Oliver Queen and Laurel Lance were the It Couple when they starred on the Disney Channel TV show Shipwreck High (a title that would unfortunately become oddly prophetic when Oliver Queen disappears at sea two years later). Felicity knows this because she used to watch it every day after school with the girl she babysat (the theme song is so damn catchy). Oliver’s disappearance—with Laurel’s sister, the scandal—threw her career into a tailspin. Felicity’s own career happens by accident and because her friend Curtis needs some help with special effects. It’s not a SAG project, so when they need a speaking part, she’s thrown in front of a camera and somehow draws notice of an agent. Felicity never considered acting, but in some ways she’s been acting her entire life. She’s fresh-faced and bubbly and casting directors adore her.
She meets Oliver at one of the first parties he attends after his return and majestically manages to stuff her entire foot into her own mouth. Which certainly makes an impression because her agent is getting calls encouraging her to take a part in Oliver’s new project.
A project also starring Laurel Lance, making her return to the big screen after years of toiling away in legal procedurals.
What.
Felicity’s cynical enough to see Oliver’s game and know what he’s doing: he’s bringing in the ingénue to the project and Laurel to prove he’s forgiven, and it’s going to be hella awkward. She knows Sara and Laurel Lance made up years ago when the other woman was found on a ship that had rescued her, but still, Felicity really isn’t sure she wants to be anywhere near the reunion of the Disney Channel perfect pair. Laurel’s supposed to be difficult to work with and catty besides, and Oliver was definitely flirting with Felicity at that party. As much as her agent is drooling over this project, Felicity knows she should turn it down, even though her chemistry test with Oliver proves to be off the charts.
Oliver, whose money is backing the project, wheedles and begs until she caves. Felicity walks up to the production offices for rehearsal and absolutely crashes into Laurel Lance, spilling the woman’s coffee all over both of them. The shots the paparazzi get are damning: Laurel looking down at her ruined Gucci top, frowning, with both hands raised in a pure ‘wtf?’ gesture. Of course, they don’t show the shots from a split-second later where Laurel shakes her head ruefully and laughs it off, and introduces herself to a mortified and stammering Felicity. Combined with shots two days later where Oliver’s got a friendly arm slung around Felicity’s shoulders and Laurel is squinting at them thanks to the sun in her eyes, the pictures seal the deal: there’s a feud for Oliver Queen’s affections and it’s between the rising star and half of the former Disney Channel It Couple.
For the entire shoot, new pictures show up every day that paint a rivalry between the women. Tabloids take sides, they start Twitter wars with portmanteaus, and suddenly everybody is waaaaaay too interested in Felicity’s sex life. But weirdly enough, not actually all that perceptive about what’s actually happening. They’re not followed on the afternoon Laurel casually asks if Felicity wants to get coffee. People claim it’s a publicity stunt when they show up on the red carpet together. Nobody gets any shots of Felicity sneaking out to her car before six a.m. on a Saturday morning still in last night’s dress (which is a good thing because she doesn’t notice the hickey until she gets home thanks Laurel).
When Oliver starts dating the heiress to the Bertinelli hotel fortune, tabloids scream that he threw both Felicity and Laurel over. The pair of them laugh about it in the penthouse suite at the Monte Carlo Bertinelli Hotel, which Helena kindly loans to them for making the introduction to Oliver for her.
They do eventually get outed and the world screams about the former Disney Channel star being gay—“Bisexual,” Laurel grumbles. “I’m bisexual.”—and corrupting Felicity. In revenge, they get a puppy and set up an Instagram for the dog, which earns way more followers than either of them has basically overnight. Maybe now the press will stop claiming they’re in a lifelong feud.
Felicity’s pretty sure if she doesn’t stop humming the theme to Shipwreck High, though, the feud might just become real. She’s lucky she’s cute.
It’s so much fun to mess with @liferuinerwilliamdarcy. I swear, all you have to do is talk about Carmilla the Corellian smuggler and she’s down on the floor whimpering.
Anybody want to do that thing where you send me a...
The only way the realization could have hit Felicity harder was if NSYNC started singing Bi Bi Bi right in front of her.
And she must have groaned too loud, too, because Barry immediately swiveled around on the heels of his cute Converse sneakers and gawked at her, his mouth dropping open.
“Shut up!” Felicity hissed, though he hadn’t said anything.
His mouth bobbed open and shut a few times like a fish’s, and finally he hissed back, “I don’t have to say anything because I know that look—I have seen that look in the mirror for years, and I saw her first!”
“It’s not like I can help it!” Felicity said, though she wanted to lay her head down on the coffee shop table right there and moan because: of course she was bi and suddenly all of those not-so-innocent fantasies about Sara and her abs and her everything made so much more sense and why hadn’t she realized this sooner, she went to freaking MIT for god’s sakes and...
In the background, Iris dashed around, bringing coffee orders to people and completely unaware that she was the reason Barry Allen was giving Felicity Smoak a grumpy look, and that Felicity Smoak was having an existential crisis.
#wow this photoset succinctly sums up why i hate olicity in s3 soooo much
#becasue they are NOT SOULMATES
#that is the whole point of olicity is that they are not star crossed lovers or destined to be together
#they were an accident
#serendipitous
#sorry guys im grumpy today and this photoset came at a bad time
We have very different definitions of soulmates. Oliver and Felicity (whether on good terms or bad) always bring out the best in one another. They always have each others backs, they protect one another, they call each other out when they feel the other has done wrong, they love each other, they are loyal to one another, are honest, and are deeply affected by one another.
