#im still like. i need plausible deniability. i need to let people be able to think im a lesbian if that makes them less mad

[vamptastic]

for all that i am very chill about what other people do with their romantic and sexual lives i am so utterly and completely ashamed of expressing any sort personal desire for basically no reason. i will blame it on being treated as both a potential sexual predator and a sex object growing up GNC, and also the inner freud that forms in your mind when you read the writings of transphobes too much. but it's still dumb. i wasn't even raised christian.

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

BRO YES. I love Toriel but oh my god she's so flawed. Like in neutral endings Toriel just comes back and RECLAIMS THE THRONE and puts in her own rules about not hurting humans EVEN IF THE HUMAN KILLED PEOPLE? She ABANDONED the throne and her people and doesn't care what they think. If she's not with Asgore anymore she has no right to pretending she's still the queen. Not even mentioning how when Frisk leaves the ruins she's just like 'okay bye forever I want plausible deniability'.

ANON WE ARE ON. THE EXACT SAME WAVELENGTH HERE

like ok before i start really ranting: im not making a moral judgement on any of the undertale characters because that's kind of silly, in general, to like say this character from a viddy game has objective moral right or wrong. it's just UT toriel and asgore are both characters who've been through a lot of trials and reacted in their own ways and i think it's really really interesting to talk about!

but yeah!! like first of all, from asgore's own words, as well as the way other monsters talk about him - he's not like, just murdering kids because he's sad or whatever. in the wake of asriel and chara's death, he chose to declare war on humans because the entire underground had lost in the hope. -and this in the wake of losing BOTH HIS KIDS, my god, can you imagine how hopeless HE must have felt? the temptation to just give up and shut himself inside, let the rest of the world go to darkness because what does it matter anymore, must have been SO STRONG. but he didn't. he was determined to do whatever he needed to to make sure all the other monsters still felt hope. to make them feel like maybe they wouldn't be trapped down here forever, yeah?

and even after that - you can't look at asgore, asgore canonically, and tell me that if a human child had fallen into the underground and tried to stay, had found a home and friends and wasn't hurting anyone, that he would go to them and murder them in cold blood. if a human had asked him, genuinely, please couldn't they just stay and live out their life, he absolutely would have let them! he literally offers frisk that at the end of their fight! but the tragedy of the situation is that the humans who fall into the underground want to go home. they want to get out, and so they and asgore HAVE to fight, one of them has to claim the other's soul. and no matter how hopeless asgore feels, he will not leave his people leaderless if he can help it, so he won't just lie down and die for them.

on the other hand!! YES to everything you said about toriel!! i mean, i have no idea how the monarchy in undertale works so who knows what the status on toriel's claim to the throne is or if that even matters (seeing as apparently Literally Whoever's Around can grab the throne once you kill asgore in a neutral route), but to everything else? toriel just, fundamentally, prioritizes her own feelings when it comes to humans and asgore. which is an obvious survival mechanism in the face of losing both her children, but like- she LEFT. she just LEFT. even in the middle of grieving, she must have been able to see why asgore said what he did when he declared war. at the very least, they ruled together! she could have talked to him and they could have worked out a balance together. instead she leaves and shuts herself in the ruins. and she's not just leaving asgore- she's abandoning all of monsterkind to their grief and hopelessness, because her own is more important.

(also hey toriel THERE WERE MONSTERS STILL IN THE RUINS WHEN YOU SHUT THE DOOR? WHAT THE FUCK? how many monsters did she trap in there with her because she wanted to sulk?)

and then of course it takes her until at least human number seven is almost to the end of their journey, to actually leave the ruins and do something concrete about it. like if she cares so strongly about this, she could have gone and stopped asgore WAY earlier, but she waited instead, because i guess it was easier to hide and keep - y'know, "meekly hoping another human never comes" - than step out and try to reason with or face asgore herself.

and the alternate solution she offers to asgore at the end of a true pacifist route to scold him - leaving once he got one human soul, killing six more, and shattering the barrier - is like. as a queen she should be able to see the obvious problems with that. "seven humans fell into the barrier accidentally, they fought me to go home, i killed them, and eventually had enough souls to break the barrier" has some plausible deniability diplomatically. "i went out and murdered a bunch of you" is grounds for another war.

