#i want to be somebodys innocent little brother and its super embarrassing to admit

[selkie-husband]

👉👈 I'm really embarrassed by it but I think it'd be nice to have an older sibling - little brother type dynamic with somebody who thinks of me in such a perverted manner

[pynkhues]

I was wondering, in the c&c universe, who in Beth's kid would be the more likely to do something that could really piss off Rio? Like he seem to always remain calm and in control with the kids, I sometimes wonder how he would react if one of them did something really really bad...

Ah, this is such a fun ask! It’s such a funny thing too, because I sort of had loose thoughts in my head about the kids when I started writing C&C, but they’ve really firmed up across the course of writing it (which I hope has come across for people reading!) It’s been so fun to imagine the kids as more than just plot devices and scenery like they often are on the show (not all the time! But…. sometimes), and even more fun imagining the relationships both Beth and Rio have with them.

So, okay, for everyone reading, this is all purely Center and Circumference stuff, not canon, so just keep that in mind.

(This list is ordered least prone to being infuriating down to most, haha, not age, which I think in both canon / C&C is Kenny – Danny – Emma – Marcus – Jane).

Rio definitely finds Emma and Kenny the easiest.

Emma

Emma is someone I typically write based mostly off her s2 characterisation (and a bit off her s1 characterisation!) as being incredibly sweet and gentle. She’s a bit of a tattle tale, a bit bossy, super well-behaved, but also very bright, kind and creative. She’s hands down the easiest of all the kids for both Beth and Rio, but is also prone to being oversensitive about things and totally useless when it comes to defending herself or standing her ground. She’s not weak-willed exactly, just she doesn’t really stand up to scrutiny and she hates conflict.

With all of that, Rio’s relationship with her is very paternal and pretty protective. He genuinely likes being around her because she’s quiet and studious and thoughtful, but he also gets immensely frustrated by her – particularly as she gets older – because she’s a little too soft, and she wounds easily, and is a little prone to being taken advantage of by kids at school (which scares the shit out of both Beth and Rio, even if they won’t always admit it). Particularly in highschool, Emma’s the sort who’s desperate to fit in, and will do things out of character to get there, which totally breaks Beth’s heart and infuriates Rio to no end.

Kenny

I actually see Kenny as being someone who’s fairly sensitive as well. I think the show portrays that in the sense of him generally being pretty gentle and overly trusting, and having his anxieties manifest through his binge eating (which was a massively underdeveloped storyline, but I liked it and am running with it, haha). In C&C – which I’ve written in a few times already – I see him generally as having ‘manned up’ when Dean moved out, and made a big effort to help Beth more and to be a good big brother to his siblings, but also still being somebody who’s fairly soft at the centre of him and prone to anxiety.

During Beth and Dean’s divorce, he also got progressively more protective of Beth, and that’s something he initially struggles with in terms of her and Rio’s relationship, but as Rio and Beth become longer term and more and more stable, and Rio keeps looking out for Beth, Kenny really does come to love Rio, although he always has - - not reservations, but I think he’s the first to realise exactly what sort of work Rio does, and it worries him constantly – something that only gets worse as his relationship to Rio grows and he becomes worried for him too.

Kenny’s…not the brightest crayon in the box, and he can be a bit of a dick, particularly during adolescence (what teenager isn’t?), but he’s not really rebellious. Beth and Rio have the most issues getting him to study and getting him to have any sort of ambition or direction that isn’t fleeting (he’s a (adequate) jack of all trades and a master of none!)

In terms of the kids most capable of pissing Rio off, it’s sort of a three-way tie for different reasons, haha.

Marcus

Marcus is, of course, Rio’s son, and in that he’s charismatic, cute, a little more cunning than he pretends to be, and too smart for his own good. And Rio knows, of course he knows, but he’s a little more blind to it than he realises he is, which just entertains Beth to no end. He was a natural born troublemaker, and Beth sees it instantly, but Rio is forever convinced its Jane’s influence, and sees Marcus as more of a golden child than he is (although to be fair – he’s a pretty golden child).

