#@ruwithmeguys @dmichellewrites @almondblossomme

[swordandarrow]

@1-crazy-dreamer @ah-maa-zing @alanna-the-lionheart @alexiablackbriar13 @allimariexf

@almondblossomme @andjustforthismoment @arrow-crack @arrowgirl20 @arrowgirl23

@arrow-through-my-writers-block @athenaagron @aussieforgood @babblingblondegenius

@bazingagubicorn   @bb-olicity @befitandchase @bifelicitys@bindy417 @bisexualfelicity

@bitchwhwifi @blondeeoneexox @bokayjunkie @bookolicitynessa @cainc3 @callistawolf

@candykizzes24 @charlie-leau@cherchersketch  @coal000 @cogentranting @crazycrystal10  

@cruzrogue @dianasmatthews @dmichellewrites @charlinert @doe-eyed-girly-evil

@dust2dust34 @ebett @eloquence-of-felicities @emilybettsource@fandombookmark

@feilcityqueen @felicitisqueen @felicitysmoakdaily @felicitysmoakgifs @felicitysmoakq

@foreverxyoungxwildxfree @frembett @fyeahebr @geneshaven @gothsmoak

@green-arrows-of-karamel @hope-for-olicity @it-was-a-red-heeler @jaspertown  

@jbuffyangel @jedichick04 @jhopq @jules85 @katluna90olicity @klarolicityswan

@laurabelle2930 @lostolicityscenes@lucyyh @lyricalarrow @magda1102

@marytagus @mel-loves-all @memcjo @mindramblingfics@miriam1779 @missafairy

@missyriver @mogirl97 @mortallock @msbeccieboo @nalla-madness @oliverdant

@oliverfel4 @oliverfelicitygifs @oliversfelicity @oliverxfelicity @onceuponanolicity

@oneofakindxx @pintofmintchip @pleasantfanandstudent @quebecolicityfanart

@queensarrow @quiveringbunny @rua1412 @ruwithmeguys @saebrfan @scu11y22

@segsibongsoon @shaniartist @smkkbert @smoak-and-mirrors @smoakfoxxgoddess

@smoaking-greenarrow @smoakmonster @smoakqueenz @songbin @spartandiggle

@spaztronautwriter @stellahellaviola @storyteller0311 @supersillyanddorky06

@talkingtomyquiver @tangled23works @tdgal1 @thebookjumper @tinaday3w

@truevampireslovers @turtlejustice @V4l13 @vaelisamaza @virelove

@walker-oliciter @wherethereissmoak @whoeveryoulovethemost

@wifiandbow @wildirish23 @wrldtravler                                                                                                                                                                                                 ...and to the whole Olicity fandom

[geneshaven]

Arrow, Season 6 (Threads of Discord)

The following breakdown of Season 6 has been churning around in my addled brain since 623 ended two weeks ago, and today I felt compelled to bring it out into the light of day.  I am not agreeing or disagreeing with anybody else’s take on the season. I’m only putting it down in black and white, because quite frankly, it’s a way for me to make sense of what was served up to us this season. I was left with some discombobulated thoughts and feelings when 623 was over, so much so that the next night I felt an immediate need to write a fic, (The Distance Between Two Hearts, *plug, plug*) to give everything  a happy ending and to help it all go down smoother. So, here is my final take on the Season as a whole.

When Lian Yu blew up at the end of Season 5, the writers of Arrow left a few storylines up in the air; mainly, Oliver and Felicity and their momentum of getting back together. A lot of fans just assumed it was a done deal. They kissed. They hugged. They made a promise to one another that after the smoke cleared; they would talk about being in each other’s lives again. (I’ve thought recently that the visual of Lian Yu exploding into larger fireballs could be a great summation of Season 6.)

So, hiatus came upon us in the summer of 2017 and the writers tried to pull a fast one, leaving all our beloved characters fates up in the air via a lame cliffhanger. Oliver saved William from Chase’s clutches. Samantha was killed, giving life to one of the plot lines for Season 6. Thea was caught in the explosions, blasted into a coma; a colossal waste of her character and of Willa’s acting abilities. John was injured, setting up yet another ill-conceived plot line for Dig. The Newbies---well, they survived, but a lot of fans might have wished they were blown up. Quentin survived, only to be killed off after stringing him and us along with a lunatic fringe thing with Black Siren---another waste of a good character and actor. And Felicity? Of course she would survive. But how did she survive? A really great potential scene was wasted by the writers not having Oliver searching for and finding the love of his life safe and in need of a hug. She was last seen running for cover; then after five months of hiatus, she reappeared at the Bunker with food orders from Big Belly Burger for the guys. There was a brief scene with her and Oliver alone in the Bunker, with UST hovering over them like an image of the salmon ladder calling out to them. Instead, they danced around each other and gave us an ever briefer talk about William, how they had agreed to stay apart in order for the boy to adjust to his new life. “Not tonight, another night,” Felicity promised Oliver. Had that been going on for five months? Were cold showers to be the norm for them in the unforeseeable future?

It was not to be, and plot took the lead over character for the bulk of the season. As a result, the stories were paper thin and patience thin.

To be fair, not all the episodes were terrible. There were a handful that had glimmers of promise. 603 and Olicity finally coming back together with one big kiss was pretty okay. 604 is a front-runner for me, coming in as a favorite episode. It was a rare example of character over plot, which is why it worked so well. Having Oliver and Felicity switch places, (due to another plot driven story line of Oliver giving up being the Green Arrow and passing the torch on to John) with Felicity out in the field and Oliver taking up the Overwatch mantle---it was inspired writing. Yet, having John in the Green Arrow suit and leading the charge, as well as turning him into a drug addict; it was so out of tune, sending the fandom into a tail-spin. And the Newbies? Didn’t they get blown up?

So after 604, we got some filler episodes, giving the writers more time to strengthen their plots. Slade Wilson and his mission to save his son, and dragging Oliver along with him was not a good idea, story wise. I always liked Slade Wilson’s character; the good and the bad. But the writers missed another chance to send him out with a good and final story.

We got a very brief look at Oliver getting arrested in 607, on Thanksgiving no less. It would come back to haunt everybody in 623.

The Crossover. Nazi’s. Doppelgangers. Evil Oliver as the Fuhrer. Supergirl as Eva Braun. Felicity as a victimized Jew. Quentin as the Gestapo.  The WestAllen wedding ceremony and the destruction it suffered. Whoever paid for the event probably felt the economic hurt more than the invasion. It would have been more believable than the racist crap MG and AK came up with.

Then at the end, it was a shout-out to Oliver telling Barry guys like them don’t get the girl. They were married to their loves, side by side in an impromptu ceremony. Okay, because I am an Olicity shipper, it was good to see them happy and all in with their love for one another. No rings, no wedding apparel and no vows. Just a beautiful fall day by a lake. It worked for some and was a travesty for others.

Olicity’s reception in 609 took some of the sting away from their unconceivable double wedding. We got a lot of pretty, (Oliver and Felicity dressing up) an ill-advised toast from Rene, (Rene, really? If I were John, I would have been pissed by that demotion) music and dancing, cake-cutting and bouquet-throwing---and god help us; the Hoffman’s.

So 610, to the end of the season, was nothing short of the worst writing to ever find its way onto the show. It was a flight of fancy and preference for Marc and Wendy. The whole civil war thing between OTA and NTA---how could they think that would be entertaining? And killing off Cayden James, who had the potential of being a good villain and replacing him with Ricardo Diaz---it was the writers shooting themselves in the foot and the fans in the back. Rene shooting at Felicity and taking an axe to Oliver, Curtis intentionally hurting John to get intel and Dinah just generally pissed at everyone---it was all a swirling, nauseating mess of WTF.

Then John and Oliver throwing each other around the Bunker like kids in a schoolyard? John brings out some pent-up resentments and disapprovals over Oliver’s leadership abilities. Really? It was just more piling on on Oliver to keep the plot going. Oliver is now a husband and a father, and maybe even a role model. He has earned all that makes his life full, through blood, sweat and tears. He has virtually erased the angry, violent juggernaut we all met in Season 1. He doesn’t deserve to be blamed for everyone else’s short-comings and issues. It was just backwards writing all around.

Diaz. One big yawn. A non-threatening blow-hard who’s only real menace was being a big whiner and killing you with annoyance. I’m still shaking my head that he is coming back for Season 7.

About Season 7. Marc, Wendy and a large part of their toxic writing staff are gone. A new showrunner (Beth) is in place, along with a new, mostly female writer’s room. Do we get more character and less plot? Can they do enough damage control to salvage the mess they inherited? I hope so. Will Diaz meet an early demise; say in the first act of 701? Will Oliver be released from prison by some lawyerly trickery? Will the Newbies get blown up? Okay, I didn’t want to push things too far.

Thea and Lance are gone (insert tears here.) But Roy is coming back, and there are rumors of an Olicity baby. The Big Bad? Well, a litter of kittens would be scarier than Dias. And cuter too.

Five months. Damn. Maybe I will rewatch Season 6, you know, to pass the time.

Just kidding. I’m not into self-torture.  

@it-was-a-red-heeler @memcjo @almondblossomme @hope-for-olicity @wordslovedreams @olicityinmyheart @olicityotp-always @swordandarrow @cruzrogue @ruwithmeguys @gabriellamarie97 @bandanab310 @dmichellewrites @wanhani @1106angel

[hope-for-olicity]

Fabulous Olicity Fanfic Friday - April 7th, 2017

Happy Friday! So this is my attempt to both thank awesome fanfic writers for their amazing work and offer my recommendations to anyone who is interested. Here are the fantastic fanfic stories I read this week! Click on the titles to get the links! They are posted in the order I read them. 

What She Had To Do by @wherethereissmoak - Post-5x18 fic. I wanted to explore what Felicity was thinking a bit in the episode and why she wasn't there with Digg when he talked to Oliver. And then of course, I couldn't leave it at a sad point so I had to add some future spec. :)

Olicity 5x19 Drabble by @laurabelle2930 - Oliver and Felicity have a very important conversation 

Hold Me Closer by @jsevick - A lovely 4x09 moment

Time Will Wait for No One multi-chapter by @sentence-fragments Oliver and Felicity are blissfully happy together until a cruel twist of fate sinks the Queen’s Gambit while Oliver and his father are on their way to China for business. Oliver miraculously survives, fighting every day to make his way back to her. He learns about some things that have happened in his absence and decides to stay away. Until he doesn’t have a choice.

Time for a Story multi-chapter by @smkkbert - This fic shows Olicity and their life as a (married) couple with family. Although Olicity (and their kids) are the protagonists, other characters of Arrow and Flash make appearances. Totally catching up - I’m on Ch 126!

Therapy by @geneshaven Oliver seeks therapy post 3x23

Every Step of the Way by longlivefelicitythequeen - Things get heated when Oliver tries to stop Felicity. Based on the promo for 5.19.

The White Queen by @felicityollies - How do you break a man that is already so very broken? You break the love of his life, of course. Very Dark.  

In Another Life (I Could be Your Man) multi-chapter by @angelicmisskitty - Their lives couldn't be more different - and yet Oliver can't take his eyes off the beautiful blonde woman that leaves the subway every morning at 7.43am. There is something about her that makes him look up every morning - something that also makes him aware he'll never be good enough for her, or that she'd even notice him. He had no idea how much his life would change the day he rushed over to help her...Olicity AU - no Lian Yu, no saving the city (at least not in the way we know from Arrow :D ) LOVE LOVE, LOVE!

A Touch Unlike Any Other multi-chapter by @mel-loves-all Olicity Regency - The Earl of Archer out for the first time in a long time - LOVE THIS.

Those Eyes by @mr-and-mrs-queen - Olicity scene once Oliver returns from being tortured

A Little One Shot by @ruwithmeguys - Olicity face off with Chase

Autumn Dreams multi-chapter by @sadfangirl05 - What happens when recent college graduate Oliver Queen meets Goth Felicity Smoak? They fall in love, because of course they do. After a rushed elopement they’re quickly separated, but the paperwork was never filed.It’s 10 years later and they need to get divorced right away, as Felicity’s getting married…

Untitled by @dettiot - Felicity meets the star baseball player

Untitled by @dettiot - College AU. Oliver is on the baseball team and needs Felicity to tutor him to stay on the team.

Hidden Alleys by @adiwriting for Olicity Valentine's Day Smut-a-Thon - Prompt: “I’d be more than happy to show you a good time, if you’re looking for one.”

Exposure Therapy multi-chapter by lilbluednacer - Oliver comes up with a creative solution to help Felicity with a problem. Falling in love with her wasn't part of the plan.

Another Entry from Oliver's Journal by @geneshaven - Oliver's thoughts as written in his journal

Untitled by @dettiot - Oliver is a baseball star who thinks too much of himself and Felicity is the agent who has to rein him in.                                                    

Red Pens and Rescues by @tdgal1 - Picking up where 5x18 ends a look at what could happen

Pacing at Night multi-chapter by @walker-oliciter - The problem didn't start when she first had a one-night stand with Oliver Queen. It didn't start when she found out he was a ruthless Bratva Captain, nor did it start when her affair with him continued. It didn't start when she realized she had a crush on him. No, it started when two tiny pink lines appeared on a pregnancy test.

Untitled by @dettiot - Oliver works in a sports bar and has a crush on one of his customers

To Sacrifice the Sun multi-chapter by @emmilynestill - Oliver and Felicity are ARGUS agents working on a mission in Mexico, the two share some very important history. LOVE THIS

Keep it Professional multi-chapter by @mogirl97 - Oliver is assigned to be Felicity's bodyguard

Untitled by @dettiot - First meeting, Oliver hits Felicity in the head with a baseball with a throw or popfly gone wrong                                                        

Trust Me multi-chapter by @felicityollies - When a prostitute meets the perfect client, she has to remind herself that there’s no room for getting close to someone in her line of work.

Darling, kiss me slow (your heart is all your own) by @smoakingskye - A short drabble set sometime after the end of season 5 (probably) after Oliver and Felicity finally reconnect.

Untitled @eilowyn1 - Scene with Olicity shopping at Bed Bath and Beyond - BECAUSE it can be done brilliantly as seen here

Pieces of Always multi-chapter by @so-caffeinated and @dust2dust34 - Life continues after Forever is Composed of Nows. Ongoing non-linear collection of family moments for the Queens.

Picture Perfect multi-chapter by @thebookjumper - She’s not really sure what prompted her to do it.   Okay, that might be a bit of a lie.  Sure, she’s not completely positive of her reasoning, but she would bet Oliver’s fortune that it had quite a bit to do with the four empty bottles of wine littering her countertop and the three other women lounging around her apartment in various states of undress.She doesn't want to be cute anymore.  She's sexy and she's going to prove it. SO AWESOME!

In My Daughter's Eyes multi-chapter by @smkkbert - Oliver and Felicity are parents following a teenage pregnancy, they balance family life with school and I love it!

As Easy As Falling multi-chapter by @charlinert - Felicity has just received tragic news when she meets Oliver, I believe there is hope, highly recommend but you will cry but not every chapter!

Return to Me multi-chapter by @diggo26 - What would you do if you woke up tomorrow with the last 5 years of your memories gone? After an unfortunate accident, Oliver Queen must figure out his place in a life he has no memory of whilst his wife, Felicity, does everything she can to support him. With emotions, secrets and relationships pushed to the limits; will love and friendship be enough to turn back the hands of time?

Can Hell Be Heaven multi-chapter by @marytagus Felicity uses her hacker skills to protect Oliver from Prometheus and gets caught - Excellent!

Married by @geneshaven What would have happened, I wonder, if Cutter never showed up at the fake wedding?

Bound to You multi-chapter by @bindy417 - Felicity is an ARGUS agent and Oliver with the Bratva but they met long before that! This story gives the past and the present.  

Return to the Den of Snakes multi-chapter by @dmichellewrites - Team Arrow and Flash's joint mission marked their second trip to Markovia. Dimitrij Lazarov Jr., the brother of a foe these heroes had faced once before was seeking revenge not on solely Oliver, but all who chose to help him. It was a vendetta against both Oliver and Barry, three years in the making. They return to the den of snakes, which leads them back to Castle Wallenstein. Love is in the air for Oliver and Felicity. Friendships are stronger than ever, but which two will fall off course from their groups?

The Story Writes Itself  by @geneshaven - How an episode of Arrow is created

A Cure for the Cold by @it-was-a-red-heeler - A glimpse into Season 6

Falling for an Angel multi-chapter by @missafairy - What happens if an angel falls from the sky? Oliver Queen is a respected club owner in his hometown - Starling City. His life abruptly changes when one night he finds a beautiful girl claiming to have fallen from heaven. With her wings tucked into a jacket he helps her navigate her now human life while trying not to fall in love. Nothing can go wrong even if she drinks all of his coffee and cries in the shower, right?

Teddy Bears and Lullabies by @emmilynestill - John Diggle was not ready to forgive Oliver for what he had done to his family.  He didn't care how many incredibly thoughtful gifts with accompanying heartwarming notes arrived for his daughter every Monday afternoon.  In fact, the whole thing was starting to make him rather grumpy. But this, this last gift might push Digg right over the edge.Set between Arrow Season 3-4, but now Season 4 Cannon Compliant

// @almondblossomme // @emmaamelia95 // @mel-loves-all // @oliverfel4 // @stygian-omada-fan // @coal000 // @miriam1779 // @memcjo // @captainolicitysbedroom // @tdgal1 // @spaztronautwriter // @lalawo1 // @quiveringbunny // @quant-um-fizzx // @thebookjumper // @vaelisamaza // @myhauntedblacksoul // @lovelycssefan // @laurabelle2930 //

[swordandarrow]

@1-crazy-dreamer @ah-maa-zing @alanna-the-lionheart @alexiablackbriar13 @allimariexf

@almondblossomme @andjustforthismoment @arrow-crack @arrowgirl20 @arrowgirl23

@arrow-through-my-writers-block @athenaagron @aussieforgood @babblingblondegenius

@bazingagubicorn   @bb-olicity @befitandchase @bifelicitys@bindy417 @bisexualfelicity

@bitchwhwifi @blondeeoneexox @bokayjunkie @bookolicitynessa @cainc3 @callistawolf

@candykizzes24 @charlie-leau@cherchersketch  @coal000 @cogentranting @crazycrystal10  

@cruzrogue @dianasmatthews @dmichellewrites @charlinert @doe-eyed-girly-evil

@dust2dust34 @ebett @eloquence-of-felicities @emilybettsource@fandombookmark

@feilcityqueen @felicitisqueen @felicitysmoakdaily @felicitysmoakgifs @felicitysmoakq

@foreverxyoungxwildxfree @frembett @fyeahebr @geneshaven @gothsmoak

@green-arrows-of-karamel @hope-for-olicity @it-was-a-red-heeler @jaspertown  

@jbuffyangel @jedichick04 @jhopq @jules85 @jules85 @katluna90olicity @klarolicityswan

@laurabelle2930 @lostolicityscenes@lucyyh @lyricalarrow @magda1102

@marytagus @mel-loves-all @memcjo @mindramblingfics@miriam1779 @missafairy

@missyriver @mogirl97 @mortallock @msbeccieboo @nalla-madness @oliverdant

@oliverfel4 @oliverfelicitygifs @oliversfelicity @oliverxfelicity @onceuponanolicity

@oneofakindxx @pintofmintchip @pleasantfanandstudent @quebecolicityfanart

@queensarrow @quiveringbunny @rua1412 @ruwithmeguys @saebrfan @scu11y22

@segsibongsoon @shaniartist @smkkbert @smoak-and-mirrors @smoakfoxxgoddess

@smoaking-greenarrow @smoakmonster @smoakqueenz @so-caffeinated@songbin @spartandiggle

@spaztronautwriter @stellahellaviola @storyteller0311 @supersillyanddorky06

@talkingtomyquiver @tangled23works @tdgal1 @thebookjumper @tinaday3w

@truevampireslovers @turtlejustice @V4l13 @vaelisamaza @virelove

@walker-oliciter @wherethereissmoak @whoeveryoulovethemost

@wifiandbow @wildirish23 @wrldtravler

....and to the Olicity fandom

[geneshaven]

Husband, Baby (A 618 Overview)

Well, I’ve added 618 to a small list of favorite episodes this season. I don’t include them getting married on this list, because you know, endgame. The other great episode that captured me was 604, Reversal.

I can’t say which one was the best. Both were equally well written and acted. In Reversal, it was really fun watching Oliver in the Overwatch chair guiding Felicity while she shined out in the field. It was an episode that brought them full circle. It was tender and chock full of Olicity moments. It was also the last episode in which Oliver and Felicity came close to some really hot, potential sexual play (before once again being interrupted by a damn phone.)

618, on the other hand, went beyond any kind of sexual intimacy and hit the heart strings in a loving, verbal assault that left a lot of fans dead from endgame overload. We have Felicity to thank for that. Her speech to Oliver in the police station was nothing short of amazing. But I will get to that moment in a few minutes. I must take my hat off to the Arrow writers for taking a break from putting the plot ahead of the characters and letting them emerge once again. Oliver/Stephen Amell took the lead on this and gave an amazing performance. And having his subconscious come out in the shade of Adrian Chase was short of brilliant. Josh stepped right back into the evil mold of the series best villain, in my opinion. It was fun watching Oliver have those conversations with him, as if our hero was split in two---the lost, abandoned man who felt so alone and the side of him that knows himself and offers himself large doses of truth tea.

The Vertigo hallucinations were inspired. Is it real, it is drug-induced, is it right or wrong?  The little clues given, such as the banging noises and Felicity’s wedding ring, kept me engrossed as the episode unfolded. It was a collusion of reality mixing with fantasy as Oliver took himself back to basics. His interactions with Felicity, and especially with William, gave me a glimpse into Oliver’s doubts as events outside his family challenged him, taking him back to the mindset he had at the beginning of his journey. Everybody was in play as he trudged through the Vertigo waves surging through his senses. His outburst at Felicity and William as everything was piling up on him was almost surreal. We know how much Oliver loves his son and his wife. Since the season started, Oliver has shown a lot of patience when it came to William. He had taken the right steps in integrating the boy into his life. And Felicity was right with him, at times guiding him and encouraging him to embrace fatherhood. So when Oliver lost his temper with both of them, it was like watching the last six years of Oliver’s trials and tribulations coming out in a shout of apotheosis. There was shock value as Oliver yelled at William. It was heartbreaking and admirable when Felicity told her husband to get out. It was her motherly instinct to protect William from that side of Oliver’s persona; the mask and the man, who apparently is still struggling with each another.

I’m still not overly excited by Diaz. But I do have to acknowledge that scene when he killed Raisa and then plunged a knife into Oliver. There was no doubt that the whole sequence was all in Oliver’s drugged mind. It was his subconscious fear of Diaz filling him as he dropped to the floor and began to bleed out. Powerful.

But for me, the best part of the episode was Felicity learning that her husband was out there drifting away in his loneliness as the Vertigo consumed him. She became single-minded as she sprinted to him to rescue him from himself. Her run through the streets of Star City to the police station was a great scene. It showed the determination in her strides. When she reached Lance and made sure he was going to be okay, Felicity gave us a great shout out with her “I’ve got to go save my husband” declaration. Probably like a lot of other fans, I felt her purpose and was 1000 percent behind her going to get her man.

Inside the police station, it wasn’t hard to locate her husband. Just follow the bodies left in his wake. When she stopped him from opening that door, with Diaz and death waiting behind it, I could feel her building up the courage to bring Oliver back to her. When Oliver told her he couldn’t tell if she was real or not, Felicity delivered one her best speeches of the entire series. She was not to be denied. She found her way through Oliver’s Vertigo defenses and took his fragile psyche into her soul, a place where both of them have found common ground and the protection of their love for one another.

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m glue, baby.”  What a great line. Straight out of fanfiction. She finally reached him when she touched his heart and told him to listen to his own. Oliver listened. And when he finally shook himself free from the Vertigo and put his hand over hers, it was amazing watching the light she brings to his life began to fill his eyes and brighten the smile on his face. After holding my breath through most the episode, I was able to let it out as these two came back together, as Felicity saved her husband from letting himself take the risk of facing Diaz and certain death. When he took her into his arms and zip-lined them out of harm’s way; it was like a gift given to me as they disappeared through the glass ceiling above them. It was another wonderful moment of teamwork, as crime-fighting partners and as husband and wife.

Back in the Bunker, when Mayor Lance told Felicity how gutsy it was for her to go into the station with Diaz’s army inside, Felicity shrugged it off and simplified things by telling him, “Yeah, well my man was inside.” It could have been a prelude to another passionate moment beneath the salmon ladder, but Lance’s presence was playing the part of being another annoying phone ringing.

I am kind of behind Oliver’s decision to go it alone. His odyssey through the drug-influenced hallucinations showed him that he needed to get back in touch with the person who found the conviction to start his crusade in the first place. It wasn’t that he was abandoning Felicity and her own lifetime commitment to him and his awesome superhero adventure; it was Oliver needing to regain his focus and take the fight to his enemies, no matter how unbearably hard it might be. As Felicity told him in 519, it’s what makes him who he is. He is not abandoning his family; he is making sure that they can continue to be safe in their home.

So, I guess what this episode really showed me was the theme of this season---family.  Oliver might have to leave them temporarily as his legal troubles could possibly put him in jail, but however it plays out, and whenever the other members of Team Arrow find their own answers and decide that Oliver needs them to have his back---he is still going to be out there fighting the good fight. Oliver Queen and the Green Arrow is Star City’s salvation. He is its protector. He is the hero it deserves.

Is Felicity going to be pregnant, if she isn’t already? Too soon? Not soon enough? Is it, you know---genetics? If Oliver is destined to be alone at the end of this season---what a great way to reward him, and Felicity too, with another life that they can nurture and protect.  And if they add Felicity and her company becoming a reality, it seems that their story will come full circle.

Maybe this time, it will be Felicity traveling down multiple floors to discuss how they spend their nights together.

@it-was-a-red-heeler @memcjo @almondblossomme @hope-for-olicity @dmichellewrites @flowerandsunshine @cruzrogue @ruwithmeguys @bandanab310 @gabriellamarie97 @myhauntedblacksoul @jamyjan @candykizzes24 @1106angel @swordandarrow @mammashof @olicityotp-always @jules85 @tdgal1

[geneshaven]

Dear Felicity

This letter was inspired by that scene in 609 when Felicity told Oliver that if he went to prison, she would wait for him.

 Leavenworth Federal Prison/August, 2020 /0214hrs.

 My love, I can safely say that these old school, pen-written letters we’ve been sending to one another the past 2 years has been the sole reason I haven’t attempted an escape from this place. They give me something to look forward to. All the lonely nights I spend in the darkness of my cell reading your letters reminds me that if I did escape and was caught, my time here would be extended, taking me even further away from you. I know we talked about this (I mean written about it) and you told me to stay put. I only have 3 more years. I got off cheap. Watson wanted me to go away for life. But you were right that I should not do anything stupid and I won’t. I look at those last 3 years I have to serve, and sometimes my head fills with chaotic thoughts, thoughts of making it home to you, if only for a brief moment before I would have to start running from pursuit. I once told you that I’ve been through much worse than prison. That was once true. But now, I have so much more to lose in my life, more than just my ability to survive.  It’s all I’ve been thinking about since I came to this place---how full my life has been since I brought that bullet-ridden laptop to you. We both know how damaged and lost I was for all those years leading up to you and me finally coming together for good. Being your husband, your partner and your best friend is what has helped me endure these long dark nights without you. The thought of you out there and the calmness you bring to my soul---it is what keeps me from scaling these prison walls and becoming a fugitive at large. There was a time I would have died to keep those closest to me safe, as you well know. It was a reckless and selfish way to live. I never allowed myself to think about what my brazen acts would do to those so close. I didn’t realize that even though my death would have ensured your safety, it would have also denied you that happiness I was so quick to wish for you. I learned the hard way that keeping you safe at the expense of my own life wouldn’t have brought you happiness, it would have brought only pain and loss and loneliness.  When I think about that, I am ashamed.

Whew! That was a long paragraph. Anyway, when Watson won her case against me and put me inside these walls, I’ve had all this time since to look back on the past 12 years. Felicity, you were the only reason I was able to crawl out of the cesspool my life was and stand on firm ground, to breathe fresh clean air and grow stronger. The one thing, the only thing that has empowered me all these years is having your love and light guiding me. And I’m not even going to mention the sex (at least not in detail) we’ve shared with each other. That would be a whole letter by itself. I will say though that it is the most passionate, raw and fulfilling love-making I’ve ever had, or will ever have. Touching you is like enveloping myself in silk---exotic and soft and life-changing.

Enough. There are no cold showers to be had around here at such a late hour. But to sum up: pleasuring myself is a poor substitute for the real thing. Giving in to the fantasy and imagining you here wrapped around me is a harsh self-abuse and just plain cruel. At this point, thinking about being naked with you, about being inside you and riding on the waves of pleasure you bring---it gives me the determination to wait out these last 3 years. You are the nirvana that awaits me upon my release.

There is one more thing I wanted to tell you before I call it a night. It might not matter much to you, but it’s something I’ve been reluctant to share with you and I cannot imagine why. It feels as if I’ve been keeping another secret from you. As I said, I’ve had nothing but time these last 2 years, alone with my thoughts, not only looking ahead but also behind.

I’m sure you remember our flight to Nanda Parbat, when we took Thea to save her live in the Lazarus Pit. You brought me a blanket and thanked me for letting you be there for me; not that I had any choice. Anyway, I told you that I came back to Starling City before they found me on the island. I told you I saw Thea and that I killed her drug dealer. Do you remember? Of course you do. But Felicity, Thea was not the only person I saw.

I said it was complicated. But really, it wasn’t. I was then unwillingly working with Masao and Argus. We broke into Queen Consolidated---it doesn’t really matter why anymore. I was in my mother’s office when a certain blonde IT girl strolled in.  She went to the desk and I watched her looking at a picture of my father and me. You said I was cute and that it was too bad I was dead. I was enamored, and you gave me a brief moment of normal. You were so beautiful amid the ugliness of my life, and for a second I thought of breaking my cover and telling you so.  Then you were gone and it would be another 2 years before I saw you again.

I told you on our first date that you were the first person I saw as a person after leaving Lian Yu. That was the honest truth then. But it was also the truth that night at QC when I watched you from afar.  Felicity, you had an aura about you on both nights. You brought a light that I wanted to bathe in, to cleanse myself of the darkness and hopelessness I was mired in back then. I have often wondered how you would have responded that night at QC if I made myself known. Would you have run screaming from the room as if seeing a ghost? Would you have been curious? Would you have still thought I was cute?

This admission may be my final lesson on being inclusive. After we “officially” met that day two years later in your cubicle, I began to think about Fate. As I stood there and lied to you about that laptop, I felt a kind of liberation that would not have been possible 2 years earlier. And, you made me smile---both times.

So, we can talk more about this if you want when I come home. But until then, what I can say is it was shown to me on those nights that beauty still exists in this world. Amid all the pain and darkness and death that filled my life for 5 years, you were an inspiration, a direction I could take, away from just being a survivor. I am only sorry that it took us so long to realize there is nobody else out there that can truly fulfill our lives.

Sorry if this letter seems a bit long-winded and meandering, but like I said, I have a lot of time to ponder on such things. It also makes me feel like you are in this cell with, giving me someone to talk to. I hope you are doing well. I can’t imagine how lonely you’re feeling. Okay, I can.  Probably as much as I feel. I am so grateful for the comfort my letters may bring you as much as yours do for me.

I am going to sign off now, my love. I will go to sleep with the anticipation that I will see you in my dreams.

With all my love,

Oliver.

@memcjo @it-was-a-red-heeler @almondblossomme @dmichellewrites @hope-for-olicity @wordslovedreams @1106angel @melolicity @bandanab310 @swordandarrow @olicityfanfluff @angelalafan @ruwithmeguys @cruzrogue

[geneshaven]

A Bit Out Of Character (Thoughts on 617)

Ouch. Tough episode. I thought it might have been a little fun to watch Oliver and Diggle physically fight each other. If the reasons that they did were not so completely unexplainable, even with the wtf explanation why John is so disgruntled---the fight would have and could have been epic. But as I watched Oliver and John pounding on each other, I could only think of how much those two have gone through together and how all of that came unraveled because of some noble idea from John on what he thinks good leadership should be.

Oliver has made some bad choices over the years. Yes, people were hurt and killed because of them. But instead of letting him drifting off into the reality of not coming back from those sins, John has always been that moral compass that Oliver could steer himself with, away from losing his grip and falling into the abyss his darkness inside created. Like Oliver told Felicity in episode 210, he relied on her and John, to pull him back from the edge whenever things got dire. It was unquestionable.  It wasn’t only about having his back in a fight, it was about two brothers looking out for one another, with love and admiration and the willingness to sacrifice their own safety to keep each other alive. It was (and I guess still is) the foundation of their partnership. The thought of either one of them turning away from that was not even a consideration.

When John told Oliver that after all those years, after all they had done to build and strengthen their relationship, that he had been harboring misgivings on Oliver’s hero agenda---I could only shake my head at this surreal reveal. John apparently has not approved of Oliver’s decision making abilities. He thinks Oliver has empowered himself and not the city. He thinks Oliver has spread himself too thin and lost track of the main reason he put on the Hood in the first place.  When Oliver passed the Green Arrow leadership onto John back at the beginning of the season, he told John that the GA was not just a man in a mask; it was an idea, a symbol of heroism and purpose. He trusted John with it. This is really incredible character growth on Oliver’s part. Oliver’s trust issues throughout the series have been spotty at best, but through the guidance from John and Felicity, he has found the right path to redemption. John’s anger and disillusionment with Oliver just did not feel like the character I’ve come to love and have grown with these past six years. I guess I was surprised that the writers saw fit to dismantle John DIggle. I also guess this story arc for him is one way to go. But driving into a wall at 60mph seems not very self-serving. Maybe the resiliency of Diggle’s past character traits will act as a sort of airbag for him to survive such a wreck.

I was however impressed by the acting skills of Mr. Ramsey and Mr. Amell. They went toe to toe with their individual gripes. John confessed his mounting doubts over Oliver’s crusade and Oliver stayed grounded and made the argument that Diggle was always right there beside him when the excrement hit the rotary oscillator. At times some of that mess got on them, but it was only temporary and easily washed away. But when they removed the safety devices in their relationship and began to drop the dead bodies of their victims at each other’s feet---I started to back away from rationale and could only shake my head at their immature needs to hurt each other.  It was a shitty catalyst to propel them into a physical altercation. I didn’t want either of them to win.

When they started to trade blows, I got a sense that both of them seemed to be holding back.  They are both dangerous weapons when they are out fighting evil enemies and are capable of some major hurt.  So despite their grievances within the heat of the moment as their fight began, there were still those parts of them that really did not wish any serious harm on the other. I don’t care what the writers are trying to do---Oliver and Diggle and their bond cannot be dismissed. The history is too strong.  They are both survivors.

Yet, there is one thing the writers did get right in this episode. Felicity Smoak. She has always been the dreamcatcher for Oliver and John. She is the middle link in their chain, the one that keeps them together, as partners and heroes and friends. She has no hesitancy in putting herself between them and reminding them that the air is fresher when their heads aren’t up their asses. She is the glue they need when things break apart. Unfortunately, it was written for this episode that that glue is not enough to hold everything together, not this time. John has fallen and he can’t get back up. At least not for a few more episodes, after he goes off in search of realizations and an attitude adjustment. Felicity was visibly hurt when John made the decision to turn away from his family and go off to lick his character wounds, but I guess a man has got to do what a  man has got to do.

The one real Olicity moment in 617 was obviously Felicity assuring Oliver that she is his always. She is not going anywhere. Oliver has put her through so many difficult paces in their past, but she was always with him no matter what contrived drama was heaped on them.  She understands more than anybody (and maybe even more than Oliver himself) what John’s leaving has done to her husband. It’s that history I keep talking about, the one OTA is incarnate from. Her comfort and the tenderness in which she offered to Oliver was so perfectly illuminated in the light coming in through the window. The light was like the strength of the love they have for each other. It is safe and warm and without question. There was no need for a kiss in that moment. Watching them so centered when they are next to one another is more powerful than any physical display of affection. Oliver may currently feel as if he is alone now that the Team has fractured, but he has embraced the one constant in his life that has always been his saving grace---Felicity Meagan Smoak.  She is peace against his turmoil. She is acceptance against his doubts and self-incrimination. She is sanity against his fears and disbelief.

She is love and Oliver’s only true safe port in the life they have chosen.

Will all this out of character dysfunction be resolved? Will John find new answers to his old problems? Is the rest of the Team going to matter anymore?  Will the bad guys make more sense when they are defeated? Will Oliver take another huge evolutionary character change and survive coming out to the world as the Green Arrow? Will Felicity come to regret her apparent upcoming decision to bury the hatchet with Curtis and run headlong into Helix Dynamics?

And what in the hell is going on with Quentin Lance? How has he fallen so far down the insanity hole to think that he can inspire evil Laurel to mimic real Laruel’s life achievements as a lawyer?Where is Mama Smoak? Wouldn’t it make more sense to have her there for Lance instead of him losing him mind in the fantasy of having his dead daughter back.  And speaking of evil Laurel.  Her kissing Diaz was like watching paint dry---at least to me. I don’t give two legs shakes about whatever scheme the writers have plotted for them.  Bring them together romantically, don’t bring them together.  I would rather see Oliver and Felicity go on their honeymoon, which apparently isn’t going to happen over these last six episodes. I can’t possibly imagine who are what are going to be threatening the city in Season 7, but  at this point  I would be more challenged by someone like Susan Williams coming back as the head of an evil Witch Reporter’s Coven than the changing of the guard between Cayden James and Ricardo Diaz. And Black Siren just seems so inconsequential. Perhaps she is only still around in the vain hope that the show can draw back some of those disgruntled fanboys who have been off on the sidelines since Season 1 lamenting the loss of their comic book fodder.  I am still befuddled that most of those fanboys are still around complaining about how awful the show has become since Olicity made it better. Could any of them still be thinking that Oliver would ever get rid of Felicity and run back to Laurel, evil or not?

I am holding out hope that all of this is going to make sense by 623.  They have left too many questions unanswered this season. And putting Oliver through the hate mill again, making him suffer through what I thought he had conquered after Season 5---it just seems that they missed out on some great storytelling.  Except for Olicity and the endgame they have become, the show seems up in the air right now. But it has seemed that way before and has somehow managed to come back from cray-cray land and surprise us all.

I am staying on this Ship.  Yeah, there will be some strange and unfamiliar sights up ahead, but that’s the thing about taking such a journey---sometimes the unknown can bring me to a place that will change my perspective and make life a little more interesting---at least where Arrow is concerned.

@it-was-a-red-heeler @memcjo @almondblossomme @dmichellewrites @hope-for-olicity @nalla-madness @tdgal1 @ruwithmeguys @cruzrogue @1106angel @bandanab310 @gabriellamarie97 @flowerandsunshine

[geneshaven]

In The End---Or Not

After reading everybody’s disillusionment on the whole mess of Season 6, (exempting of course Olicity being married and happy) is it wrong that I am still enjoying tuning in to a show that I have invested six years of my life to?

Ok, I will concede to the horseshit surrounding the current NTA debacle. It is not a very well thought out plan, writing wise. Is it worse than the BMD tripe though? Or the magic crap we all had to step in with Darke and briefly with Oliver? Is it worse than the skimming over of Havenrock’s demise and a potentially strong storyline for Felicity dealing with Oliver-level PTSD? Billy Malone? Susan Williams? Thea in a never-ending coma?

There seems to be a history here with the Arrow writers. A part of it is giving us really great episodes: 103 for obvious reasons, most of Season 2, 309, 320, 401 for more obvious reasons, 406, 409, 423, 520, 523 and I’m sure I’ve skipped many more that some of you out there might have strong feelings for. The other part of that history is the bad episodes that left us lying on the floor feeling as if we were just run over with skid marks up and down on our backs. No need for a list for these bad boys. Horrible, just horrible.

I guess my point is---I am enjoying Arrow, because and despite of the good and the bad. I may be a bit paranoid here, but I have a feeling , a vibe, that Arrow is wrapping itself up, that maybe the reason why the weak storylines are weak is because the writers are getting burned out and  are looking for something new and fresh. No, that doesn’t seem right. The characters they all created, the ones that came to life and started one of the most strongest fanbases out there---is not something one can walk away from. It’s like painting only half of a picture that could be a masterpiece and timeless when it’s finished.

Is Arrow finished? Are we seeing the death cries of the show in these past horrible episodes? I hope not. I remember feeling a little despondent in Season 5, around episodes 13-16 and how awful they were. I was close to turning my back, not being able to watch. But then the last six episodes came along and the whole meh of the season ramped up and I ran back to my TV to be a part of it.

I am going to savor all that is left of this show, rather it be the end of this season or the 12th season. Okay, so when it does finally end, I can simply go out and get all the DVD’s. But not knowing how things will turn out has a stronger appeal than watching the same episodes over and over, (maybe not so much of the bad ones.)

It will be good to see Roy again tomorrow night.

@it-was-a-red-heeler @memcjo @almondblossomme @hope-for-olicity @dmichellewrites @nalla-madness @smoakmonster @melolicity @ruwithmeguys @cruzrogue @mortallock

[geneshaven]

Too Much To Bare

With the speculation that Oliver is completely alone at the end of the season, I’ve penned this tale to see if there was some way I could help him. It is a long piece, so I’ve broken it up into two posts, maybe three. I am going a little dark on this one. Forewarned.

  Part One

 I thought I was done with these pages. I thought that after me and Felicity were married; my need for self-reflection had come to an end, at least through this journal, or whatever it is. It felt that every time I opened up to her, about William, about my role as Mayor and about my fears and doubts while out in the field---I was replacing my written thoughts with Felicity’s presence. Like this, uh, journal, she is a place where I can open up my heart and tell it like it is.

Oliver lifted his pen from the page and pushed himself away from the tiny desk in his room at The Open Road Motel just outside of Bloodhaven. It was raining outside and he paused to listen to the raindrops pattering on the window in front of the desk. It was a lonely sound, but it was also a troubling sound as it reminded him of his own tears. He had shed a river of them this past month, after he left Star City, dazed and angry as he ran away from himself and all that he had built in his life over the past year. But Oliver was not ready yet to open up the real vein that pulsed with such agony. For the past month, he had been holed up in this small room, almost as if he found comfort in embracing himself with solitude. After what happened, Oliver needed this confinement. Anything else would be catastrophic.  So instead, when he woke up this morning, Oliver decided to sit down and purge his thoughts on the events over the past few months. He pulled himself back up to the desk and let some of his pain come out onto the pages.

 This past month has been one huge open sore in my heart. I was thinking this morning of when John left the Team and went to work for Argus. I have to admit that his move hurt like hell. I’m still trying to wrap my head around his reasons. John, like Felicity, has for the past six years been a strong presence in my life. He has cried and suffered, bled and lost pieces of his own soul along the way. I don’t really feel betrayed by his departure, because as Felicity once told me in a casino in Hub City---none of us are perfect. But damn, hiding his injury from me and the rest of the Team and continuing the charade by taking an unknown drug (furnished to him by Diaz); it felt like the rug was pulled out from under me.  He railed on me about not being a very good and decisive leader, and then gave all of us an example of not being a good and decisive leader. I just never saw John as being that hypocritical.  But when he threw William and then Samantha’s death at my feet---all bets were off. My restraint left me and old Oliver and his anger took over. John and I have fought before, but this time it felt less like clearing the air between us and more like unconstrained viciousness. I love John. He is my brother. But he crossed a line that night, one that had been obviously building up for quite some time. When Felicity intervened and opened the way for clearer heads prevailing, I could only accept John’s decision and watch him walk away. In spite of the punches thrown, I do wish him well.

 Oliver paused, his pen hovering over the rapidly filling page; then he put it down. John was another spike in his heart.  He was another blank space, a place where Oliver missed coming to, for sage advice and words of encouragement. And he was pretty good in a fight as well. Oliver still couldn’t catch up with how he had failed their friendship. It was something he wanted to take the blame for, but still be able to live with it too. He could envision Felicity frowning and shaking a finger at him. But it was okay. He was okay with John. He knew the man would exorcise his ghosts and come to terms with himself.

But still, a part of Oliver wanted to reach out to him, for a brief moment to clarify his own grief. But not now, not yet. It was still too raw. If he let it out before he was ready, it could bring a lot of pain to a lot of people.

But mostly, it would change him forever.

@memcjo @it-was-a-red-heeler @hope-for-olicity @almondblossomme @1106angel @swordandarrow @maudjuliette @ruwithmeguys @silencehealth @scandalnewbie @dmichellewrites @jamyjan @cruzrogue

[geneshaven]

610 Overview (what matters most)

So now that all the married Olicity goodness from 609 is behind us and they are locked in for the duration of the series, I guess it’s time to move ahead into the rest of the story arcs ready to unfold in the next 13 episodes.

Here is a head cannon---if the Newbies are adamant about starting up their own team, maybe they should take their act to another city. Star City is already spoken for. It won’t do to have another vigilante group save a city that has already been saved. Their objective is not original. If feels like NTA is rebelling through anger and animosity, as if they are teenagers being told they’re grounded but sneak out to the party anyway. They can never follow in Oliver’s footsteps. They haven’t shed enough blood and tears and loss to take those strides. They haven’t gone over the edge and come back stronger the way Oliver has.

**

A couple words about NTA, if I may.

Up first is Dinah. I’m sorry, but the ex-lover/partner vigilante story arc just isn’t working for me. I don’t feel that Vince has any chance  at redeeming himself, not like Oliver did. Dinah doesn’t appear to have the same temperament and belief that Felicity had when she took a broken Oliver Queen into her life and helped reshape his soul.  

Vince is not Oliver.  He does not have it within himself to let his sins go. And Dinah is not Felicity. She is filled with rage and violence. Together, Vince and Dinah are a highly volatile couple. I don’t see a happy union  for them any time soon.

Next up is Curtis. Except for those early episodes in 4A when he was still appealing, I haven’t really seen much character growth in him. It’s as if the writers are still trying to figure out what to do with him. So, he’s pissed at OTA, for not trusting him and spying. Okay, but is it any different keeping from Paul the vigilante life he chose? Is it any different that he lied multiple times to his husband every time he donned his lame superhero outfit and took a nightly ass beating?  Curtis, ask Oliver and he’ll tell you. Lying to that one person in your life who gives it meaning is not a good idea. Ask Felicity. Ask Paul.

Maybe they should make Curtis exclusively Felicity’s business partner. Except for his T-Spheres, Curtis really doesn’t bring much to the action-packed table out in the field. Would it be feasible for him to not only help Felicity develop new tech that will benefit the world, but also crime fighting gadgets to help keep the Team and the city safe?

Who could they replace him with when and if he does hang up his Mr. Terrific suit? Someone with more (and better) fighting skills?  Someone who has basically sacrificed his life to have the backs of those he trusts and loves and believes in? Someone who loves Oliver’s sister with the same intensity Oliver  does Felicity? Someone who’s name  starts with R-O-Y?

And finally, we get to Rene. I was really liking Rene. To me, he was another comic relief (funnier that Curtis) on the show. He had skills as a fighter. He was finding his niche in the Mayor’s office. And I almost felt an emotional attachment when they brought in the Zoe story. Okay, I understand Rene tragically lost his wife, and that hurts in a way that can completely define one’s heart and how they see the world in the aftermath.

All of that evaporated for me when Rene wimped out and threw Oliver under the bus by letting himself be manipulated, by having Watson push his vulnerability buttons. Again, it was a trust issue for Wild Dog, or a lack of trust. When are these rookies going to realize that Oliver let go of his own demons and decided to trust them by bringing them into the fold?

So NTA? I don’t think that’s going to work out for them. I think having them out there trying to defend the city without guidance or any kind of grounded direction is not a good idea.  I think that the real fight on their hands will be with themselves.

**

So  what is the answer? OTA. I cut my teeth on this show with Original Team Arrow. Oliver Queen, Felicity Smoak and John Diggle.  Try as they might, the writers have looked for ways to shake these characters up throughout the series. They used separation. They used lying and betrayal and a great big pile of BMD. John killed his brother and spiraled out of control. Oliver killed Felicity’s not-boyfriend and sent her down a dark rabbit hole. An entire island was blown up in a feeble attempt to make the fanbase worried. They gave John an injury he hid from everyone and then put him in the Green Arrow  suit and had him lead the Team. When Oliver found out, more trust issues and disappointment came between two brothers.

It all felt  like a writing experiment to  me.  It went against the grain of established character development. Is there a rhyme? Is there a reason?  One of the most disappointing things for me as an Arrow fan (and there have been a few over the past 6+ years) is getting my expectations ramped up, usually after waiting for summer hiatus to end and again at the mid-season break. Then those expectations fizzle out as I’m taken on a tepid journey of bullshit love interests, of WTF magic villains and promising connections that turn into ambiguous annoyance.

Still, despite those misfires, and with some kick ass fight scenes thrown in, OTA is what makes the show stronger. It brings continuity and familiarity. It gives me something to root for as a fan. It gives me, at the end of each episode and each season, belief and hope that no matter what happens, OTA will  save the day. They are at the forefront and whatever else comes about on the show, it will be shaped around our heroes.

As it should be.

**

Olicity. Well, they’re married. They have completed one another. They’re love  and strength and endgame. All their scenes in 610 epitomized this. They exude a natural essence of love and trust and peace. There is no more, ‘does she love me like I love her,’ or ‘I think you’re missing something.’ There is no more hiding unexpressed feelings, no more out of control angst or uncrossable distances. They are a team in every sense of the word. They know what the other is thinking just by a look. They feel an infusion whenever they touch each other. One breathes in; the other breathes out.

All of this makes a difference whenever danger looms. There are no longer any bad guys or girls out there who can disrupt their flow. Losing one another is no longer an option for them. Each would die for the other. Oliver is a better person, a better hero and husband and father because of the grace Felicity brings to his life. And Felicity’s life has found a balance between conquering her fears and letting love triumph in their place. She is not broken, as she thought for so many years. She is wanted and loved. And neither one will ever be alone again.

**

Cayden James and his cabal of evil cannot win out in the end. Trying to defeat the power of love and trust is like trying to swallow fire. It will only burn on the way down. That’s the thing with villains. They are always overreaching their goals of mayhem and conquest.  They think that nothing or no one out there can ever stop them. It’s a game, one they make the rules for, determining who is allowed to win and  who will  lose.

The only problem is---they always underestimate the other  players, the ones who the game  is rigged against.

Oliver, Felicity and John will always win. Why? Because they will always have each other’s backs.  So bring on 6B. Let our heroes continue to make a difference. OTA is the real momentum that keeps the city safe. NTA will do well to remember that. They very well could be run down in its wake. They need to come along instead of fight against the inevitable.

@it-was-a-red-heeler @memcjo @almondblossomme @hope-for-olicity @flowerandsunshine @dmichellewrites @mortallock @vaelisamaza @cruzrogue @ruwithmeguys @louiseblue1

[geneshaven]

Safe

PART 1

Felicity threw her head back as another wave of ecstasy surged through her. Oliver lay beneath her, encouraging Felicity with another thrust of his hips. She cried out, and for a brief second, Oliver was worried that their love making would wake William up, creating an awkward moment with his son. But it was only a brief second, as Felicity reached out and grasped Oliver’s hands when he raised them to touch her.

A couple minutes later, Felicity peaked and then leaned forward, laying her body against Oliver’s. Both of them had reached the same orgasmic heights and their heartbeats was a pulse that steadied them as they lay there in the dark and held on to one another.

“Wow,” Felicity whispered in Oliver’s ear.

“Yeah,” Oliver responded. “That is the word I kept hearing in my head for the past hour.”

“Does it feel different for you,” she asked him?

“Different…no?” Oliver tightened his hold on her. He began to ponder on what she meant.

Felicity could sense that her husband might have taken her question the wrong way. “No…I meant different as in…I meant…”

“Felicity, I know what you meant. Is it different making love as husband and wife as opposed to boyfriend and girlfriend, right? The answer is no. But it is more fulfilling as your husband…at least for me it is.”

Felicity rolled off Oliver as things began to soften between them. She lay on her side, tracing a finger over the scar of his Bratva tattoo. “I was thinking how great it is not having to leave in the morning.” She kissed his bare shoulder. “And especially great when you make us breakfast too.”

Oliver smiled at Felicity’s post-coital babbling. He turned over on his side, looking into her satiated eyes. “Felicity, this is your home…our home. I think it’s wonderful that you turned the Loft into your new business office/lab. I am excited for you. You are going to do great things there.”

Felicity nodded. “You know, Dr. Wells once said that to me. Okay, I didn’t know then that he was evil and could run really fast. Still, I’m excited too.”

They were quiet for a few moments, breathing in the ambience of their lives together. Both of them felt serene, a peace that at one time seemed completely out of reach. Now, as they lay together and began to feel the sweat drying on their bodies, that peace filled their bedroom like taking a calm breath.

“Felicity,” Oliver spoke again. “I’m not sure if I ever thanked you.”

“For what?”

“For proposing to me and completing my life.”

Felicity smiled against his shoulder. “Oliver…you just did. Uh…maybe you can thank me again?”

She threw her legs over him, straddling his gratitude as he took her to the pinnacle of love again.

**

A couple hours later, Oliver had fallen asleep to Felicity’s breathing as she dreamed of happiness. He had always been a light sleeper, but the last couple of months his nightmares of the past seemed to drain from his subconscious, to be replaced with reprieve. He knew this had to do with his marriage to Felicity, with the calmness she gave him when he closed his eyes at the end of the day. He had conquered his demons with love, slaying them like dragons. Before Felicity became his life, Oliver knew nothing of how to keep his dark dreams at bay. They were defining in his life and they took him to places scary and consuming. At times, he was afraid to sleep, afraid that he would never escape the horrors of Lian Yu and Hong Kong and Russia.

Now, as he drifted off to sleep, Oliver let his dreams claim him. They were no longer black and possessing. They were light and comfortable, filled with love and hope and the beautiful presence of his wife.

Oliver fell deeper into slumber and couldn’t wait for what his dreams might bring him.

**

But, Oliver still was a light sleeper, and as he slept, an inner alarm began to sound in his mind. His REM state merged with his wakeful state and a sense of wrong shouted at him.

Oliver opened his eyes and was immediately alert. He felt another presence in the room, and in his peripheral vision he detected movement in the darkness. He slightly turned his head and saw three dark figures standing next to his side of the room. He steadied his breathing; then Oliver was out of the bed, throwing himself at this new threat.

The three figures did not have any time to counter Oliver’s attack. Naked and light on his feet, Oliver waded into the intruders and educated them on fear.

The first person closest to Oliver dropped to the bedroom floor, his neck snapping like a dry twig. Oliver spun around and threw a knuckle punch into the throat of his next target. The man let out a gargling noise as his thorax was crushed and he too dropped to the floor.

“Oliver…” Felicity’s voice suddenly cried out. “What’s happening?” The fighting had pulled her out of those happy dreams and fear made her eyes shine in the darkness.

Oliver did not respond. He turned to face the third person in the room, who was suddenly brandishing a knife. Oliver was about to deliver another killing blow when the man called out.

“Queen,” he said. “Stop! I have two more men with your son right now. Make another move and he’s dead.”

Oliver stopped. He looked at the man before him, and then pure anger took hold. Oliver kicked out and broke the man’s knee. As he dropped to the floor in front of Oliver like a sacrificial target, his neck was wrenched with a sudden jerk, killing him instantly.

“Oliver…William,” Felicity said to him.

Oliver turned to her. “Are you okay?”

“Well, other than assassins lying dead on my bedroom floor…yeah, I’m good.”

“Stay here,” he said to her. “And call SCPD.”

Still naked, Oliver left their bedroom and went to rescue his son.

**

Twenty minutes later, Oliver, Felicity and William were in the living room, waiting for SCPD to come collect the dead bodies Oliver left for them. Felicity and Oliver had put on robes and William was in his pajamas. The boy was shaken and he was sitting on the couch with Felicity’s arms wrapped around him. Oliver still felt adrenalin moving through him, and with it, deep anger.

After he disarmed the other two assailants of their knives and their lives, Oliver scooped William off his bed and brought him to the living room. Felicity took charge of the boy as Oliver went back into their room to try and identify who it was that invaded his home. He did not recognize any of them. But on a hunch, he ripped open one of the dead men’s shirt and then he knew who had come to harm his family.

On the left side of the man’s chest was a Bratva tattoo.

Anatoly, Oliver surmised, and his anger deepened.

@it-was-a-red-heeler @almondblossomme @memcjo @louiseblue1 @flowerandsunshine @dmichellewrites @cruzrogue @hope-for-olicity @nalla-madness @ruwithmeguys @scu11y22 @vaelisamaza

[geneshaven]

The Motion Of Poetry

As I was watching those first few  minutes of 609, all the heart eyes and love, all the dancing and touching, all the affirmations of happiness that Oliver and Felicity lavished on each other---I felt as if I was watching poetry come alive.

I also felt that those moments were a huge gift, a gift denied over the years by so much sadness and loss and unspoken desire between our newlyweds. The path they traveled to get where we saw them last night was at times torturous and craven, filled with dark obstacles and near fatal outcomes, with a level of heartache that could destroy worlds.

The pure joy I saw on Oliver and Felicity’s faces made everything they’ve lived through for the past six years seem like it happened to another couple. Yet there was a constant back then, a bedrock that kept their hope alive and breathing. It was love. It was always there. Even when they tried to deny it, when other influences tried to derail their trajectory and threaten to pull them apart; the strength and depth of that love was a gravitational force keeping them locked in each other’s orbits.

I guess to a certain extent, 609 was like watching two different people. They were a couple who are completely into each other, consuming but in a good way.  They have crashed through all the walls they built, side-stepped all the angsty projectiles they aimed at one another, dismissed their belief that a happy ending was not possible for them. They share an exclusive secret now, one that only two people who are immersed in true love can ever know.

There was a special sparkle to them last night. Myself and others have written throughout the series that they possess an inner light, each one strong by itself. But now that they have come together to stay that way, that light has become lambent and magical. It is contagious. Everyone around them could see it. It wasn’t overpowering or harmful like looking directly at the sun.  It was illuminating. It was an evanescence that lit up the room. It was a light shining on a world that is lacking at times in warmth and purity, a world that can benefit by its life-giving reach, to make things grow and flourish and create beauty.

There wasn’t any particular moment for me that stood out from others. In those first ten minutes of 609, it was the surety that Olicity would always be happy and content in their lives together. It felt comfortable and right. It felt like home. I felt that Oliver and Felicity had set an example, that they were the blueprint for building a life together. It was them touching their humanity as if reaching out to catch a falling star, a crown jewel representing family and tradition and legacy.

I was inspired. Every time they smiled at each other, every time they looked into each other eyes and saw the fire of passion and love like an eternal conflagration, I could only sit back and hold myself still, embrace them as if they were there together for my enjoyment alone. I could share in the depth of two souls reaching out to one another like a happy dream that will always come true. Their buoyancy will always bring them to the surface, to the top of the world.

It brings out the very best romantic in me---hopeful and hopeless. It brings out my own poetry, comprised by the inertia of creativity. I can write these lines with flair and celebratory zeal. And I am a better person for it.

I am not filled with disappointment or hate or short-sidedness, as some people have interpreted the Olicity relationship.

I am filled with awe that such beauty still exists in this uncertain journey called life.  This is the motion of poetry and I gently move with it.

@it-was-a-red-heeler @almondblossomme @memcjo @louiseblue1 @flowerandsunshine @hope-for-olicity @dmichellewrites @casydee @mortallock @scu11y22 @tdgal1@cruzrogue @ruwithmeguys

[geneshaven]

Bali Conception

The sun came up, painting the morning horizon in pastel colors of pink and orange as it rose above the secluded bay Oliver and Felicity had been calling home for the past two weeks.

Felicity dug her bare feet into the granulated white sand outside the small cabana they rented. It was very early when she left their bed, wrapping herself in a sheer robe and going outside to stand on their private beach and watch the day begin. Even though she was alone, Felicity could visualize Oliver still sprawled out on their bed back inside. She let a small, contented smile brighten her happy face as she gazed out at the palette of colors the sun gifted her with. It was so quiet and serene. A small breeze came up, and like a soft kiss, it caressed her well-being, the same way that Oliver fulfilled her, giving her life a stronger and surer purpose.

As if that breeze was a premonition, Felicity felt another presence materialize behind her---and then Oliver wrapped his arms around her, embracing her with a soft touch, a touch that always made Felicity’s heart flutter.

“Good morning my beautiful wife,” Oliver whispered in her ear. “Wow, that sunrise is awesome.” His arms tightened around her. “Felicity, you belong in this setting. Those colors are you, vibrant and breath-taking.”

“Oh the things you say,” Felicity responded. She brought her hands up and clutched his arms. “I think I like this new poetry about you.”

Oliver kissed her neck and smiled. He was smiling a lot lately. For so many years, his ability to do so, to feel happy and content, had eluded him. His life had been darkness for so long and the need for light, any kind of light, was a need he could not reach out and touch. Until he met Felicity. She brought him that light. Even when things between them were difficult and consuming, when distance made them seemingly unreachable, Oliver could look past all that and see her beacon. It gave him hope and made him believe that salvation was still possible. Felicity was able to erase the sins from his black soul and scatter them as if on a graceful wind.

Felicity turned around and put her arms around Oliver’s neck. He was bare-chested, having on only a pair of boxer shorts. She raised herself up and kissed her husband with a soft brush against his lips. “Oliver, I am so happy,” she breathed. “It almost seems unfair that we waited so long for this.”

Oliver gently brushed back her beautiful blonde hair and smiled again. “Felicity, I’ve always known, in my heart, we would be together. Even when I was struggling with all that duality I put myself through, with being the Green Arrow and Oliver Queen. The whole time, I felt something was missing, something that would bring it all together. Every time I was with you, working in the Bunker and listening to your voice guiding me out in the field…well, I wanted to tell you and show you that none of it mattered unless you were by my side.”

“Oliver…”

He put his finger against her lips. “Felicity, I didn’t know how to express all that, not then. You taught me how. You are the reason I am the man I am today.”

Felicity laid her head against his chest. “Damn right,” she whispered.  “But Oliver, that goes both ways. Remember when I told you we found ourselves in each other? That journey is why we’re here now, married and happy. I would go through all the hard times, being shot and the lying and, god forbid, Susan Williams…I would live through all that again if it meant being her now, with you.”

They stood there on the beach and held on to each other, emulating forever. The morning sun climbed higher into the tropical sky; a warm touch that filled their hearts.

Felicity suddenly broke from their embrace and looked at her husband with a piercing gaze. “Oliver,” she said. “Take me back inside and make love to me. I want to feel you inside me.” She paused for a heartbeat. “I want…” she went on. “I want you to make a baby with me. Can we do that?”

Oliver took her in his arms again. “Baby, I think that is 100% possible. But this is a private beach, remember? If we’re going to do this, it should be memorable.”

Oliver and Felicity lowered themselves to the fine white sand and built a lasting legacy together. Their cries of passion and love filled the morning and the colors of the sunrise bore witness to a life conceivable.

@it-was-a-red-heeler @almondblossomme @memcjo @louiseblue1 @hope-for-olicity @casydee @flowerandsunshine @nalla-madness @dmichellewrites @mortallock @1106angel @tdgal1 @cruzrogue @ruwithmeguys @scu11y22

[geneshaven]

i don’t want to start this text by bringing everybody down, but i’m going to start this text by bringing everybody down. be assured though, it will only seem that way for the first couple of paragraphs.

i’ve been avoiding the holidays this year. they haven’t felt very festive for me. since i lost my wife at the start of the year, i’ve been keeping my distance from family and friends---but mostly from myself. instead, since august i’ve been traveling through the usa courtesy of the money i got from selling my house---our house. with my two dogs and my newly bought rv, we’ve been on a kind of self-discovery journey, going from state to state, not really having a particular destination in mind; just looking for some answers and some closure.

anyway, as i mentioned a few weeks ago, i had back surgery and was forced to temporarily halt my travels. i drove myself to southern california for the operation and found a haven to hole-up in while recovering. my friend dave, who i’ve known since the 3rd grade, insisted i stay with him for the duration. he too lost his wife a couple years ago. it was through a divorce, but it was still a loss for him.

yesterday, dave came into my borrowed bedroom and said he had a couple of xmas gifts he wanted to give me. as i said, i wasn’t feeling festive and told him i didn’t want the gifts. but he kept pressing me to take them. so i accepted his holiday spirit.

the first gift was a simple tee-shirt with the saying:”don’t piss off old people. the older we get, the less ‘life is prison’ is a deterrent.”

so true. this gift came from a long conversation we had last week. it was a bro moment. dave is the first person, the only person i’ve really opened up to since losing my wife. i wasn’t at all surprised or embarrassed by the torrent of tears i shed. it’s been building up. i told him how angry i’ve been since losing her---at life, at god, at sue for leaving me and at myself for not being able to do anything to prevent her death. it was a semi-cleansing of the toxicity in my heart and my soul. and it drained me. i guess the tee-shirt was dave’s way of making me smile. i didn’t, but i thanked him anyway.

but i also told him that i had found a great distraction from my grief. i told him about arrow and olicity and my participation, via this blog, in the fandom. i had him read a couple of my fics, to give him an idea of what i was talking about.

he said, after reading the fics, that i needed help. no doubt. it’s all harmless, i told him. and, it’s been something that is exclusively mine. it brings me a bit of peace and it touches the creative parts of me that has always throughout my life given me a tool to deal with the more difficult and traumatic aspects of that life---as a police officer, as a husband who took care of his ailing wife, as a person who traveled a much darker path in his youth and early adulthood. a poem or a song or a story seemed to take the edge off my troubles.

which brings me to the second gift dave gave me.

**

as some of you out there in the fandom know, my wife and i wrote and played original songs. this is something i’ve been avoiding this past year as well---opening up the catalog of music we created together. i couldn’t bring myself to listen to her singing and playing. it  just hurt too much. i told myself that that part of my life was over the day she died.

but thanks to dave’s second gift, i’ve decided to visit those songs again. not only is my friend persistent, he also happens to be a very talented musician himself; more specifically, a kick-ass drummer. and, he also happens to have a fully functional recording studio in his basement---a 24 track sound/mixer board, various instruments, microphones, digital enhancers and special effects; the works. his second gift to me is the use of it, for however long in am inclined.

i am inclined. so i’ve opened up my music file and have begun to select some songs sue and i wrote and recorded. i am going to download the file into the studio’s masterboard and enhance those old recordings, mix them on a professional level. i’ve always wanted to get sue into a studio and showcase her talents through the wizardly said studio brings.

dave has volunteered to lay down some drum tracks for the tunes. having taught myself to play multiple instruments: rhythm and lead guitar, bass, keyboards, mandolin, harmonica and a few licks on a banjo; i can multi-track the rest on my own.

i am excited by this project. i can give sue her due credit by re-recording our  music and giving the gift of her talent to the rest of the world. i don’t really have anyone out there to buy presents for; except for  my dogs. but this is a gift i can give---to myself, but  mostly to sue.

i am going to take my time with this, to get it right. i think she would be happy by this. there was little to be happy about in the last months of her life.

if anyone is interested, i am going to post the songs i’ve selected for my cd, as they are now and as they will be after i perform that studio magic on them; a kind of before and after thing. by the way, the cd title is---post-humously

i’ve re-posted the song at the top of this page because it’s going to be the opening track on the album. i’m not going to add anything to it in the studio, because i think it’s good as is. i don’t want to fuck it up.

i want to end this with a quote that has become the embodiment of my life this past year:

“in three words, i can sum up everything i’ve learned in life---it goes on”               -robert frost-

@it-was-a-red-heeler @almondblossomme @memcjo @louiseblue1 @dmichellewrites @flowerandsunshine @1106angel @hope-for-olicity @casydee @scu11y22 @tdgal1 @mortallock @redpensandgreenarrows @nalla-madness @skcolicity @readerkas @cruzrogue @ruwithmeguys

[geneshaven]

Love, Trust And Believe In  The One Your With

As a writer, I wanted to thank the writers of Arrow for crafting such a stellar episode in 604. Also as a writer, I find it hard to break down all the wonderful Olicity growth I was given last night. In all their scenes, with the tender moments, with the action and the angst they shared together, not suffering alone through it, the little ‘fight’ they had after Oliver superheroed himself into that room and beat the crap out of everybody thinking he was saving Felicity---basically during the entire episode, I could feel a constant intimacy between them, one that gave them a newer strength, a stronger foundation built on loving and trusting and believing in each other.

Also, hats off to Stephen and Emily, who magnificently  brought alive the Olicity history they built over the past five to its inevitable conclusion. The hot and steamy scenes; against that wall and on the couch at the end, the engaging drama scenes, most particularly, Oliver talking to Felicity about her guilt and regrets over the Cayden James situation, how he took her sadness and pain and showed her how much he was on her side. He reminded her to trust herself (and that she could trust him as well) no matter how complicated things get. Again, this was another shining example of Oliver being all inclusive. During this whole scene, I could hear each of them affirming to one another that they work together, as a couple, as partners, as soulmates. When one is down, the other will be there to pick them up, dust them off and keep the flow of love between them strong. When Oliver told Felicity he was proud of her, I was there with him. His struggles over the past ten years of his life, the losses and the agony, the pain and near-death experiences, the tiny taste he got of perfection when Felicity came into his life, and to quote the Beatles, the long and winding road they went down together---it all culminated into that one moment of the truth as he steadied her way. And come on folks, that last tender touch she gave him, sliding her hand so lovingly across his face---it was soft and electrifying at the same time.

I think my favorite part of this episode though was the ‘reversal’ of roles they so brilliantly enacted. Oliver guiding Felicity through the gauntlet of bad guys via her Overwatch station in the Bunker was a tour-de-force of having each other’s backs. Just the sound of his voice on the  coms was enough to center her. Felicity followed him into danger (was guided into that danger) with complete trust that he would keep her way ahead safe. Just a well written and acted scene.

Even when they were not together, I could sense that they were thinking of each other. I always used to tell my wife that whatever decisions I make, whatever I am doing on my own or with her; she is always going to be in my thoughts. Oliver and Felicity are going to echo this, they are going to trust their instincts and rely on each other in everything they do, with support and tolerance and empathy. The love and well-being they have for each other is a spring they can drink from and be nourished and strengthened by. It is their source. It is their magic potion. It is their destiny.

Oliver and Felicity were brought out in the open with this episode. There are no more doubts, no more second-guessing, no more separation. They have come together and are going to stay that way. In my mind, the up-coming wedding is just a formality. Yes, it will be a grand celebration, but these two have already been married for quite some time. It was the growing pains they endured that gave them the true ceremony of their lives together. They have earned each other.  As Felicity so eloquently put it, “You’ve opened up my heart in a way I didn’t think was possible.” Amen.

I have certainty now. My ship is sailing boldly ahead and the destination is happiness. I am privileged, as all of us are, to be along for the trip.

@it-was-a-red-heeler @almondblossomme @hope-for-olicity @memcjo @tdgal1 @louiseblue1 @casydee @ruwithmeguys @scu11y22 @dmichellewrites @candykizzes24 @callistawolf @mortallock @nalla-madness

[geneshaven]

When Endgame Becomes Reality

Well now. I have been enchanted by Arrow again; after last night’s episode.  It could have been subtitled, Into The Great Wide Open (a shout out to the great, late Tom Petty.) Watching the show and the Olicity interaction, it felt like ep520, 420 and 320 were all wrapped up into one big, great solution. Somebody in the writer’s room finally got it and started to tell the story so many of us have been waiting agonizing months for. The Olicity relationship has exploded out of the box it was put into and has strengthened the core of the show.

There was so much Olicity stuff happening in this episode, I was at first reluctant to give any of it its due examination. I lost myself in their ‘each other’s,’ in their looks of love. I was brought totally on board with watching a stepmother and her math protégé doing homework together---I could almost hear a key sliding into a lock; but that comes later. I could see how Felicity fell right in with William; the same kind of rhythm she has with Oliver. By helping him overcome his anxiety about his math test, Felicity wrapped him in the magnetic force that is her empathy and support. She made it personal, showing William that he is better than he thinks he is. When she told him that Oliver didn’t grow up in the real and how school changed her life, I suddenly wanted to pull out the GED I got back in 1980 and take a quick peek, a quick reminder that I had accomplished something worth bragging, at least to myself, about. Basically, this whole tutoring scene was about William being totally Smoaked.

One of the really entertaining and reminiscent parts of 603 for me was Felicity’s babbling, with her obvious needs and wants when it came to Oliver. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me, but it felt like Felicity was having a hard time catching her breath when she was around Oliver. Or maybe she could feel a shift coming, a momentum that was bringing her life to some kind of endgame thing. It exited her and seemed to somewhat settle her down in a way I haven’t seen in her character for a while. What she is feeling for Oliver and how he has changed her life---I look on her babbling as the part of her mind that is technical and scientific and problem-solving being overwhelmed by the emotional part that makes her happy and want to do a victory dance every time Oliver is the same room with her. It was a pleasure to watch.

The symbolism of Oliver giving Felicity the key to his apartment was beautiful. Keys are for opening things that are locked. But what I got out of that scene was it was showing that key also means the main part of something. He was unlocking his life so she could come inside of it. And this became truth when he told her his and William’s lives will be better with her in them. Felicity was all in. Felicity was a big melting mess of feels. And as Oliver took her and kissed her with his surety, I heard both the analytical and emotional parts of her mind come together and contemplate the flat surface of the table she pushed him toward. Like a lot of other viewers, I was hoping for a taste of that 9:00pm time slot. What helped me to add some ‘flavor’ to the scene was the one earlier when Felicity was sitting on the table swinging her legs and being charmed by Oliver. I will however wait for all the more detailed smut writers to do it more justice. One person’s fantasy is another’s cannon fodder. I think AO3 is going to light up with the brilliance of Oliver and Felicity falling out of the frame and into a sexy endgame.

As I was looking at the 604 photo stills of Oliver and Felicity’s “date,” I could see how comfortable and relaxed both of them are being with each other.  There are no more barriers keeping them at a distance. It showed me two people being all in with each other---the way Felicity was kissing Oliver’s cheek and him closing his eyes; he looked like someone enjoying a cool breeze on his face on a hot summer day. There is one huge aura of happiness surrounding their table; it’s like a shield against whatever dark or painful thing can ever penetrate it and reach inside to touch them---RPG’s included. They have each other’s backs and fronts and sides; a multi-directional buffer zone that will always help them find their way together.

I find myself a bit impatient having to wait five and six episodes to see the seed that was planted last night blossom into a family tree. I want a wedding. I want some of that 9:00pm time-slot honeymoon sex. I want to see Felicity become a Captain of Industry and Technology and make a difference in the lives of millions. I want to see Oliver suiting up again for good. I want to see the balance he solidifies as Green Arrow and Mayor, as a husband and a father.

I want to see the entire direction the show is leading us in---right into Season’s 7 and 8 and beyond.

@it-was-a-red-heeler @almondblossomme @hope-for-olicity @louiseblue1 @memcjo @nalla-madness @casydee @dmichellewrites @flowerandsunshine @mortallock @scu11y22 @tdgal1 @1106angel @wordslovedreams @cruzrogue @ruwithmeguys