thoughts on J and Dom’s relationship throughout the series?
This took a long while, because it's impossible for me to talk about characters (especially ones like J) without laying down miles of context, but I hope you're still around to enjoy this! Even if I over-explained a lot of simple things...
This post includes both meta-analysis and in-universe dissection.
To be honest, I can't recall a single moment where they directly interact with one another... which is weird, because they're both really prevalent characters. I'm sure they've interacted at least once and my memory's simply failing me (I'm washed!!), but I'll just have to go off of subtext alone for this.
(So this is going to be a lot of reaching, and Quinn-portrayal-y.)
To begin: I don't take Yandere as canon, but due to their very similar attitudes and wacky core-concepts (exaggerated bully archetype & hyperbolic rich-kid), I do want to believe that they grew up in YHS's town together. It would just make sense! And add a lot of background to how they interact with the world around them, especially the Main Trio.
From Sam's perspective, Dom and J have totally contrasting roles in his life:
Dom debuts solely to torment Sam, creating issues that didn't need to exist in the first place. He misconstrues Sam's intentions, and is one of the first characters to really antagonize him. Remember, Sam was not that bad early-on, and everyone else just found him pathetic or slightly strange. And for good reason! Of course, the Cool Kids should be off-put by Sam if he consistently flirts with Sookie; he might not know she's uninterested, but he's still being overbearing. With Dom, however, his reasons are stupid, and yet his reactive attitude is the most violent.
J is a yes-man who provides Sam and Taurtis a consistent supportive presence. He hardly questions the things they do, and even indulges in questionable behaviors himself when he can rope The Main Two into them. He’s essentially the “cool kid” that they can talk to. He’s not as untouchable as Yuki or Sookie, but he’s invulnerable enough that Sam never worries about using him for his money. Because it’s J! He’s strong! And he can always handle it.
However, these are only initial roles, and we know that these boxes dissolve as the series progresses. Dom becomes a vulnerable face, eventually a friendly one as well—and J is completely shoved out of the picture, only returning when he’s more reserved and stoic.
So! With that being said, I want to point out two things:
1. Dom and J both sought attention in how they acted before. Dom wanted the affections of Invader—something that he’s likely deprived of, judging by the situation with his father. And on the other hand, J yearned for approval from everyone, but specifically the two boys that he secretly admired.
2. When they develop, they don’t totally switch roles, nor do they mirror one another. Dom doesn’t become as subservient as J, despite his new kindness. He just becomes more confident in his true self, and now doesn’t feel the need to overcompensate. So his mask before, the rowdy boy that got into fights daily, isn't completely discarded; however, it's less of a shield now that he can embrace it without fear. J's personality is similarly deflated. However, it's not due to a new personal milestone (as far as we know), but more-so the fact that he's just simply not around the Main Duo anymore. And Sam does naturally bring out chaotic parts of people, so J's development from the absence isn't exclusive to him... but it is worth mentioning that despite his sudden stoicism, he still cares about the Main Duo, and never stops seeking their validation out.
Because these two things kind of summarize what I think about JDom both as a dynamic and individual characters.
As individual characters, Dom has a complete arc, and that's something that not every YHS character has. However, since J and Dom both have a lot of screen-time, it's incredibly staggering that J doesn't have this same treatment. What we see of J is very unreliable. Not only are we missing a lot of scenes of his development (why does he owe money to the Yakuza? Why did he stop pursuing Sam and Taurtis? How did he become so rich and educated in such a short amount of time?), but it's also obvious that J is filtering himself. He's very go-lucky, but then there are scenes where he almost seems unsure of himself; an inconsistent attitude that's present throughout the entire series, but only peaks during the Yakuza scene.
But it's sooo much stranger when you then realize: they have such similar core-desires. And yet, despite this, only one of them gets what they need, while the other only gets what he wants... and that's still briefly.
But let's talk about their actual dynamic now!
Like I mentioned, I genuinely cannot remember any direct interaction between them, so I'm going to go with the idea that maybe it was intentional.
After all, Dom hated Sam while J was overly-attached to Sam. So perhaps it was simply circumstances that wedged them apart. Or, maybe, we could also question their personal opinions for one another.
I have to say, it's hard to believe that Dom would care about J in any capacity. I don't think Dom cares about many people to begin with, but with J especially, it'd be hard. J's main gimmick is that he can charm people with his wealth, but Dom comes from wealth, so their early relationship wouldn't have much to build off of.
After all, if J can't instantly charm someone, then there isn't much else for him to do. If people can't like him for what he has, then how could anyone possibly like him at all?
I also think that J's people-pleaser personality might irritate Dom. It's not that he doesn't like praise--everyone knows that Prime is his token Yes-Man--however, if J is equally kind to everyone, then he's promising loyalty to no one. What Dom likes is someone who swears to stick by him, not someone who half-smiles for virtually no reason.
From J's perspective, I think he's slightly disappointed, but it's not that big of a deal since he has everyone else. One missed opportunity for a friend doesn't mean anything in the long-run. (And... his economical thinking is a shield that holds him back, though he doesn't realize it.)
But if there's something that he can appreciate about Dom, it's the chaos that he brings. Even though his standards are something that J can't meet (for whatever reason! Isn't he perfect? He tries to be), he's very adventurous in a way that humors J. J almost wishes that he could be along for the ride, but hey--he's still got Sam and Taurtis. They're just as chaotic, if not more, and J loves chaos.
Later on in the series, I think that their dynamic could change.
Once J stops hanging around with Sam and Taurtis, he realizes that he's never been promised long-term friendship. He showed kindness to everyone, but that kindness has never been intimate. Gold doesn't bring warmth.
But if there's someone who's even colder than him--it's Dom. Dom, who has been rejected by his family. Unconditional love isn't as loyal as one would expect.
I think there's two things to consider:
J would definitely help out Dom, right? But we never see that in the show. But, hypothetically, if he did--how would Dom react? Would Dom really take that kindness?
I think a big part of Dom's redemption is how he connects to his pride. He had no confidence before, but he acted proud, because that made him strong. If J sees him in a vulnerable state, then would he be weak for accepting? And moreover--would he think that J is only being nice for the sake of being nice? I think there'd be a lot of tension there, where J has to confront his real motivations for being so generous. Dom doesn't act without intention, but J has always been dumb on purpose. He's smart, but really, only an idiot would be as wasteful as he is.
Another thing is that Dom learns to love himself, while J does not. And I wonder, would J be jealous? Would he almost wish that Dom would get worse, so that J could play the hero? And would Dom try to help out J with his newfound knowledge? Or, is it just like before, and he still doesn't really care about J at all?
So...
In terms of base-personalities, I genuinely don't think that J and Dom would get along. Dom has specific wants, and J doesn't offer enough to entertain him. Even though they overlap in what they crave, Dom is shockingly more in-tune with himself than J is. And just from general circumstances, with Dom being wealthy like J, it's hard to imagine how the latter would react. Because, truthfully, I think J would just remove himself from the situation.
But if they were forced to interact regardless, I do believe that there'd be a lot of tension. I think Dom might have some resentment towards J, because J is acting for a system that Dom had to escape from. J flaunts his wealth, and Dom now knows that none of it really means anything. But despite that--J persists.
And again, even if they could get along, J is friends with the people that Dom hates. And later on, when J is no longer attached to them, he's then forced to realize that, somehow, Dom is even closer with them!
I don't know if this was really helpful, but these were just some haphazard thoughts. If you want something more light or general, here's some bullet-point ideas:
Bully & Cool Kid: Dom is a typical bully while J is the classic image of a "cool kid." Despite this, there's no social overlap between them... but could there be? Would you even consider Dom popular? Or is he just scary? (Or, does this label really only count towards Sam, so everyone else sees Dom as a generic guy? That could make J's image of Dom very skewed, due to his bias for Sam!)
