Patrick x Richie - Hood by Perfume Genius

I swore myself off relationships completely. // I think right now I just need to be alone.

When Your Fave Looks Like You: The Importance Of Queer Latinx Representation, by Ethan Velez, HuffPost

Richie, played by Raul Castillo, is is a flirty, humble, charming stranger when we meet him. He’s someone you don’t know, but you want to know. He is fine example of the queer crisis: do I want to be him or be with him? For me, a seventeen year old when the show was airing who came out only four years prior, Richie was someone I ― and many like me ― latched onto and never wanted to let go of.

How does Richie become a central character to the viewers? How does he become so important? Why is he so important? Richie is a rarity on a network with shows historically about white stories. Contrarily, he is among the main cast, and he influences the story throughout the two seasons. Second to the plot, that influence is done in a wishful way. The Latinx viewer who doesn’t often see themselves on TV sees Richie and they want the life that he’s living: the life of an unapologetically out and queer Latinx man. You’re inspired to meet people in a way that doesn’t involve an app, you want to have a large circle of diverse and queer friends, you want to live in a big city doing what you do best, and this all seems a lot more possible since meeting Richie. His presence in the main cast is not just a fixed plot device ― like his on-and-off relationship with Groff ― he’s also a figure to us viewers. He’s a character so rarely seen that because he is seen, he’s become someone to tune in for, someone to root for, someone to write for.

Queer Latinx people have found an authentic reflection of ourselves in Richie. We see ourselves in his insecurities, in his self-doubt, in his identity and even in his slight accent. It’s with this that the character has stayed among viewers, and with this that the character is remembered long after the series closed. The more queer Latinx characters are welcomed to television, the more queer Latinx people will continue to hold onto them.

@tonystarke asked richie/patrick or k*vin/patrick (aka the cutest couple/// best choice)

here internet, have some richie valentines 💖💜💚💌🌈😍 

“I was afraid of that feeling. But I’m not afraid anymore.” Looking: The Movie 

Required post-movie update: