KASPER!!! what about….bryce and jamie drysdale and uhhhhh anything that would adequately cover bryce’s cringe and fail tendencies. maybe 💜?
THANK you omg...
this could alternately be titled, Trea Turner's life is harder than any man whoever lived.
;;
Trea didn’t have to laugh quite so much when Bryce called him a month into the offseason and nervously came out as gay. But Bryce was also kinda getting it, at that point; everyone else he told nodded and said, “oh yeah, that makes sense. Happy for you, man.” But Trea was kinder than his family and gentler than his teammates. They’d known each for a long time and they hated and loved each other like brothers, or perhaps wives, and Bryce would always pick up the phone for Trea, and Trea would for him, though he often complained.
Anyway, the point is, Trea didn’t have to laugh so much and he really does not have to stand there making a supremely unimpressed face ten feet behind this guy, Jamie, a Flyer, while Bryce bravely tries to have a conversation with him. Trea is ruining the moment, but he’s also providing good cover at this Flyers meet the Phillies cross-promo event, so Bryce still loves him a little.
Also, Bryce isn’t really paying attention to Trea, because Jamie’s really cute. Jamie’s really cute. He’s several inches shorter than Bryce, mousey in a jock way, built as hell with an ass that, what, doesn’t quit? Is that what gay people say? And he’s rocking the kind of serious five o’clock shadow that comes from being young and not knowing how you want to look in the morning, and he has dark blue eyes that Bryce keeps getting lost in, and also he looks so nervous to be talking to Bryce, but he also didn’t know who Bryce is when they were introduced, so it’s not like a starstruck thing. He just seems like he’s kind of anxious in general.
Bryce used to read a lot of straight hockey romances before he realized he was gay, which probably should have tipped him off in the first place, but whatever. Jamie looks like the lead of one of them, thick and small and with a sweet, anxious smile. People probably trip on their shoelaces when they see him, regularly.
“You enjoying Philly?” Bryce asks. Jamie just got traded here. It was a big deal. Bryce had been following it sort of, but he’d also been coming out to everyone he knew, so it sort of flew past him while he was throwing up with anxiety for a solid month.
Jamie nods. His smile gets wider. “Yeah, I love it, bro.” Bro. Oh. “It’s really cool. Like everyone here is really fucked up, but they own it? Like, California, they pretend they’re okay when they’re falling apart, but Philly is like—” he shrugs, his smile bright “—like they own how fucked up they are.” His cheeks turn pink as he says in a small voice, “it makes me feel at home.”
Bryce’s heart is beating fast. He wonders if he’s having a heart attack, realizes he has a crush, has a brief moment of clarity that this is how attraction is supposed to feel, and then leans forward and kisses Jamie right on the mouth.
Trea honest-to-god squawks behind Jamie, ruining the moment, but also it wasn’t really a moment, Bryce just lost control of himself. Trea’s in the weight class of a stick insect, but he still edges himself more carefully between them and the sightline of everyone else in the room. Bryce could kiss him too, but like, normal.
Jamie didn’t kiss him back but he isn’t backing away either. His face is bright red. “Oh,” he squeaks in a timbre Bryce didn’t know was possible for men. “Um. Oh, jeeze.”
“Sorry,” says Bryce, even though he isn’t. He wants to do it again. He will do it again. Well, if Jamie wants to.
Jamie makes a face like he’s trying to shake off his anxiety and says in a much more normal tone of voice,“You’re pretty hot.”
Bryce has heard that many times from many people, but it’s never landed quite so tenderly in him as Jamie says it. He tries to be cool, but he’s smiling really wide.
“Is there like,” says Jamie, “somewhere more private we can, um? Talk?”
Oh right, Jamie’s never been in the clubhouse before. “Yeah,” says Bryce, because maybe, maybe, he’s kinda scoped out places in the ballpark where one could conceivably hook up without someone seeing. Like, maybe he’s thought about it once or twice, daydreamed about it during long games when he was injured to stop himself from being grumpy about not being able to play. Where he could kiss someone, if he didn’t want to be caught. He never thought about who, though. He never thought he would have the chance to try.
Trea hisses, “Harper, I swear to God.” He walks away.
Bryce ignores him, but also so does Jamie, so maybe they’re fated. “Come on,” says Bryce. “I know a spot.”
They duck out of the clubhouse, winding down long hallways. Bryce takes Jamie’s hand and kisses it once they’re far away from people, where the stadium is quieter, darker.
Jamie sighs, but Bryce thinks he sounds happy. “Philly’s so fucked up,” he says. “I hope I’m here forever. I hope I retire here. Hey, can I blow you? I didn’t actually want to talk. I’m not good at talking.”
Bryce pulls Jamie into the equipment room where they keep everybody’s extra stuff. “You’re great at talking,” he says, but Jamie’s already on his knees, so it’s kind of a moot point.
When Bryce and Jamie sneak back in, Bryce’s face is still flushed and Jamie’s hair is haphazardly patted down. Bryson gives Bryce an appraising look from where he’s standing next to Trea, who looks irritated, but Bryce ignores them both. They always look like that when they look at Bryce.
Bryce gets Jamie’s number and Jamie shows him how to use Snapchat (“so I can send you, uh, pictures”), so it’s a good night overall.
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Pros to ffxvi:
-gay party member
-pretty game
-combat is brilliant
-apparently the thesis of the game is about different kinds of love, which is an idea I really like bc I love love
Cons to ffxvi:
-my friend said he skipped over half the cutscenes in the demo bc it felt like the kind of fantasy novel that feels vaguely racist but you can't quite pin down why, and he didn't even know about the shit yoship said about not having black people in the game for "historical accuracy"
-same friend (who is straight) said it's excruciatingly heterosexual & very vanilla with its approach to writing both the romance & the plot
-i personally think the character designs are a HUGE step back from the often costume & musical performance-inspired characters of literally every other ff game except maybe 12, 11, and 14. (Yes im including 1-5. Look at the art for them. They're super glam rock (not quite as glam rock as 6 but still) and even the designs that aren't have a certain flair and grace to them!!!) And those games still have like, queer vibes & at the very least dont feel basic as fuck
-my mother (who loves hallmark) says the characters look and feel like a bunch of hallmark actors (this was an insult, she was clear about that)
-the shit that yoship said about "historical accuracy" and the pervasive whiteness of everything I've seen in the game
-no turn based elements at all ;_; but that's a super personal criticism
-no lesbians :( (though this was expected and also an extremely personal criticism)
-potentially no chocobos?!?!??!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?
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