History Fanfic / BlackbirdArrow

* DarkSecret: What happened to Laurel is this for Dinah and Sara for the first three years after Sara returns home. Dinah has to constantly remind Sara not to tell anyone (especially Quentin) about what happened. Sara acquiesces because she has no way to get Laurel back, and because the consequences of spreading the word could mean the death of both her family and all of Starling City. The very moment she does have a way, however, she doesn't hesitate to spill the beans in hopes of saving her sister.

** Tragically, Sara is so determined to blame herself for everything that happened that she's oblivious to how much her parents (especially Dinah) enabled her self-serving behavior prior to the ''Gambit'', which led to Laurel's situation. At one point, she even tries to ''defend'' Dinah by pointing out how her mother didn't ''immediately'' jump to trading Laurel for Sara, instead trying to trade herself first -- as if that ''really'' makes it any better. Especially when, after that failed, Dinah outright coerced Sara into going along with trading Laurel by manipulating her youngest daughter using her trauma. Tellingly, even Oliver is able to see how much Dinah is using Sara, and while it doesn't completely cool his anger towards his friend, it does make him sympathize with her.

** Sara is so determined to blame herself for everything that happened that she's oblivious to how much her parents (especially Dinah) enabled her behavior prior to the ''Gambit'', which led to Laurel's situation. At one point, she even tries to ''defend'' Dinah by pointing out how her mother didn't ''immediately'' jump to trading Laurel for Sara, instead trying to trade herself first -- as if that really makes it any better.

** Moira to Dinah: Moira would do anything to keep her both of children safe, whereas Dinah will only do anything for ''one'' of her children. [[spoiler:Tellingly, when Moira learns of the exchange, she is absolutely horrified, and as a mother can be barely stand to think of it]]. In addition, Moira's poor parenting and neglect of Thea is mainly due to the stress having to deal with Malcolm and the Undertaking, and even then she still makes an effort to be there for Thea when possible. Dinah's poor parenting of Sara is because she doesn't really care about Sara as a person so much as a TrophyChild to prove that she's a "good" mother, which is why Sara has no issues ditching her for Quentin at the end of the story.

** Many of the difficulties and misunderstandings in Oliver and Laurel's relationship during the first two seasons are averted due to Oliver effectively redeeming himself in Laurel's eyes when he saves her from the League, [[spoiler:something that nearly kills him in the process]]. This, combined with Oliver apologizing for his previous treatment of her and Laurel being made immediately aware of his status as the Hood after she returns home, means they've returned to being close friends, with many of their loved ones believing that a renewal of their romantic relationship is inevitable. Tellingly, Laurel has a better relationship with Oliver than she does with her own family, which both highlights Oliver's improved character and [[DamnedByFaintPraise her family's toxic dynamics]], while Oliver himself is in a better position to understand her troubles and recognize that Laurel does not owe her family anything after all the years of poor treatment they put her through.

** Laurel and Sara's relationship is much more damaged than it initially was in the show, as what happened to Laurel makes it ''impossible'' for Sara to ignore or try to wave off her betrayal, leaving her even more horrifically guilt-ridden than in canon. Meanwhile, while Laurel does still care for Sara and doesn't go out of her way to deliberately hurt her sister in retaliation for her betrayal, she also no longer feels any obligation to reconcile with Sara nor take responsibility for her. In addition, nobody tries to force Laurel to reconcile with Sara, as it's openly acknowledged she owes nothing to her sister after everything Sara inadvertently put her through.

** Sara is so determined to blame herself for everything that happened that she's oblivious to how much her parents (especially Dinah) enabled her behavior prior to the ''Gambit'' and led to Laurel's situation. At one point she even tries to ''defend'' Dinah by pointing out how Dinah didn't ''immediately'' jump to trading Laurel for Sara, instead trying to trade herself first -- as if that really makes it any better.

* AdaptationExpansion: The story highlights and expands the toxic family dynamics of the Lances, including Quentin and Dinah's excessive ParentalFavoritism of Sara. Needless to say, it does not paint either of the girls' parents in a favorable light, and there are some implication that both Laurel and Sara would've been better off without their parents in their lives.

* AssumedWin: [[spoiler:This is what costs Ra's his duel against Oliver. He disarms Oliver and runs him through, fatally wounding him, but doesn't bother to finish him off. That gives Oliver enough time to power through the pain with a brief HeroicSecondWind and grab Ra's from behind and [[NeckSnap snap his neck]]]].

