#dee torres

Dee Torres

Virgil | Dee | Roman | Remus | Patton | Logan | Emile | Remy

Autistic

Cis male (he/him)

Likes: Virgil. Snakes. His moms. That’s about it. 

Dislikes: most textures, people being an asshole to his brother, people being assholes in general, assumptions being made about him, expectations, masking (autistic traits)

Special Interests: philosophy, snakes, theater

Stims: squishes with Virgil (pressure stimming), stimming with his snake, snapping fingers, bouncing leg, watching water move/flow, infinity cube

Siblings with Virgil (fraternal twins)

Has vitiligo

Goes to local public school where he meets Remy

Has a lisp!!!

Has little to no tone control meaning his tone is usually very flat, bordering on sarcastic

Very sensitive to textures

Has a pet snake named Aristotle (Ari)

Enjoys thrift shopping and likes to bring Virgil with him

Gosh where to start. These siblings are,,,, a lot that's for sure

tw: mentions of past ABA ‘therapy’, ARFID (a type of eating disorder)

They’ve been causing their moms stress for 16 years /j

They used to share a room as kids, and while the did eventually get separate rooms, it took months until they were regularly sleeping in their own beds

They still come into the other’s room and share beds on occasion 

Their moms think it’s adorable to find them snuggling together in the morning even tho they’re both teens

Virgil has poor fine motor skills and so Dee helps them tie their shoes every morning 

They’re the best at supporting each other through each other’s worst meltdowns

Virgil knows exactly how to calm Dee down so Dee won’t hurt himself and Dee knows the best way to calm Virgil down as well as identify whether they’re about to have a panic attack or a meltdown

To calm Virgil down, Dee takes them to the Sensory Room

Since Virgil got out of ABA they’ve always had a small room in the house dedicated to sensory and autism stuff

They usually spend an hour or so together in the room after dinner 

It helps them both calm down and process their days (they do usually talk pretty in depth about their days and their classes while hanging out during Sensory Time)

Dee doesn’t need Sensory Time as much as Virgil but It’s part of Virgil’s routine and Dee joins them 

If one of them starts happy stimming, the other often will often reflect it to show agreement/support/equal happiness. They’ve definitely gotten caught in stimming loops before

Dee is super sensitive to textures so during really bad meltdowns he’ll take all his clothes off

Virgil’s really bad at recognizing their bodily needs such as sleeping, eating, peeing, etc. (they also have ARFID)

They crack jokes around each other about Virgil accidentally not sleeping or almost peeing themself and Dee “stripping” but only around each other 

They have a very special birthday tradition where they get each other gag gifts every day until their bday for the age they’re turning and on their actual bday they get each other something super sentimental that usually becomes a comfort item 

(basically if they’re turning twelve it’s 11 gag gifts, one per day leading up to their bday until their actual bday when they give each other something super genuine and thought out)

They infodump to each other all the time, especially about SpIns and their pets

Virgil was diagnosed first at four, and after learning that a lot of the symptoms their moms had observed in Virgil and Dee were symptoms of autism, Dee got tested and was diagnosed as well

Virgil really struggled with communication as a young kid and was nonverbal until about age 7

Because of this and other struggles, a friend of their moms’ suggested they put Virgil in a “really great program that helps autistic kids cope called ABA”

Virgil goes to ABA and it- being ABA- is of course awful

Once his moms find out what exactly is going on there and how bad it is they immediately pull him out and place him in actual decent therapy to cope with the experience that was ABA

Overall, Dee and Virgil are inseparable. They’ve always been together, and they’ve always loved and supported each other

Which is why it’s so weird that Dee’s suddenly stopped talking to Virgil about the things that are bothering him

And Virgil knows something’s bothering him

Part three babeyyyy 

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part ...

TW: Ableism, Referenced Loneliness, Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria

So Remy asks “What’s wrong with your brother” and Dee is Immediately on the defensive bc that’s his brother asshole

His first words are “First off- Virgil’s nonbinary. They don’t mind the word ‘brother’ but they/them pronouns.” bc Dee’s gotta establish that first

And then Dee goes “And nothing’s wrong with them. They’re autistic, asshole. And…” is Dee really doing this? “And so am I.”

And Remy’s just there like No Clue what to say

So he says what he thinks is a compliment “You’re autistic? I’ve never noticed it before.”

