#not on purpose. i just have a tendency to jump around in my inbox when it comes to requests.

[elvisabutler]

can you do headcannons on pa reader and austin being in a secret relationship bc he has to be in a pr relationship (they don’t want austin and reader to be pr bc it would be to obvious it’s for the movie)

okay so quick disclaimer, this is a pa! reader but not the pa! reader y'all are used to seeing from me. mostly because my brain couldn't quite wrap my head around that one. ( give me a good night's sleep tonight and low key i'll probably do it anyway. ) but tw: jealousy. so much jealousy. cheating but it's a pr relationship so confusing on that front.

consider. you both hate this. with a fiery passion you two only usually show each other.

you both can't argue against it because while everyone and their mother on set know that you two are dating and have been since filming started after the covid shutdown the wb higher ups have no idea.

and you and austin want to keep it that way because you know what the paparazzi does to couples who meet and fall in love on set. you're not about to deal with that.

it will also hurt anyone's chances to get an oscar. it shouldn't but baz, catherine, and the two of you kind of come to the agreement that it will.

consider. you do not get to pick who austin dates nor do you get to pick who you are dating. this leads to both of you ending up with people who are charming and attractive. this is a problem because on a good day you are jealous person by nature when it came to austin. and on a bad day austin is a jealous person when it came to you.

basically both of you are obscenely jealous and fight at least once a week in your shared apartment when you can both get to it without any paparazzi following you. on more than one occasion

you have accused him of cheating. he has done the same thing. you both make up before the night is over but by the middle of the press tour for elvis you're both at your limit.

you ask baz and the rest of the producers if it is possible to stop the pr relationships. they respectfully tell you not until at least the end of the press tour. preferably after oscar nominations are done.

you cannot wait and break things off with your pr relationship before being talked back into joining it again when reminded maybe you have a chance at an oscar too.

consider there's a break in the press tour that you use to have your pr relationships near you while you go to your shared apartment. you agree to try and have fun with this. it then becomes a game of who can make the other more jealous kissing and doing whatever with the other person in the pr relationships.

you win. every single time.

and your prize is getting- well, austin likes to show you who you belong to and it certainly isn't the attractive eyecandy you have to drag along on events that isn't him.

when the press tour is over you find that they only shove the two of you with your "significant others" when they really need to. a red carpet but other than that, they let you and austin live your life. still mildly separate but you aren't stuck watching him stick his tongue down someone's throat and vice versa almost every single night.

consider! austin gets caught leaving the apartment when he's supposed to be with his pr relationship. this is about two weeks before oscar noms.

damage control one hundred percent happens the second it hits deux moi or tmz.

there is talk about just introducing you two as a couple.

you are both here for this.

they decide that well austin's already fucked it up so might as well.

he still gets the oscar nom, you don't but that's okay because there will be other times for you and he deserves it.

he wins. and thanks his best girl. his beautiful girlfriend, y/n.

"you didn't have to make out with him like that?" "like what?" "like he was an oasis in the desert."

"how come you never wear jeans that make your ass look like that with me?" "you see me naked! why do i need to?" "because like seeing your ass look good in pants? that's like asking me why i need to wear those jeans you like." "that's different." "oh my god, i will call her up and make her take you for an outing today."

[sanderssidesfanfiction]

Royal Growing Pains - Chapter Thirty Two

Warnings: Homophobia, transphobia, misgendering, sympathetic Deceit

Royal Growing Pains Tag

Logan was waiting for them back at the castle, and Roman groaned as he got out of the car. “Can I at least change before we start dancing until our feet fall off?” he griped.

“No,” Logan said. “You will need to practice dancing in a binder anyway, unless you want to change in between the wedding and the reception.”

“I can’t jump around in my binder, though,” Roman whined.

“Then we won’t teach you any dances that require you to jump around,” Logan said simply. “You and Damien will follow me. We need to catch up on lost time.”

Roman groaned but Damien just wrapped his arm around Roman’s shoulder. “It’ll be okay, Roman. We can have some fun with dance practice.”

“You’re just glad you don’t have to do any studying this week,” Roman grumbled.

“Damien, that reminds me, I will not be allowing that extension on your paper,” Logan tossed over his shoulder.

“You seriously expect me to turn in a paper on my honeymoon?!” Damien exclaimed, jaw agape.

