Iris is bouncing up
and down in the passenger seat three weeks later, all the way to the airport.
Joe lets her, seeing as he’s sharing in her happy, energized mood. For so long
it’s been him and his daughter in their house, and that had had to be enough.
Then Barry Allen had come to live with them for nearly a year now, and as soon
as he’s gone for barely a month the place seems empty.
[10:26:28 AM] Steff: is moira being a bitch to oliver or barry [10:26:37 AM] Robby: Both, probably. [10:26:47 AM] Robby: Knowing Amie. [10:26:59 AM] Amie: That’s for me to know and you to find oooouuut.
need to buy ants in bulk looking to buy big healthy ants for my ant pit please reblog with your best offer I need these ants very fast
i have 58 tons of ants sitting in cargo containers by the docks. great big ones please i need to sell these ants. offering very cheap prices.
My budget is $50000 I am willing to allocate 75% of this to ant allocation the rest is for large shovels how much ants will this buy me
for you i have a special deal. i sell you 35 tons of ants and i’ll even throw in a crate of rats, no charge.
fool… the rats will… simply eat the ants… it is a fools bargain i won’t accept these ants. what kind of fool do you take me for? the deal is off
you idiot. you fucking ingrate. the rats are kept seperate from the ants. if you’re going to slander my humble ant business i believe you are not worthy of purchasing from me. good day sir.
please reconsider. i spoke with haste these rats are fine, maybe honorable, I have been scammed by these men who claim the rats are supplementary to the ants, but I’ve never seen such things. Rats have too much pride. The ant is humble and is less easily upset than a rat. the rats will act as a deterrent, to keep intruders from crushing the precious ants
i will allow this, but only once. expect the ants at your domicile by the morning and do not disrespect my honest work ever again.
[6:16:24 AM] dead husBAE: you fucking nerd [6:16:30 AM] Potato Cat: loooove it [6:17:17 AM] Potato Cat: IF YOU EVER WANNA NOT BE ALONE FOREVER [6:17:22 AM] Potato Cat: I’m down [6:17:39 AM] dead husBAE: WE’RE ALREADY FUCING MARRIED [6:17:45 AM] Potato Cat: oh
Summary: The first summer Barry spends at the West home doesn’t get off to a great start.
It’s been nearly a
year since Joe West became not just a single parent, but a foster parent as
well. One long, turbulent year that
he that’s tested this odd little family’s mettle time and again, and for once
he’s glad for summer vacation. He needs a break. His kids need a break. He’s
put in a request with the Captain for some time off next month and maybe they
can all just get out of Central City for a much needed vacation. Iris always begs
him to take her to the beach and he can’t imagine Barry will say no to that.
Barry’s even worse than him at saying no to anything Iris wants.
Which probably
explains how his little girl weasels her way into hosting a slumber party the
first night that school’s over. It’s her and about four of the neighborhood
girls, at least by the noise they’re making. Joe’s doing his best to stay out
of it, filling out some reports at the kitchen table while waiting for the
pizza to get here. Barry’s nowhere to be seen; these are exclusively Iris’
friends, it seems.
Iris is still
helpfully by his elbow when the pizza guy rings the doorbell, and he doesn’t
even get to touch the boxes as she whisks them back to the living room. Sharing
a grimace with the delivery man, he just takes out his wallet.
“Eww!” He hears from
one of the girls after he’s shut the door. “What’s on this one?”
“Not weird, baby, just
different,” he chides, having entered the room. “I’ll take that one, girls.”
Iris is the one to pass
it over, and she seems to have realized her mistake. “Sorry, dad.”
“That’s ok.”
But once he’s turned
the corner for the stairs, his ears pick up a different voice. “He is weird.”
“Is he actually here?”
“Well sure,” says
Iris. “He lives here.”
“I don’t know how you
stand it, Iris,” comments the first girl. “I wouldn’t want Barry Allen staying
in my house. He’s the biggest loser in our grade!”
“The school,” insists another. “Tony Woodward’s
always making him cry.”
