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The Case of Seiji and Nick Being So Clueless About Romance and Relationships in General That I’m Worried They Will Never Realise How in Love with Each Other They Are and How Their Married Couple Dynamic Is Not Typical of Best Bro Pals and How It Makes Me Shiver to My Core
Bobby is crying. He hates his body and he absolutely hates himself. But he's hurting. So what will Dante do?
Dante came back to the dorm to Bobbie hiding under a thick comforter, sitting on his bed. He supposed that it was just him reading manga again, late at night; but that was the case before he heard him sniffling. That part worried him.
“Bobbie?” he called him, walking towards the large lump. “What’s wrong?”
The smaller boy gave no response aside from the sudden halt of his sniffling.
“Bobbie,” he tried again, sitting in front of him. “What’s going on?”
He lay a hand on what he thought was Bobbie’s shoulder and rubbed his thumb on it. This was how he showed the fact that he really did care and was willing to talk to the boy. The only question is: would he let him?
“Nothing,” the boy finally replied, laughing nervously. It was obvious he had been crying by the sound of mucus in his throat and cracks in his voice. “It’s nothing. I’m sorry f-for worrying you. P-please just don’t mind me.”
Now Dante knew that there was definitely something wrong. Because he knew that Bobbie was usually the fun type of person. He was loud and energetic and clingy. And he wasn’t that right now.
“Bobbie…” Dante said softly, concern lingering in his voice. He finds the boy’s hand under the comforter and holds it gently. He wanted him to know that he was there and that he was listening.
Bobbie got the message and held the taller boy’s hand back. His hand was so frail and shaky. But the boy himself felt really nice inside. It was like a few weights were lifted off of him.
“You wanna get out of that blanket so I can see you?” He says this as he rubs his thumb against the back of Bobbie’s hand. Dante was afraid Bobbie was hurt or sick. He wanted to know if he needed to be rushed to the clinic.
Bobbie slowly takes the blanket off his head and hugs Dante really tight, crying softly. He was obviously suppressing it too much by the tone of how he cried. His hair was over his eyes though, so Dante—even if he moved to look or not—could not check his face.
“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” the taller boy asked, worried.
Bobbie shakes his head.
“So why?” Dante runs his fingers through the small boy’s soft, brown hair. “Can you please talk to me so I can understand?”
Dante was so gentle and warm. That’s why Bobbie liked him so much. He always looked so stoic and closed off, but in reality, he wasn’t. He was just a big, cuddly teddy bear. He wasn’t scary at all. Maybe his silence was, but not he himself.
So he sniffled and wiped his face with his sleeves a little, mumbling in a small voice: “I c-can’t.”
Dante saw how he was picking on his fingernails and heard how he hiccupped between breaths. It was so sad to witness, especially since he was the happiest boy he knew.
“That’s okay,“ he hushed, combing Bobbie’s hair with his fingers. “Just tell me how you feel.”
Bobbie now had his cheek against Dante’s chest again, biting his lip as he cried a little more. He looked down at his fingers as he picked on them. “ I feel disgusting—” he sobbed, his voice cracking—”Like an outcast.”
“How so?” Dante rubbed the boy's head, wrapping his other arm around him.
“P-people—” he sniffled—“Just keep staring at me like I just came out of the circus. They judge me and call me names. But I just wanna be pretty—“ a tiny sob escaped his lips—“I just wanna dress how I wanna dress, you know?”
Dante understood now, but he let the boy carry on. He needed to get it out of his system as much as he could. It wasn’t healthy to think or feel like he was now.
“Sometimes,” Bobbie continued, sniffling. “I wish I was a girl, just so I could be myself without the fear of anyone judging me.”
He sounded so hurt, he was even shaking. Dante didn’t know what to say to him to make him feel better. He didn’t really tell jokes—well, good ones, at least. But he just wanted to make him smile again. It broke his heart to see him this way.
“I’m sorry you feel that way, Bobbie,” he said softly, holding him close and let his warmth overcome him.
“It’s okay, Dante,” Bobbie sniffled. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“I know,” the other replied. “But I just hate to see you like this. Because honestly, Bobbie, you’re more than pretty. You’re beautiful , inside and out. And those people who judge you so harshly are blind. They don’t know you like I do. They don’t love you like I do.”
With those words, Bobbie burst into tears again. He sobbed into the larger’s chest. But his wails weren’t sad anymore; they were of happy relief.
“Dante,” he sighed, holding onto him tightly. “Thank you…”
Dante smiled softly. “It was nothing but my pleasure, My Princess.”
Bobbie pulled back and looked at his face and blushed at the sight of his calm composure and small grin.
“D-Dante!” he giggled. “You said that too casually!”
