#he’s not someone who shows it outwardly like Gai but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel the same way back!

[sinnbaddie]

Thank you for posting this because the idea that Kakashi is “forced” into this rivalry is wrong. If Kakashi doesn’t wanna do something, he doesn’t! He loves Gai and his friendship with him. He cherishes and respects him as a person, a friend and a rival!

Friendly reminder that when Gai dances, Kakashi dances.

This friendship/rivalry is 100% equal and while Kakashi isn’t as openly enthusiastic as Gai he is still 100% participating enthusiastically in the way that he shows enthusiasm.

[ari-but-unhinged]

Art for Toritsuka/Hairo fic where I explored what was meant to be a crack ship and is now one of my favourite (??) ships in Saiki k- PLEASE HEAR ME OUT

(A long rant ensues so, if you don’t want that then that’s all good and you don’t have to click, but if you’re interested, then welcome to my rant about a rare pair i love!)

Of course, I started out by simply laughing at the “I hate men” line Toritsuka said about Hairo and thinking writing a crack taken seriously fic would be funny and it would be a nice break before I started this other fic I have planned that is going to be an even bigger endeavour with Saiki k x Danganronpa. What I didn’t see happening was for this Torihai fic to completely take over my brain space and end up with a fic just shy of 20,000 words.

This may not seem like a lot, but I usually only write fics in 1,000-2,000s so this is a lot for me, especially since I’m a slow writer/editor so it takes me a while.

Part of the reason I love these two together is because of the inherent dynamic of Hairo’s inspirational preachiness and how it doesn’t work on Toritsuka, and how it might be refreshing for Hairo to have someone who challenges him (and not in the fake way Teruhashi does, with Toritsuka being very upfront and honest about it). Toritsuka also, because he’s so upfront about his feelings, helps Hairo to express certain emotions like annoyance/sadness that he wouldn’t normally express outwardly. Something else too is that Toritsuka tends to be very physically affectionate, and I don’t know that Hairo is used to that (I haven’t seen any examples of him being physically affectionate in any other way than a bro way) so that could be refreshing as well. Also, also, Toritsuka is Hairo’s gym buddy who was reluctantly dragged along that day Saiki was trying to avoid everyone and no one can change my mind lol (this, in Hairo’s mind, forms a bond between them that can never be broken and he will never stop reminding Toritsuka of this when they hang out).

I just think their dynamic can be playful/fun because they’re both real with each other if that makes sense?

On Toritsuka’s side of things, he doesn’t have a lot of friends and the friends he does have he either doesn’t have any chemistry with or hate him (Saiki lol), so I think it’d be nice for him to have someone who is extremely caring/attentive to his friends and clearly cares deeply about them and shows it often. Because of this, Hairo shows interest in Toritsuka’s life, and for someone who probably hasn’t had many friends, that would mean a lot. Also the fact that Hairo cares so much for Toritsuka sets an example as to how to be a good friend/human would behave and could help him grow as a person (which are always the best friendships/relationships when they grow together rather than staying stagnant and dragging each other down). Being more caring of others and allow him to develop his interpersonal relationships with more than just ghosts, instead with real humans.

Also, I’ve taken to calling them the “errand boys” because it’s a great prompt to force two people who are polar opposites and would never interact to hang out/do an activity together, so I thought it fit them perfectly.

In the fic I changed a few things from canon (sexualities obviously- Tori is bi/queer and Hairo is gay. Although quick side-tangent- I’ve written Tori/Kaidou, Tori/Akechi, and now Tori/Hairo and all three of them either are Asexual or are often headcanonned as ace by the community/me and I just find it very funny that the horniest character is continuously shipped with them. I only realized I did this after I first started writing the fic.)

- Hairo explicitly has psychic powers (it’s something they can bond over and it’s something that plays off of Hairo’s emotions. Cue a lot of blushing not only because of embarrassment but also actual literal heat rushing to his face.)

- Hairo was raised by a single parent (His family is never mentioned so I just made one up)

- Personal headcanon, but I feel like Toritsuka might occasionally pretend to not see spirits in order to avoid getting approached.

- Toritsuka’s backstory has been slightly altered and has a lot more angst to an already pretty sad backstory (it’s played for laughs, but imagine how that would’ve felt for him :( he realized he lost two people he loved in a matter of minutes. Also, he’s a child when this happens so that’s even sadder. I honestly wonder if they died somewhere in the house or he was just there and his guardians didn’t know, like??? How???)

If this made you interested in reading the fic which this is all about, I’ll link it at the end, but if you were just here for the rant, that’s cool too! I’m obsessed with these two because they’re adorable and I must spread the gospel of Torihai.

Link to original fic-

[ricketycr1cks]

thoughts on each of the characters’ development/ changes over the seasons?

Oh boy, I have a lot to say about this one. I think Mac has seen the most changes to his character and I’ve been pretty vocal about kinda being conflicted on his recent characterization. One of my main issues with it is that he hasn’t been as immoral as he was in earlier seasons(which is something I kinda see in all the characters but I’ll get into that later). Mac I think has fallen victim to being characterized by his feelings for Dennis at times which sucks because now a lot of his plots don’t revolve around him as a person but rather his feelings for another character/his attraction to men in general like now that he has came out they don’t know what to do with him. I mostly just wish they would remember that just because a character is gay or has a heartfelt moment doesn’t mean he has to stop being a seedy, terrible, person!! I know parts of it are intentional and supposed to satire Macs belief he has to be characterized by one thing because he is trying to find out his purpose now that he knows he’s gay , but I also think they have kinda just focused too much on his whole finding his identity or “thing” arc? Like I think him discovering his identity is important but also I think important other parts of his identity have been completely overlooked recently. I also feel like Mac putting anyone before him would have been out of character in earlier seasons even if he was in love with them!! It was kinda the whole point of the gang that the were selfish and always put themselves over everyone including other members of the gang. When they are taken hostage by the Mcpoyles they alI go against each other because, despite the fact that they are all very close, they value their own lives more than anyone else’s to a comical degree. With Dennis my feelings are a bit more complex, while I think making him outwardly constantly angry at Mac often bordering on cruel is out of character, it’s usually in response to Macs equally out of character treatment of Dennis if that makes sense? I think if they plan on making Dennis have repressed feelings for Mac then his characterization from the past couple seasons works, but if not then I don’t think it would make sense for the same Dennis who couldn’t go a day without texting or talking to Mac would act the way he has recently without it being under the guise of some sort of underlying emotions. With the gang in general the show has kinda as of recent seasons done this thing where the characters are simultaneously getting better and worse. We haven’t seen them ruin someone’s life or do a scheme that revolves around one of them or someone else getting seriously injured or just their general lack of care for anyone but themselves nearly as often as we did in earlier seasons . It’s like they want to reflect the characters lack of morality but aren’t working it into the story the same way they used to imo. Overall I still love the characters, I think there has been very minimal change in characterization of Dee, Charlie, and Frank (when there is differences in Frank or Charlie I think they are nonsensical characters enough that it often just plays as them being their “weird” selves and still works) and honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if most of the things I listed were somehow intentional because I do really think rcg and the always sunny writers usually know what they are doing (or at least I hope they do lmao) and I just hope that season 16 gives us some evil Mac and Mac and Dennis genuinely enjoying each others company again!

[queen-beefcake-sqx]

Okay now that this has made the rounds and I’m pretty sure the terfs won’t come for my throat and make me miserable LET ME EXPLAIN MY THOUGHTS

(under cut because OH MY GOD this got away from me)

Within canon, as far as I know (and someone correct me if I’m wrong because I genuinely appreciate keeping canon straight), this can actually work. People lean toward a gay cis male Kim reading because… textually it makes the easiest sense. Kim’s outwardly treated and portrayed as a cis male, and he says he’s part of the “homosexual underground”. Occam’s razor and all that.

But consider for two seconds my experience finding out about the Underground — I interpreted the use of “homosexual” underground as being an umbrella term, in the way “queer” is generally considered to refer to sexuality but gender gets rolled into that too, or the way (in Southern USA) the “gay community” was a term implicitly understood to include transgender individuals. So whenever talking about the Homosexual Underground I kinda mentally made the correlation to the wider LGBT+ community — gender deviants and all. (This is probably a super US-centric interpretation, so I’d love to hear if other people in other countries made that same mental assumption.)

So with that in mind, imagine — baby genderqueer experimenting Kim hacking his hair off and immediately noticing people treat him different because he suddenly looks like a boy. Girls look at him differently, too, in a way he likes. It’s a practical look that shows off his strong jaw and mouth, and he hated brushing it anyway. He’s not dysphoric about his body or his sex, but he suddenly sees both a confidence boost AND an out from one of his sources of societal judgement — being viewed as a girl by people he doesn’t want to see him that way, superiors and strangers on the street and everyone who isn’t someone he’s interested in intimately knowing. He’s already a binoclard. He’s visibly Seolite. He’s an orphan. If he can give himself another layer of protection, hide himself so he can be seen only how he wants to be seen, he’d do it.

So he does hours of vocal training, wears a binder, and lets everyone believe he’s a man and deflects anyone who tries to question it. Easy, his Authority’s through the ROOF. Hell I bet he’d even find a way to change or forge his official documents — however official they can be for a war orphan, and we know from Klaasje it’s possible — so he doesn’t even disclose it to employers because fuck that.

(Or maybe he couldn’t, and that’s another element of why the higher ups stuck him in juvie for so long. There’s room for interpretation!)

Then he mets Harry and… well. Again. Lesbian butch Kim, face to face with this seemingly bear of a man who at first glance screams repressed gay male, having a crisis of sexuality at FORTY THREE over Harrier Du Bois. Excellent, great, compartmentalizing that until after the investigation. But Kim pays a lot of attention to Harry, and mentally brushes off much of Harry’s queerness as amnesia making him forget societal norms and expectations. Kim assumes Harry’s interest in the underground begins and ends at sexuality. And I mean, from the way Harry talks, who can blame Kim for that assumption?

But it really is disappointing that, as far as I know, within the text of the game there’s no implied references to transgender experiences at all. Because I cannot look at Harry Du Bois, his behaviors and inclinations, and see a cis guy. I see someone who has crumpled under the expectations of toxic masculinity and clung to it so tightly that it nearly killed him, while also allowing him to keep some power and control in his life as an RCM officer. And also, he had a girlfriend who seems like she was a long time sweetheart or at least a young lover in his life and while we don’t know a ton about Dora, we know Harry remembers when they met. It’s one of the few memories that gets brought up in their conversations.

And that’s always struck me, because that means it was significant to Harry. He wanted to make an impression on her. He thought he looked cool. He wanted to keep that love they had when they met, and instead watched it fall apart around him. And from experience, that kind of relationship is not the kind of place where gender experiments happen — Because Harry wanted to be this masculine ideal for her and couldn’t live up to it, but he tried. Which fed into that aforementioned toxic masculinity. And trying to deviate from that ideal would’ve risked alienating Dora further.

So they break up, and the time in-between is sort of loosey-goosey. Maybe that was when Harry learned about the underground. Maybe he got to experiment in private, in between bouts of self loathing and dysphoria that that kind of trapped feeling would generate. My personal theory is that the wig Jean is wearing ties into it, but I could go for HOURS about my personal theories on it (a lot of crossdressing at bars on Boogie Street factor in).

Regardless! I think genderqueer Harry is, at least, an interpretation I could make an argument for, and it isn’t a huge leap from there to him being a trans girl. Kim explains his gender post-Martinaise, Harry says her silly little communist line and slaps the pin on her jacket, but like…. Harry asking Kim to tailor her a dress because she keeps finding pretty things on the street but they never fit. Harry stealing the wig from Jean and deciding blonde isn’t her color, but thank god she’s been growing her hair out anyway because shoulder length is a good look. Kim giving Harry a whole gentle but straight forward talk about the pros and cons of being open about it, heavy on the cons, telling himself he’s being practical but he also can’t stand to watch a recovering Harry backslide under the jeers of their coworkers. Kim calling Harry his belle in private, a title only for him to use. Kim teasingly calling Harry Mademoiselle in public (“Here’s your coffee, mademoiselle” — the more ridiculous, the better) because everyone else thinks he’s just joking but Harry knows it’s a little tongue and cheek and a secret nod and she loves it (even if she has a whole internal battle about letting the rest of the office think Kim’s telling misogynistic jokes).

[taps microphone] ideal lesbian KimHarry dynamic is butch he/him lesbian Kim explaining his gender to Harry and about-to-hatch trans girl Harry going “that sounds like a pretty communist way to use pronouns” before slapping a she/her pin on her disco blazer.

