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Season 15 Finale

So, none of my predictions happened except one, and quite frankly, it’s the most problematic one.  But for some of us, the season is over.

So, people may not know, but I’m a diehard member of Red Team, so I’m coming at this finale as being a lot of ‘eh.’ Another emotional climax for blue team in a season where Red Team shined.  

I actually liked a lot of the moments in this season, and that seems to be a general consensus for the season.  Lots of little interpersonal moments that were great, there were some really good comedy going, and a plot that would do an eighties action flick proud.  I want to be perfectly clear IT WAS PRETTY GOOD. I laughed, I gasped, I rolled my eyes.  I was amused, and at my age, I’ve realized that’s the truly important part of how I spend my free time.

I also don’t hate any one season of RvB.  But there are a few seasons that I realize have some blindingly low spots among the good.  Season 9 was one of those for me, and it disappointed me, because for me, the worst of it was the Simmons-Lopez arc, and Simmons is my favorite character.

Personally, this season is bottom five for me, and that’s disappointing in a season in which Red Team did get so much development. Grif’s growth was wonderful. Simmons’ pulling that knife was damn near orgasmic.  Lopez getting to be the hero.  I’m just wondering how much of it actually happened right now?  

Once upon a time, Joe said that Jax was the only unreliable narrator in the season.  But he said that in response to a scene where Jax should have no relation of any sort as a narrator: Temple’s flashback to Biff’s death.  It led me and others to speculate that the entire season we were seeing was Jax’s movie, much on the same vein of ‘based on real events’ as Micheal Bay’s Pearl Harbor.  With the during credits scene, we are basically told that’s exactly what this is: Jax’s version of what actually happened, modified to sell tickets. It explains the relationship baiting, the movie references, the overly dramatic flashbacks, the beat-you-over-the-head theme, the iffy contrived character step-backs.  Are there still a few things it can’t explain, like the overly-contrived set of doubles as bad guys?  Yes, God yes.  But if it’s a third hand accounting by an admittedly unreliable narrator, then a lot can be explained away, and even begrudgingly forgiven. 

But that brings up the topic of how much of the character growth actually happened?  Did the scene on the island between Wash and Carolina actually happen that way?  Did Grif and Simmons actually end up in a closet for the temple event, or was it added to queerbait Jax’s audience?  How about the volleyballs, given they were a blatant movie rip-off?  What about Tucker being drawn in by Temple, and his anger issues, and then being fooled by a video game? All those wonderful character moments, good and bad, are called into question.  Not all of them can be fake, but Jax wasn’t there for most of them, so WHICH ONES ACTUALLY HAPPENED?   It’s ambiguous, and as we, the fandom start picking and choosing what we want to keep, it’s going to divide us further than the sponsor release already is. 

And that’s my biggest problem with this season.  Every other season, good or bad, was presented as it ACTUALLY HAPPENED. There was no question, for the most part, what was real, because what we saw on the screen was what happened.  By bringing in the unreliable narrator as the main point of view, everything is up for debate until next season at the soonest.  And that’s really just not cool.

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Seriously, people?

I’m not usually that person, and I have a first account so it really doesn’t effect me, but come on guys.  It isn’t that hard to put the words ‘season 15, episode 19′ in the title.  I know you’re excited and everything, but this is the second time in three episodes that I’ve seen where there are screenshots, gifs, and quotes from the sponsor episode posted without spoilers.  And some of it’s happening from blogs that aren’t on phones, because some of their images ARE spoilered.  

Please be respectful.  Take five seconds to make a title, or put the read more in. 

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This feels fitting after episode 15.17.  Because all the dopey.  

I heard Wash’s mom can deadlift 1000lbs. That Wash’s mom is shredded.

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Season 15, ep. 17 predictions

Well, some are hopes.  One is a fervent wish.  All probably won’t happen, because I’m horrible at these.  :P Mix-ups, frame-ups, and the only acceptable redemption (to me) below.

Simmons is going to kill Gene, because I want to see this so bad, and I want to see him grow from it BACK into a bigger sarcastic smartass, as he’s become so much more... whimpy over the years.

