Shipping Musings and Opinions

Fan x Paintbrush (II)

Pre-game thoughts: Good evening, folks! This one's been requested by a deleted user (Frozen5110) and someone who emphatically does not like Fanbrush, ParadoxRevival. A lot of people used to decry this one as abusive, but their interactions in the show have become a lot more nuanced and cordial since then, so. Let's dive into it!

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Rating out of 100: 51/100!

Do I ship this?: Not really.

Why do I/don't I ship this?: Their dynamic has potential, and it isn't abusive as so many people have claimed, but I like them better as friends. Part of it is that both of them have other dynamics that're more fun to imagine taking a romantic turn - Fantube and Lightbrush being the popular ones, although there are plenty of intriguing alternative options (KnifeFan and Fan x 4S have been going around, as well as Testbrush and Marshbrush). That said, combining Fanbrush with Testbulb is a recipe for fun, so it can be more interesting in a double date (or poly!Bright Lights) story.

Is this my favorite ship for one/both of the characters?: Nope! These two particular characters have a lot of funny dynamics.

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Thoughts on the ship name: I'm fairly certain it's Fanbrush and not Paintfan, which is good, because I prefer Fanbrush. Paintfan is good, too, but it makes me feel like I'm mispronouncing the Chowder episode name "Paint the Town." Do any of you guys even know what Chowder is these days? ...I may be getting old.

My favorite story involving these two: Go read Ones Who Love You by ThatVileVial! It's technically building up to poly!Bright Lights (Paintbrush x Test Tube x Fan x Lightbulb), but it depicts the Fanbrush dynamic so lovingly. It's a very well-crafted story!

Things I enjoy in art/stories about them: Seeing Fan and Paintbrush respect each other is very nice. Seeing them go from being at each other's throats to being each other's great support is a real treat, and shows a lot of growth for both of them.

Things I wish I saw more of in art/stories about them: For some reason, most of the Fanbrush stories I can find involve cheating, which is unfortunate. Infidelity can be written in an interesting way, but the setups I've seen haven't really hit the spot (because it's exceedingly difficult to do so! 99% of the time you're better off going with something else). Hopefully there'll be some stories that don't involve that trope in the future.

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Five headcanons about them:

Without the game looming over Paintbrush, their sense of humor comes out a bit more like it did in Season 1. Fan and Paintbrush get a kick out of each other's dorky sense of humor!

Paintbrush got Fan's help planning Lightbulb's first birthday party; he knew what her birthday was and a few of her likes, and Paintbrush had the planning know-how to pull it all together. They realized how well they could work together as they planned it, which is nice.

Although Fan loves Inanimate Insanity the most, he found solace in a lot of Japanese and Chinese animation before he discovered it! One day, he felt like experiencing those shows again, and watched them with Paintbrush. Though Paintbrush never got that into them, they did draw Fan a picture of his favorite character afterwards!

Paintbrush and Fan have very different sleep schedules as roommates: Paintbrush wakes up and sleeps at about the same time every day, while Fan's varies from day to day. The latest he's ever slept in is 1:30pm.

Fan used to write fanfiction about the contestants back when Season 1 was still going! Though he's grown past the need for that by now, he was pleasantly surprised to find that his headcanon that Paintbrush was a good cook was entirely true.

A story I'd write about them, if I had the time/interest:

A Lot to Take In a lighthearted anthology in which Paintbrush and Fan deal with the challenges and perks of being roommates! They realize the other is really quite cool. Features them hanging out as buddies without the show over their heads, a minor controversy over the Paintbrush-design T-shirt Fan bought, and much, much more. The final chapter would feature them, Test Tube and Lightbulb celebrating Lightbulb's win together. It probably wouldn't be very romantic, but if I sought to make it so, it'd be a very light, nondramatic story.

The holiday that best reflects this ship, and why: Labor Day comes to mind; it celebrates hard-work, while still being pretty chill, evoking Paintbrush and Fan respectively.

Where do they end up in life?: Buddies who hang out every so often, and build each other up! I could see Fan bringing more publicity to Paintbrush's art studio after the show.