#the worst timeline lmao

[tvckerwash]

thoughts on wash's fighting style and his position in pfl because I can (utc because it's really long lol):

wash is very unique among the freelancers for a variety of reasons, one is that he doesn't specialize in one specific area of anything, he's a jack of all trades who is able to fill in for other freelancers if necessary. for example in s9 when york was supposed to be unavailable for lock picking/infiltration duty, carolina immediately went to wash (and we are ignoring that york is not shown to be good at lock picking!) if she trusted wash to fill in for their specialist in one area, I feel it's not a stretch to imagine that he can do so in other areas as well.

need a snipper but north and wyoming aren't available? wash can cover. need someone to get into the enemies' computer systems in place of ct, south, or york? wash can cover. need someone for stealth or reconnaissance in place of florida? wash can cover. etc etc.

wash's combat style reflects that jack of all trades, master of none thing very well too, as the way that he fights is very grounded and pragmatic when compared to the rest of the freelancers. a lot of people like to portray wash as less skilled than the other freelancers, but in truth I believe that wash being able to keep up and compete with the other freelancers despite his lack of dramatic flare is a show of just how competent and skilled of a soldier he is. wash is so good at doing what he does that he doesn't need all that extra bullshit to get the job done. sure, he might not look as Cool and SexyTM as the others while doing it, but completing the mission and surviving to live another day takes precedence over all else.

another way of looking at it is that wash fights in the same way that the odst's do, that is to say that he fights like a human who cannot plow his way through the battlefield in the same way the spartans can. wash's style of fighting is one that employs careful planning and targeted hit and run tactics—this is most obvious in recovery one and s6 whenever he's fighting against the meta.

I also feel it's important to note that wash is not a cqc fighter, he can handle himself if he gets into a cqc situations but his primary weapon is the battle rifle—which is a mid/long range weapon. if I'm being honest wash's way of fighting makes waaaaaaaaay more sense if you look at him not as someone who is trained to primarily fight against other humans, but as someone who is trained to fight against 8ft 2 ton aliens with plasma weapons that can slice through the hulls of UNSC battle cruisers (ships designed to travel through space!!!) like a hot knife cuts through butter and have the technology to raze entire planets to the ground in a matter of minutes.

I also personally believe that wash has the most military experience out of all the freelancers right behind florida, wyoming, and maine (who I hc as a spartan iii). we know that wash did his basic training in the leonis minoris system (a canonical halo system) and that system had two of the three planets glassed by the covenant in 2537, and wash directly references these events in the washed hands interview in the fan guide and the way he says it implies that he likely completed his basic training that same year. now I have some grievances with the timeline given in the book when it comes to the events depicted in the freelancer saga because it's just kinda weird, but everything prior to that bit is actually fine (though I hate the way that they decide to number the timeline lmao).

now in halo canon the human/covenant war ended in 2552, and according to the timeline in the rvb fan guide that was 1 year after alpha was sent to blood gulch. project freelancer is first cleared for funding 7 years BBG (before blood gulch), and recruits the 50 freelancers 5 years BBG. doing some math we can determine that pfl was cleared for funding in the year 2544, and the freelancers are recruited for pfl in 2546. so assuming wash finished his basic training in 2537 that would mean that he was in the military for 9 years before he joined pfl, and while wash is addressed as a corporal (e-4) in the washed hands interview he was most likely demoted to that after he was court martialed, and he was possibly going to be dishonorably discharged from the military because of his disorderly conduct.

using the current standards used by the us marine corps when it comes to rank progression, wash was most likely a sergeant (e-5) who was very close to being promoted to a staff sergeant (e-6). wash as a sergeant would've essentially been the assistant manager/co-leader of the platoon he was in while his staff sergeant was the manager/leader, and that would explain why he was able to even get into an argument with his CO in the first place. I believe wash held a similar position in pfl, as it's kind of implied that he did some management stuff in pfl (talking with internals/upper brass, him feeling comfortable with openly questioning carolina about whether york should be allowed on the sarcophagus heist, and of course he shows the ability to direct and somewhat lead south in recovery one, and him leading church, caboose, and the reds in s6, and him taking charge of the meta in s8).

even if wash wasn't a sergeant as a corporal he would've been in a position to be the leader of a fire team, so basically wash isn't some rookie who had no clue wtf he was doing as many in the fandom like to characterize him; he is an experienced and battle hardened soldier by the time he joins pfl no matter how you look at it.

to put all of that into context, carolina is born 29 years BBG, which would be 2522. so during pfl she's in the 24-28 range and she wouldn't have joined the military until 2540. I actually personally head canon that wash is the same age as carolina, but that he illegally enlisted at 15 because of a crappy home life, but ignoring my head canon and assuming that he joined the military at 18 instead, he would've been born in 2519.

