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the-hate-keeps-me-warm · 3 years

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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

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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

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kitkatopinions · 3 years

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I know alot of people thought this volume was Weiss time to shine but her contribution has been marginal at best. Now she's in the same situation as Blake and Yang then their arcs were ended in volume 5. This means when can we expect her to be shipped with someone and be mostly useless?

The way that Weiss was benched this season and the way her seasons-long story was just glossed over is confusing and frustrating. I was really looking forward to seeing Weiss not only interacting with her family in meaningful ways, but seeing her - the Atlas born and raised girl who’s used to how everything works there - not considering things as big of a deal as the others, being something of a celebrity, coming up with solutions only an Atlas born person might know, her having a full arc with her brother Whitley, her interacting with her team more and relying on them for strength instead of being mostly a support character. Instead, Weiss’s arc with her family not only is resolved like it’s easy, and Weiss doesn’t have to grow at all to get it, but it also barely involves Weiss’s friends at all. Also was Weiss treated like a celebrity? Or recognized by the people of Atlas or Mantle? As the very public singer-celebrity daughter of Jacques Schnee? And also, Weiss has spent the past volume acting like Ruby’s sidekick, barely doing more than throwing in some quips and taking four minutes or so to talk to her brother, and then the rest of her story in volume eight is just, being an extra fighter, making the appropriate faces when the creators want us to be shocked or sad or smug. Her last thread with Whitley and Willow has been tied off in a very unsatisfying and weird way...

And oh gosh, you’re right, this sounds really familiar.

Caution, this post isn’t super kind to B//umbleby or the characterization of Blake in particular. Bees I’m sorry if this shows up in your tags, I tried my best and used filterable tags. This is all just my personal opinion.

As soon as Blake’s arc, which was tied up in the problematic White Fang/Faunus racism plot was mostly solved in volume five, the quality of her character started going down, but there was still something there for her until they killed her abuser, and then her whole character was more or less stripped away and she was left hinting at her past in awkward dialogue, doing nothing but emoting in the proper way, occasionally patting Ruby or the others on the back, and being one half of a non-developed ship. Blake has had two moments in the past two seasons that seem to even somewhat include real fleshed out character, and that’s when she decided to trust Robyn, convincing Yang to go along with it, and now showing anger because Neo ‘killed’ Yang. Both of these are framed - and taken by the fans - as ‘bees moments’ though, so it’s still all tied up in her romance.

Now we’ve had some of the same sort of thing for Weiss. Her arc was also tied up in the problematic White Fang/Faunus racism plot (considering her family’s history that Weiss was originally trying to ‘reclaim’ despite her own racism never being fully called out and addressed in a meaningful way.) Once Weiss had broken away from her abusive father and thus at least somewhat solved her arc by volume five, then her quality of character started going down in volume six, and then she had a couple moments with her family in volumes seven and eight - although again, solved in fairly unsatisfying ways. Outside of only a couple of semi significant scenes in the Atlas arc, Weiss has been regulated to emoting in the proper ways, occasionally patting Ruby or the others on the back, and being an extra fighter in the group.

It is possible that she’s going to get some kind of romance and then kind of just... Fall into the same kind of stuck position as Blake and Yang - CRWBY won’t commit to them enough to give real confirmation or make them grow their relationship in significant ways, which means that in order to get across that their is a relationship, they keep the two mostly together, have them seem to revolve around each other and care about each other more than anyone else, and diminishing the connections the other characters have with both people in order to make Blake and Yang’s connection seem clearer. To be completely fair to CRWBY, Yang has been allowed to branch out and have real and natural interactions both with villains (taking on Salem, protesting Emerald’s involvement) and teammates (arguing with Ren, talking with Jaune, acting like Ruby is her close little sister again!) This season, Yang has started to act like her own character again, but Blake hasn’t been allowed much growth. I’d say Weiss would more likely to wind up in the ‘Blake’ position than the ‘Yang’ position as far as being allowed to grow, especially because we’re already seeing her character start to kind of falter now that they’ve tied up her arc in a messy bow, and especially if she wound up with Ruby or Jaune, who I think are the most likely romantic partners for Weiss at this time. But there’s also the possibility of them starting to force a relationship between her and literally anyone else, including any of the three boys waiting in Vacuo, or Emerald, or Marrow.

As a quick note, please keep in mind that this is all speculation for fun and it really might not amount to anything. It would be kind of funny and frustrating both if CRWBY repeated how they’ve done Blake with Weiss, but it’s possible that they’re going to give Weiss a more significant arc and growth in season nine, put more focus on her relationship with Whitley and Willow once things cool down a little after all of season eight was equal parts ‘a crisis mode’ and a ‘sit around and wait for the plot to come around’ storyline. This post is kind of running on in length pretty badly, but here are a couple of ways I think Weiss could really shine next arc.

