charlie grimms's Links
charlie can't quite explain it, but he's...friends with this guy? at first he only tolerates him out of necessity, since alistaire threatens to expose charlie's secret identity to get him to do whatever he wants. after charlie realizes alistaire's not actually going to blackmail him they start to hang out voluntarily; charlie doesn't really know why because he still can't stand the guy most of the time, but alistaire does have his moments... and then charlie reaches a breaking point and punches alistaire in the face. hard. and actually regrets it. there's something to be said about guys who only become friends because they got into a physical fight, and that something is: oh my god, they're actually insane. it doesn't take long before they become ride-or-die best friends who would do anything for each other. charlie feels no need to explain his friendship with alistaire to anyone; you either accept that this guy is part of the deal, or you don't and move on. he appreciates alistaire for his refusal to compromise on who he is, and his determination to live out his life exactly how he wants without letting anyone get in the way of that. charlie's never known someone who doesn't mind his numerous rough edges, but alistaire takes it all in stride and rolls with all the punches - literally, and that means a lot to him.
Ali loves to find a grump he can really irritate, but he's surprised when this one ends up tolerating it. And tolerating it. And tolerating it. And Charlie is a pretty laid back guy, once you get past the rooty tooty point and shooty, and they've got a lot in common... damn, guess Alistaire enjoys hanging out with him enough to even slightly scale back the torture!
That's how it starts, anyway. Within a few years the two are inseparable parts of each other's lives. For all his complaints about Alistaire, Charlie never asks him to dial himself back, and that's crucial to Ali. Charlie's dependable, he doesn't take shit from anyone, and by god, can he commit to a bit. He just gets Alistaire like no one else. Their bizarre unique friendship involves regular physical altercations, petty bickering like a divorced couple, and getting into costumes and pretending they hate each other, and neither of them plans to change any part of it anytime soon.
charlie and jasper are mostly friends through hero work, but do know each other's identities by now. charlie's past as a villain meant that jasper didn't trust him at first, and he still occasionally does things that don't line up with their idea of heroism, which can drive a wedge between them at times.
jasper and Charlie know each other through their lives as vigilante superheros. while they often argue about their fundamental ideas about what it means to be a hero, they are both pretty quick-witted and and capable and make pretty good friends for the most part
charlie didn't know shiv existed until she walked in and discovered his secret identity, which makes things a little awkward between them at first. she's so different from her brother (ie normal) that he has a hard time figuring out what to expect from her (the way anyone would be after finding out about your best friend's secret older sibling who you happen to be the exact same age as), but he thinks she's pretty alright. he likes that he can complain about alistaire to her because she Gets It in a way that other people don't. at the same time, they are often out of sync in that they see completely different sides of alistaire; listening to shiv talk about alistaire makes him wonder what he's not seeing.
That guy her brother hangs out with. Also the Gunslinger. She thinks the cowboy LARPing is a little juvenile, as are all his interactions with her brother (so cringe to watch...) and she cannot believe she and he are the same age. That being said, she has nothing against the guy; she honestly expected Alistaire's best friend to be equally insufferable and at least 60% as bizarre, but Charlie is pretty chill. Sometimes they both have the same snarky teasing comeback to something Alistaire's said.
Charlie's interactions with Alistaire show her a side of her brother she never knew existed. It's often jarring for her to be reminded just how much he's changed... and Alistaire seems slightly on edge whenever Shiv and Charlie interact. They were only introduced in the first place by accident, and she wonders when, if ever, he had been planning to let them meet.
charlie knows mav from going to various concerts in silver city. as a pretty non-judgemental guy, charlie isn't bothered by mav's weirdness, though he's not a huge fan of the spiders themselves. mav doesn't know charlie's identity or that he has anything to do with the vigilante scene in the city.
mav's seen charlie around at shows and such. he's cool far as they're concerned. not really sure what his deal is, since he seems mostly normal if a bit gruff? but there's probably something somewhere if they're hanging out together. not that they'd say that. but it's true.
