HATCHETFIELD TAROT: OC EDITION
The Poll Winners: Chip and Deandra Fleming
fcs AJ Holmes and Dani Fernandez
There's no couple more cutie silly in Hatchetfield than Chip Fleming and Deandra Suarez, I'm sorry!!! That's just the truth!!!!!
Much like how Richie's dad was the closet nerd of Sycamore High, Dee was the "weird girl" hidden in plain sight. She never tried concealing it, but the only people who really knew were her closest friends and a handful of suitors who couldn't handle a girl having a personality lol.
The teen years were exceptionally merciful to her, and so because she was bubbly and pretty she wasn't relegated to the loser crowd. She was in the journalism club, had a decent circle of friends, etc. But she started doing this thing after one too many guys asked her out without knowing anything about her or caring about her other than what they saw on the outside. She'd rapidfire recount anything she could remember from whatever Star Trek episode she'd last watched, and all the behind the scenes fun facts she knew. This scared a lot of guys away, which she was glad for. Best to weed out the jerks who don't like her for her. She thought it was going to be more of the same when Chip got the nerve up to finally approach her, only for her typical dorky schpeel to completely backfire lmao they talked for hours
Chip thought Dee was the coolest girl ever. He still thinks she's the coolest girl. Where Olive and Brady were very alike from an outside perspective but at the core an "opposites attract," Ruth's folks seem to run in different circles, but their interests have tons of overlap. Chip loves making music and writing plays, Dee's all about literature and writing. The two give one another much-needed insight during artblocks and a loving "YOU'RE STALLING, WORK ON YOUR THING!!" to get the ball rolling again. Chip's surprisingly extroverted (he was the popular theater kid for a reason) while Dee relishes those pockets of quiet at a party that allow her to take out her little notebook and write anything on her mind. They just get each other! They're each other's best friend!!!
Chip and Dee want Ruth to be as Herself as she wants. They do their best to be supportive of her, but Ruth has a hard time accepting it. She doesn't think she's "done cooking" yet. She's sure she could get up on a stage and be the star of a show! She could be center stage! She has to become effortlessly flawless like her mom first. She has to lose the stage fright cause her dad has none. But to "try harder" is to defeat the purpose of already being a natural from birth. She has to hope it'll just happen for her one day. Otherwise she'll have to apologize to her parents for the rest of her life for being raised in greatness only to turn out a total failure.
The Fleming household actually went no and low contact with a lot of family members for some time in Ruth's teen years. They knew at this point she was queer, she was definitely ND and like her folks she had a lot of niche interests. Coupled with her anxiety, relatives who held high expectations for Chip and Dee put these on Ruth's shoulders, too.
One too many times had they heard comments from their family that boiled down to "your daughter is being a person wrong (and liking the wrong people)" and one day Dee, who usually has a very long fuse, blew up about this. She regrets how she made no efforts to conceal this confrontation from Ruth, there was no way her daughter couldn't hear her from down the hall, but they don't get to decide how they raise their daughter. Anyone who isn't Ruth doesn't get to decide what a Ruth is.
They don't always understand her, either, and she gets angsty and closed off, but Dee has to remind herself (and Chip) that being a teen girl is like being in a psychological horror film 75% of the time lol. And Chip always backs Dee up. Sometimes people try and provoke him, they're like "So you're just gonna let her stir up family drama? Seriously?" and he's like "Uh yeah so she doesn't need me to 'let' her do anything because I don't control her, you're all the problem and need to get a fucking grip"
I love them a lot and am restraining myself so hard from writing twenty more paragraphs on the nerdy prudes' mothers dynamics with one another but I'll cap it off with if you need any extra backup for the Ruth Protection Squad, hit up Olive Lipschitz she will make the PTA meetings entertaining and call the principle a spineless idiot to his face
