Okay, I see this pairing brought up a lot more these days, and I'll admit I was a bit baffled at first. Lunella Lafayette and Casey? From the 'Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur' animated series? They're kids! But then I actually watched the show and read some of the fics, and the appeal started clicking into place.
It's not about romance in a traditional sense, at least not in most of what I've read. The popular fics I've seen frame it as a super-intense, pre-teen friendship that's just brimming with potential. Lunella is this genius who sometimes struggles to connect with people her own age, and Casey is this loyal, street-smart, artistically-inclined kid who gets her on a fundamental level. The fandom really latches onto that dynamic of 'brains and heart' or 'logic and creativity' working together. They're partners in a very pure way.
What makes it work, I think, is that the source material gives them a rock-solid foundation of mutual respect and adventure. The fanfiction then explores all the 'what-ifs' from there. What if one of them got hurt? What if they had a big fight? What if they're trying to navigate being superheroes AND middle school? It's that age where friendships feel epic and all-consuming, and writers can tap into that nostalgia. The fact that they're young leads to stories focused on loyalty, growing up, and secret-keeping, which are powerful themes even without adding romantic subtext, though some fics do gently push it into future-fic territory.
Honestly, seeing fan creativity build out this corner of the Marvel universe for a younger, joyful show is kind of wonderful. It fills a niche.