#was a rough start at first which is why yang might look a bit weird but

[blondiearts]

RWB outfits are from @drowsywithnochaperone ‘s edits! I’m manifesting the ponytail again with Yang’s.

#rwby #bumbleby #yang xiao long #blake belladonna #ruby rose #weiss schnee #weiss is still not having it with these two #also manifesting blake's hair growing crwby please #but anyways! #feels good to be drawing again #was a rough start at first which is why yang might look a bit weird but #now i feel better about jumping back in to my commissions too

[the-hate-keeps-me-warm]

weed garden

now I know this joke is dead but I ended up over writing this so some of it got cut this is my first real fic vie published i hope you like it if not feel free to make fun of me  It was ruby's idea she was stressed about well everything and she knew yang and Blake had a lot of it, it was legal in atlas after all she only took a little they probably wouldn't even notice she had it for a week just to make sure they didn't

They were sitting alone after training oscar was sweaty and looked tired she leaned over "So Oscar uh what do you think of smoking"  He raised an eyebrow "well my aunt smoked cigarettes  and a bit of weed during the winter" he said putting long memory on his hip "Uh why the winter," she asked meeting his raised brow "Well there's not as much work to do in the winter so you can slack off a lot more" he responded "Well uh what about you have you ever smoked" she tried not to seem too obvious but she started to nervously fidget with her hands “Uh well my aunt let me smoke a cigarette once when I was 12, but I think that was to make me hate them she bought the most bitter horrible tasting ones she could," he said a faint look of annoyance at his aunt going across his face She giggled and said "from what you tell me that sounds very like her but like uh would you smoke weed like now I mean" He rubbed the back of his neck his eyes darted to her "well uh maybe with someone I trust" She bit her lip and said "well do you trust me" His ears got a little red "well of course I trust you, id smoke with you if you asked" 

"Well I'm asking Weiss is going to one of those art show thingies blake and yang are going to uh do whatever it is they do so I'll have the  room all to myself so I  thought that maybe we could do it together smoking I mean" her cheeks grew red to match his ears He nodded his head just slightly "I uh sure do you want me to bring cookies my aunt would always ask me to bake for her after she smoked" She smiles wide "yeees please the Peanut butter chocolate chip ones or the strawberry ones there the best" His face started to get flushed too "I uh I can make you both I’m assuming you're supplying the, uh you know weed" "Well yeah but that's gonna take a while won’t it, you don't have to make both," she said trying to hide the fact that she wanted both of them "No no I'll make them ironwood gave me access to the cafeteria kitchen so it won't take very long at all" he fiddled with his hands "and besides I know you like my baking and I like doing it for you" She smiled "he likes baking for me," she thought while trying not to giggle "well then I won't stop you I'll bring those pretzels you like" He smiled a little "I won't tell anyone were doing this" he stood up and said "I’ll see you tomorrow I got to get baking I might make some other things" 

She nodded her head and they split up when she got back to her room she was practically bouncing with excitement yang was sitting on her bed "why aren't you tired you and Oscar were training all day" her face flushed a little "Well I’m just kinda excited  I’m gonna have the room all to myself" she says trying not to be super obvious "I saw you and oscar talking after you trained did you invite him over," blake says hidden in her bunk “damn you blake” she thought  Yang beams excitedly "is it a date!" "What no I just invited him over to eat junk food and play video games" she waved her hands around frantically not helping her case 

 Yang deadpans "you asked him to come to your dorm room alone he might be oscar but he's still a teenage boy ruby he’s gonna think it’s a date" Ruby crossed her arms and grumbled "Look if you don't like him that's ok but it's obvious to everyone how much he likes you so if you don’t like him don't lead him on make sure he understands how you feel" Blake chimed in peeking out from her bunk 

"I uh I think I like him but I don't know if I want things to change yet and I'm not even sure if he likes  me " she sits down on her bed 

Yang hops down from her bed and sits next to ruby throwing an arm around her shoulder "that's perfectly ok if you feel that way but oscar likes you the way he stares at you the way he talks about you it's obvious" she smiles at ruby's red cheeks and tries to finish  her speech with "but if you do decide you like him to make sure to practice safe-uhg" ruby ends it with a punch to the gut "Yaaang shut up even if i do like him I'm not talking about that" she squeaks and reals back for another punch yang puts her hands up in surrender "Alright Oscar would probably have a heart attack anyway I’m just saying" yang kisses ruby on the forehead like she always did "you should try to talk to him about it ok" Ruby grumbles a simple "I’ll try" 

Oscar is having a similar time 

Nora hugs him tightly "ooo my baby's going on a date" oscar blushes as ren pulls Nora off of him "It’s not a date she just invited me over to play video games and stuff" he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly Jaune sitting at the small table "Oscar you know she's into you and isn't it weird that she waited till everyone would be gone to invite you over" Oscars face flushed an even deeper red than it had been before and he frowns  "well I don't think she is I’m sure she has lots of better  people to choose from" Ren put his hand on Oscar’s shoulder "Oscar please do not doubt yourself you’re great" 

"Yeah you’re a total catch Oscar your smart cute strong brave you have freckles and your cool with the headmaster of atlas" Nora chimed in counting his positive traits on her fingers "Thanks" is the only response Oscar can think of his embarrassment only growing "Now you need to pick out what your gonna wear and what your gonna say," Nora says standing quickly "Nora he doesn't need us to meddle with it if you need to advise Oscar you just have to ask I would recommend wearing something casual," ren said "Alright I will" 

They both went to bed thinking about their little 'date' in the morning oscar started baking and when he has a lot on his mind he tends to overdo it so he ended up making both batches of cookies a mini strawberry cake a dish of brownies and french toast casserole for breakfast 

After wby left ruby spent the morning gathering snacks and making the room as comfy as possible as well as gathering Oscars and her favorite games she remembered yang saying that her first time smoking sucked so she wanted to make sure she and Oscars  first time was fun 

Oscar had gone back to the dorm with all the food packed carefully to get ready Ren was the only one in the room he was sitting on Nora’s bed reading “oscar before you go I need to talk to you please sit” ren sounded serious and not in his normal way so he sat across from him “now Jaune and I didn’t bring this up earlier but we decided it was important to talk to you about because your 15 and we both know what it was like being that age and we know you like ruby a lot” he talked like how oscar imagined his father would “Uh yeah so what is this about” oscar had a vague idea in his head of what it was “I’m going to give you the talk I know your aunt gave you one but I think it’s a good idea for another man to talk to you as well,” ren said closing his book and leaning forward So then began  5 minutes of surprisingly not awkward conversation ren was very easy to talk to ren finished the conversation with handing oscar a condom “now I know you probably won’t use this but I want you to be safe ok and please don’t do anything you don’t think you’re ready for” Oscars’ face was pretty red after that but he put the condom in his back  pocket and thanked ren before taking everything he needed to Ruby's room She opened the door right as he was about to knock “oscar I was just about to come to get you” She said trying to act casual “Oh uh am I late,” he asked he would look at his watch but his hands were very full she takes the containers from his arms and sets them with ease on the little table next to the window

“Nope I was just getting impatient,” she says spinning back around to face him she was in her pajamas he thought she looked really cute he was just wearing his old pants and a comfy sweater he had bought in argus “Well do you want to uh you know smoke” he tried to not sound awkward but the boy can only do so much “Yeah sure let me get it” she was excited to finally be able to relax with him she lifted her mattress and pulled out the joint it was in a plastic bag with the lighter she had picked up in atlas she sits down on her bed which she had piled blankets and pillows on she beckons him to sit with her and he does leave space between them 

“Alright so I guess I’ll go first,” she says lighting the joint then inhaling and immediately coughing 

Oscar leans closer “are you ok” the actual worry in his voice makes rubies heart squeeze a little but she tries to play it cool “yeah yeah it’s just rough do you want to try,” she says holding it out to him he gently takes is and holds it up to his lips slowly inhaling then coughing himself covering his mouth and holding it back out to her “your right that’s rough” 

Ruby laughs “I told you” they pass it back and forth for a little bit they had both begun to feel it then oscar giggles 

“What’s so funny,” she says nudging him with her shoulders he giggles again and says “your name is ruby carmine  rose all your names are words for red” ruby laughs “ha your right wait what’s your middle name is it funny” oscar leans back onto a pillow “no its magus it means uh sorcerer oh I don’t like that I just put that together” oscar starts to laugh and in between laughs says  “ha that makes way too much sense man maybe destiny exist it was my great grandfather’s name, oh god” Oscars laugh becomes Weezy and ruby leans on him “well I think its a cool name” oscar stops laughing and says “well I guess it is its fitting at least right” he inhales again and passes it back to ruby it’s over halfway burned out she's been asking it in an old red solo cup “you know what about we bust out those snacks I don’t know about you but I’m really hungry” she sits up oscar does right after he stands and gets the cookies before she does he hands her the tupperware box of the strawberry chocolate chip she smiles and giggles “thanks cookie” she says bursting into laughter after 

Oscar cocks his head to the side “cookie?” rubies laughter grows more intense “it’s my nickname for you in my head it’s so dumb it’s because your sweet and your freckles look like chocolate chips” oscar started to laugh as well “that’s adorable ruby” he says as her face gets red they both sit back down this time oscar leaning on ruby and then their silent ruby thought maybe oscar had fallen asleep “You know ruby you are like the coolest person I’ve ever met like your the youngest person to get to beacon a silver-eyed warrior and your the leader of your team that’s  all amazing,” he said still leaned against her she smiled and her face got hot 

“Well I think you’re cool to oscar,” she said munching on a strawberry chocolate chip cookie 

 He looks up with the biggest smile she’s ever seen him wear “thanks that means a lot” he bites his lip “do you wanna play some video games” he said with a mischievous grin 

“Yes I was looking forward to kicking your ass,” she said as they pull their scrolls out and start playing Grimm beat down Vl a game ruby rocked at and oscar had never managed to beat her at when they started to play and oscar was doing way too well he was doing combos and not just button mashing he was blocking and dodging ruby was getting frustrated she leaned forward preparing to up her game and up her game she did but it wasn’t enough oscar took the first round than the second even ending it with a fatality 

Ruby groaned in frustration taking another drag of the joint then passing it to oscar “how did you get so good is it the weed do you have weed powers”

Oscar laughed and said “I don’t know I just feel super relaxed and your moving slower” She crosses her arms with a fake pout “were gonna say weed powers hm what do you wanna do now I am tired but a nap seems like a waste" There's a sparkle in Oscars eye "a nap sounds awesome" Well uh wanna take a nap I thought you were  asleep earlier" he lays his head back down on her shoulder "You know usually id be nervous about being so close to you but this is nice you smell like metal" "Hm really? I thought I’d smell like weed or I don't know rose petals," she says "Well you do smell like weed but mostly metal When you use your semblance you do smell like roses but when you work with crescent rose a bunch you smell like metal oh wow that probably sounded creepy" She shakes her head "no its kinda sweet you smell like weed and cookies my favorite smell" 

"Thanks, I guess," oscar says then goes silent his breathing slows down after a while she looks at him and he looks like he’s asleep she needs to grab another cookie so she carefully lays him down and grabs another cookie trying to quietly eat it revealing in its deliciousness after finishing it she lays down beside him resting her head on his chest "he's really warm," she thinks and then drifts off to the most peaceful sleep she's had in a long time

___________________________________

sorry if this was formatted badly or its just bad i liked making it tho 

#rwby #rosegarden #weegarden #ruby rose #oscar pine #oscar is a simp #he can cook good ok #ruby is also a simp #everyone ships it yang and nora are the captains #big brother ren #this was so much fun

[nexyra]

I got an ask for Qrow Branwen so here it comes !

My fav ship(s) for the character

I think my favorite ships for Qrow are Cloqwork and Fair Game ! Cloqwork lacked screentime in terms of canon content of course, but I love the potential here. I also have a things for shipping the sad men together xD There are a lot of REALLY great Cloqwork fanfics out there and I love seeing people write about these two <3 It's in the details but I think there's something interesting here. With Qrow who is convinced to be a curse, who came from such a harsh background... And with Ozpin who is so convinced of humanity's inherent goodness and that anyone deserves a chance. At the same time they're both very complicated people who I think would interact in cool ways. Ozpin is wise but does have a mischievous streak that I think also helped in making them both get along. Qrow is much more perceptive than he appears and that's also good for dealing with someone as secretive as Ozpin.

Fair Game also had a very good start ! The relationship was admittedly a bit tilted toward Qrow's recovery in the show, but they were nice to see together. Clover was perceptive & caring as well as patient. All great qualities for a relationship with Qrow, who has a hard time breaking down his walls and a shot mental health. At the same time, Atlas is very professional, straight-to-the-point and I think Qrow is a real breath of fresh hair in that environment. He brings a different viewpoint to the table, he's very loyal & caring and it's clear that his sass amused Clover greatly. We didn't get to learn enough about him, but Clover's VA hinted that Clover's trust was a fragile thing and he wasn't a fan of showing vulnerability. Qrow, who gives everything he has in all his relationships, would have been a great balm for that uncertainty. So yeah !

My least favorite ship(s) for the character

There are, of course, any & all ships between Qrow & the kids or Qrow & Salem's team. But outside of these obvious "nope", I'll have to go with Jailbirds. This is COMPLETELY personal but I have a really hard time liking Robyn's character as of V7 end/V8 so I'm barely interested in her dynamic with Qrow. I did appreciate her talking down Qrow from revenge because he was only doing it for his own sake but... That's about it. I find her way too abrasive (hidden behind her shiny Robinhood looks). And whereas Clover (imo) was pretty good at getting Qrow to face his issus head-on & building him up, I feel like Robyn relies more on humour & deflection... Which is an art Qrow is already acquainted with, and not the best coping mechanism for him. Aaaand I just feel like she put Clover down several time in order to lift Qrow up. That, plus the queerbaiting controversy, plus her having indirectly participated to Clover's death... The ship makes me a bit uncomfortable.

My fav & least fav platonic relationship(s) for the character

My fav platonic relationship for Qrow is his bond with Ruby ! I really hope they bring it back because these two were GREAT together. Ruby's admiration was adorable. Qrow's nonchalent but clearly protective streak. They care about each other A LOT and I really loved them together. I hope they can have more moments together like back in V3-V4 or V6.

I'm not sure what my least liked platonic relationship would be. Saying Robyn again feels like beating on a dead horse but I don't really have a problem with any other ones. They're all, if not kind & good for him, at least interesting (like Raven)

My favorite thing about the character

The combination of his sassy/cynic personnality and how loyal & caring of a person he actually he is. Qrow is rough around the edges, leans easily into banter but he cares so damn much. He fit so easily next to Ruby's peppy enthusiasm in Vol 1-3, and then he was just an incredible badass and yet so damn vulnerable human in Vol 4-6. I liked that about him. How all the pieces fit together

My biggest criticism for the character

Well I have 2 things to say about that. First : V7C12 With Friends like these. What the fuck was this episode qkfazkfhkgh Qrow's brain was nerfed SO DAMN HARD, I was genuinely pissed while watching the episode. This was just a string of dumb decisions from everyone except Tyrian. But I digress -

In a more general sense, I'd say... putting Qrow in the sidelines. Him falling further into depression was a sound decision. It was interesting and fitting of his character imo. But I feel like they tied "Ruby having enough of his alcooholism" and "Ruby growing away from adults" in a way that kind of.... just put Qrow to the side and doesn't allow him to do much. In V6 finale, Qrow expresses understandable concerns about their plan to steal an airship, but instead of dealing with that Ruby's frustration with his cynicism is aired out and... the timing kind of makes the whole thing weird becaus Qrow isn't allowed to disagree with their plan ("we'll do it with you or without you") and then has to trust Ruby and let her go which AGAIN is a great moment in itself. But all that put together just like... rid Qrow of his function as a parental figure because Ruby is the leader now and he's just... kind of following along.

When was their writing at the peak according to me (ex : best season)

Okay for this one Q, I'll have to go with Vol 4 and Vol 6 for very different reasons. V4 was great because we really got to get to know Qrow. His complicated relationship with Raven. How BADASS his encounter with Tyrian was I freaking loved it. What his semblance and how it shaped his life. And it also let him be vulnerable through the poison & seeing Ruby repay his care was very nice.

Vol 6 for fleshing out, taking his issues & drinking more seriously. Showing more hopelesness and cynicism, and that he had a real drinking problem and he wasn't just a fun drunk. Plus the loss of faith in Oz showed how much Qrow needs stability and secure certainties to orbit around despite his nonchalant personnality. But I like it a bit less because it was the starting point of putting him on the side kind of.

A song I think fits them & why

Ship in a Bottle (Steffan Argus) ➸ A song about being alone in your fight, in the sense that your life is like a sail on the ocean and you are the only captain, the only one who can choose what to do with it. At the same time, there are several mentions of a "captain" as if the singer/Qrow adresses someone else. It's reminiscent of his relation with Ozpin or Clover : speaking of a deal, of being honest and sharing what's on your mind. Qrow thinks too much, he's scared and he sinks more & more as he delves into his cynicism (V6). Qrow cries, things get worse, the mention of the glass echoes his struggle with alcooholism. And the Scarewrow loses his brain, "lose touch with all the things that made [him] feel sane."

+ Problem child (Simple Plan) The Star song (Amanda Palmer) Would anyone care (Citizen Soldier) Wasted (8 Graves)

A headcanon to make up about them

Qrow didn't have the most normal childhood and because of that he had to learn a lot for Ruby & Yang. Notably, Qrow had absolutely 0 notion of what was an appropriate presents for young girls. As a result, he tended to simply bring back from his travels whatever shiny thing might have caught his attention. Could be a weird flower. Could be a pretty knife. Or even junk that his corvid brain latched upon.

Tai designed a look(Tm) that Qrow learned to recognize as "No, not appropriate." After a while, Yang learned to mimick it (but rather at random, she didn't really recognze what was appropriate and what wasn't). Ruby always liked his presents though.

