ROMANTIC HEADCANONS // RYLAND GRACE
romantic orientation: biromantic (yearns for emotional connection first, gender isn't necessarily a huge factor in it. typically female-leaning)
sexual orientation: demisexual (requires trust, safety, and emotional warmth before anything physical)
preferred pet names: he likes soft, low-pressure ones … “ry”, “honey”, “sweetheart”, “love” anything like that would make him utterly melt. anything spicier than that would definitely get him flustered.
relationship status: chronically single. emotionally and physically touch-starved … he's not actively looking (honestly, so many things are more of a priority at the moment … like saving the whole human race), but he would completely crumble if someone showed interest.
opinion on true love: he wants to believe in it, but he's scared he's not good enough for it. true love is something that other people find, not him.
opinion on love at first sight: scientifically it's just a surge of hormones. a combination of intense infaturation, physical attraction, and idealisation. it's not necessarily something long-lasting.
how ‘romantic’ are they?: about a 6/10 in intention, 12/10 in sincerity and (bless him), a 2/10 in execution … he tries so hard, he overthinks everything, he's a little awkward with it. but he writes little notes, cooks (badly, but earnestly), gets excited and info dumps and listens to his partner's infodumps with 100% of his attention. he puts in the effort.
ideal physical traits: he doesn’t really care about makeup, fashion, or conventional attractiveness. he likes people who look like themselves … comfortable, natural, unpretentious.he finds authenticity more attractive than aesthetics.
ideal personality traits: someone who is kind, patient, intelligent, whose curiosity and humour matches or compliments his. someone reassuring, someone who lets him ramble on about science and the things that excite him, and someone who makes him feel brave without demanding it.
unattractive physical traits: he's not necissarily put off by certain physical traits … if anything, he's put off by people who se their looks to intimidate.
unattractive personality traits: cruelty, arroagance, emotional manipulation.
do they have a type?: not necessarily looks-wise, but personality-wise he's drawn to other gentle souls. people who are curious, warm, safe. a part of him is definitely drawn to people with far more confidence than him, people who are adventurous.
average relationship length: short. a couple of months to maybe a year or so. he tends to panic, self-sabotage, or assume that the other person deserves better.
past relationships?: only a couple. mostly in his younger years / at college, but certainly nothing that lasted more than a year ( his only notable ex being linda ). he's been lonely for a long time without realising how lonely he actually is, delving into work and teaching to somewhat distract himself from it.
favourite canon ship: n/a. I guess … possibly rocky in that rich, deep platonic soul-mate bond they have (I don't imagine it going any further than that unless possibly in a human!rocky au). I've seen the stratt x ryland shipping going on but nothing has made me immediately go yes I ship this !! yet
favourite non-canon ship: n/a. I have not done enough crossovers yet !!
tagged by. @hunt-the-hare (ty ty!)
tagging. steal it !!