#RvB: Sweet Home

[blueteamtexas]

reading caboose's page on the rvb fan wiki is kinda sickening ngl. please learn how to reference people with tbi like. "this is caboose. he is very stupid. there is major brain damage or w/e but liek. his main attributes are his idiocy and how fucking dumb he is. basically a baby if it could talk. cant even use a gun" thats fucked up. i personally know several people with tbis who are still happily married (possibly sexually active, i never asked), full ass adults with lives and cares and worries and struggles. its so unfair that everyone treats wash's cerebral hypoxia with grace and delicacy (bar the whole character arc of carolina handling it with less grace and more fear) but caboose is just an idiot? why does wash get that "is this what donut feels like all the time" but not "is this what caboose feels all the time"? it breaks my heart (and scares me) that when seeing someone struggling with understanding their reality and word comprehension a lot of reactions are just "stupid"

tldr: stop fucking treating diabled people like invalids for fucks sake

(edit: ive been informed that caboose suffers from an abi (aquired brain injury), not a tbi (traumatic brain injury).)

[theoffgridcabin]

Rugged, rustic, and… road legal?!

The meticulous attention to design that went into this mobile…. cabin… is flawless. There’s more to living off grid than four walls and a roof. 🏡🚌🚐🚚 We’ve got em all!

[anneapocalypse]

🎇20 Questions for Fic Writers🎇

Tagged by @dreadfutures 💙 Thank you!

Tagging @chocochipbiscuit @farfromdaylight @rakshadow @skyeventide

Blank questions for your convenience! My answers are below the cut.

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

2. what’s your total ao3 word count?

3. what fandoms do you write for?

4. what are your top five fics by kudos?

5. do you respond to comments?

6. what’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

7. what’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

8. do you get hate on fics?

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind?

10. do you write crossovers? what’s the craziest one you’ve written?

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

13. have you ever co-written a fic before?

14. what’s your all-time favorite ship?

15. what’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? T

16. what are your writing strengths?

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

19. first fandom you wrote for?

20. favorite fic you’ve ever written?

Answers!

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

If I count everything, 181. If we're not counting meta pieces, 163.

2. what’s your total ao3 word count?

802,674

3. what fandoms do you write for?

I've written for quite a few, but my big ones have been Fallout, Red vs. Blue, and Dragon Age. I've also written for The Penumbra Podcast, RWBY, Mass Effect, Person of Interest, and The 13 Clocks. (And now I'm also writing for Final Fantasy XIV, though I haven't posted anything yet and probably won't until after I'm caught up with MSQ.)

4. what are your top five fics by kudos?

Homecoming (Red vs. Blue, Tucker & Junior, rated T)

Juno Steel & the Fox's Teeth (Penumbra Podcast, Juno/Peter, rated E)

Sensibility (Penumbra Podcast, Juno/Peter, rated E)

Respite (Red vs. Blue, North/Wash/York, rated T)

Home Front (Fallout 3, Amata/F!LW, rated T)

I was genuinely surprised and charmed at how well-received "Homecoming" was (and continues to be), as I considered it fairly niche at the time of writing, but then, Tucker is a popular character. The response to my Penumbra fics certainly caught me by surprise, in the manor of, "OH, this is what it's like to write the popular pairing!" "Respite" was one of my very early RvB fics and it's not one I'm particularly happy with now, as I think I would have done certain things differently had I written it later, but nonetheless it was well-received; not a lot of people were actually writing North/Wash/York at the time. "Home Front" is one of my favorite Fallout fics I've written; I'm still proud of it.

5. do you respond to comments?

Yes, I try to! Sometimes I take a bit longer these days, but I do try to reply to every comment, barring the odd rude one which I'll just delete or ignore.

6. what’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

It's maybe cheating to say The Fall, given that it's the second in a trilogy so the story isn't actually over at the end of that fic. But that fic is a downer the whole way and ends with the main character's probable death, so. It's pretty angsty. After that, I'd say "Please (Don't Leave Me)", an RvB South/CT fic where CT doesn't live and South is dealing with the aftermath, poorly.

7. what’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I'd say I've written quite a few--I'm a big fan of the hard-won happy ending. I'm going to distinguish happy from fluffy here--I could pick any number of my one-shorts for fluffiest ending--and say The Landing, because relative to what comes before, and also canon, it's an incredibly happy and optimistic ending for Maine.

8. do you get hate on fics?

Rarely. The vast majority of my readers are perfectly sweet and kind. For some reason, my Mainelina fic has drawn the most bad commenters out of any. I wouldn't call those comments hate, but I have gotten a few that were pretty rude and/or backhanded. My guess is that I hit a particular unfulfilled niche with a long Maine-POV fic that happened to appeal to a particular kind of RvB fan, a kind who like Maine and like the fic but also felt the need to like, flex on me about it. Most of them have seemed not overly familiar with fandom etiquette and transformative fandom culture in general. Embarrassing for them tbh. I just ignore or delete them.

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind?

Whatever kind I feel like! Less in recent years perhaps, but that's less a lack of interest and more that I get bored easily if I feel like I'm writing something repetitive, and writing non-repetitive smut can be genuinely challenging! We only have so many words, descriptors, euphemisms, and slang terms that actually sound appealing when you're trying to write erotica, so I think writing good smut requires no small amount of creativity and resourcefulness, and I always admire those who do it well.

Bondage is a theme I've explored repeatedly. I would say that I enjoy writing established relationship smut the most because it can be assumed that the characters already know each other's likes and dislikes. But first-times can be fun too. I think I most enjoy writing smut between characters who trust each other and have a high level of emotional intimacy, whatever the specific activities involved might be.

10. do you write crossovers? what’s the craziest one you’ve written?

To be honest I'm just not really a crossover person. I can find the idea of a crossover interesting, but at the end of the day I just don't enjoy transplanting characters out of their home setting as much as I enjoy exploring who they are within that setting and how it's shaped them.

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yes. I had a kink meme fill straight up plagiarized once, very obviously, such that when I took it to the mods it was an open and shut takedown.

I've also had less cut and dry incidents, and those are much harder to know how to deal with. I have had people basically rewrite a scene that I wrote, using pieces of the same dialogue, almost as if they thought we were both interpreting a scene from canon when we were not, it was something that I had made up. And yet it's not really plagiarism strictly speaking, and it wasn't worth the social fallout of calling them out on it, so I never did more than grumble vaguely about what happened. I've also had things where like... I ran across something pretty distinctly inspired by a fic of mine that I know the author had read, without bothering to give me a shoutout. That's not theft, but it is a bummer.

In every such case if the author had just asked me, "Hey, can I borrow your idea here? Can I post a remix of your fic?" I probably would have said yes without hesitation. Hell, even if they had not asked and simply given me a shoutout in their author's notes, I would have been pleased to have inspired them. But they didn't do that, and there's nothing I can do about it but I am going to be cranky about it.

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

I did have someone ask about translating a fic of mine once, and I gave permission, but I never heard back after that, so I don't know if they ever did. (This is something I have blanket permission for, by the way, so long as you let me know about it!)

13. have you ever co-written a fic before?

Sort of? A friend and I did post a polished-up RP as a fic once, though we ended up not keeping it up. In general I think I'm a pretty solitary writer, though I wouldn't rule it out entirely, but I'd have to really feel that both my style and my writing process meshed well with my collaborator.

14. what’s your all-time favorite ship?

I'm too much of a multi-shipper to have a real answer to this.

15. what’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

If I want on any level to finish it, then I consider it still on the table. It might take me years to get back to it, but I still mean to. I still want to finish Small Blessings. I still want to finish Radio Silence. I trust that their time will come, even if it's not now.

16. what are your writing strengths?

Character voice, I think. Both dialogue, and getting inside a character's head and writing a plausible inner monologue.

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

Combat, always combat and action scenes, though I do think I'm getting better with practice.

Selfishness. As soon as I need to write something as an obligation to someone else, I don't want to do it, which is why I'd make a terrible professional writer, at least one who has to write to order.

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Just write it. You don't have to italicize it or put some kind of indicator marks around it. Language is language. I think it's fine to post translations as a footnote but I don't think it's 100% necessary all the time, when it's something the reader can easily look up for themselves. I know I'm willing to do that kind of legwork for a fic I'm enjoying. I suppose it depends on the reader, and what kind of reader you want.

There are also times when it's perfectly fine to just write it in English (or the default language of the piece) while indicating in the narrative that the character is actually speaking in another language, such as ASL. Again I don't think you need to italicize or use some kind of weird formatting. Just write "He signed," and what he said in quotes like you would any other dialogue. If you've firmly established already that a character primarily speaks in ASL, you might not even need that. The reader can keep up.

Things do shift a bit when you're writing in a fictional language, especially one that's very incomplete and not a true conlang. I'll go with the obvious example of Dragon Age's Elvish (and yes, canonically the language is called Elvish or Elven, it's not called Elvhen, that's the people, not the language). Even if I string the appropriate words together, the meaning might not always be strictly clear to the reader out of context because Elvish is a pretty simple cipher. It doesn't have conjugation, for example. Nonetheless, I think often context clues can be enough for an engaged reader, especially if it's a word we encounter a lot in canon. Where it might not be clear, and if it's very important to the story, I will usually simply work some kind of translation into the narrative itself. This can work particularly well when your POV character also has it as a second language. Example from my Briala/f!Tabris draft:

Gheyna and Cammen, having finished tending to the halla, stood aside, hand in hand, and Gheyna waved. "Dareth shiral, Keeper. Talith, Briala, dareth shiral. Sylaise ma ghilana vhenas." Cammen added solemnly, "Dareth shiral, Talith. Elgar'nan ma ghilana, lasa mala enasalin." At that, Talith's expression grew solemn as well. "Ma serannas, lethallen. Dareth shiral." Briala recognized a few words. Dareth shiral, "Safe journey." Vhenas, enasalin. And the names of the elven gods. Gheyna had bid the Hearthkeeper guide them safely home.

I personally prefer to stick to what we have in canon for Elvish (I'm not going to set myself up to be jossed if I don't have to), or if I ever really need an unknown word I'll make something up for myself. While there are some fanmade Elvish dictionaries out there, I'm not comfortable hanging too much of my own work on someone else's fanon, and also I inevitably disagree with some of their decisions on ambiguous canon words. (Ma does not mean "my," it means "you." This is consistent with every canon use of "ma" except one, and that one is in DA2 and is thus really, really likely to have been an oversight due to rushed development; every other instance of "ma" supports it meaning "you." Sorry, that has been eating at me for ages and I needed to get it off my chest. 😅) That said there are multiple fanmade Elvish dictionaries out there at this point, so if you're going to use someone else's, in this case I would strongly recommend supplying the reader with a link, both to credit the author and so the reader knows where to go to look up the words if they choose to. Don't assume that everyone knows you're using so-and-so's Elvish dictionary; I had never even heard of the big popular one until a couple years ago.