* DarkSecret: What happened to Laurel is this for Dinah and Sara for the first three years after Sara returns home. Dinah has to constantly remind Sara not to tell anyone (especially Quentin) about what happened. Sara acquiesces because she has no way to get Laurel back, and because the consequences of spreading the word could mean the death of both her family and of Starling City. The very moment she does have a way, however, she doesn't hesitate to spill the beans in hopes of saving her sister.

* DisownedParent: Laurel disowns Dinah as her mother after she trades Laurel to the League for Sara's freedom. It's implied the only reason Sara hasn't done the same is due to her massive GuiltComplex in regards to the situation. That, and because she had to live with Dinah since she couldn't bring herself to tell Quentin the truth about what happened to Laurel.

* UnderestimatingBadassery: Oliver and Ra's al Ghul, which goes both ways. For all his training, Oliver has no comprehension of what he's up against (a near-immortal with centuries of combat experience) [[spoiler:and pays for it dearly during their duel]]. Meanwhile, Ra's underestimates his sheer determination to free Laurel, [[spoiler:which is what allows Oliver to win the duel at the last possible moment]].

** Many of the difficulties and misunderstandings in Oliver and Laurel's relationship during the first two seasons are averted due to Oliver effectively redeeming himself in Laurel's eyes when he saves her from the League, [[spoiler:something that nearly kills him in the process]]. This, combined with Oliver apologizing for his previous treatment of her and Laurel being made immediately aware of his status as the Hood as soon as she returns home, means they've returned to being close friends, with many of their loved ones believing that a renewal of their romantic relationship is inevitable. Tellingly, Laurel has a better relationship with Oliver than she does with her own family, which both highlights Oliver's improved character and [[DamnedByFaintPraise her family's toxic dynamics]], while Oliver himself is in a better position to understand her troubles and recognize that Laurel does not owe her family anything after all the years of poor treatment they put her through.

** Laurel and Sara's relationship is even more damaged than it initially was in the show, as what happened to Laurel makes it ''impossible'' for Sara to ignore or try to wave off her betrayal, leaving her horrifically guilt-ridden even more than she was in canon. Meanwhile, while Laurel does still care for Sara and doesn't go out of her way to deliberately hurt in retaliation for her betrayal, she also no longer feels any obligation to reconcile with her sister or take responsibility for her either. In addition, nobody tries to force her to reconcile with Sara, as it's openly acknowledged she owes nothing to her sister after everything Sara inadvertently put her through.

* AdaptationExpansion: The story highlights and expands the toxic family dynamics of the Lance family, including the Quentin and Dinah's excessive ParentalFavoritism of Sara. Needless to say, it does not paint either of the girls' parents in a favorable light, and there is some implication that both Laurel and Sara would've been better off without their parents in their lives.

** Laurel and Sara's relationship is even more damaged than it initially was in the show, as what happened to Laurel makes it ''impossible'' for Sara to ignore or try to wave off her betrayal, leaving her horrifically guilt-ridden even more than she was in canon. Meanwhile, while Laurel does still care for Sara and doesn't go out of her way to deliberately hurt in retaliation for her betrayal, she also no longer feels any obligation to reconcile with her sister or take responsibility for her either. In addition, nobody tries to force her to reconcile with Sara, as it's openly acknowledge she owes nothing to her sister after everything Sara inadvertently put her through.

** Many of the difficulties and misunderstandings in Oliver and Laurel's relationship during the first two seasons are averted due to Oliver effectively redeeming himself in Laurel's eyes when he saves her from the League, [[spoiler:something that nearly kills him in the process]]. This, combined with Oliver apologizing for his previous treatment of her and Laurel being made immediately aware of his status as the Hood as soon as she returns home, means they've returned to being close friends, with many of their loved ones believing that a renewal of their romantic relationship is inevitable.

* NeverMyFault: Quentin and Dinah Lance, who absolutely ''refuse'' to acknowledge that their bad parenting is what led to Sara going on the ''Gambit'' and caused her to go through two years of trauma and Laurel being traded to the League in her place. Instead, they would rather blame [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom Oliver]] and [[BlamingTheVictim Laurel]], trying to claim that their relationship (and Oliver's attempt to blow it up) was the real cause. In reality, what happened to Laurel shows how little Oliver and ''especially'' Laurel had to do with the situation, as everyone outside of Quentin and Dinah note.