[nausikaaa]

Idk if you missed it but Noah Schnapp came out himself as gay and has loudly been talking about how he shares that aspect with Will in canon. Will has been written as gay since s1 pitch, it's mentioned again in s2 script (ending scene), the information is literally out there for you to find. I know it's scary to trust a show again with it's rep after decades of queer baiting, I really do, but the writers aren't gonna back pedal on Will's sexuality anymore after s4, everyone involved with the show would get so much flack for it since it's been talked about by actors over and over again. But it remains to be seen how they decide to wrap up Will's story, will he get a happy ending. But him being gay is unarguably canon text.

okay, this seems like a good place to sum up my thoughts and then i won’t be engaging with this debacle any more.

so first of all i know Noah Schnapp is gay, and i’m super happy for him coming out, but i don’t think a gay actor necessarily means the character they are playing is gay, especially since Noah was cast when he was pretty young, and may not have known yet. maybe he did, maybe not. i don’t know. but it’s kind of insulting to his acting ability to imply he can’t play a character who feels and identifies a different way to him. acting is all about embodying a different person.

if he and the Duffer Brothers are discussing Will being gay in interviews and putting it in the scripts that’s also a good sign, but i don’t take interviews to be canon. to me, that’s word of god, and doesn’t count as the text of the show. my measure for whether or not something counts as visible queer rep is basically, could someone go in this show with no knowledge of who the actors or writers are, having never seen an interview or article about or, and still see that it’s gay? maybe you would argue they could through the subtext already present, but i literally watched this with my sister and she didn’t pick up on it, so not everyone can.

also, old scripts can be changed. apparently the Duffer Brothers already want to go back through previous seasons and re-record small bits of dialogue to change mistakes they made later, like changing Will’s birthday in season 2 after they forgot to acknowledge it in season 4. if those scripts were released any time after season 4 came out, i don’t trust them to be the originals one bit.

to everyone commenting and messaging saying “what, does he need to kiss a boy? does he need to say “i’m gay?” i’m so tired of coming out stories!” i get it, i do, i’m pretty over them too. but without any kind of confirmation, straight people, even ones not outwardly homophobic, can and will ignore it. i’m not asking for a coming our scene or big sweeping make out scene. but give us something. don’t you want him to come out to his mom, or his friends, or to hold hands or kiss a boy? he’s already cried, this argument is backing itself into a corner that makes it sound like you just don’t want to see happy queer experiences, you’re fine with Will being gay and miserable.

overall would love for Will to be confirmed as gay. but as you acknowledged in your message, i’ve been burned before. queerbaiting is still fairly common, and from what i’ve seen Stranger Things doesn’t have the best track record of keeping promises. did it they say before season 4 that that would be the season to explore why Will was the one originally taken to the Upside Down? i didn’t see that. and i’ve been many more people say things they thought for sure were gonna happen due to foreshadowing or interviews weren’t fulfilled.

so i, one individual who isn’t even that involved in the fandom, have decided to hold my breath. and i made one spur of the moment comment on a post that somehow snowballed into like 5 people bugging me about this for 12 hours straight. coming onto my posts and my inbox to explain subtext to me like i’m a kid. i’mm not new to this, trust me, that’s why i’m so jaded.

i know i’ll probably be ignored but can the people who have been non stop commenting at me please not go into the comments of this post trying to reignite the debate? i’m done. this is all i want to say. if you do, quite frankly that will just show me that you don’t respect my wishes, and maybe even didn’t read this post in it’s entirety, and i will just block you without reading your comment.

but if you did read all this, thanks for your time. you don’t have to agree with me, but you can clinic away and leave me with my opinions in peace. you can even wish that i’ll be proven wrong by season 5, because i would actually love to be. i’m just not holding my breath.

[paladin-n-cleric]

Can I say something? I disagree with people saying that Will not being gay or byler not being canon isn't baiting. Not only because of what some of the cast says (Harbour and Finn, especially), but because there wouldn't be SO MANY articles each and every season debating and speculating whether or not Will is gay and likes Mike. Clearly there are more than enough clues that people pick up on that urge them to write those articles and ask the cast those questions. If this was something bylers just imagined out of thin air then we'd be the only ones talking about it but we're NOT. it's IN the show and it WOULD be baiting to hint and hint and hint and never go through with it so that they don't lose their homophobic audience. It's annoying and hurtful and cowardly. They called Will every slur in the book in s1, but won't do anything about it? Come on, dudes.

oh, will not being confirmed gay is absolutely queer-baiting. after volume 1, the car scene, the david and finn video, shawn levy’s response, and finn’s response, there shouldn’t be debate anymore. anyone viewing the show objectively would consider those things to be solid evidence. its not some “little gay people dream,” it’s solid proof that should have ended speculation by now. the articles should be titled ”will byers is gay,” they shouldn’t be asking anymore.

the factors i listed are the scraps of evidence that imo would be most convincing to any unbiased person. there are hundreds of other hints and clues, if we want to go there, but we can’t expect enough people to care, unfortunately. if the duffers go with ”we made it obvious he’s gay but we never actually get a coming out moment because it’s up to the audience’s interpretation and thats what makes it beautiful,” then its absolute bull. there will STILL be speculation, there will STILL be people claiming it wasn’t confirmed, or that it wasn’t queerbaiting.

as of now, however, i trust the duffers. their writing is incredible (although i will admit i buried my face in my hands at their portrayal of bullying) and i feel they will tackle this appropriately, even if we don’t see how it could work without someone getting heartbroken. i’m excited for wills coming out scene, but i’m worried it’ll be too implicit, too subtle for audience members who choose to watch with their eyes half closed, as many of them do. personally, i’m rooting for the coming out scene to be in hopper’s cabin, during which Will will give mike the painting, they will discuss his birthday (which i am certain the duffers did not simply forget), and they will open up. for me, an implicit yet obvious coming out scene is great, really, i love that kind if stuff. i perceived the byler car scene to be will’s coming out to the audience. yes, it was implicit, but i truly don’t see how its meaning is “up to interpretation,” just because Will didn’t speak outwardly about himself doesn’t mean it’s some hidden message.

however, anything implicit (not hinted, not “up to interpretation,” just simply not outright) will not pass with the general audience, and there will still be debate, which no, is not ”whats beautiful about it.” Will has to say something as good as ”i’m gay and in love with you, mike” in order for speculation to come to an end, which i think is embarrassing for the general audience.

this is much longer than i expected, but i suppose i had a lot to say on the matter. thank you for the ask! have a lovely day <3

[spencers-renaissance]

Emergency Contact

Summary: When Spencer ends up in the hospital again, his emergency contact — who happens to be his boyfriend, Luke Alvez — is called. Too bad he hasn't told the team about him yet...

Tags: whump, h/c, hurt spencer, broken ribs, coming out, relationship reveal, protective derek, team as family, fluff, au: different first meeting

Pairing: Luke Alvez x Spencer Reid // (heavy on the Derek & Spencer friendship, too)

Word Count: 2.6k

Masterlist // Read on AO3 // Bad Things Happen Bingo

Okay, so Emily was not in S11, but for this fic she is, because I wanted supportive Penemily and that's what I gave myself. Other than that, this fills the square "broken ribs" for my Bad Things Happen bingo card. Enjoy the whump mixed with fluff!

Spencer doesn’t mean to get hurt again, but he also isn’t exactly surprised when it happens. If anything, Hotch really needs to stop sending him out to scope places and suspects out by himself. Surely Tobias Hankel proved he’s a trouble magnet in that regard years ago.

The summerhouse the suspect rents is a nice enough place to lay incapacitated while he waits for back-up, he supposes, but he’s not exactly able to lie and enjoy the sunshine when his ribs have been smashed in with a metal baseball bat and he knows the suspect is currently hightailing it down the beach. Not to mention the fact that it’s worryingly difficult to breathe.

Still, it’s better than a dilapidated cabin in the middle of butt-fuck nowhere Georgia, pumped full of heroin while his feet are whipped. Small mercies.

“Goddamnit, Spencer, again?” Derek asks amusedly when he finally arrives and crouches down by his side, but the undercurrent of worry in his voice doesn’t elude him.

“Sorry,” he wheezes, still winded and in immense pain from the ambush. “I didn’t see him coming.”

Derek raises a brow, chuckling slightly. “Yeah, pretty boy, I figured that.” His hand goes to Spencer’s hair as his expression furrows in concern again. “Did you see where he went? I’ll send the others after him while I go with you to the hospital.”

Spencer smiles a little, relieved that he won’t be alone. It’s become a strange sort of tradition to sit in one another’s hospital rooms after the job kicks their ass, and he’s glad Derek isn’t about to break it now.

“I saw him turn right out of the backdoor, but that’s all,” he says breathlessly, before cringing at the effort and folding in on himself even more.

“Okay, Spencer,” Derek says soothingly. “Just relax. The ambulance will be here any second.”

He obeys and closes his eyes as he listens to Derek call Hotch on the radio and send the team in the right direction before coming back to sit next to him on the floor.

“This might be one of the nicer places one of our unsubs has owned, huh?”

Spencer nods, mirroring Derek’s morbid amusement. “Crime pays better than investigating it,” he manages, smiling up at his friend.

He snorts. “You can say that again. With the way the market’s turned in the last couple years it’s more like this is my hobby and my properties are my day job, rather than the other way round.”

Spencer tries to reply, but he moves involuntarily in amusement, and a fresh wave of pain has him wincing again, trying to will the tears away.

“You’re alright, Spence,” Derek says gently, his hand returning to his hair. “Help will be here soon, okay?”

Thankfully, the medics do show up in a semi-timely fashion, and both of them are loaded into the back of the ambulance as the EMTs check him over, Derek’s hand not leaving his person unless it absolutely has to.

“How many times were you hit, Dr Reid?”

He cringes. “Four.” It’s almost embarrassing that the unsub got four hits in, and the only reason there weren’t more is because he was fleeing the scene, not because Spencer was able to fight back. He tries to remind himself that there isn’t much you can do when caught-off guard by a furious arsonist armed with a steel baseball bat, but his ego is still bruised. Albeit not as badly as his poor ribs.

“I’m gonna fucking kill him,” Derek mutters under his breath, his grip tightening on Spencer’s shoulder minutely enough for him to know he isn’t doing it consciously.

Spencer smiles appreciatively, closing his eyes against the pain. The non-narcotic painkillers they’re feeding him through the IV really aren’t doing anything.

“I think you’ve managed to avoid internal bleeding,” the EMT says, all though he tacks on a pointed, “just. But I’m concerned about the possibility of a punctured lung. There’s a chance your trouble breathing is solely pain-induced, but I don’t like the way your chest sounds. The doctors will check everything out when we get to the hospital, and get you all patched up.”

“Hold in there,” Derek says urgently. “I really can’t have you dying on me, pretty boy.”

Spencer smiles as comfortingly as he can through the immense pain in his chest and his mangled breathing. “Trust me, I don’t intend on it.”

The x-ray reveals two broken ribs and confirms the paramedic’s suspicions of a punctured lung, although thankfully, minor enough to not require surgery. He’s set up with oxygen and regular nurse check-ups in a quiet room after the doctor is able to remove the excess air in his chest cavity.

“How are you doing, Spence?” Derek asks worriedly as he pulls up a chair next to Spencer’s bed as soon as he’s allowed to see him.

He pulls away his oxygen facemask to answer. “A bit better,” he says, but his voice is dry and raspy from the oxygen so he certainly doesn’t sound it. “The pain meds are actually working now.”

Derek’s tight, anxious expression relaxes slightly. “That’s at least something.”

Spencer nods tiredly, but before he can respond, a nurse is popping her head round the door. “Dr. Reid,” she says genially, “sorry to interrupt. I just wanted to let you know that we’ve managed to get a hold of your emergency contact, and they’re on their way.”

Spencer’s eyes widen. How could he have forgotten? Granted, he was a little preoccupied with the whole punctured lung, broken ribs thing, but how could he have let it slip his mind that this little accident would lead to the secret he’s been keeping under wraps getting out?

When he’d first met Luke at an FBI gala last year, he never could have foreseen the most intimate and special relationship of his life coming to fruition, but it had. They’d connected on so many different levels, and the chemistry between them felt like something out of one of the fantastical romance novels Penelope reads, and when he’d asked if it was okay for Spencer to put Luke down as his updated emergency contact, he’d been rewarded with a wide, beautiful grin and a firm, heartfelt kiss.

It was serious enough, sure, and they were coming up on having been together for a year, but besides Emily and Penelope — who’d met Luke and developed an amusing, playful rivalry with him — he hadn’t introduced him to anyone on the team.

“On their way?” Derek asks, raising an eyebrow in mild confusion. “Isn’t your contact Hotch? He already knows you’re in the hospital.”

Spencer just stares at him like a rabbit caught in the headlights, completely blanking on something to say. They’re working a local case, so it won’t be long before Luke is bursting into his hospital room armed with cuddles and comfort, and as much as he craves that, he’s too busy panicking about his team finding out to really look forward to it.

Eventually, after watching Derek’s face morph into even stronger, more suspicious confusion, he gives up. They’re going to find out anyway. “I’m dating someone.”

Derek’s face lights up. “Pretty boy!” he exclaims happily, playfully pushing his shoulder as gently as he can. “That’s amazing! Why didn’t you say something? What’s her name?”