That was a lot, but at the end of the day, it's all about making a judgment call on how much you need to hold the reader's hand, as with anything; I personally tend to err on the side of trusting my reader, and if I assumed too much, well, maybe that's my mistake and maybe that reader wasn't my target audience anyway. 🤷🏻‍♀️ You'll figure out what's right for your work.

19. first fandom you wrote for?

The first fandom I wrote for was actually Dragon Age, but that early writing never saw the light of day. First fandom I posted fic for was Fallout.

20. favorite fic you’ve ever written?

OH MAN. That's hard! I referenced The Drop, my Mainelina trilogy for RvB, multiple times in this post so obviously I'm still pretty fond of it. I'll add to that Inroads, my Kimbalina series. For Fallout, I'm real happy with Home Front (Amata/F!LW) and Cast Your Bread Upon the Water (Dr. Li/Star Paladin Cross, past Dr. Li/Catherine/James). And for Dragon Age, my current faves are No Woman Rules Alone (Anora/F!Tabris) and A Pot to Piss In (Sera backstory fic).

[lordsireno]

VsDestiny - RvB/Destiny AU info dump

Okay so yonks ago I said I'd info dump on the VsDestiny (RvB/Destiny AU) - Well better late than never- I've dug up the old doc :'D @randomfandoms153 this is basically for you because your tags reignighted my heart <3

The setting is basically RvB shenanigans in the Destiny world. The Red Clan and the Blue Clan live on the outskirts of the last city, since the Vanguard considers them too destructive to have in the tower (They can come in for bounties and the postmaster). They spend their days shooting each other in crucible or lazing about- until these 'Freelancers' bring along a bunch of drama. Project Freelancer is what emerged from the ashes of a failed offshoot of the Clovis Bray company, where the Director attempted to artificially make Guardians.

More details under the cut! Oh and other art can be found under #VsDestiny .

Reds:

Sarge (Titan class) is the foremost expert on Exos, being one of the top engineers from the Clovis offshoot in his previous life. He was brought on as a soldier but found to have great skill with robotics. These days his work is primarily subconscious, where he glazes over when in repair mode. Standard robots like frames are his passion to work on, and his favourite creation is Lopez, who he built from scraps. He’s always looking for bigger and better firearms to add onto his eventual robot army! His ghost is called 'Shotgun'.

Simmons (Warlock class) is an experimental Exo type made by the offshoot, and its partly why he’s so drawn to Sarge. He appears human until his first death on the fireteam, where the fake skin on his left cheek does not regenerate. The sight of exposed metal begins to cause mental degradation (DER), but it’s thankfully stopped by Grif and the antics of the other Reds. His Ghost is called 'Ghost'

Grif (Hunter Class) has the highest death count, solely thanks to Sarge. He uses invisibility to get out of chores, and has tired to use Blade Barrage to light an oven. His Ghost is called 'Oreo'

Donut (Warlock Class) enjoys creating a fashion and loadout for every occasion, and has a scary amount of grenade stacks. His Ghost is called 'Little O'

Lopez (Wears Sarge's titan armor) - While technically only classed as a frame, he is intelligent and made with Exo parts.

Blue Clan:

Church (Hunter Class) awoke outside the city one day, and regretfully attracted other rouge guardians. He is an experimental Exo type and looked human up until his 'death', where upon he spoke through his Ghost Alpha (because it houses his true core) until Sarge fixed him.

Tucker (Hunter Class) While out patrolling, Tucker stumbled upon a young Eliksni. Unable to bring himself to kill it, and not willing to leave it alone in the elements (No other Fallen had been sighted in the area for months) he brings it back to Blue Base. Church complains about the alien smell, but after dealing with Caboose’s own attachment to alien things, didn’t fight about keeping it. It is dubbed Junior. His Ghost is 'Crunchbite'

Caboose (Titan Class) Has a strong connection to alien tech. No one knows how Caboose managed to sweet talk a Fallen Walker into coming home and joining the fireteam. Caboose claims he and Sheila have a special connection. He has the highest Guardian kill count, mostly thanks to Church. His Ghost is called 'Freckles'

Texas (Titan Class) is as terrifying a fighter and an enigma of a person as always. Likes to challenge people to 1v1 matches.

Freelancer:

The Director picked up the remains of the Clovis offshoot and merged it with his own plan to make artificial guardians for the universal defence force. His first creation was Alpha, an experimental exo with a copy of his personality. The ghost ‘alpha’ is actually just the personality core. 

His experiment forces Freelancers to bond to Fragments of the original Alpha, killing them, which links them to ‘the light’ and allows them to revive. However, the actual process isn’t as perfect as assumed. 

The Fragments are weaker than standard Ghosts and must remain out during the full revival. They can be destroyed by ordinary weapons, and unless requested, won’t heal injuries over time. 

When a Fragment revives its Freelancer, it temporally overrides their consciousness to allow the body to be moved from further harm, and to piece back together their mind. The more adjusted the Fragment, the faster this occurs and lets the Freelancer to resume control. Similarly, the less adjusted Fragments are prone to remaining in control even after recovery. As well, the more times the Freelancer dies, the more time it takes to revive them, as their minds begin to dissipate and have to be wholly supported by the Fragments to continue to live. 

York, North and Wyoming all seem fine, but when it comes to Maine the issue becomes apparent as Sigma puppets him much longer. When Carolina requests two, they fight over her revival. 

Washington was the last Guardian made in the program, before its complete collapse. His Deaths are: Original bonding, the MoI crash, Recovery One, and saving Tucker. His Fragment is Epsilon, and after the MoI crash, he refuses to accept its existence. He doesn’t summon it, using old school tech like flashlights and radios, and will always physically get in and out of his ship. If asked Wash only offers the explanation that he isn’t on good terms with his ghost. 

After his third death at the hands of South, he remains as Epsilon for two days. 

When he saves Tucker, the Blues learn of how Epsilon puppets Washington after death. Tucker is creeped out by how only Epsilon speaks, and how like Church it is. Caboose believes that Church is trying to communicate with him and tells Epsilon their early adventures. 

And thiiiis was as far as I got apparently! Feel free to expand/alter if anything takes your interest!

[whatthefuckisasweep]

i love personifying my fandoms as exes like

rvb to me is my lovely housewife who loves me no matter what. shes really good at making me laugh and i can always come home to her. she doesn't judge me and i could go years without seeing her but we always hit it off and we're no less worse for wear.

janda is like that realllllly pretty girl that you're supposed to stay away from but shes just like. really really really cool and how could you say no? she's always coaxing you to do stuff and making u forget where and who you are . and shes also got a screw loose but that makes it a little more fun so you keep seeing her

IT was like an ambigious friends to lovers situation but we never defined it and now we realized we're better off as friends. shes really sweet though and i still go to her for advice on emotional issues.

assassins creed was like. she was THERE for me she was a rebound to be sure but she was HOT and she took all my attention, and we parted ways when it was needed with no strings attached.

homestuck broke up with me because she felt it lose its spark and knew it was going to be unhealthy but i wasn't ready yet. but now i think my old self was a little cringe for holding on.

[rubykgrant]

RVB Secret Santa time! This is a gift for @robopastry ; a story featuring Donut and Wash, having a nice time on a winter drive, with a surprising destination. I hope you like it~ (I had fun making this something that was both out of the ordinary and yet comfortable/mundane, with a fun balance between Donut being a sweet-heart and also playfully mean, because he’s just like that. No angst though, this is a nice and pleasant story~)

“Wash, it’ll be fine, I promise! Everybody else has had a turn- taking a ride with me. In a vehicle. That I am driving,” Donut carefully phrased that so it only had ONE meaning, nothing to be misunderstood. “And there’s never been a problem. I’m a very safe driver!”

“Mmm…”

Wash had agreed to take a drive with Donut, but made it no secret that he had some reservations. However, Donut worked a miracle and convinced Wash to come along with him today. He really, really, REALLY wanted to show Wash something; it was too far away to just walk, and absolutely worth the trip. As Donut packed some snacks, Grif predictably materialized nearby. Also predictably, Simmons was by Grif’s side.

“So, where are you off to… with tuna and dill pickle sandwiches, cinnamon oatmeal raisin cookies, peanutbutter celery sticks, slices of salami and swiss cheese, a thermos of potato soup, and a thermos of hot chocolate?” Grif asked. He hadn’t even LOOKED at the food, he just KNEW.

“Well, I’m going to this neat new club. It’s called Nunya,” Donut answered cheerfully.

“What’s Nun-” Simmons began, before Grif nudged him with an elbow.

“Nice try Donut, I have a little sister, I know what that means!”

“Oh, fine. I’m going for a drive outside the city, and Wash is coming. I want us to have a nice time, so I’m bringing lunch!” Donut explained.

“What’s outside the city?” Simmons asked (internally processing that Grif had in fact saved him from hearing “Nunya Business” as an answer earlier).

“A surprise~” Donut told him with a wink, putting the food inside the backseat of the car (cold stuff in a small cooler, warm thermoses in a cozy carrier). “We’ll tell you all about it when we get back… maybe I’ll even bring home some HEADLIGHT FLUID and ELBOW GREASE for you two!”

“Ha-ha, you’re hilarious Donut,” Simmons’ voice dripped with sarcasm. “How about we dig up an old Blue Team Flag for you and Wash. You can use it like a picnic blanket!”

“Would you? Simmons, you’re such a DEAR,” Donut returned the sarcasm, which was followed by Simmons attempting to flick him on the forehead, so Donut started smacking the hand away.

“Well, if this surprise is so special, maybe we can just tag along and-” before Grif could continue, he was cut-off by a voice from behind.

“No way. I am NOT getting in a car with more than one Red Team member at a time,” Wash said, walking up to the passenger door.

“What? Why?” Simmons and Grif spoke together.

“Because! You all make each other crazy, and it makes ME crazy!” Wash gave them a glare, and rather than shrink away, Grif and Simmons just smirked (because they knew it was absolutely true).

Wash got in and shut his door to the sound of Grif and Simmons dissolving into laughter. Donut shook his head, an amused smile on his face, and went toward the driver’s side. Before he got in, he glanced up and saw Doc leaning over the little railing that led from the garage up to the apartment stairs. He smiled as well, giving Donut a small nod and a wave; unlike the others, Doc had an inkling of what Donut wanted to show Wash. Donut nodded back, then got in the car, buckled up, and turned the key. It was time to hit the road.

Wash sat in his seat looking as sullen as possible … but as Donut drove through the city, Wash began to relax. For the last few weeks, it had gotten colder and colder, then clouds gathered in the sky, blocking out the sun. Finally, it snowed. Big, fluffy flakes that blanketed everything. The day before, the clouds let the sun come back, and the roads were quickly cleared away. About a foot of snow still covered the yards and parks of the city, and more in the hills beyond.

That was where they were going now. The hills to the north-west of the city, where the forest began. A few days before the first frost hit, Donut had been driving out there with Doc, the two of them tracking down a small road-side shop that sold fruit preserves (intending to get some jars of spiced peaches and apples). As they passed various cedar and oak trees, Donut had noticed something else out there… and he was sure that it was still waiting for him and Wash today.

