𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙡𝙮𝙨𝙢.

[jcmiesingh]

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TLDR:: jerry’s son via high school pregnancy & your local drug dealer who’s been working at high volume for about 5 years.

CLICK HERE FOR A SUMMARY OF JAMIE’S SEASON 1 ARC.

full info & headcanons below the cut ! ( @volumeupdates )

( archie renaux, cis man, he/him, muse e ) oh snap! is that JAMIE SINGH? they work over at high volume where some of the other employees have labeled them as THE CATACLYSM. that’s probably because they can be a bit ( resourceful ) but also pretty ( self-serving ). they’re 24 and they’ve been living in woodstock for THEIR WHOLE LIFE. it must be their shift because i totally hear METALLICA blasting from the record store. ( aesthetics: a busted walkman playing heavy metal through the headphones, a hand-rolled blunt sticking out of his back pocket and another tucked behind his ear, the glint of a pearly smile after telling a white lie, filthy sneakers with the soles falling off ) [ EM, 23, EST, SHE/HER ]

born in woodstock to 15-year-old neha singh, whose mother agreed to help raise the baby while neha finished high school and went to college.

jamie’s mother refused to tell him (or his grandmother) anything about his father, even though jamie tried relentlessly over the years to find out who he was.

grandma did most of the actual raising in his early childhood, with neha focusing on school. then once she finished college, she decided to leave jamie in woodstock while she pursued a flashy business career.

money was super tight growing up. his grandma had spent all of her savings on sending neha to college, and as she grew older her health issues made it harder for her to work. neha sent them the occasional check from miami, but it wasn’t much. jamie always just had less than most of the other kids he grew up around.

he started dealing drugs in his first year of high school because he was tired of putting up with having so little. it was more for him than for his grandma, who would’ve wanted to know where he was getting the money anyway.

when he was 16, his operation got busted and he had to spend a year in juvie. he’d been super close to his grandma before, but she was so heartbroken and disappointed that things were never the same between them after that.

after getting back from juvie jamie swore he wouldn’t start dealing again, but he managed to get himself into other forms of trouble -- underage drinking and partying, shoplifting, vandalism, partaking in drugs even if he wasn’t selling them. always one fuckup away from getting kicked out of his grandma’s house, he got super good at letting other people take the fall. people he figured had way less to lose than he did. jamie learned to look out for himself only, with two exceptions: his grandma and muse f.

when he was 18, he was looking through some old shit in the attic and came across his mom’s journal from when she was in high school. upon reading it, jamie learned a lot about his “loser” father, including a name: jerry gordon.

was able to track jerry down after asking around, and it was total news to jerry that they were father and son too. jamie was super happy to see that his dad seemed to be like him in a lot of ways.

jamie’s mom was super angry to learn he’d sought out his dad, seeing it as a betrayal of her and her wishes. jamie narrowly avoided her never speaking to him again by lying and saying that it was jerry who came looking for him, not the other way around.

not that he was even sure why he wanted to keep his mom in his life that badly, she had a whole fancy career in miami now with a husband and a new baby more worth her time than jamie.

he took a job at high volume and bonded hardcore with jerry, after a couple of years he even started calling him ‘dad’ and it didn’t feel weird.

in the meantime, dealing drugs became a thing again because jamie was an adult and he wanted to move out of his grandma’s house. and he figured he wasn’t as stupid about it now, he’d be more careful this time.

when cops showed up at high volume with an anonymous tip about drugs at the store, jamie panicked. things were so good for him: he’d finally moved into an apartment and become close with his dad (who knew about his history and juvie, but was under the impression that jamie had moved past it), and he desperately didn’t want to lose either of those things. he quickly moved his stash to muse k’s locker, figuring they had less to lose and everyone would easily believe they were the culprit. 

of course now he feels pretty guilty about it because he didn’t think the results would be as bad for muse k as they were. but when it comes down to it, he’d probably make the same choice again.

and now his dad is missing?? and it’s not even related to any of jamie’s fuckups??? he is incredibly stressed and v determined to find out what happened to him, while keeping high volume open in the meantime because he’s become pretty attached to the store over the past few years.

