#mia and connor

[bobbinalong]

ga2001 dynamics

[wellwithdemons]

Green Arrow (2023)

[queen-lance]

SPOILERS FOR GREEN ARROW (2023) ISSUE #10

Ollie finally reuniting with all of his kids

[greengableslover]

EMMA. (2020) dir. Autumn de Wilde

[mysterycitrus]

on a scale from 1-100 how much would members of the arrowfamily dislike jason todd, with 100 being like absolute hatred?

[royboyfanpage]

Something about human, non-powered superheroes. Something about living in a world with gods and aliens and speedsters and making the choice to stand beside them. Something about being painfully aware of your own mortality but choosing to keep fighting for good. Something about knowing that most of your teammates could do takes you days in seconds and deciding "no, if I can help even the slightest bit, I must". Something about pushing yourself to your limits and beyond so that you can stand up against evils so much greater than yourself and face them without hesitation. Something about having the choice to live a normal life- it's not your birthright, it's not some greater fate, you have every option to keep yourself safe- and saying no. Something.

[lesbianspeedy]

ONE THING ABOUT OLIVER QUEEN? NO MATTER HOW GROWN THEY GET, HE WILL BEAR HUG HIS KIDS OFF THE GROUND!

[lowquats]

arrowfam week 2023 day 7 - birthday

and that’s it!! happy birthday queen king <3

[loveisalwaystheanswer]

EMMA

2020 | dir. Autumn de Wilde

[audhd-nightwing]

i need more Wayne and Queen family interactions in gala fics tbh

give me bruce and ollie competing to be the most annoying rich himbo of the night

give me dinah and selina rolling their eyes at their boys and judging everyone

give me roy who brings lian as a social buffer (it’s fine she loves dressing up and getting attention), and dick who steals her halfway through the night to carry her on his shoulders

give me connor hawke, tim and damian loitering by the food table until they find a moment to sneak out and go on patrol

give me cass who quietly leans against the wall next to mia dearden and they watch the crowd together

give me jason who makes roy slow dance with him in order to cause Drama and to annoy bruce and ollie

[jesamnelovelace]

Ollie has now been able to hug all his kids

[dailydccomics]

more reunions! the family keeps growing! Green Arrow #10 art by Sean Izaakse and Romulo Fajardo Jr.

[prticl3]

arrowfam snowball fight ❄️ CLEO IS GROWLING AT ME TO PSOT THIS also i should draw a summer version of this🤭

[tbcanary]

Lian Harper + her various caretakers in Green Arrow Vol. 7 (2023)

Bonus:

[perenians]

discord doodles :) join us

[royboyfanpage]

Okay, let's talk about Ollie's experience with fatherhood.

I'm an Oliver Queen apologist forever, but I think that there's a tendency in fandom to go one of two ways- "absolutely perfect dad, no flaws whatsoever" or "evil abuser who shouldn't be within six miles of a child". This isn't an Ollie exclusive phenomenon, a lot of characters and topics do fall into that black-and-white mindset. But the thing is- Ollie doesn't have to be either extreme. Particularly with Roy, who most of the debate centres around, Ollie wasn't perfect! I think there's such a rich discussion point in terms of young Roy's relationship with Ollie, so much more than just That Panel. Because, in my interpretation, Ollie absolutely cared about him, absolutely saw him as a son, but also the idea of being a father is something that deeply terrified him. The idea that this literal child being dependent on him made it feel more real, if that makes sense. Coming to terms with the fact that he was responsible for another person's life was difficult for him, and so he put up this wall- hero and sidekick. A conceptual dynamic, one that's not based in reality. He can keep that distance between himself and Roy and decide what that means, he doesn't have to be a father because that word has so many strong connotations, but he can still express that he cares about Roy, in his own way. That's why he always calls Roy 'Speedy' even out of costume, that's why his first thought is that Roy's undercover in Snowbirds. He can focus on being a good mentor to Speedy, which will have a trickle-down effect to being a good guardian to Roy, right?

Unfortunately, kids' brains don't work like that! Especially not a kid who's already lost two fathers. Roy needed a stability in his teenage years that Ollie just wasn't able to give at that time. He didn't see "Ollie's nice to me as Speedy because he loves me and doesn't know how to show it", he saw "Ollie's nice to me as Speedy, which means I'm only good as Speedy". This, at least in my opinion, is a major factor in Roy’s later self-esteem issues. Roy’s constantly underestimating himself as a hero, constantly comparing himself to Dick, and pushing himself 24/7 to improve because he internalised the idea that if he’s good, if he’s the perfect hero, then he’ll be loveable. He can’t be bad, he can’t fail, he can’t back down because if he does, he’s nothing.

It’s absolutely not Roy’s fault, but also this doesn’t mean that Ollie’s an evil neglecting abuser, either. Even the best parents fuck up, and Ollie was by no means the best parent. He took in Roy as a sidekick, as a buddy, and then never really found a way to combine the ideas of sidekick and son. He assumed that Roy would be able to interpret meanings behind gestures, which is something that Roy seems to struggle with even into adulthood. I’ve talked about it a fair bit, Roy’s absolutely someone who relies on the explicit, but he’s also not someone who’ll ask for clarification, which has caused conflict in his relationships time and time again. And while it's something he has gotten better at as he's gotten older, a 12-18 year old Roy would absolutely not be able to read Ollie's motives.

And Ollie's fear of fatherhood isn't something exclusive to Roy, either. Sure, he'd gotten better at it by the time Connor and Mia entered the picture (speaking as an oldest child myself, we are the guinea pigs of parenting, I was my mum's sibling), he absolutely still expresses this with them. I mean, just look at his face when he finds out Connor's his son.

That's the face of a man who's just had the crushing weight of parenthood slammed down onto him again, the moment Connor stopped being an ally and started being his responsibility. He's scared, because Ollie absolutely does not see himself as a good father for someone to have. This was very much present during Roy's teenage years, but particularly since this is post-Snowbirds. Both in terms of Roy developing a drug addiction and in terms of Ollie's own initial reaction to it, he immediately spirals. And, since we've already established he does not know how to process things, he lashes out at Connor.

And as for Mia, he's definitely matured significantly by the time she comes into the picture, and compared to with Roy he's a lot more open with his feelings. However!

He still won't explicitly accept the responsibility of fatherhood! Despite acting like a father to Mia in every way through his actions, he still won't use his words! Even though in the issue following, he expresses a paternal protectiveness over her.

And I think Mia's HIV diagnosis is maybe one of the biggest examples of his distancing himself and hiding his feelings, particularly when Connor asks him how he's feeling about it.

He's so fine, so totally fine, trust him when he says he's fine, totally not freaking out. He's absolutely not terrified for his not-daughter, no way.

Ollie has this fear that if he gets too attached to his kids, he's gonna end up failing them. If he keeps a distance from them, then he can't blame himself when they get hurt. Is this good parenting? No! Absolutely not! But this is also the man who dresses up as Robin Hood and who chose to die rather than lose his arm. This is not a healthy man.

But he tries, he tries so hard, even if it's in his own way. And he recognises when he fucks up! And he tries his best to mend it later on!

He's not the best at showing his kids that he loves them, but he's so proud of Roy when he becomes Red Arrow. He comes back to life to save Connor. He stands by Mia's side when she gets diagnosed and becomes Speedy. He's not a great dad, but goddamnit he's trying to be.

In conclusion, no, Ollie is not the perfect father. He's deeply flawed, and his own emotional incompetency has been and always will be a point of conflict between him and his kids. But he's not some uncaring abuser, either. He's trying.