#maybe this is all ooc but i do relate to roy a lot

[puppypeter]

I always say that roy has the fatal flaw, that he believes there is something existentially wrong with him and is the poster child for childhood emotional neglect and that deep sense of unworthiness that comes with it

He would absolutely crave praise but at the same time be 1000% uncomfortable with it, wouldn't believe a word of it and would never dare to ask someone for it. There so much he'd need to explore with Dr Sharon first in order to get there. I men, he got sent away when he was fucking nine years old and the only person who seemed to care passed away. I bet nobody ever put the medals he won at the little league up on a board or his drawings on the fridge. I don't know why his parents made that decision, but I do think this quote from Running On Empty by Dr Jonice Webb applies regardless of whether their "reason" was work or not:

"By putting their work first, workaholics convey the message to their children that their feelings and needs are of lesser importance (damaging their children's self-worth). By failing to be an active part of their children's accomplishments and triumphs, they inadvertently convey a message that those accomplishments don't matter (damaging their children's self-esteem)".

Aka he's such a mess that he thinks everything he does well is just what it was supposed to be and there's no reason to praise him about it while also secretly wanting someone to rub his hair like a cat while telling him he did a good job and worked so hard

(sidenote: I'm begging for somebody to write about someone having a go at Roy but in such a earnest way and saying something like "I know you've worked so hard in your career, for the last 30 years, I can't even begin to imagine the effort and the dedication ..." and he just can't hold back his emotions that someone finally acknowledged the amount of work he's put in. Sure, fans have cheered him on for decades, but they had no idea how much effort it took and he himself has always been so dismissive of his own work that admitting it was hard is such a big step)

In order to be able to accept the praise he craves so much he first has to learn about emotions, accept that he has emotions and allow himself to feel them

He just need to be surrounded by incredibly annoying people who love him so much and will annoy him every day to remind him aka the whole of richmond full of himbos that look up to him and want to be like him (the himbos admitting that they don't just idolise him for his football skills but for his dedication and hard work and his honesty would fucking break him) and jamie's fan-boyness and roy kent always remains, and keely's I'm proud of you royo when he sees how he's opening up more and rebecca being there for him calling him out on his bullshit and the diamond dogs showing him that men can be open about their feelings and be there for each other

Turns out all of my highs are making love to my lows

Making fun of my boundaries, sticks and stones

You say "love" I believe it to the bone

If I could see how you see me

I could be a little bit happy

And through your eyes I realize

I could be a little bit happy

(from A Little Bit Happy by Talk)

okay but like. you're telling me that roy kent- who's incredibly self conscious and aware of what ppl say about him -wouldn't have a thing for praise? yeah.. okay..

[royboyfanpage]

roygarth headcanons and motifs?

Okay I wanna just give a disclaimer that I am not a Garth expert, I've only really read him in Titans comics (though I did read Tempest 1996 specifically for this ask), also Roygarth isn't my OTP, I do ship it but it's not something I've thought about in great length, so my apologies if I've gotten Garth's character wrong or if my interpretation of the ship is different to yours/OOC. Also I've not made any in depth ship posts before, I'm more of a passive observer of ships, so apologies if this sucks ass generally.

For it to work in canon, a very strong aspect of it would have to be communication. Roy doesn't always pick up on when he's done something that's upset someone, and Garth can become quite vocally angry if someone upsets/hurts him. I really wish that the progress they'd made in Titans (1999) #16 was expanded on in later comics because I think if they got past that initial barrier of miscommunication they could have such a good relationship. They're actually pretty similar in some ways, they both love very strongly and are fiercly protective of the people they love, but there are differences, too. Roy's very much an immediate reactor in a lot of cases, he reacts immediately when something upsets him and forgives just as fast, whereas Garth can let things fester/build over time and then eventually lash out in a much angrier way, so communication is definitely the most important aspect.

I don't think that they'd ever be the perfect honeymoon couple, there are always gonna be some things about both of them that drive each other insane. I can't see Roy completely dropping all the teasing, and I also can't see Garth suddenly becoming totally okay with it because Roy's explained he's only kidding. However, I do see it becoming more of an exasperation rather than actually pissing him off, and if they were to get closer I could see it becoming more mutual, good-natured teasing. I also think that they'd get better at resolving arguments too, and that they wouldn't escalate as far once a mutual level of trust's been built up. I think Garth kinda has an expectation that people are out to get him sometimes or that they underestimate his worth, so once that's been addressed and Garth's assured that Roy has no ill-will or negativity towards him then he'd be less likely to lash out and more understanding that that's just Roy's way of showing affection.

