#or any good tuckington fic

[robotnuts]

are there any rvb fics you still think about all the time? like i dont think a week goes by without thinking abt qed and how it def changed me on a molecular level, do you have any fics like that?

oooh good question. the most important fic is at the bottom of this post so just scroll to the final paragraph if you only want one, true recommendation of the only rvb fic that really matters.

QED is fantastic though its more of @shotgunslap's thing than mine. the partner to that is also obviously QoQ, the only rvb fic ive been able to make almost all my friends read. i think about the south/north characterization every day of my life. caboose and carolina mean so much to me, etc etc. thats a pretty easy pick though so im cracking into my ao3 bookmarks to look for more niche picks.

i know there was actually a lot of rvb fic that was just posted to tumblr that i think ive gone back and tried to reblog at some points but i never organized it, i should have archived it, people who wrote good femslash and rvb women liked to just post it under a readmore on their tumblrlog and you have to go digging through decades old tags to find it now

okay. the big one i actually do still think about all the time forever and ever is saltsanford's stuff about epsilon/wash's relationship. this is the big one i still think about that centers on their backstory, but also, put my guns in the ground, which is one of the Big fandom tuckington longfics, also has such good washpilon stuff in it and they're so fucking juicy. when tucker asks wash how many times he's broken his ribs and he says four and epsilon says "actually it was five" before realizing How Bad of a Move that would be. Hello? Hello?????? i want them to be forced to reimplant and have weird mind brain trauma sex SO BAD sorry im normal. this is another one that takes place during/after the chorus era

on the spectrum of fics that i actually dont yet feel ashamed reccomending, primtheamazing, who wrote QoQ, also wrote some other good stuff. i am a HUGE fan of this fusion fic, the punchline to the tucker/caboose fusion is HYSTERICAL. this one where grif forgets who simmons is due to temple shennanigans and flirts with him is also very like. trope-y but i like that shit so this goes here too

ok. now onto the stuff that it is actively embarrassing for me to be recommending. but. prim's logrimmons fic is hysterical and was the stepping stone to creating the lolixgrimmons mind palaces with my friends so its worth it just for that. but also its really fucking funny. so is the one where locus has to listen to them have sex and gets himself caught

the truly embarrassing one for me to have here is the piece of softboy grimmons content i participate in. sadly i do enjoy s15 content sometimes for the softboy grif sensitive emotions exploration i will admit to being a hypocrite there and i really liked that one and reread it frequently (just realized this is written by the QED person so! you might already know of it)

and then finally. the most important red vs blue fanfiction of all time, guns are for shooting. it has it all. sarge. washington. sarge again. kismesisitude. grif and simmons acting like rosencrantz and guildenstern (are dead). locus being invisible and getting caught by lopez with a bag of flour. it's written by the person who wrote QED. You want to read it right now. Read it right now. READ IT RIGHT N

wait no the cute bit about sarge declaring war on gravity and upending a bag of flour onto lopez isnt in guns for shooting. what fic is that from

[writingwarden]

Soft Words and Coffee

Blue Team

Summary- Agent Washington was used to facing nightmares alone. But after joining Blue Team that has all changed.

[A/n]- Blue Team Fic! Just some good old comfort and Tuckington if you squint.

TW- nightmares, let me know if I missed anything

Running. Agent Washington was running with barely any air left in his lungs. He needed to get to her, she was walking away and no matter how hard he tried she was still too far. He had been here too many times before. Yet still he screams out her name. It was a guttural and broken mantra; “ALLISON!” over and over again. She couldn’t, no, wouldn’t hear. So why did he still try?

A sharp blue light flashed to his left and it was something terribly familiar. This is where the pain would start, where he knew he would wake up thrashing and screaming. This is the part that got him weird looks from Tucker and worry from Caboose. It has been months since the events of Sidewinder. They had let him into their base; into their ‘team’ even after everything and this is how he repays them? It’s not like the nightmares are new. Ever since Epsilon and all that happened when Freelancer was attacked, sleep wasn’t a luxury he could afford. Lost in his nightmares he swore he could hear his name being called over his screams of ‘No!’ and ‘Don’t leave’s. The voice sounded frantic, hurried.

Then finally, the feeling of being shaken hard dragged him out of the hell of a nightmare (Memories?). The lingering plea fading in his ears as all he could hear was the rushing of his blood.

“Don’t say goodbye.”

He shot up pushing his back to the wall, panic in his every move, wildly grabbing for the knife he keeps under his pillow. It was in his hand before he could comprehend the scene in front of him. Tucker sat in front of him, crouched so he was eye level with Wash on his bunk. Behind him in the doorway stood a tired looking Caboose. Tucker's features were weighed heavily with concern. Fuck. He didn’t mean to wake them. Wait, how did they get in here? The door was locked. Wash took a second glance at the door and to his surprise it had been kicked open. He took a minute to slow his breathing and looked at Tucker and all he could say was “I’m sorry,” and that had seemed to stop Tucker in his place. “I’m sorry I woke you two up. I’ll be fine, please go back to sleep.”

“Oh that’s bullshit! You wake us up screaming bloody murder like you’re being attacked and then expect us not to come running?!” Tucker stood abruptly, “And then we wake you and there's a knife in your hand. Dude what the fuck was that?” His voice had taken on this higher pitch, stress. He had stressed him out. Caboose moved in the corner of his eye and Wash’s grip on the knife tightened, then it loosened as reality came crashing back onto him. Looking at Caboose Wash started to get up. He needed coffee because there was no way he was going to be about to sleep after this. Tucker and Caboose shared a glance and backed up, allowing him to walk to the door. He made a mental note to fix it sometime today. He didn’t even know what time it was.

Walking into the kitchen he was aware of the two behind him, they seemed to be minding his space, he appreciated that. Looking at the clock on the stove it read 04:07. In all comparison to his usual 02:00 wakings it meant he had actually slept in. Turning back to Tucker he motioned towards the coffee pot, silently asking if he wanted some. Tucker shook his head yes and moved to grab the cups and sugar. This entire time Caboose hadn’t spoken a word but Wash could notice his constant fidgeting, like he wanted to speak but decided to observe instead. Wash took a breath and leaned on the island in the middle of the kitchen. He knew he’d have to explain eventually but he wasn’t even so sure he could. It wasn’t even his own memories that he saw. Sometimes he couldn’t even tell what was his or theirs. Sometimes he’d wake up and think he was back in Freelancer or prison again.

Lost in his thoughts he didn’t even notice that Caboose had moved. He felt a hand reaching for his shoulder and flinched. The hand withdrew quickly. Wash looked up from the hole he had been staring into the island counter to see a guilty looking Caboose. “Something you need?” is what he wanted to say but instead it came out a quiet “I’m sorry.” Caboose looked almost startled. “There’s nothing to say sorry for Agent Washington.” He said in a tired tone. “Sometimes I dream of the bad people too. Wash opened his mouth to comfort him but before he could get a single syllable out the sound of someone setting glass down heavily stopped him. Looking in front of him he saw Tucker staring directly at him. There were many different emotions swirling in his eyes: annoyance, tiredness, but more prominently concern.

“If I have to hear ‘I'm sorry’ one more goddamn time I’m going to throw this mug at you. You had a bad dream, shit happens. I don’t know why I let Caboose talk me into letting you stay all those months ago but you’re here now and we deal with our own.” Tucker’s voice was rising again now. “You don’t have to tell us shit but at least acknowledge there are others here for you and shit!”

