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enteringdullsville · 16 days ago

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I’m trying the whole “Shipping Dynamics” thing a third time. For the sake of avoiding spoilers for the next volume (and also because the mobile app only allows ten pictures), I had to cut five pairings for space.

Violet X Gordon (Yellow) = Big Shots

They’ve been best friends since they were eight and got married five years before the first episode.

Gordon first caught feelings when he was thirteen. Violet, not wanting a romantic relationship with anyone at the time, gently turned him down, and they gladly stayed friends since. Gordon dated around few people in the interim, none of them anything too serious.

Young Violet wasn’t necessarily opposed to dating Gordon, she just didn’t think there was anything a couple their age could do that they couldn’t do as friends, especially with how naturally affectionate they were. Gordon conceded, deciding she was better to have as a friend than to risk losing her.

Violet’s probably demiromantic (given her hair decoration, that makes her an “aro ace”). She’s the kind of person who takes the piss out of cheesy romcoms or trashy love stories (that Gordon considers a guilty pleasure by the way) and starts to gag whenever a couple gets too obnoxiously gushy in public. She was never the kind to dream of getting married as a kid, nor did she ever have any celebrity crushes. She’s known this about herself from a very young age, and while it’s definitely given her a very mature view of romance compared to how manic she usually is, it might have set their romantic relationship back a little due to the demiromantic version of internalized biphobia.

When the two enter college at nineteen, moving from their world’s equivalent of New York State to the show’s setting of Dullsville, Gordon meets a girl by the name of “Aiko” and they go out for two years, longer than any of his other relationships. They ultimately break up when Aiko gets jealous of how close Violet is to Gordon. Despite Violet genuinely not having any romantic interest in Gordon at the time and Gordon knowing this and insisting on it to Aiko, Gordon dumps her for forcing him to choose between his best friend and his partner. Aiko remains a recurring minor character in the present. Given that she’s the resident yandere parody, she’s still not over Gordon and she and Violet now personally despise each other.

In Aiko’s desperation to keep Violet and Gordon separated, she accidentally made Violet examine her own feelings towards Gordon. Both have been each other’s main pillars for over a decade: Violet is a middle child of eight kids, was regularly terrorized by dreams/visions beyond Drewman comprehension, and doesn’t even perceive herself as a person at times due to being a cartoon character; Gordon had to help raise ungrateful, rowdy triplets, had unintentionally strict and overbearing parents, and was forced to remain stoic due to his physical strength and intimidating height, preventing him from venting to anyone else.

Violet has no idea what shifted in her head. It took a month for her to realize she had fallen hard for him. To her credit, 21-22YO was better at hiding it than Gordon was when he was thirteen, but a complex mix of emotional hangups kept eating away at her insides. What if Aiko turned him off love forever? What if Gordon didn’t like her like that anymore? What would Gordon think of her? Turning him down all those years ago only to ask him out later on. Would he think she’s only pitying him? Would he resent her? All that talk about not needing anything more than his friendship, only to betray her own words. So she kept shut about it.

When Angie met Violet and Gordon, they were seniors and she a freshman; specifically Violet’s roommate. Angie, as did many, assumed Violet and Gordon were an item, an assumption that Gordon noticed seemed to fluster Violet more than it usually would. Since Angie met Violet during this point in her life, she had a slightly skewed but otherwise accurate sense of the duo’s dynamic and wore Violet down into spilling everything.

Violet and Gordon only went on one date before their engagement, and Gordon didn’t go into it knowing it was a date. The whole thing up until the actual proposal was a complete blur, given the sheer chaos that had transpired prior, but neither the husband or wife would change a thing. Angie serving as Violet’s wingman is a large part of what contributed in the decision to get married and live in Dullsville, even letting her live with them upon graduation.

Rosie was born a little under a year after the wedding. Violet and Gordon’s childhoods taught them the importance of discipline and respect, and they’ve elected to only raise one kid to avoid the sibling rivalries they had… for now. They still have to deal with Rudy, J., Angie, and Chloe anyway.

Even today, Violet is strongly against the concept of love at first sight and only personally sees dating romantically as for finding one’s forever partner(s. She’s not personally into polygamy, but isn’t bothered if someone else is). She feels very lucky that she ended up with Gordon. Gordon’s also sobered up a bit, learning to not put his partner on a pedestal; a relationship should better both parties involved.

Both have slightly strange appearances that have earned them derision in the past; Violet has a very stylized figure almost reminiscent of an insect, complete with incredibly sharp elbows and knees and a torso roughly shaped like a squished cylinder. Gordon’s more realistically proportioned, but he has a face like an emoji that gives him a disproportionately baby-faced appearance. They love that about each other: Gordon likes how Violet fits perfectly in his arms while Violet likes how Gordon’s face matches his gentle personality. Even before falling for him, Violet always thought Gordon was cute.

Violet tries to remain professional during work hours because she knows it’d be hypocritical to get onto others about PDA when she herself can easily be worse. They’re inseparable off the clock; both are equally obsessed with the other but can easily put it aside if necessary.

Gordon likes to run his hands through her hair. Violet likes to cradle his face in her hands.

Gordon’s exact height varies a bit based on what’s funnier, but at his absolute shortest he’s a head taller than Violet. It frustrates her to no end since he loves to mess with her by tilting his head up to deny her a kiss. A smooch to the neck usually sets him straight, though.