They left behind the tall buildings and neighborhoods. The road began to curve more with the flow of the land. Donut slowed down when they got to the first big hill.

“Hey, roll down your window,” he said to Wash, who did just that. The air that rushed in was cool, but also surprisingly FRAGRANT. It was something… floral, most definitely, and very strong. Wash felt like he should KNOW this scent, but it wasn’t coming to him.

“Oh WOW…” Wash breathed in deeply through his nose, savoring whatever this smell was. It seemed to be at odds with the Winter scene, something that belonged in Spring or Summer. “What is it?” Wash asked. He could almost taste this… in fact, he thought he must have tasted this before, something very sweet…

“You’ll see in a minute. I’m taking us up over there, by those rocks!” Donut nodded up ahead and to the right. Wash looked, and could see an old broken-down wooden fence from some long-ago horse corral, and several rocks clustered nearby. They looked like they had been warmed and dried by the sun, which was still shining overhead, making the white snow even BRIGHTER.

Donut pulled over, and the two men got out of the car. They walked past the rocks, the lonely fence posts, and finally stood before the trees. Wash saw the source of the smell; growing up the tree trunks and twisting through the branches were a multitude of vines, wrapping around each other in knots, with oval-shaped green leaves, and thousands of white/pale-yellow blossoms.

“Honeysuckle~” Donut said, moving his hands in a grand ta-da gesture, beaming proudly. “I saw it starting to bloom a while ago, and I figured it must be in full-swing by now. And I was right!”

Honeysuckle was indeed a spring and summer flower… but it also just did whatever it felt like. Honeysuckle didn’t always go dormant like other flowers. It could bloom in the fall, or even the middle of winter, like right now.

For the next 4 hours, Wash and Donut walked through the woods, picking a few honeysuckle blossoms to taste the nectar, admired the scenery of the trees, and rolled a GIANT snowball. They didn’t want to make an actual snowman; just begin with a small clump of snow, push it around, making it bigger, and bigger, and BIGGER, until it was taller than both of them stacked up on each other’s shoulders. They only stopped when it was officially a snow-boulder and too large to move. After that, they ate the snacks while sitting on the warm rocks, took one more trip to pick an armful of flowers each, then packed everything up and returned to the car. It wasn’t until they were half-way home, the memory finally came…

“I told you about the creek I went to when I was little. The one at my grandpa’s house, where all the honeysuckle grew,” Wash said quietly, turning toward Donut in his seat.

“Yeah. And I told you-”

“You told me about how there was a tree at your school, when you were in kindergarten. The tree was dead, but a whole bush of honeysuckle had grown over it,” Wash continued, not only remembering being at the creek so long ago, but having the conversation with Donut more recently.

“Mmm-hmm. And neither of us has even seen any honeysuckle since then,” Donut finished. He didn’t elaborate further, no explanation about why this was important, or what it meant for either of them. He just let it be what it was.

When they got back, there wasn’t a long exchange of gratitude… but before they went up to the apartment, Wash reached one hand out, touching Donut’s arm. Donut paused, and smiled as Wash very slowly (to avoid any painful head-bonks) leaned forward just a bit, and gently touched his forehead to Donut’s. That was all, a brief yet cozy sign of affection that was much appreciated.

Inside, Wash explained about the honeysuckle to the others. Doc helped him find some water pitchers to use as vases. Donut, on the other hand, snuck behind the group as they looked at the flowers, the cooler he had used for the snacks in his hand, now empty… except for the snow he had gathered up before leaving the hills. Donut shoved two fistfuls of snow down the backs of Grif and Simmons’ shirts. When they shrieked in alarm, turning to see what HORRIBLE and EVIL creature had just attacked them, Donut flung snow in their faces, the gleam in his eyes positively wicked. The next few moments were filled with angry cries from Grif and Simmons, threats from Donut (who was perfectly capable of nailing them snowballs from a long distance), laughter from O’Malley who encouraged Donut to keep escalating, Sarge trying to turn this into a fight against the Blues, and a few voices of reason suggesting the whole thing move outside so the snow wouldn’t make a mess. Wash just rolled his eyes, helping himself to more drops of nectar from the honeysuckle.

[high-voltage-rat]

Welp, with the encouragement of my dear sweet enablers, I've done it. I posted what I had sitting in my docs of the RvB university AU onto AO3.

The basic gist: Blood Gulch Hall is a student residence of the local university. It has a red hall of students, a blue hall of students, and a purple hall meant for the Residence Assistants. Sarge, of course, is one RA- convinced the two halls of students are separate and rivals- and so he's moved himself in amongst the students there. Flowers was the other RA until he suddenly died, leaving the blue hall with no real oversight.

After a prank gone wrong, the university decides a new RA needs to be assigned. Wash, a student who's distinguished himself to the school through the Project Freelancer student research placements, is given the job- much to his relief, as it's a sweet deal that saves him from his crushing student debt. Naturally, the local residents do not take kindly to his attempts at enforcing rules, and tomfoolery ensues.

Church is a history major finishing his final year of undergrad. As the member of Blood Gulch Hall that's been there the longest, he's especially tired of everyone's shit, but knows exactly how everyone seems to operate. He's also the son of the Director of the university, and has one of the biggest grudges against him and the school. In general, he's jaded and cynical, but likes fucking with the other residents and shooting the shit with Tucker.

Tucker is a political science major- after going on a student exchange program in high school with the intent of just getting away for a while so he could slack off and "pick up chicks who think foreigners are hot", he ended up accidentally adopting a role as an unofficial ambassador of his home country-and decided to try and pursue it as a career. He also minors in human sexuality- which he thought was going to teach him about how to be a sex god, but actually ended up making him re-evaluate himself and realize his constant talking about chicks was covering up his insecurity about his bisexuality.

Caboose is a mechanical engineering student in his third year. Though no one knows it, he's actually only been at the school for two years- he overloaded courses and passed them with surprisingly strong grades. He doesn't spell very well, which is mostly me leaning into the classic "engineers can't spell" joke, but he's extremely gifted in math and robotics, thinking in numbers and spacial reasoning- baffling his professors and classmates alike. Caboose is accustomed to a large family, which naturally comes with a lot of bickering. He views the group at Blood Gulch Hall like a surrogate family that way- and is happy to just smile and nod when they argue amongst themselves, more concerned with his latest robotics projects.

Kai is a business major- she's been running side hustles most of her life, it seemed natural for her to take it to the next level using the savings she'd made. She knows people don't typically view her as smart, that they look at her as a bimbo- and doesn't care. She sometimes even leans into the role if it means she can turn people underestimating her to her advantage. She throws awesome parties, knows all the cool people on campus, and has all the best self-care tips and tricks. She also delights in embarrassing her older brother at every opportunity.

Grif is a chemical engineering student- at the time, it seemed like a good idea. He had a dream, you see, to develop a banana flavouring that actually tasted like bananas, a grape flavouring that actually tasted like grapes. By the time he realized it would be a lot more complicated than that, it was too late- he was committed. He now spends his time suffering through and scraping by in all the core engineering classes, learning about motors and thermodynamics and waiting for the light in the tunnel. He passes his free time by developing a tier list of all the pizza joints across campus, and perfecting his own brownie recipe (with and without weed).

Simmons is an electrical and computer engineering student. He was always a nerd, but until he gained a bionic arm, he'd been leaning more towards the theoretical side of the sciences. After that, though, he was constantly studying in his own time, learning how to tinker with it and improve its performance- which naturally brought him to engineering. He's the kind of keener who does all the readings well in advance, visits every office hour even when he doesn't need help just in case there's interesting discussion, and stays after class to chat with professors. He pretends to be tired of Grif leaning on his to study for the things he doesn't find interesting, but he secretly enjoys being the smart one who can lecture his friend on a topic.

Donut is a vet sciences student- he grew up on a farm, surrounded by and caring for a myriad of animals, and kept the passion for it throughout his whole life. He plans on specializing in bovine and equine medicine, which means he doesn't get grossed out by much anymore. It throws people off when he cheerfully discusses sticking his arm inside a cow's ass- but he's so desensitized he doesn't even consider it, much to the dismay of Grif and Simmons. He and Kai are the residence's biggest supporters of self-care regimens, regularly getting together to discuss skin care while they give each other manipedis. He also enjoys wearing novelty themed earrings... when there isn't a concern of a patient biting them.

Sarge is the RA for the red team... and while very few people know it, that's actually the umbrella term over his true role as Faculty in Residence. He's a member of the engineering faculty, specializing in combustion modelling. After developing the Stagnation And Radiation Generalizing Equations method of computation and modelling (SARGE method for short), he was granted tenure and celebrated as a pioneer in his field. However, over time, he was left in the dust as the field was largely dropped in favour of more environmentally friendly things like electric vehicles. Very few people remember his contributions to the field now, and he's never really asked to teach classes, so he was appointed RA so the pay wasn't going to waste... and he's thrown himself quite cheerfully and passionately into his work.

Wash is a walking disaster- and by that, I mean he's in his third year, has no declared major, and is still trying to figure out what he wants to do with himself. Formerly part of the university's Project Freelancer, a research placement that recruits undergrads into a high-pressure work environment for very little pay, he's found himself burnt-out and exhausted. Being given a work-study position as the peer mentor RA of Blood Gulch Hall is a relief- it doesn't pay, but it's free housing and a waived tuition fee for the year that gives him time to figure his shit out. Unfortunately, his reliance on the job ends up becoming another source of stress... and it's a while before he learns the motions of living and working with his fellow residents.

...Obviously there's way more to it, more characters, more lore tidbits that I've yet to sprinkle in, et cetera. But this post is already long enough, so if there's interest, I'll probably post that another time.

[mindfogger]

mind's 2022 reading round up recs... pt. 2

featuring lots of fandom hopping and lots of reading... find pt.1 here

July: 742,627 words read, 50 hours

Most Memorable Read: a sequence that you never learned by annataylor

Star Trek: AOS, Kirk/Spock, Fake Marriage & Kid AU

Normally I don't like kidfic but I'm a sucker for fake marriage aus and goddamn did this one deliver. The pining...wowwwwww, and the world building just hit right.

Honorable Mentions: time to come home, little one (Dark SBI, Runaway Tommy, Dark Fluffy) by inspire4044 Epiphany (The West Wing, Hurt/Comfort, Missing Scene - warning for reference to suicide) by Speranza

August: 1,221,073 words read, 81 hours

Most Memorable Read: moonflower by Magnolia35

The Sandman, Dreamling...

How careful Hob is in this, the hurt/comfort?? The non-sexual intimacy??? it's all just so *chef's kiss*

Honorable Mentions: The Raven and The Hawk (Avengers, Clint/Coulson, God/Reincarnation AU) by sunryder Mercy Is Not Mine To Give (SBI, Morally Dark, Murder/Serial Killers) by Dragonire

September: 977,656 words read, 65 hours

Most Memorable Read: Fragments by sparxwrites

Red vs. Blue, Tucker/Washington

Soulmates... need I say more? I'm a sucker for soulmate aus and adding in the hurt/comfort & angst inherent in rvb... this was a re-read but it hits just as good as the first time.