[shartfinz]

I don't think Luigi would have ever had any of his own friends for like most of his life because he is a yapper

[rollinouttahere-writes]

Just started like. Cry laughing imagining an interaction between kid and lil lucky. Poor guy wants to know what this shit is so bad and you're telling him his only source of answers is now a small child?! But even then lil lucky would definitely still know what a phone is and probably thinks he's stupid for not being able to figure it out lmao

I've been wanting to write a drabble about this lol

I have to disagree about the phone, though. Lucky is in her twenties, and cell phones have changed a lot in the past 20 years. Lil Lucky has only ever seen a flip phone and would not recognize a smartphone.

Kid hands it to her and asks to know what it is. Lil Lucky stares at it intently for a few minutes before confidently responding with, "It's a rectangle."

Kid has his head in his hands and is going through the five stages of grief upon realizing that he will likely never get answers. Killer just quietly takes her back to the Straw Hats while he's moping.

[rebouks]

Having read/reread Somnium this past week/two-ish... I have some theories about Wyatt.

Every character we create has a bit of us, our experiences, and our biases. On that same note, I think every persona Wyatt has projected contained a bit of truth, but also a fair bit of fabrication. Of all the characters in Somnium, I think he had the worst childhood. It's really a miracle he's alive and not completely batshit crazy. And it's understandable why he learned to shut down emotions from a tiny age.

But Wyatt is AND isn't who we've seen. That nerdy, awkward doofus Courtney got to know, there a bit of truth there. But he exaggerated it for her. The absolute psycho that everyone shied away from... There's a bit of truth there, but I think also a fair amount of embellishment. If you're gonna be surrounded by homicidal thugs, then by all means, be the craziest one in the room. The one person that everyone is wary of. When he had his years alone in Mt. Komo (aka his purgatory), it was the first time his survival didn't depend on acting FOR someone else. He could just BE.

Wyatt says he isn't wired right and that he's emotionally faulty. But is he really as bad off as he thinks or is that what he's always been told? Obviously empathy is not his strong suit, but we've seen him: jealous/envious (others' relationships), selfless (letting Darien & Brynn go), appreciative (Oscar's help), petrified (to the point of throwing up), kind (to Ichiro, Mayo, and Brynn), and managed to (while sweating) mumble an ILY. All of which are normal emotions. He tried to make amends where he could. He adopted a cat ffs. A street cat that now has the poshest looking cat bed I've seen lol And the last time he choked someone was out of passion and (somewhat righteous) anger, not emotionless calculation.

I think who Wyatt was (and thought he was) is fading away, however damaged his past left him. I don't think he'll ever be a soft guy/touch to the world at large. Only a select few will be privy to that side if him. But I think his true nature is finally being revealed. Or am I reading him wrong? Enlighten me, Becca!

Ohhh you've read him remarkably well indeed! I truly love Wyatt's character, he's so complex and he really did have a nasty childhood.. on the surface I'm sure it looked like he had everything he ever wanted, but that's faaar from the truth.

I think he's only just realised that he's not actually a psychopath at all, he just kinda learnt how to be one as a coping mechanism when he was very young, so young that it almost seemed like reality in the end, even to other people! (There's a reason it seemed so genuine ⚆_⚆) I suppose in a way he lied to himself for so long it became reality. Ask Bruno.. he's still convinced he's a psycho! 😅

I rlly think smth shifted the moment he became suspicious of Oscar tho, and whilst at first he was intent on protecting the "family" and doing the "right" thing, the more he thought about it, the more he realised how done he was. No one listened to him, no one respected him, but he knew he was right! It was like he realised he'd never progressed from being a small child, pushed out of the way and ignored, even when they're begging to tell you something important! Arturo wasn't interested, so instead.. he had to pay. Wyatt didn't want to be loyal to him anymore! At the time, he didn't help Oscar n' co. just to do the right thing, he wanted to fuck his father over more than anything, so.. still pretty self-serving in a way but he's had a loooot of time to think since then and it's been so intriguing watching the slow shift in his mindset.

He's everything he's ever been, pretended to be and everything he never was, all bundled up into a ball that he buried deep inside; only when he was free did it all start to unravel.

