Felicity Smoak: Bitch With Wifi

[Guest]

Tbh I think that's exactly where Felicity will go next - creating her own company. She's inspired now, to help people in a way outside of Team Arrow - and she has vision. I quite like the idea of her building her own company from the ground up and it being a bit of a struggle along the way. 

[kismet]

Here's hoping the writers don't chicken out or get inspiration from how they wrote LL's journey as an independent & strong woman.

EBR is a better actress, but there are only so many ways & times she can elevate questionable writing or plotting.

[Morrigan2575]

Brought over from Schism Thread

Quote

Oh, yeah, her hitting people with random objects is A+. But imo that fits into stunt/action rather than fight. It's her one move, and it needs to be surprising, it's not anything like hand to hand combat.

Maybe they could make it like Stiles on Teen Wolf and give Felicity an actual baseball bat. She hits way better than him anyway.

Oh yeah, it's not an actual fight move. I'm always torn on this, I want her to get more defense training,  like we saw her do in 305. However, I don't want her to be another mask out there doing all these fight moves.

I'd like to see more stunts, I guess where Felicity uses her head to overcome the villain.  305 was great but also, 308 where she used one of the exploding Arrow heads to fend off Boomerang,  319 where she used steam or water to escape from the Meta. 322 where she threw her tablet, 201 where she hit the fake Hood over the head, 320 where she hit the LoA guy over the head, 423 where she hit the Ghost over the head, 409 hit the Ghost in the stomach, etc etc

I do love her hitting people over the head, it's very amusing. 

[dtissagirl]

Yeah. I love that she uses quick thinking to find something, wherever she is, that she can swing like a bat and hit someone. It's a physical action, but it ties perfectly with her being a quick thinker in a stressful situation.

And I agree she needs defense training, and maybe some gun training as well. I just don't think that makes for interesting storytelling. The occasional training scene used if you need to burn out some exposition dialogue that'll advance the plot? I'll take that. Training scenes as an end of itself? Zzzzzzyawn.

[Chaser]

I miss Felicity swinging (Hehe) with Oliver. 

[way2interested]

It's funny, before s4, I was betting that there would one day be a scene with part of the team is captured so that Felicity had to come in and posture as BC until the team is able to regroup and fight (which kind of happened with Malcolm in 409), just because I liked AtomFelicity and whenever Diggle or Roy had to wear the Arrow suit. Now that would never happen, but I'm still all for Felicity getting involved in the stunt action too.

[Password]

6 hours ago, way2interested said:

just because I liked AtomFelicity 

You nearly gave me a heart attack... which is mean because some people did love Ray and Felicity together.

[way2interested]

23 minutes ago, Password said:

You nearly gave me a heart attack... which is mean because some people did love Ray and Felicity together.

Ha, sorry about that! Just trying to do some shorthand on my phone! I definitely enjoyed Felicity flying in the ATOM suit more than Ray and Felicity in a relationship, if that helps.

[calliope1975]

I still want an AU/Halloween/Earth 2 ep with Felicity leathered up. I DO NOT want that permanently, but I'd love to see it just once. Hey, if TPTB only pander to Felicity fans, pander to me! 

[kismet]

6 hours ago, calliope1975 said:

I still want an AU/Halloween/Earth 2 ep with Felicity leathered up. I DO NOT want that permanently, but I'd love to see it just once. Hey, if TPTB only pander to Felicity fans, pander to me! 

BA probably screwed that up too, by closing the breaches to other Earths. :(

Just give us EBR leathered up... And perhaps they could make her evil. I do want to see an EvilFS too, not as a regular character but as a clone or something for an episode or 2. And SA seems to really want to play a Villain. I wonder if they could have an Evil Bonnie & Clyde episode. Perhaps they steal the face mask technology from every other spy show/movie. Because it would be fun to watch SC experience their "mayor" & his "ex (probably current by this time) GF" running some crime sprees across the city, and they have to take down their doppelgangers.

Edited June 1, 2016 by kismet
to remove an erroneous word.

[bijoux]

@kismet, what do you mean make her evil again?

[kismet]

56 minutes ago, bijoux said:

@kismet, what do you mean make her evil again?

You know I don't know. I did a quick restructuring of the paragraph before I posted it, but I have no idea where that again came from. I think I originally had that sentence after saying SA wants to be villainous, so the "again" was probably meant for him. Sloppy editing on my part, will fix it. This is why you can't simultaneously eat dinner, check up on the forum and binge another show. Thanks for the catch. :)

[TrueMyth]

Pardon my crowd-sourcing for fanfic, but do you think Felicity had a hacker handle/nickname, and if so what was it?  Do hackers really have nicknames?  I know usernames were more of a thing before Facebook and other social messaging brought back "real names," but it seems that pseudonyms would be very useful for people doing technically illegal things.

She obviously had a thing for Neil Gaiman's Death, so maybe "Endless"?  Maybe a Doctor Who reference?

[wonderwall]

22 hours ago, TrueMyth said:

Pardon my crowd-sourcing for fanfic, but do you think Felicity had a hacker handle/nickname, and if so what was it?  Do hackers really have nicknames?  I know usernames were more of a thing before Facebook and other social messaging brought back "real names," but it seems that pseudonyms would be very useful for people doing technically illegal things.

She obviously had a thing for Neil Gaiman's Death, so maybe "Endless"?  Maybe a Doctor Who reference?

I'd like to think so... Although I don't think it'd be a self appointed nickname. More like Felicity had a reputation within the hacking community... i'm having trouble thinking of something though :p

Also a lot of hackers had nicknames I think... It's sort of like what a mask does for a vigilante.

[lemotomato]

22 hours ago, TrueMyth said:

Pardon my crowd-sourcing for fanfic, but do you think Felicity had a hacker handle/nickname, and if so what was it?  Do hackers really have nicknames?  I know usernames were more of a thing before Facebook and other social messaging brought back "real names," but it seems that pseudonyms would be very useful for people doing technically illegal things.

She obviously had a thing for Neil Gaiman's Death, so maybe "Endless"?  Maybe a Doctor Who reference?

If I had to randomly guess based on something from that episode, maybe something panda related? In a deleted scene she was hugging a stuffed panda after Cooper died. Otherwise a nickname based on anything from sci-fi franchises would work. She's mentioned Dr Who and referenced Battlestar Galactica. 

(Does this mean you're working on a fic? (Please say yes? :D))

[kismet]

I would love a panda themed name... I think it fits perfectly for her.

[TrueMyth]

I like the idea of a panda themed nickname, but I do feel Goth Felicity would be a little fierce with her handle.  Of course, I also think the Goth Felicity from this season was an exaggerated snark-master compared to what we saw in 3x05.  I skimmed the Giant Panda wiki page and was slightly disturbed to find out that pandas have five fingers PLUS a thumb bone.  The skeleton looks alien!  Not that that helps me come up with an actual name. Hum.

57 minutes ago, lemotomato said:

(Does this mean you're working on a fic? (Please say yes? :D))

Aww, thanks!  Yes, I am working on a fic for the Olicity Fic Big Bang.

[wonderwall]

2 hours ago, TrueMyth said:

I like the idea of a panda themed nickname, but I do feel Goth Felicity would be a little fierce with her handle.  Of course, I also think the Goth Felicity from this season was an exaggerated snark-master compared to what we saw in 3x05.  I skimmed the Giant Panda wiki page and was slightly disturbed to find out that pandas have five fingers PLUS a thumb bone.  The skeleton looks alien!  Not that that helps me come up with an actual name. Hum.

Aww, thanks!  Yes, I am working on a fic for the Olicity Fic Big Bang.

