Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow.

The Ripple Effect

By

ArlyssTolero

Preface

First off, this is an updated preface. Second, yes, this story is being reposted. It was this or a second Harry Potter story because I hate odd numbers, and frankly the Harry Potter fandom scares the shit outta me. This story has previously been titled Ghosts of Lian Yu and The Bargain.

With Arrow finally at an end, I find myself looking back on the series as a whole. On the one hand, this has been one hell of a journey for those of us who have stuck it out since the beginning. We've had our disappointments, small and great, but we've also had our victories, times where the story was put over the romantic subplots (as it should've been the entire time), even though those times are few and far between. But as I look back on Arrow, I find myself realizing there is so much more this series could've been, as I have felt in the past. But with Arrow ending, it means those of us who write fan fiction have a chance to really draw on all the successes and pitfalls and make this series shine in the post-Arrow world, for those who are interested in doing such.

I first began this story under the title Ghosts of Lian Yu when I wrote under the pen-name Revenant-Commander on FFN. It is a reimagining of Arrow beginning with the confrontation in the clock tower during Season 2, Episode 5, The League of Assassins. While I will be following a general outline inspired by Arrow's eight-season run, I want to make something perfectly clear: when I say this is a reimagining, I mean precisely that. This means there are and will be massive changes to the way events unfold, including how the flashbacks played out, characters who were retconned into becoming allies, such as Malcolm Merlyn, will not be so, and most importantly I am not going to be having Supergirl take place in a different universe. How Supergirl comes into this will be revealed.

A common issue that arises with my stories is that I will post a story with a pairing already in mind and people will assume that this is more a suggestion of what pairing I might use and that I'm going to changing my mind if someone makes a compelling argument. When I sit down to write a story, I've already decided the pairing and I am writing with that pairing in mind. In short, I wire my brain to think in a specific way for the purposes of that story. This does not mean I'm above doing other pairings for other stories. I just won't expend a terrible amount of energy on fandom melodrama and shipping wars. If you like my writing but don't like the pairing I've chosen, just wait for me to do a story with the pairing you like. At this point, I'm more open to doing pairings I would've otherwise refused to do. But writing 'pls make this a (insert pairing) story' or something of the like will simply annoy me and make me less likely to write that pairing.

In this story's case, the main pairing is Oliver Queen/Sara Lance. A secondary pairing is Roy Harper/Thea Queen, but I want to explore that pairing a bit in terms of viability since I felt there were some issues that cropped up that were never addressed.

Guest reviewers, please write an identifier in the guest field so I can address you more directly if you choose to leave a review on FFN rather than on AO3. Please note that extremely long reviews that are more like essays and have little or nothing to do with the story itself and more to do with a commentary on the DC Universe will be deleted.

While I hope that those who read my works will act maturely and accept that on some stories I will do different pairings than the ones they are used to from me, I know that there is at least one person who spams anonymous reviews with hatred and vitriol. To this person, or persons, unknown, I have only this to say: I'm quite certain you are either a troll or a rabid Olicity fan trying to turn me against Lauriver projects. It won't work.

For those signed reviewers who may be disappointed, I understand but I can't write only one pairing. It always leads to burnout, and burnout tends to lead to me deleting stories. I don't want to do that anymore, so I am using my time judiciously to explore all avenues.

As to Laurel's role in this story, I will be honest with you: she will be an antagonistic force and go down a path towards villainy. If this is not your cup of tea, you may bow out without issue. If you try to harass me, however, it will lead to punishment in the form of a lack of updates on Arrow: Rebirth. I do not reward those who harass authors.

Finally, I have 15-16 chapters of this story written already, so there will be daily updates for the next 15-16 days. I will be working on chapters in the meantime so that number could go up.