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writing-for-the-people · 3 years

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I'll Always Fight For You

Pairing: Bobby Wilson X Reggie Peters

Fandom: Julie and the Phantoms

A/N: Here's one of my first character x character fics that I'll post. I absolutely love this pairing so much. I saw another blurb about bobby fighting and really like the hurt/comfort trope, so here's this little piece. Enjoy!!

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He closed his eyes, trying to keep the tears from falling. He couldn’t let the other see how much pain he was in. Reggie stood in front of him, gentle hands working to patch angry wounds. He was quiet, focus square on the task in front of him.

“Reggie?” Bobby hated how weak and uncertain and wavering his voice was. Reggie paused in his work and rested kind hands on his shoulders. He felt his chest tighten when he saw the look on Bobby’s face.

“Are you mad at me?” He sounded so small.

——

They were at a bar downtown, celebrating. Sunset Curve had just had a successful gig, and they wanted to blow off some steam.

Bobby had volunteered to stay sober, they needed someone to drive them home, after all. So he sat, sipping on soda while the other three reached different levels of trashed.

Bobby’s eyes had been trained on Reggie. He was the least drunk out of the others, and was enjoying himself on the dance floor. Bobby and Reggie were a new couple, the two having only started dating recently, but Bobby was already completely smitten with the other, so it was no surprise to him when he felt jealousy bubble up when the stranger approached his boyfriend.

Bobby knew Reggie could handle himself, which is why he didn’t move at first. Reggie seemed to be doing a good job of trying to fend the man off, but the stranger just wasn’t getting it. He kept stepping into Reggie’s space each time he backed up. The point where Bobby found himself getting up and going to Reggie was when the man grabbed Reggie‘s wrist.

As he was making his way over to the pair, Bobby saw the man leaning in, Reggie trying to pull away, but failing, then the stranger pulled Reggie in for an unwilling kiss. Bobby bit the inside of his cheek, willing himself to control his anger.

He had promised Reggie he wouldn’t fight anymore, but when that bastard asked ”this is the boyfriend? Honey, you’re missing out.” then dived in for another unwilling kiss, ignoring Reggie’s complaints, Bobby snapped.

He grabbed Reggie‘s wrist, gently but firmly pulled it from the man’s hand. He pushed Reggie so he was more behind Bobby and away from the man, then swung. He was acting on pure instinct, only seeing red.

The brief contact he’d had with Reggie he’d felt how tense the boy was. Reggie struggled with standing up for himself. He never wanted to cause conflict, he had seen enough of it at home.

The stranger held his own well, but two things worked against him. The first was Bobby’s anger. He was tired of people taking advantage of others. He was angry that someone would try to do this, especially in front of everyone else. He was already angry about the things that Reggie had to deal with at home, And the fact that he was subjected to it outside of his home made the anger worse.

The second was the fact that Bobby was sober, and he was not. The man did manage to get some really good hits in, but Bobby had the upper hand.

The only reason he stepped away was because his friends pulled him back, and some of the bar employees pulled the stranger away. They were all sent out, Reggie staying behind to talk to the employees.

His friends kept the man and Bobby separated in case Bobby felt the need to swing again, or th man tried to provoke him again. They didn’t want Bobby getting in any more trouble than he already was. Someone who looked like they were official, the owner of the bar Bobby thought, came out and approached Bobby and his group first.

“The four of you can’t come back to this bar for the next few weeks. Reggie has explained the situation to me, and while I understand the reason for the fight, I can’t support it. I won’t ban you permanently.” He smiled at the group before moving over to talk to the other man.

Bobby turned his attention to Reggie, but the smaller man just shook his head at him and asked if they could head back to their house.

———

Reggie dabbed at another wound on Bobby’s forehead, shaking his head.

“No, love. I’m not mad at you.”

Bobby felt his stomach flip. If Reggie wasn’t mad at him, that means he was disappointed. The last thing he wanted was for Reggie to be disappointed in him. Both of the boys were surprised to see and feel tears that began to fall.

