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#1.) they force him along anyway & it's an unwanted family activity
sage-nebula · 3 years
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Do you think Pokemas will address Ariana being Silver's mom? Not sure why they made it so obvious to never mention it
Maybe! If Ariana makes it in, anything is possible.
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macklives · 4 years
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alright, im actually kind of in the mood to unpack some stuff regarding karkat's character and the way alternia works actually, so i dont mind giving this a go. and while act 5 isnt completely finished yet (so this is an analysis post for act 5 up until page 2305), there is still more to explore, and im pretty sure i have a lot more to read regarding both karkat AND alternia. until then, i will give a general layout as to what i know so far and how i can expand this in a psychological way (especially considering i did my psych exam so my mind is FRESH from studying)
alright, starting with what seems to be the deal with the hemospectrum, theres a total of 12 blood colors. HOWEVER, one of those blood colors is a "mutant" blood which is unwanted in troll culture as it is, well, "mutant", meaning whoever has this blood will get brutally slaughtered. hurrayyy. im guessing it is even lower than aradia's rust blood, as she is allowed to live but is the lowest on the hierarchy triangle. meaning karkats blood is not even ON the hierarchy triangle and simply buried underground where they hope he stays. so its not exactly pleasant to be living in a society where everyone is trying to KILL you or at least keep you away from everything.
from what i remember, troll reproduction is a vital aspect in their culture, that everyone is forced to mate and drones will come by each house to collect the genetic material. this is mandatory apparently, and if someone were to object, they will be “culled" as quickly as they could say no. alternia seems to be really keen on the whole "blood and carnage" thing, which means their probable solution to anybody breaking the law, is to kill them on sight and just leave them there to rot - regardless of who they are and what families they comes from or have. trolls are free to kill whenever or whoever they please without any governmental repercussions. which means revenge upon revenge happens without any policy.
however this is very important when looking at karkat, because karkat may not be able to do the whole reproduction process (not that we necessarily want him to, im saying this in terms of how its mandatory for every troll and there will be a time when the drones WILL come for karkat). but as he is already a mutant and if they were to "collect" from him, they would find out his blood regardless of how he hides it. they will either cull him for saying no, or cull him for his blood. karkat, in this sense, is doomed regardless. which makes his character much more interesting.
and keep in mind alternia kind of sucks, because from the looks of it, trolls are constantly tested throughout their lives to prove themselves to society that they are allowed to live and survive. but ONLY if they are the strongest among them. alternia wants to become this fearful planet where the weak die off and only those proven worthy can stay to grow up and slaughter more of their kind until the world is nothing but blood thirsty strong murderers. im not too sure who is governing alternia but they can suck a dick if they think this is how good morals work. alternia only really has one way to solve things which is to kill those who question/fight back, OR to kill those who CANNOT fight back essentially. which puts all the trolls through a double edged sword where they cannot do anything but follow the guidelines given to them by troll's society and government, and try to survive as much as they can until then.
if i remember correctly, when it comes to the law side of things. if you look at it from terezi's introduction where she explains prosecutions with her plushies (lemonsnout ect ect i forgot the term for them lol), she said "you are guilty until proven innocent" which is the polar opposite of "innocent until proven guilty” used in OUR own society today (tho i guess we are by far the "good guys" in this situation, but we are far different than how trolls live their lives). anyways, what this means is that everyone dies regardless unless theres literal proof that they have not done the crime. even so i wouldnt put it past them to do nothing about their case even WITH proof. terezi even goes to say that technically there is no way to deal with the law on alternia, and most of crimes get solved through death. she even demonstrates this by how easily she hung the "suspect" and flipped a coin to determine his fate. however, even with the coin landing on the side of safety, where the suspect were to be released, she said "im blind remember i cannot see this coin" and essentially "killed" him. while terezi may have just been playing with her plushies, theres something we can take from this which dictates how their actual court cases are actually solved.
NOW, vriska (yes ik pls bare with me here, i will not make it about vriska but i do have a point here), from the last few pages i saw, can basically kill her friends in an instant, without any remorse. i can tell she sees this as the most "necessary" solution for her problems. i wouldnt say its for survival, but she does do it as a way to provide some sort of safety on alternia. she is a higher blood, and apparently the high bloods are known to kill whoever they please as long as its convenient. and since trolls have this whole fad of "killing the ones who cause you trouble so the problem is out of the way", she is wired to think its the only solution when threatened or when you dislike a person. 
god, she killed aradia because she wanted "revenge", because she wanted to get back at aradia for tormenting her with ghosts EVEN IF aradia did so because she threw tavros off a cliff in the first place. this may have worsened their friendship, KEEP IN MIND THEY WERE FRIENDS, but NEITHER, and i mean neither terezi/vriska/aradia, had any remorse if the other dies as long as there was a reason. in the story, vriska didnt care what happened to tavros because she disliked him, therefore becoming pretty bias over his fate. because of this attempt at killing, aradia didnt care what happened to vriska either, and neither did terezi. terezi sold her out to one of the most powerful beings on their planet, solely because of their revenge cycle. as long as the troll in question did something "malicious”, then that plays a factor in their morals. vriska gave no second thought to killing both of her friends (or at least attempt to with tavros), terezi also tormented john in act 4 which led to his “doomed timeline death” and sold vriska out after she realized vriska wouldnt change. so no fucking WONDER karkat tries to hide who he is, he's overly cautious to not let it slip out because even the people he calls friends could backstab him at any given time considering theres LITERAL EXAMPLES OF THESE TROLLS HAVING DONE SO.
to karkat, he sees this as dangerous, which is why he even CALLS vriska dangerous to begin with. she might not even hesitate to kill him herself or maybe sell him out to the drones, because 1. she may not want to be a witness to something society actively seeks to destroy and 2. she cares more for her survival than karkats. EVEN if they were friends (re: aradia and vriska and terezi). so it just shows. 
on that note, i find it funny how karkat indirectly distracted vriska after she baited him with the question of his blood in a past conversation, which prompted karkat to monologue about troll romance. he was, yes, VERY interested in this topic to start with, but it was a nice little bonus for karkat as to not be found out by the one person who would most likely kill him even if it wasnt on purpose. however, we do not know how this will play out IF she does find out, we just know karkat is in the right to be scared of the theory.
