I feel bad for being inactive, so I’m about to show some old memes, sorry to anyone who doesn’t know Rumblefish or Tex, I have memes for them.
Sorry for this last one, it’s a universe where Biff actually gets to be happy as well and finds someone to love, and I have a soft spot for Biff because I made a past and shit for him, but like, I’m never finishing it. ʅ（◞‿◟）ʃ I mean I have so many things about Biff so if anyone wants to know, just ask, I made lots of things for characters.
Going back to my roots and writing some Rumble Fish headcanons
— out of all his friends, Smokey is the best with a knife. BJ prefers his fists. Midget stays as peaceful as he can. Rusty-James is a fuckin’ moron
— Steve is most susceptible to getting sick, especially in the spring and fall when the weather is unpredictable. he’ll go without shoes when he shouldn’t and forgets his jacket and ends up with a cold a few days later
— Rusty James isn’t colorblind but he’s a carrier and one of his kids is colorblind
— as a kid, BJ wanted to be a firefighter but when one of his friends actually became one as a teenager and he saw how much work it is, he forgot all about that dream. there’s no way he’s picking up 200 pounds in 40 pound bunker gear
— winter is a bitch in New York and you better believe the boys share coats and scarves. The Motorcycle Boy cracks down on them, making sure they’re wearing layers. he won’t force them to bundle up, but if one of them gets sick, it’s pretty hard not to say “I told you so.”
— for years, Steve wished the Motorcycle Boy was his brother. even after his death, Steve missed the Motorcycle Boy and thought of him often. he’ll never admit it, but he wished Rusty-James appreciated his brother more
— Rusty-James has an unrelenting hatred for Queens. He can’t place why but the reality is, it’s because Smokey’s from there
— Rusty-James is incredibly superstitious. He despises the number thirteen. Like, he’ll draw his American flags with fourteen or twelve stripes. As a result, it’s Smokey’s favorite and he’ll go our of his way to make sure Rusty-James runs into it
— once, Smokey fucked with Steve’s bill at Benny’s so the total was $6.66 and he nearly didn’t pay. Steve’s like “can I buy something else” and Benny was like “just give me your cash, kid, and get out of here”
you guys asked for headcanons about the Shepards so I wrote about BJ Jackson
- he’s a total stoner but doesn’t let the Motorcycle Boy catch him. he smokes mostly cigarettes or weed, nothing else really
- he loves space and totally believes in aliens. the kid wants to work for NASA but he knows he ain’t smart enough. watching from afar is enough for him. like, he got so excited when they got a man up on the Moon. even though it was on national television, he went around telling everyone, thinking it was his own little secret that he couldn’t resist to tell the whole world
- he sucks at pool but convinced everyone he’s great and plays so many double-or-nothing games. he’s so in debt, you’d think he’s a college student. he’s actually the one who introduced the gang to Benny’s
- his room is messy as hell. the floor? nonexistent. there’s a single path form the door to his bed. the nightstands are covered in mostly trash. he’s got photos in the edges of his mirrors and homework is scattered all over the place. trust me, his mother tries cleaning it but it’s no use. he’ll make it a mess again within twenty four hours
- he’s got older siblings who weren’t really good role models and this pushes him to be the best role model for his little brother. they were into gangs, which inspired him to do the same. turns out, BJ’s older brother and the Motorcycle Boy were in the same gang, running around the streets of the Bronx, owning their side of town
- his favorite sibling is his older sister Margaret. she never felt loved by her parents so she was always looking for love in a boyfriend but she always made time for BJ. she moved out of the house when she was seventeen and he was eleven but he was allowed to crash at her apartment anytime he needed. he and her friends were the only people with keys to the place
- he’s really bad with change. like he’s good at acting like he’s okay, but he lets his emotions eat away at him. he knows it isn’t good and tries not to overthink but it’s in his nature
It was July of 1962. The Rolling Stones had their first debut, the first Walmart opened and Thomas Cruise Mapother IV was born. It was a hot summer day and the fans were whirling, keeping the costumers of Benny's Billiards comfortable. "Rusty-James," Midget Jones walked swiftly into the old restaurant. His mission was to get the news to his friend before reporting to Carlos Rodriguez that Bobby Williams had been killed not even an hour earlier. "Biff Wilcox is lookin' for you, Rusty-James."
"I ain't hidin'," Rusty-James Vincent replied, his focus on the cue ball in front of him.
"Says he's gonna kill you, Rusty-James." Midget knew Rusty-James was a good fighter so, like the rest of RJ's friends, he wasn't concerned. Midget was a precise, honest guy and he knew that even though Rusty-James could take the old cat, he'd need to be prepared. Dallas Winston, who was in the middle of kicking BJ Jackson's ass in their own game of pool, was suddenly interested and listened closer, even though he knew Biff wasn't shit.
