I still can’t stop thinking about that OT3 roles gifset I just made.

I totally get why James should have been Person C but it’s like the fanfic I’m writing.

I planned out that soulmark AU the other day and in my planning there was a lot of comparison between “canon” and “this AU” in how the characters reacted to the same event. For instance a big one was John and James getting together. Now we NEVER see that in canon so everything about that is just my headcanons anyway.

However, in ‘canon’ I pegged John as the one that took the initiative on that. He’s rebellious against his father, he’s strong and used to pushing back. He’s daring and willing to do a lot of things everyone says he shouldn’t. Whereas James was infinitely more restrained at first. Oh James is perfectly willing to buck society but he wanted to think it all through first and be 100% sure John felt the same way before he did anything. So it’s a good job John made the first move as James would probably never have done so.

But in this AU their upbringing was slightly different. James’ mother made an extra effort to let James know that his differences didn’t matter to her and that she loved him no matter what. He still had to hide them from society at large but he had the certainty that his mother gave him, that it wasn’t anything to personally be ashamed about. Whereas John’s mother crushed his rebellious spirit out of her fear that if John ever did pushback against his father, that William might discover his secret. So John isn’t as strong, his first instinct is to back down (as opposed to canon where he uses his height to intimidate). Even in canon John was quiet but in the AU he’s more subdued and a lot more conflicted.

So these OT3 roles are the same. In canon James probably is mostly Person C because John is cursed and off the rails (and Helen is Person A no matter what) and so it falls to James to try and rein them both in. However, I guess I’ve been thinking so much about their happier days (as I’ve been planning this Oxford-era soulmark fic) and James loves the mystery. James can’t be the voice of reason too much because Helen can convince him in seconds, she just pricks his curiosity and then he has to know.

I guess I just don’t see John having quite the same fascination with abnormals and science as Helen and James. I mean I think John has to have some interest – all of The Five were scientists – but I don’t think it was his passion. I think John’s passion is Helen and James. He loves science because he loves them.  I view John as the follower I guess, that’s why he’s Person C.

I mean James “pretending he’s too sensible for crazy bullshit” does kinda line up with him making token protests, being the voice of caution, and then just jumping in anyway. Practically speaking what is the difference between Person B and C? I think it’s whether they get into messes on their own. Cursed John is Person B and James is C. Not cursed it’s how I put it with James’ curiosity getting him into trouble, so he’s Person B and John is person C.