And Dee is still Very Much on the defensive

And he snaps off a quick “yes” but doesn’t elaborate bc he’s also Scared Shitless bc this is his Only Friend and he’s kinda being an asshole rn but Dee doesn’t want to be alone at school anymore

So Dee takes a deep breath, “Okay let’s start with what you just said. I get that you think you’re probably complimenting me but you’re not. From my perspective that’s incredibly invalidating to hear because it can make me feel like I’m making it all up even though I know I’m autistic” 

Remy feels bad now because RSD, so he just offers a very meek apology

Dee takes another breath. “It’s- well it’s not okay. But thanks. Let’s just… can we sit and talk about a few things for a moment?”

And Remy nods and they sit down on Dee’s floor

Dee gets back up and grabs his snake because he needs the stim and pressure to help calm down and Remy’s just there kinda nervously twiddling his thumbs

Remy: “cool snake”

Dee: “thanks her name is Aristotle, but let’s not get off track here. So there entire time we’ve been friends you’ve been kinda… unintentionally ableist?”

Remy: “Ableist? What’s that?”

Dee: “uh okay so like.. Some of the things you’ve said have been… discriminatory? Towards disabled people.”

Remy: “Oh… oh shit im sorry I had no idea-”

Dee: “yeah it’s fine you didn’t know but… if we’re gonna keep being friends you’re gonna have to educate yourself, you can’t just say shit like that and think it’s fine.”

Remy: “ok… ok i can do that”

Dee: “Would it help if i start off by explaining why what you said and how you treated my brother pissed me off?”

Remy: “Yeah”

Dee: “So when you met Virgil you immediately treated them differently and like a child. Like they weren’t capable of being on their own. That is something that tends to piss Virgil off.”

 Remy: “I mean… I was just trying to be nice? I didn’t know if they could understand me.”

Dee: “Yeah see, but that assumption is part of the problem. Virgil is nonverbal sometimes, meaning they can’t always talk and usually won’t look at people when they talk to them and it might not appear to you that they’re listening, but they do understand. And you automatically assuming they don’t because they act differently? Because they communicate differently? That’s ableist. I’m autistic too, but you didn’t talk to me like that, right?”

Remy: “Yeah? But I guess it’s different.”

Dee: “Why?”

Remy: “… I think it’s ableist so I better not say it.”

Dee: “I mean it’s good that you recognize that. That’s a good first step. But from here you need to change your mindset. I’ll try to talk more openly about being autistic around you but only you because currently out of our friend group You’re the only one who I’m comfortable with knowing I’m autistic.”

Remy: “Yeah, I’m happy you feel comfortable with letting me know and not booting me for being an asshole even though I had no idea I was being an asshole”

Dee laughs, and Remy finally offers his regular smile

Remy: “And I think I get it now. I can work on that. And- I’m not trying to say this as an excuse at all- just, I was never taught this y’know? I mean it doesn’t make it okay and I’m going to try. I just… didn’t know.”

Dee: “Yeah I know. It’s uh- I mean autism has this image. A lot of disabilities do. And your actions obviously aren’t okay, but you’re listening and that’s a lot more than most. I still want to be your friend. But I need you to do this.”

Remy: “Got it.”

Dee: “Oh and uh, you should probably apologize to Virgil.”

Remy: “… Okay I swear I’m not trying to be ableist so call me out if I mess this up,,, but how do I do that? How do I talk to Virgil? I mean- I get that they understand me. But- they use the tablet? Do I just talk? Do I need to do anything else?”

Dee: “No. Just talk to them. They might not look at you- probably won’t actually. But they’re listening. Probably at least. Okay, they might ignore you on purpose because you were an asshole but not because they don’t understand you.”

Dee: “Oh and actually- I mean. We do understand people. But some things autistic people do struggle with. So just,,, listen to us. Don’t assume. Listen. That’s the thing. If Virgil for some reason didn’t understand you, they would let you know. Don’t just assume they can’t understand you right away.”

Remy: “Okay. I can… I can do that. Should I apologize now?”

Continuing where we left off from Part 1

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part …

TW: Ableism

So Dee’s at a whole new school and he’s masking 24/7 and he comes home tired and grumpy every day

But it pays off

Because he makes a friend

Remy

And Remy has a lot of friends, and they’re not actively mean or anything,,, but they are ableist. Even if it is unintentional. Remy included.