What I would change about them if I was making a re-write

I CLEARLY would rewrite V7C12 so that Qrow & Clover keep their brains kzjhfkqhzk There were ways to reach the same conclusion without like... having a Qrow-Tyran team-up which was REALLY weird

I see 2 main possibilities to stick close to canon content - After the crash, Tyrian gets free but he keeps playing dead for a bit. Since there is no 3rd menace, Clover and Qrow's argument devolve into a fight as seen in canon. At one point, Clover manages to briefly disarm Qrow. They discuss for a bit, you can even put the exact same dialog as in the ep. Then Tyrian takes action, moving out of the shadows to kill Clover with Qrow's discarded weapon. Braincells saved. OR - Instead of having Qrow & Tyrian outright team up, Tyrian just... keeps instillating doubts in their mind. Qrow & Clover are temporarily allies in taking Tyrian down but because of this, they don't TRUST each other which cause missteps and make them less effective. At one point, Qrow tries to attack Tyrian who is behind Clover. But because neither Qrow nor Clover really have faith in the other at that moment (and because Tyrian is poisonning their mind), Clover automatically steps back or aside. He doesn't entirely trust Qrow. Because of this small hesitation, Qrow's attack fails. Tyrian manages to disarm him. Tyrian uses Qrow's weapon to kill Clover. There could even be some message here about the lack of Trust & letting Salem divide friends... something of that caliber in any case 🤔 It can even parallel V3 where Qrow did the same thing with Ironwood & Ironwood refused to stand aside even if he thought Qrow meant to attack him... Could lead somewhere ! Like, in V3 Qrow had faith that Ironwood wasn't to blame. Only Ironwood feared that Qrow blamed him, but Qrow knew & trusted that Ironwood wasn't to blame. In other words, Salem didn't divide them. Here, Qrow & Clover let Tyrian get into their head. And as a result Clover dies. "Together we stand, Divided we fall"

My guess for their MBTI/Enneagram

I'm still mulling on it right now but I think he might be some kind of ISTP 416. He has some weird 7ish behaviour but his need to orbit around someone/a goal, his relationship with Oz, how close he stuck to Tai & Summer sounds closer to 6 fix. He wants people to go home to. Certainty and security. His independance definitely is there but seems emphasized moreso out of necessity.

One aspect that I think would be nice to delve deeper into ? (optional)

I'm not sure mhmmm maybe his relationship with Summer ? It would be both cute & interesting. As well as finally giving us insight into who Summer was

#rwby #qrow branwen #rwde #rwby thoughts #send asks #cloqwork #fair game #v7ch12 #with friends like these #v7 spoilers #character song #enneagram #mbti #rwby rewrite

[silvysartfulness]

Top 5 xue yang moments

Okay, so, this will be long. I could infodump Xue Yang metas and headcanons for hours. Brace.

1: His expressions in the Unclean Realm from Episode 10.

He looks entirely unafraid being dragged to his death, just shifting seamlessly between bored, amused and unabashedly curious. Most famously outside the gates, but also doing background faces while the others argue inside with Nie Mingjue, and still analyzing and sniggering when the captain derides Meng Yao.

You can just see the wheels turning in his head - ”I can use this”. Which is amusing, considering how earlier in the same episode, Meng Yao gives him that exact same look. ”I can use this.”

The beginning of a beautiful mutual exploitation of each other. They might even call it friendship. ♥

2: The whole scene that night in the Coffin House when he's trying to resurrect Xiao Xingchen. The increasingly wild mood swings from shocked ”this will be fine” denial as he washes the blood from Xiao Xingchen’s fingers to the absolutely sweet and adorable setting of the dinner table (and that Soft Look), the slow realizing something's wrong, the very human shaking the talismans a bit as though that'll actually do something, the leaning over to sniff/feel for breath/kiss and following horrible realization, the terror and grief instantly shifting into fury, then back into grief, then back to anger and negotiation, despair again, and finally deranged hope. That whole scene, fuck, it wrings my heart dry every single time.

3: His actual death scene, kneeling in the dirt, the way he looks at Fuxue when it comes into view, then getting stabbed, not even trying to avoid it, and falling... and then the jerky little movement of his hand to bring the candy into view so he can look at it, remember Xiao Xingchen and ”how nice that would be”, finally dying with a soft smile on his face.

(I have developed a pavlovian response to the background music in this scene. Even where it's used at other places in the series, I get goose bumps and my eyes tear up. And that last camera pan to the black lantern swaying in the wind, all of the funeral decorations of Yi City become a monument to the dealer of death who has died, my heart. If anyone knows a place to find that track, please please let me know. It's not on the OST and I want it.)

4: The scene where Xiao Xingchen confronts him, and he actually bares his heart in a final desperate attempt to actually get Xiao Xingchen to understand him, even as everything is going down in flames. The raw emotions on his face that entire scene, they kill me.

How their whole last confrontation is filmed like a battle – Xiao Xingchen attacking first, stabbing him, then Xue Yang pressing forward with his hand raised to tell his truth, Xiao Xingchen pressing him back again with his merciless accusations, Xue Yang parrying back with horrible revelations that make Xiao Xingchen stagger back, finally driving him all the way back and to his knees, to finally fall. The choreography of that entire conversation is poetry, and it hurts.

5: Xue Yang's interaction with Wei Wuxian in episode 37, once the juniors have been sent out to let the grownups talk.

There are just fractured glimpses of his old self – he's enjoying this! He's enjoying it a lot! Their weird little compliment-insult game! It's fun!

And then peppered through with madness – the glassy, teary-eyed look in his eyes when Wei Wuxian brings up the Chang and Baixue and he laughs and laughs. (this is not a happy laugh.)

Only to be instantly 300% laser-focused the moment the fierce corpses burst through the wall, snatching the soul-pouch back in an instant. Because this may be fun. But it's all still for a purpose.

The sweet smiling nagging could be cute if there wasn't enough desperation beneath that even emotional log-head Wei Wuxian picks up on it enough to throw it back into his face in the confrontation a few eps later ”Why did you beg on your knees for me to bring him back?”

...

It's hard to pick just 5, though!

I love the silly game with Xiao Xingchen, where he blatantly cheats, only to instantly admit to it and going anyway, the way he grabs onto his arm to pull him back (clearly no longer hiding left-hand touches!) in a way that's really too rough but so affectionate at the same time. ♥

I love the shameless flirting with Xiao Xingchen when he whines and begs to be allowed to go with him night-hunting (abandonment issues or just wanting the chance to get Xiao Xingchen to do horrible things? Both?) and the bum-touch when they're climbing onto the roof.

I love how ridiculously helpful he is in Yi City overall – the moment we see him back on his feet, literally, the first thing we see him do when he can walk again, is to come limping back home with firewood. And he doesn't even put that down before picking up the roof material from Xiao Xingchen as well, offering to help fix the roof.

Threateningly stabbing potatoes to get them good food when Xiao Xingchen is shooed away by the produce merchant, volunteering to go grocery shopping two days in a row - even the night hunting, that, yes, I know, was horrible in the beginning what with the whole tricking Xiao Xingchen into killing people bit, but the book very clearly states that that was only in the beginning, how it tapered off into ghosts and monsters as time went by. Which was helpful!

(I may or may not have a future section in Roadtrip discussing Chengmei's helpfulness at one point.)

I think, in the end, what I love about Xue Yang is his character's journey, which is played so beautifully by Wang Haoxuan.

How he starts out a cocky little unrepentant shit, keeps being an even more horrible little unrepentant shit, then Yi City with Xiao Xingchen where he grows into being something comparatively soft and happy, and then the broken, obsessive remains we see at the very end of his life, something worn so thin and fractured, just accepting that blade to the chest in the end, dying with a soft smile, surrendering at last.

Ow.

#the untamed #mdzs #xue yang #xiao xingchen #xue yang meta #silvygifstheuntamed #long post #untamed artfulness #lepetiterik

[razorblade180]

interdimensional dads 5 (Finale)

Orange, Blue, and Purple all make a drum roll on the table as they stare at Red, who is sipping coffee and trying not to laugh at the lunacy that is quite literally, himself.

Jaune: Y’all dome?

*drum roll stops*

Jaune:Yep, your turn. You have to be the buffest for a reason right?

Jaune:And look like you’ve seen shit?

Jaune:We’ve all been through shit. We’re us!

Jaune:Yeah, but you’re you.

Jaune:How- I’m not arguing with that one. Okay, my turn. Since you brought it up, we, I gained weight for a little bit and eventually got back into a workout routine. I might’ve went a little overboard but no one complains.

Jaune:Alright, now we can back this story up and start from wherever you like.

Jaune:Aight, I guess I start with my universe beating Salem. By that point, Ruby and I had been together for awhile. I think we were always together to a degree ever since RNJR formed. We obviously didn’t actually say anything but the time we spent felt different. At least for me it did. Maybe mourning Pyrrha had something to do with it but by the time Yang and Weiss showed up at Haven, Ruby and I were definitely on “friendly terms”

Jaune:Aaaaayyyyeeee!

Jaune:You two are too much. Haha, let him continue.

Jaune:We were trying to keep it lowkey but I’m sure everyone knew. Back to Salem, that was insane. If you were to tell me I’d help save the world when I was only 19 then I’d laugh.

Jaune:Wait...19? I was twenty.

Jaune:Same.

Jaune: I was 21! Are you saying Ruby beat Salem at 17!? That’s insane! Which one of us has the strongest versions of our friends? I never thought about it until now.

They all got silent and thought about it for a moment. That was a very good question.

Jaune:Ummm mysterious voice? Do you have an answer to that?

[Each person varies, but a majority is between Orange and Red. For example, Orange has the strongest Blake, while Red has the strongest Sun.]

Jaune:What about in terms of team RWBY?

[The feats in all universes make that a close race. Red, Orange, and Blue have extremely powerful Yangs that would most likely in a brutal draw. Collectively, the strongest team RWBY would be a tie between Red and Orange]

Jaune:Makes sense, my worlds peaceful.

Jaune:And mine doesn’t have any organized threat against it, just the dangers of living in a world trying to grasp the concept magic and gods again.

Jaune:Well we might not have a concrete answer but I’m sure my wife beats your Ruby. After beating Salem we continued traveling the world to thin out grimm threats, just the two of us. Not that the others didn’t want to but they needed a moment to breathe. Ruby and I however, we were kinda on a high of being the heroes we always dreamed of.

Jaune:Your victory lap was more adventure? Yeah you’re definitely built different from me. My Ruby went on missions but even she took a minute just to breathe. It was a very short minute, but the minute none the less.

[Comparing the two is like comparing an lone apex wolf to a jaguar.]

Jaune:Well then....all of that sounds scary.

Jaune:It wasn’t long before we got a house together. Built it actually, in Vacou. It’s a nice little spot over looking the town and another one in the distance. When Ruby was 19 she had really gotten into her stride and was only getting started. Also, I married her. I had known for awhile that she was the one so why wait? I wanted to go on all of her adventures and create new ones with her.

Jaune:Aaaaawwwww

Jaune:Things were like walking on sunshine. All of Remnant knew about Ruby Rose, the huntress that saved the world with her friends. Then at 21, I got her pregnant. *scratches head*

Jaune:I know that scratch. That’s the “My bad” scratch!

Jaune:Okay, it wasn’t exactly planned. I was thrilled when I found out since I did want kids with her. I learned a month after she knew though because she wasn’t sure what to think at first. Ruby was perfectly happy being the hero, she hadn’t even hit her prime yet technically. When she told me though, it was after she had talked about it with Tai and thought about it. I think she might’ve been happier than me.

Jaune:My Ruby would give anything to have a kid.

Jaune:Mine would give anything for her husband back...

The mood suddenly got a little less cheery with that statement.

Jaune:Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring the mood down.

Jaune:It’s fine...this next part....isn’t happy. It’s the reason I fell out of shape, and partly the reason why I look like I’ve gone through shit.

Jaune:Oh....no...

Jaune:You lost the baby?

Jaune:Yeah but uhhh, not the way you’re thinking. The pregnancy was fine, the birth was a little rough but it was fine. A little baby boy, Dustin Arc-Rose. I saw him for about five minutes and then he was stolen, by Neo and Cinder. I must’ve ran the fastest I’ve ever had that day. Faster than even Ruby can move on a good day, and yet they got away. Yang, Weiss, and I stood on the roof of that hospital and watched the airship fade into the sunset. I must’ve stayed up there for hours, screaming. Yang and Weiss kept it together for my sake but not by much.

Jaune:Dude I am....I am so sorry that you went through that.

Jaune:We showed mercy to Cinder the day we beat Salem. It came back to bite us. Things fell apart after that. I shutdown, the others felt guilty, especially Yang. As for Ruby, she broke a little. She looked longer than anyone else for a lead and drowned herself in work for about a year. In that time we didn’t talk, I never knew where she was, if she’d come back. Tai ended up taking me to live with him and unfortunately, time wasn’t gonna wait for anyone. Lives had to be lived, Yang and Blake still had to get married. It just didn’t happen with Ruby.

Jaune:How did you even find the strength to keep going after that?

Jaune:In my world, Yang is my closet friend. Thick as thieves, the two of us always try to pick each other up. She never hesitated to be by my sad whenever I asked. I don’t think I could’ve made it without her since Ruby was gone. One day however, the two of them showed up out of the blue. Ozpin had decided to confront Ruby. For once I was glad he meddling in our lives. He got her to start moving on and come back to me. That day I realized how special my friends are. Most people would’ve looked down on me for failing, not going after Ruby, breaking down, but not them. They wanted me back on my feet for my own sake. Just like they wanted for her. I’m really blessed.

Jaune:That’s good. Friendships that you want to live for, I’m glad we wall have that in common.

Jaune:Yeah. Ruby and I took some time to be together after that. No work, no leads, just healing. In that year she was gone, Ruby had become a juggernaut in the huntsman community. Even got a nickname, The Storyteller. Keeping up with someone like that meant getting back into shape. Those months we spent together gave us a slither of the joy we had missed. Eventually, thanks to Yang having her child, we found the courage to try having another one. Her name is Carmine and she’s my gorgeous daughter. We even have another son much later named Garnet.

The other three Jaune’s clap happily.

Jaune:Yeah, that’s definitely a lot of shit to go through.

Jaune:Hats off to ya.

Jaune:How’s Carmine?

Jaune:*puts head on the table* Uuuugggghhh!

Jaune:Yeah, that’s sound you make when you have a headstrong daughter. Who does she take after?

Jaune:That’s just it, she doesn’t really. Not in personality anyways. Carmine is a bit weird socially. She can be pretty blunt, making her sound rude. She doesn’t mind having friends but at the same time keeps them at arms reach. She says they would slow her down. Not to mention her and Ruby’s vision of what a huntress should be doesn’t match up perfectly so they end up butting heads on occasion. Still, Carmine is sweet if you know how to talk to her and understand her words.

Jaune:She gifted?

Jaune:*inhales*....Carmine is genius in battle. We taught her ourselves and sent her to regular school so she gained a bit of social skills. No one outside of selected few knows she has silver eyes. Carmine wears red contacts typically. New types of grimm pop up regularly so Cinder is obviously alive and well. Can’t be too careful.

Jaune:Sounds stressful. I’d rather deal with cult and my world’s grimm problem than Cinder. How old is Carmine?

Jaune: She’s 17 and more impressive than Ruby was at that age if I’m being honest. Though I’m not sure if that’s a good thing. We’ve done our best to give her a normal childhood as much as possible. I think what we gave was an odd mix of normal and insanity.

Jaune:Honestly, same.

Jaune:What do you mean Carmine is more impressive? Ruby was awesome since day zero at Beacon.

Jaune:Silver eye use, age five.

......

Red took a sip of his coffee while everyone tried to wrap that around their head.

Jaune:Since a young age, I knew Carmine was special. She has a difficult time showing up but she loves the Remnant we’re trying to build and the people in it that want to do good. I’ve seen her look out over cities before and I could feel the immense desire she had to preserve it. That girl has a strength I don’t think I could take credit for. That stern look, height, hair, and guitar skills though, That’s me. The tipsy of her hair are red though. She’s like a half ripe strawberry, hahaha.

Jaune:Sounds like an incredible girl. Must be pretty popular.

Jaune:If she could come off a bit nicer she would! I’d give up Pumpkin Pete’s for life if this kid could learn to work well with others. I’m glad people like her cousin and a couple of others that can deal with her. It’s not all bad. They know to bring out the normal teenager with her.

Jaune:Is she like Ruby and panics at rats?

Jaune:No, but she can’t deal with spiders. We have grimm spiders that are actually terrifying and that ruined normal spiders with her too.

Jaune:Grimm spiders? How big? A boot size?

Jaune:SUV....one spun her in a web. It was really bad.

Jaune:Fuuuuuuck that! I’d hate spiders too!

Jaune:Yeah but she has fun. Ballet, sleep, horses, etc. You just have to get her to work up to it.

Jaune:What about your son?

Jaune:Garnet? He’s five, has fat cheeks, and is probably eating some dry cereal right about now. He’s Ruby’s little teddy bear and is chillin. He’s probably the only thing that makes Carmine a big softie at the drop of a hat.

Jaune:Sounds like you’re doing pretty well for yourself? That’s good.

Jaune:We have struggles but we make things work somehow.

Jaune:I still can’t believe Cinder killed your kid. I don’t think I’d ever recover.

Jaune:Lost....we lost a kid. Killed wouldn’t be the right word. Dustin...just isn’t....it’s complicated. I don’t wanna talk about it.

Jaune:Sorry.

Jaune:It’s fine. That aside, I think most things life throws at us, we’ll handle just fine.

Jaune:What do you think Carmine is up to right now?

Jaune:Good question. I don’t think she’s on any mission or working with local authorities currently. If it’s morning then she’s in the garden. Playing with Garnet if it’s the afternoon so he’ll tired out. If it’s night time then.....

xxxx

“STAY AWAY!!!” A man screamed, shooting four bullets down a dark alley in the middle of the night. His target, a pair of shimmering red eyes that patiently stalked him from the shadows as he sprinted away. Each bullet seem to go right by his target so he continued running for his life, making a sharp right turn around a corner.

“You know eventually I’m going to catch you right?” Carmine said as she walked. “I’d rather you not make this longer than it has to be Tommy. We could be done by now if you just spoke to me.”

The only response the girl received was the sound of footsteps getting further away and a chain link fence being shook. Carmine sighed and looked around her before picking up a trash lid. She hurled it against a wall to her left and that was ahead in front of her, making it bounce off towards the right. The hunk of metal made its way around the corner with a whack! Followed by a heavy thump that hit the ground. Carmine continued walking until she turned the corner and found her target on the ground. He was rubbing his back in pain and groaning.

“Come on, I know I didn’t hit you that hard. The new head of crime orginization wouldn’t go down so-”

Suddenly the brute lunged at her, revealing a previously concealed dagger. Carmine was quick to react however, and grabbed his wrist before the blade could make contact with her exposed stomach. Carmine then twisted his hand down word and forced his entire arm slam down to the groun; the blade pierced the ground at her feet. Thick yellow liquid secreted from blade and soaked the ground.

Tommy felt his stomach dropped as he looked up to see the young girl staring down at him unimpressed. He went to reach for the knife but Carmine placed her boot on his hand, hard.

“Gah!”

