#caboose posting yet again

[plushie-diagnosis]

Plushie diagnosis #95

Name: master chibi

Skill: HUGE ass head

Quote: "this is my lil 'boose. Don't touch him."

#caboose posting yet again #halo #master chief #rvb #michael j caboose #red vs blue #plushie diagnosis #plushie #plush #human #rose's bin

[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

#its mainly mx qed relationshipcrimes and mx qoq primtheamazing who are my favorite writers it seems #so anything there is pretty good #oh on the cute grimmons level i also like 'What kind of trash dragon' #which.. might be written by prim? i know they have a few orphan fics floating around out there #including uh. green is a shade of red which i havent read but know is a good red team locus fic that they wrote and then orphaned

[leonardalphachurch]

i am being self indulgent i am doing this whole thing with just chucker. some chuckboose making a special appearance bc as you know all chucker is chuckboose in disguise. feel free to still send in numbers for other ships i am just Going Ham.

note that i’m mostly basing this off of our yet to be written church lives au so slight spoilers for that but like. not really. all you have to know is that it’s a post-13 au.

1. Who would end a heated argument by defending their actions with ‘because I love you!’ ?

honestly probably neither. they’d both say something similar but i neither of them are very big on the “i love yous”. ESPECIALLY not when they’re angry. they’re much more likely to lash out than be sappy in an argument

2. What would they do if the other woke in a manic state after a nightmare?

neither of them would really get manic? church is Dissociative King and tucker canonically has panic attacks so i think that’s how they’d react to nightmares. when he’s dissociating is like one of the only times he’s 100% open to and wanting affection so tucker would be like. giving him kisses and pats to ground him and calm him. meanwhile for tucker it’s like, church isn’t great at giving affection so it’s much more practical. giving him water and making him breakfast and throwing a weighted blanket on him. and obviously they both just. call caboose over for cuddles. caboose number 1 nightmare destroyer

3. Do they wear the other’s clothes? (sweatshirt, bandana, necklace, etc.)

i think tucker is more fashion conscious and is like. your clothes do not match my style. meanwhile church is just wearing whatever the fuck is in front of him. not to churboose but church is wearing caboose’s shit basically every day. big for him

4. Which one is more protective? Who needs to be ‘protected’?

they’re both so protective in the dumbest ways. it’s that one comic of the two people who keep jumping in front of the bullet for each other but even stupider and way less functional

5. Describe their cozy night in.

some of these i think i might have to talk about on my nsfw blog lol… (edit: okay it’s in the notes). for a sfw version. they watch bad movies and get drunk and yell at the screen and at each other and also caboose is there and they’re all in a giant cuddle puddle by the end of the night

6. Who would beg the other not to leave? Who has to leave to protect the other?

neither of them would beg but they both so desperately want the other to never leave their side. please don’t leave them alone again. please.

7. Would they build a pillow fort together just because?

they come home and caboose has built a pillow fort in their living room and church acts like he’s mad about it and tucker is annoyed that he’s going to have to clean it up later but they all end up in there

8. What happens if one of them gets sick?

uh this happens in the fic so. no spoilers. however we know what canon church is like when tucker is sick LMAO he vacates the fucking premises

9. What are their thoughts on having children?

they already have kids lol. but i do like to imagine them adopting a child together… that is SO far into the future of their relationship tho

10. Describe their first date.

spoilers…

11. Do either try to hide their emotions if upset? Can the other still tell?

LMAO DO CHURCH AND TUCKER HIDE THEIR FEELINGS??? THE MOST REPRESSED MEN IN THE WORKD, DO THEY EVER HIDE THEIR EMOTIONS??? i guess it does depend on what kind of “upset” is meant tho. anger? not hidden even slightly. literally any other emotion, including positive ones? baby that’s just anger! why feel emotions when you can feel a) lust or b) anger. that’s all you need! and uh they both can usually tell that something’s up but in order to talk about it they would have to admit that they feel emotions besides lust and anger and. well.

12. Do they have many heated arguments? How do they smooth things over?

DO CHURCH AND TUCKER HAVE HEATED ARGUMENTS???? they do not smooth things over they just have angry sex and let all their emotions fester until the next time they argue and are nasty and vicious to each other and then do it all again

13. Who’s the bigger tease?

nsfw… but they both have their moments.

14. How do their personalities compliment each other? How do they clash?

that is. too big of a question to answer in this format lol

15. Do they always say 'i love you' before leaving?

lmao no

16. Can they stay up all night just talking?

this is literally The Thing that they do

17. Who's more likely to pull the other in by the waist and kiss them passionately?

SO tuckercore. tucker does this constantly everyday and church yells about it but never ever stops him

18. How likely are they to have fur babies? How many and what kind?

why do you have to say it like this. i think if church had a pet he would have a mental breakdown about it. tucker might have some reptiles tho. for fun

19. How do they feel about PDA?

they are literally one step away from having public sex

20. Choose one song that perfectly describes their relationship.

i’m so bad at songs lmfao. all the chucker songs i have are just tucker pining over church. mr. brightside the killers; starring role marina; you belong with me taylor swift…….. i don’t have any of their actual relationship

21. Who would get into a fight to defend the other's honor? Who tends to the other's wounds?

lmao no they’re the ones dashing each others honors. someone insults one of them and the others like “oh man so true!” church would be the one tending wounds tho bc if church is wounded he needs to like. go in for maintenance lmao tucker does not know how to fix robot. also church will take any opportunity to take care of someone while loudly complaining about the fact that he has to take care of them

22. What reminds each of their partner?

this is too vague i think for me to know how to answer it

23. Who's more likely to convince the other to stay in bed come morning?

“church we need to have morning sex. church please i will die without it.”

24. Who's more likely to give the other a massage?

tucker wants to be all sexy with it but church. is a robot. he might help church with like base level maintenance stuff to fufill the same purpose tho

25. Do they have any hobbies they share?

i don’t think they have. hobbies. i guess watching tv? ………sex.

26. What are their vices?

girl i am writing an entire fic about this. everything about them is a vice

27. Who is the light weight that needs to be taken care of after a party?

neither of them really are lightweights but i think tucker is definitely way more likely to take some more illicit substances hanging out with kai and church gets so fucking annoyed having to take care of tuckers high ass

28. What are there thoughts on pet names? Do they have any?

babe is literally the most common word coming out of tuckers lips

29. Who is more likely to jump in an elevator? Who freaks out?

i think church would be more likely to freak out but tucker wouldn’t really jump in an elevator bc hed be lowkey scared too. caboose is the one jumping he thinks it’s SO fun. it’s like you’re flying!

30. Your OTP gets to pick out each other's outfits; what is each wearing?

uhhh. nsfw? but i could see them picking out something really stupid for each other tho. actually tucker would pick something super nice and church would pick out something as a joke and then feel like an asshole about it.

31. Can they sit side by side without touching the other or are they handsy? (lacing fingers, touching knees, etc.)

tucker is the most handsy person in the fucking world and church is so touch starved he’s dying so they are literally all over each other. caboose is also there he is holding them both at all times.

32. Who's the better story teller?

church probably. he’s overdramatic while tucker is just kind of boring with it.

33. Who's the better cook?

church is better at following recipes but tucker is better at winging it. so tuckers food is usually more simple but it tastes better most of the time

34. Who's more likely to tell a dirty joke or story to make the other blush?

lol. who could possibly be the one more likely to tell a dirty joke here. i could not imagine.

35. Who's more artistic?

neither are artistic in a traditional sense (church literally put his creatively Somewhere Else) but tucker is super musically inclined

36. Who's more likely to fire up the stove at 2am because the other woke up in the middle of the night hungry?

church doesn’t need to sleep and gets so fucking annoyed hearing tuckers stomach growling

37. Which is more likely to swear?

lol

38. Who is more sexually experimental? Who's more vanilla?

lol nsfw. tuckers more experimental but that’s only bc church doesn’t need to experiment he knows what he wants

39. Who would rescue an injured animal and nurse it back to health? What would the other think?

tucker would bring home an animal and church would be so mad about it and then he’s up at 4am hand feeding it food that he crushed himself all the while complaining about how much he hates it

40. Who has an insatiable appetite? And what does the other do to help?

uh. surprisingly this is kind of spoilers.

41. Which one would take their jacket it off and drape over the other one because they were visibly shivering?

church but he claims it’s because tucker shaking is so annoying and church has internal temperature regulation systems anyway

42. What's their favorite type of weather to enjoy together? (getting snowed in together, watching thunderstorms, etc.)

oh i think they have opposite weather feelings lol. church likes the cold, tucker likes the heat. i think they both hate the rain together tho. bonding over being mad about the wet

43. Who would give their life for the other without a second thought?

lol. lol. lol.

44. Who would dance in the kitchen making dinner? Would the other join in or watch from the doorway?

tucker 🥺 church would definitely be watching and then be pulled in and annoyed about it and just. cute.

45. Can they fall asleep without the other?

church doesn’t need to sleep so he does not bother sleeping unless he’s with tucker or caboose. tucker has more than enough practice sleeping in the worst of situations but he is 🥺 about having to sleep without church

46. Would they get frisky at the movies by themselves?

LMAO YES. remove the “by themselves” lmao. lmao.

47. Does either of them have a secret that could potentially ruin their relationship?

spoilers. but also. they’re both convinced that the secret of them having feelings for the other is this

48. Who's the better driver?

church is an ai that was literally made to be in charge of helping maintain a space ship the size of a city. so tucker.

