Steven: I'm really an awful person. Like there's a reason I'm dating a murderous space tyrant. You should run away screaming. Armin: But what if you just think you're awful because of PTSD and your space tyrant boyfriend is tricking you.
(no but the hilarious thing is, everyone in TR sincerely talks such shit about TR because when they do, they don't mean their part of TR but all the world natives.)
but no I was saying armin is the final straw for Tyler making an auslan dictionary, and also that he's a good boy who I think Tyler is starting to genuinely enjoy the company of
so he turned to the rocket with the most functional set of morals he knew and said 'I'm feeling bad about our upcoming crime because it's going to make Armin sad'
YEAH like. neither of them have approached this mindset from a vacuum. they're both horribly damaged in ways they know are similar so maybe using the same coping mechanisms will work???
like Steven's natural moral compass was fairly weak and really only had one principle native to him which was 'bad things should not happen to my people' and from that he built something resembling a real one from watching what people he knew had actual functional ones did
so when his keeper made him harm the people he was otherwise supposed to care for, that forced him to repeatedly violate that single principle he had. over and over.
(if he hadn't been taken he'd have eventually become a part time hunter of supernatural baddies, which would have been a very good outlet for his... everything)
(if Tyler had never been taken he'd have had a happy normal life with his boyfriend turned husband and 2.5 adopted or surrogate children and idk a dog maybe)
but yeah Tyler could have been more or less happy as a normal person. Steven would have needed a way to use being wired the way he is for good ends, but once he figured it out he would have been fine.
Steven: I'm really an awful person. Like there's a reason I'm dating a murderous space tyrant. You should run away screaming.
Armin: But what if you just think you're awful because of PTSD and your space tyrant boyfriend is tricking you.
i would still love to mug a PC with his hypnosis bullshit but that's a hella tall ask, lmaounfortunately, he's been too friendly with mine i thinkit's easier to mug people you don't knowLudicrous, if you know someone you know how to take advantage of themeasier on the conscience, emetHe just ignores thathe'd try both just to see which one might be easierthats the spiritwhen it comes to rockets he doesn't play by the 'pokemon battles, no punching' rules
If anything that should allow you to disconnect from a situation enough to better HELP someone!
one day,