hello mutual jennie natjennie im thinking rn like can you imagine if all the ghosts that had been there when cap was alive didn’t really pay him much attention bc they were all more occupied doing their own thing or thought some other soldier was more interesting or whatever. and then he died and they all realized oh shit this guy has a lot going on and they should have paid attention to what he was doing when he thought no one else was around bc there’s no way he’s telling them anything now. i don’t know where i’m going with this but like. you know
OUUUUGGHGGHHHH that's sooooooooo sad because like. I always forget that a lot of them were around for whoever else's death until it's really explicitly pointed out like fanny telling her story and thomas going "I did know all that, I was there" and the thomas thorne affair with everyone's different recollections of how it happened and the quick scene in perfect day when pat remembers his death but this time the ghosts are there and all wince like. it's hard to reconcile the ghosts as Ghosts in the past, that they've been here in roughly the same state through everyone else that has passed yknow within their timeline. kitty is kind of iffy because everyone seems to know that she's touchy about her sister and it's not wise to talk about her past, but no one outright takes over narrating for her or giving their own perspectives so it's hard to say if they definitely bore witness to her life but.
if the captain just. didn't get that at all. no one knew or noticed or payed attention. that makes everything so much more tragic because then NO one knows him. all those little things that make someone human, the things that only family and loved ones get to see, your quirks and your habits when you're alone and truly yourself. things that you would share with people you trust. NO ONE has shared that with him. because if the ghosts are around then there's always this little seed of hope, right like. when I said a nice word to my plant, someone noticed and cared and it made someone a little happier. or when I tripped and busted my ass it was embarrassing but it hurt and maybe someone felt bad for me in another plane. but if they straight up ignored him. he has nothing to show for his life. I mean we have no knowledge of a family or friends. other than havers but I can't get into that right now. so like.. no one in his life ever got close to him to feed that little spark of humanity. and then no one on this constant other plane of people noticed him either!
the idea that the ghosts don't say anything about cap's life not because they're respectful of his privacy but. because they don't know. and in all those years no one has tried to learn anything about him. they stay silent about the bomb and the letter and his time on the front and his military experience because they didn't care to pay attention to it.
it all just feeds so much into the fact that we are defined by our connections to each other and the idea that humans are social creatures and that like "these are my ribs- as defined by your reaching" or whatever that poem says. I mean. we become who we are because of our reflection in others. names are sounds other people use to get our attention. and he doesnt fucking have one.