“Tony Woodward’s a
big bully!” Iris practically flares up in defense of her best friend, and Joe’s
fiercely proud of that. He’s torn, wanting to head right back in there and say
a few things about respectfulness in other peoples’ homes, yet knowing in his
heart that fighting this for his kids might just make things worse.
“But Barry Allen’s
dad’s a murderer, my mom says so,” one girl reminds in a hushed tone that
almost carries more. “She wasn’t gonna let me come tonight cause she doesn’t
want me around him.”
And that right there
is where it’s crossed a line. He turns—but a sound on the second floor makes
him stop dead in his tracks. The sound of a door snapping shut. Oh his poor
kid.
Recognizing what’s
far more important right now, Joe heads up the stairs, stopping outside Barry’s
room. He knocks lightly. “Barry, open up.”
“No.” It sounds
muffled, and he thinks from more than just the inch or so of wood serving as a
barrier.
“I got pizza.”
“Don’t want any.”
“Really? Cause it’s
pepperoni, olives, and jalapeños. Your favorite,” he coaxes.
“No it’s not,” he
hears after a beat of silence. “Those are weird toppings.”
“Different,” he
corrects again.
“Same thing.”
Joe heaves a sigh. “Barry,
I’m not letting you go to bed hungry.” He’d learned after a couple
bed-without-supper punishments for those initial attempts to run away—and thank
God those have stopped—the poor kid’s nightmares would be even worse.
And maybe the boy
realizes that he also can’t seem to go to bed without Joe, because after a
moment he hears footsteps shuffle to the door. It opens barely a centimeter,
but he can still see the kid’s reddened cheeks and the wet sheen to his eyes.
“I’m not crying,”
Barry insists, though his voice cracks on the last word.
“Oh Bear,” Joe
breathes. “Come here.” He’s let into the room and spares only a second to set
the pizza box on the desk before wrapping his son up in a hug. He pretends not
to notice the tears leaking into his shirtfront, instead focusing on rubbing
circles in Barry’s back and telling him, “You know you shouldn’t listen to
those girls, right? They’re only saying those things cause of what they’ve
heard.”
“Y-yeah, from everybody else, Joe,” Barry replies,
shoulders shaking badly. “Everybody’s like that at- at school, about my dad,
about me—I h-hate it!” The continued chatter and giggles rising up the stairs
tells him that no one else can hear Barry’s outburst, and he’s especially glad
for that when his kid states, “I don’t wanna go back next year.”
Joe knows he’s got to
do some fast damage control. So he pulls back a little—something tugging tight
at his heartstrings when Barry tries to follow—to look him in the eye. “You,
not want to go to school? You love school, Barry, you love learning. And Iris
would be pretty lonely without you there, wouldn’t she?”
Barry considers that,
but then frowns stubbornly. “She’s got other friends.”
“Well who’s her best friend,
hm? Think we both know the answer to that.” Barry doesn’t say anything back,
but his shoulders lift out of their slump slightly. “Don’t listen to those
other kids, Bear. And don’t you let them take away the things you love, either,
doesn’t matter how different they are.” He goes down on a knee to meet the kid
eye to eye and takes a firm hold of his shoulders. “Cause it’s the differences
that make you you, Barry. And that’s
what we love about you.”
He’s nearly knocked
onto his back with the force of Barry flinging his skinny little arms around
him in a hug, but Joe holds on tight, remembering the days not too long ago
when this kid would squirm out of his embrace or outright refuse any physical
comfort. He’s grateful that they’ve reached this point where Barry knows he can
turn to him.
By the time he gets
the boy calmed down the pizza’s half cold, but they eat it anyway and he
considers it a victory that he gets Barry to eat three whole pieces. Joe lets
him skip brushing his teeth, considering the miserable looks he keeps shooting
at the door whenever the sleepover gets loud enough to be heard. And despite
the occasional sniffle into his pillow, Barry’s quick to fall asleep that
night, though Joe lingers in his chair by the bed a little while after, combing
a hand through his kid’s hair and wondering not for the first time—or the last—why
the world was determined to be so cruel to someone so innocent, so bright.
