#RVB15Spoilers

[whimsical-writer]

RVB 15.13

Everyone please look at this beautiful Carolina screenshot I got when the episode first came out last week.

This is now my desktop background.

[lachrymosestories]

season 15 of red vs blue in a nutshell

[hezart]

... Wait, you mean this isn’t how this scene went?

And Heza continues to get away with fudging Halo Armour. Hurrah.

[cutthroat-cutiepie]

i mean i wanted more Freelancer story but not like that 

[nerdynygma]

Just watched episode 8 of RVB15 and things are getting weird.

Meeting the other reds and blues was cool but I don’t trust them. I think something is going on. Something doesn’t feel right about them or the situation. Will be interesting to see where it goes from here though.

I really liked Tucker taking charge but I’m still wondering where Wash and Carolina went. Maybe the group separated and the two went off to find the Freelancer alumi they were talking about.

Either way I’m definitely interested to see where this season is going.

[such-heroic-nonsense]

RVB 15 Spoiler Tags

Hey everyone! I’m not a first member but I do have an RT account, and I will probably be posting/reblogging spoilers for the episodes.

So if you aren’t going to see the episodes until a week after they air, and you want to avoid spoilers, I’ll be tagging my posts with #rvb15, and #rvb15spoilers so feel free to blacklist!

[whimsical-writer]

hi yes this is a call out post for Joe Nicolosi, the current lead writer for Red vs Blue because WHAT THE FUCK. WHAT. THE. FUCK. WHY. OH MY GOD.

[whimsical-writer]

RVB 15.16

uM WOW SO I HAVE THINGS TO SAY BECAUSE OW MY HEART

Sarge working for the Blues and Reds is just so upsetting but he’s so desperate for that military structure. 

But can we talk about how disgruntled and upset he is that Simmons has joined yet? He wants his team with him. I’ve no doubt that, in the end, Sarge is going to choose his family over the Blues and Reds and a silly promotion. 

Sarge instantly recognizing Grif’s walk. SARGE KNOWING GRIF JUST BY HOW HE MOVES.

also on my second rewatch I noticed that the music playing is louder when the camera is directly on Grif, rather than when they’re watching Grif through the monitor. 

But he’s also singing his own music as he “sneaks” around, and references Metal Gear.

Conclusion: Grif is a dork.

TUCKER’S “Fuck you” TO TEMPLE. TUCKER’S SO MAD. 

Also FUCK Temple’s “We’re all adults here! ... Agewise, at least...”. Like HE LOOKS AT LOCO. FUCK U TEMPLE YOU ASSHAT.

And geez all the taunting he’s doing. Simmons has hope for a rescue and Temple just crushes it.

“GRIF!” “SIMMONS” -EYES EMOJI-

GRIF IMMEDIATELY APOLOGIZING TO EVERYONE. “Everyone, Simmons, I’m sorry I left like that.” LIKE OH MY GOD.

HE THINKS HE’S A BAD FRIEND. GRIF IT’S OKAY, YOU’RE OKAY.

Tucker’s quiet little “stop it” as Temple laughs at Caboose thinking Church is still out there. ;;

I think Tucker worked out that Church’s message was fake a while ago now. AND HE’S TRYING TO PROTECT CABOOSE FROM THAT KNOWLEDGE BECAUSE HE KNOWS IT WILL CRUSH HIM.

Temple. Playing the full message. No music playing, just Church calling for a plumber.

Again, kudos to the machinima team for putting so much emotion into freaking head turns! Simmons and Grif turning to look at each other, Donut just staring at the speaker, Tucker going from looking up to staring dead ahead.

AND THE FUCKING SLOW ZOOM IN ON CABOOSE’S FACE. JUST URG.

TUCKER STARING AT TEMPLE. YOU FUCKING KNOW HE’S SEETHING WITH RAGE AND GRITTING HIS TEETH AND WANTING NOTHING MORE THAN TO FUCKING DECK TEMPLE.

And CABOOSE. STILL. TRYING. TO. HOPE. THAT. CHURCH. IS. OUT. THERE. 

Guys Caboose is my favourite and just and just and just he’s so important to me and the way Temple is treating him...!

GRIF TELLING TEMPLE TO LAY OFF. GRIF BEING PROTECTIVE OF CABOOSE. JUST FUCK ME UP

Okay so like, YES, the Reds and Blues need to treat Caboose as an adult with agency, rather than how they have.

bUT NOT LIKE THAT. FUCK YOU TEMPLE. YOU ASSHOLE.

Tucker is SO FUCKING MAD guys. Like imagine if this had been an animated sequence. He probably would have slammed his hands against the cell bars. 

Uh oh I want to animate that now

Loco sounding terribly guilty about tricking Caboose. ;; Out of all the Blues and Reds, he’s so far been my favourite? I hope he switches sides oh god please. Loco and Caboose have so much in common and could probably help each other so much.

Fuck you Bucky. That’s now how you use that.

TEMPLE LYING THROUGH HIS TEETH TO SARGE. UUUURG. Sarge please your team needs you. ;;

GOD JOEL’S VOICE ACTING WHEN CABOOSE IS UPSET AT NOT BEING ABLE TO SAY GOODBYE.

GUYS THIS MADE ME CRY. LIKE THIS ISN’T INTERNET EXAGGERATION. I CRIED. CABOOSE IS CRUSHED. TUCKER IS TRYING TO COMFORT HIM AND GENTLY EXPLAIN THAT YES, CHURCH IS GONE AND PROMISING TO MAKE THEM PAY. HE’S SO THERE FOR CABOOSE. THESE TWO WENT FROM HATING EACH OTHER TO TUCKER BEING PROTECTIVE AS FUCK OF CABOOSE. HE WILL NOT LET ANYTHING HAPPEN TO HIM IF HE CAN HELP IT. AAAAAH.

