Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme...

Oliver Queen is a gigantic Rennie. That is to say, he’s a big fan of Rennisance festivals.

This should be a shock to no one. After all, he’s wanted to be Robin Hood since he was a kid, so why wouldn’t he be attracted to a place where that fantasy would be encouraged? Particularly when Starborough Faire – one of the oldest and most popular Renn Fests in the continental USA - is held outside Star City every year?

The interesting thing is that while Oliver Queen does go to the faire to play Robin Hood, he doesn’t do it as Green Arrow. He isn’t employed as one of the strolling actors who play different historical personas. He doesn’t even go in his own home-made Robin Hood costume.

No, in the grandest of all Robin Hood traditions, Oliver Queen goes to the faire in disguise.

Why? Partly to avoid the crowds of fans. Partly for the sheer fun of it. But mostly to annoy Sheriff Hamilton – a rather humorless man who works with the Star County sheriff’s office who also acts as head of security for Starborough Faire.

A few years back – before Ollie started disguising himself – he recognized the Green Arrow cleaning up along the faire arcade (the archery booth, of course) giving oodles of stuffed animals and toys to passing by children. Never mind that Ollie had the cash on hand to give the carnies a generous donation and had been planning to do so once he had his fun; Ollie was still banned from all the gaming areas in Starborough Faire for life.

Every year is a race now – with Ollie affecting a different disguise and moving from booth to booth in a running battle to win as much “loot” for the oppressed masses of children before The Sheriff catches up with him and kicks him out of the Faire.

Dinah tolerates all this simply because she finds Ollie to be adorable when he’s letting his inner child out... and indulging in childish behavior towards someone else. That and it keeps him from shopping at the faire since she well remembers the time he spent the rent money on a vintage crossbow. For her part, she doesn’t dress up for the fair too often (I go out to get away from the corset for a few hours...) but does enjoy watching the rest of the family enjoy themselves. Besides, Sin has gotten into a Princess phase and the dresses you can buy at the fair are SOOO much better than those cheap ones at the mall.

Mia’s also not overly enthused about the whole Rennie thing. “All those old guys in tights with the huzzahs and prithees? It’s like Ollie in surround sound stereo.” But she tolerates it (though not silently) in the interest of family unity. Besides, there are all those cute guys in tights.

Roy usually tries to make at least one weekend when he can, simply because playing Will Scarlet to Ollie’s Robin Hood is a lot of fun. Also, lots of cute wenches in corsets who like a man who knows how to handle his weapon.

Connor, amazingly enough, has also come to enjoy the family trips to Starborough. Even though Ollie’s usual methods of faire entry and exit leave a lot to be desired for promoting peace and tranquility, Connor does appreciate the idea of a festival devoted toward a love and respect of the past. He contemplated joining the Society for Creative Anachronism but decided against after he overheard some of their number complaining about “the crazy Robin Hood who is bilking the carnies at the archery booths”.

The grand irony is that Ollie is technically Sheriff Hamilton’s boss, since Ollie has been making generous contributions to the Faire funds to provide extra security for the better part of a decade. Why? Because Ollie couldn’t pay an actor to be a better foil for him than Sheriff Hamilton and Starborough wouldn’t be nearly as much fun without him.