As usual, he doesn’t
have an answer, so with a sigh he finally rises and leaves the room, crossing
to the staircase. “Lights out, girls. Bedtime.”
A chorus of oks
followed by giggles meet him, and he resolves to check on them again in fifteen
minutes. He also resolves to never host one of these wretched things again.
But Iris, perhaps in
way of apology, declares the next night that she and Barry are having their own
sleepover in her room, and the two look like they’re having so much fun he completely
suspends their bedtime for once. Joe prays that’ll be the end of all the drama
in this house until at least the next school year, and looks forward again to a
quieter summer.
He’s unaware how
quiet it may turn out to be until Barry approaches him one afternoon with a
science magazine clutched in his hands, one of those publications that ought to
be several read levels above him. “Hey Joe?”
“Yeah, Bear?”
“There’s an ad in my
magazine for a summer camp. You get to study real reptiles in their natural
habitats and learn all about them. It sounds really cool.”
“Reptile camp, huh?
Alright, let me see.” He hadn’t really pegged Barry before as a snakes and bugs
kind of boy, but it’s not all that surprising. The kid seemingly has an
interest in everything science. Perusing the ad, he can’t help a low whistle
when he gets to the price listed.
“I can do more
chores. For allowance.” Barry’s been watching him intently and clearly knows
just what he’s looking at. “I’ll mow Mrs. Isley’s lawn—I’ll mow everybody’s
lawn!”
Joe sets down the
magazine. “Barry, why do you want to go to reptile camp so bad?”
“Because, it’s for
kids who love science and learning,” Barry recites, and a quick glance at the
ad tells him where he got it from. “I like those things. You said so.”
“I did,” he
acknowledges.
“And there’ll be
other kids there who love science. They’ll be different just like me,” Barry
continues that train of logic, a hopeful light in his eyes.
“Well, not just like you, Barry,” he tries gently
to correct, not quite liking where that’s going. “That’s the point.”
“I know,” the kid
agrees, a bit too quickly. “So can I go?”
Joe sighs. He knows
it must be hard for Barry at school with both his past and his preference for
academics over sports making him stand out, and not in good ways. A chance to
get away from all that and be around more like-minded kids might be good for
him.
So he rips the form
out of the magazine and says, “Alright. Go get my checkbook.” Barry’s a bit
longer than he should be, though the reason behind that is evident when he
returns both with Joe’s checkbook and his piggybank.
“I know I have at least fifty dollars in here,” Barry
informs him, pushing it across the table at him.
Joe pushes it right
back. “Yeah? Well that’s fifty dollars you’re going to keep.”
Barry’s eyes go wide
and a little pink rises in his cheeks. “Thanks, Joe,” he practically squeaks.
“I don’t need thanks,
I just need you to have a good time at this thing,” he dismisses. “You really
want to go to reptile camp?”
when you’re reading fanfiction and you get so involved in the story you start imagining different scenarios in that same universe and then it’s fanfiction fanfiction
empty-puppetreplied tothis post: ohman oh man oh man don’t get me STARTED ON BARRY AND JOE jesus I could write an essay about my feels for that father-son relationship
Right?? RIGHT?? THEY GIVE ME SO MANY FEELS. God!! I can’t even.
Joe is the most important person in Barry’s life. Fight me on this, I dare you.
Like, I get that Iris is the love of his life etc, but JOE IS HIS FUCKING ROCK. Joe cares about nothing but the safety of his two kids. Yes. TWO kids. It kills Joe that Barry’s out there risking his life, but all he can do is try to help him as best he can. Joe is there to give Barry advice - whether it be about work, vigilanteing, or Iris. AND ON THAT NOTE. Joe thinks Barry is good enough for IRIS. Godddd I can’t. Just. THEY LOVE EACH OTHER SO MUCH.