Ah. That’s the primary reason he hadn’t told his team about Luke. He’s nowhere close to being ashamed about his sexuality, he accepted himself decades ago, but he’s still not worked up the courage to share that part of himself with his team. Excluding Penelope and Emily who have been together for years (he’s still baffled as to how the others haven’t caught on yet), everyone’s in the dark.

It had started as a basic survival tactic. He’d joined the FBI two years younger than the standard entry age in the early 2000s, and he was far too concerned with just getting by than living outwardly as a gay man. And then, as time went by and he knew his team was accepting and welcoming, he found it too awkward to try and correct people when they assumed he was straight. There just wasn’t ever the right time.

“I’m gay.”

Derek’s happy expression falls and for a split second, Spencer feels a flash of panic. Maybe Derek’s okay with gay people as long as they’re not his immediate friends, as long as he doesn’t playfully call them ‘pretty boy’ and play with their hair when they’re injured, maybe—

“Well, what’s his name, then?”

Spencer looks up from his panic, seeing Derek smiling again, eyes maybe even brighter than they were just seconds ago.

“Wait—”

“Spencer, if you think I’m gonna care that you’re gay — if you think any of us will care that you’re gay, then you have another thing coming,” Derek reassures him. “Wait, that isn’t why you didn’t tell us right?”

He suddenly looks distraught at the idea that Spencer might not have felt comfortable coming out to him, and Spencer rushes to correct him. “No! No, I know everyone would be fine with it, I just didn’t really know how to say it. Penelope and Emily know, but only by accident.”

Derek relaxes, chuckling a little. “I’m sure there’s quite a story there.”

Spencer blushes. “Maybe.”

“I’ll find out later,” he says confidently, winking at him, and something in Spencer loosens at the fact that Derek hasn’t changed his behaviour at all. “But I’m more interested in Mr. Sexy Emergency Contact Mystery Boyfriend Man right now.”

Spencer outright laughs at that, before wincing painfully as his ribs twinge, and he has to fit the oxygen mask around his face again and breathe deeply for a couple of breaths before the nasal cannula can suffice again.

“I met him around this time last year at an FBI gala actually,” Spencer manages. “Everyone on our team bailed except Penelope, Emily, and me. He’s called Luke and he works in the Fugitive Task Force. We just clicked as soon as we met, you know? We have this chemistry that I’ve never felt with anyone before, and we started dating pretty quickly. We actually moved in together last month when his lease was up, but we’re thinking of moving to a bigger, nicer place in Mount Pleasant. Luke’s actually had his eye on this one house that went up…”

He trails off when he notices Derek looking at him strangely, suddenly feeling self-conscious. “What?”

“Nothing,” Derek says gently. “You just look happy, pretty boy. When you started talking about Luke you got this happy, dopey smile on your face, and I’ve just never seen you like that. It’s nice.”

“Oh.” He blushes fiercely at the acknowledgement of just how soft he is for his boyfriend, but it’s not embarrassing, he’s just ridiculously happy and head over heels in love.

Still, feeling a little awkward at the attention, he raises the oxygen mask to his face just for something to do.

“Does he treat you well?” Derek asks seriously, suddenly looking like the FBI tough guy he really is.

Spencer grins and nods, pulling the mask away again. “So good. He’s one of those people that looks out for everyone before himself, you know? He listens to my rambles and tangents like he actually knows and cares about what I’m saying, and he insists on making me every meal we’re both home for. Every day off, he brings me breakfast in bed, and he’ll even suffer through my documentaries even though his favourite thing to watch is action movies. He’s the best boyfriend I could hope for.”

“Good,” Derek says fiercely, even though he’s smiling just a little at the thought of Spencer being taken care of. “But if anything ever changes, I won’t hesitate to—”

“Spencer?” Derek’s interrupted by the door flying over, and a very harried looking Luke Alvez rushing towards the bed, seemingly not noticing the man literally threatening his death right next to him. “Oh my God, Spencer, I was so worried, I thought—”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Spencer says, voice still a little weak. Can’t he at least sound convincing when he’s trying to tell these people that he’s fine? “I’m okay, I’ll be out of here before you know it.”

“Are you sure, baby? Do I need to get the doctor? Have they been looking after you, because I swear—”

“Luke,” he laughs, interrupting his worried tangent. “I’m fine, I promise.”

He watches amusedly as Luke sags with relief. “Oh thank God,” he breathes, and it’s then that he appears to notice Derek. “Oh, shit.”

He looks to Spencer with an alarmed look in his eyes, knowing full well that he isn’t out to his team yet, but before apologies can start dripping off his lips, he rushes to fill him in.

“It’s okay. I told him.”

Luke’s face brightens in an illuminating smile, his eyes wide and happy. “You did? I’m so proud of you, cariño.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Derek says, rising from his chair to shake Luke’s hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you in the last ten minutes.”

Luke grins. “All good things, I hope.”

Derek winks teasingly at Spencer. “Oh, better than good. Spencer here seems quite gone for you.”

He blushes again, but Luke just sits on the edge of his hospital bed and takes his face in his hand. “Well, I’m just as gone for him as he is for me. Probably even more so.”

“No way,” Spencer protests as vehemently as he can with an oxygen mask glued to his face again. “I definitely love you more.”

His words are half swallowed by the mask, and half muffled by the gaggle of FBI agents pouring into his room, all talking over one another loudly.

Luke jumps off the bed and stands to attention as they all quieten down, three of them in complete shock, one of them — Emily, recognising Luke — in anticipation of what’s about to happen.

“Uh,” Spencer starts unsurely, eyes flicking between his boyfriend and his team. “Meet my boyfriend?”

There’s a brief pause before everyone jumps into action again: Emily greeting him warmly, JJ introducing herself, and Hotch and Rossi giving him firm, threatening handshakes as a warning that no harm is to come to their pseudo-son.

Spencer knows they don’t have to worry about that, though, not with Luke, and they’re quickly shown that when he takes his rightful place sat on the edge of his hospital bed again, hands smoothing his hair gently.

“Thank you,” he says to Derek, voice soft and sincere as everyone’s sat leisurely around the room, doing their own thing now they’re calmed down after the initial meet and greet, “for taking care of him. I worry about him, you know, and it’s good to see that he has so many good people looking after him.”

“We all do,” Derek replies, looking over at Spencer fondly. “We’re all incredibly overprotective. Residual effects from him joining the team so young, probably.”

“I can see that,” Luke smiles, looking over at Hotch and Rossi, who still have their eyes trained on him, despite having warmed up to him quickly.

“Well between us all,” Emily interjects diplomatically, “I think we have Spencer covered. He has a lot of good people looking out for him.”

Spencer knows they all think he’s asleep, but he can’t help but say something. “I definitely do,” he slurs tiredly, causing Luke to quickly turn his attention to him, pressing a tender kiss to his forehead as he runs his fingers through his hair with the hand not intertwined with Spencer’s. “Love you.”

“I love you too, baby,” Luke murmurs. “And so does everybody in this room.”

Smiling softly and feeling safe as anything, Spencer finally gives into the heavy pull of tiredness, and lets himself drift off to sleep.

I'm such a sucker for coming out fics omg, I hope you didn't mind that element! But God, I've missed writing Ralvez fics. If anyone has any Ralvez prompts then please send them my way because I want to write them so badly but I really find it hard to find plot for them! <3

taglist: @criminalmindsvibez @suburban--gothic @strippersenseii @takeyourleap-of-faith @makaylajadewrites @iamrenstark @hotchseyebrows @reidology @spencerspecifics @tobias-hankel @goobzoop @marsjareau @garcias-bitch @oliverbrnch @im-autistic @anxious-enby @kuolonsyoja @ropoto

[madara-fate]

I also wasn't insinuating that MinaKushi or DanTsu are the only good examples of good romantic relationships (I don't even care about these pairing for the record, or any other pairing in Naruto). I'm just pointing out that people do not doubt that Minato loves Kushina or that Dan loves Tsunade. If Sasuke genuinely loved Sakura and Kishimoto did a good job at showing it, then there would not be a huge debate on whether he does love her or not, because it would be obvious to pretty much everyone that he does, whether they like the ship or not. The fact that it's not and that so many people still debate on this to this day either shows that Kishimoto did a poor job at showing Sasuke as a loving husband either that Sasuke does not love her, despite that "love is the real deal" line or his reply to Sarada's question. It's show vs tell if you know what I mean. On one hand he tells us that "love is the real deal" but on the other hand he does not really show it all too well, which makes many people think whether he truly meant those words or he was being sarcastic and simply mocked the fans. It's either a case of bad writing either Sasuke simply does not love Sakura. I personally don't know what to think. I tend to lean towards the first option, it may just be bad writing after all. He admitted he's not great at writing romance and to be honest? It shows. It is even implied they haven't kissed in Gaiden by Sakura looking sad when Sarada asked her if they ever kissed. And I know you like to refute that by saying that it's preposterous to think they haven't kissed when they obviously had sex in order to concieve Sarada, but the thing is, it is entirely possible to have sex with someone but not kiss. It really is. When you're having sex but you're not really enjoying it or when you have simply been pressured and pestered into having sex with a person. Sakura Hiden confirmed the fact that Sakura was determined to confess her feelings to Sasuke over and over again until he would've eventually reciprocated. She compared that with punching a villain over and over until they're defeated. Now please tell me, would it be so far fetched to consider that harassment? If someone tells you no once, you have to respect their rejection and stop pursuing them, not take it as a challenge to persist in reaffirming your feelings over and over again until they eventually get tired or take pity in you and accept to give you a chance. And even in Gaiden it was confirmed that Sakura had to chase after Sasuke. It's really easy to see this ship as... problematic, to say the least. I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt tho and blame it on bad writing rather than on Kishimoto simply implying SS is not really a loving relationship, but if other people are not convinced or deny that Sasuke loves Sakura, you have to let your bias aside and admit that they have reasons to believe that. The writing makes it really easy to interpret it either way, depending on your preferences.

I already answered a lot of the points you made here in my response to your previous ask, but it's important for people to remember the type of person Sasuke is, and understand that the manner in which he shows affection isn't the same as Dan or Minato. It's a lot more subtle. Are people doubting that Vegeta loves Bulma and Trunks? No, so then people need to ask themselves - in which ways has Vegeta demonstrated that he loves his family in ways that Sasuke hasn't? Both of them aren't outwardly affectionate, both of them aren't romantic, but both of them have undoubtedly demonstrated that they love their family. Yet, only one of them is questioned. It really is just a "damned if you do and damned if you don't" situation. If Sasuke acts all affectionate like Dan and Minato, people will claim that he's OOC (like they did for Sasuke Retsuden), but if he stays reserved and demonstrates affection in his own way, people will just turn a blind eye and say he doesn't care. It really just shows how little they actually know Sasuke's character. To think that Sasuke, who hails from the clan which values love above all else, would marry and start a family with someone he doesn't love.

On one hand he tells us that "love is the real deal" but on the other hand he does not really show it all too well, which makes many people think whether he truly meant those words or he was being sarcastic and simply mocked the fans.

People actually think that Kishi may have been "sarcastic" when he described their love as the real deal. Oh my goodness. Why would Kishi purposely give wrong information to the readers (and never reveal what's actually going on)? Why would he intentionally want the readers to misunderstand his story and characters? Why would he want to portray his 2nd biggest character as someone who would enter a loveless marriage when that literally goes against the ways of his clan and his entire character? Do people not listen to themselves?

It's like how so many people claim that Sasuke saying "because you exist" means that the only reason he and Sakura are still together is because of Sarada, and people really don't realise how stupid that sounds. They don't stop and ask themselves why Sarada would be brought to happy tears, why Chouchou would describe her as lucky, and why Naruto would give her a knowing smile, if Sasuke had really just insinuated that she was the only thing that was keeping her parents together:

They just don't think. They apparently believe that Chouchou was happily thinking to herself "aww, lucky Sarada, you're the only thing keeping your parents together!", and that makes sense to them apparently, Chouchou being so happy for Sarada after hearing such awful news. It's unbelievable.

And I know you like to refute that by saying that it's preposterous to think they haven't kissed when they obviously had sex in order to conceive Sarada, but the thing is, it is entirely possible to have sex with someone but not kiss. It really is. When you're having sex but you're not really enjoying it or when you have simply been pressured and pestered into having sex with a person.

This is just like the people who believe that Sasuke is gay, justifying their ridiculous claims by pointing out how "you can be gay and still marry a woman", and to that I always say - Why would Sasuke do that? Just like to you I'll say - Why would Sasuke do that? To have sex and not kiss? Why would Sasuke of all people be "pressured and pestered" into entering a relationship with someone? He obviously has no problem whatsoever with bluntly turning people down. If he doesn't want to do something, he's not gonna do it. Heck, if you're using Sakura Hiden to try and prove your points then I'll also use a novel to prove this one - The lipstick stain scene during Sasuke Shinden: The Teacher's Star Pupil, explicitly indicates that Sakura and Sasuke had kissed earlier that day. The motorbike scene during Naruto Retsuden has Sakura kiss Sasuke. Sasuke and Sakura having kissed, is not (and has never been) a topic that's open to discussion.