Honorable Mentions: Accidental Heroism (The Batman, Bruce-centric, Humor) by nighhtwing Afterimage (Sandman, Dreamling, Hurt/Comfort & Recovery) by ScribeofArda

October: 980,618 words read, 65 hours

Most Memorable Read: Bottom of the Ninth by Waldo

NCIS Dinozzo/Gibbs... NCIS is a comfort show for me in many ways since I watch it with my dad so I was watching a few episodes while in Korea.

Featuring some really great not-ooc Anthony and Jethro characterization and a really sweet Jethro-pov exploration of their early relationship.

Honorable Mentions: Things Fall Apart (Valerian 2017, Laureline/Valerian, Hurt/Comfort & Protectiveness) by sospes Damsel (Valerian 2017, Laureline/Valerian, Kidnapping) by sospes

November: 1,116,006 words read, 74 hours

Most Memorable Read: A Cup of Sugar (What Neighbors Are For) by odymcbea

Emerald Duo are veterans who are neighbors to Crimeboys...

God, wow it's all about love, isn't it? I love how carefully their familial relationships are handled and the humanity in this story really gets to me.

Honorable Mentions: Be Gay, Do Crimes, Turn in Your Homework (The Old Guard, Booker/Nile, Pining & College AU) by xiaq and i'm nothing (SBI, Werewolf & Hanahaki Disease) by Radio Silencer

December: 1,345,543 words read, 90 hours

×× note: this month I only read The King: Eternal Monarch fic. Only.

Most Memorable Read: Fire on Fire (Would Normally Kill Us) by www_gov_uk

The King: Eternal Monarch, Jo Yeong/Lee Gon in a universe where they never met before/didn't grow up together. I'm also already loving the series' continuation.

The realism, the world building, the characters, I cannot rave about this enough. Yeong's relationship to his family and his developing relationship with Gon just. Wow. Also these dumbasses need to communicate more <3

Honorable Mentions: which will bloom most constantly? (K:EM, OT3 - Yeong/Gon/Tae-eul, Developing Polyam) by itspointydumbass the stars are filming us for no one (K:EM, Yeong/Sinjae & Others, Hurt/Comfort, AMAZING Characterization) by drivingsideways & rainhat

Year Totals: 15,147,132 words read, 1010 hours

...Totalling 781 fics read, about 65 works a month, 138 pages a day 95 fics over 40,000 words (about the length of a short novel) ... 25 fics over 100,000 words

About 11.53% of my year was spent reading

I had difficulties deciding how to count WIPs that were updating throughout the year but eventually I managed to keep track of the difference in word count between the last time i read it and the new word count. Not sure if I'll keep it like that next year. I ended up reading 71% completed works, partially because it was such a pain to calculate and keep up with WIPs in this system, partially because it's a habit for me to filter them out automatically.

I was all over the place in terms of fandom in the second half of the year but Jan-June I read mostly MCYT/SBI fics. From July-Dec, only September had MCYT as its top fandom.

I tagged everything as one of four genres: Fluff, Angst, Smut, Dark. I read 280 Angst - 35% of fics, 202 Fluff, 128 Smut, and 170 Dark fics.

In terms of the tags I read, I manually tagged all my fics when I entered them and my most-read tag was Hurt/Comfort. Second most-read tag was Found Family. Following that was some smut tags I had... may be a data error because if there was smut I made sure to tag it right but I didn't tag small instances of other things in that ff.

Also, I only added some tags later on, like Slow Burn & PWP, so they don't appear at all in earlier entries. For 2023, I've kept a lot of these tags and added more, especially to cover the romance front since I wasn't reading much rom in the beginning of 2022.

I really liked this project, it encouraged me to finish the fics that I read. It also made me read & ao3 bookmark more mindfully, I think. I'm really interested to see the difference from this year to next year.

[specialofficerlemons]

RVB and The Mountain Goats: Beat The Champ

I’m posting this again because the first time I posted it I included a link to the album and tumblr didn’t like that. I will post that link in a reblog

I have been keeping lots of notes as I listen to The Mountain Goats about what RVB characters or themes they make me think of and I wanted to make a big post about it. I decided to break it down into one post per album instead of one giant post of all of them (three albums so far) because it was getting really overwhelming. I will not be covering every Mountain Goats album.

The rest of this post will be under the break because I’m sure it will get long

(Also this isn’t edited. I just really, really wanted to get this out because it’s been cooking for a while)

• Southwestern Territory: Tucker and his growth- as a man, as a soldier, as a leader, as a father. He starts his military career as kind of a loser who just goofs off all day and avoids work. He gets saddled with a son who was meant to be used as a puppet to manipulate the other side of the war. Despite being impregnated with Junior against his will, he loves him dearly and will do anything to protect him and wants to be the best father he can. He becomes not only his guardian, but an ambassador to his species to help broker peace between them. He ends up separated from him when he’s called to action with his old comrades again. He is forced to grow up in a very brutal way on Chorus and is worried that he will never see him again. -“I try to remember to write in the diary that my son gave me.”

• The Legend of Chavo Guerrero: This one was a bit trickier for me and I decided to go with Simmons. We know that Simmons had a very fraught relationship with his father who wanted him to be athletic when that’s not the kind of guy that Simmons is. Popular fancanon (including me) is that Simmons is a trans man. Simmons’ father forced him to join the girls’ volleyball team when he wanted to be a mathlete. Looking up to a man who played a traditional face, especially a luchador, a hero who was “the defender of the downtrodden.” It’s easy to see a young Simmons who is not supported in his home, sneaking out of his room in the middle of the night to see this man he could look up to, who would not let him down when his father did. -“I need justice in my life, here it comes.” • Foreign Object: Wash post Epsilon implantation. Epsilon’s implantation in his brain and subsequent suicide exposed the horrors of Project Freelancer. He had to pretend he didn’t know in order to achieve his goal. He had to fulfill his role as Recovery One. He had to report to the corpses of his dead friends and blow them up in order to protect the assets of the organization he planned to dismantle. He conspired with South in order to let her live, not knowing that she was also a Recovery agent and when he encountered her a second time he wasn’t going to make that mistake again. He has a mission to achieve and he’s not going to let her get in his way. -“One of these days my legs will both snap like twigs. If you can’t beat ‘em make 'em bleed like pigs.” • Animal Mask: North and South from North’s Perspective. North has a deep desire to be South’s protector, for her to rely on him. It’s entirely plausible that earlier in their life that he did fulfill that kind of role for her. But now as an adult and as an agent on Alpha Squad of Project Freelancer, she can handle herself and needs her own space in order to achieve her goals. He is not willing to let her go and be her own person. He wants to continue to be “The Twins,” to be the big brother. In his desperate need to be useful to her, to be needed by her he actually gets in her way and puts her in danger. -“Some things you will remember, some things stay sweet forever.” • Choked Out: Carolina’s rivalry with Tex. Carolina keeps pushing herself further and further in order to beat Tex. She doesn’t know that she is literally incapable of beating her in the very real way that she will never be able to live up to her father’s expectations of her set by her mother. She is willing to put herself and her comrades in considerable harm in her myopic desire just to beat her, the one woman who has ever offered her real competition, the one woman who has always been her competition. -“Most of the boys won’t ever cross this line. If they all want to die dead broke that’s fine, that’s fine. Everybody’s got their limits- nobody’s found mine.”

• Heel Turn 2: Wash’s villain arc. Wash did the right thing. He watched his friends all die or disappear. He was implanted with an AI fragment that violently committed suicide in his brain, exposing the tortures that its progenitor was put through, causing him to experience them. He had to play it cool during his Recovery One era in order to get the access he needed to the Alpha. He almost didn’t succeed in his mission, after all of that. But he did. And what did he get for that? Prison. He was punished by another slimy entity that wanted access to the same experimental tech that had ruined his and his friends’ lives. If he wanted his freedom and he wanted to really wipe Project Freelancer out, he would have to turn on the men who helped him achieve what he had already accomplished. And he wasn’t going to ask. -“You found my breaking point. Congratulations.”

• Fire Editorial: CT’s perspective of PFL. By the time the others are having doubts about whether they are the good guys or not, CT has already become a double agent. She knows she cannot trust The Director or The Counselor and she hates that she cannot trust her teammates. She wants to tell them. She wants them to stop what they’re doing, to let them know the horrible crimes they’re accomplices of. What she doesn’t know is that the side she has joined has plenty of blood on its hands as well. Maybe she does know. Maybe it was a matter of choosing the lesser evil and The Director was a more present threat to humanity. She just knows she has to stop them, to stop The Director, to stop her own comrades, even if it means she and everyone she cares about has to die. -“Who will stand before the flood? Who will mop up all the blood? Who alone? Skin, bone, steel, stone, swim or drown. Save this town, save everything not nailed down.” • Stabbed to Death Outside San Juan: York’s Death. When Tex finds York, he’s slumming it and stealing in order to get by. He says there’s not much call for a former infiltration specialist, but it’s also possible that he is choosing to lay low. He seems eager to get back into action with Tex. Delta agrees even though he states that the “outcome is uncertain” and “the chance of success is unknown.” Even the AI fragment that’s supposed to embody logic agrees that “a little payback would be nice.” I personally don’t believe that either of them were happy without the kind of action that Project Freelancer afforded them. He wasn’t able to resist the offer. He tells Tex that she is the reason he has a bad eye. She counters that she is the reason he has one good eye. Later, he discusses with Delta his reasons for taking the mission. In the end, it is a similar situation as the one that cost him his eye as the one that gets him killed: Tex and Wyoming. -“Power and adrenaline flowing like amber.” “Sometimes you get some heat, sometimes it follows you around” “And the sky goes dark and there I am, climbing down the Hertzsprung-Russel diagram. I drop from the top of my tall steel cage. Drop to the concrete floor.” (I couldn’t pick just one lyric from this one) • Werewolf Gimmick: Tex when implanted with Omega. She is a woman of mass destruction when she is paired with the AI fragment of rage and aggression. She does not care for her teammates, she is not here to make friends or have a family, she kills CT at the shipyard without flinching because that is the mission even when Carolina hesitates and tries to talk to a friend that she cares about and tries to understand her. She doesn’t use the locker room- with the exception of when CT leaves Tex her dog-tags. -“Bring your heroes to the wolf’s den- watch them all get crushed.” • Luna: Carolina post-Chorus. Her life was one crisis after another. First, Project Freelancer, the crash of the MOI, her escaping and healing and deciding to kill The Director, putting her plan into action and reuniting with Wash and joining up with the Reds and Blues, killing The Director, then jumping straight into Chorus where she and Epsilon fuck off to hunt down Freelancer tech and pirates, and finally the civil war. She never has a moment to process anything, the traumas and the horrors she’s experienced. When she has time on the moon with the Reds and Blues, she has time where she is forced to look inward, where she can’t constantly run on adrenaline. She has to think about the deaths of her friends. Her discussion with Wash on the beach about York is one example, but York is just one of the important people in her life that she lost. She lost everyone in her life that she cared about. She lost her mother early, she lost her father to the monster he would become, everyone else on her team died with the exception of Wash and she wasn’t really that close to Wash. She was able to find a new family, a family that wasn’t held together by the machinations of her father and haunted by the ghost of her mother. “Trace names in ash, big names, old friends, and dead ends.” • Unmasked!: Epsilon letting go of Tex: Epsilon chased Tex down iteration after iteration inside of the storage unit, much like the man he was based on, trying to get her right. Eventually, as the storage unit is failing, he realizes that he can’t keep doing this. He has to let her go. He can’t keep trying to tether her to him, he can’t keep bringing her back over and over, again and again, even after she died. -“Trying to say goodbye, the only way I know how, crude and graceless.” “Like you’re free, like you can breathe now, like they’ve sawn off your cast…and by way of honoring things we both once held dear, I will reveal you. I will reveal you.” • The Ballad of Bull Ramos: Wash living with the Reds and Blues post Shisno trilogy, specifically with his brain damage. Fuck Zero for fixing Wash’s brain damage first of all. As far as I’m concerned, RVB ended when the Shisno trilogy did. Wash has a family to support him now as a disabled adult. It is a difficult adjustment for him, not only because he has to relearn how to do some things now that he has brain damage, but he has to relearn how to be a civ now that he can’t be a soldier. But he has his family. -“Get around fine on one leg, lose a kidney, then go blind. Sit on my porch in Houston, let the good times dance across my mind. Never die, never die. Stand with a bull whip in my hand. And rise, rise, surrounded by friends.” • Hair Match: The other fragments that participated in the torture of the Alpha. This is a bit of wrestling meta: wrestling matches are loosely scripted; a hair match, where one of the participants heads’ is shaved, necessitates the cooperation of all parties. That doesn’t mean that it is a desired outcome. The purpose of a hair match is the humiliation (in kayfabe) of the person getting their head shaved. The Alpha was put through all kinds of scenarios in order to break him apart into the other AI fragments. After they were made, some of these fragments participated in this torture- specifically Gamma, Omega, and Sigma. They designed scenarios to be so traumatic that Alpha would fracture. They were, however, not allowed to be present when the new fragments were refined into their stable AI states. Sigma, the AI fragment of creativity and ambition, stayed behind one time, hidden in a camera so he could watch what happened. All of the AI fragments desired to be reunited with the Alpha. Being split apart was not their natural state. Sigma hatched a plan to reunite with the Alpha, by taking over Maine and becoming The Meta in order to collect the other AI fragments (this plan was possibly made with the help of Gamma, but it isn’t totally clear his role as Gamma resisted being taken by The Meta). -“We’ll stipulate that there will be no cameras filming, but of course there will be several in the building, and if by chance somebody hits “record,” and stands real still somewhere back behind the soundboard” “I loved you before I even ever knew what love was like.” • Blood Capsules: Just learned about this song as I was writing all this up so this one will be coming later!

If you have any thoughts about what these songs made you feel re:rvb I would love to hear it!

The other two albums that are in the work are: All Hail West Texas and It’s Dark In Here

[renaroo]

Sweet Home (3/4)

Disclaimer: Red vs Blue and related characters are the property of Rooster Teeth. Warnings: Language, Canon-typical violence, PTSD and past trauma, Mentions of wartime Rating: T Synopsis: [Modern AU] In the aftermath of war, Wash is left with little direction in his own life. On his own, he takes up an ad for a roommate and suddenly finds himself wrapped up in the perplexing life of Doctor Emily Grey.

A/N: Long time, little see, and I’m truly sorry about that <3 For those who don’t know, as of January this year I have taken on quite a few more jobs than what we had before. I am a graduate student but on top of that I began teaching classes for the university on my own and I have been working very hard on my research project which is picking up steam now that the mating season for wolf spiders has begun! So busy busy here though I do hope everyone has had a good few months themselves and that this story is still worth the wait for those who come back to it <3 I appreciate you all more than you know

A special shout out to @secretlystephaniebrown, @splendiferousblog, @freelancerfeels, @ziggyzagzag, Yin, om3g4, and Zed Said from AO3, ffn, and tumblr for the feedback and support! You guys really help to make this experience that much more rewarding!

Drawing Lines

It has been a very long week and, despite knowing that the town is less than a few miles wide at best, Washington hasn’t brought himself to do much more than accompany Emily Grey to the store and back in order to carry groceries.

As he lays in his bed that still doesn’t feel very much like his, it really and truly hits him how small the world seems after the war. He left for it with this idea that the universe is large and vast, that he is truly fighting for things to be better and for home to be stronger and more taken care of than it ever had been before.

But the world is small and knowing it intimately only proves to show Washington the worst of its cracks and pitfalls.

He fought for this town, he fought for a place like Sweet Home to live up to its name. But the streets are cracked, the roads have holes, and most of the properties have grass reaching for higher standards than the owners.

Sometimes, laying in his bed outside of his supposedly only two hours of consistent sleep, Washington finds himself staring at the proverbial and literal wall, holding his breath and counting to ten.

He’s waiting for an answer. He’s waiting to be told what it is that he sacrificed everything that once made him human for.

He’s waiting for things to make sense again. But without reveille or shouts or marching orders, it just doesn’t.

And the world just gets even smaller around him.

For every morning that Wash woke up to a full course meal and a half naked housemate, there is a morning where he wakes up to absolute silence and solitude.

Asking questions, even if normal and social, feels invasive and uncomfortable, even in concept, for Wash so he opts instead to rely on powers of observations and checking for patterns. The most easily noticed of these being the way the stacks of books all over the house change by the day, and especially how much they change — or how much they grow — on the days that Emily is absent in the mornings and not back until the late nights.

It is then that Wash puts together that his housemate, the already-doctor, is actually still a student. That is why so many younger college age people are coming in and out of Sweet Home.

It’s as questionable as the anomaly that is Emily Grey herself, but again, the anxiety of actually phrasing a proper question that isn’t intrusive, rude, bigoted, sexist, out of touch, judgmental, arrogant, condescending, or just plain vague is too much and Washington fumbles it even in theory.

So he sticks to counting book stacks and making himself cereal on lonely mornings.

Not lonely. Solitary.

Lonely implies that Washington doesn’t prefer it and, well, he doesn’t. But he doesn’t unprefer it either.

And that’s the rub of it.

For all the draining exhaustion that proximity to Emily’s rotation of guests brought him, Washington finds himself not doing much with his solitary time either. Just checking the news, getting the mail, and digging through his own thoughts with all the caution and malaise afforded to a gravedigger.

He’s in the middle of just that one particularly solitary morning, a cereal bowl still in his grasps, when the back door next to the stove opens up with a loud BANG. It’s as if a tornado was trying to rip the door from its hinges, and Washington can’t even process it before the solitary space he has masked himself in becomes occupied by a bounding creature with fur and teeth and an odor similar to tarmac.

There’s a moment, after the sharp paws are buried into Wash’s chest but before the back of his chair is going to find itself addressing the floor, that Washington thinks a bomb has gone off — one that bends reality and warps the quiet he strangles himself with optionally is transported back to scorching heat and screams and the worst that people can do to one another.

It’s a hysterical notion, one that would possibly rival the sort of genuine psychosis that seems to get his housemate all riled up about his sleeping habits, but it’s the only thing Washington can think before he’s dazed on the ground with a literal dog standing on his pajama covered chest, rotating around like it’s looking for the next challenger in a game of King of the Hill.

“Freckles!”

Washington takes in the moment once again. He’s not dying. He’s not shot. There’s not a war in the kitchen, only whatever intrusion Emily Grey has brought upon his life again. And he doesn’t even get in a count to three for his anger exercises before the fury erupts from him like a volcano.

“What the hell is going on!?” he gets out, only to have the dog’s attention whip right back to him.

The dog is a sharp looking, large chested doberman. Chocolate colored where Wash’s senses tell him it should be black, tan where it should be brown on its nose and wrapped around its feet like socks. The eyes are yellow, intimidating, and it has ears pinned high from cropping. Washington hadn’t even realized it was a practice with animals anymore, but he supposes on reflection that inhumanity isn’t restrained to what people do to each other.

What is just as shocking is the man who the voice belongs to.

He comes around the kitchen island with a curious, wide eyed look on his face, lips drawn together in a surprised oh as he examines the situation he brought upon Sweet Home.

The man is large and bulking. Wash’s instincts are to think it’s fitting of his extremely large dog but, somehow, the man is even too large and thick even for that to be a complete fit. He’s not chiseled so much as he’s built large, and his head is weighed down by a mess of spiky, unkempt hair that stands end on end in a way that tells Washington the man’s less familiar with a brush than even Wash is. His skin is tanned hide but not wrinkled or old, just worn and not as well taken care of as he could use.

He’s wearing a blue hoodie and khaki pants that have not a single wrinkle, and those are the strangest things in Wash’s mind because the man is also wearing with them standard issue military boots.

“Hello!” the man says loudly.

“Is this your dog!?” Washington demands just as loudly. There’s a low stage of panic beginning to set in as the dog looks less happy to have Washington talking and Washington’s chest is feeling less happy to have a dog standing on it.

For a moment, the man seems more surprised than Wash, and he glances toward the dog as if there is some other dog that Washington would be addressing. And a big, goofy smile crosses his face as he looks back down to Wash.

“Oh! Yes. This is Freckles. He is a very good boy. Aren’t you, Freckles? Aren’t you a very good boy?” the man coos toward the dog.

Taking his gaze off of Wash, the dog turns around and looks at the man, nub of a tail wagging so hard his entire butt is moving with it. The dog’s front paws pick up and ram down many times excitedly on Wash’s chest. Then it barks loud and keening.

“Get him off of me!” Wash demands in a hiss between gasps of breath.

Blinking again, the man glances down at Washington, then looks around the house in confusion. “Oh, no. I don’t know you. I thought this is the Sugar House. Oh no. This is very bad. I do not want trouble again. I only want the nice lady doctor in the Sugar House—“

The man sounds panicked, and the more he panics, the more the dog reacts. First with a whining bark, then with finally leaping from Wash’s chest toward the man. It prances around its human before pressing the flat of its head into the palm of the man’s hand.

And, suddenly, Wash begins making sense of things. The solitary doesn’t come back, but he’s not gone into chaos anymore.

Not any more than usual, by any means.

“Do you mean Sweet Home?” Wash asks as he raises up to a sitting position, holding onto his no doubt bruised ribs.

“Yes!” the man calls out excitedly. “Oh! Oh! Do you know where it is? I am very lost. Which is strange. Because Sheila told me where to go and I did not believe I was lost so now it is me being confused where I thought I was not. You see?”

