* tw for car accidents, parental death, mentions of suicide, mentions of child murder (????) *
OOC; hello !!! i’m jessie !! i use she/her and i’m 21, living in london ( gmt ! ) ! i just graduated uni and trying to find a purpose in life lol so i’ve decided to come back into rping - i have been rping for the last 9 years but i have a tendency to drop out every now and then, so bare w me as i Recalibrate myself rn :-) i don't have a wanted connections page bc i’m Annoying but i will message each one of u individually to plot <3 <3
TLDR; dean robinson, the dirtbag, 22, they/she. parents died from an accident where their car drove off a bridge into a lake when dean was 10 - dean was the sole survivor, took in and adopted by the franklins. has been working at high volume for nearly 4 years. unstable, unapproachable and unhappy to Be Here.
QUICK FIRE BULLET POINTS UNDER THE CUT ! @volumeupdates
( lee hojung, non-binary, they/she, muse n ) oh snap! is that DEAN ROBINSON? they work over at high volume where some of the other employees have labeled them as THE DIRTBAG. that’s probably because they can be a bit ( INDEPENDENT ) but also pretty ( CYNICAL. ) they’re 22 and they’ve been living in woodstock for THEIR WHOLE LIFE. it must be their shift because i totally hear LIMP BIZKIT blasting from the record store. ( the stomping of battered combat boots, cigarette smoke glinting in the moonlight, scraped knees and bloody fists, a hipflask that's never empty - after all, you never know when you're going to need to drown the pain out, right? ) [ JESSIE, 21, GMT, SHE/HER ]
their father, rudy robinson, was adopted into a white family who was in a Cult and thus brought up rlly involved in the cult
his wife, millie, only joined this cult when she married him lol
up until the age of 10, dean did not necessarily have an abusive upbringing, but def one of neglect - their parents used to Yeet off all the time to go to cult retreats and meetings and whatnot
on the day of the accident, the family are in the car and the parents are arguing - dean is too young to know about What, but they know their name is being brought up a lot and so is the cult. anyways, in true Evilness, rudy looks back into the backseat at one point where dean is sitting, makes eye contact, and then has the snap decision to drive the entire car off the fuckin bridge and into the lake.
both parents die on impact. dean is found Nearly Drowned in the backseat still by emergency services
the papers say it’s an Accident and people always go Oh Poor Orphan when they see dean, who gets adopted by the franklins
dean has beef with religion obviously
has health complications from the near drowning - long term pulmonary edema, where they get regular chest pains, tire easily and cannot be Too Active
actually rlly smart!!!! but has beef w school so no one ever knows - can see them rlly doing a Chunk of keeping high volume afloat now that jerry is gone ?? idk
has absolutely no life ambitions (mood) so has been working at high volume since they graduated high school at 18 to get Away and Independent from the franklins
has abandonment and family issues <3 self loathing also comes into play baby <3
up for almost Anything, loves a good time bc they have nothing to lose
however, also dedicated to being Honest and refuses to play nice lmfao is in a constant aggressive mood and p standoffish
resentful and bitter and not afraid to show it<3
wants to get out of town so bad !!! but feel they r trapped
i have decided like rn. on the spot. that r saving up for a motorcycle and the only reason they have not bought one yet is bc they r being stupid picky about which one they want. this headcanon makes no sense at all
lives in a weird shitty shack by themselves. its gross but its theirs
OOC; i am NOT going to go on another rant about how much i love y’all. that’s embarrassing, i’d rather tell u all that dean is FINALLY peace-ing out of this godforsaken town like they’ve always wanted <3 i’ve never in my life wanted to wrap up my character’s story as much as i have for this rp so here u go lovelies
also like. there’s no point of the below other than the fact i wanted to write dean one last time. gonna miss this bitch and this place<3
when you’ve spent your whole life getting stuck at every corner you turn, you have to let it go at some point. you need to start a new cycle.
from the moment dean was born, this town hadn’t wanted them. when the franklins had taken dean in, and they had sat on the stiff sofa of their living room, dean had decided they had two choices: they could let that destroy them or they could become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
what they don’t really tell you: growing up with that kind of environment chips away at a person. they could live up the shitty standards the town put on them, but it would also strip them of something integral - bit by bit, every year - until they are a patchwork of a person sewn together roughly and trying to call it a life.
how many times can you hit a brick wall before you stop getting up?
there’d been nothing left for dean in this town. when they looked at their poor attempt of a life, they could do a check-list of things that had went wrong:
the further they got from the franklins, the better.
