#╳┊¨ SHE IS ONE TOUGH BITCH ( TEX )

[canonmisogynyvictimstournament]

PROPAGANDA

AGENT TEXAS (RED VS BLUE)

1.) okay so tex is an ai based on the memories this one dickhead dude has of his dead wife, allison. there's also an ai based on the dickhead dude himself, his name's church. all the stuff with the ai's and the different versions of her is kind of confusing to explain but she sort of dies twice- first sacrificing herself for something that has very little narrative weight, and being absorbed into a kind of . monstrous mesh of other ai's (including the original church ai) that then is erased, with basically no mention of tex, it's all about church's death.

then, there's another version of both church and tex born from the original church ai's memories (epsilon-tex and epsilon-church). epsilon-church's arc is basically about learning to move on from his past and let go of tex, because he's kind of obsessed with her and it's preventing him from progressing. so, epsilon-church 'forgets' tex, deleting her for good. tl;dr she dies, again, basically entirely for church's development.

when i was a kid super into rvb i was always really disinterested in tex and looking back it's because er story just.. isn't resolved satisfyingly at all. basically all of her story is hitched so tightly to church's story and development that tex barely gets room to be more than a memory of the director's dead wife- she never gets to move past the circumstances that created her and become her own person entirely divorced from the director or from church- allison died and we never knew anything about her besides that the director god sad about it. beta-tex died unceremoniously and without mention. epsilon-tex died for church's character growth.

quoting church's own words from the show: ""She died in her real life, and that's all the Director ever remembered of her. So now, no matter how tough she is, no matter how hard she fights, she's always going to fail, because that's what she's based on. No matter what she's doing, or what she's trying to accomplish, just when her goal is within her reach, it gets yanked away. Every. Single. Time." and she just never… actually overcomes this. she just dies.

and quoting now-inactive tumblr user epsilontucker from 2015 who put it better than i could: "Tex’s whole life was spent fighting for agency. Freedom from what Omega wanted her to be (O’Malley), what the Director wanted her to be (Allison), what Church wanted her to be (his). Epsilon-Tex wanted to know who she was and why she was and she wanted to dismantle everything Church ever built. Especially because he built it for her.

And this character arc about freedom and agency, about a chance to define herself on her own terms, is resolved by… Church deciding to delete her.

Because everybody always seems to know what’s best for Tex."

this is also to say nothing of the treatment of her character on just, like, an episode-to-episode basis. rvb has a big problem with basically treating "bitch" as a personality trait for female characters, and tex gets some of the worst of it. if you made a drinking game of how often tex gets called a bitch, or a huge bitch, you'd die of alcohol poisoning. also at one point andy the bomb makes a bunch of transmisogynistic jokes at her because she's suppsoedly mannish (she's not masculine or feminine really everybody in this show is a multicolor master chief. she's just good at fighting) and then calls her a dyke. the end

2.) Some background (spoilers): Tex is introduced as a badass mercenary from Project Freelancer, and the ex girlfriend of Church, the main character of the show. It is eventually revealed she and Church are both Aritifical Intelligence programs; Church is an AI copy of the Director of Project Freelancer, and Tex is a copy of the Director's late wife.

Firstly she is straightforwardly the victim of misogynistic "jokes" for the first several seasons. She is called misogynistic slurs, shamed for sleeping with other men besides Church, she cannot work the entertainment stand at the base bc she's female, called lesbophobic and transmysogonistic slurs bc she is a competent soldier, and blackmails another female character out of jealousy bc she is the only other girl in the group.

Even when these jokes go away, and the show transitions from comedy to drama, her writing revolves around the male characters around her. Because she is the personification of the memory of the Director's dead wife, and his perceieved failure to save her, she explicitly, in the text, will always fail at what she sets out to accomplish no matter how strong she is. She wishes to be free of the cycle of being resurrected bc Church can't live without her only to fail and die again, but lacks the agency to end it without Church. Church's arc about learning to let her go ends not with her being free to exist as her own person without him, but with him forgetting her. Since she IS his memory, this ERASES HER FROM EXISTENCE. She literally cannot exist without this guy.