tl;dr i'm an epic divorce man apologist and milf anti apparently

[jackietaylorsghost]

very Important adam/ronan things to take away from the cdth sampler:

“like the other lynch brothers, he was a regular churchgoer, but most people assumed he played for the other team.” i am SCREAMING. top tier gay joke. well timed.

everyone: ronan’s eyes aren’t pretty. adam: mhmm  e y e l a s h e s

much to say about the revelation that ronan is partly at the barns to keep his dreams hidden and in check, and how much he relates an inability to change and be like everyone else to having to stay there. almost like he’s stuck huh! i’ve been saying!!

of note that words used to describe ronan’s existence are BORED and MALINGERED.

fingers crossed he finds some balance between his dreams and his wants/needs that allows him to leave the barns and grow but after the Great Crab Disaster I’M WORRIED.

fire imagery EVERYWHERE. i’m WORRIED again.

“there are stains that spread faster than you drive. if you drive, it’ll take fourteen years to get there. seventeen. forty. one hundred. we’ll be driving to your funeral by the end.” good to know ronan is still the most DRAMATIC boy in the whole of virginia. absolutely no chill.

dont like the possible foreshadowing of that driving to your funeral by the end, though. must leave lynches alone!

“it’s very safe” asjkajjka DECLAN PLEASE 

“ronan kicked one of the volvo’s tires” asjkajjka RONAN PLEASE. 

ronan trying to act nonchalant by cramming chocolate covered peanuts into his mouth and choking a little is Peak Disaster Gay. 

matthew’s music must be awful if ronan and declan are in agreement over it, must have playlist. 

ronan who lives to pretend he doesn’t care wondering if his brothers didn’t say anything about his moving because it didn’t make a difference to them is huhhh. don’t like it, take it away pls.

i’m sorry, ENTIRELY WRAPPED UP IN! ENTIRELY! 

entirely

wrapped

up

in

shut up!!!! shut upppppp! 

“is there any version of you that could come with me to cambridge?” tbh nothing would have readied me for this. adam i-can-do-everything-alone asking ronan if he could go with him. so much growth, too much pride, nowhere to put it, send help.

the fact that ronan doesn’t stay in cambridge when he visits adam because of plausible deniability, that if he doesn’t try there’s no evidence he can’t make it there. rip. 

ronan! missed! him! like! a! lung! 

dramatic again, but entirely relatable bc damn, same ronan, same. 

a) ronan thinking about how his heartbeat is the same as everyone else’s so he wasn’t that different and b) JUST LIKE ADAM’S HEART WHEN HIS HEAD WAS RESTING ON HIS HEAD = much too much to think about. need to lie down for a bit.

he could move to follow the guy he loved!! we all knew it was love, we’ve always known it was love, but! the words. the words!!!!! brb sobbing.

i have only had jordan for a day and a half but if anything happened to her i would kill everyone in this room and then myself. 11/10 would marry.

art forgery plot confirmed!

THIS WAS HOW IT HAD BEGUN

bitch fkajdkajksja GIVE ME A WARNING. 

still can’t compose myself RE the info that ronan saw adam and immediately sent a desperate prayer up to god 

will the word please ever be the same again? definitely not!

adam’s arms adam’s hands his lovely! boyish! hands!

the description of his expressions with all its contradictions and multitudes is just my favourite thing ever. it encapsulates everything i love about adam fucking parrish.

and the fact that ronan instantly recognised all those multitudes in him. there was always a level of understanding ronan had for adam throughout trc that no one else did and this tells us he had that before he even met him, he just... recognised something in him i just... ;______; 

please 

ronan knowing all the harvard stats because he was the person adam could crow to, how he takes on that adam that is still full of contradictions and multitudes, how he finds it hard but he absorbs all the facts and all of adam’s anxieties, even in the face of his own anxieties about adam leaving and falling in love with the shining, educated people that ronan thinks are better than him. that absolute, unwavering support 😭😭😭

tbh there’s a whole ass lot to unpack in this section so imma try and do it briefly (she says!)

ronan lynch is a romantic cdth confirmed: 

he could have texted adam but he liked the soft surprise of it

over the past few days ronan had played his reunion with adam over in his head MANY TIMES

adam i love you but that outfit sounds awful. you are a student, it’s a friday night, put some sweats on and stuff some cheetos in your mouth. 

the sweet nervousness of their reunion, how they walk past each other and both seem so uncertain. they’re a year into dating and the still get nervous and unsure after a few weeks apart and it’s CUTE and definitely speaks to their excitement/anticipation levels.