1. Have her and Yang trapped in the void together without Ruby and Blake. I’ve talked before about how Ruby’s ‘protagonist’ framing swallows up her friend group before, and how Blake and Yang’s relationship tends to swallow up one or both of them, as well as other characters having to be a bit more diminished to try and make bee moments more significant, and I think splitting up the team between Weiss and Yang, and Blake and Ruby could make Weiss grow more significantly and have her and Yang interact meaningfully again (which we haven’t gotten since season five.) In an ideal situation, I’d personally throw Jaune into the mix as well, since I’ve started to enjoy both the concept of him and Yang as friends and the concept of him and Weiss as friends. I think it’d really speak to Weiss’s character and show growth if she made the choice to go in after Yang, since Ruby is needed more in the world immediately (because of her Silver Eyes,) Penny is needed too (because of her Maiden powers) and Blake is needed at least somewhat (since she’s the one with the connections to the reformed Faunus group and Ghira and Ilia and all.) This could add a layer to angst, with Weiss proclaiming herself the least important, but also make Weiss’s character seem much more selfless, as she’s willing to risk her life and is willing to risk being alone in the Void herself even though her whole thing is loneliness, in order to save Yang. Jaune then surprising everyone by going with Weiss, and having an emotional moment where Ruby and Blake realize they have to trust Weiss and Jaune to do this and try and force themselves to still fight and work while they wait and panic and worry... That’s some good stuff! Of course, that would unfortunately bench Weiss’s relationships with her family, but I’d still be very happy with this outcome.

2. Have Weiss go on to Vacuo and not go after Yang, but be the one to rally the people, help them all to the city, deal with Theodore, etc. If Blake and Ruby went after Yang, or Blake, Ruby, and Jaune went after Yang, or just Ruby and Jaune, I think there could be some interest there. Not quite so much for the Void Team, but for the Left Behind Team. Having Weiss have to deal with being thrown into a leadership position when she’s not a leader at heart would be really interesting. Having her trying to hold it together and not let any grief, worry, or panic take her over so she can focus on her mission would be really interesting. We could have at least one member of Team RWBY facing the consequences of their actions and taking the brunt of it, while defending their choices and trying to find a place for millions of refugees. Once again, this could play into Weiss’s themes about loneliness, and Weiss could maybe even wind up resenting her team for leaving her and knowing it’s unfair and knowing they did what they had to do, but it would still create tension when they come back. And this sort of arc could also really push and flesh out her relationship and interactions with Whitley. There’s a lot that CRWBY could do with their relationship in this sort of scenario, but I would love it if Weiss’s themes of loneliness played a part in the early episodes of the volume, with her kind of secluding herself because she doesn’t have her friends and she thinks she’s alone, but then getting closer and closer to Whitley and realizing that she’s not alone, because she has her little brother who she loves. Idk, I just think it could be really good and sweet.

So... Yeah. Those are the ways I think Weiss’s character could grow and be fleshed out. Currently, I’m not happy with how she’s been, but there’s still hope for her. However, I will laugh so hard if she gets some romance and starts being one half of a pairing. XD

#rwde #anti rwby #rwby hate #rwby bashing #anti-bumbleby #anti bb #anti bumbleby #anti bumblebee #I'm trying really hard to make sure this doesn't wind up on the bb tags #anti blake belladonna #anti blake x yang #rwby criticism

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rwbyvein · 3 years

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Firen Lhain: Chapter 402: Biting Cold

Jaune drew his bow and lined up the target when Nora pressed up against him. "Isn't that like super awkward?" Nora asked, and Jaune glared at her. Seeing her not get the message he then glared at Ren. Ren covered Nora's mouth and pulled her away. Jaune then heard Ruby make some noise, like a squelched yelp, and turned his eyes to glare at her. She quickly covered her mouth. Jaune breathed in and out and then half in before lining up the shot again. He loosed, and struck down the deer. He then ran towards it with his knife drawn if he needed to finish it off, but it was dead. He then turned to glare at his team, putting away his knife.

"Because," Nora quickly stated, "you're a deer, and it's a deer, and isn't that awkward?!"

"One, I'm not a deer," Jaune stated, "I'm a man, a Faunus. Even still I'm not some white-tail, I am a caribou."

"But that's LIKE a deer." Nora stated.

"Nature doesn't care about that!" He then glared deeply at Nora, "Eagles eat other birds all the time."

Nora than gasped, "I eat chicken!"

"There's no way I'm going to eat dog!" Ruby exclaimed.

"That is a different issue." Jaune stated as he stepped on his longbow to unstring it.

* * *

Jaune carried the dead deer on his shoulders as they approached their campsite.

"I'm a cannibal!" Nora woefully cried.

"I'm NOT!" Ruby proudly stated.

"None of us are cannibals." Jaune said.

"Says the cannibal." Ruby chided. Jaune turned and Ruby bumped into him. When she recovered she looked up at him and he made a biting motion towards her. She cowered for a moment. "Wait, I'm a wolf!" she replied and gave playbites to Jaune's left arm. He pulled his arm away and then wrapped it around her, pulling her into a hug.

"Deer actually have a powerful bite." Jaune replied.

"Pfft." Ruby uttered.

"I thought you were a caribou." Nora stated.

"I'm not afraid to hug you, too." Jaune said to her, "I've got two arms."

"And then who would carry the deer?" Ren asked.

Jaune looked back when he heard something, and it was Ruby's tail wagging so hard he was afraid she was going to hurt it, and he let go of her. He then pet her on the head before turning back on the path to the campsite.

* * *

Ruby, Nora, and Ren sat around as Jaune skinned the deer.

"Sooo?," Nora asked, "why do we need to pay for food, can't Jaune just catch everything for us?"

"Most game is too lean to properly feed us." Ren stated.

"And," Jaune said without looking up, "I can't be expected to always catch something."

"Pfft." Nora said to him.

"I'll PFFFT you." Jaune replied.

"Big talk!.." Nora shouted, before Jaune cut her off.

"For a cannibal!" Jaune replied, and Nora started crying.

"I'm a cannibal!" Nora exclaimed.

"No, we're not!" Jaune shouted.

