Yes, Curtis did plan the whole thing, I'm not excusing him. I'm simply saying that they didn't have to get drunk. They could have had a cup or two of wine and everything would have been fine. There would have been no drunken sex. However, THEY chose to drink more than they could handle. Just because Curtis hoped for them to get drunk, it doesn't mean they had to go along with it.

Ok. I’m only going to get into this one more time.

Of course they didn’t “have to” get drunk. No one ever has to get drunk. No one ever has to get high or overeat or a whole ton of other things. Yet we do it anyway. Because we’re human and we fuck up all the time. But blaming a drunk person for being unable to consent is not okay. It doesn’t matter how they got drunk. It doesn’t matter where they were, or how much they drank, or what they were wearing, or if they started it.

“Well she should have left-” “Well she shouldn’t have drank so much-”



Stop. That is victim blaming. You’re victim blaming.

I hate the drunk sex, okay? I’m mad as hell it happened. It shouldn’t have happened, and it shouldn’t have been romanticized but this kind of gross storytelling is nothing new to Ol*city and their writers. I made a whole post about Ol*city and its pattern of substance abuse. This is not the first time Felicity has abused substances (or at least joked about doing so) to cope with her feelings for Oliver, and that is extremely dangerous and unhealthy for her as a character and for the writers to promote. With this flashback now officially part of canon, I don’t understand how these two characters are continuing to work together after it happened, but I’m also aware this flashback wasn’t planned probably until about halfway through the season because these writers never think about the logistics of anything and continuity is a joke to them.

Just…I know this might sound rich considering the character, but try to put yourself in her shoes for a moment. She’s been tricked into having dinner and wine alone with her ex. Her ex that she’s trying to continue a friendly relationship with. Her ex that she still felt she loved before the breakup even if it was a toxic as hell relationship. She’s probably uncomfortable, even anxious, so what does she do? Drink some wine, of course. It’s supposed to help with nerves isn’t it? And Oliver’s drinking too, so this can’t be so bad. It’s not awkward, they don’t have to make it awkward.

Unless Felicity believes she has a substance abuse problem (which again, I think is pretty open to interpret it that way even though I am sure it is not the intent of the writers whatsoever), she’s not going to be watching her intake all that carefully. She’s probably trying to keep the conversation going while attempting to blot Curtis’ earlier matchmaking remarks from her mind. Oliver’s not looking at her a certain way, he can’t be, they’ve moved on from that. They’re just friends. Stop questioning it, have more wine.

Next thing you know, the wine’s gone and she’s more than a little drunk. She’s a lot drunk and totally forgets herself and her convictions.

From Oliver’s side, he’s much more likely to drink when Felicity is around and drinking with him. It’s a pattern, and that’s bad. And again, Curtis went to the trouble of getting them wine, so it’d be rude to let it go to waste, right? He and Felicity haven’t spent time together like this in forever, and it’s nice and she’s not mad at him for once, he’s really enjoying himself. Maybe they can still salvage their relationship - because he still believes it to be worth salvaging even though we all think he’s much better off without it. And then Felicity approaches him and he’s not thinking “wait, is she really in control of herself right now?”, he’s thinking “this is what I’ve been hoping for for months”. (At least I think. I have no idea how this fits in with Arrow 100. Maybe after they sober up and Felicity makes clear it was a mistake, he starts reevaluating his life choices like we’ve been wishing he would since season 3. Again, what continuity?)

Was it a smart idea to get drunk? No, not really. Do I blame Felicity for getting drunk and what resulted? No, absolutely not. I don’t blame either of them, because blaming an intoxicated person for the unplanned or unwanted sex they have is victim blaming.

This kind of thinking is what makes Thea afraid Tommy will hate her after she tries to kiss him in s1 while drunk. This kind of thinking is what makes women (and men!) everywhere afraid to come forward with their stories because the answer will be “well you shouldn’t have been drinking, you should’ve known this would happen”.

We will not agree on this, and that’s fine. I can’t force you to change your opinion. But no matter how many times you rephrase this ask, I am not going to give you the answer you want.