statsgirl

I was thinking the talk would be in the lair but in the hospital corridor after the baby is born makes it much more poignant a place close the door on a relationship, followed by a first, and only, kiss full of everything they want to say but can't.. And it can also relate to the angsty photos in the next episode because Oliver pushes Felicity away and she could be upset that he's pushing both of them away and determined to be on his own.

I would be okay with that, KC playing Laurel as someone who is in love with Oliver because maybe Laurel still is. Where I balk is that she's playing it that Laurel and Oliver are meant for each other and will be together in the end. That means that she dismisses every other person who may be important to Oliver, including Sara and Diggle, because only she matters, and it makes her speeches to Oliver come off a bit like Miss Haversham. (I can see her, forty years in the future, in the apartment where they were supposed to love, wearing the wedding gown she had planned, sending off invitations.)

KC looked so happy in that round table. Leading lady on a new show, the center of everyone's attention. She said in that interview that Laurel tries to see the best in everyone. It's understandable that she might not see it in Oliver at this point, but she definitely didn't see it in Tommy because every time he tried, she called him a wastrel like Oliver had been. So no, Laurel doesn't always try to see the best in everyone. She sees Tommy as taking advantage of her. And poor Tommy, who loved her because all KC's Laurel sees is an occasional good time. She says that who knows if Laurel ever becomes a superhero. Did she not know that Dinah Laurel Lance becomes the Black Canary? Was she being disingenuous? It didn't occur to me before but I guess that in order to be a successful Method actor, you have to be able to understand a large variety of characters. You can get their either by intelligence or by empathy and I don't think she has for Laurel or for other characters on the show. It sounds like she idealized Laurel from the beginning, and she's handing on to that original character. (I wonder if she thought Laurel started drinking and doing drugs because she had been so hurt by Oliver and losing Tommy.) I don't know why she hasn't adapted to the change in the show. It must be very hard for her but show-business is a cruel game.

Lyla is a better person than me if Diggle going on a mission right after she's just given birth is okay with her.

Since table reads are just reads, maybe she sees them through her Lauriver glasses and then just forgets about what happened? If she wanted to know the whole story, she would have read the comics by now. She says she thinks Laurel is good for Oliver because she isn't afraid to challenge him but every single regular character on the show does that, and most of the recurring ones (e.g. Nyssa). It doesn't make Laurel different or special. and it really doesn't explain why they are soulmates. Going by that criteria, maybe Diggle is Oliver's soulmate.

It's good to know KC can still bring the amusement factor. Because he is the star of the show, and she was promised the star of the show as her love interest. Or maybe she's playing to her fans and wants to give them hope. But if that's the case, she's not doing them any favors. Or this. That's a good theory. Otherwise she wouldn't have been grinning so much when Sara sold herself back to the LoA in exchange for saving Starling City. This is the real problem. Like the Laurel/Felicity first meet scene, she will play it as Oliver/Laurel are OTP and Fellcity is just a roadblock. It will throw off whatever they are planning for her and lose her even more good will. But worse, it will stick out like a sore thumb in the overall show. There's only so much of that they can afford before it starts affeting the show.

I would like to see Lyla being friends with Felicity and Sara too. There are lots of potential female friendships on the show, and I'd like to see more of Thea/Sin if she ever forgives Roy and Oliver. Giving Laurel andFelicity a Girl's Night Out friendship doesn't feel true to the character of Laurel. From the Laurel thread: That's a good point, different people do respond to different ways of encouragement. I think pre-island Oliver might have responded to disapproval, because he and Tommy had much in common, but Laurel wanted to be Oliver's girlfriend too badly. Or maybe Tommy saw her disapproval of him as caring because he had very few people in his own life who cared about him. Certainly not Malcolm, and his mother was dead. Laurel's combination of criticism and caring may have been what he needed, until he started beating himself up again that she would always pick Oliver, and was proved right. But the problem is that post-island Oliver is his own biggest critic (except when it comes to relationships) and he's always beating himself up for failing, for not being good enough, for not catching enough criminas, for letting Merlyn level the city, for not killing Slade when he had the chance, and then later for not curing him in the past. He doesn't need someone to tell him he's not doing a good enough job, he needs someone to tell him she believes in him even though she knows all about him. Laurel's push-pull of 'you're a hero"/"you're terrible" is not going to focus him to do better. It's more likely to shut him down and send him to Lian Yu permantly for never being able to be good enough. I love the idea of Ted Grant laughing in her face because that's what she needs. It's not only Oliver and Tommy who were afraid of her, it was Quentin, Dinah and Sara too. Maybe there is hope for Laurel if the writers see her as Katherine the Shrew rather than the sainted Bianca.