dean could spit fire about their family all they want, but they couldn’t save josie, if she wanted to get out, she had to damn well get out herself - dean’s already given too much.
crashing at blair & ethan’s couch for a few days had been fine until mildly unbearable. they’d found eric on craigslist, but they don’t think eric would care much of leaving after a few months’ rent.
it was a hard truth but --- jennifer was never going to hire dean again at high volume. jerry might’ve had a soft spot for the town’s local saddest orphan, but jennifer wasn’t here during the robinsons’ tragedy. she had no guilt to give to dean.
naz though. that was another story. or the end of one before it began. dean, for lack of anything better to do, hatched a plan of seducing naz long enough to persuade her to rehire them at the stupid store. unfortunately, after a mere few meetings, dean realised that naz was perhaps going to burrow further under dean’s skin than they cared to admit. so naturally --- YEET.
when dean had tried to run away at the beginning of the year, they’d packed all their belongings into one duffel bag and tried not to think about how everything they had was reduced to such a small space.
this time, dean leaves everything. there’s nothing they want to take. to start a new life, sometimes you need to leave it all behind.
it’s not quite a plan, but dean wakes up one morning and realises they really can’t do this anymore. they get up. they put on their favourite combat boots and leather jacket. they hitchhike out -- when the driver asks where they are heading, dean smiles. shark teeth.
anywhere. anywhere but here.
they don’t really have a destination, but it doesn’t matter. watching woodstock fade in the distance is enough. dean’s never been one for goodbyes, but they think the few people in this town who care about them will understand. if they stayed any longer, they were going to suffocate into nothing here. didn’t they deserve to write themselves a new story?
i was actually going to slap a psd and make it nicer but i couldnt be bothered :))) i also want to do a deep character analysis for each one but i ALSO still cant be bothered :)) so below is going to be bullet point vibes - LMAO they all just have bad attitudes and hate people frankly, like my babe dean, but n e ways
jess mariano - bad attitude, hates people! intellectual who flunked out of school! town’s dirtbag!
alex karev - bad attitude! people think they r a dick!
jessica jones - bad attitude, hates people! questionable morals!
derek hale - bad attitude, hates people!
raven reyes - life keeps beating them up! deserves better!
rosa diaz - bad attitude, hates people!
mickey milkovich - bad attitude, hates people! questionable morals! neighbourhood’s piece of shit!
ronan lynch - bad attitude, hates people! intellectual who hated school! complicated relationship with religion!
“it’s only a date if we go for one shake, two straws. like lady and the tramp, but with liquids.” naz is having to stop herself from blushing now. she’s like a rose, blooming under the first rays of love. little does she know what dean has in store for her. “no, but i bet it’s cute.”
“we have very different ideas of dates,” is dean’s reply, thinking back to their own past of having first kisses in shitty parking lots, mild robbery and vandalising the walls of their high school. looking back at naz, dean highly doubts that the girl has been anywhere near such a realm of delinquency. oh well - culture shock then. “dean. and you should tell me your name because i know everyone in this shitty town, but not you.”
coming home after a long shift at high volume, ethan paused in the doorway. for a brief minute, he thought that maybe someone had broken in, which had nearly sent him into a panic. but on closer inspection, the body napping on their couch belonged to dean - someone ethan was not expecting to see.
he blinked at them in surprise, mouth having already fallen open slightly in confusion. “oh, um. hi?” he offered once he’d forced himself to snap out of it. no use in making things even more weird and awkward than they already were. ethan took a moment to shut the door behind him, giving himself a chance to adjust to the weird situation. “oh um, yeah. that’s…that’s fine.” ethan told them, although he knew for a fact that blair had never run something like that by him. but, he wasn’t going to throw dean out - they clearly needed a place to crash, if the duffle bag was anything to go off of. he knew nothing about their situation, but ethan wasn’t heartless. he’d definitely be having a word with blair about it later, though. “um, do you…” ethan paused, having no fucking clue what to even say in this situation. “want to order a pizza, or something?” was the best thing he could settle on. after all, he was starving and maybe a meal would make things slightly less weird.
surprisingly, ethan’s awkwardness has always been more endearing than annoying for dean. even when they were both two loners at school in each other’s orbits, dean found the awkward pauses much more content than the useless white noise of chatter around them from everyone else.
