#ann rambles

For a simplified answer: It depends on how you interpret or expand his character, since we don’t really have many sources to determine if he has friends or if he can make friends in the canon of the film.

For me, it is possible to be friends with him. Though there's a catch: Scroop's definition of 'friends' is more similar to a distant worker friend than a personal friend. In a way, the ship is a workplace where he could never clock out and go home. And the fact that he is described to be both secretive and blunt.

To earn Scroop’s trust, though not 100% accurate, since he can sometimes be lenient or very strict depending on his mood. You need to (the following are headcanon territories, and these can probably change, since I am still working on what happens when you earn Scroop's trust)

Be a rigger, so you two will have the advantage of needing to communicate more than the other members' positions

'Automatically' know that he wants privacy or is sulking. aka he wants to be alone whenever he wants during break time, which is mostly impossible to tell if he is free to talk or not, since he never communicates verbally, and immediately the work time is over, you can't really find him. (Unless the topic is about rigging issues, he can squeeze out some mental strength to sacrifice his privacy a bit, but make sure to tell him immediately so it won't become a big problem.)

That you are competent to be in the crew by his standards, especially if you are a rigger

Don't make unnecessary noises, aka be quiet, as well as don't ask him questions that are like 'nice weather isn't it?', he is not Silver.

Absolutely not lecture him or give him a pep talk or talk to him in an accusatory way. He doesn't need another Silver. Scroop also takes things very personally, so lecturing and pep talking make him feel like you are rubbing your superiority against him. This is crucial to know if he knew he made a mistake, and he turns into a bomb when feeling humiliated. So is best to not follow him just to give him a pep talk, or give him a 'serious' talk when he is sulking. (This is VERY hard to do since if your tone can be assumed as condescending, he will get defensive)

Show that you hate Silver or, at the bare minimum, you have a distaste for how Silver plans or makes decisions. Scroop believes Silver is an overconfident smartass and [Silver] overindulges that he likes being right all the time (which,-Silver kind of needs to be right, since he has the responsibility to be a competent leader), and then be the one who tends to choose the 'wasting time' option that just puts the crew in more risks. Or if you actually admire Silver's strength as a leader, just don't say anything

(When you earn Scroop's trust, hypothetically, he would be less judgmental when you made a mistake, and I think there is a chance that his mental energy will sustain a bit more, but there will still be days when he is in a very irritated mood)

Two of whom Scroop might consider as friends could be Oxy and Moron. If we believe Jim's Journal to be canon, with the fact that Oxy and Moron are friendly with Scroop. Then the assumption that they're worker friends seems to gel well. Birdbrain Mary seemed to be a possibility as well- (I kind of headcanon her as a more straightforward big sister who kind of acts like a translator for what Scroop is feeling internally, sometimes it's exactly how he is feeling, sometimes she will troll you. Since I kind of see Scroop is much more blunt when talking about others, but when talking about himself, he is much secretive, at least hypothetically-)

In the film, it was first Oxy and Moron who questioned Jim's suspicion. Then Scroop dropped in and told Jim to mind his own business.

These three also seemed to sit at the same table, but it can be argued that Oxy and Moron are talking to each other while Scroop was sulking about the fact that he got a warning, and so he is avoiding eye contact with everybody.

Another scene is during the supernova storm. This is one of the scenes where I headcanoned that Birdbrain Mary can also be considered somewhat of a friend of Scroop's. But it can be argued that it is a coincidence that they just so happen to be working together- eh

Also one small thing is that there is also a scene where he was responsive as his gaze followed Meltdown getting pushed off by Silver, which- I don't know if he thinks Silver is wasting his energy or that Scroop is attentive to his surroundings or is being aware of his personal space and doesn't want to be pushed by Silver either or that he is annoyed that Meltdown is making noises when pushed- just ughhh.... (I am leaning more that Scroop is a bit attentive to sounds, with a small bit of him not wanting to be pushed by Silver, so yeah-)

These claims can fall short since I am pulling up every single time where they share a scene together, and none of them interact directly with each other. (Birdbrain Mary telling Scroop to slice and dice Jim can be assumed to be just conforming to the bandwagon with the other crew members, and that when Silver twisted Scroop's arm, you can hear Birdbrain Mary laughing (well- maybe she can be a friend, just not a perfect or good one), and maybe Oxy and Moron(???), but they're not gathering around Scroop and Jim so :P)

Again, it really depends on how you see and interpret Scroop. Even by canon standards, we never really got to know Scroop in any depth. He was written to be an abstract secondary villain who has limited screentime, and what we do know of him is that he is meant to be a foil both to Jim and Silver, and right on his debut, the story makes it clear to us that Scroop should not be considered a friend.

