See More Seymour's Week- Platonic Relationship Day
It's platonic relationship day for See More Seymour's Week (@seemoreseymoursbay) so I'm posting about one of my favorite background platonic relationships on the show- Rudy and Zeke! Alas, I don't have a fic about them to share but I still want to talk about them!
I always think it is interesting when the show shows relationships between kids at Wagstaff that don't involve the Belchers, and especially when it's kids who aren't in the same grade. And Zeke and Rudy are such a fun pair because they have some clear similarities (they are both really friendly and good natured) but also some notable differences (Rudy's pretty sensible, Zeke has a problem with impulse control).
Some canon highlights:
Them acting opposite each other in "Work Hard or Die Trying Girl"- with Zeke throwing wrestling into their number (to Rudy's approval despite getting crushed).
Rudy telling Zeke to shut up- and then immediately apologizing-in "Midday Run".
The flashback to them playing basketball in "Y Tu Ga-Ga Tambien"- honestly this is one of my favorites as it indicates that Zeke just really enjoys hanging out with Rudy- because Zeke is clearly not getting much athletic competition there!
Them being big fish and little fish in "A Fish Called Tina"- "I still think that Zeke might be my soulmate"
Zeke's concern over Rudy's broken arm in "The Hawkening" including feeding him tater tots (pictured)
Some headcanons/fic ideas:
They are both children of divorce and Zeke has experienced a parent getting remarried and having a younger half-sibling. If Rudy goes through the same thing at some point, it's easy to see him turning to Zeke about that.
Generally I see Rudy seeing Zeke (and Gene) as his surrogate big brothers and turning to them for advice about growing up, dating, etc. It's probably not always the best advice, but it's well intentioned.
I think that they play basketball together into adulthood (Rudy eventually becomes somewhat better but neither of them are great at it: they just like hanging out and getting exercise together.)
One day I hope to come up with a fic idea worthy of these two! (Also, hope I get the confidence to try to write for Zeke- he has a distinctive voice and I've never written for him.)
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For the first day of @roudiseshipweek prompt family, have a slice of The Apple of my Pie.
Also on A03
“The Apple of my Pie?” Teddy asked, eyeing the sliced pie under the glass case that sat on the corner of the counter.
“Comes with a scoop of vanilla ice cream,” Louise answered. She tried to hide how eager she was for Teddy’s approval, but her fingers nervously tapped at notepad she used to take orders.
It had started with her taking home economics in grade eight. Louise figured it would be an easy class that required no actual work. Instead, Ms. Fraser, who Wagstaff had hired the year before, actually expected something from her students. Louise had fumbled her way through a unit on basic sewing but found her footing when it came time to learn how to cook.
Sure, having a dad that owned a restaurant and loved to cook, she expected to have some useful skills. What she hadn’t expected was how much she had enjoyed their first baking assignment. Not only that, but how well her chocolate chip cookies had turned out.
And then the snickerdoodles, which Rudy had promptly devoured before they could bring any home. Which, paired with his compliment, made Louise’s chest feel both warm and too tight at once.
Louise had thought it was a fluke. Cookies were easy. And so were the biscuits, cakes, and pies they were tasked to make. Even if Andy and Ollie had regularly produced items that were simultaneously burnt and raw, Jessica’s was too dense, and Rudy’s a touch too bland.
Baking was so easy that Louise just kept doing it after she finished the class. Birthdays, Christmas, even one Hannukah where Rudy had her help him with his grandmother’s recipes, any excuse to lose herself in flour and sugar.
Now, three years later and with an eyeroll worthy food handlers’ course behind her, Louise had her first weekend special on display. Her father had been the one to ask if Louise wanted to try selling a special dessert on weekends.
“We’d pay you for it, uh, maybe not enough for a car, but as a bonus on top of your regular shifts.” Her dad had cleared his throat then, and Louise realized he was fighting emotions as he added: “I always dreamed one of you would work with me some day.”
Snapping back to the present, Louise wrote down Teddy’s order of one burger of the day (Hamburger to the Slaw-ter, comes with apple slaw) and one slice of pie.
Her nerves were put to a temporary rest as Teddy devoured his warmed slice and asked for one to take home. Her father’s regular was one of two people Louise needed to like her first featured dessert. The other, who would only be able to show up late today because of pre-concert band practice, was her best friend, Rudy. Though that title seemed to be getting hazy the older they got.
They still did all the same things they did as kids: pull pranks, play games, watch movies, go on adventures, but their solo ventures seemed to have something lingering under the surface. Louise did not like thinking about this though, and just chalked it up to weird teenage existentialism over their impeding adulthood. Or something like that.
Definitely not that the older they got, more Louise came to terms with liking boys, that she realized that she imagined them together whenever she thought about her hypothetical marriage.
These thoughts were flung far from her mind by the busy lunch rush. It seemed that news of their new specialty sweet, paired with their growing social media presence, was paying off.
Checking her phone between customers, Louise found no new texts from Rudy. Which meant that he was still practicing. And not yet here to try what she made. The lunch rush slowed, leaving half the pie in its glass case.
Still enough for when he showed up. Cause he would show up. Rudy wouldn’t bail on her without saying anything. Not even when Chloe Barbash, who played second clarinet, could sweep in and distract him in the way teenage boys often were in Tina’s favorite movies.
The chime of the door opening broke her out of her thoughts of strawberry scented distractions. The first customers of the dinner rush were coming. Today was shaping into a busy one. Which Louise was grateful for, busy hands meant a busy mind after all, until she noticed Tina plating the last slice of pie towards the end of the evening.
