#i have so many feelings about tucker and locus and wash okay | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

bizarrebird · 7 years ago

Text

Okay, so I was talking with people a little about this, but I wanna talk about luckington (yes again, don’t look at me)

So I love tuckington, way better people than me have written so much meta about them and how they get together and it’s all A+. And the parallels with Wash and Locus and the dynamics of locington have also been explored in so much wonderful depth and I eat that shit up

Which is why I’m here to talk about the third side of this ot3: lucker. You need all the pieces to make this puzzle work, so here we fucking go - under a readmore cause this got long as fuck

Because it amuses me, I like giving Felix and Tucker parallels to go along with those Wash and Locus ones

And (spoilers) but this season gave some choice moments for that, cause okay, Tucker laughing at Locus’ ‘no killing policy’ and also having so few reservations about killing this season, like I’m not saying he’s going down a Felix road cause this naaaah fuck that, but there’s moments

And you know who’s going to fucking see those moments better than anyone else: tall dark and emotionally stunted Locus

There’s other things too, Tucker babbling and accidentally giving himself away and (okay this is more my headcanon) having the fucking hardest time sitting still and acting like he’s hot shit and then getting pissed and upset when he’s not

And Locus just “unfortunate”

Because he’s seeing all the things that drew him to Felix initially, his boisterous attitude (that wasn’t always an act) and his snark and his stupid sense of humor that makes Locus roll his eyes (that’s Felix’s eye roll, specially saved for him)

At first, Locus doesn’t know how to deal, so he just doesn’t, because he can also see all the things he wanted Felix to be, all the the things he needed in a partner, all the things that he doesn’t deserve anymore

Then we’ve got Tucker’s side of things

Tucker, who had Felix pull his strings for just a short amount of time (weeks? months? timeline what???) and there’s still some lasting scars that he thinks are pretty shitty until he sees Locus

And then oh boy

Cause those scars run fuckin deep and it doesn’t take Tucker too long to piece together who put them there

And at first like, he kinda feels for the guy, but he also doesn’t trust him and he didn’t do all that shit cause Felix told him to, so eh

But then he looks a little deeper and he can see those similarities to Wash and then Tucker’s just fuuuuuuuuuck

Cause this is where Wash could’ve ended up, this is how bad he could’ve gotten, and yeah Locus is trying to put himself back together and change, but he’s doing it all on his own and that fucking sucks (no Tucker’s not projecting his own abandonment issues here what are you talking about)

So he just has to try to needle his way into Locus fort knox level fortifications around his bruised and battered heart

Just gotta slowly teach him how to be a person again, gotta drag him back from his ‘grim dark lone wandering atoner’ thing kicking and screaming

Cause yeah, doing this shit alone, that’s not gonna work, sorry Locus

Personally, I think the moment’s that gotta clinch it for Tucker is if he sees Locus wake up from a nightmare, I’m talking like full thrashing, not screaming, cause even in his dreams Locus can’t let himself break, can’t let himself cry for help

And Tucker wakes him up and gets pinned to the fucking wall (knife at his throat optional) and he talks Locus down and just ‘well shit, now I’ve gotta fix this’ cause you can’t see that shit and just walk away

But Locus just tries to shut down and sees this as seven further reason to keep people out, but naaaah, naaaaaaah, that’s not in Tucker’s playbook here, so it’s not happening

So he starts with small stuff, just inserting himself into Locus’ day to day whatever

Locus goes for runs int he morning, Tucker’s there. He makes himself weird fancy herbal tea, Tucker’s there asking what it tastes like and if he can have a sip and then making the worst faces (dude, how do you drink this shit, what the fuck). He tries to just sit alone with his bug collection, Tucker’s there calling him a nerd and then asking detailed question about all of them

Cause okay, I see Tucker as the person who doesn’t necessarily ‘get’ some people’s interests, but he’ll be damned if he doesn’t do his best to support them

So just, bit by bit, he gets Locus to open up a little (realizing along the way that under layers of dark brooding, there’s a giant fucking nerd who likes bugs and alien languages and reading really long stuffy novels my headcanons you will pry out of my cold dead hands)

Along the way there’s snark, so much snark, cause Locus can’t just take this shit lying down, and also he helps Tucker

Cause, and here’s the thing here, this needs to go both ways. Tucker can heal and give and love, and that’s wonderful, but this can’t just be a onesided thing, it can’t be Tucker pouring his too big heart out and getting nothing back, cause a) that’s not fucking fair and b) not how functional relationships work

And honestly? deep down, Locus wants this to work, past the part of himself that doesn’t think he gets good things, past the bits that are too scarred to remember how to person, he doesn’t want to lose another (potential) partner

So he looks for things Tucker needs and does what he can to help there

I would sell my fucking soul for Locus giving Tucker sword fighting lessons tbh

And for him to teach Tucker that vengeance isn’t always the way (Carolina and Wash are gonna help here too obvi, but there’s a luckinglina post to be made about that, which I’ll get to later) and that it’s okay to be angry, but there are better ways to channel that anger

Also both of them working together to figure out how to grieve for people they don’t know how to let themselves miss

Honestly, how the fuck do you deal with feeling grief for Felix? Cause Locus has to miss the guy despite everything, they were partners for so goddamn long

And Tucker’s never really properly dealt with his Church grief

Both of them sitting up at night (can’t sleep, nightmares) trading stories about Felix and Church

Tucker saying something that actually manages to get a laugh out of Locus, and holy shit he has a nice laugh??? like it’s sort of low and rumbling and goes through his whole body (Tucker can probably kinda feel it if he’s pressed up against Locus’ side) and he just wants to wrap himself up in that laugh and hold onto it forever

So Tucker’s just gotta make it his personal mission to make Locus laugh as often as possible

They probably end up falling asleep sort of snuggled together on the couch and wake up to find someone threw a blanket over them (probably Grif, gotta look out for his bros)

And look, just, Tucker teaching Locus how to be a person again and Locus picking up where Wash left off and helping Tucker get stronger to protect his friends, while also falling headfirst into that category

Okay, I’ve gotta stop there, I could keep going forever, but fuck this is so long already

#lucker #luckington #meta #diana hush #jfc this got so long what the fuck #this is more lucker than luckington but it's so important to me okay #this is probably like the first of what's gonna be a long series of word vomit posts about this #i have so many feelings about tucker and locus and wash okay #this post was pretty wash lite but #i just needed to scream about my lucker feelings because there are so many and i can't hold them all #there's like some vague spoilers in here #nothing too much though #tried to keep that lowkey #some of these headcanons are borrowed #because health nut and bug lover locus are so good okay #let him be a giant nerd

27 notes · View notes

riathedreamer · 4 years ago

Text

Zero is Null

A discussion of Zero’s love-hate-relationship with RvB and struggling independence; including a hotdog too big for the bun, tragic backstories, a single bow-chicka-bow-wow, and a cookie at the very end.

Welcome to what will be a lot of text. Basically, it will explore why Zero fails as an RvB (with emphasis on RvB) season. I will not be the first one to bring forth some of the points, and I promise to be fair and civil and fun. This isn’t supposed to be a piece of hate – in fact, I’m writing this because I love Red vs. Blue.

Okay, first of all, to increase your fun – take a guess on just how much of Zero is spent on fight scenes. You see, I’ve calculated the exact amount, and I will reveal it later, but for now, take a guess and remember the number. Maybe you are the winner!

Alright, time to share my thoughts. Wait! Since I suffer from anxiety and have this one annoying voice pretending to be all those critical statements my opinion could be met with, let’s give it an actual voice and address the points throughout this review.

“Why would I care about your opinion, Ria?” – I don’t know, you’re the one who clicked Read More.

“Your opinion doesn’t matter!” – Of course, it doesn’t! Geez. Do you think your opinion matters, though? Listen, we’re on Tumblr, the actual equivalent of screaming into the void. And it’s fun, too!

“If you don’t like it, don’t watch!” - *activates Uno Reverse Card* “You can’t talk about something you haven’t watched!”

“You’re just a Hater” – Actually, this is a point I’ll come back to. Like a cliffhanger. Also, at the end of this, there’ll be a cookie. But this will also include me talking about the stuff I like, because, surprise, Zero is not without talent!

“You just don’t like it because the Reds and Blues aren’t in it!” – Actually, that’s a good point, so instead, this review will start with a sole focus on Zero and discuss the problem that lies within that story. Then we can address why the lack of OG cast is understandable and problematic and weird.

But first! Backstory.

When the first 5 second teaser dropped back in spring (you know, when we were young and innocent and the world didn’t feel like an apocalyptic movie yet), I held onto that one image of what I thought (hoped) to be Grif and Simmons in the sunset, hopefully addressing Grif’s hateglue arc, but boy was I wrong because a) that’s not Simmons, that’s Sarge, and b) the image was from a PSA since the Reds are not in Zero.

Actual face-reveal of me below:

Admittedly, when I heard that the Reds and Blues were not going to be the main characters (or even show up), it felt like a gut punch. However, I actually found myself getting excited due to the creators’ hype. I want to praise them for this. It’s been a while since an RvB season was talked so much ABOUT before its release; it had advertisements, it had creators and voice-actors talking about it. Please. More of that in the future. Their passion rubbed off on me, and that deserves recognition. So it pains me that this was clearly a passion-project, and then when I gave it a try, I didn’t want to touch it again for weeks.

Here’s the thing. I cannot whole-heartedly say that Zero is bad. It’s not gonna melt your eyes. It’s not even so-bad-it’s-good. For me, it’s meh. It’s a Saturday-morning-cartoon aimed for a younger audience with a rushed plot and clichéd characters. The problem is that it calls itself RvB, and with that title comes something to live up to – but more importantly, something to continue.

My main issue is that Zero forces its story into existence by ignoring established content rather than adjusting to it. Let’s call this for the hotdog-too-big-for-the-bun syndrome solely for the sake of the bow-chicka-bow-wow that’s coming now. Bow-chicka-bow-wow. Many of the separate issues I will dive into all add to this hotdog-issue, so I will scream “Hotdog!” whenever this is the case so we can all keep track of my argument.

You can continue the story of Red vs. Blue without the Reds and Blues. While that would personally crush my heart, it can be done. There’s a story of Red vs. Blue that can be continued. The world can be expanded, the previous actions of the Reds and Blues can be explored from another angle.

So.

How does Zero do this? It doesn’t.

I just want to make it clear that new elements can definitely be added when it comes to worldbuilding. That’s literally the point of sequels. But Zero’s settings are presented with so little grace and with no connection to previously established worldbuilding. We get Alliance of Defense and GLASS thrown in our face as very big important organizations – yet we’ve never heard of them before. A big central plot point of RvB is the UNSC and Project Freelancers, and those were introduced naturally with the plot. We already have big established intergalactic organizations. What is AOD’s connection with those? We aren’t told. We are just told they exist and expected to accept it, no questions asked. If this was a whole new world and story – fine. But when you need to build on an already established worldbuilding, you need more grace than this. Chorus was a whole new setting, but it was explained, and it was connected to the previous plot. Same with Iris. Same with Desert Gulch. In Zero, it feels lazy. It feels forced. These organizations are just there because the story is built around them (HOTDOG).

This vagueness when it comes to wordbuilding is also reflected in the settings - we have a desert, a training base, a lab, temples, Tucker’s workplace, and we do not know if all those are set place on the same planet. If that is the case, what is this planet’s relationship with Chorus? Is it Earth? And most importantly, what is the deal with the temples? Why are they connected to Tucker’s sword if it isn’t the same planet. Are they made by the same aliens? Are people okay with this? Why haven’t these temples been explored before? Chorus makes sure to establish this, while Zero doesn’t, adding to a growing amount of confusion.

Okay, so no connection with previous worldbuilding. What about characters? I mean, we got Wash and Carolina and Tucker! So we have RvB characters, it gotta be RvB! Technically – yeah. But it feels dirty. These three characters are not here to be characters. They are here to be props to the new cast. They are not given any development. Their presence isn’t even that important, and if this was a whole new show, they could easily have been replaced with an unknown face. Worst of all, they feel miswritten.

Carolina and Wash are working at a new military organization? Leaving the Reds and Blues behind? To help people? First of all, fucking bad idea, Carolina, the last time you left the Reds and Blues alone, they changed the timeline. But most importantly – Carolina and Wash just joined this new super elite military organization? After being mistreated and manipulated by such an organization in the past?

Carolina is there to introduce the characters. That’s it. We are force-fed their personality by having her literally read out loud their personality. There is no gentle introduction to the new cast. We are not allowed to get to know them naturally. Why show when you can tell, huh? That’s Carolina’s role. That’s why she is there. To introduce the cast and explain their story. That’s it. (HOTDOG).

How about Wash? He is there to get beat up and be a damsel in distress so that the new cast has a reason to explore the plot. Oh, and that brain damage that was the consequence of previous seasons – gone now. The guy who literally has trauma from having an AI explode inside his head is fine with having a computer inserted into it instead. Because that’s needed. To explore his brain damage wouldn’t work now when his role is to be a prop to lure the new cast for one episode and then be put onto the bench for the rest of the runtime (HOTDOG).

And Tucker – he is there to die for a second and have his sword taken from him. That’s literally it. And for the few moments he is there, he feels like old super flirty Tucker, which erases the character development he went through in previous seasons. Okay, so Tucker dies, and then not dies, and then he is put on the bench with Wash where they can sit and talk or whatever (‘cause holy shit, the new cast is not allowed to that), because he isn’t important. The sword is. Tucker is just a prop, even more than his sword is (HOTDOG).

Damn. Wash gets beat up. Tucker gets beat up. Dies. Gets his sword taken away. Almost seems like a Red’s wet dream. Sorry not sorry, Blues, you were done dirty.