“did she not tell you? sorry, dude.” it’s not quite a sincere apology, but it’s the best dean can offer. they push themselves up into a sitting position, raising a shoulder. there were many reasons for not wanting to crash at blair and ethan’s place in the first time and, whilst maybe 99% of the reasons was everything to do with blair and the whole situation there, the last time dean had seen ethan properly was that halloween party where he made out with blair. which, like. yeah, whatever. but also. not dean’s most favourite memory.
still, it’s not ethan’s fault, they guess. “pizza would be great. but i can also get out of your way if you need.”
he nods in response, thinking he gets it, before he smiles in response to the record they hold. “ blair’s on break out back, ” he tells them though he wouldn’t be surprised if she’s bailed, it’s mostly been quiet today. “ but yeah, it’s a little different. ” he tilts his head, the general feeling of the store being a little unfamiliar still, something not quite right as his pessimism persuades him that it’ll never feel the same as it did before everything.
he snaps out of his weird little daze as his gaze focuses back on dean. “ uh, so were you wanting to buy something or ..? ” kem’s not trying to be rude, he’s just curious and he’s never been the best at small talk.
really, dean doesn’t mean to make a face at the mention of blair out back, but it’s a bad habit from years of bitter. quickly, they look around the store in a sweeping gaze, trying to catalogue any differences. dean’s always been on the outskirts of any social group, but it still feels like being purposely shut out of an exclusive club, no longer working at high volume.
they look back at the record in their hand and set it down again. they couldn’t afford it right now anyway. “um. no. had nothing much better to do, the town’s not that interesting. you know anywhere hiring?”
“i mean, i’m personally relieved to have healthy bowel habits.” once again, naz speaks without thinking, clasps a hand over her mouth and another over her eyes, peeking to see whether the strange is the least bit amused. it doesn’t seem dire, so she feels her fingers away; one by one. “not a single wrinkle.” naz declares, fingers picking at the menu’s frayed edges now. “although, maybe we’ll get them, the longer we wait to order these milkshakes…if you - er - you know - wanna join me for one?”
it’s actually kind of endearing. dean’s eyebrows raise and they throw her a grin. “is this our first date?” they tease. “y’know. i usually know the other person’s name before i agree to things like this. do you even know mine?” dean hopes not.
“not lactose intolerant people.” naz blurts out the words without thinking, without considering the mental image she has now painted on the utter cutie’s mind. “i’m not - i’m not lactose intolerant. if you were wondering. which you probably weren’t, now that i come to think of it.” unable to keep the surprise off her face when the stranger slides in, naz offers up a small, shy smile. taking their presence as a positive sign, she decides to go bold. naz puts the menu down - and, clearly in jest, retorts “yeah, hasn’t anyone told you about those crow’s eyes?”
thank god for naz. dean’s pleasantly surprised at how easily this plan is going to work; they hadn’t really had a preference on which sibling to go for as a stepping stone to get back into volume, but they are instantly glad that they saw naz around town first before their sibling. “i don’t know - i feel lactose intolerant people will put up with the shits for this kind of milkshake,” dean snorts, and then stops abruptly. right. flirting. the type of flirting that probably doesn’t involve talking about shitting. “ah, you’re going to make me self-conscious of wrinkles now.”
as soon as they hear dean’s voice calling to them, marty lets out an exasperated sigh. she doesn’t really know why ( she could take a very educated guess, though ) but her patience has been running lower and lower and dean’s not the first person to come to mind when marty first hopes someone distracts her. marty scoffs. “i haven’t been avoiding you, robinson,” marty starts, amused. they turn to face dean. “i just don’t go out of my way to talk to you.” she shrugs. “either way, i don’t have cash on me right now. so, tough shit.”
“y’know. if you keep talking like that, i’d have to start assuming that you don’t like me,” dean retorts, coming to a halt in front of marty. they fold their arms, not quite aggressive but not quite friendly either. dean doubts jennifer would take this gatecrashing in their stride, so they should at least put some effort in being low profile. “convenient excuse. i could’ve sold you out to that shithead ! ”
it’s not like dean’s presence goes unnoticed. in fact, kem has sort of been keeping tabs on them since they entered. not for any particular reason other than obviously he knows them and then the subsequent events to follow just happened to hol`d his attention. once a mess is created he feels like he wants to sort it out immediately, especially with a new boss, but he needs to finish with this customer at the till first.
as soon as he bids them adieu, his gaze flickers to dean, then back down as he sorts the receipt, shaking his head at their question.“ not unless you can find her. ” he says slightly sharp, not really intending to before he looks back to dean. “ but no, she’s not scheduled in today. ” kem offers instead. “ do you have plans or something ? ”
to be honest, dean doesn’t think they’ve had any plans, long-standing or otherwise, with josie since they were in their pre-teens, but it’s not an outlandish assumption about siblings. especially from someone like kem, who wouldn’t know the ins-and-outs of the fucked-up dynamics of the franklins.
