lavernius

[lavernius]

A little draw Locpez modern au with my designs!

Thanks @lavernius for the idea of this two:

"Neither are morning people. typical locpez morning is them standing next to each other half asleep drinking coffee in silence. they're grumps in the morning but not with each other"

[lavernius]

Jinying Hao.

[lavernius]

Hey if you enjoy any of my work I humbly encourage you to check out my main art blog @uericho for more of my stuff. I'd like to focus more on original work if I can and any support means a lot ^_^

[lavernius]

[¿Qué quieres hacer con ellos, Ortez?]

Does it still count as scary dog privilege if it goes both ways?

RVB Rarepair week Day 5: MONSTER MASH!!!

Vampire Lopez x Werewolf Locus

[lavernius]

something about trust

Writing below the cut!

“How… does it feel?” Locus asked haltingly. Lopez shrugged. “<Weird. But I expected that.>” Locus hummed, his brow furrowed like he was lost in thought as he scanned Lopez’s face. Lopez grabbed Locus’ wrists, bringing his hands to his throat.  “What are you--?” “<One way to test it. Take my head off.>” Locus’ eyes widened, his expression turning panicked. He tried to pull his hands away, but Lopez held him steady. “<You are the only person strong enough,>” Lopez said firmly, giving the other no room to balk any further. “<If this synthskin doesn’t fix the problem, I want to know now, not later.>” Lopez could feel the way Locus’s hands shifted, his fingers flexing as he fought some internal debate. Lopez couldn’t read his mind, but the flicker of those marble grey eyes was telling as Locus looked at his hands around Lopez’s throat, then to his face and then back again and again. “<It doesn’t hurt, if that’s what all this fuss is about.>” Not strictly true, having his head removed wasn’t exactly a pleasant feeling. But better to do it now, with some degree of control, than in the middle of a fight or an accident. The sensation of feeling everywhere his skin touched was strange though, the normally very localized sensors spread out across the surface of the synthskin. Was this how humans felt things all the time? No wonder they were so easily distracted. Neither of them moved. “You’re certain?” Locus asked finally, his voice little more than a whisper. Lopez raised an eyebrow and let himself grin just a little at being able to convey the sentiment properly. Maybe there were some advantages to the synthskin after all. “<I wouldn’t have said it if I wasn’t.>” A nod, then the pressure. Lopez knew Locus was strong, for a human, but the feeling of his hands tightening around his neck and pulling at his jaw, the base of his metal skull…  His head didn’t budge, and the pressure eased. Lopez clicked his tongue, releasing Locus’ wrists. “<Good. That is one problem fixed, at least.>”

[lavernius]

I was going to come off anon for this one but forgot tumblr wont let you ask things from sideblogs fucked up anyways

I would LOVE to hear your chorus worldbuilding too bc taking a world and developing it is one of my Favorite games in any setting and its always so fun to hear other people’s little speculative biology/meteorology/geography/economy/society builds 👀👀👀 but i understand that might b a lot to get into so no pressure i just live for this kind of thing ^v^

~ grif-hawaiian-rolls (seriously tumblr please just let me ask from a side blog i beg)

Sat on this ask for a bit but it's like, really hard for me to gather all my Chorus thoughts. My ideas get so granular that I can't get into them in one post. But if there's anything specific you want my take on (their society, the temples, their infrastructure, their relationships, etc) just LMK :)

For now you can look at this "chicken" that I headcanon to be their most consistent food source immediately after the war.

I think the Pirates hunted a few species of animals into near-extinction during their time planetside, but these guys are pretty common. They're called "crown chickens" despite not being related to Galliformes at all. They look like chickens crossed with ducks and can get pretty big (like, knee-height at max). They'd been domesticated before the war, Donut helps the Chorusans set up and maintain some coops for them once everything dies down.

[lavernius]

So crazy seeing people who aren't me post in the Locpez tag for the first time in years. Yup we're all doomed I'm afraid.

[lavernius]

Locpez

[lavernius]

PDA.

[lavernius]

Hi hello i would love to hear ur takes on the chorusans and their dynamics 👀 any of them/who ever u feel like getting into really, i just cant get them out of my head and would love to hear other ppls takes on them too (1A maintenance team is welcome to be included as well if u would like, im a firm believer in encouraging oc lore dumps at all times)

You just opened Pandora's box. I used to be such a diehard Chorus fan that I'd flesh out minor details of their planet's geography and economy and society and language on the regular.