"Sayin' ain't doin'," Rusty-James shrugged and missed his shot. "Shit."
"That's tough, Rusty-James." Smokey Bennet picked up a handful of dollar bills they put down as a bet. "Maybe we should go double or nothin' sometime."
Rusty-James knew he was the better pool player and he wanted to fight him, nearly shoving a pool stick into his face. "Sit down."
"You cats are constantly fightin' like typical fuckin' Yahoos."
"Watch the language," Benny warned from behind the counter as he wiped it down.
"Hey, Benny, get me a chocolate milk, will ya?" Rusty-James sat down on a bar stool and instead of calling over his shoulder, he nearly bent over backwards. "What's this Biff doin' about killin' me, anyway?"
"You're supposed to meet him, tonight, under the arches behind the pet store at about," Midget checked his watch, "Ten o'clock."
"He's coming alone then, huh?" Rusty-James asked, taking a sip out of his chocolate milk.
"I wouldn't count on it, man." BJ told him. He knew Biff was a snake, he couldn't be trusted. Midget had shared the news and walked out.
"Well if he's bringing friends, then I'm bringing friends." Rusty-James stated, walking over to his usual table.
"Yeah, but you know how that's gonna turn out, Rusty-James. Everyone will end up getting into it." Steve Hays was always cautious with these things.
"This kid and his fuckin' imagination, man." Dallas remarked. He'd been in gang fights Steve couldn't even dream of. But then again, he was working for Sonny. Dallas kept his mouth shut, not willing to chance the boys finding out about his side job.
Ignoring him, Steve continued, "You bring people, he brings people.."
Rusty-James cut him off. "If you think I'm going to that vacant lot by myself, man, you're fuckin' crazy." Just then, BJ slid into the booth next to Dallas. The two smiled to each other, they couldn't wait for the fight.
"Watch your language over there. Watch it!" Benny hated cuss words since it reminded him of his father. But Benny lived in the Bronx and it was impossible to get away from the foul language. At least in his restaurant, he could warn the young boys.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Smokey yelled at Steve and Steve hid his head, focusing on writing.
"Fuck you, Smokey." Dallas and Rusty-James told him. "Steve goes wherever I go." To Steve, RJ said, "Steve, c'mere. Sit down."
"Dammit, Rusty-James. It's been a long time since we had that kind of trouble." Smokey wasn't wrong. The whole idea of gangs was fading out. Only loyal friends continued to stay in packs, starting fights to make them feel alive.
"Chicken, Smoke?" BJ teased as Dallas and him started making chicken noises.
"Smokey doesn't wanna come, it's okay." RJ said, getting in on the teasing.
"Smokey, we understand." Dallas nodded sarcastically as BJ and RJ shook hands, agreeing to back the other up like had for so many years prior.
"What? You don't wanna come? Fine."
"Rusty-James, you know I'm gonna be there." Smokey always was, even if he didn't want to. "But you know what the Motorcycle Boy said about gang fights." Dallas shot a cold stare at Smoke and it shut him up. They both knew how sensitive Rusty-James was about his deadbeat brother.
Too late. "The Motorcycle Boy hasn't been around in two months. So don't go telling me about that." Rusty-James was angry. If they shut up, he might cool down without exploding.
"What if the Motorcycle Boy comes back?" It was mumbled and quiet, but Rusty-James heard Steve's comment. Dallas glared at the youngest boy but Steve didn't get a clue. "What if your brother came back and found out?" Of course he was writing in his stupid fucking notebook.
Rusty-James slammed his fist on the table. "My brother ain't back, man!" He shouted. "I'm sick of hearing this shit. I don't know when he's coming back, if he's coming back, but if you assholes wanna wait around for the rest of your lives to see what he says, fine." He was staring at Smokey. "Fine, man. But I'm gonna stomp that little shitass tonight and I think I should have a few fucking friends with me." Smokey was trying to talk over him, even though he knew RJ hated that. "Are you even listening to me?"
"We're gonna be there, man. Alright? We're gonna be there." Smokey tried to shake RJ's hand. He ignored it and went to shake Dally's and then BJ's. "But let's just keep it between you two, okay?"
"Right behind you." BJ promised with a smile.
RJ finally shook Smokey's hand and finally heard Benny, who had been calling for him to "get his dirty ass off the table" for the past five minutes. "I'm sorry, Benny. I'm sorry." Benny knew it was bullshit and began to reel in a fish, but it was only a middle finger.
They finished up in the pool hall and began walking down the street. "Man, I love fights. This reminds me of the old days, man, when we used to have rumbles. Heroin ruined the gangs, man."
"It ruined the gangs? It ruined everything!" Dallas corrected him, getting flashbacks of his mother lying dead in the cold apartment.
