Fanfic / You With Me

You With Me is a Casper fanfic by Humanities_Handbag and Invader_Sam. Set one year after the events of the movie, Casper and Kat have started to investigate the former's memories. However, when Stretch destroys the pictures of J.T. that they've managed to find, Casper winds up in a Between world where he has to follow his memories in order to decide whether to cross over or return to the land of the living. Meanwhile, those left behind launch an investigation into the McFadden family's past in order to get answers of their own. The Archive of Our Own link is here.

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You With Me contains examples of:

• Abusive Parents:
  • Alistair, Casper's grandfather, was one of these to Casper's uncles when he was still alive. Once they start recovering their memories of him, Stinkie and Fatso even recall a time where he broke Stretch's nose. It's lightly implied that Alistair's own father was also one to him, as the only mention of him in the story so far is Stretch calling him a "nasty bastard" while explaining the history of a family heirloom to Casper.
  • J.T. is also revealed to be this. While he initially just seems neglectful, his first major appearance has him slap a six-year-old Casper upside the head for talking back to him.
  • Following their deaths, the Ghostly Trio became this to Casper. Stretch's actions in particular even go as far as to drive Casper to the point where he genuinely considers crossing over just to get away from them.
• Affectionate Nickname:
  • "Bulbhead" is revealed to have originated as one, with Casper's uncles also having called him "Cas" and "short stack" back when they were all alive. Kat also calls Casper "Cas" a couple times and the Ghostly Trio eventually take to using it as they recover more of their memories. Upon reuniting with Casper a second time in the Memory House, Stretch calls him "short sheet" in a noticeably more soft manner than he would previously use.
  • In the memories, Stinkie is called "Sammy" (or "Uncle Sammy" in Casper's case) more than he's called "Samuel".
  • Stinkie and Fatso used to fondly (and half-sarcastically) call Stretch "Fearless Leader" when they were alive, to the point where it's engraved into his pocket watch. "Stevey" has also showed up in some of the more recent chapters.
• Aloof Big Brother:
  • Stretch had become one prior to coming to Whipstaff. He never called or wrote to his brothers and they rarely saw him outside of weddings and funerals.
  • As the oldest McFadden brother after Stretch, J.T. both inverted this trope (in regards to Stretch) and played it straight (in regards to Stinkie and Fatso). The only reason that his brothers found out that Casper existed was because they read about his birth in the newspaper.
• Amnesiac Resonance: Despite suffering from Ghost Amnesia, the McFadden ghosts know that they're related, as well as how they're related, by sheer instinct. Stinkie, who was a botany professor when he was alive, is also able to instantly recognize the scientific name for stinking clover. On a more humorous note, Stretch still has his Boston accent despite initially not remembering living in Boston.
• And I Must Scream: Stephen has had to relive the McFadden tragedy in an endless loop ever since Stretch died, with him also being perfectly aware of how Stretch has devolved into being an Abusive Parent to Casper following them meeting again as ghosts.
• Animal Motifs: Before he starts defrosting in the memories, his lean frame, beak-like nose, fondness for suits, and tendency to lurk causes Stretch to be frequently likened to a vulture.
• Big Brother Instinct: When they were children, Stretch took beatings on behalf of Stinkie and Fatso on a regular basis. After growing up, he also regularly gave solid financial advice to all of his younger brothers before his frosty relationship with J.T. caused him to withdraw into himself.
• Big Fun: Fatso qualified when he was alive, being a Nice Guy who was just as rotund as he is as a ghost.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Whatever happened to the McFadden family that caused Whipstaff to fall into the condition it's in at the beginning of Casper wasn't pretty, with Amelia outright calling it a tragedy.
• Deceased Parents Are the Best: Subverted. Casper initially believes that this is the case with J.T. as a result of him incorrectly remembering details about his life. He's wong.
• Defrosting Ice King: In contrast to Stinkie and Fatso, who came to Whipstaff to look after Casper following J.T. going to Europe, Stretch came with the intention of looking after the estate and its financials. He avoided Casper whenever possible, had a reunion with Nell that was quite chilly on his part, and had long since become an Aloof Big Brother to his siblings. He gets better before becoming even worse as a ghost.