I feel like Felicity would be known as something scary within the hacker community like Phantom (never leaving a trail behind)

[apinknightmare]

I've seen quite a few mentions lately that people would've liked to have seen the character development Felicity would've gotten if she hadn't been Oliver's love interest. Am I the only one who thinks that she only got the development she did because she is Oliver's love interest? Like, if she'd just been member of the team Felicity, I don't think we'd know any more about her now than we did back in S2 (maybe that's what these people are getting at?), except for maybe they would've had her dad come in as a VotW. 

[bijoux]

maybe Cooper would have showed up. But Donna would definitely not be the Donna we know and it's doubtful she would have appeared at all. 

On an unrelated note, I saw a pic of GothFelicity on Twitter and it got me thinking. From what we saw of her, she didn't have a probelm with a run away mouth. This apparently manifested itself after Cooper "died" and she went through a transformation. I haven't given it much thought before now, but it's surprising and interesting. Is it maybe that she wanted to have rigid control afterwards and this is her subconscious pressure valve?

[TrueMyth]

We didn't see that much of GothFelicity and it was her PoV flashback.  As awesome as AWOL was this season, I don't really count that as GothFelicity herself.  It was more that cuttingly cruel side of Felicity that we sometimes see, wearing a skin that worked for Felicity's subconscious, you know?  The stuff we saw in TSOoFS didn't provide many opportunities for babbling.  She was in a pretty comfortable relationship with Cooper.  I suppose she could have had some of it when he was in prison and she was worried about him, but I kind of remember that scene with a bit of frantic fast-talk.  I do need to rewatch the episode.

[kismet]

Nice Article on FS. http://telltaletv.com/2016/07/how-arrow-got-felicity-smoak-right/

Quote

In the end, Felicity Smoak might not be your favorite. She doesn’t have to be. But it’s hard to deny that, comics or not, Arrow has made her a real, relatable and extraordinary character — one that many young girls out there would be proud to emulate.

[tv echo]

Felicity Smoak is once again used to describe another TV character (Betty) in this review of Riverdale (clearly, this writer is not an Olicity fan)...

Spoiler-Free Review: Archie Comics Adaptation "Riverdale" Is Twin Peaks Meets Dawson's Creek, In a Good Way
Janey Tracey 21 July 2016 - 6:43PM
http://www.outerplaces.com/science-fiction/item/12803-spoiler-free-review-archie-comics-adaptation-riverdale-is-twin-peaks-meets-dawson-s-creek-in-a-good-way

Quote

If you're not into camp, however, then the characters are unpleasantly one-note. Archie, in particular, is a generically handsome blank slate with little to no personality, joining the ranks of unremarkable white male protagonists who inexplicably get smart, nice, and beautiful girls to fall in love with them. And speaking of whom, Betty barely fares any better. While there are attempts to develop her as a character, she's ultimately just another "plucky" girl-next-door character whose love affair with Archie lacks chemistry but will still be shoved down our throats (the gay best friend helpfully declares that Archie and Betty are "endgame"). Think Felicity Smoak, minus the sense of humor.

Edited July 22, 2016 by tv echo

[bijoux]

Quote

 love affair with Archie lacks chemistry but will still be shoved down our throats (the gay best friend helpfully declares that Archie and Betty are "endgame"). 

Frankly, this sounds more like Oliver and Laurel what with the lack of chemistry, being shoved down people's throats and being proclaimed meant to be or whatever. Definitely by Sara in S2 and possibly (probably) Tommy in S1.

[Starfish35]

From conversation in News and Media (and I guess also the Spoilers Discussion) thread:

Personally.....I've had no issues with Felicity in season four, other than in the crossover, in the first timeline.  I had some issues with her toward the end of season three, but not in season four.  Primarily, my issues regarding Felicity in season four had to do with the writers not giving her enough of a point of view, and rushing her storylines.   But i haven't had problems with her directly, other than as I mentioned that one scene in the crossover.  

[Morrigan2575]

I don't think I've ever had long standing issues with Felicity or her characterization. I may have had occasional issues but they're usually due to the weiters sacrificing character for story.

I don't expect Felicity to be flawless or perfect and i don't want characters acting like she's perfect even when she's doing something horrible.  