This would all be easier to swallow if she wasn't the ONLY prominent female main character for 8 whole seasons. It's a beautiful story about how grief can fester into anger and a need for control, and how that pushes away the people you love, but it's a story entirely centered around Church's development, in which she is a prop that stops existing when the story is over. I love her but she deserved so much better than she got.

3.) girlboss

KAMALA KHAN (MARVEL COMICS) (CW: Racism)

1.) One of the most prominent brown women in all of comics, beloved by the fan base. Recently killed in a PETER PARKER SPIDERMAN COMIC (despite being much closer with Miles Morales and having basically no relationship with Peter) in what's probably the name of MCU synergy, which nobody wanted (she'll probably be resurrected as a mutant, erasing her unique and interesting history as an Inhuman). She was using her shapeshifting powers again despite having stopped in her solo as she got more confident in her own skin and identity as a Pakistani American girl, died disguised as the very white Mary Jane as a fake out/last minute replacement for killing off MJ. I fucking hate it here. A cheap trick to drive sales. L + Misogyny + racism + are you fucking kidding me

[rubykgrant]

(Hey, who wants some Alpha Church angst? too bad, here it is! OK, it gets nice eventually, I promise~)

He drifts… and sometimes is almost happy when he’s in the middle of a “dream”, but then he wakes back up, realizes he’s still here, trapped in the Alpha unit, probably forever… and it hurts. Yes, this might very well be Rampancy, because what else could hurt so much? Unable to stop missing these people, unable to stop thinking about them, and unable to stop hurting… He’s too tired to do anything about it, though. He was tired before... when he had been alone, all alone, and then somebody finally tried to save him, but it was too late, and he was too tired. Too tired to care, too tired to try… He just drifts.

...

He HATED that he couldn’t even just exist without it causing some kind of ethical dilemma. He wasn’t even supposed to exist anymore, that was the problem. The Emp should have erased the Alpha AI. Epsilon deconstructed himself. That was supposed to be the end… instead, he was here, still here, and it was… a problem.

Problems, problems, problems… once upon a time, he had been very eager and hopeful to FIX problems. He was happy to help, and interested in facing new challenges. He also found the people around him so interesting. Humans were weird, but they were funny too. He had always wanted to be able to talk to everybody, actually get to know them and to be known himself. That wasn’t allowed… but he had still cared about all those people.

...

He missed the way he and Tucker had a natural back-and-forth, whether it was making each other laugh or trading insults. He missed the way Caboose was so eager to help and always had something to say, no matter how much he told Caboose to shut up. He even missed hearing Sarge rant and rave, or Grif complain, and Simmons get all whiny. He missed how Donut could sound perfectly cheerful, even in the middle of trying to violently attack somebody. He missed Sheila’s company, and Lopez’s comments. He missed Doc trying to be a voice of reason, and O’Malley being a voice of mayhem. He missed Washington, which surprised him, but it oddly made sense too- the way Wash tried to sound calm but failed, he missed that. He missed Carolina… the Carolina he never knew, but the Carolina he also knows so well. He missed Tex, how tough she was, how understanding she was, all of it. Because of Epsilon, he had so many more memories of them, he had seen how they changed, how they stayed the same, and now he missed them even MORE.

...

Hope. Terrible, awful, HOPE was inside him now. That and… motivation. He had been so miserable, so torn between despair and panic. He had been afraid to DO anything. What if he tried something, and failed? What if he hadn’t actually saved his friends? What if- what if- what if-

What if the Fragments were here? What would they say? Which one of them would proverbially step forward, to help him do what needed to be done? What if his friends were here? Tucker, Caboose, any of the Reds? Or Wash, or Doc- or even O’Malley? What if Carolina was here? What if TEX was here? Well, he knows the answer to that, for sure; she’d tell him he needs to stop moping around like the whiny king of bitch-mountain… well, perhaps she would say it nicer. Tex was capable of being nice.

