#( texts — josh. )

[mareestoermers]

i think we are all forgetting something when we talk about how toxic patrick, tashi, and art are — or when we decide one is “worse” than the other. they all have moments of seeing right through it, seeing each other’s toxic behavior for what it is, and STILL want and need each other in this possessive, envious, visceral way.

1. in the way beginning, tashi is clearly flirting more with art than patrick, and patrick is visibly annoyed. art sees right through it and even challenges him like “okay, let’s leave”, and has this little smirk on his face because he knows patrick won’t give up on tashi.

2. tashi immediately sees the visible tension and love between art and patrick, and literally orchestrates their first kiss. she sees right through their repression, and even calls herself a “home-wrecker” but still entangles herself with them, especially patrick because he’s clearly the better tennis player at that point and that is tash’s ONLY true love. tennis. that’s what she desires most in him, and patrick knows that. he even calls her out on it in the dorm room scene. but they have this mirroring fire in each other that neither of them can give up, not until patrick breaks the balance and bails — tashi’s injury is literally a metaphor for the balance shattering between all three of them when patrick leaves her.

3. before this, patrick sees right through art trying to break them up, and even admires that quality — maybe even feels smug and flattered because art is jealous and feels left out from both tashi and patrick. patrick has known this all along, we saw it in the “tick-serve” scene, where he even swears to tashi he won’t tell anyone but he still tells art, who is desperate to feel a part of them and patrick wants that, too — even keeps that close intimacy with art that we see in the churro scene (swoon swoon swoon).

4. haven’t you noticed that arts desire to be great is only ever tied up in patrick and tashi? how he needs to beat patrick to win tashis affection, how he needs to win in tennis so that tashi can live through him, how he lives up to his potential in the ending only because tashi and patrick push him to it, in their little fucked up ways? he knows this — he even admits that he’s playing for tashi, that he knows she’s living through him. he even admits he’s playing a fucked up little game with patrick when they’re in the sauna. yet he still does it. again, he knows what’s happening, sees right through them — still does it, still loves them.

5. when tashi calls patrick to come pick her up he knows it’s not just to tell him to throw the match — and despite how she battles him about it, they still have sex in the car, because he already knows. he’s so fully aware of her and her game and he’s so willing to be caught up in it, the same as art.

just some examples of how they all have moments of clarity and agency and yet they still choose to be entangled in one another because they’re all fucked up in their own, individual ways, and they’re all living through each other for their own specific needs. arts is to be seen as worthy, as great, but only through their gaze. tashis is to have the career that was stolen from her. patricks is truly to be in love and in lust with both of them, because we even see that from the beginning that tashis love alone will never satiate him; it has to be arts love, too. that scene in the sauna when he thinks he’s lost it from art is the most sad and fucked up we ever even see patrick. on top of tashi asking him to throw the game — he’s so defensive of arts feelings.

in short this is an actual love triangle (and i would go as far as to see it as a polyship). you can’t erase one without the whole thing unraveling, and you can’t say one character was the “worst” without picking apart the motivations and pointing to the fact that their bad behavior was never a secret or left unchecked.

even at the end, patrick signals to art that he slept with tashi — art knows and they still have that intimate completion at the end, all three of them. art living up to his potential and embracing patrick fully (id argue this could even be a metaphor for embracing his bisexuality), patrick having both tashi and arts affection again, and tashi playing a phenomenal tennis match through her little white boys — in such a visceral, emotional way that she cries out like she did in the beginning and the last frame is her smiling.

in a fucked up way, they all get what they wanted out of each other.

[man-peach-reborn]

VIP + text posts

[stop-that-train]

I didn't die!! I was just suffering (studying) all week I'll post again soon to make up for it

In the meantime you can look here to find more to entertain yourself

[coolgrl111]

more bf!art text message posts eeeeekkk

ask and you shall receive 😈😈😈

—

[kaestnerd]

my boys

[thebanditinvincible]

days in trench

[connorology]

if i were a video game character instead of dropping gold rings like sonic when i take damage i’d drop these

[saintaviator]

jawsh👽

[starrrbakerrr]

The Hunger Games trilogy, text to screen (in/spo)

[davidlikebowie-noturaccountant]

every time i watch a dropout dot tv production my instinct is to make a joke about how my toxic trait is that i think id do well. i have no less than five (5) instagram stories in my archive where i claim my toxic trait is that i would do really well on um, actually. i told my friend i think id eat up on make some noise. i think i have levels of committed to the bit which mean i could fucking rule game changer. give me a chance please

[stanart4clearskin]

stanford!art x best friend!reader social media au

part six | seven | eight

a/n: the texts switch groups mid convo so be sure to check the group chat name!

yourusername

liked by artdonaldson and other

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yourusername i love you guys so so much (@.artdonaldson @.tashiduncan @.patrickzweig)

tashiduncan you’re our favorite angel 💗💗

yourusername @.tashiduncan you’re my favorite girl ever 😖😖😖😖

artdonaldson i’m so lucky to call you my best friend

yourusername @.artdonaldson you’re the bestest friend in the whole world ☹️☹️ artdonaldson @.yourusername 🫀🫀🫀 yourusername @.artdonaldson 🫀🫀🫀

patrickzweig i look really hot in that photo

yourusername @.patrickzweig @.tashiduncan come deal with your man!! tashiducan @.patrickzweig you look… UGLY 😊 patrickzweig @.tashiduncan good thing i have a degradation and humiliation kink 💚 artdonaldson @.patrickzweig twin 👯 yourusername @.artdonaldson okay loser artdonaldson @.yourusername 🤤🤤🤤 tashiduncan @.artdonaldson why are you openly being a freak on instagram

tag list: @coolgrl111 @sassyvilliantrope @lovingmenisacurse @simmerinsauce @thecontrash @antxnxlla @prttygrrrl @moonyslibrary98 @faistluvr @challenger-fan-club @r4veeen @layne-10 @arcticwisteria @teenage-iridescence @tennispilledsincaraz @what-is-happening-helpp @yericosmic @hipothetical-introvert @wandas-lovey @cillianssluttiestbitch

[zwiggyro]

gc texts between u and bsf! art & patrick bc i love challengers and i love smaus❤️

[jackabbot]

BRYAN SAFI as JOSH RUSSO in 9-1-1 • S4E11 ↳ “First Responders”

[222col]

how i imagine life with boyfriend patrick 🙂‍↕️ inspired by all the angels i've seen making text aus ( @coolgrl1111 + @newrochellechallenger2019 + @iz-belljolie )

smau masterlist

[coolgrl111]

what if you did toxic!bf! patrick w reader but art steps in bc he’s seeing how readers being treated and he’s liked her all along….

🫢🫢🫢🫢🫢

[kaestnerd]

Idk what this is tbh