Wash didn’t know what to say so he just took the coffee mug in hand and nodded his head. That seemed to be enough because Tucker took his own mug from the countertop and stalked into the living area. Turning his head to Caboose he wasn’t surprised to find that he had fallen asleep right where he stood. Deciding not to wake him up, Washington walked outside and sat against the front wall of the base. His coffee was too bitter, it did not nearly have the amount of sugar it would if he himself had made it. He drank it anyway, fearing the words that would come out if he had to face them again. He combed through the two soldiers' words and quickly realized no one had told him that they cared for him since he had met North. And then he had found himself caring for the duo and somehow also for the eccentric red team across the canyon.

After his cup had been long empty he decided it was time to start his day. Returning back inside he made his way to the kitchen once again. Caboose was gone, most likely back in his own bunk. Placing his cup in the sink he made his way to his own bunk, planning on fixing the door after getting properly dressed. Itching to put on the armor that had become his second skin. That’s when he spotted Tucker already fixing the door back in place, his locs tied back into a bun. The sight itself fixed a feeling he hadn’t known in a long time to his chest. He’d unpack that later. So instead he chose to say “Hey I was going to get that, but thank you.”

Tucker reaches to open and close the door as if testing his handiwork. “Meh, figured since we broke the damn thing down I might as well fix it,” he pauses, “Plus I was hoping your brooding would take longer.”

There was a moment of silence that overcame the space between them.

“I wasn’t broodin-”

“Oh yes the fuck you were.”

“Whatever.”

“If it’s any consolation,” Tucker started, “I probably shouldn’t have yelled at you. Nightmares take a lot out of a person. But yeah, like, we’re here for you and all that sappy bullshit. Now I really want breakfast before Caboose wakes up again. You want some?”

“Yeah sure. Just, let me get my armor on.”

“Bet. Give me twenty minutes.”

It was then that Agent Washington thought, maybe this wasn’t so bad.

[officialgleamstar]

are there any specific fanfics you're planning to bind?

GOOD QUESTION. i used to have a lot of plans with my favorite fics but im not really into dsmp/dteam anymore for. various reasons that i will not get into :|. and so most of my plans with fan binding fell to the wayside jhgbfhdjbhjd thats okay though!! because it means i can make new plans!!

obviously, like i said - i would love to do a collection of shorter one shots! still mostly dsmp lol but i got quite a few gift fics from my friends from that fandom and i would LOVE to compile those into a collection for myself!! really just. my friends' fics in general, i think would be fun to have like a short story collection that i can just read whenever. i would wanna break them up into individual fandoms, i could almost do like, a series for myself... that would be AWESOME oh my god. matching covers but with different inner art? SO COOL

if i had to make a plan off the top of my head for just ONE fic though... id love to bind elephants by saltsanford, a rvb tuckington fic (not linking since it IS an explicit fic haha), its been one of my favorite fics ever for YEARS now. i think that would be pretty minimalist since it has an aesthetic of like, snow? and id want to fit that lol but its SO GOOD and i love to read it and id love to have a pristine physical copy of it on my book shelf!!

FOR DNDADS FICS. chrysalis by @kaseyskat, probably!!! literally has been one of my favorite dndads fic ever since i read it, i come back to it so often. it was my introduction to the world of transfem sparrow (and transmasc norm, though i had already decided that for myself LMAO) and well. we all know that i love her <3 very fond memories of rereading this fic several times to get through my thesis LMAO i would love love love to make myself a physical copy of it :D i could use really pretty paper and i think it would fit a nice green book cloth cover SOOOO nicely. itd be amazing (especially now that nyx and i are friends. makes it even more special, ehehe).

alternatively, father-son grocery shopping which I JUST REALIZED WAS WRITTEN BY @trustycustard??? MY FRIEND AND GRAMPA TRUSTY??? HOW DID I NEVER NOTICE THAT. HUH. WHAT. I WAS GONNA LIST THAT FOR AN EXAMPLE BY A DNDADS WRITER IM NOT BUDDIES WITH BUT NEVERMIND I GUESS 😭😭 whatever im playing favorites I WOULD BIND MY FRIENDS' FICS!!! sorry for being surrounded by such amazing and talented people.

and once its finished (/if!!! i dont like the idea of pressuring fic writers to finish their works, god knows i never do), absolutely silver linings by chalcedony. even if it doesnt get finished, honestly. i dont make it a secret that it is my all time favorite dndads fic ahah THERE. EXAMPLE FROM SOMEONE IM NOT FRIENDS WITH i dont ALWAYS play favorites. just most of the time.

[imjustheretoblog]

Is only 10:05 where i am and i dont know what to do with the rest of my night

[sparrowchute]

I saw you mention the fic of lifeguards and water polo in the tags and LMAO I just have to share that fic had such a deep impact on my psyche. I think I was like 13 when I read it and I already shipped tuckington but let me tell you I started playing water polo a year later and I'm in college now and still play it. I just went back to read it like a year ago and it's still so good

DUDE HOLY SHIT THAT FIC DID SOMETHING TO MY BRAIN. IT MADE ME LIKE TUCKINGTON IT MADE ME LIKE KIMBOYLE IT HAD ME GOING BACK TO READ IT OVER AND OVER AGAIN IM STILL THINKING ABOUT IT AND CAN REMEMBER EVERY PLOT POINT YEARS LATER!!!!! ITS QUITE POSSIBLY MY FAVORITE FIC OF ALL TIME FOR ANY FANDOM IM SO GLAD ITS IMPACTED SOMEONE ELSE AND IM NOT ALONE ����🥺🥺🥺🥺 STAY SAFE WITH UR WATER POLO ADVENTURES I HOPE U HAVE FUN!!!!!!

[specialofficerlemons]

Not entirely sure what to call this. This was just some thought goo I had to get out of my head. I started writing it before the Chorus trilogy had finished, possibly between seasons 12 and 13? I don’t remember. I was exploring a lot of themes of Wash having been a long time trauma survivor and Tucker having more recent trauma and them having to navigate their relationship together and survive. This is assuming a present Tuckington situation and a past Norkington situation.

It’s not a fleshed out fic, just a lot of ideas? An outline I guess? Idk. Let me know if you enjoyed it or what you think. I know Chorus trilogy is like old news :P

-

Things were finally looking up for the gang when they were on their ship back to blood gulch. Wash thinks he might be able to live a relatively normal life, or at least more fun being with his goofy idiots, and he's happy being with Tucker, the happiest he's been with anyone since North and York died. Then, when the ship crashes on Chorus he goes into a downward PTSD spiral. Things are uncertain, they're trapped in the canyon, they're running out of supplies, Carolina and Church are gone, and no one else seems to be worried. He becomes frustrated with his friends and his lover for how lightly they're taking their situation when Wash knows that this could be the end and he just can't shake the feeling that he's being watched. He has nightmares. He gets up in the middle of the night to patrol the perimeter. He spends all his energy trying to get the comm tower online. He hopes that Tucker would understand their situation or at the very least care enough about him to take it seriously. When he doesn't react well, Wash gets mad. He makes the blue team run more drills, trying to impress upon them the seriousness of the situation, but it just makes it worse. He alienates them. He fights with Tucker. They don't sleep in the same room anymore. Tucker opts to sleep in Caboose's room. He feels abandoned, by his friends, by his lover, by Carolina and Church who disappeared without any warning. Every day he is reminded how he's driving everyone away. He tries to create order, but only creates chaos. He gets the feeling that if something terrible does happen (a feeling he can't shake) that everyone will be hurt because of him. He's lost too many people and doesn't know how to handle it. His demotion is almost a fatal blow. He loses all semblance of control and can't even pretend anymore.