Logan turned around and shut Damien’s mouth with a click. “You’ll attract flies if you keep your mouth open like that,” he said succinctly. “And you can always turn it in before the day it is due. But I will not be granting you an extension on that paper, seeing as how you’ve had two months to work on its thesis and research.”

“God, I hate you sometimes,” Damien growled.

“Another crack like that and your grade automatically drops ten percent,” Logan simply replied.

“Ten—?!” Damien cut himself off, taking a deep breath. “Right. I’m seriously regretting telling my parents I liked you in terms of private tutoring.”

Logan actually smiled at that and replied, “Thank you. If you wish, I can practice with Roman while you work on your paper for an hour?”

Damien hesitated. Roman nudged him. “Go study. I certainly don’t want you writing an essay on our honeymoon.”

“Fine,” Damien huffed, kissing Roman’s cheek. “But I expect no funny business with Logan while I’m gone. He may be polyamorous, but I have a tendency to be territorial.”

“No kidding?” Roman snarked. “Relax, Damien. I don’t have eyes for him, and if he had eyes for me, he would have helped me escape the first night I was here, and whisked me away from this life, which I am taking a shine to.”

Logan rolled his eyes. “Say goodbye for now already.”

Roman laughed and kissed Damien on the cheek back, before following Logan to the ballroom. “You seem a little tense,” Roman noted.

“You obviously haven’t been watching the news, if you’re as relaxed as you are,” Logan noted.

Roman tensed. “Why? What happened?”

“Well, your country may be falling into Civil War if Remus cannot win the Parliament over in a meeting today,” Logan said casually.

“What?!” Roman squawked.

“Well, he wants the throne, your parents are unwilling to give up the throne, and it’s up to Parliament to kick them out. But from what I gather about your brother, he would gather up an army to storm the castle before he let your parents rule another day,” Logan supplied. “It won’t be easy to win over the more...conservative of the Parliament members, either.”

Roman swore under his breath. “I hate that it comes to this,” he sighed. “Why can’t life be easy?”

“Because, Your Highness, being queer automatically sets your settings to ‘Hard Mode’ when you’re born,” Logan said, shaking his head. “One day, that will not be the case. But that day is not today.”

“Tell me about it,” Roman griped. “So, are we doing the waltz or are we doing something else?”

Logan listed a few different slow dances they could try, none of which Roman could easily conjure images of. Every time he proposed a dance, Logan either vetoed it or went through the first eight steps and Roman immediately took it back. When fifteen minutes later, they could not come up with a single dance that Roman felt confident he could do, Logan sighed. “The waltz it is, then.”

They fell into formation and slowly began to move across the dance floor. It felt weird to waltz with someone who wasn’t Damien, but Roman, to his credit, didn’t have to look at his feet once. “So my brother may be interested in getting to know you,” Roman said.

“I have heard,” Logan said. “I have also heard that Patton and Virgil will be dancing at your wedding.”

“I have also heard Virgil may dance with you, in addition to Patton,” Roman said.

“Your brother better be prepared to acquire a harem,” Logan said, nothing changing in his facial expression or inflection as he said the words.

Roman guffawed and nearly fell over as Logan took their next step but Roman didn’t. “Oh, god! That’s certainly a visual!” Roman laughed. “The tabloids would go crazy over the King’s consort, and his consort’s consort, and his consort’s consort’s consort. Consort no longer sounds like a word.”

Logan smirked just a tiny bit and Roman narrowed his eyes. “You said that to make me laugh on purpose.”

“You need to focus on dancing more,” Logan simply replied. “Focus on the steps, or you’ll trip Damien up while talking. And neither of you want a twisted ankle or a broken wrist on your honeymoon.”

“You. Are. Evil,” Roman said, glaring at Logan.

“I do try to imbue chaos into my life that I can watch every once in a while,” Logan said smugly.

Roman sighed and they continued to dance. “You have any interest in my brother? Genuinely?” Roman asked.

“I believe so,” Logan said. “Even if that attraction is merely aesthetic at the moment, I would at the very least appreciate a friendship. I don’t know where his romantic attraction lies...nor do I want you to tell me. I’d rather hear it from him. But I can’t deny the interest I have at the prospect.”

Roman nodded. “Well, Remus could do worse than someone like you,” he said. “You may not be my top pick, but I don’t really...think about my brother in terms of who he should or shouldn’t date.”

“I find that people who actually do that are fairly miserable as they try to micromanage things out of their control,” Logan said simply.