ALSO - THIS ENTIRE EXCHANGE:
Barry: Joe, what I said to you about not being my father… Joe: Barry, I know. I know I’m not your father. Barry: You’re right, you’re not. You’re just the man who kept me fed and in clothes, who sat by my bed every night until I fell asleep because I was afraid of the dark, helped me with my homework. You taught me how to drive, and shave… and you dropped me off to college. Sounds a lot like a dad to me.
SO. MANY. FEELS.
Sorry, Joe and Barry’s relationship is incredibly precious to me.
YEEEEEESSSSS okay buckle your seatbelts kids because here I GO
Okay so yes yes yes Joe is 100% the most important person in Barry’s life, and holds the most influence over him. I do not at all doubt that when Barry started working for the CCPD people would often call him a weirdo or talk behind his back because we’ve all seen Barry at a crime scene and how enthusiastic he gets over scienc-y things, not to mention the paranormal blog and while Barry would take the jabs passively, Joe would not be on board with that because nobody talks shit about his son, especially when the kid’s been through enough already. So Joe makes it known, subtly of course, that the walls have ears.
Imagine the nights Barry spends at the office, doing his work after everyone’s gone because it’s easier that way, both mentally (how can some humans be so cruel and messed up and-) and without the constant annoyance of someone looking over his shoulder and Joe is there, stays overnight along with him.
Times when Barry succumbs to panic and anxiety attacks, when he withdraws into himself for days and days and Joe is there to anchor him, to offer a shoulder to lean on and an ear to listen, coaxes food into Barry even though the anxiety makes his stomach roll.
Barry’s worry and concern and fear when he discovers that Joe is the intended target of the Mardens and Nimbus and he immediately suits up; his relying on Joe’s opinion when it comes to whether or not he should save his mum and oh my god my heart when Joe tears up when he answers because losing Barry would kill a piece of him but he would give anything for his son to be happy, even if it meant he himself would be miserable.
GODDDD ALL OF THIS. YES.
How much do you think it must have hurt Joe to hear the line; “You’re not my father, Joe”??
I can imagine internally he’s just like - god, he’s right, but I love that kid so much.
Family is not always about blood or genes. Family is about who is there to catch you when you fall down, or support you through whatever events are going on in your life. Family is about who loves you unconditionally - even when you’re in the wrong. Who takes care of you, no matter what the circumstances.
Just.
UGH.
JOE AND BARRY GUYS. JOE AND BARRY.
This is all so very true, and I love all of it. Because guys, the fact that Barry and Joe are still so close, have only grown closer as we watch the series go on is amazing. And it couldn’t have been easy for those two characters.
Because their relationship, for fourteen years, had a very unsteady foundation. Joe’s the cop that helped put Barry’s dad in prison. That’s a fact, and it’s something that can’t just be forgotten. And then he takes Barry in and is trying to raise him, keep him safe, tell him what to do - being a dad. And eleven year-old Barry doesn’t get that at first, doesn’t want it, because he already has a dad and his dad shouldn’t be in prison and why can’t Joe just accept that? He probably wants to hate him. He tries so hard to hate him, but he can’t.
Because Joe tries in so many other ways. He does all those things that adult Barry remembers and is so grateful for, he sends him to reptile camp, he lets Barry’s feelings about Iris go without trying to interfere, and you can bet he probably helped Barry land the CCPD job and covers for him when he’s late. He keeps a whole room in his house open, still furnished, just on the chance that someday his son might need to come home.
The one thing he just cannot do for the longest time is believe Barry. It’s this constant source of strain, a wedge between them for years. And Joe certainly doesn’t approve of everyone at the precinct calling Barry a weirdo, but how much can he really say or do about it when he thinks they might be right? He took Barry to shrinks, tried to get him to come to terms with what he thought was just a childhood trauma, but it never works. Barry refuses to give in on this, in fact he gets worse. He starts blogging about strange cases, he takes trips to other cities to investigate impossible happenings. He’s rebelling in the one way that says to Joe he’s just not good enough, he can’t “fix” what’s happened in Barry’s past or help him to find closure. Barry’s always going to stand for Henry, his mom’s killer, first before Joe, the man who raised him. And he tries not to resent that except the one time he can’t hold it in anymore.
