#eb rhink: ???

[jula483]

Rhett: "for rhink shippers this is evidence number one (them kissing girls at a party and locking eyes across the room), that we are secretly lovers. They just love this stuff.

And as we have proven, we do not mind feeding into your theories."

- Ear Biscuits 436

[silverfoxlink]

Wow, so casually said Rhett. I love it. GROWTH 😌

[asherlockstudy]

Due to personal circumstances the following was hard to make so it might be a bit all over the place:

Regarding their deconstruction five years later, I think that distance from the original video shows even more clearly that the main reason they left faith was personal trauma.

Link's boldness:

In Link's case it is once again perfectly clear, why do we even discuss it anymore, or why people DON'T discuss it, I think he hardly even tries to hide it. Is it a coincidence that all the concerns he keeps raising about religion are almost exclusively about inclusivity and the acceptance of gay sexuality?

Notice the following exchange:

In the voicemail question about finding your moral compass without religion, Rhett argues you don't need religion to be a moral person. One of the examples he presents as evidence of not going immoral once you are out of the faith is (dare I say perhaps poorly chosen?) cheating on your wife. While it's not super obvious, I think that gets a reaction from previously meek Link, who counterargues about the perception of morality in religion when it comes to gay people. Rhett responds not exactly to the question but rather gives his secular yet seemingly detached opinion on why it is beneficial for humanity to let people form consensual relationships with those they love and not force them to "deconvert or go to conversion therapy".

Then Link says this:

"My experience post deconversion is that my instict to be the type of person that I can stand behind my actions, there is integrity, I haven't done anything, I haven't gone nuts. I haven't gone wild, like no wild oats type of thing. Now, we are talking about assessing morality from the outside but if you are gay, your experience is that "if I am true to myself, this is good and this is true to who I am". When you are on the inside of that experience, it's different than on the outside and issuing it as a law. "

Okay ummm first of all I will say I believe Rhett's words got into him so much that he misspoke when he said "deconversion", I think he intended to say "deconstruction" but it is a textbook example of truth slipping out. And even so, the rest of his statement hardly makes sense from a straight bystander's perspective anyway. He clearly reflects on a personal journey, he talks about finding his integrity, he's not playing the ally card like in some other cases, he speaks for the gay experience from the inside.

The underlying message of Wonderhole confirmed:

When Rhett said "While we do aspire to continue to make things that are thoughtful, that make people think and, you know, are more creatively ambitious like Wonderhole and Wonderhole season 2..." Link did their "tap nose" gesture to Rhett right after the "make people think" part. This is a gesture they have done to each other several times and it means "Careful, this is a secret!".

He seemed to rub his nose pretty intentionally in another instant as well but I couldn't make out why based on what Rhett was saying.

One good and one bad thing about Christy's mentions:

"We're going to die together" Rhett and Link pretty much said they do not need to continue their relationships to their loved ones in the afterlife for it to be a satisfactory perception of heaven. Not very graciously, Link said that if Christy died he'd be like "okay we ran our course, we had good times together, ciao". He didn't say "ciao" but he could have said it and it would not have changed much the feeling his words were emitting, sorry. (They didn't mention their own relationship with each other in this context.)

On the other hand, Link said he prayed for Christy, the first time in forever, when she was going through some hardship lately. He did not verbalise it exactly like that but to me his action had the vibe of "if You don't accept me for who I am, at least accept my prayer for her who still belongs to Your community". He joked that he also did it for brownie points and, you know, because he doesn't like to lie, this is not entirely untrue. I think the reason he prayed for her has guilt and desire for redemption written all over it. Feelings of guilt against her and a desire to prove to her, perhaps God and above all himself that he still is a good person. Truth be told, when something is so intentional, it loses a bit in value, but ultimately I think this action deep inside shows there is still unsteadiness and fear in his path, despite the trauma caused defensive anger that makes him appear so resolute.

As for Rhett...

Boy, this is so hard to do. Once again, I hate to question him when he is being reflective and introspective. But... some things just don't add up. What Rhett told us again is that his departure from the faith had a 10000000000000000000000% scientific / intellectual cause (why he always emphasizes this SO much), that he was King of the World type of status when he was still in the Christian community (Link described this as "being a fake"), that he was a conservative Republican and YET felt like the perception against gay people was not right, and that he is still an agnostic that is "perhaps" hopeful. I am sorry but none of these things go together and with his past.

He is not exactly an agnostic, and "hopeful" is an understatement. He is still an avid consumer of books, podcasts and other content of revising and re-evaluating Christianity. He is planning to make podcasts with relevant people on the matter. He made the podcast 40 minutes too long because he could not stop discussing it. He is not someone who "doesn't know" and tries to become okay with it, like Link. He actively wants to find an answer even though he admits nobody has so far. Dare I say, being from a country far far away, he won't find any satisfactory answer in those books of deconstructed American protestants saying the same things over and over. I believe he's fallen in a loop he enjoys. Link was yawning at some point. And despite exploring spirituality, mindfulness and all that, it is obvious he still tries to connect them to some form of enlightened new age Christianity he hopes to find. In short, I admit I believe he is a hopeful spiritual who actively tries to find ways for Christianity to work in ways that he will find right, just and, who knows, more welcoming maybe, so that he can perhaps return at some point.

