#𝙶𝚄𝚂 𝚁𝙰𝙽𝙶𝙴𝚁. 〈 🏀 〉 nostalgia.

[b1uedcollar]

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#𝙶𝚄𝚂 𝚁𝙰𝙽𝙶𝙴𝚁. 〈 🏀 〉 nostalgia. #fishing thru packs and catching some GEMS tbh

[b1uedcollar]

thinking   about   gus   and   the   concept   of   home  .

#of course jock sets him up in the house #(and al says she doesn’t remember where becky’s crib is. jock doesn’t push.) #and he’s a quiet baby in a quiet house. #until he starts babbling. #and it’s as if the room grows an echo. #louder and louder. that’s when he starts fussing. crying. #and al gets increasingly more headaches with each passing month. until the scowl is permanent. #(“that’s just her face” jock will reason later when gus is convinced he’s the only one she throws The Look to.) #then he starts to crawl #and they nearly stumble through the mornings when finding him curled up in random sleeping spots. #farther from the room each time. #inching toward the door. #so close he can scratch it. #and then he starts to get his legs. #walking through the house. digging up things he shouldn’t be. #al’s head nearly blows off when he finds that crib in the attic. #(looking back he knows she was really mad about the blood all over her kitchen. #remembers the smell of bleach from each repeat cleaning. as if she could scrub the memory [and him] out of her mind for good. #and he’s caught her staring at the scar a few times since.) #but al’s headaches get better after jock takes him outside to work. #and then he’s got a hammer in his hand and fixing up the barn* loft into a new bedroom. #[this is so funny bc i wanted to talk about gus and how he sleeps in cars at any mechanic shop he works at. and then i typed this??] #[lmao part one ig????????] #𝙶𝚄𝚂 𝚁𝙰𝙽𝙶𝙴𝚁. 〈 🏀 〉 nostalgia.

[b1uedcollar]

hm   ..   thinking about jock’s funeral.    and i don’t think gus or alice could stomach going big.   just a small church service.

#arriving at different times. #gus hanging in the back until he worked the nerve to sit next to al. #both staring straight ahead the whole time. #barely registering when it’s over. #gus’s quiet goodbye and alice blinking a few times. #both knowing this is probably the last time they’ll see each other for a while or longer. #both breaking down hours later. #al in the house. #gus in the old chevelle in the barn. #𝙶𝚄𝚂 𝚁𝙰𝙽𝙶𝙴𝚁. 〈 🏀 〉 nostalgia.

[b1uedcollar]

#𝙶𝚄𝚂 𝚁𝙰𝙽𝙶𝙴𝚁. 〈 🏀 〉 nostalgia. #he's such a funny lil man.....

[b1uedcollar]

GUS    /   JOCK.    ⸻    [  ...  ]    HE’S    MY    LIGHT.

#𝙶𝚄𝚂 𝚁𝙰𝙽𝙶𝙴𝚁. 〈 🏀 〉 nostalgia. #JOCK. #tbh.... idk.

[b1uedcollar]

🍑     ,     his number (   jersey and favorite. mayhaps even lucky.   ) is twenty-five [#25].    …    collected quarters with jock through his childhood,   gus now keeps them from the states he visits.    if he uses the coin, the memories grow foggier until disappearing completely.

#gotta lil *jingle* to his walk because of all em coins in his pockets..... #he usually keeps his georgia one in his breast pocket. #or sometimes it's weaving around his fingers because he's practicing the one (1) magic trick he knows. #𝙶𝚄𝚂 𝚁𝙰𝙽𝙶𝙴𝚁. 〈 🏀 〉 nostalgia.

[b1uedcollar]

🍑 — gus wearing tacky hawaiian shirts and a straw hat every night like a uniform when he’s a bartender at some hole in the wall.

#def inspired by a particular com truise movie #but just imagine two shirts in rotation with the most worn out pair of jeans known to man. #i need to do a deep dive on all his odd jobs :/ #𝙶𝚄𝚂 𝚁𝙰𝙽𝙶𝙴𝚁. 〈 🏀 〉 nostalgia.

[b1uedcollar]

CORE4 + texting

ATOM doesn’t like texting. he sends voice memos, videos, and pictures throughout the day. always surprised by a new emoji.

HARLAN communicates almost exclusively in emojis. still, there’s nothing like sitting on the counter and twisting the cord from the landline absently on his fingers.

CODY sends paragraphs of typos. a random voice memo sneaks in of dead air and a loud fuck! of realization. ‘em ipad pics 🍆💦🐿️ just say so much, don’t they?

GUS doesn’t answer. text or call.

