Boondock Saints is my favorite movie ever and it is for a few reasons.
For one it's amazing commentary on how ethical it is to take justice into your own hands. And if you do how far is too far
On the other hand you have Smecker who has to battle with the morality of helping or stopping the brothers. Because they are doing what he can't but wishes so desperately he could. He however can't due to red tape.
Then on top of all of that! The idea of being the change you want to see in the world with the religious side. In the first scene you are spoon fed the moral lesson. People who do nothing and allow for bad to happen are just as bad as those who do the bad. They are compliant and thus at fault.
Then unrelated to the morals and lessons is the way it shows Smecker getting closer and closer to figuring it out. Every crime scene it cuts more and more between the two parties until they overlap and thus when the mystery is solved.
Not to mention how interesting it is that Noah had the same calling and the sons are following in his footsteps. One can even draw a religious parallel to that
Also as @s0fter-sin reminded me Rocco and his whole deal. He helps the brothers but his heart isn't in the right place. He's doing it out of revenge and anger not from a place truly wanting to do better without other motives. Then he suffers for it and he pays the dearest price.
I truly think his heart changes and so when he tells the brothers to keep going to keep doing the right thing. I think that's when his heart is truly in the right place for the first time in the movie. And his sacrifice isn't in vain and he's important even through the second movie.
I feel like Romeo also is important here but I need to watch that movie again before I give you my analysis on that.
I would even argue that Doc has importance in the story at least morally. There's some religious symbolism you can draw from that I'm sure.
And again unrelated to the morals IN THE JAIL CELL! THEY LITERALLY GET REBAPTIZED! ARE YOU KIDDING ME THE SYMBOLISM?!
Original Request: Okay this one is for Murphy and Reader is Doc’s granddaughter visiting from another country (The Boys don’t know her yet)! Soulmate AU’s: 1) If your soulmate dyes their hair, your eyes turn into that color and you wish your soulmate wouldn’t change it again because you really like this shade in your eyes. 2) Your tattoo is like a mood ring, it changes its color depending on what your soulmate is feeling at the moment and you’re not sure exactly what rainbow means. Okay thank you for your time! - @meadow-melody
Pairing: Murphy MacManus x Reader
Word Count: 2.4k
Warning: Just feels for this one, mentions of canon character deaths
Song: Paddy’s Green Shamrock Shore by The High Kings
A/N: Part three of “Wild Mountain Thyme”! This is the second to last part, and I’m pretty sure this is my favorite. Hope you guys enjoy! -Jo
Although your relationship with Murphy had been going great, you still had yet to tell him that you were soul mates. That night, and the others, spent in that blanket fort were always shrouded in darkness. He never saw the mark on your left wrist. Despite that, things were going almost too well. Connor had accepted your relationship with his brother with a giant hug. Your grandad accepted Murphy as your boyfriend, but not without a few threats to be bashed in the head with his cane should you ever get hurt.
You would spend hours just talking. He told you of his Da back home, the sheep farm they’d worked on. You told him of your parents, why you wanted to move back to Boston in the first place. You talked favorite colors, places you’d both like to go. You talked about everything.
Everything, except the jobs he and his brother pulled. You knew what they were doing, but he didn’t want you to know the details so no one would be able to use you against him.
You were polishing silverware in one of the booths when Greenly burst through the doors of McGinty’s with his hands around his crotch. “Sack-o-matic, I said!” You all chuckled lightly at his happy attitude before a loud bang went off. Greenly went flying forwards. Connor and Murphy dove over the bar. Doc fell to the ground. Shots rang out. Glass exploded.
You had a gun to your head and a knife to your throat.
You heard one of the boys counting and they popped up simultaneously while your grandad shouted, “Boys, boys!”
A curse escaped your lips and you felt blood trickle down the throat as the asshole holding you down pressed it deeper. Murphy’s knuckles were white as he gripped his gun tighter than before.
Asshole waved his gun, passing from Murphy, to Connor, and finally back to your soul mate. “Put ‘em down! Throw them over.” They hesitated and the guy took that as a sign of defiance. He pressed the barrel of the gun hard against your neck. “I’ll kill the girl, throw them over!”
You looked both of the boys in the eyes and shook your head slightly. No way were they gonna let this asshole get away with what he’s done.
The small movement you made was enough for the knife to dig deeper still against your throat. Not deep enough to do major damage, but enough that more blood was drawn. Your arm burned as Murphy’s fear for you increased. Connor patted Murphy’s shoulder and they both tossed their guns and put their hands up.
