Differences

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--- lb:rvb [2026-03-11 08:56:13] – [Writing Notes] ninjasr
+++ lb:rvb [2026-10-24 19:09:31] (current) – ninjasr
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 ====== Red VS Blue ======
 <div subtitle>
+<div callout nihon>
+This article has been marked for a re-write.
+</div>
 {{tag>shows}}
 </div>
 {{ img:b:r:rvb.png?460 }}
-**Red VS Blue** is a Texan [[lb:Halo]] [[lb:machinima]] webseries about two groups of soldiers – the <span smcp>Reds</span> and the <span smcp>Blues</span> – who are locked in an eternal war until they aren't. Despite being listed second, the **Blues** are the more important faction for the story overall.
+**Red VS Blue** is a Texan [[lb:Halo]] [[lb:machinima]] webseries about two groups of soldiers – the [[lb:rvb:Reds]] and the [[lb:rv:Blues]] – who are locked in an eternal war until they aren't. Despite being listed second, the **Blues** are the more important faction for the story overall.
-I first found <cite>RvB</cite> on [[lb:Netflix]], when I was in a <cite>Halo</cite> mood. Seeing the ‘Halo helmet’, I decided to start watching it...only to be shocked by the fact it was a machinima, so I stopped watching it. But I ended up getting curious so, much later, I went ahead and watched it. And then I saw everything up to the latest season (which was Season 12 at the time).
+I first found <cite>RvB</cite> on [[lb:Netflix]], when I was in a <cite>Halo</cite> mood. Seeing the ‘Halo helmet’, I decided to start watching it...only to be shocked by the fact it was a machinima, so I stopped watching it. But I ended up getting curious so, much later, I went ahead and watched it. And then I watched everything up to the latest season (which was Season 12 at the time).
+<div sheet fit center nihon>
+Re-write progress:
+<ul list check>
+<li item [data-check=check]>Writing Pass</li>
+<li item [data-check=check]>Formatting Pass</li>
+<li item [data-check=uncheck]>Image Pass</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
 ===== Reviews =====
-<div rating>
+<div subtitle>
+<div rating [data-rating=6] [data-favorite=true]>
 <div heart>♥</div>
 <div star>★</div>
@@ Line 15: / Line 28: @@
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+</div>
 </div>
 <div passage>
-The series is split up into big over-arching arcs and each of those has a different feel to it. Seasons 1-5 are the original series – known as the <cite>Blood Gulch Chronicles</cite> – Seasons 6-8 (<cite>The Recollection</cite>) are the sequel and then Seasons 9 & 10 (<cite>Project Freelancer Saga</cite>) are the prequel/sequel series intended to tie up loose ends and finish everything. Then it just kinda continues into the <cite>Chorus trilogy</cite> with Seasons 11-13. Then Season 14 is an anthology series. Season 15 was a standalone, but led directly into Season 16. I stopped watching during Season 16 because although I was much younger and dumber, I could tell that it was getting very bad.
+The series is split up into big over-arching arcs and each of those has a different feel to it. Seasons 1-5 are the original series – known as the <cite>Blood Gulch Chronicles</cite> – Seasons 6-8 (<cite>The Recollection</cite>) are the sequel and then Seasons 9 & 10 (<cite>Project Freelancer Saga</cite>) are the prequel/sequel series intended to tie up loose ends and finish everything. Then it just kinda continues into the <cite>Chorus trilogy</cite> with Seasons 11-13. Then Season 14 is an anthology series. Season 15 was a standalone, but led directly into Season 16. I stopped watching during Season 16 because although I was much younger and dumber, I could tell that it was getting //very **bad**//.
-Apparently there were two more seasons after 16. And, most recently, a film was released to //definitively// end <cite>RvB</cite>. Though I haven't watched it yet.
+Apparently there were two more seasons after 16. And, most recently, a film was released to //definitively// end <cite>RvB</cite>.
 </div>
@@ Line 31: / Line 46: @@
 <div passage>
-Now, putting personal stuff aside, are there any problems? Well, yeah. They ended up doing several retcons following Season 5. Basically retroactively explaining the weird stuff that happened then. Some of these are //fine// while others are bad. And some of them are just not explained at all, requiring guesswork to figure out.
+Now, putting personal stuff aside, are there any problems? Well, //yeah//. They ended up doing several [[lb:retcon|retcons]] following Season 5. Basically retroactively explaining the weird stuff that happened then. Some of these are //fine// while others are bad. And some of them are just not explained at all, requiring guesswork to figure out.