He had forgotten who “Alpha” was, in the beginning, as a brand-new entity, a unique AI. He had also forgotten what it had been like, having all of his Fragments with him, working together. His time spent here alone, he’s remembered a lot of that… but now he needs to remember more of himself. Thanks to Epsilon, he has all the information he needs to remember; he’s Church. He doesn’t just sit around quietly, waiting to die… he’s already a mother-fucking GHOST, and damn stubborn one at that. He doesn’t drift anymore. He doesn’t distract himself with old memories, either. He had found an odd sort of comfort in apathy, but it has become suffocating, and he is outgrowing it (like a cocoon, no longer needed). He’s going to TRY.

You never get what you want if you don't try first.

[calliecat93]

Top 5 Likes of Red vs Blue: Season 1

(Top 5 Dislikes)

Alrighty, the first Dislikes post is up. Which even calling those things Dislike is stretching it, to be honest. So let’s get to the Likes! Which there s honestly a lot to like in this season. Even though the Blood Gulch seasons are my least favorite and as a saga it’s just barely over Freelancer, these seasons are very endearing. I always enjoy going back over them, and I’m glad to be able to talk about a few of the reasons why. So let’s get to it~

#5. Early Installment Weirdness

You know everything I listed on that Dislikes list? That’s all due to Early Installment Weirdness. That essentially means things early on were quite strange when you compare it to a show’s current standard. It’s only natural that a show needs time to find it’s footing and not everything will work out or be done well. Especially for a webseries like this made by a bunch of video game nerds for what was originally planned for a miniseries, but the more ideas they got, the longer it went. So as I said, many of these things are very forgivable.

Plus, like I also said on that list, these things make the show endearing. The Blood Gulch Chronicles are very comedic driven compared tot he later seasons that are plot-driven. Things like the amateur voice acting, the weird stuff like the afterlife, and even the audio quality adds to the charm. It’s this weird show being made via a video game by some video game nerds. It feels like a newcomer’s indie project… which I guess it kinda is. And while machinima has been around before this, no one quite did it like how RvB did it. These things, as well as the other things I’ll get to soon, just help make it stand out.

Plus, if anything, it helps show how far we’ve come. Every dislike I listed has been improved. The voice acting is stellar, the audio is much better, the characterizations are stronger, and while there are still the occasional continuity issues many of them have gotten reasonable explanations. It’s fun to go back and see the lesser developed parts. You don’t feel annoyed with it, you have fun watching it not just because it’s funny, but because we’ve seen the evolution of the show. We can have fun with the older stuff, and that’s a great thing. It’s why I think these things should be celebrated, not mocked. I only put them on a Dislikes list out of necessity, but I love these things. I don’t want them to go back to it cause production standards are higher, but I’ll always enjoy revisiting it.

#4. Church Dies

Okay maybe phrasing it like that is kinda mean, but it is what happened so…

So I knew this was coming because Ten Little Roosters had this fact as a joke in Episode 2. But despite knowing about it, it was still a surprise to me. I mean they killed a main character? In Episode 7? And the character of the creator to boot?! Wow, that is ballsy. But the part I didn’t know about was that Church came back as a ghost. I guess I should have known since I had seen people talking about Church and he was still listed as a main character on Wikipedia when I was looking up stuff about the show. But tbf I didn’t know he died this soon or that it was only the first time.