Soulmates aren't always star crossed or destined to be with one another. Hell, we don't even know if Oliver/Felicity will end up together. But what we do know is that they're best for one another and when they do get together, it's because they choose each other. Not because they're destined. That is what a soulmate is in my books.
And honestly, I don't know why you would reblog my graphic just to hate on it. smh
Rub a Dub Dub #2. (I deserve a gold star for resisting asking #1 for Ex-Girlfriend Club). Actually also #1 for The Wingman because THAT NEEDS AN EXPLANATION STAT
Rub a Dub Dub #2: What’s my favorite part of the fic?
Definitely the part where they're in the ice bath together. I just loved writing the description for that, and Oliver touching Felicity's face and her being like GAH COLD. Though the final scene where she's basically just like move over I'm coming in, and she brings food, is also a favorite.
Ex-Girlfriend Club #1: What was my inspiration for this fic? How did it come to me?
GEE I WONDER.
The Wingman #1: What was my inspiration for this fic? How did it come to me?
My inspiration for this fic was probably episode 3.7 or something of Chuck. I wrote it for the Google Group, who was not having a good season. I'd assumed things would get better with Shaw. They did not. I did not know at the time how much worse they would get with Shaw, or with Morgan. I was clinging steadfastly to my hope that Shaw was a double-agent all along (rather than the nightmare we got).
laurel and sara, handcuffed together. bonus points if you can work in a mention of them being huge fans of Jane Villanueva's writing. me actually working on The Thing if you can work in even more jane references
The Important Things, 631 words, rated PG, the Canaries have the night off. Too bad the bad guys didn’t know that. Sorry, Frissy, I read your prompt wrong. I hope you like what I did instead.
“How’s it going, by the way?”
Laurel looks up toward the ceiling as though expecting Digg to be up there rather than coming through the earbuds that the cartel henchmen hadn’t even known to look for. It makes sense. Neither she nor Sara is wearing the signature leather tonight since it’s their night off. Starling City can live without its Canary for one night.
Except that it apparently can’t because even off-duty, they make trouble.
“Going all right, Digg,” Sara says, amusement lacing her voice. “They left us a deck of cards.”
There’s a pause on the other end of the line. Laurel can actually hear Diggle’s brain whirling as he tries to process this news.
“You’re playing cards?”
“Go Fish,” Laurel says.
“You’re not…trying to escape?”
Laurel nods, even though Diggle can’t hear them. “Honestly, the room they’re keeping us in doesn’t smell that bad.”
“Yeah, it’s actually kind of pleasant, once you get past the faint aroma of sewage.”
The sisters grin at each other, shrugging. Diggle’s still silent, possibly gobsmacked. Laurel likes that word. “And it’s not like we have anywhere to go,” she says, keeping up the charade. “The movie we were trying to see wasn’t that interesting.”
“Lots of explosions.”
“Too many men. Except for the token babe.”
“She’ll probably die in the first ten minutes,” Sara says, tugging Laurel’s arm over as she pulls two cards out of her hand and places them on the concrete by her knee. Yet another pair. She’s got all four Jacks. The Jack of Hearts seems to sneer at Laurel. “The stunt work will be good, though, you have to admit that.”
“But is it really enough to save the film?” Laurel asks, and Sara grins.
Diggle lets out a low laugh. “You’re in an unexpected hostage situation,” he says. “Need I remind you.”
“We’ll get out of here just fine. No reason to hurry,” Sara says.
“Do you even want backup?” Diggle asks.
The sisters think about it for a minute. “No,” Laurel says. The handcuffs connecting her right wrist to Sara’s left wrist are annoying, but when Sara decides to get rid of them, they’ll be fine. “You should stay with your daughter. Blow some raspberries for us.”
“If you say so,” Diggle says.
“Wait.” Sara suddenly grabs Laurel’s wrist. “It’s Jane night! Diggle, we’re gonna need that backup after all.”
“Who’s Jane?”
“Only Sara’s new crush,” Laurel says, and Sara wrinkles her nose. “Does Nyssa know about your thing for Gina Rodriguez?”
“Oh, like you don’t ogle Rafael just as hard,” Sara says, gathering up the cards even though Laurel was ahead in the game. “Diggle, get ready to provide support for explosions. I don’t want to risk missing it. Laurel’s DVR has been acting up lately.”
There’s another, longer pause on the other end of the line. “You’re motivated to bust loose because of a TV show?” he asks.
“Not just any TV show.” And just like that, Sara easily slips the handcuffs off (she must have been picking the lock while playing cards, the damned stinker) and gives Laurel a smirk. “Ready to go, sis? Justin Baldoni’s abs aren’t going to wait forever.”
They both hear Diggle’s grumble about Canaries, and mutually decide to ignore it, apparently. Laurel does see a gleam of determination in Sara’s eye as she leads the way out of their cell. Whether it’s about breaking free or the goal of getting Diggle to watch their favorite TV show with them, Laurel has no idea. But she figures with Sara, it pretty much shakes even, any way you play it.
They only miss the first five minutes of the show. The drug cartel that kidnapped them, however, will be missing half of its leadership hierarchy for years.