Dee doesn’t really fit into any friend groups, he’s not super close with the other kids, just Remy.

Dee usually puts people off because he tends to come off as sarcastic because he has trouble with tone control so most people just see him as a smart ass and avoid him

They like the idea of him, because someone being sarcastic towards teachers make them smile but then when they interact with him, everyone comes to think he’s just mean

Dee’s mentioned his frustration to Remy a few times (as vaguely as possible) and Remy’s only response was “okay so,,, then don’t talk like that?”

Which Didn’t help because Dee Doesn’t Get Tone

(he can’t help but think how this is never a problem with Virgil, never a problem at home)

He still hasn’t mentioned Virgil, or that he’s autistic

And then Remy wants to come over to his house

So Dee plans him to come over on a day they get out of school early and Virgil most likely won’t be home and from there he’ll just keep Remy away from Virgil’s room by taking the sign off Virgil’s door

This plan backfires when Dee comes home surprised to find Virgil sitting on the couch with a chewable in their mouth working on an anxiety coloring book and watching Bojack Horseman through their headphones on their tablet (that reference was for remy -Max) (i appreciate it -Remy)

Now it turns out Virgil had a short day at school today because it was a staff development day Dee forgot about, whoopsies 

So now Dee’s stuck in an awkward situation because Remy doesn’t know about Virgil’s existence

Dee greets Virgil as normally as possible and asks where there moms are and why they’re home early

Virgil uses their tablet to tell Dee their moms are at work and that it was a staff development day today and that they’re struggling with the break in routine which Dee acknowledges 

Remy says something accidentally ableist to Virgil and treats them a bit like a kid and Virgil is pretty Put Off by this

Remy talks down to Virgil since Remy currently sees V’s behavior as “childish”

Because if there’s one thing Virgil hates it’s being babied and so Virgil turns to Dee with a look of both “who the hell does this person think they are and why haven’t you ripped them to shreds by now are you ok” and “we’ll discuss this later” 

Dee ends the conversation with a “let me know if you need anything ok?”

So Dee is now pulling Remy into his room upstairs and just as Dee is about to explain Remy’s ableism and why it isn’t acceptable, Remy drops a Not Great statement Dee has to answer

Of course! Here's some stuff about his relationships with others

Logan is closest to Patton and Emile

He cares for them immensely and enjoys spending time with them

Logan’s love language is words of affirmation. If he compliments you he really really means it and if you compliment him he is Very Honored.

Logan currently tutors Remy

Logan isn’t on good terms with Remy for a combination of reasons. Remy can be unintentionally ableist which Logan hates, as well as the fact that Remy has a lot of trouble focusing on his work and Logan tends to think he’s just not trying

When Remy and Logan both start to figure out that Remy has ADHD and he also changes his attitude a bit, they get along remarkably well

Logan first meets Remus at his and Roman’s birthday party. They both have an interest in science and bond over that. Logan will occasionally secretly invite remus over to do stupid shit and be Logan’s lab assistant.

They dissected a rabbit once together. It was an,,,, interesting experience

Logan and Roman meet at school. They didn’t get along at first but then after Patton starts inviting roman to lunch Roman and Logan find a middle ground through poetry and become friends. b/c Roman’s really creative roman often helps Logan with lines and delivery.

Logan and Dee meet through Virgil because those two come as a set you can’t really just have one or the other. It was towards the start of the school year Logan invited virgil to study for an English test and Virgil was like “oh Dee is in that class too at his school but already had this test can he join us?” and Logan was like “yeah sure I don't see why not” and now they know each other and regularly gush about debate stuff and old poets and philosophers cuz they are “Neeeeeerrrrddsss” - Everyone Else (said lovingly)

These two will just start straight up discussing current events or some other elevated topic and everyone just takes the opportunity to shout NERDS even though it’s fun to watch/listen/join their really invigorating and high level discussions

Logan and Virgil met at school due to having literally all of their classes with each other. They both find each other’s more relaxed compusre’s soothing

Of course, truthfully they’re both hella chaotic, but this was first meetings at the beginning of a new school year which is very overwhelming

Logan is often able to convince Virgil to participate in some of his backyard chemistry experiences. Virgil’s often wary about them because they tend to be incredibly overstimulating and anxiety provoking or a ton of fun.

