apinknightmare

Well, the reason he gave her for not pursuing their relationship in 3x01 was because he couldn't be both Arrow and Oliver Queen, which is a more plain-language version of "because of the life that I lead" but is essentially him saying that he's scared to commit. He backs away from good things at the slightest hint that something bad could end them - which I think comes from his PTSD and probably a deep-seated fear of allowing good things in his life and believing that he deserves them and they'll last. His reasoning sounds like bullshit because...well, it kind of is. He just needs to work through all of that bullshit to come out on the other side, ready.

I agree. Even though he's prone to dramatics, I do find him to be an affable, entertaining guy. I like reading his posts on Facebook, and I also enjoyed reading his tweets - his tone is different on both sites, so I never felt like they were the same "experience," I guess. He does more to engage his fans than most other celebs, and I'll always appreciate that about him. Like someone suggested upthread (I think it was dancingnancy), it would probably be better if he just said that he prefers Facebook and will be limiting his twittering from now on instead of calling Twitter a fad. That just makes him sound...I don't know, kind of bitter.

I'm not quite sure how he takes criticism of his acting, although judging by the responses he sends to people calling him out on it on Twitter, not very well. Not that I blame him, non-constructive criticism is difficult to read, but he would do well to just ignore it. Nothing good ever comes from responding to people who are nasty for the sake of being nasty. And he definitely doesn't take criticism of Arrow well. I can't blame him for that either, since the guy clearly works his ass off, so it must be very difficult to read that a group of people don't like the direction of a show that he put a lot of time and effort into. He doesn't write the show, it's not like he can really do anything if people don't like that Sara died or aren't happy with Laurel's journey. But again, he'd be better off to just ignore it rather than making statements about Twitter just being a fad, or commenting that people who don't like the show or its direction are negative assholes who should just stop watching. Yes, there are a lot of negative assholes out there. But a lot of people respond negatively to things they're genuinely invested in, and if people are genuinely invested in your show to the point where they express concern about the direction it's going in, it's probably best not to act like an asshole yourself. Again, he should just ignore it.

Except Oliver never once said that his reasoning for not wanting to be with Felicity had anything to do with her safety. With the exception of Slade, every single time she's wanted to take a risk with her life he's always tried to be the voice of reason, but once she asserts herself, he agrees. He didn't want Laurel to know his secret because it wasn't safe, he had the same issue with McKenna. Felicity knows he's the Arrow, and her safety's at risk every day simply for having that knowledge. This isn't about that. He's not really ready to be a fully committed romantic partner to her, and "because of the life I lead" is the wall he (subconsciously) hides behind.

Ah, that's good to know. I was always like, wow, how vain is that?!

For the what...hundredth time? AKA - when I look through it I don't see what I want to see. Just because people have overwhelmingly negative reactions to characters or story lines doesn't mean they're just anonymous meanies whose opinions don't matter (although sometimes, yeah. It does)! I understand why it would be difficult for him to read Twitter reactions that were tweeted while the show was airing live. People are reacting real-time without much buffer to think through their emotions, while their gut reaction to something might be immediately negative and upon reflection they might not feel so strongly about it in an hour or two. But the whole internet is anonymous - even the people posting with names and pictures on his beloved Facebook page might not be who they say they are, and I've seen some pretty hateful stuff in there. I guess it must be easier to ignore it since he probably only looks at the stuff that filters up through the 'like' process - and all that stuff must be overwhelmingly positive. And I know people do tweet hateful stuff about him and his acting, but he must do searches for his own name since half the time when he RTs those people they haven't @ replied him.

OMG I HOPE SO TOO I thought for sure he'd find out this next ep, because if not what kind of tangled web do they weave to explain why Nyssa's there?

I just really hope he meant that Oliver is respecting her decision as in he doesn't agree but he's not going to interfere, not that he respects her decision as in her actual decision-making process because that is for real terrible.