ALSO LIKE

AS SOMEONE WHO DIDN’T WANT CHURCH TO COME BACK BECAUSE IT WOULD CHEAPEN THE ENDING TO SEASON 13

FUCK!!!!!!

I’M SO UPSET.

HE ‘S GONE.

FOREVER.

FOR REAL.

GONE.

DEAD.

Tucker’s anger at Grif though. He’s seeing what he thinks was their only hope fuck up big time. He’s upset and angry and lashing out. Tucker being e m o t i o n a l. ;;

“Uh a pretty fucking sweet diversion” YOU’RE GOD DAMN RIGHT IT WAS. YOU FUCKING NAILED IT GRIF. YOU HELPED YOUR FRIENDS!!

WASH AND CAROLINA. THERE THEY ARE! IT’S BEEN SO LONG! 

THEIR VOICE. THEY SOUND SO TIRED. A+ VOICE ACTING JESUS FUCKING CHRIST.

ALSO WASH AND CAROLINA DOING THE TORTURE TALK. TRYING TO KEEP EACH OTHER AWAKE AND SANE. JUST FUCK ME UP WHY DON’T YOU.

W a s h  s o f t l y  e x h a l i n g  a s  h e  s t a r t s  f a l l i n g  a s l e e p

“Well, I’m hallucinating again” HE’S BEEN HALLUCINATING. HOW LONG HAVE THEY BEEN DOWN THERE? HE’S SO NONCHALANT ABOUT IT. HOW MANY TIMES HAS HE HALLUCINATED? WHAT HAS HE HALLUCINATED? SHIT CAROLINA’S PROBABLY HALLUCINATED TOO.

ALSO LOCUS. YOU ACT SO COOL. BUT YOU’RE KIND OF A DORK. COMING OUT OF CAMO RIGHT THEN TO BE ALL DRAMATIC. 

Locus, sweetie, you’re a deadly motherfucker who did try to kill these guys before. I think until you make new friends, everyone is going to assume you’re there to kill them.

IN CONCLUSION:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

[whimsical-writer]

I had a fic idea last night and when I woke up about an hour and a half ago unable to sleep I decided to write it.

Spoilers for RVB 15.16 under the cut! The episode will be open to the public in a few hours. 

When the smell hit him, the memory flash it conjured was so strong that his footing faltered and he was brought to a halt. He saw bodies all around him, many human, many alien. They don’t know when they’re going to get off this hell hole of a planet. The bodies were left to bake in the sun and the smell of rot and decay was enough to make anyone choke and throw up. Alien, human, it didn’t matter, the smell was the same. His helmet did little to filter it out, but he still refused to remove it as the smell was so much worse without it, and his stomach was already churning at the site of particularly mangled body with flies buzzing around it. Why hadn’t they been picked up yet? The Covenant had already left this planet, the fighting had stopped, yet still his squad and others were still down here, still forced to sit among the rot and the decay and the smell and Felix had already taunted him for being sick despite throwing up twice himself and why were they still here-

‘Stop it’ Locus forced open his eyes, the sites of the battlefield fading, his chest loosening as he remembered to breathe. He was in a lower level of an underwater base, standing just before the doorway of a circular room, not back in the Great War. He steadied his feet, took a breath, and walked in.

The sight of a clean room with clean power armour on display so sharply contrasted the smell that for a moment Locus wondered if he was still disassociating in some way. But no, there, there was Agents Washington and Carolina’s armour! So where were the Agents themselves? Locus hadn’t seen them in the cells on the security feed…

“Wash- Wash?!”

Agent Carolina. The armour wasn’t on display, she was still inside it. Which meant Wash was too. They looked ready to fight, but were unable to move?

‘Armour lock.’  Locus realized. Then he glanced at the other suits of power armour, all in similar poses of attack. In that moment, he realized what the smell was.

On some level, he realized he had no right to be horrified. He committed many atrocious acts, killed so many just by his own hands let alone the thousands more he killed via orders. This was a room with a dozen or so people, a minuscule fraction of the number of people he had killed. He had seen death before. He had no right to be horrified.

That didn’t stop the ringing in his ears as his heart gave a rather painful thud. Even at his worst, Locus had never liked dragging out someone’s death- not that that redeemed him in anyway- and had constantly argued with Felix over the correct way to deal with enemies. The idea of be stuck in your armour, the very thing that was supposed to keep you safe and alive, chilled his entire being right to the core. He could only imagine the panic, the fear, and the hopelessness of those within as they slowly died of dehydration. He wondered which of the captors was sick enough to come up with-

“Just… a little rest…” The voice of Agent Washington snapped him from his thoughts once more and reminded him of what he was here to do, and who he was.

“You don’t get to rest Agent Washington. Not yet,” he said as he stepped forward and dropped his camo, revealing himself to trapped Freelancers.

He was Locus, a mercenary set out to fix the wrongs he had committed before he would submit himself to his fate.

He was Samuel Ortez, the man who had no right to be horrified or offended by the atrocities committed by others.

[whimsical-writer]

RVB 15 Episode 10

SPOILERS ABOUND BENEATH THE CUT

KAY SO

CREEPY LOCKDOWN ARMOUR ROOM. FUCKING AWFUL. EVERYONE’S AT RISK FOR LOCKDOWN

Except not.

Because

A certain Blue doesn’t handle change very well

And didn’t upgrade his armour

and still wears his old helmet.

