Tell me, why are you into Q-Tip and Christeson? I mean, they're great and all, but your point of view is always so good!
Awwwww, yeah! A chance to talk about my boys!
First, they are young and dumb (for the purposes of this post, this means inexperienced and completely willing to rush in and react, even if they step in it) and sweet, and I find it utterly endearing. I tag them as “smol but bloodthirsty” a lot because they are so wide-eyed and eager to please the older Marines, and eager to mimic the aggressive rhetoric the others spew, and eager to do literally anything, that they remind me of puppies. They are growling, and they might bite you, but they are just as likely to trip on their own paws or get distracted as a toy as they are to actually hurt you. They want to be intimidating, but it mostly comes off cute.
Second, I love the way Qtip seems to have about fifteen minutes more experience than Christeson does, yet has decided to take Christeson under his wing and teach him the ways of the world.
Third, I just adore Qtip. I love that he’s constantly making weird faces and that he doesn’t seem to be able to express complex emotions except through quotations. I love that he is totally bought into hatred against the world and Iraqis in the abstract, but every single individual action you see is pure sweetness and light. He objects to racism against other Marines, he lets Trombley borrow his shitter, he teaches Christeson about entrances and exits, he carries the litter with the shepherd boy, he is kind to the Iraqi POW while he explains that there “ain’t no Sadaam no mo’ .”
The moment where he goes into the brush to get medieval on an Iraqi animal’s ass encapsulates so much about what I love about him. Everything sucks, they’re preparing for it to suck more, everyone is exhausted and on one meal a day and bracing for a mission that is dangerous and makes no sense. You get the sense that Qtip looked around and that he was like “Well, I can’t solve any of those big problems, but I can solve the dinner problem! I’m on it!” That exuberance and ingenuity and optimism are rare in the show, and they’re important.
Lastly, I have to admit that I mostly love Christeson because Qtip loves him so much and because he loves Qtip so much, but there is one thing about him that really stands out to me as admirable and mature beyond what I would expect. He is so aware of what he doesn’t know and so eager to get better, that he will take information and learn no matter how it is presented. Doc calls him PFC Fucknuts, and Christeson is not even offended, he is just like  “Aha! Now I know! Don’t pee on stuff!”  (Side note: Not a thing you’d think you’d have to teach someone, but see above about him being a puppy.)
