Speaking of Ocelot and Otacon, what do you think of the two as technical brothers, or the 'Brothers Joy'?
I’ve used the tag ‘the brothers joy’ for stuff before, sure. I think it’s an interesting character dynamic to explore? They’re two of the most different characters in the series. One who enjoys causing pain, one who makes huge mistakes out of an effort to avoid doing so. One who is singleminded in his devotion to an individual, and one who seems to fall in love almost too easily.
I’m not sure if the two count as “technical brothers” because ahh... well it’s never really made clear to us what kind of relationship Strangelove and the Boss had, if any at all. It’s possible that they did, but it’s equally as likely that Strangelove only knew her for a short time and pined after the version of the woman that existed in her mind. But her goal was to pass on The Boss’s memes to her child, and in some other discussions I have heard others reason that Philanthropy comes the closest out of anyone’s efforts to actually achieving the Boss’s will. So there is merit to the theory that Strangelove succeeded.
The part where there is a hiccup I guess is that Ocelot did *not* receive any form of memes from the Boss. Not really. He wasn’t raised by her (and it’s questionable as to whether they knew they were related when adults in MGS3) so you can say while Hal inherited the memes, Ocelot inherited the genes. And true to the theme of the game, the memes won out in the end.
So in the context of the game I don’t know if we can call them brothers. The only reason to do so would be to bring up how different they are and how different their paths were. But maybe that’s reason enough?
I am definitely *here* for your AUs where there is more of a relationship between them though. (Although then I guess it gets weird with Dave and Hal like... my step-mom is your adoptive grandmother... I guess we just need a healthy dose of handwaving and lampshade hanging.)