Clock Tower Theater: Fanfic, Fan Music Videos and Art

[KenyaJ]

Those are so cute! I wanna love anything as much as Oliver and Laura Hoffman love slow cookers. I just hope Oliver has a state of the art slow cooker, and not a hand-me-down Crock Pot. I'm still scarred by This Is Us.

Edited February 6, 2018 by KenyaJ

[BkWurm1]

2 hours ago, KenyaJ said:

Those are so cute! I wanna love anything as much as Oliver and Laura Hoffman love slow cookers. I just hope Oliver has a state of the art slow cooker, and not a hand-me-down Crock Pot. I'm still scarred by This Is Us.

Even old crockpots can be aces.  I had one that was handed down from a great uncle's estate.  It was clearly from the 70's and worked without a fault.  I only replaced it a couple years back because the glass crock part got dropped and broke otherwise no glitches. 

[statsgirl]

These are older but I don't think they've been recc'd here yet:

Damn It, Why Won't the Eagle Just Land Already? by somewhereelse.  President Diggle and his staff plot to get Science Advisor Felicity Smoak and Security Agent Oliver Queen together at last.

Oliver Queen, H.M.N. by somewhereelse  Vigilante Felicity Smoak goes for meidcal help to Hot Male Nurse Oliver Queen, and he joins them in the Arrow cave.

The Queen Identity SmoakMonster.  Like the Bourne Identity but with Oliver and Felicity.

I know some (like me) left the Forever is Composed of Nows world because of the preferential treatment of Ellie over Julianna, but they course corrected when the girls were teenagers and now Jules has her own fic under her vigilante name Tempest. The writing is good; I'm enjoying it.

[Mellowyellow]

1 hour ago, statsgirl said:

The Queen Identity SmoakMonster.  Like the Bourne Identity but with Oliver and Felicity.

 

That one was pretty awesome! Never seen it before so I'm really glad you recommended it! 

[Hiveminder]

3 hours ago, jaye.elle said:

I might be the only one but I actually didn't enjoy FiCoN. The plot was interesting, but I just thought Ellie was a bit too Mary Sue if that makes sense? Nothing against the writing - it's very well done. Just obviously not my cup o' tea.

Oh there were quite a few people who had issues with that fic. There was lengthy discussion about it in this very thread. 

[BkWurm1]

I heard such weird things about Felicity acting OOC toward the end that I never even managed to finish reading it and I really liked it at first.  But the sequel just sounded painful throughout in a manner that really threw Oliver and Felicity under the bus.  I just don't want to pretend they'd be those people. 

[statsgirl]

It's two people writing. I like how one writes,  the other not as much.

I liked the original story but gave up on the second series where there were little kids because Felicity and even Oliver were so awful to Jules and Ellie was too perfect. I avoid any chapters dealing with those years. But the ones where they are young adults are better,  even if Ellie is still too angstily perfect. 

Tempest is about Jules, who is my favorite character.

I know that grown-up Olicity children is not to everyone's taste.

[lemotomato]

I really liked this fanvid. They did a great job connecting scenes throughout the seasons to create some nice parallels.

[bijoux]

@jaye.elle, we don’t have a master post or anything like that as far as I know, but share your favorites when you wish to.

[BkWurm1]

8 hours ago, lemotomato said:

I really liked this fanvid. They did a great job connecting scenes throughout the seasons to create some nice parallels.

Yeah, that one is very well done.  I don't recall the fandom, but I remember some fans getting to show their favs a vid of them, clips from the show.  The comments afterward from the actors were about how it got to them, being able to see what the fans saw in them as a couple and how they saw their journey.  If I recall, they had a lot less to work with, lol.  The Olicity fandom has been gifted with a remarkable trove of visuals.  

Edited February 8, 2018 by BkWurm1

[Mellowyellow]

real love (is never a waste of time) by Callistawolf

I always enjoy her writing and this one seems like it's going to be a cheerful one so yaaaaay!

[Kymmi]

On 2/10/2018 at 5:16 PM, Mellowyellow said:

real love (is never a waste of time) by Callistawolf

I always enjoy her writing and this one seems like it's going to be a cheerful one so yaaaaay!

I'm typically more of an angst-fic fan (give me danger! consequences!) but I really like her writing and this hits all the sweet spots for me.  I DO love a good "pretending to be in a relationship while falling in love" story.  So far, so good!