Gordon loves to do things for Violet, and while he’s more than willing to call her out when she’s being an idiot, he has a reputation in ICT as “Violet’s Lapdog”. Nobody dares to call him that to his face. To be fair, Violet’s technically also his employer, leading to no end of “sleeping with the boss” jokes, so he kinda has to do what she says anyway. Either way, he’s like smiling putty in her hands, and Violet loves how she has someone strong enough to bench planets wrapped around her finger.

Gordon gets along relatively well with Vi’s family, but Violet low key hates Gordie’s parents.

Violet frequently likes to screw with Gordon by referring to him as “Daddy” in earshot or Rosie, since they’re, again, her literal parents. It takes every bit of willpower in Gordie’s body to avoid reacting to this and making Rosie ask him any awkward questions. The fact she always draws it out and exaggerates her natural Brooklyn accent doesn’t help, either. She knows Rosie’s going to judge her for it once she’s old enough to understand and wants to get her yuks in now.

Despite everything else about how they act in public, Violet (teetering on NSFW territory here) may or may not like being… “tossed around like a rag doll” when it’s just her and Gordon. Some of the stuff they get up to would horrify Gordon to discuss in public. Not because of the obvious reasons, but because he’s always wary about potentially harming her.

Violet writes most of the material ICT performs, and Gordon edits and proofreads her stuff. Gordon’s the less outwardly comical of the two, but his ability to say the lamest, dorkiest jokes (he is a father, after all) with utter confidence is something she deeply admires. In general, she respects him enough to leave him in charge if she’s ever absent or busy.

Gordon knows Violet’s more than able to defend herself and is always awestruck seeing her fight, but since Violet isn’t very physically strong or resilient, his first instinct is always to try to cover for her. Violet’s also always impressed, enamored, and a little freaked out seeing Gordon go all out in a fight.

Violet is not a morning person and she tends to cling to Gordon in a half-conscious state like a koala until 11:00.

Gordon cooks since he’s good at that; Violet cleans since she’s wicked fast and Gordon has accidentally destroyed things by scrubbing them too hard. It’s all delegation of household chores.

Sometimes Gordon just picks her up by the waist with one hand and carries her like a staff if he’s in a rare snarky mood and doesn’t feel like putting up with her usual mayhem. Inversely, Violet will start pounding on Gordon’s chest or prodding his stomach if he mouths off to her too many times. It’s all in good fun.

They’re an odd pair who plays with the “Bumbling Dad, Almighty Mom” duo in both ways. On one hand, Gordon’s got more common sense, is better at keeping Rosie in line, doesn’t get into conflicts, and vastly exceeds Violet in terms of strength. On the other, Violet is better at handling emergencies, is more likely to engage in combat, is overall the main protagonist, and is Gordon’s employer and boss.

Rudy (Red) X Olive = Jitterbugs

The age old dynamic of the smitten girl and the oblivious boy…on the surface.

Rudy’s aware of Olive’s feelings from the get go. You’d have to be blind not to. He just doesn’t want things to elevate past a level that Olive’s comfortable with since he knows she has some mild anxiety issues. To this extent, Olive is actually the one being oblivious to the other’s feelings as she stresses over if Rudy could ever like her back.

Rudy’s quite literally one of the first people to immediately have confidence in Olive’s artistic capabilities. That alone wouldn’t be much, but since Rudy’s a rare specimen who’s both unapologetically goofy and consistently sane, he’s a real keeper. Olive likes the sort who’s capable of being mature while also being fun; sensible, but spontaneous.

Rudy knows he can’t begin to ever understand how someone with anxiety could feel, but he legit can’t wrap his head around how the loner girl with the cool butterfly tattoos and the ability to create life from drawings could possibly sell herself short so much.

Rudy used to do cartooning as a hobby. He’s taken it up again as an excuse to doodle with Olive. As J. notes, it’s rare for Rudy to revisit an old hobby after so long. He must really want to spend time with her.

Rudy’s dog Coco gets along very well with Olive’s cat Lloyd.

Violet sees a lot of herself and Gordon in Rudy and Olive, albeit with a blend of traits between them. She advises Olive to let their friendship develop before they try anything, but also to not take fifteen years to sort her feelings out like she did.

Olive works part time at her family’s restaurant. Rudy likes to eat. Olive found out pretty quickly that she can play this to her advantage.

Before and after they get together, Rudy loves smooth talking her in Spanish because it’s adorable seeing how she reacts, especially since she doesn’t understand anything about the barest of beginner level Spanish.

Knowledge of the fourth wall makes Olive self conscious about being seen as a “satellite love interest”. She used to have a lot of anxieties about how being in a relationship with anyone could change her, especially the potential neglect of her platonic relationships and the sacrifice of her artistic integrity. Luckily, Rudy isn’t that type of guy.

Rudy himself immediately stomps out any intrusive thoughts and insecurities he might have before they can spiral into something drastic, instead channeling them into self-improvement.

J. figured Olive out very quickly and unsubtly tries to be her wingman because he wants her to be his big sister. Olive’s gotten very protective of the guy. In general, Rudy being such a good big… a good older brother is a large part of what endears him to her.

Olive’s a little on the shorter side, so she likes being with Rudy. It helps that Rudy’s only bothered by his height when directly insulted over it.

Rudy’s never formally dated anyone before, but those who knew him in middle to high school know he had a huge reputation as a Casanova. He credits his boyish looks for that; he’s just a really pretty guy in general and hasn’t lost his touch despite no longer playing up the Latin Lover schtick.

