#yes this timeline there was (less then decent) ai. this one just happens

[calliecat93]

RvB17 Episode 12 (Season Finale): Theogeny

We did it, everyone! We made it to the finale! Woohoo!  It still sucks that it’s only 12 episodes, but hey we made it!

It has been one Hell of a ride, full of highs and full of lows. I loved things like Donut getting character development, and hated things like how confusing the time travel shit is. I’m not going to talk about those here though. All of that will be saved for my Season Review, which should be up later today or tomorrow. So stay tuned for that cause it is looooong! For now though, we need to unpack this finale because Lord knows how they’re going to resolve all of this in just one episode. So without further ado, let’s dive right into the grand finale of Red vs Blue: Singularity.

Overview

We begin with Grif still being pushed through drills, continuously shot at until the coach knocks him over the ledge. Fortunately, before he can meet Lopez’s fate, he’s saved by Donut who kills the Labyrinth's Avatar and frees Grif from his nightmare. Chrovos succeeded in sending Donut and Doc in, and they are unaffected because… ugh… because plot! Okay, maybe it’s because they haven’t seen the Avatar yet, IDK. Anyways, once Grif understands what’s going on, he immediately becomes concerned about where his sister is. He runs off to find her, which Donut thinks that splitting up is good and Doc is left alone. Chrovos encourages him to unleash O’Malley, which he is dead against. Nevertheless, he goes forward.

Doc finds himself in Wash’s nightmare, where O’Malley starts to take over. He’s about to do what O’Malley does, but Doc tries to reign him in. The two argue, O’Malley telling Doc that without him, he is nothing and no one likes him and all that stuff. Doc’s response? That if he sucks, then O’Malley also sucks. He finally takes control, essentially becoming both himself and O’Malley and he rushes forward. Wash his prepping his gun, ready to avenge his dead friends… just in time to see that Doc has already done the job. Yes everyone, Doc got violent willingly AND now has full control over his O’Malley half. Doc has become a badass.

We now cut back to Sister, with her and Grif’s house now set ablaze. Grif runs in, asking why Kai is seeing their home. Sister reveals that it got burnt down. She didn’t start it and their mom is okay (but in a trailer park), but it happened and since Sister didn’t replace a smoke alarm, it couldn’t be saved. Grif… is pretty damn pissed, but Sister counters about how Grif left her and their mom. Grif counters that he had been drafted and starts yelling at her for allowing this to happen… before being knocked out by the real Grif. Yep, that was just The Labryinth, not the real deal. Sister is understandably confused as Grif explains what’s actually going on to her. Still, Sister feels terrible for the house burning down… but Grif isn’t upset at her nor does he blame her.

It is at this point that Grif comes clean about something. So you all know the draft story? The one that was said to be canon for all of these years? As it turns out, Grif had lied about it. He wasn’t drafted, he had enlisted just like he said he did back in the first episode and last season. Why? He had been tired of his life. He was tired of his circus performer mom and the lifestyle due to it, tired of having to take care of a younger sister, and he wanted to have more structure than what all of that and college could give him. In other words, he ran away from his problems and as a result, ran away from his own family. He hadn’t meant to, but he did and he had heard about the fire, but he said nothing because he couldn’t face Sister about it out of guilt. But he’s willing to talk about it now, whenever Sister wants too, if she’ll forgive him. Sister, while tearful, forgives him as Grif shoots his copy, ending the nightmare.

Soon, everyone else is freed. Wash and Doc save Sarge just as he’s being sent out to die. Sister and Grif go to save Simmons, Grif telling Sister that they keep whatever he’s seeing private. Simmons vision… is so terribly done and utter bullcrap that I refuse to talk about it in the overview. But he’s freed. Donut finds Tucker, who… seems fine and snapped out of it himself. That is until Donut sees his discarded sword on the ground and asks him to pick it up. After all, only Tucker can turn it on. The others arrive, Doc shooting the fake Tucker down. The real Tucker soon emerges, having passed out from a panic attack. Everyone regroups, and only Caboose and Carolina are left. They don’t have to search for Caboose though, he’s already freed. Well, it’s been proven that alien AI can't affect him, so alrighty. That leaves only Carolina.

