profile; ooc

[viridescere]

OLIVER QUEEN ARROW AGE: 31 DOB: 16 May 1985 HOMETOWN: Star(ling) City PB: Stephen Amell HAIR: brown EYES: blue HEIGHT: 6'1" COMPLEXION: medium SKILLS: krav maga; military CQC; SERE training; high level archery, fluency in Russian, Japanese and Chinese (Mandarin), Arabic; makes a mean omelet. ♪♪♪ ✉ © He wasn't always an archer. He wasn't always a vigilante. He wasn't always a CEO or a philanthropist or a mayor. In fact, Oliver Queen started out as little more than a pretty playboy born with a silver spoon in his mouth and seemed destined to spend a life with fast cars, fast women and more cash than most people see in a lifetime. All of that changed one night in the Pacific when Oliver wound up losing his life, his father and his sense of self in a shipwreck that left him marooned on an island for the next five years. He learned to put aside his selfishness and dedicate himself to being selfless. He learned to put aside the inclination to be lazy and spoiled and pushed himself to be the best at everything, to learn to fight from those who sought to be beacons of justice in an increasingly unjust world. Just as the Queen's Gambit had gone under and come back up in pieces so did Oliver; he'd gone down into the ocean off Lian Yu and come back up stronger and more resilient than ever. No longer a spoiled party boy, Oliver is a closed off man instead. He keeps everyone at arms' length, even those he loves, and pushes people away in a misguided attempt to keep them safe from harm. He thinks of himself as a vessel to dispense justice and punishment as needed and doesn't spend much time thinking about his own needs and wants. He's self-flagellating; unlike the spoiled boy who couldn't take responsibility for anything, his center has shifted to someone who bears the burden of everything, even that he can't control. He's cool under pressure for the most part, except when it comes to those people he cares about the most. He has a deep loyalty for his city, Star City, and will do anything to defend and protect its people from the numerous villains who seek to destroy it. He has his own sense of right and wrong that doesn't always align itself with the law of the land but doesn't allow that to make him hesitate or shirk his duties; Oliver isn't afraid to do what needs to be done in order to set things to rights even if it puts him on the opposite side of the law or his closest friends and family. He can be ruthless in his pursuit of what's right. He can be relentless, not ceasing until he's run down every lead and exhausted every avenue of recompense. Oliver has been tempered in fire and every time he's tested, every time he's pushed down he rises up stronger still. In spite of his changes, though, Oliver can still be warm and caring. He's still incredibly capable of networking with a crowd and good at flashing a smile for photographers. He knows how to charm the socks off someone if he dedicates the energy to it - he just rarely finds himself in that position any longer. He reserves this part of himself for the show, for the glitz and glamour of news coverage and mayoral campaigns, and his true self he keeps hidden down beneath many layers. It's complicated, always, and Oliver prefers it that way. Outside his normal milleu, Oliver will keep himself tightly wound at first, uncertain if this place is another trick from the League or any of his other myriad enemies or if it truly is some sort of island well-removed from the politics of Star City and his own life