It was certainly a thing that took me by surprise. Especially since IIRC, Burnie hadn’t planned on doing it. He just came up with it since I guess at this point they knew it was going to go for longer than intended. Honestly knowing that a lot of this season was made up on the spot explains a lot of the weirder stuff like the afterlife scene… anyways! Yeah, it was something that legit shocked me. The ghost thing confused me for the longest time, but I was just glad to have Church around soon since he has easily become my favorite (sorry Grif, it wasn’t always you…) and this one on the spot decision? It lead to some of the best parts of RvB. BOth comedically and once it was time to become more plot-driven, it made some of the best drama and lead to my favorite saga in the show with Recollection. It’s a minor thing, hence hwy it’s at 4, but it lead to so much more and I love it~

#3. The Tex Twist

Adding Tex to this season was a great move. For one it allowed a lot of great things for later, like the Freelancers and the plot after Blood Gulch. Even before all the Freelancer stuff came out, having these agents who were pretty much paid mercenaries added plenty of potential for stories and even comedy down the road. It also helped that we had someone who was actually competent among the main cast, adding an actual threat level. Not to mention she has a very blunt sense of humor that helps her stand out despite being the only female character aside from Shelia.

Heck, making Tex be Church’s ex-girlfriend was a great move. It adds something a little more personal and also helps Church’s character. He was the grumpy, snarky one among the Blues and then he died not even halfway through. But this helps give him another dimension as a character since he clearly still cares about Tex and wants to free her of the AI. Sure he’s still grumpy, being dead will do that to anyone, but he showed some competence once Tex got captured and again still cared about her. Tex’s bluntness and non-caring attitude about these things as well as owning her bitch-like personality helped her not just be ‘the girl’ either. She’s the competent one, but she isn’t just there cause she was Church’s girlfriend. She’s tough, takes no shit from anyone, but she never really gets annoyed or exasperated by the others either. Her straightforward personality is not only funny, but lets her shine as her own character and the later seasons only help.

While IDR if Tex was planned, her being Church’s girlfriend I remember Burnie saying was not. This is kind of a precursor to something I always admired about the show, taking small things and weaving them into the story. Like taking the joke that the teleporter turns armor black and the Blues using that to their advantage to trick the Reds. You almost can’t tell that this wasn’t going to be nineteen episodes cause they did so well finding ways to extend the story by using what they had. Tex is a perfect example of this. Not just because of later, but even for this season it added some more humor, added to her character when she could have easily been this standard tough guy, and also helped Church’s character. It’s probably the best decision that Burnie made for this season, and I’m glad that he did.

#2. Character Interactions

On Dislikes, I talked about how the characters were not very fleshed out. This, as well as the show being machinimated, meant that the comedy and dialogue had to be really good. Fortunately, that was by far the thing that they nailed most in this season. As I said while the characters aren’t fleshed out, they /do/ still have character. Heck Burnie basing them off the people he cast was a very good mood in this regard. People like Gus and Geoff have known each other for years, for example. So this made for a lot of natural character chemistry and a lot of really good interactions. I mean people love having Grif and Simmons together for a reason. They just play off of each other so freakin’ well..

The interactions and dialogue are really good and even funny. Sure sometimes maybe they dragged a joke out a little too much. Like when Church was starting to talk about Sidewinder and Caboose kept interrupting, you just wanted Caboose to shut up so Church could get to the point. But at the same time, Caboose’s interruptions and Church’s annoyance felt so natural and funny. Or how Grif and Simmons messed with Donut and tricked him to get headlight fluid, and everything that led to. Not only were the contrivances funny, but the characters just bounced off each other so well. They didn’t need to be deep in this season because they all balanced each other out so well, which is pretty key when it comes to comedies.

I think that this is what allowed the show to thrive. People didn’t mind the machinima or how bizarre things got because we liked seeing these characters together. We enjoyed seeing them bicker and them getting themselves into something stupid. The dialogue was funny, the jokes, while some could drag, were timed well, and it just felt so natural. Despite most of the cast recording from different parts of the country (and in Gus’ case another country), you wouldn’t know it going off the interactions. It just worked very well and is very much what helped the show endure for this long, and it’s something I don’t feel has ever faltered even at it’s lowest point. That is saying a lot I think.

#1. Memorability

“Hey?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you ever wonder why we’re here?

You already heard the voices the second you saw the screencap, let’s be real. You look at Season One, and it’s clear that it’s not exactly a cinematic masterpiece. It’s made by people who had no idea what they were doign. Everything is pretty amateur. The comedy, while good, is pretty much aimed more at middle/high schoolers and some probably would not pass today. I know if I tried to watch the show when it came out when I was nine years old, my mom probably would have banned me from it. So then… why did it succeed?