So there are miswritten old characters. Even worse is the retconning. The plot needs a “normal” Wash, so, bam, magic computer solution. Never mind Wash’s trauma and character traits. Never mind the logic of the new worldbuilding which also includes a character suffering for years to heal an illness. But the brain damage that was such a big consequence that it became the main part of the plot of the last two seasons – gone. I mean, a gunshot to the head can be healed by CPR. That’s canon. But no one gave Wash CPR so it’s a big thing, okay. It was canonically a big thing, and Zero erased that. This is not me saying that a Cerebral Enhancer couldn’t work in the RvB universe. Imagine it being done right. Wash struggling with the choice of getting used to his disability or accepting the possibility of help - at the cost of reliving his trauma. The struggle between what to choose - what should he choose when he wants to help as many as possible, the sacrifices he thinks he has to make, the way it could have been used as a part of his character growth. But in Zero, the enhancer isn’t a part of Wash’s character. It’s there so the story can work without having to deal with the previous plot’s consequence (HOTDOG).

Same with the sword thing. They sorta explain it by having Tucker flatline, but it’s weak. Honestly, I find it sorta offensive. What about Locus’ sword as well? It’s twisting previous lore to make the new plot work (HOTDOG). (Also, are we not gonna talk about the ultimate power being Spencer Porkensenson’s helmet? Have the writers forgotten Spencer Porkensenson? Have we as a community forgotten Spencer Porkensenson?)

If you have Red vs. Blue in your title, you cannot ignore what you inherit from it. You need to respect the worldbuilding, the established characters, and the previous plot. Zero does not do this.

Let’s talk about the Triplets. No, really, let’s do it. I don’t think I’ve ever talked about them before, because season 14 was a mixed bag for me (that I have now learned to appreciate. Thank you, Zero.) because I have heart at the size of the Grinch and can only love a few characters at a time, and that did not include the Triplets. Can’t even remember their names. Well, I can, but I can’t for the love of me remember which state is which, and my tongue is twisted every time I try to say Ohio, Iowa, and Idaho, and I know it’s on purpose. I know it is. And it got me good. That being said, the fandom actually embraced them really, really well! Seriously, I’ve seen more content for the Triplets than for Zero as a whole.

Why talk about the Triplets? (Was Iowa the lesbian? Or was it Ohio? Fuck.) Because like Zero, they introduced new characters with a story of their own. The Reds and Blues didn’t play a role. But here’s what I feel like the Triplets got right. They didn’t change the settings to force their narrative. They used stuff already established (Project Freelancer), added their own story as a continuation of that. They even included old characters in the beginning (Wash and some other Freelancers) but it felt natural and it didn’t feel like it happened at the expense of the old characters. Wash’s writing felt natural, and his presence wasn’t needed to tell these new character’s stories. He wasn’t a prop to them. He was there to establish the setting and to establish the relationship with these new characters, and then he and the other familiar faces (helmets??) left, and we as the viewers were left with these new characters. And the new characters told their own story by themselves. It felt like, hey, here’s something you know – remember Mother of Invention, and remember Wash’ lower rank, but now, try to imagine being even lower rank than him, aren’t you curious about those fates? Now let’s hear their story! It was new, it was something else, but it didn’t wreck what came before it, and it stayed true to the classic vibes of RvB.

As I said before, the hotdog-issue is my biggest problem with Zero. It infuriates me. I will return to this. But there are more issues, even if we try to look past the title-related problems.

If we try to imagine Zero as its own story and universe (as it should be, in my opinion), it still earns the meh review from me.

These isolated issues include awkwardness, the writing, lack of self-awareness, and pacing. First of all, holy shit, this is a tell, don’t show. Nothing is subtle, nothing is allowed to develop. It’s like the show thinks you are six years old with an attention span of a goldfish. You are not just led by the hand – they have literally pulled off your arm by the end of the show. We are force-fed every bit of information, every bit of personality from these new characters.

The voice-acting is a mixed bag for me. Sometimes it’s pretty good, sometimes it’s not. Some of the problems can definitely be blamed on the dialogue that you can only do so much with. It’s not good. I can’t remember any good jokes (the one joke I really appreciate was the cast on armor, and that was freaking visual humor. That was so RvB. Kudos to that. It was fun. More of that, please.), and RvB is known for having memorably good lines. This is a show built on good, clever, funny dialogue. Zero does not deliver. You have to sit through clichéd lines – “You’re not my dad”, “I trusted you”, “Come with me”, “It can’t be!”, “She’s way too powerful”, and “We have to do this together” – performed unironically. I cringed more than I laughed. Worst thing is that Zero could be a good parody. Sometimes, it feels like it is. One-dimensional characters, a villain wanting ‘the ultimate power’, very overpowered characters, bad one-liners, etc. But Zero takes itself seriously, and I was one of the people rooting for Jax to show up at the end and yell “Cut”. That would have been a funny-as-fuck twist. A spin-off parody. If I can’t have “Sarge the Movie”, I would have taken that and loved it. I would have forgiven everything. “We put so much info into finding that power, but we had no idea what it was” is really a line in the finale, and I cannot believe this is real in a show that somehow still tries to present itself as serious. What a plot.

We have to talk about pacing. God, first of all it should be stated that RvB is a mess when it comes to pacing. I honestly get what they were going for. Sometimes, RvB has come across as a bit boring when you get three episodes stretched over three weeks without much going on. I know season 11 did not have the warmest welcome because it was seen as boring until the finale. But when you see season 11 as a whole, as a movie, as a part of a trilogy, it works so well. Zero is more focused on being episodic. They want something to happen all the time so we will stay tuned. The thing that will happen – a fight. Oh god. The fight scenes.

I have done the math. I have run the numbers. I deserve a freaking cookie for this. Are you ready?

If you put all the episodes together, you have a runtime of 106 minutes. HOWEVER, with the introduction of credits in every episode, you gotta account for this. Removing the credits, this gives us 94 minutes of actual runtime. Out of that, 45 minutes are dedicated to fight scenes. That means 48% of the show is fight scenes.

If I wanted that many fight scenes, I’d watch Death Battle. Except the actual RvB Death Battle episode has a runtime of 20 minutes, and out of that, 5 minutes is dedicated to the actual battle. For the people who hate math – that’s 25% of the actual runtime.

RvB Zero has more fight scenes than a show called Death Battle. Take that in.

The pace suffers from this. Where’s the time to explore the characters? Where’s the time for good dialogue? All I can think of is this:

I get that RvB is a show that’s literally making fun of itself by acknowledging all their characters do is stand around and talk. I get that you want characters to do more than that. But for the love of Church, would it kill the new characters to stand around and talk? For just a minute? Stop fighting, I am begging you, stop fighting! Am I a pacifist now? Am I purple? Have I joined Doc’s team? What has Zero done to me?!

The good thing though is that fight scenes are very good. They’re entertaining. However, they seem to deconstruct themselves when we need to get a fight scene in every episode. Usually, the few fight scenes in an RvB season were in some of the most climatic episodes. In Zero, I can hardly keep up with the pace because they won’t stop moving. Fight scenes aren’t plot. They aren’t character development. You need more than just fight scenes. They entertain, but there’s a limit to that.

Noël Wiggins, the co-writer, stated the inspiration was a Saturday-morning cartoon. They nailed that vibe. If that was their goal, hurray, they have accomplished something! Because of the poor plot and constant fight scenes, it feels like you could just switch on the TV and drop in at any moment and let yourself be entertained by the cool and colorful soldiers punching and kicking each other. I will admit that the fight scenes entertained me. But they don’t make it a good season.

If I were the six-year-old with the attention span of a goldfish that the show believes I am, I honestly would enjoy it. The stiff dialogue and the constant tell-don’t-show makes you feel like an audience that’s not supposed to do anything else but admire the flashy fight scenes. I miss the cleverness of RvB. I miss the characters I get to connect with as I see them grow.

I miss the tone of RvB. Because this isn’t RvB to me.

It’s not that RvB hasn’t changed its tone before. Holy shit, I sorta do want to experience the absolute shock the RvB fandom went through when s6 aired and they were given new characters and serious plot. I would have loved to experience that, but I was too busy being ten years old. The Freelancers seasons also introduced a new tone and more fight scenes with very talented fighters compared to the Blood Gulch gang, but a balance was kept by having half of the season still revolving around the Reds and Blues. But Zero – Zero is so much change. And it’s on purpose. At least this has been made very clear from the beginning.

They constantly seem to appeal to new fans, rather than be directed towards older fans of the show. If you want an entirely new audience with a season with a new cast, new worldbuilding, and new tone, I’m confused as to why they don’t just make a new show. The hotdog-problem begs for this solution. This story and environment and characters feel so out of touch with the original RvB, that with a few rewrites and lack of Halo-armor, it could just be a new show. Problem solved.

If not this, then present it as a spin-off. In all ways, it feels like a spin-off (again, see everything marked HOTDOG). But the creators refuse to do this, and I don’t understand why. I could forgive many of these issues, had they officially separated themselves from canon.

Ah, what’s the idiom? You can’t both swallow and blow? (You can hear the Bow-chicka-bow-wow in the distance). Something about eating cake and having it. Forgive me, English isn’t my native language. POINT IS why are you calling yourself RvB while actively fighting against the core essence of RvB? In my humble opinion, you can’t be both. Marketing it as a spin-off would have granted it some defense when changing, well, literally everything, and I just, would someone please properly describe why it isn’t a spin-off? Isn’t this season marked by its association with the plot of RvB rather than a continuation of it? Zero presenting itself as not a spinoff feels like a toddler clinging to the hem of its mother’s dress while forcefully running away from her, ripping the dress in the process.

When they do connect with the original RvB, it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. When they let Carolina, Wash, and Tucker appear for a moment, it feels like luring viewers in with the RvB title. Look at me. Look at me! I’m not saying this is the case. I say that it gives me the annoying vibes of being lured, rather than letting the characters be a part of the show for their own development, rather than having RvB in the title to continue its story. I should not be getting these vibes at all. But I am.

If you want to use RvB in the title, something from the core of RvB needs to be embraced. Things can be changed. They should. Something new should be brought in. But there’s a limit to how much you can change and replace and twist until it would have been better with an original show. As a season of RvB, it should tell the story of Red vs. Blue.

From my perspective, Zero fails to do so.

It pains me that the old cast has been replaced, but as stated earlier, a season could have worked without them. However, I do not like the take that one should be excited about all the new characters. That it isn’t a big thing that the OG cast got replaced. That we should just deal with it. Just, try to imagine another show suddenly replacing the main characters with characters we’ve never met before. Imagine RWBY suddenly only focusing on a new team of huntresses with the previous main characters reduced to an Easter Egg presence, or Camp Camp suddenly being about a new team of campers, no warning given. Can you imagine the outcry? So maybe let’s agree that a replacement of the main cast is a big thing and should be addressed and it’s valid to be upset about this change.

Could Zero have worked? It’s hard to answer this. How can I accept something as RvB if the season actively pushes away the core of RvB aside for an isolated story that could have been told in any other media? As a spinoff, I could have ignored it. To enjoy Zero, I have to fully separate it from RvB in my mind, and then it’s alright. S’not good. But it’s not bad. It’s entertaining enough. I really ended up liking Raymond and Tiny, and there were a few good jokes, and the fight scenes were admirable (but too much) and I love the creators’ passion. But it’s not RvB. I also wish that the new characters had been attached to previous worldbuilding, for example soldiers on Chorus or agents from Project Freelancer. That way we could build on familiar lore which would have decreased the confusion and added a much needed connection with the previous seasons of RvB.

God, the anxious voice is back (by the way, it sounds like Tutter from “Bear in the Blue House”).

“You’re racist” – I hope not. Literally, I do not want to be. Tell me if I’ve ever crossed some lines, because I swear, that is not my intention, I will apologize and most of all, change and do better. I included this because I’ve seen this take thrown around in the big ugly mess that is the fandom clashes regarding Zero. And racism is problem within RT community (this includes AH and RvB, sorry, I just use RT as an umbrella term for the latter), and I’m not saying it hasn’t been a problem with this season. Writers should never be harassed, and never-fucking-ever because of their skin color, and voice actors shouldn’t be treated like they are responsible for the choices of the show. But I was legit nervous to post this review, and I hope it’s been factual without feeling like personal attacks on the creators because that has never been my intention. I was delighted to hear about the diversity behind this project, and Torrian’s passion legit blew me away because it’s been a while since I’ve seen that for an RvB project. I’d hoped for it to be good, and when I feel disappointed, it’s for the reasons stated in this analysis. That said, Zero is made by a diverse cast and it’s made with love, and both of those things are so, so great, but it does not mean that Zero cannot be criticized. It can, and it should. It’s a product, just like all the other seasons, and fans are allowed to discuss it – both what they loved, and both what they found troublesome. And to repeat previous points, and be respectful, always, fuck racists, and never-fucking-ever harass the staff behind a season, what the fuck is wrong with you if you do this.

“Don’t you get it, it’s different because it’s trying something new!” – Hey, remember the philosophical question: if you replace all the parts of a ship one-by-one, is it still the same ship when you’re done? If it doesn’t include the Reds and Blues, if it ignores previous plot, if the old characters feel miswritten, if it values animation over dialogue, if it values fight scenes over comedy, if it wants to be Fast and Furious instead of Red vs. Blue – is it still Red vs. Blue? Because it doesn’t feel like it to me.

“It's been 17 seasons, it’s time to let the Reds and Blues go so someone else can shine!” – I simply do not understand us having been with the Reds and Blues for 17 seasons should be an argument to let them go, rather than be an argument as to why their absence hurt like hell.

“The Reds and Blues ran out of things to do!” – Did- did they, though? I mean, if we were discussing pretty much any other show, I’d probably agree that they were running out of content. But for the Reds and Blues… I think the PSAs nailed it this year! I’m not kidding, I had more fun watching the Reds and Blues discuss how to do laundry than watching Zero. You could literally give me an hour of the Reds and Blues trying to bake a cake or clear a gutter or simply settling down with an ordinary life, and I would trust them to make it worth the watch.

“The flaws were due to the fact it’s only 8 episodes long!” – Look, I can only judge a product the way it’s presented to me. I cannot come up with excuses for it. If they had 8 episodes to work with, they need to come up with a plot that works with this runtime. Seriously, this excuse cannot work when 48% of the season is spent on fight scenes. They could have used more runtime, sure, but the show needs to be able to pace itself and be planned accordingly.