Roman agreed, and they swept around the ballroom again and again until Logan could make Roman laugh and he could still follow the steps. When they took a break at the hour mark, Damien walked in with a pained smile. “Well, Logan, you have a new paper in your inbox,” Damien said. “I would recommend you not read it until I resend it on the plane ride to our honeymoon destination, however.”

“Cutting it down to the wire, as ever,” Logan sighed. “You disappoint me, Damien.”

“You gave me an hour, and I’m spending as much time as I can with Roman. Whenever we have time, I will go through it on the plane,” Damien defended.

“Sure you wouldn’t rather join the ‘Mile High Club’?” Logan asked.

Damien turned red. “Don’t ask that again,” he sputtered. “I am your prince, I expect a modicum of respect from you.”

“Only a modicum?” Logan asked. “You really need to set your standards higher, Your Highness.”

Roman snorted and Damien just sighed, hanging his head. “I’m done,” he muttered. “I am done with today.”

“Not yet you’re not,” Logan said, clapping his hands. “You still need to practice the waltz.”

Damien rolled his eyes but began to dance with Roman. Roman settled into step closer with Damien than he had with Logan, and felt content to let Damien lead the dance, while with Logan, Roman never relaxed quite this much. “How are you feeling, my love?” Damien asked.

“Better,” Roman said, and he honestly meant it. He felt settled, relaxed, good. And he couldn’t remember the last time he felt quite this way.

Damien smiled. “I am glad to hear it,” he said. “Dinner will be quieter tonight, I expect, and I, for one, am looking forward to being able to finish it without worrying about anyone starting to shout.”

“That makes two of us,” Roman said. “I haven’t really enjoyed sparring with my mother every night.”

“Nor I,” Damien said.

They swept around the ballroom once, twice more, and then Roman had to stop because his feet hurt and he was feeling short of breath. He slid to the floor and groaned. “I’m not looking forward to the whole night just being dance after dance after dance.”

“Even if they’re all with me?” Damien asked, putting a hand to his chest even as he grinned. “You wound me, my love.”

Roman shrugged. “I just need to give my feet some rest,” he said. “And Remus will probably insist on slinging me across the dance floor at least once.”

“You...you mean swing you across?” Damien asked, frowning.

“No, I do mean sling. He’ll get me on my stomach and fling me across the floor, destroying all in my path like a curling stone,” Roman laughed.

“I’ll keep him preoccupied, then,” Logan muttered. “We do not need complete and utter pandemonium, or wine spilled on your suit. Remy would have all our heads.”

“Oh, god, that’s a horrifying thought,” Damien said, swallowing hard.

The two continued to talk, but Roman let the words wash over him as he pulled out his phone, googling the news. Or at least, he tried to, before Logan snatched the phone from his hands. “Hey!” Roman exclaimed.

“No obsessively refreshing the page while your brother is in session with Parliament,” Logan said definitively. “You refreshing the results over and over will not change the outcome of the meeting.”

“Oh, he got them all off their asses this quickly? He means business,” Damien whistled. “I like him.”

Roman glowered at Damien and Damien furrowed his brows. “As a person, my love, and certainly not more than you.”

“I’ll allow it...for now,” Roman said, giving Damien a sideways glance. “Logan, my phone.”

Logan pocketed the phone and crossed his arms.

Roman grunted as he stood, holding his hand out. “My phone,” he said sternly.

Logan did nothing.

Roman leapt towards Logan, sending them both crashing to the floor. Roman tried to subdue Logan and get his phone back, but Logan was squirmier than he let on. “Hey! Gimme my phone!” Roman exclaimed.

“I’d sooner perish by the King’s hand!” Logan exclaimed.

Roman kept wrestling with Logan until someone grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and pulled him away. “Logan, give him the damn phone,” Virgil growled. “Half the castle could hear him yelling, and the King’s in a meeting.”

Logan scowled but handed the phone over. Roman proceeded to obsessively refresh the page five times in a minute, before groaning. “Another hour? Seriously?! I hate Parliament. Why do they take so long?!”

“The timeless question,” Damien said sagely. “No one really knows the answer.”

Logan huffed. “Perhaps the two of you should head to dinner,” he said, checking his phone. “We have been here two hours, after all.”

“Really?” Roman asked. “Time flies.”

“Especially when you’re wrestling with your fiancé’s tutor, apparently,” Damien grumbled. “When does Father’s meeting end, Virgil?”