** Oliver and Sara to Quentin and Dinah. Quentin was too stuck on himself and his alcohol to realize his eldest daughter had been kidnapped for ''years'', while Oliver managed to figure out what happened to Laurel as soon as he got home and found out she was gone, and then trained his ass off to rescue her. Dinah traded Laurel to the League to save Sara and felt little to no guilt about it due to her InsaneTrollLogic rationalizations, while Sara recognized how horrible the "trade" was, regretted it immediately and all but destroyed herself in her remorse, before throwing her lot in with the first person she knew who had the will and means to save her sister years later. In the end, the two people who betrayed Laurel are the ones to prove their love for her and come through for her, while the parents that were supposed comfort and protect her failed to do so in every way imaginable.

* AdaptationalContextChange: [[spoiler:Oliver still makes Malcolm Ra's al Ghul, but the circumstances leading up to that decision are entirely different. Instead of it being a deal he made with Malcolm in order to get his help with defeating Ra's and stopping the League from destroying Starling, here it's because Malcolm blackmails him by holding Walter's life hostage. Therefore, instead of Oliver holding the IdiotBall by making such a short-sighted choice [[HonorBeforeReason in order to uphold the deal he made]], here it's clear the situation is one where there ''is'' no choice but to give Malcolm what he wants, so nobody holds it against him for giving in. In addition, as this all happens ''before'' the characters find out about the Undertaking, no one present at the time is aware of how dangerous it is to give that Malcolm that kind of power, only finding out after they return home and explain the situation to Moira and Walter]].

** Laurel despises Dinah for [[ParentalBetrayal obvious reasons]], and it is very much deserved. By the time Oliver rescues her from the League, she's already disowned Dinah and addresses her mother by her first name in her thoughts.
** It's implied that Sara also hates Dinah, for not just trading away Laurel but also for forcing Sara to go along with it. She just hasn't been able to act on it or acknowledge it because [[GuiltComplex she hates herself that much more]], and because she had to stay with Dinah since she couldn't bother to tell Quentin the truth about what happened to Laurel and therefore couldn't stand to endure his ObliviousGuiltSlinging whenever he drunkenly lambasted her older sister.

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: [[spoiler:After learning about the deal, Tommy and Thea are clearly unhappy with Sara. While Sara tries to rationalize their rightful anger as wrong, she ''is'' correct about one thing -- they're in no real position to judge, seeing as they have never experienced the level of trauma everyone else on the plane has. As Sara puts it, Tommy and Thea are still the "spoiled children" Oliver and her were before the ''Gambit'', and have never had to make the kinds of hard choices they've had to make for the past five years. The reality is Sara was put into an impossible situation, was barely in any state to think rationally about it, and was pressured into making that choice by her own mother. While she ''is'' at fault, she's also as much of a victim of what happened as Laurel is]].

* CentralTheme: Betrayal. Namely, to what extent can betrayal be forgiven? Laurel is faced with three different betrayals in the first story, and to each one she reacts differently. She decides to forgive Oliver's betrayal, because it's relatively minor, he's genuinely remorseful for it, and he made up for it a thousand times over [[spoiler:by fighting Ra's al Ghul to free her, something that nearly killed him]]. She is on the fence about Sara's betrayal, because Sara yet to sincerely apologize for it and because her betrayal was so much worse, regardless of her obvious guilt. And she refuses to forgive Dinah's betrayal, because it was the worst one of them all, and Dinah has yet to show an inch of regret for any of it.

* CurbStompCushion: [[spoiler:Ra's utterly destroys Oliver in their fight, and it only ends in MutualKill because Ra's got cocky and dismissed the fight as over before it actually was, giving Oliver the opportunity to blindside him and break his neck]].

** All the crimes Laurel was forced to commit under the League's banner has gradually ruined her over the course of her three years with them. If she wasn't one by the time Oliver found her, she was close to it.

* WhyCantIHateYou: PlayedForDrama. Laurel notes it's so much easier to hate Sara for her betrayal when she was far away and a distant memory. [[spoiler:Seeing her sister again up close, however, makes it impossible to do, as it becomes obvious how much Sara suffered during her own time away as a castaway. Ultimately, she can't bring herself to wish her sister any ill-will and hopes that Sara can get the help she needs, even if that help can't come from her]].

** A minor example is Tommy, who also had feelings for Laurel and intended to ask her out after his trip to Hong Kong, before she disappeared. [[spoiler: After Laurel is saved and returned to Starling, however, he openly recognizes that he can never understand or empathize with everything she's gone through like Oliver can, and so gives up on his crush on her, instead gently encouraging Oliver get back together with her.]]

** A minor example is Tommy, who also had feelings for Laurel and intended to ask her out after his trip to Hong Kong, before she disappeared. After she's saved and returned to Starling, however, he openly recognizes that he can never understand and empathize with everything she's gone through like Oliver can, and gives up on his crush on her, instead gently encouraging Oliver get back together with her.

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: [[spoiler:After learning about the deal, Tommy and Thea are clearly unhappy with Sara. While Sara tries to rationalize their rightful anger as wrong, she ''is'' correct about one thing -- they're in no real position to judge, seeing as they have never experienced the level of trauma everyone else on the plane has. As Sara puts it, Tommy and Thea are still the "spoiled children" Oliver and her were before the ''Gambit'', and have never had to make the kinds of hard choices they've had to make for the past five years. The reality is Sara was put into an impossible situation, was barely in any state to think rationally about it, and was bullied into making that choice by her own mother. While she ''is'' at fault, she's also as much of a victim of what happened as Laurel is]].

** The story deconstructs the show's favoritism towards Sara, including the tendency to gloss over her betrayal of Laurel by choosing to go on the ''Gambit'' with Oliver, and pin the blame for what happened on Oliver and, to some extent, Laurel. While yes, what happened to Sara was horrible and by no means any way deserved, it doesn't absolve her of the guilt of her choices, and pinning the blame on others is ultimately wrong. In this story, such favoritism leads to Dinah (who was the one who let Sara go in the first place) using Sara's trauma to justify trading Laurel to the League of Assassins in exchange for her younger daughter's freedom and convincing Sara to go along with it. Instead, this act effectively dissolves whatever sympathy anyone outside of Dinah might have for Sara's situation, as Laurel did absolutely nothing to deserve such a cruel fate and had been mourning Sara as much as the rest of her sister's friends and family. Oliver, Tommy, Thea, Moira, and Walter are all appalled with Sara and Dinah when they find out, while Sara herself is now a guilt-ridden wreck with DeathSeeker tendencies.

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: [[spoiler:After learning about the deal, Tommy and Thea are clearly unhappy with Sara. While Sara tries to rationalize their rightful anger as wrong, she ''is'' correct about one thing -- they're in no real position to judge, seeing as they have never experienced the level of trauma everyone else on the plane has. As Sara puts it, Tommy and Thea are still the "spoiled children" Oliver and her were before the ''Gambit'', and have never had to make the kinds of hard choices they've had to make for the past five years]].

** It also deconstructs the idea that Oliver "destroyed" the Lance family by "seducing" Sara. In addition to the above point of Sara choosing to go with Oliver on her own, the events of the story show that [[BigScrewedUpFamily the Lance family already had several preexisting problems]] even before the ''Gambit'', and that what happened to Sara just blew it all out in the open and made those problems worse, eventually culminating in Laurel's horrific forced induction into the League. All of this suggests that even without the ''Gambit'', some other tragedy would've eventually caused the Lances to fall apart as a family. Ultimately, Oliver's role in what happened is so minor that both Sara and Laurel herself refuse put any of the blame on him, rightfully blaming either themselves (in the case of the former) or Dinah (in the case of the latter) instead.

** Trading Laurel to the League of Assassins for Sara's freedom is this for both Dinah ''and'' Sara. Dinah is basically PersonaNonGrata to all of Laurel's loved ones now, and by the end of the first story neither Laurel nor Oliver are quite ready to forgive Sara yet, even though she's palpable with her guilt and regret.
** Ironically subverted with Oliver's decision to cheat on Laurel with Sara. Under normal circumstances it ''would'' be this, but what Dinah and Sara did to Laurel was so much worse that it ended up overshadowing his actions completely. Then he redeemed himself entirely by [[spoiler:saving Laurel from the League, something that nearly ''killed'' him]]. By the end of the story nobody holds what happened against him anymore, not even Laurel herself, and some of them, such as Thea and Tommy, actively encourage Oliver to get back together with her.