replying in the relationshp thread

Didn't James Herriott say in his first book that he had trouble understanding the people of North England? Kevin McKidd did the voice parts for the father/son team in Brave and spoke English the way they do in his native town of Elgin, which is why the characters are so hard to understand.

In his off-time, Stephen Amell got involved with F&CK Cancer because his mother went through chemotherapy for breast cancer in 2012. The goal was to sell 500 shirts to raise money for cancer research; the final tally was 21,486. That's pretty amazing of Stephen's fans.

LOL Doesn't Sara get a line about them needing someone who can see beyond the hero? I'm glad to see that Diggle is still Oliver's #1 romantic relationship advice-giver. Interesting that Laurel gets no mention except a reference to Lance's overprotective daughters.

That sounds like she is is helping him keep the foundry. Business partners.

I still think he could be important in Oliver's identity journey this season, he's just going to do it normal-sized. It makes me less excited for their big break-up talk (can you break up if you haven't even finished the first date?) because it sounds like it's going to be more "Yeah, love ya. Can't be with ya. Gotta run now." than actually dealing with their emotions. Guess I'll find out in 5 days.

I'd forgotten about Laurel's behavior in the restaurant. Guaranteed to make Tommy uncomfortable about his lack of money. I wonder, Laurel's meets with Felicity and Diggle, is that something deliberate the director/writer wanted for Laurel's character, or did they just tend to let KC have her head?

I was hoping this is the season he starts out by not being a craphead. I agree that Felicity would be considering any kind of job better than that one in the store, but if she's desperate, it lessens the impact of Ray putting her in a good job because she'll take anything. And suddenly I'm not so excited any more.

I bet the first question from Arrow will be to ask Lance about his injuries. Have to get the audience caught up somehow. It's nice to see Oliver working so well in tandem with Lance. I wonder if "multitasking" for Diggle and Oliver at work gets Felicity fired, which leaves her needing money and looking for another job. Cue Ray Palmer.

I also like calliope1975's stories a lot (links for fanfiction.net and AO3)

It's too bad they didn't run with Isabel being in the book -- maybe Oliver slept with her to find out more information or to lull her into complaisance or maybe she did have some dark secret that Robert and Malcolm could blackmail her for. That would have been gold, to have her compare Robert to Oliver. Oliver could have used being taken down a few pegs. Trying to justify sleeping with Sara after that line to Felicity gave SA quite a few problems in later interviews. (He said Oliver could have a relationship with Sara because she could take care of herself in a fight whereas Felicity would be in danger.) I wonder if he went to the EPs to complain that it didn't make sense. She would have, but Oliver had pretty low standards when it came to sleeping with a woman, both in terms of his playboy days and post-island when he was a cold killer. I'd like to think Felicity would be better than that.

Sometimes I think KC is her own worst enemy. If she had looked like she does in this picture 18 months ago, and knew basic screen fighting and stunt skills (so they didn't have to throw in a stunt double for something as basic as taking down Max), I wonder if the EPs wouldn't have made Sara Ravager and progressed KC into the role of Black Canary at the start of season 2. Because with the way she looked in early s2 and her lack of stunt skills, most people would have had trouble seeing her as the future BC. It might even have helped KC's media missteps, or at least not made them appear so glaring. I think her expectation that it would all just be handed to her made problems for both herself and the writers.