“Fifteen minutes, Your Highness. He will be coming down for dinner shortly after,” Virgil advised.

“Then we really should get going,” Damien sighed. “Ah, well. I’m sure we can entertain ourselves for fifteen minutes, can’t we, Roman?”

“I suppose we’ll have to,” Roman sighed dramatically, rolling his eyes. “Either that or we’ll have to call on your mother and she’ll have to help us.”

Damien hummed. “I don’t suppose she’d be highly amused. Usually around this time of day she appreciates calling her friends, or settling in with a book for the hour before dinner. To interrupt her is to ensure a slow, but certain, death.”

“Yikes,” Roman said, grimacing. “Yeah, not gonna bother her.”

The two of them walked to the dining room, and took seats at the lone table. “It’s nice and quiet,” Roman breathed, almost afraid to interrupt the comfortable silence with his thoughts.

“Indeed,” Damien said. “It feels like we only rarely get time for peace.”

Roman nodded, idly opening his phone and bolting to his feet. “Holy shit!” he yelped.

“There it goes,” Damien sighed, chuckling. “What?”

“Parliament is voting on Remus becoming King!” Roman exclaimed. “They said it was going to be another hour!”

“Apparently someone got sick of them talking, huh? Should we watch?” Damien asked.

“No need,�� Roman said, beaming. “He already got the majority! He’s well on his way to two-thirds in favor!”

“Good,” Damien said. “I would have hated to have to go to war against your parents. I would have done so, of course, but it’s still rather unsavory.”

Roman laughed, sitting down next to Damien again, considerably happier. The Queen walked in, humming. “Good news?” she asked.

“Remus is gonna be King!” Roman said. “Parliament agreed! Well, technically they need to finish voting, but he already got over sixty percent in favor. He’s gonna make it.”

“Worth celebrating,” the Queen said appreciatively. “I imagine the first thing he’ll do when you two are back in the country is schedule his coronation.”

“Can’t wait!” Roman squealed. “This is going to be epic! And hopefully my parents will leave us alone!”

“I’ll make them if they don’t do it on their own,” the Queen laughed. Her smile dropped and she turned deadly serious. “Diana will quickly learn; when you mess with the Rose, you get the thorns.”

Damien groaned. “Mother, that was terrible.”

“But effective at gaining a reaction,” the Queen said with a little smile and a wink at Roman. “I have to teach your fiancé which buttons he can and can’t push, after all.”

Roman laughed while Damien rolled his eyes. “And the first lesson you are going for is puns?” he asked distastefully.

“I like puns,” Roman said.

Damien’s eyes widened and he blew out a breath. “Lord help me, I’m going to suffer so many dad jokes in the years to come,” he muttered.

“Yep!” Roman said, entirely unashamed.

The King walked in and looked around. “I see I didn’t miss dinner, at least,” he said. “How is everyone?”

“Pretty good,” Roman said at the same time Damien said, “I’m suffering immensely.”

The King laughed. “What did you do, dear?” he asked the Queen.

“I made a pun,” the Queen said with a pleased smile. “Someone was less than amused, while someone else took great enjoyment from it.”

“Ah,” the King said knowingly. “That explains everything.”

Dinner passed uneventfully, other than Patton making one pass at Damien’s clumsiness before Damien glared him into backing off. Roman enjoyed the meal (good old fashioned fish and chips—Patton must have known how to cook everything), but soon enough he was yawning at the table. “Dear, you should go upstairs and rest,” the Queen said. “You’ve had quite the eventful day.”

“I’ll be fine,” Roman insisted, even as he yawned again.

“No, my love, go and rest,” Damien insisted. “Besides, I have matters that I’d like to speak to my parents about without you around to hear.”

“What? Why?” Roman said. “Is there something you can say to them that you can’t to me?”

“It’s vows related,” Damien said simply.

“And I’m gone!” Roman exclaimed, standing up quickly. “Good night, everyone, I’ll see you in the morning.”

Everyone bid him goodnight and he walked out as he received a call from Remus. “Hey, what’s up?” he asked as he answered the phone.

“Just wanted to check on you,” Remus sighed. “I’ve been talking with my future advisors all day and could use a break.”

“I’ve been okay,” Roman said. “I’m exhausted, so I’m hitting the sack early tonight.”

“Good idea. I would, but I’m ordering our parents to move all essential items out of the castle before I return from your wedding, so. I have quite a bit of arguing ahead of me tonight,” Remus sighed.