"We are not." Ren added.

"Wait?" Ruby asked, "Ren's a Faunus, too, right?"

"Indeed?" Ren asked.

"Soooo?" Ruby asked.

"Viper." Ren stated, "Pit Viper, to be precise."

"And... that means?.." Ruby asked.

"I can, see, of a sort - heat left by warmer animals."

"Liiike?" Ruby asked.

"Mammals of all sorts." Ren stated. He then pointed to the tiny pits on his face. "These allow me to sense light emitted from heat."

"Light?" Ruby asked, "I'm glowing."

"In a sense." Ren stated, "Though few animals can see it."

"How are wolves supposed to hunt if we're glowing?!" Ruby asked.

"Again," Ren said with a smile, "few creatures can see it."

"Meaning Ren is super special!" Nora added.

"In... a sense... I suppose..." Ren added, "Though all Faunus are special in their own way, along with every Human."

"pffft." Nora exclaimed. Ren glared at her and she calmed down.

* * *

The chauffeuse opened the door and helped Weiss to her feet. "I'll take that." she tried to say as she reached for Weiss' left hip, and Weiss clutched the hilt of her rapier, using her other hand to protect it. The women bowed her head forward, "I am so terribly sorry, Ms. Schnee, but your father..." she voiced, and Weiss sighed. The chauffeuse reached forward once again and Weiss caught her hand.

"I'm terribly sorry," Weiss voiced, "but I insist on holding on to my rapier."

"You're father insists that you will not need it." the chauffeuse nervously voiced.

"I," Weiss said to her, "will give you a choice." and the chauffeuse nervously looked up at her before quickly looking back down, "Lie to my father, or let me argue with Father on your behalf." The chauffeuse, head still down, nervously looked about. "What is your name?" Weiss asked.

"I beg your pardon, but Wilhelmina..." she voiced.

"Full name?" Weiss asked, and Wilhelmina looked her in the eyes with a shocked look before looking back down.

"Wilhelmina Whittmoore." she nervously voiced.

"I will make sure Father well knows it was my own decision to keep my rapier."

"Yes, Ms." Wilhelmina replied. Weiss stepped away and Wilhelmina closed the door.

* * *

"Klein?" Weiss asked.

"Weiss?" he quietly asked.

"I have... some things... to say to Father."

"I will inform him right away." Klein stated, and bowed.

* * *

Klein opened the door and stepped to the side, bowing. Weiss walked in, and Klein closed the door. "Father." she bitingly said to him.

"Weiss?" Jacques said with faux eagerness, and stood up from his desk, "It's so good to see you... home..."

"You know well enough how much I enjoy time," Weiss spitefully said to him, "with our family."

"It's not safe..." Jacques tried to say.

"I know it's not safe," Weiss said to him, "but you still INSISTED I come home."

"You saw what happened, didn't you?" Jacques asked, "The whole world blames Atlas for it."

"No, they do not. Weiss said, "At least not until Atlas withdraws from the rest of the world in the aftermath, leaving no one to answer the questions."

"Are you somehow claiming that you would be fine in Vale?!" Jacques exclaimed, "After what happened?"

"My.," Weiss voiced, and momentarily paused, "colleagues, are among the finest Huntsmen and Huntresses on Remnant." Weiss replied.

"Yes, your COLLEAGUES" Jacques said to her, "Two of which are jays from Patch, while the rest do not seem to have any history at all... aside from Ms. Nikos." Jacques said, and developed a wicked smile. Weiss wondered if that was truly how she had looked... how she thought. Was that truly how she acted when she first saw Pyrrha. "You did wonderfully in fostering a friendship with her."

Weiss held her hand over her mouth to cover a sharp intake of air. That was, indeed, how she had acted, "Wait?" Weiss asked, "I understand what happened with Blake, Nora, and Ren, but... Jaune?.."

"Oh!?" her father angrily exclaimed, "You didn't know?! I haven't been able to find any trace of them at all."

"Family?.." Weiss asked, and Jacques nodded.

"Outside of Vale." Jacques bitingly stated, "Dirt farmers. You associated with dirt farmers?!"

"You've never seen him in action." Weiss stated.

"Oh, but I did!" her father replied, "All of Remnant saw that sorry excuse for a team, other than Ms. Nikos, afterall."

"I honestly did not think you cared about such things..." Weiss voiced.

"I don't care about your childhood fantasy of playing the heroine at all." Jacques said to her, "But I do care about whom you associate with. Which, again, wonderful job on the young Ms. Nikos."

"Wait?" Weiss questioned him, "Did you not find - the school - Jaune came from?"

"And if I cannot," Jacques said to her, "I doubt that school of yours could find them, either. What do you think will happen when he's discovered?!" Jacques asked, "And everyone he knows gets pulled down with him?!" Weiss quietly looked down. "It's lucky I was able to get you out when I did."

"Luck?" Weiss asked, "Is that what you thought it was?"

"What would you call it?" Jacques asked.

"We both know what I would call it, Father." Weiss said to him, and turned back towards the door. Her skin was now a deep, dark blue.

"Yes, yes." Jacques replied, "Go back to your room to sulk. Just be sure to go straight to your room, we don't want too many servants to see you like that. Though, I certainly pay them enough to look the other way."

Weiss quietly walked to the door and opened it up. "Oh," she said without looking back, "while I was while away my days here, I am still a Huntress." she said, with her left hand on her rapier's hilt.

