Flambae & Waterboy & Prism anon here, I am extremly thankful for your ENORMOUS list of thoughts, you slayed!
PLEASE Waterboy needs to get head-first in this queerplatonic mess, he needs to learn his queerness the hard way. Also, the "Parks and Recreations" scene was on point. Now that I think about it, spa seems like a perfect setting for Waterboy. One of the few places his wetness wouldn't be out of place!
I don't think there is much Prism\Waterboy content even if you chose Waterboy(or I didn't got one), except for the fact that they lean on each other in the final fighting scene. If you send them to resque Waterboy in 8 episode, Flambae says "You sure we need to save Waterboy? Naaaah, just fucking with you" and Prism says "Alright, but I'll fuck him up if he voms on me".
Also, what I think about a lot and don't see you mentioned is the fact they ALL have some troubles with experessing anger, even Waterboy! We have a glimpse in it in the scene when he breaks the vending machine, but I imagine that the problem run much deeper. Waterboy probably have tons of repressed anger for his unjust treatment, and I feel like dealing with Flambae and Prism, who are, on the opposite end of the scale, quite short-fused, could make some interesting situations between three of them!
And, another thing I need to get out of my head: In the Deluxe comics, Waterboy have some metal band posters on his walls. Quite the unexpected taste in music for him, and it is funny for me to imagine Prism's reaction)
Hehehehe, thank you for your kind words! 🥰 Exploring a ship's possibilities and doing my best to find evidence in canon or through interpretive analysis to see where its chemistry lies is one of my favorite thought experiments to play with, so I love asks like these! 💖✨✨✨ I can make any ship make sense. 🔥😈🔥
Honestly them taking Waterboy to the spa would be sooo cute. I think Flambae would be the one to suggest bringing him along, going off my intuition that, between the two of them, he's the least reluctant to take Waterboy under their wing. And you're right that he'd fit right in there! Being damp at a spa is hardly the end of the world! It's practically par for the course! And if it's like, a ritzy full-service spa (I'm willing to bet Prism has the hook-ups) they could even have attendants patting him dry periodically, or something. 🤭 It's not like there'd be a shortage of towels.
And I'm glad to know I didn't miss anything major in my analysis! (And that Flambae and Prism's dialogue when rescuing Waterboy feels like it kind of corroborates my read on how they'd approach interactions with him... 😂). I did rewatch the final fight at 2x speed to try and find a moment where Waterboy and Prism are in close proximity. I didn't see them leaning on each other 🤔 But I did notice that when Flambae and Waterboy combine their powers to create billows of steam, it's Prism who's using that steam as cover to send out a bunch of light clones. Another point in favor of their triadic chemistry! :3
Waterboy does give the impression of one completely uninitiated in queerdom, so throwing him in the middle of two egotistically confident queer veterans in cunt-serving creates AMPLE opportunity for delightful moments of queer joy and queer discovery for him! I'm sure they'd delight in his wide-eyed awe of everything they teach him--or Flambae would, at least, being (imo) the more solicitous of the two (enjoying helping people, fixating on pathetic men, etc). I think Prism would start out tolerating Flambae roping her into mentoring Waterboy, because whatever makes Flambae happy makes her happy. She'd be a bit long-suffering and terse with him at first, but eventually warm up and grow more indulgent toward him as his charm points and the things that make him interesting become more apparent...
And you've offered two really intriguing possibilities for what those might be! Namely: his anger and his taste in music! Granted, I took the anger he vented at the vending machine as a kind of 'exception that proves the rule', something meant to demonstrate the heavy toll Chase's hospitalization took on everyone. But it could absolutely be a symptom of a more longstanding repressed anger, as you've suggested! I can only imagine how frustrated he must be, never getting a word in edgewise--either because others interrupt him or because his lack of confidence turns everything he tries to say into word salad. ): And because everyone is picking on him!! Poor guy.
And I DEFINITELY think your interpretation is supported by your observation of those metal posters in Waterboy's bedroom. My compliments on your attention to detail, because at a glance I assumed they were all superhero posters!