against his better judgment, jamie is still dealing, but not as often out of the store. sometimes though.

his personality & interests are v dudebro-like… into video games, hard rock & metal, beer, & sex when the opportunity arises. has fuckboy tendencies but is not a full-on fuckboy i think.

a friendly enough guy, even though he cares about himself more than most other people.

would stab you in the back for a corn chip <3

[jcmiesingh]

one more bike ride (self-para).

woodstock's side streets are quiet as jamie speeds through on his bike, the wind cool on his newly buzzed scalp. ever since he decided to leave for nashville, he's started to notice the beauty of the only home he's ever known, with its tree-lined suburban landscape and midwestern charm. it's not enough to stop him from skipping town, of course; no, this time he's getting out for real.

he could've picked many things as the sign that it was time for him to move on from woodstock: his drug operation crumbling, james getting caught, nisa dumping him, blair deciding to skip town first. maybe, in their own ways, each of them was a sign. but jamie's never believed that the universe sends signals. he's leaving not because of any sign, but because for the first time, he feels like he wants more from his life.

the cemetery looms at the end of the street, peaceful and still and waiting. jamie doesn't have much time before he needs to head back and start loading up blair's car, so he doesn't pause before leaning his bike up against the fence and entering. thankfully, he doesn't need to waste time wandering among the rows of headstones. he knows where to go.

JERRY ALEXANDER GORDON april 11, 1960 - july 12, 1999

one year. a year since his dad disappeared forever, and in that time, jamie's been to the darkest places of his life. he's tried to leap into flames to chase after a killer, broken into a police precinct and a house and a morgue, spent a night in jail, been chased around by gambling debt, and nearly drank himself to death on more nights than he can count. he tried to bandage the gaping wound of his grief with liquor and drugs and sex and thrills. but he never succumbed entirely to those things, because jamie knew he couldn't give up on fighting to bring jerry's killer to justice.

and now that it's finally happened, jamie thinks he'll try fighting for himself instead.

"i still miss you," he says aloud, head bowed toward the headstone. his voice is quiet, even though there's no one else in the cemetery to overhear him. "and i'm still fucking angry that you ended up like this. but i'm moving on, dad. i have to move on."

his whole life, it felt inevitable that jamie would follow the same path as his father. he'd spend his whole life in woodstock, and unreliable deadbeat through and through, drinking and gambling his way to an early death while everyone who was worth a damn moved on to bigger and better things. but what he's come to realize is that he is worth a damn. jerry was worth a damn, even if the man couldn't escape his fate. jamie matters to people and he matters to himself and fuck, he can't just throw his life away. not when he's got so much living still left to do.

jamie turns away from the grave, feeling the weight of the goodbye even though he doesn't say the word out loud. he'll be back, of course. his grandma has demanded that he visit woodstock often, and too many people he cares about are still here. but it's a goodbye for now, goodbye to this, goodbye to the roughest chapter of his life.

hello to something better.

[jcmiesingh]

@tripfm​ // wedding reception, outside the barn

for the first time in a really, really long time, jamie’s feeling good. as in truly good. not scared, not distracting himself from his mess of a life, just chill and wine-buzzed and happy to be among his friends. still, you know what they say about old habits. the end of his joint glows as he leans against the outside of the barn, blowing smoke out into the summer evening. that’s when he spots trip, and as instinctual as it is to either ignore him or be openly antagonistic, jamie’s mood might just overcome that instinct.

“you want a hit, tadlock?” he holds up the joint. “unless you’re recording me again, like a damn cop.” there’s no edge to his teasing-- it might even sound almost friendly.

[jcmiesingh]

@martytsui​ // wedding reception

the most annoying thing about parties at the woodacre barn? having to piss outside. jamie’s just returning from one such detour, feeling significantly more sober than he was before he emptied his bladder, when he spots marty hovering by the barn entrance. his stomach flips a little; he’s been avoiding telling them that he’s leaving town, not because he thinks they’d take it badly but because it’d mean coming to terms with the fact that there are things about woodstock (aka people) that he’s actually going to miss. and marty’s pretty damn high on that list.