Redeemed & Corrupted: Dom gets better, while J only gets worse. There's a mutual understanding that they had similar wants, but J never confronted what he really needed. Imagine an AU where Dom goes Antagonist->Support and J goes Support->Antagonist.
Dom is missing his only friend, while J is surrounded by all of his friends. Going with Prime's disappearance--maybe he transferred or died, or betrayed Dom!--let's imagine that Dom feels stranded and alone. He may have had one friend, but he was a great friend. This contrasts with J, who has plenty of friends, but none of them really connect with him properly.
J wants to take advantage of Dom's vulnerability. This goes hand-in-hand with an Antagonist!J, but he doesn't have to be super evil to do this. I just think it'd be interesting if he was slightly manipulative, and saw Dom's descent as a way to get closer to him and feel heroic.
Dom wants to push J to be better (worse.) Imagine if Dom thinks J is lying to everyone, or he’s sick of his niceties, so he tries to make him snap. He baits him into a fight, and J, being super buff and smart, absolutely DEMOLISHES HIM!!
I'm sure I could think of more, but then I'd start straying more into AU-territory, and I had wanted to be more canon-compliant. I hope this was a sufficient answer, because it was kinda hard to write this.
side note: sorry if they seem ooc I never really wrote as them before
J was sitting at his normal table with Sam, Taurtis, and Grian, he wanted to sit with Dom but Dom was wanting to keep they're relationship a secret from the others
He will of course will respect that! he doesn't want to make Dom feel uncomfortable or anything, Dom did say he was coming over after school so there was that he could think of while waiting for classes to end
J listened to the three talk about whatever as he texted Dom through the phone he got him, one of the things J did was spoil Dom and he did that by getting Dom a phone so they could text or talk whenever they were at school
Taurtis noticed J texting someone so he looked at J before saying "who are you texting?" J looked up from his phone to look at taurtis "my boyfriend" he then looked back down at his phone
Sam looked over "wait when did you get a boyfriend?!"
Grian sighed "you two are just finding out that J has a boyfriend?"
Sam and Taurtis said at the same time "you already knew?!"
Grian just nodded "yeah but I don't know the boyfriends name"
"and you guys won't find out till he is ready to come out as my boyfriend" J added
after school J and Dom met up at J's house, they were in his living room when he suddenly got a idea
"Hey Dom?" "yeah J?" "wanna cuddle and watch movies?" Dom laughed a bit "You had to ask that? J you know you can cuddle me whenever you want" J gently pulled Dom over and started to cuddle him "I know but I still wanted to ask, so what movie?"
"what about the movie Brave?" J smiled "of course we can watch that, Baby" Dom hummed happily as he leaned into J while he put on the movie
the movie played as J and Dom cuddled each other, J yawned and leaned back a bit "hey Dom, I think I'm gonna nap for a bit" "okay honeysuckle"
J pulled Dom closer as he kissed his forehead "I love you dearest"
Dom smiled "I love you too honeysuckle"
they both fell asleep on the couch cuddling each other after that
JDom, but not in the fluffy "I'll lend you money to help you back onto your feet :-)" way, but in the "I'll pay you if you let me experiment on you" way.
Actually, I do think J would throw away his money for nothing in return, but if this is broke Dom era, then I think he would feel indebted to J and want to pay him back in some way.
And also Dom wants J to give him cool cyborg legs.
okay please feed me JayDom headcanons - you know who
I think ur referring to Jdom cuz I DO have ideas on it so,, oop
Okay here's my pitch for an idea I had. What if J was looking for a roommate, his mansion/house/place is so big but so lonely..... But he's rich so he can just BUY a roommate lol. J is walking around town when he finds Dom in a dumpster, at first he got startled and confused, but then he thought... Dom seems like he really needs a place to stay, and he's become a better person, so why not give him a chance? Also Dom is very cheap to buy okay he's poor he's not expecting anything more than a dime lol. They both talk, J brings up his proposal, and Dom of course thinks this is the perfect way to get some money (he probably steals like....1 yen from him okay), so he accepts. Queue the awkwardness and the surge of gay tension in the household. Oops they like each other now.
