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I love this man <3

Ashton5SOS:  The full moon is taking ahold, it’s gonna be one of those nights

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When Writing Ruins Characters

Okay, so I’m new to this whole Tumblr thing, but I really needed to rant. So I freaking love TV shows more than anything in the world, and my latest obsession is Arrow. I’m now on Season 4, and I have loved the first few seasons, but now it’s just making me so mad. Bear with me, I haven’t seen the rest of the season or season 5, so this is literally me ranting after 4x15 and 4x16.

First off, Felicity Smoak has always been one of my favorite characters on this show. I always loved her awkwardness and her want to help and be a part of something bigger, but in Season 4, and even in some of Season 3, the writers ruined her character and managed to make a ton of people dislike her.

Now I know a ton of people just get mad at the characters, but my mind automatically goes to how I’m pissed at the writers for destroying character development. It’s called DEVELOPMENT for a reason. And yes, I know that there’s always something that usually causes someone to fall back to their old ways, but to completely contradict the traits of a character is something entirely different. And that’s what happened to Felicity. She has always been known as the one to stand by Oliver’s side, her love for him was so strong that she always saw the best in him and even helped him see it himself. That’s what I always loved about her, and that’s what made me begin to love Olicity. I just saw a great chemistry in them and the strength and happiness that they gave each other. That being said, I was so happy when they finally got together.

And then mid season 4 happened.

When Felicity finds out about William, she is obviously upset, and I can understand why, and you can see the little hints of uncomfortableness and even anger on her face throughout the episode. BUT at the very end, after Oliver’s very emotional message to his son, Felicity comes strolling in just to dump him. That whole scene was just SO out of character for Felicity, I was pissed. To me, she has always been the type that when she was upset, she would be mad, and then she would TALK and move on. Yet with this scene, she strolls in, hands him the ring, says she “can’t do this” and literally just then regains control of her legs and WALKS OUT ON HIM. I was sitting there like what the fu**. Literally ONE episode prior Felicity was telling her mom that Quentin was probably lying to her to protect her, and that she should forgive him for that. And yet when she learns Oliver has a son, she doesn’t just get upset, she breaks off their fu**ing engagement. She wouldn’t even talk to him about it. And honestly this wouldn’t have been that bad if she had actually been a decent human being to him afterwards, considering she just broke it off because she said she needed space, not because she didn’t love him or because she hated him. And yet in the next episode, every time Oliver has a fault, Felicity made some snide remark like she was pissed at him. That drove me insane.

Don’t get me wrong, I still love Felicity, I just absolutely hate what the writers have done to her character. Emily Bett Rickards is an amazing actress, and they are wasting her potential. They took a developed character and threw her down the drain, and all for what? Just to end Olicity? If they truly wanted to do that, they could’ve managed to find an easier way without destroying a perfectly good character. The writers were so rude to her character arc, like why spend all that time building up this caring and awkward character just to make her cold and acting as if she never loved Oliver?? She said she still loved him but acted SO RUDE to him. She kept making him feel like it was his fault that they weren’t together, when SHE made the decision to end it, whereas Oliver just wanted to work through it. WHICH THEY SHOULD’VE BEEN ABLE TO DO BECAUSE THEY’VE DONE IT BEFORE.

UGH.

THIS REMINDED ME SO MUCH OF BELLAMY BLAKE FROM THE 100.

Bellamy had a HUGE development in character throughout the seasons of the 100. He started out as a self-righteous ass who thought he could control everyone, and by the end of season 2 he was a leader who only wanted to protect his people. I loved him for that, I’m always a sucker for a good redemption arc.

AND THEN SEASON 3.

So Bellamy has a girlfriend for like 3 months, yet when just happens to get blown up (whoops), he goes batshit crazy and assists in the killing of 300 Grounders. In that moment, I couldn’t even be pissed at Bellamy because it was SO out of character. Bellamy had grown to be a strong, caring leader who only wanted what was best for his people, but the writers made him fall so hard off of his arc. Like I get that everyone in shows makes mistakes, but like making him supposedly kill 300 innocent Grounders was just way too far. Plus, they just sidelined him the whole season, making Clarke and Lexa the main focus. What happened to the 100 being about the 100?

Crap, I’m getting off track, I can’t start on that.

Yes, this is very long, and I apologize. But I truly get attached to characters in shows, and I hate when they’re built up and then just dumped down the drain. Like, if you’re going to make some dramatic event happen and someone becomes the bad person they once were, at least write it properly. And I’m not trying to bash on writing in general, I know it can’t be easy, but come on. This is just sloppy and lazy to change someone’s character completely. These characters (and there are probably a ton more, I just get fed up with Bellamy and Felicity the most) are what inspired me to become a screenwriter. I want to try and write good characters, and I believe watching 2 of my all time favorite characters get destroyed by writing taught me a few things.

Plus, this isn’t all about ships. If I only watched this show for ships, I’d be out by now. Yes, I’m a hardcore Olicity shipper, but I love this show because of all the characters, the plot, the action, all of it. Anyway, I don’t just not like the way Felicity was written because she’s not with Oliver, I don’t like it because she’s not Felicity. My hopes are that when I watch Season 5 it will be better, or hopefully she is at least redeeming herself and being a decent human to Oliver.

RESPECT THE CHARACTERS THAT YOU MADE US LOVE. STOP DESTROYING THEM.