Sakura Hiden confirmed the fact that Sakura was determined to confess her feelings to Sasuke over and over again until he would've eventually reciprocated. She compared that with punching a villain over and over until they're defeated. Now please tell me, would it be so far fetched to consider that harassment? If someone tells you no once, you have to respect their rejection and stop pursuing them, not take it as a challenge to persist in reaffirming your feelings over and over again until they eventually get tired or take pity in you and accept to give you a chance. And even in Gaiden it was confirmed that Sakura had to chase after Sasuke.

I've already talked at length about that scene from Sakura Hiden so I won't do so again here, but I'll link the relevant post where I explained how that scene obviously was not meant to be taken as a negative comment, but people will of course just twist things in order to suit their own anti Sakura/SS agenda.

But if other people are not convinced or deny that Sasuke loves Sakura, you have to let your bias aside and admit that they have reasons to believe that. The writing makes it really easy to interpret it either way, depending on your preferences.

No, here's what people need to understand. If people think that Sasuke's love towards Sakura was not adequately shown, then that's a reason to criticise the writing. It is not however, a reason to deny what is canon. They are stating that Sasuke does not love Sakura, despite the fact that this has explicitly been stated. Sasuke loving Sakura is a canon fact, whether they like it or not. Criticise the execution all you want, I know I have plenty of times, but don't deny the truth. Hell, since you wanted to use the novels...

During Sakura Hiden, Sasuke rushed back for Sakura's sake, despite having ignored the village's prior pleas for help. What does that say about his feelings for her?

During Akatsuki Hiden, Sasuke described Sakura as "The Spring Sunshine" which illuminated his dark life. What does that say about his feelings for her?

What does basically the entirety of Sasuke Retsuden say about his feelings for her?

Many anti SS fans are always so quick to use the novels when it suits them. And then when a novel like Sasuke Retsuden comes along and completely shits over all their theories, they're just as quick to dismiss the novel as an OOC fan fic by a sub par author, figures. As far as I'm concerned, the manga is more than enough to show that Sasuke loves his family (seriously this really isn't up for debate), but I'll also definitely say that anyone who criticises SS and uses the novels as a point of reference, is in way over their heads.

[anatomical-puppet]

