#side note I was older than Rooster and whenever I try and picture my dad I just think of a photo

[multishippinghussy]

Morning depression plotbunny/headcanon:

As Rooster settles back into the idea of having an actual family, and starts letting people in again - Hangman makes note that from all of the pictures and videos he's now seen, Rooster's fashion sense didn't develop a dependency on Hawaiian shirts and 80s staches until he was in his mid 20s.

Not a big deal. Easy target for a quick joke, maybe of the late bloomer variety, but little else.

But as old friends drop in to see Maverick and his reunited kid, comments are made. Stories are told, and it becomes clear that once upon a time, baby Goose was more of Maverick's duckling. Yeah, he looked like his parents, but everything he learned, did and wanted to do was heavily influenced by none other than Pete Mitchell.

And everyone use to point out how much Brad Brad reminded them of Mav. Particularly when the incident occurred, and they were just trying to help convince Bradley to go home and talk things out with the man who raised him.

But they didn't know the full story, and as time went on Rooster started to resent the constant reminders. Started to hate that when people knew both his actual biological father and Maverick, the only part of Goose they saw were his actual looks.

So he leaned into what he remembered of his dad. He may not have many memories of his own...when he tries and pictures his face, he thinks of photographs and videos, but it was enough.

It was enough that when he finally made it...when he finally got to where he always wanted to be before Maverick stepped in, all people saw was the wall he built around himself made up of brightly colored Hawaiian shirts and 80s stache. Because he was tired of constant reminders of the person who betrayed him. Lied to him.

He hated anything that reminded him of Maverick...including himself.

#hangster #rooster #hangman #maverick #mavdad #top gun maverick #side note I was older than Rooster and whenever I try and picture my dad I just think of a photo #I was given a box of polaroids he took when deployed and now have my own Polaroid camera #I might identify too much with certain aspects of TGM #went to see jets go zoom...left emotionally invested in the found family i was not prepared for #it's not the beach scene sir it's the daddy issues