Olive and Rudy have a similar dynamic to Gordon and Violet in that she won’t put up with the occasions where Rudy’s outright foolhardy.

Rudy and Olive went to the same high school. She’s three years older and doesn’t consciously remember him, but Rudy does. He may or may not have had a small crush on her back then that he didn’t pursue because he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable.

Olive rants and raves about pop culture a lot. The two can spend hours at a time debating books they’ve read or controversial movies.

Olive hates being touched without express consent, and Rudy’s super paranoid about accidentally violating her personal space since he’s surprisingly no exception. She’s gradually easing up in his specific case, though, at least to the extent where he can initiate hugs or even peck her cheek without her stressing out. If they fall asleep together in the same vicinity, Rudy always dozes off with his head on her stomach.

Similarly, Rudy gets uncharacteristically cranky if his hair is manhandled. Olive has to be very careful to only pet it in certain places and directions, especially since it involuntarily bristles if she doesn’t. Rudy’s hair is venomous when it breaks, so it’s the physical affection version of eating fugu. Although, Olive sometimes uses Rudy’s discarded stray hairs as raspberry-scented red pens.

Yeah, Rudy just thinks she’s the coolest.

J. (Blue) X Paige (Beige) = Reading Light

Birds of a feather; both are intelligent, taciturn, blunt, and maybe just a little bit morally gray.

It starts as a morbid curiosity on Paige’s part. Everything about J. is a mystery that makes less and less sense the more one learns about him, and it becomes increasingly obvious that J. himself doesn’t know what’s up with him either.

J. had unrequited feelings for another member of the cast when Paige started growing feelings for him despite herself. Since J.’s…disconcerting composure tends to intimidate people early on, that crush didn’t go anywhere. Things worked out for the best for everyone involved, but Paige spends much of the second volume either salty at her for rejecting J. or jealous over his affections for her.

Paige’s huge, f***ing hairdo means she has to be the big spoon. In her case, it’s more like a backpack. Basically just horizontal piggybacking. J. does occasionally like switching places though, since her hair always smells like fresh baked pastries.

Sometimes, J. carries Paige around in the front of his hoodie for a mobile hug. Again, her hair means he can’t see where he’s going, but it’s the gesture that counts.

Rudy approves of her as a girlfriend for J. He’s less liable to meddle in J.’s romantic affairs, but he still makes an active effort to endear himself to her and to help J. if he’s having trouble communicating. Besides, shorty squaddies like Rudy and Paige have to stick together.

Ingrid, who Paige really isn’t fond of, points out they both have similar tastes and are dating occult, Drewmanoid eldritch beings. That crack earned her a slug to the jaw.

Like Olive, J. is three years older than the Razbry brothers. While she didn’t go to their school, J. completely lacked Rudy’s hangups about pursuing an older paramour as a kid and definitely considers the gap a plus in the now. Behold: the face (…mouth?) of a lady’s man.

They’re the kind of couple that doesn’t need to talk when together. They can just spend long amounts of time in absolute silence reading together.

J. has to restrain himself from cooing over Paige’s natural and incredible cuteness, especially when she’s trying to be intimidating. Despite this, he has full confidence in her capabilities, sometimes to a detrimental extent.

Paige trusts J. with a lot of things she’d never tell anyone else, initially because she knows he hardly ever talks but eventually out of genuine trust. J. takes it even further by revealing anxieties that even Rudy doesn’t know.

She’s largely disinterested in “physical” relations, with kissing and cuddling filling about the same niche. It’s not that she’s outright disgusted by the thought, it’s just that J. doesn’t feel like pushing it. He likes being close to her. He does want to have kids someday, though, which Paige is fine with.

Both think of themselves as the defender of the other. J.’s less likely to speak out in tense social situations while Paige is physically the weakest of the core cast, although J. harder to push around since he’s terrifying and Paige is more reliant on hand to hand since she lacks special attacks. Both are prone to panicking in the same situations, though.

J. isn’t above pranking her once the two grow more at ease with each other. More often than not, Paige will panic and physically retaliate on pure instinct and always feels awful for overreacting (hanging out with Tyler so much has shifted her sense of humor to be far more rascally), but Paige attacking him just makes J. laugh harder.

J. always kisses her on the top of the forehead due to the massive difference in height between them, usually without provocation. She gets all fussy over it but clearly loves the attention.

Angie (Orange) X Bryan (Cyan) = Sugar and Spice

They’ve been aware of each other’s existence for years but are only recently getting to know each other. They happen to be next door neighbors.

Angie has the worst sense of humor, especially when it comes to puns and wordplay. Bryan’s among the few to appreciate her jokes with any sort of consistency. Granted, it’s mostly just a weak chuckle or the subtle blowing of air out his nonexistent nostrils, but it’s enough to grab Angie’s attention.

Angie’s feelings for Bryan evolve over the first volume. They don’t interact that much, but he goes from someone she passively finds attractive to someone she flirts with to see his reactions to genuinely falling in love with him.

Bryan initially has difficulty telling Angie’s genuine advances from her usual trolling. It kinda stings Angie a little bit, but she knows she can’t be too upset. If anything, it just encourages her to keep on trying, especially since he’s never outright rejected her.

Angie loves cheesy pickup lines. They’re…creative, if nothing else. Once Bryan is convinced Angie’s intentions are genuine, he starts making ones of his own as a sign of reciprocation, much to Angie’s excitement. What a couple of dorks.

Bryan secretly loves how fiery and bold Angie is and wishes he had someone like that in his life. He occasionally finds himself fantasizing about being with her before catching himself. Peony and Lyman catch on fairly quickly and ship the two together. It helps that Lyman’s an old friend of hers.

Angie’s totally the sort to fight Bryan’s battles for him and make a scene in the process. Fewer people in comparison are willing to give Angie a hard time directly, but those who do find out Bryan knows how to keep a person alive, silent, miserable, and potentially in pain for a very, very long time without ever being caught.

Angie was under the impression that Bryan, Peony, and Lyman were an item for the longest time. The second she learns that’s not the case, she immediately starts putting moves on him.

Bryan bakes. Angie isn’t usually even that big a dessert person, but she jumps straight into a marriage proposal when trying his stuff.

Angie’s dated loads of people; Bryan’s had a few lovers in the past, none of which have ended well for them due to his overzealously protective father. He can’t legally talk about him while the cameras are on, but let’s just say there’s a reason Bryan’s learned to favor the fierce type.

Angie’s a nicknamer and has dozens of affectionate monikers for Bryan.

They’re roughly equal in terms of physical strength, even if Angie’s the better brawler; Angie’s visibly muscular, while Bryan’s built more like a power lifter and thus looks more chubby, especially when not exerting himself. Angie loves to squeeze him close to her since he constantly radiates a soft warmth.

Bryan’s just soft in general in a way that Angie can’t pin down. His eyes that sag at a friendly angle? His fluffy Tintin hairstyle? His Puni Plush body type? The way his facial hair frames his face like cat whiskers? Hard to say.

Angie has a genuinely sweet smile that Bryan loves to see. It always puts him in a better mood.

Occasionally, Angie will say something so suggestive it’ll shatter both their composures. Bryan takes longer to cool off after being flustered, so Angie usually has enough time to recover and twist it into something more eloquent.

There are disconcertingly few members of the main cast with a positive relationship with both their parents, but Angie and Bryan both have daddy issues. In Angie’s case, the issue is that she doesn’t have one since he died when she was a kid…and then abandoned her. Needless to say, she has abandonment issues that she struggles with that leaks into both her platonic and romantic relationships, and it doesn’t help that she tries to downplay them due to a fear of driving people away by being too clingy. Bryan has a father, and a mother for that matter, and he appreciates the attempts, but their…career path has definitely messed him up a bit and is the reason he’s so mild-mannered and occasionally melancholic in the present.

Chloe (Green) X Geneva (Magenta) = Mad Science

A fairly straightforward smart tsundere and silly goofball duo except both are probably insane.

Geneva thinks Chloe is the tiniest, cutest thing ever and routinely tries to pick her up and hug her like a plush toy. Chloe predictably isn’t too fond of this as it’s a cruel reminder of how short she is.

Chloe’s the youngest member of the cast, Geneva only being a little less than a year older than her. Chloe is generally more attracted to the dignified, mature type, such as her crush on her college professor old enough to be her (fairly young, granted) father, so Jenny’s fighting an uphill battle.

Their interests have a surprising amount of overlap. Geneva happens to have loved space ever since she was a toddler and has long dreamed of traveling the stars with a partner. Chloe happens to be an inventor. Geneva’s not usually very eloquent, quite the opposite, but it’s those sorts of aspirations that help her collect her thoughts and become lucid, a side of her Chloe is intrigued by.

Geneva likes seeing the things Chloe makes. Chloe’s inventions give her a sort of mad scientist image that she desperately wants to shake. Chloe feels somewhat grateful that there’s anybody who appreciates her genius; she just kinda wishes it wasn’t the Drewman whose defining characteristic is her questionable sanity.

Once she learns that Chloe has a secret love for stuffed animals, she goes out of her way to steal borrow buy steal some and leave them on her doorstep with notes attached. Chloe keeps every single one of them and is surprised to learn they’re from Geneva.

A familiar position for them is Chloe in Geneva’s lap, the latter’s legs wrapped around the former as she rests her head atop Chloe’s. Chloe’s the shortest woman in the main cast and Geneva’s the tallest, and the second of both extremes at that. Geneva probably has a foot and three quarters on Chloe, who doesn’t even reach her chest.

Geneva calls her “Chlo-Chlo”. Chloe’s unconsciously started calling her “Jen” in return.

Geneva is specifically the reason Chloe made OTTO, her laboratory security system AI. When Chloe uploads him into a robot body, Geneva takes advantage of her being the inspiration to declare herself and Chloe as OTTO’s mothers. OTTO just goes along with it despite Chloe’s protests. Aziz, being the one who helped program him, is declared OTTO’s “donor” and “godparent”; Geneva wanted to fully rope him into the parenthood thing, but nipped that in the bud. Ironically, neither Chloe nor Geneva have mothers.

Spoilers for the inevitable, but Chloe both stops protesting Geneva’s advances and her insistence that they’re OTTO’s parents, even embracing their roles as “stern mom” and “fun mom”.

Chloe and OTTO’s (and Aziz’s) influence actually forces Geneva to slow down a little and mellow out. Motherhood, amirite?

With one Weird Sister comes the other. Ingrid takes the opportunity to see if Chloe’s worth Geneva’s time. It’s mostly just an excuse for her to wreak havoc inside Chloe’s lab. Still, the fact Geneva always reprimands her for giving Chloe a hard time proves to Ingrid that she’s dedicated to the girl.