and, alright i do have to mention this, while karkat may have been an angry fucker to START with, who spites the world and throws out insults every chance he gets, i feel he does this as more of a survival instinct as well. he doesnt care what he says to people no matter what they rank on the hemospectrum. they dont know his blood color so he feels he has some sort of immunity, but he just needs to keep it hidden. it also may just be his personality, as he IS a character who was given specific traits and andrew went along with it without so much thinking about plot. yet if you look at this from more of the metaphorical route, think about it with uhhhh lets say the perspective of how dogs work. for example, when you put a chihuahua next to a doberman, a doberman is more of an excited, energetic dog whereas a chihuahua will rain hell down on anybody who so goes near them. sometimes this is to make up for their size, to seem as menacing as the larger doberman, as they have nothing else to fend themselves with. another way to look at it is, if you see a bear (i forget if its black/brown or grizzly) you make yourself seem like the bigger person by scaring it off with sounds and eventually it will leave you alone. these sort of tactics work in the sense of survival. this is sort of what karkat could be doing, he uses insults and a defensive shouting to not really "hide" himself, but to have some sort of way as to not be found out if people start to question. someone asks him "hey karkat whats your blood" he goes "FUCK YOU, FUCK OFF, END OF STORY" which could make a person go "yo sorry dude forget i ever asked". so this could be a factor as to why he is so crabby, however on the other hand, he is crabby because that is also his character. andrew probably thought yo cancer = crab = crabby. however i do like how he is perceived and the whole "mutant blood" really made me do a double take on how he views life himself. he has to always hide who he is or he will get physically killed. alternia would take joy in finding out he does not belong there because lets face it, alternia is a bitch of a planet.
this also brought me to ask the question, why does karkat want to be a leader if hes so scared of what would happen to him if he were to be found out? which then, at first i said lol this is just karkat, he wants to a leader because he just wants to be the leader, he likes when things go to plan and that he the most say in their sburb plans considering he thinks everyone else is a "dumbass". to which, i then thought about it more and went ouch what if hes a leader because he knows hes not valued enough in society, that he somehow wants to feel some sort of importance in the world, so he wants to become a leader. i imagine younger karkat, not knowing why his blood is so undermined, finding out he is not wanted and suddenly on the most wanted list without having even DONE anything. even TAVROS said he was on that list, but only because he was weak and had no back-bone, here karkat may have been strong but no matter what, he was to be culled BECAUSE of his blood. something he cannot change no matter what. imagine a little kid knowing he will die at any point because of who he is (rlly sounds familiar if you think about it). so of course, he hides himself from the world, but do you think for an instant, little angry karkat wants to simply be FORGOTTEN about? i doubt that, he wants to be heard, he doesnt necessarily want to be rejected as he knows he will be, so while he does hide his blood, he wants to have a voice no matter what. when being a leader, people dont reject you, they LISTEN. they all may not want to because karkat is just a fucking ticking time bomb, who can lash out at any second, but i feel theres now a reason why he has this superiority complex. he wants to sort of become the person he knows he never will become (if you put it into that perspective). so thats kind of why im giving him the benefit of the doubt here.
i would also like to point out a sort of.... comparison?? not with the dogs but with unwanted children in a family household. this doesnt necessarily apply to karkat, but sub in family household with society and it might as well. (on that note, a warning/viewer discretion, if you have any problem with this kind of discussion, i wouldnt read further into this paragraph and skip to the next one) alright, the unwanted child psychology basically deals with the process of a child which is neglected by their parents, and/or know that they were never wanted in the family. i read an article a while back when we were discussing this in a lecture, we were browsing multiple people's perspective on the matter, and one said "An affective relationship may be suffocating to [the unwanted/neglected child]: it’s a defense against intimacy of which they know nothing. Normally they fluctuate between egotism and deep feelings of inferiority. They don’t understand what a balanced and healthy self-esteem looks like." it explains how the child who grows up in an unwanted home admits great emotion deprivation, because the child's bonds of affection are extremely fragile, and this can lead to both egotism and feeling like they are inadequate. and it really strongly shows karkats personality. we havent gotten that much from him in general, but considering how he uses this egotism to cover up the fact that he may be doomed, really shows the similarity. i liked this short article so i want to give some points to take into consideration, specifically this part: "It will be very difficult for unwanted children to build healthy relationships of affection in their adult life. Love is a foreign language to them. They don’t know how to decipher the codes and much less how to build them. It’s very hard for them to need and to be needed. That’s why, more often than not, they completely shirk their conflicts with peers and superiors, or do nothing but generate them. They speak incessantly about the broken relationship that marked their arrival in the world. A person with such a background will need help to get through those abysses of love that live in their heart. The most important step is that they recognize that their discomfort doesn’t depend on who they are, but the circumstances that led to their being." it may not be 100% tru for karkat but theres a small portion of it that can link back to karkats view on life and how being this mutant can really change who he is as a person. and i hope you can see the similarity between karkats character and this form of psychology. yet i also do not fully know the depth of karkat vantas. however i do hope it continues to build up in this way, as it would be both interesting and make us feel more for him as a person.
alright, i think if i write any more i will never stop aghjsk, which is a bit too much for a sunday afternoon, basically to sum up this post, trolls are violent and karkat will be killed if hes found out, even by his friends if it comes down to it. so karkat cannot really trust anybody, hes alone and imagine the thrill he had when he saw jack cut his hand to show the bright red blood? that he finally has someone LIKE HIM. imagine when he finds out about the kids. so i believe in his growth, while he needs to get a better vocabulary, i do get why hes so defensive all the time. because hes both scared and unwanted. and he wants to make up for it.
and i guess with all that being said, you can tell i now have a slight soft spot for the kid lmao
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xbaebsae · 4 years
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OTP Questions
Tagged by @f0xyboxes , @dieguzguz, @nightwingshero, @deputyrhiannonhale and @returnofthepd3 thanks for thinking of me sweethearts♥
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(art by minilev)
Rheese Bennett & Jacob Seed (idk if anyone even reads these except me but under cut because long post)
DISAGREEMENTS
Who is more likely to raise their voice?  Jacob. Now don’t get me wrong, he doesn’t loose his cool all that easy but Rheese can be a pain sometimes and he lacks the patience.
Who threatens to leave but never actually does?  Neither of them.
Who actually keeps their word and leaves?  This is actually what Rheese does when they break up about three months before the game. He finally is too deluded by Joseph’s demands of him that she cannot get through to him anymore and keep him from hurting people. They have a pretty bad fight about him torturing people that ends with him actually slapping her with the intention of making her shut up because she wouldn’t stop arguing against him. She gives him one moment to apologize for that, but he doesn’t so she leaves :’)
Who trashes the house?  They frequently throw things at each other.
Do either of them get physical?  Depends on when. Jacob pushes her around sometimes or touches her pretty roughly when he suffers from the effects of his PTSD. No domestic violence though. They also land real blows in training fights, same level bad on both sides really.
