Writing And Nerding

THE PROMPTS

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

My wife: I mean to us they could easily be gay but most people won't see that connection, most people will just see friendship

Me:

what robby does have is an unconscious bias that leads him to err more to the side of the structure of the patriarchy when he isnt aware he's doing so. this isn't good, but how it's presented in the show categorically means no, he does not in any way canonically hate women. his bias is not something he is aware of. he's NOT a woman-hating incel.

someone, for some reason: you're talking over women!! they're allowed to call robby a misogynist and woman hater if they want because there is evidence!!

Jack is a feral beast who sinks his teeth into Robby any chance he gets and no one can convince me otherwise.

Robby is constantly covered in bite marks.

They're on his neck (just low enough to cover with an undershirt) his nipples, his ribs, his biceps (and yes Robby has asked and Jack just says he likes it.)

There scattered between his thighs, along his stomach and whenever Jack has him on his hands and knees -- his ass.

More than once Robby has had someone ask what happened when Jack gets a little too eager and forgets to bite somewhere he can easily hide. (and maybe its because Jack saw the way Noelle batted her lashes at his man)

Let's Hide From Gloria With Mama (Alt. Title "Big Pitt and the Pittlings Hiding from Gloria") as inspired by @raven--stag 's reblog tag.

Redoing this post cause the original posting format was bothering me so sorry to double-post but I n e e d e d to.

Inspired by this shot from ER (1994)

Jack’s got a pair of spare crutches at Robby’s place, but Robby notices the balms and creams Jack likes best. Might as well keep some on hand in the bathroom, and maybe over by the couch, too. Just for convenience, of course.

Robby calls ahead to restaurants to be sure they’re appropriately wheelchair accessible—not just a ‘check the box’ ADA activity—bc maybe it’ll be a wheelchair kind of night out, and if he can help it, Robby will never let Jack relive the experience of having to use an outdoor freight elevator to reach second floor seating.

It’s a myriad of little things Robby does instinctively, because it’s for Jack, who’s always on Robby’s mind. Who Robby believes deserves the world. Who sees something in Robby that is hard for Robby to see in himself.

I sometimes see fanfic writers suggest that Robby has some religious trauma related to his sexuality.

From my standpoint, that is highly unlikely.

I say this as a fifty-ish year-old Ashkenazi Jew who grew up in the same progressive Jewish tradition that Robby did.

It is a matter of canon that Robby grew up a member of Rodef Shalom, a Pittsburgh synagogue in the Reform tradition. That means Robby (who’s probably in his early to mid fifties) went to a Reform shul in the 1970s and 1980s.

The Reform movement is the largest of the liberal denominations in modern Judaism. Originating in mid-19th century Germany, Reform Judaism sees Jewish traditions as evolving as our world around us evolves, and we Reform Jews do not strictly adhere to halakha (Jewish law) in the same way Orthodox Jews do.

Growing up in a Reform shul in the 1970s and 1980s, Robby would have learned a form of Judaism that was progressive and tolerant by the standards of that era. The Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) declared same sex relationships to be legitimate in 1977, and the first openly queer rabbinical students enrolled at Hebrew Union College (the Reform rabbinical school) in 1990. Queer folk were not shunned or shamed in Reform Jewish communities of that era the way they often were in other religious traditions.

It is likely that Robby encountered openly gay Jewish people at synagogue when he was a young man, whether at Rodef Shalom in Pittsburgh or later when he moved to New Orleans (attending, perhaps, Touro Synagogue or Temple Sinai there).

In my view, if Robby has hangups about his sexuality, it’s not for religious reasons.

Their home is warm, the air filled with the scent of contented omega, replacing the scent of blood and antiseptic that he's been carrying around all shift. Jack drags in a deep breath, the tension already bleeding out of his shoulders. He feels better already.

Robby strides out of the kitchen, expression determined when he picks up on the stink of exhaustion and pain on his alpha. Before Jack can protest, Robby plucks his keys out of his hand, backpack from his shoulder and lifts Jack into his arms.

"Jesus Robby, you don't have to carry me."

"Yes I do. Shut it."

He's deposited on the bed where Robby kneels down and takes off his shoe and his prosthesis. Jack knows better than to argue. He lets his sweet, wonderful mate take care of him. Next he's stripped down and carried into the shower where Robby gently washes him clean.

This is what makes omegas so special, so treasured. Robby is a fierce and determined caretaker. Jack groans and tilts his head forward as Robby digs his thumbs into his shoulders. "God I love your hands."

"Come on babe, let's get you dried off and in clean clothes. Are you hungry?"

"Starving."

"Good. I've got a plate already made up for you."

"You're going to carry me into the kitchen, aren't you?"

"You deserve the rest."

Jack snorts, pulling on a soft, clean shirt. "Just get me my crutches, Robby. I can get myself there."