Back in season 6, Church comments how Caboose is still wearing Mark V armour, while he and the others have the newest model. Then, in season 8, during the fight with Tex in the off-site storage facility, FILSS locks down everyone’s armour to stop the fight and, because Caboose had the old armour, he was unaffected. 

Now in season 11, we see Caboose in a new helmet, but Wash remakes his old helmet. If Caboose has the new armour plus his old helmet, he could still be susceptible to armour lock. 

But it would be a GREAT way to bring back a fun little bit of obscure lore. 

[whimsical-writer]

RVB 15.13 Episode Spoilers

Well it looks this episode takes place between season 9 and 10

in fact I’d say it takes place at precisely 

9 3/4

;D

[whimsical-writer]

Seperation

RVB Angst War entry!

RVB15 Episode 10 spoilers beneath the cut. 

Tags: Possible / potential character death. It’s open ended.

Prompt: after locking Wash and Carolina in their armor, Temple plays on Caboose's abandonment issues, telling him they left him without saying goodbye. By @anneapocalypse Thanks Anne! Hope you enjoy this. :’D

“Gone?” Tucker pulled back from Temple, throwing a hand angrily in the air. “What the hell do you mean they’re gone!”

“I mean exactly that, Tucker,” Temple said, putting his hands up in both sympathetic gesture and a defensive one. “After I finished showing them around, they said they were going to warn any freelancers they can find before the UNSC, well, murders them.”

“Without saying goodbye?! This is fucking bullshit!” Tucker was practically steaming and for a moment it appeared as if he was going to kick something in frustration but the only things around him were Simmons, Caboose, Sarge, Donut, and Temple. Instead, Tucker clenched his fist and there was the audible sound of him gritting his teeth over the radio.

“Are you really that surprised?” Simmons scoffed, “this isn’t exactly the first time they’ve suddenly upped and left on “freelancer business”. I swear, sometimes I think we’re just a replacement team for those two.”

Beside Simmons, Sarge was nodding in agreement while grumbling angrily. “Those two might pretend to be our so called leaders, but it’s time to face the facts! It’s always going to be Red vs Blue vs Freelancers!”

“But Wash has been the leader of Blue team for years now Sarge!” Donut pointed out, “and Carolina was really starting to take with Grif. She even joined the guys’ band!” He didn’t say anything when Simmons flinched at Grif’s name, though he did give Simmons a little hip bump in response… to which Simmons grossly overreacted to as he stumbled away and almost fell.

“Exactly,” Sarge turned away from Tucker, Temple, and Caboose to face him, jabbing a finger into Donut’s chest. “Who knows how long Wash has been leading Blue team astray, while simultaneously landing harsh blows upon Red team! And Carolina, with her red hair, blue armour, and alluring voice, why, she could flitter between Red and Blue without any of us suspecting a thing!”

Simmons stood up straight next to Sarge. “Alluring voice? Sarge, you don’t have to pretend Carolina’s good at singing anymore; like Temple said, she’s not here.”

A beat. “What do you mean by that?” Sarge asked, “Carolina, for all her conniving, Freelancer schemes, has a wonderful singing voice!”

Tucker snorted, shaking his head. “Okay, I’ve known you’re bat-shit crazy for years, but this just fucking proves it. Wash and Carolina, despite being assholes who leave without fucking saying goodbye, are not in on another Freelancer plot. They’re our teammates. Also, Carolina can’t sing. For shit.”  He let out a heavy sigh, aggression leaving his body as his shoulders slumped, turning away and gesturing for Caboose to follow. “Come on Caboose.”

Caboose, who had been silently taking this in the entire time, shook his head. “Yeah, I don’t think that sounds very much like Agent Washington and Agent Carolina though,” Caboose said slowly. “See, I know Wash and Carolina, because they are my friends. And because they are my friends, I had been waiting by the door for them, the one Temple took them through that leads to the stairs, so I could talk to them and give them a hug because I have not done so yet since they got here.” He shuffled a little on the spot as everyone turned to face him. “Except, Wash and Carolina did not come back out with Temple.” He suddenly gasped and looked up at Temple, now practically vibrating. “Oh! Are they playing hide and go seek down there?! I am SO GOOD AT THAT GAME! Oh oh I am going to go find them and they are going to be proud of me and then we are going to rescue Church and stop the mean people from hurting him and other Freelancers!” He practically leaped as he began to bound towards the door he had last seen Wash and Carolina at.

He got one step before Tucker’s arm, quick as a flash, snapped out and caught him. “Caboose, calm down,” he grunted slightly, just managing to pull Caboose back towards him. “They’re not here, alright? They probably left through a back door or something.”

Caboose stopped pulling to get away, mostly, looking back towards him. “But Tucker…” he swallowed, his voice now sounding thick with tears, “they didn’t say goodbye…! Why doesn’t anyone say goodbye anymore? Even Church didn’t-”

He cut off when Tucker squeezed down on his arm. If it was from bringing up Church, the idea of Wash just leaving, or both, Caboose couldn’t tell. “Look Buddy,” Tucker said stiffly, like he was trying very hard to restrain his emotions, “they’ll be back. Whenever they’re done being badass heroes.” Caboose stopped pulling and Tucker let his arm go. “Alright?”

“… Okay…” Caboose said solemnly, looking towards the doorway to the stairs before hanging is head.

Tucker gave him a reluctant pat on the arm. “Come on let’s go.” He turned to leave, as Red team separated themselves from the Blues, bickering among themselves.

A lot of people think Caboose was very stupid or slow, but the fact of the matter was it’s a lot more complicated than that. Sometimes when Caboose saw something or heard something or tried to speak, things got a little jumbled on the way from his head. If he had enough time to think back on something, Caboose could figure something out or understand it.