The superhero posters seem to heavily feature Phenomaman, with Blonde Blazer in the middle, but there are just as many band posters as there are superhero posters. That speaks to at least an equal interest in metal (and possibly rock...? just the vibe I'm getting from the rightmost band poster but idk)--although band posters are really common decor for people who just like to listen to music, so I'd hazard a guess that his interest in metal (and possibly rock) is not as aspirational as his interest in heroism. But I digress.
Disclaimer: I'm not a metal head, but the leftmost band poster appears to be a mash-up of several bands. The subject appears to be wearing make-up extremely similar in style to Norwegian metal band Immortal; its name appears to be a disambiguation of "Black Sabbath", rendered as just "Abbath"; and the typeface of... Metallica, maybe? So those might be good reference points, for anyone trying to sample the vibe of the kind of music Waterboy is into!
(God, I just imagined Flambae driving Waterboy somewhere in his car--with ample towels, of course--and Waterboy meekly asks if he can pick the music, and NORMALLY Flambae would never permit this, but either Waterboy had a rough day or he's trying to be nice to him or he feels like he has to make up for being mean to him earlier, so he grudgingly says, "Fine, but if it sucks I'm tossing you out at the next stoplight." And then Waterboy puts on some absolutely rip-roaring, metal-shredding, guttural screamo-singing bangers, and Flambae's jaw drops as he just. Stares. At the twink fidgeting shyly in his passenger seat. He didn't know Wetblanketboy had it in him!!!)
I can't decide if Prism would like metal (I'm thinking a solid maybe???) but if NOTHING ELSE, I think she'd be impressed or surprised or even intrigued that Waterboy likes THIS. She must have figured he listened to fucking, Kidz Bop! or indie ukulele music or whatever. The Steven Universe soundtrack. Disney songs.
Forgive me Waterboy I didn't know your game... You contain such depths as I had not imagined... Precious little metalhead u can surprise everyone with ur inner rage... He can be like. Aggretsuko djsfhakljf
In fact, I think a particularly compelling start for them would be like, Prism and Flambae teasing Waterboy when he's having a particularly rough day, and he SNAPS. Stutter gone, bellowing at the top of his lungs that he's sick of their SHIT, completely red in the face and teary-eyed with rage, and Flambae and Prism are just like ":O!!!!!!!" Oh shit bro you were repressing all that??? That isn't healthy, you need to come to the spa with us, bro. And then the rest, as they say, is history!
Thank you again for your lovely message! I looove researching canon and analyzing the bearing it has on the ships at our disposal 💖 We're playing dolls and it's sooo fun :)
as a gay man i love women and i hope everyone who writes flambae x female reader fic prospers and gets one million followers and has a great hair day and gets themselves a little treat. and pls send me ur flambae x female reader fics bc i want to read them 💓💓💓
i knowww flambae and prism go to west coast swing improv dance lessons together. stunting on EVERYONE in class and no one is even mad because they look so fucking good together. the way they're making intense eye contact everyone thinks they're deeply in love (and they are but u wouldn't get it).
i know if they ever get to attend SDN official functions they DO NOT compromise on going together. i love flambert but if robert asked flambae to go with him to the function as his date i can EASILY see flambae saying fuck no, obviously he's going with prism?? they've already got matching outfits and everything. anyone who went with them would just look bad in comparison, let's be real, he and prism are showing MERCY to everyone else by going with each other.
and they are going to fuck it UP on the dance floor.
matching each other's freak literally every fucking day. i love them so much.
u know prism and flambae hit the gym together doing mad squats so they can get fat juicy butts and pull EVEN MORE hotties at the club. no one else could possibly understand their fitness goals (to wit: to become even more fuckable) or credit them as serious. not as serious as flambae and prism take it. working out specifically to get a fat ass is very fucking serious business!!! no one else appreciates that like they do. 😤 they keep a tape measurer on hand and everything. 📏🫲👀✨️