THE WATCH. big time softness. 

they hugged hard ;_____; 

im just so relieved that they’re allowed to touch each other and be intimate and aren’t consigned to the ‘boys in love aren’t like that boring boring’ corner. 

the way ronan thinks about how adam fits as he remembered. huh. you’re really gonna do this to me.

his hand still pressed against the back of ronan’s skull the way it ALWAYS did when they hugged. 

you smell like home. you smell like home!!!!!! brb ive gone absolutely fucking feral. 

i both want to play repo because it sounds fun and don’t want to because it sounds complicated and i fucking hate instructions. much confusion. 

adam pressing his shoe hard against ronan’s and then his leg and then breathing in ronan’s ear I AM HOWLING. ronan’s nerve endings being made a marvel of I AM SOBBING. it’s very important that m/m ships are afforded the same level of explicit attraction as m/f (and i don’t mean explicit as in nsfw, i mean as in obvious)

no offence because i love them but all of adam’s friends sound Extra™

“to the outside eye, ronan lynch was a loser” pls ronan, you are giving me an ulcer.

scary spice i asjkjdkjskdjak

queer crying club! i stan!!

also adam saying in the epilogue of trk that he wanted to save all the adam’s hidden in plain view and then going to college and scooping up all the criers and giving them something to do is far too much to handle.

don’t think about that and the time he thought about how he used to spend his nights crying on the trailer steps and wondering why he bothered until gansey came along and offered him friendship. dont think about how he’s essentially paying that forward DON’T THINK ABOUT IT.

hand holding, arms around each other, hip to hip walking, can’t wait anymore kissing, I MISSED YOU. love that for me! 

but also the fact that adam reaches down for ronan’s hand and its so natural. ronan’s hand is there so he just. takes it. 

hearing ronan’s thoughts on what happened with robert at last is A Lot. the way it’s still happening, always happening, kept fresh and savage shows how affected ronan was by it all and still is and i think its so important that he’s not just. angry and hot headed. there’s more to it than that. its painful, it makes him feel sick, its unending and it really speaks to how much adam means to him. 

adam thinks he has no one BITCH YOU’VE GOT ALL OF US. 

and ronan. 

but. how he feels like he has nothing still. the way his voice hitches on ‘because’ because it’s all still so painful. i wanna wrap him up. i wanna take everything that hurts away. i wanna tell him he’s so loved. guess i’ll just have to sit back and watch him work his way through it all I GUESS. no but i am looking forward to his growth in this trilogy, especially considering how much he’s grown already. adam parrish invented character growth lets 👏 be 👏 real 👏

it had never been a fight between them/it was a fight between adam and himself, between adam and the world/for ronan it was a fight between truth and compromise, between the black and white he saw and the reality everyone else experienced. i LOVE this. it so well encapsulates them. and it’s so important that they can realise their differing world views and their complexities and meet in the middle somewhere.

“ronan put his lips on adam’s deaf ear, and he hated adam’s father” FUCK ME UP. my absolute favourite bit 103930%. absolute incoherent mess over here. not! okay! see other post for more coherency because i only had it for 5.7 minutes. 

frowning, guarded, crumpled adam who i’ll literally. never be over in all of my life. 38983/10 will love him until the end of time. 

i want it too much. !!!!!! going feral again over here. WHAT DO YOU WANT ADAM? I WANT IT TOO MUCH. definitely will never shut up about this. 

scared adam is going to be a visionary so pretending chapter 6 doesn’t exist. 