[statsgirl]

There's an Olicity Valentine's Day Smut-a-thon, for your Valentine's Day needs. (I love this fandom)

callistawolf's story is ain't that the reason you're at this club.

[Mellowyellow]

This is my first foray into fandom but I don't think I'll ever be as spoilt for fics and artwork as we have been in the Olicity fandom. There is like a fic for almost anything and everything! And the number of videos! Romantic videos, funny videos, clips, gifs! Ahhh it's going to be hard when we disband! 

[lemotomato]

@Mellowyellow, your auspicious Olicity story was super cute! Hopefully the good vibes it put out into the universe ensures them a happy, drama free year ?

[Mellowyellow]

1 hour ago, lemotomato said:

@Mellowyellow, your auspicious Olicity story was super cute! Hopefully the good vibes it put out into the universe ensures them a happy, drama free year ?

Thanks! I've decided I'll make it a tradition! 

Next year I should consult the forum for an auspicious checklist and then put all the elements into a story!

[tv echo]

This fan vid is from 2016, but it's new to me (the vid title struck me because of that recent TV Overmind article) - watching vids like this one always makes me wonder how anyone can say that the Olicity romance came out of nowhere...

a story of a vigilante and an i.t. girl | arrow: oliver + felicity
Published on Mar 4, 2016, by simplymaterial

Edited February 18, 2018 by tv echo

[Luckylyn]

The New Normal has a new chapter!

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Luckylyn said:

The New Normal has a new chapter!

What. I thought that would never get updated! 

[bijoux]

G is for Gadgets and Gimmicks by smoakmonster. It's a coffee shop/bookshop AU that doesn't really seem necessary when you put it like that. But it's cheerful and bubbly, yet adult at the same time. Oliver and Felicity aren't turned into caricatures of themselves. The two chapters simply left me feeling warm. I also really like her writing. The dialogue gets them and she doesn't meander even when Felicity's thoughts do. It's crisp and lively.

[statsgirl]

I just found The Unlikeliest Places by griever11.  A season 1 AU with inquiring mind QC tech Felicity accidentally stumbling on The Hood's lair lair.  A little bit different with Felicity, Diggle and Oliver all in character.

[Mellowyellow]

2 hours ago, statsgirl said:

I just found The Unlikeliest Places by griever11.  A season 1 AU with inquiring mind QC tech Felicity accidentally stumbling on The Hood's lair lair.  A little bit different with Felicity, Diggle and Oliver all in character.

I second this!!!! It's pretty darn awesome! 

[Mary0360]

Is anyone reading the My Home series by Adiwriting? She is a really good writer and I read every instalment when it updates, so I only have myself to blame. However, I'm curious if anyone else is bothered by the Tommy-and-Felicity of it all?

Spoiler

 

The story is tagged as an Oliver and Felicity fic, yet as it evolves, seems to be more devoted to exploring Tommy and Felicity's relationship. The more I read the series the more it feels like Felicity and Tommy seem to have the more emotionally deep love intimacy that should develop between the  romantic couple, while Felicity's relationship with Oliver comes across as being more physical on her end. If the series did not make time jumps and establish Oliver and Felicity get married and have a baby, I would have assumed the story was being set up to have a Dawson Creek type twist. 

Im not against Felicity being written as having close male friends, but I feel like when said male friend walks in while half naked to help pick out sexy outfits, kidnaps Felicity and whisk her away on exotic holidays, occasionally shares a bed with her to cuddle and sleep, and the two either verbally or internally talk about how much they love each other and are written to share more with each other then they do their significant other, then Oliver and Laurel are either the most tolerant bf/gf of all time or the most naive imaginable. Realistically, I feel there would be far more boundaries in a male-female friendship, particularly if the the female friends boyfriend is also your life long friend.

The side affect of fanfics that want to push the Flommy are bffs who share everything, is that Felicity and Tommy comes across as slightly insensitive to me. For instance, in the recent update of this series, Felicity left a recently beaten, possibly tortured by Malcolm, Oliver almost instantly, to accompany Tommy to the police station to turn Malcolm in, because she seemed more concerned about Tommy's emotional state and supporting him, then her own boyfriend, who had been missing for an extended period of time.