Donut was taken by Temple and the Blues and Reds to help frame the Reds and Blues and left Cronut to spy. Think about it.  Bucky took Tucker’s sword, saying it had uses other than fighting. So what if it’s left behind as evidence, along with Donut’s dead body after they get away?  

But them having the actual Donut is going to be how the Reds and Blues track Temple.  I also think, when they try to kill Donut may be when Doc has a O'Malley shift.  Maybe they try to make Doc kill Donut, the one he had lived with for months. 

Finally, I think Locus will be the one that goes back in time to save Wash. But because of the interference from his sword, instead of making him a double, it shifts him back into his old body, like what the sword did to Tucker at the end of season five.  Locus will end up sacrificing himself to save Wash, tackling him rather than stealthing to move, and getting killed in the process.  I really, really want this, because as fun as Locus has been this season, I really don’t think he deserves redemption.

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Season 15, ep. 17

This is the second post of three about this episode.  No sad things here!

I LOVED the interaction between Carolina and Locus right in the beginning.  It felt like it was ripped right out of the heart of the fandom, and I appreciate it was at least acknowledged that this isn't going to be easy for everyone to accept this storyline.  I do think there is a way for me to accept it, which will be posted later.

Also, the Blues and Reds killed a bunch of refugees to either build their base (only seven months ago????) or their machine.  And they died slowly, like the Freelancers they caught. I'm leaning more and more to them being put on a prison ship and having the riot doors opened...  I can't blame Tucker for being pissed.

Also, Wash in a 'doped up for surgery' was hilarious until it wasn't.  I can totally see York getting video of him in sickbay every time he gets hurt.  

Called Sarge being asked to kill Dylan and Jax, and him being unable to do it, making him realize his mistake. Kinda disappointed it wasn't his plan all along, but, eh, this was good. And their price for going with it being his plan all along was, well, priceless.

Also "You need a Mandarin Keyboard to get it right, and the fifth character is an Emoji."  Guys, this is what happens when people need to use alt letters to make gamertags in the future and then change their surnames to their gamer tags.

Sarge got Locus to play rock-paper-scissors. Locus finally losing it with the Reds and Blues, only to be hugged by Caboose.  All laugh out loud moments. 

Jax getting punched in the face for getting way too intrusive, and assuming Grif and Simmons were ever going to kiss was perfect.  Hetersexual life partners being bros. 

Speaking of the red bros, Grif staring at Simmons when Simmons spoke up to go with them.  And Simmons bitching about Gene.  And “I’m going to kill him.” “The crappy clone or Jax.”  Slight growl “Yes.”  YES!!!!!  Get ‘em, Simmons!

Grif constantly bringing up Locus' ship.  Locus not wanting to kill.  Carolina constantly pushing herself and lying to herself.  And Donut (Cronut) throwing a grenade accurately and hard enough to knock out a person through a helmet. All great moments.  

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Season 15, Episode 17

Going to make two posts about this episode.  One about how great this episode was, and then this one about that thing that so many people are failing to not spoil...

First off, I don’t think Wash dying is going to stick, UNLESS Shannon is as tired of voicing Wash as he sounds.  And even then, he was shot in the throat, so there’s a great excuse to change voice actors.

Wash dying like that isn’t shock value, it isn’t to destroy us.  It’s to make Tucker face the consequences of not letting go.  

-Letting go of his self-absorption. If he hadn’t fallen for Temple’s sweet talk, if he had listened to Wash at the beach, they wouldn’t have been in a position to be captured. 

-Letting go of his over-confidence. If he had listened to Wash’s warnings to be careful, if he had listened to his own instincts, they wouldn’t have been blindsided.

Tucker was already projecting about the other two, with the unreasoning rage at Sarge’s siding with the Blues and Reds, and got shot down.  Which leads to, and back to, the third one, 

-Letting go of Church.  If he had actually listened to Grif and Wash, and just thought for a second, he wouldn’t have been in such a rush to go and save him. If he had accepted Church’s death, and the rage of a betrayal he should have seen coming, he wouldn’t be responsible for another best friend’s death. 

That being said, I have a feeling he’s going to be saved by the machine Loco built.  