“But you’ll be here tomorrow for the rehearsal?” Roman asked hopefully.

“Of course. Wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” Remus assured. “Sleep well, Roman. I won’t keep you any longer.”

“Good night, Remus. I love you,” Roman said.

“I love you too.”

They hung up and Roman made his way to his room, stripping himself of clothes and slipping on a nightgown after coughing when he removed his binder. He was so ready for the whole wedding thing to be over and done with. He was sure he might want to savor tomorrow when Remus was actually here, but for now, all he wanted was to sleep, dream about nothing, and let himself relax before the chaos that would be the wedding rehearsal tomorrow.

[meanderfall]

I haven't seen many people talk about it, but Temple was right, the Reds & Blues *do* treat Caboose with kid gloves. They see him as stupid and sometimes annoying, but ultimately harmless and sweet and childlike (most of the fans do too, as did the last two writers). Alpha was really the only person who ever treated him like an adult (he still found him annoying, but tbh I think a lot of that was just bluster), who acknowledged that he was capable and *dangerous*. Maybe Tex did too, but [1/3]

[2/3] they didn't have many on screen interactions.And at first Wash did, but after Alpha died no one did. Which I think wasactually on purpose in regards to Epsilon? Because even though Epsilonacknowledges Caboose's strength at the end of Season 10, he still treatsCaboose like the others do. Whereas Alpha was *always* aware of how destructiveCaboose could and would be, to the point where he'd hide behind him in diceysituations because he didn't want to get caught in Caboose's crossfire.

[3/3] I also thinkit's a little interesting that Temple was supposed to analogous to Alpha(although how tf did the Director know that Alpha would be enough like Templeto make the stalemate work again? Also the stalemate only really worked in thefirst place because Temple and Biff were friends so?? But I digress!), and hadalso been the only one since Alpha died to acknowledge that Caboose was anadult, and even though he was cruel about it he still treated Caboose like hedid everyone else.

Hello, Anon! It was so nice to see this in my inbox omg, and I’m sorry this took so long, life has been hectic and stressful! Not to mention, I wanted to take the time to ponder about this, and lol I’m definitely going to be rambling a lot woops.

You’re absolutely right, anon. We, the fans, and the writers and even the BGC tend to baby Caboose a lot. Mostly, at least in my case, because he tends to exude innocence and naivety and you just wanna protect him as much as possible from the real world. But just because he does seem innocent and naive, it doesn’t mean he’s a kid. Alpha was probably the one who treated him the most as an equal, though that’s probably mostly because he’s an asshole to everyone. (Though maybe not?? Remember that RVB 360 video with Church doing the Dad Knee to Junior and talking to him?? Maybe he does know the difference between how to treat a kid and an adult. Won’t stop him from complaining about the kid around said kid though lol.)

I’m not going to lie, anon, these asks gave me some kind of existential crisis as I tried to figure out what exactly is the difference between a kid and an adult, besides ages, and how we’re supposed to treat them, (because it seemed like part the argument that you were implying about how Caboose is an adult and doesn’t need to be treated like a child was that he’s dangerous, and that didn’t sit well with me tbh so here I am over-analyzing a simple ask yet again lmao im sorry if i was wrong or misinterpreted).

Anyway, I’m pretty sure the difference has do with cognitive development. Kids’ thought processes are pretty simple, and this is especially clear from their idea of morality. I’ve heard my younger siblings exclaim so many times that something was unfair, and y’know sometimes they were right, but other times they weren’t taking into consideration other circumstances that made it so the situation was fair. Not to mention, that they’re selfish, through no fault of their own. So far, in their minds, they can’t really manage to consider other people’s point of view, and unless they’re taught differently and actually make the effort, that won’t change. And that’s where the difference between how adults are supposed to treat kids and other adults comes in. Adults, esp their guardians, are supposed to help them grow. They are there to encourage more complex thought processes and and help them walk through the logic if necessary. And they are there to offer advice bc adults have so much more life experience then kids do.

Caboose isn’t really like a kid at all. A lot of people might mistake the things he says as him being simple-minded but really, he just sees things differently from others and processes it differently. And that of course, seems weird and probably child-like to the others because by now they’re so used to how ‘normal’ adult minds work. And like, there are so many examples of posts on this site of adults or teenagers being surprised or caught off-guard by something a kid said or did, so I guess when the BGC encountered Caboose and had that happen to them, they kind of went Caboose = child.