 

[Morrigan2575]

I don't find it to be a problem at all.   I don't even think there's an abundance of Flommy and I've read all the My Home installments 

[statsgirl]

I don't mind Felicity's relationship with Tommy because they went through a lot together when Oliver disappeared.  What I find more problematic is how emo Oliver was in his early years.  The constant mourning and weeping (yes, in his room IIRC) when Felicity moved to Las Vegas didn't seem in character with the Oliver on TV at all.

[bijoux]

4 hours ago, Mary0360 said:

Is anyone reading the My Home series by Adiwriting? She is a really good writer and I read every instalment when it updates, so I only have myself to blame. However, I'm curious if anyone else is bothered by the Tommy-and-Felicity of it all?

  Hide contents

 

The story is tagged as an Oliver and Felicity fic, yet as it evolves, seems to be more devoted to exploring Tommy and Felicity's relationship. The more I read the series the more it feels like Felicity and Tommy seem to have the more emotionally deep love intimacy that should develop between the  romantic couple, while Felicity's relationship with Oliver comes across as being more physical on her end. If the series did not make time jumps and establish Oliver and Felicity get married and have a baby, I would have assumed the story was being set up to have a Dawson Creek type twist. 

Im not against Felicity being written as having close male friends, but I feel like when said male friend walks in while half naked to help pick out sexy outfits, kidnaps Felicity and whisk her away on exotic holidays, occasionally shares a bed with her to cuddle and sleep, and the two either verbally or internally talk about how much they love each other and are written to share more with each other then they do their significant other, then Oliver and Laurel are either the most tolerant bf/gf of all time or the most naive imaginable. Realistically, I feel there would be far more boundaries in a male-female friendship, particularly if the the female friends boyfriend is also your life long friend.

The side affect of fanfics that want to push the Flommy are bffs who share everything, is that Felicity and Tommy comes across as slightly insensitive to me. For instance, in the recent update of this series, Felicity left a recently beaten, possibly tortured by Malcolm, Oliver almost instantly, to accompany Tommy to the police station to turn Malcolm in, because she seemed more concerned about Tommy's emotional state and supporting him, then her own boyfriend, who had been missing for an extended period of time.

 

I'm not reading it, but the things you mention seem common in Olicity freinds to lovers type fics in my experience 

[Featherhat]

I haven't read the specific series and it doesn't really seem like my thing but what you've described is why I have a problem with many SmoakingBillionaires fics, including many popular ones. And in general Flommy friendship often just goes straight over my head. Not that they wouldn't or couldn't but..... Eh. And much as I really love Tommy wise Yoda he wasn't when he died.

Edited February 20, 2018 by Featherhat

[Mellowyellow]

I automatically reject any fics with a Flommy friendship because I feel like they'd have nothing in common. If Felicity was to have a close guy friend in my mind it would be either Ray or Barry.

I was never a fan of him on the show though. Never understood the fuss over him. 

[Midnight Lullaby]

I read and really liked the My Home series and didn’t feel Tommy/Felicity were a problem at all and didn’t feel they and not Oliver and Felicity were the story either..

It makes sense to have Tommy and not another character in that role because it’s a fic that starts when they were kids and have known each other since then..if it was another situation I would have probably liked if the author chose another character because the way fic writers use Tommy is always a bit weird to me..he was only on the show for one season and I didn’t feel he was that special (the bratty way he reacted to losing his trust fund is an example..almost thirty and felt it was unfair to have to work for a living) and fic writers made him into something he could have become or not..he wasn’t on the show long enough to explore who he really was.

[Hiveminder]

I don’t really try to avoid fics with a Flommy relationship (Friendship. If it’s a Felicity/Tommy romantic relationship I have zero interest.), but that aspect never does anything for me. I just don’t think they would have been such super great friends. I don’t really know why I think that, because I’ve never cared enough to really think about it. I generally find Tommy in fics to be either background noise or annoying. I think he gets painted with a very nostalgic brush. 

[apinknightmare]

I think adiwriting is a great writer and I've loved this series, but I tend to skip over a lot of the heavy Tommy chapters - mainly because I hate Tommy (from the show, which usually automatically ruins him in fics for me). 