I didn't have an issue with Felicity at all in S4 other than the 0 to OTT Insanity of the 208 fight.  I also didn't have a problem with Felicity in what I watched of S3. Whether you like Raylicity or not (mostly not on this board) I think it was pretty much an established character trait. 

[TrueMyth]

22 minutes ago, Morrigan2575 said:

I also didn't have a problem with Felicity in what I watched of S3. Whether you like Raylicity or not (mostly not on this board) I think it was pretty much an established character trait. 

Can you elaborate on what established character trait you are talking about?

I hated Raylicity, but mostly because I really disliked Ray.  I didn't have an issue with any of Felicity's choice besides not being 100% clear on WHY she was interested in Ray.  As @Starfish35 mentioned, the writers do slack on giving us her PoV at times.  Besides her blurts when she finds someone attractive, she's actually a pretty compartmentalized character, so it wasn't until her hospital scene with Donna when she listed the reasons she "should" like Ray [1) Brilliance, 2) Geek knowledge, 3) Looks] that I understood why she was dating/sleeping with Ray for sure.  Once I had that for sure, I had no issues with her characterization.  

[Guest]

I've had a couple of issues with Felicity, mainly from s3 and s4. My main problem is that occasionally she can be very cruel when she's stressed and hurting. Saying that, I don't have an issue with that particularly because it's obviously a character trait/flaw and I like that. No character is perfect and I always wanted Felicity to be more fully fleshed out. My issue comes from the fact that she doesn't apologize for her comments. Like in 406, I thought she was pretty mean to Oliver and although I understood it because she was stressed about finding Ray and upset/shaken that she'd lost herself in Oliver when she's never been that kind of woman before, I would have liked her to apologize to him when they made up. Just something like "I said some things I didn't mean earlier, I'm sorry, I was so stressed out" etc etc...That actually would have solved my whole issue.

As I said, I have no problems with character flaws and I welcome them. Just as long as they're actually seen as flaws and the character acknowledges them/has awareness that they exist. Felicity didn't and that didn't sit right with me. That's why I was pleased that in 420 she told Oliver that she didn't mean what she said about him always being the man on the island. Acknowledging that she didn't mean it because she was hurting was an important step. 

So really, a lot of this comes down to crappy writing and not letting Felicity have a proper POV. What a surprise!

Edited August 7, 2016 by Guest

[Morrigan2575]

Quote

Can you elaborate on what established character trait you are talking about?

I think it's an established character trait that Felicity doesn't suffer in angst or wallow. When faced with tragedy/heartbreak she just picks herself up and soldiers on.

Cooper kills himself, she grieves and then reinvents herself and moves on. Oliver says no, she grieves for lost love, pulls herself together and moves on trying to find happiness.  

FelIcity gets paralyzed she grieves/feels uncertain about her place and abilities but in the end pulls herself together and makes the best of her situation.  Oliver lies/betrays/breaks her heart, she pmdumps him, pulls herself together, moves on and tries to find something fulfilling/happiness (QC/Chips for everyone!).

Edited August 7, 2016 by Morrigan2575

[Guest]

I agree that it's absolutely her character trait to pull herself together and always move forward but IDK, I'd actually argue that Felicity doesn't really give herself time to grieve or deal with things. Part of me thinks she just fools herself into thinking she has moved on when she hasn't really. I'd love for that to be explored but I doubt very much that would happen.

Edited August 7, 2016 by Guest

[TrueMyth]

Yes, I see it more as compartmentalization of emotions that then burst out as cruel, sharp bits of sarcasm as @Angel12d mentioned.  She does grieve, such as the much maligned crying in season 3, but then she seems fine in the next scene (which is where I think some of that criticism comes from, as it may look disingenuous).  I always took this as a "keep calm and carry on" level of stoicism.  I have a similar approach to things.  I rarely let my inner turmoil show in public and one of the ways I know that I need to take some time to check in with myself is when I catch myself being mean or short with people.  She does take time to process (her way through a pint of ice cream, for example), but we rarely see that processing or hear it referenced in seasons 3 and 4 when her life has had some pretty massive turns.

