Heartaches, Bromances, True Love and Team Arrow: the Relationships Thread

[statsgirl]

They weren't expecting Felicity to be a love interest for Oliver, just an easter egg, so they didn't need a chem test.

I believe that's what's known as serendipity.

[lemotomato]

After they gambled and lost when they cast KC without chem testing her with SA first. It's funny how things work themselves out. I can't imagine the show without EBR.

[Mellowyellow]

Speaking of season one I saw a clip of when Felicity met Oliver at the diner/cafe. 

He gave her this cute dorky little wave. Soooooo not what I expected from Oliver Queen. 

[KenyaJ]

9 hours ago, Mellowyellow said:

Speaking of season one I saw a clip of when Felicity met Oliver at the diner/cafe. 

He gave her this cute dorky little wave. Soooooo not what I expected from Oliver Queen. 

Hee! I wrote a post about that a few weeks ago. I feel like that was an SA improvisation, like so many things in his scenes with Emily. He and Emily have both mentioned how much they add unscripted gestures into their scenes, and it felt like even before the writers decided to go all in on Olicity, Stephen was doing his part to nudge things along. I admit that I've watched very Olicity scene multiple (multiple) times, and most Lauriver scenes only once or twice if I can help it. But I honestly can't remember many times that he added cute little gestures to his scenes with Laurel. I'm not saying that he was intentionally tanking his scenes with KC, but he certainly wasn't making the kind of extra effort that he did in his scenes with Emily.

14 hours ago, scarynikki12 said:

Namely that Amell and Caity getting along in real life had a direct impact on my personal investment. 

I think this fits in the same pattern. For whatever reason, I think getting along in real life has a direct impact on his personal investment too. He's always at his best with people he really clicks with off screen. (Every time I see him and Josh Segarra together in real life, I understand why all their scenes crackled with energy.) I was at Dallas ComicCon during S2, and during his panel,  he gushed over Emily (naturally), but he also gushed over Caity and what a badass she was on and offscreen. It was obvious how much he liked and respected her. And in that one con where they did the panel together, they had great friendship chemistry, which really translated on screen. I was far too deep in my Olicity love to ship Oliver and Sara, but their brief relationship didn't bother me at all. They weren't the great loves of each other's lives, but I totally bought the reason why they sought comfort in each other. They had a warmth and underlying friendship to their scenes that made it work, and I agree that it was a direct result of how well they got along in real life.

[Chaser]

1 hour ago, KenyaJ said:

 For whatever reason, I think getting along in real life has a direct impact on his personal investment too. 

In a roundabout way, he confirmed this at a Con. During a panel he said when two actors are trying to sell this epic romance but the chemistry isn’t happen, chances are they aren’t friends off screen. 

I don’t think he realized the implications of that statement. 

[doesntworkonwood]

31 minutes ago, Chaser said:

In a roundabout way, he confirmed this at a Con. During a panel he said when two actors are trying to sell this epic romance but the chemistry isn’t happen, chances are they aren’t friends off screen. 

I mean... that's wrong*. Some of my most favourite romances in TV have starred people who don't get along. There were rumors about Teri Hatcher and Dean Caine not getting along, Stana Katic and Nathan Fillion hated each other to the point of tears but I never felt that with their characters. People talk about David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson never really being mates on set. You don't have to be friends to sell epic romance, chemistry isn't just about getting along off screen. It's often either there or it isn't.

What's important in building a rapport or a character relationship, I think, is professional respect. That might not translate into chemistry, but it will make scenes less painful to watch for viewers. You might not get along with someone outside of work, and that's usually fine, but you do have to be willing to put everything aside and come to comprimises to make the scene work. I think SA can tend to 'zone out' of some scenes when it comes to working with people he might not care to, and that makes me zone out of the scene. His acting has always been quite hit and miss with me, and it's evident that this is probably a big factor in it. He's not friends with the person off screen, so there's not going to be any chemistry, so what's the point? 

*To clarify it's Steve who's wrong not @Chaser

[statsgirl]

3 hours ago, doesntworkonwood said:

 Stana Katic and Nathan Fillion hated each other to the point of tears

Not in the early seasons. I think the bad feelings came along later when her popularity was as great or greater than his even though the show was named after his character.

