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[clonecumber]

Delta calls Sev “psycho” and variations thereof a lot--like, a lot--and I’m gonna half-assedly speculate, ‘cause what the hell else am I going to do with a morning off, really.

So I’m not gonna do any fancy build-up myself: I just genuinely think Delta originally started this as a way to protect Sev while they were kids on Kamino. I just think of a bunch of very small boys raised in a hyper-(toxic) masculine, hyper-violent environment, with the threat of death for failure to meet standards hanging over their heads, with a brother who’s a little sensitive and a little socially awkward and a little anxious, who’s a bit too quiet and a little too abrupt when he does talk, and the pieces sort of fall into place for me.

That little kid’s gonna have a target on his back.

So his brothers, being a bunch of ten-year-olds, probably, push back against any perceived criticism (read: schoolyard bullying exacerbated by life in a murder-institute of scientific and military horror) from their peers by puffing themselves up as small children do and dragging Sev right along with them. He’s not WEIRD he’s just a SUPER PSYCHO KILLER. He’s gonna be a KILLING MACHINE. He’s too busy imagining BITING THROUGH YOUR NECK with his TEETH to give you the time of day. If you bother him he’ll STAB YOUR EYES OUT. Etc, etc. Please imagine their piping little kid voices for added effect.

Following which, baby!Sev, maybe feeling like this is probably a compliment, his team saying this is something he’s good at, warms up to it and takes it as part of his identity. Yeah! He’s not weird! He’s a badass! You’re weird!

Especially to a bunch of little kids who don’t understand the full implications of what they’re saying, it’s probably better to be weird and quiet and sharp-tongued because you’re too focused on your next ~gruesome kill~ than because you just don’t know how to talk to people.

Vau especially seems like the kind of guy who would accept more from Sev failing to meet certain interpersonal expectations if he can be convinced Sev’s a bloodthirsty, rabid dog just barely leashed by military discipline. He’d absolutely trade team-building skills/leadership skills for an enhanced ~“killer instinct”~ or whatever the hell he calls it. Especially with the hints we have in canon that Sev wasn’t always The Best, and Vau at one point felt the need to kick him into shape. Him assuming Sev emerged from the other side of his personal attention as a barely restrained "ultimate hunter” type uninterested and even disgusted in petty distractions like socializing was probably just a job well done to him. I can see why Sev’s pod would have a vested interest in either latching on to this assessment and running with it, or encouraging Vau to see it that way themselves--and why Sev himself would probably take it as a sign of approval. If Sev’s being called a “psycho” it means he’s doing good.

So Sev singles Boss out in specific as being responsible for fanning his reputation even in adulthood, and I imagine that’s just a long-term holdover. Even after growing up, when Boss is possibly able to recognize that Sev’s reputation is a double-edged sword, I can see him running the numbers and still keeping up the habit, because it’s overall still safer for Sev to be “respected” as a competent and vicious killer than perceived by outsiders as...maybe a bit more vulnerable than that. If Boss can head them off at the pass, all the better. And after all, it can’t be hurting Sev, not really. Not REALLY. Sev likes a good fight, he likes killing his enemies, and he is good at it, so what’s the problem if Boss games outsiders a little with some intimidating grandstanding? That’s just presenting a hard target. To their...allies. (Sure, Boss.) Sev’s squad knows better (maybe, more or less) than to take it seriously after all, and it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks, they aren’t them. As long as no one gives Sev a hard time about his shit, or thinks they can use a perceived weakness against him or the squad, that’s likely all Boss and Scorch and Fixer probably care about.

It’s also telling that Delta (primarily Scorch) tend to use the label among themselves as a sort of nickname for Sev--it’s usually used affectionately, with fondness or approval. Sometimes they use it in exasperation, but it’s never an insult. In-squad it’s practically a term of endearment, teasing, sure, but also something positive for Sev, like knuckles in his hair or a rough clap on the shoulder. Sev’s aware that other people outside the squad don’t really see it that way, though he doesn’t really understand why, and it bothers him that people are scared of him, but he’s also not talking about it to his squadmates. Which leaves them all at a little bit of an impasse.

It’s not healthy, not really, not when it puts a wall up--however well meant his squad might have been in erecting it--between Sev and other people that he doesn’t necessarily want, but it comes from a place of care, which I find interesting. It’s for this reason I separate how Delta uses it for Sev from how, say, people talk about the Nulls (or how people outside Delta talk about the Nulls and Sev), because Delta’s situation is very unique. They all come from the same shitty background, are still stuck in the same place in regards to their horrific upbringing, abuse at the hands of Vau, and trauma in regards to the war. None of them are actually any better adjusted than any other member of the squad, but they don’t know that, so them trying to take care of each other will occasionally mean they attempt to wrap a burn with barbed wire, with all with the best of intentions.

They really do seem to be doing the best the can for themselves and each other, but all they have to pull that best from is...well. Not good. Hyping Sev up to outsiders as a cold-blooded man-killer who lives for the hunt so you had better not fucking give him a hard time is an extremely malformed attempt at caretaking, but it is caretaking, and I think it’s fascinating.

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#boss scorch and fixer probably do believe in all seriousness that they ARE better adjusted than sev#*laugh track*#this isn't necessarily my one-true-headcanon but it IS the lens I tend to use when I play the game or read their scenes in the books#the mindset of a group of men who grew up encouraged into an intense degree of dependency on each other and the unit and how#that can lead to them failing to integrate into other social groups#and sometimes actively sabotaging their ability to integrate into other social groups#idk it's interesting to me