Strap in: headcanons and a couple old Chorusan doodles under cut! Gets a liiittle long...

Bitters and Smith are, and always have been, friends. Surprisingly close ones, but they were both made lieutenants too young (out of necessity) and disagree with each others' styles of leading, especially because they can't see the Rebels as soldiers, but as friends. Everyone thinks they hate each other, but they WILL call the other a friend if asked (with some aloof reluctance on Bitters' part). They know that they ultimately need each other (Bitters balances out Smith's blind idealism, Smith balances out Bitters' deadly cynicism) and thus trust each other deeply, but it's just hard for them to agree on what the right thing to do is most the time.

Matthews has been friends with them for a while too! He's not very popular in the army, but they both enjoy his company and he acts as a good middle ground between them (incredibly optimistic, but sensitive enough to recognize risk). They both like (like-like, even...) him :-)

On the topic of Chorusan side characters--Ghanoush and McCallister are a little older than the lieutenants and like to cause trouble. They're actually Kimball's appointed archivists, which they take as an opportunity to snoop around as much as possible. Their rude and inappropriate behavior is an effect of having to document so much dark history, which has caused both of them to be a little detached from the severity of the situation.

And diverging into detachment: Doyle is actually one of the most emotionally detached soldiers for a large portion of his time as the Federal Army's leader--up until Locus's betrayal. His early career had him making one too many wrong calls until he started putting most of his faith in Locus, because Locus was somehow more likely to get things done without the damage to the rest of the army. He's faint-of-heart and a coward, yes, but he isn't always good at showing his other emotions, to the point that he comes across as a kingly leader (compared to Kimball's brash attitude but deep care for her men). Cowardice that runs so deep that he can't even face himself properly.

Kimball isn't without her flaws, either. She loves very deeply but has lost so intensely that even if she can show she cares (in small and subtle amounts, or in angry rushes of regret), she is extremely guarded. She worries but is scared that showing it is the catalyst to everything going wrong. It also makes her very keen on doing things alone if she can, and holding everything in. She sees a lot of herself in Grif as well as Tucker, actually, which is why...

...Kimball trusts Grif as much as she does Tucker. Tucker shares her need to be the hero, but Grif shares her overprotective parental instinct: operating below the radar and behind the scenes, but worrying so intensely and privately at all times. Even after the war, when Kimball asks the Reds and Blues to help for as long as they might be willing to, she turns to the two of them first and foremost for advice.

Kimball's desire to hold everything in out of misguided noble intention also reflects in, to everyone's surprise, Grey--Grey is one of the people Kimball starts consulting frequently after the war, initially as the local genius and later as someone she trusts intimately. They do not get along at first. A lot of pot-calling-kettle-stubborn, because they are both stubborn, and they don't want to admit to seeing any good in each other. They're selfless obstinancy in the form of woman's Venus (in Grey) and Mars (in Kimball), anger staying in, anger going out. They balance each other out in the end, teaching each other a sort of real, raw honesty--toward the world in Grey's case and toward the self in Kimball's. Very push-pull dynamic. Yuri, if you will.

And speaking of Grey! My second favorite female character in all of RVB. She's not as young as people assume, and she's been through a lot as a medic and sometimes falls into a trap of thinking she's useless because of/despite it. Very weathered under the helmet, stress lines melding into smile lines from permanently-plastered-on friendliness. During the time they were both Feds, Locus actually learned to respect her as a direct result of trauma on her end--to Grey, if all she's good for is fixing people, that's all she needs to do and she needs to do it right. A mentality Locus shares for unhealthy reasons, but Grey is doing it consciously where Locus follows command blindly, which Grey is aware of. They don't like each other, even with Locus's one-sided respect for her.

"You don't have to tell me twice. And to think—last I remember us talking, you said you respected me." Locus does. He always has; Emily Grey is competent, talented, and responsible. If it wasn't for her medical talent, it would be for her ability to balance her emotions in the face of a war's turbulence—a skill Locus had seen in her early on, past her cheery veil. He sees it now as she secures the band around his upper arm. It's purely out of distaste, the way she drops her façade around him, but it's commendable. Sympathy and kindness aren't reserved for someone like Locus.