“See? Now that’s what I was expecting. Too bad you’re not so good with knives. I guess you figured you didn’t have to be when it had Deathstalker venom in it huh? Now... let’s talk.”

Carmine rubbed her foot into the ground, causing Tommy to grit his teeth in pain.

“Stop!” He pleaded. “You’ll break it!”

“It won’t break if you talk fast enough. Tell me what I want to hear. A month ago you weren’t in charge. A tubby guy was and he always kept crates of his equipment in a warehouse outside of town. Then someone apparently shows up to have a meeting, tubby is enraged and kicks them out. Now he’s dead and you’re in charge, moving all of his stuff after you had a meeting. Are you getting the picture I’m painting?”

Tommy’s face goes pale. He starts struggling harder to free himself but it’s not working. Carmine can see the man start to sweat as if he got caught in the rain.

“Now I know what you’re thinking, if you tell me who obviously threatened you to move the crates, then they’ll kill you. But that’s the thing about the future Tommy...”

Carmine lifts her foot and swings it right into his face. She watches Tommy hold is face in pain before rolling him over and putting her knee on his back. Carmine grabs the knife and spooks him by stabbing it beside his face.

“It happens later. Focus on the present. Focus on what I could do to you right now and how to prevent that. Then you can think about your future.” Carmine said, not an ounce of playfulness in her voice.

“I....I....w-well I-”

“Before you try lying to me, I know how Deathstalker venom works. Only the babies are venomous and those are extremely hard to find here. Admittedly I don’t know you well but I know your men. They don’t have the patience or brains to find any here, because there aren’t many. So you either got the venom for this knife by being very diligent, going to a different continent, or someone got you the critters.”

Carmine leaned in close, barely away from his ear. “Or should I say made you some, instead of gathering them? Tommy, where is Cinder Fall?”

Tommy felt like he could vomit at any second. He couldn’t let intel leak. He sold his soul to a witch and now he has to live with it. “I....I can’t say.” He whispered, his lip trembling.

“I see. The fear is too much for you. Should’ve chose a different line of work. Maybe you’ll change your tune if you learn to fear me more?” Carmine grabbed the knife. “This won’t kill you but I doubt it’ll feel good either.”

Carmine lifted the knife and held is hand in place. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself. She tried asking nicely. “Sorry....”

“CARMINE!” A loud voice echoed through the alleyways and made the people in it freeze. Tommy tilted his head up and got goosebumps. On the roof was a person everyone knew and criminals wish to avoid. Ruby Rose, he hadn’t seen her in person before. The woman’s cloak covered the area as she jumped down gracefully.

With no noise, her heels hit the ground and stood before the pinned man. Her piercing silver eyes borrowed into him and her long hair blew out of her face by the alley draft. Tommy’s back freed of Carmine’s knee and the young girl raised him to his feet. While Ruby’s expression was calm and oddly inviting, Carmine still looked at the man annoyed. Time was valuable and he was wasting hers. He might’ve escaped the knife but now he was stuck between two women that could all but erase him.

“Y...You’re Ruby Ro-”

“I had this under control by the way.” Carmine cut him off. “Don’t see why you intervened.

“You had him terrified and about to wet his pants. That’s a bit much don’t you think?” Ruby put her hands on her hips and shook her head. “No need to be so intense.”

Carmine mimicked her mother’s gesture. “And we care about the state of people like him why? Lackeys and gang bangers with too much ego have no right to be coddled when they’re rotting the city away from the underbelly. People like that might as well disappear.”

“Carmine that’s not how....” Ruby let out a long sigh and looked at Tommy. He was clearly trying his best to remain calm. “Sorry about her. You know teenagers, always intense in one way or another.” She let out an embarrassed chuckle.

Tommy flinched again when suddenly a burst of red petals spun around him. Next thing he knew, handcuffs were on him and his back was against the fence he tried to climb earlier. The pair of red and silver eyes stared him down from just out of the shadows. Yet he could still see Ruby’s more positive demeanor.

“I’m going to jail?” He groaned.

Ruby stepped towards him. “Depends, Tommy.” She reached out and grabbed his shoulder. “The thing is if you go to jail and I bring you in, Cinder will no doubt send someone to try and kill you. Truthfully, it’s not a bad outcome, for me. I’ll just attack your killer and get more info out of them then you most likely.”

“But...you’d stop them before they kill me, right?”

Ruby shrugged, “I can only go so fast. Who knows what could happen, Tommy. Can you take that chance, knowing you will be at the mercy of circumstances around you for gods know how long?”

“N...no” Tommy gulped.

“I mean I could let you run away right now like nothing happened, but any more meetings with Cinder would be absolute hell on your nerves because there’s no way you can keep this from her. What’s worse, you could fuck up and give us information accidentally overtime and then she’d really be mad because we’ll keep an eye on you as long as you’re doing things we don’t like; an unwilling pawn for both sides until someone knocks you off the board. How does that sound to you?” Ruby’s grip got a little tighter.

“Pr...Pretty bad-

“PRETTY BAD!?” Ruby shouted. “Tommy, you will not come out of this well. You’ll probably be dead within the month if I let you leave right now. So my question is what are you gonna do to save your own skin? Because I know what I would ask for in your situation.”

“What’s that?” He asked, almost desperate for his freedom

“I would spill my guts out to the hero because they would at least try to keep you safe if you behaved. Tell me what you know and I will personally take somewhere where you’ll have a fresh start with a new name, a new life that isn’t Illegal. You’ll still sleep with one eye open just to watch your own back but you also know there’s someone who is actively stopping the person who’d want you dead in the first place. Get off the chessboard Tommy. It sucks to be an expendable pawn.”

Tommy could feel her hand trembling. Was she...nervous? No, she was sympathetic. The way Ruby looked at him wasn’t to scare him. She was stating facts and didn’t want him being another statistic. This was the huntress everyone talked about. The one that gives lifelines and creates new endings where they shouldn’t be possible. The was Ruby Rose, the storyteller.

xxxx

Ruby holds up an envelope to the light before facing Carmine, the sound of waves rocking a boat behind them with Tommy in it. Ruby was a woman of her word. She’d take him somewhere safe.

“Here” she held out the envelop for Carmine. “Take it home, no need for me to lug it across the sea.” She waited for Carmine to say something, anything. The girl only nodded and took the thin piece of paper.

Carmine started to walk off but heard Ruby take a step towards her before stopping. She looked back to see her mother frowning, an expression they were both sharing. Ruby looked at her daughter with her emotions clear as day. It was weird to be eye level with her. Without heels, Ruby would be looking up. Carmine had gotten so big the last few years. It was hard not see her as still little.

“I...I know we don’t agree on certain things, and I also know you feel like I helicopter over you. I don’t do it because I don’t trust you or anything like that. Fact of the matter is...I’m your mother. If I can find a way to solve a problem without you doing something drastic, even if you’re willing to do it, then I’m gonna step in. Just because you’re willing to make the tough calls, doesn’t mean I won’t try to keep them away from you. They weigh people down and I don’t want that for you. You’re my daughter, I love you...”

Ruby always hated their fights. It’s why they don’t do missions together. No matter how strong Carmine is, she’ll always be Jaune and Ruby’s little girl. Truthfully, she didn’t hate it at all. Carmine hated arguing too, if not more.

“I get it mom, I do. Perhaps...I was a tad hasty tonight. Thanks for...showing up.” Carmine scratched her head in embarrassment. Since when did talking to her own mom get so rough. “I love you too.” There, she said it.

Ruby gave her daughter a gentle smile and opened her arms, hoping for a hug. She knew she might be getting a bit too mushy right now but unexpectedly, Carmine walked over and embraced it without question. Ruby wasn’t about to complain. Any affection was welcomed at all times when it came from Carmine. Ruby finally let her go and got one more look at her daughter. Time sure does fly.

“My beautiful girl. I saw the trash lid truck by the way, that was pretty badass.”

Carmine playfully rolled her eyes and opened the evelope. Ruby watched the girl read over the paper several times before handing it back. “Got it.”

Ruby’s eyebrows perked up in surprise. A shocked smile came soon after. “You’re-”

“Of course.” Carmine cut her off. She put her hands together and made a glowing red rose form between them. She placed the thing right behind her mother’s ear and smiled. “See you at home?”

“Yeah, I should be back before morning.”

“Good, I’ll have breakfast waiting for you then.” Ruby watch her daughter start to walk off before Carmine slowly blew away into red and yellowish rose petals.

“My oh my, that daughter of mine.” Ruby chuckled. “I can’t wait.”

xxxx

“Done.” Carmine said, rewriting the information down as she layed on the couch. On top of her was her adorable baby brother, fast asleep like he should be. She reached for a candle that lit the room and blew it out. All in all, not a bad night in the slightest. One step closer to their goal. One step closer to the end.

Part 4

Wanna start Rosebud < Part one is a click away.

#rwby #jaune arc #the void #rwby lancaster #ruby rose #carmine arc rose #rwby whiteknight #rwby knightshade #rwby au #rwby dragonslayer #rwby rosebud

[petri808]

The Perfect Pair

@twinstarsweek​ Angel/Demon prompt. Slight Cloak & Dagger reference

Was it weird that a demon could get bored doing demon things? Katsuki didn’t really care that the other demons teased him, frankly he didn’t give two fucks about what anyone else thought. He loved causing some havoc and sure killing despicable humans that deserved to die was like sport. And why not, hastening murderers, rapists, the pure dregs of human existence onto a fast track train to perdition gave him a real buzz. But that didn’t mean he was like the others who enjoyed the ruthless killing of anyone good or bad.

There were a few ways to get out of their realm which were like jobs if you will. To be summoned by a human… he hated this. You could break the rules and leave without a job, but the hell hounds would be sent to drag you back… and they never failed. A higher-ranking demon could assign you a job, such as unleashing a plague or to collect a human that is deemed too inherently evil to live any longer. And the final option is to be hired directly by an angel. Even though this was necessary to maintain the balance, many demons only took this option when no other work was available.

Call him crazy, but Katsuki was tired of being under the leader’s thumb and desperate for a change.

So, one day as he peruses the job board, he notices a new posting that sticks out like a sore thumb from the rest. The pearly white piece of paper with filigree gold corners signaled its source— An angel. His blood red eyes narrow in on the description:

Kind of vague but intriguing, especially the permanent part. Did it mean if he did a good job, it might keep him out of Tartarus for a long period of time because that was certainly enticing? Katsuki rips the paper off the board. ‘Contact Izuku, huh?’ He grins. Time to find out just who this angel was.

Human’s only had a measly understanding of what lay beyond their corporeal world and none of the supernatural creatures bothered to correct their misunderstandings. Creatures existed for different purposes. Aside from angels and demons, there were elementals, lost spirits, and a multitude of what the humans called gods. Each of these had their own realms where they dwelled like layers stacked upon one another, yet invisible to the corporeal world.

For demons it was Tartarus, angels inhabit Sion, and the other realms lay in-between. But the purpose of angels and demons are closer to the Chinese belief of yin and yang, to keep a balance in the corporeal world. The animals are easy to deal with for those creatures followed the basal instincts of life and death. Humans on the other hand were an offshoot of evolution that has become a bit problematic. In the beginning they followed the rules but over thousands of generations, has forgotten how to maintain a balance with the world around them.

Because of their loss of direction, angels were tasked with coaxing humans back in line. Those that refused are the ones the demons stepped in to deal with. A job was simple enough as long as they worked together… and there in lies the problem. It was rare for an angel and demon to get along for more than a job or two. Eventually their opposing natures caused friction. Katsuki knew that but figured what the hell, it was worth a shot.

He follows the directions on the flyer and finds Izuku at a small cottage in Sion. Their realms were so different from each other’s. Tartarus felt despairing, shadowed, and their homes bitterly heated. But Sion was full of blinding hope, and the homes looked warm and inviting. Even as a demon Katsuki had to admit it was a lot nicer to be there instead of his own home.

It was strange as he stood on the angel’s doorstep. There was a peculiar comfort washing over him that he’s never experienced before. Katsuki shakes his head to push away the weird sensations, chalking it up to the realm’s positive energy. He knocks at the door and stands back, not knowing what to expect.

When the door opens, out pops a smaller green-eyed male with the biggest smile plastered on his face. So, this is what an angel looked like? His skin was a touch luminescent, yet Katsuki could see freckles on the guys cherubic face. He wore all white, ‘no wonder the humans depicted angels in white,’ had tiny horns peeking out from messy green hair, and a pair of fluffy white feathery wings folded neatly behind his back. All in all, the guy was kind of cute.  

“Hi! How can I help you mister demon?”

Katsuki holds up the flyer, “you looking for a partner?”

“Oh yes!” the angel opens his door all the way, “please come in.” He gestures towards a living area, “have a seat. Are you thirsty?”

“Nah, I’m fine, just wanna know what’re you looking for. And by the way, the names Katsuki.”

Izuku takes a seat opposite the demon. “It’s nice to meet you Katsuki,” he smiles and takes a moment to scan over the demon. He’s seen a couple of them before, but it was the first time being up close. He notes the deep red eyes and the scowl that gave the man a scary disposition. Dressed mostly in black and reds, he had pointy horns that rose a few inches out of the dirty blonde hair, and a pair of leathery wings. Wow, these demons really were their opposites in many ways.

Satisfied, Izuku sits forward with his hands clasped in his lap. “Well, one of the things I do is look for people who still have good in their hearts but have gone astray and need help getting back in balance. Some are easy to work with, but others are so lost and broken, it takes a stronger push. So that’s where you come in.”

“To do what exactly?”

“Well, I guess you could say, some humans need to be scared or shown their fears in order to recognize them. That’s what you’ll help me with, then I step in to show them there is hope so they can change for the better. Basically, you’ll help me bring the human back into balance.”

It all sounded easy enough. Maybe not a lot of fun, but perhaps if the human decides to get physical, he’ll get to do some pushing back. Katsuki sits back and tilts his head slightly. “Alright, I’m game. When do we start?”

By the end of the second job, Katsuki had to admit this gig was a lot easier than he’d expected it to be. The other demons made working with angels seem like a real nightmare but Izuku was a total push over. Sometimes the guy was too damn tooth-rottingly sweet.

All the angel wanted to do was save humans from themselves and would pick some rather tough cases. He’s seen others go after little guys, such as drug users that had simply lost their way, but Izuku went for the top, targeting ruthless gang leaders or corrupt politicians. It was amusing at first that this mouse of a creature took such a route. Not that Katsuki was complaining, because scaring guys like those were a lot more fun than the weaklings.

Don’t get him wrong, Katsuki wasn’t doing this because he cared about the humans, that’s the angels forte. It was a job, he was out of Tartarus, and enjoying this new endeavor. In fact, between missions, he chose not to return to his realm. Izuku didn’t mind him crashing at his home, so he took up the offer. Sion was nice and cushiony compared to his own abode.

“So, who’s next on the agenda?” the demon kicks up his feet against the table and sits back relaxed on his chair. The pair were sitting at the angels dining table going over the next mission.

“Hmm,” Izuku closes his eyes, searching the human realm with his mind. “I see a wife abuser or a corrupt businessman.”  

Katsuki swiftly drops his legs and sit forward in his seat. He grins, “let’s get the abuser, those bastards deserve to have the tables turned on them.”

“I agree,” the angel smiles. “There’s no excuse for such behavior.”

“Perfect! I hope he gives us lip cause I’ll really make him shit his pants.”

Izuku was starting to get used to this demon’s rough personality and penchant for swear words. It was very different for an angel made of light, so he preferred to think of Katsuki’s darkness as just a way to peer into these sinner’s souls. Every human is born balanced, but as they grow are filled with both hope and despair for each challenge is an opportunity to gain strength. Some humans rise to the light and overcome, while unfortunately some give in to the darkness and are consumed.

There were legends of angels and demons who combined to affect the greatest changes in the human’s history. Divine pairings they were called, beings that not only worked together to bring balance, but were themselves the epitome of the balance in this world. And ever since Katsuki had arrived, Izuku felt an unusual connection with him. Of course, those stories were called legends for a reason because no one in this current lifetime had ever seen this special pair. But that didn’t mean the what ifs never crossed his mind.

Now some may wonder how an angel or demon could move about amongst humans and not be caught for what they were. There are human sensitives that could ‘see’ their true energy, but to the average person they appeared to be no different than any other human. It was a glamour that hid their otherworldly features, horns, wings, or their unnatural skin glow and shadows, turned off and on when the angel or demon saw fit.

Izuku’s human facade resembled a stereotypical nerd minus the glasses. Mousey messy green hair, freckled cherubic face plastered with a never-ending smile; he was too adorable to be walking around in a dilapidated ghetto type area.

“You know if I wasn’t here, someone might make you their bitch,” Katsuki teases the angel.

“I— don’t understand what that means.”

When Katsuki turns to look at his partner, his face heats up at the sheer innocence Izuku exuded. ‘Shit… c-cute...’ He clears his throat and looks away again. “It means you’d get kidnapped.”

“Oh!” the angel smiles. “That’s why I needed your help.”

Katsuki on the other hand fit perfectly in these areas. A piercing red gaze and scowl matched against his dark clothing choice caused most humans to give them a wide berth when walking on the sidewalk. He imagined passerby’s saw the pair as an odd couple because that’s exactly what they looked like. But odd or not, they worked well together, and he was starting to feel a bit protective over the angel.

He throws an arm around the smaller male’s shoulders, “stick with me and you’ll be fine mouse.”

The close contact triggers Izuku’s body temperature to rise a tad and he feels the heat surge into his cheeks. He couldn’t understand why this demon evoked unfamiliar emotions in him. Well, not exactly unfamiliar. As an angel, Izuku understood the positive emotions like love, friendship, caring, and all those that guided him. It was his affection for humans that drove him to do what he did, but he wasn’t supposed to feel these same sentiments for a demon. “Thanks,” he sputters out.

A few more months pass by as the pair racks up successful mission after mission. So far, only on two occasions did Katsuki resort to turning off his glamour in order to truly scare an individual because Izuku requested it be their last resort. It made the demon laugh when one of the men actually pissed their pants in fear. Well, they should have just listened to reason as far as he was concerned.

They would scout out their targets and figure out the best timing to approach to avoid a worst-case scenario. Izuku was meticulous at planning and that was the only thing that could drive the demon crazy. But it worked so far. Katsuki believed that angels and demons were not as immortal as the legends make them out to be. When they were in their human-glamour state, it also meant they were vulnerable. If it were just him maybe it wouldn’t bother him to push his luck, but his desire to protect this angel was over-riding his natural instincts. He didn’t want to risk Izuku getting killed.

