#I’m gonna start tagging them as that so people can skip over me pontificating 😂

[paperstorm]

_The more I read about the break up and how heart broken carlos was the more I get pissed at tk...yes I understand that what carlos did was wrong but damn tk's reaction was so OVER THE TOP, he acted like carlos and their relationship is worth less then nothing to the point where he made carlos doubt his love...not gonna lie I'm still angry that they made carlos forgive him so easily..it gives the impression that tk can hurt carlos as much as he wants with no consequence because carlos will forgive him every time._

I've seen so many people say this and that tk doesn't deserve carlos and I want to know your take on this because I really love to read your thoughts on tarlos🧡

So I just wanna preface everything by saying that I am deeply, unbearably in love with Carlos Reyes. I just. Adore him. I love him so much. I love his heart and his kindness and his caretaker nature and he’s just so so so good. He is my favourite he is my angel I love him absolutely to pieces.

But I understand TK. Maybe because we’re alike, maybe because we’ve had similar lives in a lot of ways and we have similar scars and types of damage that we carry with us. And I just don’t get anyone who feels the way the person you quoted does. He makes mistakes and he hurts people like literally every human but then he learns and he tries to be better and really what more can we ask for than that? And how boring would a character be if they were perfect, if they had no flaws, if there was nothing we could point to and say “oof he shouldn’t have done that but I get why he did”, because isn’t that what’s interesting about a well written character? That they’re so unbearably human? That they’re complex and you can see bits of yourself in them, both good parts and bad parts? Idk I will never understand this need some people have for their characters to be perfect and ethical and the absolute model of mental health at all times. That sounds dreadfully boring to me. Even children’s media isn’t that reductive so why would you want your adult media to be?

I’ve never gotten the impression that the writers intended us to think TK can hurt carlos as much as he wants and always be instantly forgiven. I think it’s very much implied that they had a lot of long, difficult, but ultimately healthy conversations while TK was in the hospital, sorting out all their issues that had gone unaddressed. I wish we’d gotten to see it on screen! But I understand this is an ensemble show and there isn’t always time for everything. But I think it’s crazy to assume they didn’t and Carlos just instantly forgave him. That requires someone to completely have blinders on about all the times the show HAS shown them having healthy communication, which tbh is more than any show I’ve ever seen. That isn’t a good faith reading of the intentions of the writers.

And I just. I don’t ever want to gloss over the fact that what makes their breakup so interesting from a character standpoint is that it’s both of them who were wrong. Carlos is my beloved and I don’t like what he did. Owning real estate is a financial burden, even if you have a good job. It’s something that you have to put money into on basically a daily basis, with mortgage payments, with renovations, with repairs when shit breaks. Putting that onto someone else without asking them first is not being respectful of that other persons agency. I too would have bristled if I were TK.

Because the thing is, TK might have been fully on board with this, if Carlos had asked first. If Carlos had said “I love you, and I know how much you love this place, and I want us to have a home together. I know you can’t afford it but I can, and I want to take care of you and provide for you.” Maybe TK would have said yes. Maybe TK would have found that a beautiful gesture and sweet and loving and maybe he would have been over the moon about it.

Or, maybe he would have said “you know what, I love you too, but that makes me uncomfortable because it makes me feel like we aren’t equals. Why don’t we get an apartment together and save some money for a while and then we can buy a place together when we’re both able to contribute to it.”

The point is, tk didn’t get to make a decision that felt right to him, because Carlos took the choice away from him. And I love Carlos with all my heart, and I know he was trying to be romantic and trying to give TK a home and trying to do this big, beautiful declaration of love, but I personally don’t find that particular gesture to be one I would be comfortable with so I understand why TK didn’t either.

Now, the way that TK reacted to it is a different story, and that’s definitely where he was wrong. TK had a learned habit/coping mechanism of running away, often because he gets upset and then he can’t get the right words out to explain himself and he gets frustrated when he’s being misunderstood and he leaves. That’s his issues causing unhealthy communication and that’s something that he needed to work on, and it’s evident in canon that he did work on it because by 3x13 he wasn’t running away anymore. He was communicating firmly but kindly to Carlos what his needs were, he wasn’t being a doormat, but he didn’t run away when they disagreed. And I adore that growth. It’s so good satisfying to watch them grow. That’s what a good person does. Not never make a mistake, but learn from it and recognize when you’ve acted badly and work to correct that behaviour. They both do that in this show and honestly if these mostly angelic fictional characters don’t deserve love then I guess none of us do because real humans are far more imperfect. And idk, isn’t that what makes us beautiful?