.gif)
Who is Captain Sweeper?
Captain Sweeper, also known as the Captain, is the main character of Minesweeper Plus. He is the smiley face on top of every Minesweeper board. Throughout the game, Captain Sweeper goes on a voyage in his little minesweeper ship to defuse every naval mine, with the boards progressively getting harder in the Adventure Mode. In the Adventure Mode, Captain Sweeper can be seen slowly getting more paranoid and manic, as can be seen in the difference between his level 1-2 and level 7-8 sprites.
According to Jorel Simpson (the developer of Minesweeper Plus), Captain Sweeper has a paranoid personality and canonically has PTSD. He is also not very approachable and is rather touch averse due to his paranoia, as can be seen in him possibly misinterpreting a hug as an attack or a trick. Although most of his character is up to interpretation, he is unfortunately heterosexual. At the same time, this statement does not make sense as he is canonically genderless, so he cannot be heterosexual.
Here are some canon trivia facts:
If the Captain was a cake flavor, he would be vanilla.
He loves whales.
He's okay at fishing.
He reads books in his spare time.
He is not a good hugger.
My Personal Captain Sweeper Headcanons
I have several headcanons that I share with a group of friends and mutuals I met through Jorel's server.
Aside from having PTSD, the Captain is autistic. Hear me out. He has a strong sense of justice, as can be seen in him having a strong drive to rid the sea of mines. Aside from a possible special interest and strong passion in minesweeping, he also has an oral fixation as can be seen in his usage of nicotine (which in this case, he doesn't only smoke to curb stress). When he eventually stops smoking, I imagine him using a chewy necklace to curb his oral fixation. He also hates loud noises, which is both a product of his PTSD and sensory issues.
Aside from whales, he loves dolphins and he won't stand for dolphin slander. He even has a plushie of a dolphin that he cuddles with when he sleeps if he's having a hard time sleeping.
Speaking of sleep, the Captain has a hard time sleeping due to his paranoia. To aid this, aside from the dolphin plushie he has a weighted blanket. He also has frequent nightmares due to his PTSD. In his early years, he would sleep like a rock and snore loudly.
The Captain is an amazing cook, courtesy of the saying "Don't trust a skinny chef". And yes, he is fat (partially canon).
Due to the nature of his job, the Captain is somewhat hard of hearing.
When it comes to drinking, he is not a lightweight, but he can and will get incredibly fucked up.
Why I Yumeship
Yumeshipping Crash Course (Copy pasted)
Before I explain anything, I will explain yumeshipping and its history because it's genuinely interesting. Yumeshipping is the act of shipping yourself with most commonly a fictional character. Basically selfshipping.
Yumeshipping originates form Japan's Dream Novels, or Yumeshousetsu. These novels are of the reader-insert genre, acting somewhat like an Otome or dating sim game in written form. Dream Novels and reader-insert fanfiction have existed since 1997 and 1999 respectively. It is noted that Dream Novels are not one-size-fits-all due to the writing depending on how vague authors are willing to be in order to describe their protagonist.
The term Dream Girls are traditionally used to describe the consumers of Dream Novels. But there is a distinction between an ordinary Dream Girl and a Gachikoisei, or colloquially known as Gachikoi (translating to seriously in love), in which the person is genuinely in love with the fictional character or idol. This term is used when the fan has serious romantic feelings that go beyond being a normal fan.
Source (click here for the full guide!)
Serious Answer
To put it simply, I think the Captain is way too adorable and I have grown way too attached to him ever since I started playing Minesweeper Plus. Something about Captain Sweeper makes me so happy and he comforts me, and pretending we're married makes it all better sometimes. And besides, I have free will. I can do whatever I want forever. The other part of yumeshipping I really like (maing self-inserts) also aligns with my special interest of creating characters, whether originals or self-inserts.
I love him, he loves me, we're married, and we're gay people in the Navy.
Self-Insert!
This is the Deck Cadet. He's the other guy in Captain Sweeper's ship (despite the canon stating that the Captain is the only one in his ship). Unlike the Captain, the Deck Cadet takes care of admin work, navigation, loading and unloading the ship, and maintenance tasks. The Deck Cadet and Captain are subordinate and superior by day and lovers by night, having a rather intimate relationship with one another when the lights are off. They have known each other since the Deck Cadet entered the Navy. Captain Sweeper eventually proposes to the Deck Cadet and the two get married.
Prior to the marriage, the Deck Cadet was divorced, leading him to struggle with his self image and feelings of insecurity. It did not help that the divorce was not a mutual decision, which only made his insecurity and emptiness worse. This led to the Deck Cadet to ditch his old life and join the Navy.
LoveBoat Trivia
Captain Sweeper and Deck Cadet are smoking buddies. I do not smoke IRL though.
Deck Cadet is the only one Captain Sweeper trusts with hugs and physical affection. It's actually rather hard for Deck Cadet to keep his hands off Captain Sweeper. They're inseparable.
To add onto this, Captain Sweeper and Deck Cadet are each other's support systems. Captain Sweeper helps Deck Cadet through his self destructive habits and hopelessness, and Deck Cadet helps Captain Sweeper through his PTSD and paranoia.
When they eventually retire together, they live in a small beach house despite Deck Cadet being used to being in the big city. Their house is full of marine life and Navy memorabilia.
