#mivyan

I think Rick and Vyv have the best chemistry out of the characters and actually I've been planning to write a post about why I think this is, so look out for that if you're interested in my rambles. Their relationship would fit perfectly into the disgusting, grotty, angry world that is TYO. They're also my favourite two young ones so that's definitely a big factor for me as well. There's a lot more I could (and will soon in another post) say about Rivyan. I have thoughts™.

I also ship CoolPye - I think it's the most chill of the six main ships (probably because it's the only one without Rick or Vyvyan 😂) and me and others have found, in fics, a bit of background CoolPye provides a nice contrast to the more emotionally charged and chaotic Rivyan. It feels oddly... Domestic? I mean, there was the whole thing where the house was compared to a family unit and Mike and Neil were the parents so they're already the traditional "couple" in that respect. Though, that’s just a rough metaphor because neither of them are suitable caregivers for or even need to be caregivers for Rick and Vyvyan. 😂

The other ships are a little newer and aren't my usual forte. I've seen posts from the bastard squad (they were basically the predecessors of the scumbags and appear to have shipped Rivyan and CoolPye, coining at least the latter's name) where they discussed the possibility of Mivyan, based on Mike and Vyv's more friendly relationship. In the backlog of ao3 or FF.net, I believe I also once read a TYO book of one shots including some PoetPye. However, both of these examples go against the general bastard squad trend. Mivyan, PoetPye, PunkPye and CoolPoet are largely scumbag era developments (fandom talk is actually very serious, you know 😂). The names of the last three are scumbag creations anyway.

Personally? I like PoetPye; I've written an awful fic for it. I've mentioned before that I think a lot of Rick's hatred for Neil stems from Neil standing for a few similar things to him - vegetarianism, peace, equality, love, all that - with the difference being that his beliefs appear more genuine than Rick's and this threatens Rick. There's also the factor of Neil and Rick seemingly coming from the better off backgrounds out of the four (better off than Vyvyan, at least, presumably also than Mike, based on his little speech in Summer Holiday) and I'm sure this also annoys Rick because he wants to fit in with the working class (even though he definitely doesn't) and Neil isn't working class so therefore, in his mind, deserves his vitriol. I mean, Neil's also a stupid bloody hippie while Rick is an anarchist so there's that division too. 😂

Neil is the one Rick hates the most... Yet, this means Rick is the one who generally pays Neil the most attention. I think a PoetPye relationship that evolved out of Rick dealing with his own insecurities and prejudices and becoming not only more secure in himself and his left-wing beliefs but perhaps a little calmer and less performative would be rewarding to read/write in a fic. Likewise, Neil might become happier and less focused his own misfortunes. Just happier vibes, y'know? But it would take character growth for it to become possible - more character growth, in my opinion, than it would take for Rivyan to occur. Although, to be fair, this is fanon so we needn't worry about whichever ship is more "realistic"... None of them are canon anyway. 😂

PunkPye also feels sweet to me. Vyvyan exploring his softer side with Neil and defending him against Rick could be cute. PunkPye feels like a more private ship to me - both of them not completely sure what's developing between them but just going with it, not seeing it as anyone else's business. Plus, punk and hippie subcultures in many respects are opposites in the "alternative" spectrum so I like the idea of them being together despite that rift too.

Then we have CoolPoet and Mivyan. CoolPoet is pretty much the least popular ship here; I don't think I've met anyone yet who ships it? I think this is largely because Rick and Mike don't interact much (possibly the least of them all) and so there's not much to build on. I also think it has the potential to be unhealthy since Rick is such a suck up to Mike (more so than Vyvyan and Neil, as at least Vyvyan gets on with him and Neil is more interested in any of them just paying him attention than Mike in particular). I could see CoolPoet being quite one-sided, with Rick losing himself a little in trying to impress Mike and not getting much back in return. To be fair, a dark fic about this would be interesting and it could be a learning curve for them both and end positively (maybe with other ships). I just don't think it would work well as a light and happy ship.

If CoolPoet is your cup of tea though, awesome! If you have headcanons and art/fic, I'll probably reblog it because I love TYO content. I'm not anti-CoolPoet. In fact, the idea of that dark fic is becoming more and more intriguing to me by the minute...

Then we have Mivyan. Whilst I get why people like it and I acknowledge that Vyvyan and Mike do have the most positive relationship out of a house of bastards who are horrible to each other... I've come to realise that, for me, I prefer Mivyan as a BrOTP. I think there's a power imbalance between Mike and Vyv that is hard to balance out properly in a romantic context. It works for their friendship: Vyvyan respects and looks up to Mike and equally Mike seems to view Vyvyan as a bit of a protégé. They'd probably work well as bothers.

Yet, with the context of Mike being the only person Vyvyan is ever subordinate to, I think there is a risk of their power imbalance becoming unhealthy should they enter a romantic relationship. Partners are supposed to be equal, right? For me, the ship feels a little weird because I think it might kinda stray into parent/child vibe territory, with Vyvyan becoming too emotionally dependent on Mike or becoming a bit of a guard dog and Mike - and this is partly due to him being the least developed of the four characters - appearing to be an unbreakable rock of stability who still has the same authority over Vyvyan as he does the other two. Of course, there are relationships like this in real life that fiction is free to reflect and far be it from me to police in anyway what people choose to create in fandom... It's simply that I don't think I could fix this power imbalance problem I see in Mivyan without straying too far from who the characters are if I tried to make a go of a healthy Mivyan.

Buuut, as with CoolPoet, you like Mivyan? You create Mivyan content? Brilliant! I will likely consume and praise at some point, I’m sure. After all, before I'd properly developed my opinion on it I did write a Mivyan prompt and I don't have any negative feelings towards my doing that. To be honest, if someone in the future sent me a Mivyan prompt for whatever reason, I'd likely still write it because I think it's fun every now and then to break away from my Rivyan/CoolPye default and explore. You're just not going to see me gushing about Mivyan, coming up with headcanons for it or writing fic for it off my own volition. It's just not my jam.