Chloe’s emotional intelligence is abysmally low, and while she discretely starts keeping a digital diary of Geneva’s likes and desires-for “totally” platonic reasons, mind you-to make up for the difference, Chloe’s not great at interpreting Geneva’s desires in the moment. Well, less great than everyone else is at interpreting her.

Chloe has Gordon teach her how to cook when Geneva starts staying at the lab for longer and longer periods of time. He immediately figures out Chloe’s motives, much to her immense embarrassment.

Rudy and J. are basically Chloe’s cool but protective older brothers looking out for Chloe’s best interests, while Angie’s the big sister who intentionally meddles in Chloe’s romantic affairs. And guess who ends up being the one who pushes them closer together?

Geneva, while not to the same extent as Ingrid, is somewhat unpopular among her cast mates for her unpredictable and sometimes dangerous behavior. Seeing this is what finally lets Chloe begin to emphasize with Jenny since her own reputation as a mad scientist has led her to be treated the same way in the past.

Chloe’s one of the first people to pick up on the fact Geneva’s actually not all that dumb; just really scatterbrained and weird. She’s eventually able to, via “scientific observation”, notice Geneva’s artistic genius, greater aspirations, and unorthodox logic. Perhaps they’re both just misunderstood geniuses.

Noah (Black) X Whitney (White) = Checkmate

They’ve been friends since high school. As always, Whitney was the uptight type A overachiever and Noah the popular class clown slacker guy. Whitney insists they’re not an item to everyone who “assumes” that’s the case. And to a bunch of other people unprompted.

Noah’s a massive and notorious playboy. He’s passively attracted to everyone on the company besides Chloe, who he met when she was 19 and is a little uncomfortable with the potential age gap, to her chagrin. Either way, most of Dullsville’s population would agree he’s hot. But Whitney isn’t jealous. Not in the slightest. She couldn’t care less.

Noah’s favorite targets to hit on are usually people who flirt back, people who get annoyed (but never uncomfortable), single people who take compliments well, single people who get super flustered, and couples so he can hit on two people at once. If a person asks him to stop in no uncertain terms, he’ll back off without a complaint. Unless you’re Landon, since he’s kind of a jerk and pissing him off is hilarious.

The backing off part and Noah/Whitney’s shared history is especially important here. In school, before they became friends, Whitney politely but firmly asked him to knock it off. Noah didn’t have any problems complying since he was just messing around at the time, but then they had to work together on a project that caused them to grow closer together.

Noah and Whitney both have big, but very fragile egos. Whitney doesn’t want to admit she made a rash, though fully understandable given the context, assumption about Noah before getting to know him. Noah realizes he shot himself in the foot by coming on so strongly and blames himself, but refuses to acknowledge that the problem was his bad timing and assumes he just isn’t her type in general. They’re both highly intelligent, even if Noah doesn’t act the part or show off, which makes them even more stubborn.

Whitney’s in denial about her feelings. To put things in perspective, she has index cards with her ambitions for the future planned out, complete with little doodles to illustrate her points. She’s going to be big name business CEO in her first step towards legal world domination…what’s that? What about that little drawing of Noah in an apron? That’s just a placeholder for Whitney’s loving househusband holding down the fort while she’s busy with work. It’s just a coincidence that so many people wear their hair like him. Besides, he’d be a terrible husband, always distracting her with his dumb jokes, showering her with affection and praise, that cute way he strokes his chin when thinking. The worst part is that they’re gonna have three kids-

Noah, normally a massive tease, tries desperately to downplay his own feelings. Yeah, he had a thing for Whitney in the past, but it was just a silly childhood crush that he’s long since gotten over. They’d be incompatible anyway. She’s a woman with big plans and her whole future ahead of her; she practically knows everything! Why would she want a slacker like him? Whitney’s all classy and stuff, with her freshly ironed clothes that always look immaculate no matter what she’s been up to, perfectly styled hair with the consistency of a cloud, the way she always smells softly sweet. There are plenty of other cute, smart dorks with adorable tooth gaps and freckles like powdered sugar and-

There are some days Noah genuinely considers his crush on Whitney as an inconvenience. Sometimes he just can’t focus because of how much she occupies his mind. Not that he’s especially good at focusing to begin with, but still. Noah’s usually very outspoken about what he finds attractive and has a slightly raunchy sense of humor, but on these days he hates himself for finding Whitney attractive when she, as far as he knows, will never love him back.

Whitney deals with these feelings of inadequacy less often, but still semi-regularly. She’s mostly well liked among the cast members for being smart, polite, and friendly, but since she’s so competitive and uptight about rules she has more rivals in the company than the average character. As a result, Whitney’s super self conscious about her flaws and worries that Noah might find her excessively stuffy, bossy, or aggressive. It’s funny, that’s part what Noah loves about her, as much as she loves his dry wit and silly personality.

Part of what makes their dynamic sort of tragic is that they work so well together in general and get along fabulously despite occasionally taking shots at each other’s expense. They’re both just too afraid to take that risk, an extension of Noah’s lack of motivation and Whitney’s desperate need to have everything planned out.

They’re both introduced working at the Cosmic Latte Cafe. They were living together upstairs above the restaurant portion of the building, so they’re used to living together. Eventually they move in with Peony, Bryan, and Lyman. Lyman could solve all their problems since he can read emotions, but his own girlfriend seems to have given him a new appreciation of schadenfreude that makes him want to see how long they can drag things out.