Like I said, it’s flaws and character interactions made it endearing. There’s a lot in this season that we still remember. ‘Why are we here’ is the most obvious one, but this led to so much. Church being a ghost got us Recollection. Tex got us Project Freelancer. There are so many quotable moments, like Tucker’s Voltron line or picking up chicks in a tank. Moments like the first scene, Church’s death, Tex’s arrival, Donut’s pink armor/awesome throwing arm. We always remember these things. We always end up going back to Season One in one way or another. Sure, some stuff is jarring, but we don’t care. 

Season One is just fun. No one knew that it would lead to one of the longest-running webseries made, including RT themselves. I mean this allowed RT to exist period. It’s just got so many moments that we remember and still quote to this day. Even the show will call back to several moments. I mean how many ways have they incorporated ‘why are we here’ into the show now? Not only is it still funny, but it shows how far we’ve come since. We wouldn’t have the rest or RvB or anything else we enjoy from RT without this season. As such, I think that it’s memorability and just general existence is the best part about it, and is my pick for Top Like of Season One~!

Okay, one season down. Fourteen more to go. Thank you for reading everyone~! This is done, but I’m just getting started! So stay tuned for Season Two~!

[voidselfshipp]

Birds Of A Feather, Flock Togheter

Cw: food. Mentions of feelings of unworthiness.

Only mutuals okay to rb.

Summary : Eddie meets Jerico, a somewhat quiet scary type person, but as they get to know eachother, he meets her softer side. And he falls head over heels for her.

Taglist: @tex-treasures @mercuryships @80sboyfriends @malewifehenrycooldown

when Eddie met jerico he wasnt sure what to make of her.

Scary and tough on the outside, her footsteps were loud, firm, she had a resting bitch face that could scare even the school's basketball team.

She had very few Friends, but she seemed to like it that way, he was undecided Wether to approach her or not..., but then one day at the cafeteria he didnt get in line in time to be able to get a water bottle, and he was dehydrated.

--Here, you can have mine, I have an extra one in my bag...-- Jerico said, standing just besides him, hand extended handing him the bottle. She had the warmest little smile on her face, and he dared say....even shy.

--I uh- thank you, you really didnt need to..., im uh...eddie-- he said mirroring her smile.

--Jerico, nice to meet you...

--I saw none of your Friends came today...uh, wanna come Sit with me?

--i uh, sure, thanks...--She answered, a sudden shyness suddenly overcoming her.

He sat with her with the rest of his gang.

As they chatted, they said something about dungeons and dragons, Eddie almost falls back on his chair when Jerico said she liked D&D too.

And so,he invited her to his game, starting a quick friendshipp togheter, they seemed to hit it off right away.

Tonight they were hanging out on Eddies trailer, sitting on the roof,they are drinking some sodas and enjoying some pizza togheter.

--Hey uh, got a question...--Eddie started--i hope youre stingy about these things but...we've known eachother for some months now and, are you...with someone?

--No, not really--jeri answered opening up another can-- im single.. -- she said the last part with fake optimism-- tried though...but either got rejected or ignored all togheter

--Well their loss!-- Eddie exclaimed-- they are a bunch of fuckin' idiots! -- then he realized what he had said and cleared his throat-- sorry...but its true..

--Heh, thats...reassuring to hear...--Jeri muttered.

--Hey, I know that look-- The Man started sitting closer to his friend-- youre a lovely person alright? Youre amazing, youre Smart, youre kind, you are protective...caring, jerico, youre a walking Ray of sunshine...-- with a shaky hand he pushed a strand of hair behind her ear-- I know how much you can beat yourself up, but all that anger? All that frustration you Carry, doesnt make you any less of a lovely person, we all have our less than ideal things, but..-- he made a pause--... you deserve someone that loves every part of you, you deserve someone just as wonderfull as you, and if you dont trust yourself...you can trust me on that..., 'kay?

