This post is all about BTR canon and fanon and is very spoilery.
Can we just talk about the latest BTR and my personal family canon for the boys?
They were talking about this over in bigtimerush , but that was a few days ago, and I'm late, and I did not find myself agreeing with most people except for about James. I don't want to be that person who comes in several days later disagreeing with everybody, so I'm just gonna post about it here. (Also, substantive post is substantive! I was wanting to come back to LJ for real, I guess I really am!)
Kendall
folkloric_feel posted a lovely description that...I just cannot find myself agreeing with. All the things that make Kendall Kendall, also make Jacey my sister. She is like, the Kendall of her friends at college. A leader, super protective (she worries when her roommate thinks a less-than-perfect boy is cute because she doesn't want her to get hurt...). So it's no surprise that I've always thought Kendall's dad is dead.
I also kind of think there is a possibility Katie's dad isn't Kendall's dad. Like, Kendall's dad died, and Jennifer married (whoever Mr. Knight is), and since Kendall's dad was dead and not divorced, he got Mr. Knight's last name. (Sort of how I call my stepdad David, but my sister calls her stepmom Mom, because her bio mom is no longer living, but my bio dad is.) As for whatever happened to Mr. Knight, I don't know. Deadbeat? Nice, average, things-just-didn't-work-out divorcee? I don't know. I lean toward the second, based on what I know and/or think of the other boys dads and the second is more average in a group of middle-ish class teenagers from the midwest, and James has the tumultuous family thing already. Anyway. The only way Kendall and Katie to have the same dad would be for Katie to literally have been under 18 months when he died. Because she seems a lot less affected then Kendall, rather than the other way around. Kendall is so close to Katie because he lost his dad at a young age, and he's worried maybe something might happen to her dad too, and he doesn't want her to go through that.
James
Canon is actually lining right up with my personal fanon for me. Maybe it's because James is more self absorbed than the other boys, all worried about his Cuda man spray and trying to book modeling gigs, even though he's clearly the one who wants the band to last until they're in nursing homes. (Exaggeration-y Jen is exaggerating.) Like, he thinks he has to give himself a lot of attention, since his family wont, and then gloms onto the band, his friends, as family. Even the fact that originally it was his wanting to be a pop star that brought them to Hollywood. Like "oh hey, I'll show Mom and Dad they should pay attention to me, look at all the screaming teenage girls who pay more attention to me than you do."
And most teenagers' of BTR's mini-generation have parents in their early to mid forties. I would peg Jennifer as about 40. Lets assume since Brooke is in cosmetics, she's possibly a tad on the older side, like say 45, but I like to think she married a younger man to make her youth, which is paramount in her industry, last longer. So maybe James' dad is 40. So his new wife is 25, and therefore only about 8 years older than James. Which means that when James is 23 or so, it would be more appropriate for his stepmother to be his wife than his dad's wife. This is super awkward for James. I also imagine that when his dad married the 25 year old, they started having babies, so now James has two or three half brothers and sisters running around back in Minnesota, who get a lot more attention from his dad than he did. I also think Brooke's whole thing in Big Time Moms is that she didn't realize how much she ignored James back home until she literally went a year without seeing him. (or however long it's taken them to go a season and a thirdish.) That's actually the only way it makes sense that it would take THIS long for her to feel this way, instead of trying this kind of thing after ten episodes.
Carlos
I actually thing Carlos has a happy family back home. His dad and mom are still married. We see his dad in Big Time Break, and it seems like he's there for a visit. His mom, of course, appears in Big Time Moms, and it says she's an I.T. systems analyst. This means maybe she couldn't get away/was on a business trip/etc so Carlos' dad decided to visit alone. Then in Moms she was called in on an emergency, so it's not like his dad could necessarily get away. I also think he has two or three brothers and sisters back home. But maybe they are older. His parents both seem older than Jennifer and Brooke, though maybe not older than Joanna (Logan's Mom--I love having canon names for all the moms!). Carlos kind of acts like the baby of the family type, so I'm thinking he might be even an uncle or will be soon.
Logan
Logan as a teen reminds me of me as a teen (which is nothing like me as an adult, so I am not sure how this affects this perception) and so maybe this is why I think his parents divorced when he was an early teen, and he is an only child. I haven't just thrown my childhood onto him, mind you, I don't think his parents are remarried, and I haven't given him any step or half siblings, and I also think his parents' divorce was an amicable one, so nothing like mine at all. Also, he's always the cautious one and the voice of reason, and yet he doesn't seem to be as protective of Katie as Carlos and James, especially about boys, which leads me to think he's a lot less likely to have a sister, though I guess that doesn't prove he doesn't have a brother.
I also have a completely-not-serious theory that the hardcore rocker guitar lady who unfroze James is related to Guitar Dude. (But not his mom. An aunt maybe.)
I love having names (as I mentioned before) but it bugs me that Kendall's mom is named Jennifer. There are already The Jennifers, along with Jenny Tinkler. Just how many Jennifer's can one show have? And as someone who has been saddled with the name for the last 26 years and who has been in the classroom with numerous others, I can believe The Jennifers, and Jenny Tinkler, but Kendall's mom is (like I guessed above) about 40...The name wasn't quite as common back then. But for some reason she shares a name with 40% of her kid's female friends? (Seriously, it's The Jennifers, Jenny Tinkler, Mercedes, Stephanie, Jo and Camille. Are there even any other named female teenagers on the show? And yet FOUR of them have the same name? (Five, if you consider Blonde Jennifer is played by two different people and perhaps is supposed to be two different Jennifers...Remember how in Big Time Fever Blonde Jennifer booked a job in Iceland 'cause the heat was making her hair flat? Maybe when Carlos didn't work out the other two Jennifer's got a new Jennifer.)