Ugh, this was all making him soft, and yet Katsuki was too attached by this point. An unspoken connection had taken hold, so deeply in fact that the demon and angel shared a bed now. If Izuku was out of his view for too long, he would grow agitated. The angel didn’t help by not forcing them to stay cordial and allowing this unnatural affection to take root.

“We gotta go, we gotta go!” Izuku rushes into the living room one day in a panic. “Our target just acquired another batch of kidnapped girls!”

The demon gets off his chair just as the angel gets to him. Katsuki grabs his flailing arms to calm the panicking man and pulls the man tightly against his chest so he can’t pull away. “Whoa, whoa, calm down mouse! We haven’t worked out how many goons this guy has got working for him yet. We could be walking into a big shit storm!”

“But the girls!”

“I am not gonna let you do something stupid or get killed. Period. End of discussion!”

“Kacchan, we can do this!” Izuku’s eyes water and his lips turn down in a pout. “Together I know we can deal with whatever happens.”

A deep growl emanates from the demon’s throat halting the angels fight, “what part of I can’t risk losing you don’t you understand?! If 50 humans jump us, I might not be able to protect you.”

“I wouldn’t want to lose you either,” Izuku whines as the tears trickle down his cheeks. He believed with his entire soul in them. “I just know in my heart we’ll be fine.”

Suddenly, a bright light envelopes the pair, catching them completely off guard. Katsuki releases the angel in a panic that something just went wrong. Did they break a rule? Shit! It’s because he was getting attached wasn’t it? He shouldn’t be so damn attached to an angel, but he couldn’t help himself! “Shit! Shit! Shit! What the fuck!”

But Izuku stays calm. There was no pain, no sense of foreboding, or any inclinations what was happening was a bad thing. He looks over his glowing arms and realizes they were both glowing white. “Kacchan calm down.” It was his turn to grab onto the other. “Kacchan its gonna be okay.”

“Are we in trouble?!”

The angel could see the sheer panic in the red glowing eyes. Was this demon feeling true fear for the first time? But fear of what? “I don’t think so. I mean, it doesn’t feel like we are.” He pulls Katsuki into a hug. “Don’t be scared Kacchan, I’m not going anywhere, I promise.”

“But why the fuck are we glowing?!”

“I-I think it’s because we just became a divine pair.”

“A what?”

#twin stars week 2020 #bakudeku #angel/demon prompt #bkdk #katsudeku #Bakugou katsuki #Midoriya izuku #Bakugou demon #Midoriya angel #bakudeku fan fiction #bnha #The Perfect Pair #Petri808 #bakudeku au

[synvamp]

HAPPY PLACE 4

So apparently now I’ve found my happy place (Vol 7 Ep 5), I’m never going to leave.

Slow burn, lots of flirting and fluff - adorable Clover, birb Qrow. HEAL ME

(Part One HERE)

Title: Healing

Fair Game – Part Four / 5? More?

Rating: M

---xxx---

  Qrow lay in bed in the dark. It was nearly like sleeping.

  He thought about the last few days. His missions with Clover. The looks Clover gave him, the reassuring hand that just found his shoulder, lifted his chin, clasped his waist…

  He could tell Clover had been trying to take it slow… give him a little time after the kiss.

  Hope he didn’t take that ‘intense’ comment too seriously. Why do I have to have such a smart mouth!? Qrow grinned in the dark. Ok, not going to regret being a smart ass. There has to be a line, right?

  His mouth kept him safe. It kept people at a distance. No one really knew when he was serious so he could say what he was really thinking and they’d shrug it off. It was just another weapon in his personal arsenal – another way to keep people he cared about as far away as possible.

  Two weeks.

  There was no way Clover would survive. In the two days since that amazing kiss he’d been nearly buried in rubble twice, thrown off a building, caught in a grim stampede and nearly hit by lightning. Actual lightning.

  Qrow turned over and buried his face in his pillow again. All he could think about was the feeling of Clover’s lips. The firm kiss still lingered, he could almost feel those calloused fingers stroke down his face and lift his chin…

  Still sexually frustrated.

  Would sleeping with him make it worse? If he follows me around like a love sick puppy (Qrow smiled a little too hard in the dark) then won’t he be doomed anyway? Would giving the both of them a tiny hint of relief really be such a bad thing?

  I could certainly use some damn sleep, he thought, pressing his hard-on into the sheets and sighing.

  In a fit of frustration he leapt off the bed, throwing the covers everywhere. That’s it. I’m getting up. This is bullshit.

  He looked over at the clock. It was four-thirty. Must have drifted off for a little at least…

  Only four hours until the briefing. Only four hours until I see him again.

  It felt like a long time.

  Qrow flicked a light switch and scowled into the bright light. He threw on some shoes and left his room. He wore sweats and a t-shirt to bed so he didn’t even have to get dressed. Just walk. Find a rhythm in your steps. Walk and keep walking.

  It was a good way to keep the demons at bay. He just let the rhythm of his body take him. He went around the corridors, sometimes hearing a faint snoring from someone’s quarters. It was weirdly comforting after everything that had happened, the sound of other people, relaxed… fast asleep.

  He found himself in the mess hall before long, empty metal tables gleaming in the moonlight which streamed through the window.

  He turned his heels to go and a voice floated out of the darkness, “Can’t sleep?”

  Clover.

  Qrow hesitated on the threshold. He considered just walking away. Probably better to get as far away from the guy as possible before he spontaneously combusts…

  But he didn’t. He just stood there. Clover walked out of a shadow beside the window, he approached slowly and sat on a table a few metres away.

  Still giving me space. Why does he have to be so damn considerate?

  “Didn’t think you were the skulking in the shadows type,” Qrow drawled, trying to make light of the situation. His chest felt like it was going to implode as the light hit Clover’s face just so…

  “I have a dark streak,” Clover smiled.

  “Oh yeah?” Qrow felt a smile tugging at his lips. Clover. Dark. What a heap.

  “Yeah. I like horror movies and I dress up every year for Halloween,” he nodded like this was absolutely conclusive.

  Qrow shook his head, “I can’t even tell if you’re serious.”

  Clover opened his mouth in mock-offense, “I’m always serious! I’m super, super serious!”

  Qrow just laughed. How can this guy make me feel so relaxed!? It’s five am!

  But as soon as his heart began to lift he felt it all come crashing down. Clover’s face was so open, so welcoming, so GODDAMNED HAPPY.

  I can’t do this to him. I can’t inflict this… me… on him. On his life.

  “Well, enjoy the darkness then I guess…” he said, as he turned away.

  He could hear Clover stand up behind him, “Qrow… wait…”

  He hesitated, one foot over the threshold.

  This is selfish. This is selfish. Don’t punish him for being so good.

He felt the hand on his shoulder.

  Don’t do it to him, Qrow. You’re enough of an asshole already.

  “Watch it,” he said, “I’m pretty sure if you touch me for long enough the whole of Atlas will fall out of the sky.”

  “Hasn’t happened yet,” Clover’s voice was soft behind him.

  “Yeah right,” Qrow turned, guilt and self-loathing making him surly, “you’ve survived two days of being near me. Lucky, lucky you. Hopefully next time there’s a storm you don’t stand a foot to the left, hey? Hopefully next time there’s some grim on the loose, you don’t lose your footing at the top of a high building, hey!? And we can only damn PRAY that ne..”

  “Stop it!” Clover’s eyes burned with an intensity Qrow hadn’t seen before.

  They both were startled into silence.

  Finally, Clover let his hand drop from Qrow’s shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere,” he said.

  Qrow looked at him and felt a flicker in his chest. Something more than sexual frustration, more than lust.

  Oh no… I can’t do this.

  Qrow pushed the feeling deep into his stomach. That’s it. I’m done.

  He turned and Clover’s hand grabbed his elbow. Qrow looked down, a full on war raging in his chest. Don’t you want to live you cocky idiot!?

  “You don’t get it! What do I have to do to get rid of you!?” his voice was raised but in his heart, he just felt empty.

  Clover smiled down at him, his eyes bright and his cheeks kissed with the first hint of a blush. He didn’t let go.

  “If you stop shouting, that might help.”

  What do I do…!? Do I tear my arm away? Kiss him? Fall on his perfect muscled chest and just fucking cry!?

  From somewhere inside his smart mouth came to his rescue, “You like me shouting?” it said.

  Clover looked at him with those perfect turquoise eyes, “Yes. I really like you shouting.”

  Qrow smiled in spite of himself, “You’re a weird guy.”

  Clover finally let go of his elbow but his eyes still searched Qrow’s face with worrying intensity, “It’s been said.” He gave a wry smile in return.

  Qrow hesitated, it would be so easy to just lean forwards… just put his head on Clover’s chest and let him kiss all the pain away. “Persistent fucker, aren’t you?” he said.

  “Yeah…” Clover shook his head, looking suddenly embarrassed, “I know I come on a bit strong… I’m sorry. I want you to know that I’m here for you in… all the ways but I don’t actually want to hound you to the ends of the earth… so… if you don’t want to take it any further… you can just let me know. I’m a professional. I won’t make it a big deal.”

  Clover looked at the ground like it was the most interesting thing he’d ever seen. Yes, here is my heart, please, step on it.

  “Further?” Qrow squeaked, regretting it instantly.

  “Yes,” Clover told the floor.

  “Like…?” Qrow said. No, stop this! I’m leaving, remember!?

  Clover looked up, his eyes twinkling, “Like when a man and a man like each other very mu..”

  Qrow spluttered, trying to cough and laugh at the same time, “Ok. Yes. Thanks. I am a little bit old for the birds and the bees if you don’t mind.”

They looked at each other for a minute, Qrow memorising this moment. Memorising his face. It never did to let these moments pass when joy was fleeting and always, always gone too soon.

  Finally, he spoke, “And what’s with all the sass recently? I thought that was my schtick.”

  Clover grinned, sheepish, “I thought you might like it. You seem to get sick of the tin soldier trope.”

  “I… do like it,” Qrow breathed, leaning in almost imperceptibly. He could feel the warmth of Clover’s chest. Feel where his hand had rested on his shoulder… all the delicious thoughts that had swirled around in his mind for hours just came pouring out… he looked into Clover’s eyes.

  Now or never, asshole.

  “What about you?” Qrow asked, his voice breathy, barely a whisper.

  “What about me?” Clover asked, his eyes fixed on Qrow’s lips.

  “Are you the dinner and a movie type?” Qrow asked. He stopped breathing.

  “You paying?” Clover sassed.

  “Just stop ok. It’s weirding me out.”

  Clover laughed, “I don’t know, I’m starting to like it.”

  “Ok, I’ll pay! You really know how to make a guy feel special, you know that?” Qrow scowled, faking mad.

  Clover looked at his dark, brooding face with a look that bordered on catatonic.

  “You are so hopeless,” Qrow laughed.

  “Only with you,” Clover breathed.

  Fuck it.

  Qrow lifted his hands around Clover’s neck and pulled him into a kiss. He felt those rough hands close around his waist and pull them together. After that there was just lips, then strong arms picking him up and carrying him down the corridor.

  “Put me down!”

  “No,” Clover said as he marched back to his quarters with his prize.

  Oh well, I tried, Qrow thought as he melted into the warm chest and tried not to think about what he was going to do to the arrogant asshole as soon as the door had closed.

  ---xxx---

  “So…” Yang asked, keeping it casual, “Where are you going?”

  “Dinner. It’s dinner time. I’m going to dinner,” Qrow said, not meeting her eyes.

  “With… Clover?”

  Qrow turned sharply, glowering into her cool violet gaze, “Yes. He bet me that my misfortune couldn’t ruin everything if he was around.”

  “And the best way to test that is dinner?”

  “Yesssss.”

  “And that’s why you spent 2 hours getting ready…”

  “Haven’t you got someone else to annoy?” Qrow asked, hoping his hair was still ok.

  “Not really…” she grinned. “OK WELL I have to go,” Qrow said, scuttling out of that hell hole as fast as he could move.

---xxx---

  Clover sat at the table, gazing out into the cold winter sky. Qrow was late but only a little. And for the first time, Clover wasn’t worried. Last night was… OH GODS IT WAS AMAZING HOW DO YOU EVEN MOVE YOUR BODY LIKE THAT UGH…

  Yeah ok. It was good, he laughed at himself nervously and covered his hard-on with a serviette. What a man.

  The window was open just a crack to balance the heat from the blazing fire. As Clover gazed out across the swirling snowflakes, thinking about ass, a little black bird hopped through the window and onto the table.

  “Awww look at you,” Clover said softly, “Hey there little guy…” he laughed as he realised what type of bird it was. “Oh no! I think we’ve got our wires crossed; I’ve just fallen in love with a totally different crow! And if he sees us like this, who knows what might happen,” he smiled and broke a bread roll in half, putting half on the table in front of the little bird, “but here… aww I can’t be mad at you. Maybe we can have a little thing on the side… my Qrow can be a bit snarky and you are just SO CUTE!”

  The little bird hopped onto the other seat and looked at him, head slightly tilted and little red eyes glittering.

  In an instant Clover was looking into a completely different pair of glittering red eyes as the blush to end all blushes surged onto his face.

  “I’m not cute,” Qrow said pointedly, “but thanks for the roll.”

  Clover blinked. The blush deepened, “SO CUTE,” he squeaked.

  “Oh my god, stop it now,” Qrow grinned.

  After a little time, Clover regained the power of speech, “Well, I see that my humiliation is finally complete.”

  “It has been for quite a while, I’m afraid.”

  “Why must I fall for gorgeous, mouthy bad boys!? I’m a smooth guy!”

  “I don’t know,” Qrow shrugged, just enjoying the moment.

  “Well…. Uh…” Clover buried his head in the menu.

  Qrow mulled over what he’d just heard. I mean, it wasn’t a heart to heart… Clover was just dribbling crap at what he thought was a cute bird. It didn’t mean anything.

  …I’ve just fallen in love with a totally different crow…

  His heart surged in his chest as he looked across the table at this, sexy confident guy… his ears were still bright pink.

  He’s fucking adorable.

  This is not ok.

  As he stared, Clover’s eyes flicked up. He grinned like a total idiot then looked away.

  UGH, Qrow’s whole body groaned.

  DOOMED.

  ---xxx---

Part Five

#qrow branwen #clover ebi #fair game #rwby spoilers #rwby 7 #fanfiction

[hardman5509]

Secret Santa Project: Alice’s Amazing Holiday Bash

For @arumi-mangotroid under the banner of @touhousecretsanta

So I took a look at the pet peeves section and decided, hey...I could make a story around subverting these concepts! So I had some fun with this one. : >

Please enjoy!

Alice isn't the most social person in Gensokyo, she and pretty much anyone who had ever laid eyes on her knew this. She did like working alone on her various projects, just her and her thoughts to keep her company. And she did want people to respect her privacy and not barge into her home at some random moment for some random thing. That goes for you Marisa. Especially you Marisa.

But Alice isn't some social outcast! She scoffed out loud as she placed down some money to pay for her bill at the cafe she stopped at for a small break while in the middle of a shopping run. Nice spot of tea and some rice-cakes, but were the customers ever so rude! They were discussing rumors about her out loud, right behind her too! False rumors too!

Alice isn't a loner. She does attend some social events, mostly just the parties hosted at the Hakurei Shrine and that one time at the Scarlet Devil Manor...and that would be the only time in the latter's case. She just likes being alone, she's not in love with it! These people in the village think she's the patron saint of edgy loners! She's not some bratty teenager!

And that other rumor...ooh that other rumor! She's not a tsundere!

...far from it too. If not for Marisa's habit of sticky fingers, then Alice might consider just moving in with her. But people saw her being both annoyed and in love with Alice...which is true, but that's about the same with everyone in Marisa's life really. Some more or less so than others for those two qualities. One could turn Marisa's cluttered mess of a home into a museum of Gensokyo history of the last few years. Akyuu had been spending a lot of time as a matter of fact!

And that doesn't annoy Alice! Every girl in Gensokyo has come by Marisa's pad by this point. Not to hit on her or do something romantic; they just wanted their stuff back!

But no, she and Marisa are (maybe, possibly, hopefully) pursuing a romantic relationship, so Alice must be jealous. She has to be a tsundere! That really...

Alice took a stop in her furious walk to try and calm herself down. This isn't helping matters. People are walking by, humans and youkai alike, and discussing her in hushed whispers. She's getting angry, they're saying about her. Must be going through a rough patch with that thieving magician, they discussed out quiet-like. “Probably annoyed she has to be around people NOT as smart as her.” Someone just used their normal voice to talk about her.

Well, time to fix that! Alice put on a confidant smile as she pumped her fists. She's going to show everyone that she's NOT any of those qualities! She's going to throw the best Christmas party ever! At her own house, no less! She's just needs to clean her place up, move all of her special projects to a locked room, get some decorations and some party favors, and send some invites out to the more restrained people of Gensokyo.

...okay, nothing too crazy. She doesn't want to have a bunch of onis running around all drunk in her home and workshop. So just regular fruit punch and no wine or any alcohol. She might need to hire a bodyguard to watch the door and prevent any contraband from entering. Okay she had already gone too far with the preparations. She needed to keep this nice and simple.

She got this. She's going to run the best party ever!

------------------------------------------------------------

Alice sighed as she examined her house. All of the material relating to magic and/or puppets had been cleared off the way and stored into the other rooms of her house. A big deal of cleaning up would have to be done after the party; no way she's going to be able to sleep in her own bed until she did so.

The tables of her house were now decorated with various foods that Alice had procured for the party; both the legal method of buying them up or the method of using magic as a shortcut. She had to buy the things that she realized would require more effort on her part to summon. Various cheese-related products ranging from cubes to cracker-size cuts, chocolates of all different sizes and shapes, several different bowls of punch, and the most important thing for a party: a ice statue of a certain fairy who is absolutely not invited to this little party.

There's some nice music playing. The lights are dimmed down. Alice clapped her hands together. It's perfect.

And there's the doorbell! Amazing invention she had picked up at that junk shop. It allowed her to prepare for visitors by giving her a few more seconds to at least a full minute to actually get ready. Her first visitor! Who is it going to be...

“Howdy Alice!” Waved Marisa as she walked into the house, carrying some bottle-shaped wrapped gift. “Looks like I'm early...” She settled the gift down onto a empty table. “So...” Marisa sighed as she clutched onto her hat, tugging on it. “I think it's a time for me to go ahead and...”

“No, no!” Alice waved her hands around. “Don't strip! Don't strip!”

“What?” Marisa batted a eye over to her. “Nah, I'm just going to...do this!” Marsia started to spin around on the spot, some glittering sparkles starting to shoot all over the area. She's doing some...sort of transformation? Alice couldn't believe she's going to do this! Marisa's body became dominated by a powerful glow of light that forced Alice to look away.