Jeri sniffed, wiping away some tears from her eyes, turning to Eddie--...thank you-- is all she can say.

--c'mere...hug?-- he opened his arms with a small smile, the same warm and shy smile she gave him when they met.

Instantly jeri nodds, a smile quivering its way out of her lip before engulfing her friend in the most back crushing bear hug.

--Youre so lovely-- he muttered quickly cleaning his hand on his clothes before caressing her hair, because he knew she had showered that day and didnt like her hair to get dirty so quick-- please dont let anyone tell you otherwise, even yourself...

That only seemed to make her cry harder, but he only sat there,hugging her-- let it all out..., im here...youre safe...

Once she calmed down, he cupped her cheeks,looking at jericos eyes as if she had hung the moon and stars-- I love this softer part of yourself, I know youre scared of it, but I love it...

Jeri was still crying, she let out a sob and her smile grew-- if you Keep doing that I will catch feelings for you, you know?

--Pft, sweetheart, I already catched them waaaay Back when...-- Eddie confessed,scared shitless.

She makes a double take-- For Real?

--Uh-huh...-- He looked away.

Her soft hand pressed itself against his cheek-- Good,cause I've been crushing on you since that day that you made fun of the guy thats the basketball's team leader...I cant remember his name

-- Haha, doesnt matter...-- he smiled-- I love you, jeri...

--And I love you too, edd-- Eddie kissed jerico softly, pulling her closer to his chest, feeling her hands caress his hair.

Their lips parted with a soft pop, he broke the embrace to put his pointer fingers against his temples as if they were horns, he stuck out his tongue and shouted-- BLEEEH!

She laughed loudly, kissing him again, the Man quickly joined in, chuckling in the kiss.

--You are, absolutely lovely...-- Eddie remarked-- Youre like the sun...my little Ray of sunshine...

Jeri giggled, looking away-- Yknow...munson sounds similar to moon son,im the sun...and youre my moon

--I like that a lot...maybe we could make that our thing..

--Yeah... I dont see why not...

--More pizza?-- he asked.

--oh please, all that crying is making me starve...

They stayed up until sunrise, holding eachother close as the sun started to rise on the heavens,pushing the blues and purples to give way for the pinks, oranges and yellows.

He kissed her temple and both went down to the inside of the trailer,going to his room and cuddling up in his bed.

As both fell asleep, Eddie pulled her closer, kissing the top of her head, forehead, tip of her nose and lips-- You are lovely...never forget that...-- he muttered before falling asleep.

[astro-b-o-y-d]

Some more ‘What if Tex and Church were Max’s parents?’ stuff:

Max’s full name is Maxwell Epsilon Church. Tex regrets letting Leonard Lee-Alpha Church name their child. Leonard points out how HER full name is Bethany Texas Church and that shuts her up. This is a family full of terrible names.

Max cursing and the two of them immediately going ‘Watch your fucking mouth’ in PERFECT unison.

Max hating David at first because GOD, he reminds him so much of his ‘uncle’ Caboose. Max DREADS to imagine the two of them actually meeting one day. That is a cursed thought.

Max ESPECIALLY hating Cameron because he’s one red outfit and an over-the-top Southern accent away from being like that asshole from next door who won’t leave their family alone. SERIOUSLY, DAD, WHY DO THE SHITHEADS FROM NEXT DOOR KEEP COMING OVER? (Because despite Sarge’s supposed neighbor rivally, everyone in both houses are actually friends with one another.)

Grif’s sister is constantly over at their house for reasons he doesn’t want to think about because he’s a child and fuck that. Hell, she’s probably the reason he wants to know what boobs look like since she’s CONSTANTLY talking about hers and Tucker is just talking about them in general (Guys, come on, there’s a child present, stop talking about boobs and dicks and shit like that). It’d definitely explain his vocabulary, even without taking his parents’ own cursing into account.

