#disco machine

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Dex's cane

It is mentioned in one of the dialogues that Charlie has known Dex since he was still using a cane and I couldn't get this outa my head. I think he used to have chronic pain, musculoskeletal pain to be exact, for which he used a cane. No wheelchair because even the cane damaged his perfect image.

Body modifications

Dex would definitely have some piercing back when he was 100% organic, on his ears for example, but maybe even on his tongue. Not sure about tattoos, but the potential is there. All that was said is that he'd never replace any of his parts with mechanical ones, but nothing about other body modifications

Trans scars. Won't elaborate. He's not straight, nor cis, and if you love him you're not straight either, no matter the gender. No bottom surgery, since he couldn't afford it

The following section is going to touch sensitive topics such as self hatred and self harm, as well as a sketched drawing with inexplicit self harm marks and a screenshot of the game with the similar content, beware

picture for separation

Acceptance

While my friend was checking the models for each member of the group, they noticed that Dex has (what it seems like) self harm scars on his arms, wrists and thighs.

This made me think about how hardly he was trying to be perfect and how he still didn't accept the fact that perfection is unreachable. Deadly sin is greed for a reason.

I think there could be many triggers for him to do what he did:

Trans life. Even if you've been in a supporting surrounding your whole life, being in the wrong body can break you, which could act as a trigger to avoid reality and emotions

Perfection is pain. Every minuscule mistake could lead to passive harming, which then could turn into an active one. Each wrong move, tone, said word or played note could make him reach for something sharp

Disability. As I mentioned earlier, I don't think he'd use a wheelchair, because (in his opinion) the fact that he uses a cane (although I'm pretty sure he'd avoid doing so for a long time) is already imperfect, because his body is imperfect. The disability just adds to the mental pressure that he feels daily

Before (and some time after) forming a band with Hemlock, Benny and Charlie (which was the latter's idea), Dex and Charlie used to live in a small apartment that they shared. Dex fought and won over the top side of the bunk bed, because he has to be above Charlie in all the ways

Life before Dead as Disco

At first they had a lot of problems due to Dex's stubborn self and Charlie's want to sleep more than three hours a day. Dex would always practice his guitar skills late at night, and no earphones could suppress the loud music. After some bickering and fighting they decided on Dex playing after Charlie would leave for work

Although they fought quite a lot, they still managed to live together and coexist in a weirdly chaotic harmony. Charlie always knew where Dex's makeup stuff was, and Dex knew when Charlie had to wake up to properly behave at work

™from the future: this is my second draft. The first one turned out to be like a really shitty fanfic, which was NOT in my intentions, so I decided to make a new post from scratch. If you'll like these headcanons – I'll post that draft. It's basically the headcanons that I'm gonna list here, but in a story form I guess idk I will NOT reread that

™from the future's future: originally this was supposed to include Hemlock and Benny, but I got lazy lol

For this post you'll have to know the "Life before Dead as Disco" section from the Dex Headcanons post (it's at the very end), so if you haven't read that – go now.

Apartment at the edge of the world

Dex and Charlie had known one another since they were kids.

Once Charlie had reached the age of 16, Stix kicked him out of the bar, because "it's too costly to keep ya 'round", and, besides, the kid has to learn stuff on his own, too. I'm saying 16, because at The Encore we can see how Charlie's height has been documented when he was 5 and 11, so if we're assuming that he checked his height every six years, the next check would be when he'd turn 17.

Coming back to the "ever since childhood" thing; Dex would be the first one about whom Charlie would think when Stix would shut the door in front of his face, clearly stating that from now on he wants to see his face ONLY when it's his shift. Cruel, but necessary.

I'd say "for some reason, Dex lived in the middle of nowhere", but I won't, because I'm pretty sure that he ran away from his home and didn't have much money to let himself live in the city centre. Now add a nicotine and energy drink addiction, no stable job and poor mental health to that.

Eventually, Dex would only afford a sketchy apartment at the 15th floor of a suspiciously tall and unsafe looking building, with one bedroom that was also the kitchen, and a bathroom with no warm water.