49. Does either of them have a hard time being away from the other?

they cry EVERY DAY they are apart so sad so tragedy

50. Who's more likely to do something out of spite?

LMAO. they are so fucking. they are constantly fueled by spite. everything they do is out of spite. church is more spite but. tucker is there too

51. What’s a non verbal way they say I love you?

church’s love language is 100% acts of service. he can’t tell you how he feels but he can make sure all of your medication is in order and to call to confirm your appointment and have you been eating enough vegetables lately? ugh he’ll have to hide them in your food for you so annoying. no shut up he’ll do it. he’s already doing it. tucker is just. constantly having his hands on church and kissing him and just hoping, praying that somehow everything he feels can be transmitted through just his lips grazing churchs skin

52. Describe their weekend getaway?

uhhhh. i have ideas for a honeymoon but. for a weekend… maybe they just go some place quiet and spend the weekend boning. or they go somewhere fun with caboose and junior and [spoilers]

53. Would they ever go skinny dipping?

tucker lives to go skinny dipping. church would think it’s stupid but do it anyway

54. Who’s more likely to carry the other to bed?

church demands to be carried at all times. but the one doing the most carrying is caboose. he loves to pick up his friends

55. Do they like watching clouds or star gazing?

no they are not deep. actually. church does like looking out at the stars when he’s on a ship. reminds him of a time when things were. good. tucker still doesn’t really know how to react when church gets wistful bc it’s such a rare and jarring experience so he just. stands there with him and holds his hand. even though he’s really REALLY bored.

56. What do they do turn the other on/put them in the mood?

aha uhhh nsfw.

57. Whose the serious one when grocery shopping and who likes to toss random things in the cart?

their cart is 100% snacks and bullshit. they both take turns being the one to put in real food and being the one to put snacky treats.

58. Who’s more likely to hold a grudge after an argument?

they are SO talented at holding grudges #1 grudge holders 2559

59. Who tops? Who bottoms?

nsfw. they switch

60. Who pulls the other closer when they’re sleeping?

i don’t know if either of them would. caboose.

#ask game #chucker #rvb #this kind of made me want to answer these specifically for chuckboose but i do not have. the energy.

[isaterriblebore]

Stex Appreciation Month Day 25: Nationals (part 2)

Favourite Actor

Espresso: Ricky Mujica, Michael Eborall, and Kyle Anthony.

Japanese Engine: PaddyJoe Martin, Kouta Otsuka and Jamie Sidhom.

Ruhrgold: Cole Dunn, Benjamin van Eelen, and Kai Cameron Jay.

Turnov: Stephan Monzel, Paul Whitaker, and Luuk Hartog.

Favourite Song/Scene

Espresso: Everything! I love him so much. I love how he’s just :pensive face: :peace sign: and the end of the race and Zero just looks frustrated as hell as he tried pulling him back up lol.

Japanese Engine: I love watching him race with Volta… they just look so damn good together. 

Ruhrgold: Not a scene but I like how in a lot of productions, he doesn’t really care much for all the drama. He’s just here for the racing and to prove that he's the best. 

Turnov: I like him in the races and also when he’s like ‘hell yeah I’m here racing with my little twink caboose’ lol.

Favourite Costume

Espresso: I prefer the post 2018 Bochum design although I do love the pre-2018 Bochum design too.

Japanese Engine: I prefer the post 2018 Bochum costume all the way! 

Ruhrgold: Post 2018 Bochum too… I hated the pre-2018 Bochum makeup.

Turnov: Original Bochum costume :)

Favourite Ship

Espresso: Again… Bobo/Espresso all the way. 

Japanese Engine: I really love Hashamoto/Volta… they look SO pretty together.

Ruhrgold: Either Rusty/Ruhrgold or Ruhrgold/Electra.

Turnov: Turnov/Caboose and Turnov/Rocky 2.

Headcanon

Espresso: He’s Rusty’s cousin! I know he takes part of the teasing towards Rusty, but I do feel like he cares about Rusty a lot!

Japanese Engine: He does karate moves on stage a lot and I like to think he teaches karate to little trains.

Ruhrgold: I think, if it wasn’t for Greaseball’s cheating, that Ruhrgold is the fastest engine and would have won the race. He doesn’t take part in all the taunting and bickering… he just wants to get on with it. 

Turnov: I think he has a great collection of alcohol that he’s very proud of. Idk much about alcohol but I think he’d collect this stuff.

Unpopular Opinion

Espresso: I don’t have any other than he’s my favourite engine and I think he’s the best.

Japanese Engine: Manga is a much better version design wise. 

Ruhrgold: It’s hard to have an unpopular opinion on Ruhrgold. He’s just a guy… a nice and stable guy.

Turnov: I kinda forget about him to be honest. I don’t hate the character at all but he’s one of the nationals I’ve not gotten into fully yet.

#stex appreciation month #starlight express #stex #stex espresso #espresso stex #stex japanese engine #japanese engine stex #stex ruhrgold #ruhrgold stex #stex turnov #turnov stex

[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

.

#confession #rvb #long post

[vanessakimballs]

been a day so here’s some notes i have regarding rvb, it’s future, what i hope happens, and what i’m expecting to happen.

- i think rvb’s future remains uncertain, though this is a big step in the right direction. restoring the miniseries is a huge deal for me, personally, especially with episodes from them being missing on the rt site and the eps that are there being shoved to bonus features.

- personally, i’m hoping for a short film/special (like 30 mins MAX) that both ignores zero and acts as a nice epilogue to the original series post-17 with the original cast sans caboose. just to give fans that closure. i understand this is the least likely thing to happen. aside from that, i hope they look into other corners of the actual universe of the original series to make either a spin-off or a series of shorts from, chorus and PFL are ripe with stories that have yet to be told, whether it be the lieutenants or triplets i’ll be happy to see characters i’m familiar with at the very least.

- what i expect to happen is a series of rvb “adjacent” content, meaning maybe it’s halo maybe it’s not but it won’t be explicitly connected to rvb. maybe they’ll do a hard reboot with the same characters but new cast, maybe they’ll try making a new set of characters the focus again. it really is impossible to tell, but considering what we know about rt and their feelings towards the original show, i’m expecting the latter to happen if they do choose to return to the full season format, although i expect another low episode count in that case.

all in all, it’s great that zero is over and that they have come back to rvb fans with their tails between their legs, but i think fans need to be vocal on twitter if we want them to do anything with the actual red and blue teams. let’s hope for the best, but always expect the worst. for now, i’ll take the win. 🙏

[prvtbugsbuggins]

31 - Reach For The Sun

For @whumptober2021

Chapter link -> Here

Trigger warning for: Discussions of sad things in therapy.

Prompt: Trauma

Summary: Dr. Grey offers a new type of treatment for Caboose, but she has no clue what lurks in his mind. She just hopes she can help him.

—

“I want Caboose to try therapy.”

“Huh?” Washington looked over to Dr. Grey, a brow raised in confusion. “Therapy? Isn’t that what he’s doing now?”

“No,” She said with a little giggle. “That is gene therapy he’s getting. No, this is different. Talk therapy, if you will.” She watched Washington puff up in response, looking quite alarmed by the very concept. She steepled her hands together and leaned forward against her desk. “The kind where you talk about your problems, and I’ll help you feel better and learn how to cope with your traumas.”

“The councilor-” Washington started to speak, before she cut him off before he could start to panic.

“No, like like that. That was a sociopath. This is proper therapy. By the looks of it, it’s something you should try out too.” She glided her chair over to one of her file cabinets, opening one of the drawers and rooting around inside. She found a slim little pamphlet, taking it out and back to her desk. She handed it over to Wash, watching his face make about three different emotions at once as he took it. He glanced over the pamphlet, that had [COGNITIVE THERAPY AND YOU!] stamped across in bold letters.

“No offense, but I don’t feel ready to let people dig into my head just yet.” He groused. He sighed and sat back in his chair and began to fiddle with the paper in his hands. A habit Emily noticed that many of the troopers seemed to have. Perhaps it was because there was no gun in his hands, not having an equalizer is bound to make most people nervous once they got used to having them.

She hrmed in response. “Therapy is not effective unless the person wants it. So no, I’m not going to drag you kicking and screaming into my office to make you talk. But if you feel ready for it, I’ll be here.”

Washington sighed, tapping his foot as he lifted his head to rest the back against the wall. “Why Caboose though? Hasn’t he been through enough already?”

“Why, do you think Caboose doesn’t need therapy?” Emily raised a brow, watching Washington’s reaction. He brought his head back down to stare at his feet, and sighed. She continued to talk, haven gotten Wash’s unspoken confirmation. “I have his file. I spoke with his sister about this. You told me yourself that he doesn’t know who he is or where he is sometimes. You cannot ignore the fact that he is is an augmented super soldier with obvious signs of post traumatic stress disorder. For his safety, as well as for everyone else, I highly recommend therapy.”

“I don’t know if he’d like the idea or not…” Wash leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “He already doesn’t like having to come here for his shots, let alone having to spend even more time here. He just got put back together again from what Felix did, I’m sure he’s sick of the place. I know I would be. I don’t know what you’ll say to get him to agree to give it a try.”

“Oh that’s easy,” Emily grinned. “After you tell him about it, mention that he gets double the cupcakes.”

“Really?” Wash frowned at her. “You really think that cupcakes are going to make Caboose, the one with medical trauma, willingly stay in a hospital for longer than he has in order to not die.”

“You think so? I bet you fifty dollars that says otherwise.” Some would say that she was cheating, but hey, she earned those doctorates in both medicine and psychology. She’ll take all the advantages that she could get, including outright bribery.

“Fine, you’re on.” Wash stood up to leave, it was about time Caboose would be done with his post-treatment nap when he could be picked up and taken home. “I’m telling you, it’s never going to work.”

—

Emily sat at her desk, fifty dollars richer and watching a very happy super soldier carefully eat a cupcake on her new couch. She had to get a completely new couch to order to let him relax more comfortably. It’s wasn’t that hard, seeing that there was so much junk steel left over from the war. It just took some welding and casting and a bunch of cushions and blankets to have something both cozy and least likely to outright collapse. Anything for one of Chorus’s saviors, after all.

He hummed happily as he ate the cupcake down to a picked clean wrapper, and then folded said wrapper into a heart. “Thanks!” He chirped, putting the heart in one of his armor pockets. Emily had noticed that he was looking a lot more alert and bright eyed lately, something she was glad to see. It meant he was staying more in reality instead of slipping somewhere else, and most likely... unpleasant.

“You’re welcome Michael!” the smile came easy to her, his happiness tended to infect others around him. “I’m glad you agreed to come and talk to me. It’s a big decision.”

“Well uhhhhh.” He folded his hands on his lap and tilted his head from side to side, like a metronome as he thought about what to say. “Indy said that she tried it and it helped so it might help me to not have bad dreams and getting spooked.”