#idk what this is but the sad realization of gus not caring what an emoji is :/ #and i cannot stress how important is for you to know that cody is texting / direct messaging via that relic ass ipad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #cody and gus have flippity phones while the other two have smartie ones. (((: #𝙰𝚃𝙾𝙼 𝙶𝙰𝚁𝚉𝙰. 〈 🍓 〉 smoke eater. #𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙻𝙰𝙽 𝚉𝙰𝙺. 〈 🤠 〉 homegrown. #𝙲𝙾𝙳𝚈 𝙲𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙿𝙴𝙽𝚃𝙸𝙴𝚁. 〈 🔩 〉 screwball. #𝙶𝚄𝚂 𝚁𝙰𝙽𝙶𝙴𝚁. 〈 🏀 〉 nostalgia.

[b1uedcollar]

🏀

[ ... ]     Gus Ranger’s lips are flapping ‘bout a mile a minute when I roll my head back to finally look at him. I couldn’t help myself from wondering if the kid even talked in his sleep. [ ... ]     Jock help me, because I never wanted to punch this kid in the mouth more than right this damn second. Not only does that ain’t roll off his goddamn tongue like he ain’t never sat in an English class, but he’s been on ‘bout the same damn shit for months. I don’t know why Jock ain’t drilled in that boy’s head that life ain’t fair.   Those Rangers know more than most.   My feet drop to the ground, and I lean on in. [ ... ]     But his pain. God, all that pain. It’s like lookin’ at the sun. [ ... ]     I’ve learned grief can be a feral dog’s bite without a tetanus shot. An infection that spreads until it kills everything. But this ain’t just grief. It’s rejection that sinks its teeth into the kid.

#𝙶𝚄𝚂 𝚁𝙰𝙽𝙶𝙴𝚁. 〈 🏀 〉 nostalgia. #sometimes i like going thru stuff from gus's first era to remind myself i can write. lmao. #i don't like the whole drabble but i figured these highlights could be of service if saved in his tag sooooo.

[b1uedcollar]

just remembered gus loves junior mints

#there are many instances where you can tell he was raised by an old man and this is…… #𝙶𝚄𝚂 𝚁𝙰𝙽𝙶𝙴𝚁. 〈 🏀 〉 nostalgia.

[b1uedcollar]

thinking about how rare it is for gus to see anything over a $10 bill in cash and how he’s adamant that it should be a $25 bill instead of $20.

#to match the COINS. #𝙶𝚄𝚂 𝚁𝙰𝙽𝙶𝙴𝚁. 〈 🏀 〉 nostalgia.

[b1uedcollar]

“ son, ━━━━ ” “ don’t call me son. ”

“ this is a very serious situation. in refusing to take down the movie, the company has every right to seek legal action against us. ” “ not takin’ it down. ” “ perhaps … you do not understand. this is an important sponsor, and they are not happy. consider where you are now, how you’ve just made starter, and that none of this would be possible without their scholarship. ” “ they can keep the blood money. ” “ son, ━━━━ ” “ i’m not your fucking son! let me tell ya’ something … the man who called me son is six feet in the ground because this piece’a crap company took shortcuts to save a buck. ” “ that is a wildly inappropriate insinuation. ” “ yeah, well, maybe if y’alls watched the damn film, y’d’know he ain’t alone. and, right now, all i see are two big machines stickin’ together. which makes ya’n accomplice to mass murder. ” “ mr. ranger … if nothing, understand this : if you keep going this direction, you will find yourself up a creek without paddle. ” “ i can swim. ”

gifs credit

#𝙶𝚄𝚂 𝚁𝙰𝙽𝙶𝙴𝚁. 〈 🏀 〉 nostalgia. #𝚅𝙸𝚁𝙶𝙸𝙽 𝙼𝙰𝚁𝚃𝚈. 〈 🏀 〉 an angel with a shotgun. #since son's a trigger .... look at my BOY!!!!!! #just needed this saved here.

[b1uedcollar]

#𝙶𝚄𝚂 𝚁𝙰𝙽𝙶𝙴𝚁. 〈 🏀 〉 nostalgia. #ALICE. #imagine i actually finished this......... #slam the dash with reposts from the archives saturday~

[b1uedcollar]

#𝙶𝚄𝚂 𝚁𝙰𝙽𝙶𝙴𝚁. 〈 🏀 〉 nostalgia.

[b1uedcollar]

if you honk the horn .025 seconds after the light turns green, gus will absolutely be staying put.

#𝙶𝚄𝚂 𝚁𝙰𝙽𝙶𝙴𝚁. 〈 🏀 〉 nostalgia. #🫡

[b1uedcollar]

gus’s drive-in is named after the AURIGA constellation. mostly because i associate him with this song.

#𝙶𝚄𝚂 𝚁𝙰𝙽𝙶𝙴𝚁. 〈 🏀 〉 nostalgia.