When he says he always felt the Christian perception of gay people was wrong, I suppose he means this was deep, deep, deep inside him because on the outside he acted very uptight, given the family he grew in. It's hard to forget that one of the very very first videos they were making, where they are close to each other and the camera only shows them from the shoulder and up and Rhett sourly says "Don't touch me. You touch me on my knee. Don't touch me. Please." And Link responds: "Well, I didn't do it on purpose!". So he exposed it on camera and demanded Link's immediate correction, even though it wasn't visible to the viewers. He could just drew his leg far from Link, why make a fuss about something nobody could see, if not to boast out of nowhere how much of a manly hetero he is, even at the expense of his friend? So... even if he always felt it was wrong, he felt it at a much deeper, introspective level and it took him time to bring it to the surface and reconcile with it, let alone that he still struggles as we see. And at the time, no matter if he felt it was wrong, he apparently acted like it was right. (Link's "being a fake" rings in my mind.)

If the problems that made Rhett abandon the faith were 100% intellectual and scientific, then why does he linger so much behind, in discussions and revisions and alternative Bible reinterpretations, in what people try to make out of something that he presumably now thinks it's a 100% fantasy story?

Also, if he was so at the Top of the Game when he was the prime role model of White Christian Straight Male and everything worked great for him and he only left because science is cool and says "nah", then why did he come up with an Alter Ego to express his trauma and reflect on it through music? Why so much heavy and dark symbolism in his scripted works, from The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek to the 2023 videos to Wonderhole? Come on now.

I believe he has chosen to be vulnerable almost exclusively through the scripted work. Otherwise, I don't have an explanation for the so many contradictions in the things he says versus the things he does. But it would be better if he was more vague than being so adamant in presenting what seems to be half the story. This is my perception, at least. What I don't understand is whether Rhett tries to convince Link and himself that this is indeed how things are in his case or Link knows he is saying only part of the truth and he is patient and respectful of Rhett's boundaries.

*This analysis will be included in the One Story Masterlist due to the important implication about Wonderhole.

My One Story Rhink Masterlist

[mythicalshipping]

What in the AO3 is this?!?!

[mollly72]

can Rhett go one episode of eb without mentioning links schlong challenge

[soho-x]

Am I the only one in this? My Rhink journey went:

- wow, Link is really pretty

-holy fuck, Rhett is really hot

-holy FUCK, Rhett is excruciatingly hot

-holy fuck, he’s also a douche

-hot damn, Link is really pretty

Tell me I’m not alone here.

[unforgivablengk]

Thank you for the time stamp! This is correct.

Link hearteyes!~💖

[jacularmetteld]

...

[proudmythicalbeast]

Almost pets

[jula483]

Ear Biscuits ep. 411

Link: let's me and you have a little burger date. it can be like our valentine's day

Rhett: so me and you are gonna go to get a burger on valentine's day

Link: yep, for every year for the rest of our lives

romance is NOT DEAD 🥺

[silverfoxlink]

EB 436

If you haven't already listened or watched the latest Ear Biscuits episode, please PLEASE do yourself a favor and find time to do so.

If there's anything you need to consume from their content, it's this one. Then come back and let's scream about it together.

[asherlockstudy]

Link to Rhett: There are truck drivers who travel together and make shifts driving one after the other. Some are even couples actually. I love this. Me to myself: Of course he does, wasn't his big dream to get an RV and be on the road alone with Rhett? I am sure he could do that with a truck too- Link to Rhett: We could live like this, me and you! Me:

[anxiousgayseeksvalidation]

Hopefully there will be no need for discourse after the most recent EB. They don’t have a problem with shipping and we have fun with it, but they’re just being honest, which is what people want from them. If them being honest shattered or ruined your shipping fantasy, or if you needed certain things to be true in order to engage with that part of the fandom, please don’t make that their problem.

The egobang fandom went through something similar after Arin and Dan asked fans to stop creating explicit shipping content. These are real people who have been honest, it’s not disrespectful to continue having fun with shipping if they’re okay with it, but it is disrespectful to insist something is there when they’ve said the opposite just because it pops your buble🤷‍♀️

[mythicalshipping]

WHAT EP IS THIS FROM?!?!

[leelaihardly]

Rhett: I have this acquaintance 👤🤐who gets sad💔 😢when his bff👥💍💍 doesn't like the hot chocolate☕ he got ESPECIALLY🎁 for him at the swiss hot chocolate lab, is that wrong???🤔🤔🤔🤔 Tho??? Am I- I mean, 😶😬my acquaintance🤫👤,,, wrong??? ⚖🚫For wanting 👬🏻to🤼🏻‍♂️ bond 👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨over cool! New! thiNgs??? 🗣with my- his Bo???

Link: Sooo valid, King😌 but tell your acquaintance I think he's a huge dork 🤭

[concavepatterns]

Petition for Link to wear shorts any time he’s hurt himself because I live for the ‘LOOK Rhett are you seeing my calf bruise/poison ivy/etc??’ energy