The creep behind you laughed quietly, his breath on the bath of your neck making your skin crawl. His hold tightened. “Oh we’re gonna have some fun.” Your eyes stayed on Murphy the whole time, his purple-eyed gaze also locked on you. The creep pointed his gun back at the boys. “So which one first, huh?” he said to you. “Which one you love more? Ah, this one?!” The gun finally settled on Murphy for longer than you’d have liked and your fear increased tenfold.
Murphy rubbed at his arm but he didn’t dare take his eyes from the gun. You could see the wheels turning in his head, trying to find any way to incapacitate-
The guy released his hold on you as he cried out clutching his hand. You realized too late that another gun had fired from the dark room towards the back of the bar. Out stepped an older man in dark clothes, his face mostly covered in his bushy gray beard. You knew from the boys’ stories that this man was Il Duce himself, Noah MacManus.
“Doc call the fucking ambulance right now!” Connor shouted.
You stumbled to your grandfather to make sure he was alright, the boys rushing to Greenly. Your mind was too foggy to understand what just happened. Your eyes started to go blurry in the corners and you swore you heard someone calling your name, but then your vision went sideways. And then it was dark.
The first thing you noticed when you came to should have been the hand holding yours. Instead you immediately recognized a smell that was distinctly Murphy, you must have been in his bed upstairs. Your mind immediately went back to what happened at the bar. “I’m gonna have a hell of a mess to clean up.”
The person holding your hand snorted. “Of course. A near-death experience isn’t enough to make you relax for a while.” You looked over and saw Murphy shaking his head.
“Murph,” you smiled. You pulled your hand away from his and sat up. You felt the bandage on your throat, only to froze when you realized which hand it was, and someone had changed you into an oversized t-shirt.
He cleared his throat. “Is there something you’d like to tell me?” He had his long sleeves pushed up to his elbows, and you could clearly see the soul mate mark on his left wrist. You looked down at yours and the color… The color was all of them. It was a myriad of blues, purples, yellows, grays… There was a red hue throughout though.
Rubbing the back of your neck, you weighed your options. You could lie, say that you didn’t know he had the same mark, although he’d openly showed you his mark several times. You could tell the truth. You could dodge the question entirely, which might work for a few minutes. “Uh… yeah actually. Did you know that the name Cerberus technically means-“
“Y/n.”
“Yeah?” You clasped your hands together. Then you remembered one thing more clearly than the others, and you felt like shit for not thinking about it before. “… Greenly?” you asked solemnly.
Murphy looked down. “He didn’t make it, lass. He’s gone.” His voice was quiet and filled with pain.
“Oh Murph…” You reached out to pull him close to you, and he held you tightly regardless of not being sure how he felt in that moment about how you handled everything. Despite what happened, he still knew he loved you. You felt him shaking, and you rubbed his back whispering that everything will be okay.
“The bastard that did this,” he said quietly, “Da killed him.”
“Good…” You sighed, knowing you had to fess up. “Murphy-“
“You could have told me. Any time, you could have told me. But you didn’t.” He looked you in the eyes. “I just want to know why-“
“About time you woke up, sleeping beauty!” Murphy released you when his brother burst through the door with beers and pizza. He dropped them on the pool table and bent down to hug you. “I’m glad to see you’re okay, lass. How are ya feeling?”
“I’ll feel better when someone tells me who changed me into another shirt.”
He pulled away and chuckled nervously. Murphy jumped in before Connor could answer. “I didn’t think you’d want to wake up with your shirt caked in blood, I gave you one of mine.” His voice was serious but he managed a small smirk. “Besides, it’s nothing I haven’t seen before.”
You playfully glared at him. Connor took that as his cue. “I’m gonna go let Doc know you’re awake.” He shared a look with his brother before he turned and walked out the door, shutting it behind him.
“Why didn’t you want me to know?” He didn’t want to waste any time. You knew he deserved some answers.
“I… was scared.” He looked like he was going to say something. “Not scared of you, Murph. But I knew that you were going to leave again once you cleared your names. And I’d have to go back to my life before you. It was going to be hard enough knowing how I feel about you without the mark.”
He thought about that for a long moment. He took your hand back in his, running his fingers over the soul mate mark, watching as it finally settled back onto one color.
Gray.
“Why are you scared?” you whispered.
“Because you’re right. We can’t stay here forever.”
Over the next few weeks you got to know the boys’ da better. He liked that you had a handle on his boys. You made him laugh when you’d get stern with them, and even him from time to time. He grew to see you as a daughter, and he told you once that he couldn’t have picked a better match for Murphy.
