#then he just kissed me asfhk

[adore-gregor]

wow

[gardenerian]

Ian and Mickey are for sure gentle souls. One of my pet peeves about season eleven is the way they acted like the two of them have never been in a relationship before ajksnjsjs. Don’t let bad writing change your perspective anon!!! Mickey blushed like teenager when Ian had him SERNADED, Mickey threw Ian a wedding anniversary party!! They slow danced to freaken ed Sheeran! In s10 they had a breakfast date where they held hands across the table. And that’s just in public settings. They would no doubt be mushy on a daily basis and I think why it feels funny to picture is because we truly never got that. Them just hanging out as a couple without drama, seeing their daily life. When you really think about it it’s almost a dynamic that’s just their secret. It was oh so rare but again doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. Like those BIG moments are the result of the little ones. Remember Ian casually kissing Mick before he heads to the gym while wanting him to do all the activities together ☺️ I absolutely think they cuddle and ask silly questions at night. As they grow they’ll be like any other average couple. I don’t think it’s a big deal at this point for them to be “coupley” like it’s natural, it’s their normal, always been ❤️

what i think that anon was talking about was more around the struggle of our fan depictions of them in ways that might erase their edges? soft as we know they are and can be, fanon has a tendency to smooth over their roughness entirely. and sometimes that hits well! for me, the question isn't really "is this too gentle or soft," but really "are they talking like they just walked out of couple's therapy?" and when you look at where we left them at the end of the series.... i'm not sure they would. not yet.

i think there's a difference between those lovely moments we know they have - smooches, sweet gestures, acts of service - and the communication style that anon was referring to. "did you get what you needed from me today" is less about being soft/gentle/silly, and more about having the vocabulary needed to check in. it is a common through line in their entire story that this is something they struggle with. they do not lack sweetness or love, they lack patience... and transparency... and accountability. s11 was meant, i think, to show this. they love each other completely, but marriage is new to them. not saying s11 always did it well asfhk but i think it's great that they wanted to show the struggles they would have in adjusting and how they worked through them.

they are not new to each other... but they are new to this kind of relationship. the timeline doesn't give them much of a chance to learn marriage, nor does their family history. they were fighting for their lives during their youth, constantly under the threat of violence and unchecked mental illness, then they were separated by hideous circumstances.... and then they're in prison. THEN they get married almost immediately after getting out. it makes sense that there would be communication issues, conflicts, and misunderstandings. 11x04 and its deleted scene were so powerful for this reason. it shows that they are LEARNING, that they are trying, and that things will continue getting better. like someone else said in a comment, they may not talk like that where we left them, but there is so much time for them to learn.

[thebestestbat]

joey for the character ask game (if you’re still in the mood to answer one more asfhk)

Sexuality Headcanon: bisexual and this is canon WHOOOO. i do think that he has had more relationships with women especially as a teen and young adult because of internalized homophobia and also fear of what his parents will think. triangulating data from ds2016 and hbo titans, i believe that adeline is supportive of his sexuality when he does come out; however the shadow of slade wilson is quite long.

Gender Headcanon: nonbinary joey!!!! i think his relationship to gender is very tied to his relationship to his body; which, because of his powers and his trauma+resulting disability, is really complicated. growing up being called a pansy wimp by grant, and also the difficulty he has in coming to terms with his sexuality, these i think are factors that cause him to delay thinking about gender. as a teen/young adult, i can see him experimenting with more feminine presentation and also with different ways of having sex that make him ultimately happier than being Not A Pansy would make him. joey is like those shirts that are like "she's my boyfriend" or "he's my girlfriend".

A ship I have with said character: i have to say dickjoey. that is The ship. they should teach each other small things with their hands (guitar, working on a motorcycle..) and then kiss.

A BROTP I have with said character: joey and kole 🥺🥺 idk i like them in NTT right now (and i already said joey and raven, autism he/she/they buddies)

A NOTP I have with said character: thats a good question, i hopped onto ao3 and the second most popular romantic ship is joey/jason, which i just have no interest in. so i guess that. but also i will say that joey/raven has to be very specific for me to be into it (like raven Is a lesbian and joey Must be her girlfriend).

A random headcanon: this is mostly due to the fact that Comic Injury and Comic Injury Recovery are ridiculous but. i think that joey's recovery from getting his throat slit was very long and included surgical reconstruction of the airway/esophagus (possibly tracheostomy also?). i think that he has difficulty swallowing and has to monitor the things he eats. i think right after his injury they tried a lot of things to get him to use oral speech again (to this day, oral speech is emphasized a lot even when its clearly not the best/easiest/most functional thing for someone), and that it was on some level his choice (and adeline's since he was baby) to not go through that process and instead use sign language.

General opinion over said character: My Girlfriend.