“It can help with that, yes. But it’s up to you what we talk about. If you feel uncomfortable, you can change the subject at anytime, okay?” She had already gone over patient rights earlier, but she wanted to be very sure that he understood that this was therapy, not a torture session.

He nodded with a smile. “Yes! I know! I do not like talking about sad things though…”

“That’s okay, we can work up to that if you like. So, how about you start by telling me about your day so far and how you are feeling?”

She sat and listened for a full hour as Caboose described in great detail how he was doing, taking notes off to the side. Retirement had given the soldier a lot of stability, especially since his friends stayed with him to provide support. He was responding well to his treatments. He had his casts taken off recently so he was happy to scratch all the itches. Overall he seemed rather happy, but she read his file. She heard what his sister and his guardian had told her. She’s seen how he reacted to needles and basic medical equipment. Pain was lurking just under the surface, but that was okay. He’ll talk about it in time.

She just needed to be patient.

—

Four sessions in, Caboose finally talked about something negative.

“I um, had a miss match again.” he admitted, noticeably more subdued and quiet than his normal, bouncy self. It was quite the change and Grey paid close attention.

“A miss match? What is that?” she asked, wanting to hear his definition. She kind of suspected what it was, but she wanted to be sure.

“It’s when I think someone is someone else, or that I’m someplace not where I am now.” he explained. “Sometimes I think I’m still in school, or that I have a test, or that I’m in trouble for something. I don’t like them, they make me and my friends sad.” He fiddled with his fingers, eyes downcast to look at his boots.

“I see, what happened this time?” She asked, ready to record what he told her.

“I thought that Tucker was Echo. Echo is my sister who went out to explore and went to MIA and I miss her. And then um….I thought Washingtub was one of my teachers and then I got scared cause I thought he was going to put her in detention and do mean stuff.” He fiddled harder, biting his lips and taking a short pause before he spoke again. “So I took Tucker and ran away and hid with him until I remember that he was Tucker, not Echo. And everyone got sad and then I got sad and then I took a nap and woke up with a headache.”

So he had an intensive flashback and the increased stress triggered a seizures, she thought. The next thought she vocalized. “How did that make you feel?”

“I was sad,” he sighed. “I remembered this one. Wash was sad cause he said he’d never ever hurt me and I thought he would cause I didn’t remember who he was. Tucker was sad because he said he tried to make me remember sooner but it didn’t work. I made everyone sad because they had to look for me and tell me that Tucker wasn’t my sister and that they weren’t teachers. Then I took a nap and made them have to carry me back to tuck me in. I don’t like making my friends sad because I love them and you don’t make people you love sad.”

She took a moment to finish her notes and process what she was going to say next. She felt bad for the poor soldier, but she knew she had to nip one specific thing in the bud before it could take root in his mind.

“They aren’t sad because of you, Michael.” She said gently. “They are sad because you get trapped in your head, and they don’t have a way to help you. When you love someone, you accept them fully. That means accepting their pain and their hurts. When you hurt, they hurt too, because it’s impossible not to when you care about someone. Would you be sad if Tucker had a bad dream and was scared as a result?”

“Yes,” he raise his head up to look her in the eyes. “Because Tucker is my friend and I don’t want him to be scared. It’s not nice to be scared.”

“But did you cause Tucker to have a bad dream and get scared?”

He thought for a moment, mulling over her words in his mind before he finally spoke again, words a little quiet and hushed. “No, I didn’t.”

“That’s how everyone feels about you, Michael. They feel sad when you are sad and that is normal. It’s just what love is, and you have a great big heart full of it. So don’t blame yourself when you have times when you get mixed up. Just accept that they care about you, after all, they wouldn’t have stayed if they didn’t.”

The rest of the session consisted of Caboose quietly weeping, but when he left after the hour was over, Grey swore he walked a little lighter than when he first came in.

—

The next few session went as normal as they could be. Caboose was talking about random things that were happening on Iris, one of them in particular involved one of his friends.

“Simmons got a letter from his mom,” Caboose said. “She was mad at him.”

“Why was she mad?” Grey leaned back in her chair and adjusted her glasses. “Did he tell you why?”

“It’s cause he and Grif are going to get married and Simmons said that she is mean and doesn’t like it that Grif is Grif and everyone called her a ‘ B I T C H ‘.” He spelled out the last part in a quiet voice, as though he would get into trouble if overheard.

“Oh, so she doesn’t like that her son is marrying a man? Is that right?” She blinked a couple times, such thinking was quite outdated nowadays.

“I think so, and well...I wondered…” Caboose suddenly got very interested in his boots, staring down and not looking her in the eyes. “Is that why I don’t have a mom? Cause moms are mean and she didn’t want me?”

Well, that was quite a conclusion to jump to. “Oh no, no. Plenty of moms are very nice. My mother is very kind and I still talk to her often. Not all of them are mean.”

“I guess mine was mean then?” he frowned deeply and started to chew on the ends of his gloves. “Cause I never had one, so that must mean she really didn’t like me.”

She wondered how much classified information she could divulge, but decided to say ‘fuck it’ and just tell him what she knew. “No, I’m sure your mother would have loved you very much. She died during the war, and you were left an orphan. That’s why you and your sisters were taken into the SPARTAN program.”

He thought for a few seconds, still chewing on his fingers, before he spoke again. “So if Simmon’s mom dies, does that mean he gets to be my brother?”

The rest of the session was spent making it very clear that no, killing someone’s mother does NOT mean you get to claim their children as siblings, no matter how much you want to.

—

Dr. Grey knew something was very wrong when he didn’t touch his cupcake.

He just laid down on the couch and stared at it, shivering as he curled up on himself. He said nothing. He did nothing. He just laid there, looking as though he was trying to keep a dam from breaking within and flooding the world with it.

She stayed patient, quiet. She wanted her office to be warm and inviting, and if he just wanted to rest here for his session, she was fine with it. But she was very concerned.

“Michael, can you tell me how you are feeling right now?” she asked quietly after around 30 minutes of silence.

He shuddered for a moment, blinking his eyes before he turned his gaze to her. She looked back, and saw such immense suffering and pain that she nearly forgot where she was.

“I remember.” he whispered in a haunted voice.

“Remember what?” she leaned forward, trying her best to hear him. “Can you tell me, Michael?”

He let out a short whimper and hid his head. “O’Malley.” He choked out, and spoke no more for the rest of the session. Wash had to come in at the end and help him out, the haunted look never leaving his face.

He did not return for the next two sessions.

—

Grey was happy to see Caboose in a good mood today. Their sessions had their ups and downs over the months, but she was slowly seeing a positive change in her patient.

“I got my last shot today!” He announced, voice loud with joy. “We are having a party!”

“I’m glad!” She couldn’t help but grin, proud of him for sticking with the treatment, and a little pride for herself for being able to help him. “I’m proud of you. They were scary for you but you stuck with it! How do you feel?”

“Better!” He rocked back and forth on the couch, unable to sit still at all. “I don’t get so many headaches now! Agent Washingtub said that I haven’t had an unscheduled nap in a long time! So that’s why we are having cake and we are all going to watch all the Shrek movies!”

“That sounds exciting, is everyone going to be there?”

“Yeah! A couple of my sisters won’t be able to come cause they got busy work to do. My sister Juliet has new babies on her farm so now I have to come up with names for them all and she can’t leave cause she has to bottle feed some. It’s important work.” He grinned and leaned back on the couch. “I’m very happy!”

“It’s good to be happy, you seem happier these days.” Grey pointed at him with her pen with a smile. “It’s something I like to see, lets keep going, shall we?”

He nodded, his smile like the sun.

—

Grey scanned her key-card before heading to the waiting room. It was time for Caboose’s session, and she needed to go and fetch him. She nearly dropped her coffee in surprise when she saw not only him, but all the troopers and freelancers occupying the chairs.

“Hello! Can I help you all?” She was a bit confused, wondering if they were all here for Caboose’s sake, or someone got ventilated with bullets again. A medical emergency was not something she was down to tangle with today, unless it was an interesting one, of course.

“Well…” It was Simmons who spoke first, rubbing the back of his head as he built up the courage to speak. “We saw how Caboose was doing…”

“Which is great, cause he isn’t forcing cuddle sessions on us so much anymore.” Tucker added.

Wash just pointed at Caboose, who was quite literally vibrating in his chair in joy.

“Soooooooooooo, we were wondering if well, you had spots in your schedule free for additional patients?” Donut asked hopefully.

Grey blinked, and then she smiled, relieved and somewhat impressed.

“I think I have some spots open, let me get my planner.”

—

And so we end the month long challenge with the last chapter as a message of hope. Therapy helps, it helps so much. I can function today because of it and I wish it was more available in my country (USA). If you can, I highly recommend it. It can change your life for the better.

Now lets get the troopers and freelancers to therapy too!

Special thanks to those who took the time to comment and say hi. It really helped keep me motivated to keep working hard to write this all for you. I'm so glad people enjoyed it. I just hope I can continue to provide FEELS for a while. Special thanks too for @smilysstuff who gave me so many ideas for chapters, your help was greatly appreciated :,3

See you next time with a fluff compilation!

#whumptober2021 #no.31 #trauma #rvb #red vs blue #fic #spartan!caboose #Kaleidoscope #michael j caboose #emily grey #agent washington #get thee to a therapist #talk therapy #cognitive therapy #thank you all for your comments and help #ilu all #caboose #a bug wrote this

[workofthediesel]

Post 2018 rusted brakes (because I'm diseased, but feel free to decline lol)

fic requests are open! send me an ask!

Rusty rolled through the train yard, waving at the freight as he went. They were all on break as they waited for their next scheduled departure. Rusty was on break, too, and he could have joined any one of them if he wanted, but he was looking for one car in particular.

In no time, Rusty found him. Caboose was playing with his hat as he idled by the side of the track, flipping it on and off his head and practicing fancy twirling hand tricks.

Rusty watched for a moment, mesmerized by the red blur. Caboose did all of the movements so naturally, so fluidly, it was like he wasn’t even trying.