• Disproportionate Retribution: The tin soldier incident was a moment of this. After getting hurt by stepping on a tin soldier that Casper had left out, Stretch responds by practically dragging him to the kitchen and having Casper scrub the dishes from lunch all while continuing to yell at him. Casper was three.
• Driven to Suicide: Chapter 19 reveals that Stretch died after he shot himself in the head.
• Everyone Has Standards: Even before they make any real headway in regaining their memories (and, with them, their living selves' kindness), Stinkie and Fatso are incredibly upset and unsettled by Stretch burning the photos of J.T. that Casper and Kat had recovered.
• False Memories: Casper's desire for a happy relationship with J.T. causes him to initially misremember his life, both when him and Kat start investigating his memories and when he first arrives at the Memory House. Ironically, he actually believes that his good memories with his uncles are these and only accepts them as reality in chapter 13.
• Genius Loci: The Memory House is actually sentient.
• Ghost Amnesia: As in canon. The driving focus of the fic is the McFadden ghosts trying to rediscover their memories and find out just what happened all those years ago.
• Given Name Reveal: This happens for the Ghostly Trio in chapter four, courtesy of Amelia. Their real names are "Stephen" (Stretch), "Samuel" (Stinkie), and "Franklin" (Fatso).
• Green-Eyed Monster: The animosity between J.T. and Stretch started because of J.T.'s jealousy of the privileges Stretch had as the eldest son.
• Heel Realization: Stretch's utter verbal dressing down at the hands of Fatso and Stinkie after the tin soldier incident inspires one in him.
• Hope Spot: In chapter two, it briefly looks like Kat managed to get through to Stretch and convince him to help Casper remember J.T.. She didn't.
  Kat's Narration: The eldest's shoulders had lowered. Hands holding the picture so carefully, like she'd seen Casper do so many times before. And there was hope. Hope that she'd gotten through to him. Hope that she'd managed to pull him onto their side. Hope that maybe she didn't need her mother, who was silent and nonexistent, and that she could do this on her own. Hope, for a moment, that it had worked. That perhaps she'd managed to reason with the volatile spirit. Maybe even drawn up something in him that could soften him up just enough to get Casper away. It all ended when his face shifted again. She saw all the emotions flicker through his eyes. Anger. Fury. Horror. ...and something else.
• Humanity Ensues: In a sense. Upon arriving at the Memory House a second time, Stretch goes from basically being a Bedsheet Ghost to inhabiting his old human body. Similarly, upon entering the house's depths, Casper becomes stuck in his six-year-old body.
• Impossibly Tacky Clothes: In contrast to Stretch, Stinkie didn't exactly have much in the way of fashion sense when he was alive. Two words: Yellow. Plaid. One of the memories has Stretch remark that his younger brother looks like a train jumper while Kat, upon finding the suit in the attic, wonders if one of the McFaddens was color-blind.
• In-Series Nickname:
  • The Ghostly Trio have taken to calling Kat "Kitty Kat" since the events of the movie.
  • "Stretch" started out as one of these due to him constantly trying to stretch the truth back during his school days.
  • While the full name of Whipstaff's former housekeeper is Penelope, nobody has called her that yet, with everyone who doesn't call her "Miss Danvers" instead referring to her as "Nell."
• Kick the Dog: Stretch gets in a couple of good ones in chapter two. First, when he mocks Kat's diary (which takes the form of letters to Amelia) and second, when he burns all of the pictures of J.T. that Casper and Kat had managed to collect.
• Lack of Empathy: While he hasn't had much screen time yet, this seems to be the case with J.T.. Not only does he use his wife's funeral as a networking opportunity (ignoring his son to do so), a later chapter reveals that he kept his father's ring even though it scarred Stretch when he was a child.
• Like Father, Like Son: J.T., jealous of Stephen's position as eldest son but also aware that their father hated him, sought to emulate the man in the hopes of earning his favor in place of his older brother. While he ultimately didn't get the inheritance he wanted, he did end up becoming very much like Alistair in all the worst ways. Stephen, on the other hand, actively tries to avert this trope, and is deeply unsettled when Samuel and Franklin point out how his reaction to the tin soldier incident reminded them of Alistair.
• Living Memory:
  • One of the two main settings is the Memory House, a place that exists between the planes of life and death where Casper's (actually Stretch's) memories play out in an endless loop.