“I’m sorry, Reg. I know that you didn’t want me to fight anymore. I didn’t want to. But I couldn’t just stand there and let him touch you.” Bobby was aware that he was rambling, but he couldn’t stop himself. “I just wanted to defend you. Reggie, I don’t want to break my promises. I didn’t want to fight him-”

Reggie cupped his cheek, effectively cutting Bobby off.

“Bobby, it’s okay.” Reggie spoke softly. “It’s okay, I’m not mad. I’m not disappointed. I completely understand why you fought.” He smiled, gently wiping the tears away.

“I’m sorry.”

“You reacted to the situation that we were in. I was uncomfortable and upset, and you defended me in the only way that asshole seemed to understand. I’m proud of you, darling.” His words made more tears fall from Bobby’s eyes. He placed a hand over Reggie’s on his cheek, turning his head to press a kiss to his palm.

“I don’t deserve your kindness.” Bobby murmured softly.

“No, you deserve more. You, for all your bravado you show, go through all the emotional struggles that the rest of us do.”

“I don’t matter when compared to you guys.”

“That’s not true.”

“Yes it is. You guys went through so much more than I did. Alex got disowned by his parents because he was gay. Luke and his mom and dad fought all the time. And you. Baby, you never had a good home life. The worst thing that happened to me was that my parents forgot my birthday. That’s not as bad as what you guys went through.” Bobby’s eyes had dropped from looking up to Reggie to looking at the hand that rested in his lap.

Reggie pulled his hand away and turned to pull a chair in front of Bobby. He sat down, taking Bobby’s hands in his own.

“Look at me, love.” Reggie murmured. Bobby followed his instructions and looked up at the other. Reggie smiled softly, continuing, “Just because your childhood doesn’t outwardly seem as bad as what the rest of ours was, that doesn’t mean that it isn’t something that still affected you. You were left alone for a lot of your younger years. Children aren’t meant to fend for themselves. There’s a reason that we have adults. You have a right to have some issues from it.”

Bobby was quiet, looking at Reggie with awe. He surged forward, catching Reggie off guard when he wrapped his arms around him, pulling the boy to his chest. Reggie closed his arms around Bobby as well, holding him close, and carding a gentle hand through his hair. Bobby sucked in a breath, feeling an overwhelming sense of home.

All of his life, Bobby had lived on the fringe of things. He was always a second hand thought with his parents. They were never around for him when he needed them, and when they were after the fact, they never really wanted to focus on him. Even within Sunset Curve, Bobby was the one who always fell to the side. Luke had such a big personality that he commanded attention. Reggie was usually so bubbly and warm that he had a natural light. Even Alex, the shy and anxious person he was, held more attention than Bobby did.

Bobby always faded into the background. He was used to the fact. That didn’t mean that he didn’t sometimes want the attention. Bobby wanted to have some time where, rather than focusing on the others, or focusing on his parents, someone would rather focus on him. That’s one of the reasons he fell in love with Reggie.

From the first day they met, Reggie turned the tides in Bobby’s life. He brought attention to Bobby. When the group was making decisions, Reggie would wait for Bobby’s insight before letting them commit to something. He would talk to Bobby rather than letting him sit quietly while Luke and Alex were going on about something else.

Really, Reggie was the whole reason that Bobby had broken so far from his shell to begin with. And he was grateful for that.

Reggie pulled Bobby from his thoughts when he pulled away from Bobby. He could barely contain the whine that bubbled in his throat with the loss of contact. He must have still made a noise, because Reggie chuckled and cupped his cheek again. Bobby repeated his actions from earlier, turning his head and kissing the palm of his hand. The other boy smiled and leaned down, dropping a kiss to the band-aid that covered part of Bobby’s forehead.

“Go get changed and get cozy in bed, love. I’ll be back in a second.” Reggie hummed softly. Bobby nodded and got up, following his instructions and changing into comfy pants, and a plain black t-shirt before climbing into his bed. He turned to Reggie’s side, pulling his pillow to his chest. He breathed in the comforting scent of Reggie, letting the soft feelings wash over him.

He wasn’t left alone for much longer before Reggie made his way into the room, chuckling when he saw the way that Bobby was wrapped around his pillow. He set the glasses of water and snacks that he had brought back with him on the nightstand before changing into comfy clothes as well. Before he climbed into bed, he started a CD in the stereo, not caring what it was, just wanting background noises.