I'm disgusted by it too, and it legit surprises me that there are people who think this is in any way okay (I actually had to comment on a Tumblr post that someone wrote saying Laurel was being kind to Quentin by keeping it from him. He may be startlingly unobservant sometimes, but what exactly is he going to think when Sara never, EVER contacts him or comes home again? He's bound to notice that. Is he going to be grateful that he didn't get the closure of seeing her body, of getting to bury her properly? if the show goes there, good lord. Help me). Like...what is the endgame for this storyline, I can't even tell. To drive a wedge between Quentin and Laurel so she can throw herself into her "training" and he can fall back into his addiction? To make us feel compassion for Laurel for being such a "good" daughter? To give Oliver a reason to chase Sara's killer for half a season since (and I know I'm being generous here) the SCPD might be able to get the ball rolling sooner? Is it to further Laurel's drive to be BC? Because last ep her desire to become her sister had nothing to do with Sara being murdered and everything to do with her being dead. I don't even know anymore.

It seems so. Here's hoping they have a conversation about something other than Merlyn (lmao who am I kidding).

Ew, what?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE, OMG THEY ARE ALL TERRIBLE HUMAN BEINGS (talking about the characters, not the actors, because the all caps doesn't make that clear)

Unless Laurel somehow convinces Nyssa not to tell Quentin. But that doesn't seem likely since we know the three of them have a scene together, and what would they tell him if they don't tell him she's dead? That she got kidnapped? God, that would be gross. I wonder what's going to happen when Oliver finds out that she didn't tell Quentin. Doesn't he think she told him? But then, wouldn't he have wondered why Quentin didn't show up to their stupid secret burial? Was this mentioned in the show and I blocked it?

Nyssa, man. She does NOT play. I have a crush.

Yeah, the "this lady" makes it seem to me like the lady he's talking about is someone other than the one Oliver described. I mean, we have a 50% chance of being right, so...

It'd have to be the generic use of "him" since there is no "him" in the equation - there's the woman Oliver was looking for who was murdered, and the woman who asked the guy to clear off the roof (both women, whether they're the same person or not), unless A) there is another person that guy didn't tell Oliver about or B) the guy thought Oliver might be looking for someone who had more information (like him) and assumed whoever it was had a penis.

This is all so misogynistic. Women are murderers too!

LoA: Starling City

He also shouldn't have assumed that she was still a practicing member, either. He knows that people don't get out of the League once they're in it (she lucked out once), and when he asked her if her being in Starling was a permanent thing, she said "we'll see." How could she stay in Starling and still be a member of the League, unless they were looking to set up shop in the city?

I'm just suspicious because Sara didn't have her mask on when she met with Laurel (not that she couldn't have just pulled it off, but IDK), so I'm just thinking of the possibility that it might not be her the guy was talking about. I personally do think Oliver is kind of an idiot though, and I think that if he was being diligent in the search for Sara's killer he would've asked the guy for sure what this woman looked like and he also wouldn't have ruled out the League of Assassins.

It's the "this lady"that makes me think it's someone other than Sara. "This lady" implies that it could be someone else. "That lady," would be more along the lines of the one in black leather, blond hair, wore a mask. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, IDK. Plus, Sara wasn't wearing a mask when she met with Laurel.

Yeah, but isn't it kind of stupid for him to assume that it was Sara the guy was talking about? It's not like a woman couldn't have gone up on that rooftop and killed her.

So, I was just rewatching, and when Oliver chases down that guy who was on the same rooftop Sara fell off of and the guy tells him that he didn't see anything, just that a woman who looked like she could handle herself told him to go, um...why didn't Oliver ask what the woman looked like? HELLO. He is the worst investigator ever.

Not sure if you're over thinking it, but it works for me!

Oh, haha. Duh!

I really don't appreciate Oliver's head to neck ratio. Laurel actually looks pretty good. Who is that supposed to be in the last frame?