And Rudy still had not come in yet.
Disappointment pooled in her stomach as she watched as that slice of pie was set in front of a customer. She should’ve been happy her pie had sold out. Happy that people were asking if there was anymore in the back. But all she could think about was Rudy not showing up. She didn’t get any texts telling her he was delayed or had a change of plans, so Louise concluded he must have forgotten.
It was a thought that stung more than Rudy not liking her creation.
“Not important, things happen,” Louise muttered to herself as she bussed the now empty tables after closing.
“What was that dear?” her mom asked.
“Nothing,” Lousie answered. And it was nothing. Rudy rarely flaked on their plans, so whenever he pulled a no-show Louise forgave him. Even when this meant a lot to her, she wouldn’t make much of fuss.
“Oh, all right then.” Her mom said, sounding unconvinced, “Let me finish up down here so you can get that pie you saved for us in the oven. Ooh, I’ve been thinking about it all day so I wouldn’t steal some today.”
Louise laughed as she handed the full tray to her mom and headed towards the door. As she locked the restaurant behind her, a familiar wheeze sounded behind her.
“Sorry Louise…practice went late…had to run all the way here…” Rudy panted between wheezes.
“Oh no, I’m too late, aren’t I?”
Any hurt feelings melted at the sight of her friend, red faced and bent double, outside her home. His timing, while slightly off, still brought him to an opportunity dine at the Belcher residence, if he chose to accept a last-minute invitation.
“Too late for a burger and pie,” Louise agreed, “but not too late for a Gene Special followed up with Louise’s apple pie with ice cream and homemade caramel sauce.”
Rudy’s head shot up, a smile on his face. He pulled out his phone and began typing out a message before pausing.
“You sure? Isn’t a Gene Special a family thing?”
Louise shrugged. Usually, whenever Gene’s night to cook came up, it was on a night they didn’t have guests over. It wasn’t a hard and fast rule, just something that protected their friends from Gene’s more creative food pairings. Tonight’s chicken vindaloo pot pie with a garlic naan crust was a tamer offering, though the spice level may leave Rudy coughing.
“Well, I guess you’re part of the family now,” Louise said ignoring the way Rudy’s cheeks flushed, “no escaping it now.”
“Cool,” Rudy said, following as Louise opened the door to the apartment, “does that make Gene my brother-in-law or something?”
“That means you’d have to marry Tina or I, and I know Tina’s spoken for already.”
“Hmm,” was all he said, and it was Louise’s turn to have her cheeks glow red.
“Hey Louise, and Rudy! Are you here for a helping of the Gene Special?” Gene called, spotting the two as they entered the kitchen.
“Yup. Louise invited me if that’s alright?”
“It is, but do your parents know?” Her dad asked from where he was hovering over Gene’s progress, “I don’t want your parents to worry.”
“Already told them,” Rudy said.
Dinner, despite Louise’s thought that curry and pot pies did not go together, went much better than Gene’s first ‘special’ of baked potato lasagna. Especially when it was followed up with her apple pie, warm from the oven, topped with ice cream and caramel sauce.
After dinner, Louise convinced Rudy to stay for a movie, which they were allowed to watch together in her room with the door open.
“If I can have pie like that every Saturday, then I’d marry you in a heartbeat.”
Rudy’s comment broke through Louise’s focus on the screen, and she cast a glance at him in the dim light. He wasn’t looking at her, his hands on the bed at his sides, and Louise reached over and laced their fingers together.
“Maybe we wait ten years before the proposals,” she said nonchalantly.
Her heartbeat skipped as Rudy squeezed her hand. Smiling, she squeezed back.
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This sounds a bit sad, but I'm someone who used to have absolutely zero faith in my artistic abilities. I've been writing my entire life, and haven't had too many self-confidence issues with that (well, I've gotten down on myself about my writing before, but I've gotten a lot better about that). I've always known I have the ability to write, as I've been doing it almost my entire life.
But drawing was a different story. I used to always tell myself "Ha! I just need to stick to writing. I'll never be able to draw. Are you kidding? Look at all of these talented artists. And look at these gorgeous realistic anatomy they can do!! I'll never be able to do that. I have no artistic ability whatsoever. It's just not my thing."
That was really my first mistake, comparing myself to other artists, and judging my ability to draw before I even tried. But another thing that really lowered my confidence in my artistic abilities was this one moment in my English class my Sophomore year of high school. We had this assignment to make a short comic based on the story The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe. I'm sure everyone knows that story. I did mine, and forgot to sign it at first, and my teacher saw. He was always a harsh grader, but he held up my paper, not knowing it was mine, and called it Kindergarten work. In front of the entire class. Needless to say, I was mortified. I immediately redid the assignment, losing almost all of my faith in my own artistic abilities.
But something changed when the Pandemic hit. I got an iPad, which made digital drawing so much easier and more fun. And I just had a lot of time on my hands because of lockdowns. And I thought to myself: Huh. Well, maybe I don't have to draw realistically. Maybe I can practice my drawing skills more by drawing more cartoony art.
And that's exactly what I did. And now I'm proud to say I'm actually confident in my art now!! I sort of have my own style now, which has definitely evolved over the years. I guess that's just what can happen when you practice and try to push aside the self-doubt festering in the back of your mind. It wasn't always easy, but I kept trying to encourage myself instead of just putting myself down.
Now I can proudly say that I've gotten paid for my art, and my clients were all thrilled with the results so far. And I can't wait to keep drawing for people and making them happy. I think I've definitely come a long way from so-called "Kindergarten work".
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