Logan and Virgil also really hate when choices are taken away from them or when they’re being treated as incapable, so they really appreciate that the other is always willing to listen to them

Logan’s more of a cat person but he adores Rose (not that he’d ever admit it) but he thinks shes a very sweet girl and is super glad and proud of her b/c she’s keeping Patton safe

Rose loves Mouse (logan’s cat) but Mouse Does Not Reciprocate

Logan loves Mouse but thinks “Mouse” is “a stupid fucking name for a cat” and so he just refers to Mouse as “the cat”

The final part (dun dun dun) (actually sike there’s going to be at least one more part after this bc Max and I can’t stop rambling apparently)Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part …

TW: ableism, snakes, spiders

So Dee says “sure” when Remy asks if he should apologize now

But neither of them actually do anything, they just sit there in awkward silence

Dee starts to laugh as Ari starts to stick her tongue out near Dee’s face

Remy starts laughing when he sees this 

After their fit of giggles fades out Dee looks at Remy

“Would you like to hold her?”

Remy: “uhh what?”

Dee: “would you like to hold-”

Remy: “Oh yeah sure-”

Dee passes Ari over to Remy while Ari tries to slither back to Dee and Dee sarcastically scolds her

And Holy Shit, holding Ari is the Best Thing Ever 

They chat about Dee’s collection of Philosophy books and eventually before Dinner Remy has to go home

So Remy notices the time and says that he should probably get going, but mentions he should apologize to Virgil first

Dee nods and they go in search for them

Dee goes to a room next to his- where there’s a sign that says ‘Virgil’ and knocks on the door.

Virgil opens the door and drops the chewable out of their mouth to ask, “Have I told you about Colleen Atwood before?”

Dee: “Yes. What about her?”

Virgil: “She was nominated for twelve academy awards for best costume design. She’s won four.”

(And this is all information that Dee already knows because Virgil has definitely given these stats before but it’s not like Dee’s about to interrupt his brother when they’re very obviously fixating on something)

Dee: “That’s really cool. Which ones did she win?”

Virgil: “Chicago. Memoirs of Geisha. Alice in Wonderland- the 2010 version. And Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.”

Dee: “Do we have that movie?”

Virgil: “Which one?”

Dee: “Fantastic Beasts.”

Virgil: “Yeah.”

Dee: “We’ll have to watch it sometime.”

And during this short conversation Remy’s just been awkwardly hanging off to the side not knowing what to say or if he should talk.

This is of course when Virgil turns his attention to Remy.

“He here to apologize?” Virgil asks Dee.

“Yeah, yeah I am,” Remy speaks up.

Virgil: “Oh?”

Remy: “uh yeah ok so look, um I’m sorry for treating you kind of like a little kid, I didn’t realize that I was being ableist and I shouldn’t have talked down to you like that it was a shitty thing to do so yeah I’m sorry and I’m gonna try to learn how to not be ableist in the future.” 

Virgil: “…Uh huh.”

Remy: “So yeah. I’m sorry for earlier.”

Virgil: “Okay.”

Cue awkward silence

Virgil: “I’m not really going to forgive you, but I’ll give you a chance. Would you like to see my tarantula?”

Remy looks to Dee in a some sort of ‘what do i do?’’

Virgil: “I’m talking to you. Not Dee. Do you want to see my tarantula?”

Remy: “… Sure?”

Virgil nods and goes over to a cage in their room to carefully take out his spider.

They brings it over to where Dee and Remy are and just,,, drops in Remy’s hands

Virgil: “Her name’s Petey.”

And Remy’s like two seconds from freaking the fuck out bc Giant Spider and he is Not a fan but feels like he kinda has to be bc he’s,,, trying to not be an asshole to Virgil

(smh remy there’s a difference between being an asshole and having boundaries)

Virgil: “Petey is a rose haired tarantula and another name for them is the Chilean Flame Tarantula which sounds super badass (dee don’t you dare tell our moms i swore /s)”

Remy in a very high-pitched voice trying not to Flip The Fuck Out: “Yup. Cool.”

Virgil: “… Are you okay?”

