idk if you're still doing the ship meme, but I've seen you post about Occtis/Thimble and I'd love to hear your thoughts! we're a small ship, but there's soooo much there.
sorry I must have missed this last night because I passed out at like six pm because I was coming down with a head cold.
but yeah, this is one of the few ships I see as like borderline canon? at the very least, it's heavy subtext that Thimble has a crush on Occtis and that Occtis at the very least, really adores Thimble in some capacity. I think a lot of people are just ignoring it because they have other preferences (which is fine, I'm not the biggest fan of w/ty, but like I'm not gonna deny that it's clear that Tyranny canonically has romantic feelings for Wick), but as someone who's pretty keyed into recognizing romance plots in general and specifically what Laura Bailey likes in her D&D romance, Thimble/Occtis (thimbis? thicctis? obble?) has felt like a pretty obvious thread since the Overture.
first, if you want to sniff out a Laura Bailey romance, it's usually good to figure out who she's acting different around, and this is usually who she lets see behind the mask. Vex was composed and confident, but she was vulnerable with Percy. Jester was joyful and silly, but she was comfortable being serious and sharing her sadness with Fjord. Imogen was closed off, but she liked being around Laudna. Thimble's brash and assertive, but she's softer and affectionate towards Occtis.
the other thing is Laura has a bit of a type. she likes a spooky boy (granted, Fjord was aquatic spooky and Laudna was a spooky girl,) and based on what I know about some romance books she's mentioned liking, this preference seems to extend to outside just actual play. more than that, she likes characters who have her character's back in a way that's meaningful to both characters. Percy was generous and gave Vex gifts and a title which, while Percy thought Vex was already worth more than any noble, gave her the external recognition she desperately craved from being raised in an environment where she was treated as lesser. Fjord gave Jester the space and means to explore the world, something she had been denied during her childhood, but his protective nature gave her a safety net she could fall back on if things went wrong. admittedly, I wasnt the biggest fan of imodna, but I can see why Imogen appreciated Laudna's constant validation when she had spent her life feeling different and unwanted. Thimble is a competent fighter, a stone cold killer who's fought in a war and followed around and protected a thief and revolutionary on his many dangerous escapades, and Occtis is a nervous and nerdy little nobleboy who without hesitation snapped at big, scary Julien to let her go in his real voice while disguised. with how capable Thimble is, how she's supposed to exist in service of others, how many people do you think have had Thimble's back like that, especially when it requires that sort of bravery unbacked by skill? like that's some real Laura-bait, right there.
as anon said, there's a ton of other little stuff, too. Vaelus first met Pin because Occtis wanted to make sure Thimble was safe while talking to her. Pin's named after Thimble. Thimble got defensive of Occtis to Tyranny while she was impersonating him to the point where Whitney had to clarify, out of character, that "but he sounds like a nerd, right?" and Laura laughed and said "yeah." Laura, who has been at the center of age gap discourse before, has been very clear at the table that Occtis is "like 20" (episode 3, during the bar fight) and Thimble looks "about 20." (episode 9, while arguing with Wick for calling her young at Tybry's Lea.) hell, if we go back to her introduction, one of the first things Thimble does after nearly dying and finding out Thjazi is dead is pat Occtis's face in a way that given Laura's comments in the Tale Gate about how Thimble's size makes it hard for her to get physical affection, makes me wonder if that was more about Thimble seeking comfort from Occtis than trying to comfort him. it's particularly notable that in that scene are Teor and Azune, two people we know Thimble would feel close with as members of the Torn Banner, but we still don't know exactly what Occtis and Thimble's history is and so it feels poignant if we read that as Thimble singling out Occtis as the person she most wants to touch in that moment.
to be real honest, I do personally find this ship more compelling as either an unrequited crush or this tragic sort of alas, it can never be because Thimble's four inches tall "[Alex voice] and I'm dead." mutual pining thing than a traditional endgame ship because I'm into that angsty sorta shit (see: widobrave propaganda.) and more importantly, Laura's said in an interview she's into that, too. but yeah, you can't force people to ship things, but it's a little wild how almost willfully blind people have been to it when frankly, I think it's way more interesting than w/ty.
again, I'm really fucking good at clocking this stuff, and part of that is I try to be as objective as possible and I don't call my shots unless I'm like 90% confident that there's something there. to contrast, I've been saying Teor and Kattigan should kiss on the mouth since before the campaign even started and I'm only at maybe 30% with them. (shit, I'm only at 50% with vaesha.) again, everyone can have their preferences (personally, I think Tymble would go crazy hard,) and I'm not sure it will be endgame, but if you're interested in speculating on the canon romances and crushes, this is a ship to watch.