(but come on, how should that stop the fandom lol, I am currently slapping Scroop with some of my more self-indulgent headcanons (that I didn't mention) even though I know I still need to keep him faithful to the original film haha)

no. watch it again.

billy came in, held lucas against a wall, told lucas to "stay away from her".

and then lucas kicked him in the nuts. lucas fought back, kicked billy, and billy staggered back. and then what did he do? did billy punch lucas? grab him again?

no.

"you are so dead sinclair," billy yells.

also side note; "he has a name now" billy says to max earlier in the series, yet here billy is using the kid's name. so billy clearly never had a problem with max knowing lucas' name, never thought of lucas as a second class citizen; he was just saying shit his dad woulda said, to try and get max to back off for both their sakes.

"so dead," says billy. but billy doesn't do shit. doesn't set up for a punch, doesn't get ready for a fight. he does fuck all.

because billy hargrove is the king of empty threats. "you know what happens when you lie," billy tells max in the car, when she says lucas is just a guy from school. he makes it seem like if she lies, there will be consequences. but in their next scene together, max is lying to billy about "mormons" being at the door, and billy knows she's lying, it's so obvious. and he doesn't do shit.

'you know what happens when you lie' - nothing. nothing happens when max lies.

because billy's threats are always empty.

because he's not his father. he's not abusive.

it's neil's threats that carry weight. neil threatens billy, and then hits him.

so when billy goes after max, and lucas, and holds lucas against a wall, threatens him; it's a warning. not to lucas, but to max. it's a warning that the next time it might not be him who comes after them. it might be neil. and if neil finds max with lucas, it'll be much worse. cos neil will start throwing punches. hell, if neil hargrove can hit his own son just for not knowing where his sister is, think about what neil would do to the black kid who's been helping max sneak out of the house.

billy's threats are empty. neil's aren't.

and when billy goes into that house and holds lucas against a wall, he wasn't there to beat up lucas, didn't want to go off on some kids. he just threw his weight around, grabbed lucas, to warn max that next time? next time it might be neil who comes looking for her.

Right now they are still in the brainstorming phase, I might even update them completely once I get hold of a book that has information regarding the Hanfus, since right now I am borrowing ideas from the 1986 Journey to the West TV show (really recommend to watch that, is very accurate to the original book), some Shanghai Animation Film Studio movies and the Black Myth Wukong video game :D

(I probably might dial back the Chinese inspiration since it wouldn't make sense that some alien species and some human culture never met and yet have an eerily similar culture :/)

Right now, the yellow lady is 高翠兰/Gao Cuilan (etherium common name: Heather, also this has nothing to do with the character from Journey to the West) and the turquoise lady is 叶雨华/Ye Yuhua (etherium common name: Bea). Neither of them is related to Scroop, btw.

Compared to Yuhua, Cuilan is more experienced at pulling all-nighters when studying for exams, but she can't handle beverages containing caffeine other than tea, as it makes her more sleepy. For Yuhua, due to having a record of getting more sluggish than her peers at the end of the semester, she will just bullshit her way, and it weirdly works if the topic is something Yuhua at least has a surface-level understanding of. Yuhua also has a bad habit of rubbing her eyes a bit too hard whenever she has a headache around noon.

(Also, guess which one of them picked their etherium common name out of laziness :) )

(also also- I decided to cram in a little bit of Chinese Opera influences like their antennas, for example, where typically Mantavor women would have longer antennas compared to Mantavor men. Why Chinese Opera? Because I said so >:D)

Anyway- here is them suffering from the crazy amount of tests since they're studying to become interstellar scholars or maybe archivists (Though this idea of interstellar scholars and archivists needs more time to build around, plus the fact that the worldbuilding needs to make sense in a matriarchal background :p)

Cuilan decided to give a caffeinated beverage another chance before taking a test, without checking with the drink provider about the amount of caffeine. Yuhua, on the other hand, gave up on studying the night before due to having a bad headache from noon, as she didn't grasp the topic well.

translation (not literal):

Heather: Around 3 more tests left... I really can't take this anymore, it feels like my brain is about to explode.

Bea: I surely am becoming a roasted bug once I get home...

I also sketched this cutie below. I haven't gotten to draw the rest of her body, but time will tell- (probably sewing theme due to button eyes)

POV: Bea saw the hours you spend on your social media, and even she is disappointed (she tends to scowl a certain way)