This started as me trying to sort out my headcanon for how Flint and Eira would get together, and then it ended up Very Very Long, so. Enjoy this, I guess??

~~~

They start off on some very rocky ground. Eira already isn’t a fan of the group when he meets them, but Flint manages to push his buttons the most. He’s not being intentionally grating, he’s just super informal and chilled-out 24/7 and Eira finds that incredibly annoying. He sees it as Flint not taking any of the dangerous shit going on seriously and assumes he’s just an egotistical prick. Flint, on the other hand, thinks Eira is a stuck-up, boring, asshole stick in the mud. Who the hell does this guy think he is, anyway?

Once Eira joins the group more formally, they drop some of the animosity but keep the competitive aspect. They’re constantly trying to one-up each other, both in battles and in day-to-day situations, and that isn’t a problem for a while. It’s just (mostly) friendly competition. Then they both try to show off a little too much during a fight and someone (probably Doppel or Riv imo) ends up pretty badly hurt because they were preoccupied and weren’t paying attention. Alchemy then has to chew them out for being so fucking stupid all the time. It’s fine to have a friendly rivalry, but they need to stop letting it interfere with their ability to keep themselves and the rest of the group safe. They both realize that yeah, they’ve been dumb as hell, they need to be more careful and not let their egos get out of hand.

Their relationship starts to mellow out after that. There’s still some teasing and bickering (and a LOT of nicknames on Flint’s part), but they’re not as outwardly negative or competitive towards one another. More compliments, more comfortable silence instead of constant arguing, that kind of thing.

Then Flint realizes that Uh-Oh, This Guy’s Kinda Cute. He doesn’t say anything because he doesn’t want to make Eira uncomfortable, because in my head, this happens before Eira has realizes he’s got a big ol’ case of the Gay. Once he does realize and is comfortable enough to tell the group, Flint is still very hesitant; Eira is an incredibly closed-off and private person, and Flint doesn’t want overstep any boundaries and risk putting their friendship back at square one.

They bond a little more, Eira starts to loosen up (the first time he genuinely smiles, Flint almost passes out), and Flint decides he wants to shoot his shot. He’s very careful about it and waits for the right time, that time being while he and Eira are going for a walk one night while the rest of the group rests at an inn. Flint is very blunt about it, because that’s how he is, but reassures Eira that he doesn’t expect any feelings in return (although that sure would be nice).

Eira doesn’t really say anything. He gives Flint A Look, but Flint sure as hell can’t decipher what it means, both because of the dark and because Eira’s just hard to read in general. They head back to the inn and say their good nights, and Flint falls asleep disappointed, but not surprised.

A few nights later, they’re on their way to another city to Do Things and have to stop midway to rest. Flint volunteers to take first watch, and Eira offers to take it with him. The silence is comfortable, they just sort of watch the small campfire Flint made and listen to the crickets for a while.

Flint eventually looks over and notices that Eira’s face is kinda red and he looks like he’s about to die. He asks what’s wrong, and Eira doesn’t even look up as he reaches over and shakily grabs Flint’s hand.

Cue Flint being a confused idiot, as always, and asking what he’s doing.

“I thought about what you said the other night,” Eira says slowly, choosing each of his words extremely carefully and fighting to keep his voice from wavering. “And I think I might be... interested in you, as well. But I’m not really sure, because I’m not exactly experienced, as you can probably tell. But maybe we could try? Just to see how it goes?”

It’s very lowkey for two weeks or so. They don’t go beyond holding hands (and one hug, Eira had never turned redder in his life) and don’t tell the rest of the group. Flint doesn’t initiate further because he still knows Eira is skittish around this kind of thing and he’d hate to go too fast and upset him. He’s perfectly content to go slow, anyway. Eira’s hands are freezing, but they’re still nice to hold.

Then they get into a fight and Flint gets hurt bad. Having Dock and Lance focus on you simultaneously is a VERY bad time, as Flint quickly learns, and he ends up incredibly unconscious. Eventually, the Jury members that are there have to retreat after Eira obliterates Lance because How Dare You, That’s My Emotional Support Himbo Boyfriend.

Riv patches Flint up, and as soon as he’s conscious, he attempts to get in a sarcastic one-liner before Eira kisses him. It’s pretty nice for someone who’s never done it before, quick and chaste and Eira’s crying because he can’t lose Flint, thank god he’s okay.

The group is silent before Doppel yells “I FUCKING KNEW IT” and Alchemy hands him five of whatever money this world uses, mumbling about “swearing it’d take these dumbasses way longer.”

[johannas-motivational-insults]

“Friendship” in the Horde

Season 4 raised some interesting questions about how people who grew up in the Horde define friendship. Kyle claimed that his squadmates were his friends, despite how we've seen them bully him, and Scorpia admitted she didn’t even know how to be a good friend. We also saw further developments in Catra and Lonnie’s dynamic that have some interesting implications about their bond, both past and present. However, while these themes became more explicit this season, they are hardly new. The Horde worldbuilding is really quite brilliant, as the writers have been laying the foundation for these revelations by showcasing certain patterns since season one.

This got a little lengthy on me, but there was a lot to consider. The lack of healthy emotional expression and relationship modelling is one obvious problem in the Horde, but the hostile environment has also led to some very specific power dynamics and social structures. These structures, while potentially helpful in hostile environments, are maladaptive in terms of fostering healthy relationships. Ultimately, every character who grew up in the Horde is emotionally crippled. (I’m not even going into Adora, an excellent example, because her repression and communication problems are well-documented and I wanted to focus on characters still in this environment.)

Scorpia

Let’s start with Scorpia. Her revelation that she doesn’t understand what friendship is was a big moment for her, but for those of us who have been watching closely, it’s no big surprise. Scorpia was so desperate for a meaningful connection that she latched onto the first person who showed any signs of considering her a friend, ignoring all the red flags indicating that the relationship was not healthy. Actually, she didn’t ignore them so much as not recognize them, because she didn’t even know what a healthy relationship looks like. To her, the fact that Catra invited her to her room and chose her to accompany her on a mission was enough for her to dub them the Superpal Duo.

Of course, we all know how that went for her. She continued to support Catra unconditionally despite the latter’s tendency to use Scorpia as her emotional punching bag. They did settle into a somewhat more reciprocal and caring relationship after Scorpia saved Catra against her orders during 2x05, proving that Catra was more important to her than the mission (even if that wasn’t what Catra thought she wanted). It’s sad when you think about it, because that was probably the first time Catra ever experienced her wellbeing being prioritized above all else.

Unfortunately, the revelation that Shadow Weaver had gone running back to Adora after betraying her triggered a trauma response and made her clam up again, lashing out at Scorpia and shutting her out even though she had done nothing to betray her trust. It took Catra blatantly attacking and insulting Scorpia when she failed to bring back Entrapta’s recordings (and some well timed reality checks from Emily) for Scorpia to realize that Catra was being a bad friend and she couldn’t win her over by being a good friend.

And actually, Scorpia’s confession in 4x10 that she “thought” she was being a good friend to Catra implies that she had since realized that she wasn’t actually being a good friend to Catra either. She knows the scorpions were a loyal people and she ascribes to that ideal, and she has so much love to give and always tries so hard to be positive, but not setting boundaries with people or demanding a measure of basic respect does nothing for them or you. Also, you can’t ignore the fact that Scorpia forced her affections on Catra, inserting herself into Catra’s life in a way that made her uncomfortable, and continued to ignore Catra’s attempts at setting boundaries with her (which is also very disrespectful). While Catra was certainly the aggressor, she was not the only one who failed in this partnership.

Let’s go back for a moment to Scorpia’s earliest indication that Catra might want to be her friend, when she confides in her and enlists her help coming up with and then executing a plan. Being chosen as Catra’s wingman seems to be important here, and perhaps she was wilfully ignoring how she was the only person who could make Catra’s plan work, but being confided in and trusted was huge to her. And since Horde soldiers are so used to being used, they don’t see it as a red flag. Catra actually flat out said Scorpia was the only person she could trust. How could a lonely gay not interpret that as a sign of being special to someone?

The squad

The importance of trust also becomes evident when considering the interactions among the main squad. Loyalty seems to be paramount in the Horde, not just the scorpion kingdom. Adora defecting to the Rebellion and leaving her squad behind was seen as a huge betrayal, and not just by Catra. Did anyone else want to cry when Lonnie struck back at Adora with “we were your friends” in 1x09? Lonnie was deeply hurt by Adora’s abandonment, feeding into her disillusionment with the Horde. Similarly, when Double Trouble revealed they had double-crossed Catra, her devastated reaction was not that her plans were ruined, but that they had betrayed her. That no doubt was also related to her previous betrayals, but also serves to highlight the importance of loyalty in their subculture.

While all the Horde characters were interesting to watch this season when it came to the themes of friendship, the arc was most pronounced in Lonnie. As I’ve mentioned previously, Scorpia had a short arc over one episode where her rosy worldview was destroyed, causing her to leave (much like Adora), while Lonnie was already a cynic who was aware of the Horde’s imperfections and had to go through more extreme hardships to detach from this unhappy but familiar environment (much like Catra, we hope).

Though she and the boys didn’t leave the Horde until the finale, her disillusionment was already evident in her first episode this season. After Catra berated them for something that wasn’t their fault and demanded they risk their lives to fix it (big Hordak energy), she had her first big revelation: “Catra doesn’t care about us, Adora left us. Everything they taught us in the Horde about loyalty is meaningless. It’s everyone for themselves.” In the next episode, she was frustrated by Scorpia’s naïve enthusiasm and trust in Catra, but it took a big blow up between her and Catra for her to finally decide she was done with her, done with the Horde in general.

Kyle represents a sort of middle ground between Lonnie and Scorpia in terms of outlook. He was not treated well in the Horde, but still believed in the ideals of loyalty and squad unity. He wanted to believe Catra had sent them out on a mission into the Whispering Woods because she trusted them and wanted it to be a team-building exercise. His take on it was: “She may be mean, but we’ve always had each other’s backs. Ever since we were kids.” He saw the squad as his family, including Catra (and previously Adora). It took Catra baring her claws and threatening to attack Lonnie outside of a battle sim for him to lose faith in her.

Bullying, the pecking order, and squad unity

As is clear by this point, the Horde defections this season were driven by Catra mistreating the others, but we can’t lose sight of how mistreatment is a fact of daily life in the Horde. And as I mentioned above with Lonnie, it’s those who were most aware of and desensitized to the mistreatment who had the hardest time naming it and leaving the toxic environment. Call it Stockholm Syndrome, call it the sunk cost fallacy, but either way once you’ve submitted to a system that dehumanizes you, it’s hard to admit that that system is wrong and leave it for a better life. Scorpia and Adora grew up somewhat privileged in the Horde in that they were destined for greatness, so they were never abused overtly and they had a level of protection from power-hungry cadets looking to claw their way to the top of the heap. They were already at the top and couldn’t be taken down, so they didn’t have to bully or be bullied.

The importance of pecking order is much more evident when considering people like Kyle, Catra, and Lonnie. Within their squad, Kyle is obviously the omega of the gang (get your heads out of the gutter, that is not what I mean), the one who gets blamed for everything that goes wrong and is constantly getting picked on. Lonnie shits on him, Catra shits on him, and even Rogelio gives him shit and goes along with the blame game. Despite all this, Kyle considers them his friends, his family.

This starts to make sense when you consider it in terms of intra vs. extra squad relations. Maybe the squad didn’t show Kyle any respect or treat him with kindness, but they did protect him in battle sims (sometimes lol) and rescue him from the spore storm. You also kind of get the impression that although they bullied him and asserted their dominance on the regs, they would protect him if other people tried to hurt him. You might say he’s the pet of the gang – he has no power within the structure and it may not be pleasant, but the structure still offers advantages. Having allies was still good for him even if he was at the bottom of the pecking order within the alliance.

Through a sociology lens, you might say the squad (and the Horde in general, given it’s a military society) follows the stereotypical male model of friend groups with clear pecking orders that everyone buys into (with exceptions for blatant power struggles), as opposed to the stereotypical female model that appears less hostile and more cooperative outwardly but involves a lot of underhanded infighting. (Obviously those are broad generalizations and it can be argued how much of it is nature vs. nurture, but they are observable patterns that boys and girls are socialized into in many human societies.) This ties in interestingly to @jaelav3​‘s observations about masculinity equating to strength and femininity equating to power in the Horde (a meta she really needs to write, because it’s brilliant). The hostility of the Horde forces soldiers into these rigid pecking orders in order to find protection in a dangerous place. When everyone knows and accepts their role, it is easier for the squad to function in a unified manner and protect each other, even if it’s at the cost of their mental and emotional health.

Now, when not everybody buys into the pecking order or it’s ambiguous, and/or if there’s a sudden power vacuum, that’s when things get interesting…

Catra and Lonnie, the perfect case study

Catra also suffered a lot of bullying and abuse in the Horde, but in a very different way than Kyle. She was in a unique and kind of contradictory position where she was somewhat protected by her close friendship with Adora, but she was also Shadow Weaver’s favourite chew toy and everyone knew it, which made her a target as well. If Shadow Weaver abused her, she wasn’t going to care if the other cadets abused her as well. Catra’s defensive body language and general distrustfulness and hostility gives the impression that she was bullied behind Adora’s back and Shadow Weaver turned a blind eye, perhaps even encouraged it.

This was all illustrated in 1x03, when Catra and Lonnie butted heads and Catra was forced to back down when two other cadets backed up Lonnie, then Lonnie told her to watch it because Adora wasn’t around to protect her anymore. That one line alone told so much of their story. This was also one of the few times we saw cadets using people from other squads to affect their own squad’s dynamics, as – like I said – that seems to be kept mostly in-house. It may have had something to do with Lonnie’s overall standing among the cadets or how Kyle and Rogelio rank lower in their little hierarchy and seem uninterested in getting involved with the power politics, but I digress.

The argument itself was meaningless, really - the whole thing was a pissing contest, an attempt to assert dominance within their squad’s sudden power vacuum. Lonnie fancied herself the new leader of the squad, and she ended up getting her wish in a backwards way when Catra was promoted out of the squad and given official power over her. Catra, of course, took every opportunity to rub this in Lonnie’s face, perpetuating the cycle of abuse she’d fallen victim to.

The reason they had a power struggle in the first place wasn’t just because Adora left, it was because their pecking order was previously unclear. Catra wasn’t very cooperative and tended to go rogue, so she didn’t slot nicely into the power structure. She was also perceived as lazy, as she had adopted an air of nonchalance once she realized she’d never get the recognition or praise so easily heaped on Adora. (Why try when failing hurts so much?) That being said, she was Adora’s best friend and basically her sidekick, so in a way that made her second-in-command of the squad.

On the other hand, Lonnie was devoted to the squad and was always around to provide tangible support, so she was also kind of Adora’s second-in-command. Combined with her harder work ethic, this also gave her a very legitimate claim to the throne. She was obviously pissed when her teammate she saw as a lazy asshat got promoted, but to her credit she lived up to her own personal ethics, buying in and not pushing back against Catra’s authority until late in season 4.