"Still playing with that toy?" Jacques asked. Weiss stepped forward and closed the door behind her. She fell back into it, tears pouring down her cheeks and onto the ground.

"Let's get you settled in." Klein said, and she looked at him, wiping the tears away. When she focused, she saw him carrying a covered silver tray.

"Is that?.." Weiss asked, eyes starting to dry up.

"I know how much you enjoy them." Klein said other. She let out a weak smile, and some of her dark blue flush was being replaced with light. She wiped her eyes and did her best to stand upright, like a fine, upstanding Atlasian lady.

#rwby #firen lhain #faunus au #pollinated knight

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aliarlies · 4 years

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When Disaster Strikes

Here's my take on March 29th's Modern AU prompt for @rwbyrosegardenweek

It was nine minutes before disaster, and Ruby and Oscar were eight minutes away from their first kiss.

A series of unexpected events started to unfold that morning for this disaster to occur. Headmaster Ozma Pine, Oscar’s father, received a call that preparations for the upcoming school festival were met with questions regarding city regulations that he needed to confirm. Because of this inquiry, Ozpin needed to contact the mayor whom he later called after breakfast. Unfortunately, that same mayor was none other than the headmaster’s ex-wife, Salem, and neither had an amicable relationship post-divorce. This call ruined the good mood she had that morning that lasted well into the afternoon. When her daughter came into her office around lunch to ask to borrow one of her mother’s rare classic cars, Salem met the request with an angry stare, a chiding of her daughter’s poor behavior recently, and a grounding. More annoyed than upset, her daughter ignored her and decided to go over to her father’s house in the evening to borrow what she needed.

Oscar, however, wasn’t privy to any of these events. That morning when his father told him that he would be gone this evening for work, he took it as a chance to invite his longtime crush, Ruby, over to his house to spend time with him. Perhaps he could even muster up the courage to ask her out on a date or confess his feelings for her. This line of thinking was quite common for sixteen-year-old boys.

Ruby, also, wasn’t aware of any of these events. That morning when she met Oscar in their folkloristic class, she offhandedly mentioned that she hadn’t done their latest homework yet and how it would be a great idea if she could do it with someone so she could make sure she get a decent grade. She received what she asked for when Oscar invited her to study after school. Now all she had to do was muster up the courage to ask him out on a date or confess her feelings for him. This line of thinking was also quite common for eighteen-year-old girls.

It was now 5:37 PM. At 5:41 PM, Ruby and Oscar would share their first kiss. A minute after, disaster.

“I’m glad I took up your offer to study together, Oscar,” Ruby said, stretching her arms after jotting her final notes and leaning closer to the boy.

Her closer proximity made the boy flush, but he managed to smile. His confidence was rising. “You don’t have to mention it. I mean… Folkloristics is more my dad’s thing and, well, I never thought I would enjoy it. You, uh, you certainly make the class fun.”

Both of their hearts pounded as they stared at one another. Whatever words they wanted to say were caught tangled at their tongues. Blood rushed to their heads as each admired the other. Fortunately, with their minds too flummoxed, they just allowed instinct to take over. The two would move as one towards each other. Their breathing grew shallow; their eyes closed half-lidded. Their lips crashed into one another like gentle waves at the beach.

For a blissful minute, there was no one else in the world but Ruby and Oscar.

“Wow. You’ve surprised me, Oscar. I never thought you would bring a girl over,” said a sarcastic feminine voice.

Ruby and Oscar pushed each other apart. Standing above the two of them spinning a key ring around her finger was Cinder Fall, smirking down at the two of them with mirth in her eyes.

“CINDER,” Ruby shouted, nearly gasping.

Cinder chuckled. “Ruby Rose. Did you enjoy kissing my little brother?”

“Ruby, we came as soon as we heard about you having an emergency,” Weiss shouted as she barged into Ruby’s room with Blake in tow and nodding along.

Yang greeted them from her lax position on Ruby’s couch. “You’re just in time. Just wait until you get a load of what Ruby just went through.”

Weiss and Blake glanced at one another, then to Yang, and finally on Ruby who looked dead on her bed with a pillow firmly hugged against her. Her eyes seemingly spiraled with despair and confusion.

“Well? What’s the emergency?” Weiss asked, taking a seat at Ruby’s desk. “You know I had to cancel my club activities.”

“I had to leave Ilia in charge for the protest we had planned at city hall,” Blake said, sitting on the couch beside Yang.

“Oh, dope. What for, Blake?” Yang asked.

“Nothing big, but they recently passed a regulation where—”

Weiss loudly coughed into her fist. “Girls, no time for that. Ruby. Emergency. What happened?”

Yang grinned and let out a loud giggle. “Well, I’ll go ahead and tell since Ruby is being all sulky. What happened was—” A pillow struck her face.

“Shut up, Yang. I’ll tell everyone,” Ruby said morosely, rising from her bed with dull eyes of torment.

What followed was a summary of events that codified the beginnings of a romantic comedy. She retold everyone how she made a mortal foe with Cinder Fall, her upperclassman in the Archery Club. Their rivalry was the stuff of legends that involved defeating their good friend, Pyrrha, in her last competition before she transferred schools, thus totally bumming their friend circle out. And how she totally ruined the farewell party with Penny who was going home for her foreign exchange program with her gang of ne’er-do-wells who cheated their win against Penny in Dance Dance Revolution. Ruby also told her friends of how she met a wonderful boy named Oscar Pine who got into school early like her at the start of the new semester after her two good friends left and how he was so cute. She told them how she was falling completely head over heels for him because of how sweet and caring and thoughtful he was. This particular segment lasted for thirty minutes and thoroughly annoyed her sister and two friends.