It’s worse during the arrest when they aren’t together anymore. Jacob was pretty devastated when he realized she actually left for good (he interpreted ‘i am leaving’ as her going home). It resulted in a lot of self blame (justified) which his family couldn’t really deal with. Joseph convinced him in the end that she was just another test he had to overcome in his life to find his correct path. So, he pretty much behaves just like he does in-game. She doesn’t get special treatment, she gets starved and thrown into murder trials like everyone else.
How often do they argue/disagree?  Pretty often. In the beginning it’s all they do, until they realize that having normal conversations every once in a while isn’t so bad actually.
Who is the first to apologize?  Apologies are for the weak :)
SEX
Who is on top?  Jacob
Who is on the bottom? Rheese (though she won’t admit it if you asked her)
Who has the strangest desires?  It’s nothing very strange tbh (at least not by my definition of strange... god i’ve seen ... things on deviantart. Definetly none of that!)
Any kinks?  Yeah, the perfect combo of wanting to feel powerless and wanting to feel in control. It complies with their character really. Rheese was forced to take care of herself ever since her teen years, which developed her into a pretty tough person. She likes the control she has over her life, and doesn’t let herself be pushed around by anyone. Feeling stripped of that control is however really exciting for her. Jacob’s kinda the other way around (imo anyway) in that he’s constantly following orders nevermind when or where, even within his own family (to not disappoint Joseph).
Who’s dominant in bed?  Jacob, Rheese only if he forces her to be :)
Is head ever in the equation?  Yes
If so, who is better at performing it?  Rheese. Slightly unfair though because she’s simply worse on the receiving end.
Ever had sex in public?  Yeah, much to her dismay.
Who moans the most?  Rheese
Who leaves the most marks?  Both do in different ways.
Who is the more experienced of the two?  Jacob
Do they ‘fuck’ or ‘make love’?  Even the nastiest sex is ‘making love’ to them really. It’s frankly a form of talking to them because they both truly suck at verbal communication. Also, Rheese has the old fashioned rule in her life that she won’t sleep with people she isn’t sure about, so before actually being together they don’t have sex. Tho she’s close to breaking that rule multiple times.
Rough or soft?  Rough, sometimes foreplay is soft.
How long do they usually last?  Depends on time and mood. Also Rheese is a lot younger so she sometimes could go again when he can’t. However that doesn’t mean he gets the best of her sometimes :’)
Is protection used?  Yes on her side
Does it ever get boring?  No
Where is the strangest place they’d have sex?  Some small cabin at the place they train Judges. It was kinky, they got caught and she prefers to just not talk about it ever again.
FAMILY
Do they plan on having children/or have children?  No, they never wanted to. Their daughter Jaina was an unwanted accident.
If so, how many children do they want/have?  They have 1 and that’s already more than they wanted.
AFFECTION
Who likes to cuddle?  Rheese
Who gets naughty in the most inappropriate of places?  Jacob usually. But sometimes she’s good at it as well.
Who struggles to keep their hands to themself?  Jacob, and it bothers her a lot in public. He doesn’t really care about what his people think of him, he knows he’s the boss so they can’t say shit. It’s also a way of just showing off that she belongs to him and that’s exactly why she doesn’t like it, cause she ain’t property. Also, people might believe she only became a Chosen trainer because she fucks the boss, which isn’t true because she got that position from someone other than Jake, based entirely on her performance.
How long can they cuddle until one becomes uncomfortable?  Until Rheese falls into deep sleep and starts spreading her limbs everywhere uncontrolably.
Who gives the most kisses?  Jacob
What is their favourite non-sexual activity?  Honestly, just existing next to each other is enough. They are just as happy just sitting in the same room, doing their own tasks, as they are going out for a fishing trip (actually she hates fishing, but the lakes are nice).
Where is their favourite place to cuddle?  The bed
How often do they get time to themselves?  Usually evenings and nights. They would have more time together if Rheese didn’t value her alone time. Sometimes she prefers to spend her days off alone, going on a ride through the forests or just relaxing without anybody around. He doesn’t quite approve of that but she doesn’t let herself be locked up.
SLEEPING
Who snores?  None of them
If both do, who snores the loudest?  Nobody
Do they share a bed or sleep separately?  Share a bed when living together.
If they sleep together, do they cozy up together or lay far apart?  Usually fall asleep cuddling but where they end up is entirely up to chance.
What do they wear to bed?  Underwear usually. Though t-shirts along with that in the beginning.
Are either of them insomniacs?  Jake has trouble sleeping and often wakes up. Her presence helps him but she’s not a magic sleeping pill so the issue never fully disappears.
Can sleeping pills be found by the bedside?  Nah
Do they wrap their limbs around each other or just lay side by side?  Usually the first, when it’s too hot the latter.
Who wakes up with bed hair?  Both. Rheese loves his messy hair, especially after she bullied him enough into letting it grow a bit. He however calls her hay-head, because her hair gets all tangled up and poofy despite being tied into a braid.
Who wakes up first?  He does, good luck getting her outta bed before 10.
Who prepares breakfast in bed for the other?  Nobody does, they aren’t romantic.
What is their favourite sleeping position?  Rheese digging her face in the space between his neck and shoulders while one leg and one arm hugs him and he has an arm around her.
Do they set an alarm each night?  When there’s work the next day.
Can a television be found in their bedroom?  No, though she sometimes uses his laptop to watch movies.
Who has nightmares?  Jacob has real ones, Rheese only the occasional bad dream we all get sometimes.
Who has ridiculous dreams?  She dreams demented shit sometimes, never talks about it though.
Who sprawls out and takes up most of the bed?  Rheese, she’s a restless sleeper. Got kicked out of the bed for it more than once.
Who makes the bed?  Neither of them. They don’t care about it being untidy.
What time is bed time?  Depends. Usually Rheese stays awake longer to finish watching movies.
Any routines/rituals before bed?  Nothing special, sometimes talking, sometimes a movie, sometimes sex, sometimes just hugging in silence.
Who’s the grumpiest when they wake up?  Jake, esp when she talks too much in the morning.
WORK
Who is the busiest?  They both are pretty equally busy.
Who rakes in the highest income?  It doesn’t really matter to them. The cult pays food and since they don’t care much about materialism, they don’t need much money.
Are any of them unemployed?  They have their job in the cult. Rheese works as a deputy before and after her stay there. so no.
Who takes the most sick days?  Neither really take any unless they are really so sick they can’t move. It’s an unhealthy work ethic but they feel useless when just lying in bed all day.
Who is more likely to turn up late to work?  Jake didn’t before, but he sometimes does because of her in the morning. Not that he really minds though, who’s gonna say anything against him?
