• How I feel about this character

SO.  MANY.  THINGS!?!?!?  I love how he’s the very definition of positive masculinity, in that he’s big and beefy and hits better and harder than anyone around, but he cooks and has a garden and takes care of his people and doesn’t make a big deal about it, he just does it.  He doesn’t feel shame about prettying himself up, if the situation calls for it, and he never looks down on things that are feminine and girly.

I love how he’s a champion for the working class.  I love how he speaks up and explains a way of life and a culture to city people who don’t really understand.  I love how, through him, people who are coal miners and farmers and boxers aren’t slotted into stereotypes of “dumb backwards people too stupid to leave bad situations.”  I love how, as someone who reblogged my Eliot Spencer post said, he’s a “a tough-guy brawler with a Texlahoma accent and who respects the hell out of women.” That kind of classist subversion matters to me.

I love how fucking smart he is.  I love how he shows that genius isn’t just people like Alec, it’s people like him who can absorb information like a sponge and recall detail to an impressive degree.  Liking sports and being good and physical/athletic activities doesn’t make you dumb, but also there is more than one kind of smart and I love that about Eliot.

I love how he is with women.  I love how he’s a charmer and has a lot of hookups, and never trash talks his exes.  I love that he recognizes and owns his own mistakes that contribute to a relationship failure (I actually love how this show portrays exes in general; they treated Maggie so well and I will forever be thankful for it.)

I like how he’s basically a Homme Fatale.  Like, Sophie will go in with a low-cut dress and a high hemline and have all the men eating out of her palm, and on the flip side Eliot will sidle up to a lady with those big warm eyes and look at her like “everything that could possibly come out of your mouth is interesting” and charm her in a similar way.  I really really liked how this show showed that women are unacceptable to the same kind of charm and flattery as men and actually used that.

I also love how fucking hot he is, goddamn.  Just when he’s hitting people or when he’s wearing a tank top with his hair tied back with a bandana, or when he’s cooking or serving food (that one scene in season one in the italian restaurent when he’s putting food on the table gets me EVERY. FUCKING. TIME).  I ADORED that ridiculous team vs. team scene where he’s going after the lady hitter and she gets wet and takes off her shirt and I rolled my eyes until the exact same thing happened to him and it was so hot my god.

Just.

Just.

Eliot.

• All the people I ship romantically with this character

Parker.  Alec.  Both of them.  At once.  TRIAD FOREVER

• My non-romantic OTP for this character

I haven’t really thought about it but that hitter dude who (i think) worked a bit for Moreau?  During the season 4 finale?  I definitely feel like they should have a few dozen friendly hookups because hot damn.  Hot. Damn.

• My unpopular opinion about this character

Based on the popularity of my aforementioned text post, i have zero unpopular opinions about this character

• One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

I wish they made the Triad explicit, but thinking about the likelihood of a healthy functional triad relationship being portrayed by the main characters on TV makes me laugh myself sick.  Other than that i was perfectly happy with his arc and what happened with him.