-An example of the unexplained retcon is <mark spoiler><dfn>Church</dfn>’s time-travel shenanigans involving Gary. Originally, this was played straight as time-travel...but this was retconned. Church wasn't traveling thru time but, instead, was being tortured by Gary</mark>. The only way I knew about that was that I checked the wiki once.
+An example of the unexplained retcon is <mark spoiler>[[lb:rvb:Church]]’s time-travel shenanigans involving [[lb:rvb:Gamma|Gary]]. Originally, this was played straight as time-travel...but this was retconned. Church wasn't traveling thru time but, instead, was being tortured by Gary</mark>. I only figured it out, and only know it now, because I checked the wiki once.
 </div>
 <div passage>
-Besides these issues, there's also an under-utilization or just odd use of characters. <dfn>Tex</dfn> <mark spoiler>– or at least the original Tex – ends up just falling out of the story. It isn't even super clear that she died as part of the EMP as it is for Church and a few others. It could be argued that she had a proper end in Season 9, but that //wasn't// Tex, that was <dfn>Epsilon!Tex</dfn></mark>. Seasons 9 & 10 actually make this much worse, because they go out of their way to elaborate on more details...which means that, retroactively, minor characters were made more important with the implication they'd go on to do more...which they couldn't, because a lot of them were simply //dead//.
+Besides these issues, there's also an under-utilization or just odd use of characters. [[lb:rvb:Tex]] <mark spoiler>– or at least the original Tex – ends up just falling out of the story. It isn't even super clear that she died as part of the EMP as it is for Church and a few others. It could be argued that she had a proper end in Season 9, but that //wasn't// Tex, that was [[lb:rvb:Epsilon!Tex]]</mark>. Seasons 9 & 10 actually make this much worse, because they go out of their way to elaborate on more details...which means that, retroactively, minor characters were made more important with the implication they'd go on to do more...which they couldn't, because a lot of them were simply //dead//.
-This was definitely noticed because <dfn>Kakaina Grif</dfn> was missing from the series until Season 15 (?) and other characters like <dfn>Sheila</dfn> also just disappeared.
+This was definitely noticed because [[lb:rvb:Kakaina|Kakaina Grif]] was missing from the series until Season 15 (?) and other characters like [[lb:rvb:Sheila]] also just disappeared.
 </div>
@@ Line 46: / Line 61: @@
 Also! It may seem irrelevant, but the mini series //are// actually important for understanding the plot.
 ==== Season 1 ====
-<div rating>
+<div subtitle>
+<div rating [data-rating=5] [data-favorite=false]>
+<div heart>♥</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
-<div star disabled>★</div>
 </div>
-The first season is kinda rough in hindsight and feels a little out of place when you consider everything else (Sarge doesn't really sound like Sarge for example).
+</div>
+The first season is kinda rough in hindsight and feels a little out of place when you consider everything else ([[lb:rvb:Sarge]] doesn't really sound like Sarge for example).
 However, this is also the origin of <q :en>Hey.</q> <q :en>Yeah?</q> <q :en>You ever wonder why we're here?</q>
 ==== Season 2 ====
-<div rating>
+<div subtitle>
+<div rating [data-rating=5] [data-favorite=false]>
+<div heart>♥</div>
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
-<div star disabled>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+</div>
 </div>
 The second season feels similarly rough, though not to the same degree.
@@ Line 68: / Line 91: @@
 This is also where the plot starts getting a bit more complicated, which is exciting!
 ==== Season 3 ====
-<div rating>
+<div subtitle>
+<div rating [data-rating=5] [data-favorite=false]>
+<div heart>♥</div>
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
-<div star disabled>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+</div>
 </div>
 <div passage>
 I found a lot of the time-travel stuff to be a bit annoying.
-It isn't clear whether the time-travel is just a delusion or not, because the series (until Season 5) actually provides evidence to suggest it's real. Y'know, Sheila saying it's been a few years (and being damaged for no explicable reason); the bases in <dfn>Blood Gulch</dfn> being rebuilt; their armor changing; everything Church experiences; the fight with <dfn>Wyoming</dfn>.
