#romangerribaird

[gerribairdism]

Quintessential romangerribaird image, to me

[gerribairdism]

following up on my previous ask, now all I can think about is if Baird would have died around the same time as Logan and Gerri and Roman grieving him together and how their dynamic would shift

Ooooh that would be really interesting!! I think Gerri was verrrryyyyy isolated (⬅️ her own doing) in her grief in canon - she pushed the worsties away when they tried to help, and she had no idea how to help the girls because a.) she couldn't even manage her own grief in a healthy way and b.) the idea of parenting them on her own was terrifying, and she knew that deep down the girls thought the wrong parent died. I think she and Logan were each other's biggest support at the time, bc neither of them asked the other to Talk About Their Feelings or whatever, just quietly mourned and talked around the subject as they do, and maintained the facade of normalcy.

I think her having someone close by who was also a part of their sexual/romantic dynamic to whatever degree that might have been, or even just who had similar feelings towards him as she did, would play out similarly to Marica and Kerry. I think Gerri would be angry at Roman for thinking he could ever understand how she feels, and feel like him not being able to manage his grief, maintain his poker face in public, etc is just another burden on her to manage at first. I also think it would frustrate her that Roman is "allowed" to break down in public about Baird under the guise of it being purely about Logan, while showing her own feelings would play as unrecoverably weak.

However, much like Marcia, she could come to realize that he's the only one who could even approximate what she's going through, bc while the worsties were tied to Logan as much as she was, they weren't similarly tied to Baird. I also think Roman would be a lot more sensitive to her feelings, bc he would have seen the way Baird loved her and made that the ideal he wants to attain. Plus, Baird was well aware that he was going to die first, and when it happened that Roman was more than a one night stand or casual fling for them, he asked him to please look after her when he's gone, a promise that Roman honors.

I personally don't really see them moving forward together as a couple in the traditional sense, but more like the equal and opposite of what she and Logan did in (my) canon. They maintain a connection and quiet understanding, but with space for Baird's memory. They can call each other if they need to talk and have it be "off the record", never spoken of again. They might see other people, but anyone who had never known Baird can truly know either of them, for to love and be loved is to be changed, and their lives so interwoven that it can't be replaced.

[gerribairdism]

The way they're giving Roman with GerriBaird 💘