Like right now, if Caboose thought back on it, he would have realized that that wasn’t Tucker grinding his teeth over the radio.

“Actually, Caboose, can I talk to you privately about something?” Temple took a few steps after them, his voice friendly.

Caboose side eyed him and stepped closer towards Tucker. “I do not want not-Church looking at my privates. Also, Andersmith is a police officer now, not a private. And before THAT he was a lieutenant!”

Tucker groaned and made a show of rolling his helmet. “He means he wants to talk to you alone Caboose Jesus.” He pushed Caboose towards Temple, ignoring the way Caboose made a funny sound in the back of his throat. “Look, just go talk to him, alright? He’s like Church. Just, you know, nicer.”

Caboose narrowed his eyes at Temple. “… That sounds fake but okay…”

As Tucker left, Temple strode right up to Caboose, spreading his hands out. “Caboose,” he put a hand on Caboose’s back and guided him even further away from the others, “I didn’t think the others should hear this… I’m not sure they’d be able to handle it like you can.”

Caboose continued to side eye Temple, playing with the fingers on his left hand with his right. “Ah… But the others are very good? Simmons is very smart. Donut knows so many things holes and dark spaces, he’s told me all about them, he’s just the best. Sarge is a good leader. And I guuueeeess even Tucker’s good. At some stuff.”

“Well that’s just the thing Caboose,” Temple’s hand moved to his shoulder and squeezed down,  “I’m really sure this would upset them, and I need them preforming at peek performance in the coming days. We wouldn’t want them to, ah, lockdown on us, would we?” He patted Caboose’s shoulder, a little too hard.

“No… No I do not want to lock them up,” Caboose agreed slowly. He really didn’t like being around Temple. The other Blues and Reds were alright. Loco confused him, Bucky seemed to never be around that much, Surge was always with Sarge, and to be honest he couldn’t tell the difference between Simmons and Gene.

But Temple? Something seemed wrong about Temple. To Caboose, Temple felt like a circus mirror image of Church. He should be right, but something’s wrong, all twisted and warped.

He reminded Caboose of Felix.

Temple clapped his back again and stopped walking. They were in a room Caboose hadn’t seen before, somewhere towards the back of base. “Right right you understand. It wouldn’t do to worry them. But someone needs to know, and well, Caboose, I believe that you should hear this.” He pulled away from Caboose, but placed both hands on his shoulders. “They’re not coming back.”

Caboose blinked once. Twice. “Who’s not coming back? Tucker and the others?”

There was a twitch to Temple’s fingers, barely noticeable through the armour and kevlar. “I- no, no I mean. Agent Washington and Carolina. They’re not coming back, Caboose.”

“… What?”

Temple dropped a hand with a heavy sigh. “I’m so sorry Caboose. I know this is hard to hear- and for you, probably to understand. But Wash and Carolina well… They’re tired of you guys.”

Caboose tried to make a scoffing sound, but it got stuck in his throat. “Well- well why didn’t they just take a nap?!” he suddenly pulled back from Temple, causing him to stumble as he lost his hold on Caboose. “I know Agent Washington has a hard time sleeping, but he could just ask me to read him a bedtime story or sing him a lullaby! And if Carolina is having a hard time sleeping, we can just wrestle before bed! That always make me and her very tired and sleepy.”

Temple stared him for a moment before waking back over, “Caboose-“ he stuttered over the name, “listen, buddy, I know this hard-“

“No.” Caboose said sternly, pulling back from Temple’s hand again. Only Church and Agent Washington got to call him Buddy. And Tucker. Sometimes.

Temple managed to catch him, his hands clamping down on Caboose’s shoulders and holding him in place. “Caboose. You need to understand. They’re not coming back.”

Caboose stumbled.

Mikey, please understand…

Dad’s not coming back.

You need to understand, Caboose.

They left. Carolina and Epsilon. They’re not coming back.

I don’t understand it either, Caboose.

He’s dead. Church isn’t coming back.

Caboose stopped trying to pull away, his throat, and the walls around him, starting to close in. He felt very small, so small, smaller than a pebble you might kick down a sidewalk when you were feeling upset and angry with no one to blame. “I… But Wash and Carolina… They’re our friends… They’re my friends…!”

Oh Mikey don’t cry. It’s okay. We’re here for you, we all are.

C-Caboose, listen, it’ll be okay. You’ve got Tucker and me, alright?

Shit… Come here Buddy. Just don’t squeeze too hard and damage the goods, alright?

“Well, apparently they didn’t feel the same way.” Temple’s voice wasn’t warm, or strained with tears, or some weird mix of both. It sounded like when people where upset at Caboose when he couldn’t handle the loud sounds anymore, or when he made a mistake and blew up a wall, or a person. It was the sound of someone who was annoyed at Caboose, who thought he was stupid, an idiot, no good. “You guys were just holding them back. Their words, not mine.”

“But, on the moon..! We were all getting along so well- we- we built a water park!” Caboose shook his head, grasping at the good memories in his head. He remembered all the times he managed to make Wash laugh, one time so hard his drink came out his nose, all the times he managed to convince Carolina to jump in the pool with them, telling she was just like Ariel with her hair. All the times Wash helped calm him down when his chest was tight and he couldn’t think or hear, all the times Carolina helped him get the energy OUT of his head and body by wrestling, seeing who could pin who the most.

“That’s exactly it buddy,” Temple patted his shoulder again. “You really think a couple of badasses like them want to retire with- well. With people like you?”