Man, this party hasn't even really started and it's already getting off on a great start. Alice felt like letting out a squeal of pure unadulterated happiness. Marisa is going to be some sexy Santa baby! ...that's what those magazines from the Human World were talking about.

And as the light faded and Alice could see again, she looked on to see...Marisa in a red and green version of her usual witch's outfit, with some dangly Christmas lights strewn around her hat going off at random intervals. “Ta-da!” Marisa announced as she showed off her rather tacky dress. “I've been working on this transformation spell just for parties like this.”

“Oh.” Alice clicked her tongue. She...really didn't like it. She honestly expected something more a bit more interesting; like a magical girl from those other magazines she had been buying from that pawn store. Man, most of her money is going into buying random magazines. She had one hidden around here about something called 'guns'...useless things really.

“I'm going to show this to everyone that comes here.” Marisa flexed her own 'guns' (Equally useless) before going to hit on the cheese platter and not on the host. This has gone down a weird path. Alice held back from clicking her tongue. Okay, nothing really bad happened so far. Just something annoying. Keep a cool head, Alice.

The door-bell went off again. Next guest! Potentially guests. Alice did hear some footsteps coming from outside. She went over to the door and opened it up to find two people: Suika Ibuki and Reimu Hakurei. Or rather, in an weird turn, Reimu is drunk and Suika is dragging her by the arm. “Yo!” Suika announced as she took Reimu inside; Reimu somehow almost tripping despite the

“Reimu got blitzed already?” Alice asked with a gasp. “What happened?”

“Well...” Suika waved her free hand around. “I might have tried to get Reimu to loosen up before going to this party...”

“Heathens, the lot...” Reimu started to splutter out before her voice quietened down and she started to slump. Alice turned her head to see if Reimu had somehow fallen asleep on her feet. Suika gave the shrine maiden a slap on the back, a gentle one. Enough to make Reimu jump and for her to continue: “...I purify 'ya...” Reimu continued as she stumbled across the room.

“She ended up downing a entire keg.” Suika sighed while shrugging. “I'll make sure she controls herself.” She said that right before Reimu picked up the first bowl of punch and lifted it up to her mouth to try and down it all in one gulp. “After this!” Suika flashed a worried smile before she jumped forward to go and yank Reimu away from drink.

Okay, now it's time for her to start panicking. Alice almost considered pulling out a spell card to go ahead and blow everyone out and consider the party a wash. Hey...hey. She's learning. Next year, or just the next time she decides to throw a party, she's going to do better. No annoying party tricks and just kicking out drunk people...

...well, she would kick out Reimu, but Alice didn't want to piss off the shrine maiden. The last time she did that...Alice didn't want to think about it. Sometimes, when she looks into a mirror, she sees the mark of the yin-yang symbol all over her exposed flesh.

Door-bell! Next guest! Please be normal! Please be normal!

“Yuuka?” Alice asked as the green-haired girl stepped into her parlor. The flower-loving youkai had her usual pattern of her faded-black and red plaid, but this one...is an actual Santa baby outfit. Low-cut to show off her belly, skirt and black leggings, and even a plaid Santa cap. But really, Yuuka just dressed this way to show off her shapely body...despite the thin layer of snow and the thick layer of cold wind present all over Gensokyo.

“Yup, it's me.” Yuuka dug a finger into her ear and dug it around. “Medicine couldn't come due to her going to that other shrine up the mountain, so she gave me her invite.”

Alice almost, almost, made a retort about not inviting Yuuka due to her rather...poor relationship skills with others. Reimu and Marisa she's fine with...despite Yuuka having originally sent an army to tear down the Hakurei Shrine when they first met...aaannnddd Marisa having 'borrowed' quite a number of Yuuka's skills.

But why is Yuuka dressed like that?

“Oh, this?” Yuuka whistled as she stood still, doing a little and slow spin to show off her body. And Alice thought for a second that Yuuka is pushing out her chest and her ass...to try and seduce someone? Most of these people are 'accounted' for! “I just wanted to show off how 'friendly' I am.”

“Friendly...” Alice questioned before going wide-eyed. “Are you trying to hit on people?” Yuuka nodded. “You're looking for a one-night stand.” Yuuka pursed her lips, looked off to the side, and then nodded. “Please tell me you're taking them home before...”

“I don't have a house or a bed.” Yuuka shrugged. “So I'll be commandeering either your bed or your couch...your couch have a bed?” Yuuka asked as she went over to the couch so she could examine it.

“Hey, hey!” Alice protested as she scooted past the lumbering Reimu. “This isn't this kind of a party! This is a nice get-to-together...”

“That's nice being nice.” Yuuka admitted as she threw away the cushions. “Shoot, it isn't a bed...”

“Why do you think I will allow this?” Alice actually got a bit angry and confronted Yuuka, grabbing ahold of the woman's arm to yank her away from the couch. This turned out to be a mistake as the moment Alice's fingers even touched against Yuuka's arm, the air in the room suddenly took on a very...violent aura. Yuuka didn't even need to do anything, just her sheer presence of anger convinced Alice to let go.

“Eh, I think this is the best way to try and make friends.” Yuuka commented on as she walked over to a locked door. “I heard that from a human that was picking flowers out of my garden. I let him go...” Alice didn't bother feeling relaxed upon hearing that; let's hear the rest of the statement first. “...but not before he helped tended my fields.”

Alice breathed easily. “And then I ate him.” Alice then groaned.

“Look.” Alice stated after wiping her brow, somehow already stained with sweat. “Having sex is a deeply intimate thing between usually two people, it's not just find someone and then get to a bed...”

“Actually, that's just one way of doing it.” Marisa suddenly appeared from behind Alice to rest a arm across the shoulders. “Sometimes I do it myself, you know, to have some fun when nothing else is going on.”

“...with whom?” Alice just had to ask, right before the doorbell rang. She groaned, raised a finger to put this 'enlightening' conservation on hold so she could greet the next guest. Who could this be, and what sort of headache will they bring to the party.

“Yo.” Greeted Patchouli with a weak wave of her hand. “I have arrived.”

“With a important guest.” Announced the little Remilia, all proud-like as she walked past her librarian and into the house. “And now the party has reached a new level of class!”

“I apologize.” Patchouli bowed. “She refused me to come unless I brought her.”

“Okay...” Alice shuddered as she clenched down on the bridge of her nose. “And where's Sakuya then? I sincerely think she wouldn't allow Remilia to go without her...”

“Babysitting Flandre.” Patchouli shrugged. “Someone has to do it.”

“Oh hey.” Marisa approached Alice...rather slowly and rather awkwardly. “Patchouli...”

“Sorry, I'm here with Remilia.” Patchouli waved to her mistress, currently prodding the somewhat comatose Reimu. Suika seemed to be looking around for a dolly or something to move Reimu around. “I best prevent her from doing anything...idiotic...” She started to mumble something as she went over to pry her mistress off the shrine maiden.

Alice went over to an empty corner of the house and started to take a series of deep breathes. She's not a tsundere, she's not a tsundere, she's not a tsundere! But right now, she's starting to feel like one...even though she already knows that Marisa is a bit of a lay-about, it's just having this information being blatantly displayed right in front of her is really annoying her!

...but she cannot blame anyone but her, she did invite Patchouli. She can complain however about Remilia going around and smugly thumbing her nose all over the place. She had started to talk with the ignored Suika about how Suika is basically a hobo, with Suika clearly trying to break away and look after Reimu.

...speaking of which...

Alice turned towards the table with the punch, and saw Reimu downing down the last bowl. Alice should really go over and knock out the drunk shrine maiden...but Suika might take that the wrong way. Well, whatever. Reimu is actually drinking the stuff down and no-one else seemed interested...hey, speaking of Suika...

“Suika.” Alice pointed to a weird-looking deer-shaped vase that she just noticed that Suika has been carrying around the entire time. “What is that?”

“This is booze.” Suika swung the vase around. It looked...so jarring. To both Gensokyo and to the mood of the party. Okay, a deer-shaped vase would be perfect to a Christmas party, but the current mood is currently chaotic. “Want some?” Suika pointed the nose of the vase to Alice. Alice immediately got a huge whiff of sour grapes. Onis just love any booze, regardless!

“No, no!” Alice protested as she clenched her nose shut and walked away, bumping into Patchouli. “Sorry...” Alice apologized as she backed away again, this time away from anyone.

“ASSAULT!” Reimu pretty much burped out. She whipped out her gohei, proceeding to strike out against anyone. Yuuka, who had been casing the joint at her own leisure ever since Marisa overtook the conservation, effortlessly dodged the swinging paper, but everyone else wasn't so lucky. Marisa got smacked across the head, causing the lights across her body to flicker on and off. Remilia got hit as well and started to cower behind Patchouli. Suika took her blow well, pretending to faint to avoid further trouble. And Alice?

Alice got hit several times. She had to cover her head as Reimu rained down blow after blow, trying to use the gohei more of a hammer than a ward. Alice started to run around the room, trying and failing to avoid taking blows to her head. Reimu just seemingly didn't want to stop for any reason. And Alice looked around, hoping that someone would come to her rescue.

But nobody did. Not for a full three minutes. What it took is for Reimu to fall over drunk-asleep on the floor. Alice rubbed her sore, sore head. It honestly felt like she had a mountain of bumps on top of her head. The rest of the party just worked around her, besides Suika, who attended to Reimu and moved her onto the couch after she returned the cushions to it. Alice decided to go ahead and do the most logical thing one should do.

Scream.

“OUT!” She pointed to the door. “EVERYONE!”

“But I've been here for less than ten minutes.” Patchouli shrugged.

“LEAVE!” Alice stomped over to the door, kicked it open, not even caring that she just tore out the top bolt. “Just leave, and let me clean up.”

“Yeah.” Yuuka breathed out as she tossed away the glass of punch, the one surviving thing of punch in the house...and that glass is actually made out of glass, so it shattered against the floor. “No not babes, no hot guys, and the bed is too small for what I have planned.” She thumbed over to the door leading into the bedroom. “Yeah, I also threw off the sheets. Sorry, but I got to go...” Yuuka shrugged and left the house.

“Same.” Suika pursed her lips as she retrieved the hopefully comatose Reimu. “Sorry about this. She's...” Suika started to nervously laugh as she shook around on the spot. “...just having a bad day.”

“Bad day.” Alice merely replied in the dullest voice she could muster. “Bad day.” She commented again in the same tone of voice. Suika nervously chuckled as she shuffled herself out of the door.

“I'll just go home too.” Patchouli stated as she reached out and took ahold of Remilia's hand. Remilia, who really hadn't done much, followed right behind Patchouli. At least they left civilly, unlike the last guest that just stuck around and started to shovel cheese into both of her mouth and into her pockets.

Alice beamed knives at Marisa as she approached the witch, her lights still going off. “Are you going to leave?” Alice asked in the same and dead tone she now adopted.

“Well...?” Maria questioned. “I think you would like some company on a cold night like this.”

“I don't want company, I want to be left alone.” Alice told.

“Oh?” Marisa gave her hips a bit of a shake. “You sure?”

“Certain.” Alice told as she flapped her arms at her sides. “Look, if you want to go around and call me a tsundere or a loner, go ahead.” She turned around and examined the damage. The punch bowls had been drained, and two of them had been thrown onto the floor. The food had remained mostly untouched outside of Marisa's borrowing, and the ice statue's head had been shattered, leaving the thing to melt. Most likely Yuuka doing that as revenge for some that the statue's model had done in the past. “What a mess.”

“Eh, still somewhat more controlled than Reimu's parties.” Maria shrugged as she placed a hand around Alice's shoulders. “But hey, it's Gensokyo, you cannot control how people act or do their usual things. You tried to throw a rocking party, and it failed not because of you, but because of how Gensokyo runs.”

“Yeah..” Alice sighed as she looked down. “I guess I should just leave the parties to the really powerful people...the ones that have more of a presence, more friends, and more power...”

“Nah, small parties are good to have as well.” Marisa told as she both interrupted Alice and placed a kiss on Alice's cheek. That sent a shockwave all across Alice's body that lead her to stand in place like a statue, her jaw slack, and her eyes wide as a powerful blush cam over her face. “And while you do act like tsundere and a loner...” Marisa nudged Alice in the arm with her elbow. “...I don't mind it!”

Alice...really should take out her anger on this rather stupid and insensitive witch. Yes, she likes being called those things alright and totally didn't throw this party to dispel those nasty rumors. Okay, thinking that in her head does make her realize that she does have some tsundere qualities...damn, totally not what she wanted to think right now.

...but hey. It is a cold night, and Marisa is offering to spend it with her. So, somewhat mission accomplished! The mess can wait until morning. Right now, there's only one thing she needs to do: open her bedroom door, put her bed together (Or not) and invite Marisa inside...oh, and to destroy that obxinous outfit of hers when she's not looking or sleeping.

...or perhaps to avoid people looking at her like a tsundere, she just won't do it. A new year's is coming up, so it's high-time she ditches the old thoughts and turns over a new leaf.

#arumi-mangotroid #alice margatroid #marisa kirisame #touhou #touhou project #secret santa

[iamconstantine]

RWBY CHAPTER 12: BLACK & WHITE (I SUCK AT COMMITMENT)

* Okay so we are leaping RIGHT into Sun and Blake talking together * Sun actually kinda-sorta sounds like Jaune with a deeper voice tbh but I’m sure it’s not the same VA * I was going to make a joke about Blake suspiciously sipping her cup while Sun smack talks the White Fang but then she actually did it * And there it is * I just noticed that Sun’s hair is yellow and his eyes are dark while Blake’s eyes are yellow and her hair is dark. Interesting contrast. * (Insert LOST flashback woosh) * YEEEESSS Different animation style! * The White Fang originally being a sort of “peace group” is actually way more compelling than just an all-out terrorist group. It’s a repeating cycle of hate of one side against the other. The things they do are way, way overkill, of course, but it’s also a reminder that things aren’t always b-- * I just realized why this episode is called “Black and White.” * ._. * Lil kitten Blake. Baby. * “And the New Leader’s first decree was that the old symbol wasn’t edgy enough, so we gave the animal fangs and claw marks and we made it red and people took us more seriously” * The image of the signs becoming weapons was very nice * The portrayal of prejudice and response and related topics are presented pretty realistically in the show, and honestly, credit to them for not doing some weird sugary stuff with it. Usually I see this kind of stuff as like “The other group had their fewings hurt so they hurt peopwe too but that’s not okay uwu” but here it’s just like “Yeah man we started being violent instead of peaceful and people started listening which was good but they were also afraid of us which is bad” * Blake’s explanation of why she left gives newer context to her fight with Weiss. It isn’t just that she has to once again experienced hatred just because she’s a Faunus, and it isn’t just that she has to keep her mouth shut about who she is out of fear. Blake left the White Fang because she hated how violent they were becoming, but after doing the right thing, she once again has to deal with discrimination just for being...Blake * No Sun she hasn’t told anyone but I think they know * Also HOW did Sun know she was a Faunus? Did I miss something? * The way Ruby hisses “Ugh...Weiss” was so acidic like she is 110% done with Weiss’ crap * Yang is trying to hard to be peacekeeper poor thing * Penny returns and everyone is scared * I’m assuming that either A) Penny actually SAW Blake’s ears, or B) Penny saw the bow and just said “yeah there some ears under there” which would kind of explain how Sun knew but not really * I didn’t hear what Ruby said at first but then I put on subtitles and “She does like tuna a lot” almost made me WHEEZE. Ruby’s VA has a really good grasp on comedic delivery * Ruby was like “fam?” but Yang and Weiss were like “peace” * Penny noting on how windy it is is funny but honestly is no one going to comment on the tumbleweeds? * Sun and Blake immediately teaming up is kind of heartwarming; I imagine Blake hasn’t met another Faunus who she could be open with in a while * That said isn’t Sun supposed to be hiding from police? Aren’t they just wandering around? * I still don’t side with Weiss but her line about how the innocent don’t run does remind me that she believes Blake is some kind of criminal. Yes, Weiss has a definite prejudice against Faunus people, but again, I think she’s been ingrained with the lie that all of them are dangerous terrorits * “Is she a MAN?” girl what * Ruby’s outlook on the situation makes a lot of sense. She’s not mad at Blake, not at all, and she’s definitely against Weiss in the argument. That said, she doesn’t know what to make of Blake just running off. I’m sure as the team leader she expects everyone to trust each other on top of being friends, so learning that Blake doesn’t trust her enough to talk to her must her. Of course, Blake has every reason in the world to keep her secret, but I get where Ruby is coming from * I admire Blake and Sun deciding to investigate but what is there plan there’s only two of them * I was fully expecting Sun to respond to Blake with some kind of cheesy pick-up line but him just clapping back with “Weren’t you in a cult or something?” honestly surprised and pleased me * Also Blake’s pout * Oh that animation isn’t...good...not bad, just...not good... * Speaking of animation I’m noticing a kind of recurring thing where characters are technically “walking” but they’re also sliding at the same time. I really, REALLY am not trying to nitpick but it is noticeable. * Speaking off the detail of Sun’s hair, his necklace, and his abs are all pretty good. Definitely a great character design * “See I told you our new logo was cool and edgy” “man u right” * I know I just commented on the whole slide-walk think but at least a few seconds ago it was kind of hidden by the ramp just now it was all up in my face * He’s baaaaaack * So is Blake implying that Torchwick might actually be a Faunus, or is something else amiss? * On the one hand I know Blake can take on countless robots and a giant bird monster but on the other hand I’m with Sun. What is she doing? * Was Torchwick about to drop the f bomb? * Blake talking to the WF as one of them is pretty clever * Torchwick’s VA is doing a good job but he still has that teeth-talk problem * I’m sorry did this guy just blast an actual star at her? * This once again brings me to my upcoming study: “RWBY: Everything is Gun” * Sun’s attack on Torchwick was animated very well, a definite step up from last episode where he seemed too restrained * Torchwick just spoke my thoughts. I do admire everyone’s bravery but come on. The bad guys WILL have backup. * Holy CRAAAAP Sun beating all the WFs with his bo staff is AWESOME and it is animated AMAZINGLY * On top of that Blake’s...I don’t know, “teleport” effect is really cool to look at * What I appreciate mostly about the fights in this show is that even though it’s all very energetic and fast-paced you can keep up with what’s happening. It’s not just trying to look “fight-ish”, it’s real and you can follow every movement * Sun’s bo staff splitting into nunchuks are really cool I wonder if it’s also a--

* There it is. * I also like that the fights make use of the environments * I felt like Torchwick laughing was a little too on the nose but the subtitles saying (evil laugh) just confirms it * Penny is not mad muffin * Let me guess Penny’s about to do a murder * Excuse me