Not to mention, Caboose is easily one of the most caring and empathetic characters on the show??? He loves his friends so much, esp Church, and would do anything for them. (Good examples of Caboose having complex thought processes and empathy: his speech to Tucker in s12 about how he shouldn’t be mad at Church, that episode of s14 ‘Caboose’s Guide to Making Friends’ or whatever it was called, s8 in general when he kept wanting to help Epsilon esp the end of s8. ‘But they’ll die!’ he says. He is completely aware of the possible consequences of what’s happening. He isn’t dumb.)

Anyway, back to the rest of the asks! About them treating Caboose with kid’s gloves.... I waffle between saying you’re absolutely right and going “Weeeellll....”. Because Temple says that right before he reveals that Church really is truly dead and Tucker is trying to stop him from saying it. And you’re right. Caboose shouldn’t have that hidden from him. He’s fully capable of hearing the truth and starting to process the grief. But the thing is, isn’t that what he was already doing in the beginning of s15? Before Temple sent them that corrupted message and gave him hope again? (Not to mention, in the grand scheme of things it probably isn’t that weird to thing Church could’ve honestly come back, he’s died and come back so many times.) And, as a friend, wouldn’t you want to do anything to protect your friend from getting hurt or from grief? Especially when the news is coming from your enemy? Of course Tucker wanted to stop Temple from revealing the truth like that. And it kind of happened in a tense moment. And Tucker hadn’t really been at his best emotionally all season (which believe me, I’m kind of displeased with :/    s15 Tucker is not my Tucker.) (The Blood Gulch Chronicles was probably the best in terms of Tucker treating Caboose like an equal. They definitely had sibling bond there, annoying each other and trying to get Dad’s Church’s attention XD)

I think Wash is pretty good about Caboose though. I still remember that s11 speech when he validated Caboose’s feelings of loss and asked for forgiveness for not being a better leader when he really needed him. I’d probably need to re-watch the seasons for myself in order to really confirm if they treat him like a child constantly that can’t comprehend what’s happening. It’s hard to tell for sure, because the writers kind of fuck that up from time to time, making Caboose seem dumber and the others reacting more harshly to it. Though where do we draw the line of them baby-ing him and caring for him? Like when Sarge let’s Caboose push the button in s3 and calls him a ‘litle rascal’ (i think?), is Sarge treating him like a kid there or just engaging in his enthusiasm? Or in s7 and s8 whenever they leave Caboose behind out of the fights, are they doing it to stop him from accidentally hurting others or because they genuinely think he’d be useless in the fight? Whenever they decide not to explain something to him, are they doing it because they think it’s a waste of time to explain something Caboose won’t understand anyway? (Personally, whenever Caboose misunderstands what someone explained to him, I think it has to do with a lack of concentration than just not being able to comprehend what they’re telling him. He probably has a tendency to drift. And he can concentrate when it’s important, so I think he’s okay) There are probably more examples, but I can’t think of more, I really do need to do a rewatch goddamn.

One last thing! About how Temple is analogous to Church and the stalemate. Correct me if I’m wrong (and I might seriously be, I watched s15 with friends, so I probably missed a good quarter of information), but isn’t the similarities between the two groups completely coincidental? Because Alpha wasn’t implanted and put into Blood Gulch until after Project Freelancer was destroyed, and Temple and the others were in an simulation outpost while Freelancer was still running, evidenced by Carolina and Tex showing up. And I don’t think it would be too hard for them to purposefully create a stalemate? The Counselor probably evaluated them and interviewed them, and learnt that Temple and Bif were friends, and just created the teams in such a way that they would either more or less take charge of their respective teams or be too lazy to fight, creating a stalemate between the two. Also I’m pretty sure Florida created the Blood Gulch teams on his own??? so it really is a coincidence. A freak-ish one for sure, and obviously kind of contrived because it was for plot, but it isn’t that bad.