Who sucks up to their boss?  Jacob in regards to Joseph, which Rheese thinks is very unhealthy. She doesn’t like how he lets himself be used so much and mostly blindly follows whatever his brother says. They have a lot of arguments about this and in the end it’s what ruins their relationship.
What are their jobs?  He’s head of security at Eden’s Gate. She’s a deputy, then pseudo joins the cult and works herself up to become a trainer of the Chosen, then she returns to her deputy position for the arrest.
Who stresses the most?  He does
Do they enjoy or despise their careers/occupations?  Police work wasn’t her passion. It was just a career she thought wouldn’t be boring. No noble motives and such. She only reprises her role as the deputy for the arrest because she falsely blames herself for everyone who’s been hurt by Jake’s hands after she left him. Her return is based on her trying to redeem herself. She had fun training Chosen, but she wouldn’t want to be part of any torture cult.
Jacob barely has any opinion on his work. He believes what he does is what needs to be done and he’s the best suited person for the job. You won’t find him complain, though he secretly just wants peace in his life. He hopes the cult’s actions will ultimately lead to that.
Are they financially stable?  They have enough.
HOME
Who does the washing?  Neither until one of them is fed up with the pile in the sink or the lack of clean plates in the shelf.
Who takes out the trash?  Usually Rheese is bothered by it first.
Who does the ironing?  They don’t
Who does the cooking?  She makes good pancakes. But other than that? Don’t allow her in the kitchen because she can’t cook for shit. He can cook a couple of things but is often simply too lazy to ‘play housewife’ so their dinners often consist of very simplistic things. Occasionally one of them will bring home takeout.
Who is more likely to burn the house down just trying?  Rheese, just...keep her out of the kitchen.
Who is messier?  Both pretty much. His place is a mess and she isn’t bothered by it because her apartment looked the same.
Who leaves the toilet roll empty?  Jake, to annoy her.
Who leaves their dirty clothes on the floor?  They both just throw them wherever.
Who forgets to flush the toilet?  Jake, again to annoy her. (her ‘ewww you’re fucking nasty’ face is really entertaining)
Who is the prankster around the house? Neither, they diss each other a lot, sometimes joke on the other’s cost but no deliberate pranks.
Who loses the car keys when it comes time to go somewhere?  Doesn’t really happen.
Who mows the lawn?  No lawn
Who answers the telephone?  They answer their own cells respectively. He refuses to get a smartphone.
Who does the vacuuming?  They don’t own a vacuum cleaner. Only a broom and a mop.
Who does the groceries?  Usually he does.
Who takes the longest to shower?  Rheese, she enjoys the feel of hot water on her skin.
Who spends the most time in the bathroom?  Not much difference there. Rheese doesn’t bother anymore with any routines and such after Jake told her he hates when she wears makeup because it makes his hands sticky when he touches her face :’) Though sometimes she will still put eyeliner out of habit.
MISCELLANEOUS
Is money a problem?  No, they don’t need much.
How many cars do they own?  Jake own an old truck and a motorcycle, Rheese used to have a car but sold it. She prefers riding on her horse Nugget anyway.
Do they own their home or do they rent?  She had an apartment in Missoula before ‘joining’. Then she lived at Stone Ridge for a while, then she moved in with him to his place. A tiny cabin far up a mountain at the far outside of the region.
Do they live in the city or in the country?  Country
Do they enjoy their surroundings?  Yes, especially the forests.
What’s their song?  You Give Love a Bad Name - Bon Jovi
What do they do when they’re away from each other?  Working, doing their own thing, living. He’s more possessive about her than she is about it. But they both function normally when not being together.
Where did they first meet?  Technically at the church during her very first sermon to ‘join’ the project. But they only interacted about a week later when he’s supposed to bring her to her initiation at John’s place. They immediately hate each other :’)
Who spends the most money when out shopping?  Whoever does the grocery shopping? They both aren’t big on other shopping trips.
Who’s more likely to flash their assets?  She’s not very show off-y. Jacob likes showing she ‘belongs to him’.
Who finds it amusing when the other trips over?  Both
Any mental issues?  Rheese doesn’t really, she lost her parents and her family is extremely distant but it never gave her trauma.
Jacob still deals with the aftermath of war esp. His PTSD gets bad sometimes and he has sleeping issues.
Who’s terrified of bugs?  She is afraid of spiders, and would appreciate if he killed them when they are in the house. But usually he ends up throwing them at her and tells her it’s therapy to defeat her fears.
Who kills the spiders around the house?  Neither, see above
Their favourite place?  A small lake behind a mountain near his cabin.
Who pays the bills?  The cult
Do they have any fears for their future?  Yeah, they are very conflicted about it. Neither of them know where it all leads and their differences (esp the age one) is an issue at times.
Who’s more likely to surprise the other with a fancy dinner?  They don’t really do that.
Who’s the tallest?  He’s 6'1, she is 5'2. He constantly calls her ‘Shorty’, not in any endearing cute nickname way, but purely to mock her height.
Who’s more likely to just randomly hop into the shower with the other?  Happens with both of them frequently. Tho Jacob is more prone to this because he showers less on his own. So when she’s in there he’s often like ‘might as well join’.
Who wanders around in their underwear?  Rheese starts this trend which he really doesn’t complain about. She also argues that it makes sense because then there will be less laundry to take care of. Can’t really argue with that really.
Who sings the loudest when singing along to the radio?  She does, very very badly cause she can’t sing.
What do they tease each other about?  Her short height and his age. Always.
Who is more likely to cringe at the other’s fashion sense at times?  Doesn’t really happen but he does judge her Power Rangers T-shirt she wears for sleeping.
Who crushed first?  They both kinda did. They blamed it on physical attraction at first, which made Rheese mad because he wasn’t her type. It takes them a couple of months to actually admit they might eventually possibly perhaps maybe have feelings for one another :)
Any alcohol or substance related problems?  Not really
Who is more likely to stumble home, drunk, at 3am?  Rheese does once, and another time they do it together.
Who swears the most?  Jacob, though she’s pretty good at it too.
Tagging @joeyhxdson @fadedjacket @shallow-gravy @chazz-anova​ @ja-crispea​ if you want to. Idk who did this by the time this gets posted.
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homenum-revelio-hq · 4 years
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Welcome to the Order of the Phoenix, Ilya!
You have been accepted for the role of CARADOC DEARBORN with the faceclaim of Jordan Calloway! We really enjoyed everything you crafted around his habit of compartmentalizing, and the juxtaposition you have set-up between his public attitude of neutrality and his private convictions; those layers should be a lot of fun to explore. We are so excited to have you as part of this roleplay!