Washington feels himself slipping into the chaotic one more time but he fights it, instead clearing his throat and repositioning himself into a more confident stance. “I don’t know who Sheila is, but yes. You are at Sweet Home. You aren’t confused. Well. You’re not anymore confused right now than I am. Uh. I live here now. With Doctor Grey. Emily. Doctor…lady. Am I making sense? I don’t think I am.”

However, the confused posturing seemed to be speaking to the man’s language because his grin only grows and grows the further the conversation goes down the rabbit hole.

“I am at the Sugar House?” he asks. “And you’re the new friend at Sugar House?”

“I’m… what?” Wash asks, the chaos threatening to swirl out of control.

Without clarifying, the man pulls out a large smartphone from his pocket and holds it flat close to his chin. It looks a little awkward from Washington’s angle, like the finer motor movements are lacking refinement.

“Sheila!” the man shouts across the surface of the phone, causing the screen to light up with a familiar app — the service assistant. “Thank you! I’m here!”

“I am happy for you, Private!” the smartphone cheerfully responds.

And, again, Wash pieces it all together.

After all, the service assistant had been offered to him, just like every other veteran from the War. The high tech phone app was a personal assistant for recovering servicemen and women. It was a bit of an insult to be offered one, even though almost no human soldier left the terrain without it being beneficial to have one.

The stigma had been enough to keep Washington away from accepting the service assistant at the time, and as a result he unwittingly had refuted future medical and mental health claims he could take from his service. It seems that pride was a good way to keep those who gave almost everything to their country from actually receiving anything in return.

While judgments flared up in Washington’s mind, driven into his instincts from basic, he also wondered if the man before him is actually a secret genius.

“What branch did you serve in?” Washington finds himself asking.

The main blinks at him, stroking the dog’s head as he fumbles his phone back into his pockets.

“I was marines,” Washington offers again.

“Yeah, I was with Church and Tucker,” the man says happily. “Did you know them?”

Wash feels his brows knit together in concern. “I… no?”

“Oh, okay. They were with me. I never remember being in a tree,” he states with a shrug of his large shoulders.

“Okay,” Wash says. “Well, my name is Washington.”

“That’s a funny name,” the man says with no tact. “I am Michael J. Caboose.”

“That’s a funny name,” Wash says sardonically before he can even catch himself.

Almost as if he understands, the dog pins his ears back against his head and lets out a low string of growls in Washington’s direction. He doesn’t seem to appreciate Wash’s sarcasm. But his master doesn’t seem to mind.

“It is funny. We both have funny names. I’ve never met a General Washington. I bet you’ve never met a Caboose. Or maybe you did. Have you met any of my sisters? I have many of them. It wouldn’t surprise me,” Caboose says breathlessly.

“Who knows in this town,” Wash says with a soft laugh of his own. “And believe me, I’m no general. Kind of glad I’m not… except for the retirement benefits.” He tries to laugh again but sees only blankness in return from Caboose. Wash coughs to clear the air and then tries to move things along in a way that may not hint to the other man that Washington has absolutely no idea how to handle social situations. At all. “I’m sorry I wasn’t expecting you. Emily didn’t mention anything about someone coming in today. Not… that she ever mentions it… But she’s never gone for too long if you want to sit in and wait.”

“Oh, no, thank you, no. I cannot stay. I cannot stay because I have to go. Sheila has told me many times already that I have to go. She has been reminding me everyday that today is the day that I have to go.” Caboose explains without any semblance of explanation. He then looks like an idea has just crossed his mind and he fumbles in his pockets again to repeat the move with his phone. “Sheila!”

“Yes, Caboose?” the service assistant says, lighting up.

“Tell Mister Washington how I have to go!” he says with the excitement of a kid at Christmas.

“Private Michael J. Caboose must be at the platform in forty-five minutes in order to depart on the 343 train to—“

“See, I told you,” Caboose interrupts, shoving his phone back without even bothering to tell the app to turn off. Wash can’t help but stare at the way it glows through the man’s khaki pants in the worst way imaginable. “I cannot stay for the doctor. I have to leave. I have a train.”

“Oh, okay,” Wash says. “I’ll…uh… tell Emily you came by then. I’m sure she’ll be sorry that she missed you.”

Caboose’s smile is brilliant, but sort of in a way that Wash isn’t sure what he’s smiling about. “Oh, she’ll know.” He then turns to face his dog and gets down on one knee to be level with him. The dog, almost knowingly, begins whining like a puppy. “Be a good boy! Be a good boy! I’ll be home soon, yes be a good boy!”

Processing the moment takes Washington a second longer than he should and, as suddenly as his morning was interrupted by Caboose, it is being uninterrupted by the man stepping out the door.

“Wait what,” Washington finally manages to utter just before Caboose grabs the handle of the back door.

The large man waves emphatically. “Thank you, General! I will see you and the good doctor lady soon! But I have to get to my train!”

“Private Michael J. Caboose’s train is departing in forty-two minutes—“

“Wait! I don’t know—“ Washington tries to shout but the door is slammed shut with tremendous force, enough to make one of Emily’s piles of books nearby tip over and go scattering across the floor.

Washington and Freckles both stare at the books for a few disquieting seconds.

Then Washington gives the dog a wary look. “I can’t escape the nonsense can I?”

The dog snarls in return before huffing. It then walks — with confidence and ownership of the house that Washington dreams of building up to at some point before his fifties — through the short hall from the  kitchen and into the living room where it promptly takes the seat that Washington has been using for the last week.

“God damn it Emily,” Wash curses at the air, nose curling.

When Grey returns home it is with the flourish that Washington has com to expect.

It’s almost like nothing in the world and changed and everything is good and there’s nothing but perfect innocence exuding from Emily’s every pour. And that doesn’t change even slightly as she trounces on through the door and looks down to meet Wash’s gaze.

For his part, Washington’s sitting on the floor with his back against three stacks of books. The one in his hand has been occupying the space he had been staring at prior to Emily’s entrance.

A funny expression came over Emily’s perpetually peasant face as she locks eyes with Wash and she puts her hands on her hips, flouncy skirt bobbing in a wave. “Why, Washington! What are you doing on the floor, silly?”

There’s some sort of crack in Wash’s forced smile like his teeth are too sharp to be contained. “I’ll give you three guesses,” he offers.

Then, there’s a ferocious bark from the living room that draws Emily’s eyes away from him.

“The first two guesses don’t count,” Wash declares as the dog’s head pokes out from around the corner.

“Freckles!” Emily calls out in utter delight.

With a complete change in character, Freckles loosens up the ramrod straightness of his body and begins bounding through the hall, heftily landing two paws on Wash’s lap without warning. By the time the dog is at Emily, he’s nothing but an overgrown puppy with a wagging tail and playful keening barks.

She happily catches the dog’s front paws and meets his nose.

It would be an adorable image if Washington wasn’t already sick to death of everything surrounding it.

“That all we got to say?” he demands soothingly.

Emily looks up from the dog, a curious smile, but a smile all the same, looking back on him. “What now?” she acts coyly.

“This has to stop!” Wash snaps, finally getting to his feet, slamming the book in his hands onto the top of one of piles of books as he does so.

Of course, the world never wants things to work out simply for Washington and in mere moments after his tantrum, the line of books begins to topple as a result. And soon, like dominos, the books around the house begin to fall, one into another, all around them.

Freckles is unhappy at the development and bravely gets between Wash and Emily, growling with his haunches raised.

Emily Grey is looking around in complete shock.

Washington feels like an asshole. “Goddammit! I mean. I’m sorry. Here,” he mutters, beginning to get on one knee to pick up the stray books. But he stops himself, after only grabbing two, he gets back to his feet and shakes his head. “No. No! Okay. Goddammit. I have to… I have to say something before it makes me explode!”

“Like defacing hundreds of dollars of property belonging to a roommate?” Grey offers.

“Fucking— yes,” Washington grits his teeth angrily. “This is not going to work if I don’t say anything, and you know what? I actually want this to work. I want to live here. I want to be… I don’t know. I want to be here with you. In this house. Stupid. Confectionary. Sugared-ice-tea house.”

“Sweet Home,” Emily answers, like it’s vital to the conversation. “Why do you want to be here, Mister Washington?”

Wash stares at her, beginning to wonder if she’s listened to anything he’s ever said but, suddenly, looking into her eyes, he realizes for the first time that she is being frightfully serious.

She wants to know. Which, is to say, she doesn’t understand.

“I don’t have anywhere else to go,” Wash answers pathetically.

“Neither do I,” she agrees.

“Yes, but it’s still your house at the end of the day,” Wash says. “I can leave, even if there’s nowhere to go. Because this house isn’t mine. Because there are no parts of it — no lines in it — that are mine and only mine. I need. I need…”

“Boundaries?” she tries to guess again.

Wash scowls at her. “Respect,” he corrects her. “And I’m…. I’m just not going to receive it as long as you continue to be inconsiderate of our differences.”

It isn’t quite knocking down every book in a maze of a house, it isn’t quite a fiery explosion, but it’s every bit of Washington’s guts and brains spewed out all the same. Words he hasn’t even put together fully formed in his own mind yet are suddenly there, bared open for them both.

For the first time since they met, Emily Grey is speechless.

Until she isn’t.

“So you are a cat person?”

Washington takes off up the stairs, fuming all over again and not sure when he’s going to blow.

[texas-hates-taxes-too]

Me at 11pm: I should really try and go to sleep at a decent hour tonight

Me at 2am: I should draw chex lyric art with the lines "go away, give me a chance to miss you, say goodbye, it'll make me wanna kiss you"

[jomeimei421]

“Well maybe I don’t WANT to do this, you ever think of that?! All I want to do is stand around and talk to my friend, but he’s gone now and all I’ve got is YOU.”

“I’ve never really had to lead a team before…but when Church and Carolina left I…I had to try.” 


—————————————

This is kinda cheating since these are actually slides from my lyric comic that I’m still working on (¾ of the way done, btw) but I wanted to post these since they gave me some S11 feelings

Buy me a coffee? || Follow me on Instagram

[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.

[calliecat93]

Top 5 Things I Liked About RWBY Volume 7

(Top Dislikes)

Gosh, we are so close to Volume 8 now, and it’s driving me crazy! But we’re not there yet. So let’s continue to remember what Volume 7 delivered upon us. Last time I did the Dislikes post, so now it’s time for the Top 5 Likes post! Which this was so, SO much easier to come up with than the Dislikes list! Like I said there, this volume is so well-written and jam-packed full-on content. It was a rollercoaster of a ride where even though I didn’t want to get back on for a while, that thrill was everlasting. Whether V8 will give the same result will be determined soon, but for now let’s go over the Top 5 Likes of RWBY Volume 7. As always, just my opinion, so take with a grain of salt~

Okay, let’s go!