As before, Carolina is still facing her past self who is saying that if her mom and dad were already dead and her efforts worthless, then that means that she is already dead. It’s beating Carolina down… until she sees Wash and the others. This is all that’s needed to make Carolina realize that she’s just speaking to a warped reflection, and she’s not going to let her stay int he way. Thus we get our one and only fight scene in the season... and it is badass. Kinda hard to review fight scenes, but trust me, it is awesome. It ends with Carolina being knocked down… but she still wins. The others surround past!Carolina, aiming their weapons at her as Wash supports the current Carolina. The Carolina who found a new family, found something worth fighting for instead of just herself, and how any one of them can end her past self with just the pull of a trigger.

The illusion dissolves, and the past!Carolina reveals their true form as the Avatar of the Labryinth. He is trying to do his job of not letting Chrovos be set free, so Donut reveals that they’re there to keep her in and if they were, he’d have done it while in the prison room. The Avatar thinks over this, just as Genkins arrives. But the Reds and Blues seem to be gone, but the Avatar has the golf club. Avatar questions Genkins intentions as the only one of his kin around that the golf club would work on is Chrovos. He puts two and two together and starts to pound Genkins, even breaking his holographic form. Worst, the Reds and Blues reappear, all with golf clubs. Genkins is mortified… before finally realizing how there can't be more than one and that he is being affected by The Labyrinth now.

Genkins knocks Avatar into the Black Hole, ending the vision. But he is at his limit. No matter what he’s tried, the Reds and Blues won’t die or stay down. It doens’t help when Dontu says that Lopez died… but Genkins says that cant be because he’d have felt it. It makes Donut realize that Lopez instead was looped back to the beginning of time, just like Huggins. And that’s a major revelation for Genkins, realizing that Huggins was how the Reds and Blues kept finding him. But this also gives him a new idea: to go back to the beginning of time and make it so that he can wipe out the Reds and Blues form existence. He leaps into the Black Hole, Donut stopping the others from intervening.

As it turns out, this was Donut’s plan and the Avatar reappears, complimenting him on it. So what happened? Well, Genkins succeeded in going back to the beginning of time and becoming a God. He became Chrovos… literally. He created the Cosmic Powers, became more corrupt, and he became the true Chrovos. But as a result, his kin turned on him, used the golf club and Hammer on him, and is how we got to where we are now. The present Chrovos is informed of this, and all things considered, she’s unhappy but takes it well overall. As such, Chrovos’ plan ultimately failed, and there is only one paradox remaining: Wash’s injury. Wash accepts it and is ready… but asks for the others to be there, so that he won’t be alone. They all go through the Everwhen as Chrovos watches the final crack disappear, ensuring that she is trapped forever.

We cut to the hospital, where Doc confirms that Wash is stable and will be okay, but he does indeed still have brain damage. The timeline is restored with seemingly everything from S16 having never happened. They can’t see him quite yet, but this time they can properly be there for him for these next few months. Grif suggests that they get pizza, which they get on him about but honestly I’m on his side. Donut opts out though, deciding that he wants to be on his own for a while and do some traveling. The season ends with them realizing that Lopez is gone… but that he had been sent back to the beginning of time, so he’s alive. And indeed, he shows u alive and well and has many things to tell… too bad that they can't understand him~

And thus, this episode along with Season 17, comes to a close.

Review

Fuck man, just…. Fuck. Where do I even begin with this?

So overall, decent finale. It felt a lot less cinematic and dramatic than the finale last year, but it still did all the things that a finale needed to do. It wrapped all the elements of the episode and the season and gave a bit of an abrupt, but fitting conclusion. It also leaves a LOT open for future writers. Wash having to deal with his brain damage, the others adjusting to the change, Donut going off on his own, the Cosmic Powers are still around, and even Chrovos can come back in the future. It ended things, but leaves plenty of room for the future, so that’s good.