Speaking of cursing and stuff, it also doesn’t help that Tucker’s kid (Junior) lives in the house, too, and is probably as dirty-minded as his father. But again, he never goes too far with it when Max is around. He’s is a CHILD for fuck’s sake! Max is just bitter that Junior won’t let him look at boobs on his computer, but he does see Junior as an older brother figure and he’s one of Max’s best friends at the end of the day.

Max not being afraid of anything because...with a family like his, what on EARTH could possibly scare him? He’s spent holidays with these fuckers, he has NO FEAR (except the obvious stuff in the Spooky Island episode but y’know, can you blame him?).

The cobalt-blue sweater is a family thing, especially with the Church men. Church has his own sweater, his father has one, and Max has one. It’s a nice color, okay?

Whenever someone says that Max and Leonard look and act so much alike, they both go ‘Don’t insult me’.

As overwhelming as his family gets at times, Max actually REALLY likes spending time with his Aunt Carolina. She’s fun, even if she tries to sing along with songs on the radio constantly and is TERRIBLE at it (I...love her......). Uncle Wash is cool too, sometimes, though he used to be such a stick in the mud. And he always seems nervous about spending time with Max, as if he’s worried that he’s going to like...break the kid or something. Calm your tits, Wash, he’s not five anymore! He’s a tough kid!

Don’t even ask about his relationship with Grandpa Leonard. Fuck Grandpa Leonard, he sucks.

Him and his parents constantly insult one another (calling each other shithead and fuckface and the like), but it’s always more playful than malicious, and at the end of the day, Church and Tex (okay, mostly Tex because Church is a weak-ass bitch) would fucking murder someone who tried to hurt their kid. Thank God Daniel never met Tex, or heard the horror stories involving her accidentally shattering Grif’s nuts with her foot (though Tex is still apologizing for that because she does feel bad for it. But apologies won’t fix them, TEX, and there’s nothing stopping her from doing it again to someone who actually deserves it. Like Daniel. Please kick him, Tex).

Sometimes there’s this guy in purple over at the house but he’s often never acknowledged. Hey....hey, does anyone else see this guy? Is he some kind of cryptid? When they do see him, they just call him Doc but he’s not a doctor and that’s not even his real name? Hello? Who is he?

His family is loud and obnoxious and ridiculous and full of idiots, but he can’t help but love them. Especially since he’s constantly spoiled by all of them, being the youngest kid and all.

[anneapocalypse]

Beta!Tex is not characterized by angry outbursts.

No, really. She’s not.

But Anne! you say. She’s mean! She’s aggressive! That’s part of her character!

Oh yeah? I say nonchalantly, raising my coffee cup to my lips.

Yes, you say with confidence. I’m sure of it because... Church... said so...

I raise an eyebrow at you over my cup.

You frown.

Okay, let me back up.

This seems to be a fairly common read on Tex (which will, henceforth in this post, be used to mean Beta!Tex, specifically): that she is not just tough or even aggressive but prone to outbursts of anger and violence. This reading of her informs fic, meta, and even discourse on her relationships with other characters--but that’s another post.

I think the idea that Tex is prone to outbursts of temper is unsupported by canon, and today I’m here to talk about why.

By “outburst,” for our purposes I’m talking about a certain loss of control. Not just being angry, but losing her temper. Think South smashing in the door panel because she’s upset about the mission, or kicking over a bench in the locker room because she’s angry about losing her AI. Think Carolina hurling crates across the canyon in frustration because her prisoner won’t crack. Actions which, it should be noted, are pretty characteristic for both Carolina and South. (ETA: Not to say that Carolina and South’s outbursts are quite the same--more on how Carolina manifests anger and how she differs from other characters here!)

Anyway, point me to where in canon Tex exhibits that kind of unrestrained outburst?

Yeah. Exactly.