Despite the power struggle, however, Catra and Lonnie do seem to have a bond. Even if they don’t like each other, they have a certain level of trust in each other. When the princesses invaded the Fright Zone in 3x04 and shit started to go sideways, the first person Catra was looking for to try to get support and/or answers was Lonnie. Then in 4x10 when she was starting to lose her mind amid a lack of sleep and Scorpia’s defection, she pulled Lonnie aside and demanded to know what was going on among the soldiers, what they thought of her.

This was an incredibly interesting scene with some deep implications. Because while it was on one hand an expression of trust in Lonnie, it was also an acknowledgement that Lonnie was one of her bullies and held clout among the people who have demeaned and abused her in the past. It also showed that Catra still has social anxiety and her sense of social power (as opposed to power in terms of rank) is very fragile, which is extremely characteristic of a bullying victim. Also, the fact that Catra said, “Just leave. Like everybody else.” implied that Lonnie leaving would hurt her emotionally, which is rather illuminating.

As for Lonnie, her loyalty meant she bought into the system and expected to Catra to do her job running the place, taking care of the Horde. And Catra certainly succeeded early on, taking territory and increasing productivity. In return, Lonnie was a loyal and obedient soldier, even if she never hesitated to give Catra a bit of attitude. But she became frustrated in season 4 when Catra went on her sunk cost fallacy spiral and ended up making things worse for everyone else as well as herself. This failure was a huge betrayal to Lonnie, and it’s important to note that she wouldn’t feel betrayed or disappointed if she had expected nothing of Catra in the first place. It’s one thing to be kind of a dick about your superior rank, another entirely to endanger your squad/friends (or anyone you are responsible for, really) and run them into the ground as a remedy for your own anxiety.

The breaking point of course was the scene in the locker room in 4x12, when a lonely Catra tried to be “friends” with the squad again and was briefly successful in mending fences a little until she snapped at Kyle and then at Lonnie, calling them pathetic. This prompted Lonnie to shove her, which in turn made Catra bare her claws and rush Lonnie. There was really no coming back from that, even though Kyle intervened before anyone got hurt.

As an aside, Kyle stepping up in this scene was amazing - this season in general was everything I wanted for him. And it’s important that it was him who intervened, because he was really the only one who could ask Catra, “We used to be your friends, why are you treating us like this?” It makes perfect sense for Catra to push back at Lonnie given their history, but Kyle doesn’t have a history of bullying Catra (quite the opposite). And wow, it had an impact on Catra. You could just see the confusion and regret on her face before she brings back the façade of anger and kicks them out.

When the squad left the Horde, Lonnie said that they were done protecting Catra. This assertion is interesting, given their checkered past – since when was anyone protecting Catra? Lonnie bullied her, and none of them protected Catra from Shadow Weaver, not even Adora (though bless her heart, she tried). But this does make some sense when you consider how much of the idea of friendship is based on loyalty, and how important that adherence to the structure is for protection. In Lonnie’s mind, even if Catra was now their commander, they were still a unit in a way. And she saw standing by and obeying Catra to be a form of protection, helping her stay respected and carry out her plans. Lonnie is a good support person, and by removing her support, she was in a way removing her protection as well.

(After the series is over I might just go all out and do a huge-ass meta about Catra and Lonnie through the seasons. I am absolutely fascinated by this relationship, if you can’t tell.)

Allyship

Overall, you can’t help but get the impression that the Horde’s version of friendship is more akin to allyship. It’s protection, unity, loyalty. However, that doesn’t mean they don’t get emotionally attached, it’s more that how you feel about someone is less important than what that relationship can do for you. That’s why Scorpia doesn’t even understand what friendship is. That’s why Catra tolerates “friends” who annoy her, because they’re useful to her (not that she doesn’t get attached in time, but that’s not why she tolerates them in the first place).

Catra’s one of the few people in the Horde who has experienced real friendship, as her bond with Adora was much more emotional than practical (even if it was both). And that explains why she eventually lashed out at Scorpia and said they were not friends when clearly they were by the Horde’s definition. Her and Adora really had taken the friends thing to a different level, and she was missing that dearly.

It will be interesting to watch the interactions between the Horde characters when they are thrown back together in new circumstances, out of the Horde’s rigid power structure. Honestly, the redefining of these alliances and friendships is one of the things I am most looking forward to in the final season.

[bsd-elle]

Thoughts on the SK8 The Infinity Episode 12

So the final episode just aired. And I’m having majoorrr mixed feelings.

This show was truly something that kept me going, with it’s story, animation and the whole found family thing. I have loved this show from the beginning and I will till the end.

But as a lot of people in the fandom I do have some strong opinions on the finale

First off, I just want to say that everyone is allowed to have their own opinion but please do not send hate or any negative energy to studio Bones and Hiroko Utsumi. They have worked incredibly hard on this series. In fact I put them on a pedestal for giving us something so poignant and wonderful during such trying times. I looked forward every Saturday to watch the new episode and that feeling, that rush while watching it, never changed throughout the show’s run!!

Now on to my thoughts on the finale.

1. Shipping

I saw many people in the fandom criticizing the studio for queerbaiting. Now I can definitely not give an accurate perspective on this, as I am not part of the LGBTQIA community, though I am a strong ally.

Let’s talk about the main ships: Renga and Matchablossom

Renga: In my opinion they’re pretty much canon. All the hints, the loving looks, Langa jumping to hug Reki, Langa basically saying Reki is his happiness, Reki wanting to skate beside Langa (Infinitely). In my eyes, they’re canon.

Of course it would’ve been amazing to have a canon queer relationship, but we have no idea what happens behind closed doors. The rules in Japan, unfortunately are totally different from other progressive countries. As someone who lives in a country where they just decriminalized gay marriage, seeing canon queer relationships is honestly rare.

I think they did whatever they could to show that Renga is canon.

I mean come on, Langa basically said he liked Reki in episode 8

I think it would be very very cool and progressive to have a them outwardly admit to it, but we know both these dumbasses never finish their sentences. lol

I’m happy with the way their relationship evolved.

Matchablossom: I honestly can’t give a clear reasoning to this, because personally I don’t ship them. But the thing is, they could be canon, who knows?

I mean everyone was talking about how Joe went out with 2 girls in the end sequence and because of that they aren’t canon. But by that logic we couldn’t ship them from the beginning, since Joe kissed girls in the first episode.

I mean I totally headcanon that Joe is a bisexual king, so that means he could be hanging out them girls while still majorly crushing on Cherry.

Who knows, maybe Joe brought the girls to Cherry’s signing on purpose to make him jealous. Lol

Let your imagination run wild, people. It’s up to your own perspective. I personally don’t ship them, but I don’t think it’s queerbaiting when you pretty much have several hints to them caring deeply (love) about each other.

2. Story

This is where the critiquing comes.

One of the main reasons why I loved and still love Sk8 was one, obviously because of Renga and two because I absolutely loved the story.

From eps 1-11 the story was so compelling and written in such a fantastic way. Every week I’d have some assumptions and every time it would completely blow my mind.

In particular ep 10. When I originally saw the title “Dap not needing words” I was so worried.

They need to talk, they have to communicate. But wow, that episode was just phenomenal, if you guys want me to make a review on each episode I would be happy to, I have so much to say.

Sure, ep 10,11 was wayyy too rushed, but I just know it’s because they had to fit a lot of story in such a little time period. If they had maybe 24 episodes, they would’ve knocked it out of the park.

Either way I had no complaints.

My issue with ep 12 is the beef: Adam Vs Snow

I thought animation wise and as a beef it was really impactful (similar to Reki Vs Adam)

But why God, why did they give Adam a redemption

I’m sorry but he doesn’t deserve it.

I knew for a fact that as much as I wanted Adam to go to jail (so badly), I knew it wouldn’t happen. That was just not possible (in my eyes). I thought they would take a page from Fugou Keiji: Balance Unlimited, where his family (those evil ass aunts) and send them to jail (for clear mental, physical abuse and who knows what else), and Adam would go in isolation somewhere.

There he could properly heal from his trauma and abuse, work through it, heal his relationship with Tadashi and just work to be better.

There was a part of me that expected the show to end with a typical “oh we’re all friends and everything is forgiven” bullshit and I prayyedd that wouldn’t happen

But boy was I wrong

Why did they try to sympathize with him?!?

I get it, he’s clearly had severe trauma and abuse, and he uses skateboarding and entering the “zone” to get away from his terrible reality.

But why did they have Langa say this to him??

“Skating is fun because you can do it with your friends!”

It’s sweet that he’s trying to teach Adam what Reki taught him, but this implies that Adam is his friend. Or atleast that’s what he wants

“hey, you’re a crazy monster and you assaulted my friends (boyfriend), but I still wanna skate with you, cause it’s fun with friends”

I’m sorry, in what universe is this.. your friend?

Your actual friend, Langa, who taught you everything you know, who’s been with you from the start, he has been attacked and traumatized multiple times by Adam. Not to mention several other people.

I could’ve accepted it if they used the line

“Don’t ever end up on your own”

That makes more sense in this context, it’s like saying “hey you evil monster, you’re crazy but don’t end up alone, treasure the people in your life”

I think that implies more on the sense that Adam has to figure shit out on his own, by himself. Not with Langa and the people he’s assaulted.

Then it would make atleast a bit more sense to heal Tadashi and Adam’s relationship.

You just cannot build up a character like Adam, for 12 episodes and then completely forgo that for the sake of “friendship”, that just makes no sense

Not to mention, Kirako the detective, the fact that she worked so hard and got absolutely nothing, is preposterous.

That whole thing put a really bad taste in my mouth.

Also, during the beef, like I mentioned, Langa basically implies that they should have fun because they’re skating with friends.

This basically just throws out Langa’s friendship with Reki.

I mean Reki was so badly hurt and injured after their beef, both the times.

Yes, he did have a lot of fun and that was the point of ep 10, 11 to show Reki that he didn’t have to skate to be the best (like no one ever wass.. dun dun dun. If you know that reference, here’s a chocolate) he skated to have fun(even though in my eyes, he’s the best)

Ep 12 was that arc for Langa, for him to realize he also skated to have fun.

But when you’re condoning and encouraging Adam, idkk.. it just rubbed me the wrong way.

I didn’t like it at all. They made him into a gag character in the end scene, which is literally the opposite of what he’s been pictured for the past 11 episodes.

3. Side characters

Shadow did not deserve that in any way whatsover.

He was completely glossed over. I thought his injury would be a pivotal plot point for improving his relationship with the manager, but they just used it as a way to remove him from the tournament

Tadashi, babyy, that’s Stockholm syndrome

When I saw that dog comment:

Godd... he deserves so muchhh moree..

So, overall the finale, honestly disappointed me. But my love for sk8 is everlasting and the finale will never change that

4. Future

Hopefully, and I pray for this

A season 2, movie, OVA or anything tbh.

There’s so much potential

Reki and Langa go to Canada, they visit Oliver’s grave, Langa teaches Reki snowboarding

Kirako finally arresting Adam

Tadashi becoming true friends with Langa, Reki and the gang

Shadow getting the love he deserves

Matchablossom canon

Renga canon

Miya getting the apology he deserves

But whatever it is, Sk8 the Infinity owns my heart and I don’t know what I’m going to do with my life.

Other than reading Renga fanfiction

[spaceorphan18]

Hi - hope you don’t mind if I ask this, as it may seem a bit odd.

Recently, I’ve seen quite a few people write things on their blogs here and on Reddit about how they detest Kurt being seen as the feminine one of Klaine, and how maybe the writers tried to depict that in canon. (Well he always wanted to play the female roles - as in Sally or Goldie, or sing with the girls .)

Also, that a lot of the fanfiction from the earlier seasons had Kurt as the more feminine, like in ATOG how rainjoy writes Kurt as more feminine.

I’ve never given it a lot of thought, but it does seem at times that Kurt was written in canon as more feminine than Blaine. Some people really dislike it, and give examples of why they think Kurt shouldn’t be seen as so feminine, that often don’t make sense. Or people get argumentative about top/bottom/switch which always seems an odd thing to talk about.

I can’t really see why it bothers people so much if they do chose to write in canon or fanfic that Kurt is the more effeminate? Blaine has his effeminate ways as well, but they are rarely touched upon or discussed.

Sorry for rambling, but do you know what I’m talking about?

Thank you!

Okay, wow, there is a lot here to unpack, Nonny. Lol I mean - I have a half mind to tell you just fuck those people and move on, because they really seem like they just want to be mad at something on the internet. But in the name of playing fair, let's break this down a little.

Recently, I’ve seen quite a few people write things on their blogs here and on Reddit about how they detest Kurt being seen as the feminine one of Klaine, and how maybe the writers tried to depict that in canon. (Well he always wanted to play the female roles - as in Sally or Goldie, or sing with the girls .)

This really isn't a recent thing - people have been pissed off about this since the beginning of Kurt. There are a lot of people out there who bristle against effeminate men. Some are fans who don't like, especially in the beginning, that Kurt was an effeminate gay stereotype. (Effeminophobia often plays a part here) Some think that if Kurt is too feminine it emasculates him and he's somewhat lesser for it (there's misogyny rolled up here in this). And then there are just people who are assholes because they need gay people to all be a certain way, and don't like when a character isn’t acting queer the way they think they should be queer. *shrugs*

And... I'm not saying if someone doesn't like Kurt, or how he's written, they're wrong or bad, I mean - people are allowed to have their opinions. But I do roll my eyes when people try to police or gatekeep a correct way of being queer.

Also, that a lot of the fanfiction from the earlier seasons had Kurt as the more feminine, like in ATOG how rainjoy writes Kurt as more feminine.

Yes - a lot of early fanfiction does tend to push Kurt's character to his early season 1 stereotype. And, as I've talked in depth in other places, ATOG is actually one of the worst offenders -- Kurt is, almost, essentially written as a woman, or is female coded. I do think there is a difference between discussing how Kurt became more effeminate in early fandom and why vs people being pissy now because of what was on the show itself.

I, myself, would definitely push back on characterization of Kurt in early fanon works. Even in the early seasons, there were traces of masculinity that balanced Kurt's femininity. But, especially since a lot of these early writers were straight women, there's a tendency to end up writing a queer couple in a heterosexual way - where someone has to be the woman and someone has to be the man in the relationship. And, while I'm sure there are queer couples who take on those kind of traits, I don't think it's indicative to queer culture as a whole.

So, while I'm never going to be too critical of what someone writes in fanfiction... because it's fanfiction. I don't necessarily think it's unfair to have these conversations about how and why a character is pushed into certain, stereotypical role. And, as I said above, I think it's a different conversation - discussing what was going on in early fanfic vs people just not liking the character for the way he was written in canon.

I’ve never given it a lot of thought, but it does seem at times that Kurt was written in canon as more feminine than Blaine. Some people really dislike it, and give examples of why they think Kurt shouldn’t be seen as so feminine, that often don’t make sense. Or people get argumentative about top/bottom/switch which always seems an odd thing to talk about.

You know - in Season 6, Sue mentions that both Kurt and Blaine are a couple of blouses -- light and airy, femme-y tops. And as ridiculous as she is describing it, she's actually not exactly wrong.