I’m just saying but Sarah Rees Brennan knew exactly what she was doing with all those little Eugesse teasers and I do plan on screaming about it
So we know that SRB knows about Eugene and Jesse and that a lot of fans ship them from her instagram reply (x), which in and of itself is something of a tease. Why engage with that comment at all unless to hint at a positive answer—which her kissy wink certainly seems to do. So I’m hopeful just from that that her thoughts on Eugesse are positive ones, whether or not Eugesse is endgame. She’s always fun and light when interacting with fans and I like to think this is no difference; what is the point in getting our hopes up with that? She loves to tease her fans, but she’s not, in my experience, an asshole who derives pleasure in actually letting them down
And there is a lot in the book about Eugene and Jesse, all things considered. Eugene and Jesse are both side characters in it so neither gets a ton of screen time, but there are a lot of mentions in their limited screen time—especially with Eugene—of them together. There is no plot significance to having Eugene and Jesse meet or having Eugene be so set on expressing his fondness for his ‘Camp Menton bro.’ If you took out all interaction between the two, or strip away all mention of Jesse from Eugene’s dialogue, the story would not change at all. Practically, there’s no need for them to meet, no sense in their paths crossing so much. Unless the reason for it is simply to showcase their relationship, the point itself being nothing but the interaction. It’s not the natural decision to make, having them be so buddy-buddy, unless you like seeing them together, which I think SRB does.
Eugene’s love interest this book is “blonde and fair-skinned” (p. 124). Sound familiar? Why make Melodie blonde when she could have been anything else and worked just as well in her role as Eugene’s temporary love interest? Making her reminiscent of Jesse and having Eugene specifically comment on his fondness for blondes 1.5 times is a little suspect in my book. When Eugene’s allergy kicks in, Melodie and Jesse both come to help, and Jesse slings Eugene’s arm over his shoulder. Eugene waves off Nick’s concerns about leaving him by saying, “I’ll just go to the infirmary with these nice blond people,” and they trod off together, all talking about training regimes, which Eugene easily pulls both his blonds into discussing (p. 104). Already, he seems to be drawn to blonds—and why shouldn’t he be? His favorite color is yellow, after all. But the real preference is shown later, when Eugene remarks to Nick, “I’m saying blondes are great…Everybody loves blondes” (p. 128). Yes, he’s referring to the girl he’s currently infatuated with, but again, on a meta level, why blonde? Why not brunette or ginger or, hell, bright green? I’m just saying, the choice to make his love interest blonde and intentionally connect that appearance with Jesse’s blondness feels like an intentional tease to me.
And, I mean, you’ve got to know what you’re doing when you write a line like “Eugene eyed Jesse in the manner of a lion spotting a fresh antelope” (p. 196), and their whole exchange about waltzing is funny and cute and, again, kinda unnecessary. I’m glad it’s in there, don’t get me wrong, but, yet again, the only reason to include that bit of banter is to get Eugene and Jesse interacting in a fun and almost flirty way.
And of course, Jesse comes to comfort Eugene after his love interest dumps him, which shows an interest on Jesse’s part—and a little bit of sweetness too, if you ask me. It’s little wonder that Eugene’s so set on liking Jesse, explaining to Nick that “I’ve met so many amazing people. You know who’s super nice? … Jesse Coste” and going on to talk about how Jesse helped him and how Eugene “thought we could all be bros” (p.325-326). He spends a solid paragraph basically gushing about Jesse—it’s more than we ever heard him talking about Melodie in one go (though, granted, they got a lot of screen time and he was obviously into her). Why have Eugene display such an interest in Jesse and be so set on him being a good person whom he wants them all to be friends with? Because Sarah Rees Brennan ships it, that’s why
…and why waste word-power by having Melodie call her thing with Eugene “star-crossed” (p. 222) when Eugene will OBVIOUSLY have a bigger conundrum when it comes to the battle of Nicholas (and Seiji) v. Jesse. C’mon.
I can't wait until Nicholas and Seiji start dating..
I can't wait until they spend their breakfast together, staring at each other for all to see and not even caring that they are. Where they spend hours in the Salle training and pushing each other farther and farther to where they have to lean on each other heading back to the dorms. They then lay together and tiredly gaze into each other's eyes so they're the last thing they see when they fall asleep.
I can't wait until they're dating and they'll be sound asleep, where Nicholas is holding Seiji close and Seiji not caring because he finds it so easy to melt in Nicholas' arms. I want Seiji waking Nicholas up at four in the morning and holding his hand as Seiji drags him to the Salle. I want them to sit on the team bus together and fall asleep, heads against each other's because they're tired due to staying up talking the hours away. I literally can't wait until they date and everyone knows the two of them as two people who are always together. Two boys who'd never had anyone on their side like each other.
Thanks @junkiejosten10 for the tag! This was super fun!!