[BkWurm1]

3 hours ago, doesntworkonwood said:

I mean... that's wrong*. Some of my most favourite romances in TV have starred people who don't get along. There were rumors about Teri Hatcher and Dean Caine not getting along, Stana Katic and Nathan Fillion hated each other to the point of tears but I never felt that with their characters. People talk about David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson never really being mates on set. You don't have to be friends to sell epic romance, chemistry isn't just about getting along off screen. It's often either there or it isn't.

 

2

2

It's probably a different level of acting that can wholly set aside real life issues but in the cases used as an example here, they at least started with a great chemistry.  In the case of TH and DC they had some ups and downs but I guess that doesn't seem out of line in with the kind of hours tv show episodes shoot and the kind of intense popularity they had for at least a time during their run.  (At least now they speak very warmly about each other)  Same thing with GA and DD.  (Plus they had the added tension of her being paid far less than him even well into the series) But nothing reached Castle levels of dysfunction thankfully.   (SA and EBR being BFFs really isn't like anything I've ever run across before so I'm going to call them the exception to the rule but I'm enjoying it.)

I remember GA talking about being surprised getting a call from DD when he'd eloped with his then wife (Tea Leoni) as a heads up so she wouldn't find out from the press and her commenting she didn't think they had that kind of relationship.  That they were work colleagues but hadn't really considered them close friends.  But that that wasn't a bad thing.   BUT in comparing the chemistry GA and DD had in the first run of X-files which I thought was great, it IMO does not compare to how great it was during the reboot of the series now that apparently they have grown into being close friends.  The mythology of the new series was not well written but anytime they put the two of them in scenes that let them play off of each other, they just crackled.  There was one episode where it was just them and they didn't even speak for like ten minutes and it wasn't needed.  It all played out on their faces and in their body language.    

So while I think yeah, a good actor could probably make it work with just about any other good actor, if there is a good relationship it's probably going to be that much better on screen.  

[Mary0360]

Lauren Graham and Scott Patterson from Gilmore Girls also didn't like each other behind the scenes. 

[BkWurm1]

5 hours ago, Mary0360 said:

Lauren Graham and Scott Patterson from Gilmore Girls also didn't like each other behind the scenes. 

From what I heard, they get along well enough off camera but she drove him nuts at least early on during takes always goofing around and laughing making things take longer I guess but that they seemed to figure out how to work well enough with each other in the long run.  I adore Lauren Graham and think she's hilarious during interviews but I think she would be exhausting to work with.  

Edited June 5, 2018 by BkWurm1

[tennisgurl]

The Olicity relationship is interesting in that, it was clearly started by the natural chemistry of Stephen and Emily, in opposition (is that the right word?) of what was obviously supposed to be the OTP. While I think Laurel and Oliver had a lot of writing problems, the lack of chemistry between KC and SA is really what killed them, to me. Especially next to the natural chemistry between Stephen and Emily, and even Stephen and Caity. It really is something to see a show actually dump it’s designated OTP for a better one, and a big part of that was their chemistry, and the audiences strong reaction to it. 

[Mellowyellow]

6 hours ago, statsgirl said:

For me, a dividing line is whether you ship them knowing it's not going to happen, or whether you think that if you just wait long enough and no one from the outside interferes, it's going to happen.

I saw a Lena/James fic the other day where in the comments section, someone rudely said why even bother writing this fic, it's obvious SuperCorp is the endgame. It seems like people believing Oliver is going to end up with Black Siren falls into the same category.

Hit the nail on the head.

People can ship anything they want but I feel that at some point if their reasoning is absurd (and sure they can still keep on shipping) other people are also free to point out that it is absurd.

I have a fondness for Raylicity that will never go away. I've even written a fic about it (haha much to everyone's horror). However you could not pay me to go to cons and ask BR, SA and EBR if Raylicity will happen in the future and people should be free to point out the flaws in my reasoning, if lord help me, I genuinely believed that Felicity is going to divorce Oliver and move to the Waverider so she can be with Ray cuz she only settled for Oliver for....reasons and really was planning to run off with Ray in the crossover. 

Edited June 19, 2018 by Mellowyellow

[KenyaJ]

Happy International Kissing Day! I need more of this in my life in S7. I hope Beth and the writing staff do too.

Source

[KenyaJ]

It was my favorite due to the mix of playfulness, flirtiness, and hotness. But, in general, I love the "couple hooking up while broken up" trope. Plus, I always figured 520 was just a prelude to them getting back together, so the fact that they didn't get back together, so I didn't feel that sense of foreboding, though I understand it.

