I wanted to share this little double date drawing 🙏
This was drawn for u/undefeated-east (Leon), featuring his husbands Kyoji and Schwarz, alongside me and Setsuna.
I also wanted to take the opportunity and turn this into a little appreciation post for Leon, because honestly he's my best friend and meeting someone so genuine, and that I can connect so well, is so, so rare. A lot of people have approached me over the years acting like they cared about me, but when my previous ficto relationship fell apart, it became obvious many of them only cared about what I could produce for them. Art, posting, attention, a source material that interested them personally. Once things stopped being convenient or interesting, so did the care. Yet, Leon was never like that.
From the beginning, Leon treated me like a person before anything else. He respected my relationship with Setsuna completely, and actively helped me see how I could be a match for Setsuna, as he thankfully was familiar with the source and his character. And even more than that, he encouraged me to rest, to have hobbies outside drawing and to exist without constantly producing things for other people. He never made me feel like my worth depended on how much I posted or how active I was online.
In the second picture, there's the Setsuna plushie that Leon made for me because it's one of the most precious gifts I've ever received. I always feel the warmth and care he put into it. And the fact that, alongside the plushie, he sent me Setsuna merch from his personal collection still makes me emotional. Setsuna is platonically important to Leon too, but he understood that Setsuna means the world to me and he wanted to support my happiness. That level of sincerity and selflessness is something I treasure very much.
The third picture is the MG Spiegel and Exia that I built, being respectively the Gundams that Schwarz and Setsuna pilot. Posing them back-to-back feels symbolic to me somehow, they might be from different Gundam series and timelines originally, yet here they stand together with trust at the same goal. Maybe parallel to my friendship with Leon in some ways.
I really admire Leon's relationship with Kyoji and Schwarz too. The way Leon understands them, speaks about them, and does his best for them has always felt deeply earnest and real to me. No performance, just honesty, devotion, and genuine connection. It's something I respect immensely.
Thank you, Leon, for always treating me gently, for respecting my heart, for supporting me as a person. I hope I can continue supporting you, Kyoji, and Schwarz for the rest of my life 💙