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RvB 15.12

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Red vs Blue S15 E12 Thoughts

FIRST MEMBER SPOILERS BELOW

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Rvb 15, episode 12

It shocks me how, as jaded as we are as a fandom, how many people simply decided Temple is telling the full, unvarnished truth on this.  And how many people decided to take it that it means Temple was never a Freelancer at all.

TEMPLE ISN’T AN HONEST PERSON! IN FACT, HE’S A PSYCHOPATHIC SADIST! I mean, look at the fact that he has Loco making the universe’s biggest bomb, which he told Tucker was a cloaking device.  And he also told Tucker that he was helping with troop movement, before sitting him down in front of a video game.  Oh, and let's not forget he lied about the UNSC killing Freelancers.  

I’m not saying he’s not threading some truth into his story.  That’s how he got Tucker doubting Dylan in the first place.  He and Biff could have been childhood friends, and could have enlisted together.  And could even have been on the other sides of the Sand Gulch Wars.  

But twist it just a bit.  He said Freelancer didn’t respect the buddy program.  We know what kind of lengths Freelancer goes to to get the recruits it wants.  They practically blackmailed Wash into the program.  They could have separated Temple and Biff to drag one into the program, and then picked up the other when they set up Sand Gulch.  

Another theory could be they were both Freelancers, and because of their lack of drive, they were put in Sand Gulch, and Biff was killed during that due to some kind of armor lock.  

Or maybe the answer lies in the name of Biff’s ‘girlfriend.’ Georgina.  What ever happened to her, anyway?  Maybe we don’t want to know.  (Note, I also thought I heard Regina for a name.  If so, I’ll delete this part later.)

Anyway, what I’m getting at is that Temple has told the Reds and Blues exactly what they want to hear, in order to manipulate them to his side.  This story has the potential to not only do that, but attempt to put Carolina into the villain spot. 

I feel like it’s way too early to say it's the truth.  And there are way too many holes at this point to say he’s not a Freelancer.

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Some thoughts on Carolina and regrets, in RvB 15.10

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Ep10, season 15, that one scene

You know, the one everyone is talking about and giffing to the max? The one that happens before the other one? May I offer another interpretation?

First off, grats to everyone who shipped Carwash romantically.  Not my cup of tea, but you definitely have a scene to point to when you want to offer proof.  But if I can offer a more symbolic reading of the scene?  I’ll make it quick.

Carolina says the only thing she has left of Freelancer is the the lighter and her armor as she’s about to throw it away.  But by stopping her, by taking her hand, Wash is pointing out she does have something else: him, Agent Washington, friend, companion, and team protector. He’s handing her what he says: Not everything from the past has to be thrown away to be relevant to the future.  That whatever she gained from York didn’t have to be discarded, that it could become part of her future as well.  

And then Wash has to shove his armored boot down his throat, because touchy-feely can’t continue in RvB.  

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season 15, episode 10

So, that happened.... 

WTF.  Hargrove’s trophy room looks almost tame now, doesn’t it.  Joe can go into the glorious bastard category of RvB writers now.

Initially, I posted I think the fifth person in the picture, the person who is Temple, was Utah. @talyorculosis pointed out it was Wyoming, who I subconsciously rejected because of the idea that he wouldn’t drink beer out of a can, for some reason.

I’ve seen people kind of throw out this idea, but with more of ‘it’s a feeling’ kinda vibe.  It wasn’t until I saw a screencap of the trophy room on the RT sponsors forum that I started scouring the episode for clues.  And they are all there.  

First and foremost is the picture in the hut.  Five people, York and Carolina, who are just there to drink, probably, North and Wyoming (snipers).  And Illinois, who, according to Wash, is a “demolitions expert and crack shot with a rifle-” Like, a sniper rifle?

And, as @talyorculosis also pointed out, the demolitions thing matches up very nicely with the bomb in the beginning.

And, if you listen carefully, Carolina doesn’t say she heard it from York.  She says “... I heard all about it from them.”  She was there, at the bar with York, listening to Illinois talk about his future.  That’s why Temple was worried about her remembering his voice.

Finally, and I wish I had one, if you look at a screenshot of the entire trophy room, all the Freelancer armors are in a nice circle around the room, and most are frozen either in the middle of a fight, or at battle alert.  Most.  Illinois is near the middle of the room, poised to give you a rum.  Sing it: One of these things is not like the others...”

