#we can talk about fredsythe childhood friends now cuz the flashback introduced that they all knew each other since kindergarten

[fredheads]

Tell me about Fred being friends with other parents as a kid...

i think the parents he hung out with as a kid would have been hal, alice and fp the most. so.... 

alice and fred were inseparable when they were little kids! they were fiercely loyal to each other and no matter how dumb alice thought freds problems were and vice versa they’d move mountains to stick up for one another or help each other fix a problem. they absolutely did a blood brother oath and cut their hands. alice was mostly too smart and cynical to be into that stuff but she took her friendship with fred really seriously so she did the pact and meant it. she had long long blonde hair and scuffy hand me down clothes and she was a fighter through and through. fred was skinny and freckly and cute and always in muddy jeans or short gym shorts and a tshirt. idk if alice had a bike but she rode on the back of freds if not.  their favourite thing to do together was them always doing dumb things that didn’t require money like climbing through the woods just picking up sticks and horsing around or playing sandlot baseball or climbing trees or pitching pennies or hiding in their “clubhouse” (probably just some random bush or log out in the woods) and maybe alice even showed him her secret hiding place thats up to you to say. but i can picture them crawling through various sewer pipes regardless. alice was considered one of the boys and she was always good to be the ninth for baseball or any sport. she felt a degree of protectiveness for fred cause she saw him as more sheltered than her.  sometimes if fred had extra money he’d treat alice to a movie downtown or a bottle of pop from the convenience store (which he really didnt have to do because she was a deft shoplifter but it meant a lot when he bought it) and while alice sometimes resented owing him one and slugged him on the arm if he was too nice to her she secretly really liked the days they spent at the movies or in town or doing something special and nice. it was never awkward between them they understood each other really well. 

hal was a good friend to have because he could always be counted to be thoughtful and practical. he could also get you out of trouble with grownups really easily because he had such a squeaky clean record himself. hal actually got things done. much like ben he knew how to build a dam and a clubhouse, he would actually do it methodically using knowledge from books (and school... he actually paid attention) rather than just throwing stuff around and making the most of what you could do (fred). he was already learning stuff about cars from his dad and he could handle tools and knew how to build a go cart properly. he was absolutely invaluable because of this knowledge and while fred would have been his friend anyway, hal always felt cheered by the knowledge that fred and the other kids liked having him around because of the things he was good at and he could genuinely help.  he was also a good friend for playing cards or reading comic books or doing quiet things. and his mom made amazing snacks when you went over to his house after school and he owned and knew how to play every board game under the sun. (tbh this is because he was lonely a lot of the time and had to play by himself or with the teacher at recess... i wont get into that.) but oddly enough hal seemed happier when he and fred got to go away and play outside or over at fred’s for awhile. he loved his mom and he was comfy at home but sometimes when he was free for a bit he looked older and looser and more confident. but fred never told him this. he had his own bike and while it took a lot of exertion to get it going he had the best balance and could pedal harder than anyone else and still keep an eye on the road as not to get taken out by a truck. so if they ever had to carry anything or anyone important they went on hals bike. 

fp as a kid is so interesting to think about. he was unfortunately already a really battered, cynical child and his table manners weren’t the best. with adults he was sulky and immature. with other kids he could be really standoffish and either mean and rude or withdrawn. but whenever he was around fred it was like something magic happened and he became a thousand times more animated. fred could draw out this comfortable side of him that no one else did where he would make jokes and initiate banter and games. he had a mischievous streak that came out. it was like suddenly he was wholeheartedly committed to the role of being freds sidekick and he was always trying to make fred laugh and smile. fred definitely saw him as more than a sidekick though, he considered fp his best friend and equal in the world in a really special way and looked up to him in turn. he would have given him half of his friendship necklace.  once he found out fred wasnt going anywhere, fp got more confident in the personality he had when he was with fred. he could still get aggressive, withdrawn, mean, etc but only with people he didnt know. once they clicked they were best friends and they were always the ones to make friendship pacts/oaths etc. his friendship with fp was the first time fred started thinking in terms of having a designated Best Friend. Alice was always his best friend before but they didnt say it.  fp was rarely bored doing things with fred, even if they were a lot more pointless and wholesome than the kind of play the trailer park kids did. fred had a way of making everything cool and important even if they were just kicking a can or playing a game of cards. they were bad at egging each other on, however, so they did get in trouble a lot... and they also didn’t have a lot of brain in their heads so they were always doing dangerous dumb things and paying for it. falling in the stream, falling off the roof, falling off their bikes, breaking windows, breaking bones, stealing things, setting off fireworks, etc etc... if fp had a bike it was some rusty trailer park thing and he was just as happy riding on the back of freds. 

#we can talk about fredsythe childhood friends now cuz the flashback introduced that they all knew each other since kindergarten #but then said theyd never interacted? #sounds like bullshit #i think canonically these 3 would have been his closest childhood friends #or whatever passes for canon nowdays #canon to my world anyway #canon to my delusions #if i didnt hate f/lice so much id be interested in exploring fp/alice/fred as a childhood trio too #that would be interesting cuz fred is the only northsider in that group #idk if the 3 of them would hang out together.... much 2 think #i have a whole separate set of headcanons if we think of all of them hanging out as a group including mary and hiram and everyone #i would like to see baby hiram and fred also.... #this is just gonna spiral into my it au but thats not important right now #thank u for the question i owe u my life #halcooper