Caboose’s mouth felt dry. No, no, Temple had be wrong. They were friends, of course they were! Caboose remembered! He remembered having fun and and and-

He remembered Wash yelling at him when Caboose tried to make juice come out his nose again by suddenly ticking Wash’s sides, or when Caboose woke him in the middle of the night by being too loud. He remembered Carolina being so happy when the water park was burned down, and the way she’d sigh angrily when Caboose didn’t understand why she was asking him to do. He remembered annoying and bothering them. But weren’t friends supposed to work past that? He was still friends with Tucker, despite everything Tucker did.

He had been best friends with Church despite everything that he had done to him.

Caboose swallowed past a big lump in his throat. “Why… Why didn’t they just talk to us? Why did they want to stop being my friends?”

Temple pulled back, shrugging. “Who’s to say? Maybe they just have more important things to do than fix a broken friendship. I’d say you have a long time to think about it but… Realistically speaking you have about a week.”

Caboose blinked. Temple was holding up a toy phone. “Why a week?” he sniffled.

Temple pushed the button.

[whimsical-writer]

Some thoughts on Today’s RVB First episode

Spoilers below cut!

... Alright so this is the first episode to leave a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. :c

Don’t get me wrong, MOST of the episode I FREAKING LOVED. Simmons trying to banter with Grif still bROKE MY HEART INTO TINY LITTLE PIECES. And he kept TALKING about Grif. I’m still crossing my fingers for it to be a love thing, but heck, even just focusing on the Grimmons friendship is really important thank you so much Joe.

And Caboose’s talk with Simmons. Oh my god Caboose. Caboose cares about people. The way he talks about how “maybe no one cared about these people”...! Caboose, baby, you’re just so good and you’re my favourite and I love you so much. He’s going to be so upset if this turns out to be a trap, like I think it is. 

Caboose going to Simmons to I think is really important. Because, like Caboose, Simmons is missing his best friend. Caboose going to Simmons was a deliberate choice, both by the writers AND by Caboose himself. Because Caboose understands what Simmons is going through. 

And TUCKER BEING READY TO FUCKING KICKASS at the idea of Unicorn Peep, AKA Spencer Porkinsenson, hurting his friends. And, despite his words at the beginning of the episode, he refers to them as friends. He cares about Sarge and Simmons as much as he complains about them. He’s a badass who cares.

Spencer turning out to NOT be some evil hecking villain is also amazing, and really funny. Subverted tropes are great.

AND THE FAKES. THIS IS TOTALLY A FUCKING TRAP, they TOTALLY sent the Church message! I like the codenames(?) so far. Search (Or Serge, or Surch based on Sarge + Church :’D) and Temple. Temple sounds really cool, as in wow that voice -fans self-, and I get the feeling, should he be our main villain, I’m going to like him a lot.

That... being said.

A fandom trend that I adore is Tucker being a Good Dad to Junior. At least as much as he can be being thrown across the galaxy at a moment’s notice. And there is canon evidence for this, despite his initial words in the BGC about the ideal father-son relationship being where he pays child-support and sees Junior every other weekend and on holidays or whatever. Like, he’s legit upset at the idea of Junior being used by Wyoming and Omega. He leaves the Canyon to search for a way to get Junior back after the ship explodes. He and Junior were freaking ambassadors for the Human and Covenant races! He gets defensive when Wash says “didn’t you give birth to an alien baby” “Hey, let’s not bring family into this”, and gets so proud when he brings up Junior with Doyle, “Fuck YEAH Junior is AWESOME! Here he is on his fifth grade basketball team!”. He carries a HECKING PICTURE OF JUNIOR AROUND WITH HIM. HE LOVES HIS SON.

But when Spencer drops the files and is all “child support”, the first words out of Tucker’s mouth are “Uh, no dude, Junior has a basketball scholarship.”.

Which... Kind of implies Tucker hasn’t been supporting Junior so much as letting Junior fend for himself, considering Junior doesn’t exactly have any other parental figures. I mean, it’s hard to gage how old Junior is supposed to be, Scholarship implying college age, and it’s been 9-10 years since Junior was born in real world time, but still, someone just at the start of college would be 17-18 years old. That’s still a kid. Someone that age still needs parental support, not just in money, but in emotional shit too.

And I dunno, if the comment had been “What, why does Junior need child support, is he okay?” it would have sat a lot better with me? Because all evidence before points toward Tucker caring about Junior a LOT.

Not to mention, his reaction to finding out he’s got a ton of new kids to support. I GET it was supposed to be a joke, but Tucker’s reaction, again, just left a bad taste in my mouth. A simple “Aaaaaaaaah shiiiit damn”, rather than this over the top NOOOOOOOO.

I can’t really put it into words why this sits so badly with me. I didn’t find it so much as funny as uncomfortable. A lot of it I think comes from my feelings / wants of Tucker having _matured_ past this “lol getting ladies pregnant and not sticking around” crap, because... Well it’s not cool really. Noooooot to mention the fact Tucker is black and having this happen to the black character is also not cool. I am not black myself, and thus I don’t understand the full extent, but I am aware of the “absentee black father” joke/stereotype and it’s harmful and not good and I really really want RT to realize this and STOP.

THAT BEING SAID, I’m not going to stop watching, I’m not going to stop loving Tucker, and I’m not going to stop hoping that Junior shows up as a more frequent character so we can have an AWESOME father-son duo team. 

I’m greatly enjoying the season, and I have a lot of hope for it. I think it’s fun, the story is good, the characters are GREAT and I’m looking forward to seeing them grow this season. 

[whimsical-writer]

MORE RVB15.7 thoughts!

This isn’t a critique, just something I thought of.

Spoilers below cut!

So the episode is an overall silly one, with everyone’s “worst nightmares” being framed as silly. Caboose gets scared by a stranger in scary armour who turned out to not be all that bad. Sarge isn’t sleeping because of fear of Dylan. Simmons has to face snakes. Tucker has to pay child support (however that joke landed with you). They’re all pretty vocal about these fears.