[BkWurm1]

I couldn't enjoy the post-coital cuddling for long because I was waiting for the shoe to drop but I agree knowing 520 would lead to them getting back together made watching everything else all good in my book.  :D

[tennisgurl]

I have no idea what your all talking about, this whole episode was just Olicity cuddles and adorableness. Thats it, nothing else went down, nope!

[SmallScreenDiva]

I want to see more of that playfulness and flirtiness. We kinda got a glimpse of it in that episode where as soon as William was out the door, Oliver and Felicity enjoyed a long and sexy good morning kiss. They seem to have a healthy and fun sex life. I want to see some of it, goddamnit! :P

[KenyaJ]

23 minutes ago, SmallScreenDiva said:

I want to see more of that playfulness and flirtiness. We kinda got a glimpse of it in that episode where as soon as William was out the door, Oliver and Felicity enjoyed a long and sexy good morning kiss. 

And when he offered to help her compartmentalize. Is that what the kids are calling it these days?

[BkWurm1]

William probably knew that them having a bit of a tiff would only lead to sexy times. No wonder he took off so fast.  No 12 year old wants to see that.  

[SmallScreenDiva]

On 7/6/2018 at 9:52 PM, KenyaJ said:

And when he offered to help her compartmentalize. Is that what the kids are calling it these days?

I love that scene but the embrace in that bottom GIF looks a bit awkward. Oliver is such an eager beaver, Felicity looks properly smushed ?

[bijoux]

That's my favorite part. 

[KenyaJ]

1 hour ago, bijoux said:

That's my favorite part. 

Hee! Mine too. He looks like he's going to devour her, and it's so hot.

[tv echo]

I stumbled across these old articles from 2012-2013 and thought that they were an interesting look back at one aspect of S1 of Arrow...

CW Couples 2012: Who do you ship?
December 6, 2012
https://cwatlanta.cbslocal.com/2012/12/06/cw-couples-2012-who-do-you-ship/

Quote

There have been hookups and breakups. Tears and hugs. Sexy times and not so sexy times. This year, CW couples have been thrown through the ringer (ahem, Delena), and as 2012 comes to a close and we embark on a brand new chapter in the new year, let’s discuss some favorite 2012 matches.
*  *  *
Oliver Queen and The Huntress from “Arrow” 
I may be the only one shipping these two, but the chemistry between The Huntress and Oliver feels far superior than that of Oliver and Laurel. And plus, I’m a sucker for characters with broken moral compasses. The Huntress has become an anti-heroine of sorts, and Oliver actually shows her how to wield a crossbow rather than a couple of guns.

CW Love Triangles Part 2
July 16, 2013 
https://cwtampa.cbslocal.com/2013/07/16/cw-love-triangles-part-2/

Quote

Arrow
...
Oliver and Laurel
VS.
Oliver and Felicity
...
Oliver and Laurel used to date before the boat accident, but his presumed death is not the biggest relationship problem. Oliver cheated on her with her sister (EW!) who was also in the boat but didn’t survive the accident. Although Oliver cheated, he was in love with Laurel and the thoughts of her and his hope to see her again were what motivated him to survive while he was on the island. Laurel is hurt from everything Oliver did to her, but she cannot deny that she still has feelings for him.

Felicity is the perfect addition to Oliver’s team. This is a couple that started their story in social media. The audience fell in love with the character of Felicity and they love when she and Oliver interact. They have a lot of charisma together and a spark between them. Felicity and Oliver don’t have the history that Oliver and Laurel share, but right now, she is the only woman who knows him the best. She clearly thinks he is attractive (who doesn’t!?!) and he trusts her with his secret and values her opinions.

Edited July 28, 2018 by tv echo

[BkWurm1]

It's the trust and respect that Oliver and Felicity had that was the clear distinction for me who the better ship was.  Oliver might have loved Laurel but him respecting and trusting her did not come at all naturally.  Oliver remains imperfect with Felicity but his mistakes were his mistakes and all about him, not the trust or respect he felt for Felicity.   He makes his mistakes with Felicity when he thinks he's making choices for good reasons, not because he's trying to pull a fast one.  

[SmallScreenDiva]

3 hours ago, tv echo said:

Although Oliver cheated, he was in love with Laurel and the thoughts of her and his hope to see her again were what motivated him to survive while he was on the island.