LINDENMERE ;________;

i love it already

i CANNOT believe that ronan is being dream invaded and challenged and he’s over here like hmm nice bike ELEGANT and ROUGH and READY like ADAM asjkasj please ronan you are so embarrassing!! 

also. ronan thinks adam is elegant and rough and ready so! there’s that!

i literally. cannot. cope with the HILARITY of chapter 8. the whole thing is a complete and utter DISASTER. it’s absolutely gone off in adam’s room after all his work at constructing a well put together boy. ronan comes for a night and everything goes BONKERS. amazing. 

(really worried about what this means RE ronan being able to exit the barns and grow and change and not be bored and not feel like a loser so we’re focusing on the hilarious disaster of it all.)

p.s. adam sleeping slotted between ronan and the wall OKAY. THIS IS FINE! 

p.p.s. adam’s bed hair is WILD. 

p.p.p.s i have missed adam and ronan so so so so so much and im an emotional fucking wreck

[reatrea]

LTJG Michael Whitley: "I..." The engineer would pause, evidently trying to put words together properly. "You should've heard their voices, teach. They blamed me. They never outright said it, but... They blamed me for her death." Whit would sit there for a long moment, silently, before shaking his head. An obviously faked smile would be broad across his face. "But, y'know, I'll just show up, do what I need to, and dip out, yeah?"

Lt Vance chimes in from afar "You know what happened to me the last time I did that? You learned about it in my class."

Commander T'Sala:  "Did you ask them if they blamed  you?" she asks

LTJG Michael Whitley: Turning to face Vance, Whit would nod. "I remember. But, everyone deals in their own way." Turning back towards T'Sala, Whit would shake his head. "That's part of what I'm going to do while I'm there."

T'Sala lets out a little sigh from her nose. "You are not mistaken, everyone does. I am sorry that is what reached your ears, whether that was their intent or not does not change the pain of the mark it left."

LTJG Michael Whitley: Shaking his head, Whit would flash the faked grin again, "It is what it is, professor. I'll live."

Commander T'Sala:. "You you live. Life does indeed continue despite the pain. But I want you to look at me a moment Whit." she says shifting her eyes to catch his again. "Do you blame yourself?”

LTJG Michael Whitley: "I... If I hadn't been there, she wouldn't have. On the flip side, if she had just accepted my choices, she wouldn't have. So... I don't know how to feel, professor."

T'Sala nods and takes a breath. "I went through the same with my first husband. I will not deny a touch of petulance in my motivation but I wanted to be as free as possible from my Father's influence. Which is a story of its own. But we took the test in secret and applied to SFA. Salak wouldn't have if I did not. Then he was killed in combat. I also held him as he left.

I will tell you from intimate experience that you will never know the answer to "what if" and that it is most destructive when you direct it at the past. Instead, try and direct it at the future when you can. "What if I can prevent the next war to help this not happen again." Grief will never get easier. Do not let any 'bull shit' you other wise. You do get better at dealing with it. At looking it in the face and accepting its presence. I am still trying myself after seven years. I am Vulcan and there are still periods where I break down and cry.

Vulcans see grief as inevitable. But it can also be the most dangerous if not controlled. Because grief can turn into despair which is a harder and more destructive to the mind than even rage. We wear grieving markers much like the Romulans although it is our clothing, because it is that important to be given time and space to grieve in our own way BUT to have someone keep an eye on us because of how it can twist the mind. I am proud of you for facing this. You are doing it sooner than I was able to." She gives him a gentle look.

LTJG Michael Whitley: Sitting in silence as the commander speaks, Whit would let a small smile cross his features. "I'm just so sick of running from this, y'know? My own family, for fucks sake... As far as dealing with the grief its self? It's not alright. I'm not alright, and I'll be the first to admit it. But... I make it alright. It's alright because it has to be, yeah? I'll deal with it... When I get around to it. And that's all there is to it," He'd pause, his usual mischievous grin crossing his features, "professor."

Commander T'Sala: “It is your family and you should go back. You -are- done running and that is where you should focus now. Let this be a personal milestone. And I am agreeable to throw you out if I must next week. Perhaps even with a shuttle so you do not need to walk. Humor aside you are dealing. Everyone goes at their own pace. I have found some comfort as of late asking others how they deal because I've been on the edge of despair for so long...”