“I have done my best to take care of you since that night, and I have never asked for anything in return, not even a thank you, but what I do ask now is that you for once in your life see things as they are.” (Joe West, “Pilot”)
And then immediately after, he’s given evidence by Eddie that Barry might possibly be right about Mardon. And even though it’s just a police sketch, even though he’s furious with Barry right now, he decides to check out the lead anyway, to trust in his kid. And that’s what allows him to see The Flash.
The first two episodes are really about Joe and Barry’s relationship, about those two characters finally seeing eye to eye, and realizing the truth. For Barry, it’s that Joe is just as much his father as Henry, and he loves him. For Joe, it’s that he made a mistake that night fourteen years ago not believing this child, but that in admitting it his son still loves him back. This newly strengthened bond becomes so important to them and helps them weather through every event that follows in the season. They learn to rely on each other, to be closer, to show just how much they care about each other in spite of everything that was between them at the start of the pilot.
And by the end of the season, when the opportunity presents itself, they don’t give that bond up.
Oh, you must be so proud of yourself. I WILL COME OVER THERE AND MAKE YOU DRINK TEA. I WILL SUFFER THAT 20+ HOUR FLIGHT, I’VE DONE IT BEFORE AND I WILL DO IT AGAIN.
empty-puppetreplied tothis post: ohman oh man oh man don’t get me STARTED ON BARRY AND JOE jesus I could write an essay about my feels for that father-son relationship
Right?? RIGHT?? THEY GIVE ME SO MANY FEELS. God!! I can’t even.
Joe is the most important person in Barry’s life. Fight me on this, I dare you.
Like, I get that Iris is the love of his life etc, but JOE IS HIS FUCKING ROCK. Joe cares about nothing but the safety of his two kids. Yes. TWO kids. It kills Joe that Barry’s out there risking his life, but all he can do is try to help him as best he can. Joe is there to give Barry advice - whether it be about work, vigilanteing, or Iris. AND ON THAT NOTE. Joe thinks Barry is good enough for IRIS. Godddd I can’t. Just. THEY LOVE EACH OTHER SO MUCH.
ALSO - THIS ENTIRE EXCHANGE:
Barry: Joe, what I said to you about not being my father… Joe: Barry, I know. I know I’m not your father. Barry: You’re right, you’re not. You’re just the man who kept me fed and in clothes, who sat by my bed every night until I fell asleep because I was afraid of the dark, helped me with my homework. You taught me how to drive, and shave… and you dropped me off to college. Sounds a lot like a dad to me.
SO. MANY. FEELS.
Sorry, Joe and Barry’s relationship is incredibly precious to me.
YEEEEEESSSSS okay buckle your seatbelts kids because here I GO
Okay so yes yes yes Joe is 100% the most important person in Barry’s life, and holds the most influence over him. I do not at all doubt that when Barry started working for the CCPD people would often call him a weirdo or talk behind his back because we’ve all seen Barry at a crime scene and how enthusiastic he gets over scienc-y things, not to mention the paranormal blog and while Barry would take the jabs passively, Joe would not be on board with that because nobody talks shit about his son, especially when the kid’s been through enough already. So Joe makes it known, subtly of course, that the walls have ears.
Imagine the nights Barry spends at the office, doing his work after everyone’s gone because it’s easier that way, both mentally (how can some humans be so cruel and messed up and-) and without the constant annoyance of someone looking over his shoulder and Joe is there, stays overnight along with him.
Times when Barry succumbs to panic and anxiety attacks, when he withdraws into himself for days and days and Joe is there to anchor him, to offer a shoulder to lean on and an ear to listen, coaxes food into Barry even though the anxiety makes his stomach roll.
Barry’s worry and concern and fear when he discovers that Joe is the intended target of the Mardens and Nimbus and he immediately suits up; his relying on Joe’s opinion when it comes to whether or not he should save his mum and oh my god my heart when Joe tears up when he answers because losing Barry would kill a piece of him but he would give anything for his son to be happy, even if it meant he himself would be miserable.