Unfortunately, the scene wasn’t quite perfect. With Caboose’s hat off, that awful bandana he had tied over his head was on full display.

Of course, Rusty knew why he wore it: he hated his hair—soft orange locks he complained ruined his look. He made an effort to hide them whenever possible, even going so far as to sleep with his bandana on.

The fact that Rusty had ever seen his hair at all was an accident. The bandana had shifted one night while Caboose had been asleep, and when Rusty woke up in the morning, a few wispy tufts of Caboose’s hair were on display. He’d never seen Caboose’s hair before and he thought it looked nice. He couldn’t stop himself from reaching out and gently twirling a few strands around his finger. The touch woke Caboose up, though, and he quickly stuffed his hair back under its cover, grumbling irritably.

Since then, the same thing had happened only a handful of times. Each time it did, the first thing Caboose did upon waking up was fix it. He’d also started tying the bandana on tighter and tighter each night, as if that could prevent it from slipping off again. Rusty was surprised he hadn’t tried pinning it in place yet, but he wasn’t going to say that. He didn’t want to give Caboose any ideas.

Rusty liked Caboose’s hair. He liked its vibrancy, the light golden highlights and rich orange lowlights. He liked how soft it was on the rare occasions he managed to touch it. Sometimes he fantasized about Caboose’s bandana slipping off all the way, of waking up to a lazy morning to be spent running his fingers through his partner’s hair.

And, honestly, Rusty didn’t think Caboose’s hair ruined his look at all. He’d told him as much, too, but Caboose refused to listen.

The situation, Rusty realized, was beginning to call for drastic measures.

Stealth had never necessarily been one of Rusty’s strong suits, but he could manage well enough if he put his mind to it. So, Caboose remained completely oblivious as Rusty quietly slipped behind him. Without warning he shot his hand out, grabbing the knot at the back of Caboose’s bandana and pulling it off.

Immediately Caboose snapped to attention. He shot straight up, one hand flying to his head as if to cover it as he whipped around. “Rusty!” he snarled, eyes as cold and as sharp as steel.

There wasn’t really any point in playing innocent, but Rusty tried it anyway. He moved his hands behind his back and tried to make his eyes big and guileless. “What?”

Caboose narrowed his eyes. “Don’t ‘what’ me!” he hissed. “Give me my scarf back.”

“What do you mean? I don’t have it.” It was such an obvious lie it didn’t need to be addressed.

“Ha ha, you’re hilarious,” Caboose said flatly. “Now give it back.” He reached around Rusty, snatching the scarf out of his hands.

As soon as he had hold of it, Caboose brought it up to his head, ready to retie it over his hair. Rusty fought down a pout at the sight. This was the first time he was seeing Caboose with the bandana off completely, and he had to admit, he liked it. He was sure Caboose wouldn’t appreciate the descriptor, but he thought he looked cute. He didn’t want to give up the sight of him like this so soon.

Rusty reached up to catch Caboose’s wrists. “Leave it off,” he said. “I like your hair.”

“That’s all well and good for you,” Caboose said, somewhat peevishly, “but I don’t care. I’m wearing it.” He pulled his hands out of Rusty’s grasp.

He moved to tie the bandana over his hair again, but Rusty wasn’t going to let him. He took hold of Caboose’s wrists once more, this time gently pulling his hands down. “Please?” he said softly, giving Caboose the best pleading eyes he could manage.

Caboose stared at him for a moment, weighing his options, before he quirked an eyebrow. “What’s in it for me?”

Of course, Caboose would do anything if you named the right price. Money was the easiest way to get a deal out of him, but he’d also accept valuables or favors if you knew how to talk him into it.

Luckily, Rusty was a bit of a special case. There was something he could offer Caboose that no one else could, something guaranteed to convince him of just about anything.

He tipped his head down to gently slide his lips against Caboose’s. He slipped his hands from Caboose’s wrists to wrap them around his palms, softly rubbing his thumb across the back of his hands. He could feel the moment Caboose’s eyes fluttered closed and he leaned into the kiss.

The kiss remained chaste, and after a few seconds, Rusty pulled back, smiling softly. “Enough?”

“Not quite,” Caboose said, tugging on Rusty’s hands to pull him in closer.

Rusty came willingly, his smile growing. “I’m sure I can find some way to make up the difference,” he said before eagerly meeting Caboose’s lips again. Realizing his opportunity, he let go of Caboose’s hands, instead reaching up to card his fingers through Caboose’s hair as he deepened the kiss. It was every bit as wonderful as he had imagined.

#starlight express #stex #stex fanfic #rusty the steam engine #the red caboose #rusty #canoose #rusted brakes #this was a lot sweeter to write than i thought it was going to be #maybe your disease is contagious #anon

[rubykgrant]

I realized I actually have made... kind of a lot of content for my RVB story-line? It is just scattered chunks here and there, though. I don’t know if anybody cares, but here is like, the most important parts-

(there is some gaps in the plot between all these. I know what I WANT to happen, I just haven’t made art for it yet... I can talk about it though if anybody wants to ask~)

(this is just my out-of-armor characters designs for the characters)

https://rubykgrant.tumblr.com/post/649365850704494592/i-finally-got-all-these-ding-a-lings-done-so-i

(the “other messages” Church left for everybody)

https://rubykgrant.tumblr.com/post/644080833370767360/more-angst-that-has-been-filling-up-my-head-when

(comic for how everybody reacts to listening to the good-bye)

https://rubykgrant.tumblr.com/post/644356805060952064/so-i-made-a-follow-up-to-the-angst-this-is

(follow-up to the previous comic, and what Grif is dealing with)

https://rubykgrant.tumblr.com/post/644526692491296768/after-math-of-grif-getting-his-heart-broke-dont

(what happened to Church after he was “deconstructed”)

https://rubykgrant.tumblr.com/post/645254264626774016/i-couldnt-help-but-think-about-how-sometimes

(Tex trying to contact Church)

https://rubykgrant.tumblr.com/post/645346176909148160/ok-i-think-that-im-done-for-now-listen-i-have

(just a funny comic for when Tex returns)

https://rubykgrant.tumblr.com/post/647037495136124929/i-have-a-lot-of-emotional-and-angsty-ideas-for-tex

(simple comic that has one family angle for my Simmons-arc)

https://rubykgrant.tumblr.com/post/647066689048117248/im-not-immune-to-the-simmons-has-villains-for

(eventual conclusion where Grif and Simmons are maybe reading the same book... but still not on the same page)

https://rubykgrant.tumblr.com/post/647377829577801728/i-caved-and-drew-this-out-basically-after-a-lot

(Church comes back)

https://rubykgrant.tumblr.com/post/645644090609991680/they-hate-good-byes-but-saying-hello-again-is

(simple comic where Caboose reunites with Church)

https://rubykgrant.tumblr.com/post/647493573019860992/when-church-comes-back-and-gets-a-synthetic-human

(more elaborate comic, with Church and Tucker getting through some emotional issues)

https://rubykgrant.tumblr.com/post/647866084883595264/rubykgrant-this-took-me-3-days-i-dont-know-why

(just Church and Tex, being cute)

https://rubykgrant.tumblr.com/post/646756367191982080/yes-yes-we-all-know-church-is-helplessly

(later story-arc, where the characters are kid-napped and in danger and need to be saved by Church and the AI Fragments)

https://rubykgrant.tumblr.com/post/645794302570708992/this-is-only-the-text-but-here-is-what-came#notes

(AI rescue, this one features Simmons)

https://rubykgrant.tumblr.com/post/649309783665557504/rubykgrant-im-not-done-with-the-rvb-angst-but

(continued AI rescue-arc, this one featuring Tucker)

https://rubykgrant.tumblr.com/post/649309838578417665/i-havent-really-done-any-tucker-angst-yet-so-i

(a follow-up comic to Tucker’s rescue)

https://rubykgrant.tumblr.com/post/646515904027541504/a-funny-comic-to-go-with-the-after-math-of-the

#text #my art #fan art #ref #red vs blue #rvb #leonard church #lavernius tucker #michael j caboose #agent tex #agent washington #agent carolina #sarge #dexter grif #dick simmons #franklin delano donut #doc dufresne #kaikaina grif #lopez the heavy #my writing

[steve0discusses]

S5 Ep6: Joey Wheeler is on Fire, Yet Again

Came down with a little sickness-not the biggie, just a little sly guy. But I took some meds, I’m a little floaty, I’ve only been listening to baroque music all morning for some reason? And I hate baroque music usually? But I’ll leave it to bro to tell me if this is fluid enough.

Just so you know, these caps were kind of a hot mess for a while and some of them read like that Garfield in of hot eat the food comic until...today. So pls don’t judge me, Judge my damn DMV where no one was following Covid regulations because I’m pretty sure that’s where I got this damn cold.

We start off with Roland getting more attention than he ever has in his entire life. Like honestly, I don’t know what Roland’s job really is...but he’s got a very diverse set of very useless skills. One of which, is knowing how to announce sports games that aren’t really a sport, while those games he’s announcing slowly fall into chaos.

Anyway, Roland’s taking so long cherishing his sweet time before everything goes to hell, that he’s boring Joey, who’s kinda turned into a ball of stress in the waiting room.

A lot of this episode is us watching them watching Joey having a break down moment by moment, TBH.

(read more under the cut)

Yugi telling Joey to study his cards and straight up--what?

Like at this point they know what’s on the cards, right? Like there comes a point where even Yugioh cards have a finite amount of words and I’m just going to assume that like...Joey probably knows them all in his own deck, right?

(bro note: they have no limit on what they will put on a card)

Then again, maybe Yugi doesn’t know what “study” means?

Also, appreciate how some artist crosshatched the hell on Joey’s nose there and I zoomed out and ruined it.

Now for some reason every duelist is hanging out in the duel lodge, including our current arch-villain guy who’s brought a book. I want to know what book this guy even reads so no one could suspect he’s actually a hacker who uses computers. He’s reading romance, right? And I don’t think he’d even be into Twilight, I think he’s straight up into hard core Mom romance like a lame ass Nicholas Sparks over there reading “Dear John” for the millionth time because he is completely un-phased by anything else happening in this room.

Joey, our hero, just out there being an asshole for no reason.