Also, totally jumping off that one tiny thing you said about how Temple and Alpha were the ones to treat Caboose like an adult. First, I’m about 99% sure the reason why that’s the case if because they’re both huge assholes omg nothing will stop them from treating you like a dumbass. And, this is totally a more personal thought process that I’m just shoving at you, even though me and my friend spent most of our watch saying things like “Alpha would never do that!”, looking back on it, I think Alpha would. Keep in mind, Alpha was an AI created by Leonard Church. A man that when his wife died and he had been powerless to stop it, started torturing his own mind in the hope’s of one day creating an AI of his wife, and performing psychological experiments with the people under his command, who he is supposed to guide and train, and on his own daughter. If there had been a clear cause for what had happened, like in the case of Bif’s death, he probably would’ve gone absolutely insane in his quest for vengeance, like Temple did. And Alpha would’ve done the same, at least, probably before he had been tortured and fragmented. Afterwards, he didn’t really have much emotions or energy to bother with vengeance plots.

Anyway, thank you for coming to my inbox! I hope you enjoyed this read through lmao, though it’s probably filled with stuff you already know and understand! Also looking back on it, I realize I’m all over the place about whether the BGC treat Caboose like a kid woops. I might do a rewatch just for this lol.

[oumakokichi]

I'm not sure if you already got this ask from me or not But I was wondering what you thought of tenko and what her relationships with other characters was like, not just himiko. I still love ten I ko just was just wondering on her other relationships cause those are never talked about.

I think Tumblr probably ate the other ask because I couldn’tfind it in my inbox! But I’m always happy to answer this kind of question.

Tenko is wonderful and I really, honestly adore her. Idefinitely agree that although her relationship with Himiko is very central tothe plot and to her character, it’s a shame that it’s kind of the only thingthat gets touched on when talking about her. She’s such a team player and suchan essential protector figure to the whole group that I really don’t think theother characters would have been the same without her. Even after her death, sheleaves an influence on not only Himiko but the others as well, and it’s reallynice to see.

The instinct to sort out her relationships is, of course, tosort them between guys and girls. It’s certainly true of course that Tenko iswary of the guys around her. She considers them the less trustworthy part ofthe group, the people most likely to provide a threat—and to some degree, she’snot wrong, considering the aspects of “masculine” or “male” behavior that shedislikes the most are often aggressiveness, hostility, anger, etc. Ouma andMomota both often get a big seal of disapproval from her, because between Ouma’smanipulative behavior and Momota’s reckless tendency to rely on violence, sheclearly views them as bad influences at times.

She much prefers the company of the other girls, preferringto give them the benefit of the doubt and also trusting most of them enough, especiallyearly on in her first FTEs with Kaede, that she goes so far as to think thekilling game itself wouldn’t provide a threat at all if there were only girlsat Saishuu Academy. Tenko is so much more comfortable around other girls thanaround guys that she very much believes Neo Aikido is a necessary form ofself-defense which can help provide that sort of safe space which she’sinterested in. And of course, she’s the self-sacrificing type, so she constantlyoffers to protect or stand in for the other girls as much as possible.

Still though, this is all mostly from a surface level. Tenkois undeniably wary of and uncomfortable about men with good reason, but she’shardly mean or dismissive of any of them. Her relationship with Saihara isexcellent proof of that. In Chapter 2 when Saihara first begins trying totackle his hesitancy and anxiety about exposing the truth, he puts aside hishat and comes down to meet everyone at the cafeteria. Tenko is one of thenicest and most supportive members of the group of his decision, and from thispoint on she has quite a few really genuinely nice interactions with him.

Having looked up to and admired Kaede herself, she’sextremely understanding of why Saihara liked her so much and why he misses her.Kaede’s absence is felt strongly by the whole group following Chapter 1, but Ithink it’s felt perhaps the most strongly by figures who admired her drive toend the killing game and her urge to protect everyone. Tenko certainly fits thebill for this: regardless of her distrust for the guys in their group, it’s anundeniable fact that she wants to protect each and every single one of themfrom actual harm.

She’s still wary of Saihara and even of the other lessaggressive or hostile boys in the group, of course, but it’s always to thepoint of confirming that she and the other girls are safe, that there’s no onewho would harass them or peek in on them or do anything obscene oruntrustworthy. When it comes to their actual feelings or troubles, she’s alwaysfairly understanding and generous with her time.

In Chapter 3 when her SHSL research lab opens up, sheactually wants to help both Himiko andSaihara confront their personal weaknesses. With Himiko, her biggest flaw isher laziness, but with Saihara, she wants him to tackle his insecurity, and she(hilariously) uses her aikido throws in order to help set them on this path.This “training” to confront one’s own weak points is something that sticksaround even after her death, as Himiko, Gonta, and Saihara in Chapter 4 verymuch honor Tenko’s memory by continuing to practice in her research lab inorder to get stronger.