"I wouldn't know." Smokey said
"No, you wouldn't know, would you? Ask my brother, man. A gang really meant something back then." RJ said, picturing a group of diverse kids standing tall and proud.
"That gang shit was outta style when you were ten years old." Smokey stated as-a-matter-of-factly. He hated it when RJ talked things he didn't know anything about, especially gangs.
"Bullshit, man. I was fuckin' eleven. I can remember." RJ defended himself. Dallas and BJ were chuckling to themselves, knowing that they were one of the last gangs in town. They were approaching the old Catholic school for girls and Rusty-James and Dallas got distracted by their girlfriends.
That night, Rusty-James was about five minutes late to his own fight. Typical. Dallas, BJ, Midget and Smokey waited behind the pet store for their best friend, getting there ten minutes early. "Where the fuck were you?" Dallas asked, slapping RJ upside the head.
"Rusty-James, we just about gave up on you." Smokey said. He had even less patience than Dallas, and RJ's bullshit always lit the short fuse.
"With Patty." He answered. Smokey rolled his eyes, annoyed. He saw this and told Smoke, "Watch out of I'll take you on for a warmup."
"She gonna clean you up after the fight? Kiss your booboos?" BJ teased but Dallas elbowed him in the gut.
"Who's here, huh? I gotta have as many guys as Biff. This is bullshit." Rusty-James looked over the edge, seeing old buddies and friends before calling out to them, greeting them.
"I thought we were supposed to watch, Rusty-James." Smokey reminded him.
"We are," Dallas told him. "But the kid's an idiot. He'll need us as backup."
"You're not expecting to see Steve here, are you? Why do you put up with that whimp?" Smokey asked, ignoring Dal's cold stare.
"I've known him since kindergarten, alright?"
"You've got a bad habit of getting attached to people, Rusty-James." Leave it to Smoke to point out the obvious.
Rusty-James wasn't having it, he was too hyped up for the fight. "Yup," he agreed without thinking about it. "Let's go." And they slid down the pipe before looking for Biff and his crew.
They were nowhere to be seen and so BJ piped up, "Where's Steve?"
"Maybe he's late." RJ suggested and then a cat meowed. A homeless man coughed. "Looks like we're gonna have to fight ourselves."
"Rusty-James," Steve called out in a whisper-shout. He was terrified but clutched a wooden board, thinking he'd use it to protect himself. RJ laughed when he saw his best friend.
Just then, a train whizzed by and Biff's gang started walking out. "Where at, Rusty-James?" Someone shouted out, the voice coming from the left side of the gang.
"I'm here." Rusty-James looked for his opponent, unable to find him until he popped up outta nowhere.
"Not for long, punk." Biff said. He was doped up. Man, Rusty-James hated fighting druggies. He spit on him, disgusted.
Dallas grabbed Rusty-James by the shoulder. "Don't kill him."
"You can't stop me. I'm gonna kill if I have to." RJ argued, like usual.
"Don't fuckin' kill him, Vincent. I'll help you take care of him, if need be. But don't kill him. He's doped up, you've got the real advantage." Rusty-James wouldn't listen, however, and pulled away from Dallas.
"Take a fuckin' swing at me." He challenged Biff; he was losing vision, everything going red. He was getting angry, the rage consuming him. And then Biff pulled out a knife. "This was supposed to be a fair fight, man!" Rusty-James avoided the knife best he could, kicked him and climbing up pipes. He got ahold of a piece of ply wood and beat the shit outta Biff. Like in most fights, Rusty-James has the upper hand as he threw Biff in through a window and then punched him until he broke his jaw. Rusty-James was so caught up in his anger, he barely noticed his brother pull up on a motorcycle until the Motorcycle Boy said something.
"What is this? Another glorious battle for the kingdom?" The Motorcycle Boy asked, even though he didn't want to know the answer.
"I thought you were gone for good, man." Rusty-James said, looking up at his brother in a daze. Dallas was distracted, too, but his senses were a lot better.
"I thought we had a treaty." The Motorcycle Boy's voice was soft as he reminded his brother of what they had agreed to months prior.
"Look out, Rusty-James!" BJ shouted as Biff raised his switchblade to cut RJ's side. Dallas thought too quickly, however, and kicked Biff in the leg, hard enough to make him fall. Dallas pinned him down with his left foot and stole the knife out of his right hand.
"It was supposed to be a fair fucking fight, you twat." Dallas reminded the cheater before walking up to the Motorcycle Boy.
and that's it because if Dallas was in Rumble Fish, nothing bad ever would've happened and we'd all be happy still today. the end.
Rumble Fish + “Rusty James” by Green Day (Sneak Peak)
I thought I’d share a little bit of a video-in-progress that I’ve been working on for a little while. Basically Green Day wrote a song about Rumble Fish so I'm setting it to some clips from the movie.
