The way I didn’t like Harlequin at the start at all and now probably think about him ten times more than Pierrot (and that makes me feel bad especially with how the game DOESN’T LET YOU BE NICE TO PIERROT AND HARLEQUIN I WOULD FIND A WAY I SWEAR I CAN MAKE EVERYONE HAPPY LET ME AT LEAST HAVE THAT IN A FANTASY SETTING PLEASE I’m half joking ofc lol)
Also mildly unrelated but I almost never see people talk about how cute Harlequin can be. He reminds me of Astarion a bit in that aspect. When it comes to super sexy/flirty and over-the-top characters, sometimes people just sexualize them and forget they can be awkward and silly.
Like just because someone SEEMS super hot all the time doesn’t mean that’s actually what’s going on in their heads 24/7 NO ONE is sexy full-time. Sometimes I can’t take a lot of Astarion’s lines seriously too, like when you snap out of the fangirling or whatever, you realize just how… kind of hilarious and out of place a lot of lines are.
I feel this way for Harlequin a lot. I think about a lot of scenarios where he sees MC wearing something cute or doing something normal and finds himself starting to really actually like them. But then he instinctively takes away the sentimental/softer parts of the moment so he can take control back.
I like to think of an MC that calls him out on it. Maybe he tries to do something that makes them swoon, says something to them while holding them in place with his tentacles or whatever. While he’s leaning in closer to MC and trying to make them feel flustered or whatever, maybe because it’s what he wants to do, maybe because Pierrot is watching. It doesn’t matter, the moment is happening, but then MC notices for some reason that his bow is coming loose a bit. Or maybe that he’s made the curls in his hair particularly more defined that day. They point it out casually, interrupting the immersion, and it kind of catches him off-guard.
I know it seems sort of cringe, but I have VISIONS. I also know if an MC tries to do this in certain situations it might simply not work. Just like how jokes don’t land every time, compliments don’t land every time, flirting doesn’t land every time, that kind of thing. I think it would need to be a repeated interaction. Something that keeps Harlequin up at night sometimes. Maybe he keeps composure, brushes it off, does something bolder in that moment.
But later on when he leaves the circus, he’ll glide his claws over the section of hair you caressed. He’ll shiver thinking about the way you fixed his clothes in place. He might wonder why you chose not to touch him, if you’re less bold. Why you keep your distance every time despite being receptive to his advances. He’ll feel a little disgusted for no reason. Disturbed. Maybe touched, but so unfamiliar with the sensation, so conflicted with how little he thinks of himself deep down as someone worthy of true love, that he just doesn’t feel it the same way.
It’s not supposed to be sweet immediately. It doesn’t cure him just like that. It’s something you both will have to chew on a bit, and let settle into the interactions you share. Maybe one day Pierrot kidnaps you or drugs you for whatever reason. You’re unconscious and Harlequin has to look after you while Pierrot tries to explain to Jester. He sits by you in your vulnerable state. Slowly, while being mindful of his surroundings, he presses his fingers into your wrist. He indulges himself in something he doesn’t quite understand. Maybe he pushes you away lazily after a few seconds and watches you slump in your seat, helpless.
He might laugh at you. But it feels forced. He’s not worried about you. Why would he be? You’re nothing special. In what world would he ever have something special? Would he even deserve it? Would he be able to keep it? Is he even capable of caring for something so small and fragile? Something that could be so capricious and destructive to what little he has left?
(Also I know there’s a lot of “cute” content for Harlquin and every tfc character but I mean in fanfiction I just don’t see super fluffy stuff as much as I do for Pierrot AND I THINK THERE ARE WAYS WE CAN IMPLEMENT THAT WITHOUT TAKING AWAY FROM HIS CHARACTER A RIDICULOUS AMOUNT LIKE IT IS POSSIBLE WE CAN DO IT)