“The OG cast couldn’t be a part of this year, hence Zero!” – That might be true. But. Would one year without RvB kill it? Is Zero necessary? Again, I just can’t judge excuses for the show. But trouble with the cast has been an issue before. Season 15 solves Geoff’s sabbatical by actually making Grif’s absence a part of the plot. Zero’s lack of Reds and Blues just feels like this excuse to tell a story that needn’t be a part of RvB.

Am I a hater? I guess? I greatly dislike Zero for the critique stated above. I do, however, not harass the creators and no one should ever do that. However, I have to admit that I feel there’s been this weird rejection of any critique of Zero where everything’s been brushed off as haters gonna hate, including the critique stated above. And I think that’s a problem because critique, as hard as it can be to hear (and I know this. I’m an author of original works. Weird flex, I know), is valid and necessary and shouldn’t just be shrugged away. As always, both sides of the fandom should always be respectful, but my own opinion is that addressing the flaws of Zero should not be controversial.

Does this super long rant/critique/whatever mean you cannot enjoy Zero? Gods no! I almost envy you if you enjoy this season, but holy shit, feel free to love it and tell the creators that you love it! Me pointing out the issues I have with the season shouldn’t be stopping you. I loved (and still love) s15 when it came out, and it was majorly rejected by the fandom. There were many, many critical posts, people were going on about how RvB should have ended with s13, and it evolved into the writer receiving death threats (me, once again: never ever harass the creators, assholes). But I didn’t tell people to stop being negative. I actually agreed with many of the flaws that were pointed out, and I enjoyed the season despite this, because that is possible. We, as RvB fans, should agree that RvB, is... I mean, it’s not the greatest, most flawless of shows, but we love it nonetheless. So go ahead and love Zero. This is not a stop sign. This is my opinion that you chose to read.

Wait, I promised you a cookie, didn’t I? Well, you’re not getting one. Why? Because I’m a Red and this is my chance to piss off a Blue. As Caboose wisely said: “Well, at least I don't go around... knocking on people's non-doors... and promising them cookies... and then NOT. GIVING. THEM. COOKIES!”

Blue Team sucks.

End speech.

#rvb zero #rvb #rvb zero critical #rvb critical #rvb0 #my rvb stuff #pls dont hate me for this #this is my honest opinion that people apparantly wanted to hear #as a standalone story zero isnt totally bad #as an rvb season it is

274 notes · View notes

clocks-are-round · 3 years ago

Text

huggins: *wants money in order to buy presents for kai sometime*

huggins:

she ends up seeing everyone on iris at least once.

caboose doesn’t seem to understand the purpose at first so he just starts rambling about what he did that day. huggins clarifies it’s therapy and caboose is like ohhhHHH and comes back with wash and leaves. “oh yeah you definitely need therapy. money in the can please!”

wash didn’t really want to open up. after some prodding he’s like fine and gives the rundown of his entire life. wash apologizes for getting so dark. “hey, no worries! i’m made of light, remember?” and then wash laughs which turns into crying. he signs up for weekly online therapy sessions.

grif is just like aren’t friends not supposed to be therapists or something? “for twenty bucks i’ll be your personal bodyguard. i’ll shine in sarge’s eyes every time he aims at you for the next week” deal.

lopez complains about how much he hates everyone and how stupid and cold they are and huggins is just like “you didn’t have to come back to them. but you did. maybe think about that” and lopez just walks off like no shit i’ve got fucking stockholm but they’re still fucking dicks.

carolina only shows up because she was bet she couldn’t be huggins’ best, most emotionally open patient. she didn’t like how it made her feel in the moment but afterwards she scheduled an appointment with a legitimate therapist so she could get better (at being comfortable with emotional vulnerability because she refused to be the supposed worst on iris at that. worse than sarge? that could not stand).

sarge has a clear crisis of romantic/sexual orientation from which he leaves with the advice of “a big bang helped the universe. try that”

doc keeps coming back and pays just to have someone to talk to. at first he talked about his traumas but frankly he’s accepted them and is coping as well as he can so huggins is just like “i mean you seem alright to me. but if you wanna keep talking i’m not gonna stop you. money in the can”

simmons pays and spends the whole time talking about one personal issue after another in detail and immediately after insisting it’s no big deal though and really he doesn’t need therapy or to talk to anyone about it. then puts more money in to keep talking about it. “grif was right. you do talk a lot! do you need like a water break or something?” did grif already talk to you? did he say things about me? no reason just wondering—

tucker talks about worrying about how he wasn’t super present in junior’s life and it wasn’t entirely his fault but it mostly was and he also has so many other kids that he doesn’t even know and he honestly doesn’t want to be present in all their lives. i mean it’s not like he directly birthed those ones, some hot broads did and— “wow. ok, um— yeah, maybe talk to junior about it? and… i guess make sure to use protection? i don’t know what to tell ya, buddy.”

donut goes really into his personal traumas both recent and old and huggins is just like, “well, it’s in the past and nobody’s gonna mess with the timeline anymore so… hakuna matata?”

locus pays, and then just sits there in silence, clearly deeply contemplating until his time is up and he leaves. “uh… thanks for the money? are you okay?”

#red vs blue #//our pan lil ray of sunshine #//hello hello hello hello hello #//'CAR?!'#//not a doctor tm #//mr steal yo snacks #//*windows error sound*#//*the tinkling of champagne glasses*#//dr fuck #//x gon give a whole lot of community service #//*cocks shotgun*#//*sighs in spanish #//floor is lava undefeated champion

32 notes · View notes

anneapocalypse · 6 years ago

Text

Chorus Rewatch: Season 12: Story & Characters

Crossposted from dreamwidth. Back in March, I started a full rewatch of the Chorus Trilogy with the purpose of studying its worldbuilding more closely. This series of posts is from that rewatch.

Season 12 is one of those that always held up better on the rewatch than week-to-week. While undeniably enjoyable, episodically it comes off a bit repetitive before you can see the whole arc. I remember at the time having complaints to the tune of multiple episodes in the first half in which the Reds and Blues try to train their soldiers and fail, and multiple episodes in the back half in which they try to evade the pirates, get found, escape, and so forth.

But my biggest beef with season 12 the first time around was definitely how it treats Carolina. I’m not really going to get into that here, because much was said about it and Miles heard the disappointment and he very much rectified things in season 13, and I forgave him! And since then I have only looked more kindly on season 12, appreciating it more and more not just for what comes later, but for what it accomplishes in its own right.

There is so much to talk about in this season that I’m splitting it up—the worldbuilding stuff, which was my primary purpose for this rewatch, will be its own post. In this one, I’m just going to talk about character stuff and general storytelling observations.

I like the way the helmet cam is planted early in the New Republic portion of the season, and paid off at the end when Tucker uses it to outsmart Felix.

I will always remember @farfromdaylight’s theory about Dr. Grey being Control rather fondly, even though in the end I’m glad she turned out not to be, both because Hargrove was a fantastic villain and because the Fed side of things desperately needed some sympathetic characters. I notice how genuinely scared Dr. Grey seems when the pirates attack her base; she sounds equally terrified when the pirates catch up to them at the jungle temple in season 13. Given how rarely her cheerful demeanor breaks, this comes across as sincere.

Yet there is also an odd moment with Dr. Grey, and for me this moment really fed the theory about her being Control. When the mercs offer the Reds and Blues safe passage off the planet, Dr. Grey seems to believe them, and actually encourages the Reds and Blues to take the deal and go home. This seems particularly strange given that she’s witnessed the mercs’ brutality firsthand and seems genuinely afraid of them in other scenes. I still don’t really know what to make of that, or why she would believe the offer to be genuine, other than the fact that narratively it’s useful to have a Chorus character tell them it’s okay to leave so as to increase the impact when they choose to stay.

Dr. Grey also drops a couple of odd worldbuilding elements in dialogue that aren’t really corroborated anywhere else in the text and yet we have no reason to doubt her on them. But we’ll get to those in another post.

This is not quite a new observation, but I am convinced Doyle has never actually been in combat himself. He faints at the sight of a weapon pointed at him, and when he confronts Kimball in downtown Armonia he says, “Don’t make me use this!” and I’m pretty sure his hands shake. It speaks to not simply cowardice but a lack of experience; how that reflects on Doyle’s character honestly depends a lot on how long he’s been the General. If he’s been in the position for a long time, sending a lot of other people to fight and die, the fact that unlike Kimball he’s never seen combat himself just isn’t a cute look.

I think Miles did make a real effort to smooth over the weirdness of the season 10 epilogue, letting Carolina and Epsilon talk a bit about what motivated them to go off alone. It’s still rocky, and I still don’t totally think the epilogue holds up as canon, but I can much more clearly picture how it would happen—Carolina and Church searching the wreck of the Merope for supplies, spotting some pirates boosting cargo, picking up radio chatter about selling a cloaking device, and setting off to investigate. Maybe they don't intend to be gone long, and then one thing leads to another and they travel farther and farther from the crash site, and then when they try to radio back they can’t get through. I tend to think Carolina was not at all sure the others even wanted her around at that point. It’s still weird on both ends, both that Wash seems to know they ran off on purpose (and aren’t, you know, injured or dead) and that it doesn’t occur to Carolina that Wash might not know that. But you know. It helps. An effort was made.

I was always disappointed Carolina and Wash never really talked during the Chorus Trilogy. While I don’t primarily ship them romantically (I enjoy other people’s portrayals of the ship but it’s not one I’m drawn to write myself), their relationship is important to me, in fact one of my favorite relationships in RvB; if you look at my AO3 stats from a few posts back, Agent Carolina & Agent Washington sits just below my two OTPs as my third most commonly-used relationship tag. They are important to me, with their shared history, their sometimes rocky relationship and the understanding they eventually reach. And I’ll admit, I’m partial to seeing characters actually talk things out, especially characters who don’t often open up, as that makes it all the more meaningful.

However, as a long time Rooster Teeth fan I’ve come to recognize that in RT shows, action sequences often serve the same purpose that conversation would for showing character dynamics and relationship growth. “Great Destroyers” served that purpose for Wash and Carolina in season 13, and I’ve come to appreciate that for what it is. But I’ve also come to appreciate some of the small things in season 12 that show their bond. There is a moment, for example, when Epsilon is a massive dick, acts like everyone but him is the problem, and goes offline. Carolina wearily announces she’s going to go check the perimeter. And Wash? Immediately volunteers to go with her. They both sound tired and stressed out. We don’t see them go patrol together, and maybe they don’t even talk. But they go together, for a moment away from the Reds and Blues, and I think that says something.

Much has been said and much will be said about Wash’s writing across RvB’s many arcs; that’s Another Post and one I’ve been working on for some time. But I will say that for me, most of his Chorus writing really does hold up these days. Perhaps I have more appreciation now for any proactive Wash at all, after the crash dummy seasons 15 and 16 made of him. But I like Chorus Wash, even when he’s wrong. I like that he still (consistent with past seasons) has trouble with unfamiliar weapons and prefers a trusty battle rifle. I even like that he’s the one who most conspicuously refuses to take sides in the Chorus conflict, where Donut and Sarge show at least a bit of an affinity for the Feds, and the Captains are pretty invested in the New Republic. Wash has been there, done that, and served the prison sentence when it comes to believing in the wrong cause, and he is not about to throw his allegiance behind either of this planet’s factions. The Reds and Blues are his people now, full stop.

So we come back to that Locus-Wash parallel. And I have to say—this time around, it almost works for me. It works a lot better when I set aside its narrative utility and the way it’s framed, and look at it from both characters’ perspectives mostly independent of one another. I have @hokuton-punch to thank for some of this, as our conversations on my season 11 post have sparked some further thought for me. I’d like to expand my present Locus thoughts into their own post, so I’ll keep it brief here—only say that I think Locus wants to see himself in Wash, wants to see something in Wash that probably isn’t there, while Wash sees in Locus what he doesn’t want to be and lets that drive him to some self-reflection he’s long been avoiding. And that reading mostly works for me, for both characters.

Wash’s fever dream is the stickiest part of it for me, but I think I’ve worked out a reading of that I can live with as well, which will also be another post.

Something else I notice about Locus is that he does not like the plan to use the Reds and Blues to fuel the civil war—pretty much from the minute go. It’s not just a season 11 anomaly that Locus thinks killing the prisoners on the Fed side is a better idea. He does a very poor job of gaining Wash and Donut and Sarge’s sympathy for the Federal Army—to the point that it really doesn’t feel like he’s trying. He repeatedly points out that everything will be fucked if they make contact; even Felix acknowledges Locus’s concerns on that front.

Notably, none of this is Locus having misgivings about the overall mission or about killing. No one can tell me that Locus’s “Like sheep to the pen” and his insisting to Wash repeatedly that he completes his missions at all costs doesn’t sound self-satisfied. Locus is against the plan to divide and use the Reds and Blues, specifically, because he thinks it’s too risky, and he ends up being pretty much right about that.

“They were underestimated,” he says tersely, which might as well be an “I told you so.” I think if it was just Felix he would just say “I told you so” outright, but given Hargrove’s prior history with the Reds and Blues I’m pretty sure this was at least partially his plan—finish off the Chorusans and tie up some of Freelancer’s loose ends in one fell swoop.

I watched all the special features, including the character journals. The Reds and Blues’ journals aren’t super illuminating but they are really entertaining. (Simmons writes BSG fanfic!) Locus’s journal is, in hindsight, really funny. But I’ll have more to say about that in a future post on Locus. For now I will just say: “Could I have been a Freelancer? Or would they have feared me?” is hilarious and Maine would have stuffed this nerd in a locker on day two.

#avian dentistry #chorus trilogy #red vs blue

8 notes · View notes

calliecat93 · 6 years ago

Text

RvB17 Episode 4 Review: Breaching the Torus

Fun fact: a torus is a shape that looks like... well a donut. Yeah, the episode title is literally ‘Breaching Donut’. Well with a title like that, I expect only wholesome things form an episode that picks up right after Genkins screws over Donut and Wash’s plans! Leaving the universe certain to be wiped out by the evil time God AI... algorithm... whatever! Let's just jump in already!