After Tea is pushed into a locker or something screaming about her need for female friends (which she screamed in earshot of Rebecca again, who I figured was on friends terms with her after last episode...but I guess not) Leon hops up to remind us that we should be caring about the fact that his character exists.

And like, I love Leon’s hair color--that’s a good choice, and legit that is the color I tried to dye my hair at the beginning of the epidemic (it didn’t work PS, my hair cannot take dye for the life of it) but also like...he just kinda feels like a weak Rebecca as far as characters go. He’s young, he’s good at cards...I think he goes to a private school? That’s all I can think of about Leon.

He mostly just reminds us that the big prize of this tourney is to duel Yugi, who anyone could have dueled at any point even without the tournament.

On the way out of the...duel room? lounge? Area? Joey decides to like...make peace with Zigfried, and I gotta tell you, I kinda have to side with Zigfried, because Joey spent the last ten minutes being a freak in the dressing room/lounge/bathroom and at one point looked like he was going to hold the entire locker room in a stranglehold.

I would also want some space from Joey Wheeler, is what I’m saying.

After insulting Joey’s style (which honestly, Joey...has a style? He pops his collar, that’s his entire style.) Zigfried assures us that Joey’s gonna lose and like...

...probably, right? Just looking at the plausible direction this season will go.

Anyway, Joey is such a mess (which is the theme of the episode, that Joey needs to learn to chill in order to win at card games) that Rebecca is like “I understand if all of you leave me to go help our poor baby Joey.” And no one felt bad for her.

Mokuba comes over to tell everyone all of the Kaiba family secrets because Mokuba has no filter.

Seto has devoted himself to staring at a computer screen for the rest of this episode. I guess he’ll put their names into Google, realize that social media hasn’t been invented yet, and then just lie his head down on the desk and take a power nap until the tournament is over. Much like I did after taking Dayquil this afternoon.

I like how Seto dressed for success and then locked himself in the server room for most of this arc so far. Maybe he’s just...really tired, I dunno. I don’t really blame the guy, he’s had a hard time.

And then Yugi was like “DAMN IT MOKUBA, JUST ONCE CAN YOU NOT INVITE THE ILLUMINATI???”

And we had a weird scene where Yugi just started talking to the ghost and it was while he was talking to everyone else, and the show didn’t treat it like that’s a weird thing to do...but it was a weird thing to do.

This show does that sometimes, where I guess they imply that Yugi’s Pharaoh conversations are split second conversations but...they’re not, right?

Also this chick ain’t gone yet, and Mokuba is just failing at his entire job for not zeroing in on vibes coming off this chick like stinky cheeseman.

So listen.

Did the Kaibas make like 3 types of Blue Eyes Caboose to one up Noah? Because Noah made one choo choo dragon, and then Mokuba and Seto were like “how dare” and then made sure that everyone ride every single version of the blue eyes caboose just to see how proud of them they were.

How many months of troubleshooting was the train? Like how long in development did Seto and Mokuba spend on these? A lot right? Like most of the time?

I did not check the subs to see if Roland said Jumping or Champion but I like to believe that Roland thought it was a cool new name he gave him.

Then these guys all showed up.

Hey so...can we talk seating arrangements?

Tea decided not to sit next to Yugi after complaining about not spending time with him for like how many episodes? Or was it too awkward to sit on top of what was probably Pharaoh?

Or did Mokuba go like “please, Tea, I cannot sit next to the others because I’m pretty sure one is a mole that is about to go cray” and was Tea like “Good, I need female friends, these ones are driving me crazy!” and then was Mokuba like peering desperately over the edge of his self made dragon train prison realizing he has to listen to Tea complain about boys for the rest of his ride across molten lava?

Headcanons abound about this weird seating arrangement that the animators drew for the reasons they did...but reasons I cannot fully understand. That and the Dayquil is making me overfixate on random stuff.

And also, Tea is kind of the Kaiba’s security’s understudy. Just there to always protect Mokuba with her ass because she’s the strongest woman alive.

PS I missed the tumblr wars because at the time I was trying to like...run a proper business on blogger. When Blogger died and I jumped over here it was like a weird ruin where everyone was like “tumblr is the most toxic place alive” and...I’ve had a really nice time here, actually. Completely missed that civil war period and I have no regrets.

Now I was there for the Petz wars (warz, I guess) where people were very militant about Petz abuse (abuze?) where apparently people were using the spray bottle on their catz too much and people were very, very upset about it to the point that they were like campaigning about it on their angelfire websites with the most bizarre grassroots campaigns that I still recall, to this day because they were like...well they looked like this:

PLAPA. Not only am I 100% positive that only this one guy ever called this movement PLAPA, but I’m 100% positive that not only are Catz not real people, but also this wasn’t actually happening and we never had any proof that it was. Either way, if people knew or suspected that you hadn’t deleted the spray bottle from your game (which at the time I had no idea how to do because I was a wee child) they would basically assume you were on a one way road to being a mass murderer in real life.

In real life we were 7 years old so like...thanks?

But that’s the closest I got to toxicity and at the time I was too young to make an email account and actually converse with these people. I was just there to download their Petz hexes, and I already made a post about how wonderful and incredible Petz Hexing was.

And y’all, I heard, just now after a little deep dive into the Petz Abuse debacle (which yes, is on the wiki), that apparently, like gardening, Petz Hexing came back in a big way during the epidemic--and I have found an active Petz forum in this the year 2021. The only problem is that I no longer remember how to use old timey forums...and I think I’m locked out of seeing most of these threads (and like this forum is so old I think I have to send them a letter in the physical mail to apply). But, I’m pretty sure they’re hosting a picture contest for who’s dogz poses the best. And I’m pretty sure someone created a hexxed Pickle Rick. Or it’s a photoshop that was made to look like a hexxed Pickle Rick.

Dammit why did it have to be Pickle Rick? That’s not worth re-installing Petz and getting it to run on Windows 10...

Guys is this the Dayquil? Is this really happening? I feel like I’m losing my mind for so many reasons...

Anyway, speaking about useless hexing it’s about time that our villain did something that was actually dangerous, so Zigfried decided to install a new virus that does more than turn off the lights. (it still turns off lights)

the Spreadsheet Virus!

Confounded by the spreadsheet software, it...um...it does this:

Straight up how does Excel make a volcano erupt? Is that why I have to pay for Microsoft office now?

All this because Joey made fun of Zigfried’s naturally pink hair? Which is the most normal hair on this series outside of like...Tristan?

Hey guys...Joey’s fine, right? Like how many times has Joey been on fire? And once in an iron cage next to like...a Fire Golem?

Joey’s fine.

MAN I miss Fire Golem. He had a good mug.

And then we just kinda watch chaos go across the park, chaos that includes: Too many ghosts in the haunted mansion (which honestly--you’ll get your money’s worth, sounds great!), the Ferris wheel goes kinda fast and thus might accidentally be fun, the lights turn off at some concert stage that only had 2 people on it (so it might just be motion detector lights and not even a virus), and um...literal fire and magma are going to set Joey Wheeler on fire.

Just...one of these events does not seem like the others. In fact most of these things sound like good improvements to the park and they should just hire Zigfried at this point.

Roland puts down his microphone and jogs across the stage, about a mile through the audience bleachers, and into the staff lounge, to go and bother Seto Kaiba, who is in a room that has a hi-def classical painting copy-pasted on the wall and I can’t look away from it.

I almost did a Google search on this painting but then thought better about it. There’s like...a billion classical paintings that look exactly like this, and they wouldn’t use like a Monet, they would have to do something that’s harder to catch to avoid copyright issues (because yes, even old ass paintings have copyright issues, but no one tell NFT’s which are going to be so freakin screwed and was such a bad idea, that I can’t even start).

Anyway, I have no idea who it is and it is legitimately driving me up a wall, but I’m on too much meds to do the effort of putting it in a reverse google image search.

Plus, a reverse google image search would only pull up Seto Kaiba.

So Kaiba takes us on a little flashback to his weird ass past, a weird ass past that just...doesn’t follow any of the established timelines, but I assume was shortly after adoption but before Seto got into a phase where he wore his school outfit everywhere and tried to shove his MMO off onto his Dad as a business model.

Seto is like 8 for some reason. I don’t know why, they kinda drew him younger this season anyway, like maybe they got a lot of fan mail and realized “Hey I think we made the 16 yo boy too sexy?” And they just toned Seto the hell down. That, and it’s a different animation team, and maybe they looked at Seto’s character design and were like “we don’t get paid enough to draw this well.” So...since Seto actually looks like a teen again, I guess his 12 year old self has to look like he’s in Elementary school.

Also, I only recognized this, because at some point in S3 as I was roasting Noah Kaiba’s weird fashion:

I remember distinctly roasting that little bow tie. I don’t remember when I wrote it, I think there was a version of this outfit that was in color...but I don’t remember where.

Anyway, it’s not the same jacket...but man that’s kind of awkward, ya? Like the maid who dressed Mokuba deffo got fired?

He um.

Turned the lights off a little bit.

Guys this villain is like...

...why does he think lights are scary? Like look at little Seto here. The boy is already bored. Seto duels on the edges of cliffs...he doesn’t care about the freakin dark.

We had a guy who killed everyone on the planet last season, and this season we have a little fashion gremlin standing in the corner and flicking the light switch going  “wooooo you never catch me!” and it’s like...

...I’m starting to think this guy isn’t a witch.

Like we’re at Episode 6, there’s still time for this guy to be a witch...but I really am starting to think this guy is just...straight up not a witch. It’s everything Seto wanted, a rival who isn’t a freakin magic person...and sets Joey only fake on fire instead literally on fire like last time...

and Seto is just completely unhinged by it.

Anyway, I’m off to go drink a bowl of soup and pass out. If you’re new here, this is a link to read these in chrono order.

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

#yugioh #yu gi oh #ygo #S5 #Ep6 #Yugi Muto #Seto Kaiba #Joey Wheeler #Tea Gardner #Tristan Taylor #Mokuba Kaiba #zigfried von schroeder #rebecca hawkins #I talked about catz again #leon #but not the kings of leon guy #I mean he could be

[gkingoffez]

2020 RvB Valentines Exchange uwu

@rvbgiftexchange

My partner was MentalMaterial but I think they’ve changed their name to @linklebard ?

