#but can they copy olicity angst?

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

Arrow 4x11 | The Rookie 5x12

[olicitysecretsanta]

GOODBYE OLICITY ONLINE GIFT EXCHANGE

Hi, lovely fandom friends!

Like announced here earlier this week, Olicity Secret Santa is going to turn into a Goodbye Olicity Online Gift Exchange for the last season of our beloved show.

To help spread this project, please share this info with everyone you think might be interested in joining in on the fun! The more, the merrier!

You can also help people who need the Safe Mode of this project by sharing that you signed up. You can do so by reblogging or answering to this post.

General info:

Olicity Secret Santa is for everyone who loves Olicity.

With the shifted focus on saying goodbye to our OTP, the Holiday Theme in the name of this blog is no longer the focus of the shared work.

Everyone can contribute to this, creating their own kind of fan content for their giftee. That can be a gif, an edit, a collage, a fic, a video, a playlist or anything else you can think of.

This is an ONLINE gift exchange, so there is no money needed.

There is also no personal information being exchanged, except for your username. You can also add your first name or a nickname to the sign-up sheet to make it a little more personal.

All messages will be sent from the OSS-blog or @smkkbert​. I might add some coworkers to help keeping in touch with all of you. In that case, I will tell you which other blogs are involved. 

Just be sure to remember: There will be a deadline!

Here is the planned timeline:

Dec. 06 - Sign up is being closed.

Dec. 07 - Check-in I (to make sure no sign-up got lost)

Dec. 08 - Assignments will be sent out (hopefully!).

Jan. 02 - Check-in II (to make sure everyone is still in)

Jan. 31 - All gifts are due.

Feb. 04 - All gifts will be posted on this blog.

How to sign up:

Please use submissions to sign up for the gift exchange. Copy the following sheet into the post and fill it out. You can delete the italic suggestions and explanations.

Your name: You don’t have to add it, but it make things more personal.

Your tumblr URL: I definitely need this to contact you.

What you will be willing to make: gifsets, graphics, collages, fanart, vids, fics, playlist, etc.

What you would like to receive: gifsets, graphics, collages, fanart, vids, fics, playlist, etc.

Would you be willing to make something extra in the event that someone backs out?: Yes/No

A few suggestions on what you enjoy so your Secret Santa has some ideas: Please remember these are suggestions, not requests. It is up to your Secret Santa as to what they create for you. It’s helpful to add general things of what you enjoy or not enjoy in the suggested gift, for example the rating of a fic.

Safe Mode*: Add at least two names of other participants that you feel safe creating a gift for or write “yes”, and I will check for someone who proved to be responsible in the last years. *This option is for people who have made bad experience with sharing their works, especially during Olicity Secret Santa or other gift exchanges, as well as for people with angst of sharing/dedicating their work for complete strangers. Please use this option if you feel unsafe without it.

General rules:

If your URL changes, please contact me as soon as possible.

If you have to contact your giftee, please do so anonymously, so the surprise isn’t ruined. If your giftee doesn’t accept anon asks, just contact me & I will contact your giftee for you.

If you are not able to match the deadline or you have to drop out of the gift exchange, please contact me as soon as possible. We can talk about the possibility of delaying the submission date. Otherwise, we have to find someone to jump in, so nobody is left behind without a gift.

If you need to submit a graphic of gif with several photos, please contact me. These last years, I received those gifts over the messenger and saved them on my private laptop to set everything up here because submissions only allowed one photo/gif/... at a time.

If anything else doesn’t work with the submission, just contact me. We will figure it out.

Don’t post your gift before February 04. As soon as the gifts are posted on the Olicity Secret Santa Blog, you are allowed to post them on every other platform, including your own Tumblr Blog.

If possible, please follow @olicitysecretsanta or track #Olicitysecretsanta to keep in the loop for new information! Contact @olicitysecretsanta​ or my private blog @smkkbert​ if you have any questions.

I am super excited for all of the wonderful goodies that are to come and carry us through our first Tuesday without Arrow ever again. I hope we get as many people together as possible! I’d be so happy!

Love,

Kathi ( @smkkbert​ )

[smkkbert]

SIGN-UP FORM

The sign-up is open until Dec. 06. For more info please look here.

Here is how to sign up for the Goodbye Olicity Online Gift Exchange

Please use submissions to sign up for the gift exchange. Copy the following sheet into the post and fill it out. You can delete the italic suggestions and explanations.

Your name: You don’t have to add it, but it make things more personal.

Your tumblr URL: I definitely need this to contact you.

What you will be willing to make: gifsets, graphics, collages, fanart, vids, fics, playlist, etc.

What you would like to receive: gifsets, graphics, collages, fanart, vids, fics, playlist, etc.

Would you be willing to make something extra in the event that someone backs out?: Yes/No

A few suggestions on what you enjoy so your Secret Santa has some ideas: Please remember these are suggestions, not requests. It is up to your Secret Santa as to what they create for you. It’s helpful to add general things of what you enjoy or not enjoy in the suggested gift, for example the rating of a fic.

Safe Mode*: Add at least two names of other participants that you feel safe creating a gift for or write “yes”, and I will check for someone who proved to be responsible in the last years. *This option is for people who have made bad experience with sharing their works, especially during Olicity Secret Santa or other gift exchanges, as well as for people with angst of sharing/dedicating their work for complete strangers. Please use this option if you feel unsafe without it.

[ruwithmeguys]

The chances of an eighth season of Arrow is high, but beyond that… I think the chances have dropped for more than 8 but I could be wrong.

Why I think it’s ending after S8 (and why it may not):

Both Stephen and Emily have stated they want to write and direct but haven’t, despite the chances. They may want to work on new things after next year.

Though he’s agreed to an eighth season, Stephen has made several comments the last 12 months indicating his acceptance of the end and how Oliver really only has one true goal left to accomplish.

The show doesn’t just feel like it’s hitting a new milestone: it feels like it’s preparing us for something (unless it’s just a shocking SL and I’m very wrong)

The interest in superhero tv shows is starting to dwindle because of the sheer number of options available. This however, is open to change. Especially after the last avengers movie hits the cinemas. They may turn to shows like Arrow as an alternative.

Unless the show comes up with a brand new focus to pit Oliver against, beyond his own darkness, then… what? What’s the story?

Indications that John may become the GL means he’s available for other shows after Arrow ends.

Where Oliver goes, Felicity goes. The indications that Oliver will eventually step back from the hood keep ramping up.

They are leading the show towards the future: it’s an obvious passing of the baton.

They are limited in terms of comic origin as there’s only so much story they can pilfer from the comics before DC stop them.

They will need an intense, captivating original story to keep Stephen/Emily and the audience on board past S8 and where they go, the audience go.

We know Arrow won’t live past 10 seasons anyway.

Why I want Arrow to end after 8 seasons:

Too many new characters – unless the show axes at least two of the regulars, we’re never truly going to get the depth we deserve in the scenes focused on our mains… HOWEVER. You can also argue that they don’t need more depth because we basically know them inside out. Another reason right there.

Run its course - Arrow is that show. It isn’t even that good to be honest – the script is either amaze-balls or ridiculous and illogical, the action sequences take up too much space at times and continuity is a huge issue – however we love it as if it were made of gold. Despite our complaints, we watch it because it gave us something that most shows don’t. It gave us a love story for the ages that wasn’t supposed to exist and demanded acceptance of it. It dared so it has our respect.

However, Stephen said something recently. He said, all that remains of Oliver’s story is to leave a legacy. He doesn’t have to die for it to happen, but it has to happen. There two ways for this to be possible: have a baby with Felicity and become a legend. He’ll do both, huzzah! But, barring the immediate concerns of this story, there isn’t a whole lot of character building left to accomplish (suck it Barry/Kara) for Oliver. It’s all outside material. His sister is an issue too, but after this season, focus on him for her story won’t be required. I’m here for Oliver, then Felicity. Just them and in that order.

Thea’s story is done folks, save the peripheral. Whatever happens next for her doesn’t have to be on screen, though I will be stunned if she doesn’t come back for the finale of the series. I have no wish to see more of it, unless it’s Roy inclusive. Why? Because so much of her story kind of… IT BLEW, OKAY? I was bored to tears with her after season 4 and only season 2 and 3 interested me for her character and Roy was entwined in that.

Building a legacy doesn’t mean characters just… disappear - and they don’t have to. So regardless of the end, Felicity will be out there. So will Oliver.

Diggle. This is a big one for me. He’s been changing since Oliver and Felicity left 3.23, since he killed Andy. But we haven’t seen the Dig we know and love since 5.23. That’s 32 episodes. For me, if what was broken isn’t fixed by 7.22, then I truly won’t care what occurs for him in the future, beyond simple curiosity. There’s been too much damage. There’s changing into a different person and then there’s being likeable. One episode is all I’m asking. Believe it or not, I’m actually enjoying his progression, but it’s progression that falls away from the man we dearly miss. Since the chances of him becoming the green lantern has risen… I have to say, I’m not surprised at the idea that John could leave his family behind both literally and figuratively. He’s done it before. He’s doing it now, but it has less impact if his ties are loose and not taut. I need them tightening. 13 episodes are left on S7. He needs to take steps. So either Dig becomes the green lantern… or he dies. If either occurs next year, then S8 will most likely be the end anyway. OTA are the main fixture: they know it, they’ve said it. Once one of them leaves, it’s a ticking clock.

The longer the show lasts, the more time they have to screw up.

I can’t stand another crossover where Oliver is verbally battered for existing.

Too many birds give me hives.

Dinah has become the new boring and siren, the cordelia: I can live without both.

Curits is such a poor example of a human being, it makes me rage, which is unhealthy

Rene is finally interesting to me again, even if I don’t trust him because he’s a fickle sod… which means I never will. So, I can’t like his storyline.

I’m so done with watching Felicity be friendless and treated with disrespect by people that she has to refer to as heroes whether they’ve earned the title or not, I feel like writing fiction where she kills them all and Oliver just stands there in approval.

The longer Arrow lasts, the longer Flash lasts and… NO.

The longer Arrow lasts, the longer Supergirl lasts and… NO.

Since they aren’t doing a thorough Constantine Drakon villain – an enemy with the potential to be amazing since he very literally crucifies the green arrow – I really do miss the big villain. I miss Malcolm: he was twisted but he was effective. You were supposed to hate him. I miss Slade: he’s still my favourite villain. Adrian was the best but they took too long introducing him so he falls short of the tension pedestal for me. Despite being sucktastic, Diaz presents a decent conundrum: he’s supposed to be an arsehole that won’t die so he’s a constant threat. We don’t have to like him. So I desperately need Stan to return. I need that creepy/psychotic enemy that throws everyone for a loop. Without it, I’m not sure about the show’s moral integrity goes to that isn’t about revisiting old ghosts since it’s based on good Vs evil etc. I need to wait and see where they go with this: it could become an organisation or an idea (vigilantes for the people: who watches the watchman type thing) instead of a person and I’ve given up hope on a woman villain who doesn’t irk me. I don’t need 1950’s cheese ball KC: it’s not effective.

Felicity. Now… I love what they’ve done with her character, even in S6 for the most part! However, this whole idea that her wearing a mask would undermine the meaning is pathetic. You had a street kid and a lawyer wearing one after less than a few months of training, but sure: Felicity wearing one would destroy the significance. Now, in one part, this elevates her character: she is the character that all others must work off at least once. It makes her too important to loose: Oliver, Barry, LL, Siren, Ray etc. On the other hand, it limits her capacity and keeps her boxed in which is why S7 has been such a relief to may of us. But I would have loved to have seen this woman suit up: at least she’d be convincing. Any chance of us seeing it happen now are slim to none which is a shame because, to me, her potential is limitless. What we would have given to have everyone else react to her kicking ass and taking names in a mask, with a moniker, and a headset/vice that details the logistics of buildings, sends out Trojans etc. She’d be a nightmare.

I think one more full season (20 to 22 episodes) on top of the 13 remaining, is enough to close Oliver’s legacy if done right which… is a stretch to hope for.

With so many superhero movies in play, if gone on long enough, Arrow will no doubt attempt to copy them as they have done in the past to ill effect.

Another year of rude anons/haters making claims, demanding I do as they tell me, being ridiculous and being constantly wrong in my inbox would be a welcome subtraction in my life.

…And why I want it to live forever:

This show was the show that made me aware of social media. It’s also the show that I needed at a dark time in my life: I was jobless, friendless and things were happening with my family that were less than desirable: it was a grand distraction that borderlined obsession. Or passion. Hm.

Despite certain plotlines, illogical character progression, overused devices, and faulty scripts; it truly is a one in a million show. Very different from all other shows.

The actors can ACT… for the most part.

The CGI effects are good.

It’s angsty x 10

The love story is worth the angst

There’s always more story to tell with good characters!

Once Oliver achieves the status he deserves, I want to see him revel in it.

…A 10 episode season 9 that focuses on olicity alone because I want it so bad?

The chance to bring back Tommy somehow

The wonderful people I talk to online daily JUST because of this show

The genuine friends I’ve made JUST because of this show.

The fanfiction that will continue longer if the show does

The posts and metas I don’t want to live without

The asks in my inbox that I enjoy answering and the anons I enjoy engaging with

TUMBLR – (with the smut please)

If the show has a chance of lasting past season 8, then what I want to see is a season that focuses ONLY on Oliver… and I’d have it elsewhere. I’d have the government involved. Felicity too. Dig. Just them three (it won’t happen).

The chance to see Curtis crash and burn

The chance to see Dinah crash and burn

The chance to see Rene crash and burn

The chance to see siren… go away somewhere

Felicity in a mask

An actual 9pm slot that’s used to it’s fullest extent

A crossover that focuses on what could have been on another earth and you KNOW they’d have Felicity be the vigilante, with Oliver as the guy who loves her despite her violent escapades. OR another life where they’re regular people that fall into an elaborate conspiracy or something.

There currently isn’t another show that can fill the void that Arrow will create when it ends.

A crossover where Oliver/Felicity kiss no one but each other… please.

A crossover- nay, an ENTIRE SEASON, where Oliver is praised for alllll his hard work and sacrifice.

An episode that marks Felicity, truly, as irreplaceable, necessary and needed for every other character to shine.

An episode arc that allows Felicity to be the one that defeats the bad guy.

You know… YOU KNOW that at some point they’ll deliberately have DC and marvel intersect.

Unfortunately, the cons currently outweigh the pro’s. And if so, if S8 is the last, then that’s an AMAZING run time for a show that was supposed to be only 5 seasons. And the story had enough meat in it for me to be happy for it……… though when that occurs, I’ll probably need to book time off to recover because oh my god I can’t even imagine.

The idea, if true, is a sad one. But again, if true, it won’t be till 2020. We have some time.

[the-ships-to-rule-them-all]

Tagged by @sometimesrosy! thanks babe, wow I haven’t written fic in months 

1. what is your most popular fic by kudos? comments? bookmarks? are they all the same?

my most popular fic by all marks is We Can Have All That We Ever Want, my first poly rangers fic and the month where I wrote about 15k in like 3 weeks. even though the verse hasn’t been updated since may, it’s still getting a lot of kudos. 

this fic has 719 kudos, 103 comments, and 122 bookmarks and it has been read 10,290 times. 

it’s all insane

2. do you have a favorite of your fics? if not, do you have one you’re most proud of? why?

I’m most proud of my Stydia Big Bang fic, it’s a world war ii au that’s 20k words long called Love in a Warzone. 

I researched a lot for this fic and really got in the zone writing it and seeing people have such great reactions makes my day. 

3. what fandom/ship (if you write for more than one) is your favorite to write for?

I really enjoy writing for the Poly Rangers ship, I feel like I’ve carved out a tiny niche within the Power Rangers fandom. But at the same time, I absolutely love writing Bellarke fic because they’re my babes and I love them so much. 

4. do you have any fics that got more popularity/attention than you expected? if so what were they?

I was shocked at how popular my angsty supercorp fic was, We’re Not Lovers, and also my post finale Olicity spec fanfic was, I don’t think anyone could ever love you (the way I love you)

I wrote them both on the same day, the day I wrote 5k words in like 11 hours. 

5. where do you get your ideas/inspiration from? do you have a fic that you feel is particularly unique in that area?

mainly from my desire to see the fic and realizing I have to write it myself. A lot of it stems from headcanons and needing to write missing moments or first kisses, I have a surprising amount of first kiss fanfics. 

I think my most unique idea is my Ambassadors of Earth verse, which is where the entire universe thinks all the rangers are dating. I keep coming back and adding lines to my word doc at points because I always have ideas. Also the reincarnation series I’m co-writing with @justiceleague2017dirzacksnyder is completely unique and literally comes from a gifset that she made. IT’S GREAT

again for some reason I get very creative because of the ot5

6. do you have a favorite character to write POV for?

I adore writing all the Rangers povs but Jason and Trini come most easily to me. Actually, the vast majority of my fics are multi-pov but I find it easiest to write Bellamy, Lydia and Trini. 

7. what’s your favorite sidepairing to include?

I think I included Scalia in LOVE IN A WARZONE when I first came up with the idea last November and to almost predict canon is honestly super cool. I don’t actually include a lot of side pairings

8. do you have a fic you feel is underrated in comparison to your other fics? or you just wish more people would read?

LOVE IN A WARZONE, it’s a 20k, world war ii, character centric au that has been read by so few people. I think it’s completely underrated and I wish people read more of it. 

also Fates’s Rewrite, a modern dectective bellarke au with some reincarnation mixed, it’s one that I stopped writing, not because I don’t have ideas but there was literally no feedback at all and I don’t have the desire to write it when no one’s reading it. It’s probably my most fascinating idea but I just haven’t had any spark at all

9. what’s something you would go back and change in one of your fics?

god, I always want to go back and do another round of editing. but it’s more I want to add things. I’d add more Bellamy and Clarke stuff to Fates’s Rewrite, right not it’s just a lot of the Greek Gods and that’s less important. 

10. what is your favorite sort of comment to receive on a fic?

“Holy shit, I fucking love how you're writing this, what you're including, and the time you're taking to create honest, vivid introspection for EACH GODDAMN BEAUTIFUL CHARACTER. Bless bless you. I'm avidly looking forward to the next chapter and where you will take this after all the "intros" are done!! (Or maybe I'm assuming too much, I love this fic regardless).” this comment on  We Can Have All That We Ever Want is my favorite comment, sometimes I just go find this comment and grin like a loon and feel better about my writing. That fic also has some of the greatest comments I’ve ever received and sometimes I just go and read all the comments and want to write fic again. like now 

11. what are your favorite genres of fic to write? (e.g. modern au, hurt/comfort, fluff, angst, etc.)

fluff with angst is my sweet spot but I also really love missing moments

12. what are your favorite tropes to write?

5+1 things, outsider PoV, fake relationship, I love fake relationship

13. do you write fics similar to what you enjoy reading or completely different? both?

both

14. what’s your writing process like?

I get the idea and it usually just sticks itself in my head for hours, nagging at me. Eventually I write it down and depending on how my muse is, I write it all in one go or it happens over months with a random burst of inspiration here and there. 

15. multi-chapter, oneshot, or drabble?

drabble collections, a lot of oneshots but I also do write a decent amount of multi-chapter fanfic, especially in my drafts

16. if someone was only going to read one of your fics, which would you want them to read?

honestly, either LOVE IN A WARZONE or We Can Have All That We Ever Want

I tag: @blyedeeks @lydias-martin @stilesprefers-screamers @justiceleague2017dirzacksnyder @ohmypreciousgirl

questions are copied below

1. what is your most popular fic by kudos? comments? bookmarks? are they all the same?

2. do you have a favorite of your fics? if not, do you have one you’re most proud of? why?

3. what fandom/ship (if you write for more than one) is your favorite to write for?

4. do you have any fics that got more popularity/attention than you expected? if so what were they?

5. where do you get your ideas/inspiration from? do you have a fic that you feel is particularly unique in that area?

6. do you have a favorite character to write POV for?

7. what’s your favorite sidepairing to include?

8. do you have a fic you feel is underrated in comparison to your other fics? or you just wish more people would read?

9. what’s something you would go back and change in one of your fics?

10. what is your favorite sort of comment to receive on a fic?

11. what are your favorite genres of fic to write? (e.g. modern au, hurt/comfort, fluff, angst, etc.)

12. what are your favorite tropes to write?

13. do you write fics similar to what you enjoy reading or completely different? both?

14. what’s your writing process like?

15. multi-chapter, oneshot, or drabble?

16. if someone was only going to read one of your fics, which would you want them to read?

[olicitysecretsanta]

SIGN-UP FORM

The sign-up is open until Dec. 06. For more info please look here.

Here is how to sign up for the Goodbye Olicity Online Gift Exchange

Please use submissions to sign up for the gift exchange. Copy the following sheet into the post and fill it out. You can delete the italic suggestions and explanations.

Your name: You don’t have to add it, but it make things more personal.

Your tumblr URL: I definitely need this to contact you.

What you will be willing to make: gifsets, graphics, collages, fanart, vids, fics, playlist, etc.

What you would like to receive: gifsets, graphics, collages, fanart, vids, fics, playlist, etc.

Would you be willing to make something extra in the event that someone backs out?: Yes/No

A few suggestions on what you enjoy so your Secret Santa has some ideas: Please remember these are suggestions, not requests. It is up to your Secret Santa as to what they create for you. It’s helpful to add general things of what you enjoy or not enjoy in the suggested gift, for example the rating of a fic.

Safe Mode*: Add at least two names of other participants that you feel safe creating a gift for or write “yes”, and I will check for someone who proved to be responsible in the last years. *This option is for people who have made bad experience with sharing their works, especially during Olicity Secret Santa or other gift exchanges, as well as for people with angst of sharing/dedicating their work for complete strangers. Please use this option if you feel unsafe without it.

[olicitysecretsanta]

SIGN-UP FORM

The sign-up is open until Dec. 06. For more info please look here.

Here is how to sign up for the Goodbye Olicity Online Gift Exchange

Please use submissions to sign up for the gift exchange. Copy the following sheet into the post and fill it out. You can delete the italic suggestions and explanations.

Your name: You don’t have to add it, but it make things more personal.

Your tumblr URL: I definitely need this to contact you.

What you will be willing to make: gifsets, graphics, collages, fanart, vids, fics, playlist, etc.

What you would like to receive: gifsets, graphics, collages, fanart, vids, fics, playlist, etc.

Would you be willing to make something extra in the event that someone backs out?: Yes/No

A few suggestions on what you enjoy so your Secret Santa has some ideas: Please remember these are suggestions, not requests. It is up to your Secret Santa as to what they create for you. It’s helpful to add general things of what you enjoy or not enjoy in the suggested gift, for example the rating of a fic.

Safe Mode*: Add at least two names of other participants that you feel safe creating a gift for or write “yes”, and I will check for someone who proved to be responsible in the last years. *This option is for people who have made bad experience with sharing their works, especially during Olicity Secret Santa or other gift exchanges, as well as for people with angst of sharing/dedicating their work for complete strangers. Please use this option if you feel unsafe without it.

[smkkbert]

SIGN-UP FORM

The sign-up is open until Dec. 06. For more info please look here.

Here is how to sign up for the Goodbye Olicity Online Gift Exchange

Please use submissions to sign up for the gift exchange. Copy the following sheet into the post and fill it out. You can delete the italic suggestions and explanations.

Your name: You don’t have to add it, but it make things more personal.

Your tumblr URL: I definitely need this to contact you.

What you will be willing to make: gifsets, graphics, collages, fanart, vids, fics, playlist, etc.

What you would like to receive: gifsets, graphics, collages, fanart, vids, fics, playlist, etc.

Would you be willing to make something extra in the event that someone backs out?: Yes/No

A few suggestions on what you enjoy so your Secret Santa has some ideas: Please remember these are suggestions, not requests. It is up to your Secret Santa as to what they create for you. It’s helpful to add general things of what you enjoy or not enjoy in the suggested gift, for example the rating of a fic.

Safe Mode*: Add at least two names of other participants that you feel safe creating a gift for or write “yes”, and I will check for someone who proved to be responsible in the last years. *This option is for people who have made bad experience with sharing their works, especially during Olicity Secret Santa or other gift exchanges, as well as for people with angst of sharing/dedicating their work for complete strangers. Please use this option if you feel unsafe without it.

[olicitysecretsanta]

SIGN-UP FORM

The sign-up is open until Dec. 06. For more info please look here.

Here is how to sign up for the Goodbye Olicity Online Gift Exchange

Please use submissions to sign up for the gift exchange. Copy the following sheet into the post and fill it out. You can delete the italic suggestions and explanations.

Your name: You don’t have to add it, but it make things more personal.

Your tumblr URL: I definitely need this to contact you.

What you will be willing to make: gifsets, graphics, collages, fanart, vids, fics, playlist, etc.

What you would like to receive: gifsets, graphics, collages, fanart, vids, fics, playlist, etc.

Would you be willing to make something extra in the event that someone backs out?: Yes/No

A few suggestions on what you enjoy so your Secret Santa has some ideas: Please remember these are suggestions, not requests. It is up to your Secret Santa as to what they create for you. It’s helpful to add general things of what you enjoy or not enjoy in the suggested gift, for example the rating of a fic.

Safe Mode*: Add at least two names of other participants that you feel safe creating a gift for or write “yes”, and I will check for someone who proved to be responsible in the last years. *This option is for people who have made bad experience with sharing their works, especially during Olicity Secret Santa or other gift exchanges, as well as for people with angst of sharing/dedicating their work for complete strangers. Please use this option if you feel unsafe without it.

[olicitysecretsanta]

SIGN-UP FORM

The sign-up is open until Dec. 06. For more info please look here.

Here is how to sign up for the Goodbye Olicity Online Gift Exchange

Please use submissions to sign up for the gift exchange. Copy the following sheet into the post and fill it out. You can delete the italic suggestions and explanations.

Your name: You don’t have to add it, but it make things more personal.

Your tumblr URL: I definitely need this to contact you.

What you will be willing to make: gifsets, graphics, collages, fanart, vids, fics, playlist, etc.

What you would like to receive: gifsets, graphics, collages, fanart, vids, fics, playlist, etc.

Would you be willing to make something extra in the event that someone backs out?: Yes/No

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Safe Mode*: Add at least two names of other participants that you feel safe creating a gift for or write “yes”, and I will check for someone who proved to be responsible in the last years. *This option is for people who have made bad experience with sharing their works, especially during Olicity Secret Santa or other gift exchanges, as well as for people with angst of sharing/dedicating their work for complete strangers. Please use this option if you feel unsafe without it.

[olicitysecretsanta]

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Please use submissions to sign up for the gift exchange. Copy the following sheet into the post and fill it out. You can delete the italic suggestions and explanations.

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What you will be willing to make: gifsets, graphics, collages, fanart, vids, fics, playlist, etc.

What you would like to receive: gifsets, graphics, collages, fanart, vids, fics, playlist, etc.

Would you be willing to make something extra in the event that someone backs out?: Yes/No

A few suggestions on what you enjoy so your Secret Santa has some ideas: Please remember these are suggestions, not requests. It is up to your Secret Santa as to what they create for you. It’s helpful to add general things of what you enjoy or not enjoy in the suggested gift, for example the rating of a fic.

Safe Mode*: Add at least two names of other participants that you feel safe creating a gift for or write “yes”, and I will check for someone who proved to be responsible in the last years. *This option is for people who have made bad experience with sharing their works, especially during Olicity Secret Santa or other gift exchanges, as well as for people with angst of sharing/dedicating their work for complete strangers. Please use this option if you feel unsafe without it.

[ruwithmeguys]

Random rant that affects no one anywhere and you can skip right past this, promise...

Quentin Lance… um.

Ok, so – I’m loving the sixth season of Arrow. It’s swiftly becoming my favourite for many reasons. It feels like this big reward. Oliver married to the love of his life and clearly much happier because of it? Check. Oliver as a learning father? Check. Oliver unrepentant in showing his clear love for these two people? Check. Oliver managing a triple life? Check. OTA, Delicity scenes, Oliver and Dig scenes and the Olicity of it all? Check x1000!

In a way, it’s similar to season 5: instead of allowing his fall into darkness, it’s showing his climb into legend.

There’s been a clear showcase of Oliver’s progression since minute one. Is he perfect? No, he’ll never be perfect. He’ll be human; messy, complicated and full of love. But he’s also the de facto leader and, whilst Felicity is the heart of the team, he is the core that surrounds the heart. The wisdom he’s dished out this year, the patience, the acceptance of help from his now wife etc, of the depth of his love for her and the way he clearly knows his life is good; it’s wonderful to see after 5 years of darkness, angst and brooding (he stills broods, but it’s softer).

And I could talk Olicity all day. Their progression together and apart has been phenomenal so far.

There’s been a clear showcase of Oliver’s progression since minute one. Is he perfect? No, he’ll never be perfect. He’ll be human; messy, complicated and full of love. But he’s also the de facto leader and, whilst Felicity is the heart of the team, he is the core that surrounds the heart. The wisdom he’s dished out this year, the patience, the acceptance of help from his now wife etc, of the depth of his love for her and the way he clearly knows his life is good; it’s wonderful to see after 5 years of darkness, angst and brooding (he stills broods, but it’s softer). Both together and apart, they’ve grow

But not all characters can progress per season. Some stand still, a stalemate. Some become a standalone; a character who detaches from a group. Some come full circle to where they were at the start, but at opposite ends of a poll. And some regress.

I honestly can’t decide if Quentin has regressed, become stagnant, gone full circle or has progressed… into a crazy person. Has his flip switched and that’s his progressive arc?

(not touching the newbies yet, just... no)

Arrow has never had a perfect season and never will; there’s a disconnect in writing when it comes to reactions, almost as if the writers are afraid that if they write too much romance or have a person react with human emotion to an event or have someone actually judge another for their actions, would invite the fury of the masses. God, why? It’s the sixth season. They know they’re getting a seventh. There should be no fear. But it’s been there since S1 so… Hopefully, in their final season, they’ll go balls to the floor. The seventh might be their final season but I only say that because I was informed that Stephen’s contract is seven seasons long. It would take quite a bit for him to agree to an eighth.

Despite this weakness, I’m still very much enjoying the show. But we all have those arcs and circles and repetitions in a story, that drive us nuts.

You guys know I’ve (all of us) have had difficulty accepting the character of LL before she was killed off. KC’s inability to project genuine empathy through her character for other characters - thought admittedly, she did with Sara after S2 - the blatant way she isn’t very giving to other characters who are focal in that particular moment and concentrates on herself in every scene she’s in (like there was a bubble around her and it became more obvious in her final season), the very poor script choices that led her into being one big contradiction and the horrid speed they had her become BC, made LL a ‘good guy’ I could barely stand the sight of.

It’s not all KC’s fault; CW brought her on board without a screen-test, believing she didn’t need one. Well done. And the writers gave her material she couldn’t work with - that most actresses would have difficulty with because it meant playing a character who couldn’t move forwards - because she didn’t have the range. Because of that, they couldn’t quite decide on her progression so her opinions changed as often as the weather does. 

There are reasons why they brought her back and it wasn’t because they missed her. Not saying anything else.

But the choice to make her a villain was genius. She does an incredible bitch and shines when she’s playing the character at her most sadistic. It hasn’t bothered me; seeing her onscreen again as LL’s evil alternate, though her demonstration as a DC villain is… incredibly camp at times. 

Very 1960s comic flamboyance and could they please understand that leather on KC - with her longs legs and shape -  makes this even worse. Notice how they keep putting her in jeans? Well, there’s a reason. Appearance is a big thing for KC; in S4 she made the make up artists and costume designers stop putting black make up over her eyes because, apparently, it was ugly. And she no longer wanted a wig because, guess what? It was ugly. So basically, she barely had a mask in S4 but they were killing her off so…

It’s clear the ‘looking good whilst performing action scenes that would make even the most beautiful person look like a pig’ still applies in her S6 role and that’s fine. It fits in with the character (Seriously, check out S4 - there’s a strip of material on her face - her hair and eyes are clear).

Gone are the days when she constantly flipped her hair back during fight scenes(?????). Gone are the times when you’d find her awkwardly standing there, bobbing up and down on the spot. Gone are the moments where an enemy would hit her or stun her and she’d make the exact same expression.

(Weirdly, her season 3 fight scenes were more convincing than her season 4 fight scenes. And no, I’m not comparing season 6 because a) BS isn’t LL and b) neither version can hold a candle to Oliver.)

It was all very fitting and I never once thought like some other people in the summer before the first episode aired, that her appearance would have anything at all to do with Oliver and it hasn’t. Like… at all. Crickets. Which is fitting. Thankfully, I haven’t seen any of that fear in months and there really shouldn’t be. There shouldn’t have been since 2014. There’s literally nothing to say about Oliver and either LL or BS and yes, they are different people. Doppelganger means look-a-like who is of a different personality and soul.

So seeing BS - once, I’d hoped LL would become a villain; she had the drive and the will and it would have been a good arc for her - be BS and not a carbon copy of the character who died, a character who wasn’t necessary to the show anymore, even as she tried damn hard to have an impact, was gratifying.

Until it wasn’t.

Until it really, really wasn’t.

It’s one long repeat of 5.10 and I thought she was better in 5.10.

I’m not a fan of the character, because AGAIN – bad script choices. Maybe not the best acting either (and some of her fans agree with that btw). But she isn’t a main villain, so it didn’t matter.

Then Quentin Lance decided, for some unfathomable reason, that she was IN FACT his dead daughter come back to life.

Now, I figured BS would have a plot line of her own or something that would make her a credible threat. A reason for her to be in the sixth season beyond someone else’s plot. Turns out, she doesn’t. She just owes her life to Cayden James and whoever was pulling the strings. She just likes hurting people.

What I didn’t know was that BS WAS a plot line… for Quentin. She’s his season 6 story.

Do you remember what his story was last year? The year before? Let’s have a quick look:

S1: crotchety, deeply unhappy detective who lost a daughter - his favourite - and the grief still affects him 5 years later and whose wife divorced him. I liked this version of him: it held potential. You understood why he was the way he was and accepted it. You knew he’d become an ally eventually and each step into him trusting the vigilante was thrilling. Laurel was his only connection to the happy man he’d once been and how did he repay that connection? With over-protectiveness. With judgement. With years of alcohol abuse, meaning she’d have vivid memories of having to cart him home and get him sober. He may have done his best, what he could, as a man, but as a father? He kind of let her down. So did her mother by leaving and choosing grief over love. But he and LL were similar. Too similar.

S2: he’s sober. He’s willing to work for peace with the Arrow. He’s reaching for better and he’s enjoying it… he’s watching his daughter spiral into the same kind of pit he’s fallen into, only it’s worse because he’s played a hand in it. And he can’t judge her for it. And it’s not just alcohol and oh God, how does he help her? His second daughter returns and for a moment everything is perfect, except LL is the opposite. Sara’s return meant every betrayal was brought back to the surface and he watched one daughter emotionally crucify another.

S3: He’s a captain now and he’s EARNED it. He’s made waves with the Arrow. Both his daughter’s are alive and this is where the cycle starts.

Sara dies. Again.

And LL – in her infinite wisdom – keeps it from him. Now initially, she feared for his heart. But for a long time after he was given a clean bill of health, she still maintained the lie when she had no reason to keep it from him. There was more than once, where she insinuated she enjoyed playing Sara (JHSGAJDVA) because it meant keeping her alive (AHSAJDV) and that she needed the mask. Regardless, it’s a betrayal - because no one has the right to keep the death of a child from the parent - and when he does find out, he goes off the rails and targets Oliver. Makes his life miserable. Has a hand in some of what happens at the end and per Lance logic, never pays for them.

(Do the writers think that their grief means they can do and say things destroy and hurt others? I do wonder. All the time.)

S4: he’s made a deal with the devil. To keep his daughter safe, undermining her choice to be a vigilante. Then she dies and he feels deep guilt and grief.

S5: he’s a deep, understandable wound that made him leave Donna, who he’s crazy about, and return to the booze. He gets therapy and tries to move forwards. He sees BS for what she is: an abomination of his daughter and shows some progression, has some amazing scenes with Rene and we think it’s literally the start of something new for Quentin…

S6: HE’S IN A DEEP GRIEF/GUILT SPIRAL ABOUT BS WHO IS SUDDENLY HIS DAUGHTER AFTER HE SHOT HER BECAUSE SHE WASN’T AND MUST MAKE HER BECOME HIS DAUGHTER WHO DIED BECAUSE HE CAN’T HEAL UNLESS SHE BECOMES HIS DAUGHTER…

Every season, Quentin’s story becomes more and more about his daughters, until he doesn’t have a story – or life – of his own.

Like Curtis, with his constant lack of story line, making it so that he has to continuously pilfer from Felicity’s.

Like with Thea - though this is more on Willa’s life the past couple of years than the writers - who has had no real storyline or love interest since S4.

Diggle is different: he seems to have a season that pays attention to him, then a season where he steps back. I fully expect for S7 to either be a season where he has nearly zero focus - after several episodes already in season 6 where he’s been focal - or, if it’s the last, to be integral once more. I’m not really fused at this point; just grateful for the focus but I do question some of the writers choices this season.

(DIVERGING FOR A HOT SECOND: Diggle’s drug abuse was rushed. Horribly so. For the first time, though I love his character, I thought Dig deserved to re-earn some trust. Looks like he’s allowed to endanger the team because he’s Diggle. He puts himself on a pedestal that’s hard to stay on top of and yet, he falls off it and doesn’t feel too badly about it? How uncharacteristic. He has reasons he deemed good enough. He asked Felicity to lie for him, knowing Olicity’s history. He stopped being an addict fast too. I mean I know he’s awesome but… didn’t you want Lyla to slap him round the head? And for Felicity to be angry that he kept this from her amongst other things? And this sudden (literally came from out of left field) desire for him to BE Green Arrow which we all know he can never be??? Never mind…)

But this is what happens when there are too many characters and only 1 hour per episode, even without FB’s.

So, Quentin! What gives?

If this SL doesn’t end in Quentin getting some therapy, or even a mention of something similar - or even his death, which I don’t want to happen but might because narrative cues indicate it as a possibility (or maybe we’ll just see how E2 Quentin died in fb’s) - then it’s an assassination of character. He’s completely forgotten that the body of his real daughter lies in a grave he cried over and every single time he calls BS his daughter and looks at her lovingly, even as she stares at him like he’s lost the plot and tells him I’M NOT HER, I feel a tad sick. What’s worse is that – as per the Lance logic rule – not a single character has told him he’s become a creepy git. I actually felt a little sorry for BS because psychologically hounding a person isn’t right no matter who you’re hounding.

Plus, you know, BS is a sadistic serial killer and Laurel, for all her faults - for being selfish, for suffering from such extreme tunnel vision that she often disregarded the people around her and for the way she put people on pedestals that she herself couldn’t stand on (KC actually said this about LL) - wasn’t.

So what is it that Quentin is trying to accomplish?

The best possible answer to this would be that he wants her to - like Helena who isn’t close to BS level crazy - repent and pay for crimes, to aim for goodness.

Horrifyingly I don’t think that’s the case (unless he knows something we don’t and ‘seeing his daughter in her eyes’ is not one of those things). I hope it is…

But what does this mean?

The scene at the end of 6.13, with Quentin and BS in the car was chilling because, more than it showing how very much BS didn’t want to be there, the moment made me see Quentin in a mentally unstable way. Though it might be a hope too far to reach, I’m hoping there’s something in this past his desperation to save the look-a-like of his daughter.

Because, you see; he didn’t treat Laurel the way he should have at times. This is all guilt fuelled. He loved his daughter. If it was just grief, he wouldn’t be doing it like this. Or at all. But his guilt and desperation led him on a mission. He wants to save her soul. But you can’t save a person who doesn’t want to be saved. Narratively speaking anyway. Knowing the changeability of the writers in regards to the Lance, she’ll have gone through a 180 change by the next one, but they know – as well as we do – that KC is best as a villain so, what’s going on?

I’m almost intrigued. BUT. If this is all the storyline Quentin is going to get, then he might as well go off with Donna into the sunset. Or have BS kill him out of irritation. Really, what a waste.

And believe it or not, I mean this for both Quentin and BS.

In Greek and Roman mythos, sirens are dangerous creatures that lure sailors with their singing to shipwreck and often, kill them. Everything about them is supposed to de seductive, from their voice, to their faces and their talents and… that wasn’t really what we’ve been shown so far, save for ONE scene. Wouldn’t it have been thrilling to have a villain who looks the spit of a dead friend but who goes about twisting men around her finger before killing them? I would have had her go after Felicity too, because they were great in their face-off 5.10.

And Quentin? There was one other, very small element to season 6 that made me happy for him. He and Oliver have stepped into the light together. He stood by him as a father figure at his wedding. PROGRESSION that was immediately destroyed soon afterwards.

Now, I will never undermine loss. And a parent’s loss (like a child’s) is vastly different from any other. A parent, who loves their children, should never have to outlive a child they have raised. If they do, how unimaginable must it be for them to loose a chunk of their hearts like that? So, in a very real sense I can’t empathise with Quentin about his loss. I can believe it might unhinge him and therefore make him attempt to do the things he normally wouldn’t. In one form or another, he’s lost both daughters. Maybe he’s just cracked in half.

I find it interesting however, that they (the writers, producers, show runners etc) give Quentin this latitude, but Oliver - who has systematically lost his father, Shado, Slade, island woman with bad acting, Tommy, his mother, his sister (who was in a coma without hope of recovery) and, emotionally for a time, Felicity - hasn’t.

Thea too, who’s lost almost as much.

In the crossover, there was a brief scene between Oliver and the evil version of Tommy, where Oliver DID try to make him see the light. But the way they filmed it, felt more like he was saying ‘you can change. You can try to be good, like my Tommy was. In this earth, we were best friends who both loved the same woman and you died for that woman. Don’t let what’s happened to your home, happen here.’ It’s very close to Quentin’s actions but it’s also vastly different.

Quentin is trying – hard – to convince BS that she IS his daughter. That she has her personality. That BS is as good as LL was, baffling regardless of her actions. That she can kill and defile his daughter’s reputation, because she IS his daughter.

How does one transfer real emotion onto a stranger and smile about it Quentin?

But, since Arrow doesn’t always hit the nail on the head, chances are this is viewed as Ok behaviour. …Which means I’m probably not going to get what I want.

I’m not even saying that BS can’t be redeemed, but to do it like this? Who says she can’t suddenly WANT to be good - she’d have to go to great lengths to make us understand how she could take deep, obvious pleasure in murdering a person yet want to be good after so much not good and good luck with that - for herself.

To make it about LL and NOT about BS eradicates BS’s identity, which is what bothers me about KC’s fans. They really don’t care at all about her character: they just want her on screen as much as possible. And since almost every comment about her focuses on a particular comic romance that has been dead on the show since S2, I can see it reflected in the writers - though they are being kinder than most think - investment in this character and why it hasn’t travelled beyond Quentin in season 6.

I didn’t want Quentin defined by BS. Just as I didn’t want BS defined by the two things that LL was defined by.

Her family. The Past.

Now... we all know that, to some degree, Lance is going to get what he wants because, I think this is his way to healing. It’s deeply disturbing and about 100 degrees opposite what I wanted to see from him. 

He feels that if he saves this version of his daughter, then he can move on but, unfortunately, doing so means projecting LL onto BS and it’s clear the writers are going with that for now. Doesn’t mean she’s redeemed. it does mean she has Quentin in her corner.

And because she does... because she has information... he’s going to drag OTA into it... and this will set off a Dinah shaped bomb with attack dog and whatever the frack Curtis is at them and this will be the end of any hope in reconciliation between the two teams.

Seriously.

And, with the way the newbies have been behaving the last few episodes, I won’t even be sorry.

Remember Rene broke the trust first and Oliver responded badly. But then as if to prove Oliver right, Rene makes damn sure he knows he can’t be depended on... and blames Oliver. Every episode since, where Oliver offered an olive branch, they basically threw it in his face. Now they through digs - no honour or respect or maturity. OF COURSE BS WILL BE USED TO MAKE THIS WORSE.

LL, BS - whichever form of the same woman appears, you can bet Quentin will do something where he aims for peace but causes destruction. Or he aims for justice and gets everyone hurt.

If they do redeem her, she needs to do time for her crimes, which are large. And they start where? E2. If it happens, then I’d have her go back to E2 and redeem. But I really wanted a villain. I honestly don’t see how they could convince me of anything else.

No, they are not setting her up to become BC - no matter how far Dinah sinks, she’ll still be BC. That’s not what they’re doing.

But who knows, maybe they won’t. Maybe she’ll be consistent for once, and prove that she loves the way she is and won’t change because of the look-a-like of her father and she wins there. Unlike Quentin, she sees a man who looks and sounds like her father but she is under no delusion of who he is. It’s why she’s been able to hurt him.

And we’re only up to episode 13 *rubs hands together* - I may sound all sorts of confused and negative with the above SL but it doesn’t mean I’m not invested. I want to see what they do with this but depending on how it’s handled, will mean whether I give even a small crap about Quentin in the future.