#coolpye

[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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Hello there!

What a question. I wish I was better at reeling off headcanon lists. 😂

I like the suggestion that, despite his violent tendencies, Vyvyan ends up as a pediatrician. Kids would like him. He's exciting. He'd also obviously start balding like Ade did. All that orange hair dye was always gonna take its toll. I know it's more in character for Vyv to just not give a fuck about this, especially as it literally happens in Interesting and he doesn't mind, but I kinda like the idea of Rick reassuring a sniffling Vyvyan that he's still very sexy.

Rick's a bit more messy because it's not like he had a specific career trajectory in mind (at least, not one he'd talk about, at the risk of sounding like a sell-out square). I do think if he wasn't with Vyvyan he'd resort back to type: become a middle class Tory, perhaps even working in a bank like Colin from Bad News. But if he's with Vyvyan? Well, his life is going to take a more unusual route. Maybe he's more in and out of jobs - partly because he can't settle, nothing's good enough compared to the life he envisaged for himself, and partly because all his colleagues immediately hate him.

He'd probably try to get his poetry published for a few years, but nowhere will take them - not even the shoestring budget, underground indie mags that have three readers and should be desperate for submissions. Rick can't fathom why not at all. Eventually, he'd stop writing poems - he's not a real creative, just a poseur, after all. 😂 And actually, I'm pretty sure it's only in S1 he even recites poems anyway?

Do they have kiddos? Well, it wasn't until 2002 that same-sex couples were granted the same adoption rights. In the 1980s, adoption agencies would frequently reject people over their sexuality. So maybe they'd become parents in their 40s? They both have a lot of growing up to do first, to be fair. 😂

(As an aside, I do have some headcanon kids for a WIP. All my WIPs are so long and messy that we may very well be in the 22nd century before they're finished. 😂 But anyway, in one of them I'm giving them twins called Edwina Adrienne and Frederick Richard - partly named after Richie and Eddie of Bottom, who I frequently headcanon as Rivyan's uncles.)

As for Mike and Neil - I know I don't pay them as much attention, but I am always fond of a little CoolPye subplot amongst the Rivyan madness. I don't think I've ever come across an actual CoolPye multichapter.

Mike is gonna continue his life of perpetual studenthood without actually studying for as long as he can. There's a real world expiry date on this: student grants were lowered and lowered until they were completely scrapped and replaced by increased maintenance loans in 2016/17. And, of course, tuition fees came in in 1998 and have only gone up since. Once he'd exhausted what he'd be entitled to through that, he's no longer got the money to pay for endless courses. But, in any case, I can't see how Mike could possibly keep the scam going that long. He's blackmailing the Dean, so as soon as that Dean retries? His ammunition is gone.

So, after he quits the student life with his series of ill-earned qualifications, maybe he'd be able to get a job - though I feel employers wouldn't be too keen on his lack of work history, particularly at his age - but ultimately I just don't think he wants one. 😂 This is another reason why putting him with Neil works. I think he would just do as he does at uni and hang around, reading the papers and whatnot, while Neil goes out to earn the bread.

In ABC, I had Neil working in a flower shop and selling weed on the side. I can't imagine him and Mike are that well-off until Neil's parents die and he inherits everything. Then perhaps they move into Neil's childhood home, which would already be paid off, and just have a comfortable little life, earning enough to keep the lights on and food on the table, as well as indulge whatever hobbies and amusements they want. They'd be regarded as eccentrics by all the neighbours. Neil would carry on with his hippieness; Mike would continue being Mike. Maybe their relationship is less defined than Rivyan's, slowly evolving from flatmates to actual partners over time.

I had the thought of Mike coming home one evening with a baby girl - the result of the one and only time he actually managed to sleep with a woman. Neil would probably be better with most of the maintenance side of child rearing. Mike would be way in over his head, so this could provide a nice opportunity for him to actually be the vulnerable one and have Neil show him that it's fine, he's not incapable, it just takes a little patience. And a few clothes pegs on the nose when changing her nappy.

Oh, and of course, the two couples would still meet up. Just because it's more fun that way, right?

Also CW for non-graphic but implied miscarriage—under the cut for this reason