#even ur brain which is like No Thank You!!!!!! also just has this horrible compelling ITCH in it that. just kinda makes you wanna :)

[darklygophilia]

Hi I enjoyed ur narcissist personality for LL meta and I thought it made a lot of sense. One thing that's always baffled me with arrow was the "friendship" I was expected to buy bet LL/FS. It was an inherited connection from SL. a scene in 4:04 when thea made a comment about F not wearing something, the moment passes and then later on LL asks what thea meant ,it was on her mind. I want to pick ur brain and ask ur opinion on this friendship as well as their interactions throughout the seasons.

Why thank you! :) I’m glad you enjoyed it. In terms of the Laurel character there are exactly two ways to view her: as she is (as she was written, even if such an interpretation of dislike was not intended by the writers) OR as she could’ve/should’ve been! 

The fanfic story, “The Ways of the Universe” by CyberQueens is really good at writing Laurel as the writers should’ve written her (it’s also an Olicity story with a nice Laurel that I truly enjoy). Cyber Queen’s other fanfic “To Be a Bird of Prey” is really good about writing a more positive, less selfish Laurel. Check both stories out!

But, those stories are how the writers of the show SHOULD’VE written Laurel - as a positive, supportive, guest, female character. In terms of how Laurel really is in terms of how the show creators really made her seem (the Narcissist Laurel) is really well explored in BookofLife’s fanfics, “What Wouldn’t I Do” AND “Indecent Proposal.” Both these stories are really good at addressing Laurel’s delusions of who she is as a character as well as her delusions surrounding her history & past relationship with Ollie.

It was BookofLife’s fanfics that really inspired me to write my “Laurel Narcissist” meta. B/c it shows LL as she was created by the writers but it blatantly addresses her issues (& what makes her such a horrible character) instead of ignoring those issues & never having LL face any consequneces like the show did!!!

As for the friendship between Felicity/Laurel, or really, Laurel with any of Team Arrow characters, always rang false to me. B/c we never really saw it develop naturally. One minute LL was a wild card, often a threat to Team Arrow in terms of how they did things, the next thing we know, characters like Felicity & Digg are all about “Support Team Laurel.” The writers KNEW LL was disliked by the majority of the fans so they tried to appeal to them by connecting LL positively with the shows most loved characters, IE: Thea, Felicity & Digg!

Essentially, Thea, Felicity, & Digg were all used as props to help build LL up as a character, which made their relationships with LL feel false & in a way manipulative. After all, LL roped in Felicity to help her lie to Lance about Sara’s death; there were quite a few times when LL turned to Felicity for tech-help which made LL seem presumptuous b/c in the past LL had treated Felicity/Digg like “the help.”

The writers wanted to appeal to the audience to like LL more by connecting her to more well-liked characters. That’s all. There was no REAL relationship between LL or any other character. They did the same thing with LL in S1 when it was clear that she wasn’t liked by most of the audience (she was too cold, too harsh, too bitter, & too judgmental) - so they connected her to Tommy (who, to this day is still a fav. of the show)!

KC often played up her heart-eyes in any scenes she had with Amell/Ollie, which was always funny & weird cause Amell always looked so awkward (ever notice how he almost never looks Laurel in the eye in their scenes together, he’s always looking over her shoulder or off to the side most of the time). Amell, openly admitted that he couldn’t take Lauriver scenes seriously & that working with KC was always “awkward.”

Your comment, “It was an inherited connection from SL.” First, I’m assuming you’re referring to Sara Lance? If so, then yes, you’re spot on, on that! That’s b/c Laurel’s character pretty much took over Sara’s role on the show. Sara was the perfect Canary (or if you’re me, she will always be my true Black Canary). She had the training, the tragic arc & back story, a great love (Nyssa) & a purpose (she fought for women). But Laurel has the comic book name, which apparently makes her special, so Sara HAS to die & LL takes her place. The problem is LL does not have the proper training (& the training she does have is not enough nor is it believable in any way shape or form; in fact KC’s double almost always did the fight scenes b/c KC never has the physicality to do them like Amell or Lotz, both of whom almost always do their own stunts & fight scenes).

Laurel’s backstory/history I often found paralleled that of say Slade Wilson or Malcolm Merlyn...

Think about it!

Slade, Malcolm, & LL - ALL lost tragic love! 

Slade lost Shado!

Malcolm lost is wife!

LL lost Tommy, later Sara, & as we learn in 4x19 her drug/alcohol addiction was really caused by Ollie leaving again - he actually felt shame for how Lauriver treated Tommy so he ran into exile - & she was NOT in fact upset over Tommy!

Laurel is embittered, harsh, wants revenge! Slade wanted to hurt Oliver & everyone Oliver loves b/c of Shado’s death! Malcolm wanted to destroy the Glades b/c of his wife’s murder! In S2 LL wants revenge against the Hood for Tommy’s death (even though Tommy died saving HER life & the Hood had literally nothing to do with Tommy’s death). In S3 LL wants revenge for Sara’s death (she’s also very bitter & angry w Oliver throughout S3)!

Are you seeing the parallels?

Seriously, every time LL lost someone or things didn’t go her way, she would get angry, do her own thing even if it was stupid & put her & others in jeopardy, she’d lash out, go on this whole revenge kick, etc. Which is exactly how Slade & Malcolm acted as villains!

Laurel was written like a villain, but the show promoted her like hero. The complete contradiction of how the show wrote LL (villain-like) & how we were expected to see her (as some paragon of good) was what made Laurel’s character so fucking inconsistent!

This was why I think LL would’ve actually benefited from being turned into a villain, but as Black Siren has proved, she’s not even compelling as a bad guy (especially in comparison to the Adrian Chase who’s freaking awesome as a villain). If anything BS is villain-light.

Throughout S4 KC/LL would essentially stand to the side, in the background, with her arms crossed & an angry look on her face. That’s it. She wasn’t even brought into the Team, she had to push her way on it! Oliver willingly brought Digg & Felicity onto the Team, it was HIS choice (he’d done research on them & figured they could help him the most, what with Digg’s history as a soldier & Felicity’s capabilities with tech). Oliver also brought Sara onto the Team (b/c he got into a relationship with her, though later Felicity & Digg accept her onto the Team). Oliver only brought Roy onto the Team cause he didn’t know how else to help Roy control the Marikuru. Oliver only told Thea he was the Arrow b/c Malcolm threatened to, so Oliver told her before Malcolm could! Thea didn’t officially join the Team until Oliver was presumed dead & Thea was essentially invited onto the Team by Felicity, Roy, & Digg. Even the new recruits in S5 were brought in by Felicity after Oliver agreed to it! Laurel was the only one who wasn’t invited onto Team Arrow. She basically showed up & that was that. Which was probably why it felt like she never really earned her place on the Team or as Black Canary. Lack of training, lack of Team Work (she often went off & did her own thing despite other Team Members asking her not to) - LL was never a Team player (she just wanted it to be her & Ollie). Essentially, the consistency of the plot would bend to the LL character b/c otherwise it made no sense why she was there other than the fact that it had to do with her being from the comics, & even then she’s nothing like the Black Canary from the comics!