There was a lot that I liked here. The best scene was Grif and Sister’s talk. It kinda retcons Grif’s draft story, but honestly… I am perfectly fine with that because this works so well. The two clearly love each other, but they’ve also always kinda felt distant and awkward. This explains it. Sister felt guilty for the fire, Grif felt guilty for leaving, and neither one knew how to address it until The Labryinth forced them to. With how badly I felt they dropped the ball with Grif, getting this moment was very nice and it does work around to his character arc of finally owning up to his problems and dealing with them instead of running from them. It also helps Sister be a more three-dimensional character and completes her shift from a last-second addition there for sex jokes to a true member of the cast. The moment was so well directed, written, and Geoff and Becca’s performances were as perfect as they were heartbreaking. I really loved this moment.

There was ome other good stuff too. Carolina vs Carolina, while not as creative as last year’s finale fight, was super badass and a perfect way to let Carolina bury the past for good… hopefully. Cause the ‘Carolina is guilty’ arcs are getting repetitive at this point. Genkins actually being Chrovos is a confusing mindfuck, but it kinda fits as a Hoist by His Own Petard story and certianly not what I was expecting. Even when he went back to the beginning, he still ultimately failed to defeat the Reds and Blues and sealed his own defeat. I guess that present Chrovos was imprisoned for so long that she forgot about all of that… which makes sense considering how long she was imprisoned. I’m pretty much okay with the twist, even if it was a mindscrew. And I am glad that they didn’t chicken out of keeping Wash brain damaged. It sucks, but it just feels wrong to do away with that because it’s not how it works It’s part of his character now, and now he has to live with it. But he won’t be alone. He’s proven that he can handle a lot of bullshit, and this time he’s ready for it. I’m proud of him.

It wasn't all perfect, mind you. The reveal was still a confusing mindfuck and essentially retconned S16 out fo existence. I guess they all still have their memories, but I just don’t like that… plus it means that Grif never got a sword. Hey guys, fix that next season, please. Oh and Simmons nightmare was complete and utter bullshit and I hated it. At least Grif’s despite being mostly a joke you could kinda fit it for his character and he got his scene with Sister. But how does losing his penis to aliens enhance Simmons character in any way? Yeah no,t hat was terrible and I really, really hope that Simmons is given a better storyline next season. Maybe even let him be the hero next season since he’s never really gotten the chance. Just saying. Also, the ending was kind of abrupt, but they still wrapped up the important bits, so I’m okay with that.

Is it the best finale? No. S13 and 16 were gonna be pretty damn hard to beat though. I’d say it’s average but does its job well enough. And my anger about Simmons aside, I really enjoyed the finale. It also really does a great job at concluding Donut’s arc. There isn’t really a moment of them acknowledging that DOnut did well, which is a tad annoying, but he still proved to the viewers what he was capable of. He saved the universe and in a damn pretty clever way. Him leaving is a bummer, but he deserves it and I’m sure that he’ll come back. Very least, he feels accepted back into the group and I don’t blame him for wanting some space after everything. Overall, I’m super proud of Donut and whoever is in charge of writing is gonna have to keep it up. No more of relegating him to just the innuendo guy people… but a few are okay! DOn’t want to throw it out completely XD

Final Thoughts

As I said, decent enough finale with a few things I didn’t care for, but it overall wrapped things up. I’ll have more details about my thoughts on the season as a whole in my season review… which is currently 11 pages long and not done yet, so I’ll have to half it. But both parts should be up by tonight. But either way, I had so much fun reviewing the season as well as watching it. I will sure as Hell be back to do S18, and of course, I’ll be doing RWBY V7 when that starts. I’m also considering doing dome more RvB Commentary Masterposts since people seemed to like the S16 one (which one for S17 will be done when the DVD is out) and I’ll be writing another masterpost on the RvB panel at RTX. I have to watch it on a stream since I can't go (/SOBS/) but be on the lookout for it.

Well… as a wise pig once said, that’s all folks! thank you for reading, and I’ll see you all for my Season Review! Hope you’ll enjoy~!