Bryan’s house has a master bedroom, but Bryan and Peony have no use for that much space while Lyman just sleeps wherever without a specific bedroom. Noah and Whitney end up sharing a bed without any complaint. They still deny anything between them. Whitney hogs the blanket anyway, as Noah claims.

Speaking of Bryan, of all the people Noah’s hit on, he seems to be the only person Whitney sees as an actual romantic rival, oddly enough. She’s still nice to him since he’s letting her live with him and he’s one of the more sensible people in town, but she’s always vigilant.

Noah comes up with nicknames for everyone. While he’ll often dub Whitney “Rapier Whit”, she’s the person he calls by name the most.

Noah hasn’t given up on winning her attention, he’s just wary about asking her outright like he would anyone else. Instead, he wants to subtly show off how mature he’s gotten so she’ll want to make a move. And of course, Whitney tries to slip in a few extra compliments and present herself as looser and more approachable so he’ll make a second first move.

Whitney (Afro-Latina, specifically half Cuban), has repeatedly considered exploiting cultural differences to kiss Noah on the cheek as a greeting. She always loses her nerve though, which is probably for the best given how easily the plan could backfire on her.

Noah predictably finds her cute when she’s fired up and tends to push her buttons but in a way that makes it clear he’s only doing so to get a reaction from her and not to genuinely offend her. He also uses this as an excuse to flirt with her by playing it off as his regular gadfly self. Whitney accepts this as a challenge to test her mental endurance and to encourage his problem solving skills.

They’re not inseparable, but they do default to each other for company, emotional support, and teamwork. It takes a bit for them to be truly comfortable with each other, but it’s truly rewarding for both when they do.

Lyman (Lime) X Ingrid (Indigo) = Evil Eye/Death Glare

The first couple to form onscreen; Ingrid’s into the occult and instinctively attracted to freaky things, while Lyman has aura vision and might not be as physically Drewman as he presents himself.

Most of the cast is afraid of Ingrid because she looks and acts like a menace. She knows it’s her own fault and that it’s hypocritical to her continue her behavior, but she can’t help herself. Lyman’s mercifully able to see into her soul and knows she’s not a bad person. That’s another reason they click so well.

That’s not to say that Lyman always approves of Ingrid’s antics. If she steps out of line, he’ll usually reprimand her.

Lyman isn’t always such an idealized partner. An over reliance on his aura vision means he normally sees events as tinted by others’ biases. This works both for and against Ingrid. Sometimes Lyman lets her get away with too much because she, and by extension he, sees the situation as lighthearted playing. Other times he can get on her case on the off chance she’s completely innocent. His live and let live personality and the fact the series is all recorded means these misunderstandings are easily cleared up, but it’s enough for Lyman to try to rely on aura less.

The above isn’t helped by the fact that Ingrid cares really deeply about how Lyman specifically thinks of her. Lyman picks up on these anxieties and they fuel his own to the point where he wishes he didn’t have his psychic powers, or could at least fully shut them off rather than suppress them.

Lyman’s aura vision is passive, but his other abilities such as telepathy and mind reading are not. He cares about and respects personal boundaries, although Ingrid doesn’t usually mind him poking around in her head on a good day. There are occasions where she’s upset and would rather not be around him, though.

Something Lyman has yet to realize is that his own emotional state is colored by the ambient mood, and Ingrid’s torrent of inner demons can turn him moody. If nothing else, the things they do are never intentionally or directly the reason the other is in a bad mood.

Sometimes Lyman can’t figure out what to do to help Ingrid and just holds her tightly to him. Sometimes that’s all he can do. Sometimes a hug is just all Ingrid needs.

Lyman’s constantly sleep deprived for a number of reasons. He can only rest peacefully when Ingrid’s with him. He involuntarily purrs like a cat when genuinely content, so Ingrid also gets something out of it. They’re basically an orange cat and an aggressive chihuahua.

Lyman rarely has dreams. His astral projection usually activates on its own when unconscious, so the two have a routine where he jumps over to Ingrid’s mind to hang out.

Neither gets jealous. They could easily be poly, but they both kind of scare people and the only people who’d probably be willing to date both are Angie and Noah, both of whom are pursuing other people. Skylar also has a small crush on Lyman, which Ingrid finds cute and entertaining.

If it’s just the two of them, Lyman doesn’t process the heinous things Ingrid says as threatening since she’s so happy when she says them. Ingrid once got him to agree to a blood pact to intertwine their souls for eternity. Lyman’s response, and I quote: “So we’re, like, married now?”

Ingrid’s moms are pleasantly surprised that Ingrid found a partner. Not because of Ingrid’s…eccentricity, since psychos like her are a dime a dozen on Canvas, but because they didn’t think the sort of eldritch monster boys she’s usually into actually existed.

Outright seeing the future is among the few things Lyman can’t currently do with his powers, so Ingrid’s been trying to achieve that to impress him and to help shoulder the burden of knowing so much.

They do scary movie nights all the time with Geneva and take the piss out of them constantly, Lyman because he’s a movie buff and Ingrid because she thinks she could do better. Geneva never feels like a third wheel thanks to the other two genuinely enjoying her company.

Tyler (Teal) X Lucia (Fuchsia) = Tooth and Nail

The only couple other than Violet and Gordon to be an item upon their debut. In fact, Tyler advocated for Lucia to join.

They’ve known each other since childhood. While Tyler’s mostly more of a goofball than a menace and Lucia’s stoic and abrasive, the dynamic was actually switched as kids.