So yes, I’m jumping on the Illinois theory.  My thoughts on motive is simple: Carolina ruined his happily ever after.  Whether its that he had a crush on York and Carolina got between them, or the fact that all the drinking buddies he envisioned sharing that barful of spiced rum are dead, and Carolina is the Director’s daughter, but she is the last one he can take revenge on.  

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About frickin time!

I don’t think anything on earth could possibly prepare me for this

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Advice needed

I suffer from the writer’s condition of inspiration spikes.  I have a story that is an unposted WIP, and I think the parts that are finished are very good.  I’ve got time to write right now, but I’m trying to get my other two posted WIPs finished before life happens, so starting any new stories before that is out of the question. I’d like to post the unposted WIP, but it does contain spoilers about at least two stories in the same fanfic AU I’m writing, that I haven’t written, and may never write.

Should I post a story that may spoil another story I may or may not write? 

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More Than They Thought

New Chapter 2/? (6 total)  Working it Out

Dexter Grif / Agent Carolina

The day after the battle for Armonia and the comm tower, Grif is so done with it all. Too bad Carolina finished before him.  

This is my Grifalina WIP on AoO3.  

Dexter Grif didn’t need this shit.

The raid on the comm tower had gone far better than expected. Felix and Locus had been exposed. All of them were alive, even if Wash and Tucker were still out of action for the moment. And the people of Chorus were actually talking to each other, if you could call what they we doing ‘talking.’

He had never heard more insults thrown at two people’s faces, and that’s saying something with the company he kept. And while it wasn’t like anyone thought the Feds and New Republic were going to be best friends right away, Kimball and this Doyle character seemed ready to set aside the cease fire at a moment’s notice.

Carolina had tried to play mediator. It had made total sense to Grif and the others. She was the one that uncovered the Mercs, and didn’t have any strong ties to either side.

Apparently, one of the very few things Kimball and Doyle could agree to was that anyone that wasn’t somehow attached to either force wasn’t to be trusted. Or listened to, or even acknowledged. Less than an hour with them, and Carolina had stormed out of the conference room, leaving the Reds to try to calm things down.

That was eight hours ago. Grif was exhausted, frustrated, and just done with the day. And since Tucker wasn’t going to be allowed to participate in fixing this mess, he was going to get stuck doing it again tomorrow.

The only good news he had gotten was when he had checked on the Blues. Nobody was going to die. And Tucker was already awake, so that was good. All these losers were going to be fine.

But no one had seen Carolina since she had stormed out. She hadn’t even visited Tucker and Church or Wash. Grif was going to be pissed if she had decided to go lone wolf again, especially as hard as he and Sarge had been fighting to get the generals to at least listen to her. Grif flopped down on his cot, his thoughts cut short as he passed out almost immediately.

That night saw the return of the nightmares of dead company members and glass-covered landscapes. Except this time, they wore familiar brightly colored armor, and the glass was flowing down cavern walls, trapping them all in. He woke with an obnoxiously loud snort, followed instantly by hitting the floor ass first. It took a few moments of gripping the cot he had been sleeping in, his breaths coming loud and hard as his throat opened up, to realize that he wasn’t the only living being in the barracks, let alone the planet. That the aliens on this planet were long gone, leaving the world thriving. Counted backwards from five in his head, even as the grumbles about him being too loud registered. He pulled himself up, and cursed the fact that the fan in his helmet had seemed to go out again, and stumbled out into the night air.

His steps became more sure as he got farther into the cavern that housed the main New Republic base. Nights like this, he needed to burn off the adrenaline, the need to run that his dreams left lingering in his body. Needed to move until he couldn’t stand anymore. Hopefully, the training room was empty. It usually was, but he wasn’t the only person here that occasionally needed a midnight burn session. The machines here weren’t meant to be used with armor on, which is why so very few people actually used it. The people of Chorus were even more used to being in armor twenty-four seven than their group was, to the point where they felt psychotically vulnerable without it. So anyone using it had to be really shaken up.