* OH YEEEEAAAAH PENNY’S OFF THE CHAIN * SHE MOWING THESE GUYS DOWN LIKE GRASS * OH * MY GOSH * How is Ruby just mildly pleased and not losing her mind right now * Is Penny about to do a Captain America? * Ruby your question is legitimate but how is that your first one? * Bout time the police showed up * Okay. Moment of truth. How is Weiss going to handle this? * Gooooood. Good girl. * At the same time I appreciate (?) that Weiss almost slipped up on calling Sun something there. She’s going to turn over a leaf to accept Blake as a teammate but that doesn’t mean she’s cured, and she’s still super suspicious of Sun because, well, he is technically a criminal * Is Penny?? A criminal too? * “Hey Ozpin what cha doing” “Oh you know stalking students again; not getting involved or helping in any way” * Oh!! Qrow!! Ruby’s uncle!! * And so the season concludes! * Overall? Not bad. Did it blow my mind? Well, not necessarily. Am I impressed? Absolutely! * I still stand by what I said before about the pacing being a bit off for this first volume. * I do like Jaune. I like his arc and his relationship with Pyrrha and his struggle to be a leader. At the same time, the fact that he gets an arc before Yang or Blake, despite both of them being two of the titular characters, doesn’t feel right. If Weiss and Blake’s storyline had been running alongside it, I think that would have paced things better. Giving Jaune focus without stealing the spotlight from the leads. * Jaune’s arc also has the side effect of bringing things to a halt. It was an enjoyable arc, but following Ruby and Weiss dealing with their feelings on their new team, it more or less feels like a sudden roadblock than anything else. The fact that it really only includes Jaune, Pyrrha, and Cardin (who I wonder will show up again, creepy little sh*t) and not Ren or Nora is something I’ll get to in a second. * Yang herself didn’t get much attention at all, which is very disappointing to me. I don’t know very much about her other than that she’s a thrillseeker, a peacekeeper, and is just nice in general (as long as she’s not angry). I feel like she kind of got robbed here. * I also still believe that the lack of background characters, though explainable and really not that big a deal, is not a “good” thing. To me, it makes Beacon feel really, really empty, not the giant of a school it really is. Cardin’s team were shown, thankfully, but even then their designs are pretty bland and suffer from “Guess Who’s the Main Character?” syndrome * The animation has some highs and some lows, and I’m going to take a guess that most focus was given to the fights, which I will say again look absolutely fantastic. I completely admire the animation team’s work and direction, while at the same time I think other animations feel a bit rough and incomplete. It’s nothing that absolutely breaks my immersion, but there are times when it seems something is supposed to have a lot of energy and instead is too rigid or even too “smooth”, i.e. no sense of gravity or weight. * The designs of every character are always very nice to see--and I would like to once again reaffirm my opinion that character designs don’t always have to be realistically practical and “grounded”. I’d much rather Ruby be wearing see Yang wearing kerchiefs and short shorts than have her be in a completely unnotable outfit with muted colors. Each design also serves the character well. Even Jaune’s very simplistic design highlights how he doesn’t quite fit in at Beacon, and is just “average” compared to everyone else. * The VAs all did very well, even if I did feel at times that they were holding back. * Ren and Nora also did not get very much attention and more or less just feel like filler on Jaune’s team for now. Not absolutely boring, but they don’t nearly play as much of a part as everyone else. I haven’t even seen Jaune interact with either of them that much, which lessens the impact of his struggle to be their leader. * The backgrounds are a bit hit-and-miss at times. Beacon itself looks amazing and grandious, a fairytale castle mixed with a bit of a futuristic edge. Other times, the backgrounds are flat and textureless and don’t feel very real. * I really do wish the first season was able to do episodes of “average episode length” (18~ minutes), as opposed to snippets that could range from 3 to 15 minutes. Even though I felt that “The Stray” ended in a very nice place and set up the next episode well, the season finale doesn’t really feel like a season finale. It just feels like the ending of a typical episode. The only thing that tipped me off that it was a finale was the longer credits. * This is on top of the fact that a few of the episodes were very short and really only progressed one or two things. * I still don’t quite get Auras or what the point of them is. This is the first season, of course, but thus far I really can’t tell how Auras change anything about fighting. I guess it does kind of explain why everyone isn’t bleeding and bruised by the end of every fight, but still. Right now, it feels that if Pyrrha’s explanation of what an Aura is was snipped out, I wouldn’t notice a difference. * Just speaking broadly, even though I think RWBY has a lot of things going for it--design, fight animations, character writing, etc--they’re kind of like a bunch of different candies all jumbled into the same bowl. On their own, they’re good and I can appreciate them. Together, stuffed into the same season in uneven episode lengths, they don’t really work all that well together. * Anyhoodle I’ll be starting season 2 soon and I look forward to it.

#rwby #my thoughts

[texanredrose]

(pulls up to window) yeah, can I get some purruby with 'announcing relationship to family and friends' and a side of 'awkward'?

Consider this a refried, deep fried special, with extra headcanons, free of charge *ding* order up.

Ruby fidgeted, looking around at the interior of the limousine with about a dozen awful scenarios bounding around in the back of her mind. This could go really, really bad, which she didn’t think would happen, but the thought it might made her restless. After all, it wasn’t every day that she had the chance to interact with legitimate royalty- okay, so that wasn’t exactly true, since she was dating Pyrrha, but she had no idea until recently that her girlfriend was actually the next in line for a throne, or that Remyscira’s monarchy still stood after all these years! Whenever they covered it in history classes, the teachers always made it sound like the small island off the coast of Mistral had joined the mainland’s government, like the line of Queens ruling over it had ended about a century ago, but nope! Apparently, that was still a thing!

So now, here she sat, in a fancy limousine beside her girlfriend, being escorted to the royal palace by a motorcade with her own family ogling just about everything in sight.

“Ya know, I gotta hand it to ya, Pyrrha. Never would’ve guessed you’d be into this sorta lifestyle,” Yang said, opening up the mini bar and grabbing a little bottle, pulling off the top and taking a sniff. Her nose immediately crinkled as she shook her head, muttering a curse under her breath. “But… I could get used to it.”

“It was very nice of your family to invite us over.” Taiyang chuckled, pulling the bottle from his eldest daughter’s hand and replacing the cap. “A shame Blake and Weiss couldn’t come. I would’ve loved to meet them!”

“Yeah, hehe, real shame!” Ruby offered a weak smile. She took solace in the fact that they really couldn’t be there, since Weiss had opted to go to Menagerie for spring break, but they also… didn’t actually extend the offer. She’d rationalized it at the time- Blake and Weiss were dating, they would obviously want to spend a lot of time together, and meeting royalty probably wouldn’t surprise either of them enough to change their plans- but now she kinda wished her roommate was there to chide her about being nervous.

What did she have to be nervous about, really? She and Pyrrha had dated for the past few years, they really liked each other, they’d spent a lot of time together between schoolwork and practices, and they liked each other’s friends.

Of course, the little detail that Ruby might’ve forgotten to mention to any member of her family that she’d started dating the Mistrali princess could have something to do with her sudden bout of nerves but… well, it wasn’t like Yang had owned up to dating either! They were both playing this weird game of ‘I kinda know you’re dating someone but you haven’t officially told me yet so we’re just going to pretend like it’s not a big deal’ which… honestly, it was exhausting.

“I’m sure you’ll have a chance to meet them once the school year ends, Mr. Xiao Long,” Pyrrha said with a smile. “It’s a pleasure to meet you myself and I’m sure my parents will be thrilled.”

“I’m not so sure.” He reached up, scratching at the back of his head. “I’m just a teacher from Patch. Not exactly suited to the blueblood life, though my daughters seem keen on making friends with them.”

“Hey, it’s not like we planned it!” Yang crossed her arms over her chest, probably just a little bit self conscious about the rough patches on her leather jacket. “We just happen to have a knack for getting uptight Princesses to relax. It’s a gift; you should be proud.”

“Well, I certainly am proud that you’ve both made so many friends while you’ve been away at school.” Taiyang glanced out the window as they pulled into the royal grounds, guards in shining metal armor patrolling the perimeter. “I was worried, ya know. A father worries about his girls.”

“Moms too; mine wasn’t exactly thrilled when I decided to study abroad,” the redhead said, sighing slightly. “She didn’t like the idea of me leaving home. Just… worries after me. And my sister.”

“Oh, she still lives with your folks, right?” Lilac eyes shone bright, a smile curling her sister’s lips. “Think she’d be up for a little arm wrestling?”

“You’re really going to challenge my little sister because you can’t beat me?”

“Hey, it’s not like you can beat me, either!” Yang chuckled, rotating her right shoulder. “Last time we arm wrestled, I swear you almost tore my arm out of socket.”

As the vehicle slowed to a stop, Ruby took a deep breath, watching as someone popped open the door. Yang was the first to move, never really liking being the passenger, and Taiyang followed, stretching out his back. She almost followed, but a hand grabbing hers stopped her, silver meeting emerald.

“We don’t have to tell them today,” Pyrrha said softly, giving her hand a little squeeze. “We can take our time.”

“No. I want to tell them, I do.” She sighed. “I’m just a little scared about how they’ll react. I mean… we’re not really good at this whole… royalty thing? If you hadn’t already noticed, which you probably had-”

“Ruby?” The redhead smiled wide, leaning closer and pressing a quick kiss to her cheek. “You’re doing wonderful. My parents will adore you, and your family. Just watch. Everything will be fine.”

She sincerely wished she could feel that sort of confidence but, really, how could she? When they were alone- just the two of them- it was easy; nothing whispered doubts into her ears. But around people, she’d always been a little more self conscious, a little more unsure, because people she could never understand the way she could machines. Nothing complicated about hydraulics or combustion- she could measure everything down to the smallest atom. That was easy!

Trying to predict how royalty would react to her family? How her family would react to her dating a bonafide Princess? Much different.

But the hand in hers reassured her, and she followed Pyrrha out of the limousine and up the literal red carpet. Into a building that looked like it hadn’t been changed in the slightest since the days when terrible creatures called Grimm roamed Remnant freely. She absolutely loved the architecture but it suddenly felt far more… imposing when also surrounded by fully armored guards.

“You know… Weiss would love to see all this,” she said, trying not to draw too much attention to herself as she clung to Pyrrha’s hand. “I think she’d appreciate the aesthetic.”

“Blake too; her own family maintains a similar estate in Menagerie, and they have guards posted more often than not, too.” The redhead chuckled. “I never thought I’d have so much in common with her. But I suppose that’s true with most of our friends.”

Our friends. Ruby swallowed as she tried not to imagine how that might change in the future. Honestly, she didn’t expect her family to object to her dating Pyrrha or for them to break up any time soon but… well, she also had to admit that her nerves were making those possibilities seem like real, tangible things.

What if Yang didn’t approve? Sure, her sister had only ever teased her about things before, and maybe she went overboard a time or two, but that was years ago. 

But what if she didn’t?

She was psyching herself out. Yang would probably be thrilled; she liked Pyrrha as a friend and teammate and they got on great. And Dad- he’d be super happy that she was actually dating, given how he’d worried about her not being able to make friends while away at college. This should really be nothing short of good news all around!

But what if-

Two doors were thrown open as they were escorted into a room with high rafters, a long table stretching from one end to the other and able to sit a hundred people easily but only two currently occupied the table.

“Oh, my, you’ve arrived early.” One woman stood- taller than even Pyrrha, with a more ornate version of the redhead’s tiara holding back burnt orange curls. But the eyes- she and her daughter had the same eyes, and they looked just as warm and friendly when she smiled. “Welcome to Remyscira. I am Hippolyta, Pyrrha’s Mom.”

The other woman stood- shorter, but with far more muscle, and that same set to her jaw that her daughter sometimes got when she was focused. And a sword at her hip, which was a bit odd, but considering they were effectively surrounded by people in armor, she supposed it didn’t look too out of place. “And I’m her mother, Antiope. Are you hungry? We can offer you some fruits, something light until the midday meal.”

“Oh, that’s very kind of you.” The man offered a hand, a wide smile on his lips. “I’m Taiyang, Yang and Ruby’s dad. I’ve heard so much about your daughter and she lives up to every expectation.”

“She does indeed.” Antiope accepted the gesture, turning her gaze towards Ruby- and Yang, briefly, but mostly those deep blue eyes rested on the smallest person there, and that didn’t make her feel intimidated at all. “And we’ve heard much about your daughters as well.”

“Yeah, I’m Yang!” The blonde cheerily greeted, waving a hand. “Thanks again for inviting us.”

“Well, of course,” Hippolyta replied with a gentle chuckle. “Pyrrha said she had something important she wanted to discuss and that she wished to speak with Taiyang as well.”

“Oh, really?” Tai glanced back at them, a furrow to his brows. “About what?”

Pyrrha looked at her then and she wouldn’t doubt that her girlfriend could find a way to steer the conversation clear of the topic if asked. But, this was kinda why they’d set up this whole trip, so they might as well let the cat out of the bag.

“We both wanted to, uh, talk to you,” Ruby said, trying to keep her voice steady. “We just… thought we’d let you know that Pyrrha and I are dating and we’re very happy so thank you for your support and please vote again next year!”

Silence fell upon the room until Pyrrha leaned closer to her. “Did you just quote an election campaign?”

“I panicked, okay, I’m trying.” She shot back in a low whisper, trying to ignore the irregular beating of her heart as her girlfriend’s parents exchanged a look.

“Well… if this is a serious courtship, we will absolutely respect that,” Hippolyta said slowly, blinking as she caught up with the information. “It’s a bit… untraditional.”

“How so?” Tai shrugged. “If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Here in Remyscira, we have certain… cultural expectations when one enters a relationship.” Antiope raised her hands in a placating gesture. “We realize that our traditions are unconventional elsewhere, so we of course take no offense, but it… is a little jarring.”

“I’ll say!” Taiyang laughed, though happiness shone brightly in his eyes. “Here I thought you’d go off to college and shut yourself in your room or your lab, but you have a girlfriend now? I’m proud, Rubes; she’s a very nice young lady.”

“I just can’t believe neither of you told me!” Yang started to chuckle, but the sound slowly died as her brows pinched together, and Ruby felt her dread flare up again. “Hey, wait a minute- two weeks ago, when I called you asking what you were up to and you said you were ‘studying anatomy’… you don’t take an anatomy course.” She raised a brow, the teasing inflection of her voice making her sister blush. “What were you really doing, huh?”

“I was studying anatomy!” She spat out the truth a bit too readily, because she could never lie under pressure to save her life. “Just not out of a book.”

Again, Pyrrha’s parents exchanged a look.

“Mother. Be reasonable.” The redhead tried to keep her voice level even as the two women seemed to be having a silent, private conversation.

“Oh wow, really, Rubes? Really?” Yang set her hands on her lips, clearly caught between teasing her further and letting it go, because on the one hand she probably thought it was hilarious how red Ruby was turning but on the other, not in front of the parents, come on.

Taiyang whistled. “Wow, my little girl’s growing up.” He lightly bumped shoulders with his eldest. “Looks like you’ve got some catching up to do.”

“Yeah, hehehe, about that…” She reached up, running a hand through her hair. “Um, maybe not as much as you think?”

“Ruby Rose.” Antiope’s voice rang out, clear as a hot blade sliding through snow. “Do you intend to continue courting our daughter?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” she replied, smiling when she saw the happiness shining in her girlfriend’s eyes at how readily she answered the question, without a hint of nervousness. She really did like Pyrrha… maybe even love her, because that little crush had turned into so much more over the years. “I do.”

“Very well then.” Without any explanation, the woman pulled her sword from its sheath, about five of the guards copying the motion. “You get a fifteen second head start.”

Eyes widening in shock, she turned towards Pyrrha. “You said they would be okay with this!”

“They will be, as long as she doesn’t catch you.” The redhead grabbed her shoulders, looking all too serious in that moment. “Trust me: run.”

“What are you-”

“Ten, nine-”

“Whoa, whoa, hey, what’s-”

“Yang, calm down, it’s cultural-”

“-eight, seven-”

“Dad, you’re just going to let this happen?”

“-six, five-”

“I’m being serious, Ruby, run, and don’t let her catch you!”

“-four, three-”

Without waiting for the rest of the countdown, Ruby turned and booked it back they way they’d come, knowing full well she didn’t stand a chance inside the home. She’d be just as likely to turn into those chasing her as away, and the open outdoors at least gave her some vantage. Idly, she thanked her father for taking them hunting when they were little. She might not enjoy the sport herself but she could certainly use that experience to help her as she heard a loud, rousing cry from behind her, like an army preparing to charge.

What in Remnant had she gotten herself into?

The sun sank low beneath the horizon, twilight finally giving way to nightfall as Ruby collapsed to her knees at the edges of the woods behind the royal estate. She’d spent all day ducking through the trees and running as fast as her legs could carry her, avoiding the literal hunting party sent after her.

But she really couldn’t run anymore, even as she heard footsteps coming up behind her.

“So… what… I… lose?” Struggling to catch her breath, she turned her head to see Antiope kneeling down beside her, sword once again in its scabbard.

“No, you won. You eluded us until sunset, as tradition states.” She offered a smile, equal parts proud and kind. “We firmly believe that love gives wings to those who feel truly feel it. When two people care for each other that deeply, they can outrun anything, but the true strength of love comes not to aid running away. It comes to aid facing the things that trouble us deepest… but I have a feeling you already know that.”

Rolling over, she laid down and stared at the sky above, still working on catching her breath. “I… I used to be really nervous around other people. Meeting new people… it just wasn’t as easy for me as it was for Yang.” She glanced at the woman as she sat down beside her. “But with Pyrrha… I dunno. It’s like I can face down anything.”

“That is love, Little One,” she said with a chuckle. “You come to a far away land, to the heart of its people, and you come bearing news you don’t know how we’ll receive. That takes a type of courage people think is all too common until they find themselves lacking it entirely.” She sighed, reaching out to clap a hand on Ruby’s shoulder. “I’ve always trusted my daughter’s decisions. I may not understand them, but they’ve never steered her wrong.”

“So… does this mean we have your blessing?”

Antiope laughed, reaching to undo her sword belt, gathering up the leather and holding it out. Ruby sat up, accepting the gift with furrowed brows.

“You may continue dating her, of course. I doubt we’d be able to stop her even if we’d caught up to you. She’s never been one for tradition.” The woman pushed herself to her feet and began walking away. “But if you intend to marry her, you should learn how to wield that. Betrothals are determined by duels.”

As Antiope walked back towards the royal estate, Ruby slumped back, still holding the sword belt.

“Well… okay…” she blinked. “I need to learn how to fight, I guess.”

