#she and roy just lived together and worked in the same building and she couldn't hang

[lunar-years]

reblogging just to respond to some points here and share an ot3 shipper's pov (which is to say I want to gush about why I think they do work together, lol). No offense intended op, I think your thoughts are valid, and (amongst the currently active fandom at least) actually not unpopular at all! Obviously we can all prefer different ships and that's cool, I just want to get my own thoughts out there!

So anyway, I agree with Keeley being emotionally intelligent but not necessarily emotionally mature. I also agree that she wants to thrive in her career and prioritize her independence at the series' end. But i do disagree that that negates her getting back together with Jamie or Roy or the both of them in future.

Keeley definitely doesn't want to "settle down" in any traditional sense, sure, but I don't really think Jamie and Roy do either? They clearly all enjoy being in relationships (and RoyKeeley was a serious and longterm one), and I think at this point in their lives all three prioritize commitment and don't want to just mess around. But none of them (imo) seem concerned with things like marriage, kids, etc. So yeah, Keeley is very career-oriented, ambitious and driven, but all THREE of them are. Jamie is on the cusp of the peak of his athletic career, and Roy just signed on to be manager of Richmond with very little experience in managing a club. In an ot3 setup, I imagine them learning how to navigate their rising, high-powered careers while also centering their importance to one another and their commitment in the relationship.

The main reason I see people give for why R/J/K could never work out is that RoyJamie are clingy and glued to the hip whilst Keeley needs her space. I think a lot of people (not you, op, just in general on here and in fics I read and whatnot) wayyy overblow both of those points. It's true to an extent, but we also have to keep in mind that RoyKeeley were under a unique set of circumstances in Headspace:

Roy was coming out of a long period of depression and not having a clue what to do with his life; Keeley was one of the only people he was really interacting with for a large chunk of time before he began coaching at Richmond. For that period of time, Keeley became his replacement for football. He focused entirely on her and made her his whole world because football could no longer be that for him, and if he couldn't cling to anything or anyone he was going to drown, like he seriously was going to choke on its absence. Hence: Roy's extreme clinginess.

But, during that time, Keeley was still working at Richmond. They had their time apart during the days, even if they were living together and seeing each other outside of work constantly. Things start to go south when Roy becomes a Coach and now also is working in the same building as Keeley. Roy (seemingly) wants to eat all their meals together in the cafe together, and they're making out in the hallways at work, and they're driving in AND leaving together in the same car everyday, etc.

All that goes beyond just Roy wanting to spend all of his time with Keeley. He's clinging to her as a crutch in an unhealthy way; he's quite honestly giving her no space to breathe. It also goes beyond Keeley needing a bunch of space in a relationship. While I do think Keeley values her occasional me-time and space, the fandom imo tends to way exaggerate it and act like she hardly likes spending time her partners at all. There's just...no evidence for this? In s3, we see her dropping everything to fly to different countries and be with Jack, spending time at work with Jack, prioritizing dates with Jack, being excited to meet Jack's family and friends even though the relationship is new, etc.

Imo, this boils down to: the roykeeley problem was never as simple as Roy is clingy and Keeley isn't. The problem was far deeper than that, and roy being "clingy" was simply Keeley's only way of finding voice for it at that time. But the deeper problems are the kind of thing that both of them are working to fix by season 3's end, Roy through therapy, Keeley by choosing not to jump back into a relationship immediately.

This brings me to: I actually don't think Keeley had a ton of opportunity to get back together with either of them? She's not going to jump back together with Roy when he just fully broke her heart, and then she's in a relationship with someone else (who also hurts her and leaves her further floundering). As for Jamie, she's only just started in s3 to realize how much he's grown and that she may still be having feelings for him again. When she sleeps with Roy, she's in a vulnerable place feeling terribly about herself and looking for quick comforts. But when she steps back and looks at the situation objectively the next morning, she probably realizes 1) his apology was kind of shit and 2) they therefore haven't discussed any of the issues that broke them up to begin with. I guess I didn't take her turning him down right now to mean that her feelings have lessened or that she doesn't eventually want to get back together, just that she knows it will go better if they work on themselves first before launching into something neither are ready for and falling apart in the same way.

That said, I think ot3 at the end of the series have a lot of work to do before they will be successful longterm in a relationship, but I think the show ends when they're all willing and in a position to grow together to find that place. Keeley definitely does need time alone to focus on KJPR, which is why I personally imagine royjamie getting together first, and then adding Keeley to the mix later on when she's ready.

And to end, I vehemently disagree that royjamie have this special emotional connection to one another that Keeley could never hope to match, especially to where she'd awkwardly be forever on the outskirts of their cosmic obsession with one another or whatever. Obviously, royjamie have a special understanding of one another especially when it comes to their careers and football, etc. But with therapy, Roy is going to realize how he used Keeley, and then to some extent used training with Jamie, as poor replacements for what football was in his life. Of course he likes spending lots of time with his partners, and no I don't think that's ever going to change, but i DO think it will look different post-series than what we see from him onscreen. I personally really dislike when people write royjamie obsession to the point where they literally never spend a single moment apart, because that would just not be good or healthy for either one of them (and they both know that. and they both have other friends!! they do!!!)

Additionally, Keeley is the one there for Roy during the hardest period of his life. She's also the one who played an enormous role in Jamie's growth and change. She understands things about each of them in ways the other might not be able to, too! I think they would need to work through that and balance it in a relationship, but that doesn't make any leg of the triangle more significant/important than the others, and it's part of what makes the relationship so special! The love and chemistry, I feel, are so clearly there between all three of them-- season 3 and otherwise.

Listen. Do I understand people who ship Roy/Jamie/Keeley? Sure. The dynamic has potential. The chemistry is there definitely. All three of these people are disaster!bisexuals even as Keeley is the only canonic confirmed queer person between the three.

But…..

I don’t know. I just don’t buy it. I do not buy that Keeley, freshly on her own and determined to dominate in her career is willing or able to be a part of a poly relationship that is going to demand SO MUCH emotional labor.

I love my girl Keeley, she’s an absolutely fantastic character. But, I dunno, is she the most emotionally intelligent of the three? Sure. Is she the most emotionally mature? I don’t know, I think that might go to Jamie in all honesty. Roy is definitely the most stunted of the three.

And Jamie and Roy being equally as clingy and desperate and needy as each other, in ways that complement so beautifully it’s almost perfect, doesn’t leave a lot of space for Keeley to emotionally connect with them.

And she doesn’t seem to want to?

Like, she has the opportunity to get back with either one of them…multiple times! And she doesn’t? She loves them, both of them, but chooses to just be by herself. Chooses what she needs and wants in that moment because I think it’s kind of clear that neither Jamie nor Roy can truly give her that?

I LOVED Roy and Keeley at first, but the pure cruelty of lamenting how clingy he was when he was going through a massive depressive episode broke my heart. (Maybe my own mental health struggles make me extra sensitive to this)

But I just don’t buy that Keeley, free spirit and business woman, wants to settle down with these two, no matter how much she may love them.