I adore the examples of humanity you've picked up on tho, all those tiny hints we got that maybe he's not completely devoid of emotion after all... He's still Wyatt, but he's also Kaito too.. he's intelligent, he CAN be kind - to the right people, tho he definitely struggles with empathy - he's jealous, possessive, ambitious, confident, not confident at all 😆 he doesn't know, actually.. maybe we should check back in on him in a little while lmao

Hurray for the truly grey man!

Also.. I kinda started putting together a lil timeline of posts/moments that I thought were pivotal to his slow lil journey but this is long af as is so I'll work on that and post it separately 👀

[suffarustuffaru]

theres way too much salt in this venn diagram

[tangledinink]

hey! I'm the author of At My Worst, the fic I'm Sorry, Teenage Mutant What Now? was up against in the @/tmntausummit!

Congrats on the win! It was very much deserved and tmwn is one of my favourite fics so I'm definitely very chill with being defeated lol

I wish you the best of luck in the next round(s) o7

Ah thank you so much! ; w ; I appreciate it very much! Thank you for participating!

It's pretty simple, sorry, but here! I made this for you!

[solivagantingrebel]

It's so lame that human bites can be dangerous like. What do you mean breaking skin and drawing blood can lead to severe infection and permanent damage. Wdym it's not just a fun and kinky way to pass time.

[bardicious]

Anon ask box rights revoked on account of, but not limited to:

condescending ass questions from people with superiority complexes or the common "do gooder"

invasive and presumptive leading questions.

I realized I actually don't care about some randos opinions on who I am and what they think my beliefs are (yay me!)

y'all I'm not a politician or a spokesperson, Im not even one of them "influencers" omg stop giving a shit about what people online think and feel, ffs.

Finally, just to end it off, thinking/having opinions will never be "activism". Stop telling people it is. You want to help a group of people? Join/donate to a charity, find a group that actually cares about helping so and so. Personally I don't think holding a protest sign is it, nor violence, threats, or intimidation, or arguing with people online. You want to be an activist? Add something positive into the world, and stop pretending you're making a difference through online discourse.

So if y'all want to send me asks like this, well, you're going to have to do it with your head held high cause anon asks are off.

[ohthisisgonnasuck]

Went on Reddit for the first time in forever + new update....

Wtf, glad I live **here***.

[lavenoon]

Hiya! I went to have a nap to get rid of a headache and ended up having a small dream of Hatchling AU but with a slight twist.

After the angst of one of the boys snapping at them, instead of just bowing out of missions/avoiding them, they swap time slots entirely. Now instead of working the Day, they work at Night and interact with Dusk.

They thought maybe this would work out better for them and it did!... For a bit. Dusk also snaps at them, scaring them in the same way in the little angst drabble you wrote.

Robin starts thinking that maybe being an agent isn't what they thought it be and starts second guessing themselves to the max. Robin, desperate for some form of 'good enough', asks to get swapped to Tech in the guise of 'will improve my performance if i could make these work/fit better'.

Robin is unaware of how well they've actually been doing because of Dawn and Dusk's reactions to them and the Heads (cant remember the word) decided that if this really good up-and-coming agent will work better with gear/tech made by themself then hell yeah.

Robin gets to work in the labs/on tech for as long as they want so long as they accept any mission the Heads deem as needing their immediate attention. Robin agrees and that's where they've been for a few weeks now.

They've managed to dodge Dusk and Dawn while heading to the labs and neither know where Robin went.

Dawn and Dusk both still want to apologize but their little thief/bird has vanished, leading them to thinking they may have quit or been fired.

The Heads send them a mission detailing they need to use a special device/trinket a lab tech made and have to go pick it up.

Not in the mood to be dealing with another person that probably doesn't like them/is afraid of them they barge right in.

The Tech tells them to hold for just a moment so they can grab the device. A moment that told them that the Tech was Robin.

Robin turns around, with their mask on, mid-explanation of the new device only to freeze at the realization of who they're debriefing to.

I woke up after that.

As I type this i have no idea how the living/home set up would work (maybe the tenant thing didn't happen in this version) since the dream never left the agent side of things.

I also have no idea if the other ever found out that they started getting visited/working with the person their counterpart was annoyed with.

I'm going to have another nap now because typing this out without glasses brought the headache back.

Hope you have a wonderful day/night dear, Take Care!