While the thought itself worried her a bit, the idea that Pyrrha would be right there, cheering her on from the sidelines?

Worth it.

#TRR writes #Pyrruby #Expectations College AU #Two years later Ruby shows up with a giant fucking scythe and Antiope can't help but be impressed #'I said a duel and you bring a scythe #you've got spunk you're definitely the sort of person my daughter would fall for

[theliberaltony]

via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

Welcome to FiveThirtyEight’s weekly politics chat. The transcript below has been lightly edited.

sarahf (Sarah Frostenson, politics editor): Republicans struggled with setting debate criteria during the 2016 presidential election because of their large and unwieldy field, and Democrats seem as though they’ll have their own issues in 2020. We already count 20 candidates who have qualified for the first two debates via one of the two criteria the Democratic National Committee has set up: receiving at least 1 percent in at least three qualifying polls or having 65,000 people donate to their campaign, with at least 200 donors in 20 different states.

The DNC has said that it will cap participation at 20 candidates, so the next candidate who qualifies, via one of the two criteria for entry, will trigger the tiebreaker rules. Those get complicated fast, but the topline is: If more than 20 candidates qualify, then meeting both the polling and donor requirements will be paramount for candidates — those who do will get first dibs on debate lecterns.

But why is it so hard to figure out a fair metric for inclusion? Is there a better way to determine who makes the debate stage?

julia_azari (Julia Azari, political science professor at Marquette University and FiveThirtyEight contributor): It’s difficult to figure out a fair metric for inclusion because the whole process is weird. Ideally, it’s both inclusive and efficient (i.e., it narrows options for a nominee relatively quickly), but it’s not really possible to do both at the same time.

geoffrey.skelley (Geoffrey Skelley, elections analyst): Right, and in the aftermath of the 2016 Democratic nomination, when the DNC was criticized for “rigging” the debates for Hillary Clinton, the DNC really wants to seem transparent and inclusive.

natesilver (Nate Silver, editor in chief): So, 1) It’s good to have objective criteria, 2) as objective criteria go, fundraising and high-quality polling is perfectly fine, but 3) the DNC set the bar too low. Getting donations from 65,000 people is not that hard. And polling at 1 percent in any of three polls out of the many, many polls out there is even easier, probably.

sarahf: Although, to be clear, the DNC is not counting all polls from all pollsters. It has said, however, that it’ll consider both national and early-state polls, and qualifying polls can come from 18 different organizations).

geoffrey.skelley: Yeah, it’s still pretty easy to qualify via three polls at 1 percent or more — 19 Democrats have already done that. However, if the DNC had set the threshold at 2 percent or more, just eight candidates would meet that mark.

Only 8 candidates are polling at 2 percent or more

Democratic presidential candidates by whether they have received at least 1 percent or 2 percent support in at least three polls that would qualify them for the first Democratic presidential debates, as of May 21, 2019

IN at least 3 DEBATE-QUALIFYING POLLS, HAS SUPPORT OF … Candidate 1 percent or more 2 percent or more Joe Biden ✓ ✓ Cory Booker ✓ ✓ Pete Buttigieg ✓ ✓ Kamala Harris ✓ ✓ Amy Klobuchar ✓ ✓ Beto O’Rourke ✓ ✓ Bernie Sanders ✓ ✓ Elizabeth Warren ✓ ✓ Steve Bullock ✓ Julian Castro ✓ Bill de Blasio ✓ John Delaney ✓ Tulsi Gabbard ✓ Kirsten Gillibrand ✓ John Hickenlooper ✓ Jay Inslee ✓ Tim Ryan ✓ Eric Swalwell ✓ Andrew Yang ✓ Michael Bennet Seth Moulton Marianne Williamson

For candidates deemed “major” by FiveThirtyEight.

Sources: Polls, Media reports

natesilver: Yeah, hitting 1 percent is soooooooooo easy. Like people can literally just pick your name at random almost.

The DNC is spending too much time trying to avoid mistakes they think were made in the previous Democratic nomination process when there are probably more lessons to be learned from the Republican nomination process.

geoffrey.skelley: Well, part of what the DNC wanted to avoid was the mistakes the Republicans made in the 2016 cycle with prime time and undercard debates.

nrakich (Nathaniel Rakich, elections analyst): I think the Democrats have already done a better job than Republicans did in 2016. The DNC has said that they’ll randomly distribute candidates across the nights, rather than hold “varsity” and “junior varsity” debates. I think that’s a good move.

natesilver: Oh, I’m not sure I agree with that, Nathaniel.

nrakich: How is a junior varsity debate better, Nate? My problem with splitting the candidates up by tier is that it requires splitting hairs between a candidate who gets, say, 3 percent in a poll and a candidate who gets 4 percent. (Margins of error are real!) I guess it’s fine to argue that you think the threshold should be higher and there should be only one main debate, but if you are going to split the candidates into two debates, I think randomly doing it is the only good way.

natesilver: Well, if you wind up stuck in the JV debate because you poll at 2 percent rather than at 3 percent, I don’t have much sympathy for you, even though that’s a minor difference.

nrakich: But the debates are candidates’ chance to raise their polling numbers up from that 2 or 3 percent.

Debates should start off inclusive but probably get less inclusive as we get closer to voting.

Like, the New Hampshire debate three days before the primary should probably only have the candidates with a serious chance of winning that primary.

nrakich: My beef with using polling averages as a debate criterion is that they assume that candidates can be precisely ranked by their standing in the polls. But in reality, polls are imprecise instruments, and you can’t do much more than lump candidates into rough categories (and even those have fuzzy boundaries). For example, all candidates polling between 0 and 5 percent are basically in the same spot.

julia_azari: I agree with Nathaniel here. I would also add that these differences don’t, in my mind, clearly differentiate candidates. And does it really matter if it’s 20 or 22 candidates on the stage? Either isolate the top-tier candidates or let everyone in.

sarahf: Julia, the number of evenings we have to devote to watching the debates is at stake!

julia_azari: If other people haven’t blocked off all of 2019 and 2020 to watch debates, that’s not my problem. People want an open nomination process. This is where that goes.

nrakich: Some pollsters have also said that they are uncomfortable with their work influencing elections. Their role is as measurers, not active participants.

natesilver: Meh, the pollsters complain too much.

If you believe in the quality of your poll, you shouldn’t have any problem with it being used as an objective metric.

I think they should literally have tiers on stage based on where you’re polling.

nrakich: Nate

take

natesilver: So like Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders are on the top tier and have big giant podiums. And Swalwell is in the cheap seats in like a broom closet.

julia_azari: This chat is a serious warning about overpopulated debates, and there are only five of us.

natesilver: I do think for this first debate, they might as well just let everyone in. And then set the criteria a lot higher for future debates.

geoffrey.skelley: But the polling average tiebreaker might not even solve things. Say there are a few candidates who have a bunch of polls in which they are hitting only 1 percent. If the polling average can’t settle a tie, it comes down to the number of qualifying polls a candidate has. But what if three or four candidates have the same number of qualifying polls? It’s going to be a mess one way or the other.

natesilver: Again, though, I’m realllllllly not sympathetic to the borderline cases. The primary has been underway for a while now, and if you can’t both get 65,000 donors AND poll at 1 percent in three polls, there’s probably something pretty wrong with you.

And I’d rather give more time to, say, Cory Booker or Amy Klobuchar to make their cases and less to Eric Swalwell or Bill de Blasio.

julia_azari: This is a recurring problem for parties. They try to solve a lot of these problems informally by limiting who runs.But when these conversations break down like they did in 2016, the formal solutions — like trying to come up with a fair threshold for inclusion in a debate with so many candidates — show why those problems were being solved informally: It’s a mess.

natesilver: Do we think the debate rules factored into how many candidates have decided to run?

Mike Gravel, whom we don’t consider a major candidate yet, explicitly seems to have run based on the possibility that he’d get 65,000 donors and therefore some sort of platform to talk about U.S. imperialism or whatever.

nrakich: Good question. Probably not? There are other ways to get media attention aside from the debates — it looks like every candidate is getting a CNN town hall, for example. And a few candidates have jumped in so late that it’s not clear whether they’ll make the debates at all, like Seth Moulton and Michael Bennet. So why are they running?

geoffrey.skelley: I don’t know — it could have pushed a few candidates who were on the fence.

julia_azari: That’s hard to know, but what’s interesting to me is that not that long ago, debates were mostly about getting the top-tier candidates to show up. Now, even though the evidence that they matter is somewhat mixed, they’ve taken on this whole different significance because of the record number of candidates and the scramble for inclusion.

sarahf: So what good are debates, Julia, especially this far out?

julia_azari: Well, the default position in political science tends to be that not that many people are watching and that those who are have already made up their minds. But the latter point is a bit different for a primary debate, since partisanship doesn’t shape decisions in the same way.

sarahf: Right, here at FiveThirtyEight, we’ve been saying things won’t get interesting until the debates!

julia_azari: So on the one hand, there’s not really hard evidence that debates affect who wins the primary. (Studies do suggest that debates might affect citizens’ perceptions of personality and viability to win the nomination.) But usually the primary is … not that competitive. The 2008 Democratic primary really stood out in this regard, because there were two strong contenders through most of the primary season, making the contest a real competition.

sarahf: Yeah, I think the debates will stand out this year, too, as they’ll be one of the first opportunities for people to get to hear from the candidates directly (outside of a CNN town hall, which, as FiveThirtyEight’s Clare Malone has noted, can be overly orchestrated to begin with).

geoffrey.skelley: And primary debates can certainly make or break a candidate — earlier this year, I examined their effects. Rick Perry in the 2012 GOP primary debates really stands out to me because after he defended Texas’s in-state tuition policy for undocumented immigrants, his standing among Republicans plummeted. It was much worse than when he forgot the name of the third federal agency he wanted to dismantle!

nrakich: I feel like the debates are one of the events in the Olympic Games that are the primary season. You have to participate in them and be rated favorably by the judges (the media) in order to win gold.

natesilver: But quite a few people watch at least relative to the size of the Democratic electorate, don’t they?

Here’s some ratings data on the 2016 Democratic primaries from Wikipedia:

By comparison, 31 million people voted in the Democratic primaries in 2016. So having an audience of 16 million for the first debate isn’t bad compared with 31 million!

nrakich: It’s interesting how viewership dropped off so starkly after the first debate.

natesilver: That may have happened because I don’t think either Sanders or Clinton were particularly interesting debaters. They were perfectly competent, but not interesting.

sarahf: Do you think candidates who go the second night will be disadvantaged?

I realize Democrats aren’t splitting the debates into a varsity and JV debate, but maybe one debate will be enough for folks?

geoffrey.skelley: Depends on who is in each debate. If it’s a random draw but a number of leading candidates end up in one debate, that debate will probably get the most attention.

natesilver: There might be a wee bit of fatigue, Sarah, but it probably depends more on the draw. If Biden, Sanders and Warren are all on the second night, that’s the one most people will care about. But if the heavyweights are all on the first night, the second night could feel like more of a JV affair.

geoffrey.skelley: Yeah, but if the heavyweights are all grouped together, I think that could still be good for some of the underdog candidates. It could give them an opportunity to stand out without facing the same “main event” vs. “undercard” judgment that was explicit in how the GOP handled things in 2016.

julia_azari: I don’t know. I’m going to remain on team skepticism about 2016 Republican type ratings. It’s possible that people will tune into these debates with a genuine eye toward actually deciding between candidates or learning more about some candidates. But I don’t expect that these debates will draw in Trump-level ratings.

The Democratic field is crowded, but it doesn’t have an animating rivalry between two candidates and it’s not a clown show.

sarahf: … at least not yet!

There’s still so much we don’t know.

julia_azari: But people weren’t watching in 2016 because they wanted to hear the finer points of Marco Rubio’s tax plan vs. Ted Cruz’s. There was a show-biz factor with Trump, to put it politely. And he delivered consistently enough.

nrakich: I dunno, Julia, I’m pretty worked up about the Swalwell vs. Hickenlooper rivalry.

sarahf: Nathaniel

Is there another debate matchup you all are looking forward to?

natesilver: Trump was uniquely unpredictable in the context of the debates, so I’m not sure whether there will be a point of comparison.

But you will have the dynamic of other candidates working to take the front-runner down, which has both potential risks and rewards for the front-runner.

I think the first debate is probably more likely to hurt Biden than help him, however.

geoffrey.skelley: The lack of a Trump-like figure will certainly make a difference. But it could get really interesting if Biden and Sanders are on stage the same night. One could easily imagine Sanders going after Biden straight away, just as he did with Hillary Clinton in 2016.

natesilver: I mean, I think debates sometimes tend to cause reversion toward the fundamentals. So if we think Biden’s numbers are a little bit inflated right now by a post-announcement boost, and I think they probably are, he’s more likely to decline than improve.

julia_azari: Counterpoint: Biden is actually quite good in these settings. His experience helps as he’ll be less likely to go deer-in-the-headlights on a specific question. And he really knows how to work emotion, if you recall his performance in the 2008 VP debates.

natesilver: Who do we expect to be an effective debater? Kamala Harris? Elizabeth Warren? Pete Buttigieg?

Although, maybe it’s not a good thing if expectations are high. Everyone’s going to expect Harris to be super incisive with every response and for Buttigieg to speak Norwegian or something.

julia_azari: I am OUT if I have to learn Norwegian for these debates.

I think people expect Warren to be wonky and unlikable, but my impression is that she’s actually pretty good in front of a crowd, so maybe she’ll do well.

natesilver: For Warren, I think you can argue that she is someone for whom the fundamentals are misaligned. She’s an “objectively” strong candidate and “should” be doing better (I know how loaded those terms are — it’s a chat, so give me a break). Maybe the same is true for Harris. So they both stand to gain.

Or to put it another way, if Harris and Warren don’t benefit from the debates, then maybe we have to start concluding that they’re products that voters just don’t like very much for whatever reason.

sarahf: So who … do we think won’t make the debate stage? Because it does seem as though we’re headed toward some sort of tiebreaker, right?

nrakich: Maybe Marianne Williamson? She’s the only candidate currently who’s qualified via the donors criterion but not the polling criterion.

sarahf: If Marianne Williamson is the one who’s cut … it’s kind of like what was the point of the DNC introducing the 65,000-unique-donor threshold anyway.

geoffrey.skelley: But Williamson only needs to earn 1 percent support in one more survey to qualify via polls. So I actually like her chances if it comes down to a polling-average tiebreaker because she might hit both the polling and donor criteria.

And yeah, Sarah, that’s a big question mark: How many of the candidates who have qualified via polls but not via donors will actually get 65,000 donors?

It sounds like Inslee is close on the donor count, for instance. But what about John Hickenlooper or Kirsten Gillibrand or John Delaney, etc.? I haven’t found any new information about their donor counts.

natesilver: There’s no particular reason to limit it to 20 candidates instead of 21 or whatever.

nrakich: We live in a base 10 world, Nate. Get used to it.

natesilver: But it just sort of seems to defeat the purpose of being inclusive if you’re excluding just Williamson.

Moulton might not make it.

geoffrey.skelley: Yeah, Moulton is the one who is really up a creek without a polling paddle — he doesn’t have a single qualifying survey yet.

nrakich: The new hot take: I should be considered a serious candidate for president even though I have raised no money whatsoever.

natesilver: Sorry, but you’re not a major candidate according to our criteria, Rakich.

sarahf: OK, so as we’ve discussed, there are pros and cons to having a debate stage as wide-ranging and inclusive as what the DNC has settled on. But it’s also really hard to do any of this fairly. So to end today’s chat, what would you have liked to see the DNC do differently?

julia_azari: I mean, the DNC is in somewhat of a no-win position, but given that I’m not sure they can actually regain (or gain) legitimacy by having 20-candidate debates, it might have made sense to just raise the thresholds to begin with.

nrakich: Overall, I think the DNC did well. The criteria are arbitrary, sure, but they’ve turned out to be well-calibrated, at least for someone like me who wants initial debates to include (almost) everyone.

geoffrey.skelley: I think 10 Lincoln-Douglas debates between pairs of candidates would be the best approach.

Oh sorry, Newt Gingrich took over my Slack account for a second there.

But seriously, I think the DNC could’ve made a case for higher thresholds, such as polling at 2 percent instead of 1 percent.

nrakich: I think this chat did convince me that stricter thresholds are appropriate for later in the primary season, closer to the actual voting. We’ll see if the DNC agrees.

natesilver: I think maybe there should have been both a money qualifier and a donors qualifier for the donor threshold. Like, you have to raise donations from 65,000 people and raise at least $5 million, or something.

That’s basically what airlines’ frequent flier programs do now — you have to fly a certain amount of miles and spend a certain amount of money.

nrakich: The DNC should be more like airlines — there’s a winning electoral position!

natesilver: ThE AiRLiNe InDuStRy Is UnFaIrLy MaLiGnEd

julia_azari: This debate has been canceled due to mechanical failure. Tomorrow, we fly you to Poughkeepsie instead of Atlanta.

natesilver: And if I were the DNC, I’d stipulate my criteria for future debates sooner rather than later. Because otherwise it’s going to look like they’re engineering the rules around which candidates they do/don’t like.

geoffrey.skelley: Which would defeat the point of being so inclusive in the first place.

#IFTTT #Politics – FiveThirtyEight #politics #538 #A FiveThirtyEight Chat

[razorblade180]

Lasting Embers part27: Winding down

The fifth day of final family bonding is in full effect. Midday sun shines down on Tenzen’s back yard where him and both his parents currently are. Friday’s were usually days when they decided to use the grill so why change up the tradition now? Might as well go a bit grander than usual, which is exactly what they did.

Mercury:*flipping burgers* Thanks for the invitation you two. It’s nice to have a moment of peace.

Emerald:Not to mention good food. Constantly going around the world is fun and all but you do not always end up near good restaurants.

Nora:*wearing an apron* No problem you two. The food would be better if Ren was helping but as you can see.....

Tenzen:*fully powered and standing still*

Ren:*watching him*

Nora:He’s busy at the moment.

Emerald:I don’t mind the light show. It’s actually kinda pretty.

Orange and pink aura flow upward into the air as usual when his semblance is in use. The added effect of lightning of the same color crackles calmly around his body thanks to his close and once again his usual appearance has had a color swap. Nora honestly thinks the pink hair with an orange strip looks better on him. Not to mention his orange eyes.

Mercury:You know it might be a good idea to change your semblance name before you go to beacon and everyone sees it.

Tenzen:What’s wrong with Overflow? It’s literally what my aura is doing.

Mercury:Yeah but is it cool? There’s other things you could call it to make it slightly cooler. Like Over Soul....