But they all also face very serious fears that they aren’t so keen on talking about, and it’s really really subtle.

Simmons insists that he’s not thinking about Grif.

Simmons is faced with the idea that he didn’t mean anything to Grif, and that he’s lost someone he considered his best friend.

Sarge insists that he doesn’t care at all for Red Team, especially Grif.

Sarge is actually terrified of losing a member of his team, especially after what happened with Grif, mumbling about Lopez being deported.

Caboose insists that Church is of course going to come back, no need to worry.

Caboose is terrified of Church not coming back. 

Tucker insists that Red team is a weak link, and treats Caboose like a babysitting job.

Tucker is driven into a panic when he hears Caboose “dying”, and is terrified of his friends (which include Simmons and Sarge!) dying. 

I didn’t quite realize it at first, cause it is so subtle. Good job Joe!

[whimsical-writer]

well, in honor of today's ep, how about Grimmons & the "I don't WANT our friendship! " one? XD

Hey Ari, look what I finally got around to doing. :’D

Spoilers for RVB15 Episode 6 below the cut!

“I don’t like you. Any of you. But we’ve known each other for so long you deserve to hear it from me first. I’m done.”

Simmons watched Grif’s retreating form as Sarge muttered, “seriously, Grif, turn around,” swallowing the hard lump forming in his throat. He saw Tucker throw his hands up in the air in frustration, cursing under his breath, and stomp off towards the news reporters ship, Caboose following closely behind. Wash and Carolina left without a word, leaving Red Team, what was left of Red Team, standing awkwardly for a few moments.

Simmons did not move when Lopez turned away with a robotic sigh, his metal feet falling heavy on the ground. Simmons did not move when Donut followed, his shoulder sagging and head hanging low like some sort of kicked dog. Simmons didn’t even move when Sarge turned sharply on his heel, kicking up dirt. He did not stop watching the orange armour, glinting in the light of the same coloured setting sun.

Sarge stopped beside him, still looking straight ahead towards the ship, his hands keeping a tight grip on his shotgun. “Come on Simmons,” he grunted, “let’s get a move on.”

Simmons opened and closed his mouth several times as he fought down the lump in his throat, trying to speak with some sort of dignity. “But Sir,” he managed finally, his voice clipped as he forced it past his lips, “we have to stop him. We can’t just leave him here-“

“Grif’s made his choice.” Despite all his grievances and complaints about Grif, Sarge’s voice was flat. “He’ll be here when we get back. We left you behind once, and you turned out fine.”

“That was different-“ Simmons cut off as Sarge put a hand on his shoulder, his helmeted head barely turning to look.

“Son,” he said gently, “we should go.”

Not even an hour ago, Simmons would have swelled and flustered at the mere thought of Sarge referring to him in any sort of “father-son” manner. Now the grip on his shoulder and the tone in Sarge’s voice just caused his stomach to sink. He nodded slowly, looking back in time to see Grif settled under one of the umbrellas left over from when the bases burned. He thought about opening a private channel with Grif, but what would he even say? Goodbye, see you later? Come on Grif, just come along? Grif, we should talk about…?

After a small tug from Sarge on his shoulder, Simmons turned away finally, following Sarge into the ship.

“Well it’s about fucking time,” Tucker snapped as the two of them walked into the main hold of the ship. “Almost thought you two were just going to stay here with Fat-ass.”

“Watch it, Blue,” Sarge growled, gesturing with his shotgun. “He might be a lazy, good for nothing deserter, but he’s still a Red, and I won’t have you slandering him!”

Tucker snorted, folding his arms over his chest and looking away. “Whatever.”

Simmons settled away from the others, putting himself in a seat far to the back of the ship. For a second, it looked as though Donut was going to seat himself next to him, but after hestitating the pink soldier sat between Sarge and Lopez. Simmons breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn’t sure he could handle any of Donut’s optimism and advice at the moment.

As the ship broke atmo’, Simmons thought back to after the events of the Tower, when he and Grif had stumbled out of the closet, sweaty and half clothed. Grif had grumbled about never speaking of it again, least it made things weird between them. At the time, Simmons had awkwardly agreed, even though part of him had wanted to grab Grif by the shoulders, shake him and yell I don’t want our friendship, I want this, I want you!

Well, it looked like Grif didn’t want their friendship either.

He didn’t want Simmons at all.

[whimsical-writer]

Okay Rooster Teeth

“Spoilers for Red vs Blue season 15 up to episode 7 beneath the cut. It’s a long post.

From Lopez’s “Tumblr’s going to hate this” joke in Episode 15.6 I get that you’re all used to getting irrational flame and hate over the smallest things from Tumblr users. As someone who enjoys being on the website, even I can admit Tumblr has some seriously ugly parts to it, such as call out culture. Some people where will scream and rage and hate on anything they deem to be “problematic”.

This post will not be like that.

I have no idea if you guys will read this, or if you’ll take away what I hope you will from it. Even if you don’t, this doesn’t just apply to you. This applies to all content creators. This is something I both need from the content I consume and that I must be aware of when I create my own works.

In episode 15.2, Kaikaina Grif makes two “bi-phase” jokes. In episode 15.7, there’s a long gag about Tucker having fathered many child and is raising a fuss about paying child support, and is generally playing the part of the absent black father.

Both these jokes made me incredibly uncomfortable. 

