#jdom

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!!