charlie knows sal from going to various concerts, where he's crossed paths with rosehead and hung out with them backstage before. as sal doesn't come into the city for much outside of band stuff, he hasn't had an encounter with the gunslinger and doesn't know charlie's identity; charlie would prefer to keep it that way. sal makes a lot of assumptions about charlie that end up comically incorrect (for example: assuming he's a truck guy, that he would love hunting, et cetera), and charlie just kind of rolls with it because it's harmless and he owes the guy for fixing up his truck. he's not put off by sal being a weird mountain man creature guy who hunts his own food; he doesn't care what the guy looks like as long as he's a decent person, which sal is, so it's cool.
charlie knows hal as temptest first and finds him okay. he believes hal is a genuinely nice person and appreciates that he's willing to give the gunslinger a chance in spite of his past. he sees hal as a good ally but doesn't seek out friendship with him for a long time, not seeing any reason to keep their relationship anything other than strictly professional. he finds out hal's identity by accident early on when hal comes by the dog shelter charlie works at to donate blankets and charlie makes the connection by voice, but doesn't tell him that he knows for another few years at least.
hal knows charlie as the gunslinger for awhile, and even probably got into it a few times in his villain days (no hard feelings!). he's excited about gunslinger trying out the whole hero thing and tries to be as encouraging and friendly as possible. he just wants him to feel welcome! hal has no clue about charlie's secret identity or the fact that charlie knows his, thought never once crossed his mind
charlie meets damon online several years before the present day. they play co-op games together a lot and are just your average online friends. for the first several years charlie has no idea damon lives in silver city or that he's an ai, whereas damon pretty much immediately knows about charlie's identity just given his nature. when charlie finds out about this he's uncomfortable, but damon turns out to be a pretty good ally when he needs it most, even if he needs a reminder about privacy sometimes...
Charlie is one of the first people Damon actually starts talking to instead of just observing, and probably his first friend. He knows way too much info about Charlie from the get-go, but tries to respect his boundaries nowadays. Mostly. He's slow to let Charlie in on his whole deal despite what he knows about him in return, but he does trust the guy, and cares about him. Good luck getting him to admit to anything that genuine, though.
weird forest guy. charlie feels pretty bad for all the shit this guy's been through. path is a pretty okay guy all things considered, but he can be a little much sometimes. he gave path a poncho from an old halloween costume and path has never let him forget it.
Path thinks of Charlie as a good friend, and is thankful that Charlie didn't shoot him when they first met. Path sees Charlie as someone stubborn in need of help, like when an injured bird bites your finger as you're trying to help it. He is always there in case Charlie needs to blow off steam by shooting rocks in his forest. Charlie also gave Path a poncho, one of Path's most beloved possessions. He cherishes Charlie very much and thinks of him as one of his best friends.
she's chill.
Zora thinks Charlie is pretty cool! She got to know him through Alistaire.
charlie's not sure how to feel about robbie. he knows alistaire sees himself in the kid, but he's not sure leading him down the path of villainy is the right choice here; robbie also reminds charlie of himself, and he's worried robbie might take things too far one day. at the same time, there's something else going on that charlie just can't put his finger on. eventually charlie decides to trust alistaire's judgement and let him do his thing, which he comes to regret heavily later on...
Robbie doesn't know Charlie -- he's only heard Alistaire talk about him briefly and seen him a few times while attempting to show up unannounced at Ali's house. He doesn't care much about Charlie, but finds him a little intimidating. Sometimes, when Alistaire talks about him especially often in a day, Robbie finds himself jealous.
Robbie DOES know The Gunslinger -- famous hero who partook in the Battle of the Beacon, Alistaire's rival, smug asshole #1. The Gunslinger is the hero Alistaire teaches Robbie to "fight" against, as he interrupts their crime sprees frequently. While Robbie would never admit it, he has a begrudging respect for The Gunslinger for his participation in the Battle of the Beacon, alongside how skilled he is as a hero.
charlie can't stand this guy. he only knows him as that guy who keeps putting him and all the people he can't stand in pocket dimensions that seem to be designed specifically to torture everyone involved. that's weird. everyone disliked that.