“Can I have that?” Reggie asked with another chuckle, gently loosening his boyfriend from his pillow. Bobby chuckled as well, briefly putting up a fight against Reggie, making the boys delve into more laughter. Eventually he let Reggie win the play fight, and Bobby moved back into his own space on the bed. Reggie lifted the covers, climbing into the bed next to him.

Reggie got himself situated and turned to Bobby, holding his arms out.

“I know that you usually hold me, but…” Reggie let the sentence hang in the air. Bobby smiled, moving forward to slot himself against Reggie’s chest. He wrapped his arms around Reggie’s waist, sighing happily when Reggie closed his arms around him again. He nuzzled closer into Reggie’s chest, letting his eyes slip closed. Reggie ran his fingers up and down Bobby’s spine, helping him relax.

The two of them lay awake for a little bit, talking, or relaxing, just loving each other’s company. When Bobby didn’t answer Reggie’s question he looked down, finding Bobby’s eyes closed. His mouth hung open, and he snored softly. Reggie chuckled softly, slowly moving to adjust them so they wouldn’t wake up uncomfortable in the morning.

Bobby whined softly in his sleep, arms tightening around Reggie. He laughed silently, pulling him closer. He wasn’t going to leave Bobby.

As he laid there, Reggie felt happy. He knew that Bobby had some troubles sometimes letting himself be vulnerable. Even though the boys had known each other for years, it was still a rare thing that any of them saw Bobby when he was feeling low. The fact that Bobby cried in front of Reggie wouldn’t have seemed like that big of a deal to anyone else, but it meant everything to Reggie. Yes, he didn’t like seeing his boyfriend upset, but he was honored to know that Bobby felt safe enough with him to let his guard down.

When they were together, both boys felt like they were in the safest place in the world. Reggie wouldn’t change that for anything, and something told him that Bobby felt the same.

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JATP Tag list: @spooky-scary-lesbian

#bobby wilson #reggie peters #jatp #jatp imagines #bobby wilson imagines #bobby x reggie #boggie

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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How Julie and the Phantoms Normalizes Straight Male Affection

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

The following contains spoilers for Julie and the Phantoms season 1.

Straight male affection in media has been handled with, charitably, mixed results. For every deeply moving film or TV show about the bonds between straight men and how much they care about each other, there are 20 others that conflate male intimacy with weakness or downright evil. Talking about manly feelings is one thing but physical affection? There’s still a strong stigma that straight men (and boys for the matter) who show too much physical affection are somehow out of the ordinary, immoral, or automatically seen as gay. For years this was fueled in the media with endless “gay panic” jokes featuring characters negativley reacting to any display of male on male affection. A prominent example comes in Friends’ “The One With The Nap Partners” where Joey and Ross accidentally fall asleep on each other and, upon waking up and discovering they’re cuddling, freak out and have to confirm that nothing gay happened.

This has slowly changed in recent years, with the idea of the “bromance” gaining traction in many films and TV shows. With a bromance two men being close in physical and emotional ways is seen as a positive but more often than not it’s played as a joke. Many comedies dominated by straight men feature gags involving guys hugging too long, expressing their feelings to the point of it becoming awkward, or others assuming they’re gay based on how close they are.

Scrubs’ ‘Guy Love’ song from “My Musical” is the epitome of this, the whole sequence based on the joke that Turk and J.D. are extremely close but have to clarify, “there’s nothing gay about it in our eyes.” After J.D. sings that Turk is “the only man who’s even been inside of me,” Turk has to hastily add, “whoa, whoa, I just took out his appendix.”

It’s better than gay panic to be sure, but it’s still not great. Straight men genuinely expressing their feelings for each other without being the butt of a joke are something that’s hard to find done well.

Much of this has roots in decades of societal pressures to appear masculine and it can be extremely harmful not just to straight men but queer men as well. When society tells you, as a straight man, that showing affection toward another man is a joke or flat out bad,It’s not a hard leap to assume gay men are at best a joke or at worst something to fear. Even worse if you’re a gay or queer man, who may internalize this by assuming there’s something inherently wrong with you because of your desire to express affection to other men.