It's absolutely a slowburn relationship that would take a lot of time to develop. They're not gonna wake up one morning and realise they love each other and should date. I think, if anything, Cerdian would be a really good way for them to actually fall in love with each other (let's say for the sake of this, Cerdian's fine and Garth and Dolphin split up). I think being able to bond over being parents would absolutely open new opportunities for their relationship, and one of the things Roy looks for in a romantic partner is how well they get along with Lian, so another parent would definitely be a good choice of partner for him, especially since Garth already adored Lian even before Cerdian was born and he and Roy had their talk in purgatory. Plus them co-parenting Lian and Cerdian would be adorable.

I still think that the nicknames would persist, but they'd definitely become more terms of affection as they entered a relationship. Maybe not Gill-head specifically since Garth's explicitly stated he doesn't like that one, but other affectionate fish-related ones for sure. Also they'd keep calling each other Speedy and Aqualad affectionately.

Aaand from a more fanon-y perspective, I think Roy'd definitely be the one to initiate much of the physical affection. I 100% see him as a hugger, so I can imagine him just pulling Garth into hugs or dragging him over to the sofa to cuddle. Garth I can see as more of a spontanious kisser. Both of them go bright red whenever the other surprises them with affection. Also they should do the percabeth underwater kiss.

Anyway this is a family

[brodependent]

9, 24, 28 :)

9. Thoughts on the Moc arc

Excited to revisit it in my rewatch! When I first watched it I think it just really made me unbearably sad...and I think I was also expecting a bit more straightforward processing of Gadreel in s9 and more time with Demon!Dean in s10. But on reflection it was really the dark night of Dean’s soul, the chosen loss of autonomy, that he fought off all through s1-s8. It was a really pivotal time for him, maybe even more so than his time in Hell. I’m ready to view it with fresh eyes.

24. What do you think was ooc for tfw?

I mean honestly, as much as I got into *at the time*, the whole concept of TFW is a bit OOC. At least the way it gets spun in fanon. Dean, and to a lesser extent Sam (I think Sam has more capacity for non-Dean relationships) relate to other people in fragments of their relationship with each other. As an excellent meta I read recently said, Sam and Dean have (in my view, platonically) filled every traditional relational role for each other. Siblings, parent/child, business associates, allies, team-mates, life partners...like they have literally done it all. With Jack, Sam especially stepped into a parent role--a role he hadn’t yet filled, being the younger in his relationship with Dean. And obviously Bobby was like another father to them. But Cas--since we’re talking about TFW 1.0--was at various times a friend, ally, advisor, and an enemy. He was sometimes all these things at once, or was absent during crucial moments. By s12 especially, Cas was still very important to Sam and Dean, but I increasingly found him to be an outsider to their particular dynamic...more so than in late s5 and s6 (before, you know, the villain reveal). 

All of which to say, although I used to be a TFW stan in my first watch-through (going on 7 years ago lol), I’ve increasingly realized that the beating heart of the show AND my love for it is SamNDean. People who come into contact with the legendary Winchester bond have their destiny shaped by it--I think that’s true of every ally they’ve had--but they don’t become a *part* of SamNDean’s relationship. By shaped, mind you, I don’t always mean just oops, ends up in death. I mean getting caught up in the life, caught up in the hero thing, learning to love humanity...whatever it may be.

Which I guess brings me to the moment I think was most OOC for a member of “TFW.” If we accept M*sha’s interpretation of the end of 15x18 (which I don’t), it would be that. 

28. Cruelest things TFW has done to each other? 

Take this with a #24 grain of salt but: Sam hasn’t really done anything awful to Cas that I can remember, Dean has definitely frozen Cas out but I usually find it pretty justified, Cas manipulated them in his early days A LOT, and he BROUGHT DOWN THE FREAKING WALL IN SAM’S MIND...that’s up there for me. 

As far as cruel things Sam and Dean have done to each other, I’ll exclude Soulless!Sam and Demon!Dean bc that doesn’t really count. I think “cruel” is often them taking over the reins of each other’s agency out of fear of losing each other. So as far back as Sam going in heal-first-ask-questions-later with Roy LaGrange (which left Dean carrying guilt), Dean saying yes to Gadreel...things like that. Dean, I admit, does this more often than Sam. I think on a more human/family-dynamic level, Sam can be very harsh and cutting to Dean when he’s angry with him in a way that I think is John-derivative. Not that it isn’t always justified! But it still makes me flinch. 