[lady-divine-writes]

Coldflash one-shot - “Illusion” (Rated PG13)

Summary: Barry needs to find a way to fix things. To change things between him and Len. To stop the inevitable. But as smart as Barry is, with all of his super powers, are there some things that just can't be changed?

Notes: This is kind of a re-write of a one-shot I wrote for another fandom. Also, it has a twist to it, so you've been warned.

Read on AO3.

Pop …

Sizzle …

Crackle …

Whir …

The intense silence in the kitchen amplifies the sounds of breakfast cooking, but Barry’s mind has wandered so far from this room, the noise barely chips its way in. He’s working on autopilot, meandering from stove to sink to counter, paying no attention to where his feet land, his hands powered by déjà vu, not a thing pulling his notice – not the bacon, smoking in its oil, needing to be flipped; not the toast, popped in its slots, cooling for over thirty minutes; not the eggs he’s been whisking so fast they’re becoming meringue. A groan from upstairs jars him out of his stupor, and he finally looks down at the bowl of frothy pale yellow on its way to becoming white peaks. He glances over at the staircase, a huge lump settling above his Adam’s apple, then back at his eggs, and sighs. He was never that good at cooking anyway. Most of his adult life has been spent existing off of cold cereal and ramen soup when he wasn’t living with Joe and Iris. Of all his talents as a scientist and a superhero, whipping up pancakes or frying an egg wasn’t among them. Funny since cooking is basically science, a factoid that his boyfriend points out every morning Barry overcooks oatmeal.

Just this once, for this breakfast, Barry had wanted to get something right.

Labored footsteps cross the floor overhead and Barry continues whisking. He’s in no danger of making anything out of the eggs at this point, but he can’t think of anything better to do. It’s not actually about the breakfast, it’s about this moment. He’s been waiting all morning for it, and now that it’s arrived, he’s not ready to face it.

Thunk, thunk, thunk – the sound of one-hundred seventy pounds of lean muscle making its way to the kitchen kicks Barry into overdrive. He zips around, collecting up the edible elements of the meal and laying them out on the table. If he’d been searching for self-satisfaction, he’d have to admit that the spread he comes up with – a stack of toast and another of waffles, the original pound of unburnt bacon, and a farmer’s market worth of diced fruit – is impressive, especially considering he doesn’t remember making any of it.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” Len grumbles to the streak of red lightning serving up food. “The infamous Flash making breakfast for little ol’ me? Whatcha tryin’a do, Red? Fatten me up before you drag me off to Iron Heights? My last decent meal as a free man?” He runs a hand over his shaved head, suspiciously side-eyeing the wall clock as he makes his way to the table. “12:30? So, either you let me sleep late on purpose or you’re still not talking to me.” He takes a seat, reclining with his arms locked behind his head. Silver-blue eyes watch Barry hop between pans on the stove, preparing what looks like a colossal meal.

Big meals mean people, and Len’s not exactly in the mood.

“Are you expecting guests for breakfast, Red? Iris? Joe? The CCPD, perhaps?”

“No,” Barry says, cursing the hoarseness in his voice. He turns off the bacon, gives up on the eggs, and sets two empty plates down on the table. Barry has yet to look at Len, spread out in his chair, observing him curiously. He’s been on the edge of tears all morning and if he looks at his face, that smug smile and those mischievous blue eyes, he’s not going to make it through breakfast. Crap! He should have done this another day.

“So, you’re not still mad at me for last night’s little escapade?”

“No. No, I’m not.”

“Even after I did something you expressly told me not to do? Something you said would destroy our relationship if I did?”

“Yes.”

Len’s eyelids narrow. “What about everything you said last night …?”

“I don’t care about that!” Barry slams his hand on the table hard, catching the lip of his plate and smashing it to bits. “I don’t care about any of it! Just forget it! Please? I’m sorry! I’m so sorry for what I said, for every fight we ever had! Please, just …!”

