Talk to us about Arnlee! How did they become friends? What do they bond over? When does each realize that they have feelings for the other? Were they afraid to tell each other how they felt or were they confident? Would they date early in life or later?
So, I'm not sure how long it's been since I got this ask! I think a couple of weeks? But I want to start by saying how much I appreciate it. Most of the asks I get are in response to ask games or are questions that are sent to lots of members of the "Bob's Burgers" fandom- and I love being included in those! But it was really nice to get an ask related to one of my fics, and particularly about Arnold/Kaylee, the rare pair that I wrote the first fic for!!
That said, one of the reasons I didn't respond sooner (in addition to being busy and forgetting about it for a while) is that I'm still sort of figuring where I want to go next with Arnlee. I literally just noticed them dancing together in "Ancient Misbehavin'" one night and wrote a little background story for it the next day- I didn't really think about where I would go from there! And since there is less to go off about them in canon, that makes it harder for me to come up with ideas for them- I like having a clear canon starting point for my stories (several of my fics are episode tags or prologues or missing scenes- including the Arnlee story!)
But here's my current line of thought for your questions:
I really do like the idea that I came up with in "The Life of the Symposium (aka Party)" for sort of being the beginning of their friendship. I see Kaylee post-"Prank You for Being A Friend" trying to be more social and still finding it difficult, but then happening to strike up a conversation with Arnold and making a connection. I think that Arnold and Kaylee are both kind of nerdy outsiders- and I think Kaylee would like Arnold because he is more comfortable in embracing his nerdy outsiderness. He's the youngest and smallest kid in his grade, he wears his karate gi to school almost everyday- but he seems remarkably confident and comfortable in his own skin. And I think Kaylee- the girl who wants to wear her wizard cape everyday- would like that. (And I think the ability to embrace being an outsider makes them a bit different from Louise and Rudy who- if they don't actually aspire to be considered cool or popular- at the very least both seem to care too damn much about what Chloe Barbash thinks of them.)
And I guess that's sort of the dynamic I imagine for them as friends- and eventually more- is as these dorky outsiders who are just kind of happy to be themselves together. I could see them inviting the other to check out their interests- Arnold inviting Kaylee to his dojo; Kaylee getting Arnold involved with the Thinkgineers. I can see them sharing nerdy creative hobbies and interests- like RPGs, maybe even LARPing.
In terms of realizing that they have feelings for each other and dating- I see that as happening when they are at the end of their Wagstaff time/entering high school (which, yeah, is also kind of what I tend to write for Louise/Rudy. I'm a sucker for childhood friends to lovers and that time just sort of seems like a logical point for that transition. Also, it's possible that I'm a little burnt out with being a single middle-aged adult and would prefer my beloved fictional characters avoid that fate...) For Arnold and Kaylee, I think it is particularly interesting because Arnold skipped a grade so he's a year or two younger than her- which means nothing when you're an adult but can mean a lot in adolescence.
I imagine Kaylee developing feelings first and being uncomfortable with and it denial of it. Even if she managed to overcome her shyness/social anxiety to connect with Arnold and others as friends- I think that the idea of trying to make a romantic connection would still be very daunting to her. As I noted during the WIP ask game, the song "Young In Love" by Sweet Nobody gives me these series "Kaylee Morganstern with a crush" vibes, and someday I hope to write a fic on that concept using lyrics from this song as a title.
Especially with Arnold being younger, I imagine him as basically being oblivious to her feelings to him. But when she eventually tells him her feelings he's totally blown away- like he hadn't even been thinking about the possibility but as soon as he finds out she's been feeling that way he's just so happy about it!
Those are my current thoughts about them- they might change at some point between now and whenever I write another fic about them! But I truly do appreciate the opportunity to think and talk some more about my beloved nerds!
Thank you so much for the ask!!