[Mary0360]

I think what bothers me about the Flommy aspect series is that for the most part I love the My Home series. I think the fic written from Moira's perspective is not just the best Olicity fic I've read recently but imo deserves to be classed as one of the best Olicity fics in general. But when ever I get to the Flommy or Tommy focused fics I find myself pulled a bit out of the story because I keep asking  myself how anyone would be okay with their significant other having that type of relationship with someone of the opposite sex. Its even something Oliver in fic questions himself, whether Tommy is in love with Felicity and what happened between them while he was gone. 

 

Prehaps like others have said it boils down to the fact that since in show Tommy and Felicity were never friends I've always been indifferent to them as friends in fics because like @Hiveminder and @Midnight Lullaby said Tommy is often written through rose coloured glasses.

[WindofChange]

I think where I am is that I don't mind the Flommy friendship if it started with both of them being close to Oliver and then losing him, OR if they had been friends from childhood. 

Either way I have very little interest in Flommy friendship centric chapters and I tend to skip them and I have zero interest for a Flommy romance.

The only fic that I think was the exception to this was SarcasticFina's fic: 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/1431031

[bijoux]

3 hours ago, WindofChange said:

I think where I am is that I don't mind the Flommy friendship if it started with both of them being close to Oliver and then losing him, OR if they had been friends from childhood. 

Either way I have very little interest in Flommy friendship centric chapters and I tend to skip them and I have zero interest for a Flommy romance.

The only fic that I think was the exception to this was SarcasticFina's fic: 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/1431031

Oh, that one I really liked, which was unexpected.

[statsgirl]

I just read it and while I think it works as a fic, I thought that both Tommy and Felicity were wildly out of character.

Oliver was more selfish so if he had known Felicity when he was younger, he might still have turned out to be the Ollie of before Lian Yu.  But if Tommy had had Felicity when he was younger, he wouldn't have been the Tommy of the show.  That Tommy was wounded by the death of his mother and the loss of his father and one of the reasons he was attracted to Laurel was because she had such a clear path for herself and she told him what to do. With Laurel he was found, or thought he was.

I can't see a Flommy romance at all. They're too similar, like Oliver is too similar to Sara.

[Midnight Lullaby]

I don’t think Tommy and Felicity are that similar..other than having a sense of humor..Tommy was rich and spoiled and often had superficial reactions (his reaction to losing his trust fund), being fixated on Laurel when she didn’t want him (Felicity tried to move on with her life even when she knew Oliver loved her), his awful reaction to finding out Oliver is the Arrow (I can’t picture Felicity even being that awful)..

I think the fandom makes him more than who he was because the actor is good looking and played him with a certain amount of charm but I don’t see many good qualities in him. I don’t know how Tommy would have reacted to meeting Felicity when he was younger..I’m 50/50 on being amused by her and becoming friends and thinking the poor girl wasn’t good enough to hang out with him.

[Mary0360]

I don't think that Tommy and Felicity have much in common either. Felicity is driven, passionate about making a difference in the world, tech loving, and compassionate. She fell in love with Oliver because he had a purpose, built on making a difference and in turn gave her a purpose. Tommy was charming but frivolous, did not seem to have much drive, seemed lost and like he needed someone who could mother him. 

 

And if you look beyond Oliver, the other men Felicity were attracted to were also driven men who desired to do good in the world. Ray, Barry, Billy, even Cooper in his own rebellious way. Of what we saw of Tommy he didn't really share many similar traits to the men Felicity's been attracted to in show. 

 

Even in in terms of a friendship, I feel they would only be friends because of Oliver rather then their own inclination to be friends. 

[Hiveminder]

Yeah, Tommy and Felicity just wouldn’t have fit. If anything, I’d imagine them having a slightly uncomfortable relationship. Like, they don’t dislike each other, but don’t really like each other either but both respect the other’s place in Oliver’s life, and only interact because of Oliver. That’s based on Tommy’s season one character development. If he’d lived and grown as a person he might have become someone I could see Felicity having a friendship with, but never anything as deep as what she has with Dig. 

Actually, now that I’m thinking of Dig, I’m thinking that Tommy likely would have ended up being quite jealous of both Felicity and Dig’s relationships with Oliver. 

[statsgirl]

I think Tommy might well have been jealous of Diggle and Felicity if he hadn't found a purpose for himself by then. It seemed like one of the reasons he was so glad to have Oliver back is because he had been even more lost without him.

In the same way,  I could see him rejecting Felicity at first if they had met as teenagers because he was trying to emulate Malcolm. But at heart,  Tommy was essentially a kind person, he took Laurel dinner when she was working late and he took care of underaged The a when she got wasted.

3 hours ago, Mary0360 said:

If you look beyond Oliver, the other men Felicity were attracted to were also driven men who desired to do good in the world. Ray, Barry, Billy, even Cooper in his own rebellious way. Of what we saw of Tommy he didn't really share many similar traits to the men Felicity's been attracted to in show.

I think he was similar to very early Barry  (before he became insufferable) If Barry had not had Joe.  I also see him like Billy if Billy had not found his sense of direction yet. Tommy had been dealt a huge blow like Ray had but he was 8, not 28 as Ray was (I'm guessing Ray was around 28).  Tommy didn't know how to recover.  Barry had Joe to steer him to adulthood but all Tommy had was Oliver who was a child himself and pretty self-centered, and maybe a disinterested Robert and Moors when visiting the Queen home.

Tommy was a more caring person than Ollie  but kept getting rejected,  by Malcolm,  by Laurel,  even in a sense by his mother dying because she was the caring parent  who could have helped him to find his purpose.

This conversation is making me want to write a Lost Boy fic for Tommy.

Edited February 21, 2018 by statsgirl

[Featherhat]

2 hours ago, statsgirl said:

 

Tommy was a more caring person than Ollie  but kept getting rejected,  by Malcolm,  by Laurel,  even in a sense by his mother dying because she was the caring parent  who could have helped him to find his purpose.

This conversation is making me want to write a Lost Boy fic for Tommy.

I don't think pre Island they were much better than each other, By Tommy's own admission they both had drug charges and Hilton and Lance discuss "intent to distribute" for him among other things. Post Gambit he did grow up a fair bit and was a good "brother" to Thea, but he would have definitely gone for the lots of women/partying when Oliver came back before they retooled his character once the triangle was no longer going to be a long running thing.

Post Island he was way more horrified about violence than either Oliver or Thea became but if he had lived he'd have become the Dark Archer in a very soapy twist. They could have made a Tommy/Felicity S2 friendship work, but the Tommy = Barry+Kara and ice cream + extra hotness narrative in some fanon makes any sense. 

Though yeah if they'd kept him on I'd hope they'd have explored tiny Tommy and Oliver in the wake of Rebecca's death more, but they barely did with Malcolm and that was originally supposed to be his big reason for going crazy and JB was around for years.

[BkWurm1]

26 minutes ago, Featherhat said:

I don't think pre Island they were much better than each other, By Tommy's own admission they both had drug charges and Hilton and Lance discuss "intent to distribute" for him among other things. Post Gambit he did grow up a fair bit and was a good "brother" to Thea, but he would have definitely gone for the lots of women/partying when Oliver came back before they retooled his character once the triangle was no longer going to be a long running thing.

Post Island he was way more horrified about violence than either Oliver or Thea became but if he had lived he'd have become the Dark Archer in a very soapy twist. They could have made a Tommy/Felicity S2 friendship work, but the Tommy = Barry+Kara and ice cream + extra hotness narrative in some fanon makes any sense. 

Though yeah if they'd kept him on I'd hope they'd have explored tiny Tommy and Oliver in the wake of Rebecca's death more, but they barely did with Malcolm and that was originally supposed to be his big reason for going crazy and JB was around for years.

 

I feel they dumped that plot line at the same time they dumped the love triangle so I don't think we were supposed to believe Tommy had it in him to go all evil.  Tommy wasn't a saint or by any means perfect, but I agree that he after the pilot episode was supposed to be the guy that at his core was the "good guy".  Lost and struggling to figure his life out in a lot of areas, but more clear and steady about the big moral lines that should be drawn and the show's first example of love as a state of action and not something given only on the condition of being reciprocated. 

I think that's what endears Tommy to me long after his death and what has set him up in fic as this genuine guy.  Both his in the end unselfish love for Laurel and his continued loyalty to Oliver even when Oliver IMO hadn't shown his loyalty to him.  

