#i didnt think any of yall wpuld care about this au😭

[broareweabouttoviberightnow]

ok yall were??? so sweet about this?? like I genuinely did NOT expect this many of u to care😭 so some more details for y'all under the cut!!

-ok so dallas, well how to put this, crashes out like no man has ever crashed out before. this is semi in line with my other Johnny dies Dallas lives au regardin like Darry getting to Dallas in the park before the cops get to him n he basically strong armin Dallas into movin in. but the thing is Dallas can barely stand to be in the same room as Pony. he hates himself n blames himself n it gets real dark for him there for a LONG time (dw I'm gonna get this man a hug🙂‍↕️)

- Pony does NOT take his recently acquired deafness well. at all. he's scared n frustrated n suddenly, intensely, lonely. His brothers don't get it. no one gets it. well. except an old neighbor who he hasn't seen since his parents' death. he stumbles down to her doorstep n when she opens the door it's like she's been expectin him for a while.

- pony picks up sign surprisingly quickly. it's in starts n stops but he's always had a thing for languages. slowly he brings soda n two n steve n darry (when he can) down to this woman n she patiently begins to teach all of them.

- Darry has an intense amount of guilt about picking it up slower then the rest of them. he simply cannot be around as often. soda stays up to teach him what he learned after long shifts n darry walks around constantly sleep deprived from workin all day n then tryin to learn all night. but he'd do it for Pony. it's the least he can do.

- pony struggles often with the feeling of bein broken n frustrated with a world that looks at him like he needs to be fixed or shoved to the side. he tries to explain this to his neighbor n she basically tells him deafness is not a LOSS! though it's easy to think of it that way. deafness is access to things the hearin world will never have. the community. the culture. deafness is beautiful!! n u know what. it takes a while. but Pony is able to tap into that experience. he is not missin a part of himself. he's GAINED a whole new self.

- now dallas. he ends up at this woman's house one night. ripped up n spillin out n just wantin to make things right. n him n her trade notes back n forth until he starts, slowly, pickin it up. God the first time the two of them can have a full conversation Dallas cries. n then promptly denies it. (she'd never tell anyone. she's got a soft spot for him) he hesitantly approachs pony one day n signs to him that he's sorry. n pony SOBS. (god he forgives him of course he does)

- soda is actually the quickest of the bunch to pick it up! his brain just ?? connects the dots so quickly!! like he was hardwired for it, Soda acts as ponys interpretor most of the time when they go out. (also givin him my little quirk of sometimes forgettin most ppl don't know sign n just signin to ppl n not realizin until they're lookin at him like 🤨 that OH u do not know what I am sayin!)

- pony gives all of the boys their sign names. it's kinda hard to describe signs but lemme know if yall wanna see n I can try to sketch them out😭

- also a lil bonus hc if Johnny had survived he would have picked up asl quick as QUICK n would have done most of Pony's sign interpretation whereas soda would do most of his voice interpretation!!

also tagging u guys in the notes who were being so lovely😭🫶 @pantaloons152 @fireandiceposts @penguinstuff @frxstbyt @chippedshake

am I getting too convoluted if I said Johnny dies Dallas lives n Pony loses his hearing as a result of the way Dallas hits him (to put out the fire) when he pulls him out of the church au??