Iconic Four.

Okay this moment stood out a lot for me because look at his face– I honestly think this is the moment TJ decided he was going to tell Cyrus how he felt. 

Cyrus has been patient with TJ from day 1. He has never forced him to do anything he wasn’t comfortable with. Cyrus encouraged and helped TJ to make the right decisions ON HIS OWN. And even when it was clear Cyrus was upset about Kira, he never gave an ultimatum. He simply expressed that he was feeling uncomfortable around her, leaving TJ to make his own choice on how to deal with that information. Cyrus never made him pick– Cyrus never made him do anything.

And this whole thing about “picking” is crazy for TJ! Because he didn’t see Cyrus and Kira as foils to each other! He never thought he’d have to pick one or the other because Kira was his ~new basketball pal~ whereas Cyrus was his person, whatever that might mean. 

But “picking” is often very romantically coded. So while TJ never saw Kira that way, in this scene she basically went “date me or date Cyrus” which was a more than friends thing and even oblivious TJ can pick up on that. Suddenly, Cyrus is being “offered” as a romantic option. Suddenly TJ cannot avoid that any longer. 

And Kira says “I guess that answers my question” and peaces out, but really it was TJ who had a big question answered. The question wasn’t “Kira or Cyrus,” but “Am I ready to tell Cyrus how I feel.” Because Cyrus, who knows himself to be gay and crushing on TJ, never pushed TJ to acknowledge it. Cyrus flirted and dropped hints left and right, but he never forced TJ to make an explicit move before he was ready. Cyrus was patient, the way he always was, and because of that TJ could take the time he needed to come to this monumental realization on his OWN TERMS. 

Which is why this makes the next two TJ scenes so powerful, and so different from his scene with Kira. We have TJ making all his own choices, and Cyrus supporting him. TJ chooses to start to play an LGBTQ anthem. Cyrus, supporting him, then starts to sing along with it. TJ initiates the handhold on the bench. Cyrus, who has waited so long for this, holds his hand back. 

Cyrus never made him pick. Cyrus never pushed him or forced him to change. Cyrus believed in him and supported him and gave him the time he needed to come to terms with his feelings. TJ didn’t pick Cyrus over Kira. TJ and Cyrus chose each other, a year ago on the swingset. Kira was never even an option in the first place.

Thelonious

What do you mean this wasn’t what happened?

Ah...

I always knew Marty was an fboy

sir that’s my emotional support bench scene

UwU

TJ WAS THE ONE THAT INITIATED THE HUG WITH CYRUS I—

History

Writing Romance Tropes: Opposites Attract

Description: A pairing made up of two completely different people that embrace their differences and fall in love.

Ideas:

Disliking each other as a default because of social status/a certain event that separates them.

Person B doing things that inadvertently hurt person A and regretting it as they get closer.

An inciting event that shows a similarity between them, even if it's small, and allows for a significant change.

Person A's friend group trying to protect them from person B.

They become friends anyway, which shocks everyone to their core.

Bickering but everyone sees it as flirting.

Talking about each other to their friends. Person A trying to convince their friend group that person B is a good person. Person B telling his friends how cool person A is despite them being completely different from their friend group.

Balancing each other out and doing things to make each other better.

Person B pretending to be all cool and confident but melts every time person A smiles

Person A never thinking they have a chance and is oblivious to how much person B loved them

They assume things about the other person that turn out to be completely wrong as they slowly get to know each other.

An argument that leads to a confession or a soft moment.

"I never wanted to hurt you, this is just a big misunderstanding and I'm sorry." "You never apologize." "Well this is important, so I am now."

Over time they acquire traits of each other's personalities

Casual displays of affection

Secret Heart eyes heart eyes heart eyes

Both being too stubborn to admit their feelings

When they finally do it's shocking at first for both of them but they soon realize how obvious it was

Gushing about how much they liked each other and didn't want to admit it

"Every time you looked at me I wanted to cry you were so cute!" "I thought you were glaring at me when I caught you looking?" "I got scared when you noticed so I decided to look mean instead!"

"You're so frustrating! Why am I even friends with you?" "Because you love me." "Yeah? So what! Wait- I didn't mean that-" "Yes you did." "FINE yes I did." "For the record, I love you too."

Both having a special place or object that they associate with each other (maybe the first place they connected, or an object that they bonded over).

Going on adventures together and helping each other grow even after they get together.

Tips:

Make the differences very significant. I'll list a few examples here.

^difference in social class/economic class

^mean manly jock/shy sensitive nerd (but be careful with this! It can be cliche so make sure to put your own twist on it! My example ship does a great job of this)

^Uptight/easy going

^impulsive, hyperactive / cautious, rational

^ordinary person / someone extraordinary (a hero, maybe)

^very serious, hardworking / always making jokes (alternatively, all work / all play)

Make sure their relationship isn't automatically perfect. They're very different people, so there should be some bumps to overcome.

Give them some arguments! They're not going to agree on everything, so even if they care about each other they're going to fight. Let those fights be raw and emotional and significant.

A fight should be something they both care deeply or feel very strong about, not just a small difference between them. (Ex: a difference in values, or a big communication error)

Take your time with this one, allow their relationship to gradually change from annoyed at each other to friends to liking each other to romance.

Example of this trope:

Tyrus (TJxCyrus, Andi Mack): This pairing starts out as destined enemies in the beginning of season two, with TJ being the scary basketball jock that bullies shy eccentric nerd Cyrus' best friend Buffy. But the two quickly connect as Cyrus brings down TJ's walls and make him want to be a better person and TJ pushes Cyrus out of his very small comfort zone. They turn into best friends and after the manipulative girl Kira is out of the picture, they confess their feelings and get together in the last episode of the show.

"Is there anything else you want to tell me?" ~Cyrus

"Yeah... Is there anything you wanna tell me?" ~TJ

"Yes." ~Cyrus.

The couple hold hands and give each other a relieved laugh.

(Disclaimer: some of these may be non canon romances but all have heavy subtext or a form of confirmation by the author/creators)

This is part two of my romantic tropes series. Remember, this is all advice and ideas, not rules. Build off of them and come up with your own great story :)❤

Luke doesn’t need a bench when Garren is around.  The Andi Mack cast during filming of the series finale in Dec. 2018.

I’m amazed I had not posted this before now.