That said, there is no way I would be happy with what was described for the Flommy friendship in the My Home series.  It sounded from that like he was her gay BFF which is what would have to be true for me to accept Tommy had no romantic feelings and would not develop romantic feelings given the circumstances.  I'm not someone that thinks men and women can't be friends but there are boundaries needed to keep something strictly platonic.  I haven't read My Home and won't since I don't like the trope of Olicity growing up together, but from how the Flommy friendship was described, I'm not seeing a realistic depiction of friends that have no romantic inclinations now or ever before.  But we all have different comfort levels with that kind of thing.    

[Hiveminder]

5 hours ago, statsgirl said:

 

I think he was similar to very early Barry  (before he became insufferable) If Barry had not had Joe.  I also see him like Billy if Billy had not found his sense of direction yet. Tommy had been dealt a huge blow like Ray had but he was 8, not 28 as Ray was (I'm guessing Ray was around 28).  Tommy didn't know how to recover.  Barry had Joe to steer him to adulthood but all Tommy had was Oliver who was a child himself and pretty self-centered, and maybe a disinterested Robert and Moors when visiting the Queen home.

But isn’t a sense of direction what seems to be the shared characteristic between between Felicity’s boyfriends and almost boyfriend? Felicity herself mentioned that she was in awe of Oliver’s passion when they met. Barry was passionate about finding out what happened to his mom and exonerating his dad. Ray, Billy, Cooper all had direction in their lives. I think that’s an important quality for Felicity to have in her significant other, and Tommy didn’t have that. 

[statsgirl]

I'd argue that for Felicity someone being a kind, good person was more important than a sense of direction.  She befriended Sara because she could see that Sara was a good person even though she was directionless at the time other than to escape from being an assassin.  With Curtis, he was pretty much directionless when she met him, Felicity was the one who have him a direction in saving PT, but she befriended him as well because he was a good person who cared about others.  I don't think it was Ray's mission to save the work from mirakuru soldiers that softened her feelings toward him but that he was a caring man trying to do good generally nd help people be in their correct slots (e.g. Felicity as VP of tech).  Billy was "a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do" only at the end when she wanted him to stop going after Prometheus; until then his defining characteristic was what a good boyfriend he was.

Felicity admired Oliver's singlemindedness when she first joined the crusade but she quit almost as soon as she had. It was Oliver not going after the single father and killing him and instead doing good in general (catching the Dodger) that brought her back to the lair again.

I also think that if Tommy's lack of direction had been a trait, Felicity wouldn't be interested in him.  But I think it was a state left over from his childhood and when he was scaffolded (Oliver deciding to start of Verdant), he took it and ran with it.  If he hadn't died saving Laurel, he probably would have realized that he doesn't have to admire these focused people like Laurel from afar but he could join their ranks.

[bijoux]

6 hours ago, statsgirl said:

Tommy was a more caring person than Ollie  but kept getting rejected,  by Malcolm,  by Laurel,  even in a sense by his mother dying because she was the caring parent  who could have helped him to find his purpose.

I don't think he was. Ollie's behavior was shitty on multiple fronts before the island, but how Thea thought of him, and the fact that Tommy went looking for him three years down the line always told me that there was something more there even pre-island. Plus, the fact that he covered for Yao Fei and was tortured for it extremely early on indicated that it wadn't just the effects of his experiences on the island unless washing up there was an instant reboot to a part of his system. 

If Tommy had lived, he and Felicity may have developed a friendship, but I do thibk they are complete opposites in many ways. Tommy was always adrift, lost and in stuck in the same place a lot of the time. Felicity is like a bull, she pushes forward whether it's to her benefit or detriment. She's the opposite of standing still. 

[Midnight Lullaby]

I think if they have chosen to go there (if they didn’t pick OTA instead of Oliver/Laurel/Tommy) there wouldn’t have been a problem turning Tommy evil..from the way I see it he wasn’t one of those strong willed people that despite everything that happened to them were always going to be a good man, like Oliver is..his reaction to Oliver’s secret and his jealousy were pretty dark so I could have seen him giving in to the worse side of himself for example if Oliver killed his father and take his place..

[Mary0360]

4 hours ago, BkWurm1 said:

 I haven't read My Home and won't since I don't like the trope of Olicity growing up together, but from how the Flommy friendship was described, I'm not seeing a realistic depiction of friends that have no romantic inclinations now or ever before.  But we all have different comfort levels with that kind of thing.    

Well there was one chapter, set around the time where Tommy thinks he's found Oliver in Hong Kong, where Felicity and Tommy upset that it turns out Oliver is not alive go out to a club.

