ideas about pseudo love triangle antics for benstuk who we guess end up married and winston as the third party here. pseudo in "not considering 'b/c winston is dating someone or trying to!' as the main factor ever, though it could feature" and "also romance is fake and i oppose it" sort of getting in the way of possible frameworks being peak relevant. it's that through these characters' interactions, components and aspects of character could be (dis/un)covered, changes &/or actions could be prompted, kind of like wow this really rendered this character dynamic
for example like peak general situation: tuk & ben meeting & having a dynamic as in canon. later on winston befriending tuk &/or vice versa as in canon. this ultimately goes well enough re: whether this can also be a triumvirate as in canon but along the way: biumvirate shakeups!
less peak general: put benston in there somehow. discuss
pseudo love triangle like ohh ben&tuk existing but now tuk is hanging out with this other guy & ben is like :( in possibly various ways & degrees. Revealingly. does not resolve "properly" insofar as these are my ideas so inevitably it'd be shit like oh yeah sure i, tuk, will date you, ben, but not like "oh i gotta break up with winston over this" b/c we weren't dating but not like "oh i've never made out &/or hooked up with winston" b/c i have. forever gonna decide in further character dynamics that there was a fun "two pairs of preexisting friends bond further via: this casual foursome & hanging out thusly" just out of frame thanks to canon, for example. see:
winston's involvement in laying the foundation for bentuk by way of "tuk questions his sexuality" lmao like. crashing the party with drinks & maybe someone Is like "idk would you make out with each other lol" as just a quick skill check like well if these people get pissed off at the affront to their heterosexuality & leave then nbd, but if not, the Are here, conveniently, joie de vivrely....winston responding immediately like =D 4x08 style utterly repurposed lol & tuk is not affronted really but still a bit nervous & especially so re: "oh no is my failure to reject a possible wisp of homoeroticism gonna get me in shit already with Coworkers still a dozen feet away :(" but mostly joking for now so just [didn't fail the skill check] enough & back to the joie de vivre. later on it's like "yeah we had a foursome but if there was a woman involved maybe that makes it sufficiently Not Gay / Straight? still keeping it secret ofc" later on was like lol there can even be drama like winston is comfortable around tuk / about it, Too comfortable vs tuk's simmering crisis here, where winston's canon "failure to indeed be Sufficiently defensive against / repulsed by even potential wisps of homoeroticism ft. yourself (&/or in general really)" is in play, ease & affection can be another manifestation of that failure with or without trying to flirt, hook up again, anything ""further"", The Intimacies....like it could just make tuk nervous & [oh no! the dissonance within me! the Questions i'm not yet willing to fully ask much less answer!] like perhaps there's increased distance as a result, whether in antics of suddenly trying to avoid winston, whether in rising impatience / annoyance around winston which is a real ":(" one, but, Drama....tossing & turning like my Past drama with my middle school bestie betrayal with music of significance to our relationship....it would resolve, along with the "as winston encourages confidence in tuk, it could apply to [yeah it's Wrong around here to not be straight(tm) but] confidence" & like wouldn't it be hilarious then to discover ben like oh all along i've been queer & just keeping it to myself b/c Yeah :/ You know (anyone does know) & wouldn't it be easier to discover you're down to get married to ben. bonus: combine things yolo, bentuk & winstuk being largely separate before this, ben is :( about it in a way, gradual winstuk rift for no externally obvious reason that neither of them are happy about either but it's secretly tuk's Questioning time that he's not really willing or even able to name much less discuss right off, surprising benston moment somehow in winston having cause to try asking for a hint from ben b/c not like he's unused to friendships souring or starting sour & continuing apace but it does feel like something's gone wrong & he sure feels :( about it in a way.....no moments of mere total psychouts cleared up & cleared away nor of asserting exclusivity in some form to save the day. getting expansive & tangled in there good for them