Finally, she revealed how during a study session at Oscar’s house earlier that afternoon, it was revealed that his older sister was none other than Cinder!

“Wait, wait, wait, hold on.” Weiss stood up, crossing her arms. “Are you telling me I had to skip out on my extracurricular because it turns out your boyfriend is related to your rival?”

“He’s not my boyfriend… yet,” Ruby protested.

Blake groaned as she allowed the couch to consume her. “Ruby, I know it’s your first boyfriend and all, but you shouldn’t freak out just because your boyfriend has relatives you don’t like. Or vice versa, even.”

“Oh right, I remember you telling me how Adam’s parents were, like, the sweetest couple ever,” Yang said. “How’d the two of them get such a jackass of a son…”

Frustrated, Ruby groaned. “None of that is the point! I don’t mind if Oscar is related to Cinder! What I mind is that I totally smack talked about her all the time in our previous conversations! I outright completely hated her and said super mean things behind her back to her little brother!”

Weiss, Blake, and Yang paused.

“Shit. You got a point there, sis,” Yang admitted.

“Ruby totally hates me now!” Oscar shouted, panicked hands grabbing at his horror-stricken face.

Cinder, meanwhile, helped herself to the snacks left on the table. There were many words that could describe Cinder. Beautiful. Conniving. Gorgeous. Terrifying. Ambitious. Unfortunately, sympathetic wasn’t one of them. If you were able to crack open her mind, you would see mostly images of her ruthlessly showing up Neo and those ugly twins later tonight at Junior’s club with her new dress and car.

“You’re being overly dramatic, Oscar,” she said breezily.

Oscar turned and faced her, looking exasperated. Their relationship was complicated, but they didn’t hate each other like their parents did. “Cinder, Ruby absolutely despises you after what you did to her and all her friends. I’m your brother. She’s going to hate me.”

Cinder would have snorted, but wouldn’t do well for her image. Instead she opted to just roll her eyes. “Look. What she and I have doesn’t have any bearing on what you do with her. Not to mention, I saw the way she looks at you. The girl is smitten.”

“…she is?”

“Focus, boy.” Cinder snapped her fingers. “Besides, if she does end up hating you just because of me, she wasn’t worth your time anyway. Besides, Neo likes you. Maybe? In a dom sort of way, I guess? I could introduce you to her if things with Ruby don’t work out.”

“But you hate Neo.”

She rolled her eyes again. “Of course I do. That mute thinks she’s better than me. I will admit she’s gorgeous though, and you deserve at least that.”

Oscar sighed and shook his head. ��Thanks, but no thanks. I’ll… I don’t know, call Ruby and ask her if she hates me or something.”

Cinder sighed and grabbed Oscar by the wrist, pulling him as she made her way towards the garage. Little known fact about Cinder Fall was that despite her appearances and her ruthlessness, she did have a few weaknesses. When Oscar resigned himself to an awkward phone call, he inadvertently made his lips pout and his eyes went downturn looking up. Deep within the cold, unfeeling heart of his older sister, Oscar somehow managed to unfreeze a little bit of actual human kindness with a simple, unintentional puppy dog look.

“I’m taking you to Rose’s house, and you’re going to talk it over with her. Then you’ll clear things up by making out,” Cinder declared as she forced Oscar into their father’s muscle car.

“Um, Cinder. Why are you being so nice to me?”

Cinder stared dead ahead as the garage door slowly rose, letting the glare of the sunset burn her eyes and clear her mind with pain. “Because I need you to help me with dad once he figures out I took his car.”

Cinder lied as easily as she breathed.

Ping!

[It’s Cinder.]

Ping!

[Rose. I’m coming over to your house.]

Ping!

[Don’t bother asking how I know where you live. Of course I do.]

Yang whistled appreciatively as she read the latest text messages that sprung up on Ruby’s phone. She had relinquished her phone to her older sister in a vain attempt to stop herself from texting Oscar and further worsening the situation. In another timeline in which Ruby kept her phone on her and did text Oscar, things were a lot better and the misunderstanding would’ve resolved a mere thirty minutes after Ruby ran off in panic from his house. Unfortunately, this was not that timeline.

“Is it Oscar, Yang?” Blake asked curiously as she watched Ruby continued to rant and rave about her misfortune as Weiss patted her on the back in comfort while bored out of her wits.

“Nah, it’s Cinder,” Yang answered, chuckling. “Classic big sister move she’s doing. I think she’s going to come over and beat Ruby up for laying her lewd hands all over her little brother. It’s what I would do.”

Blake grinned. “Oh? Why aren’t you doing the same then?”

“You’ve met Oscar, Blake! The kid is a total sweetheart. I’m more afraid of Ruby hurting him.”

“Hey! I heard that,” Ruby shouted, her cheeks puffed up by the insult. “I definitely would not hurt Oscar.”

“You punched him in the schnoz when the two of you trained with Qrow.”

“Yeah, well—”

CRASH!

The girls yelped as a rock came crashing through the window.

“Cinder, are you crazy?! You didn’t have to throw a rock!”

That was Oscar.

“Rose! Come on out. I brought Oscar with me.”

That was Cinder.

Ruby turned to her sister and two friends, unsure what to do. Weiss looked panicked as she stared at the broken shards of glass now on the floor. Blake looked equally as shocked, but not that shocked, that Cinder literally threw a rock through Ruby’s window. Meanwhile, Yang gave Ruby a thumbs up and motioned for her to go downstairs.