Tenko is certainly someone who values the lives of the grouparound her, despite the misconception the fandom had at first that she would besomeone extremely cruel or uncaring to the boys. But I think it’s prettyevident from her horrified reactions to Amami and Ryouma’s deaths that she undeniablycared quite a lot about keeping everyone safe.

Death, pain, and suffering were things she was extremelyaverse to no matter who they were affecting—which would sound like an obviouscomment that could apply to anyone, except there’s so much in ndrv3 about manyof the characters not valuing human lives the way they should unless itbenefits them. The fact that Tenko was so open and honest and wore her feelingsabout these kinds of things on her sleeve is actually quite refreshing incomparison to how many characters claim to be open and honest but actually hadquite a few secrets they were hiding or things they were lying to themselves orthe rest of the group about.

Also, just as Tenko’s interactions with characters likeSaihara and even Kiibo are interesting, because she clearly views them aspotential friends and acquaintances despite not letting her guard downentirely, her interactions with Angie are extremely interesting from the girls’side of things. Tenko begins the game with an inclination to believe the bestof all her fellow girls, but I think her conflict with Angie did open her eyesin a lot of ways.

She still clearly cares about Angie as an individual anddoesn’t believe the worst of her even when it becomes clear that Angie is goingon a pretty strong power trip in Chapter 3. Angie’s death upsets her just asany of the other deaths do, and even in the midst of the whole ReligiousStudent Council conflict, Tenko recognizes that Angie’s not doing bad thingsintentionally per se—she’s actually quite frightening because she’s a genuine,true believer in her religion and her fanaticism is extremely risky in the effectsit might have on Himiko or the other student council members.

But seeing Angie’s willingness to throw other people (namelyHimiko) under the bus firsthand in Chapter 2 was quite a shock for someone likeTenko, who’s so loyal to the core and would never do anything of the sort.After having envied Angie’s ability to become friends with Himiko so easily,the idea that Angie would just toss aside that friendship in order to saveherself and act as though it played no part in the trial or meant nothing toher was something that went against her entire core beliefs.

Like Momota, Kaede, and Gonta, Tenko is someone who admiresbelief in other people above all else. Even when things get hard, even when allthe evidence says otherwise, she’s very much the kind of person who wants tobelieve in the people she admires, trusts, and respects no matter what happens.And unlike those three, Tenko is particularly interesting because to somedegree, she actually does recognize that blind faith isn’t necessarily alwaysthe best course of action. It’s not a smart decision or a very practical one.

But still, she wants to believe according to what she wants. To a slight extent, she doesdo the “doubting others in order to get to know them first”—because she can acknowledgethat trusting wholeheartedly isn’t perhaps the smartest choice of action but it’sstill something she consciously made the decision to do.

Angie’s self-serving nature and tendency to jump ship assoon as the situation isn’t serving her purposes was something Tenko really didnot like, and it showed. She joined Angie’s student council in Chapter 3 onlyto keep an eye on Himiko and make sure that a similar situation to Chapter 2couldn’t happen again, but the two of them continued to butt heads quite a lot.Angie’s decision to “resurrect” Amami as per the motive the Monokumerz gavethem, her refusal to listen to any arguments against this, and the fact thatshe just put herself in charge without really needing or requiring anyone else’sapproval meant that Tenko argued with her quite a lot—something that I thinkactually bothered Himiko a lot more than it bothered Angie.

To summarize, Tenko’s relationships with the group oftencenter around her trying to put herself as a sort of protector figure. Many ofthem are interesting because for the most part, she is someone who is willingto reevaluate her opinion of people if proof of their trustworthiness (oruntrustworthiness) presents itself. And in spite of her seemingly extreme orexaggerated reactions, she’s actually incredibly fair and objective when pushgets to shove.

Her wariness of the boys in the group is extremelyunderstandable given her aversion to any physical contact with men and the factthat she’s so fixated on self-defense—and her blind trust in many of the girlsin her group is actually addressed with characters like Angie, where even Tenkocan’t help but revise her opinion when she feels that Angie is clearly justusing Himiko for her own purposes.

I love Tenko a lot, so thank you so much for asking me abouther! She’s great and I’m still so glad that she’s been much better received bythe fandom ever since the game launched. I still wish she hadn’t died at all,but I’m glad that at least her death had a very real and lasting impact onHimiko and even the other characters throughout the rest of the game. Again,thank you for asking!