Grey also has a complicated relationship with Doyle because of it. She sees him as a sort of brotherly figure because of how closely she has to watch his back, but Doyle is so very preoccupied with himself and every wrong step he could take that it often seems like a one-sided concern. Doyle does, though, rely on Grey as a sensible and clever mind, though it can come across more as a tactical opinion than a personal one. At their best, they are very sibling-like.

1A is full of loners because most people think they're all heartless and mean and weird. But they have each other and Lopez, who also "hates" them. So it's OK.

[lavernius]

Random Locpez doodles from my archives. 🫡

[lavernius]

idk how long it’s been your header but i LOVE your new header! did u render it yourself? if so that’s so cool and i love your rendering skills

Teehee thank you! I did make it myself :) honestly it’s less “skill” and more taking screenshots and cropping them down/filtering them LOLOL. Ever since I got back into MCC I’ve just been taking pictures of my own version of Lopez because no one can stop me ^_^

[lavernius]

getting comfy with your robot friend

[lavernius]

Fake RVB screenshots I made based on RUNAWAY.

[lavernius]

Locus and Lopez vs. dehumanization and seeing your own humanity through someone else

AKA 1.5k words worth of me trying to justify a random pairing I've been trying to sell people on for 5 years. Feat. a lot of my own introspection on both characters, CW for mentions of abuse.

It's kind of easy to assume that Locpez as a ship only exists because Locus is one of the few people who understands Lopez and one of even fewer who has had an actual (off-screen) conversation with him with full mutual fluency, especially since they interact directly, like, twice in canon (Objects In Space and the "Holy shit he's bilingual" scene from The Federal Army of Chorus). To be honest, that was my initial reason for shoving them together whenever I got into RVB and there was literally no content for them because no one was really considering them together in any capacity but a brief, funny passing interaction.

I do think language is an inherent motivator in their relationship with each other. It's a catalyst. Spanish, of course, is perhaps the most obvious thing they share--Locus being a Latino man and Lopez being the same in a convoluted and meta-racist metaphor. Beggars, choosers: anyone who knows how I operate knows I lean into reclaiming their depictions for my own brown person machinations. For Lopez it's the beauty of meeting someone who not only understands him, but isn't going to belittle him for the language he speaks or imply it'd be easier if he learned English. Locus will just listen to him talk and respond without commenting on the language barrier; Lopez isn't exotic or abnormal or "broken" for it, he just speaks Spanish, big deal, Locus speaks it too.

For Locus, it leans more toward reminding him of who he used to be when he was a simpler and kinder person. His culture seems like a forgone part of himself in many ways, but even if only because he's so distant from his humanity that he doesn't remember HOW to embrace his culture, or what the point of cultural pride even is. Lopez is like, reverse culture shock for him, where Locus is very familiar with Spanish as a language--grew up with it, learned it young, whatever, he canonically understands it and given he's Latino it's easy to assume it could be his native language--but has divorced himself from it so much to be malleable to his abusers that hearing someone speak it so unabashedly feels new. It's the lack of it that makes it so foreign, but it's so ingrained into him that it's easy for him to just slip back into it.

And Lopez being so stubbornly proud of what he is plays into that language dynamic, yes--now that there's someone who will listen and not judge, he has room to be adamant and own his monolingualism, and having someone as aggressively, straightforwardly prideful as Lopez forces Locus to recognize the beauty in the language too--but it applies on a grander scale, which is what I suppose the point of this post is: Locus and Lopez don't just share Spanish, but also histories of abuse and dehumanization, of being overlooked as living, thinking things in favor of taking advantage of their skills. And the results of this abuse manifest differently in both of them, but they're alike in just enough ways that their differences stimulate each other into bettering themselves and reflecting on what makes them, dramatic pause, human.

Some of Lopez and Locus's defining personality traits to me are their shared low empathy (forcibly learned on both of their parts) and the way they feel so alien in any group they're a part of. They're people with a lot of potential who don't care how others see them (at their worst, especially in Locus's case), but are limited by someone who only sees them for their usefulness (Sarge, Felix) and doesn't truly see them as a person. Lopez may be a Red, but they don't really care about anything he says, so he's just a wrench to them. Locus has Felix, but he doesn't recognize that Felix has one-sided power over him and is keeping him on a short leash; he's a shield and a weapon. They're tools, they don't have feelings, and if they realize as much it's a fault in their programming, they can and have to be steered back into place.