Please take a look at the new member checklist and send in your account within 24 hours! Thank you for joining the fight against Voldemort!
OUT OF CHARACTER:
NAME: Ilya
AGE: 32
TIMEZONE: GMT+1
ACTIVITY LEVEL: I don’t have a set schedule and I tend to keep odd hours, so one day I can be on in the morning, another be up all night. It really depends day-by-day. But I always have a four-five days when I can have dedicated time on my laptop. I know your activity is very generous, I fully intend to aim for more than a post a week.
ANYTHING ELSE: I don’t have any specific triggers or squicks. I have experience in tumblr RPing, but it’s been a year since my last one. I really look forward to get back to it. In my experience, I tend to be silent in discord chats but I promise it’s not lack of interest. It’s just that sometimes I don’t know what to say, or usually I’m about to write something but the conversation moves along.
CHARACTER DETAILS:
NAME: Caradoc Ekwueme Dearborn
Caradoc is a Welsh name, meaning “love,” and was chosen by his father. Ekwueme is an Igbo name, meaning “he says, he does”, and it was chosen by his mother.
AGE: 28 (b. January 1st, 1953)
GENDER, PRONOUNS, and SEXUALITY: Cis male. He/Him pronouns. Demisexual/Demiromantic.
When it came to gender and sexuality, Caradoc had never questioned himself out of his own initiative. Not even when his peers were discussing their crushes and he had nothing to contribute aside from a friendly joke here and there. 
“Don’t you have someone you want to ask out?” was a question he answered easily with a “no.” But he would agree to be a friend’s wingman or the fourth in a double date if asked. It was on one such occasion that he found himself with someone that, while she did not inspire any of the feelings his friends liked to talk about, was nice to spend time with and kiss. The relationship only lasted one year, but they stayed friends throughout their remaining time in school.
Caradoc doesn’t use those exact labels. When asked he simply answers “not interested,” not that many do—they assume he’s too preoccupied with his duties with the Order, or with his job, anyway.
BLOOD STATUS: Pureblood
HOUSE ALUMNI: Hufflepuff
ANY CHANGES: If it possible, I would like to change FC to Jordan Calloway. I imagine Caradoc having an athletic, sturdy kind of body, something that would give reason to people to think him more brawns than brains. He also has a decent amount of resources available in terms of gifs.
CHARACTER BACKGROUND:
PERSONALITY:
Since being a child, Caradoc has been cultivating a strong sense of morality and personal responsibility over his own actions. The question of what is right and what is wrong is something that he ponders often, almost relentlessly, and it guides him in his desire to find ways to make the world better than it is today.
This desire colours each and every action he takes, and in return every action is examined so he can know where it falls. The pivotal question, the one he always asks himself: is this doing more good or more harm?
He constantly thinks it over, sometimes the answer changes as time goes by and there is more context to add itself to the situation. But he always, ceaselessly, acts according to his own set of morals. 
It is by this very personal moral view that Caradoc has no doubts about the Order. Stealing from those that have in abundance to give to those that have nothing is more right than wrong, even if illegal. Breaking the law is wrong, but breaking the law to save innocent lives is right, and there is no doubt in him about that. The same goes for his own personal safety. Dying in pursuit of this goal is something he is not afraid of, but he is not searching for a heroic death—as his mother’s death taught him: the dead can’t fight any longer.
While this does work as a strength, on the other side it’s also his weakness. It lends him to dislike and distrust those whose morals don’t align with his own. It’s the reason he has stopped joking along to problematic throw-away comments and he’s becoming less and less tolerant of other people’s jokes. Especially the ones at the expense of the marginalised—the Muggles and Muggleborns, Squibs and Werewolves, the Goblins and House Elves; every person or creature whose rights are few or non-existent in Wizarding society. He is ready to admonish people for it and for every slur or slip-of-the-tongue that might betray any kind of bigotry.
But at the same time, he has learned that there are times when he needs to bite his own tongue. If in political conversations Caradoc seldom listens to the nuance of people’ speeches, when talking of private affair there is no word or pause that is not being heard. He is a good listener, when he puts effort into it. He tries his best to not brush off people’s worries or concerns, even if they happen to be far removed from the war and their mission. But it’s not easy when he’s so focused—focused, not obsessed—on the war.
Smiles, however, are rare, and laughter is a sound that has been missing for almost a decade. It’s difficult to laugh, to even be in the mood for it, when all around them the world seems to get just a little bit worse each day. But Caradoc knows he needs to unwind, sometimes—when someone or something reminds him—otherwise they are calling him obsessed. And he isn’t. He is not. Could he still enjoy time with his friends if he was? Sure, he won’t drink or let too loose, but that’s just practical. They are at war after all.
BRIEF OVERVIEW OF FAMILY:
His father was born into a Welsh pureblood family that valued tradition, but because there had never been any open talk against Muggles and Muggleborns, Meurig Dearborn had grown up thinking his family to be fairly open-minded. But his own ignorance and his own prejudices were soon revealed to him by the young woman that would become his wife. Daughters of diplomats, Amara Dumont had grown up in Belgium but studied at Hogwarts, sorted—of course—into Gryffindor. Even at a young age, she had taken an interest in what happened in the world, her mind always imagining which steps could be taken to better it. At the same time as she received news from the continent about Grindelwald and the terrible ways he used his power, she witnessed Tom Riddle gather his Knight of Walpurgis around himself and saw it for what it was: danger brewing. 
The two found themselves unlikely allies, a Gryffindor and a Slytherin, a foreigner witch and a Welsh wizard. Amara, someone bursting with passion with every breathing moment, and Meurig, always careful to present himself like the proper pureblood wizard he was raised to be. She would speak openly of her ideals, her morals, and fought to see the rights of minorities and the marginalised recognised, and was there marching during the Squib Rights Marches both to protect the other protesters and being one herself. He, ever the Slytherin, chose to follow the example of the Dearborns before him—wizards seemingly content with the current status quo, only acting when their hands could not be seen—only allowed to be truthful to himself when in the company of those he trusted.
As parents, they were present in the life of their only son, Caradoc, but never overbearing. Meurig passed down the pureblood traditions of his ancestors—to gather ivy on Halloween night and how to use it for divinations; to purify one’s house at the start of Spring to keep away unwanted guests as ghouls and gnomes; the importance and value of family and the proper way to propose to a witch—and Amara made sure that all and every notion was to be examined and challenged. They were honest with him, and that meant that even as a young child, Caradoc was aware of the world outside their warm little family and the injustices that happened there. It cultivated within him a strong morality and a sense of responsibility for his own actions and those of others.