Lucia’s childhood, aside from a rough divorce, was mostly normal by ICT standards. Tyler’s childhood was a travesty: his mother, to put it bluntly, hated him and put his brother (who in turn hated her) on a pedestal. As a result, Tyler used to be far more of a violent psycho than he is now, with he and his brother being dreaded by the town.

Lucia used to be very shy and quiet. Since Tyler didn’t find her enough of a threat to justify antagonizing, he mostly left her alone. Lucy was picked on a lot as a kid, which rubbed Ty the wrong way since she had never done anything to deserve it and would never defend herself.

That’s right. Lucia became the way she is now by emulating Tyler. Nobody dared to pick on either of them after Lucia evolved into a state similar to how she is now.

Tyler used to spend more time at Lucia’s houses than his own between when Tyler’s brother left for college and when they themselves were old enough to graduate from high school. Lucia’s still on relatively good terms with her parents, now more amicably separated, but Tyler doesn’t know or care what his mother’s up to.

The two eventually left their home town for Dullsville a year or so before the series. Tyler’s brother was essentially their guardian for a bit until they were able to save up for their own place.

They don’t know when they became a couple. Tyler just kissed her on the cheek one day in a spur-of-the-moment decision. Lucia decided she didn’t hate it and kissed him back.

Lucia basically represents the feeling of unconditional support that Tyler only got from his brother prior. That’s actually why he’s so much more of a dork now; it’s the first time he’s felt safe enough to lower his barriers. Likewise, Tyler symbolizes the moment Lucia learned to take her life into her own hands and not let herself be a victim.

While there’s a clear difference in how they act, Tyler and Lucia as a pairing are deliberately meant to avoid “opposites attract” in their archetypes. It’s rare for delinquent-types to be paired off with each other, so I wanted to do something unique with them.

Lucia gets super embarrassed by PDA, and an embarrassed Lucy is a violent Lucy. She’s got a reputation to uphold.

Lucia will give Tyler a relatively light slug in the arm when he says something stupid. On the off chance the roles are reversed, Tyler will bonk her on the top of the head. It’d be a stretch to call any of the cast’s relationships idealized, but these two especially are prone to petty arguments and casually insulting each other. It’s just how they are.

While one will get angry on the other’s behalf if harm ever comes to them, their tough guy personalities mean they don’t feel the need to fight each other’s battles unless the plot’s in “serious mode”.

While Lucia’s the more socially stunted and less talkative of the two, she’s at least honest to Tyler about how she feels if asked or if there’s an urgent issue. It’s actually Tyler who’s more liable to passive aggressively sulk around and dance around what’s bothering him since he puts a lot more energy into appearing tough.

They like to kiss each other’s facial scars to represent how they’ll always emotionally support each other, which is great since neither of them are great with words. Tyler has more scars under his shirt, but he’s too ticklish for Lucy to touch those.

While I’d be lying if I said Lucia wasn’t the jealous type, she has no problem with Tyler and Paige’s friendship since she’s been in Paige’s exact situation before. And because Paige is smart enough to know to step off. That being said, Lucia still wishes she spent more time with the two. She’ll never admit it, though.

Lucia writes a little sometimes. She’s a little embarrassed by it since it’s a lot more flowery (yet characteristically profane) than how she usually speaks. Tyler fully supports her and reads all of it, although he doesn’t know what a lot of the words she uses means.

Tyler’s always able to amuse her. She rarely laughs in the company of others, but he’s learned to recognize her facial cues.

They’re both morons. Lucia’s just more inclined to use her head than Tyler.

Tyler’s the only one who gets to call her “cute”. Sometimes he pushes his luck too far and goes as far as calling her “small”. Unfortunately for Tyler, Lucia’s far stronger than him, but his arms are long enough to hold her away from him like an angry cat until she simmers down.

Eloise (Turquoise) X Georgia (Peach) = Stone Fruit

Eloise has two types: dorky men and strong women.

While Georgia wouldn’t normally bother with the valley girl sort like Eloise, the fact Ellie (along with Amber) has managed to build a career independently earns GA’s respect quickly.

Georgia’s about as dense as a pile of bricks; much of their early screen time together is Eloise dropping increasingly unsubtle hints to her. She would usually just cut her losses and move on, but Eloise really starts to take it personally after a while. Violet suspects Georgia might be arospec as well, but she also thinks it’s more likely she’s just dumb.

All the time and effort it took Eloise to grab Georgia’s attention was rewarding in the long run since Georgia’s sort of a massive simp who’ll do just about anything Eloise asks of her. She’s still a tad oblivious sometimes, so Eloise has to continuously remind herself to be upfront.

Georgia’s something of a handywoman, and Eloise kills any machine she touches besides her own phone. In general, Georgia has banned Eloise from half the house chores lest she accidentally take it apart.

The Kid, Eloise’s nephew, adores Georgia since she’s so big and strong. Georgia’s adult siblings similarly like having Eloise around, if solely because they all thought Georgia was going to die alone.

Eloise’s favorite way to get GA’s attention is to steal her hat and make her chase her down. Georgia usually lets her keep it for a while after.

Georgia’s a bit physically rough around the edges and thick skinned due to years of farm work, especially in the hands. Eloise still takes any opportunity she can to hold them.

Eloise is loyal, don’t get me wrong, but she’s more likely to express attraction to other people than Georgia is. Georgia’s not used to being jealous, so she mostly just gets all sulky until Eloise comforts her.