He almost welcomes Locus's assault on them. He finally has a chance to show everyone how strong he is, how he can lead them, protect them. He's relieved to have Felix around. Even though he himself has left his killing-people-for-money days behind, he can relate to him, can talk to him. He gives him anything he asks for without hesitation. Things feel less hopeless.

Then, Locus attacks again. They are outnumbered, outgunned, and not even close to battle ready. The last thing he sees and hears before he blacks out is Tucker calling for him. When he wakes up with the Feds he can't make heads or tails about the war. His logical brain tells him that there's rarely ever a good guy and a bad guy in any conflict, but more than that he doesn't care. He needs to get back to his team, needs to be with them. He's so lost without them. It helps having Sarge, Donut, and Lopez around, but he was never as close to red team. If anything, their familiarity with each other makes his loneliness sting even more.

When they are reunited, he is over joyed, but there is not time to celebrate. Felix's betrayal stings more than anything. He wants him dead. Something he hasn't felt in a long time. Having Church and Carolina back is a great relief, but he's still burning the candle at both ends, running out of energy. He and Tucker don't talk about their fights, don't talk about anything. They just hold each other (occasionally interrupted by Caboose who thinks they're having a cuddle pile. Even that is forgivable. He's just glad to have them both back).

He's never felt more proud of Tucker than when he orchestrated the plan to set up Felix and keep the two armies from killing each other. They celebrate when they return to the capital, making love for the first time in what feels like forever. Afterwards, Tucker says something that sounds uncannily like something York and North would say to him and it throws him into an intense flash back. When he comes to, he's curled up in a corner, crying and shaking, calling out for his two dead lovers. Tucker is there, worried, confused, afraid. Tucker asks if he wants to talk about it. He tries to pass it off as nothing. Tucker calls bullshit, but doesn't press the issue. He tells him that when he's ready, he will listen.

Wash is able to keep himself occupied with training the young lieutenants. The routine helps. He's even able to handle Grif's laziness and general uncooperativeness. He can feel the tension between the two previously opposing factions. There is a storm brewing and it's going to break soon.

It's only after discovering that Tucker has been having nightmares about the two men that were killed (Cunningham and Rogers) that he tells him about North and York. As much as he was distancing himself from any kind of feelings at the time, he acknowledges the role that it plays in when he killed South. It was true that she couldn't be trusted not to kill him when it suited her, but he was less upset about her shooting him in the back and more enraged by her murdering North. Tucker asks the occasional question, sometimes serious, sometimes joking (asking if they needed to add another person to their relationship and Wash assuring him that he was enough, that he practically counted as two men). Tucker talks about the men he lost on the raid of the fed's base, how they weren't just faceless enemy soldiers. He knew their names, he knew how scared they were, and it was his fault that they died. Wash wants to tell him that their sacrifice saved a greater number of people, but he knows it wouldn't help. The worst part, Tucker tells him, is how Felix reacted. Sure, it was callous, he knew that at the time, but he assumed that was just how he was. But now knowing that he was being played? That Felix laughed at the lives lost just ate away at him. It helps dissipate some of the tension, but it doesn't help the ever growing fear of what to come.

Felix's words stick in his mind. "This is a war. Not everyone comes back." He's lost too many people, killed too many people. He was betrayed by those he trusted most. The reds and blues don't see the threat. It's understandable, considering how well they've evaded death, what with how many times they'd been shot, Simmons being a cyborg, Grif having bits of Simmons, the whole business with Church and Tex. So far, everyone had survived against all odds. They haven't lost anyone like Wash has.

He spends a lot of time with Epsilon. They share memories about their time with project freelancer. Epsilon shows him how he can play old journal entries and obliges playing York's and North's over and over again while he sobs into his hands. It’s not as easy talking to Carolina, even though they lost the same people. Carolina was able to let go of everything but Tex and the Director, who consumed all of her energy for so long. He gets to talk to memories of Delta and Theta. Theta cries with him and even Delta expresses a logical amount of grief.

[redvsblue-confessions]

okay alright i know this is about to be controversial but god i really do hate tuckington

if this is a ship anyone likes i’m gonan advise you don’t read this bc it just won’t be enjoyable for you, but id like to get it off my chest

for me, tucker and washington are two characters who are just generally quite bland, and i feel like their only merit comes from the fact that they’re the cool/badass/hot ones. tucker’s arc is literally him just going from an insufferable misogynist to,, less of an insufferable misogynist. he stops being unwilling to take action about everything he does and turns into someone who like, does the bare minimum ig? literally the only reason he stepped up on chorus is because a. it directly started affecting him when half the team was captured by the feds, and b. cunningham and rogers were killed and it was solely his fault. he would not have grown if this hadn’t happened (@/chorusan has a really good post abt this). then there’s the whole character assassination from like season 15 onwards that i know isn’t tucker’s fault(?) and is just the writers being useless at consistency but it still really annoyed me, all that grating selfishness and self righteousness (especially aimed at grif) was just,, eugh. characters with faults are good, but they need to be written better than this.

wash, oh wash. you’re literally just There. he is such a boring character, the only interesting thing that happens to him is epsilon exploding in his mind but that wasn’t an action orchestrated by wash, it was another, far more interesting character doing something To him & then the season 15 plot where he got shot but that was completely disregarded in zero (again, this isn’t exactly a fault with the character but with the writers but i’m still mentioning it bc i feel like wash going through the recovery process and adjusting to life with cerebral hypoxia could’ve made his character at least fractionally interesting but we didn’t get it). aside from that ig he has a little bit of dimension with him going from goofy in the freelancer saga to serious later on but i find that seriousness just boring yk? he doesn’t have any faults, he’s the handsome, smart, capable fighter and that’s literally it. the counsellor mentions he’s supposed to have anger issues but they’ve literally never surfaced so idk what all that’s about. his whole villain arc in season 6 was completely out of the blue imo, he was literally just evil for the sake of being evil and then it was never mentioned again outside of bits abt him killing donut. aside from him being like ‘waa i’m a prisoner and nobody likes me anymore’ there was literally no reason for him to be so awful & yet?? he’s encountered the rnbs before, he knows how stupid they are and knows that they probably would’ve just helped him if he used his big boy words and actually asked them for it. he’s this tragic sadboy for the sole reason that the writers wanted someone to fill that role without putting any merit into it

with that absolute destruction of their characters aside, i’ll get onto the bit that i really hate (bc as shocking as it may sound after reading that, i don’t Hate hate tucker and washington. i don’t particularly like them, and i wouldn’t go out of my way to read a fic about them or whatever and when i make content they’re usually tacked on the end*) i just don’t like the tuckington ship because for me, it’s the standard straight girl yaoi ship. these characters have like zero depth together aside from maybe having an ounce of enemies to lovers but tucker isn’t the sort of person to really reciprocate the whole enemy thing, he forgives wash after sidewinder in like a grand total of four seconds, second only to caboose, and wash falls flat as a villain anyway like i mentioned before. the fact that they’re both depicted in canon as the generic hot skinny anime boys with the most delicate eurocentric features isn’t helping their case either, if it isn’t borderline fetishisation it’s just boring and unoriginal. it’s a ship for the sake of being able to ship two men together, sure they have like a few select moments in canon where they connect or whatever (and i Am willing to acknowledge that i don’t have much ground to stand on here when it comes to shipping characters that don’t interact much) but the amount of traction it gained as a result of those few scenes (in comparison to something like grimmons which is so insanely intrenched into like every season of the show) is insane and wouldn’t have resulted in such a popular ship if the characters weren’t, at risk of repeating myself, generic hot boys who are good at everything

alright. that’s all. just my take as a wlw who isn’t completely swayed by the fact that tucker and wash are apparently the sexiest characters in the show or somethjng

*i do have to admit there have been Some outliers in which i have cast a shred of interest in wash’s general direction but that’s usually only when i can throw an interesting character into the mix with him, ie sarge, donut or doc

.

