#the courier’s in a situationship with destiny of their own

[stoat-party]

Boone is a man searching for sense in the nonsensical. He’s turned his life into a stage play, and reduced everyone in it to a role.

For every major moment in his life, he remembers himself as a passive observer.

The NCR chose him for First Recon, and he accepted for the pay. He describes his training as being broken down until following orders was automatic.

At Bitter Springs, he did what he was told, even knowing command didn’t understand the situation. He believes the only alternative would have been to kill himself.

He met Carla because he was standing around looking lost and she approached him. They moved to Novac because Manny brought them there.

And he describes Cottonwood Cove as “being forced to watch something you can’t stop.” His entire marriage was just a cruel plot twist, with himself and Carla as props rather than characters.

When he joins the Courier, he does it because he thinks the curtains are opening on the final act. The playwright (which he only describes as “something watching”) has drawn it out long enough and is finally going to end it. By all accounts, he’s looking forward to it — at least for the wait to be over.

But then he survives his quest, and he’s almost devastated. The world’s gone off-script. He doesn’t know his lines anymore. When he turns to the Courier, the person he took to be his harbinger of fate, it’s a desperate bid to make it make sense.

But the Courier was never an omen. They’re a maker of fate. On their advice, he becomes more proactive in his own life (for better or worse). Unfortunately, he can only be convinced the universe isn’t out to get him by sacrificing his conscience, and it doesn’t really bring him any relief to do so. So the best ending for Boone is to accept the framework he’s created for himself, but defy the stars and just keep going despite it all.

And, you know. One of these days he has to figure out the cosmos aren’t plotting his demise. Right?