Really likes this one. Source of endless entertainment. Funny to make him mad. Always included
charlie HATES this guy. he's a rich asshole and a hypocritical, egotistical glory-hound who won't get his hands dirty where it counts: everything charlie hates rolled up into one guy. to make matters worse, he's dating one of charlie's friends, which means they have to play nice when jasper's around, even though he doesn't understand what they see in the guy. apollo is just about the only person charlie will ever say is even less of a hero than he is - which is saying something when you're talking about a guy who still sees himself as a villain.
charlie knows sal from hanging with rosehead backstage and getting to know a few of the guys. sal seems to have determined that charlie is some sort of...truck loving, outdoorsy, hunter guy? he keeps trying to drag charlie on various expeditions and gifting him weird shit no matter what charlie does to try to convince him otherwise, but hey, he does truck repairs for free...
It's nice to meet someone who enjoys the outdoors like Sal does! They met from Charlie hanging around backstage, and Sal enjoys having a casual friend he can invite out on hunting trips. He doesn't really seem to realize that he's completely misinterpreted Charlies' interests and continues trying to gift him useful things, and maybe the occasional replacement "Ratlie".
charlie loves dogs, but he never pictured himself owning a pit bull - his favorite type is herders, after all. he fostered winona because she'd been at the shelter for a while and needed to get out, but he didn't expect that she'd end up staying for six months...or that he'd eventually be the one to adopt her, making her his first official owned dog. (ps this all happens in the future)
WINONA LOVES CHARLIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
charlie absolutely fucking hates this guy. the only person he maybe hates more than skywolf is apollo brighton, and that's only because he's had more personal encounters with apollo than skywolf. the gunslinger has clashed with skywolf a few times over the years, and charlie just can't stand the way he looks down on everyone, including the city he's supposed to be protecting as a member of the sentinels. that, and charlie is well aware of laz's less-than-favorable views on things like women, queer people, and...well, everything, really. if charlie ever saw laz walking down the street in civvies, he'd probably deck him with no provocation - and he absolutely would not feel bad about it in the slightest.
if laz knew anything about charlie as a person, he'd hate him more than he already does. as it is, laz hates the gunslinger more than enough. as a villain, the gunslinger was a threat, which laz in equal parts took seriously and also brushed off, seeing him as nothing more than a waste of time who can't hit his marks. as a hero, laz finds the gunslinger detestable, not trusting that he won't turn back to villainy at any given moment. at the same time, he's not worth worrying too much about.
She's had to almost kick this guy out because of his temper! At least twice, too. But he's Alistaire's best friend, and if Alistaire can find the gooey center to this walking brick shithouse of testosterone, then he's probably stable. She can keep him around... as long as he doesn't throw any more fits. She likes Charlie!
even when he was a villain, charlie has always held centaur in high regard. he strongly respects her commitment to doing good in areas that are often overlooked by flashier heroes and admires her professionalism and willingness to see both sides, rather than taking a one-sided approach.
as one of the more rational, levelheaded heroes in silver city with a boots-on-the-ground outlook, centaur is a little more charitable towards the gunslinger than most are at the beginning of his hero career. while she's wary of him and the capacity he has to do damage, she can tell that he's got his heart in the right place and is really trying to make a change, even though he's a little rough around the edges. one point in his favor: despite clashing when on opposing sides, the gunslinger never once insulted her for the nature of her mutation - unlike certain heroes she could mention.
despite being a dog lover first and foremost, charlie also likes cats! he likes these two a lot; they're sweet and get along well with his dog. he mostly leaves emmy alone, understanding that if she wants attention she'll come to him, so instead if he wants to pet a cat he'll go pick up skeletor, who's always looking for pets anyway. he usually doesn't mind skeletor climbing into his space, but sometimes it's a LITTLE much.
Emmy favors his room because it's dark, and his company because he's (comparatively) chill. Content to sit in the same room with him for a couple hours in peace. Skeletor loves to be manhandled by him and his spacious lap and perchable shoulders. Climbs him like a tree and LOUDLY INSISTS on being patted. Not dissimilar from his owner in that regard.