oh. i just thought abt joel being like a fan of uhcs & like knowing famous winners and shit & being like yeah itd be so cool to meet the people who created it etcetc. and like secret life happens & theres new people and joels like ooh its uhc adjacent maybe theyll have a uhc person and they dont and joel is sad </3
and uuuh. brain broke but joel having a fanboy crush on beef but when he meets beef he doesnt recognise its beef bc beef now is a) older, b) more confident, and c) ravager hybrid & not hiding it (anymore)
and they get along & flirt sometimes and yknow, gay things, and also joel sometimes flirts with beefs gf zed bc. yknow. gay things.
and then one day zed and joel r just chatting and the topic of uhcs comes up and theyre talking abt the like lasting effects it can have on players health & zed is like yeah it really messed beef up bc beef did them so often and before there was any safety around them, and joels like oh? really? zeds like yeah beef was actually one of the original creators and joel goes. bright fucking red bc. oh no. he is not sort of maybe almost in a relationship with (one of) the CREATORS of uhc. who he had a crush on in his teen years. like yeah joel knew the names but just Did Not make the fucking connection.
he doesnt talk to either of them for a few days bc. gay crisis.