They looked at him with pride and never forgot to show him their love, and in return Caradoc always looked up to them with admiration. Wizarding society had a more polarising view of their family. Purebloods still liked Meurig and invited him to their events, but they had no love for Amara’s fiery personality and opinions. By contrast, those that were as outspoken as Amara failed to understand how and why she had married Meurig, a wizard that never expressed his opinion at all. From this, Caradoc soon learned that the eyes of others are always watching, gawking and judging every choice, and one mustn’t act by what others think is right, but by what you think is right.
Taking after his mother, politically aware from a young age on, Caradoc’d beg her mother to let him go with her during marches, and as much as her refusal was accompanied by an honest explanation, it always hurt a little to be left behind.
But that was nothing compared to the hurt that her death brought onto the family. Without her, the fire in Meurig extinguished. She had been the force to push him outside of the confines of pureblood traditions and expectations, and without her he couldn’t fight as he had before. Caradoc’s fire, by contrast, was fed to a scorching degree by her death. If his mother couldn’t be here herself to burn bright and set all those who executed injustices ablaze, then he would make sure to do it for the both of them.
OCCUPATION: Obliviator.
Caradoc sought out a position inside the Ministry of Magic just as quickly as he sought one in the Order, feeling he could help the latter with the former and at the same time trying to do some good inside the government too. 
He aimed for a job that would not constrict him behind a desk, which he felt would have left him both restless and with less space to also work for the Order. His talents with spellwork, especially in Charms, and excellent marks in Muggle Studies, landed him at the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes.
His first months working as an Obliviator were more forming than probably intended. His mentor was a callous wizard that would do the job quickly but not always in the best way. The Muggles would forget everything they saw, but often were left too confused, with big gaps in their memories and a headache for days. Caradoc did not like it. 
The job was already so intrusive, violating even, by its nature that doing it so wrongly felt unnecessarily cruel. It made Caradoc realise that as much as the Statue of Secrecy was much needed for both Wizarding and Muggle world, it was something that left the latter far too vulnerable. He felt a sense of responsibility towards the people who would need his spellwork, and that responsibility grew and it expanded to the Muggle population at large, giving him even more resolve in his fight against the Death Eaters and their agenda. And with that responsibility also came a feeling which he couldn’t clearly name but always left a bad taste in his mouth every time he robbed another Muggle of their memories, even if for their own good. Some days, it lingers well past office hours, and he feels like it won’t go away until this war is over.
ROLE WITHIN THE ORDER/THOUGHTS ABOUT THE ORDER:
Being in the Inner-Circle—a name Caradoc dislikes—he is part of decision-makers of the Order of the Phoenix. It’s not a role he actively sought for himself, leading had never been the goal, but as the years went on and people continued to die around him, others sought him out when in need. His calm attitude and his sharp focus lent themselves to make him a good listener and decisive when it came to tough choices to make.
These days, he understands people’s frustrations with the Order. The war is nowhere near to be over, and failures are always felt stronger than victories. Not that there are many of those to go around. But that shouldn’t be a reason to act without thought, and lately Caradoc has had many thoughts about what to do with those that feel the Order isn’t doing enough. For one, he would like to help Marlene and her Dissendium Task Force more. While he is frustrated that few people want to fight in this war, fight for what’s right against Voldemort and his followers, he also understands that not everyone can help in the same way and that any help, no matter how little or small, is better than nothing. People shouldn’t be forced to fight if they don’t want to—it wouldn’t make them good fighters, or trustworthy ones—and if one wanted to be cold about it, there was value in promising someone to deliver their family to safety if they give help in return. Not that he likes these sort of transactions. Caradoc feels that good should be done for good’ sake, and not for any return, but he’s not above trying to find a different angle to see things.
And it’s this way of thinking that makes him careful with Dorcas and her group. He won’t brush them aside because there could be still usefulness in their passion, it only needs to be directed in ways that will do more good than harm. Because that’s Caradoc ever present question: how far can we go until we are doing more harm than good? Is any of this truly going to help, or am I only making things worse?
When it comes to the Order of the Phoenix, the answer to that question is clear. Staying with the group, helping planning more and more operations, can only do good. He could never see himself abandoning the Order or the mission and is determined to motivate others to stay, too, reminding them of the importance of what they are doing. He doesn’t trust the Ministry enough. It was easy for the Death Eater to infiltrate it, and it was too easy for them as well, so he could never see the government truly succeeding into winning the war. And he imagines the Order wouldn’t want him to leave either, he has proven a good member. He can follow orders when necessary, he is not shy when it comes to duelling or to spying, and he can make smart and firm decision even when the pressure is high.
SURVIVAL:
Officially, Caradoc lives with his father in their home in Abertridwr, a village three miles from Caerphilly in Wales. But most nights he is out for Order’s business, and he ends up either sleeping at the Potter Estate or on someone else’s couch.
Wherever he goes, he is always careful. He never indulges in things like alcohol or drugs or anything, really, that could cloud his judgement in any way. It’s what gives him that stick-up-his-arse air, but also—in his opinion—what helped him staying alive. 
And learning from his mother’s death and his father’ survival, Caradoc dons an air of neutrality when he’s outside of the Order’s company and takes a moment to take his feelings and putting them aside.
He has always had a knack for compartmentalising his feelings. It’s what helps him hold his tongue at work as well as with the Order. To achieve this, he imagines his grandmother’s old apothecary drawer cabinet, and in his mind he opens one little cubic drawer to put away his feelings. His humor is in there somewhere, locked away since the death of his mother. It still hasn’t been opened again. 
This ability may have put to slumber the carefree Caradoc of Hogwarts’ days, but it assures there are no thoughts to distract him during fights, no fear to jeopardise his actions and no memories to leave him shaken and unfocused. It has also helped him shield his thoughts from prying minds. And while outsiders could maybe tell he has no love for the Death Eaters, they can’t say he approves of the Order either. 
Then there is the memory charm. He is extremely skilled at it, but he’s still sometimes morally conflicted about it—something that makes him nervous—and is not sure he would retort to it. Is violating a person’s mind right? Then, when in the heat of battle or when he lays eyes on the ash and remains of lost one, he tells himself he could do more good than harm with it.
Adding to that, he keeps himself in fighting shape, physically and when it comes to spellwork. He may not be the most elegant duelist, but at least he is still breathing.
RELATIONSHIPS:
As a teenager, Caradoc’s smiles were frequent and laughs were far from a myth. It might shock some to think of Caradoc as someone who not only knows about Quidditch but actually played it himself. Fast on his broom, quick with his mind, he was a formidable Chaser. He would enjoy the parties and even try some rule-breaking when it did no harm. His sense of morality and responsibility back then made him the one to look out for other students, making sure they could always find an ally in him, and admonishing bullies. But it was far from an ever-consuming thought or mission. 
