𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 🔎 𝒉𝒖𝒅𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒚.
name : hudson 'hud’ sweeney
age : thirty-six ( born may 3rd )
gender & pronouns : cis man & he / him
neighborhood : downtown
occupation : private investigator
faceclaim : ben barnes
about. wanted. pinterest.
𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐲.
tw : cancer and death
– one breezy fall night in the maternity ward at salt county general, hudson sweeney came screaming into this word. firstborn to a pair of disgustingly happy iron river high sweethearts, he was brought home three days later and raised within the cramped but affectionate walls of a two-bedroom in the mines alongside his little brother, tucker. growing up in iron river was the epitome of small town life, but make no mistake -- hud wasn’t always this disillusioned. as a child, he found no shortage of ways to keep himself entertained. he’d always loved mysteries. from scooby doo to the hardy boys, hud couldn’t get enough -- so much so, he started creating his own; hunting long-forgotten shortcuts and tracking down lost pets for worried townsfolk. over the years, he’d garner quite the ‘aw shucks’ reputation as iron river’s very own junior detective, but as he grew older and his imagination waned, he was forced to face the ugly truth: nothing exciting ever happens in iron river.
– by the time he reached adolescence, he had one goal alone: get the hell out, by any means necessary. of course, this was easier said than done. his grades weren’t anything special, and his hobbies outside sleuthing were few and far between. it took a dozen odd jobs and many grueling hours of mowing yards and scrubbing dryer drums at the laundromat, but by nineteen, hud finally saved up enough money to book himself a one-way ticket to new york city.
– life in the big apple was quite the culture shock. a shoebox apartment with three struggling artist roommates was hardly the life he’d envisioned for himself, but hey -- dreams aren’t always pretty. he’d haunt the twenty-four hour diner on his block like a ghost, nursing a single cup of joe for hours on end, and after a few weeks, the owner finally took pity on him and offered him a job. one fateful night, while working the graveyard shift, a man sat in his section. his name was mitch, and he looked like the clip-art version of a private investigator -- reeking of smoke with a bowler hat on his balding head and a newspaper shrouding his weathered features. the man who would become his mentor.
– for over a decade he and mitch worked in tandem, with hud eventually making the long crawl from rookie assistant to full-fledged partner. he never thought he’d come to think of that fifty year old grump as his best friend, but after the diagnosis ( those damn cigarettes — how many times had he tried to get him to kick the habit? ), he could deny it no longer. hud stayed by his side to the bitter end, holding it together with an air of stoicism he’d learned from mitch himself. only after mitch was in the ground -- only after he’d closed all their cases and packed up the office -- did hud finally let himself fall apart.
– he had to get out of this city. everything reminded him of mitch. who would’ve thought the town he so resented would be the place he came running back to? with no next of kin, mitch had willed what little savings he had to hud, and he used them to open up his own freelance firm, right here in the heart of downtown. for the last four years he’s both worked and lived in that tiny office with the sweeney investigations placard on the door. the jobs are about as thrilling as you’d expect -- just last week, he brought a teen who biked through a neighbor’s flowerbeds to justice -- but he can’t help but have a begrudging appreciation for the town that put him back together.
𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬.
as iron river’s resident grumpy old man, you’d be surprised by just how much of a softie he can be. forever doing favors for people around town, he’s the sort of man who will tell someone no and then proceed to help them out anyway. very much luke danes energy !
about a month after he got back to town, an adorable stray dog showed up on his doorstep. naturally, hud wound up taking him in. while he’s not a spiritual guy, part of him thinks mitch send it to keep him company. almost four years later, the dog still doesn’t have a name. he usually calls him ‘the mutt’, but make no mistake -- that’s his son.
though he’ll bitch about his cases ‘til the cows come home, he secretly loves his work. things got kinda grim in new york, and it’s nice to have a bit of a reprieve from all the cheating spouses and murderous mistresses. he’d be lying if he said he didn’t miss being challenged, though ! most of his day to day workload is fairly cut and dry, and he’d love a real mystery to sink his teeth into.
while his parents retired to west palm beach a few years back, hud’s little brother put down roots in iron river. tuck’s got the whole picket fence thing going on -- wife, two kids, a golden retriever -- and hud pops by every thursday night for a home-cooked meal. his nephews adore him, but his sister-in-law won’t stop trying to set him up with her single friends.
speaking of dating, hud hasn’t had a serious relationship since he got back to town. he was seeing someone in new york for a couple years but he sort of ghosted after mitch died. he’ll go on the occasional first date, but things rarely progress past the initial getting to know you stage. he works weird hours, and he’s been alone for so long that it’s hard to imagine his life any other way.
inspirations : luke danes ( gilmore girls ), nick miller ( new girl ), veronica mars ( veronica mars ), ryan atwood ( the oc )
frequented locations : his office / apartment, the drunken miner, tina’s, the heights ( begrudgingly ), neon moon saloon ( also begrudgingly )