#5. Oscar Development

By far one of the biggest criticisms against Volume 6 was how it handled Oscar. There was a LOT of good setup concerning his identity crisis as he struggled with keeping control, maintaining his own identity, and the potential burden of just being another of Oz’s wasted lives. While he DID reach a new confidence by the end which was nice, it... was more or less offscreen. To many, myself included, Oscar felt wasted and I specifically criticized how the execution made it feel like depite what Ruby said and what the narrative is trying to say, it DOES feel like Oscar’s viewed as just Oz’s vessel and that’s all his importance amounted to. I was hoping that Volume 7 was going to rectify this like they did with Ruby in Volume 6. Did they do so?

Absolutely yes.

While they still have a bad habit of setting up Oscar in trouble but it turning out to be a fake-out (his disappearance due to Neo), the volume did a LOT to improve his position. With Oz gone, Oscar has to be diplomatic on his own. He’s in a position where he can get close to Ironwood in a way that the others can’t and see him actually vulnerable. Unlike the others, who keep just pointing out to Ironwood how his actions are problematic to varying degrees, Oscar can see what’s really causing it: fear. Which is something that Oscar can relate to. After all, he was terrified when his quest began, but he always faced it and went forward everything to do what was right. Even when it meant leaving home, even when it meant facing unjust anger from others, he did so.

Oscar tries to reason with Ironwood. He tries to have him realize that it’s okay to be afraid. That it’s okay  to be honest with those around him. That it’s okay to be vulnerable. Ironwood isn’t the only one either. In the beginning, he’s worried about Ruby’s lie because of how much it reminds him of what Oz did to them. You could argue that he’s developed into the conscious of the group, but he knows how to reason with these matters in a peaceful way. He’s becoming more of a diplomat similar to Ozpin, which even Ironwood points out in Chapter 9.

Then there’s the finale. Sadly, despite all of his pleas and how much he reached out to him, Ironwood ultimately rejected him and Oz. He rejected the route of trust and embraced fear, sealing the deal by shooting Oscar. But while he couldn’t help Ironwood, he did help someone else: Ozpin. His words convinced the former headmaster to at last return and face his own fears, saving them both. It also allowed Oscar to gain more of Oz’s power and memories. The boy has gone form a scared teenager entering a world he doesn’t truly understand, to becoming a courageous young man filled with compassion and hope for those around him. And this time, we got to actually see that growth unfold. He’s still got a long path ahead of him, but this greatly amended Oscar’s character and I am grateful for it.

#4. Penny Polendina

SHE CAME BACK! YAY!!! I MISSED HER SO MUCH!!!

Every since hr death in V3, I fully expected Penny to come back at some point. And indeed, she did! And with her memory intact, thank goodness! While I do wish we got some more exploration in how she felt about dying and such, her role int his volume was so well done I can forgive it. She has more screentime in this volume than Volumes 1-3 combined, and I love it! A cute new design, her struggling between duty and her own wants, trying to understand feelings and finding them to be a beautiful thing, there is SO MUCH going on with her here.

Penny is part of Ironwood’s inner circle, having been assigned as he Protector of Mantle. She takes her job seriously and does her best to protect the citizens. She’s elated to see Ruby and the others again and tries to assist them as much as she can. But as the volume goes, we see how much she struggles between her dedication to Mantle and Ironwood’s orders. It’s especially clear fter she is framed for the massacre during the elections. The poor girl is mortified, everyone viewing her as just another of Ironwood’s robots. Even Ironwood feels this way with his insensitive comment bout her being ‘under his control’ during the Council Meeting. The poor girl just needs a hug.

But this helps set Penny apart from Atlas. Unlike the others, who are following orders, Penny is trying to follow her heart. She tries to encourage Winter to do the same when she snapped at Jaques, even saying that all she did was speak form the heart and has no reason to feel ashamed of it. After Ironwood declares martial law, she is clearly upset and outright says that it’s wrong. She even asks Winter if this bothers her, and isn’t very convinced by her argument about the general taking on the burden. Penny chooses to embrace her feelings, not reject them as Winter, the Ace-Ops, and Ironwood have done.

It ends with Penny comforting Fria as her Maiden powers go out of control. How does she do this? She simply goes up to her and gently asks her if she’s okay. She shows the old woman more compassion and care than she’s probably had in quite a while. As a result, Fria ultimately transfers the Winter Maiden powers ot her. It proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that despite being a robot, Penny is a real girl. Hell, she is by far the most human of the Atlesian characters in this volume. She ultimately feels disheartened by Fria’s death, but still goes with Ruby and the others because that’s the right thing.

Penny’s character arc was a delight. There were so many expectations with her return, and I am so happy with the result! Penny feels so much more three-dimensional now. She still has the sweetness that made us love her before, but she also grew as a character. She embraced her feelings, she made choices for herself after having to abide by Ironwood’s rules for so long, she even managed to get some payback on Cinder for her death. Her good-heart and kindness was rewarded at the end. I do worry for her, especially since Salem’s Whale Grimm is absolutely a Montstro reference, but I’m still so happy with her in this volume~

3. The Atlas/Mantle Conflict

I am... not good at talking about this kind of thing, so I apologize if this seems rambly or all over the place. The big conflict pf the volume was the division between Atlas and Mantle. We knew going in how Atlas was seen as a bastion of civilization, but also full of snobs and an army leader who doesn’t exactly have his priorities straight. We knew that Mantle was the former capital and it was easy to assume that it probably wasn’t in the best state... and HO BOY were we right.

While Atlas looks futuristic and pristine, Mantle is run-down and out-of-date. The former capital and it’s people have not been treated well and worse, Atlas controls everything including their heating system. Ironwood has forced the city to be without essential provisions for Amity, and has therefore left them vulnerable to the Grimm. It’s easy to see why Mantle would resent Ironwood and Atlas as a whole, and why it was easy for Watts and Tyrian to widen the divide. It’s like the Chorus conflict in the Chorus Trilogy in RvB, only we’re there to see the division outright instead of coming in many years later. Our heroes are trying to mend the divide, but it’s so much easier said than done when neither side will budge.

There’s a lot of contrast with the two sides. Ironwood is a seemingly cold man with an authoritarian streak. Robyn is more laid-back, if a little cocky but her heart is very much set on helping Mantle. Both can be very brash and place trust above all else. But they both run their respective groups very differently. Robyn views the Happy Huntresses as her friends, while Ironwood trained the Ace-Ops to be his loyal attack dogs. Robyn is willing to give her trust until it gets broken, while Ironwood is wrapped by his own paranoia. We see how these two groups function. They have similarities, but are also very different especially when it comes to how their leaders treat their respective groups.

There is a HUGE class issue between Atlas and Mantle. It’s not helped by Ironwood’s plans causing further suffering, and of course in the end he chooses to leave it open to Salem in favor of saving Atlas. The fandom has fought back and forth for months over if this was right or not, which only proves the point of the division. You can see where each side is coming from, and we care for the people on each side. The conflict was presented throughout the volume with the heroes trying to help, but they sadly fail. The moment Tyrian’s slaughter happens in Chapter 6, you can break the tension with a butter knife and it doesn’t let up. We’ll probably only see more of it with Volume 8 now that Mantle has no protection. But as far as this volume goes, it was presented very well and very strongly.

#2. The Fall of James Ironwood

Love him or hate him, Ironwood is by far one of the strongest written characters in the show. Ever since his intro in Volume 2, we have been building up to this moment. The man has a LO of flaws. He’s arrogant, brash, favors military might over being discreet, and has a bad tendency to not learn form his missteps. These flaws contributed to the Fall of Beacon. But we also saw a man who was honest, righteous, respected Ozpin, and for all had flaws seemed to have good intentions. He was always willing to put himself on the front lines and took none of Jaques’ elitist shit. Sure he caused the Dust Embargo and closed Atlas down, but he also defended Weiss in Volume 4 and was clearly upset about the Fall fo Beacon. We saw a flawed, but still good man and if he could just embrace his flaws and open his heart, he could have been the great hero that he appeared to be.

Sadly thought, that wasn’t meant to be.

Ironwood is shown to be dishelved and plagued by paranoia, but he HAS created a plan to re-establish communications and expose Salem. But his police state with Mantle has the heroes concerned, so they lie to him about Oz and the lamp. The man continues to make questionable decisions, like I already said about his treatment of Mantle. But he still seems devoted tot he cause and like despite these calls, his intentions are still good and it will pay off even with the bad press. Heck, after Robyn tells him to trust her in Chapter 9 and with a push form Oscar, he seemed to FINALLY be doing the right thing. he revealed the truth about Salem to everyone, he worked alongside Mantle, and he faced Watts in the same place where his greatest failure had occurred. It seemed like all the begging and pleading had worked.

Sadly though, it all fell apart once Ironwood saw the glass chess piece.

Ironwood’s greatest enemy isn’t Salem. It’s not Robyn. It’s not he council. No, it’s himself. He has closed up his emotions and his hear to everyone around him. He has buried himself in his paranoia and his pursuit in defeating Salem. With every mistake, Ironwood failed to learn and move forward. He just became more and more consumed by his own fear. He wanted to be a strong leader. To be like Oz. But like Oz, he ended up losing himself and unlike Oz, he couldn’t acknowledge where he went wrong. In many ways you can sympathize with him because of the bleak situation and him trying to do what he can with what he has. But sadly, none of that can justify the path that he ended up taking.

Ironwood is angry at Team RWBYs lies. This and Salem’s approach pretty much causes him to snap. He’s going to let Fria die so that Winter had the Maiden powers. He's going to abandon Mantle to their demise in a futile plan to raise Atlas into orbit. When RWBY opposes this, he orders them to be arrested. He even coldly confirms that he’s leaving Mantle to die. However one feels about this choice, as a cruel but necessary choice to save what can be saved, or a needless sacrifice made by a fascist dictator, one can at least make an argument about either point that makes it hard to say who was right. Him snapping at Oscar and knowingly shooting the kid to his demise? No. That one cannot be justified at all, especially since he was as cold as steel when he did it.

This moment has been built-up since we met him all those years ago. We wanted Ironwood to do the right thing. We all hoped that he would. But he didn’t, and it isn’t shocking at all. We saw enough to like Ironwood, but to also be very much aware of his faults that he just never seemed able to conquer. His fall form grace is tragic, yet done in such a satisfying way as well. I felt for him, but there was no justifying his actions. I kept hoping that he’d pull through, but once Chapter 11 hit, I knew we were at the point of no return. The James Ironwood we once knew is no more, consumed by his fear. What will happen to him next? Will he manage to realize his wrongs? Or will he continue to fall until there’s nothing left to salvage? It’s hard to say. But for now, the tin man has lost his heart,. A very sad, but very well done, character arc for sure.

1. The Theme of Trust and Fear

When I first heart this volume’s opening, Trust Love, I liked it... but the more the volume went, the more the optimistic song felt out of place for the dark volume. Considering this IS an anime, that’s probably intentional. But the more I examined the lyrics, especially after the full version came out, the more I truly realized how it fits with this volume. The song speaks of one trying to live in their dream world, but they need to face reality and trust those around them. They need to stop waiting for a miracle, they need to take control of their life now and move forward. hey need to... well, trust in love. Then you have the finale song, Fear, which  outright asks ‘who will you be when you are faced with fear? Will you see the person you hope to see? Or will you see a stranger?” Will you feel proud? Or will you feel betrayed?

