Ummmm my thoughts on TYO ships and non-ship dynamics
[plain text: “Ummmm my thoughts on TYO ships”]
This is a very long post, GIFs included.
1. Rivyan (Rick/Vyvyan)
I ship it. Just look at these two. They're practically gay for each other. Toxic yaoi but make it t4t. I do wish the shipping scene wasn't 99.9% Rivyan tho give the other guys some love too 😭
(also in my mind it's transmasc vyv and transfem rick. but it's not heterosexual it's still very gay)
2. CoolPye (Mike/Neil) [couldn't find too many gifs of them together]
I understand it. In my mind, Neil respects him not only cause of Mike’s leadership and almost parental role, but also because he’s the nicest one to him. I mean, Mike does insult him, but when the other guys are yelling at him or beating him up almost every episode, I think Mike is the least harsh to Neil. I'm not a huge shipper of CoolPye (most of the time I don't ship it at all but if I read a good fic I can get into it) but I do like the dynamic.
3. CoolPoet (Rick/Mike)
I'm starting to get into it a little bit. It's kinda the same parent/child dynamic that Mike and Vyvyan have, except it's clear that Rick isn't the 'favourite child'. I like the moment in Flood where they're playing hide and seek and Rick is genuinely apologetic about finding Mike first. So sweet. But do I think they've got the hots for each other? No
4. PunkPye (Vyvyan/Neil)
Arguably the second friendliest relationship that Neil has with the housemates aside from Mike. I remember in Bomb, Vyvyan tried to help Neil get the lentils out of the cupboard (even if they did fail and end up getting the lentils everywhere and breaking the crockery), and in Cash, Vyvyan cut Neil's hair for him. These are the nice moments I remember (and then most of the time Vyv's treating Neil like crap). Also there's that moment in Nasty where Vyvyan is checking Neil out when he's wearing Rick's dress, and in the Comic Relief stage shows Vyvyan is "using Neil as a contraceptive". I ship it.
If you want a little bonus head canon from me, I headcanon that the nurse's outfit that Neil mentions in the Saturday Superstore interviews was bought so that Neil could be forcefemmed for some freaky roleplaying. Maybe they even (literally) played doctor *wink wink*
5. PoetPye (Rick/Neil)
Hate. Let me tell you how much HATE these two have for each other (/ref). I've said it before and I'll say it again. Neil can put up with the others, but he's not afraid to call Rick out on his bullshit. He was just utterly done with him by the end of the series. He even gave this little speech about how everything Rick's gone through, Neil's had it worse. If that's not a sign of someone finally having enough of a person they hate and snapping under the pressure of built-up resentment, then I don't know what is. It's very rare where they have a nice moment and the only one I can remember off the top of my head is in Time where Rick is lying about sleeping with Helen and Neil wants to hear all the details. There's definitely material for an enemies to lovers or hate sex scenario or toxic yaoi but I don't ship it.
(I may also be biased cause of our system having both Neil and Rick fictives, who dislike each other)
6. Mivyan (Mike/Vyvyan)
I know practically everyone's said this (including me) but Mivyan is definitely a father/son or mentor/protégé dynamic. It's clear that Vyvyan respects Mike most of the time, and even in the few instances where he doesn't, he clearly is more lenient with Mike than the others (iirc, he never targets Mike physically).
My head canon is that these two are transmasc chosen family. They're bonding over shared struggles with family and trans stuff, with Mike being the mentor and father figure Vyv never had, giving him a roof over his head and helping him get into college and probably getting into legally dubious shenanigans together. I also head canon that Vyv may have shared his DIY testosterone with Mike and helped him transition (and even did his top surgery). So yeah, transmascs sticking together.
In terms of slash, I personally don't think that there's a lot of romantic or sexual stuff going on with Mivyan. It's mostly platonic. Although I do think they would hook up occasionally or have done so in the past, as a sort of pity sex thing. So it's friends with benefits I guess.
7. The poly ships (CoolPunkPye, CoolPoetPye, whatever Mike/Rick/Vyvyan and Rick/Vyvyan/Neil are called, and all four of them together)
This is going to be a bit short but I'll share my thoughts on the poly ships.
Rick/Vyv/Neil and Scumbag Polycule (which is what I'm calling the four-person ship for the time being) are practically canon in my mind. Even if I don't think all members are dating each other, Vyvyan is definitely the thread that keeps these ships together. In my mind, it's Vyvyan dating all of them (or just Rick and Neil) simultaneously, with maybe CoolPye. Likewise, I semi-ship CoolPunkPye but only because I'm not entirely on board with CoolPye.
If you've read my thoughts on CoolPoet and Mivyan, you can probably surmise that I don't ship Mike/Rick/Vyvyan. Their dynamic is more platonic to me. It's chosen family; it's trans people sticking together (one of which is extremely in denial about her transness but I've already discussed that before). I also don't ship CoolPoetPye. As I've said before, there's too much animosity with PoetPye imo.
8. Neil/The fifth housemate
This one's just an adorable little bonus for two characters that never interacted in canon but I do ship it! Neil would be the only one that notices the fifth housemate and he'd make them tea sometimes and maybe they'd share a blunt or listen to records or do whatever else hippies are into. There's just wholesome vibes all around.
Ummmmm yeah anyway that’s all i’ve got to say. Sorry about how long it turned out
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