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| WARNING! This ship page includes the subject of homophobia. |
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- He forced me.
- —Caesar Bentley, 'Playdate'
Caefran is the slash ship between Caesar Bentley and Franklin "Uncle Fran" Almonds from the Little Pickle Town fandom.
Canon[]
Caesar and Franklin had started a mutual, loving relationship when the two were in their teenage years. They lived in a conservative and orthodox community, and had to keep their relationship a secret. Franklin was disowned for allegedly "forcing" Caesar into a relationship with him, followed by Caesar not defending him, causing Franklin to stop believing in love.
In the Play Date animatic, the progression and backstory of their relationship is shown. The video reveals the mutual relationship the two had been forming, showing the two hanging out together in private, holding hands, and almost kissing. However, due to their circumstances, their relationship must be kept private, indicated by Caesar making a "shushing" face when Franklin attempts to wave at him in the hallways. In one scene, Franklin wakes up in the library and realizes he is holding hands with Caesar, to which he yells in surprise. Caesar lets him know to keep his voice down, at the two are in the library, followed by Caesar revealing that he got tickets to go see a movie together. The scene ends in the two happily putting their heads together, interlocking their fingers for a pinky promise, and kissing. It then cuts to a scene of the two finally at the movies, exchanging loving glances at eachother, and then holding hands. This unfortunately leads to the next scene of Franklin walking in on Caesar conversing with some other kids, with one of the girls leaning in and kissing Caesar. Upset by this, Franklin starts to cry, and the next scene shows him in tears pinning Caesar to the ground, once again professing his love for Caesar. Caesar reaches up to touch Franklin's cheek, reciprocating Franklin's words to him, however they are interrupted when their classmates walk in and catch them. Caesar is pulled away, and both are being reprimanded by their classmates for being homosexuals, with Caesar being the most in trouble.
Caesar's breaking point comes when his classmates bring up what would happen if his father hears of Caesar being in a relationship with a boy, causing him to point at Franklin, saying "he forced me." This causes their classmates to beat up a now heartbroken Franklin, with Caesar just watching. While being kicked out of the house by his parents, Franklin stares at his movie stub, crying. This cuts to present day Franklin morosely staring at it. As Franklin looks at the stub, Io and Milo walk in, in which Io's appearance reminds him of Caesar, causing him to get flashbacks of him.
In Blonde Hair, Black Lungs, Caesar's perspective of the entire scenario is revealed, with an older Caesar recounting all of the previous events. It opens with a flashback to after Franklin was getting beaten by their classmates, to which Franklin makes a move to slap Caesar, but doesn't, saying "How could I ever hit you?" The scene afterward is Caesar watching Franklin leave, to which Franklin tells Caesar "I loved you." in which Caesar begins to break down. It then cuts to scenes of Caesar breaking down, both an older Caesar driving messily, and a younger Caesar destroying his trophies. It then flashes between younger Franklin and Caesar. The older Caesar stops at a tree with a heart saying "C + F," (Caesar + Franklin) which reminds himself of when he and Franklin carved that into the tree. After Caesar breaks down again, it cuts to him drinking, and he spots a woman with a short ponytail in the reflection of his cup. Caesar hallucinates the woman as Franklin, runs up to her, takes her hand, caresses her cheek, and pulls her into a hug, all while he is still hallucinating her as Franklin. As he is hugging the woman, it flashes between her, another woman with the same hairstyle with lighter brown hair, and Franklin. It cuts to young Caesar chasing after Franklin afterward, which then cuts to his infidelity between the two women with similar hair to Franklin being revealed. During that, images of Franklin flash through his mind. After one of the women attack Caesar, Caesar begins to imagine him and Franklin as their younger selves, with Caesar on the floor looking up to see Franklin kneeling down to his level. This Franklin pulls Caesar into a kiss, before Caesar breaks out of his illusion and goes back to reality. It then cuts to adult Caesar looking at his younger self during the scene in Playdate where younger Caesar is about to say that Franklin forced him, into which he attacks his younger self, with the video cutting between different moments such as his current self breaking down, and him looking at the ticket stub. It then shows Caesar attempting to reach out to a disappointed younger Franklin, to which it shows his younger self attempting to latch onto a turned around Franklin, which finally cuts to him grasping to the edge of his bed, alone.
Songs[]
- Play Date cover by Shaun Riley | Melanie Martinez
- Used in the animatic that introduces the audience to the backstory of the relationship between the two.
- Blonde Hair, Black Lungs | Sorority Noise
- Used in the animatic of the same title, showing Caesar's perspective of him and Franklin's relationship.
Fanon[]
As the two were a canon couple, the ship is widely acknowledged in the fandom. While some are devastated over their doomed relationship and want them to get back together, or want them to at least see each other again, others believe it to be for the best that Franklin heal and move on. When Playdate had released, many fans took Franklin's side and hoped that Caesar would receive karma for what he had done to Franklin, to which he did in Blonde Hair, Black Lungs when it was shown how badly his actions affected him. Many fans realize how much their relationship affected them both and want them to at least get some closure about it, while others, again, wish for Franklin to forget, heal, and move on. Many point out how it would be unhealthy for them to ever get back together, though some are in denial as they just want the duo to be happy, despite everything.
Fandom[]
- TIKTOK
- Little Pickle Town posts on TikTok
Gallery[]
- Main article: Caefran/Gallery
Videos[]
Animatics[]
Shorts[]