Remy: “… I don’t… really like spiders?”

Virgil: “Then why did you say you want to see her????”

Remy: “I was being polite???”

Virgil takes the spider away

Remy’s attention is then brought to a text from his mom saying she’s here to pick him up so remy says goodbye to virgil quickly dee walks remy to the door and they say goodbye there and make a promise to hang again soon 

Dee: “Promise you won’t tell any of our friends I’m autistic?”

Remy: “Yeah dude of course I really respect you and that would be a huge breach of trust especially of one of my closest friends.”

Dee: “Yeah thanks I’m just not really comfortable with them knowing and also like- wait did you say closest friend?”

Remy: “yeah dude.”

Dee: “Oh. Okay Thank you…. I’m not sure how to respond to this?”

Remy: “Bro hug?”

Dee: “Uh not right now sorry im not super up for touch at the moment. Handshake instead?”

Remy: “sure dude”

*cue some sort of dorky half assed hand shake cuz neither know what they’re doing so they just end up fist bumping and then laughing a bunch*

For art:

Of course omg!!! Any art is greatly appreciated!!! ~Max 

Yes absolutely! Zero pressure, but that would be awesome. ~Remy

For Roman: 

Roman is almost always stimming, usually in big, noticeable ways (jumping, big flaps with the whole arm, leaps, bounces, etc)

Roman despises making mistakes/messing up and has strong compulsions to redo things when he feels that he did them “wrong” the first time

Patton and Roman are super good friends and they met in school

Roman’s tablet is school issued but he does have a Disney case for it 

Once Dee and him got to know each other, Dee showed him how to program in swear words (which Dee had already done for Virgil)

Virgil and him don’t get along at first (to put it mildly) but once they actually start communicating they become close friends

Roman is super dedicated to gymnastics

Doing gymnastics is a big stim for him but the chalk on his hands is often a Bad Texture

His favorite tricks are floor; he likes back handsprings

He has sprained/injured his wrists/ankles a countless amount of times

He pushed to be on the guys league for a long time after coming out, and once he was on T for awhile, he was finally allowed to switch

Soccer moms in the area try time and time again to use him as inspiration porn on their mommy blogger facebook group and Roman is very sick of it

Luckily his grandma is not afraid to call them out for it because she funds their club and Roman’s Gma will take absolutely Zero Shit when it comes to her grandsons 

Roman’s hair is very long and he’s been growing it out for pretty much forever

It’s currently down to his butt because he’s been growing it super long

He rarely gets it cut. Like once every year just to get rid of split ends

The only people allowed to touch his hair is his family and Patton

Patton and his mom tend to practice super elaborate hairstyles on Roman and they’re the only ones allowed to do so.

He owns like a million Disney hair accessories because it can get in his face a lot

He gets misgendered a lot because of how long it is, so he very briefly considered cutting it, but the idea made him feel sick and he knows he can present however he wants and still be trans, so he’s keeping it

Roman can be very protective of his things and family. He’d do anything for people he considers “his.”

Doesn’t like to share (except w/ Remus)

Hobby time!

TW: Spider

Virgil takes care of their spider. I don’t know if pet care would normally count as a hobby, but the amount of devotion almost all of these characters give their pets makes it definitely count. Virgil also likes sketching. They also do puzzles and baking with their moms and Dee.

Dee upcycles clothes and sews. He does puzzles and baking with his moms and Virgil. Dee reads a lot, especially philosophy. Plays the harp

Roman does gymnastics (duh). Roman also likes to create art. He’s made a l o t of Disney fanart and writes fanfiction.

Remus’s hobbies are sewing and customizing clothes. Remus also does contortionism and goes on runs with Koda. Remus practices french horn, trombone, xylophone, trumpet, and recorder (mostly for meme purposes)

Patton walks with Rose! Patton also enjoys gardening and nail art. (They’re not the best at long term projects though, so their gardens don’t always go well). Patton enjoys baking as long as she gets to do it with other people.

Logan’s hobbies include backyard science experiments that explode more often than they don’t and he also enjoys tutoring. He writes a lot of poetry too. And does spending time with Emile and Patton count as a hobby? Yes.

Emile takes care of his hedgehog. They also like going for night drives. They watch a lot of cartoons. Emile likes baking with Patton. Playing ukulele!!