#tangentially do you notice how theyre actually both try-hards in different flavours…the does a million things vs has to be best at One Thing

[kohakhearts]

im very fond of jn for a lot of reasons but honestly i think just the main character dynamics are iconic. like ash is ash, who cares. but goh and chloe are objectively hilarious characters, theyre practically made for a sitcom. my gay best friend who only befriended me because of my dad (but not in a gay way, in a nerd way…probably) but despite hating being associated with my dad’s work this somehow worked, because he was like a kicked puppy left out in the rain and i felt bad for him. and weirdly he doesnt actually seem to define me by my father’s work at all, which on a deep level i appreciate even if we never talk about it. and then even by the end of the show shes like, to ash, hey…you know you were goh’s first friend right? that’s a big deal to him. you should give him a little grace. maybe even go talk to him about being a stupid idiot. (read: so *i* dont have to.) like do you get what im saying. the dynamic is unparalleled as far as im concerned. tbh the reason why the writers were so scared of chloe especially in early jn is simply that their relationship was too chaotic to fully explore on-screen. they had to give them other friends and rivals first to soften the effect and distract us from how unhinged their history actually is