"Barry?” Len gets up from his chair and takes Barry’s hand, bleeding from a long cut down the palm. It’s also healing up fast, pushing pieces of ceramic out of his skin as it does. But Len still leads him to the sink to wash it off. “Barry, what’s going on with you? You’re acting like a moody teenager. You’re usually not this weepy over me pulling a job. You’re usually more punchy and jabby.”

“I don’t like this,” Barry admits, looking Len in the eyes for the first time since he came down to breakfast. “I don’t like what’s going on. I haven’t for a while, and I don’t … I’m having a hard time handling it.”

“And what’s that?” Len asks, lips pinched tight in defiance even though his eyes still brim with concern. “You and me? Is that what you’re talking about?”

“No, Len!” A tired breath accompanies Barry’s words because it always comes back to this. No matter what the argument, Len brings it back to them being together as Barry’s ultimate issue, as if running off on the Waverider at a moment’s notice to places unknown where Barry can’t contact him only to come home and pull jobs he swore off, with Barry eventually hunting him down to make sure he doesn’t end up dead – or arrested - would be less stressful than the two of them being together as a regular, every day couple. But that’s not how Len thinks. The everyday and the normal seem to be more of a burden to him than the shit he puts Barry through. “I … I just … I’m scared, Len! Scared you’ll walk out the door one day to a place I can’t go, I can’t find, and never come back! I don’t think I could handle it if you disappeared – blinked out of existence on another Earth or in another dimension!”

Len grins, his tight lips and concerned eyes melting into a cocky grin. “Oh, baby. We’ve been over this. I’m invincible, remember?”

Barry stares at his boyfriend, tears and screams and pleas threatening to split his skull, begging Len to see the truth. But Barry knows it’s no use. Nothing he can do, nothing he can say, will ever change what happens next.

Barry was right. He picked the wrong time for this.

“Yeah,” Barry sniffs sarcastically. “Yeah. You’re invincible.”

Len wraps his arms around Barry’s shoulders, confident he’s won this argument. And, of course, that means to the winner go the spoils.

“Say,” he starts, and Barry sighs, knowing where the conversation goes from here, “I know you spent all morning on this fantastic breakfast, but whaddya say you and I leave it for now, go upstairs, and maybe work up an appetite?”

Barry takes another look at Len’s handsome face, longer than the last, and shakes his head.

“Not today.” He takes a step back, the confusion on Len’s face heartbreaking, but Barry can’t. Not today. “Gideon? Pause simulation.”

“As you wish, Mr. Allen,” the melodic voice of the AI responds. The scene around him shifts, goes fuzzy. Except for Len’s face, which is crystal clear everywhere for Barry – here in STAR Labs and in his memory. Those memories have haunted Barry ever since the day the Waverider came back without Leonard Snart. Barry has been reliving those days within the confines of this program he’s created, mostly out of guilt, drudging up the details of how they left one another – Barry seething over a heist that didn’t matter in the long run, and Len, self-righteous as always, taking off without so much as a goodbye. Because Len wholeheartedly did believe he was invincible. He never would have conceived of the Waverider returning to Earth without him on it.

But what could Barry have done? How could he have changed things? If he could nail it down, then go back in time, maybe he could fix it. He created an algorithm inside Gideon’s programming to help him isolate it. He’s giving himself one shot. Considering how badly he tends to mess up timelines, he’d only take the one chance. Two if it seemed warranted.

But he hasn’t gotten to the point where he can will himself to take that next step.

Barry has an eidetic memory. He doesn’t need Gideon to regurgitate the same scenes from his final days with Len over and over until he tears his eyes out. All this is is an exercise in lying to himself. Because as much as he wants Len back, he wouldn’t have said the things he said to his simulation. He wouldn’t have completely absolved him. He couldn’t go against his principles, put the greater good in danger, for the man he loved.

Because Len and the things he did were dangerous.

But is there an alternative? In months of searching, Barry hasn’t found one. He’s not helping anyone by doing this. He’s torturing himself by giving himself hope that Len will come home one day and he can fix things between them.

But Len is gone. Dead and gone.

And Barry, with all his powers and all his talents, will never see him again.