“I got your back, Ruby. If Oscar’s here, you probably are just going to talk! I’ll watch your back if Cinder tries anything while Weiss and Blake cleans up the mess,” Yang said as a matter of fact.

“We will?” asked the two volunteered for clean-up duty.

“Do Ruby a solid, you two. This is her first romance! What’s a broken window or two?”

“Adam literally jumped through a window to chase after me when I dumped him, Yang.”

“See! It’s completely normal!”

“Fine, I’ll clean it up. But only because it is so unsafe to leave broken glass here,” Weiss groused.

Despite her nerves and the erratic pounding of her heart in her chest, Ruby nodded bravely and started her descent downstairs. When she opened her front door, she found Cinder leaning against a car parked by the sidewalk and Oscar nervously gazing at her. With a roll of her eyes and a kick, Cinder pushed Oscar forward. The two slowly closed the distance.

“Hey Oscar,” she said nervously, her fingers steepling together.

“Um… hey Ruby,” he replied, scratching the back of his neck.

Neither two knew what to say. It was to be expected, after all. The two were completely inexperienced when it came to romance. For Ruby, she didn’t quite know romance very well. Her family was a confusing chart of relations that involved too much melodrama. For Oscar, he only read books about romance. There was also his parents, but their enmity towards each other was legendary. However, at least they knew one thing. The person right in front of them was someone they really, really liked.

“I’m sorry!” “Sorry!”

Ruby and Oscar paused and stared at each other as they both apologized at the same time. Oscar smiled sheepishly and gestured for Ruby to go first.

“Oscar, I’m so sorry when I ranted to you in the past of how much I didn’t like your sister. You must have been so hurt that someone was saying horrible things about your family.” Ruby sighed and stared longingly at Oscar. ‘Goodbye my first love story.’

However, the boy blinked owlishly at the apology and asked, “Wait. You don’t hate me?”

“How could I ever hate you, Oscar? You’re so kind and thoughtful. You’ve helped me out so much even when starting college was all new to you. Meanwhile, all I ever did for you was just vent my worries.”

“Ruby, don’t ever apologize for having feelings. I told you before that I’m there for you, and I mean it. I was afraid you now hated me for being related to Cinder. It’s not the first time I’ve been treated differently just because of someone I was related to.”

It was if death no longer hung over the two. They then relaxed into one another’s embrace, hugging each other as relief filled them to the brim.

“So… that kiss we had? Does that mean we’re together now?” Oscar asked into her soft, red hair.

Ruby laughed into his shoulder. “Of course, silly.”

One hour and thirty-seven minutes after disaster, Ruby and Oscar found their happy ending.

“Um… Oscar. Cinder just drove off.”

“She does that.”

“Then would you like to stay for dinner?”

“I would love to.”

Twenty-three minutes after Ruby and Oscar found their happy ending, a tired Taiyang and Qrow would come home. One minute after that, after the two entered the living room where Ruby and Oscar explored their relationship in newfound romantic territory, disaster struck once more.

#Rosegarden #Rosegarden Week #Rosegarden Ship Week #Ruby Rose x Oscar Pine #Ruby Rose #Oscar Pine #Writing #Fan Fiction

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ayashiki-i-i · 4 years

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Last Friday, I had the absolute joy and privilege to see Be More Chill in London!

(Yes, last Friday, this has been sitting in my drafts for over a week because I couldn’t figure out how to appropriately convey my delight with this show, and also yes, joy and privilege, call me dramatic but I swear to god nothing on this Earth makes me appreciate my life quite as live theatre.)

I have loved this show for a very long time. Not quite since its first Two Rivers Theatre run, but very early on from when it caught the internet’s attention. I was at the start of what was to become a viral sensation, and I was with the show, rooting for it, hoping for it, ever since. I feel like I walked the journey from crossing million hits on Spotify to the Broadway alongside the cast and creators. I felt immensely happy and proud for these people I never met when they announced their off-Broadway return, and I honest to god cried the day they opened on Broadway. Needless to say, I was overjoyed, literally jumping with happiness, when they announced they will stage a production on West End. Or technically off-West End? I’m still very confused how The Other Palace is not West End and Victoria Palace literally around the corner is West End... Anyway. I have not walked into that theatre on Valentine’s Day with low expectations.

And my Mount Everest high expectations were far, far exceeded and shot somewhere into the stratosphere.

I really can’t with words describe how much I loved this show. Joes Iconis and Tracz managed to hit some very special spot with this musical. It’s truly hard to describe, but this show just makes you happy. It makes you involved and interested. And I gotta tell you, I think we hit the press night, because there was a bunch of people (very respectfully) scribbling on their pads and iPads during the show, so this wasn’t an audience primed and geared for this type of musical. And that’s not even counting all the parents chaperoning their teenagers. And I can guarantee you everyone had a great time. During the intermission I went to get a drink and witnessed several conversations between aforementioned parents that all pretty much amounted to “wow, this is actually good!” It’s honestly such a treat to be in an audience that’s genuinely enjoying themselves.

This show is funny, and heartfelt, and charming. So charming. It has somehow a vibe of a really well done high school production, which could maybe sound like a criticism but i swear it isn’t!