[texas-hates-taxes-too]

Do you have any rvb fic recs?

Oh yes, so many!

First of all, every fic on this post

Little Pistol (au where south takes theta after north's death)

Hit and Run (Au where Grif and Kai are raised on the MOI)

Asphodel Meadows (Tex Lives au where she ends up on chorus a few years before the chorus arc)

Five reds and a baby (red team gets a babby)

Mind over matter (a good fic if you crave wash/epsilon interactions, one of my faves personally)

Murderer's Row (prison au where donut ends up in prison after killing someone in self defence)

Look Both Ways (washlina modern au fic where they meet via carolina hitting wash with a car)

Put my guns in the ground (epic tuckington fic, hard to explain the plot bc a lot happens but its so good, set on chorus)

The Long Road Back to Good (set in between s8 and the end of s9, follows Wash's integration into blue team, I think its set in the same universe as pmgitg too)

Aaaand that's just a few i love, I'll reblog some other stuff after I post this, hope you find some stuff to read here anon! And let me know if there's something specific you're looking for

[oshygoogoo]

I've been wanting to make this post for a while now, so in honor of the departure of the original skittle squad and the new light on some new characters, I wanted to make a list of some fun headcannons & tropes i see of the skittle squad & the freelancers.

all of the church's having these vivid green eyes

york having adhd

tucker being a great dad

tucker also being an amazing cook

wash doesn't know how to cook

at all

like oh no there's another fire again

Carolina OFFICIALLY being on red team bc tex was on blue team

grif being a great hairdresser

one time i read somewhere that doc's face cannon was this super bland, forgettable face that didn't show any evidence of him belonging to a specific ethnicity

like the most forgettable face out there.

very sad for doc bc i love him but honestly? it makes a lot of sense

caboose, maine, and locus being Very Tall and Very Stronk

also big buff boi Lopez is HILARIOUS

north being absolutely terrifying once u piss him off

also russian dakota twins

lmao york being like 5'6 (personally i don't see it, but it's really funny)

wash CANNOT live without sugar

also wash is super good with knives

and he has a bunch of freckles (along with simmons and maybe kai)

honestly i can talk forever about wash

none of these people can actually talk to each other about their problems

like broskis....please get some therapy

everyone wants grimmons to get married

Wait they're already married? since when-

york is a dumb frat boy but is like the weakest skinniest twink out there

Carolina looks at him and just seethes with anger bc this??? this is the guy she falls for?!??!

donut just. has like. candles? nail polish? makeup? conditioner? all in the middle of war??

ooh tucker having dreads that don't fit regulations and carolina is just so exasperated like how tf did u get these past basic

caboose is NOT team baby. he's incredibly capable of himself, and is written time and time again to save wash & tucker even if he might get hurt

(thinking of long road back to good where tucker almost gets strangled by wash and caboose immediately jumps in to help)

Epsilon being jealous of blue team's relationship with wash bc he knows he messed that up and wash will never forgive him

uhhh anyways these were all i could think of rn, and it's kinda obvious that I'm blue team and only read tuckington fics so if u have any hc for red team or freelancers or whatever feel free to add

[papanorth]

In part I am also asking if you know of any reeeally good Tuckington fics? I'm only freshly back in and, while Kimbalina and Grimmons are also cute, they are not what I super need atm lol.

I just know the classics (Put My Guns in the Ground, all the stuff by Saltsanford basically, pour one out for the classics, @secretlystephaniebrown‘s stuff, and others that idk if would appreciate my @ing lol) and haven’t exactly been super active, sorry.  @everyone, rec your faves in the replies and reblogs if you got any!

[wordsysayswords]

Someone needs to put down a wet floor sign because Tucker’s pretty sure his heart has melted into a puddle around his shoes.

Or, Tucker gets to see Wash interact with children, including Junior, for the first time ever and, to quote Grif, he's so fucked.

--

Merry Christmas @washingtubb!  I hope you enjoyed this fluffy Blue Team bonding with just a pinch of Tuckington thrown in for good measure. Thanks for being so patient with this fic getting posted. @redvsbluesecretsanta

--

“Have you guys seen Junior?” Tucker asks, poking his head into the common room.

Carolina, who is sat perfectly still on the couch and in the process of having her long hair braided by three children, glances Tucker’s way without turning her head.

“He was with Caboose’s group earlier,” she says, blowing a stray strand of hair out of her face. “In the mess hall.”

“Yeah, apparently they got told to leave because Grif tried to organize the kids into storming the kitchen. The things that guy will do for chocolate pudding.”

“BLARG!” Cries one of the twin Sangheili infants in Carolina’s lap. She rubs the alien’s back soothingly and raises an eyebrow at Tucker in a silent question.

“She’s ready for a nap,” Tucker translates.

There haven’t been a whole lot of opportunities for Tucker to exercise his Sangheili conversation skills on Chorus. That all changed two days ago when a ship full of Sangheili and human refugees landed, fleeing their own war-ravaged planet halfway across the galaxy. They had received Epsilon’s message and come seeking help because the reported conditions on their planet made Chorus seem like an idyllic paradise. Among the refugees were an almost comical number of children, outnumbering the adults six to one. The situation became a lot less funny when you realized 80 percent of the children were orphans.

“Here,” Tucker says, pulling out his datapad and selecting a playlist of classic Sangheili nursery rhymes. “They’ll recognize these. Puts ‘em right to sleep. You’ll have the songs stuck in your head for days, though.”

“Thanks for the warning.” Carolina gives a crooked smile as she accepts the datapad. “Can’t be worse than the crap Wash listens to.”

“Speaking of Wash, any idea where he’s hiding?”

Carolina cocks her head—as much as she can considering one of the aliens curled up against her shoulder is batting at her braid like a particularly curious cat. The kids finish up on her hair, and a little boy passes Carolina a pink hand mirror. Tucker bites his lip to keep from laughing as the Freelancer turns her head this way and that, inspecting the no less than eight messy braids sticking off her head at ridiculous angles.

“Looks great,” Carolina whispers, causing the kids to giggle and blush.

She turns her attention back to Tucker. “What makes you think Wash is hiding?”

“I don’t know, have you seen what it’s like out there?” Tucker asks, gesturing towards a window overlooking the track where groups of kids are playing frisbee or jumping rope, supervised by the lieutenants. “I’m having trouble keeping up, and I’m a dad!”

“Eh,” Carolina shrugs, “you’d be surprised.” She looks around at the cluster of children, “Do you remember our deal?”

The kids nod excitedly.

“If we take a nap, you’ll show us how to punch good!” A girl with wilting daisies woven into her hair punches the air, beaming.

Carolina raises an eyebrow. “And the rule?”

“Only in s-self, um,” lisps the boy missing his two front teeth, “s-self defenssse!”

“That’s right,” Carolina says, tapping the datapad. Plucky music starts to play as the kids curl up on the couch. She looks over at Tucker.

“Try the barracks,” she tells him. “They might have gone to get Caboose’s crayons and coloring books.”

“Thanks,” Tucker says, tossing a salute her way as he backs out the door. “Let me know if you need another teacher for punching class.”

“Sure thing. Watch out for—”

“HONK BLARG!”

A dark shape shoots out from under the couch and latches on to Tucker’s leg before he has time to blink.

“Holy fu—” Tucker catches himself. “Fudgsicles. Holy fudgsicles. Definitely what I was going to say. Right, little buddy?”

The small Sangheili wrapped around his leg hoots happily and starts gnawing on his boot laces.