Everything changed with his mother’s death in his last year of school. Nowadays, he’s different. To such a degree that sometimes he feels like a completely different person. To know Caradoc, to truly come to know him, is not easy. Much of him is hidden in those drawers and they are all locked or stuck closed. Caradoc himself has no desire to open them up, even around those he trusts, because in these dark times it doesn’t feel right to be fully seen. So one must be either extremely patient or fancy themselves a way to pick all those locks.
His need to know what is right and wrong pushes him to try to figure people out so he can put them into similar categories. The Good and the Bad. Those deserving of trust and those to keep a vigil eye on. Allies and Enemies. There isn’t much space for grey areas.
While he’s loyal by nature and would never refuse to help anyone—let alone a friend, even if a lot of time has passed since they last saw each other or spoke—he is too focused on the war and unless people remind him to unwind or ask for his help, he tends to neglect them on a personal level.
His strong defense of minorities like Muggles and Muggles, and even Werewolves, puts him in the position of distrusting Purebloods—the irony of being one not lost on him—or those Half-bloods that have stronger ties to the Wizarding society than the Muggle World. He’s always keeping an eye on them. People like Frank or Branwen. People like Peter or Ryland. Those are some he can’t fully trust. Not yet, at least. Which is why he would actually stay closer to them, trying to know and understand them better.
Then there is the potential trouble-makers like Dorcas. He is sympathetic to her complaints, and he is not ready to dismiss her as easily as other high up have done. If only to make sure she doesn’t do something that would turn to cause more harm than good. But he still feels like there is potential in Dorcas and her little group.  Trouble for the enemy is peace for oneself, isn’t it?}
When it comes to romance, there is none in Caradoc’s life. He doesn’t have the time. He had tried once. A year after his mother’s death there was someone who, much like his first girlfriend, he felt comfortable around. They had been the first to call him ‘obsessed’, and he had meant to prove that he wasn’t. Surely, someone obsessed wouldn’t find the time to date. The relationship didn’t last. Caradoc’s heart wasn’t really in it. And then his partner left the Order, and it truly seemed a sign that for him romance had no place in this war.
(As a sidenote, I’m open to make more specific connections with other characters. Especially if players may have headcanons or idea for their relationship with Caradoc that they want to discuss. I know that it usually goes without saying, but I thought to add it just in case.)
OOC EXPLORATION:
SHIPS/ANTI-SHIPS: I don’t have any ships or anti-ships set in stone. I prefer to go with chemistry between characters, and I can only see that by playing. Though, I can say that I don’t see Caradoc as being very preoccupied with romance, or even flings. It won’t be something he’d be after. Then, of course, chemistry. Characters have always a way to surprise.
WHAT PRIVILEGES AND BIASES DOES YOUR CHARACTER HAVE?
In the Wizarding world, Caradoc does have all the privileges accorded to purebloods. He has a more intimate knowledge of its culture and customs, and he has knowledge of pureblood traditions in particular as passed down from his father. Especially seeing how Wizarding society alienates Squibs and treat them as lesser people. How some pureblood families go as far as to pretend their children had died rather than admit they have no magic; or shunning them altogether, striking their names from the family tree and leaving them to fend for themselves in a world that doesn’t want them. How Muggleborns and Half-Breeds earn open hate and are never given the same chances in their everyday, magical life. Witnessing all of this, Caradoc is aware of exactly how privileged he is, and it is grateful for it.
However, if his parents had taught him one thing, was that with privilege comes responsibility. His late mother’s actions in open support of minorities in Wizarding Society, is what spurns him on to use his social protection for the greater good. 
During the last ten years, he has worked to shed as many prejudices as he can towards Muggles, Half-breeds and other magical creatures. Even werewolves, since as his mother used to say, “they are still human beings for the other twenty-eight nights of the month. I can’t say the same of Riddle and his ilk.” Today, he is a firm believer that Squibs, Werewolves and Goblins should have equal rights and if any wanted to join their fight against Voldemort and the Death Eaters he would welcome them.
Hid rigid, black-and-white, mentality makes him categorise people into either good or bad. Any harm done by werewolves is not comparable in gravity to that done by those who want all werewolves gone. And since the Death Eaters’ agenda doesn’t stop to eliminate one single group but many, he’d rather not talk nuances which would only feed their arguments and instead see these groups that are targeted as good.
Nevertheless, he knows that there are bigots in both worlds. Where one world focuses so much on blood and magic, the other focuses on the color of one’s skin and the gender assigned to them. While he certainly can see how prejudices brought from one world to the other is not a good thing, he doesn’t find it reason enough to bar Muggleborns from their world—not even Muggles if one so desired to marry one. 
He’d rather side with an ignorant Muggleborn in the face of an attack by a blood supremacist than with the latter by discussing the former’s ignorance.  
Perhaps this is why he gets fed up with other people who share his privilege but who choose to do nothing, or why he’s becoming more and more suspicious of them. Can they really be good people if they’re protected by their blood? And yes, the irony is not lost on him.
WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO?
I usually avoid Marauders Era RPs because I’m not a great fan of set ships and set “destinies”, even if it’s ships and ends that I like. So, from the start, the AU aspect of this RP drove me to check out the rest, especially since it’s not completely AU but building on canon and the fact that it focuses on the Order instead of the classic Order vs Death Eaters. I also love that there is so much world building, and not just from the admins but the players too.
PLOT DROP IDEAS:
When it comes to Caradoc’s journey, I’d love to see what happens to his “drawers”. If they’ll stay close, and maybe even grow in numbers, stashing away more of himself; or if someone will be able to help him open them up and make him less “cold.”.
Especially considering how in Canon, Caradoc disappears, never to be seen again, with no one knowing what happened to him. So, I find interesting that in a way, he is also slowly disappearing, albeit metaphorically.
I would also like to see how far he can push his morals. If he’ll fully side with Dorcas, if he’ll be able to find some middle-ground of sorts. Or even what actions he’ll arrive to excuse for the “greater good.”
While for characters in general, I think I would also like for them to find themselves in situations where their morals might be challenged, where they might be pushed or tempted to cross a line.
This could come in the form of, maybe the group find themselves with a prisoner Death Eater, and it could spark a discussion on how far would they go to get information out of him.
I would also like something related to the Dissendium Task Force. Seeing how in game there can be secondary characters, maybe having a Muggleborns as one. They would be someone that, with their Muggle family, is hosted at the McKinnon farm in wait to be smuggled out of the country. Interacting with the characters, it would be interesting if this character ends up to be convinced to stay and fight, but then during their first mission panicking and losing their lives.
It could have people reflect on the task force and its mission, especially for those that believe the Order shouldn’t send potential “soldiers” away.
ANYTHING ELSE?
I don’t remember how I stumbled upon these posts that match houses and zodiac, but it’s what I use to choose my characters’ birthdays. Here Caradoc’s: https://hp-aesthetic.tumblr.com/tagged/capricorn-hufflepuff
Also, thinking about Caradoc’s Enneagram, I think Type One fits him best. And this is a Sleeping At Last song about Type Ones: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sO2UMoOaFQ
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dearophelia · 7 years
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Andromeda ask meme: 1, 2, 5, 10, 15, 20?
15 was already answered
1. Male or Female Ryder?
Female! Victoria Elizabeth Ryder. My tiny, neon orange-haired, guitar-playing trauma surgeon who, to the surprise of both of us, became the first character of mine to not succumb to First OC For The Game syndrome and get sidelined before her game even finished.
(and, in fact, I’m actually having trouble playing a different Ryder because no, that voice belongs to Victoria)
***
The rest of it under a cut because spoilers. Also, hardcore Re//yes critical. Because I’ve needed to rant for a good long while.
2. Feelings on being the Pathfinder?
“Why any of this,” mostly. She can do In Charge, but Actual Leadership is not a thing she has ever been (nor ever will be, probably) comfortable with. She avoids a lot of the passive duties of Pathfinder (like Nexus stuff and dealing with Tann), and hands that off to Cora (who eagerly takes it; Cora is a godsend for Victoria).
Victoria signed onto the Initiative to run its New Earth surgical team, so she’s pretty bummed (and annoyed, and a little angry) that she doesn’t get to do that (that New Earth didn’t pan out isn’t the point; she would’ve parked it at whatever colony/outpost they founded). If she weren’t able to function as her team’s combat medic - like if, for whatever reason, being Pathfinder meant she wasn’t on the ground - I think she’d have a much harder time of accepting the title. But she does get to kind of do what she came to Andromeda to do, which takes some of the sting out of it.
By the end of the game she’s more comfortable in the title, but she never embraces it.
5. Romantic entanglements, if any, and hopes for a future with your partner?
Victoria/Liam/Jaal OT3!!! Gosh, did that ever blindside me.
Victoria keeps doing her Pathfinder thing for a few years, and Liam and Jaal come with her. But once that’s kind of calmed down and the Initiative doesn’t need her actively pathfinding anymore, they settle down somewhere, probably Meridian (with frequent trips to Havarl to visit Jaal’s - their - family), and have a happy little life together. 
I have not figured out anything beyond a marriage/union ceremony that definitely involves flower crowns.
10. Kadara: Did Ryder side with Sloane Kelley, or the Charlatan? Why?
Sloane Kelly.
Reyes can, as far as both Victoria and I are concerned, fuck right off. I’m pretty angry that Bioware basically shoved this dude onto me with no way of telling him to screw off, no way of telling him that I’m not interested (how mad am I that I have to go have a drink with him? SO MAD), no way of ending his unwanted wink-wink-smooth-operator bullshit until the very end of the quest, no way of telling him to go away and that I’m uninterested in whatever he’s offering (professionally or otherwise). I have to go through his whole quest line, I have to put up with him being a shit, I have to deal with his obvious flirtations even when they’re not returned - I cannot (to my knowledge) avoid working with him if I want to finish out the Kadara quest. And I am furious that the flirt options stuck around throughout his whole goddamn quest line even when I took none of them, even when I was explicitly an ass.
And I’m actually fucking livid that you can’t kill him if you side with Sloane (not even if you shoot him), but that you have to kill Sloane in order to side with him (I assume she dies; I didn’t replay it siding with him because I will never side with him, not even if I rapidly undo it).
Thanks for making us kill off a powerful woman - and a tough, ruthless ~unfeminine~ and romantically/sexually unavailable woman at that - in order to put a deceitful, manipulative, romantically/sexually available dude in power instead, Bioware. Hats off to you, you are The Best. [carrie fisher middle finger.gif]
But this is about Victoria’s choices and opinions, not mine. So, ahem.
Anyway, she chose Sloane!
Using her for your own gain when she gets nothing in return is pretty much the quickest way to turn Victoria against you. Victoria doesn’t trust Reyes as far as she can throw him (and she’s a biotic, so she can throw him pretty far; is that how this saying works? I’ve always been a little confused). And - while she certainly doesn’t always see eye-to-eye with her - Sloane is a known entity.
Victoria spent three years on Omega working for Aria, she knows how to work in places like Kadara, she knows how to work with people like Sloane. Sloane is not Aria, but there are enough similarities that Victoria easily makes it work. Sloane is up front about her business, Reyes is a cagey shithead who uses Victoria so he can steal some fucking scotch and then coerces her into a pseudo-romantic sunset drink.
(listen. I’m furious.)
Victoria chooses Sloane also because she has no delusions that Reyes will actually make Kadara any better: Sloane’s a thug, but so is Reyes. Turning Kadara’s power structure on its head would likely make things worse for a good long while and, ultimately, putting Reyes in charge wasn’t going to make Sloane’s people go away any more than keeping Sloane in charge would make the Collective go away. So she goes with the person she likes more, and who she trusts more.
and who doesn’t basically force her into a date when she has explicitly not returned his affections and is, in fact, in a committed relationship with other people
(i’m furious.)
20. PeeBee: After launching the escape pod, Peebee asked if you were mad.  Were you? How did you handle Kalinda in the moment where she begs for Peebee’s help?
I was laughing, but Victoria was kind of miffed. She can go along with a lot, but Peebee’s reckless “I’m gonna launch the escape pod into an active volcano” is past the line for her, especially when it crashes and she doesn’t know if there’s an actual exit strategy.
Again, I shot Kalinda and then reloaded to not shoot her.
Victoria doesn’t kill people unless it’s necessary, or they’re shooting at her (which, now that I think about it, makes it necessary). Kalinda had spent the whole time trying to kill them, but in that exact moment - she wasn’t. She was begging for her life, and Peebee wanted to help her. The tech wasn’t something that was vital, it was just something new and cool and to discover - they didn’t know what it did, what information it held, nothing. 
If Victoria knew for certain that the tech was critical for helping the Initiative, it may have ended differently. But she didn’t, and so she went with her rule of We Don’t Kill People (Okay, Sometimes We Do, But Not If We Can Avoid It) and also with what Peebee wanted.
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