Oh I am totally normal about you dreaming of Hatchling AU totally totally

I went a little off the rails, so the rest goes under the cut - 1.7K words, and I won't apologize <3

So like this the neighbor thing really wouldn't work - only creating more isolation for Robin. They go home to an empty house, and they have nothing to soften the blow of everything happening at work.

So when Dawn snaps at them, they decide to take the hint and just switch shifts entirely. There they run into Dusk - and they're already more hesitant about everything.

That's a bit of a speedrun there - because Robin then obviously finds out there's another celestial animatronic star agent, one they haven't been aware of at all. And Dusk knows of the newbie Robin too - so it's not hard to connect them back to the agent Dawn used to work with. He's quiet, not as flashy as Dawn, and doesn't outright snap at them - so that's good?

Dusk has to wonder just how much Dawn exaggerated, because what he sees is a quiet agent who is obviously still having new job jitters. There's none of the crazy ideas or impulsive comments that Sun always complained about, and he wonders how much of that was exaggeration or maybe just an indication that they weren't suited for the undercover work.

They do look happy parkouring, and he doesn't begrudge them the glee of that - it's the first time in a long time that he doesn't look for the fastest way to a target, but rather the most thrilling one. And they keep up!

So for Dusk, this is an arrangement he can live with, even if he feels a bit like a babysitter for the rookie sometimes. Dawn meanwhile goes through much of the same, more agents refusing to work with him, and then he hears from his counterpart that Robin works with him now and has undergone a rather drastic personality change, and somehow... That doesn't feel right.

Dusk also doesn't stay happy for too long, because when there's a group of hostiles and Robin is just way too reckless? They can't take that seriously either, and suddenly he knows what Dawn was talking about.

That... Maybe isn't the most tactful thing to point out while he's making sure they aren't bleeding out from their freshly acquired stab wound.

Robin doesn't say anything after that.

They're dead silent, and don't look at him anymore.

He's obviously not surprised when they don't come back for a while - but when weeks turn into months and there's no sign of them again, he does kind of get antsy.

Because Sun and Moon continue to share notes, and Moon does feel bad about his almost panicked comment that, well... He wasn't actually angry, just frenzied by the newbie he decided he'd keep an eye on actually getting stabbed while he was there. Sun of course also isn't happy - somehow hearing that Moon threw Dawn's words back at Robin in that kind of situation also makes him think that he wasn't quite the friendliest person either. He didn't even give them the benefit of doubt - and their sudden personality shift does make him think.

They somewhat settle for the thought that Robin quit after getting stabbed - surely that just wasn't what they signed up for. And while it hurts to think that they'd never get to apologize, they feel like a short-lived rivalry is better than a short-lived rival.

So when Dawn is instructed to pick up a new spy device from the labs, he's certainly not expecting to see a familiar face. (It does explain the almost ridiculous design of the device, but he can't deny that it could work)

They don't expect to see him there either though. And, oops, they aren't really in the mood to be bubbly or quiet now (: He gets a glare, before they turn back again, continuing with their explanation of the device in a much sharper tone than before.

Dawn deflates, just a little. He did that - Dusk and him, both of them.

"You still work here," also isn't quite the best way to voice his surprise, as gentle as he does it. Because Robin has had enough. They snap around to him, barely contained fury evident in their expression.

"What, expected I was fired for being that much of a failure?"

Uh oh.

If there were anyone else in the room, they might have been surprised at the ruthless star agent pacifyingly raising his hands and stepping back from the tiny in comparison lab tech now glaring daggers at him. Hell, even Dawn is surprised that this is his course of action. But still, he's proud, and he needs to set the record straight.

"That's not what I said -"

"Yeah, but you said plenty. And Dusk made sure I remember, too."

They turn their back again, and Dawn... Dawn doesn't like this, at all. None of this. They sound sad and angry and almost crushed and he hates that. That's not how they're supposed to be.

So for the first time in ever, maybe, he swallows his pride.

"We were wrong. I was wrong. To say those things, and for how I said them. I'm sorry."

If he had a tongue, he'd bite it, but even so the excuses and justifications struggle to escape anyway. They have no place here, and even Dawn is aware of that.

Robin doesn't react past hunching their shoulders, but he can't see their expression.

"... Didn't know you know those words. So what, how's Dusk gonna surprise me?"

He clenches his fingers, then slowly unfurls them again. Easy, easy - do not snap at the newbie. That's what caused this mess in the first place.