“I think she’s teething,” Carolina explains. “Her brother is with Caboose’s group. Mind taking her with you?”

“No problem,” Tucker says, lifting his foot to get a better look at the alien. “And what’s your name, champ?”

“Firo 'Srattin,” yawns the little girl draped over Carolina’s shoulder.

“Strattin,” muses Tucker. “Good, strong clan name. Well, come on, Firo. Let’s go find your brother.”

“Say goodbye to Captain Tucker,” Carolina tells the children. A chorus of honks and goodbyes follows the teal soldier out of the room.

In the hall, Tucker looks down at his passenger. She’s given up on his laces and is now digging through his cargo pants pocket looking for snacks.

“All right,” Tucker says. “Which way should we try first, hm?”

Firo sniffs the air for a moment before pointing down the hall. “BLARG!”

“The barracks? Good choice. Let’s roll out, soldier.”

It ends up being a long walk to the barracks—and not just because Tucker has a honking deadweight wrapped around one leg.

Passing the empty lot behind the mess hall, he and Firo walk past the Reds organizing a game of football for the kids, and the pair promptly get roped into playing referees. They leave at halftime while Donut’s group of kids performs an impromptu cheerleading routine (The man’s created surprisingly passable pompoms out of old caution tape).

Despite the rest of the base swarming with children, the barracks are oddly quiet.

“I could’ve sworn they’d be here,” Tucker tells Firo after checking Caboose’s room and finding it empty.

“BLARG,” she agrees around a mouthful of a granola bar—wrapper included.

“I mean, I guess we could check bomb disposal range. Maybe they’re playing fetch with Freckles?”

“BLARG?”

“No, fetch with Freckles basically involves vaporizing tennis balls straight out of the sky. So, there’s no real ‘fetching’ happening.”

“BLARG CHONK.”

“I know, right? That’s what I said!”

“CHONKA CHONKA.”

“Watch the language!” Tucker chides. “I don’t want the parents thinking I taught you that.”

Just then, Firo perks up, her large grey snout sniffing the air intently.

Tucker stops walking. “What is it? Did you get their scent aga—whoa, hold up!”

In the blink of an eye, Firo lets go of Tucker’s leg and tears off down the hall.

“Hey, hey, hey!” Tucker calls, sprinting after her. “Firo 'Srattin, get back here! If you had a middle name, you bet I’d be using it right now!”

Firo only stops long enough to stick her tongue out at the sim trooper before racing away down another corridor.

“Why you little,” Tucker mutters to himself and looks up at the ceiling. “Mom, if this is what I was like as a kid, I am so sorry. Firo!”

Tucker skids around a corner just in time to see Firo squeeze through an ajar door and disappear inside.

“Oh fuck,” Tucker groans, picking up speed. He hisses. “Firo! Get out here! That’s somebody’s room, and they don’t want to wake up to an alien chewing on their socks!”

The maze of two-person bunk rooms all looks the same to Tucker, so he’s halfway up the hall before he realizes the alien just escaped into his room. His and Wash’s room.

“Damn it,” Tucker mumbles, screeching to a halt outside the door, a hesitant hand on the handle.

Okay, okay. No need to panic. Maybe Firo hasn’t turned any of Wash’s meager possessions into chew toys yet. The Freelancer isn’t one for trinkets or homely touches. If it wasn’t for Tucker, the man would still be living out of his footlocker rather than the closet and chest of drawers available to him. But that means any nonessential items Wash does keep around are all the more meaningful. Like Caboose’s messy drawings or the ugly-ass cat figurine that Tucker carved him out of a bar of soap (“No, no, Tucker, I appreciate the gift. It’s a cute giraffe.” “It’s supposed to be a cat!” “Uh, cat. Right. That’s what I said.”)

“Alright, whose turn is it to turn the page?”

Tucker freezes. Fucking of course Wash is hiding out in the desolate barracks while the base is swarming with children. Tucker’s never seen him interact with someone younger than the lieutenants outside of a military setting. You don’t exactly see a whole lot of kindergarteners toddling around an active military base (Caboose doesn’t count). Long story short, Tucker has been putting off even introducing him to Junior because everything about Wash; his anxiety, his control-freak nature, his stickler-for-the-rules attitude; screams that he and children do not mix.

So who the hell is Wash talking to?

“BLARG!” A high-pitched Sangheili voice shouts.

Tucker’s brow furrows. He’s just about to push the door open when someone else speaks up.

“It’s Ure’s turn,” a young voice translates.

“Alright, Ure, you can do the honors,” Wash says. “Careful this time.”

Tucker hears the sound of a page being turned.

“Great, where were we? Right,” Wash clears his throat. “The BR55HB Service Rifle entered service in 2548 and is employed as a medium-to-long-range marksman rifle.”

The fuck?

“Though its barrel is longer than that of the BR55, the weapon performs almost identically to its predecessor,” Wash continues. “The magazine housing is built directly into the underside of the stock of the rifle and is located behind the grip. And look, here’s a picture.”

That’s it; Tucker can’t stop himself from sneaking a peek around the door.

Wash is sat on the floor, leaning back against his cot. And around him are no less than twelve children and young Sangheili, cuddled up against him, hanging off his arms, sprawled across his lap, and peering over his shoulders at the yellowed paper gun manual in his hands. After turning the book for everyone to see the battle rifle diagram, Wash goes back to reading,

“Though the BR55HB SR is a select-fire weapon, it is most often used in its three-round burst mode.”

“This is my favorite part,” whispers Caboose to the three kids comfortably sharing his lap.

“Despite firing a very powerful cartridge, the weapon is subject to little recoil, even when being fired automatically.”

Curled up in the arms of one of the Sangheili is Firo, happily sucking on her brother’s shirt as she listens to Wash read with rapt attention, along with the rest of the children. Huddled up among them sits Junior, head resting in his hands as he drowsily listens with a content smile on his face.

Someone needs to put down a wet floor sign because Tucker’s pretty sure his heart has melted into a puddle around his shoes.

“Whose turn is it to turn the page now?” Wash asks, and a tiny boy pulls his thumb out of his mouth just long enough to raise his hand.

Wash smiles, and it’s so warm and natural Tucker momentarily forgets how to breathe. “Want some help?”

Thumb back in his mouth, the boy nods, and the Freelancer helps him turn the page with his free, chubby little hand.

“Great job. Now, it fires M634 X-HP-SAP round from a 36-round magazine, which fits flush in the receiver...”

Suddenly, Grif is there next to Tucker, whispering. “You’re so fucked, dude.”

Tucker startles so hard he stumbles face-first into the door. He turns to glare at Grif who disappears into his own room next door with a little wave. Tucker turns back around to find he’s accidentally pushed the door open and the entire room staring at him.

“I, uh, just...Firo!” Tucker recovers quickly. “There you are! I’ve been, ah, looking everywhere for you. Yeah.” Hell yeah. Fucking smooth. Definitely doesn’t sound like you’ve been creeping outside the door.

Wash has gone bright red. “I, uh. There aren’t any, er, kids books on base,” he stammers and starts to stand up. “They kept asking to read this one cause it has pictures. It’s stupid, I kno—”

“What happens next?”

“I—” Wash stops. His brow furrows. “What happens what?”

“What happens next?” Tucker asks again, coming to sit cross-legged on the floor beside Junior. “Dude, you can’t leave us in suspense. I gotta know who lives happily ever after, right guys?” He winks at the kids who giggle. Junior slings a massive arm around his father’s shoulders and pulls him close.

Wash just sits there, ears and cheeks still tinged with red. “You’re sure?” he asks, narrowing his eyes in the way he does when he’s trying to figure out if Tucker’s fucking with him or not.

Tucker settled in, leaning back against his son. “Just read the story, dude,” he says, grinning.

Wash flips the manual open, laughing under his breath. “Okay then,” he concedes. “Section 1.4 Service History. The introduction of the BR55HB SR led to an immediate increase in the BR55's popularity, prompting all branches of the UNSC Armed Forces, except the Army, to replace the M392 with the newer weapon...”

[supercasey]

What your RvB OTP says about you

((I saw a similar list, but it didn't include a lot of my favorite ships and also I thought this would be fun. Sorry if any of this offends anyone: it’s all in good fun and just some observations I’ve noticed over the years about certain shippers. Let me know if I missed any other big ones!))

FUCK I FORGOT SISTER AND DR GREY

Tuckington: Chorus crew is best crew. Wash and Tucker are your all-time favorites and you're so proud of how far Tucker has come. You probably hate/love Felix, there is no in-between.

Mainewash: You like to suffer; you have an addiction to fics that involve one of these two dying. You live for the Meta and Antagonist!Wash team-up. You probably ship Doc with them if you’re into polyam. Cat person.

Yorkalina: You adore York to the moon and back, and are honestly a sucker for ���goofy person meets strict person and teaches them to have fun” pairings. You have a replica of York’s lighter that you’ve never used.

Grimmons: You deserve a Fandom Grandma/Grandpa mug, buddy. You’re so tired, and you’ve probably been here since at least season 6. One day it’ll be canon, you just know it. In the meantime, you’re suffering.

Churboose: My mom ships this so here we are. Caboose is the most perfect of good bois and you’re only watching rvb for him at this point. You’ve cried over Church every day of your life. You named a pet Freckles, probably.

Washlina: You are the most chill/sweet person in the entire goddamn fandom. Seriously, you’re so nice. You don’t care either way if it ends up canon, but the latest content is still very satisfying. You’re so kind, I love you.

Sargington: You’re having the time of your life and I’m so happy for you. Sarge is probably your favorite character, but Wash is a close second. You’re chill about other ships but this is the guilty fav; don’t feel guilty, you’re amazing.

Docnut: Precious cinnamon roll who is too good for this world, too pure. Doc when he’s doing the O’Malley voice is way too hot for you. You probably have written/daydreamed about these two having a farm together.

Pastrytrain: Congratulations for being a good person. The pinnacle of “I’m staying in my fucking lane” when it comes to fandom drama. I know you downloaded the Pastrytrain dating sim, don’t try to deny it.

Kimbalina: Never mind, you guys are the actual diehards for the Chorus trilogy. Carolina is your queen and she deserves the love that Kimball can bring into her life. That hand-holding scene is now your desktop background. Probably wlw.

Tucknut: Trans with an amazing sense of humor. You swear a lot and make more dirty jokes than you should, but people love that about you. Donut is your favorite but Tucker is funnier.

Churnut: Donut is your favorite. You hate that Church is dead and pray every single day that he’ll come back somehow. The Donut arc this season had you fucking THRIVING and I’m so happy for you.

Norkington: You’re either gay or trans or both, and that’s the tea. You’re still obsessed with the PFL seasons, despite how long it’s been. Your favorite version of Wash is the PFL rookie version.

Nork: Yeah, you’re gay, sis.

Flowarge: Where are y’all??? I know I’m not the only one. You want a sitcom of rvb that’s just Parks and Recreation but with power armor. Sarge is best dad and Flowers is your other, more dead dad.

Flyoming: You literally don’t need any canon evidence to ship something; if they breathe they’re in love. Florida is your fav, and tbh Wyoming isn’t even in the top ten, but you’re too into older men to care. Daddy issues.

WashCT: People claim you’re boring but tbh you have really good taste, everyone else just isn’t interested. Knives are one of your favorite things but odds are you don’t know how to throw them. You really miss CT.

SouthCT: The wlw energy is literally so powerful in your bones, congratulations. Team #SouthDidNothingWrong, as well as Team #CTDeservedBetter; you are correct on both accounts. South is best girl.

Southlina: Not sure where y’all are at, but you’re all about that powerful lesbian energy. You probably hate York; if not I’m sorry for saying that. On that note you probably hate the PFL seasons but you’re too desperate for content to complain.

Fucker: You little shit. You are 100% involved in fandom drama but you’re thriving regardless; it’s impossible for you to be affected by everyone telling you that you’re problematic. Tucker is your favorite, but Felix is hot af.

Locington: You say “Unfortunate” way too often but I love you nonetheless. You spent the entire hiatus between seasons 11 and 12 writing porn, and you damn well know. Hell, you’re probably proud of it. Locus is your fav.

Murdersandwich: Are you still here??? If you are, you’re braver than any us marine. Modern AUs where these three get together are your bread and butter. Tuckington is your second favorite ship.

Murdersandwich+Sharkface: You unapologetic, horny motherfucker. You’re living your best life while simultaneously sobbing into your pillow every night over Felix and Sharkface. Locington is your default fav, but this ship still rocks.

Lolix: Fandom veterans from the “Felix is problematic” wars and I salute you for your service. Here to have a good time, and ain’t nobody gonna stop you. You’ve probably written/thought about a “Felix lives” AU at extreme length.

Sharklina: Season 13 was so good in your opinion and you refuse to ever shut up about it. #SharkfaceDeservedBetter. You’re probably into punk aesthetics and you’ve made at least one playlist for these two.

Chex: #ChurchGetsPegged. Tex is your diehard fav and you will never in your life let RT forget that she exists. You’ll drag her out of her grave yourself if you fucking have to. You memorized Church’s speech from the end of rvb5.

Chucker: You cry each and every day about Church being dead. You’ve rewatched the BGC no less than twelve times, and that’s just this year. Everytime you see That Post, you reblog it. You know the one.

Sheipez: If Sheila were real you’d ask her to adopt you. Lopez is your current fav by default and you live for every moment he’s on screen. Caboose is your precious son and you’re willing to die for him.

Sex: You ship this purely because of the ship name. STFU, yes you fucking do. Tex is hot af and you love that one fancomic of sister without a bra on flirting with Tex.

Sucker: Despite popular opinion, you're not as horny as everyone thinks you are. Sister is your favorite and Tucker isn't even close but you love him regardless and think he fits well with Sister.

Suckington: I know you bastards are still here. Wash is your favorite but you love him being surrounded by these energetic shitheads who fill his life with energy and fun. Sister is best girl.

Greyington: I know for a fucking fact that this was a thing. Fucking sadist when it comes to your brand of porn, and Dr. Grey is your favorite character to ever exist.

Kimbones: You knew fuck all about Ladybones but you shipped her with Kimball anyways because you're a thirsty wlw. You've probably moved onto Kimbalina by now, but we will not forget the season 11-12 horniness you unleashed on this fandom.

[itslight-ishred]

Valentine’s Day Dance

Okay, so I’m a couple hours late on this, but I made it through all the distractions to finally bring you my first completed fic in over a year! This is my gift to @mlm-benvolio​ for the RvB Valentine’s Day gift exchange and first time posting one of my works to Tumblr. Enjoy. (will fix formatting if needed) @rvbgiftexchange Ship(s): Grimmons w/background Docnut and Locoboose and mentioned Tuckington 1,800+ words    "Dude, if you don't ask him out, I'm not talking to you ever again."        The lanky red-head gave out a sharp, fake gasp at those words, closing his locker and holding the non-robotic hand to his chest and faking a hurt expression. "You wouldn't. Who else would I talk to?"        "Wouldn't I?" This led to a full two minute stare-down between them both before a taller boy came by and picked up his older brother, squeezing him tight.     "Tucker! I just asked Loco to the Valentine's dance!"        "Okay, if Caboose can ask Loco, you can totally ask Dex," Lavernius gasped out, struggling to get out of his adopted brother's tight grasp. "Seriously, though, what's taking you so long? We all know you like him. Well, except maybe Dex himself."    