 “you’d make an intimidating bouncer,” he jokes, sidling up next to her. “i might look like a crasher, but i swear i know the bride and groom. even used to sleep with one of ‘em.”

[ashstfu]

*lying* why would i lie

[jcmiesingh]

chaseraynor​:

“You haven’t come empty-handed either,” he points out, indicating the joint. It really does feel like nothing has changed. If it wasn’t them tagging things together, it was them smoking a quick joint during or afterwards. In the midst of all the chaos going on, it was appreciated having some semblance of normality. He looks back at his unfinished work a little too long. When he came out here tonight, he hadn’t planned to spray paint a raven, but with everything being worse than the usual, it took him a few short moments of contemplating to decide this is what he wanted to work on. “Symbol of bad fortune.” He clicks his tongue after he replies. It’s not the first time Chase tags things that have negative or gloomy meaning, given that his work was a reflection of his own thoughts.

jamie nods affirmatively as the flicker of his lighter pops up, takes a drag from the now-glowing joint. “i never do,” he replies, smoke from his lips dissipating into the air. he offers the joint to chase, a boon to close the distance that’s formed in their friendship. not that jamie’s particularly worried either way-- things with chase were simple and easy before, and they’re already starting to feel simple and easy again. like no time has even passed and nothing in their lives has changed. that part’s not true, obviously, but it’s a relief to see something unaffected by everything that’s happened. “bad fortune, huh,” jamie chuckles. “what makes you think there’s bad fortune going around? was it the escaped murderer or the attempted homicide?”

[jcmiesingh]

weslvys​:

       there are many people he’s taken point to annoy, but jamie seems to be the permanent number one on his list. he swears it hasn’t always been on purpose. they’ve just never gotten along. especially in high school when wesley was prone to throwing him under the bus at any given moment – even if the other hadn’t been doing anything. from what he little he’s chosen to remember of jamie, it’s always been a two way street. neither of them have ever been fond of each other and that was a light way of putting it. his hope of going the rest of their shift without speaking to each other disappears as soon as jamie drones on about his distaste for oasis playing over the loudspeakers. “sorry, i don’t take music advice from people who listen to system of a down,” wes answers, not bothering to look up from his busy task of sorting through records. “you swear what exactly? you still have the disreputable goal of ending up in jail?”

“pretty humble of you to admit you don’t listen to anyone with taste, but i already knew that, davis.” he’s well aware that humble isn’t exactly a good word to describe wes, but then, it’s never been quite fitting for jamie either. he’s too prideful to back down from a jab thrown in his direction, even when it’s meaningless. maybe that’s why he and wes have been at odds ever since they met-- neither one of their egos can handle the other. annoyed by the amount of acoustic guitars in his ears and inspired to take advantage of the lull in customers to annoy wes further, jamie fishes a cigarette out of his pocket and lights up from behind the register, blowing a long stream of smoke in wes’ direction. “yeah, actually. still haven’t decided what i’ll be in for, though. what do you think: homicide or arson? or maybe i’ll just light someone on fire and knock out two birds with one stone.”

[jcmiesingh]

nisafm​:

         jamie had surprised nisa when he slid into the booth next to her. admittedly, she hadn’t thought him to be the type to be so casually — and sweetly — affectionate. it’s a pleasant surprise.

nisa shakes her head, no, he didn’t tell her about last night. she steals a fry off of his plate, buying herself a few seconds to decide how to react. even though jamie’s lighthearted tone suggests he’s not concerned, nisa can’t help but worry. and she honestly can’t tell if it’s just because she cares about him more now or because his behaviors getting more reckless. she swallows. “is the boat still borrowed, or did you guys return it?”

“returned it. but only ‘cause it would’ve been pretty hard to hide,” jamie replies. but he doesn’t want to dwell on the thievery, because there’s more important things-- stuff-- he wants to tell nisa about. his stomach is doing somersaults and it’s not at all a feeling he’s used to. like he’s powerless, but maybe in a good way? his instincts are still telling him to change the subject and not go down this road, so it’s all he can do to just get the words out and not think about them. “but while we were out on the water, there was... something sorta happened.” his tone changes from nonchalant to serious and jamie has to pause to take a sip of pepsi, his mouth suddenly bone-dry.