Spoiler

Felicity gets drunk and ends up taking something one of Tommys friends gives her. Tommy gets protective of her and while trying to get her out of the club Felicity asks him to dance with her. While dancing Felicity is described as being affectionate and Tommy describes her as sexy and imagines being with her, even wonders if sleeping with her would make him feel closer to Oliver, but ultimately doesn't go there because of Oliver. Tommy also concludes that despite physical attraction he doesn't like her like that. So I guess to be fair, romantic inclination has been touched upon but the take away seems to be Oliver is the thing between that.

 

Another chapter revealed Tommys mother was the reason Felicity came into their lives in the first place. She was Felicity's doctor and decided to give her a scholarship to Tommy and Oliver's school. When Tommy figures this out, he decides his mother meant to send him Felicity and that she's his guardian angel. 

 

So I think youre suppose to assume Oliver is the love of Felicity's life but Tommy is her soulmate or kindred spirit. But I guess for me, you need to establish a clear defined line between close platonic relationship and subtle emotional cheating. Oliver and Laurel keep pondering in the fic whether Tommy is in love with Felicity, and sometimes while reading I sometimes feel taken out of the story wondering if I'm suppose to be assuming the same. 

[Mellowyellow]

Ahhhhhhhh real love (is never a waste of time) is sooooooooo enjoyable to read! I enjoy Callistawolf's writing so much and for her to write a cheerful story is such  treat!

I feel kinda bad she has to moderate comments though! Must be a lot of crazies for her to do that. And she writes so well too! Not that anyone should be leaving nasty comments for people who they think write badly either!!!!

[statsgirl]

I think it's hard to compare Oliver and Tommy on a level because while Robert and Moira's parenting wouldn't win any prizes, Tommy had a catastrophic event in his childhood.  When he was eight, his mother, the caring parent who opened a clinic in The Glades, was murdered and his father disappeared for years, and he came back .  Imagine how that must have affected him.  He probably clung to Oliver and the Queen family desperate to have someone who cared about him. No wonder he went to Hong Kong looking for Oliver when everyone else said no.

3 hours ago, bijoux said:

I don't think he was. Ollie's behavior was shitty on multiple fronts before the island, but how Thea thought of him, and the fact that Tommy went looking for him three years down the line always told me that there was something more there even pre-island. Plus, the fact that he covered for Yao Fei and was tortured for it extremely early on indicated that it wadn't just the effects of his experiences on the island unless washing up there was an instant reboot to a part of his system. 

Definitely there was caring in Oliver pre-island but I don't think it was really tapped till the island.  I see it as more of an careless caring, like inviting Tommy to go with him somewhere if Tommy was alone, or inviting him to hang out with his family

But Tommy was the one who would make sure that Laurel was okay when she was upset or working and who risked his life to save her.  He was probably more aware of the hurt of other's since he had been so hurt himself.

4 hours ago, Hiveminder said:

But isn’t a sense of direction what seems to be the shared characteristic between between Felicity’s boyfriends and almost boyfriend?

They had a purpose for themselves But I don't think it's enough for Felicity.  No one had a greater sense of direction than Laurel and yet Felicity wasn't even friends with her till the show needed it.

Edited February 22, 2018 by statsgirl

[Hiveminder]

57 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

 

They had a purpose for themselves But I don't think it's enough for Felicity.  No one had a greater sense of direction than Laurel and yet Felicity wasn't even friends with her till the show needed it.

I agree that just a sense of purpose itself isn't enough for Felicity(To be clear, I was referring to the shared quality of Felicity's romantic partners. I don't think she needs someone to have a sense of purpose to be her friend.), but you could say that about any quality. I could never date a man without a sense of humor, but I'm not attracted to every funny man I meet. I'm just saying that that's the only characteristic that all of Felicity's partners seem to share so it would appear that it's something that's important for her to have in a partner.  

[statsgirl]

Felicity's partners also shared a desire to help others, even Cooper who wanted to wipe out the students' debt.

I agree that Felicity wouldn't have been attracted to Tommy through most of s1.  But he had the potential to be someone she could be attracted to, and we're talking about AU fic.  Unlike a sense of humor, which you either have or you don't, Tommy's lack of purpose may have been because of what had happened to him during his life and with the right therapy, he could have got through it and found a sense of direction.