That’s what makes Netflix’s Julie and the Phantoms stand out because it shows, without fanfare, an example of two straight men who are not only comfortable with showing affection to each other but openly embrace it. It also manages to take a scene that would normally be used as a joke at the expense of male affection and turns it completely on its head in a way that’s rarely been seen before.

Julie and the Phantoms is a musical comedy drama series that follows Luke, Reggie, and Alex, three teen musicians who died in the ‘90s but have come back in 2020 as ghosts. Together they form a band with Julie, a living teen, and whenever they perform the ghosts appear in the flesh. Luke sings and is lead guitarist, Reggie plays bass, and Alex drums (he’s also gay and we wrote a lot about him and his male love interest here.)

In episode seven of the show’s first season, Reggie and Alex tease Luke about his crush on Julie, one that’s quickly grown throughout the episodes. Luke tries to shrug it off but Reggie doesn’t let him, pointing out, “everyone can see the way you look at her when you sing. You guys ooze chemistry.”

Luke denies this, claiming, “I have chemistry with everybody that I sing with.” He then proceeds to demonstrate this talent by serenading Reggie with one of the show’s many love ballads, getting extremely close to his face.

For most shows and movies this would be the set up for a typical gay panic joke where at least one of the straight characters would be revolted at even the idea of being flirted at by another man. Reggie might pull away and be grossed out. If it was a bromance joke they might pretend to kiss for laughs.

Julie and the Phantoms, however, has Reggie caught off guard by Luke’s flirting… but he’s really into it! Luke turns the flirt all the way up, grabbing the back of Reggie’s head as if they’re about to kiss. Reggie is flustered but he’s not confused or scared… he’s smitten with all the affection Luke is aiming directly at him.

Alex, watching all of this with a smirk, says, “Wow. I see chemistry.”

Having a gay guy say this out loud doesn’t then make the two pull apart in disgust or lead to the punch line of a joke. Instead the show has Reggie, still flustered, stammer out,

“T-that was pretty hot.”

It even goes one step further! Luke kisses his fingers and puts them on Reggie’s lips, flustering him even more. Reggie isn’t angry about this, he likes it!

This scene is incredible because it’s played for comedy but not because the two straight guys have chemistry or they get REALLY close to kissing. The joke is simply that yes, Luke can have chemistry with anyone he wants and is very good at it. So good at it that Reggie, who before now has only shown romantic interest in women, falls under Luke’s charm. There is zero negative association with the affection between these two straight men, it’s extremely positive and sweet. The joke isn’t aimed at the affection; it’s aimed at Reggie for underestimating just how smooth Luke is.

Now one could point out that Luke and Reggie are extremely progressive for ‘90s straight boys but in a lighthearted and wholesome show like Julie and the Phantoms there’s really no need for them to be homophobic for historical authenticity. It’s a tween show about ghosts from the ‘90s forming a rock band. The fact they even mentioned Alex’s parents hadn’t accepted him for being gay is more realistic than would be expected.

After years of bromance scenes between straight men where their closeness is often played as a joke, this scene is a revelation. So often male affection has to be couched in jokes or “bits” to fly but here it’s perfectly normal. It gets to be part of a joke but it isn’t the butt of the joke. Reggie getting flustered by Luke’s charms is played as cute. (I should note it’s never flat out said Luke and Reggie are straight but the show emphasizes their attraction to women so I made the assumption.)

Seeing Julie and the Phantoms play this affectionate closeness 100% sincerely (as it does with so many of its plots) is heartening. Anyone who watches this is being shown that straight men, gay men, queer men, bi men, pan men, ALL THE MEN can be affectionate to one another and it’s not a bad thing. It’s just another way to interact with those closest to you.

The more we see of scenes like this, the better the world will be. It’ll hopefully lead to more acceptance of showing your affection to other men, which will hopefully make it easier for straight men to accept affection amongst queer men as well.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Julie and the Phantoms was already a delightfully charming series for including a queer romance with one of its lead characters but this is just another reason to love it. More normalization of straight male affection in media, please!

The post How Julie and the Phantoms Normalizes Straight Male Affection appeared first on Den of Geek.

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