[jcmiesingh]

pinkribbcn​:

josie didn’t really understand everything about the gang activity. her parents had sheltered her so much from the world that she never even thought that there were any gangs in woodstock until recently. it was funny, really, how her parents would constantly strike fear and feelings of inadequacy in her while simultaneously trying to protect her from ever getting hurt. but josie couldn’t think about all of that, she had to keep herself distracted. high volume was good for that. “no, i haven’t but it might be a good idea. i feel like i’m imposing when i crash on people’s couch.” 

jamie’s eyebrows raised. he understood why josie left her parents’ house-- he was actually kind of proud of her for making her own path and all that-- but he’d be damned if he let her go homeless. he figured that out of all the employees at high volume, with all of their beefs and differences, that was the one thing they would probably all agree on. “fuck no. promise you’ll come knocking at my place before you ever do that, ‘kay? i don’t care if it’s 3 in the morning. and i’m sure kc and marty would agree you’re not imposing.”

[jcmiesingh]

lexgordons​:

Eyes flickered over to the front door, making sure that there was no one with a key that decided now was the time to make a quick visit to the shop. “Are you sure? Let me count it.” For once, it wasn’t about trusting or not trusting someone. It was about needing to see it with her own eyes. “You’re sure?” The words were repeated. Fuck. This wasn’t exactly what she wanted to get into here, and she wasn’t exactly loyal, but Lex had standards. And standards included not screwing someone over when it came to things like this. All of their necks were on the line if this went wrong.

jamie rolled his eyes, but handed the stack of bills over to lex all the same-- it wasn’t like she was about to run off with it right in front of him. “fucking see for yourself.” he leaned back against the counter and sighed exasperatedly up at the ceiling, his scheming mind already attempting to push through the anger and figure out what the hell they were going to do next. after a long pause, he turned back toward lex. if there was any time that would test her loyalty to their whole operation, it was now. “so. exactly how bad do you really wanna get back at your mom?”

[jcmiesingh]

tripfm​:

status : closed for @jcmiesingh​​ setting : high volume, closing time

     ❝ YIKES, IT’S SERIOUSLY COMING DOWN NOW, ❞ trip says to no one in particular one evening, eyes glued to the storefront window and the dreary scene that lies beyond. gray skies, gray streets, the wind buffets against the store furiously enough to shake the window panes and, mixed with the steadily intensifying rain, nearly drown out trip’s voice entirely. with the weather being what it is, customers have been few in number and far between. this wouldn’t be an issue normally, but considering trip’s only other company is the very last person he wants to be sharing a shift with, he’s not feeling particularly sunny today either. ❝ dude, seriously. how long does it take to count up a register ? ❞ his vision shifts over to jamie behind the sales counter, tone clearly agitated, impatient, and maybe even a little nervous. ❝ i wanna get out of here before the power blows. ❞

jamie’s been partial to the closing shift lately, when he can count his earnings for the day and fix up the store’s numbers with minimal interference from customers or coworkers. not even trip’s presence or the apparent hurricane outside is enough to break his concentration, but his frustration rises as he comes to the conclusion that it’s been another meager day. lately, it’s just been nothing but setbacks-- and now he gets to end the workday with trip tadlock and bike home in the pouring rain and wind. awesome.

“remind me to never trust you to do it, if you breeze through shit that quickly,” jamie responds, closing up the register. “besides, i’m all done.” he turns away and begins gathering his things, his eye catching the view outside the windows. it looks even worse than it sounds. after a pause during which he tries to decide if keeping his pride is worth the risk of dying in a storm, jamie addresses trip again. “it physically hurts me to ask you this, but can i get a ride home?”

