#banner didn't like how audi wouldn't let go

[movedtodykedvonte]

Addisons: he didn't change that much, whatever happened to him was bad, but surely not horrible?

Spamton: bitch, I forgot what it's like to feel touch, taste and heavens knows what else, what do ya think???

What do they actually think happened to him? If it's not a spoiler or wasn't mentioned before and I forgot, read a lot of fanfiction, tend to mix dome things up

It’s a mixed bag of what they think. 

Audi and Banner thought he was dead. Audi was in denial for a while, delusionally so (I HC the mannequin looks like Spamton for a reason..) but Banner was dismissive enough of Spamton’s rate of survival that it rubbed off, cause hoping and waiting was just hurting Audi more as the years went on with no notices. Banner pretty much believed something bad happened the moment he heard the garbage noise on the phone, they didn’t immediately believe he was dead but thought foul play was involved. The guilt that they didn’t stop it easier to deal with believing he was dead and not out there suffering.

Surv and Pop always had a hope he was alive. I will get into it but a part of Surv working primarily out of town for the most part comes from him believing they can’t find him in the city cause he left. He takes work in distance but not too far areas and has this underlying hope that he’d catch a shadow of his old companion that would lead to something. Pop always thought Spamton was out there surviving. He didn’t how or where but he knew Spamton was too scrappy to just keel over after his fall from the top. Pop worked like crazy to forget about it, she took jobs and just waited for him to come up. Spamton was a ghost in her mind but very much no dead in her heart.

Now that he’s back they just believe he was roughing it on his own the whole time. They don’t know he was a puppet or realize how bad he had it as a big shot yet cuz they never had a lot of contact when the calls got bad. Of course they heard rumors of him being a scammer on the street but they were too scared of them just being rumors to investigate. (they couldn’t keep getting their hopes up.)

[movedtodykedvonte]

what would’ve happened if any of the others did find spam back in the city, living on the streets

I like to think it depends who found him. Under cut cause it's a bit long.

If it was just Audi, I feel like he'd take Spam in and keep it between themselves. Audi was the most protective of Spam specifically and openly heartbroken about him being gone. He never recovered as I hc the mannequin is like its stand in cope doll. Audi would fear telling the other's would lead to them having another fight and Spamton running off again or worse them just fully refusing to talk to each other ever again in any capacity.

Audi acts like the two of them can just pretend it's the past and continue where they left off but Spam just isn't the same anymore. He's more paranoid, less trust and less loving than he was before, even when he was getting a swelled head as a big shot he was more caring. It would be nice for a while but it wouldn't last, Spamton wouldn't be able to get over the betryal and the belief it was gonna come crashing down again, especially cause Audi would possibly hide the fact that it just didn't tell the others about him. Maybe Spamton finds out, maybe it freaks him out as he begins to think Audi's part of it too, leaving suddenly and definitely leaving Audi more heartbroken than before. Though I feel like this time Audi mourns the loss better as he now knows Spam has the capacities to survive on his own...

If it was just Vidie I don't things would go so well. The thing with Vidie is it would still be her "Pop" era/persona. It isn't a different personality but a mindset based on bitterness and spite. The difference in the CDAP au is he's had time to cool off and replace that with guilt after the fountain closed and their success as adware didn't matter anymore to their continued existence. Vidie would be boastful and rude, terse in a way she couldn't have been previously as Spam was way out of her bracket as a Big Shot. Probs some inputs on how she's probably doing well enough to support the both of them with ease, a weird/insulting invitation to berate him more at his place and get Spam off the street.

Vidie still cares at this point but it's a bit clouded by envy, he wouldn't want him to suffer more than he clearly has been but she needs to feel like the roles are "fixed". After being insulted I doubt Spam would really want to be near her any longer, seeing his belief they don't care about him really as confirmed and probably mocking how she is still jealous of his past success before again disappearing into a crowd before Vidie could get another barb in. Vide would regret her lack of a filter.

If it was Banner it would go no where. No confrontation or interaction, to be honest, Banner would think they were halucenating. Banner's emotions towards the whole thing are/were very repressed, purposely avoiding thoughts about the fall out and Spam as much as they could despite how it weighed on them. Seeing Spamton, messed up and probably rooting in the garbage, would be seeing her worst fears for him actualized. If Spam saw her he'd possibly run, maybe just quickly get out of dodge as he would be too ashamed and angry to really talk.

Banner would want to follow but be unable to move, still debating if all this repression has finally drove them bonkers. By the time Banner would make a decision, Spamton would be long gone and Banner would pretend it was a guilt induced thing. She'd go outside less after it though...

If it was just Surv I really can't say how that would have gone. Of all the ads, Surv was the one actively looking for Spamton, determined to find him and probably the most worried in the CDAP au when he still wasn't found after the fountain closed. If he hadn't been found who knows how Surv's relationship with the other's would have faired, especially with Banner. Besides that, Surve finding him probably yeileds the best outcome. He's not letting Spamton go again, not so easily. If Spamton runs, he's gonna catch him, if he tries to argue his way out he's gonna listen and take any vitriol, they can work on it later. Surv wants him to be safe and secure and will do anything to have that feeling for Spamton actualized. This of course means it's Spamton's call in Surv's mind if he actually stays with Surv and Banner at all or long term.

I can't imagine at this point Spamton would agree to it, I can't imagine Surv forcing him to do anything but listen to the offer and his apology, whether he accepts either or not. He wouldn't and while Surv can't understand why he'd choose to stay on the street, he wouldn't push it, knowing it would just push Spam further away. He'd buy him a phone, make sure he's set for at least a bit with either supplies or whatever Spam wants and give him his number. Spamton would never pick up but at least it gives Surv hope he's still alive every time the phone calls go through, even if it's only the automated message at the end. Surv would spend more time at in the city and more importantly at home...

Any group combination would result in them forcibly taking him in and trying to figure out what in god's name happened to him and if they could fix it. It would be a lot harder for them to bond and rekindle what they had here than in the current fic because they can visibly see that Spamton has been through something terrible, and he's still actively going through it. He's still a broken little doll with a voice in his head damning his existence and free-will, every second of that is a reminder of how they left him to this fate alone... or at least how he had no one to fall back on when it happened. It's a lot more existential and I feel like they'd all be more at each other's throats for longer cause he's in pain, he blames them and won't/can't say much about it. Spam doesn't want to be there cause he no longer feels safe, loved or respected by them or anyone for that matter.

They can try all they want but it takes longer cause he has to figure out how to heal the way he is and they have to realize that they can't just coddle him to achieve that. It's realizing that things are way more different and having to take them as what they are before finding traces of what they were. Whether it ends with them asking Kris to do the fountain in the end or Spamton running off again really depends on if they can focus on him and not their own feelings for once unlike before. It would just need to play out in this scenario...

Truthfully, I doubt puppet Spamton would be easy to win over as he still is mainly focused on his neo plans. The static and otherworldly knowledge is still prevalent in his brain and it's a block that the other addisons wouldn't easily get through. To me, most healing needs to happen after neo or a case where neo is no longer an option and he is also forced to look for prior choices.