And six years later, the show changed Oliver's flashback story enough that we now know this to not be true at all. Laurel didn't factor into any of the decisions he made. His motivation became all about undoing his father's mistakes.

[KenyaJ]

Beth says that she wants to explore the reality of Oliver and Felicity's situation. I hope that includes the reality that Oliver will never win another argument with Felicity.

[Mellowyellow]

I see him dotingly buying her shoes (or whatever she likes) even though he can't afford it cuz he's dumb and has no idea how much money he doesn't have.

[BkWurm1]

1 hour ago, Mellowyellow said:

I see him dotingly buying her shoes (or whatever she likes) even though he can't afford it cuz he's dumb and has no idea how much money he doesn't have.

And then Felicity returning them because she does know how much he doesn't have, lol.  (And then buying them with her own money if likes them because she's the only one making any in the family.  Ok, William can have a paper route.)

Edited August 3, 2018 by BkWurm1

[Mellowyellow]

Source: @smoaked_queen

When did this take place? Is that comic Oliver supposed to be the same as our TV Show Oliver?

Seems a bit over the top to fill her place up with flowers if she's just a friend!

[lemotomato]

1 hour ago, Mellowyellow said:

Source: @smoaked_queen

When did this take place? Is that comic Oliver supposed to be the same as our TV Show Oliver?

Seems a bit over the top to fill her place up with flowers if she's just a friend!

It's from the season 1.5 Arrow comics. They're based on the show, and the stories are supposed to happen at the same time as season 1. 

[BkWurm1]

Originally all the comic supplements were supposed to be show canon but anytime it gets in the way of something the writers want to do on the show, the tie-in comics lose.  But until in show they say he didn't fill up her place with flowers, it remains canon.  :D

[way2interested]

4 minutes ago, BkWurm1 said:

Originally all the comic supplements were supposed to be show canon but anytime it gets in the way of something the writers want to do on the show, the tie-in comics lose

Ha, even when that happens, I still pretend the supplemental stuff is canon because there's some cool stuff there (the Flarrow two parter novels were totally not canon but yes they were because they were fun and I don't care).

[Mellowyellow]

I really like this person's cute posts but she's outdone herself with this one!!!! Soooo accurate!

[KenyaJ]

Pure Fandom had an article today ranking Olicity’s top 7 kisses. The list is awesome and I highly recommend it (go give them clicks!). However, after reading it and thinking about all of the excellent kissing these two have done, I realized that my three favorite kisses weren't on the list or in the honorable mentions. That made me curious about everyone else's favorites (whether they're on the list or not). Anyway, I humbly submit:

1. 520 –– This is my favorite kiss of theirs ever. The way he stops and looks at her like he can't believe he's finally with her again, and the way they're both so smiley and happy is everything. I swoon every time I watch it.

2. 401 –– I guess I just really love it when they're happy and smiling into their kisses? IDK. But this is such a sweet and sexy kiss and I know it led to them christening all the rooms in the loft that night.

3. 622 –– The way he just engulfs her like that is ???.

I can't wait until they're reunited and kissing each other on the regular again.

[way2interested]

My favs are---

• the first kiss in LoT 308 (not Arrow 608 like the list said, but it's a nitpick), it had a ton of passion and emotion in it, plus finally a kiss in full costume garb.
• the deleted 223 kiss, so cute and innocent and they look like babies even compared to their 301 kiss, plus love that moment when Oliver pauses for Felicity to come in and actually complete the kiss
• the last 409 kiss in the limo, what I think is one of their most intimate moments weirdly enough even though it's not even a sex scene or anything, plus the nose nuzzling afterwords
• and, weird choice, their dream kiss from 311. It came out of nowhere and I love how blunt yet innocent it was (Felicity in his dream like very confidently finished their closed-mouth kiss. Even though it was only for technical purposes why they kept it a pretty chaste kiss, it's hilarious that Oliver just dreamed of something so simple like that

The other ones on the list are great too, those are just the immediate ones that came to mind.   

[Guest]

My favorite kisses are already on the list (mainly the 604 wall kiss and 520, both very hot) except for their "Let's not say goodbye this time" kiss in 320 and their soft kisses in the limo after they got engaged in 409. The way they rubbed noses too was the CUTEST THING. 

Hearts in my eyes.

