic death is that Harry has Lily's eyes. On top of everything else, I have to be the one to kill Dumbledore. I, for one, think my attitude is justified!