  • There's also Stephen, the personification of Stretch's memories from when he was alive, who, after Stretch first enters the Memory House, starts existing inside his head as a Literal Split Personality.
• Missing Mom: Casper's mom is revealed to have died when he was three.
• My God, What Have I Done?:
  • In the aftermath of the tin soldier incident, Stretch is quite understandably distraught after Stinkie and Fatso point out how similar what he did was to the actions of their Abusive Dad.
  • As they recover more of their memories, the Ghostly Trio become more and more horrified at how they treated Casper before the whole Memory House debacle started, to the point where Stinkie at one point has a minor breakdown over how he might not get the chance to apologize.
• Mythology Gag: And a dark one at that. One of Stretch's lines in "Lucky Enough To Be A Ghost" (the Ghostly Trio's scrapped Villain Song from the original movie) had him claim that "my split personalities don't get along." Neither Stretch or Stephen like each other very much.
• Named by the Adaptation:
  • In the original film, Casper's mom was an Unnamed Parent. Here, she's given the name Emily.
  • While the Ghostly Trio are given names in the movie, they're almost certainly aliases and their original names are never revealed. In chapter four, Amelia reveals their real names: "Stephen" (Stretch), "Samuel" (Stinkie), and "Franklin" (Fatso).
• One True Love: Nell was Stretch's, with Stephen even confessing that theirs was a "one-love life."
• Original Character: Penelope "Nell" Danvers is completely unique to You With Me. She was Whipstaff's housekeeper back when the McFaddens were alive, the closest thing Casper had to a mother after Emily's death, and, by Stephen's own admission, the only woman that Stretch ever loved.
• Parental Substitute: The major twist of the story is the reveal that what Casper and Kat assumed were mementos and happy memories of his father were actually of Stretch, who stepped into the role in J.T.'s absence.
• The Promise: Kat makes one to Casper's father, swearing that she'll help his son remember him. While she's initially referring to J.T., she reluctantly switches it to Stretch upon finding out about his role as Casper's Parental Substitute.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: When he was alive, Stretch dressed almost exclusively in suits imported from Italy.
• Shipper on Deck: Fatso and Stinkie were quite hearty supporters of Stretch/Nell when they were all alive.
• Shout-Out:
  • Amelia quotes Dante's Inferno when explaining that she only came to Whipstaff to serve as a guide.
  • During his session with Dr. Harvey, Stephen uses the plot of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea to describe J.T.'s part in the McFadden tragedy, as he's unable to fully remember what happened.
• Took a Level in Jerkass:
  • As the events in the Memory House play out, it becomes abundantly clear that each member of the Ghostly Trio changed for the worst when they became ghosts. Undoing this is the crux of their Character Development.
  • Stretch also did some leveling before the memories featured in the Memory House play out, to the point where Nell barely recognizes him when he comes back to Whipstaff.
• Tranquil Fury: Dr. Harvey practically oozes this trope when confronting Stretch after Stinkie and Fatso told him about Stretch destroying all of Casper's pictures of J.T..
• What the Hell, Hero?: Fatso and Stinkie were not happy with Stretch after the tin soldier incident and made sure to let their older brother know. Nell also gives him the what for when he goes to talk to her.
  Fatso: I should'a said somethin' before, but I'm sayin' it now and you can be damn sure I'll be sayin' it again when the time comes. That? Back there? Was not okay.
  Samuel: Could hear 'im crying all the way upstairs, Stephen. Almost thought Pa was back from the dead.
  Stretch: Hey, hey! I didn't touch-
  Fatso: Maybe not this time. I swear to god, Stephen, after what that bastard put us through? Put you through? Don't think I haven't noticed all this yes sir, no sir business. Lockin' the kid out. Tellin' him he ain't bein' enough of a man.
  Stretch: But I didn't-!
  Fatso: Don't always need fists ta' hurt a kid.
• White Sheep: In contrast to J.T., the Ghostly Trio never tried to emulate Alistair when they were alive.
  Stephen: You could call'm [J.T.] the "black sheep," but reality is, our family had three black sheep in a pack of wolves.
• Wouldn't Hurt a Child: Stretch wouldn't back when he was alive and is genuinely upset when his brothers think he would.