Edited October 13, 2018 by Guest

[Mary0360]

I wouldn't say this is an absolute favourite (because it's like picking a favourite child- impossible) but I've always loved this one even if it was hopelessly sad:

 

Also the dancing kiss:

The sweaty over breakfast kiss:

And honourable mentions:

 

 

 

[KenyaJ]

Oh, that last one reminds me how much I like this one from The Flash 208.

[Guest]

They're so pretty. ?

[Soulfire]

Nice touch. 

(From here.)

[Mellowyellow]

3 hours ago, tv echo said:

If there’s one constant in the Arrow world, it’s that Oliver and Felicity are pure magic and Stephen Amell and Emily Bett Rickards will find a way to make you feel everything these characters are feeling when together. We’ve surpassed just chemistry. This is more than chemistry. It’s a connection.

Stole this from the news thread. This quote sums up the magic of Olicity for me. I've been watching so many series and a lot of good ships lately (Connic from the Resident is damn cute) but there are ships and then there is Olicity. SA and EBR are amazing together onscreen. They just managed to capture that epic, love of a lifetime, there is no one for me but you, feel so well for Olicity. I have never seen anything like it. And I'm not talking plot! Just the way Olicity look at each other, the little touches, the heart eyes. 

***

Plus to catch up, this is my fav kiss!!! Not even the S3 stuff can top this one! It was so them and so freaking cute!  

 

Edited October 16, 2018 by Mellowyellow

[SmallScreenDiva]

3 minutes ago, Mellowyellow said:

Plus to catch up, this is my fav kiss!!! Not even the S3 stuff can top this one! It was so them and so freaking cute!  

I like that Oliver also did a "muah" when Felicity planted one on his lips. 

[Mellowyellow]

Just now, SmallScreenDiva said:

I like that Oliver also did a "muah" when Felicity planted one on his lips. 

THAT IS WHY IT IS MY FAVOURITE KISS!!!!!

Haha sorry for screaming at you! It's that "muah" that pushes it over the edge and that's so typical Olicity. The extra bits which happen all the time! 

[SmallScreenDiva]

10 minutes ago, Mellowyellow said:

THAT IS WHY IT IS MY FAVOURITE KISS!!!!!

Haha sorry for screaming at you! It's that "muah" that pushes it over the edge and that's so typical Olicity. The extra bits which happen all the time! 

LMAO! Right? Also, it's just a fun kiss. One of the things I love about Olicity is they can do the angsty kiss, the sexy kiss and fun ones like this, too. 

[brokefromdance]

On 2018-10-16 at 5:22 PM, SmallScreenDiva said:

LMAO! Right? Also, it's just a fun kiss. One of the things I love about Olicity is they can do the angsty kiss, the sexy kiss and fun ones like this, too. 

I've read on twitter that kiss wasn't even scripted that way. That was just EBR deciding to mix it up and see if she could throw SA off lol. 

[bijoux]

So, I just realized that last year Oliver was handcuffed by the FBI in front of William and the whole of Star City, and this year he’s celebrating by not being tortured by a psycho anymore. Yay. I failed to find a gif of Felicity from their date with the “filled by a whole lot of suck” quote, but it sure applies here. Have a video of the date instead. Man, to think those were simpler times.

 

While I have issues with some characters this season, Oliver and Felicity are both scoring high in my book. But man, would a breather for them be welcome.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I want some crazy wild monkey sex when Oliver gets home SANS that horrid beard.

What?

[EmeraldArcher]

Just dropping in with heartiest 1st anniversary wishes for Olicity and WestAllen today, November 28th!

As you might recall, DCTV gave me the best anniversary present ever with the double wedding on my own 25th anniversary--it's canon!!

[lemotomato]

Happy anniversary, @EmeraldArcher! Hope you’re doing welll!

All the Olicity anniversary posts make me feel verklempt. I’ve shipped a lot of tv couples, but Olicity is only one of two that has shown their entire courtship AND their married life on the show. It’s still crazy how many things fell into place for all this to happen.

[BkWurm1]

25 minutes ago, lemotomato said:

Happy anniversary, @EmeraldArcher! Hope you’re doing welll!

All the Olicity anniversary posts make me feel verklempt. I’ve shipped a lot of tv couples, but Olicity is only one of two that has shown their entire courtship AND their married life on the show. It’s still crazy how many things fell into place for all this to happen.

I'm also grateful for how well they've done their married life on the show.  It's only enhanced and deepened them as characters together and apart.  Too often shows seem to forget how to write them together once they officially are together even if the blueprint had been there the whole time before.