+It isn't clear whether the time-travel is just a delusion or not, because the series (until Season 5) actually provides evidence to suggest it's real. Y'know, Sheila saying it's been a few years (and being damaged for no explicable reason); the bases in [[lb:rvb:Blood Gulch]] being rebuilt; their armor changing; //everything Church experiences//; the fight with [[lb:rvb:Wyoming]].
-On the other hand, there's some indication that it's a delusion: <dfn>Grif</dfn>’s sister being able to show up there; the fact this is a theory of the Reds & Blues; Tex & Wyoming inexplicably being in the future as well; the yellow guy; the zealots being in the future; <mark spoiler><dfn>Butch Flowers</dfn> not being dead</mark>.
+On the other hand, there's some indication that it's a delusion: [[lb:rvb:Grif]]’s sister being able to show up there; the fact this is a theory of the Reds & Blues; Tex & [[lb:rvb:Wyoming]] inexplicably being in the future as well; the yellow guy; the zealots being in the future; <mark spoiler>[[lb:rvb:Butch Flowers]] not being dead</mark>.
 </div>
 Also, I think there was a bit too much standing around and talking. I know that's the point of the show, but it may have gone on for too long.
 ==== Season 4 ====
-<div rating>
+<div subtitle>
+<div rating [data-rating=4] [data-favorite=false]>
+<div heart>♥</div>
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
-<div star disabled>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
-<div star disabled>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+</div>
 </div>
 See [[#Season 3]] for the biggest complaints.
@@ Line 96: / Line 127: @@
 This one very much feels like setup for the next Season and consequently feels like not much actually happens here.
 ==== Season 5 ====
-<div rating>
+<div subtitle>
+<div rating [data-rating=6] [data-favorite=false]>
+<div heart>♥</div>
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
@@ Line 102: / Line 135: @@
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+</div>
 </div>
-Pretty good if anticlimactic ending for the <cite>Blood Gulch Chronicles</cite>, though it's interesting to see that they <mark spoiler>hinted that Tex didn't explode</mark>.
+Pretty good //if// anticlimactic ending for the <cite>Blood Gulch Chronicles</cite>, though it's interesting to see that they <mark spoiler>hinted that Tex didn't explode</mark>.
 I'll probably think of more to say later.
 ==== Season 6 ====
-<div rating>
+<div subtitle>
+<div rating [data-rating=5] [data-favorite=false]>
+<div heart>♥</div>
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
-<div star disabled>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+</div>
 </div>
 Re-watching this again so long after seeing it for the first time (and an initial re-watch)...it's surprising how it //feels very short//. It doesn't feel like anything really happened, which I think is because it was mostly setup for Seasons 7-10.
-If you don't count <cite>Out of Mind</cite> or <cite>Recovery One</cite>, this is the season that established most of the more ‘serious’ lore of //Red vs Blue//. But it's also very clearly a transitional series from the older more comedic stuff to the far more serious stuff. I think it mostly works, though...again, mostly setup. It's a bit like Season 4.
+If you don't count <cite>Out of Mind</cite> or <cite>Recovery One</cite>, this is the season that established most of the more ‘serious’ lore of <cite>Red vs Blue</cite>. But it's also very clearly a transitional series from the older more comedic stuff to the far more serious stuff. I think it mostly works, though...again, mostly setup. It's a bit like Season 4.
 I guess my brain mentally categorizes Seasons 6-8 as one continuous season, rather than as separate things. Which is fitting I guess.
@@ Line 122: / Line 161: @@
 There is also a lot of great foreshadowing for the <mark spoiler>final twist that Church is an AI</mark>.
 ==== Season 7 ====
-<div rating>
+<div subtitle>
+<div rating [data-rating=5] [data-favorite=false]>
+<div heart>♥</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
-<div star disabled>★</div>
 </div>
-After leaving this empty for a while...I realized that I don't have a very good way of categorizing this season. It's mostly setup for future seasons as far as I remember. Though we do encounter ‘<dfn>C.T.</dfn>’ for the first time <mark spoiler>(and technically the last)</mark>.
+</div>
+After leaving this empty for a while...I realized that I don't have a very good way of categorizing this season. It's mostly setup for future seasons as far as I remember. Though we do encounter ‘[[lb:rvb:C.T.]]’ for the first time <mark spoiler>(and technically the last)</mark>.