“Sometimes.." she pauses to make herself say it. "... I -do- fall into despair. I am not always alright either. Some days the amount of strength to get out of bed is like lifting a planet. But we do it and get through it. And that is something I find people do not cheer each other on for enough. It is also something people who haven't been through it will never understand. For me, helping others through it has been healing in its own way. Which is why Juvi -needs- you. No one else will get it like you do. And maybe you will help yourself along the way."

LTJG Michael Whitley: "Well..." The man would sit there in silence for a long moment, once more at a loss for words. "Fuck. That was... Pretty solid, teach. Thanks. I uh... I'll make sure I take that leave next week."

Commander T'Sala: “Good man." T'Sala nods firmly and stands, poking his shoulder. "And I am not a Professor. Im not allowed to be called that without a doctorates." LTJG Michael Whitley: "Professor, I mean this with all sincerity. Fuck the paperwork. Between experience and actions, you've more than earned the title. The paperwork just hasn't caught up yet because you keep getting shafted with bullshit. So... Yeah. Professor." The man would smirk, but a grin would flicker around the edge of it.

Commander T'Sala: For a rare moment in her life the Vulcan resists the perhaps downright genetic urge to argue. "Very well. Just not in front of the Admirals or Professor VonGrippen." She shakes her head. "What am I going to do with you, Whit? Besides put my boot on your bottom or hand on your back or just believe in you when you need it." She perks a brow.

LTJG Michael Whitley: "I mean...  Might as well let me do what I'm good at. Throw my ass in an engine room and walk away, and pull full plausible deniability when shit goes sideways?" The grin would remain in full force, mischievous as ever. Art By: HunnBunn

Main Blog: https://outpostzeta.tumblr.com/

[knightofraguel]

all of this ^^^^ is so well said and i fully agree, and i think a very important thing for me personally, which made me rethink and reframe what i knew of vivienne, is actually in one of the first conversations you have with her. in haven, when she asks the inquisitor about their views on the mage-templar conflict you can choose the option "the templars made their bed, and now they must lie in it"... and she approves. vivienne knows that she cant openly and plainly speak against the powers that be without some form of repercussions, but from the get go she doesnt think that the templars are right and she agrees that the system must be reworked(and should be changed by a mage, the ones most oppressed by the current power structure).

she agrees that the templars are abusive and need that needs to be addressed and changed, but you have to be able to speak those views in a way that has plausible deniability. that's a common (and effective) way of expressing your views when you've grown up in an abusive and controlling environment where you were punished for what you said. looking at her choices as divine she still makes some radical changes to the circle(more than cassandra, in fact).

while she restores the circles, like cassandra, vivienne actually gives mages institutional power. she makes it so that mages have a say over their own lives, and although that isnt the massive overhaul that system needs it does give the mages a fighting chance at enacting real change down the line instead of just lip service which will end if shes taken out of power as divine. she also gives the templars tighter restrictions, which while it's not a good solution it's still much better. vivienne is a politician at heart, and she plays smart and plans for the long haul, although shes too conservative for my tastes.

but she truly works for and enacts reform, and if the inquisitor is smart enough to talk to her respectfully and in a way that she can (for her safety and due to her history) reasonably agree with out loud then she falls easily into friendship and genuine care. you can still be pretty critical with your statements, but you have to be able to play that game for her to be able to express her own views while feeling safe to.

she is slow to trust, has had to fight tooth and nail to earn her right to be respected as a person and to live outside of prison walls in some form of comfort, and the whole time she has had to show no weaknesses or she wouldve been taken down by all those bitter about her having even a small amount of political leverage while being a mage. she cant afford to be outed for either her weaknesses or her endgame goal, and she heavily dislikes anyone (or anything) who could out either of those things.

shes truly such a wonderful character if you can meet her on her level, and if you know when to speak your mind, when to twist your words, and when to bite your tongue like she has to then she really shines as a character. im glad that i reframed how i saw her, because i feel like i understand and enjoy so much more of her now, and i wish that more people took the time to do that because its just... shes a good, intricate character with just as many flaws and wonderful traits as any of the other companions.

she faught through an abusive system and refuses to let people look at her with pity or let them see her as lesser, refuses anything less than the respect shes had to fight all her life for, and refuses to settle for the system in power which made her, and all others like her, powerless, and she makes sure that the actions she takes are ones that will still hold their influence after shes gone instead of simply while shes there. shes worth the effort if you're as patient with her flaws as much as you're patient with the other companions' flaws.