Kurt definitely has a lot of feminine traits - but as a convo in season 3 with Unique goes, he still identifies very much as a man. And in later seasons, we see him embrace masculinity just a bit more. There's a pretty in-depth and interesting conversation there about how Kurt starts as an effeminate stereotype, and how he changes and becomes more of a complex person throughout the series.

Meanwhile, Blaine goes from outwardly being a very masculine coded guy to becoming much more feminine as the show progresses -- again, subverting a stereotype and becoming a fleshed out and complex character.

Both characters are allowed to have both masculine and feminine traits - the way /people/ are allowed to be fluid in their gender expression. (Which... doesn't really tie into sexuality anyway - because that's about who you want to have sex with, and yet people still try to conflate the two.)

I have no idea why anyone cares who is a top or a bottom or whatever -- I don't think your sexual preferences indicate how identify as your gender -- nor is one preference better than the other. But like the issue with being effeminate, a lot of these people who get up in arms about it are the people who seem to think that being effeminate, or being a bottom, is somehow /less/ than being a top or more masculine. Again, it's rooted in misguided heteronormativity, misogyny and effeminophobia. Again, there's no right or wrong way to queer - and people who claim otherwise are looking to feel right about their choice.

I can’t really see why it bothers people so much if they do chose to write in canon or fanfic that Kurt is the more effeminate? Blaine has his effeminate ways as well, but they are rarely touched upon or discussed.

I think it ultimately goes back to this notion that "my" interpretation of the character is correct and dominant and "your" view is wrong. And they want to prove that notion, when, of course, there is no right or wrong - just differences in experiences. And I honestly feel, Nonny, that ultimately you need to roll your eyes and move on - because no one's mind is going to be changed on the internet - no matter how many facts you try to bring them.

So continue to have the discussions! And continue to enjoy and love the characters you love so much. As I always say, the rest is just noise.

I hope that helps? I never know, lol...

[felix-honikker-kinnie]

hello charlotte - lgbtq+ headcanons (and also canon lgbtq+ characters)

#all art in this post is by etherane :) (note: literally every other headcanon is valid these are just mine <3) Charlotte Wiltshire

So, this is pretty widely accepted throughout the fandom - but I have to say she just seems transfem to me. There are even some possible hints that she might be transfem, and knowing etherane, I really wouldn’t be surprised.

First possible hint is young Charlotte. Not being feminine as a kid and then being very feminine later on obviously doesn’t mean you’re trans, I just thought it was something worth noting. In hc2, I believe there is a scene where Aiden encourages Charlotte to try being feminine, and you can see that she’s much more outwardly happy and expressive presenting as more feminine. Second possible hint is Seth. It was mentioned that male puppeteers are usually not assigned to female puppeteers, which could be a possible hint that she wasn’t biologically female.

Third possible hint was Charlotte’s haircut. Of course, any person would be upset if some people at school cut their hair, but some specific lines mentioned not wanting to let anyone see her and that a stranger stared back at her in the mirror - though that could have just been anxiety. All in all, none of these three things are for certain indicators that Charlotte is transfem, it’s just nice to have a little headcanon. And to be honest, the little hints aren’t even the main reason I think she’s trans, she just - Idk it just makes sense that she’d be trans and I just vibe with it. 

I think this one is also pretty agreed on, but she just gives panromantic vibes. I also get like, demiromantic vibes? And asexual vibes. I don’t have explanations for any of these, these headcanons just vibe with me. Felix Honikker

Next up, my fave, Felix. So my biggest headcanon is that he’s asexual because - well, ew, people, gross. And he just seems omniromantic to me. Again, can’t explain, the headcanon just vibes. And he just - Idk I feel like he’s transmasc and neutrios. Someone also mentioned that he seemed genderfluid and that headcanon is extremely valid. And someone mentioned him being aroace which, is also very extremely valid. Bennett

AAH. MY BABY BOY. THAT SMILE. SO MUCH SEROTONIN. I’M CRYING. I LOVE HIM SO MUCH. AAAAAAH.  Okay, so he also gives me trans vibes (transmasc vibes). Charlotte, Felix, and Bennett just - radiate trans to me and I vibe so fucking hard with that.  Also. Bennett is a disaster bi. He. Just. Radiates. Disaster bi. He also seems just...like he experiences sexual attraction but he doesn’t really want to do. Things. I believe the word for that is akoisexual? (Or lithsexual?) Correct me if I’m wrong. Idk.  (Okay I had to stop making this post because I was trying to find the word for it and I just - I just found a post that was really invalidating to ace/spec people and I just. I’m sad now. After this I’m going to reblog all the acespec/arospec positivity posts I can get my hands on.) Florence

Florence also radiates disaster bi. That’s. That’s pretty much it for her, that’s my only headcanon about her orientation/identity. However. I do have many OTHER headcanons but they would not be relevant to this post, so.

Seth

Seth is pansexual, demisexual, and pangender in my mind because. Again. I have no reason. Just v i b e s

Aiden

Hm...he seems like the kind of person who wouldn’t really care about labels and just let people call it whatever they wanted to as far as orientation. (Sorry that some of these are so short-)

Henry Huxley

Huxley is definitely polyamorous, ace and gay. No, I will not explain my reasoning. Because I have none.

Q84

Q84 is definitely aroace. And I highly doubt she gives a fuck about gender and I doubt she’d put a label on her gender.

DelChar

I think we can all agree that DelChar is a disaster lesbian. At the very least, she canonically wlw, so that’s always nice to see. I also think she’s transfem because this is an alternate version of Scarlotte Charlotte I believe, so I just feel like she’d be trans as well.

V19

She’s also a disaster lesbian. 

Scarlett Eyler

Scarlett, like flo and ben radiates bi. I’m thinking she’s either aromantic bisexual or biromantic asexual but I’m leaning more towards aro/bi.

Anri Warhol

Anri is canonically bi. I appreciate that, a lot. 

Vincent Wordsworth

He seems like either he’s gay or he’s queer as far as orientation, and either way, definitely asexual. And he’s nonbinary as well.

Charles Eyler

What’s that? A canon genderfluid character? AND a canon asexual character? Yep, Charles is canon genderfluid and ace and I just freak out every time I think about it because there’s so little rep for those two things that whenever I see it, I just get really happy. As far as romantic orientation I feel like polyromantic.

Vincent Fennell

I’d probably put him about the same as his counterpart in hc3. I just included him specifically because. He’s so fucking pretty. And I wanted to show a picture of him.

C

I know C is technically Charles in a Vincent vessel, but shhh, I see him as his own kind of character. Like Charles, he’s genderfluid and asexual - and I could see him as being demiromantic and panromantic.

Umbrella Man

I just. I just feel like he’s homosexual/aromantic. I just. Do. And I can’t imagine he’s cis, but I don’t think he really has a label for his gender, idk.

Frei

Frei is canon agender! Or at the very least, he described himself as genderless. I feel like he would be asexual and omniromantic, kinda like my headcanon for Felix.

Freya

I know that Freya and Frei are both the Oracle, but each form the Oracle takes just seems like a seperate form to me. I can’t put Freya, Frei, and that other Oracle that was in Scarlett’s head into the same category. Freya is also probably agender but takes a feminine form and identifies with being female while also being genderless. I feel like she’d identify as a lesbian? And also be like, ace? Sorry if this doesn’t make any sense jafioejrpaewrojofjo.

Scarlett’s Oracle 

They’re definitely agender and aroace.

Right, I almost forgot OSIRIS

Osiris seems aroace.

Okay, that’s uh. that’s pretty much it oof. Sorry if this post doesn’t make a lot of sense I just wanted to ramble. And all other headcanons are valid <3 

[goldenkamuyhunting]

This question may be interpreted in the wrong way, so before I get lapidated for this ask, GK is my favorite ongoing manga and I read it bc of plot&characters arcs, not bc of ships.

Noda has proved to be okay with having canon and outwardly lgbt characters (Ienaga, Princess&Boss), do you think some of the characters still alive, if revealed to be lgbt, could get together without having to die?

There are many men in the cast who have shown no interest in women so far, whereas they have strong&close relationships with other men. Noda’s style is also pretty homoerotic, and there are hits that some MCs may be bi/gay or demisexuals. Since GK is a seinen and its fandom is familiar with Noda’s style, it could get away with having a canon lgbt pairing sans backlash, but it would be pretty risky bc of Japan’s censorship (talking about the anime aired on national tv, idk where GK airs in Japan). Maybe I’m just projecting my wishes too much into it. Noda’s homoerotism and bromance are awesome, and he has already inserted some lgbt characters, but it would be refreshing having a canon lgbt relationship without using the “bury your gays” trope.

Don’t worry, I don’t think you’re asking something wrong!

Honestly though... I’ve no idea.

I’ve no idea which is the position of Japan censorship and if they would care so I can’t even speak in this regard.

Also... I don’t really know how many will survive this mad chase.

Among those I expect to survive there are Sugimoto, Asirpa, Ogata and Ushiyama because they were on the right side of the road of survival, Shiraishi, because he escaped from the wrong side of the road of survival and Tanigaki, Koito and Tsukishima because the tiger’s curse condemn them to a live of missfortune.

So about them:

- Asirpa: she has a crush on Sugimoto which, I hope, she will grow out of it. No idea if then the story will want to show us what will be of her when she’ll grow up and if she’ll have a love interest by then.

- Sugimoto: I expect him to go back to Umeko. She can dump him if she wants to, but, unless the plan is to pair Sugimoto together with Asirpa afterward, I don’t expect the story to show him starting a love story with anyone else, not because he’ll forever live a single life but simply because it would go beyond his character arc. The story started with him deciding to bring the money to Umeko, so she’s part of it, and it focused a lot with his relationship with Asirpa so this can sadly mean something but to insert a third love relation is something I feel unlikely regardless from the partner being male or female.

- Ogata: honestly, unless the story will skip far forward in the future, I don’t expect Ogata to ever end up in a relationship until he manages to solve his issues first, learn to accept himself and the fact that love exist and he can receive and give it and that he doesn’t have to stay a solitary wildcat forever. So in the remote case the story will have him solve his issues the fact he were to get someone could conclude his arc but in this case it would make thematically sense if it were more to drive to the point he became for his kid the father his father wasn’t to him, than to pair him with someone. A way to close his father’s issues, in short, not really to give him romance. And, as said before, he first would have to solve most of his issues so I’ve no idea if we’ll ever get to this point.

- Ushiyama: I can’t see him as having a stable relation. Ushiyama is above 40 so old enough he was alive when in Japan it was assumed that the norm was being bisexual (sorta, this is actually a huge oversimplification because the whole thing is a lot more complex but you get the gist), and he might even have the right background to still be all right with it. However he very clearly has a favourite type so unless he meets someone else like Ienaga he’ll probably continue hanging around brothels.

- Shiraishi: Probably many didn’t know about it but I was hoping Boutarou would take Shiraishi as his lover because I loved them together and I thought they had the right chemistry. ;_; With Boutarou’s death and the promise Shiraishi will have to get married and make kids to whom he’ll pass Boutarou’s legend on, I’ll expect Shiraishi to do just that.

- Tanigaki, Tsukishima and Koito: as I said, I’ll expect the tiger’s curse to eventually find them and force them to live a life of missfortune so their fate doesn’t fit with your hopes. Of the three Koito, despite his young age, is in a social class in which his parents would, for sure, get him a wife but that might also find normal for him to have a male lover under certain conditions (so yeah, I think Koito was genuinely crushing on Tsurumi and saw nothing wrong in this because he’s from a social class that historically found it normal to be interested in both males and females). But again, misfortune hits them so I guess that’s not what you were hoping for.

The rest can very well end up being wiped out or jailed so I doubt they can give you a pairing that doesn’t end up getting buried or getting parted.

For example I’m pretty confident Hijikata and Nagakura, being on the wrong side of the road of survival will die but I also like to think they had a platonic love relation because it fits with the time period they came from, but again, they’ll likely get buried so I don’t think it’ll satisfy you if this were to turn out to be true.

So... I don’t know. 

It’s not impossible Noda will... let’s say, decide to keep Kantarou alive and give him a male love interest but well, it’s something I can’t predict because it isn’t really tied in the themes of the story, it’s just a nice extra.

We’ll see. Sorry for not having been particularly helpful...

[writing-for-the-people]

I'll Always Fight For You

Pairing: Bobby Wilson X Reggie Peters

Fandom: Julie and the Phantoms

A/N: Here's one of my first character x character fics that I'll post. I absolutely love this pairing so much. I saw another blurb about bobby fighting and really like the hurt/comfort trope, so here's this little piece. Enjoy!!

----

He closed his eyes, trying to keep the tears from falling. He couldn’t let the other see how much pain he was in. Reggie stood in front of him, gentle hands working to patch angry wounds. He was quiet, focus square on the task in front of him.

“Reggie?” Bobby hated how weak and uncertain and wavering his voice was. Reggie paused in his work and rested kind hands on his shoulders. He felt his chest tighten when he saw the look on Bobby’s face.

“Are you mad at me?” He sounded so small.

——

They were at a bar downtown, celebrating. Sunset Curve had just had a successful gig, and they wanted to blow off some steam.

Bobby had volunteered to stay sober, they needed someone to drive them home, after all. So he sat, sipping on soda while the other three reached different levels of trashed.

Bobby’s eyes had been trained on Reggie. He was the least drunk out of the others, and was enjoying himself on the dance floor. Bobby and Reggie were a new couple, the two having only started dating recently, but Bobby was already completely smitten with the other, so it was no surprise to him when he felt jealousy bubble up when the stranger approached his boyfriend.

Bobby knew Reggie could handle himself, which is why he didn’t move at first. Reggie seemed to be doing a good job of trying to fend the man off, but the stranger just wasn’t getting it. He kept stepping into Reggie’s space each time he backed up. The point where Bobby found himself getting up and going to Reggie was when the man grabbed Reggie‘s wrist.

As he was making his way over to the pair, Bobby saw the man leaning in, Reggie trying to pull away, but failing, then the stranger pulled Reggie in for an unwilling kiss. Bobby bit the inside of his cheek, willing himself to control his anger.

He had promised Reggie he wouldn’t fight anymore, but when that bastard asked ”this is the boyfriend? Honey, you’re missing out.” then dived in for another unwilling kiss, ignoring Reggie’s complaints, Bobby snapped.

He grabbed Reggie‘s wrist, gently but firmly pulled it from the man’s hand. He pushed Reggie so he was more behind Bobby and away from the man, then swung. He was acting on pure instinct, only seeing red.

The brief contact he’d had with Reggie he’d felt how tense the boy was. Reggie struggled with standing up for himself. He never wanted to cause conflict, he had seen enough of it at home.

The stranger held his own well, but two things worked against him. The first was Bobby’s anger. He was tired of people taking advantage of others. He was angry that someone would try to do this, especially in front of everyone else. He was already angry about the things that Reggie had to deal with at home, And the fact that he was subjected to it outside of his home made the anger worse.

The second was the fact that Bobby was sober, and he was not. The man did manage to get some really good hits in, but Bobby had the upper hand.

The only reason he stepped away was because his friends pulled him back, and some of the bar employees pulled the stranger away. They were all sent out, Reggie staying behind to talk to the employees.

His friends kept the man and Bobby separated in case Bobby felt the need to swing again, or th man tried to provoke him again. They didn’t want Bobby getting in any more trouble than he already was. Someone who looked like they were official, the owner of the bar Bobby thought, came out and approached Bobby and his group first.

“The four of you can’t come back to this bar for the next few weeks. Reggie has explained the situation to me, and while I understand the reason for the fight, I can’t support it. I won’t ban you permanently.” He smiled at the group before moving over to talk to the other man.