“something like that,” dean says instead, shoulder shrugging. they hold up the record they were looking at as some sort of explanation. “are you in charge of the store yourself today? is jennifer changing up shift patterns already?”
a smirk teased the corner of christian’s lip at dean’s deadpan, but in another second it was gone. that was the way they worked – everything kept under wraps, but comfortable together nonetheless. “you think you’re the only one that’s broke right now?” christian pointed out, but he wasn’t mad. he didn’t really expect anything in return, not from them. the two had a give and take. like now, for example. even before they reach the barn, he gave dean the bottle and waited for them to take it.
without looking, dean reaches for the bottle offered their way and takes a long swig. it doesn’t take good, but it does taste familiar, and they’ll take anything right now. they take another gulp, smaller, and then hold the bottle out again. “ha, don’t you have a job? maybe jennifer’ll even pay you lot better now.”
EYES NARROW SLIGHTLY AS MAXINE regards dean carefully. it’d be easy to tell them, and she wants to tell someone — besides, she’s a bit buzzed and won’t people know soon anyway ? « can you keep a secret ? » max asks after a beat of silence. she doesn’t know if she’s expecting an honest answer or no, or if she even really cares. « so the black hole of woodstock pulled you back, huh ? » unsurprisingly. no one seems to leave this town for too long. « it’s good to have you back though. »
DEAN GIVES A MOCK-OUTRAGE LOOK, hand on heart. “ can i keep a secret ? ” they repeat incredulous. they make a show of looking around them and leaning forward, lowering their voice as if telling a secret. “ let me let you in on something, max. nobody wants to talk to me enough to hear any secrets i might or might not have. ” with an amused grin, they sit back again, “ knew you missed me. you’re dying to tell me, c’mon. ”
LOCATION: blair and ethan’s LOL
STATUS: closed ( @outsldcr )
dean’s taking a nap on the couch, using their worn-out army jacket as a blanket and duffel bag as a pillow. sure, they could use actual pillows and blankets, but it’d taken a blow to their own dignity to accept a roof over their head from their ex-girlfriend in the first place. dean’s not been in the mood to ask for anything else - they’re pretty good at being self-sufficient anyway.
they startle awake at the sound of the door opening, squinting at the figure half-asleep. “oh. hey.” there’s an awkward pause and then dean offers, “blair said i could crash.”
she’s in the middle of her strawberry-shortcake-sheds-her-halo fantasy, with her sister’s borrowed biker boots on her feet and a thrifted leather jacket on her back. the main character in her own fantastical scenario, naz doesn’t notice the stranger’s presence until it’s almost too late. she glances around, uncertain if she’s the object of their attention. it doesn’t have often. ever? straightening out the crease in her eyebrows (does she look indecisive? confused? dumb?), naz pretends to read the menu. “you don’t look like a milkshake kinda person.” she meant the words as fun - to imply they look punk ass, badass - but now there’s only one ass - and it’s naz. gasping, she grimaces. “i mean - because it’s like, super sweet and a lil bit childish and you’re like, you know,” she gestures up and down, searching for words…salty? savoury? “…an adult? a cool one. i think.”
does dean have a particular opinion on milkshakes either way ? absolutely not , but --
“what does a milkshake person look like ? surely everyone is a milkshake person,” they throw back, complete with a mock gasp. they kind of hate themselves a little bit right now. “that being said, i guess you do look like a milkshake person. i’m inclined to chocolate but you definitely look like a strawberry kind of girl.” without an invitation but taking this conversation as a positive sign, dean slips into the seat opposite. “an adult ? are you calling me old ? ”
LOCATION: miracle video
STATUS: closed ( @martytsui )
“ OI ! tsui ! ” the shout is loud and abrupt enough for the only other customer in the store to startle. over at the counter, agnes arches an eyebrow at dean’s way, but they hardly pay attention. they’re already weaving their way through the aisles towards marty, having caught sight of them through the store window as dean was walking past. “have you been avoiding me? there’s, like. three people in this entire town. if you think you can avoid me until i forget about the fact you owe me, then think again. i want twenty bucks from that loser at the battle of the bands.”