Daily Reminder

Vivienne de Fer is a complex character and a caring person who’s achieved a lot in her life despite facing great opposition. Her dynamics with other party members are varied and interesting, and given respect and adequate reason, she values and respects the Inquisitor as a close friend. She’s a valuable member of the Inquisition and one of my favorite parts of the game. 

[meanderfall]

Don't worry about taking some time to respond, the fact that you reply at all (and always with so much!) always makes my day! I didn't mean to imply that Caboose was an adult because he's dangerous, sorry about that! Ask boxes are just so small and I try not to flood you with too many, but it makes me lose some nuance. By pointing out that he was dangerous I was also trying to say he was competent, and was referring back to how the BCG tend to treat Caboose like he's harmless and helpless. [1/5]

[2/5] I'm a little sensitive to infantilization because a lot of people do it to me when they find out I'm autistic, so I'll admit it might just be me reading too deep into the little things, like how all the motivational speeches leave Caboose out ("And Caboose... er, it's good to see you?"). And how in Chorus he's given a toy gun because they think he has no impulse control, and no one ever expects him to have good ideas or be competent at anything despite doing/being both on a regular basis.

[3/5] But mostly what I meant when I said they don't treat him like an adult is that they treat him like he's an 'emotional timebomb' when he's not. It definitely comes from a place of caring, but they don't trust him to be able to handle hard truths. It's fine that they try to spare him some grief, but they don't give anyone else the same courtesy which implies that they think he - the one commonly described by fans and writers as innocent and childlike or as a "manchild" - needs to be coddled.

[4/5] And for sure a lot of Temple/Alpha treating Caboose like they do everyone comes from being assholes! Temple absolutely said it because Grif tried to defend Caboose when the implications of the recording failed to hurt him like it did the rest of them. But he's also not wrong that people tend to treat Caboose like he's fragile when he's probably the most emotionally resilient of the BGC. Which wouldn't be a problem narratively if Caboose wasn't also the only one with obvious brain trauma...   

[5/5] Also, the Director says in that flashback that they're the only team who's remained at a stalemate and that everything should be recorded so that they can recreate it (I can't tell if he wanted that composition for all future sim teams or just on an as needed basis though). I took this to mean that when he later decided to place Alpha somewhere safe he specifically chose people similar to the BvRs so that there would be another stalemate and therefore little chance of him being harmed.

You’re back!!! ^v^ Sorry, I immediately put all the asks under a readmore because I feel bad about clogging up dashes, but I also feel like they should be here in case anyone else wants to read these and understand what’s going on.

And omg don’t ever feel bad about sending me entire essays!!! I absolutely adore it!!! It makes me so happy, honestly, send in as many asks as you want, send in so many that you need several days to get it all in because you hit ask limit, it seriously makes my day

And, yeah, ask boxes are way too small, nuances get lost so easily when you’re trying to shove in all the necessary information in them :/ I sort of figured that you might have meant it in the sense that Caboose is actually competent in a fight and doesn’t need coddling, but the phrasing just immediately sent up red flags, so I wanted to address that point just in case. I’m sorry if that made you feel bad! I meant no offense.

I think you have some serious good points (to the point I’m not even sure I can add anything??? I’m mostly sitting here, like “yup, that’s true, they do do that don’t they”) and tbh I don’t think you’re being oversensitive to it or reading too much into it. And even if you were, it’s not a bad thing. Lord knows we all have something, a sore spot, a behaviour or cliche or situation that when it happens in media it hits something seriously personal or traumatic and just affects how you see things and feel when you watch it. (Tbh, I’ve recently encountered that sort of thing while playing a video game (which isnt fun bc i now dislike a character that everyone adores) and then again in the season 2 finale of Camp Camp.) So, like. I get you. 

(I don’t remember the specific circumstance with the toy gun in Chorus and then the eventual implantation of Freckles in the gun, but I kind of read it as them doing it to prevent team kills??? Or is that part of the problem, that it’s running gag that he kills people when trying to help them?)