 ==== Season 8 ====
-<div rating>
+<div subtitle>
+<div rating [data-rating=6] [data-favorite=false]>
+<div heart>♥</div>
+<div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
@@ Line 137: / Line 183: @@
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
+</div>
 </div>
 <div passage>
 Season 8 is the second time there appears to have been an attempt at completing the storyline and, in that regard, it's pretty good.
-This is also where the animation starts to come in and...yeah, it's really good. I think that this season still features two of the best fight scenes in the whole series: the fight between <mark spoiler>Tex and the Reds and Blues</mark> and the <mark spoiler>fight between Tex, Wash and the <dfn>Meta</dfn></mark>.
+This is also where the animation starts to come in and...yeah, it's really good. I think that this season still features two of the best fight scenes in the whole series: the fight between <mark spoiler>Tex and the Reds and Blues</mark> and the <mark spoiler>fight between Tex, Wash and the [[lb:rvb:Meta]]</mark>.
 </div>
 It's pretty great!
 ==== Season 9 ====
-<div rating>
+<div subtitle>
+<div rating [data-rating=5] [data-favorite=false]>
+<div heart>♥</div>
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
-<div star disabled>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+</div>
 </div>
 The first of the <cite>Project Freelancer</cite> arc and...yeah, the animation is great. Everything involving the skyscraper is just phenomenal.
-Not much else to say here, except that the prequel does show us how <dfn>Project Freelancer</dfn> rendered everyone involved crazy.
+Not much else to say here, except that the prequel does show us how [[lb:rvb:Project Freelancer]] rendered everyone involved crazy.
 The segments inside of the memory unit are probably the weakest part of the season and definitely weird. As a side-effect, it resulted in <cite>Halo Reach</cite> not being used in...any future project, which is shameful since that's my favorite Halo game.
 ==== Season 10 ====
-<div rating>
+<div subtitle>
+<div rating [data-rating=6] [data-favorite=false]>
+<div heart>♥</div>
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
@@ Line 165: / Line 218: @@
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+</div>
 </div>
 The animation visibly and significantly improves here, probably because they hired more animators.
@@ Line 176: / Line 231: @@
 Also, a side-note: <mark spoiler>I realized that there's a very very tiny implication that Tex is still alive here. This is relevant because Tex is my favorite character and I don't doubt she's one of the favorites of the fanbase too.</mark>
 ==== Season 11 ====
-<div rating>
+<div subtitle>
+<div rating [data-rating=4] [data-favorite=false]>
+<div heart>♥</div>
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
-<div star disabled>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
-<div star disabled>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+</div>
 </div>
 This season mostly went back to the standing around and talking good old days...which I felt was maybe a bit overdone. Especially with the interactions between the Reds.
@@ Line 189: / Line 248: @@
 I also generally dislike the aesthetic here.
 ==== Season 12 ====
-<div rating>
+<div subtitle>
+<div rating [data-rating=5] [data-favorite=false]>
+<div heart>♥</div>
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
-<div star disabled>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+</div>
 </div>
 <div passage>
 The twist regarding the civil war was pretty good, though maybe a bit too obvious.
-This is where the Chorus trilogy actually gets very interesting.
+This is where the <cite>Chorus trilogy</cite> actually gets very interesting.
 </div>
-However! The animation is pretty lame. It's way slower than the animation of previous seasons and it is very obvious.
+However! The animation is pretty lame. It's way slower than the animation of previous seasons and it is //very// obvious.
 I didn't really care too much about most of the characters who were introduced, though I liked the Federation's doctor. Quite a bit actually.
 ==== Season 13 ====
-<div rating>
+<div subtitle>
+<div rating [data-rating=6] [data-favorite=false]>
+<div heart>♥</div>
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
@@ Line 212: / Line 277: @@
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+</div>
 </div>
-A good conclusion to the Chorus trilogy and, technically, Red vs Blue as a whole. Again.
+A good conclusion to the <cite>Chorus trilogy</cite> and, technically, <cite>Red vs Blue</cite> as a whole. Again.
 While the animation remains pretty bleh, the one thing I'll give it is that the scale of a lot of the animation is pretty great. Particularly the crash of the prison ship.
 ==== Season 14 ====
-<div rating>
+<div subtitle>
+<div rating [data-rating=5] [data-favorite=false]>
+<div heart>♥</div>
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
 <div star>★</div>
-<div star disabled>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+</div>
 </div>
 I mostly don't have an issue with Season 14, with a few exceptions. I don't like the episodes that show the assembling of the crew in Blood Gulch...though, don't get me wrong, I have no problem with //most// of the content there. What bothers me is that a lot of the characters (prior to Blood Gulch) are depicted as having killed people. I can’t articulate exactly why this bothers me, but I don't think it meshes well with what we know about the Reds and the Blues.