[jcmiesingh]

martytsui​:

🎸

it’s exponential, the thing that brings her and jamie to the docks — the more they want to ignore whatever they’re feeling, the stupider their plan has to be. it’s simple and, right now, marty needs simple. at jamie’s words, marty can’t help but look at him with a mischievous grin. “evil genius?” marty would be lying if she said there’s no pride in the way she beams at that. “in that case, you can be my loyal sidekick.” they look at the boats in front of them; there’s not many to pick from but it’s a choice that comes easily. “that one.” she points at a middle sized one — big enough so they can get comfortable but not too big that neither of them can’t wing it when it comes to driving the thing — and doesn’t wait before she starts walking towards it, a pep in her step due to excitement and the alcohol already in her system. they’re almost to the end of the dock when they stop on their tracks, hand up to stop jamie from going any further. “wait — you got some weed right?” 

jamie snorts at the designation marty gives him, even though ‘loyal sidekick’ isn’t too far off from the part he’s playing right now. he’s sure he’d be getting up to no good with or without marty, but this particular brand of crazy is entirely their doing. whatever it is they’re figuring out-- whether it’s the shit with their dad sending them off the rails, the whole nonsense with trip, everything happening in and around high volume, or a perfect storm of all of those things-- jamie is more than happy to ride it out next to her. he nods in agreement at marty’s boat selection, approaching with her and prepared to swing himself on board before he’s stopped in his tracks. “i’m sorry, did you say weed? as in cannabis? what kind of lowlife do you think i am, that i’d just carry illegal drugs with me?” jamie laughs, raising his eyebrow at marty in mock offense. obviously he has weed. that’s kind of his whole deal.

[sadhappyloner-deactivated202302]

you're in her dms i'm in her therapist's notes as a "potential issue" we are not the same

[jcmiesingh]

@nisafm​ // freddy’s diner

jamie munches absentmindedly on one of his fries, the knots turning in his stomach completely unrelated to his appetite. he and nisa have made themselves comfortable on the same side of a booth, his arm slung casually around her like those couples he’s always hated seeing in public. but now that he’s on the other side of it, jamie doesn’t give a fuck if they annoy their fellow diners. he’s always done what he wants, and what he wants is to be close to nisa. actually, he wants even more than that with nisa.

“oh, did i tell you about last night? marty and i stole a boat,” he chuckles. “temporarily borrowed, really.” 

[jcmiesingh]

@martytsui​ // docks by the river? lake? idk what bodies of water this town has

jamie sways drunkenly along the wooden planks of the dock, surveying the fancy sailboats and motorboats lined up on the water. he didn’t even hesitate to agree to marty’s insane idea of borrowing one for the evening, even though this is clearly part of some sort of spiral they’re having. jamie’s less of an interventionist and more of an ‘i’ll ride it out with you’ type of friend, which is what brings him here tonight, wondering passively if marty is maybe going to get them both arrested. “okay, evil genius. which one is speaking to you?” he gestures toward the row of boats.  

[jcmiesingh]

@lexgordons​ // high volume, after closing

he’s going to track christian down and murder him with his bare hands. that’s all jamie can think about as he checks their books against the stash of money they’ve been safely stowing away in a floorboard behind the counter. he counts it a second time, then a third-- sure enough, he’s been fucked over and robbed. jamie looks up at lex with frustration in every line of his face. with christian blowing town, he’ll need to rely on his cousin more than ever if he wants to see this thing through, regardless of whether or not he actually trusts her.

“it’s gone,” jamie shakes his head in disbelief. “not all of it, obviously, but. that bastard screwed us over.” and he didn’t even say goodbye.   

[jcmiesingh]

@weslvys​ // high volume

he isn’t sure if wes has made it his life’s mission to annoy the crap out of jamie at every second, but if so, he’s got to applaud the guy for doing an absolutely stellar job. he’s never met anyone else he disagrees so wholeheartedly with on just about everything-- ever since high school, he and wes have been exact opposites. jamie isn’t sure what wes is even doing at high volume (despite knowing nothing about wes’ financial background, jamie assumes he doesn’t really need the job), but whenever he talks about it, jamie gets the feeling he’s just looking at them like they’re some sort of sideshow. and that never fails to piss him off.

“christ sake, not oasis again,” jamie groans as wes’ music selection comes on over the loudspeakers. “dude, if i have to hear wonderwall one more time, i swear...”