Bobby turned his attention to Reggie, but the smaller man just shook his head at him and asked if they could head back to their house.

———

Reggie dabbed at another wound on Bobby’s forehead, shaking his head.

“No, love. I’m not mad at you.”

Bobby felt his stomach flip. If Reggie wasn’t mad at him, that means he was disappointed. The last thing he wanted was for Reggie to be disappointed in him. Both of the boys were surprised to see and feel tears that began to fall.

“I’m sorry, Reg. I know that you didn’t want me to fight anymore. I didn’t want to. But I couldn’t just stand there and let him touch you.” Bobby was aware that he was rambling, but he couldn’t stop himself. “I just wanted to defend you. Reggie, I don’t want to break my promises. I didn’t want to fight him-”

Reggie cupped his cheek, effectively cutting Bobby off.

“Bobby, it’s okay.” Reggie spoke softly. “It’s okay, I’m not mad. I’m not disappointed. I completely understand why you fought.” He smiled, gently wiping the tears away.

“I’m sorry.”

“You reacted to the situation that we were in. I was uncomfortable and upset, and you defended me in the only way that asshole seemed to understand. I’m proud of you, darling.” His words made more tears fall from Bobby’s eyes. He placed a hand over Reggie’s on his cheek, turning his head to press a kiss to his palm.

“I don’t deserve your kindness.” Bobby murmured softly.

“No, you deserve more. You, for all your bravado you show, go through all the emotional struggles that the rest of us do.”

“I don’t matter when compared to you guys.”

“That’s not true.”

“Yes it is. You guys went through so much more than I did. Alex got disowned by his parents because he was gay. Luke and his mom and dad fought all the time. And you. Baby, you never had a good home life. The worst thing that happened to me was that my parents forgot my birthday. That’s not as bad as what you guys went through.” Bobby’s eyes had dropped from looking up to Reggie to looking at the hand that rested in his lap.

Reggie pulled his hand away and turned to pull a chair in front of Bobby. He sat down, taking Bobby’s hands in his own.

“Look at me, love.” Reggie murmured. Bobby followed his instructions and looked up at the other. Reggie smiled softly, continuing, “Just because your childhood doesn’t outwardly seem as bad as what the rest of ours was, that doesn’t mean that it isn’t something that still affected you. You were left alone for a lot of your younger years. Children aren’t meant to fend for themselves. There’s a reason that we have adults. You have a right to have some issues from it.”

Bobby was quiet, looking at Reggie with awe. He surged forward, catching Reggie off guard when he wrapped his arms around him, pulling the boy to his chest. Reggie closed his arms around Bobby as well, holding him close, and carding a gentle hand through his hair. Bobby sucked in a breath, feeling an overwhelming sense of home.

All of his life, Bobby had lived on the fringe of things. He was always a second hand thought with his parents. They were never around for him when he needed them, and when they were after the fact, they never really wanted to focus on him. Even within Sunset Curve, Bobby was the one who always fell to the side. Luke had such a big personality that he commanded attention. Reggie was usually so bubbly and warm that he had a natural light. Even Alex, the shy and anxious person he was, held more attention than Bobby did.

Bobby always faded into the background. He was used to the fact. That didn’t mean that he didn’t sometimes want the attention. Bobby wanted to have some time where, rather than focusing on the others, or focusing on his parents, someone would rather focus on him. That’s one of the reasons he fell in love with Reggie.

From the first day they met, Reggie turned the tides in Bobby’s life. He brought attention to Bobby. When the group was making decisions, Reggie would wait for Bobby’s insight before letting them commit to something. He would talk to Bobby rather than letting him sit quietly while Luke and Alex were going on about something else.

Really, Reggie was the whole reason that Bobby had broken so far from his shell to begin with. And he was grateful for that.

Reggie pulled Bobby from his thoughts when he pulled away from Bobby. He could barely contain the whine that bubbled in his throat with the loss of contact. He must have still made a noise, because Reggie chuckled and cupped his cheek again. Bobby repeated his actions from earlier, turning his head and kissing the palm of his hand. The other boy smiled and leaned down, dropping a kiss to the band-aid that covered part of Bobby’s forehead.

“Go get changed and get cozy in bed, love. I’ll be back in a second.” Reggie hummed softly. Bobby nodded and got up, following his instructions and changing into comfy pants, and a plain black t-shirt before climbing into his bed. He turned to Reggie’s side, pulling his pillow to his chest. He breathed in the comforting scent of Reggie, letting the soft feelings wash over him.

He wasn’t left alone for much longer before Reggie made his way into the room, chuckling when he saw the way that Bobby was wrapped around his pillow. He set the glasses of water and snacks that he had brought back with him on the nightstand before changing into comfy clothes as well. Before he climbed into bed, he started a CD in the stereo, not caring what it was, just wanting background noises.

“Can I have that?” Reggie asked with another chuckle, gently loosening his boyfriend from his pillow. Bobby chuckled as well, briefly putting up a fight against Reggie, making the boys delve into more laughter. Eventually he let Reggie win the play fight, and Bobby moved back into his own space on the bed. Reggie lifted the covers, climbing into the bed next to him.

Reggie got himself situated and turned to Bobby, holding his arms out.

“I know that you usually hold me, but…” Reggie let the sentence hang in the air. Bobby smiled, moving forward to slot himself against Reggie’s chest. He wrapped his arms around Reggie’s waist, sighing happily when Reggie closed his arms around him again. He nuzzled closer into Reggie’s chest, letting his eyes slip closed. Reggie ran his fingers up and down Bobby’s spine, helping him relax.

The two of them lay awake for a little bit, talking, or relaxing, just loving each other’s company. When Bobby didn’t answer Reggie’s question he looked down, finding Bobby’s eyes closed. His mouth hung open, and he snored softly. Reggie chuckled softly, slowly moving to adjust them so they wouldn’t wake up uncomfortable in the morning.

Bobby whined softly in his sleep, arms tightening around Reggie. He laughed silently, pulling him closer. He wasn’t going to leave Bobby.

As he laid there, Reggie felt happy. He knew that Bobby had some troubles sometimes letting himself be vulnerable. Even though the boys had known each other for years, it was still a rare thing that any of them saw Bobby when he was feeling low. The fact that Bobby cried in front of Reggie wouldn’t have seemed like that big of a deal to anyone else, but it meant everything to Reggie. Yes, he didn’t like seeing his boyfriend upset, but he was honored to know that Bobby felt safe enough with him to let his guard down.

When they were together, both boys felt like they were in the safest place in the world. Reggie wouldn’t change that for anything, and something told him that Bobby felt the same.

-----

JATP Tag list: @spooky-scary-lesbian

[wisherbysharlight]

WHAT IF... SANDERS SIDES BUT MAKE IT A TROPEY TEEN BEACH AU

Endgame!LAMP. Dukeceit, Remile

Just 2k stream of consciousness words from a plunny that grew legs TW for v slight underage drinking, one joking mention of violence, and a non-specific discussion of intrusive thoughts

-Janus has just moved there because his parents wanted to start a new "adventure" and he is a Stereotypical Teenager. Very "ugh MOM I wanna go back to my FRIENDS for my LAST SUMMER BEFORE COLLEGE"(most of his friends suck. He should not spend time with them. He does not know this)

His Parents buy him a surfboard and tell him to try it out as a way to get him to Shut Up

Hes a Skater Boy(cue music) so he picks it up super fast from like,,, youtube videos

 -He gets told to Get a Job if he wants to like, keep buying surf gear?

All the local kids work at like one restaurant/yacht club type place right on the beach

Janus gets hired as a host

 -Logan is a beach badge checker, Patton, Roman, and Remus are beachfront restaurant waiters but Roman just Really Wants To Surf, Emile and Virgil are Lifeguards, and Remy is a bartender

 -Janus is Very Good At Customer Service because Fake Smiles

Patton recognizes this Immediately

He shows him the Rage Closet which is a tiny room with an arm chair that locks from the inside where you can punch a pillow on your break when it gets to be Too Much

-Janus is Attached now and there is no getting rid of him

Patton Fully Endorses this and introduces him to the rest of the group

Janus Knows Immediately that LAMP is In Love but says nothing because he aint no snitch

-Remus surfs, but he also always wear a thong while doing it

Roman wears a full wetsuit and somehow still gets Board Rash. Remus is somehow immune and it infuriates him

 -Janus, not knowing that the twins live right on the beach cuz they are RichTM: Hey Ree I kinda wanna learn how to surf would you be able to teach me 

Remus, who religiously watches Janus surf every morning, but is absolutely willing to play this game: Yeah absolutely

Patton, later: “lets rinse off at the twins they’re right here” Janus: theyre.... What?!

 -Meanwhile, elsewhere, Virgil and Roman are double teaming Logan to drag him into the water with them cuz he’s pouting about losing a debate with their manager about how he didn’t really be mean to the dudebro who wanted to get his buddies onto the beach without paying, he was just enforcing the rules. And if the dude was so offended by Logan’s Very Accurate Dragging that he complained to management then, well, that’s his problem not Logan’s

 -Logan is never without a book. Ever. And its always a different book. Janus is starting to think he owns a library

One day he is just... reading a Physics textbook. Not taking notes or anything. Just reading. 

Roman is Very Very Alarmed by this because he is Gay and Math is Scary

"Roman I'm also gay that is not a determining factor"

"Yeah but you can't drive"

"...fair"

 -the first time janus has a shift with the twins, he cant stop staring, not just because hes like,,, super attracted to Remus but also because they are like Chaos Incarnate and yet somehow get the most tips??? He doesn't understand???

It's just cuz they are both Huge Flirts and Flatterers and the patrons dont care that they're not-so-subtly beating the shit out of each other right there on the dining floor because theyre just so charming

 -one of the bartenders gets aggressively snapped at by a customer and called "sweetheart" and before Janus can even begin to react Remy is there, sunglasses off, fire in his eyes, telling them to settle their bill and get the fuck out

Janus, used to City Restaurants- "Wont you get in trouble with the owner?!"

Remy, who knows Nothing Else But This- "What?? Not likely I only did it cuz Thomathy wasnt here to do it himself"

 -the restaurant is closed Monday and Tuesday so that is the Pseudo Weekend for the staff where everyone hangs out at the beach

Emile and Virgil take Tuesdays off but still work Monday’s cuz they feel better being the one watching over their friends

 -Roman, staring at Virgil on the lifeguard stand: ugh he’s so pretty I almost wish I was drowning just so he could give me cpr 

Janus: you wanna potentially get your ribs broken just for lip contact? 

Remy, staring at Emile on the lifeguard stand: listen, if that’s what it takes, I’ll take it

Remus, immediately going up to the lifeguard stand because he has 0 impulse control: hey my brother and cousin want you to break their ribs 

Virgil and Emile: excuse me?????

 -Patton will literally spend hours in the water. Logan physically drags him out to put sunscreen on him every two hours to the minute. Patton does not admit that he purposely "forgets" just so Logan will do so

Logan is Dark and has never used sunscreen ever but Patton is so pale and he just gets so concerned about him. Patton thinks its adorable

He has pages of research on proper spf determination.

Roman and Remus use spf 15 just on their faces and have never once burned in their lives

Logan wants to submit them for scientific study because that shouldnt be possible

Virgil calls Logan out on the fact that he also should be wearing sunscreen and Logan like... blue screens he cant believe in all his research he missed that

 -Patton is like... a ridiculously strong swimmer. Virgil still has a heart attack every time he goes for laps when there is the slightest hint of an undertow

Patton Knows This so he tries to stay in Virgil's sight line for the most part if there is an undertow. Or just dives over the waves again and again.

His nickname is Ariel. He thinks its just cuz of the swimming and the fact hes a red head. LAP all separately also tack on that its the swimming, the red hair, and the hnng pretty 10/10 would follow out to sea ala Prince Eric

 -first beach bonfire Janus goes to Remy is Fully In Emile's Lap like... half an hour in

he has had like maybe a sip of a beer

Remus says he still claims this is because he is a Clingy Drunk

no one will call him on it, least of all Emile

 -there is truth or dare. Roman may or may not skinny dip you have no proof

 -Logan gets infuriated that he cannot roast a marshmallow properly

Patton does it perfectly every single time but its ok cuz he shares and Logan eats it right from his fingers and Roman and Virgil are just in the background Trying and Failing not to be the Most Jealous

Patton thinks theyre upset they didn't get marshmallows and makes some for them too and there is lots of Significant Eye Contact involved

Janus is going to spontaneously combust if they don't get their shit together

 -Janus is out walking on the beach one night on a full moon cuz he cant sleep with everything so quiet around here when he sees a bright green patch out in the water and goes ...wait

he calls out to Remus and he comes into shore and is like "waves are perfect at night you should join me" so janus goes back and gets his board and they surf and chat for like the entire night

Janus finds out Remus couldn't sleep cuz intrusive thoughts were keeping him awake

Janus listens and doesn't judge, just lets Remus talk it out

They go back to shore and fall asleep on the sand next to each other like mid sentence still talking, now about whatever creative business idea Remus had, and get woken up by Logan's morning rounds like "come on guys you know you're not allowed to sleep out here" but they dont care theyre both just *blushing emoji*

-Logan Always Has A Notebook right? And a regular book he reads. And everyone assumes they are like Notions and Observations, but no, it’s actually blank paper and he uses it to sketch and then one day he leaves it behind and someone either Virgil or Patton finds it and flips through it and it’s all sketches of them and Roman and they’re like??? Actually really good? Anyway that’s how they find out Logan is actually minoring in art even though he’s majoring in something Very STEM 

And he never told his best friends because like almost all his pre college art is Them and he doesn’t want to be caught having Feelings and by the time it gets to college it’s been too long and he can’t tell them now 

Roman takes one of the sketches of him surfing and makes it his profile picture on All Social Media He Has and Logan is so flustered he nearly breaks his damn phone

Patton is so offended he didn’t get invited to Logan’s first showcase that he doesn’t talk to him for like two whole hours 

Virgil quietly asks if there is any art of all four of them, finds out there is, and makes a print and keeps it on his bedside table

 -They are all Pining Outwardly Now and its Worse

 -Remus : you have known them since pre-k please ask them out I beg of you 

Roman: You just dont get it 

Remus: I asked Janus out after 4 weeks what is your problem

 Emile: Virgil, I love you, you are my Partner in Anti-Drowning but you are so stupid 

Virgil: What???? All I said is that you and Remy are really cute and I'd love to be in a relationship like that 

Emile: I am not a violent person, Virgil, but I have the strong urge to smack you

 Patton, in the Rage Closet: They're all just so hOT and ReSPEctFUL 

Janus, waiting for his turn, trying to act like he cant hear him: I Am Looking Elsewhere

 Logan: I just don't understand why they were more upset that I didn't tell them than that I'd been making art of them for years?? Shouldn't that second part be worse??

Remy, who has been partial to Every Single One Of AMP Waxing Poetic About Logan: Yeah, no idea /s

 -the twins get into a surfing competition as a pair and everyone goes to see them and support them

Thomas airs the competition on every tv in the restaurant cuz he’s Proud of his Bois

They WIN cuz they are Creative and Talented and came up with all sorts of crazy tricks while they were fucking around in the water but it earns them Major Bonus Points for originality

 -Roman does the run off the podium and into Love’s arms trope with just like... whoever’s closest lets go Patton because he is a Waif and forced himself up front so he can see

The other two are Devastated because well shit but then Roman pushes through the crowd, still holding Patton’s hand, and gives them this smile and is like “remember in like second grade when we said we’d do everything together and made a pact on this beach”

Analogical: uhhhhhh yeah

Roman: holding you both to it. No take backs. This counts. Now kiss me, dammit, we WON and they DO MANY TIMES AND ITS REAL CUTE

 -Meanwhile dukeceit have Mysteriously Disappeared and No One wants to be the ones to go find them. They show back up, eventually. Janus has a branch in his hair and remus' hair is sticking straight up and when he opens his mouth roman glares at him and tells him in no uncertain terms that they do not want to know

 AnYWaY these are my children and I will gladly answer any questions about them. I left out Janus Backstory and Creativitwins Angst and Many Individual LAMP Scenes and Remile/Dukeceit getting together and Epilogue but can absolutely provide such things on request