Charlie wouldn't know in what conditions Dex was living in, since he wouldn't share something so "embarrassing" with Charlie, yet he'd know his address (Dex shared it with him when he moved two years ago) ((he did it by accident)).

Warning: depression, neglect, addiction, and self harm mention below

Now, let's talk about the aforementioned conditions a little more:

Very limited space. One bedroom that's also a kitchen, and a bathroom is NOT enough space for a grown man, even if he's 18. No balcony, barely any space in the extremely compact rooms and only one window is also pretty pressuring, especially when you live in a place like this on a daily basis.

No warm water. While for some warm water might seem something rather comfort bringing than a necessity, it is important in everyday life. No warm water means constant pressure and stress while showering, and also doing it as quickly as possible, which may lead to poor hygiene.

Barely any money. All that Dex could afford was to rent the place, buy cigarettes, energy drinks and sometimes a pack of instant noodles or two for a whole month. Yes, people can survive on such a diet, but not for too long.

And how these points would affect Dex's mental and physical health:

Neglect of his surroundings. Because of Dex's energy drink and nicotine addiction, his place soon would turn into a scrapyard of different cheap cigarette packs and energy drink cans. He'd try to clean it up at the beginning, but would quickly give up, as the trash is piling up faster than he can throw it away. After some time he'd barely leave the bed, because there'd be no space for him to put his cane.

Clean, but at what cost. Dex wouldn't let himself skip any shower if he felt like he needed one, but after some time showering would associate with constant tension for him, and that – with constant pain.

Surviving, but not living. Dex might be living separately from his family, but his life has turned into a survival game where he has to steal in order to make it to the next day. He gave up on legal testosterone, gave up on almost everything, just so he can be alone.

End of the content warning

No matter how much Dex would want to tell Charlie to fuck off, he wouldn't. Everybody loves Charlie, it includes him, too. He'd let him in, expecting Charlie to judge his ways of living and telling something like "yea yea you can keep the opinion to yourself" while closing the door (all Charlie did was cough because of the marinated cigarette stench).

I believe they'd fight a lot. A fucking lot, but only at the beginning. Dex is used to living alone, rotting in bed and practicing all in the same place all day long, but Charlie demands changes.

I'm going to be obnoxious here and say that since Charlie is a janitor he'd clean Dex's house. He is so used to everything being clean, that the state Dex's place in would drive him nuts only after being there for ten minutes.

The guy has a whole bunk bed and the lower bed isn't even usable because of the junk. The freezer can't open, and the stench is so bad Charlie almost passed out. Putting simply: horrible conditions.

I don't think Dex would mind the cleanup – he'd mind the fact that he couldn't do it himself; that Charlie was better and could do it. He wouldn't thank him or even mention it. Charlie wouldn't push.

After a month they'd settle down. No more fights alike "why do you even live here if you don't fucking like the place" or "I can manage shit by myself Charlie, I don't need you". Now it's more bickering than anything. Like roommates.

It'd take a long time, but I believe Charlie would help Dex finish his bed rotting streak. It'd be a small start with Dex actually getting down from the bed and smoking outside of the apartment, growing into Dex's habit of cooking them breakfast, because he is not letting Charlie cook. Ever. The guy can make some drinks, but not food.

Dex would be alike a house wife, except he'd be a house rascal more than a wife. Yes, he'd cook for them and even make something for Charlie to bring to The Encore (aw, Dex, you shouldn't have..) (okay I'm taking it back), but he'd also do everything to keep the aforementioned awake at the only hours he has for sleep.

Life together

Their first and last major (started by Charlie) argument would be because Dex kept practicing at night/early in the morning. Energy drinks and cigarettes do everything but help you sleep, not even gonna start with the side effects like anxiety.

Even though the music went straight to his ears via earphones, it was still loud, and the pulled strings were perfectly heard from Charlie's bed, as Dex would either be playing on his own bed or at the kitchen table.

Charlie would be patient, though. He'd keep asking Dex nicely to practice only in the daytime or, at least, when he's off for work, but he wouldn't get it the nice way. So after a month of enduring, he'd snap.

After that, Dex would stop. It'd be the guilt. Charlie is the only one who gets money from the two of them, and Dex can't even leave the house to get his bulked testosterone or food.