Anyway, here’s ur Tuckington mutual pining bed sharing as requested. Enjoy!

Words: 1833

Pairing: Tuckington

~~~

Tucker was fucked. He had to be- fucked in the head or the heart or the mostly healed stab wound in his side from that fucker Felix. Something had to be wrong, despite the fortified walls of Armonia around him, the Chorus truce, the energy sword in his bag and especially the ex-Freelancer standing beside him in the confined corridor who he hadn’t expected to be there.

“I’m sorry, sirs!” squeaked the young woman in front of them, a civilian wearing a military lanyard, pulling at her frazzled hair with one hand and frantically scrolling on her data-pad with the other. “There must have been a glitch in the program- you should have been assigned your own private rooms. I’m so sorry, our equipment is so outdated and it does stuff like this sometimes-”

“Please stop apologising, it’s not your fault,” Wash insisted gently. “We understand that this was just a mistake, but we’re tired and just want to go to bed?”

“Are you sure there’s no more spare rooms on this floor? A secret penthouse with a jacuzzi maybe? I’ll take it if there is.” asked Tucker.

The woman shook her head, frowning and tapping away. “I’m sor- I mean, no, not here, in fact there’s nothing else on this floor. “This hotel was only converted into officer accommodation a few days ago, and Locus was confirmed to have stayed here while in the city,” she explained.

“There are empty rooms further along that way, but we haven’t had time to do the same level of security sweeps on them.”

The woman gestured at the plain black door behind her, completely identical to the myriad of other ones lining the narrow corridor.

“This room does have a queen bed, sirs. The easiest solution might be that you can share it for the night and one of you can move tomorrow? I know it’s not ideal, but it’s better than a possible security risk.”

“What?” spluttered Tucker. “Why aren’t there enough rooms? And What happened to all of us getting private-?”

“Thank you, that’ll do us fine for tonight,” interjected Wash loudly, glaring at him. “We don’t want to cause too much fuss this late in the evening, and definitely don’t want to stay somewhere that’s not secure. Don’t you agree, Captain Tucker.”

Tucker gaped, words escaping him under Wash’s gaze.

He was fucked. Because once the adrenaline had worn off discovering a manufactured civil war, transmitting that info globally, being betrayed and stabbed by Felix, confronting Hargrove and whatever else happened in the less than a week since he’d snuck off the New Republic base, Tucker suddenly had time and space for… thoughts.

Thoughts like how much he’d truly missed the man standing beside him.

Wash, who’d been a hardass in the canyon like he was being fucking paid for it, who’d kept them all fed and alive and together, and then he’d gone and done the heroic sacrifice play, like an idiot, and suddenly he was gone. It felt like all Tucker had thought about for the last several months was whether Wash was okay, whether he was in pain or alone or dead. At points he’d almost wished they’d swapped places, that he was taking the (in hindsight, non-existent) punishment from the Federal Army, and Wash was the one training the Lieutenants.

Then out of the blue, Wash was back. Wash was fine. Everyone was fine, and like a circle, the whirlwind of betrayal, civil war, stabbing yada-yada unfolded. Tucker had only just caught his breath again and was looking forward to actually relaxing for once, only to end up in this corridor, standing awkwardly in front of a room they’d both been assigned to.

Wash was staring pointedly at him with those stupid clear blue eyes that made Tucker’s heart jump, and it was clear something must have been wrong, because that wasn’t right. It was physical and mental exhaustion, not love. He wasn’t some hormonal teenager, he was a grown man who wanted to go to fucking bed and not have to deal with his fucking feelings.

“Yeah, whatever, let’s just go then,” Tucker said offhandedly, adjusting his sack over his shoulder and stomping into the room without another word.

It was small but glamourous compared to normal military quarters- the hiss of the sliding door muffled against thick looking carpet, one door presumably leading to a bathroom, a single kitchen cabinet with a sink and a lowboy with a television mounted to the wall above it.

The bed took up the bulk of the space in the far end of the room. Behind it hung thick mustard coloured curtains, although Tucker knew even without having to move them that they’d been covered barred with a bullet proof covering as part of the security sweep. What was the point of being a heroes of Chorus, after all, if a well-placed sniper could take them out through a hotel window?

“Home sweet home, I guess,” Tucker shrugged, ignoring his jumping heart as he unceremoniously dumped his stuff on the ground near the kitchen space.

“Thank you for stopping to help us. We’ll be fine.” Wash was saying as he backed into the room. “Good night.”

“Good night sirs!” the woman said, “And again, I’m so-!”

The door hissed shut, Wash’s hand on the button.

“What the fuck, dude,” cried Tucker, rounding on him. “You didn’t have to immediately say yes. I could have pawned Caboose onto someone else and taken his room or something.”

“Oh don’t bother Caboose, he’s probably already asleep and you’ll never wake him. It’s late. All we need is a bed and everything will be else sorted in the morning. One night in the same bed won’t kill us.”

Wash crossed the room and carefully deposited his own knapsack on the lowboy.

“Besides, I wanted us to stay together a little bit longer. To be safe, you know,” he added quietly, glancing Tucker’s way.

Now, of course, Tucker’s eyes had also joined the ‘fucked party’. Was it a trick of the LED lights, or was that a blush on Wash’s cheeks? There was no way to double check, as Wash quickly turned his back on him.

Tucker crossed his arms haughtily, huffing and shaking his head to reset it.“Whatever. I’ll take the right side.”

“Fine by me,” replied Wash, unzipping his bag and rustling around in it, still turned away. “I’m going to change in the bathroom. Oh, and Tucker?”

“Yes?”

“I swear to god if you sleep naked, I’m going to suffocate you with a pillow.”

“Not if I suffocate you first, asshole.”

Maybe ten minutes of bathroom time, brushing teeth and other general night activities later (Tucker was fully clothed in loose borrowed sweats), they were both lying in bed back to back in the queen bed.

“Well,” said Wash. “Good night.”

“Yeah, night.”

As soon as the light turned off, Tucker’s brain switched on like a fucking Christmas tree.

He was not in love with Wash. Love was for girls and people who hadn’t spent literal years on the shittiest military posting ever, then got knocked up, then spent years in the desert, then got dragged on a mission to kill the Freelancer Director, then crashed landed on a planet- well, anyone would get the point. Sure, he acted like a stud and a lady’s man, but truthfully, it had been a long, long time since he’d really loved anyone like that.

Wash had been a fucking Freelancer. Caboose and the Reds talked about him like he was the most capable, badass guy around (barring the time he’d apparently gone evil and shot Donut, of course). Not to mention, he was kinda hot. Sandy hair with streaks of grey, blue eyes, even the criss-cross of scars across his pale skin did things for Tucker. Like he was this put-together, experienced and handsome man next to Tucker’s immaturity and recklessness.

The sheets were feeling too tight and stuffy for his brain, and the slow pattern of Wash’s breathing next to him was not helping. He flipped over onto his back, pulling and rearranging them, staring up at the shadowed ceiling.

“Hey Wash, you asleep yet?” he asked quietly

There was a beat.

“If I was, how would you expect me to answer that?” came the annoyed reply

“I dunno. Snoring?”

Wash snorted. “Just go to sleep, Tucker.”

They were in the same bed. They were in the same bed. Wash was inches away, the kind of distance where Tucker could touch him and then easily brush it off as an accident of movement. Wash’s hand was right there, he’d only need to reach- but no. He couldn’t do that, it wasn’t right.

When Caboose first suggested putting the ex-Freelancer in Church’s empty armour, it hadn’t really mattered to Tucker that much. He was just a guy who’d been an asshole but switched sides in time to help them take out the Meta, may as help him not go back to jail after all. Months in the crash had changed that, and all that time of training and bickering and surviving together had made them friends. He’d bitched and bitched and then watchedWash sacrifice himself as a rockfall separated them had been devastating, throwing into perspective just how goddamn much he cared about all of them despite the fact that they were a bunch of Red and Blue idiots.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder or however the shit went. And Tucker had spent months wishing Wash was ok, wishing he was there, wishing a lot of things.

Maybe he had fallen in love with the man in that time. Maybe it wasn’t as fucked up as he was making it out to be, he’d always been pretty dramatic, after all. Dudes fell in love with dudes all the time, especially when they’d been through a lot together.

Oh for fuck’s sake, none of this matters! There’s no way in hell that he likes me too. Just go to sleep, idiot.

Tomorrow, Tucker could wake up and blame it all on stress, exhaustion and the computer system that had fucked up room assignments. For that moment, however, he felt himself drift off, eyelids heavy and breath evening out.

They had work to do tomorrow rebuilding Chorus and tracking down mercenaries, and the more sleep he got, the better.

The last thing he registered that night was the vibration and rustling sound of Wash twisting in place. However, he must have dreamed about the gentle, tender touch he felt on his face as he was just on the precipice of sleep.

That couldn’t be right.

~~~

A snapshot of the future- tangled limbs in a queen bed, dark on pale and scattered scars. A data-pad hanging limply in a man’s hand, the other gazing at him with an adoring expression. The first glances at the rapture in his lover’s face, and snorts.

“You’re fucked,” he says, jokingly.

“No, you fucked me,” replies Tucker. They laugh.

~~~

Ya’ll let me tell you about the absolute stress rollercoaster I’ve had these past few months. So first up, I completely forgot I’d signed up for this exchange, and was surprised when I got the message. Then I proceeded to have a family death, my birthday and the stress of having to search for a new place to live and start packing up my stuff, all while working my shitty full time job and being exhausted from it.

So to my exchange partner, I’m sorry for not reaching out at all, but my anxiety levels are pretty high these days. This was written pretty quickly, at the last minute and after not writing for probably a year, but I hope you enjoy.

I might have another editing run through it before posting elsewhere but it’s done somewhat on time so I’m happy (Valentine’s was actually yesterday for me and I have to leave for work in like five minutes.)

Anyway, happy love and bed sharing and mutual pining guys. Love ya.

#red vs blue #tuckington #bed sharing #red vs blue fanfiction #G writes #rvbgiftexchange

[sharkface-daydreams]

@texas-hates-taxes-too I giggled at the last tag x3 also

*kicks in the door and slams more au stuff on the table* GOOD NEWS I'VE BEEN WORKING ON THE RECOLLECTION PART THAT'S GOING UNDER A CUT BC I GOT RAMBLY

ok! so. after watching the ship blow up, tucker's fucking distraught thinking his kid is dead, church thinks Tex is dead, the rest of blue team is upset, things are kind of shit for a while. then the UNSC calls up tucker because junior had his name and tucker's phone number written inside his armor u know like u do with the coats of small children. and they're like "is this your child we found him clinging to the leg of a soldier with aqua armor at one of our outposts" junior bit wyoming in the leg when he tried to kidnap him and when they landed/fell into another outpost he saw the aqua armor and was like DAD HELP but it wasn't tucker (but they did help the kid and wyoming was like oh shit this isn't a sim base this is the actual UNSC and booked it) and also they want him and junior to be alien ambassadors so Tucker and Yurch get Vic to pull some strings so Yurch can go with them to Sanghelios bc fambly gotta stick together :3c (a family can be a human dude, a robot dude, and their tiny alien son 😌💙💛💚)

Church is like *gets relocation orders* yeah this is bullshit *calls command* "hey fuckers you can't separate me and caboose he got all fucked up in the head for your stupid war so he needs someone looking after him and that's gotta be me because I know his medication schedule and how to deal with his night terrors and also his allergies and favorite snacks" and command can't say "we need to isolate u bc ur what's left of alpha" so they're like ..... nnnnngh ok fine but they send one of the remaining agents to Rats Nest too to keep an eye on everything

(since Boose and Church are stationed at Rats Nest across from Grif and Simmons the blue team agent grif sells the ammo to is church lol)

also I've been doodling since I couldn't go back to sleep so here's agent Rhode Island aka Private Duncan Argus, "sim trooper" who keeps almost blowing his cover bc he's way too competent to be on their level so he intentionally drags his feet and trips over stuff among other demoralizing intentional fuckups

I'm thinking that dark blue Violet for armor scheme since the rats Nest blues all had different colored shoulders. not sure about freelancer armor accents tho. still on the fence

Church is there to remind Caboose to keep his safety on so far fewer people get shot👍

and Miller is a little grumpy about losing Church when Wash comes to pick them up because he's their little office rat. he can't hit the broad side of a barn with literally any weapon but he ran blue base in BG so long he's like *gets reports done 10x faster than anyone else but is also a little shit about it*

Caboose: Did someone die?

Wash: What? No one died—

Caboose: Did Church die again?

Wash: .... what?!

Church: I'm not dead you idiot, I'm literally standing right next to you.

Caboose: 😔 Sometimes I can still hear his voice.

Church: See, now I know you're just fucking with me.

Wash: ... what is wrong with you people.

this is already kind of long and i haven't even gotten the freelancers yet I'll put that in a separate post tho I think, that's a lot on its own

(thank u for the interest I didn't think anyone else would like it 👉👈)

#yurch au: the self indulgence special #long post #freelancer oc #freelansona?? how is that brangelina'd? #i also miss junior quite a lot #asshole: it seemed like such a good idea at the time

[leonardalphachurch]

Question about your (real good) essay, if you're willing to answer: you mention Epsilon getting overwhelmed and switching out with Delta- do you know which episode this was in? It's been a hot minute since I rewatched, and the only scene I can remember with Delta fronting is waaaaay back before they even got Church out of the memory unit, when Dεlta's giving Caboose instructions. Is that what you were referring to, or is there another one I'm forgetting? ⚡

yeah, season 8 episode 6, delta switches out while they’re in the orb. epsilon sees wash, lasers, then shuts down, then wakes up and gets kicked by grif, and then delta fronts. delta uhh lemme just post the transcript:

Grif: Why are all his blue parts green?

Caboose: I don't know.

Delta: Caboose, is that you?

Caboose: Delta?

Delta: Caboose, I need you to listen, my time is brief. Epsilon is not in control right now. But he will be again, shortly.

Caboose: Great!

Delta: Perhaps not. The encounter with Agent Washington has jarred loose many of his memories. Epsilon has not, historically coped with these memories well.

Grif: What's that mean?

Delta: We fear he may pursue certain memories in particular.

Grif: Who is we?

Delta: Myself and the other memories of the Alpha fragments.

Grif: What the fuck is that? Who the fuck are you, and what the fuck is happening?

Delta: Epsilon may not yet be aware of our presence, but eventually he will be. We cannot hide forever. It is likely at this point he will begin the cycle again. That must not happen.

Caboose: What cycle. Hhh! A motorcycle? A secret motorcycle? It's okay, you can tell me.

Delta: He's begun to search his memories now, he is clearly looking for something.

Caboose: Well you always did say memory is the key.

Delta: Memory is the key, Caboose, but not everything that is locked is meant to be unlocked. He is coming back now. I must leave before he discovers me.

Caboose: But if he meets you in there then you can be friends. But not best friends. But, you know 'cause that job's, taken? But, you know, maybe acquaintances?

Delta: If only, I, were the memory, that he's looking for.

Delta shuts down, the blue parts return to blue, and Church rises back into the air

“if only i were the memory that he's looking for” wtf we didn’t remember how sad that line was. also gay as hell considering eps literally looking for tex. new hc dεlta has a crush on epsilon. things epsilon remembered about delta: 1) logical 2) gay

#~brightside✨⚔️ #⚡️ anon #asks

[exdraghunt]

Fic Writer Interview

- nobody tagged me, but I wanted to do this anyway so-

Name(s): Ed

Fandom(s): Current: Transformers, Brave Police J-Decker (coming soon). In the past, possibly again in the future: Starlight Express, LazyTown, Steam Powered Giraffe, Knight Rider, Ghost Rider, Thomas the Tank Engine

Where you post: Archive of our Own

Most popular one-shot (by kudos): That would be Sweaters , with 345 kudos. It was the second of my Lazytown Christmas-specials, which I wrote in one go on Christmas Eve.

Most popular multi-chap (also by kudos): Wings at 853 kudos. My "Robbie Rotten but if he had wings" Robbie/Sportacus fic. I might get around to actually finishing the sequel at some point. Was not expecting this one to beat my TF fics!.

Favorite story you've written so far: Hmm. In terms of "this is incredibly self-indulgent and I'm writing it to cater to every single one of my kinks" I'd have to say Drop To Drink. (AKA: the Titty!AU)

IN terms of fics I'm rather proud of sharing with other people, Last of the Wild Cabooses. . I put a lot of research into railroad history to write this fic, and then did a shit-ton of worldbuilding on top of that.

Fics you were nervous to post: High Tide . My first time ever posting an mpreg fic publicly. I was terrified of the reaction I'd get. Fortunately, it was nothing but positive!

On a similar note, I was nervous about getting flames on my Thomas the Tank Engine ship fics (especially when I wrote TTTE mpreg) but that never materialized. Now, I've stopped giving a shit and will post just about anything.

How do you choose your titles: Gonna be honest, I usually choose song lyrics (eg. Behind Blue Optics, Runner in the Night, Midnight Run, No Days for Knights, Marching Inland). Sometimes it's a reference to something (Drop to Drink, comes from the Knight Rider episode 'Not a Drop To Drink' which has nothing to do with the fic). Sometimes, it's just a phrase that works well. (When the Bomb Drops, A Winglord's Duty)

Do you outline?: Not really. I do tend to daydream/fantasize the entire fic before I actually sit down and write it, though, so I know where the fic is going. I just don't bother to write it down. I spend a lot of time on the bus, or lying in bed, just. Planning out the next scenes for my fics.

Complete: Quite a few, I'm proud to say. All my Thomas the Tank Engine fics (6), my TUGS fics (5), my Knight Rider fics (2) (except for one not posting to Ao3 yet), several Starlight Express fics (5), (3) Lazytown fics, (2) Steam Powered Giraffe fics, and (3) Transformers fics.

In-progress: Too many. . . The Lazytown fics are on hiatus until I feel like finishing them. Might not ever get back to the StEx stuff, we'll see.

In progress that I'm actually working on are my Transformers fics (Pearl of Polyhex, When the Bomb Drops, Drop to Drink, and Behind Blue Optics)

Coming soon: Next up on the list will be a Brave Police J-Decker fic (working title: To Weather the Storm), and another Transformers J/P fic (working title: the Carrying Class AU)

Not started: So many. A basic idea of what's rattling around in my brain

the aforementioned BPJD fic (introducing my OC and bringing back Kagerou), plus a sequel (a mechpreg fic, with Deckerd and Gunmax, because I am extremely predictable)

Brainwashing!AU (dark Tumbler/Prowl, misuse of mnemosurgery, serial killer investigation, and Jazz figuring out that something is very very wrong.)

Prompts? I don't normally write from prompts, since I have enough going on in my head, I don't need the extra stimulus. The only prompt challenge I've done was Thirst Trap April (Bruised Spark) which was, admittedly, a lot of fun. Pearl of Polyhex came out of a series of asks, so I guess that's close?

Upcoming work you're most excited about: I am excited about all my upcoming projects. But, if pressed, I'd say the Carrying Class!AU. There's a lot of scenes in there I'm really excited to write, and some fun worldbuilding too.

#ed rambles

[cinaed]

Red vs Blue: Zero Eps 1-2

Going to be posting my thoughts on the newest season of RvB! Doing the first two in one post because I didn't get a chance to watch until now, but will put the ep 2 reaction behind a cut to avoid spoiling non-FIRST members! 

Red vs Blue: Zero Ep 1: Viper

Really enjoying the music already just for the introduction. 

Re: Agent Washington, "they fixed that a long time ago using robotics and old kitchen appliances," I'm not sure how I feel about Wash's injuries being completely fixed, but also great shoutout to Grif and Simmons cyborg fun and Sarge being saved by CPR. But also I really wonder where this is in the RvB timeline. Has it been a couple months? Years? Maybe we'll find out.

I was joking with some friends that the other Reds and Blues are on vacation (Grif, Simmons, and Kai are visiting Hawaii, Sarge took Lopez home to meet his mom, Doc and Donut are doing a galactic road trip, and Tucker and Caboose are visiting Junior) but this is Wash and Carolina's idea of vacation, a supposedly low-key security mission. That's my story and I'm sticking to it until otherwise contradicted by canon. 

I really like the fight scenes so far! They feel very fluid and easy to follow, at least for me. 

Also I am kind of obsessed with the female villain's weapon. A knife that can like teleport you??? That is so cool. (Imagine if Tucker could do that with his sword. Or Simmons got a hold of one.) It's just a neat concept, and I cannot wait to see more fight scenes with it included. 

CAROLINA! I love her so much. "A fan? Do you want an autograph or something?" Love her and Wash working as a unit. 

Villain: "Don't get distracted." No, get distracted, love that the female villain is a fangirl of Carolina because who wouldn't be. 

I really like the introduction to the new characters. They're called the Shatter Squad? It gave us their personalities right off the bad, with a rookie and a race. Looking forward to learning more about them! Love One versus East's rivalry, Axel's long-suffering attitude because he knows One is going to get too competitive, and the poor newbie (Raymond, I think?) puking in his helmet. 

I will admit, I am not sure about Wash in peril yet again. I love Wash, but I am a bit tired of him being constantly hurt or in danger, you know? But I am willing to see where it goes, and I do like the concept of Carolina raising hell to get him back from these guys. 

"Where's the temple?" "He knows that the alien artifacts are keys to the temples that hold the ultimate power!" Hm, so is this like Forerunner stuff or whatever, like the stuff they found on Chorus? Or stuff like Tucker and Locus' swords? Will be interesting to see where they're going with this, because Chorus' temples did have some very powerful stuff going on. 

Red vs Blue: Zero Ep 2: Recovery 

Carolina just instantly going into fight mode upon waking up is so good but also hurts a little! I just want her and Wash to have a less fraught time. Also the giant over-sized cast is an amazing visual gag, I approve. 

Carolina immediately going into leader mode is SO GOOD. Very great callback to her during her Freelancer days as well as being with the Reds and Blues. God, the Reds and Blues totally helped prepare her for the Shatter Squad, huh. Also her putting her feet up on her desk is definitely someone like Grif rubbing off on her, because she wouldn't have done that in her Freelancer days. 

Axel: a dad and a Boy Scout. West is the father figure -- and East's actual father? Carolina might've said "A bit on the nose," but also like...she must have some feelings about a father and daughter working together. That is definitely interesting. I mean, I would also have daddy issues if my dad was in charge of my squad, just saying. But it does explain a little of her determination to be better than One, who is headstrong and needs to learn how to be a team player. Raymond compared to Guy Fieri is fun, and I'm intrigued how they'll all work together as a squad. 

I LOVE Tiny. I want to see more of her. Enormous genius mechanic who likes to high-five and is super cheerful? She's great. Also I see that remark about Warthogs being ancient. I see it.

Okay, if any of the crew dies, it's going to be Axel. A dad who just wants to retire and is obsessed with his lawnmower? 

Carolina being a mentor to One is giving me a lot of feelings. Carolina has done the whole loner thing! She knows you need a team! She knows One needs a team! I am here for this relationship.

Hmm, so East had some sort of illness as a kid, and West gave her up for some genetic alteration or testing? I don't know Halo really well, but I'm sure stuff like that was happening during the war. But whatever it did saved her but has some side effects? Interesting. 

One's family being a long line of soldiers KIA really works as a backstory for me. And also that means we've got TWO father-daughter relationships on this squad which is both amazing and makes me worried. I am really loving Axel though. He saw One, went "Is anyone going to adopt her?" and didn't wait for an answer. 

I am again really liking the fight scenes. It's a nice juxtaposition of seeing the bad guys working together like a well-oiled machine while Shatter Squad is still, well, a little scattered. 

This really was supposed to be low key, a medium risk assignment for Wash and Carolina. :( Oops. 

Oh god, One calling Carolina grandma and Carolina IMMEDIATELY wiping the floor with her is great. Love it. And then of course ending with her about to kick One and East's asses because she's Carolina.

I am excited for the rest of the season, though I hope we get some mention of the Reds and Blues, even if it's just Carolina saying someone in Shatter Squad would get along with one of them. 

#rvb zero #rvb zero spoilers #Red vs Blue

[riathedreamer]

What’s your opinion on the new RvB season? It has a ton of new characters and none of the original Blood Gulch crew so I know a lot of people are hesitant about it, but I think it’s cool. while I love me the reds and blues, new characters are always fun!(also, Fiona Nova is one of the voice actors!(sorry, Achievement Hunter fan)) But I’m just curious what you think, since a lot of your content is about Grif and Simmons. I’m just hoping people give it a chance before shooting it down.

Oh dear gods. Okay, so first of all (because I’ve seen how discourse around this sore subject can evolve) – not liking something does not mean you hate on it. Content can be *good*, it can be full of passion and talent, and you may still not like it because taste is individual. This is a horrible way to start a post, but I just want to make it clear. To not like the new season does not mean you hate on Torrian’s work. You are not obligated to like it. On the other hand, this does not mean you are allowed to hate on someone’s work – that means nasty comments, messages, harassment, being a bitch about it. Great, now we have that distinction made clear, time to the second point:

I have not watched the first episode yet. That means I’m probably a horrible person to answer this. As it turned out, I cancelled my First subscription a few weeks ago – I simply didn’t use it enough for it to be worth the money when RvB wasn’t airing. Of course, my membership ran out like two days before the new episode got posted. If I still had my membership, I would have checked it out. For now, I will wait and probably try to buy a small membership just to check out the entire season when it airs.

There is a lot of stuff to be excited about. I can see the passion there is in this season. The graphics looks amazing, the pace looks fast in a good way, and when the trailer dropped, I actually found myself already somewhat liking the new characters (though I admit I still have trouble keeping track of them. Lot of new characters, only watched the trailer once. I’ll get a hang of it – hah, at least this show doesn’t clash with my faceblindness). I was actually getting quite hyped.

(then (AND STOP READING IF YOU DON’T WANT TO READ A SPOILER. A LITTLE SPOILER I CAN’T EVEN CONFIRM,  I JUST READ POSTS ABOUT IT) I discovered that apparently the first episode contains Wash angst and whump, and I admit, I straight up groaned and got bored. I feel like that road’s been used too many freaking times, and it just threw me off. Not enough that I don’t want to watch the thing when it comes out, but again, for now that’s not even an option for me).

New cast can be good. I admit, I wasn’t that hyped about Fiona – because I don’t know who she was. Again, look, this isn’t my hating on someone (sorry for being paranoid, again, the discourse had installed a permanent fear in me of not being supportive enough = being a hater), I just haven’t watched AH for years, so that promotion wasn’t really aimed for me. Still happy for her, I’m sure she’ll be great, and now I guess I’ll somewhat get to know her, heh! I do, however, know of Ryan, and I discovered he’s in it, and I admit, that got me excited, mainly because now I can just picture an evil Andersmith. Is it evil Andersmith? Probably not. Would I mind an evil Andersmith? No. Actually, just give me more LTs. I really wouldn’t have minded a season without the Reds and Blues if we got the LTs instead.

But that’s the main issue, isn’t it? No Reds and Blues. I feel like we should all admit that this is a big thing – and it can be a legit reason for people to not like the new season (again, holy shit my anxiety is acting up, not liking this season does not mean it can’t be good, it means some just won’t enjoy it). That is fair. If you’ve lasted 17 seasons so far, it means you must like the characters. That’s sorta what RvB is for. It’s character driven. Doesn’t matter if you’re here for virgin Blue Team or chad Red Team, but it’s in the name, you know. Reds and Blues.

So that’s why the news about this season felt a bit like a blow. Because, and I say this proudly, I’m here for Grif (and Simmons. And Red Team, I guess. Carolina’s an honorary Red. So is Caboose. Suck it, Blue Team). To know I wouldn’t really be seeing him was jarring. And yeah, I’ve sorta left the fandom, but this isn’t just due to Zero. I haven’t been really hyped since s16, so I was really, really hoping for Zero to bring back for RvB love. And for now, without the Reds and Blues, it’s not what I was hoping for.

It’s something new. They’ve made that clear. It’s different. And I get why. I might not wholeheartedly agree, but I get why, and I love Torrian’s passion. Following him on Twitter was like: “holy shit, someone actually cares about RvB”. He has gone in a direction I’m not sure I’ll like, but he’s giving a shit, and ohmygod, I love that. I love that so much.

That is why I want to like the new season. Hell, that’s why it’s probably good. But even saying that, I can’t say I will like it. I don’t know what I’ll feel about the new characters. For now, all I feel is that it’s different. That can be good. That can also mean it’s just too different from what I personally want to see in an RvB season, and you know what, that’s valid. To miss the old characters – the ones you’ve been following for so long, the ones the show is named after – is valid, and it can be enough for someone to walk away. Torrian and the others have also made it clear that this is fair. That yes, this is different, and it won’t be for everyone.

TLDR: this season is different. That can be so good! That can also be worrisome. This season will probably bring in a lot of new fans. It may also be disappointing to fans who miss the old cast. That’s valid. Not liking the season is valid. Liking the season is valid. Disliking something does not equal hate. Never ever harass the content creators, ever. Be nice to each other. Be understanding. (I say, in a post for the fandom of the show that is literally about assholes hating each other. Until they don’t. Somewhat.)

As for me… *wince*. As I mentioned at some point in this way too long post; my passion has slowly been dying. If I completely leave after this season, it won’t just be a reaction to Zero. Did I have my hopes up? Yes. Am I somewhat disappointed? Yes. Will I give the new season a shot and be open to what it brings? Yes, absolutely. But as you clearly state – I’m a Grif and Grimmons writer. My passion lives on those moments in the show where these characters interact and shine. And to not get those moments, that will be a blow for my passion. I’ll update the best I can, I’ll try to stay passionate, but gods I miss Grif. I miss Simmons. And that’s okay.

#rvb18 #rvbzero #rvb zero #my rvb stuff