I haven’t seen much of the previous productions, except few clips from the Two Rivers bootleg slime tutorial, but I really tried not to watch too much, hoping against hope there will be a revival one day (I try not to watch shows I have a chance of seeing one day. I’m fortunate to have the chance of having the full experience live so I try not to ruin it for myself lol). I gobbled up all the official promo clips and videos from the NYC revival, being super unlucky and managing to plan my New York trip in that small window when BMC just closed Off-Broadway and before it got on Broadway. I haven’t even listened to the Broadway recording, because by the time it came out I knew they’ll be staging a production over here. So i went in quite blind. With all that previous ado, this is how it was:

The book is so good. So so good. Many times when I fall in love with an album, the actual musical doesn’t hold up because the book doesn’t compare (hi, Dear Evan Hansen). But BMC is as engaging and fun between the songs as during them. Tbh I don’t love the changes to the songs they made, but I don’t really hate them either... Now having listened to the Broadway recording they reverted somewhat back to the original album on West End and I’m happy they did, but still. Especially Pitiful Children did not deserve the cuts. But I mean its still mostly the same album and it’s brilliant and fun, and ok, Looser, Geek or Whatever is a bop.

(Although I always kinda liked that Jeremy didn’t have a typical big “hero song” because he keeps mentioning how he isn’t a hero and it was kinda ironic that his own show refused him the hero treatment, but the song is solid.)

This cast is EVERYTHING. I’m sorry all previous casts, I love you and I respect you but i really think the British cast is (so far) the peak? Obviously as I said I don’t have the full picture to compare, but honestly these guys are all so good and I can’t imagine anyone else in these roles, they set the bar so high. Yes, even Michael. Omg I’m so sorry George Salazar! This role is his in a very special way, and I feel blasphemous saying this! But that’s what makes Blake Patrick Anderson so special, because I didn’t think I will ever be able to accept another Micheal than George Salazar. But from the first moment Anderson appears on stage, you don’t think of George Salazar. This right here is a Micheal and that’s it. I think he’s slightly less... Manic, than Salazar, and more caring, but also more stubborn, and nerdy. My friend said after the first act the character’s problem is that he’s a bit too likeable and it’s almost unbelievable he would be a social outcast and she was right. The dude is so damn likeable! So charming, so positive. And then Micheal in the Bathroom hits and omg does it hit. Also Blake Patrick Anderson has a really long name is very pretty. A+ snack. I’m in love. Scott Folan is, uh, I don’t really love him vocally... Ok I liked him until Loser Geek of Whatever. I don’t know, maybe it wasn’t his day. Or maybe that song is just written for Will Roland and no one will ever measure up? Tbh I haven’t seen Roland sing it live so who knows, maybe it is one of those songs that’s hard to perform without yelling a bit. Praying circle for the West End cast album? However Scott Folan’s acting is a masterclass. He’s so awkward in the first act, so sad, but also sweet. Actually I said i didn’t love his singing but when his voice cracks all over in his first few songs it’s superb and also his “Christiiine~” is really beautiful and lovely, so, dunno *shrugs*. And then in the second half he totally sells his confidence and assholer-y and like... They seem like two different jeremys, the squipped and un-squipped one. But ultimately he just gives such good-kid vibes. He seems like the perfect midpoint between Will Connolly’s shy Bambi and Roland’s geeky recluse. This Christine is absolutely feral. Like, you have no idea. Some people commented on the video of I Love Play Rehersal from the rehearsals that this Christine is not chaotic enough, so I’m seriously worried how chaotic Stephenie Hsu was? :D In any case Miracle Chance I thought was perfect, the ideal mixture of quirky but relatable, sweet but strong. Also she is hilarious. I’m pretty sure she got the most laugh out of the audience, not just because the actress’s absolutely perfect comedic timing but also that role is so well written. Like you really can’t get the full idea of this character until you watch the show, you know? It’s very layered, but each layer is easy to get so she makes a really fun character to watch. The Squip is hot. Like so hot. And his costumes are wonderful. And I know I’m not the only one who didn’t love Jason Tam’s accent as Squip and like... I think I know what he was going for but it just doesn’t work for me. This Squip is a lot more like Eric William Morris, just more hot. Oh yeah I mean the dude is fantastic actor too, and his voice is something impressive, but mostly I was just thinking “hot” whenever he was on stage :D James Hameed’s Rich is vocally stunning. By far the best Squip Song I have ever heard. Also he has Pickle Rick tattoo?? It’s fucking brilliant I HATE IT! :D Millie O’Connel is perfect of course. She has such a presence on stage. It was hilarious when she came out after the show, with her hair down and make-up off and said hi and people mostly kinda ignored her cause... She’s really a hurricane on stage and when she dials it down just a notch I really think people don’t connect her to her stage persona :D

(Also like, massive kudos to The Other Palace’s stage door, cause they allow you to just hang around the bar where the cast has to go through to leave the place, so no dirty alleyways stage dooring in rain and cold and possible pickpockets around.)

I really loved the staging, and it’s very small, very minimal, which isn’t something I normally like, so well done! They definitely dialled back from the Broadway (the bean bags are back!) and honestly the minimal props and simple set really suit this show. It adds to that almost-like-a-really-good-school-play charm. But also they have this massive LED screen as the background so they can change and move and animate their backdrop and it’s honestly so impressive. The artwork is so perfectly in line with the show’s aesthetic. And it’s building up and up towards the show’s climax which I thought was pretty subtle and pretty neat creative decision.