KC looks very fit and she should be proud of all the work she's done. I would feel better if that picture hadn't been taken at a moment to maximize the muscle detail. She looks great and I don't think could do a pull-up like that but the purpose of that photo is p.r. to show that yes, now she can be the Black Canary. It makes me feel kind of sad. I agree. Everyone from the comics has been burdened by destiny, but with Roy, Slade, Tommy and Thea/Mia, they had enough wiggle room to adapt the characters to fit into the context of the show. With Laurel, the burden was too great. She was going to be Oliver's love interest and the BC, but the show is called Arrow and so Laurel had to be adapted to fit Oliver's story. But, and there's a but, they could have done a better job with her story than they did. Laurel fighting in Max's club didn't have to be so badly done, (And KC should have been working out all along instead of just starting at the end of s2.) When Tommy died, it would have been a wonderful prompt to set her on a vigilante path, or even any time she couldn't get justice for someone at CNRI. They could have had her get in the way of a mugging and realize she needed more fighting skills, and then move her to teaching self-defense classes for women and girls because she is a good-doer and sees the need in the dangerous place that is the Glades. It's a combination of burden, which they couldn't do much about, and lost opportunities, which they could.

Poetgirl925 is there too. I've been reading through them and just found Blackout, and loved it (good Team adventure and Felicity is a great cyber goth), but it it stopped after three chapters, so if you're reading this, please finish it for Hallowe'en.

I wonder if part of Oliver isn't looking for a way not to be in a relationship. It's easier just being the Arrow, than balancing Arrow, Oliver and relationship. Maybe Oliver acquiring QC back is stalled and Ray comes with a great longterm job offer, like re-organizing the Applied Sciences Division (and eventually working on his Atom suit although Felicity doesn't know that yet). Maybe she takes it so that she can go undercover to spy on Palmer but I hope not. I want the job to be about Felicity, and not Oliver again. Looks like we're introduced to Manhunter in 303. eta: That makes sense. Oliver being an idiot about relationships is one thing they've kept consistent.

I think that Felicity's boo-boo in episode 301 will be from Oliver's hallucination. What was Felicity wearing in the scene with Roy and the black arrow? Could this be later when they're dealing with whatever the bad guy is? In picture #7, is that Oliver dressed in a LoA outfit? http://www.greenarrowtv.com/wp-content/gallery/sara/AR302b_0114b.jpg Roy's glass case is very cool. I want some for my special outfits. Speaking of manpain, in picture 4, Oliver's jaw is clenched so tight, it looks like he's going to break his teeth. http://www.greenarrowtv.com/wp-content/gallery/sara/AR302b_0343b.jpg eta: I think this will be a separate conversation. in 301, it will be about their relationship. I'm thinking that the one in 302 will be the follow-up to whoever dies as a "Don't go, Big Oliver, don't go" (tm Wayne & Shuster) while Oliver is all "A vigilante's gotta do what a vigilante's gotta do".

That's a cute interview. It's interesting that EBR wants to do comedy, I can't remember who here suggested it but she'd be great for romcoms. Caity Lotz switches between serious and fun really fast. Tarot cards is impressive. All I could do at 23 was the I Ching. I don't think this is trolling, except maybe for pulling a personal question back to the show. Batman and Superman each have their own strengths and their own fanbases, as do Laurel and Felicity. It feels like a pretty diplomatic answer to me. As an actor, he may well prefer Olicity to Lauriver because it's a most complex story to act. But I don't think that particular tweet was taking sides.

That art has such a 40's feel to it. Very cool. I wonder what the Arrow's greatest fear is. Not being able to be a vigilante? So is she on Team Arrow or isn't she? Because it really matters to me. IIRC, the only secret Laurel has uncovered on her own was about Blood. Everything else has been handed to her.