Overview

We begin where we left off, Chrovos is gloating as her prison continues to fracture. But she doesn't get far in her evil gloating as Wash essentially tells her to shut the fuck up before heading for the Everwhen. Yeah, with the Time Gun out, getting the guys to realize what's wrong is really the only viable option. Wash immediately regrets this since he has no idea what to do along the Everwhen, but Donut explains it to him and gets him to focus on a memory that they're both in. Three guesses on which one Wash picks, and the first two don't count!

Yeah... Donut gets shot. Again. This time with Wash feeling bad and apologizing before going a few seconds back and stopping himself from pulling the trigger. This is the greatest running gag ever. Of all time. Anyways, the two talk about what to do next while poor Simmons is just confused by everything happening. They ultimately decide that they need to go back to a strong memory where Genkins is likely to go to. But Donut points out that they need to cause as little damage to the timeline as possible and keep things on track... so naturally, Wash shoots him to keep S7's finale intact. Poor Donut.

The two go back to S13 in a moment that I can't remember if it actually happened or not. It's before Felix and Locus went to activate The Purge and got a beatdown from the Freelancer duo. Wash is in the middle of a motivational speech when past him and Donut possess themselves. Wash tries to get Donut to explain... but after accidentally spouting and entendre, he knows he's not going to be believed and has Wash do it. Wash proceeds to try and convince the guys not necessarily about Chrovos, but that they're experiencing deja vu and that something much greater is about to wash over them (that pun was not intentional BTW). But it's okay, because they win the fight that they're about to go into, and they keep winning again and again. For now, they need to forget the Purge. They need to forget Chorus. They need to focus on what's about to come and trust Wash at his word.

It's a very well done speech and performed very well by Shannon McCormick, as always. It seems to work as the guys, while confused, all agree to follow Wash... until Genkins, whose possessing Epsilon, twists it around. He essentially makes it look like Wash is having a shell-shocked veteran moment, which Carolina agrees with and is very much concerned. This causes Wash to give a sharp 'Of course you wouldn't believe me, Carolina" in a very clear venomous tone. Even Tucker and Grif are shocked by it. Wash does catch himself, but Carolina is confused on why Wash would talk to her like that and 'Epsilon' suggests that he go take a walk. Wash does do, Donut chasing after him.

So yeah... they came close, but the attempt was not great. Wash, however, is not up for hearing Donut point this out, his anger at Carolina lying to him about his brain damage now back at full force. Donut points out that technically, he no longer has it since she saved him. That doesn't exactly make Wash any less pissed, but Donut keeps going. He points out that despite knowing the risk, Carolina still decided to try and save Wash because she cared about him. She was on the verge of tears when she brought it up... which Donut had left by then so him saying that he had been there makes no sense, but with time fucked up, I'll let it slide. Anyways, Wash realizes how angry he really got and just how much baggage about everything he's got. Right now though, they need to focus on the matter at hand, so time to go to another memory.

And... back to the S7 finale! This time it's Donut's fault, haha! They soon manage to get to when Lopez was shot, but before Donut. As Simmons frets over Lopez, Wash and Donut walk off to talk about what to do now. They realize that Epsilon had indeed been possessed by Genkins at that point, so plain convincing isn't going to work. But... Donut realizes something. He didn't necessarily convince Wash of anything, he just got him to believe in something that was impossible for him to have known. That is the key. Everyone has deja vu. They know that something is wrong, just not what. They need something to shock them into remembering. They need to see something that they shouldn't know about but recognize anyways. Simmons walks over, still confused and pretty much going 'WTF?!' to Wash for shooting Lopez. But this gets Wash to realize something... at this point, Simmons had only met him maybe a year ago. But what if he showed up when he wasn't supposed to? Like, say... during the Blood Gulch Chronicles? If he did, and the guys recognized him despite not knowing him at that point, it may be just the shock that they need to snap back to normal.

With the new plan, Donut and Wash jump forward to Blood Gulch. Donut arrives at the canyon... but Wash isn't there. Which of course he wouldn't be, this was before any of the BGC met him. Problem is that Donut doesn't know where he sent him. We cut to Wash, standing at a beached area. He tries to figure out where and when he currently is when a voice comes over the radio. A Lee Eddy voice... and there's no accent, so no it's not Chrovos. In other words... it's 479er calling from Command to find out where Wash is. Or, specifically, where Recovery One is. My friends, welcome back to Recovery One.

Review

This episode was short, clocking in at nine minutes, but man it was SO GOOD! I've been very curious about how this Wash and Donut dynamic would go. They haven't exactly had many interactions outside the S7 finale, and we all know how that went. But God... it is SUCH a good dynamic. They're both dorky morons, so there's that going for them. Donut's a little goofier and cheerful, Wash is more serious but still capable of his lighter moments. They really played off of each other well, both listening to each other and figuring out step by step their next course of action. It's funny, it moves things forward, and really sells this newfound comradery really well. Very well done~

Not only do the two characters play off each other well, but we got plenty of character development stuff. Donut's clearly still frustrated about not being listened to, especially when everyone goes and listens to Wash easily. Wash still has a TON of baggage towards Carolina and how she lied to him. He can't repress that, as we saw with the pure venom he directed at her even though she doesn't remember any of those events. And his hesitance when Donut brings up that they're going to have to save her after the guys... it hurt. I mean we all know that Wash will ultimately do it, but the fact that he hesitated because of how hurt Carolina made him feel... damn man. When Carolina gets her memory back, it is gonna hurt. And even with his own issues, Donut still tried to help Wash through his, which displays a lot of emotional maturity on his part. It's been really great to see more of Donut's character, and his and Wash's talk really shows how great they both are

There's plenty of feelsy moments, but also plenty of funny ones. S7's finale becoming a running gag is frekain' hilarious. Donut essentially resigning himself to his fate, Wash feeling guilty every single time, Simmons freaking out and just being confused by everything going on around him. Seriously, he's gonna be SO pissed when he comes to and realizes how many times he had to relive that moment. Also, Kimball's clear confusion when Wash gives his speech, haha! You can just feel the awkwardness emitting off of her. Lindsay only had like... two short lines, but God she nailed the mood. It was a great balance of hilarious and feelsy without feeling rushed or forced in. Jason has done such a great job with the writing, and this episode really shows his talents I feel.

What's also good is that so far, every episode has advanced the plot in some way. As much as I love S16 and will defend it from the more vicious hate it gets... yeah the pacing had issues. It had things happening, but it took far too long for Joe to get to anything truly impactful. I can see why he went that route, but it still made it kind of annoying that whenever it looked like we were getting to a plot point, it sidetracked to something else. I guess that he learned that when he plotted the season (or it's Jason's own doing) because every episode has moved things along swimmingly. There's very little padding or filler. We get to something, have a nice little time with it, and move to the next thing. Here we had a nice romp of the new S7 running gag, had Wash make an attempt with saving the guys, get a little character development for both him and Donut, and onto the next plot point. It's going fast, but it never feels rushed. Like... I'm starting to get why they may have gone with a 12 episode count because if that cut down on padding and needing to stretch things out to hit that count, it would hurt it more than help it.

So now we come to what's coming up next. First, we now know the next plan: have Wash arrive at Blood Gulch and shock the guys into remembering since they shouldn't know Wash yet, but if they recognize him it'll do what Donut did to Wash in Episode 3. The only problem is... well, Wash wasn't at Blood Gulch during Blood Gulch. So hopefully Donut picked a point before everyone got transferred out, haha... anyways. So yeah... looks like Wash is about to relive Recovery One. Which leaves a TON of open possibilities. He has the chance to save certain people and correct any mistakes. Which means dealing with his lingering guilt and pain over everything. But he also has a mission: to save his current team. Which may mean having to abandon Recovery One which is not only going to cause plenty of problems with the Freelancers but having to abandon his old friends to save his current ones... yeah that is going to hurt. Considering that Miles 'I'm going to have Pyrrha die in the most heartbreaking way possible in RWBY' Luna is writing the next episode... yeah... prepare your graves, everyone.

So here's what I think is going to happen. Either at the end of next week's episode or in Episode 6, Wash will arrive in Blood Gulch and whoever is all still there will snap back to normal. The second half of the season will focus on both getting everyone left back to normal and on how to stop Chrovos before she breaks out and Genkins before he makes anything worst. And we still have plenty of feels material with Donut still being frustrated, Wash and Carolina's issues, and for conflicts that haven't come up in awhile... well... Grif still needs to know about Huggins. Boy is THAT ONE gonna be fun, haha... but yeah! I could be wrong, but I can't see them stretching out the memory stuff much longer, so the halfway point seems like a good place to get the majority out of it. We'll see.

Final Thoughts

This season has been great so far. Great Wash and Donut dynamic, a great blend of funny moments and character development, wasting no time in getting the plot moving, it's been such a fun ride. And with the ending, we have plenty more to look forward to. This is easily becoming a great season, and it hopefully just keeps getting better and better. Great episode and now, if you all will excuse me, it's time to prepare my grave for when Miles utterly breaks us all next week! Yay!!!

#rvb #rvb17 #rvb spoilers #rvb reviews #callie reviews

14 notes · View notes

secretlystephaniebrown · 6 years ago

Text

Time’s Running Out: Romeo

... whoops? Has it really been since March? OH WELL, MY COMPUTER'S FIXED, I'VE GOT FREE TIME AGAIN, AND I'M READY TO KICK THIS FIC'S ASS, ENJOY SOME FEELINGS.

Summary: The Reds and Blues; and their respective Freelancers, find themselves stranded on a strange planet named Chorus. Secrets, lies, and the unexpected seem to lie around every corner, and there might be even larger threats looming over the horizon.

They’re possibly even less ready for Chorus than Chorus is for them.

Pairings: Lots of friendships, Suckington, Yorkalina, Chex, eventual Yorkimbalina, possible others.

Start

Ao3

There was a moment of heavy breathing, with York staring up at her. There was blood everywhere, and for a second, she thought she saw fear in his body language.

It was only a second, but it was quite possibly one of the most terrible seconds of Tex’s life.

She stepped over the corpse and offered him a hand up.

York reached up and accepted, taking it and then using the momentum to collapse against her. Relief coursed through her. If he was able to trick her into a hug, he was going to be fine.

“Is he…” York said, staring at the body behind her.

“Yes.” She said. She offered no explanations or apologies. She knew that Locus had been his friend once. The thought was strange in her mind, sharp like jealousy and bitter like rage.

York’s shoulders stiffened for a moment, then he exhaled sharply.

“That is excellent news, Agent Texas,” Delta said, appearing on York’s shoulder, as if attempting to reassure himself that York was, in fact, still alive. It was as close to physical contact that an A.I. and host could get.

“Dee, when did you get so bloodthirsty?” York asked, but there was relief in his voice too. One more ghost gone.

Tex bent over Locus’s dead body, and pried the healing unit out of his fingers, already stiff. Carefully, she pressed it back into place on York’s chest plate, watching as his body language slowly relax as painkillers did their job.

“They’re gone,” Tex said, and there should have been satisfaction in that, but there wasn’t. It had been too close.

She’d watched York die before, and it had been a long, long time ago now. She had stopped that world, she had punched a hole through reality itself to save him, but…

She had watched him die once.

She had come this close to seeing it happen again.

Tex reached out and pressed a hand against his shoulder. “York,” she said, struggling to find words. “I—you know you’re—you’re my—” the words felt like they were strangling her, which shouldn’t even be possible.

Church, in her brain, remained shockingly silent.

“I know,” York said. “Me too.”

She scowled and clenched her hands into fists. “No,” she said. “Don’t let me off like that.”

“Tex,” York laughed, his voice unsteady, his breathing labored. He took a step forward and stumbled. Tex leapt forward to catch him. “I know, okay?”

“I love you,” Tex spat out.

She wasn’t programmed to. It was an aberration.

She was programed to love Church. She was built for it. She was built to love Carolina. She was built for the strange affection for Delta, even.

She was a shadow, an artifice, a series of ones and zeroes all strung together, forming the very core of herself. Pieced together, placed in a body of a robot, built up and pulled apart and put back together again. Put back together by Reds and Blues and Church and Carolina…and the idiot in front of her.

She had not been built for this. This strange, tumultuous, bizarre course, which no one could have seen coming.

There was no romance in the sentence, there was barely even affection. It was brusque and harsh, somehow a declaration and a question at the same time.

She loved her idiot best friend, and she had nearly seen him die a second time.

She couldn’t see his expression.

“I love you too, Tex,” he said. He leaned against her. “Now, uh, not to rush you or anything, but I think I need to submit myself to Dr. Grey’s terrifying medical expertise.”

“Right,” Tex said, putting an arm around his shoulder and starting to lead him away.

The tightness in her throat, the one that should be impossible because she had no muscles to lock up or lungs to draw air with, didn’t go away.

“Let’s go back to Armonia,” she said. York’s blood dripped onto the cavern floor and Locus cooled next to her feet.

She was not built to be this way.

Teleport cubes and the knowledge that they might all be dead soon made the journey back to Armonia fast.

Kimball wished she could just have time to think.

Carolina had made the report over the radio—Felix with a key that could kill everyone on the planet, Locus dead, Church’s body destroyed, York injured but not in critical state. The last one was said grimly, through gritted teeth, taking any potential satisfaction from Locus—one of Kimball’s longest living nightmares—being dead.

The Reds and Blues and Freelancers moved back into the war room. They looked the worse for wear for their journey, and there’s no sign of Church in physical form, although Kimball would guess that he was implanted into one of their implants, like Delta or Epsilon.

Agent York’s armor was in the worst state—it had never been great, old fashioned, a patchwork of repairs and replacements—but now there was also a horrific looking puncture on his shoulder. Locus’s work, if Kimball had to venture a guess. She’d seen wounds like that before, just usually on the dead.

York was forced into one of the chairs by Carolina, who was unmoving, cold, and solid. Her concern for him might not have been visible to many, Kimball realized as she watched York insist over and over again that he was fine. But Carolina was solid, and insisted on him sitting the fuck down, York. Kimball found herself trying not to smile as York acquised, reluctantly.

“I’m fine,” he insisted, one last time.

