#col talks

Because honestly I’ve been stewing on this for ages and like…I feel like we’ve got some really good info. Namely that Jack was the one ‘enamored’ with Gabe.

To me, I absolutely love the notion that Jack, from Indiana where mostly everyone he potentially knows are farmers and whatnot, meets this hardass somewhat anti-social dude who is efficient, careful, and intelligent, just thinks he is the coolest motherfucker he’s ever met. And that’s part of why Jack goes after him to be friends, just determined to try to be as cool as Gabriel Reyes. They’re in a super secret program together and Jack is gonna be friends with everyone, including Gabe.

And it works. Eventually he cracks his shell so Jack “one-year-of-army-under-his-belt” Morrison is good friends with Gabriel “I-make-concrete-cry” Reyes. And he keeps thinking Reyes is the coolest shit. They get called to Overwatch and Reyes takes command because he’s charismatic, and Jack, though he still sees Reyes as incredibly cool, starts to see the more impulsive and mission-oriented side. He values completion over empathy. He sees the bigger picture, while Jack sees the individuals, pushing them towards compassion in some situations, and keeping them from excess in others. Reyes’ charisma easily gets followers, but Jack’s compassion keeps them going in the right place, reminding people of their humanity. Though he still thinks the world of Reyes, he’s immune to the commanding charisma Gabe uses to keep people in line on missions to keep them safe. Gabe can be withdrawn, seen as rude or antisocial, but no one doubts his dedication to keep the world safe.

After the crisis, as Gabe and the crew lead the world to victory, Jack accepts the honor of being Strike-Commander, and Gabe accepts the honor of being Blackwatch’s commander. Both are satisfied, even if Jack is far more stressed at the prospect of leading. Here, he leans heavily on Gabe and Ana. Ana being his second and a voice of kind reason, and Gabe being the leading and charismatic knowledge Jack needs in tense negotiations. Jack knows Gabe can do wrong, but he trusts Gabe so thoroughly after Gabe’s leadership in the crisis. He knows sometimes you have to do ‘bad’ things to achieve a certain goal. He sees more of the bigger picture now. He sees that sometimes world peace is not pretty, and he really doesn’t have a reason to doubt Gabriel, even if he questions his actions or methods.

He defends Gabriel Reyes because he trusts and respects him so much that he can’t fathom Gabriel doing something to undermine their efforts. In truth, I don’t think Gabriel intended to do anything to destroy peace, but I do believe that perhaps he was recruited to Talon because of Doomfist himself. Akande’s entire goal is making the world stronger through conflict. Perhaps he saw Reyes as a strong individual, perhaps he convinced Reyes the world wasn’t strong enough to handle another burgeoning omnic crisis along with the civil unrest, and that he and Gabriel could prepare the world for that.

As for how much of Gabriel’s time was spent taking advantage of Jack’s trust, I don’t know. I want to say he saw the world as a better place this way, hoping Jack would trust him when things went well.

However, Overwatch was betrayed from within, something I think Reyes had a part in but I have two separate theories regarding the Fall of Overwatch.

Version A: If we think about it, Talon has a habit of murdering public figures and enemies. Gerard Lacroix, Mondatta, their attempt on Katya Volskaya. It’s entirely possible they decided to have Jack killed. It’s possible Reyes was able to see the necessity of Jack’s murder as someone dedicated to the cause of making the world strong. This would also explain why Akande is so interested in Reaper killing Jack and Ana. Two important Overwatch figures that survived, and two people Reaper has problems killing if only because they are a force to be reckoned with together or his own personal feelings. It seems neither Jack nor Reaper could find each other on their own, using Sombra and Ana to track each other down.

Version B: The sabotage brought Overwatch to its knees. According to Jack, the reason Overwatch fell was due to traitors from the inside. We’re actually not given the information that Reaper was present at the Fall, just that he betrayed Overwatch (Though there are “traitor” lines in the game, they just have some knowledge Gabriel is Reaper and he works with Talon. That’s enough of a betrayal without the element of the Fall being on him). It’s possible Overwatch’s Fall was completely constructed by Talon or possibly the UN. Either Talon wanted to destroy Overwatch as a way to make the world stronger or the attack coincided (intentionally or unintentionally) with the UN's attack. Jack only specifies they were “hit from within” which could easily point to Reaper/Talon or the UN, the only two entities that would have access to the “inside” of Overwatch.

Either way, it definitely sheds light on Jack’s personality before and after the fall. As Strike-Commander, we understand he’s altruistic, kind, trusting, politically intelligent, and hardworking. As Soldier: 76 he’s violent, angry to the point of being nearly feral, commanding, selfish, and cruel. he’s the antithesis of who he was before because he’s been betrayed by almost everyone that ever mattered to him. He put so much trust into Reyes to find out Reyes was part of his enemy for a long time, taking advantage of the trust and using it to his own ends. To Jack, it looks like Reaper/Gabe is just evil all around, regardless of Gabriel’s intentions and motives. It makes him a vengeful, lawless spirit that does everything he used to stand against like murder, breaking and entering, theft, and so on. Enough that he’s accrued a $10 million bounty on his head.

asked if i should post my butch lesbian icon edits, so fuck it here y'all go ! take my favorites of my sniper icons (and gogeta, he's here too :) !)

Karlach - can light the joint with a literal flick, which is hot AND convenient. she's also just absolutely giggling at literally everything that's goin' on; she 100% has Clive in her lap the whole night too, all while having her tail curled around Tav's leg

Jaheira - brings the weed, literally just grows it in her spare time and tbh I feel like it's cuz she doesn't trust anyone else to bring the good shit; she also is the one who actually like. COOKED food beforehand so that they're not only snacking the whole night

Wyll - he'd be SO chill and have so many funny stories from all the parties he used to go to; I also feel like he'd try and show off his dancing skills with a little bit of goading from everyone and despite being blitzed, he still does a fantastic job

Halsin - also VERY chill and has a lot of interesting/funny stories that he's willing to share; also just ends up growing a bunch of berries for everyone to have a constant influx of snacks and on top of that? can roll a joint like it's nothing

Shadowheart - I feel like she'd just wanna lay back, head on Tav's shoulder while listening to Wyll's stories, totally vibing, a soft smile on her face, and probably nonverbal unless she gets a moment of lucidity where she says a maximum of 5 words

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