Georgia’s hands can wrap around Eloise’s entire arm. The same could be said of Gordon and Violet, and the height difference is even more pronounced between them than it is Ellie and George, but Eloise is much more into the size dynamic.

Eloise knows all Georgia’s farm animals�� names, interests, and thumb prints.

Despite the intentional juxtaposition of their upbringings and Eloise being from a well-off family, it’s more often Georgia who finds herself in the “naïve, sheltered everygirl” role due to having good manners and proper etiquette drilled into her from an early age. Eloise, in contrast, is something of a “bad girl”.

Georgia just likes the sound of Eloise’s voice in general, especially when she slips into French, even if she can’t keep up with a lot of her vernacular. Eloise also finds herself swooning over Georgia’s southern drawl.

Georgia gets invited to Eloise and Amber’s “He Said, She Said” web show semi-frequently. She has no idea what’s ever going on when she’s featuring, but she’s happy to be included. Plus, their fans adore her and ship her and Eloise immensely.

Georgia, like Gordon, lives under a rock in terms of pop culture exposure. Eloise ends up explaining a lot of things to her and takes the opportunity to hold viewing parties with her.

In general, they manage to avoid most of the pitfalls of their “opposites attract” relationship due to a mix of Georgia being fairly familiar with the city life and Eloise trying harder than she should to fit in with the rural part of Dullsville that Georgia lives in. During one of Eloise’s first visits to the farmhouse, she put on a hilariously cliché “country girl” getup. Georgia couldn’t stop laughing for ten minutes afterward. GA insisted she keep it though, so it wasn’t a total loss.

Landon (Lavender) X Austin (Gold) = Gilded Lily

If a Drewman feels attraction, they will swing both ways. They don’t even really have a label for it outside of the context of contrast with the lack thereof. It’s just that the only woman Landon’s shown considerable interest in is your mother. I’m only half joking.

Austin’s last (read: first) relationship was with Crimson, who is incidentally Landon’s best friend. She ended things with him because of how passive he was in their relationship. That was one of the very few meaningful, non-familial relationships Austin had before his debut and it clearly colored his relationship with Landon.

Austin’s slightly afraid of women but somehow (blame Ingrid and Geneva) has a reputation for being a playboy to rival Noah. Landon loves to play into the rumors to see Austin deny them.

Austin is so starved for affection that his thoughts start swirling when Landon elbows him in a “am I right?” manner. Landon picks up on this quickly and quickly grows to love teasing him whenever he can.

Occasionally, when one of the golden coins that Austin’s body naturally sheds from the torso area shakes loose, Landon will bite it hard while maintaining eye contact as if checking for a counterfeit. Austin’s obviously a conductor of heat, and seeing this always makes him go supernova.

Austin tends to act like a tsundere towards Landon, and the latter makes it so much easier for Austin with his irreverent bad boy attitude. In reality, he’s thrilled with whatever attention Landon gives to him. Landon himself, while a colossal troll to everyone to the point where he can be an outright liability to ICT, is always kind and playful towards Austin.

He tends to find himself having to rein Landon’s less benevolent traits in, but Austin has his own pragmatic streak that shows up when he’s confronted with the risk of failure. Landon thinks Austin’s darker side is incredibly hot.

Landon is secretly super into dorky cinnamon rolls like Austin, especially when they’re as sensitive as him. He leans into any sort of physical contact Landon gives to him. Landon likes to cuddle Austin in general since his metallic outer skin is incredibly smooth to the touch yet surprisingly malleable if not struck forcefully. Austin tends to subconsciously scratch Landon’s stubble in his quiet moments.

Landon exploits Austin being made entirely of gold for all it’s worth. If he wants to annoy him, he’ll deliberately leave a smudge on his neck and laugh as Austin desperately tries to polish it off. Sometimes it’s the opposite, and Landon takes the opportunity to polish Austin’s back.

Forrest is a very sweet person, but Landon’s lackadaisical attitude and manipulative streak makes him one of the very few people Forrest doesn’t like. They’re petty nemeses, even. Austin, on the other hand, likes him just fine despite their opposite upbringings due to both being very gentle and quick-thinking. Forrest knows how jealous Landon gets seeing them together and uncharacteristically revels in it.

Noah, being Noah, has Landon as one of his favorite male targets. Landon very quickly grows sick of him, not helped by Noah deliberately continuing to hit on him with the sole purpose of pissing him off. Unlike with Forrest, Austin fully knows of this animosity and actively encourages it since anything that genuinely irritates Landon is objectively hilarious.

Agatha is Austin’s younger sister and Landon’s other best friend. Sometimes she’s clearly vying for them to get together so Landon can potentially be her brother. Other times she wants him to keep his talons out of her dearest sibling. It varies, but even Landon is intimidated by a wrathful Agatha.

Landon doesn’t want to have kids. Austin doesn’t exactly know how he thinks they’d make them, but given his own lonely childhood, he’s pretty leery about the prospect of having kids himself.

Landon prides himself a manipulator, but he can’t even say “no” to Austin. His Ozzy.

There was one time where Austin’s father was using his annual day off to meet his son’s paramour. Landon being financially well off and the gadfly he is, he makes a massive show of requesting Austin’s hand in marriage. For years after, Landon calls Austin his prince as a way to embarrass him.

#dullsville #color theory #it’s color theory #ict #original character #character design #artists on tumblr #webcomic #ship dynamics

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