“That’s not what Doctor Grey said,” Kimball said. “She said you lost a lot of blood.”

“I’ve got a healing unit! I’m fine!” York said, throwing his hands into the air.

Carolina tilted her head at Kimball, a silent gesture of appreciation for her support. Kimball felt her cheeks warming, and she ducked her head, even though no one could see it.

She saw York tilt his head, curiously.

Dread filled her, a different kind of dread than the kind she’d lived with every day since the war began, that had doubled and tripled since Felix had betrayed her, that had multiplied infinitely since the last few hours, when Felix had gotten his hands on a weapon to end all weapons.

This was different. Smaller. Stranger.

Dread might not even be the right word, she realized, unable to stop turning it over in her head. Apprehension? Anxiety?

York took off his helmet, revealing the now-familiar face. Was there more grey in his hair than there had been? Kimball forced herself to look away, as Carolina placed a hand on the shoulder that had not been shot.

Kimball had not intended for this to happen. They were at war. There was no time for her to fall for two idiot Freelancers, with noble intentions and mistakes and blood on their hands and—

She needed to focus.

“Felix will be heading for the Temple,” Kimball said, drawing her mind away from a gloved hand on an armored shoulder. “He might take backup.”

“Siris is the likely candidate,” York said. “He’ll be the only one who can…” He hesitated.

“What?” Carolina asked.

“Uh, look, I’m not one to really throw stones about co-dependency when Delta lives in my head, but, uh. Felix and Locus, uh… well, let’s just say my glass house has a few holes in it.”

“So Felix will be off his game?” Tex smelled blood in the water.

York shrugged. “Maybe? Or maybe he’ll be redoubling his efforts in order to avenge Locus. Hard to say. Felix is… again, not to damage the glass house, but he’s not… stable.”

“No shit,” Tucker said.

“He’s kind of unpredictable,” York said apologetically. “He takes pride on that. But I do think he’ll want to keep Siris close to him after this.”

“Then we’ll want a small group to head them off there while the rest of us make a run for the Communication Tower,” Kimball said grimly.

“That… sounds like a surprisingly solid plan,” Doyle said, and Kimball tried not to be annoyed that he sounded surprised.

“Carolina and I will go,” Tex said.

“I’m coming too,” York and Washington said in unison.

“Hey Wash,” Tucker said, sounding overly cheerful, with Kai on his side. “Can we talk to you for a minute?”

“Um…”

Before Wash had time to formulate a response to that, Kaikaina and Tucker had swept forward, and propelled him out into the hallway, each of them grabbing one of his arms in a show of shocking precision and coordination.

“So I guess it’ll be the three of us then,” York said cheerfully, and Kimball really wanted to strangle him in that moment. How could one man manage to be so infuriating? If she’d been a younger woman with more free time, this might have been worth a spreadsheet, or at least a list. As it was, she allowed herself to audibly sigh.

“You’re injured, York,” she said, and she couldn’t help how gentle the words came out.

“Hey, I’m fine!” York protested.

“She’s right,” Carolina said, and Kimball couldn’t tell, but she imagined Carolina’s fingers were digging into his uninjured shoulder. She tried not to focus on that, or the strange surge of pleasure that Carolina agreed with her, even if it was about something as objectively true as the fact that York had been shot recently, again.

Kimball was starting to realize why it was, exactly, that Agent York, despite being an infiltration specialist, might have needed a healing unit. He seemed to have the most atrocious luck when it came to obtaining injuries.

He did, however, have a pretty good streak going when it came to surviving them.

“I’m fine!” York said. “I’ve survived worse—”

“Not encouraging,” Tex said dryly.

“Dr. Grey said I was okay—”

“Emphasis on okay, sweetie—”

“Felix might bring additional backup—”

“We have plenty of reds to spare!”

“What? No we don’t! I don’t want to fight Felix!”

“What Simmons said!”

“Traitors! Cowards! Leaving the Freelancers to hog all the glory, even if one of them is a Red? Why you blue-livered—”

“Kimball,” York said, changing tactics. “Please. I’ll be okay.”

She looked at him and felt herself go still.

York’s face was pleading and desperate. His good eye was focused right on her, as if he could see her expression, beneath her own helmet, and she swallowed, because she knew why he was appealing to her.

She was the only one who knew about him and Siris.

“Fine,” she whispered. She shook her head, and then spoke louder. “Very well. But be careful. All three of you. We can’t afford to lose you.”

“Can’t afford to lose the planet either,” Grif muttered. She shot a glare at him.

Tucker, Wash, and Kaikaina re-emerged a moment later.

“Hey,” Tucker said, grinning. “I’ve got an idea.”

“Aaaaand now I’m terrified,” Carolina said, her voice drier than a desert.

Kimball should not find that as attractive as she did.

Tucker took his sword out and turned it on. “Why don’t we even the odds?”

Doyle and Kimball exchanged a look.

Something like hope began to stir inside of Kimball’s chest.

“Okay, so a quick detour first.”

Most of the others went off to arm up, but Carolina stayed behind.

“You shouldn’t let him go,” she said, grabbing Kimball’s arm.

“Agent York is a professional.” Epsilon made a noise that sounded a bit like an incredulous snort. “I give him the courtesy of assuming he knows his limits.”

Carolina shook her head. “This is the second time he’s been injured this week. The healing unit is effective, but even it has limitations.”

“He needs to do this, Carolina.” Kimball says, and winces. She forgot to add the “Agent.” “You should ask him why.”

“… You… already know?”

“He told me,” Kimball said, wincing as she realized she’d probably overstepped somehow. “I asked him, after he got shot by Siris last time.”

“I… see.”

“You really care for him, don’t you?” Kimball asked, unable to stop herself. She pressed a hand against her visor. “I’m sorry, that was inappropriate.”

“You care as well,” Carolina said, and she sounded half-resigned, half-surprised.

“What can I say?” York said, sticking his head into the room. “I have a type. Anyways, we should probably get going Carolina.”

Kimball felt as if she was suddenly, horrifically, rooted to the floor. Did he just… did he just… what did he just say? And if he… he didn’t mean it like… like that? He couldn’t. There was no way he had just implied what she thought he had implied…what she wanted him to be implying…

She shoved that thought to the side to deal with much later and turned to face York instead. “Remember what I said,” she said. “Don’t give him the chance.”

He saluted, jaunty and confident, using his just-injured arm to boot.

“Yes ma’am,” he said.

“I’ll bring him back,” Carolina said quietly.

“Just be sure to bring yourself back too,” Kimball said, and then blushed again. She had never been so grateful for her helmet in a non-life-threatening situation.

How were those two possible?

Tucker and Kai’s grip on Wash’s arms were like steel as they propelled him into the hallway.

“You’re not going,” Tucker said.

“Not without us,” Kai added, looking stubborn as hell.

“I—”

“We’re not being separated again!” Tucker said, and Wash flinched. Tucker’s voice echoed in the hallway.

They hadn’t had time to reunite properly, with everything. They hadn’t been alone, hadn’t had time to talk, hadn’t had time…

For anything.

And now things were ending, spiraling out of control, and Wash had been about to go off on another mission without them…

Time was running out for him to say everything he had to say.

He took off his helmet.

“You’re right,” he said. “We stick together. No matter what.”

Kai immediately tried to kiss him, but she was still wearing her helmet, so Wash had to duck out of the way to avoid a bruise.

“Ha!” Tucker said, pulling off his own helmet, which meant he got to kiss Wash first.

Something soft and giddy unfurled in Wash.

A moment of quiet peace, stolen, in the hallway, as Tucker kissed him, Kai making loud protesting noises as she struggled to get her helmet off.

The world might be ending, but he still had this.

He’d always have this.

As long as they were all alive—and that sounded almost too close to a wedding vow, so Wash shied away from that train of thought, and settled for whispering, “I love you,” against the shadow of Tucker’s jaw.

“We love you too, dumbass,” Tucker said. “Which is why we’re going to kick ass at the Temple of Communication, together.”

“That’s great,” Kai said, “Now let me kiss our boyfriend.”

Tucker laughed, and pulled away, and Kai was pressing in before Wash could so much as think about missing him.

#Steph Writes #The BFF Verse #Time's Running Out #Yorkimbalina #Suckington #Agent Texas #Vanessa Kimball #Agent Washington

14 notes · View notes

carryonmywitingson · 7 years ago

Text

Crash Landing on Chorus

Previous Chapters:

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8

Chapter 9: I Remember

~at the Mother of Invention, some time ago~

Ohio looked herself in the mirror when she'd gotten out of the shower. She looked at the diamond ring hanging from the necklace Felix had giver her. She sighed and shook her head slightly, as if to try and physically shake away the memories of him. After she'd gotten dressed she heard a slight knock on her door. "Come in!" she said as she hid the necklace by putting it inside of her tank-top. The door opened to reveal Washington. "Hi" she said and smiled at him. She was about to go kiss him but stopped when she noticed his facial expression. "What's wrong?" she asked. Washington hesitated. "You're... You're being sent out on a mission. Alone." he said. "So? I've been on many missions before?" she responded. "I know but this is different. What if something...." he took a deep breath. "What if something happened to you? I mean you've got no back up-...." he started but Ohio cut him off. "I'll be fine, okay?" she said and softly kissed him. "Nothing's gonna happen to me. But I appreciate you worrying about me" she said. "Not go. If I am being sent out I need to get ready. I love you" Wash nodded and pecked her cheek. "I love you too. Just be careful" he said before leaving. Ohio smiled to herself before she started putting her armor on.

As Washington waited for Ohio to return he thought he'd talk to the other Freelancers. As he made his way over to the cafeteria he met North and York. "Hey guys!" he said but they just looked at him. "Hey bud...." York said. "Is something wrong?" Washington asked and frowned. North sighed. "Wash come take a walk with us." he said and motioned for Wash to come with him and York. "We we're actually looking for you." York said as they sat down in the cafeteria. "Why were you looking for me?" Wash questioned unsure of why the conversation was so serious. "North you tell him" York said but North shook his head. "No I think you should tell him" North said but Wash was getting inpatient. "Tell me what?" he asked and North sighed. "It's Ohio" he said. "Ohio....?" Wash said "Did something happen? Is she alright?" he said with a slight panic in his voice. "Yesterday she was declared MIA and when Recovery came back they only had her dog-tags. She's now officially declared KIA Wash" North explained. "B-but... how.... S-she promised.... she said that she'd...." Wash said and he could feel the tears running down his face. "They believe the Meta got to her."

~Chorus, present time, small time skip~

"Oh, dude, were you speechless? 'Cause that's a first!" Tucker said to Felix with a smile on his lips. "You...you're dead!" Felix said the anger vibrating through him. He aims his pistol at Tucker but Ohio positions herself between them. "Don't think for a moment that I won't shoot you" Felix said and Ohio stood up. "Go ahead" she said as the targeting lazer of Carolina's Binary rifle appeared on his head. "I wouldn't if I were you" Carolina said, Felix turned around and puts up his light shield. "Ugh...you know those sticky grenades kick like a mule! But I hear these newfangled laser blasters are quite lethal!" Sarge said with a laugh. Locus uncloaks and appears between Felix and Ohio. " The mission is a failure. Protocol states we are to report to Control immediately." Locus said to Felix. "They're injured! We can kill them, now!" Felix angrily responded. " No! We follow orders." Locus said and looked around at the others as he pulled out a teleportation grenade. "Let me assure you all: This is not over!" he stated as he threw the grenade at the ground and they disappeared in a flash of light. Tucker now collapsed from his wound and Dr. Grey rushed to his side. As the rest of the reds and blues cheer on their victory Washington looks around. "Wait. Where's Ohio?!" He yelled. "She must have gotten caught in the teleportation grenade and gone with Felix and Locus" Epsilon stated. "We have to get her back!" he told the others. "First we need to get Tucker stable!" Dr. Grey shouted at him. "He's loosing a lot of blood!"

As soon as Ohio realized she'd been teleported with the mercenaries Ohio drew her pistol and aimed it at Felix. Locus turned invisible and tried sneaking up behind her but Rho appeared and warned her. She turned around and fired a shot in the hopes of hitting him. She fired another and hit him in the shoulder. She ran up to him and kicked him in the face, sending him flying across the room. Ohio aimed her pistol at Felix's head. "You're not gonna shoot me Naomi" he said as he slowly walked towards her. "You don't know me anymore." she said. "I know you better than you think. I know you better than he ever could" Felix said referring to Washington. Ohio adjusted her grip on the pistol as he got closer. "Prove me wrong" Felix said as he grabbed the gun and pressed it against his visor. They stood like that for almost a minute before Felix spoke up. "Didn't think so" he said and that made Ohio throw her gun and start punching him in frustration. Felix started backing of and blocking. He caught her hand mid punch and looked at her. "You've still got the same fire" he said before pushing her back making her fall over and loose her helmet. She quickly stood up and assumed a fighting stance. "I'm not gonna fight you" Felix said and Ohio moved closer to him. "Yes you are. C'mon? What's the matter?" she asked while shoving him slightly in the chest. Felix just looked at her. "You're still wearing the necklace, aren't you?" he said. That made Ohio stop, she could almost feel the chain around her neck becoming heavier. It was almost as if it was burning itself into her skin. "Did you throw away the ring?" he asked, taking her silence as an answer. He took his helmet off and dropped it on the ground as he walked closer to her. He saw the think silver chain sticking up above her collar. His face was so close to hers at that moment, close enough to kiss. He reached for the chain and pulled it up to see the ring hanging there just beside the diamond that adorned the chain. "I told you.... I know you better than anyone" Felix said. "And when this is all over we can go back. A new place... A new restaurant... Maybe we'll get that kid we once talked about..." he continued and Ohio could feel a mix of emotions as well as the tears that were forming in her eyes. "Help us... It'll be just like old times... Naomi and Felix...." he hesitated "Talia and Isaac.... C'mon... You still have the ring that must mean something, right? Help us finish this and everything will be just like it was before, better even" he said and put his hand on her cheek. "Please love.... I don't wanna loose you again" and that's when Ohio started getting angry. "Loose me again? You left me!" she yelled in his face as she pushed him away. "I didn't have a choice baby..." Felix said. "Didn't have a choice?! You always have a choice! Why did you leave, huh?! Why? Tell me, what made it so easy to leave after everything we'd been through? WE WERE GETTING MARRIED! And you just left a note on the counter-top! Nothing you say can change that! You just up and left, no explanation, nothing! So don't pretend you ever loved me! Or that you ever cared!" She yelled and punched him in the face as hard as she could. Felix spat blood on the floor and started getting angry too. "D'you think I wanted to leave you? I. Didn't. Have. A. Choice!" he said and shoved her. "I never wanted to hurt you. I loved you! Heck I still love you!But it was the only way I could save you!" he yelled as he grabbed her by the shoulders. She looked him in the eyes. "Save me...?" she asked quietly, not knowing what to say. Felix looked down and let go of her. He took a deep breath and told her everything that happened after she'd left that day. Before Ohio could respond Locus had become conscious again and walked up behind her. He threw her to the ground, knocking her out cold. "What was that good for?!" Felix yelled at his companion. "We have a job to do and I cannot let her distract you" Locus responded. "If you hadn't done that she might have switched to our side!" he yelled at him. "Do you really think she'll leave her friends? Do you really think she'll leave her lover for someone who left her? Lied to her? Do you really think that she's forgiven you?" Locus asked and Felix was left speechless. "Tie her up. We need to talk to command"

#rvb #rvb felix #rvb wash #rvb washington #rvb fanfic #fanfic #red vs blue #felix x oc x washington

1 note · View note

illumynare · 7 years ago

Text

Red vs Blue Fic: I'll Tell You My Sins and You Can Sharpen Your Knife (1/4)

Summary: Locus understands why Kimball would want to keep him alive long enough to testify at Hargrove's trial.