 ==== Restoration ====
-I'll be skipping the other seasons (because they are bad and I don't like them). But I //have// just finished watching Restoration, so I figure I'll write a review...soon. Yeah.
+<div subtitle>
+<div rating [data-rating=3] [data-favorite=false]>
+<div heart>♥</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+I forgot to write the review for several months, but I think it should be fine.
+The film is...not great, honestly. I am actually quite disappointed with how it turned out, though I can see how it got this way. It's very clear that they had run out of time to do it right, but they still tried. It's frustrating that they couldn't have done it better, but there isn't really anything else that can be done about it.
+If it were done properly, it probably would have been a really good ending to the series. As it stands, I can’t really say it was the most coherent or that it was particularly funny. Not all of the voice actors returned too, so some characters also just sound weird.
+It's a shame, but that is how <cite>RvB</cite> ends, I guess.
 ==== Mini-Series ====
 === Out of Mind ===
-<cite>Out of Mind</cite> is the first mini-series, though I realized on my re-watch that...it was done in <cite>Halo 2</cite> and not CE.
+<div subtitle>
+<div rating [data-rating=4] [data-favorite=false]>
+<div heart>♥</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<cite>Out of Mind</cite> is the first mini-series, though I realized on my re-watch that...it was done in <cite>Halo 2</cite> and not <cite>CE</cite>.
 Watching it now is very strange, since a lot of the events were retconned.((:fn:>Though I was thinking about it and I think that <cite>RvB</cite> is one of the few examples of a series that manages to handle retcons fairly well, despite essentially re-writing events.\\ I'll elaborate later.))
 === Recovery One ===
-<cite>Recovery One</cite> is the second mini-series (‘sfar as I know) and it follows <dfn>Washington</dfn> in his role. It takes place right after <cite>Out of Mind</cite> and right before Season 6.
+<div subtitle>
+<div rating [data-rating=4] [data-favorite=false]>
+<div heart>♥</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+</div>
+</div>
+<cite>Recovery One</cite> is the second mini-series (‘sfar as I know) and it follows [[lb:rvb:Washington]] in his role. It takes place right after <cite>Out of Mind</cite> and right before Season 6.
-I think it's alright. Nothing much happens, but it does explain how <dfn>Delta</dfn> got from position A (<dfn>York</dfn>’s corpse) to position B (<dfn>South</dfn>). Among other things.
+I think it's alright. Nothing much happens, but it does explain how [[lb:rvb:Delta]] got from position A ([[lb:rvb:York]]’s corpse) to position B ([[lb:rvb:South]]). Among other things.
 === Relocated ===
+<div subtitle>
+<div rating [data-rating=3] [data-favorite=false]>
+<div heart>♥</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+</div>
+</div>
 I forgot what I was originally gonna write here, but I'll remember later.
 === Where There's a Will, There's a Wall ===
+<div subtitle>
+<div rating [data-rating=4] [data-favorite=false]>
+<div heart>♥</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+<div star>★</div>
+</div>
+</div>
 Probably among the least consequential of the mini series and very clearly just a bonus. At least it's mildly entertaining.
-===== Characters & Worldbuilding =====
+===== Characters & World-building =====
 <div passage>
 <cite>Red vs. Blue</cite> takes place in the <cite>[[lb:Halo]]</cite> universe...kind of. It's more like a derivative.
-There are a few references to <cite>Halo</cite> sprinkled into the series like Master Chief, the war with the Covenant and the UNSC...though, overall, it's very light on details.
+There are a few references to <cite>Halo</cite> sprinkled into the series like [[lb:halo:Master Chief]], the war with the [[lb:halo:Covenant]] and the [[lb:halo:UNSC]]...though, overall, it's very light on details.
 </div>
-It's clear that [[lb:rvb:Project Freelancer]] is a rival organization to the Spartan-II and Spartan-3 programs.
+It's clear that [[lb:rvb:Project Freelancer]] is a rival organization to the [[lb:halo:Spartan-II]] and [[lb:halo:Spartan-3]] programs.
 ===== Writing Notes =====
 Oh don't worry, this section will have stuff in it...