   Slinging his bag onto his shoulder, Richard just thought this over a bit as the three headed for the student parking lot. Passing through the commons, they noticed Franklin hugging Frank tight, but not nearly as tight as Michael had done to his brother. The blond noticed them and quickly broke the hug, dragging his boyfriend over to them. Before he could even say a word, Richard stopped him.    "He just asked you out to the dance?"        "Yes!! Has Dex asked you yet? Cause then we could go suit shopping together!" As usual, his younger brother was way too excited about these things than anyone had a right to be, but Franklin had always loved dressing up and going to parties.         "Dude, you don't need to go out and buy a whole suit for this. Not like it's prom," Lavernius told the junior. "Just pick something nice you already have. And can someone please tell Rich here that there's no way Dex would turn him down?"        Franklin's head perked up at that, looking his older brother dead in the eyes. "Rich, if he doesn't say yes, he's an idiot and in denial. He's been over for dinner more this year than the last three combined."        "I rest my case. Now c'mon, I've got a baby who's probably driving my dad up the walls."        Once out in the parking lot, Richard looked around for Dexter's old beater that was in this horrible, bright orange with the doors painted an even brighter yellow. Apparently having sensed his rising anxiety, F.I.L.S.S. started playing music from his relaxation playlist through the headphones around his neck that were connected to his prosthetic arm. "Thanks," he muttered to the AI before speaking up to get his younger brother's attention, giving the keys an underhand toss. "I'm gonna go find Dex. I'll be home in time to make dinner, promise." All of the other teens smiled at him as he jogged off, going up and down the rows to hopefully beat Dexter to his own car.        Thankfully he'd made it just a couple minutes before the shorter senior came over, drinking a soda that he'd gotten from one of the vending machines. "Oh, hey, man. Not goin' home yet?"        "Told Franklin I'd be back to start dinner. Wanted to hang out with you a bit." Dex raised an eyebrow at this but just shrugged, unlocking the car and getting in. It didn't take long for Richard to realize they weren't going to the middle school to pick up Kai. "Uhh. . . ."        "Relax, she's spending the weekend with some friends at a sleepover since our parents are out of town."        "So you're staying home alone? All weekend?"        "Yep."    Somehow this felt like the perfect opportunity to finally suck it up and ask him. No Kai around to spy on them, and nothing embarrassing to try explaining to their adopted parents. So far, so good. When they got to the Grifs' house, both teens kicked off their shoes and put their backpacks by the door, Richard setting up Halo 12 while Dexter went to the kitchen to grab some drinks and some chips. He made sure the red head was getting a thing of carrot juice, while he grabbed another soda for himself. "So, what's up? Normally you give me a heads up before showing up at my car."     "Eh, just didn't wanna hear Franklin talk my ear off about matching suits with Frank or whatever. Also hoping to avoid having Tucker call me to complain how stupid it is that he can't invite Wash to the dance. Pretty likely he'd also complain about Caboose not shutting up about asking Loco out."     "Are those two actually dating or . . . . ?"     "Dunno. But they're definitely going to the dance together." They sat in silence for a few minutes, trying to play a couple practice games of capture the flag before deciding whether or not they wanted to do an online match. "So, uh, are you going with anyone? If at all?"     "Maybe? No one's asked yet, and I'm not sure anyone would really wanna go with me. You going?"     Richard just shrugged before recoiling a bit at a sudden, sharp pain in his arm. "Ow! F.I.L.S.S.!"     "My apologies. I must have hit a wrong nerve trying to move the fingers."     The taller teen glared down at his metallic arm for a second, going back to their game and attempting to continue the conversation. "Been thinking about it. Had sort of an idea who to ask. Besides, Sarge'd want me to go to keep an eye on Franklin anyway."     "Good ol' Sarge."     Feeling the AI in control of his arm in the back of his head and ready to send more shocks up his arm, Richard took a deep breath. "Do you wanna go to the dance? With . . . . me? Maybe? You don't have to, y'know, but if you want, it'd be nice. But you don't have to!"     "Dick?"     "Yeah?"     "Course, dumbass. Who else would I go with?"     About an hour later, the lanky teen found himself back home and in-between on steps in cooking dinner, Franklin bouncing in place as he sat on the counter, watching impatiently. "So?"     "So what?"     "Did you ask him?"     "Did Rich ask who what?" Sarge asked, coming into the kitchen to see what his boys were talking about.     "Richard asked Dexter to the dance this Valentine's Day," F.I.L.S.S. spoke up for the boy, knowing he was too nervous from earlier still to hold any sort of conversation.     "Bout dang time, son. You been fawnin' over him for the last four years now. How late's the dance s'posed ta go?"     "11:30 the latest," the blond teen answered back, their dad just nodding, knowing he could trust them both to not stay out too late.     Later that night, Franklin had texted Lavernius the good news, and the two proceeded to gush over this new development together, the older of the two saying he was afraid they wouldn't ask each other out until well after they graduated in a few months. The next few days were then spent with both of them trying to pick out a classy outfit to the dance, Lavernius saying he'd probably have to take Dexter shopping if the man had any hope of looking decent. So by the time the dance was there, their entire group showed up dressed in black slacks(minus Franklin who was in white with Frank), and they all had their own solid-color button-ups.     Loco and Michael tried splitting their time between the dance floor and eating snacks, while Franklin couldn't sit down from sheer excitement. Richard was too awkward to even attempt dancing, so he was glad to hang back and have some snacks with Dexter, making sure the shorter male didn't get the shirt or pants Lavernius had bought too messy. Speaking of which, he hadn't seen the darker skinned teen since getting into the main hall. This wasn't going to end well. . . .     "So, probably brought this up sooner, but why did you ask me here? I mean, we're not dating or whatever Loco and Caboose are."     "And you call me the dumbass. . . . I kinda thought it'd be obvious? I asked you out to the Valentine's Day dance. Should be pretty self-explanatory."     Dexter nodded a bit, eating a few more bites of his snacks. "True. But I wanna hear you say it."     Now Richard's face was starting to turn a similar shade of red as his hair, if just a shade darker. It wasn't a nearly full-body blush like Wash was known to get from time-to-time, but it did make his freckles blend together a bit. Just as she had last week, F.I.L.S.S. threatened to shock him again if he didn't speak up soon. Her personality had been really weird since Thanksgiving, he'd have to talk to Dr. Church about that.     "I- I like you, okay? I missed you a lot after you had to leave, and then you came back and I thought things'd be like when we were kids again, but it wasn't, and it still isn't, which I think is okay, y'know? We still bicker a lot sometimes, but it's not like when we were little. And you're always there for me when I need it, and you didn't hate me when you found out about me being a boy. Still can't believe you outed me in bio, though. I know, it was an accident. But you're my best friend, and I don't think I would've wanted to ask anyone else to come with me." Taking a deep breath, he started calming down a bit. "Honestly, it was probably a good thing you had to leave cause I think even when we were kids I had a crush on you. And I don't think I could've sorted that out on my own if you were still living with us."     "Huh. Good to know. I like you a lot, too. Thought about you the whole time I was gone. I mean, hard not to, considering you're why I was able to get my skin grafts. So even though you weren't around, you kinda were?" Side-eyeing the other, Dexter noticed the blush had gotten darker "So . . . are we dating now?"    "I think so? If you want to, anyway."     "Cool, guess I can finally do this," the heavier teen said, more of to himself, before leaning over and kissing his now-boyfriend, able to feel the heat radiate off his face from how flushed he was. It was at that moment that a bright flash got their attention, making them look up and see the overhead balcony where one Lavernius Tucker Church stood with his phone out, cheering in triumph.     "Finally! I've waited four years for this!" he cheered before running off to find his younger brother for safety.     "Wha- Tucker, no, I wanna dance with Loco more!" the younger boy tried telling him, as he tried climbing up his back and onto his shoulders. Lavernius just reassured him it'd just be for a little bit, to protect him from Dexter.     "Okay, Tucker's officially the group dumbass now."