The lights were, in fact, on when he got there, even though there was an ‘out of order’ sign on the door. The sounds of soft grunts and the clank of weights came from inside as the door slid open. “Shit,” he mumbled to himself, turning to go walk the perimeter, when he heard a familiar voice.

“Goddamnit,” she said, voice strained in a way he hadn’t heard before. There was a loud clank, the weights slamming to rest, and then a rattling a second later, a body hitting a weight rack. Grif cursed, and turned back around to check on their wayward Freelancer.

“So this is where you’ve been hiding out,” he stated nonchalantly as he walked in, sipping from a half-filled water bottle he spotted on the floor by the door. Carolina was hunched slightly, shoulder against the machine, facing the door. She was still in her undersuit, boots and gauntlets, and her body seemed to sag back from his voice. Sweat was running down her face, her hair dark and plastered to her forehead and neck. Her expression was one of pain and exhaustion.

The glare she was giving him from below her bangs was pure anger, pride, and defiance. The adrenaline kicked back up, and Grif actually stepped back, flight right back in control. Almost. That thing that made him defy Sarge time and again reacted to the ‘get the fuck out’ in her eyes, goading him far enough into the room for the doors to slide back into place. “Honestly, I thought you were back out in the jungle. It’d be easier than trying to deal with this mess.”

He leaned up against a resistance machine he knew from experience could handle his fully armored weight. Her amazing eyes tracked him, her head turned, but otherwise she didn’t move. He held out the water bottle. Her eyes darted from his helmet to the bottle and back again, several times, wariness joining the other three emotions. After several seconds, he let out an exaggerated sigh, and slightly pulled his hand back. She snatched it, the movement throwing her off-balance even with the support. Her face was all surprise now as she stumbled, a soft noise escaping as she grabbed the machine she was leaning on. Grif remained where he was as she slowly gathered herself. “You going to call someone?” she asked after she took a drink.

“Now why,“ Grif asked, as he felt the his knees beginning to give, “would I do that?“ He let himself slide down so he was sitting with his knees bent, his hands at his side, looking up at her as the slight shaking began as the adrenaline began wearing down. Carolina nodded, and slowly lowered herself down so she was sitting on the floor across from him, her knees also up, her forearms resting on them so her hands dangled in front of her face. Her chin almost rested on her chest, lifted just enough to keep him in sight. Grif let his head fall back, unable to do anything until the aftereffects of the panic attack he had hoped to work off left.

Grif didn’t know how long they stayed that way, or if he had nodded off. He looked at her a couple of times. The second time, her head had fully dropped down to chest, and her breathing had evened out. He knew damn well how sore her neck was going to be, but there was no way he was going to wake her up. He shifted slowly, first onto his knee, then starting to stand.

“How are they?” Carolina asked softly, her head never raising. Grif groaned as he sunk back onto the floor.

“Doyle and Kimball? They’re in shock, and being stubborn,” he said. “Kimball is trying to get him to open up a part of Armonia for her people for the time being, but he pointed out they were able to do fine from the bases they had and-”

“I meant,” she cut him off, raising her eyes, “Tucker and Wash.”

“Oh,” Grif said. “Tucker’s awake, and getting restless. Giving the medics hell keeping him in bed.”

“Good,” Carolina said, a small smile playing over her lips before fading. “And Wash?”

“Still out,” Grif said seriously. ��The Fed doctor said the bruising around his implant wasn’t from a direct hit, and that there wasn’t anything actually broken but a few ribs, but she’s not taking chances. Someone’s sitting with him all the time.”

Carolina nodded, and there was a little relief in the breath she blew out. “Good.” They fell silent again, until a very audible gurgle came from Grif’s midsection. Carolina’s eyebrow raised, and she couldn’t hid the little smile at his shrug.

“Well, that’s my cue to get to the mess hall,” he said as he stood. He looked down at her for a second. “You coming?”

“In a moment,” she said, waving off the hand he offered. Grif managed to suppress his head shake until the door had slid shut behind him. At breakfast, nobody mentioned he took more than his normal oversized portions of the food that wouldn’t make a mess.

And if that fruit and nut bar and dried meat had managed to make it into that training room, well, nobody mentioned that, either. Especially not Carolina.

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Reblog if you would date a bi person

I need to prove something to myself