Somewhat related, GUITAR DUDE NEEDS A NAME.
They were talking about this over in bigtimerush , but that was a few days ago, and I'm late, and I did not find myself agreeing with most people except for about James. I don't want to be that person who comes in several days later disagreeing with everybody, so I'm just gonna post about it here. (Also, substantive post is substantive! I was wanting to come back to LJ for real, I guess I really am!)
Kendall
folkloric_feel posted a lovely description that...I just cannot find myself agreeing with. All the things that make Kendall Kendall, also make Jacey my sister. She is like, the Kendall of her friends at college. A leader, super protective (she worries when her roommate thinks a less-than-perfect boy is cute because she doesn't want her to get hurt...). So it's no surprise that I've always thought Kendall's dad is dead.
I also kind of think there is a possibility Katie's dad isn't Kendall's dad. Like, Kendall's dad died, and Jennifer married (whoever Mr. Knight is), and since Kendall's dad was dead and not divorced, he got Mr. Knight's last name. (Sort of how I call my stepdad David, but my sister calls her stepmom Mom, because her bio mom is no longer living, but my bio dad is.) As for whatever happened to Mr. Knight, I don't know. Deadbeat? Nice, average, things-just-didn't-work-out divorcee? I don't know. I lean toward the second, based on what I know and/or think of the other boys dads and the second is more average in a group of middle-ish class teenagers from the midwest, and James has the tumultuous family thing already. Anyway. The only way Kendall and Katie to have the same dad would be for Katie to literally have been under 18 months when he died. Because she seems a lot less affected then Kendall, rather than the other way around. Kendall is so close to Katie because he lost his dad at a young age, and he's worried maybe something might happen to her dad too, and he doesn't want her to go through that.
James
Canon is actually lining right up with my personal fanon for me. Maybe it's because James is more self absorbed than the other boys, all worried about his Cuda man spray and trying to book modeling gigs, even though he's clearly the one who wants the band to last until they're in nursing homes. (Exaggeration-y Jen is exaggerating.) Like, he thinks he has to give himself a lot of attention, since his family wont, and then gloms onto the band, his friends, as family. Even the fact that originally it was his wanting to be a pop star that brought them to Hollywood. Like "oh hey, I'll show Mom and Dad they should pay attention to me, look at all the screaming teenage girls who pay more attention to me than you do."
And most teenagers' of BTR's mini-generation have parents in their early to mid forties. I would peg Jennifer as about 40. Lets assume since Brooke is in cosmetics, she's possibly a tad on the older side, like say 45, but I like to think she married a younger man to make her youth, which is paramount in her industry, last longer. So maybe James' dad is 40. So his new wife is 25, and therefore only about 8 years older than James. Which means that when James is 23 or so, it would be more appropriate for his stepmother to be his wife than his dad's wife. This is super awkward for James. I also imagine that when his dad married the 25 year old, they started having babies, so now James has two or three half brothers and sisters running around back in Minnesota, who get a lot more attention from his dad than he did. I also think Brooke's whole thing in Big Time Moms is that she didn't realize how much she ignored James back home until she literally went a year without seeing him. (or however long it's taken them to go a season and a thirdish.) That's actually the only way it makes sense that it would take THIS long for her to feel this way, instead of trying this kind of thing after ten episodes.
Carlos
I actually thing Carlos has a happy family back home. His dad and mom are still married. We see his dad in Big Time Break, and it seems like he's there for a visit. His mom, of course, appears in Big Time Moms, and it says she's an I.T. systems analyst. This means maybe she couldn't get away/was on a business trip/etc so Carlos' dad decided to visit alone. Then in Moms she was called in on an emergency, so it's not like his dad could necessarily get away. I also think he has two or three brothers and sisters back home. But maybe they are older. His parents both seem older than Jennifer and Brooke, though maybe not older than Joanna (Logan's Mom--I love having canon names for all the moms!). Carlos kind of acts like the baby of the family type, so I'm thinking he might be even an uncle or will be soon.
Logan
Logan as a teen reminds me of me as a teen (which is nothing like me as an adult, so I am not sure how this affects this perception) and so maybe this is why I think his parents divorced when he was an early teen, and he is an only child. I haven't just thrown my childhood onto him, mind you, I don't think his parents are remarried, and I haven't given him any step or half siblings, and I also think his parents' divorce was an amicable one, so nothing like mine at all. Also, he's always the cautious one and the voice of reason, and yet he doesn't seem to be as protective of Katie as Carlos and James, especially about boys, which leads me to think he's a lot less likely to have a sister, though I guess that doesn't prove he doesn't have a brother.
I also have a completely-not-serious theory that the hardcore rocker guitar lady who unfroze James is related to Guitar Dude. (But not his mom. An aunt maybe.)
I love having names (as I mentioned before) but it bugs me that Kendall's mom is named Jennifer. There are already The Jennifers, along with Jenny Tinkler. Just how many Jennifer's can one show have? And as someone who has been saddled with the name for the last 26 years and who has been in the classroom with numerous others, I can believe The Jennifers, and Jenny Tinkler, but Kendall's mom is (like I guessed above) about 40...The name wasn't quite as common back then. But for some reason she shares a name with 40% of her kid's female friends? (Seriously, it's The Jennifers, Jenny Tinkler, Mercedes, Stephanie, Jo and Camille. Are there even any other named female teenagers on the show? And yet FOUR of them have the same name? (Five, if you consider Blonde Jennifer is played by two different people and perhaps is supposed to be two different Jennifers...Remember how in Big Time Fever Blonde Jennifer booked a job in Iceland 'cause the heat was making her hair flat? Maybe when Carlos didn't work out the other two Jennifer's got a new Jennifer.)
Somewhat related, GUITAR DUDE NEEDS A NAME.