#feel free to reblog with more opinions or just flat-out disagree with me :D discussing this stuff with people is fun

[bitter-hibiscus]

I made a post a little while ago about hating the RHATO dynamic for JayRoy so here's how they work in my mind (spoiler alert, it's not healthy)

Jason is in his early 20s and Roy is in his mid-30s in my mind. this is important

Jason has Rampant daddy issues and he likes that Roy is a mostly serious older man that makes him feel kind of stupid and is Just A Little condescending (because fuck the "dumbass Roy" RHATO characterization)

Roy has been grieving Lian for like a decade now and while romance is not necessarily the best way to cope with that, it makes him feel good that he can "take care" of Jason. the age difference isn't particularly appealing to him, though, but he does like that Jason is a little bit obsessed with him

Roy is very no-nonsense when it comes to Jason's Bullshit, and calls him out when he's being too egocentric and selfish. Jason, in turn, calls Roy out when he lets The Horrors get to him too much and motivates him to work out and shower and deal with Life

Both of their brains move a hundred miles an hour, so neither of them mind it when the other isn't paying Full Attention to what they're saying. This also works because Roy has a tendency to forget mundane tasks while Jason forgets big events/plans, and they remind each other of stuff constantly

I also think Jason would be intimately familiar with addiction, even though his thing was alcohol and not drugs, and it would make Roy feel a little more settled about his heroin addiction (esp considering Catherine) that Jason knows how recovery works and is willing to support Roy in the right ways

Roy is also not naive, but he is a sucker and he's desperate for someone to stay in his life for once. Jason, obviously, does not, because he can't deal with Being Happy and has a tendency to think all the evil in the world is his fault, but he comes back because he's an asshole, and Roy does believe in second chances and he would love it if Jason loved him so much that he couldn't stand to stay away (Jason leaves again because he's an asshole)

I think that after that Roy would be willing to hold Jason at arms' length but wouldn't get back with him, especially after he finds out Lian is alive. Jason, for as much as Roy loves him, is not someone he would want around his daughter. Jason is only really able to think about himself so while he does respect Roy's decision, he doesn't really fully back off, and Roy understands Jason's psyche too much to fully shoo him away

Anyway yeah I think their relationship would be a lot more grim and a lot less "idiots in love" like most people seem to characterize them as. Both Roy and Jason understand their own inner workings and know what they crave in relationships. They aren't dumb or codependent, though maybe a little inter-depentent.