He doesn't understand why the Reds and Blues would volunteer to protect him.

Parings: None. Warnings: Canon-typical language, tons of drippy angst.

Notes: Also available on AO3!

When Locus takes Agent Washington to Chorus for medical treatment, he knows what it means. Agent Washington will live. And Locus will be executed for his crimes.

He had hoped for more time to make things right. But it’s an acceptable trade.

Instead, they put him into solitary confinement.

As the days wear on, Locus starts to lose track of time. He's always hated chatter, but now the silence presses down on him like a weight, crushing him into a daze.

This, too, is acceptable. If they leave him here to hate himself alone forever, that is still better than he deserves.

When the armored soldier breaks into his cell to kill him, Locus would accept that too. But he recognizes the standard-issue Charon equipment. He fights for his life, because there are too many people who deserve to kill him first.

He lives.

Two days later, Kimball hands him over to the Reds and Blues.

"Yeah, apparently Charon really wants you dead before you can testify, and we were all kinda getting tired of giving interviews anyway, so we volunteered to go hide you somewhere until the trial, and this is gonna be awesome," says Grif. He's jiggling a little, bouncing on his feet.

Locus stares at him, feeling dazed. He doesn't think he's been in solitary confinement for more than two weeks, but he feel like he's already forgotten how to speak to another person.

"Agent Washington," he says. "What is his condition?"

He'd been stable two weeks ago, Locus had gotten that much out of Kimball during his interrogation. But he hadn't heard any more since.

As soon as he asks the question, though, he knows the answer: Agent Washington is all right.

If Locus had failed to save him, the Reds and Blues would not be helping keep him alive now.

"He's doing great! Grey is releasing him, so he's coming with us. We found this great abandoned colony to hide out on."

"Ah," says Locus, but he doesn't understand.

It makes sense to keep him alive for Hargrove's trial: he could give testify to a great many of Charon's crimes. But surely the Reds and Blues know that by hiding with him, they're putting themselves in danger. After all they have been through, they don't deserve that extra burden.

But he doesn't protest as he follows Grif out of the cell.

He has no right to protest anything they do with him now..

Outside, there's a row of guards waiting, and also a soldier in teal armor, the hilt of a Sangheili sword hanging at his hip.

Lavernius Tucker.

"Yeah, I still don't like this," says Tucker.

"Sucks to be you," says Grif. "We're doing this."

"Hmph," says Tucker, and then draws his sword. The shimmering blade hums into being, and Tucker levels it at Locus's throat.

Locus doesn't move. He's confident that Tucker isn't about to kill him. If he's going to make some sort of demonstration—well—he deserves it.

"Listen," says Tucker. "I don't care if you knife Red Team in their beds, but if you hurt Wash or Caboose, I will cut you."

Locus stares at him. "I'm not going to kill you," he says stiffly, even though he knows it doesn't make a difference.

Nobody should ever trust him again.

"What about Carolina?" asks Grif.

Tucker shrugs. "Eh, if he tries to hurt Carolina, she'll kill him 200% dead. Blue Team is awesome that way."

"You mean like how you got 200% of the women on Chorus pregnant?"

"Okay, seriously? Give that a rest."

Tucker is not the only one who threatens him in the first few days. So does Agent Carolina ("I want you to get a trial, not a bullet. But we're watching you.") and Sarge ("I hope you know that if you turn against us, there will be red, bloody vengeance! Unless you kill Grif. Then you'll get a medal.")

That's only fair. If Locus had a team, if he still had somebody who trusted him—

"We're partners. Survivors. We need each other."

—he would do the same.

He's a little surprised that Agent Washington does not threaten him the same way. Perhaps it's because of how they meet (again): Agent Washington propped up in his seat on the spaceship, bandages around his throat.

"Hey, big guy," he says, and Tucker flicks a finger at his head.

"That's Locus, remember?"

"Right," says Agent Washington, and gives Locus a slow, wide grin that is—

innocent, affectionate, NOT FOR HIM

—delirious.

"He's still on pain medication," says Agent Carolina, and shoves Locus into his seat.

Agent Washington is quieter in the days after. Looks at Locus with more suspicion, as he deserves. But he never threatens him.

Locus . . . is not sure what to make of that.

He doesn't know what to make of anything, now. He expected that the Reds and Blues would confine him to a single room. Perhaps, if they were feeling kind, they would let him out to see the sun once a week.

Instead, they give him free run of their base all the time. They give him back his sword and his sniper rifle. They still watch him, and none of them but Caboose or Grif show him any affection—it's the only reason he can believe this isn't just a hallucination in his solitary cell—but they don't treat him as he deserves.

The days fall into a quiet pattern. Locus wakes up at 5:00 a.m. Practices with his sword or sniper rifle until 6:00. Attempts to meditate the way the Sangheili taught him until 7:00.

At 8:00, he wonders why he's there.

There was one time he tried to ask Grif, but he had just started rambling about how it was one of life's great mysteries.

Locus is not foolish enough to imagine that they are treating him so kindly because they have forgiven him, that they are trying to rehabilitate him. His crimes were monstrous, and there is no coming back from them.

No. He's alive only because he is useful. If the Reds and Blues are treating him kindly, it's only because they think it will make him obedient. That's the only thing that makes sense.

So why haven't they given him any orders yet?

He wishes that whatever his mission, they would hurry up and give it to him. It is not pleasant, living with the Reds and Blues. Except for the two Freelancers, they are all completely unprofessional. Loud, annoying, and stupid.

And more than that, they . . .

"Aww, c'mon," Tucker whines, "we haven't watched Reservoir Dogs in like a year."

"Two months," says Agent Carolina. She's leaning back into the couch, Agent Washington cuddled against her left side, Donut sitting on her right and painting her nails. "We watched it the night before Dylan Andrews turned up."

Agent Washington clears his throat. "When we were locked in our armor—"

"Oh my GOD give that a rest already," says Grif. He's sitting at the table next to Simmons, a hand on his shoulder while Sarge adjusts something in the cybernetics of his arm. "I was stuck here alone with nobody to talk to but volleyballs, and do I ever bring that up?"

"Just all the fucking time, asshole," Simmons mutters.

"So, Reservoir Dogs?" says Tucker.

"Don't you have like five hundred kids you should be spending time with instead?" Grif says peevishly.

"Dude, I have fifteen. And we're in witness protection, remember? But Marisol just started crawling, do you want to see videos?"

"Oh, no," Agent Washington mutters as Tucker pulls out a tablet. But despite his words, the way he looks at Tucker is—

the way he only looked at Locus while he was drugged

—fond.

And Locus, standing in the corner of the room with his active camo running, feels suddenly. Very. He's not even sure what he's feeling.

He just knows that he never felt it around Felix, Felix whom he seldom liked but who was always ready to remind him that they were partners, they were the same, survivors and weapons and relics of the Great War together.

Locus doesn't belong here, in this room, among these people.

"Well, I think that Locus should pick the movie," says Caboose, suddenly looking straight at Locus, right through the camo. "I mean he has been waiting invisibly in the corner for a long time."

Locus flees.

More and more, he thinks about Felix. There are too many things about the Reds and Blues that remind him: the way that Tucker swaggers sometimes. The way that Donut can't resist pushing people's buttons until they scream. The way Agent Carolina grins when she takes down Agent Washington in a sparring match.

Too many things that remind him of Felix, and yet it's painfully clear how different these soldiers are than his "partner." How much better.

Locus can't stop thinking about what the alien AI said to him at the Communications Temple: You were broken by war. It was his goal to see you never healed.

He can't stop remembering what Felix had said to him, again and again, from the very beginning: that broken fucking brain of yours.

He should have known. He should have seen. Locus has understood too much since Felix died, and here with the Reds and Blues, he starts to understand more. Every time Felix slapped him on the shoulder, leaned against him as they sat waiting—

There were even a few times, and Locus cringes to remember them now, when Felix muttered, Wow, you are fucked up tonight, and worked his fingers into the tense muscles in Locus's neck, or ran them soothingly through his hair.

Locus remembers how he relaxed, how he was grateful, and he wants to tear himself apart. He sees the way that Tucker sometimes gives head massages to Agent Washington, while Agent Washington hums in gratitude, and he feels like he's going to vomit.

Because he knows now: it was never friendship that Felix showed him. It was only the coaxing techniques of a wild animal trainer.

Ignorant creature. Your partner is afraid of you.

And yet sometimes, he regrets.

Sometimes—when he sees the others laughing together and knows they will stop if he approaches—he wishes that Felix were still alive. Because Felix, at least, was willing to dirty his hands with Locus. Willing to pretend they were fellow-travelers.

And then one night, as he's tossing in his bed, trying to sleep and not remember—

"Hey, partner."

The cold edge of a knife presses on his throat.

Instinct keeps Locus perfectly still as his eyes snap open. Even in the dim light, he can clearly see the face leaning over his—those eyes, that smile—

Felix.

"Impossible," Locus whispers, but the protest is weak. Because this is Felix, but not the one he remembers—the one he sometimes dreams about. This is a thinner, paler Felix, with a network of scars across his face worse than Donut's.

This isn't a dream.

"Aww, c'mon, you can admit that you missed me," says Felix.

"You died," says Locus. The hilt of the alien sword is under his pillow—no good to him now, when Felix could cut his throat in a heartbeat, but still proof of what happened at the Temple.

"Fun fact about aliens: they like to fuck with death. So now I'm here to fuck with you and your little friends."

Felix reaches under his pillow and pulls out the sword. It flickers to life in his grasp, and Locus realizes suddenly that he hasn't used the sword in . . . at least a week. More than enough time for Felix to come back to life, to reclaim what's rightfully his.

"Playtime's over, Locus," says Felix, smirking down at him as he holds the point of the sword to his throat.

It's not possible. And yet, as Locus stares up at Felix, heart pounding, he remembers some of the legends he heard from the Sangheili who taught him to use the sword. They spoke of stranger things than this.

"I won't let you hurt them," he says, but Felix just laughs.

"Wow. I mean, I always knew you were crazy, but trying to threaten me when I've got a fucking alien sword at your throat?"

Locus can't help flinching at the word crazy. In all their time together, no matter how bad things got, Felix had never said that word.

"Ooh, sorry, didn't mean to trigger you," says Felix. "But actually, I'm here to make you an offer. I think you've already figured out how much you don't belong with these losers."

"They're not—" Locus starts, and then falls silent. Felix smirks at him.

They both know what Locus didn't deny: that he doesn't belong with them.

"Yeah. I'll be back soon." Felix pulls the sword away from Locus's throat. "Not too late to be on the right side, partner."

And then he's gone, vanished into the shadows.

For a moment, Locus can't move. He's still paralyzed by the memory of Felix's voice—he can't be here, he CAN'T BE HERE—and the crushing weight of his words, you don't belong.

Then he gets up. Staggers to the door.

He has to warn the others.

They're all in the rec room, sleeping together in a pile on the couch. At any other time, the sight would put a hollow, lonely feeling in Locus's gut. Now all he can think is how fragile they are, how unprepared—

"Wake up," he says. "Felix is here."

"Whuzzat?" says Agent Washington, as Tucker says, "The fuck?" and Agent Carolina comes awake with a quiet, "What is it?"

"Felix is here," Locus repeats. "He's got my sword." Speaking the words make his chest hurt—he doesn't want to do this—but they deserve a warning. He can't let Felix hurt them again.

"Is he speaking . . . Sangheili?" asks Grif, staring at Locus with a puzzled expression.

"Stop talking nonsense," says Locus. "You have to get up and find Felix now."

"No, it's not Sangheili," says Tucker, looking at him. "Just some kinda . . . gibberish."

Agent Washington looks Locus up and down. "Maybe he's gone crazy," he says.

"Yeah, not too surprising," says Tucker.

"Listen to me," says Locus. "Felix is—"

The crushing weight of somebody in full power armor slams him to the ground. Locus gasps for breath, as an armored hand hooks around his throat—

"Got him," says Agent Carolina, grim satisfaction in her voice.

"Wait," says Locus. "You have to listen. Felix is in this base."

"Huh, he won't shut up," says Agent Washington. He's gotten up now, and is peering down at Locus.

Tucker draws his sword, and the blade shimmers into being. "Kimball said to kill him if he gave us trouble."

"Please," Locus begs, sick with dread. This is worse than the vision he had in the temple, because that was only a memory, and this is real. They're in danger. "You have to understand me—"

The shimmering blue tip of a Sangheili blade pokes out through Tucker's chest.