I wasn’t upset, not in the sense of being hurt by these jokes, nor was I angry. I watch more Rooster Teeth content than just Red vs Blue. I know from watching these other shows that you guys are good people who try to do good. I know that many of your employees are some form of queer, or PoC, or both. I’m aware that you try to be accepting of different faiths, sexulaities, and cultures. The atmosphere that you produce on your podcasts, behind the scenes, live shows, and at cons is one that is fun, easy going, accepting, and funny. It’s because I am aware of these things that I know that these jokes you make are just that. Jokes. You don’t mean harm by them. But both these jokes play on stereotypes that are legitimately harmful to those they are about.

I’ll start with Kai’s bi-phase joke first, as I am someone who is attracted to multiple genders. People who are bisexual, pansexual, polysexual, however they identify, and are attracted to multiple genders and sexs are treated with suspicion, looked down upon, and harassed by both heterosexual and homosexual people. Both groups tell them that they are “faking for attention”, “just going through a phase”, and / or “you’ll have to pick a side”. Many people say that they don’t want to date people who are attracted to multiple genders because they are more likely to cheat or carry STIs. People who are attracted to multiple genders often have their gender erased, “You’re dating this person, so right now you’re straight / gay”, and in media, characters who are confirmed attracted to multiple genders will not use terms like bisexual or pansexual, instead using phrasing such as “I like people”, or “I don’t like labels”, and these media characters often fulfil the stereotype of the cheating bisexual, or show a distaste for “being tied down”. For those who are heterosexual, this may not seem like a big deal but for those of us who are queer, we have a very important part of our identity denied on a near daily basis, so when many characters instead refusing to name their identity it can be upsetting.  Having characters who represent us is hugely important because it shows we are not alone. It gives us someone to look up to. And, in a way that’s just really hard to explain properly, it just makes us feel good to see a character who’s like us. It makes us smile, it can make us cry. 

Kaikaina Grif is a character who is very beloved by the community. Since we didn’t have too much canon facts about Kai to build our stories and art off, we had to do a lot of inventing on our own, but the core of Kai came from her actions in the Blood Gulch Chronicles. It was well accepted that Kaikaina Grif was bisexual, from her comment that Tex is badass and hot, and that that thought did not change upon realizing Tex was a woman. 

When Kai showed up in the season 15 trailer, no one expected her to be exactly like we had written. We understood, in general, that there was going to be a difference between “fanon” and canon. But Kaikaina’s bi-phrase joke took a lot of us by surprised and took away one of the core things about Kai’s character. I understand that Kai is supposed to be a sexual, no filter character whose lines are often written to invoke the “wait, what?” gag, but the fact she was bisexual was important to many of us because of the above reasons. The bi-phase joke not only perpetuated the stereotype that bisexual people are “undecided”, it took away a character who represented us, and turned a character we love into just a joke. We knew Kai would not get the same level of characterization the main characters would. We understand what a side character is. But even minor characters, even in a mostly humorous show, shouldn’t have their sexuality reduced to a joke. Kai’s even more special than other side characters, because she’s related to one of the main characters!

This is why the bi-phase joke made me and many others uncomfortable. It showed yet again that people consider attraction to multiple genders to be something that no one takes seriously or understands.

The next joke is the long gag about Tucker having sired who knows how many children and is going to be the absent father for all of them while whining about paying child support. I want to preface this explanation by stating I am not a person of colour, I am white, so many of my feelings and thoughts on this come from my PoC friends and acquaintances. If anything I say is wrong or offensive, please let me know and I will do my best to correct it and myself.

Lavernius Tucker is another beloved character of the community. Many of us believe Tucker has had some of the most character growth of all the Blood Gulch Crew, even when you include Wash and Carolina. We watched him grow from a young, inexperienced soldier to perhaps the best soldier of the Blood Gulch Crew. In many ways, the Chorus trilogy is Tucker’s trilogy, because of how much he learns and grows over the course of it. 

Tucker is a black character. Taking the only canon black character and painting him the sex driven absent father is a huge problem. Again, this is from my understanding of it, but black men have the stereotype as being sexual deviants who don’t care for their children. This is wrong and untrue, but people who believe this look down upon or distrust or outright hate black men because of it. Black men are seen as terrible fathers, despite any and all evidence to the contrary.  This is hugely harmful to black men, especially black fathers, who are distrusted around children, even their own. Black men are also seen as sexual predators because of these stereotypes. Reproducing this stereotype in media only makes the matter worse.

We are aware that a huge part of Tucker’s personality is his sexual nature, but at many points in the show it’s implied or outright stated that Tucker doesn’t actually and has never done much sleeping around. In season 11, Tucker implies to Wash that he slept with an entire bachelorette party. Wash questions him about it and Tucker admits that it didn’t really happen. The joke with Tucker was never that he sleeps around, it was that he was trying to look cool by saying that he did. By season 11, he had largely moved past that. He still made jokes of a sexual nature, that will always be Tucker, but the writing showed that he was not the “sexual deviant” type.

The absent father type is also not the kind of person Tucker is. Shortly after Junior is born, Tucker describes the “ideal father-son relationship” as, “you know, where I only see him every other weekend and on holidays.”. The writing and his actions after that quickly show another story. Tucker is upset by the idea of Wyoming and Omega kidnapping his child so they can use him in their plot to dominate the galaxy. When the ship explodes at the end of season 5 and Junior presumably dies, he tells Church that he is leaving Blood Gulch, as in deserting his post, fleeing the army, and stripping himself of a paycheque, in order to find a way to get Junior back. Once he does, he spends months with Junior as ambassadors between the Humans and the races of the Covenant. In season 11, when Wash asks “didn’t you give birth to an alien baby?”, Tucker is immediately defensive and snaps “don’t bring family into this”. When the subject comes up with Doyle in season 13, Tucker goes from being sullen about describing his experience with Crunchbite, to being bright, happy, and enthused when talking about Junior. He proclaims, “FUCK YEAH, Junior is awesome! Here he is on his fifth grade basketball team,” and pulls out a picture of Junior he has been carrying on his person! Tucker is shown, time and time again, to feel protective of his son, to clearly care about his son, and to love his son with his whole heart. 

So to have Tucker brush off child support with “Uh, no dude, Junior’s got a basketball scholarship” is not incharacter given his actions with Junior before. Even if Junior is of an age where he’s in college and receiving scholarships, Tucker’s actions before show that, upon hearing and assuming it’s Junior who needs money or support of any kind, he probably would have been concerned about Junior. Continuing on from that, while no one expects Tucker to be able to a present father involved with every possible child he had (it’s implied there are many), he is shown to be responsible. All of the Chorus trilogy is about Tucker being responsible! 

Like with Kaikaina, this joke not only supports negative stereotypes but is removing a core part of the character. For Tucker especially, it feels like years of character development were sacrificed to make a gag. 

While I did talk about the consequences these jokes had to the characters and narrative, this is also about the negative impact this sort of humor can have over all.

Again, people who work at Rooster Teeth, I watch a lot of your content. I am well aware that, at the very least, the vast majority of you are good people. You’re not people who hate people for the colour of their skin, or their sexuality or what have you. You write this jokes out of a good nature. You’re ribbing, prodding. You’re not seriously believing that bisexuals are going through phases or that black men make terrible fathers. 

The problem is, not everyone watches all of your content. Maybe they don’t realize there’s more to Rooster Teeth than the one or two shows they’re watching, or maybe they’re not interested in the behind the scenes footage or podcasts. So when a joke, such as the bi-phase joke, comes along, it can tell people “oh, the creators of this thing don’t like people like me”. It hurts so much to find out that someone you admire and look up to despises who you are, or, in extreme cases, would be happy to see you and anyone like you dead. People who don’t watch all of your content, or who feel the gap between your words and actions too large, are going to feel pushed away. The parts of the show they do love are going to start leaving a bitter taste in their mouth. As a hopeful one day content creator myself, I know I’d never want to make anyone who enjoys my work to feel like that, and I know no one at Rooster Teeth would ever want to make anyone feel like they were hated for who they are.

Another problem is that, even if someone does watch a lot of your content, they themselves might be a terrible person.

I love the Rooster Teeth community. I’ve found myself a nice little corner where we encourage each other in writing fanfics and original stories, in drawing, in animation, anything. We’re an accepting group from all walks of life who have in common a love for Red vs Blue and other Rooster Teeth shows. It’s the first time I’ve ever felt so welcome among an internet community. We help each other out through difficult times and make people feel loved and welcome.

But not everyone is like this. Any time people gather together, there’s going to be people who are not good. I’m not just talking internet trolls, I mean legitimately racists, sexist, homophobic, what-have-you, or some combination of these things. These people, when they hear jokes that rely on negative stereotypes to be funny, on some level they are thinking “ah yes, it’s okay for me to think these things. I’m not wrong.”. It’s not on a conscious level, but when it comes to some offensive jokes, this is what making them does. It encourages people to continue to think that way.

Rooster Teeth, you write amazing, humorous shows. And I’m aware that dark humor can exist, I’m aware that it’s sometimes totally in character for a character to make a tasteless joke! It’s just really important to make these jokes the right way, and that’s by showing in the writing that the joke was wrong to say.

You guys have actually done this before in Red vs Blue! In season 11, Tucker makes a joke about the hundreds of others on the ship flying the Reds and Blues home about having died horribly in the crash, only weeks after it happened. This is met with silence from Caboose and a flat “proud of yourself” from Wash. It’s clear that Tucker was in the wrong for making that joke.

That is how you can write offensive jokes into a show. Whether it be an antagonist or flawed protagonist, if the writing shows “this behaviour that is occurring shouldn’t be accepted or encouraged. Not only do we as content creators do not believe it, we’re making it clear,” then that’s great! I’m not saying stop the pacing of the scene to have a five minute lecture about why bisexuality isn’t a phase. It just has to be a line or a visual cue to show it. Not every bad joke can be fixed this way. No one is perfect. I don’t expect you guys to churn out perfect, flawless stories where no one is offended. That’s not possible. I understand that there’s going to be times when something sneaks by the radar or, because of your personal experiences, you may not realize why something isn’t cool to say. That’s just part of being human.

Again, everyone at Rooster Teeth, this isn’t meant to be read as an angry, hurt letter. This isn’t a “you guys suck” post. I love Rooster Teeth, I love Red vs Blue, I love your writing! You guys all work together to produce some of my favourite shows, animated or live action. It’s my dream to work for Rooster Teeth animation one day, to see some of the stories I’ve been working as shows on the Rooster Teeth website. I don’t wish failure upon the company, any individual, or any of your shows. I’m writing this because I want to see you guys keep improving your storytelling. And you’ve all massively improved over the years! If I watch content from 3,4,5 years ago and compare it with today’s latest episodes, it’s amazing to see just how much you’ve all grown as a company. 

I want to make it clear that so far, that little community I mentioned?

So far we’ve love this season. Some parts have sat better with some of us than others, but overall we’re excited! We’re enjoying ourselves! We’re shrieking in a chatroom together, coming up with wild theory after wild theory, crying when the emotions get high, bouncing excitedly when plot gets revealed! Any complaints or criticism we have comes from the fact we love this show! We love it and we watch it to enjoy it, to analyze it, to get our creative juices going. 

I hope you’ve read this all the way to the end. I know this is just my thoughts and perspective, but I hope you give thought to what I, and many others, think about the show and the writing.