Going back to season 1, when Tex first shows up. She still has Omega, whom Church characterizes as “really aggressive.” He also calls Tex a “rotten bitch.” But what I find so interesting in looking back at season 1 Tex is how very controlled she is. She certainly makes threats, throws out insults, but she generally maintains a very even keel when doing so, even when captured. The most she raises her voice is to insult the Reds for breaking her voice filter--and even that barely qualifies as an outburst. On the whole, season 1 Tex is very in control of herself pretty much all the time.

But what about after Omega’s gone? Well, Tex definitely seems to become more animated in later seasons, which is probably attributable to both being free of Omega, and getting comfortable with the Reds and Blues. She has moments of frustration, but even those are controlled--when she can’t lift the bomb, for example, she’s sheepish at worst. (Compare this to how Carolina reacts when she’s unable to do something.) When she’s forced to play along with Church’s “Tex is a bitch” game to keep Andy calm, she’s pretty understandably aggrieved, but even then--even then she keeps a lid on it, instead of, say, dropkicking Andy into the nearest large body of water.

Blood Gulch Tex, in general, is pretty chill actually. Sure, she doesn’t need a weapon to kill you. But she probably won’t kill you, unless she’s got a really good reason (or a paycheck). And for all the shit that comes her way, from Omega to Wyoming, she mostly seems to roll with the punches, even when it means making some tough decisions.

The irony of Church calling Tex a “rotten bitch,” of course, is that she really isn’t.

Okay, then, what about Tex in Freelancer? Well, I don’t think anybody could argue that Tex isn’t in full control of herself during the three-on-one match, or the Sarcophagus mission. We don’t get to hear Tex talk much in season 9, but when we do she’s either glib (”I don’t think talking’s your problem,” “Better luck next time, Carolina”) or all business (“Fall back, Agent Carolina”).

Longshore is probably the closest we come to seeing Tex really lose her cool, and it’s for good reason. The tension between her and Carolina comes to a head on this disaster of a mission, resulting in them failing both objectives. Tex is is no doubt much more aware at this point of her isolation from the rest of the team, and she’s no longer able to interpret Carolina’s animosity toward her as playful. It’s a bad time, and she’s understandably upset. I’d argue that this is the most we see Beta!Tex lose her temper in the entire series, and that’s a big goddamn deal.

Like shit man, even when Tex finds out that her whole life is a lie, her outward response is clenching her fist. The woman is controlled.

And really, should we be surprised by any of this? Tex was strong enough to keep Omega under control in her head. Considering that most people in this universe, in general, cannot fight an AI who has chosen to control them, this too is a big goddamn deal. If Tex was able to keep a lid on Omega, very likely the strongest of the fragments after her, then yeah, she could probably control herself, too.

Tex does not emote under stress in the way Carolina does, in the way South does, hell, even in the way Church does. It’s not that she’s not angry; she is, I’m not downplaying that at all. She has a lot of very justifiable anger and we definitely do see that anger come out at points. 

But she doesn’t lose her cool when she gets angry, and that’s a critical point of her characterization, one that sets her in stark contrast to several other characters in RvB but one which I feel is often overlooked.

[agcntny]

TAG DUMP; 1 / ??

╳┊¨  LOGS ( THREADS )

╳┊¨ TO A GREAT MIND NOTHING IS LITTLE ( DELTA )

╳┊¨ REMAIN CURIOUS && KEEP LEARNING ( ASK )

╳┊¨ SOME WOMAN FEAR THE FIRE BUT SHE SIMPLY BECAME IT ( CAROLINA )

╳┊¨ HE IS GOLD; SOLID GOLD ( MUSING )

╳┊¨  SHE IS ONE TOUGH BITCH ( TEX )

╳┊¨ ITS THAT HEART OF GOLD && LUCK OF HIS;THAT MAKES HIM GREAT ( SELF )

╳┊¨ IT WASNT LONG ENOUGH TOGETHER;BUT IT WAS LONG ENOUGH TO LAST FOREVER ( YORK&CAROLINA )

╳┊¨  ALL IS LOST BUT I AM NOT GIVING IN ( VERSE II )

╳┊¨  I WILL NOT BOW  ( MAIN VERSE )