This is the theme of the volume. The theme of trust and the right thing against fear. Ironwood claims to trust the heroes, yet he can’t trust anyone else and his own fear is slowly consuming him. The heroes are mistrustful of Ironwood, but they trust each other and want to help mend the divide between Ironwood and Mantle. But at every turn, fear gets ii n he way. Tyrian’s slaughter makes Mantle afraid and enraged. Ironwood’s fear keeps him from opening up and it leads to his downfall as I already described. The Ace-Ops don’t fight together as a team, which leads to Team RWBY who DO trust each other to defeat them. Clover is blinded by his loyalty to Ironwood to recognize that he’s doing the wrong thing, and it leads to his death. Not to mention the mistrust between him, Qrow, and Robyn lead tot he crash to begin with.

As Oz says in his monologue, fear is the greatest thing that everyone shares. We see everyone afraid. Ironwood is afraid. Ruby is afraid. Ozpin is afraid. Even Cinder is afraid. It’s all for different reasons. Ironwood is afraid of Salem. Ruby is afraid of the uncertainty ahead. Ren is afraid of failing Nora and the others. Cinder is afraid of failing to achieve her foals. Qrow is afraid of bonding with others, especially considering what happened to Clover. Ozpin...d o I even need to elaborate on him? The title to Chapter 13 is ‘The Enemy of Trust’. What is that enemy? Fear. Recently, I’ve been feeling that same fear of trust. Fear of being hurt. Fear of being betrayed. Fear of the unknown. It’s a VERY powerful force, and a tempting one at that.

The message of the volume ultimately si that it’s okay to be afraid. It’s perfectly human to feel that way. You don’t need to get over it. It doesn’t matter if you’re afraid, it’s what you do in the face of it that matters. Will you face it? Will you do what’s right? Will you find it in yourself to trust and love again? Or will you succumb to it? Will you end up repeating your mistakes because of your fear? Will you make the wrong choice? What will that say about the person you are? One way or another, we all will find out the answer to that question. We may not know the answers for a long time, but you ultimately need to try and do what’s right. You can’t let the fear control you. You need to decide who you will be when ti comes, and if in the end you will be happy with who you are left with.

Ironwood chose to repeat his mistakes, and is now a heartless tin soldier. Ozpin ultimately chose to return and face it and while only time will determine how that goes, it’s a step in the right direction. People like Ruby and Oscar still tried to do what thy knew was right. Weiss was afraid of her father, but faced him to gain her freedom. Blake feared Adam and the White Fang and chose to run, but eventually decided to fight back and ultimately won. Yang was afraid after losing her arm and of being abandoned, and while she struggled she ultimately faced it, proving herself stronger than her cowardly mother. Even after Ruby broke down when it became clear that Salem killed her mother, she still faced the wicked witch, told her off to her face, and pulled herself together enough to warn everyone about Ironwood and stand her ground. And there’s so any other examples that I could list. 

I think considering the times right now, this message is incredibly important. It’s been a major part of the series since the start, but Volume 7 especially made it prominent. We need to trust in love. We need to be courageous enough to do the right thing. We need to be able to express our fear and doubts with others to become better. In a world where everything 9si uncertain and everyone is on edge, I think that the themes here are more relevant than ever, and was handled very well. Especially with that monologue in Chapter 13. As such, this is my favorite part of RWBY Volume 7 without a doubt.

Well, that’s it folks! It was nice to revisit Volume 7 again after so long~ But as we close the book, we’re about to open another for Volume Eight. What’s gonna happen? I don’t know. Am I scared? Oh big time. But I’ve come this far, I’m not backing out until the very end. So I hope that you all enjoy Volume 8, and as always I look forward to reviewing it all~ See you all on premiere day~!

[jar-o-beets]

47, 62, 88

@ityrvilitarpa i’m so sorry this took me so long to answer but this is basically a call out so hopefully it’s worth it :’)

47: favorite type of cheese?

easy start. i’m a simple man with simple taste and i generally just love a simple cheddar, but my all time fave is probably this cranberry goat cheese log my family always gets around the holidays. the sweet tangy combo just hits 👌🏻😔

62: seven characters you relate to?

you’ve basically asked me for my kin list i hate this here we go

lake (infinity train), evan (dear evan hansen), benrey (hlvrai), chidi (good place), amethyst (steven universe), natasha (great comet of 1812), grif (rvb)

god this one was the hardest cause i have the worst recall and this forced me to mentally dig through all my old fandoms to remember people that i could list and i have no explanations i’m so sorry if you know none of these people gnkslanfkd

88: your greatest wish?

shit okay asking the big questions huh? honestly as i said i’m a simple man ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ i just want a nice 9-5 job or some shit (preferably doing something in accounting since that’s what i’m currently studying for 😬) where i can come home and do my own thing and do art and games in my own time and probably live with my friends lmao

[anneapocalypse]

RWBY 7.03 - 7.04

I had every intention of making an episode post every week and boy let me tell you time just gets away sometimes. So I'm going to do my best to catch up this week! I've seen up to episode 6, but four episodes is a lot to cover all at once, so I'm going to try and cover two at a time.

I’m trying to keep all spoilers under a cut as a courtesy. If you reblog with added commentary, please use a readmore so I can reblog it back without spoiling my followers.

Big disclaimer, I kinda drifted from RWBY for a few years before getting back into it in volume 6, and I do not know the lore for this universe nearly as well as I know RvB. This is a reaction post, not hard meta, and I will probably get something wrong. Feel free to correct me, but bear all that in mind. 

Anyway, let’s get into it!

I've come to really enjoy how much aerial combat is a thing in this universe. In hindsight, Ozpin's landing strategy test for the first years makes a lot more sense when you realize that this is just a common thing in aura-based combat and everyone's probably been studying it for years already by the time they arrive at Beacon. (All except poor cheater Jaune, and I have a new theory about him but that will be another post.)

Yang and Blake's awkward flirting is very adorable and I love them a lot.

Weiss mentions that aura can protect you from the cold and is pretty vital for being outdoors in this region, which really makes me wonder what happens if someone gets their aura drained while fighting in the cold.

In Episode 3 we get to spend some more time with Ironwood's Ace Ops. It's immediately curious to me that there are five of them, not four, yet they're shown off in the intro in the same stylized silhouette as as the other teams.

This divergence from the conventions of the universe is kind of a big deal. Everything in RWBY comes in fours. Teams of heroes. Teams of villains. Kingdoms. Schools. Relics. Maidens. A team of five is weird. Also, I don't think their names make an acronym. At least I haven't been able come up with anything from CHEMV.

So I do think it means something that the Ace Ops don't fit the in-universe rules of a team. Because they're also... kind of patronizing and obnoxious, honestly. I don't mind most of the individual characters, in fact I pretty much like all of them on their own (with the possible exception of Clover who I'm less fond of), but collectively they're really patronizing to RWBY and JNR. Even Ironwood recognizes how much they've done, and formally!

But the Ace Ops... well, honestly, they seem really good at making other people feel bad. Especially Qrow. You could interpret Qrow's reaction to Clover's semblance effectively cancelling his out in multiple ways, it's true, but he doesn't exactly strike me as... happy.

We're told that the Ace Ops are handpicked to complement one another. But Harriet also goes out of her way to tell Team RWBY—and by extension the audience—that this is a job, not friendship to them. Ruby seems deflated by this; Yang looks startled, then annoyed; Blake looks angry; Weiss just looks stoic, like she disapproves but knows better than to say so.

And this, I think, is why the Ace Ops are here. They're here to fail. Theyre the test bed for Ironwood telling the world about Salem. They have no stake in the fight but the job—it's not personal for them the way it is for Teams RWBY and JNR, for Qrow. They're a squad, but not friends—not quite even a team.

And that's why they're going to fail, and possibly die. Not saying I want the characters to die, but everything about them seems set up for a fall to me, from their cocky attitudes to their contrast with Team RWBY to them being the first Ironwood has entrusted with Ozpin's secrets.

I physically recoiled when Jacques Schnee appeared onscreen. I don't know how to feel about the fact that Ironwood is leveraging martial law against Jacques and I'm rooting for Ironwood. I mean, it's Jacques Schnee, so I'd root for just about anyone against him, but still. Jimmy. Please. I don't like being on the side of martial law! It's not a good look!

Weiss confronting her father honestly gave me chills. It's such a powerful scene. Not just Weiss staring down her abuser but her friends at her back, and Blake especially taking her hand—that felt like a big deal, like a gesture of solidarity from one survivor to another. And Weiss calling them her "family." All the body language is so well-animated, including when Jacques finally walks away and Weiss's shoulders drop, letting down her defenses, knowing she's safe again. You can feel what it took for her to face him. The whole scene is so good.

And once again, it hammers home that difference between the Ace Ops and Team RWBY. Not just teammates, not even just friends, but family.

I would also like to point out Oscar's presence in the JNR team silhouette in the intro, further supporting my theory that Oscar will eventually be joining Team JNR as their fourth member, becoming Team ORNJ. :)

The graduation, humble as it is, is another gesture of good faith from Ironwood. He believes they deserve it—and aso that they can help Atlas. He got them a cake. Ironwood is, I think, making a lot of mistakes and some that threaten to come back to bite him hard. But I agree with Blake that his heart is in the right place. I just hope something convinces him to listen to reason before it's too late.

Ren seems to be getting annoyed with Nora. Twice is a pattern. At the time of watching I wasn't really sure what was going on there, but something sure was. (More on that in the next post.)

I really enjoyed the Qrow and Ruby talk; it was sweet, and very fatherly. Qrow has always felt like another parent to Ruby to me. I know there are some theories about Qrow being her biological father; to me, that part doesn't matter at all. And I do ship STRQ as a complicated poly situation, big time, but the important thing here is how much Qrow loves her.

We learn a little something about Summer here. It's been established that she left on a mission and never returned, and is presumed dead. Now we know that mission might have been something not even Oz knew about. Qrow himself doesn't know. "She was always the best of us," he says, with such fondness.

It is sweet seeing the characters relax for a little bit and have fun. Yang pranking Penny with her arm was a delight.

And we learn that Watts knows Jacques, because of course he does. Sounds like he faked his death when he turned from Atlas security and joined Salem.

A big thing I'm noticing with this volume is what feels like Rooster Teeth trying to show us that they understand systemic oppression better than they did in like, volume 2. And I do think they've come a long way. There is definitely still some of that cartoon racism against Faunus that we saw in early episodes, but we're definitely seeing more acknowledgment that anti-Faunus racism isn't simply a few isolated mean people being mean.

This volume is also really pushing the class divide between Mantle and the city of Atlas... which will come up more in the next two episodes.