Beth develops a really strong relationship with Marcus, particularly through cooking as Marcus loves doing that with her (Rio can’t cook, and despite the fact that Marcus’ mom – Laura – manages restaurants, she’s all business, not the craft of cooking really at all), and he actually kind of loves that Beth calls him on his bullshit while also being loving and fair, whereas Rio is someone who’s prone to penduluming between approval and disapproval when it comes to the kids, haha.

Marcus generally though is pretty relaxed, a voracious reader, lowkey competitive (he loves a boardgame and plays a range of sports in highschool), but he’s also someone with a bit of a wild streak – particularly in terms of pranks, partying and toying with the line of the law as he gets older (usually with Jane. Okay, always with Jane).

Jane

And ah, Jane. My favourite Boland Kid after s2, haha. She’s snarky, stubborn, is brought to life by gross things, and is about as reckless and prone to misbehaving as Emma is to, well, good behaviour (although Jane does actually listen to Beth too – just like in 2.07 – she didn’t cross the road!). Jane is a terror through and through, and sure, she has a heart of gold, but as Annie will say “At what cost?”

Jane rebels hard, but despite that, she adores both Beth and Rio, and while she exudes confidence, and is a natural born leader, she’s a lot needier than she pretends she is, and is very much the family baby. She doesn’t make friends easily, but she found another half in Marcus – who becomes basically her twin in many ways, but who she’s also sort of in constant battle around because for all the ways people gravitate to Marcus, they tend to avoid Jane (sexism and misogyny’s a bitch!) and Marcus, despite all his best traits, just doesn’t get it and assumes it’s usually because she’s pissed someone off. In no small part because Jane also is somebody who’s pretty naturally antagonistic, but she’s also fierce and kind and loyal and smarter than she pretends to be. Particularly as she gets older too, she becomes closer and closer with Emma and Beth, but also Annie and Ruby.

Jane’s probably the kid Rio finds most frustrating on a surface level – she’s the one who’s always in trouble after all – but as we all know, Rio kind of loves troublemakers, and there aren’t any smoke and mirrors with Jane. She is what she is, and Rio doesn’t have favourites (outside of his son of course), but if he did – despite himself – Jane would be it. He loves that little jerk, haha.

Danny

So the winner of the ‘kid who pisses Rio off the most’ is Danny, and I feel a bit bad for saying this here, because I haven’t actually really written much of this in yet (although it’s heavily plotted into Part 4 of C&C and very firm in my head). Danny’s definitely the kid on the show that we know the least of, but he’s also pretty consistently quiet in the scenes we’ve seen him in, and so I have rolled with that, haha.

He’s artistic and creative, albeit pretty average at non-artsy classes at school (although not a struggling student at all), but he’s also really quiet and almost private. Not secretive exactly, but he’s a kid who doesn’t like much attention drawn to him, who embarrasses easily, and who just likes to do his own thing – which proves a nightmare for both Beth and Rio for a few reasons – firstly, Rio’s SO into art, and sees so much talent in Danny, that Danny’s really just too embarrassed to show Rio (particularly early on – I think Danny’s the slowest to warm to people too), secondly, he’s prone to wandering off on his own and disappearing (I keep wanting to write this with Beth and Rio both freaking out in their own ways and somebody should prompt me, haha), thirdly, his tendency to fly under the radar means he gets away with things and can misbehave without drawing attention until he’s arrested for graffiti), and fourth, (which is a lowkey spoiler for Part 4!) that that tendency towards not drawing attention to himself means he can be genuinely sick or hurt and prone to hiding it. (I also headcanon him in this series as being very prone to getting sick generally, but that feels like a whole other thing).  

And all of that really is something that pisses Rio off – both when Danny’s still a kid and when he’s older, because Danny’s surprisingly good at playing innocent and Rio doesn’t like being made a fool of – whether that be Danny pretending he doesn’t have a fever before school only to have Rio called a few hours later by the school nurse, to when he’s older, and pretending he doesn’t care if Rio comes to a tiny, low-rent artshow everyone knows he’s better than, and then being upset when Rio doesn’t figure it out, which is to say nothing of poor Beth, haha.

Anyway, clearly I need to write more Danny and his nightmare self into C&C.

But yes! The answer to your question is Danny, haha, although they are all terrible, wonderful dumpster kids in their own ways.