[secretlystephaniebrown]

yes hello I'm writing Red vs Blue, specifically something Blood Gulch-era-y in tone and you're the only RvB fic writer I can think of off the top of my head and you're also very good, so any music suggests for that 'idiots wandering around being idiots' mood?? TY!

oh man. Well, not to self-promo, but I’ve got a Red Team Playlist, a Blue Team Playlist, a Tuckington Playlist, and a Chex Playlist. 

If you’re looking for more of a general thing: I always suggest Barenaked Ladies for RVB, and not just because they feature the voice of Captain Butch Flowers and RT did their music video for “Odds Are.” 

[jomeimei421]

Do you have any more non-shippy fics to recommend. I read through the entire list that you posted a while back, and I'm having trouble finging more that I like.

(the original list)

hello

Headspaces by @eponymous-rose

ALRIGHT let’s kick it off with some Recovery One!! There’s actually a criminally low number of Recovery One stuff from Doc’s persepective but the ones that we do have are OOF...amazing...It’s always interesting to see the way Recovery Wash acts to our Wash, so this sort of thing is a nice little character study on both Wash and Doc. GEN/CHARACTER STUDY

Also, EponRose has a bunch of other stuff on their Ao3 that you should check out! They’re a really versatile writer so there’s Chorus stuff, Freelancer stuff, and Red team stuff as well 👀👀👀

Waiting for Rain by @saltsanford

Speaking of Doc and Wash fics, here’s a little spin off LRBTG! After Doc leaves he goes back to Valhalla, and later when Carolina and the reds and blues pass through, he gets a chance to talk to Wash and see how he’s changed. Ft. Wash’s eternal guilt complex for shooting Donut!! GEN

Also if you haven’t read everything in Saltsanford’s library stop reading this list and go do it right now because I’m going to end up recommending all of it anyway

Home is Just a Four Letter Word by tatsumaki_sama

You’ve heard of Wash gets a cat fics...but have you read the Wash IS A CAT FIC?????

Ok though in all seriousness this fic is kind of short and sweet, and when I say sweet I mean real life Tooth Rotting brand fluff. I really wasn’t expecting to enjoy this one as much as I did, but it’s actually really cute! Also Caboose bringing home a pet and that pet just happening to be Wash is basically what happened in canon so?? FLUFF (haha)

Foreign Agent by @wordsysayswords

oh dear lord do I love this fic

Wash learns about one of the more unknown roles of being blue team leader, and exacts revenge. THATS LITERALLY ALL I CAN TELL YOU. If I say any more I’ll spoil it and MY GOD you don’t want me to do that because this fic hilarious GEN/HUMOR

Wordsy;;;;gift....to fandom...the love of my life...writing...good..can make.words go nice and I say......nice..Wordsy writes a lot of Tuckington, but a lot of it can be read as gen too! I reccomend reading some because if you just turn up your nose once it’s tagged as Tuckington you’re missing some grade A content my dude

Dog Tags by @wordsysayswords

After the Hand Of Merope crashes in the canyon, Wash finds himself collecting dog tags and burying what’s left of the crew. His team helps.

Another glorious masterpiece from Wordsy, (whom I love and who has never wronged me except for Blind Date Chapter 8 I Will Never Forgive Never Forget) and this time it’s sort of dark lmao?? But you can probably gather that from the summary. I always thought that the Hand Of Merope crashing was sort of similar to the Mother of Invention crashing and Wordsy kinda went “I got you” and? Like it’s so important to Wash that these people be remembered and I’m like??? Babey... ANGST/HURTCOMF

World So Cruel by @goodluckdetective

The fight off of Charon’s ship against Malcom Hargrove goes awry. One two survive, one red and one blue. ANGST

So you know that hit list I have with all the authors of Bitter Pill on it? Yeah, Iz is at the very top of that list because of this monstrosity that broke into my house and held me at gunpoint. Hear that, Iz? I’m gonna get you. I’ll get you.

This is part of the Darkest Timline AU, and I reccomend checking out An Ending too if you’re still alive after reading World so Cruel

Wars Behind My Face and Above My Throat by tumbleoutyourhair

Wash, and a few times he told people “it’s nothing.” ANGST/HURTCOMF

Ok this one is tagged as Tuckington, but there’s nothing inherently shippy and it’s way too good to omit from this list so you’re getting it anyway!!!!!

Man we sure are getting a lot of angst in this list huh? Wash is resident cockroach right? So he’s always eventually fine, but in the moment when he’s not fine and he insists that he will be and continues to pull increasingly ridiculous feats of self sacrifice...well, that kind of ends up bothering some people.

Cockroaches by @hylian-reptile

Speaking of Wash being a cockroach, here’s some goood old fashioned Merc Wash AU!

This fic is UP THERE with Back To Prison and that one excerpt from PMITG. The concept is the same as always, the reds and blues leave Wash in the snow and he gets put on the USS Tartarus and is eventually picked up by the mercs. I love the!! Sharkface and Aiden Price and how they interact!! It’s honestly a shame that I only recently remembered it existed YIKES because it would have been on that first list ANGST

The Good Stuff and The Better Stuff by @wordsysayswords

Alright, I think that’s enough angst for one recc list, so we’re closing it off with two more of Wordsy’s fluff fics

The Good Stuff: Tucker is injured and gets high off his ass on pain meds. Wash gets stuck looking after him helps out. GEN/HUMOR

The Better Stuff: Wash is injured and gets high off his ass on pain meds. Tucker gets stuck looking after him helps out. GEN/HUMOR

Tagged as Tuckington but not inherently shippy and also?? loopy/drunk Tucker is always a win; it’s way too good to pass up

[bizarrebird]

rvb ask meme 2, 3, 9, and 17 :D

2. favorite blue?

Tucker. Tucker Tucker Tucker. My son, my love, my darling. I’ve always liked him, but lately, he’s just grown on me so much and just managed to edge out my old favorite. I love that he’s not perfect and he makes mistakes and he gets to learn and grow, but he also just tries so hard and he cares so much. He’s just such a good and writing him in fics is an absolute joy.

3. favorite red?

Sarge. For so long it was Grif, but season 8 and Sarge’s speech at the end managed to bump him up there. He’s one of those characters that’s just so much fun to watch and a well written Sarge in fics fucking kills me, like holy shit. I just love my murderous grandpa.

9. favorite ship?

Man, there’s a bunch I like. I’m pretty boring in terms of ships mostly, and my top two are tuckington and grimmons. Although lately, I’ve started to really really like lucker and luckington, and kimbalina (with a possible added York in there) is always so, so good.

17. least favorite ship?

Hmm, I don’t know that there’s any ships that I really don’t like. If I see a well written fic, I can get behind most things. I’m not huge on pairing Sarge with Grif or Simmons since I like him having more of a paternal dynamic with them. I also sort of have a hard time pairing Wash with people if Tucker’s not there too, but I wouldn’t say I dislike those ships, they mostly just work better in my head if Tucker’s there.