You know, I laughed during the emotional time bomb scene, specifically Wash’s ‘jesus christ’ afterwards, but taking a step back to think about it, you’re right. Caboose is probably the farthest one from being an emotional time bomb. Pretty sure Wash in s6-s8, Carolina in s9-10, and Tucker in s15 have the dubious honour of being titled with such a moniker. 

Caboose is easily the healthiest one when it comes to emotions, because he actually lets himself feel them and express them properly. And he tries sharing what he’s feeling. Tbh, imo, he’s probably one of the strongest person emotionally, and I admire him so much for it?? Like his guide to making friends, when he finishes it with ‘but you can always make more. And that’s pretty neat’, I’m personally blown away that he’s able to keep such a positive outlook, like lmao im sitting here getting absolutely run-down and exhausted from making and losing friends all the time and not wanting to bother anymore, and Caboose is there like “my heart got broken, but that’s okay! Spending time with you helps me fix it up again, I’m really happy we’re friends.” How even??? Caboose, can I be you???

They coddle him. And he doesn’t need to be. He’s pretty smart and competent, and he’s handled so many emotional ups and downs like a champ. Maybe not always in the healthiest ways, but he eventually got better.

(Random thought, but do you remember that scene where Wash picks him up in s6 for his team, and the Captain like takes Caboose aside to tell him to never come back and Caboose is like “Never walk backwards”? Wouldn’t it be hilarious if Caboose actually did understand completely what he said, and all the other times in other explanations like that, but said something completely off the wall just to fuck with them? Or maybe not. Idk)

Isn’t it common fanon that Caboose’s brain trauma occurred when Omega, Tex and Alpha, three AIs, went inside his head and fucked around in there? It’s always kind of interesting to look back to s1 and see how much they’ve changed. Pretty sure Caboose and Donut suffered the most from flanderization...

This discussion is really great tbh, because now I’m honestly getting upset at how people treat Caboose in universe. I love it when my point of view and opinions of characters get changed.

Oh, really that happened with the Director? I must’ve missed it. I always assumed that the Director didn’t have much if any input with what happened with Alpha, mainly because he was either being put on tribunal and needed plausible deniability or, way more likely, he was on the run already. Admittedly, the timeline is confusing?? Is the Director and the Counselor still active throughout s1-s6? They are right? Is the Director actually keeping an eye on Alpha then?? But then how come he let the other AI fragments and Tex, all of which were on the run from PFL, go into Blood Gulch and interact with Alpha? The RvB timeline is awful and filled with so many questions and I hate that so much, but I also love it because that means we can have fun with headcanons and stuff.

I have no idea about if he recreated it on purpose then. Because, with the episodes on s14, I thought Florida was just purposely finding the laziest and most incompetent people he could to prevent Alpha from being harmed, I thought that’s all there was to it. Do you think Florida could’ve been made aware of the Blues and Reds?? Or maybe the Counselor told him. Also, I kind of assumed that the sim bases were supposed to have all kinds of different situations and circumstances so that the Freelancers could be challenged with different scenarios.

(An aside, isn’t the whole sim thing kind of fucked up for the Freelancers though? Because, I’m like 99% sure that being sent into such scenarios where everyone else around them is considered incompetent by the average soldier, never mind Freelancers, probably 1) encourages them to think of themselves as better, upping their arrogance 2) makes them think that they really might be the best if not the only ones who can win the war, adding a shit-ton of pressure and 3) makes them think more fondly of their team, the Freelancers, tightening their bonds, and then the Director purposefully broke those bonds, and instead of it just being a team not meshing well, it becomes betrayal, and heartbreak, and trauma. and that’s not even going into how the sim troopers feel, a bunch of people who either volunteered to help, or signed up to try and better themselves, or who were drafted, all being used in the sick games of a man with a sick mind, and being essentially useless for the war effort. Nice going, Director) (lmao talking about him makes me want to finally make that gifset idea i have for him)

(also???? you like hearing me ramble about things??? what is this, is this reality, what is going??? thank you, that really makes me so happy you have no idea