Nora:Limit Break!

Emerald:Soul Surge.....

Ren:Oooo that’s a good one.

Tenzen:Hey! I thought you were gonna be on my side?

Ren:It was just a thought. You ready to attempt your new move?

Tenzen:*shakes out his arms and legs* All right, let’s see if I’ve improved.

He takes a deep breath and puts his hands together. Slowly his aura stops flowing up and starts concentrating itself behind him. Everybody watches intently as it starts to take the shape of a silhouetted version of himself. It increases in a size a bit bigger than him and starts moving independently before fading away. Sweat drips down the poor boys face.

Ren:You got it to move and last longer this time.

Tenzen:*huff* Yeah but it isn’t near perfect yet. Man....*huff* I usually don’t have too much trouble with aura manipulation.

Ren:Nobody has ever done anything like you are right now. I’m learning new things just by watching you.

Mercury:Uhh what did I just see? It was almost like seeing monkey boy’s semblance but more intense.

Nora:Tenzen as exceptional aura control and can use it ways most people can’t thanks to his semblance. He’s moved it around freely in small ways like wrapping it around people for protection or to grab them. Now he’s actually trying to mold it into things.

Mercury:So you choose yourself?

Tenzen:It’s both the easiest and most complex thing I can think of right now. After that maybe I could get crazy with it.

Mercury:.....

Mercury:You gave yourself a Stand.....

Tenzen:Why would you say something like that..?

Emerald:As far as semblances go I think Tenzen might have the weirdest I’ve ever seen. I mean your aura seems boundless yet you still run out like everyone else.

Tenzen:I like to think of it sort of like a stamina bar. Let’s say my regular bar reaches up to 100% and my aura ranges in between that number and zero. My semblance breaks that cap and makes my aura amount 500%. Yeah it gives me way more to work with but instead of my semblance just eating away at my aura, it eats away at the bar itself. So when it’s all said and done, I can end up with a bar that can only hold 25%

Emerald:Sounds tricky; you’ll end up only being able to take minimum damage if that happens. Is that what happened in the woods?

Tenzen:Basically, I’m surprised what aura I had held up against me falling from the cliff. What makes things scarier is I knew even with Jaune around to use his semblance it wouldn’t help much. We’ve tested it before and it would restore the aura but not the bar; that only comes back with time.

Mercury:Yet despite all of that you rushed in to save everyone. Risky move but respectable.

Nora:Please don’t make that habit.....

Tenzen:Mmmm no promises. *smiles*

Nora:*grumbles* Why are you like me?

Ren:Alright, you seem like you still have more than enough power to attempt your other move.

Tenzen:*Grinning* Oh we’re way pass me “attempting” it. I was actually going to try it in training but then all the cult shenanigans happened.

Emerald:(Shenanigans, he makes it sound like it’s not the craziest thing in the world. Well....it kinda isn’t but still)

Once a again he takes a calming breath before bending his right arm and stares at his hand. Aura and lightning dust travel down to his palm until his hand is engulfed in it.

Tenzen:Done.....

Ren:How!? When did you- *smiles* it took me forever how to influence my aura with dust. You really are a genius at this stuff.

Tenzen:Well it helps I have the best teacher ever. *powers down*

Nora:Wow, I see how it is. Not like we spent countless nights together sparring and perfecting that together.

Tenzen:That’s because you’re the best mom ever. *hugs her* I love you!!!!!

Nora:I love you too my little ninja.

“You still go by little ninja?”

Everyone turns to see Yujin walking into the backyard. She has a white sack over her shoulder.

Yujin:Sup sherbet head.

Tenzen:First of all, that nickname can die. Second, why are you here?

Yujin:Want me to leave?

Tenzen:I didn’t say that at all. Just surprised is all.

Yujin:Home is a little.....lonely. I tell dad to spend time with Yang and sitting on my porch gets old. So I thought “why not go see Tenzen?”

Tenzen:*smirks* So you’re here for me?

Yujin:*red* Don’t make this weird.

Ren:Well obviously you are welcomed here anytime.

Mercury:Too bad you didn’t bring any food to this little cookout.

Yujin:*pulls chips out the bag* I know how Friday’s work around here.

Mercury:New favorite person right here. Besides Emerald of course.

Emerald:Nice save dork.

Yujin:I hate to ask but is there any chance I can inspect all of your weapons?

Tenzen:*squints* I know your game.....

Yujin:*nervous* Pfft what game?

Tenzen:Did you come here to socialize or get weapon ideas?

Yujin:.......Can’t it be both?

Tenzen:Will it?

Yujin:*grabs his arms* Let me tinker around with my weapon please? If I have one more emotional conversation I might fall apart. Do you want me to fall apart in your backyard? I’ve learned to cry really easily the pass five days. I’m holding back tears right now man!

Tenzen:......

Yujin:*tearing up*....

Tenzen:Oh you weren’t joking! Uhh fine, just-

Yujin:Thanks!

Just like that she emptied what was left in the bag to reveal a sketch pad and some intricate tools for salvaging whatever she can from her sword. By the time he looked back up at her she had her hair in a ponytail and glasses on.

Yujin:I already know where you guys keep all your weapons so....*darts off*

Emerald:How does she know that?

Tenzen:Don’t ask me. Maybe her real semblance is sniffing out weapons. At least she’s happy.

Nora:How has she been about all this? Her face looks kinda paler than usual. Also a bit thinner?

Tenzen:She actually looked worse a few days ago.Looks like things are getting a bit better but I’m worried it might not stick. After all, leaving day is soon. That’s gonna hard on her.

Nora:Don’t forget yourself....

Brief silence comes after that statement. All adults looking at him sadly as he just looks at the ground for a moment. The mood changes though when he raises his head with a smile.

Tenzen:I’ll be just fine! Sure I’ll miss all you guys but honestly school might keep me busy and you all will be back before I know it. I am looking at some of the most capable fighters in Remnant after all.

Mercury:*wraps arm around him and Emerald* Thanks kid, the cult won’t know what hit em!

Emerald:Hell yeah! *all three laughing*

Nora:*frowning at Ren*.....

Ren:I know. He’s not gonna talk about it though. I’ve tried everything.

Nora......!!! We’re not completely out of options yet. I gonna go check on Yujin.

Ren:Please don’t be pushy.

Nora:Mmmmm no promises. *smiles*

Inside Yujin was having a field day. Her house was nothing quite like there’s seeing how the entire building actually uses to house other people like an apartment studio. Now different floors have different functions. Their living room and kitchen were connected on the first floor since it was more than big enough. The spiral staircase upstairs led upstairs to a hallway with rooms for four people which she always found weird. Two of course were their rooms and at best a third round would occupy Merc and Em. Maybe the fourth room was for her or Jaune if they visited? She could not imagine sleeping under the same roof as Tenzen; especially with what happened recently. There was a final door upstairs that obviously was the restroom.

Nora:Hey Yujin can we have a minute to chat!?

Yujin:I’m on the dance floor!

Nora:*going upstairs* You know we do more than dance up here right?

Yujin:I know, but anytime Tenzen sends a video of him doing a routine it’s in here.

She was setting on the floor with her sketch pad. Different designs of everyone’s weapons over the years were set in front of her.

Nora:Woah, you found all of them.

Yujin:From Beacon days, the fall, Salem quest modifications, post Salem, etc. they are all so similar but different. I’m hoping one of these will spark an idea. Transforming weapons was never my finest skill set. Made too many moving parts or not enough to help. *Sketching*

Nora:Turning a sword into gauntlets sounds rough. Why not just make gauntlets with hidden blades.

Yujin:My sword skills depend on me being to do things like twirl it and hold it backhanded sometimes. Merging the two limits that. I need to find away to fluidly transition in between them. The way Ren’s blade retract in is giving me a few ideas but not much.

Nora:(I don’t think I’ve seen so many sketches for one weapon since Jaune tried to change his.)

Yujin:Maybe I should forget the gauntlets all together? Sigh, not like they’ve been useful.... *slumps shoulders*

Nora:....Are you-

Yujin:It’ll pass, don’t worry about me. *keeps sketching*

Nora:Yujin I have a favor to ask you.

Yujin:Sure thing Mrs.Valkyrie.

Nora:You know you can just call me Nora?

Yujin:I know, but I like saying your last name since it’s cool.

Nora:*smiles* I would say call me Auntie but that might be weird since you’re crushing on my son.

The pencil breaks as she accidentally put too much pressure on it. Why is she always getting caught off guard like this? It’s like the entire world is trying to make her deal with at least one emotional problem a day. Blood rushes to her face and her ears turn red as memories from two days ago surface.

Yujin:I....*mumbles* Tenzen is just a friend....

Nora:I wonder how many times I said that about Ren? Admitting it helps a lot you know? *smirking* I’m not saying go confront him about it; I realize how much of a flirt my wild child is. Personally I blame all his fans.

Yujin:I cannot tell you how many people I see wearing a shirt with his mask on it. “Nobody dances like TZ!” It’s like everyone goes a bit crazy for him and they don’t even know him.

Nora:His personality and energy are very infectious. A people pleaser like him knows how to keep spirits up. That’s actually why I wanted to talk to you.

Yujin:???

Nora:It might not be noticeable but Tenzen also has his hangs up like you.

Yujin:Really? He seems fine and calm about most things that happen. It honestly makes me a bit jealous seeing him handle stress so well.

Nora:He gets that from his father. Still he has them for sure. My son is just the type to put his problems on the back burner and prioritize everyone else. Problem is he never takes a moment to himself and faces them until it’s a bit late.

Yujin:Huh, I had no idea. Actually, the other day I did mention how much I admired how strong he was compared to me in situations and he was about to say something until he got cut off. Can’t say if it was about his problems but he did seem....sad.

Nora:Listen, I doubt he’ll tell anyone how he feels about everything going right now but I do know they’ll come out eventually when it’s too late. Can you just make sure to check in on him sometimes when we leave? I want him to have a person to talk to when he needs it.

Yujin:Oh of course! Can’t say I can really picture him needing my help much but I’ll be there.

Nora:*smiles* That’s a relief. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if he suffered in silence after we left. My heart wouldn’t take it.

Yujin:......Nora, you’re a good mom.

Nora:Yang is better, or at least in my opinion.

Yujin:Agree to disagree.

Nora:Not even going to entertain this conversation huh?

Yujin:Not in the slightest.

..........

Nora:.........It’s not really my place to pry but I hope you know she loves you and right now the things you’re doing are really hurting her-

Yujin:She’s hurt me my whole life!

The entire room echoes with that yell. Nora just stares calmly as the girls anger quickly vanishes as it came.

Yujin:Sorry I.....I didn’t mean to yell at you. That was wrong.

Nora:It happens. *grabs her hand*

Yujin:Why does it feel like people are taking sides? *trembling* The way everyone keeps praising her and just wants me forgive makes it feel like I’m wrong for acting this way. Everyone seems to be on her side while I’m just alone.

Nora:Trust me when I say nobody thinks you’re wrong for being upset. It’s just we know Yang and that she is doing everything she can and more for you. We want you to see that. Leaving you a second time is killing her but sometimes hard choices have to be made. Even if that choice feels wrong. You know about Pyrrha right?

Yujin:Of course, without her I might not even be here.

Nora: For a long time her sacrifice didn’t feel like the right call. Going off to a fight she couldn’t win felt like nothing but a waste; especially to Jaune. Looking back on it though we couldn’t have been more wrong. Pyrrha gave people precious time to keep evacuating and Ruby might not have found out about her powers without her help. That dragon certainly would’ve done more harm.

Yujin:.....

Nora:I’m not saying you have to forgive your mother right now. But I do hope that one day you can look back at all this and take some sort of pride from the fact that she’s doing it to protect everyone; including you most of all. By the way *smiles* I think the gauntlet part of your weapon is one of the coolest parts.

Yujin:Nora, can I ask you for something? It’s...*red* a bit strange. You’re not my mom but.....I mean I would like it if you-

Nora calmly pulls her into a hug. Allowing the girl to just rest into her embrace. Her heart rate starts to speed up and her breath a little heavy. She’s crying into Nora’s shirt heavily with no signs of stopping.

Yujin:How’d you know?

Nora:It’s all I ever wanted as a kid too.

Yujin:The worst part about this feeling is it won’t last. You’re leaving too.

Nora:*tightens hug*(You poor child. )

[Tai’s house]

Ruby:Downloading and uploading countless videos across different scrolls and onto a computer is one thing. Putting those files in chronological order, making sure they aren’t corrupted and then onto a scroll with enough space is an entirely different ball game. People who use computers for a living have my respect.

Jaune:You can take a break if you want. We still have two days left.

Ruby:*holds up scroll* I’m done. Do we have coffee?

Jaune:What!?

Ruby:Coffee, I’ve been up for a full day doing this. I would like-

Jaune:You finished with two days to spare? Ruby that’s-

Ruby:I know, “Ruby you’re so amazing!” I appreciate praise but right now I feel like I’m dreaming.

Jaune:Cream and five sugars?

Ruby:Black......

Jaune:*eyes widened*..........who are you?

Ruby:I need a drink that’s gonna slap me in the face. Plus I’m a grown woman.

Jaune:*hands her a mug* So all that’s left is the journal then.

Ruby:Don’t forget to wrap it all up. *sips*....... hey can you put-

Jaune:*hands her another mug* Cream and sugars in it?

Ruby:*red* You suck....

Jaune:You swallow.....

Ruby:But you still kiss me afterwards.*finger gun* damn where’s Yang when I need her? That was a good comeback.

Jaune:*points to the couch*

Yang:*passed out*Zzzzzzz

Ruby:Guess she needed a break too. I hope she can stay awake on look out when we leave. This stress might get to her.

Jaune:Both of you don’t talk much about what happened over the decade. Almost like you’re avoiding it.

Ruby:Not really, wasn’t much to say. Travel, hide, spy, kill, hunt, research.... It felt like a giant manhunt honestly. They were constantly looking for us while we looked for them. Only difference is they also had to spend time progressing their plans. We had some cool fights and close calls. More than I would like.

Jaune:You ready to go back?

Ruby:Ready as I’ll ever be. It’s wrong to say but I think of piece of me was relieved to learn the mission wasn’t over yet. Starting to move forward made me a bit anxious. Am I wrong for that?

Jaune:*shrugs* Consider this a chance to do the mission the right way. You’re the one who said that this time around it’s not about vengeance.

Ruby:That’s right; protecting others are serving justice. Just like it should be.

Yang:*waking up* I’ll drink to that. Someone poor me some cof-*handed a mug*

Jaune:It’s black coffee.

Yang:Is there any other way to drink it? *downs it admittedly*

Ruby:*shudders* That will always freak me out. Good news, the scroll is done. How’s the journal coming along.

Yang:Honestly I do not know anymore. I write but I keep wondering if any of it is actually any good. I’m worried she won’t even read it.

Jaune:She’ll read it. Maybe not in the beginning but she’ll definitely read it eventually.

Yang:I hope so. The other problem is how can anyone express everything they want to say to their kid with just one journal? There’s no time to make another one and everything I write in this one keeps reminding of more things I want to tell her. Before I know it I’m at end of a page and I still haven’t told her everything I think she should hear. *looks at it* Pouring out your emotions onto paper has been more frustrating than fighting Salem.

Jaune:Sigh, what’s with the women in this family struggling with emotions but excelling in combat. All three of you have that same exact problem which is surprising. Tai seems to be fine at sharing feelings and he’s the only DNA link you all share.

Yang:*grumbles*........

Ruby:I think you’ve been thinking of this journal wrong. It’s not meant to replace you or even say farewell. Think of it more as “see you later.” Because you will see her later Yang Xiao Long. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. So stop treating it like it’s the last thing you’ll ever do for her.

Jaune:She’s right. It’s not like you to prepare for the worst. You always plan for the best!

Yang:......

Jaune and Ruby: *smiling*........

Yang:Sigh, who am I to resist a double leader pep talk? *grabs it* better get back to work then.

[Menagerie,Oasis]

Adam:*packing* Jacquelyn can you hand me my flashlight?

Jacquelyn:Here you go. Finally packing for the trip?

Adam:Don’t wanna forget anything last minute. It counts as work but it has to be done.

Jacquelyn:Fair enough. I mean Jael has been packing for beacon for awhile too.

Adam:I’ve noticed, she’s packing like her spot is already guaranteed there.

Jacquelyn:You don’t think she is gonna pass the exam?

Adam:I do, I’m just glad she does too. I’d be concerned if she packed light.

Jacquelyn:It’s weird to think everyone is leaving so soon. Sienna’s missions for the shadows, your mission, Jael’s entrance and initiation exam. Things are going to get lonely around here.....

Adam:I’ve actually been thinking about that. *stands up* what do you say about going on another venture across the world when Jael gets in? You haven’t done that in years.

Jacquelyn:That’s an option. It wouldn’t feel right though. I’ve gotten used to having someone to talk to on those trips. *holds his hand* he was never much for conversation but he kept me company.

Adam:He also tried attacking you a few times.

Jacquelyn:Yeah but I could beat him with one hand tied behind my back; still can. *smirks*

Adam:Oh so you’re that confident.

Jacquelyn:You’re strong my love but face it, I’ve always been too much for you to handle. *rubs his face*

Adam:Sounds like a challenge I just might except. *grabs her waste*

Jacquelyn:Careful, I don’t accept challenges with rewards. I just might have you try to put another baby in me if you lose.

Adam:I’d do that win or lose regardless.

Jacquelyn:Who are you and what have you done with Adam?

Adam:I’m Jacquelyn Frost’s husband *leans closer* so in other words I’m the luckiest man alive.

Both of them start kissing and getting a bit handsy when-

Jael:*red* Ahem!!

Adam:......

Jacquelyn:*grinning* Hi sweetie!!!!

Jael:......Dinner is ready. *slowly walks away*

Sienna:*walks by with her ears covered* You two are gross.

Adam:*face palms* We forgot about the door and their hearing.

Sienna:Speak for yourself. They’re old enough to know to leave the house when this happens. *happily hugging him* I at least wanted to have one fun day out of the week. Don’t tell me I’m the only one who’s thought about it?

Adam:........

Adam:*red* Tomorrow.....

Jacquelyn:You here that you little wild flowers!?

Sienna and Jael:Unfortunately!!!!!

Adam:Let’s go eat dinner.

Jacquelyn:Kay!

#rwby #rwby lasting embers #yujin xiao long #lie tenzen #mercury black #emerald sustrai #nora valkyrie #lie ren #renora #yang xiao long #ruby rose #jaune arc #adam taurus #jacquelyn frost #jael frost #sienna frost #rwby lancaster #rwby dragonslayer #rwby jaded #emercury