The Mean Boyfriend (Patreon)

People who have been following me for… a while… may recognize this one as Schoyer from Platinum Black, because I figured he worked perfectly for exactly the kind of mean little twink Gray would let walk all over him. I figure of all these guys, this one was probably the hardest for Gray to let go of because his self esteem was running on empty at this point. He got in that mindset that everything he was getting yelled at for was his fault, and he was lucky to have anyone at all. I think of Gray as the kind of guy who has a hard time being alone, he needs friends and community and people around him, and when he doesn’t have that it makes it easy for guys like this to put him through the ringer.

I think it contrast to the beauty blogger guy from the first flashback, this guy is way more streetwise. Like, the beauty blogger guy is completely ignorant to the biker gang politics that keep this neighbourhood clear enough for this nightlife scene to operate. This guy is aware and absolutely knows he gains social capital by wrapping the right big enforcer types around his little finger.

This look for Gray is his Kiefer-Sutherland-In-Lost-Boys era. He decided to dip into the alt-fashion scene of the underground and started shaving and cutting his hair again. He’s materializing a vision of what he wants to be, but he hasn’t quite figured out that running himself ragged when he falls behind is just going to make him crash harder. I think when he finally splits from this guy for good, that’s when he has his come-to-Jesus moment and realizes he needs to take better care of himself. Eat right, sleep when he needs it, and go to the gym instead of giving in to self-destructive impulses.