Also Dean messing with Sam/Amelia was unfair. Dean had a lot of growing to do in S8-S10. I do believe he did it. Sam had a lot of growing to do in S1-5, but that wasn’t directed at Dean (which is part of why Dean had such a hard time with it). ANyway, they’ve both had their moments but I’m soft for both of them and I root for them all the way.

[bat-lings]

@sarv70 asked: “i see a lot of people claim Dick shouldn't be with Barbara cuz she "chains him down to gotham and to being Bruce's sidekick" instead of being the heart of the dcu and I can't help but find that comment grossly inaccurate and kinda dismissive towards Babs. She's more than just an extension of batman and has established her own place in the dcu as the hero everybody goes to when they have questions. Do you think there are any pros and cons to him being with a fellow bat?"

I just… fail to see the logical jump tbh. I don’t think there’s any automatic “pros or cons” to Dick dating a fellow bat; Barbara’s identity and whatever she brings to a romantic partner can’t be summed up to her being Batman’s ally.

Something not to forget is that Batgirl is the equivalent to Nightwing, not the equivalent to Robin. Barbara wears the bat, it doesn’t make her submissive or dependent of Batman; or so bound to him that she automatically chains her loved ones to him. Unlike Dick, Barbara was never a sidekick. Not for one second in canon. She was established as an independant figure from her very first appearance; by appropriating the batsymbol to do her thing with it.

[Detective Comics (1937) #359]

[Batgirl: Year One #4]

That stayed a constant throughout her episodes as Batgirl. She took on missions by herself and never referred to or asked Bruce for permission. See both Batman:Batgirl 1997 & 1998, for example.

Barbara, through Batgirl or Oracle, was always Batman’s ally and equal the way Nightwing is. She was always very vocal about calling Bruce out on his shit too. There’s a reason Bruce bossing her around never bode well in the few occasions he tried. He was out of place the way he’s not when addressing Robin, and the writing & framing always made that obvious.

About whether Babs, simply by being a bat, ties up Dick to Gotham/being Batman’s sidekick… again, I don’t get the reasoning. Dick can’t be his own man and have strong bonds with a bat? He shouldn’t be close to Tim or Damian and should instead remain solely with pals like Roy or Donna or Wally? He should cut off all bonds with his father-figure too? How does being involved with Babs, or getting close to any bat, nullify his growing & emancipating process?

She’s not tying him up to Gotham either since he was in Blüdhaven for most of the time dickbabs was a thing, and the distance was never a problem in their relationship.

Maybe Babs keeps Dick from moving on in a way other bats don’t? There is nothing in their narrative that implies Barbara chains Dick up to Batman. Actually, saying she might is reversing the entire narrative.

Whether her perception is true or not (and whether the writing that made them break up over it should be put on a pedestal or not ooops), Barbara sometimes felt Dick couldn’t let go of their Batgirl & Robin days and couldn’t let them both emancipate from that part of their life/acknowledge they’d changed.

After KJ, she initially pushed Dick away because she saw him as a relic of a past that was too difficult to remember. This stunted their getting together; and when DC decided it was time for dickbabs to end (because, y��know, couples can’t stay together in comics ever), this is the root problem they chose to exploit.

[Nightwing (1996) #38]

[Nightwing (1996) #87]

(I have a lot of issues with how their whole break-up and what lead to it was written; parts of it were OOC esp for Dick and it seemed they, as a couple, had moved on from the whole "stop thinking about the past" thing until Grayson chose to re-use it. But the point is, Babs was never written as holding Dick back. Even at dickbabs’ worst.)

Barbara is nostalgic of her Batgirl days, yes, but moving on is vital for her after what the Joker did to her. She never had any interest to stay attached to that period. Not that Dick particularly was either, but in any case let’s not put Dick’s own nostalgia of their Batgirl & Robin days on Barbara.

No, Barbara isn’t chaining Dick up to anything. Yes, dismissing her as an extension of Batman is an overlook of her character. She’s related but independant from Batman; she was a fully independant figure before Dick ever was. She was never, through what she is or through how she acted, an obstacle to Dick’s emancipation or independance.

Of course Dick will always remain loyal to the bats. He was before he and Babs were a thing, and he remained so long after they were over. Barbara is not a factor in Dick’s involvement with the batclan.

So nah, maybe I’m missing a central part of the reasoning but I’ve never read Babs as an obstacle to Dick’s growth. If it were the case he wouldn’t have gotten involved with her in the first place, I mean look what happens when Bruce has trouble acknowledging his autonomy lol