Favorite Color: Pink, purple, and yellow 💖💜💛
Last Song: Reflection from the Mulan soundtrack (listened to separately from when I watched the movie lmao)
Last Movie: Mulan
Last TV Show: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Sweet, Spicy or Savory: Probably sweet, though if salty were an option, that’s where it’s at
Bubbly water, tea or coffee: I would rather drink tap water than any of these
Tagging: @assassinscreed-kili @paridoxpower @plants-n-rabbits @walkinlikeadimepiece @jules-banyo @theplasticmailman @pierremcguire and @thestarminstrel if any of y’all feel like it <3
Favorite Color: yellow, blue, and very specific shades of pink and orange
Last Song: Nocturnal Creatures by Bastille
Last Movie: Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Last TV Show: One Strange Rock
Sweet, Spicy, or Savory: spicyyyyyyyyyyyyy (though sweet comes in at a close second)
Bubbly water, tea, or coffee: tea! don’t @ me, i have a membership at David’s Tea and a whole shelf of tea
Tagging: @chamallowlover, @athousandeaths, @dinodumm, @harvard-said-no, @i-need-a-good-username (not 8 people but that’s everyone i can think of whoops)
Recently I read the comic Fence… And I’m a little obsessed. This is the first thing I write outside TSC, hope it’s okay 🤞
It’s set at the end of Fence: Rivals, just to know.
But honestly, I don’t know how to call this. Drabble? It super short but it comes straight from my heart. I hope you enjoy it 💙
Words: 657
•
“…29, 30, 31, 32…”
Nicholas Cox missed the ball.
He started again.
“1, 2, 3, 4…“
Seiji Katayama was watching him for a few minutes already.
There was something about Zero that was making him… baffled. Watching him now, Seiji thought (again) he missed something. It was frustrating how much Zero reminded him of Jesse.
Anyone else find it HIGHLY SUSPECT that Eugene wasn't included in any of the scenes from the beginning of chapter 13??
Like, Kally, Tanner, Bobby -- all of their reactions were included at Jesse's arrival but Eugene was conveniently forgotten?? Especially when he was so obviously there at the end of 12...
All I'm saying is that there had to have been a reason why he was excluded, and I think that reason is that when Jesse and Eugene meet face-to-face it's going to be A Whole Thing (if it isn't already happening behind the scenes).
This post is brought to you by the Eugesse Is Going To Be Endgame Canon gang
[ID: Two panels from the Fence comic. The first shows Harvard, Aiden, Kally, Tanner, and Bobby reacting to seeing Jesse for the first time. A yellow ‘?!’ is drawn next to them. The second panel shows Eugene, Nicholas, Seiji, Aiden, and Harvard lined up in front of Coach Williams. A yellow heart is drawn around Eugene. End ID.]
Hello my beautiful bruvs and sissies—i didn’t mean that; what’s another word for sisters? female... siblings? bruvvettes? Definitely.
Anyways, I’m kinda, sorta, a little, teeny tiny bit back from the short hiatus I announced. Yes, I’m still working on the AU, but it don’t expect it to come sooner than the next few days—i’m sorry, did that make sense? english isn’t the only language i speak in so bear with me here.
My mental health is fine, but the usual state that i’m in prevents me from working harder than i used to and I hope that you all can understand that i’m not doing this for myself but also to my dearest readers. I just really want to upload quality content to all of you and make sure that what i posted was worth it and not just some random shitpost that you’ll find anywhere on the platform or in the internet rather.
Plus, I’m currently working on two projects other than the FENCE Houseparty AU so i ask for your sweet, sweet, sincere forgiveness.
heyy i was wondering if u had any fence blogs to recommend?? 👉👈 love ur art btw ❤
why hello there anon!
first off, asdkhas ty!! i’m always so happy when someone enjoys my bullshittery >///<
and ofc!! i know quite a few blogs :)
if you’re looking for another fanart blog, @chamallowlover does absolutely gorgeous art and always gives us Quality Content (i mean, have you SEEN the art she did for the tangled au?? bc i did, and i am still swooning over it). def go give her a follow and like and reblog the shit outta her art bc it is 👌👌👌💯💯💯🔥🔥🔥 (i tried to channel those eugene vibes, ya feel me?) @xinnarticohen is also another art blog! they’ve posted both their original work and fence fanart and both are absolutely amazing~ their art style is so cute and i’m always impressed by their traditional art bc lemme tell you, not having an undo button is hard. be sure to also follow, like, and reblog!
if you are looking for fanfic blogs, @applesandbannas747, @athousandeaths, and @i-need-a-good-username are writers that are active on tumblr!! (edit: whoops, i forgot to add @princefencer; they are on hiatus rn but they do have some one shots posted! def check em out) i believe most of them are under the same users on ao3 too 👀 they are all amazing people and i always have a blast chatting with them (and don’t get me started on their fics bc they are all TOP QUALITY writers. seriously, drop them a follow and give them all the kudos on ao3. they’re doing the work of gods here!)
on a related note, @ao3feed-fencecomics is a definite must-follow if you don’t check the ao3 feed often. they post when a new fic comes out on ao3 and it is nice to be scrolling through your dash and see that oho! there is a new fic to squeal over!
if you are looking for headcanons, @harvard-said-no and @fencedits are two blogs that have the best headcanons and you can’t change my mind. seriously, i always have a laugh when their posts drift across my dash. their humor and character awareness is 10/10.
that’s everyone that frequently posts fence stuff that i could think of. this is only a starting point though so be sure to continue scrolling through the fence comic tag!!