"Dusk watched you get stabbed. He was concerned, and acted out of line, and I'm sure he'll apologize himself. I cannot and will not do that on his behalf."

"It's great that he watched, I didn't quite get to. Was a bit too dark."

"The lights -"

Robin throws him a withering look past their shoulder. He flinches back, and not just because of how their eyes shine with tears they're holding back.

"I was preventing the lights from being turned on. Dusk was busy, he didn't even see the guy aiming for the switch - and I didn't see the knife. We're even."

Wait. Wait a moment - gears start turning, and Dawn's eyes widen in realization. Dusk saw, and Robin didn't -

"He was using nightvision. The sudden light would have overloaded his optics, blinding him for at least a few seconds - if not damage them entirely."

Seconds of blindness or even total loss of vision - neither are good in a fight. And Dusk didn't even see? Didn't even pay attention?

It seems he trusted his little rival more than he was even aware of.

Robin continues to mumble, fiddling with the device in front of them, unaware of his little moment.

"I wasn't sure. I just know how afterimages work, and nightvision binoculars. I was thinking. Just not enough."

"You were thinking more than him. Or me, for that matter. We both got used to our routine, and that's on us, not you. We falsely took it out on you."

Because isn't that exactly what he did? Got angry at them for thinking outside the box he built around himself?

Robin turns back to him, sizing him up - as if they hadn't seen him before. Fresh eyes, maybe, or a new light now. Maybe they're a bit of a sucker, but they haven't forgiven either of them yet - they just want to, because they don't enjoy the grudges. They also, deep down, still crave that validation - the acknowledgment of the star agents. Having one of them admit to his own mistakes and apologize seems like a reasonable first step. Maybe there's hope for them yet.

But they're also curious, and now thinking of routines and being stuck in old ways helps a certain question they kept to themself resurface.

"... How'd you two get this job?"

Dawn wants to balk, shoot it down - where did that come from? It's irrelevant, and frankly -

And frankly, the hesitant look on Robin's face extinguishes all the fight in him. He's not Eclipse, he can mention some things without revealing his entire identity.

"We have family, at another location. Code name Horizon -"

Their eyes light up, and he wonders if they've worked with his blueprints before. They sure had all the opportunities at the lab.

"- and he got us the job. We were transferred, to keep the risk to a minimum, but we got in."

"That's lonely."

He doesn't want to think about that.

"And you, little thief? Got caught stealing?"

The deflection works - they smile, and puff out their chest just a little.

"Got scouted. Guess how. ... Not the stealing."

Dawn laughs softly, just for a moment, but the amusement rings in his tone, too.

"With you, I wouldn't be surprised if you simply walked in and declared yourself an agent."

It catches them off guard, and they snort - a hand flying up to cover their mouth immediately, but he heard. It gives him hope, too.

"... Almost. Caught someone on the roof during their smoke break, and apparently me dodging the alarms was cause enough to drag me right in and well, a job that condones climbing around on other people's property? I got excited."

But then their expression falls again, and their shoulders slump. They aren't doing that anymore, or any of the other things that excited them about this job. They're just hoping to not mess this up, too - it's all they have left here.

Dawn notices, too, and does correctly reach the assumption that they grieve the fun they used to have. And as much as it stings, he also knows a single conversation won't fix that.

That's okay. He'll come back - and he's sure Dusk will, too, as soon as he tells him about this development. For now, he points towards the spy device still lying on the table.

"Tell me how it works. I'll take it seriously."

Because that's what he can offer. He can be professional, and he can treat them as an equal - he didn't before, but he'll be sure to do so now.

Robin smiles, if a little hesitant.

"Take it with some fun, too. You could use it."

... Yeah, maybe he could.

[moghedien]

I feel like when we get the Left Behind content in the show, it’s gonna be done like the Bill and Frank flashback where most of the episode is gonna be flashback with just current day framing and I’m gonna be unwell

[fooltofancy]

finally bought more coffee but i bought Not Good coffee so now how do i live with myself

[virtualgirladv]

[duncanor]

Looking at folks complaining about the Trigun fandom being full of weirdoes while I have never had a similar encounter because I blocked the plantcest tags months ago:

Where

[reality-refuge]

Wedding Bells CAS Challenge - Minimalist

In which they both remained at the PD and hired Winter as their wedding planner.

[baconcolacan]

Someone needs to reality check R-Tord and or just make him touch GRASS for once

WE ALL WISH HE WOULD

Man’s a fuckin basement dwelling 4channer