No, thinks Locus, unable to breathe. He struggles against Agent Carolina's grip, but he can't break free.

Tucker chokes and spasms.

Then he falls.

"TUCKER!" Agent Washington yells, lunging for him.

"Hey, thanks for the distraction," Felix purrs from the shadows.

No, Locus thinks, but Felix moves too fast for any of them. He cuts down Grif, Caboose, Agent Carolina. He swings his sword and Agent Washington falls, choking on his own blood.

"Fuck you—monster—" Agent Washington manages to say, as blood gushes from his throat.

Then he's still.

Locus can't move. He hears Felix slaughtering the rest, but all he can do is stare into Agent Washington's dead eyes.

He hadn't said those final words to Felix. He'd been glaring at Locus as he died.

And he was right.

Locus is a monster. He will never be anything else.

"Seriously," says Felix, crouching down beside him, "I couldn't have done it without you, partner." He lays a hand on Locus's shoulder, the same way he did at the Temple of the Purge, when he said partner and Locus chose again to be a—

monster monster WHO ARE YOU caught us a monster captain

—and he wakes.

Locus doesn't realize, at first, that he's awake. That he was sleeping. He can feel his back pressed into the wall, he's vaguely aware of somebody else in the room, but his mind is too full of blood and death and Felix's smug satisfaction. He's gasping and shuddering and wanting to die, and when somebody grabs his shoulders, he struggles without thinking.

Then he realizes it's Agent Washington.

He's alive and unhurt and it was all a dream.

Locus realizes, suddenly, that his throat is sore. He's been screaming. He probably woke the whole base, and they don't deserve that, he shouldn't make them listen to his broken fucking brain—

"Hey," says Agent Washington. "Are you, uh, okay?"

He sounds uncomfortable, but he's not moving. He still has his fingers pressed against Locus's shoulders.

And suddenly, painfully, Locus remembers a night when he woke screaming with memories of the Great War, and Felix was there, Felix pressed fingers into the base of his neck and said, Are you fucking done yet? You know the war's over, right?

Felix.

He knows that he's shaking, he's vaguely aware of Tucker and Agent Washington talking over his head, and their voices sound concerned but the only thing that matters is. Is.

Ignorant creature.

"Okay, uh . . . breathe?" says Tucker, right in his ear. "That would probably be good. And don't rip Wash's arm off. 'Cause then I'd have to kill you."

Locus breathes and he bites his tongue until he bleeds and he understands.

Because Agent Washington is still touching him. Has a hand against the side of his neck.

And Locus knows what this means, the pressure against his skin, the kindness when he wakes. There's only one reason that anyone has ever treated him this way.

To make him obedient.

The Reds and Blues took him into their care because they wanted a monster to serve them.

Locus doesn't know why. He doesn't know how they're planning use him. But as he leans into Wash's touch—the first person who ever touched him without armor since Felix—

He knows it's no use wondering.

He tried to be a person, to make choices and a create a code for himself. All he did was get Agent Washington nearly killed. So now?

It doesn't matter what they want him to do, what kind of monster they want him to be. He has no more strength left to resist them.

He'll do whatever they want.

He'll be whatever monster they need.

#rvb #rvb fic #samuel ortez #rvb locus #red vs blue #my fic #my fic: i'll tell you my sins

57 notes · View notes

vehlika-pelican · 7 years ago

Text

WARNING FOR LONG POST!

I really want Tucker to be friends with Thel'Vadam and Rtas'Vadum.

But I think it’d be really fun if Thel saw the Project Freelancer Faux-Spartan armor as a hereditary thing. My headcannon is that Sangheili design their armor after their clan or family and blue team unwittingly followed this tradition when making Junior’s armor with Tucker (and Doc’s) paint/scrap so as far as the Arbiter knows Tucker is the immediate family of a spartan or a spartan-in-training and has continued the family-armor-aesthetic with his own sangheili son.

Anyway, Thel knows that Spartans are rare and few in number so Tucker must be part of this prized warrior pedigree if he’s wearing the unmistakably Spartan armor, right? But who’s kin could he be? Those that Thel knows are either old or part of the newer generations, but in the Sangheili tradition armor color is important to denote bloodlines with more respected family members in darker, richer colors and younger ones in lighter, brighter colors. Tucker is bright as fuck blue-ish green! And he’s in solid color, no accents or anything so maybe Tucker’s only interested in claiming relation to his green family. Who is the only Spartan who wears dark green armor without accents? Who is old enough to possibly be an uncle if not his father?

Master Chief. John-117. SIERRA MIST OF DEATH HIMSELF. And Thel has stated in canon that Chief is his friend and ally. So when Tucker shows up on Sangheilios to be an ambassador and learn about his son’s people Thel just speculates that this Little Spartan (Tucker’s 5'10" in my headcannon which is short for a Spartan as Chief is canonically 6'7"-6'8" out of armor) is related to his friend in some way and should be treated well. But he mentions it in passing to Rtas'Vadum and maybe some others and it turns out the Sangheili are lousy gossips! If it isn’t classified it’s fair game.

And then Tucker’s being avoided/catered to because Old Ones help them if the Demon finds out his kin has been mistreated while visiting their planet. Peace with the humans is a fragile thing!

Tucker didn’t even want to be an ambassador! He just wanted to learn the language and culture for his son because he’s trying to be a good dad. The rumor took off though, and now the Demon’s kin is here- Little Demon and Little Demon the Second Coming of Lavernius! And then the warriors all want Junior to like their clans so when he’s older he petitions for membership because who DOESN’T want the infamous Demon’s bloodline to merge with theirs?! So Junior gets an army of friends his age as the adults push their offspring into potentially beneficial bonds but its okay because the kids are actually nice and Junior’s cool and his dad’s sword is cool and he knows the Arbiter and Rtas and the Swords of Sangheilios and he’s got the best stories about silly warrior humans.

When the UNSC gets word, oh hey we can totally use this to better interspecies relations! Wham bam thank you Ambassador Tucker. Which only adds to the problem as he has Rank and Title so if he is the Demon’s kin well now he’s coming into his own! The human Master Chief and the Arbiter are friends so of course the Demon would entrust his family with securing the peace.

Thel learns the truth from Tucker who is tired of this wishy-washy too-in-my-face and then not-helping-me-at-all behavior the sangheili keep switching between due to respect and fear for a man who Tucker doesn’t know and isn’t even related to. But it’s gotten out of hand so they need Tucker to just go with it.

As an apology, Thel helps him learn the language and how to use his key-sword while teaching him the history about the ancient Sangheili. Rtas shows up one day while they’re training and no Arbiter the bet way to kill a Brute in tight quarters is like THIS- and soon enough the Swords of Sangeilios, warriors hand-picked by the Arbiter, are putting Tucker through his paces. BAMF!Competent!Tucker is best Tucker.

Then they learn that the Covenant is investigating a temple in the desert supposedly built by the ancients which means Tucker’s sword can probably access it so then send him and a mixed squad of humans and sangheili. They die getting Tucker into the Temple to protect it and he manages to call the nearest Red base where Donut is so he joins him and later goes looking for help and we all know the rest.

On the Hand of Merope Tucker calls Rtas to catch him up but also inform the sangheili embassy of his impending arrival but holy shit the ship crashed. Later on Chorus, Rtas personally comes looking for Tucker only to find out his mentee/annoying friend has been stabbed and betrayed but uncovered a conspiracy and who else but the Demon’s kin would be put through such a trial (maybe he knows the truth but still likes to tease Tucker about it) and come out alive. Tucker regains consciousness enough to ask for the Sword’s help in liberating Chorus and of course the sangheili leap at the opportunity.The beam that’s been pulling down ships doesn’t target sangheili-built ships so Rtas and his men bypass it repeatedly in order to bring in troops and weapons and food. Damn this’ll look good for interspecies relations! and they’ll reclaim ancient sangheili ruins as well so win-win. Rtas struggles to speak english due to his severed mandibles so Tucker’s practically glued to his side translating sangheili like a pro. But then the warriors see that Tucker’s got a bunch of adolescent humans wearing his color on their armor so the Little Demon has been protecting the clan younglings and thats why he not yet returned! And of course this means that Tucker’s team must all be related to the Demon too, and more sangheili come and eventually there’s so many that individual members of Tucker’s “family” have eight foot tall alien guards following them around (mostly protecting them from Jensen’s driving). If Palomo thought Tucker was cool before you need a new word for the kind of admiration he feels for the captain now.

Carolina doesn’t like the Elites and certainly doesn’t trust them but haha, the only adult human female in Tucker’s colors must be his mate or kin and they say that she has nothing to worry about they’ll protect her hatchlings with their lives and they mean it to appease her but it just makes her angry and she chases Tucker down because she thinks he’s spreading rumors about them being together. He’s not because he likes his blood to stay inside of his body and has to spend a whole week explaining sangheili armor color family relations. She doesn’t end up hating it all that much because being mistaken for Tucker’s family/wife means that the sangheili obey her commands second only to Rtas, like Tucker. She does hate being called ‘brood-mother’ and the constant updates on the state of her and Tucker’s “hatchlings”- and does she approve of Palomo’s intended female from the red clans?- but the sangheili presence means that the army is running like a proper military outfit so she tolerates it. (she does like that the closest english translation of “brood-mother” is “Matriarch” so the english speaking aliens call her Matriarch Carolina). Epsilon fears she will go mad with power. The sangheili think Tucker has good instincts choosing the strongest, smartest, deadliest female for his mate and by the Old Ones she must be fertile for Tucker’s brood is plentiful and strong. And if the younglings are weak it is only because Matriarch Carolina is so strong her offspring can afford to be weak. What a luxury. And if they try to sell her up to Kimball because they can smell the mutual interest and think she’s just nervous and needs the help- which she doesnt but okay- then they are more than happy in securing the Demon clan another powerful female.

With the sangheili there in force, the army finds the second key-sword which is supposed to go to Wash because he has knife/blade experience but Palomo grabs it on accident and oh it must be a sign that the best of Tucker’s brood is a holder of the key! Rtas laughs in Tucker’s face. But this gets some of them to try and wing-man Palomo to Jensen because he’s Meant for Greatness and aaaahhhhhh its adorable. Eight foot saurian aliens delivering flowers (and fresh-meat) to Red Team Patriarch Colonel Sarge (its difficult to tell the different red shades apart and Simmons isn’t exactly authoritive) for Jensen, and listening to Palomo’s bad poetry and giving advice like you should emphasize her strong legs and uniquely dappled skin and her metal fangs! (she’s faster than him, freckles, and braces respectively). They especially like her metal fangs- maybe their hatchlings will get them!

The army chases Charon forces off planet and we get the epic sword fight between Tucker and Felix that we deserved, and the Swords of Sangheilios put the fear of god in Locus for daring challenge Matriarch Carolina. When Hargrove arrives the Swords and RedsandBlues fight his Mantis mechs and storm the Staff of Charon and Tucker doesn’t need a fancy suit in order to be awesome. They arrest him and finally lay ALL of Project Freelancer’s loose ends to rest.

Tucker takes Blue Team and Palomo to sangheilios and reunites with Junior and Junior tells him about teaching his friends how to play basketball and is it true you’re a hero dad? and its great.

BAMF!Competent!GoodDad!Tucker for the all the money.

uuhh cant you tell this got away from me? i love tuckington but i think i would make this gen.

#rvb #lavernius tucker #vehl's headcannons #thel'vadam #rtas'vadum #halo

188 notes · View notes

bizarrebird · 7 years ago

Note

For the ship thing: Grimmons, please? And/or elaboration on the luckinglina thing you mentioned earlier? :D

Send me ships and I'll tell you my opinion

Oh man, I’m so weak for Grimmons okay. I don’t write a whole lot of if cause I’m so worried about not getting their banter right, but they’re my first rvb otp and I love them so, so much. Like, they’re so that couple that was just instantly ‘old married couple’ phase, skipped right past the honeymoon stage and the awkward middle bits

They just fit together so well, and the back and forth is so natural, and it’s obvious how much they need each other. There’s something about the way they play off each other that just gets me. They definitely have the sort of ‘only I get to say that shit’ vibe with a lot of their arguments

I just love love love ships where they’re friends that just sort of fell into something more. Because that’s the biggest thing about Grif and Simmons, they’re friends first before anything else and that’s so, so important. They just get and need each other in a way no one else does and that fucking gets me

As for luckinglina, I’ve said recently that my step one for improving a ship is to add Tucker, and my step two is adding Carolina. And I will stick by that

Like, I totally get the appeal of locington, it’s a great ship, but I can’t really get into it without throwing Tucker in the mix too. He’s my ship glue. Locus and Wash need someone with slightly more emotional stability to help them get their shit together. And both of them would totally love him unconditionally once they work things out and I love it so much

Adding Carolina works in super well too, because she’s been through a lot of shit, but she also has a bit more confidence than I feel like Wash or Locus have, and honestly, Carolina needs as many people loving her and worshiping the ground she walks on as possible, okay? She is a queen and she deserves all the love and respect

And yeah, respect is honestly a huge driving thing there with that ot4, cause they all just??? respect each other??? so much??? Like Wash and Locus and Carolina are all awesome badasses who Tucker looks up to way, way, way more than he would ever admit. And then Wash looks to Locus and sees what he could’ve become but also has respect for the way he’s starting to turn himself around more recently, and there’s just the never ending admiration for Carolina that’s only grown since Freelancer, and with Tucker, he sees someone who’s improving and doing his best despite starting from the bottom and managing to come so fucking far and still have so much more he can do

Carolina having her boys there to have her back and to pick her up when she needs help is so good. I’m just so about ships where they help each other heal and luckinglina has so, so much potential for that. They’ve all got little broken bits they don’t know how to fix, but the others have been there, they’ve all seen so much shit and lived through hell and come out still kicking

And I love ships with super badass characters who have someone they can be soft around, which is where Tucker comes in. He’s the one that helps all of them relax, that gives the casual affection they need and have forgotten how to ask for, and in return, they’ll protect him to the end of the universe, but more than that, they’ll teach him how to protect and better himself

This is getting really, really long, but there you go!

tldr: both ships are great, I love super married grimmons and learning to love and heal luckinglina

#grimmons #luckinglina #diana hush #ask meme response #sroloc elbisivni

10 notes · View notes

riathedreamer · 7 years ago

Text

Thoughts on Grif’s development

Lot of text filled with spoilers and Grif love below

Okay, time to do this. I have been mentally screaming this entire season, it’s time to write my thoughts down. Please note that this analysis does contain spoilers for episode 21.

First of all; I am super happy and thankful that Grif got development this season. Seeing that the Red Team characters often are left with the goofy side of the show, I did not expect him to be taken this seriously. Which is why episode 6 blew me away.

We have Dylan literally being the echo of what Grif fans have been shouting for years. Grif is loyal, Grif keeps fighting, Grif cares.

And then… Grif stood up for himself. Looking back at Joe’s Brick Gulch episode in season 14, maybe we should have seen it coming, with this Grif quote from last year’s season: “No! You listen to me! I have been dragged along I don’t know how many adventures and no one has ever asked what Grif wants!”

Well, Grif certainly made clear what he wanted in season 15.

And of course things go to shit for the rest of the team, some of which I do blame on the lack of Grif being there to shout “bullshit!” because I firmly believe he would have called the Blues and Reds sketchy from the beginning. But there is a line from Simmons I find very important and that I will return to later in this too long analysis: “I was so mad at him for so long but now I don’t know, I mostly feel… regret?”

Then came episode 15. I honestly did not see that coming. Locus aside, let’s focus on Grif and the volleyballs.

So what did that episode confirm? Grif cares. A lot. To the point where my heart broke. Like Simmons, Grif has his regrets.

Was Grif right about his choice to stay behind? There is no way to deny the fact that Grif hurt his friends (Simmons most of all, and that scene with Simmons staring after Grif in episode 5 will forever haunt my heart), and that was probably his intention. What I would like to point out is that Grif actually had every right to stay behind and that his reasons are, well, reasonable. Grif does not want to be a soldier. He never wanted to. He was drafted. He makes it clear to Dylan that: “I don’t wanna get shot at. I don’t want to shoot at other people.”

And while I of course cheered for Grif to go save his friends and while that of course happened, I can’t help but find it a bit sad that Grif does throw himself into gunfire again – not because he has changed his mind on being a soldier, but because he is ready to make personal sacrifices for his team. And Grif’s sacrifices are something else I will return to.

Could Grif have been persuaded to come along? Yes.

Grif actually shows exactly what they would have needed to do in episode 18 when the mirror scene takes place – Tucker walks off… and Grif goes after him. Grif does not call Tucker selfish. He lets him know that he is needed on their team.

Please understand that I don’t hate Tucker (despite the fact that I am a proud Red – and please remember to suck it, blues!) but, oh my god, I am bitter about his selfish comment. Because of all things to call Grif (and he has been called a lot in the past!) that was just so wrong. Anyone who knows of Grif’s past would never call him selfish. Grif spends the rest of this season to prove that he is not selfish to the point where he almost dies because of it. That selfish comment affected him so much I truly thought it would be brought up again. Look, I know the Reds and Blues are assholes and we love them for it, and I did not bring my hopes up for an actual apology. But maybe just someone pointing out the fact that the comment was wrong and that Grif is not selfish?!

Okay, back to Grif and the volleyballs in episode 15. Grif cares, and I am so thankful for this season to make that clear, but that episode also made it painfully clear what is going on inside Grif’s mind. His volleyballs hate him. They taunt him, they mock him, they insult him, and man was that a painful reminder of how Grif was treated back in Blood Gulch. I could scream about the volleyball scene for hours but I’ll make it short: Grif is entirely convinced that the others hate him, and on the same time the volleyballs’ comments also serve as Grif’s thoughts on himself and proves that Grif has a horrible low self-esteem. Simmons punches mirrors, Grif creates replacement “friends” that can bully him after the others leave. Red Team issues. It’s painful.

(I also feel like pointing out Joe’s amazing detail about the moon being clean once we see Grif again in episode 15. I had hoped the season would end with them all returning to the moon, just so I could see Simmons’ reactions as he realized that Grif did in fact clean the entire place on his own.)

Okay, so the season made it perfectly clear; Grif cares so much about his friends, he believes they hate him, and so he also ends up hating himself.

And I thought: “Alright, so the season is probably going to end with the others appreciating Grif!”

…and then came the term “hate glue”.

…

*groans of despair*

The development ended with Grif calling himself hate glue. I am literally slamming my head against my table as I write this.

It saddens me to see this is how Grif sees the end of his journey. That he accepts his role is to be hated. And that is he is fine with this. With his isolation on the moon, it almost feels like Grif got taught the lesson that having friends that hate you is better than not having friends at all. Which makes me sad since we as the viewers know the others care.

So, Simmons, c’mon, could you please have said something when Grif called himself the hate glue?

Don’t get me wrong: I approve of this development. I approve of the hate glue comment. Feed me the angst. Let me see Grif’s crushed self-esteem. But please do not let it end here.

When Simmons decided not to argue against the hate glue comment, I figured Grif was going to get hurt. Why? Because Red Team has a habit of showing they care about Grif when he gets hurt (examples being the tank accident and the cliff scene).

Then Wash got a bullet in the neck and at this point I just did not know how the Grif development would turn out. I loved the scene with Grif staring down Temple. It really shows the fact that Grif has been willing to jump head-first into danger, being the first to volunteer for missions, ever since returning. He wants to prove himself. Brave, loyal, orange hero.

So here is what keeps me up at night: Grif does not get the appreciation from the others. There are a few moments, especially between him and Simmons, but also between him and Sarge – the “good to see you” comment truly surprised me. But nothing as big as I expected. The first thing Grif did when seeing the others was to apologize. When Temple leaves and the group is alone, one of the first lines directed at Grif is a complaint about his rescue.

The others missed Grif. We know this. Simmons said he had regrets. He did not say those out loud to Grif. He did not argue against the hate glue comment. I was eagerly waiting for just someone to say Grif he did a good job when he dodged the missiles, saved their lives, made himself high to take out half of the soldiers, tackled Temple… I just wanted one little “good job, Grif” because Grif needs what little praise he can get.

I have been screaming “someone, hug Grif!” since episode 15, and I find it almost ironic that it is Kai who appears in the end to give Grif a much needed hug. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the Grif sibs hug, but I had hoped for a moment between Grif and his team.

I am happy and thankful for all this development. I was happy to see Grif leave, happy to see him lose his mind, happy to see him converse with volleyballs, happy to see him rush into danger to save his friends, happy to see him call himself hate glue, I was so happy to see him staring down Temple without giving a shit about the gun pointed to his forehead.

I just wanted Grif to get something back. I waited for someone to tell they missed him, to thank him for the rescue, to say he did a great job, to tell him they need him on the team. I wanted the others to do something for Grif so that Grif could realize the others don’t hate him. We as the viewers know the others care about Grif. We’ve seen the scenes Grif did not see. He could still very well believe he has not earned him place on the team. And while I did enjoy seeing Grif and Simmons going back to their old ways, bickering and fighting together, I still feel like Grif’s development is lacking a proper conclusion.

Which is why I love the development in this season – I just hope it will go on to the next one. I hope this is not where Grif’s mental journey ends. Don’t let it end with the hate glue comment.

So did Grif get appreciation? Yes. …and no.

The season appreciated Grif. I thank Joe for making it clear how much Grif cares and how much he is willing to do for his team. I am just left with the feeling that the others did not truly appreciate Grif, or at least did not show it.

Which leaves me to the conclusion of this too long essay/analysis/rant: I am grateful and happy to see Grif being treated as a serious character in this season, and I have enjoyed seeing his development unfold.

I just hope this development will continue onto the next season.

#rvb 15 spoilers #grif #character study #for the person who asked - feel free to reblog #i spent too long on this thing #my rvb stuff #dexter grif #rvb

119 notes · View notes

fullmetal-the-last-alchemist · 8 years ago

Note

top things you'd change meme: rvb and another show of your choice

!!!!!!

rvb

1. More female characters. Yeah,this is a given. Tex is a blessing, and I absolutely love Carolina, butthere’s still kind of a lack of women in the main cast - and a lack of focus onwomen in general - that I think is kind of a bummer. Gimme a main femalevillain, a new female ally - Locus and Felix could’ve been girls, along withhalf the cast, but yknow. I guess not.

2. Go back to Halo 3. Okay,yeah, I’ve learned to tolerate Halo 4, but…damn. Theanimation in season 12 was so rough, and season 13 was….pretty good? But Halo 3is still my favorite. It looked amazing regardless of whether or not theywere animating it, and I miss it a lot. I know they can’t go back becausethey have to advertise things for 343 or whatever but still. They could’vemade seasons 11-13 action-packed and a lot more exciting (no offense) from theget-go if they’d stayed with Halo 3. I understand why they can’t use itanymore for the main show, but I;m still bummed out.

3. Fix season 14. I’msorry, but the marketing and advertising for s14 were bad. They made itseem like they were gonna fill in the gaps the previous seasons had left in thetimeline (especially one Project Freelancer, since seasons 9&10didn’t actually show all that much of the project to begin with), but instead we gotrandom solo episodes about characters we’re never gonna see again. Theyshould’ve advertised s14 to show that’s what it was gonna be, rather thanputting literally all of the Freelancers in one of the first trailers andgetting everyone hyped to see them again - and then not showing any of them the entire season,save for Wash and Connie and South very, very briefly in like 2 episodes. Not cool, guys.

4. Address both Alpha’s death and what Epsilon did to Wash. Alright, as far as Alpha goes, Iunderstand that they wanted to move on from that and just keep Church in theshow by using Epsilon as a replacement for him, but honestly? If they’dexplored the fact that Alpha is still dead despite Epsilon being almost thesame person (AI, whatever) and basically replacing him, they could’ve generatedsome extremely interesting emotional plotlines, for both Epsilon and the otherBlues. And then with Epsilon, I feel like they just….never mention himfucking up Wash’s brain after s6? Ever?? Which, yknow, Wash obviouslyhasn’t forgotten, what with his state of mind still being fucked up as of now,so my question is: why doesn’t anyone talk about it? Yet again, thiscould’ve created many different and interesting plotlines for Wash, Epsilon,and even characters related to them like Tucker and Carolina. Butinstead, they ignore it. cool. nice. fine. okay.

5. More Freelancers. Imean…. a spin-off show? A miniseries? A movie?? Christ, I’ll take anything at this point. They gave us two half-seasons that provided us with content but, in myopinion, left us with almost just as many questions as answers - and byquestions i mostly mean holes in the timeline that they didn’t fill in becauseI guess more than two half-seasons of Freelancers is Too Much. Ijust..want them to fill in everything. Just show us what happened toeveryone over the course of Project Freelancer - or just tell us!!! I don’teven care at this point, I just wanna know what happened to my favoritecolorful murder kids. cmon rt.

aaand i think i’ll go withvoltron for the next one, BUT only season 1, both in celebration of s2 coming out and because I won’t get to watch s2 til like next week

1. More episodes per season/more frequent episode releases. With a show like Voltron, in which they constantly remind us of how powerful the main villain is and how widespread his evil empire is, the only way to bring about a resolution that makes sense is to have a TON of episodes, over which the team slowly takes down his empire and fights him in a huge finale or whatever. Putting out 11-13 episodes every six months is…not the best plan for a show like this. The only way the #squad will take down Zarkon before the show ends up reaching a dozen seasons/before the show gets cancelled at some point is if they defeat him in a deus-ex manner/somehow destroy half his empire at once, which won’t be satisfying or realistic. I don’t really blame the show for this; the small amount of episodes per season might be due to budget, and the new trend of having 11-13 episodes per season is one that many shows have joined in on. Which really sucks, in my opinion, because it’s hard to set up characters, plot, action, drama, and everything a show needs in that short amount of time. But there are many different factors that

2. More female characters. Wow, isn’t it shocking how this has been a complaint of mine for all the shows I’ve done this ask for? Anyways. Allura is fantastic, and amazing, but she’s literally the only female in the main cast (I’ll talk about Pidge in a second). I feel like they could’ve made one of the other paladins a girl, but I guess not.

3. Confirm Pidge as trans/nonbinary. Yeah this is self-explanatory; introducing Pidge as a guy and then confirming them as dfab is..nice? I guess? But if they cop out and make the whole thing out to be a Mulan type of situation, I’ll be sorely disappointed. It’s not that I don’t want another female character; the problem is that in this day and age, where more characters of the LGBT spectrum are being introduced in children’s cartoons, if they decide to trick us like this? It’ll be seriously shitty of them. I know I said i wanted more female characters, but in this case? I want more than that.

4. Fuck up someone other than Shiro. From what I’ve seen, a lot of shows pick one character to center most of the angst around - and in Voltron, it’s everyone’s favorite space dad. And I mean, I love angst. It’s great. But having it with literally only one character, and making that same person suffer over and over again? It loses its charm. It gets kinda boring and repetitive. Shake it up; make someone else suffer a little for once.

5. Don’t kill King Alfor (or his memories, whatever). I mean… Allura and Coran already lost their entire fucking planet and everyone they care about. Was it really necessary to kill what’s left of Alfor too? It was sad, but Allura and Alfor were introduced like, what, nine episodes ago? It’s kinda hard to get emotionally attached to characters and really feel something about their losses when we’ve known them for so little time. This ties back into the whole deal with having only 11-13 episodes per season - it leads to stuff like this. If season 1 had 20-24 episodes and Alfor was destroyed in episode 19 or something, we would feel so much more about his death and Allura’s loss. If anything, waiting until season 2 might’ve been smarter if they’d wanted to kill Alfor.

#i'd go into how they should've told us whatever keith and shiro's relationship is but that leads back to the whole lack of episodes thing #and i dont wanna get repetitive #plus it only asked for 5 things so yknow #voltron #rvb #asks #me #anonymous #thank u so much for the ask btw!!!! sorry its late

1 note · View note