They are friends, don't get me wrong, but their friendship is definitely one of the more bumpier ones amongst the group.
There are some aspects of their relationship that are heavily influenced by some plot points of this AU that I dont want to reveal rn, but I can explain some other reasons why its complicated in broader strokes for now (in a bit of yapping under cut) but the short answer is probably that they get along maybe just a little better than Jenny and Ben. xD
As you know, both of their shows are very similar in many aspects, but also different in others and those differences are actually what makes those two clash more often than not.
Despite both being of magical world, and both being chosen as respective guardians of it - their positions in it are different.
Jun, was chosen by Magical Elders, or basically be magic itself, as Te Xuan Zhe, while she was very young. And while she comes from magical line, its clearly that aside of that she is human. Also, her position is not something she can just abandon, not until a suitable replacement can be chosen at least, and that can take decades until she or her brothers (or maybe other relatives) have more descendants. So she more or less has no choice at being Te Xuan Zhe, and while she doesn't necessarily resent the position itself, she really doesn't like all the restrictions that come with it.
Jake, on the other hand, comes from a line of magical creatures. And yes, not everyone can manifest this hidden magical part of them, like his mother, but they are still considered as part of magical community, since they are still aware of it (unlike Jake's dad who is human). So, while Jake awakened his draconic abilities that are inherently part of him now, his position as protector of New York/USA - is not inherent. We saw him train for that position, we saw Hailey being considered for it, we saw him lose it too! And while, yes the Dragon Council apparently has the power to seal someone's dragon side away if they fire them from that position, but it still doesn't inherently change the fact that he is from dragon line.
The reason why I brought up this seemingly not big of a difference between their positions in the magical community - is the freedom of choice that Jake has and Jun lacks. If it comes to it, Jake can resign from his position as American Dragon, but it would not mean that he would stop being a dragon or being a part of the magical community (I mean just look at retired Lao Shi). While Jun on the other hand doesn't really have a choice at being Te Xuan Zhe. Sure, she can probably return the title to her poor aging Ama, Jasmine or even find a way to pass it to Ray Ray, since their whole entangled magic thing - but it doesn't change the fact that she was chosen by The Magical Elders - by the highest magical authority there probably is - to be Te Xuan Zhe. And if she hadn't, she probably would have not access to magic and knowledge about it - she would have essentially been like the rest of their family - their parents and Dennis (before he learned about magic). This freedom of choice is not necessarilly something Jake and Jun discussed directly and openly very often, but it's a thing that is an almost palpable tension current in their interactions.
So, the second point that kinda spirals from their positions is about the authority and power. Jun, is essentially a boss of herself. It might not seem like it, but its kinda true - because she works mostly under her own power, without the Magical Elders directly breathing down her neck. Sure, Ama, Monroe and others help in guiding her, but more often than not she is not working necessarily under any orders, but on her own decisions. (It's actually a lot like Danny operates, but, well, with a lot more assistance than poor Phantom lol) In comparison, Jake, like I said, is essentially hired/chosen into his guardian position by the Dragon Council, and he is mentored by his grandfather and trained in some aspects by the Council. And while, sure, largely he also operates under his own power and makes his own decisions in regards of doing his job, there is also this constant watching from the Council and the threat of beings 'sacked' and have his powers restricted or completely sealed, like I mentioned before. It seems like such a small difference, since essentially they operate the same, but its another thing that kinda comes up in their interactions.
When it comes to less magical aspects tho, their families play a role in how they interact too. We all know that Jake has a little sister - Hailey, who seems like a perfect youngest child and often is shown to trying to one-up her older brother in the eyes of their parents. And we all know that while Jake and Hailey love and care for each other, the both clearly have sibling issues (like rivalry and feeling of inadequacy) between them. Jun, on the other hand, is a middle child, with a bossy teenaged older brother Dennis, and a chaos gremlin of younger brother Ray Ray. Jun constantly sqwabbles with Dennis (a little less after he learned about magic) and as Ray Ray's older sister, she constantly have to keep him in check. With those close relationships its no wonder that sometimes interactions between Jun and Jake can descend into similar sqabbles - it really doesn't help that Jake and Dennis have a few similarities, and that Jake has just a tiny bit of similar chaos gremlin energy that Ray Ray has; and that Jun is fiercely independant and very self-sufficient, which would remind Jake about how Hailey can be.
And when it comes to their parents, well, there is one super obvious glaring difference. Jake's mother always knew about magical side of the world, presumably that while she did not awaken her own dragon abilities she still possessed some inherant magic - and she had always been a stauch supporter of Jake's position as American Dragon (does not mean she was necessarilly happy about Jake being in danger, but since he awakened as dragon, there probably was little she could do), while Jake's father finally learned about it in the finale and accepted it and his family. Jun's parents on the other hand... are still very much oblivious, and very much human. And while its clear that they both love their kids, its inevitable that there would be some sort of distance between them, especially after all three kids learned about magic. And I feel like for Jun, being a middle child is not easy in general, but while also being a magical protector and staying close to her parents is probably twice as hard. Though, I guess to balance it out, Jake and Hailey are not really that good at getting along, at least compared to Jun, Ray Ray and Dennis, who got a lot closer ever since Dennis learned about magic.
But in conclusion: not only Jake gets a freedom of choice and the open support from his family, while Jun is literally caught in her position, and still prohibited from revealing about magic to her parents.
And I know it sounds a bit bleak for Jun when I put it all like this. I know it seems as a very solid ground for a relationship where Jun resents Jake and etc. but BUT!!!!! Those plot points that I mentioned before come in play, and it changes that relationship dynamic a bit, and while SURE there are some resentment from Jun about Jake, its not as strong, due to those PLOT POINTS THAT I CANT REVEAL BECAUSEEE AAARRRHH SPOILERS
it would be much more fun to reveal in stories ;)
But, so yeah, their relationship is just kinda really complicated??? It's the best I could give you rn. TTwTT
it's so funny to me that caleb and veth really did just trade off the job of intensely pining for the other at like the halfway point of the campaign. like, imo, nott in the early days did not behave in any real romantic or even romance-adjacent ways toward him--I imagine it would be very hard to even think in that way when you hate what you look like so much, have such low self-esteem, and are actively lying about your entire past, including a secret husband. caleb, on the other hand, is kind of diving directly back into the sort of relationship he had with astrid and eadwulf. very close, very intimate, we-huddled-for-warmth-together-and-oops-it-led-to-something-else sort of thing. he is the one who expresses that he's fine with it if people think he and nott are romantically together when they're talking to keg. nott is the one who pushes back on that. he calls her his life partner. unknowingly, he compares his feelings for nott to nott's feelings for yeza. his behavior only really starts to change after he finds out about veth's husband because suddenly all of that other stuff is rendered inappropriate in retrospect. but even then he compliments her to yeza over dinner in the most awkward of ways, he admits to being jealous, he calls yeza "a lucky man" to have her, he stares at veth and yeza closed bedroom door for far too long, he creates an entire arcane tower with room for her family just so she'll stay with him. in general, his behavior is not, um, totally and completely platonic about it, you know?
like, veth's feelings for caleb are canonical and therefore indisputable in their existence, but caleb in the early days was not that dissimilar to how veth was acting near the end of the campaign. it really paints a picture of "right person, wrong time" in the way things just didn't line up for them. or, as veth would say: "in another world, maybe"
The idea of baby Derpy hiding in Jinu's room at the palace because it's winter and everyone else shooes him away because they are scared.
And then him climbing onto Jinu's lap without hesitation, curling up there, when he stumbles in panicked and pained from the voices and the patterns.
Jinu being apprehensive because of the glowing eyes and fur and not understanding who is this kitten or where did it come from, but also feeling thankful because for the first time the voices are quieter.
Then some tiny bird stealing the food Jinu sneaks out for Derpy, flying away before Jinu can grasp what has happened. Doing this every day until Jinu becomes tired and starts bringing enough for both of them.
And one day the bird settling down on his shoulder, not budging when Jinu tries to get him to fly away.
Jinu feeling bittersweet whenever he looks at them and steals food for them as they remind him of his sister and mother.
Gwima taunting him by saying that he is only doing all this to escape from his past sins and that he'll end up hurting them too because he destroys everyone he loves. (Jinu gradually starts to believe him.)
And Jinu getting flashbacks to the day he left his family when he sees Derpy and Sussie stare at him as his patterns start to glow and climb up to his face.
Him hating himself thinking that he has once again left someone who loved him to fend for themselves.
✨For the fic writer ask game:
15 ⧽. if you wrote a fic called love is temporary with ghost/soap what do you think it might be about?
(I made up something with that title while showering so obviously I need to know others' takes)
[ask game]
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm well I think I'd be incapable of writing anything truly angsty without a happy ending even with such a bleak title whajkfkgkh so,,,,,,,
I think it would probably be based around ghost's own feelings around love and relationships? maybe soap has a near-death experience and he reckons with the idea that he will inevitably lose him one day...... maybe he tries to cut things off then and there to protect himself in the long run but it just makes them both miserable ,,,
OR they have an argument and have a falling out and it confirms ghosts insecurities about being fundamentally unlovable <\3333
OR focusing on soap's complicated commitment issues due to being a soldier and other things (my hc,,, he needs to have at least one flaw lolllll stuff about feeling restricted by a relationship and the kind of wedges a dangerous job can put between partners) and how that contradicts ghost's nearly desperate desire to be loved unconditionally by someone
or all of that put into one? argument over their contradicting wants (john has this preconception about all relationships that it means he eventually would be expected to give up his job, so he's against the commitment, while simon just wants to be with him), absolutely destroys simon and pushes john to be more reckless, choosing his job over his relationships, which ends up in him nearly dying on a mission ,,, all john wants when he wakes up is simon and it's his own fault simon isn't there when he wakes up,,, it gives him a big realisation that he's ruining his relationships over something simon hasn't even suggested to him in the first place ......... meanwhile simon is conflicted now between trying to fix things because john is asking for him or leaving it broken because john could really die next time and he might as well save himself the heartbreak of death by just breaking it off now,,,,, reconciliation happens obviously <333 but it's gruelling looolllll
(simon is far too forgiving whajdkfh he's too desperate for love and kindness to truly hold it against john (it will sit in the back of his mind for a whileeee though, that "what if"), and john is aware of what he nearly threw away and of how much he's hurt simon and vows to himself to actually communicate instead of just assuming things ,,,,,,, I'd like to say it never happens again but who knowsssssss )
on that topic about The Manager, I think that’s a key difference between how Josephine experiences him versus how Jamie does.
For Jamie, there’s a strange kind of comfort in the narrative May provides. He’s willing, perhaps even eager, to accept the soft lies, the pretty metaphors. A false comfort is still a comfort after all.
Josephine, on the other hand, is the kind of person who burns the candle at both ends while insisting she’s perfectly fine. She doesn’t doesn’t want to admit when things are off, not even to herself. That choice being taken out of her hands is not something she appreciates
So when May shows up uninvited, with his pointed little smile and his vague warnings, Josephine finds it deeply, profoundly unsettling. Not just because he’s a tangible presence of the symptoms, but because she hates to admit when someone else is right. And worse: he’s annoying about it.