The rest of your time was spent with Murphy. It didn’t matter that you’d kept that you were soul mates secret from him because of the relationship you’d already developed without it. It only grew stronger, and when the time came for the boys to go after The Italian you refused to stop touching him until it was time for them to drive away.
You hugged Romeo, making him promise to watch his own back along with the boys’. He promised and got in the van. You hugged Connor tightly next. “Take care of yourself, lass. Or else I’ll never hear the end of it from that one.”
You smiled sadly at him, swallowing down the lump in your throat. “I will, you too. Or I’ll kick your ass, MacManus.” He grinned and kissed your head, going over to stand with Romeo. You turned to the patriarch MacManus just as he finished saying goodbye to Eunice, who said her quiet goodbyes to the boys. “Be careful, Da.”
He hugged you tightly. “We will, lass.” He pulled away to grip your shoulder to look squarely at you. “I always wanted a daughter, and I couldn’t ask for a better one when I got you.”
You blinked back the tears and kissed his cheek. “This isn’t goodbye, old man.”
He smiled slightly and touched your chin. “We’ll call you when we can.”
Finally you turned to Murphy. The tears you’d been choking back finally came to a head and spilled down your cheeks. He pulled you to him tightly, his hand going to the back of your head and your arms wrapped fully around his waist. He kissed your ear. “You just said, it’s not goodbye.”
“I know,” you whispered, “but Murph… I don’t have a good feeling about this. You’d better come back to me, understand? Or else…”
He laughed when he realized you couldn’t think of what to say. “Or else what?”
“I don’t know,” you admitted. “I already threatened to kick Connor’s ass. It’d be redundant if I threatened you too.”
“Aye.” He smiled sadly at you, and you knew it was time. “I love you, Y/n,”
You leaned up and kissed him hard, pouring everything you were feeling into it. He did the same. “I love you too, Murphy. Come home to me. I’ll even keep the fort up for you.”
“You’d better.” He ran his hand over your hair. “We’ll call when we it’s done.”
“You’d better,” you whispered. He kissed you one last time before turning around to get in the car. Not once did he look back, but you knew if he did he might not leave.
“I don’t know about you,” Eunice said as she came up behind you, “but I need a drink. What do you think, bartender? Just one drink before I have to go into hiding.”
You nodded, feeling the need to drink yourself.
You were taking a break from cleaning, picking at the guitar you’d picked up from a thrift shop. It was serving to distract you from worrying about the boys, but the longer it took to hear from them, the less it worked. You tried to play the guitar in earnest. You winced when you hit the wrong chord, it had been so long since you’d played. You began singing softly.
So fare thee well
My own true love
I’ll think of you night and day
A place in my mind
You will surely find
Although I am so far away-
The sharp ring of the phone cut through the air. You couldn’t remember a time in your life when you’d moved faster. “Hello? Murphy? Connor?”
“Y/n….” The voice on the other end was female, and you knew it well enough to recognize the regret in her voice. “It’s Eunice, sweetie…”
You ran your hand through your hair nervously. “Eunice, tell me they’re alive. At least give me that.”
“The boys are alive,” she said quietly. You breathed out a sigh of relief, until her next words froze you. “But they got caught, sweetie. From what I heard all three of them were in rough shape.”
“… Three?”
She took a shaky breath. “Noah didn’t make it out.”
Your legs gave out underneath you. “Oh God…”
“They have Connor, Murphy, and Romeo in a federal prison. I have no idea where, I don’t know how they’re doing. I should be gone by now but…” She sighed. “I needed to let you know what I knew.”
You could feel the lump rising in your throat and swallowed thickly. “Eunice, is it safe for you to be calling me?”
“I’m using a payphone. I have to go… I’ll try to keep in touch, okay?”
“Yeah… Of course. Be safe, Eunice.”
“You too, Y/n.” The line went dead.
You sunk down to the floor, pulling your knees to your chest and you cried. You cried until you could no longer feel your face, your throat was sore. The phone rang again but you no longer cared. Whoever it was on the other end of the line wasn’t who you needed it to be. But the phone just kept incessantly ringing while you waited until the other person gave up trying to call.
It continued to ring though, and you had enough. You angrily grabbed the phone from your bedside table and flipped it open. “What.”
“Hello Miss Y/l/n, I was beginning to wonder if you’d ever answer your phone.” A smug, male voice said on the other line.
You were so not in the mood for this shit. “Who the fuck is this?”
“Is that any way to speak to the guy who’s gonna help bust your boyfriend and his brother out of prison?”
You instantly shot up in your bed, your back ram-rod straight as this man mentioned Connor and Murphy. “You have my attention.”
“My name is Paul Smecker, and this is what I need you to do for me.”