Additionally, though the 3x05 flashbacks were a bit unclear to me, I always assumed that there were a few weeks between Cooper's "death" and her bagging up her old, goth self for the new, blond model.  At least that's more time than Laurel took to process the death of a boyfriend before moving on in some way.  Ugh, writers.

[Guest]

I do agree that Felicity cried a lot in s3 but not in a 'OMG stop crying' kind of way but more like a 'OMG she just can't catch a break' way. I actually didn't like that she went from crying a lot in s3 to not crying at all in s4 when she had legit reasons to sob her heart out. So much shit happened to her in s4 and she seemed so stoic most of the time that it just didn't feel natural, IMO.

And while I agree that Felicity compartmentalizes - she's like a pistachio! - it's like they can't get the balance right sometimes and are afraid to let her be emotional when she has the right to be. So yeah. UGH WRITERS.  

Edited August 7, 2016 by Guest

[Password]

Ever since Felicity told Ray she's 25 years old I've wondered if she's 4 or 5 years younger than Oliver. 

[tv echo]

Remember The CW's S2 character bios?
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.307038822767490.1073741835.104137579724283&type=3

According to those bios (assuming they're correct), the characters' ages at the beginning of S2 were as follows:

Oliver - 27
Felicity - 25
Diggle - 35
Laurel - 28
Quentin - 50
Thea - 17
Roy - 22
Moira - 48
Slade Wilson - 40

Edited August 15, 2016 by tv echo

[Password]

The beginning of s2 she was 25, but the middle of s3 she would've been 26. She told Ray she was 25 a few days after Oliver died on the cliff which was 2014. So she's 27 this year, and Oliver is 30?

[tv echo]

Thereabouts, I assume.  Consistency doesn't seem to be a priority for Arrow.

[apinknightmare]

20 minutes ago, Password said:

The beginning of s2 she was 25, but the middle of s3 she would've been 26. She told Ray she was 25 a few days after Oliver died on the cliff which was 2014. So she's 27 this year, and Oliver is 30?

Oliver was born in May 1985 - so, he's 31. 

[Password]

Ah ok. So I guess I can assume they're 4 years apart. Cheers.

[statsgirl]

According to the gravestones, Oliver, Tommy and Laurel were all born in 1985.  Sara was born in 1987, and Thea would have been born in 1995.
If Felicity was 25 in 2014, she would have been born in 1989.  Or so.

[Guest]

If it suits them, they'll probably change her age next season because they forget little details like this. Character age, whether or not Moira paid off Samantha with 2 checks and not one, how Oliver can speak Chinese...the list goes on. LOL.

[bijoux]

If they wanted to move Felicity's age around a bit, like by a year or two, that would be really low on the list of their sins against continuity. It was only mentioned one time on screen and that was an off hand remark, giving a round number. It's not set in stone. Until explicitly told otherwise, as with Thea, who celebrated her 18th birthday on the show in early 2013 (meaning she was born in early 1995), I'm using Felicity's S3 remark as reference.

[Guest]

Well, yeah, it's definitely low on the list of their continuity sins but it's still dumb. You'd think they'd have character descriptions/details posted on a board somewhere in the writers room or wherever. IDK. I don't know how these dummies work tbh. 

[Morrigan2575]

12 hours ago, bijoux said:

If they wanted to move Felicity's age around a bit, like by a year or two, that would be really low on the list of their sins against continuity. It was only mentioned one time on screen and that was an off hand remark, giving a round number. It's not set in stone. Until explicitly told otherwise, as with Thea, who celebrated her 18th birthday on the show in early 2013 (meaning she was born in early 1995), I'm using Felicity's S3 remark as reference.

I think she was 20 in the 305 Flashbacks to MIT which was presumably her Senior year. I can't remember if that was 5 years before S3?

[way2interested]

10 minutes ago, Morrigan2575 said:

I think she was 20 in the 305 Flashbacks to MIT which was presumably her Senior year. I can't remember if that was 5 years before S3?

The flashbacks were "5 years ago," but one could argue that she was 24 in 305 (since she was 25 in January/310), making her 19 in the flashbacks to her presumable senior year. I'm just pointing that out because didn't Not-Wells mention in that Flash episode that she graduated at 19?

[Password]

Are you sure when she said she's 25 was January? I thought it was meant to be a few days after Oliver left. It was January for us but in show still December. 

[way2interested]

3 minutes ago, Password said:

Are you sure when she said she's 25 was January? I thought it was meant to be a few days after Oliver left. It was January for us but in show still December. 

You're right, 310 takes place a few days later. I was muddling 310 and 311 in my head (which is weird because I actually kind of liked 310 and not so much 311), my bad, but then it's still kind of arguable that her birthday might be later Nov through Dec. I'm just trying to connect the idea of graduating at 19, 5 years later is Nov 2014, 310/December she says she's 25. It could be like 305 flashbacks take place Spring 2009, 305 is Nov 2014 and her birthday could be anywhere between summer through Dec.

[Morrigan2575]

1 hour ago, way2interested said:

The flashbacks were "5 years ago," but one could argue that she was 24 in 305 (since she was 25 in January/310), making her 19 in the flashbacks to her presumable senior year. I'm just pointing that out because didn't Not-Wells mention in that Flash episode that she graduated at 19?

I thought she won some award/competition at 19 but not sure. I only assumed 20 in 305 flashback because I remember Felicity arguing with Donna (on the phone) because Donna wanted to get her a fake ID.  Ultimately she was under 21 that's all I can say for sure. 

[tv echo]

From The Flash 104 (Going Rogue)...

Dr. Wells: “Please, call me Harrison, Felicity.”
Felicity: “You know who I am.”
Dr. Wells: "Ranked second in the National Informative Technology Competition at age 19. Graduated M.I.T. with master’s degree in cyber security and computer sciences. I know who you are. I keep an eye out for promising talent in scientific fields. It’s what brought me Cisco, Caitlin. And I foresaw great things from you."

Edited August 16, 2016 by tv echo

[way2interested]

Whoops, sorry for the mix-up, then. Thanks for the reference clip, @tv echo.

[SmallScreenDiva]

24 minutes ago, Luckylyn said:

That is the great thing about Felicity in that she has a role on the team  regardless of whether or not she and Oliver are together.    I like Oliver/Diggle/Felicity as a team and don't perceive Felicity as being the boss although the skills she brings are very important.

 

28 minutes ago, wonderwall said:

To be quite honest, I don't mind that Felicity isn't good at everything. I'd like her to train and learn how to defend herself physically. I'd like to see her go into the field to do recon work. But I don't want her to be a fighter because this show has too many masks as is. I'd much prefer Felicity do undercover work which is a hell of a lot more exciting :)

I'm probably in the minority on this board with this opinion but I don't want Felicity to be the boss of the team. I want her, Diggle, and Oliver to be partners in this. 

Hey, I'm all for OTA and the core trio as equal partners, although that's not always the reality of the show, IMO. I don't really see Felicity as THE boss-boss, which is why I kind softened my wording with "pretty much." Maybe it didn't come across as such. It just strikes me that Felicity seems to have taken ownership of the team, more than Oliver has. And I trace it back to when Oliver died. She momentarily quit, but then she came back with renewed purpose and everybody who was left behind — Digg, Roy, Laurel — kinda looked to her for direction. Oliver at the end of Season 3 was quick to drop the team and pursue a vigilante-free life with Felicity, while she still kept her fingers in the pie, so to speak. And, well, in Season 4, on top of overseeing the team, she also financed them. Look, I'm not trying to diminish OTA (I'm probably one of the loudest supporters of the core trio) but IMO the show has given Felicity more of a leadership role on the team.