#julius engel

[drea-46]

09.02.23

Part 2

[missringsy]

Ringo: You know, when I was in jail... I didn't know if we had a future together anymore. And when I got out of there, one thing was clear to me: I never want to feel so helpless again in my life and Mr. Huber will bleed for this shit. And that's why I blackmailed him. And I also had to take his last name, because I did it my way. And it's not always right, I know.

Easy would certainly have found a much better solution for this, but he's also the most honest person I know. And I am not Easy.

But I love you just as much as he does. And even though last names mean nothing to me, nothing will ever change that.

Julius: Are you done?

Ringo: No, I want you to understand one more thing: In life, there's not always right or wrong, black or white... there are a lot of shades of gray in between.

[beautifulhigh]

Okay money hungry ringo giving all his money to find his husband. I can’t with these two. Ringo number one priority now is his family above all the money in the world.

Tell me about it

Ringo's character growth remains one of my favourite things about their whole arc. I love me a baddie but they rarely have a long shelf life in a soap setting. They either stay around long enough to become the equivalent of a pantomime villain* or they're out at the end of the storyline.

So of course Ringo had to change, had to grow, but there was no way we could have looked at the man making a deal with Huber to get Easy's kiosk and Beach bar and known that he would one day become the most devoted and driven husband and father. He didn't think he was capable of it so why would we?

The big thing about change is that it is always slow, done in increments. You may notice a bit of it in the day to day but they don't make the big jump from one end of the spectrum in the space of a week. Ringo was the man with the heart of stone, he didn't have friends. And, in order to get the kiosk, he had to play at being Easy's friend. Fake a HIV scare to activate Easy's heart and compassion and then he's in.

And then the friendship actually became real. Then the feelings crept in. Then he didn't want to go ahead with the scam and tried so hard to undo it. All these little steps, these choices that Ringo made to get him where we are now. Making that choice to fly to Morocco. Making that choice to ask Huber for money to get a helicopter. Making that choice to throw more money at it, every cent that he has and will ever have. All that matters is getting his husband back, of bringing their little family back together.

I honestly think that Ringo is scared about what kind of a dad he'd be without Easy. I think he's confident in him remaining a better man, that change is a little more permanent. Ringo opened his heart to Easy and formed strong relationships with his brother, Paco. Vivi... there is no way they would let him slide back into heart of stone mode and I don't think Ringo would dishonour Easy's memory like that. But being a dad? That's something else entirely. Not that Ringo couldn't do it, wouldn't do it alone. Wouldn't fight for the adoption even if the worst happened because that would be honouring Easy in the biggest way possible.

I think he feels like he still needs Easy for that. He feels like he has to have him because without his husband, his moral compass, his heart? Then who is Ringo Beckmann**?

Ringo was desperate to find Easy and bring him home for himself, because he wants a whole life with that man by his side not just shy of two years. He loves Easy so much that the mere concept of losing him rips him to pieces and has him breaking down in the lift to the concern of his brother and sister-in-law.

But then Julius tells Ringo to bring Easy home and now there's a promise that means more to him than his marriage vows. It's a promise to his son, to their son. I think that moment shocks him a little, that this promise invigorates him and spurs him on to do more, be more, give more. (What is parenthood if not a silent promise to a child that you will push whatever limits you felt you have in order to make their lives as amazing as possible?)

[Side note: that's why Easy eats the grasshopper. Because Imaginary Tobias gets him to think about Ringo, about Julius, and so of course he will do anything and everything to survive and get home to them.]

I did a meta about how 2017!Ringo would react to seeing 2021!Ringo and my response was that he would be thrilled. That is no longer correct. I think 2017!Ringo would be amazed, almost in disbelief at just how far he was willing to go for Easy. How money isn't even a consideration. How he refuses to listen to the guy from the embassy who is trying to be logical about Easy's chances, the helicopter pilot who doesn't think they can cover all the area they need to or that they won't find him...

2017!Ringo would look at his life, look at 2021!Ringo's life, and wonder how the hell he got from there to here. In four years Ringo's life has changed beyond all recognition but there is, at the heart of it all, still the Richard Beckmann we all know and were frustrated at. He's still driven and single-minded, he's still not letting anything stand between him and what he wants.

Only now it's a family. Richard Beckmann has fully traded the abstract concept of money for the richness that comes with being a husband and a father.

And I fucking love it.

*oh no they don't

**he's a lot of things, most of them are amazing.

[anotherobsessedsomething]

Ich muss ja jetzt schon mal eine Lanze für meine Kolleg*innen vom Jugendamt brechen. Die haben definitiv besseres zu tun als ein Kind, das gerade super in die Familie integriert wurde und sich endlich wohl fühlt, gegen dessen Willen einfach wieder aus der Familie zu nehmen nur wegen angeblicher Steuerhinterziehung eines Elternteils, die noch nicht einmal gerichtlich geklärt wurde.

[natsumisato]

[leeuwchen]

In meinem Kopf:

Easy: “Ach f***, ich bin auf 1000 Hot Dog Würstchen sitzengeblieben!”

Ringo: “JULIUUUUS... du feierst morgen deinen Kindergeburtstag mit der ganzen Schule... minus Denise.”

Julius: “Cool.”

Ringo: “Eintrittspreis 2 Euro, Mindestverzehr ein Hot Dog!”

[snuggles85nn]

“Was ist das für ne Scheiße?!”

Jea, Julius` Interesse an den Pornos ist echt enorm... armer Kerl. Den lassen sie aber auch echt nicht zur Ruhe kommen.

[drea-46]

09.02.23

Part 3