#jfgjgu sorry for getting off track. i tried to loop back around but idk how successful i was lol

[tvckerwash]

oh I have very strong thoughts about s15-s18, but that's not a can of worms I want to open so I'm just going to say that the restoration trailer retconning all of that single-handedly rekindled my love of rvb after I'd finally jumped ship in 2019 because of the dumpster fire character butchering garbage it had become (absolutely no offense to anyone who enjoys those seasons though—I personally don't even think of zero as being rvb; they were basically just using rvb's characters and legacy as a popularity booster for their weird parallel universe spinoff fanfiction. s15-17 had some good ideas, but I, along with many others, was very deeply hurt by how poorly joe handled tucker specifically (the others were not much better, though). he didn't just assassinate tucker as a character—he massacred him, and his half assed attempt to right his wrongs in s17 were too little too late).

but anyway the bgc being inseparable is so important!! the only time they were separated in a similar way was in the recollection trilogy, but even then no member of the bgc was alone (sans alpha and caboose). tucker and donut were in the desert, grif and simmons went to the same base (and sarge was supposed to be with them, but he stayed at blood gulch because of kai). if I'm being honest I think part of the reason why the bgc accepted wash into their group so readily at the end of s8 is because he brought them all back together after they had been separated (even if they'd never admit to missing each other lol).

and building off of that, I think there was a very big missed opportunity to give carolina a better arc on chorus by putting her into a similar position as wash was in s10; that being that while tracking down freelancer equipment was part of the reason she left, the real reason is because while the bgc had accepted her, she didn't feel as though she was one of them.

wash is an extroverted person by default, reaching out and forcibly making connections with other people, and carving out a place for himself in already existing relationship dynamics is something he's very skilled at. carolina on the other hand is much more introverted, and she comes off as very distant and aloof (autism and npd go brrrr). even in pfl it's shown that she's not necessarily liked by the other freelancers, and while we know she cares very deeply for them, the only people we see her banter and be a bit more playful with on more than one occasion are york and 479er.

I would've loved to see carolina slowly warm up to the bgc on chorus as she realizes that they not only accept her despite all of her flaws, failures, and imperfections—but that they unabashedly embrace her because of them. so what if she's a ragtag colorful fuck up? they're all fuck ups, and she doesn't need to feel ashamed for not living up to the expectations she puts upon herself. she's one of them now, and they look out for their own.

I think we also really missed out on wash giving carolina some of his older brother treatment—because lbr; while I love carolina's sibling relationship with epsilon, it can't be healthy for her to have latched so heavily onto what is essentially a warped and distorted version of her father. this would also be a very good time to address epsilon's one sided anger with wash, if only because I despise how the fandom has twisted their dynamic and made it out to be something it isn't, along with completely misinterpreting and falsifying an aspect of wash's character (contrary to popular belief wash doesn't have any issues with having an ai in his head, and he has no hard feelings towards epsilon whatsoever—epsilon is the one who hates wash because he feels as though he was abandoned by him when he had to be removed; wash even tries to explain this to epsilon in s10 but he gets cut off, and then it's just. never brought up again).

I've kind of went off on a tangent but yes the bgc should've been more suspicious of felix; and going off of a few different posts I've made talking about how I feel felix would've been a better foil for wash (and locus for carolina), and wash's ability to weaponize people's perceptions against them for a second here, I think it would've been so cool if wash was extra suspicious of felix because he realizes right away that he uses the exact same psychological disarming and deflecting tricks that wash himself does; felix is only letting them see the carefully crafted persona as an asshole mercenary with a heart of gold and a score to settle—but unfortunately for felix, wash is far better at this game than he is.

where felix needs to expertly lie and spin complicated tales of the past to stay in control, wash just sits back and lets the whims of others guide him where he needs to be. where felix is afraid and let's that fear control him, wash bravely moves forward because he has nothing to fear. where felix needs to rely on others as broken shells of their former selves in order to survive, wash relies on no one but himself, and he continues to survive because he needs to fix what is broken or die trying.

felix is a post war washout turned gun for hire.

but agent washington is a freelancer, and that difference means everything.

felix knowing that wash is wash in s11 is a minor but extremely annoying plot hole because wash "dying" at the end of s8 was kind of a big deal??? like I'm sure the chairman knew wash wasn't actually dead because if they did an autopsy on maine then they probably did one on "wash" too—but otherwise no one outside of the bgc and carolina should've know that wash is himself. the reds and blues should've pointed their guns at felix when he said "you must be agent washington" and not when he referred to himself as a freelancer.