#its not just as popular as the other seasons hjdkfh

[noahtally-famous]

okay so this was a randomass thought that plopped in my head at 12 in the morning and I’ve decided to make it everybody’s problem, as usual!

I know topher and dave are a rarepair and personally one I never considered other than the occasional acknowledgement when I see a post involving them, but then this dynamic came to mind and now it won’t let go until I discuss it so here we are!

(we’re going off of the idea that both of them are rich kids--dave is def someone I hc as rich; topher is either a rich theater kid or a theater kid in the higher middle-class levels (but I see him more of the former simply bc of his canon demeanor))

so based off of what I mentioned above, literally dave and topher’s dynamic is the ‘rich boy x rich boy’ trope which is fucking funny in general, but it gets better when you take in their individual traits. topher is arrogant, he’s conceited, he’s dramatic, I bet he’s the type to flirt and expect the other person to be smitten immediately like he’s some sort of movie star (if he wasn’t so obsessed with chris); dave is more reserved, he’s awkward, he’s emotional, he can be rude, he’s a romantic, and he doesn’t rlly get the usual cues of society meaning he will misunderstand the heck out of anything.

so you get topher noticing dave through some out-of-the-blue means and casually flirting with him bc it’s what he does and it was just perfect for the situation, and he expects the usual reaction: either a blush or an eyeroll with a concealed smile, but dave gives neither of those; instead, he shoots topher a confused look and basically misunderstands topher’s one-liner immensely and makes the situation awkward. it’s never supposed to mean anything more than a oneliner, but dave’s lack of “proper reaction” gives topher whiplash and he’s all “oh, we’re playing hard to get, are we?” to himself and he decides to accept that challenge, and it’s just fucking shenanigans from there on. 

like yes, topher still is obsessed with chris and wants the guy to notice him, that’s still a thing and the whole deal with him wanting to host the show is also still there, but he also transfers more or less that same interest to dave too; he wants dave to notice him and be impressed and give topher that reaction he’s waiting for. but dave doesn’t, he just raises his eyebrows, or misunderstands more, and everyone else is so confused as to why topher’s all over this guy, flirting with him and shit, and they think topher likes dave, but rlly he just wants dave to fucking blush or smth goddammit (but when he says that to his team, everyone’s like ~oh?~ 🤨). meanwhile dave is a mix of confused and oblivious.

and then over time, without either of them realizing, they start to grow on one another. topher goes out of his way to find dave and talk to him not just for the reaction but also bc he likes seeing the reactions dave does give him, he likes engaging in petty back-and-forth with the guy; dave previously thought topher was being patronizing or just plain confusing, but then he grows on him, and that fateful day arrives when he’s like ‘oh shit, do I like him?’

and there’s bonding, ofc, bc since they’re both rich kids, there’s bound to be repressed issues relating to them--but that happens much later on; not only that, the two start to genuinely help each other, regardless of being on different teams, when previously they only initiated convo to tease each other, and that’s when things start to get serious, bc it’s not just lighthearted fun anymore, it’s getting deeper.

(legit I’ve a whole scenario partway hashed out involving these two during tdpi starting from the first episode to ‘three zones and a baby’ when topher is eliminated, which I lowkey wanna post too so I might if I get the time to actually write it all out!)