They're reflective of each other in this way. However, they're not identical in disposition: Locus resigns very easily to what he's told to be. He had more hope once, made attempts to be humanitarian, but was swiftly taught that kindness is suicide and that the point is to survive, no matter the cost. It was easy for Felix to take advantage of him by saying they needed each other when Locus was at his worst, because having kindness ripped out of him gave Locus little else to rely on but his hands. Locus has no room for questions, because a rulebook is absolute. It takes a reminder of what he used to be to make him falter, but even when Santa is showing him one of the inciting incidents of his "soldier" mindset, Locus can't stop himself from resigning to the mindlessness that Felix and the UNSC have already taught him.

Lopez feels trapped and is hyper-aware of it. He'll listen, but only because there's nothing else in the world for him. He's subservient but not in the same way Locus is, because he's angry about his situation: he knows it's not fair, but what can he fucking do about it? He was made to be Red Team's mechanic, and every word he says falls on deaf ears. He carries this self-awareness like a shield, like a threat: he could do something, but there's no point because his nature as a robot defines him. All he has is a sharp tongue and his hands, and the Reds only need one of those things from him. He revels in being able to complain and reminds himself that he's meant for something greater, but he's so fatalistic that he won't take action.

The balance comes from this anger. They're so alike in how they see the world and how much life has mistreated them, but they don't fully understand each other despite it. Locus sees Lopez as privileged for having a team because Locus has never had people to belong with, but he doesn't understand that Red Team isn't a safe place for Lopez. Lopez thinks Locus is misguided for letting himself believe he could ever be reduced to a mindless weapon, because Lopez has only ever been an object and Locus can't comprehend what that's really like. They see each other for their imperfections first and foremost and it frustrates them mutually: "You could've fixed this sooner, you could've escaped the grief, why didn't you try?"

It's this back-and-forth that they both need in order to reflect on themselves. They're harsh people who don't want to be coddled and admonished, but they're not making forward motion on their own because they're both stubborn and tend to decathect before they even recognize they CAN feel. They refuse to see themselves as human, but they can only see the humanity in each other, and they're both so alike that it could make them hypocrites. For a robot, Lopez's anger is so potent that it's alive: Locus sees more feeling in him than he's ever felt in his own life. Locus wants to be a weapon so bad, but he doesn't realize an object doesn't have heart the way he does, doesn't mourn the years it spent under someone's thumb, doesn't want to fix itself.

They're both brutally honest and they both need brutal honesty. They get along WELL by nature of being as similar as they are, but they argue so much because they want to understand each other and don't realize they already do. They're mapping details of their reflections. It's great: Locus is so hurt that he can only see the damage he causes, Lopez is difficult to hurt and notoriously good at fixing things. Lopez wants true accountability and retribution and Locus has cultivated complicity and guilt to perfection.

After Felix, Locus needs room to command his own life and put others in place when they overstep his boundaries, but he's scared of becoming Felix, so he also needs an anchor to keep him grounded in reality and reasonable. Lopez has never had real control over his own life before and would kill to have the power to make small choices and do as he wants, but he's a very private person who also needs a lot of space to work. They balance each other out and know the other's limits so well that they can easily go "You're hurting yourself and I'm not going to let you get away with it."

It's about understanding yourself through someone else and vice versa. Realizing that you share so much that if they deserve good, you do too. Reclaiming pain, experiencing freedom, finding support. They will deconstruct each other to the metal and muscles and rebuild one another over and over again, and they'll never get it perfectly right, but they're both going to learn more and more as they go. Flawless navigation of a road you've driven a million times, forward and back, potholes and all.

[lavernius]

Is there any demand for my 1k word essay about why I like Locpez as a dynamic or is my niche still too niche.

[lavernius]

🕰️ (A Lopez playlist) / Listen here.

Threw this together for fun. A bunch of songs about being mad at the world, I guess. Tracklist under cut. Enjoy.

01. Bis-Tech-A - Mason Lindroth, Chuck Salamone

02. The Hand That Feeds - Nine Inch Nails

03. Chop Suey! - System of a Down

04. The Trial - Pink Floyd

05. Inertiatic Esp - The Mars Volta

06. The homesickness that was corroding her soul - The Caretaker

07. Antimatter Animals - Tropical Fuck Storm

08. ... Because I'm Young Arrogant and Hate Everything You Stand For - Machine Girl

09. Hyper Music - Muse

10. The Great Rain Beatle - Rishloo

11. I have become almost invisible, to some extent like a dead man - The Caretaker