Ugh this is so long I didn’t think it would be so long :D But I have one criticism I cannot not mention. And I kinda always had this, but seeing it live it jumps out on me more - I don’t feel Jeremy and Christine :| I mean don’t get me wrong. The actors have amazing chemistry, their added song is the one that I actually really like and it makes sense, there’s so much more meaningful interaction they have in the show than the songs wold suggest. But. It still doesn’t quite sit well. Besides the fact that I don’t think the show’s narrative is about Jeremy getting the girl - that’s not really his character arc. But also, although they’re not incompatible, he gets the girl he doesn’t even really know, and she definitely doesn’t know him. I think I would prefer if they just stayed friends at the end, but if there had to be romantic conclusion... Well, I mean who doesn’t ship boyf friends, but seriously if Michael was a girl I’m pretty sure he’d be the romantic endgame for Jeremy. You know the type, the old friend who was by the protagonists side and believed in him all along? Yeah. But besides that, i was surprised to find I kinda liked Jeremy with Brooke too? I mean they have the same problem as Jeremy and Christine, with not knowing each other and all that, but at least it’s mutual, and they seemed to have a spark. But maybe it’s just because I unexpectedly really, really loved Brooke (she doesn’t have much space on the album and no one ever really talks about her, why does no one really talk about her???). She defies a lot of her archetype, she seems like such a sweet person. I guess I would just like to see more of her, and more depth to her, which a romance with the protagonist would’ve given her.

But tbh the show devotes a lot more time than I thought it would for Christine and Jeremey’s relationship to develop and it isn’t unrealistic, so it ended up being a pretty minor issue, which i though would be a bigger one.

Tl;dr (oh my god why is this so long????) this show is everything I wanted and more. The West End cast is amazing, charming and delightful and each of them is perfectly cast to really embody their character, while giving some fresh outlook on characters I thought I knew very well and filling very big shoes of the original cast I thought couldn’t be replaced. Also I didn’t talk to any of them but they spend a long time hanging out with the fans after the show and seemed genuinely super nice and pleased with the love the show is getting. The book is more than an equal partner to the music I already was in love with (also Joe Iconis was at the show I saw! I didn’t talk to him because I’m me and I will forever regret it!). The Other Palace’s staging and direction is wonderful, and the choreography is impressive and very on brand with the rest of the show, very modern, very electro and robot. I enjoyed every second and the standing ovation at the end was well deserved.

Just to re-affirm how much I loved this show - just few days after seeing it I booked a ticket to go see it again almost immediately lol. So if anyone is seeing it this Wednesday 26th Feb and you can telepathically pick me in the audience come say hello!

(Or like, drop me a message like a normal person if you’re also going alone and want to meet with someone to seem less like a weirdo! :D)

#ramblings #i have a life #be more chill #bmc #be more chill west end #i love musicals!#musical theatre #review #i guess?#it’s pretty much just me yelling what a good time i had

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steviejayneblogs · 3 years

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Awkward First Dates Witnessed By Staff.

Blogs By STEVIE JAYNE

6 Minute Read

If you think the staff didn’t notice your awkward interactions, you're mistaken. First Dates, we've all been on at least one.

They can be arranged to be anywhere. But now with access to social media at the tips of our fingers. We can meet people online without having ever met them in person before. Think about it, our parents use to walk down the street or attend an event. They would see someone they liked and exchange information to meet again. They exchanged information based on that first great interaction/moment.

Our generation, we exchange info before actually meeting them (wild). So, first dates typically happen somewhere with people around for that safety factor and a nice balance of distraction, to level out any quiet awkward moments. So over your dating app, you organised your date at a cafe or restaurant bar. Here are some stories of witnessed awkward dates by the Stevie Jayne Staff that have worked in hospitality before. Enjoy!

Claire, 25.

He arrived First and was clearly very nervous. He fidgeted back and forth between his phone and tapping the table. When she arrived, he stood up to hug her. He accidentally caught his foot between the table and chair. In the process, he knocks over the water bottle and glasses. Water spilling everywhere, all before she had even said a word to him. They stood there in silence as I wiped the table down. He was very polite and asked her what she would like to order? As he would go to the counter and pay. She told him and it was a very lengthy order filled with requirements. The panic on his face, as he said yep, ok, and walked to the counter. Poor guy, he didn't remember the order and was so worried about getting it wrong. He ran over to her again reluctantly, to confirm her order. Judging by his face, he would have been so nervous that nothing was going in. He came to the counter for the second time. Now, staff are now crowding around the counter to ears drop on the panic. I offered to help. I walked over to her, confirmed her order, and processed it through the register. I don't think he recovered from that moment on during the rest of the date. It was very cringy worthy.

Jess, 34.

They arrived together. He was super attractive and tall. As I came over to take their order, he stated his beverage and pointed to her, and said I'm assuming you've got this right? followed by a wink. She blushed, paused for a moment before continuing with her drink order. As I walked away, He continued, “Considering you’ve totally catfished me. You mars-well pay for me for coming and sticking around”.

In case you were wondering, she did pay for it in the end. It does suck, that It's seen as unprofessional to give life advice to my customers.

Sunshine, 27.

There are soooo many that I have witnessed. From the girl that couldn't stop saying the word “like” 6 times in every sentence. Or the guy that fell off the deck because he kept swinging in his chair. Which pushed him closer to the edge (Don't worry only a 3-foot drop). Or the guy that tried to pay for the bill, his card declined 3 times and on his other card (That one was really bad).

But the one that takes the cake, that stands out to me. Was when a woman was waiting for her date to arrive. She looked lovely! Somehow you could tell it had been a long time since she had been back on the dating merry-go-round. