#arrow psa

[absentlyabbie]

Hello New Folks

So there was a sudden rush of new followers while I was sleeping, presumably because of the Olicity fic.

So I feel obligated to warn you new friends here for Arrow and Olicity of what you’ll get with my blog re: Arrow.

I ship Olicity, and I fic for it, but I have been mainly living in my crackships of late, Flommy (Felicity/Tommy) and Smoaking Billionaires (Oliver/Felicity/Tommy), so you’ll definitely see quite a bit of that. 

Also canon and I had a bad breakup earlier this month and while I am at present very much done with the show (and not returning unless I hear the writing has enormously improved from whatever the hell this year was), fandom and I are still having a mad, torrid affair. So I’ll be tag metaing all over the place, reblogging gifsets, and ficcing til my fingers fall off. Just--nothing from season 3. As far as I’m concerned, there’s a million and one AUs branching off in the summer of ‘14, and that’s where I’m content to live.

If you enjoyed this season and the direction the story and characters took? Awesome, you do you, we need not clash about it. Any posts I make discussing my dissatisfaction will be conveniently tagged “arrowcrit” for your blacklisting purposes.

However, if any of that is a Hard Nope for you, feel free to hit the escape hatch now before we grow attached to one another. No hard feelings kept. :)

All that said, I do hope you enjoy yourself here.

[absentlyabbie]

Arrow PSA

This is your friendly weekly Wednesday reminder that I am a vocally critical fan and deeply unhappy with this season. If you’re digging it, that’s fine, but I’m not and if you just don’t want to see that, add “arrowcrit” to your blacklists because that’s what I tag any critical/dissatisfied liveblogs or reaction posts.

[absentlyabbie]

Dear New Followers

Most of you are here because of Arrow in one fashion or another, so this is the standard pre-episode PSA:

I am a critical fan

Vocally

I tend to liveblog (spoilers are tagged in the obvious method)

Critical posts are tagged #arrowcrit for blacklisting purposes

The unfollow button is also an option, no hard feelings attached

Forewarned is forearmed.

(This gif goes here, because, well. Arms. Damn.)

[absentlyabbie]

If you hate 'Arrow' so much, why do you watch it?

Ahhh, I was waiting for this.

I don’t hate Arrow. I loved the show, in fact, for the last two years. Do I hate the direction it’s taking? Yes, yes I do. Do I feel like Guggenheim and friends are running it into the ground with terrible writing and toxic tropes and irresponsible storytelling?

But I am still a fan. What I am, however, is a critical fan. I analyze the media I consume, hold it to a standard of good, responsible storytelling, and when it fails to meet those standards (when it does really dumb shit like ignore its own established continuity or go against established characterization), I call the bullshit as I see it.

It’s not hate to want the stories I am being told to be better.

It’s not hate to be dissatisfied, or to call out problems where they exist.

Does it look like I might (soon) reach the point where Arrow becomes less something I can enjoy than something that disappoints me? Does it look like I might soon reach the point where I have to stop holding onto the hope that some miraculous turnaround might happen and we could return to good stories and characters I recognize and like?

But I’m not there yet.

If I let go, I’ll let go in my own time. If I have to grieve what this show has become, I’ll do it on my own timetable, however I need to. And I’ll be critical of the media I consume until the moment I stop consuming it (and very probably after, too.)

But look, if you want to uncomplicatedly enjoy your shit without examining it, reading below its surface, and reconstructing its problem areas to see where it went wrong and how it could have been better

More power to you.

Sometimes mindless entertainment is all we need a thing to be.

And sometimes we need it to be more than that, better than that.

And you don’t get to decide for anyone else how they should or should not enjoy or consume their media. You don’t get to tell other people to stop participating in something just because their dissatisfaction is harshing your buzz.

But I’ve invested a lot of time and energy into this show and fandom, and I can’t just yank out all those roots clean and instant, pack up my toys and walk away. And nobody gets to try and do it for me. I’ll let go when I’m ready to let go—or I won’t if I’m not.

If my criticism of Arrow bursts your bubble or puts a sour taste in your mouth, follow your own advice. You don’t have to watch me make it.

[absentlyabbie]

I've already run off one person with my vague dissatisfaction, so it's time to announce again:

ARROW FOLLOWERS

I AM A CRITICAL FAN

I WILL BLOG ABOUT THE THINGS WHICH DISSATISFY ME AND WHICH ARE BULLSHIT

I will call out bad writing and misogyny and fridging and inconsistent characterization.

And no, I don't tend to focus on the happy Olicity feels over it, though yeah, I do ship it. Because this show this season has been a boatload more disappointment than it's been anything else and so it makes enjoying the other things really difficult.

If you cannot handle it, you may want to just go ahead and hit the door.

[absentlyabbie]

Arrow things you may want to go ahead and unfollow me over

I adore Sara Lance, and if she dies I will be fucking furious

I like Laurel Lance, and if I don’t quite love her, I support the SHIT out of her and getting her better storylines, more screentime, actual happiness

When the season is airing, I will be posting criticism of the writing as I see fit, generally over: misogyny; fridging; plotholes the size of Helicarriers; inconsistent character writing; prioritization of romance over plot or characterization (I swear to fucking Christ, if all I get from Felicity’s stories this season is all tied back to Oliver or whoever she’s romantically involved with, there will be hell)

I need more Thea Queen, and less manpain

my fic generally focuses through the lens of Felicity Smoak; she’s my favorite character. This is not always the case, but generally

I multiship like a motherfucker (Felicity/Oliver, Felicity/Tommy, Felicity/Barry, Felicity/Diggle, Oliver/Felicity/Tommy, Oliver/Felicity/Diggle, assorted OT3s and minor ships; non-Felicity ships I dig but don’t generally write are Sara/Nyssa, Laurel/Tommy, Thea/Sin, Diggle/Lyla, assorted others)

Absolutely NO character/ship/actor bashing tolerated. NONE. Get the fuck out with that shit