#and my classmates had shit-for-brains level takes abt it

[unexpectedgeese]

I’m like inches away from forcing all my ORV mutuals to read The Things They Carried. Like. The importance of stories! Cycles! The importance of stories in breaking cycles! The Importance of stories in dealing with trauma! Like, YEAH The Things They Carried IS a story about the Vietnam War but. The interweaving of truth and fiction, and the importance of story-truth as opposed to happening-truth!!! THE NARRATIVE!!!

[henriiiii-1001old]

alt swap au ramblings bc they are rotating in my brain <33333

i just kinda wanted to ramble abt the characters' like personalities and stuff so ye :D

cain murray: pre vol 1 he was very outgoing and enthusiastic! loved meeting people and going out to parties or malls or whatever he felt like doing that day! however post vol 1, his newly diagnosed c-ptsd and general trauma from the incident caused him to shy away from people. he became overly paranoid of everyone around him, including his own siblings. and after the paranoia came the depression, which only worsened his mental state overall. he probably should not have been chosen to be the main face of bps lemme tell you that much.

mabel murray: the most level headed member of bps and is actually the one who came up with the idea for it! she had always been interested in the paranormal, and they also wanted to get to the bottom of the whole alternate situation due to them almost killing his brother. he handles all the online stuff for the group under the alias "stanley" due to its face being on multiple "alternate sighting report" signs all over the counties.

seth murray: struggles with a lot of things, such as emotions, feeling empathy, feeling. anything really. he was diagnosed with both aspd and autism from a young age, and a lot of people think he's basically unapproachable because of said conditions. he likes to be by himself for most of the time, but he does like hanging out with cain and mabel sometimes! he'll crack a few jokes with them here and there, and while he doesn't show it on his face he really does enjoy their company! he also may think davis is a little annoying and way too self centered, but he keeps him busy so he doesn't mind.

thatcher "davis" marshall: very self centered and way too cocky for his own good, but he's generally fun to be around! he's usually one to take really unnecessary risks, but they're usually all in good fun! he's the biggest troublemaker of bps as well, always finding a way to damage properly -- on accident or on purpose no one ever knows) -- or just messes around with the other members to poke fun. however, he is very self conscious about his appearance, and having a demon roommate with your name who constantly looks like your younger self doesn't help. he comes off as someone who would tackle a situation head-on except for the fact he runs from true danger at the first chance he gets.

lilith miller: very snotty and bratty and WILL BITE YOU if provoked. she had a troubled childhood where her parents were constantly fighting about her, which led her to get into multiple fights with classmates from school as a way to mitigate the pain. she most often fought with seth because they absolutely HATED each other and wanted every chance they got to snap at each other. the only place that wanted to hire her was dave because of said past, and she kinda hates him. but she puts up with him because she knows she won't be able to get any other job. she is very suspicious of her employer due to him having the only television in the state, in which tvs were banned for years at this point.

gabriel o'brien: lieutenant of the mcpd except he's less depressed and more concerned for the county. he ended up being the last member of the force due to the whole alternates thing, and he really tries to not let it get to him. he and maria weren't too close, but he did take her death as the first sign that things were definitely going to shit. he also doesn't trust dave very much, but he goes to him whenever he needs help with particular tech stuff regardless.

maria weaver: very softspoken and tried helping others whenever possible. definitely a favorite in the department before her death, and she is remembered dearly, even by those who left the police force. she had always wanted to get to know gabriel better, but she never found the courage to try and talk to him even if she was getting support from other friends in the department. and she unfortunately never got to make that step towards what could have been a really great friendship.

terry "toony" o'brien: gabriel's older twin brother who runs the local church in mandela. terry got the nickname "toony" from being SUPER obsessed with cartoons when he was a kid. he is very softspoken and genuinely cares about the county. while his brother tries to tackle trouble head on, terry is much more passive and tries resolving conflicts with victims of alternates and M.A.D. this did cause a bunch of arguments to spawn between the brothers, which led to terry wanting to cut ties with gabriel and led to his ultimate demise.

dave: literally canon gabriel but with a lil more whimsy. he still runs mandelatech, as it acts as a way to meet and kill victims faster. he keeps in touch with a certain terry o'brien due to selecting him as his "mandela prophet". he doesn't care at all for human life and just fucks around because he's basically god and will do anything to abuse his power, even against his own kind.

adam: one of the most active and most dangerous alts right under dave. he orchestrates a lot of child kidnappings around mandela and sometimes has eve and jonah help. while he is the most active of the alts, he doesn't really talk to them other than for maybe 3 or 4 of them (which would just be jonah, eve, dave, and seth). he's EXTREMELY manipulative and will do anything to get his way, even if things have to go off script for that to happen. the most prominent example of this would be adam having to tell seth the truth on his home computer instead of the basement.

eve: an accomplice to adam who helps adam kidnap and kill children for. whatever the canon reason would be. she mostly likes to occupy mirrors and creep in the shadows. in terms of kidnapping children, she'd be like a "motherly" figure, calming the children down when they get upset and making it seem like going with her would take them to a happier place with a happier family. of course it's all lies, and she loves to make them, especially when taunting a certain lilith miller.

jonah: an accomplice to adam and eve who also assists with their child kidnapping schemes by distracting children with a luring them in with a cartoon or some other sort of child friendly show. he is generally afraid of adam due to how often he bursts out in anger in front of jonah, but he takes it and pushes his own feelings down. he reluctantly follows dave's orders and hopes for the best really.

ruth: doesn't like to interact with other alternates often, and she isn't the biggest fan of causing deaths and stuff. she'd rather spread M.A.D. and be done for the day. she is only slightly tolerable of dave due to her working for him, but she seems to like "thatcher"? they've hung out a few times, and it was always awkward, but they'd sometimes like some quiet time and they'd enjoy each other's company anyway. she's probably met davis before, in which she'd think he's iffy. she think he'd only get in the way of whatever dave's plan is and almost killed him one time to try and ease that anxiety.

"thatcher": he is best described as just a lil guy bc that's really what he is! he is very curious about people overall and tries his best to not fulfill his alternate duties. his best excuse to do this without too many questions from other alts is stalking/rooming with davis and taking his appearance. he actually was first meant to haunt gabriel after vol 333 events, but thatcher found more interest in davis as he was following gabriel home. he is generally pretty shy and is willing to give a helping hand in whatever someone needs at the moment.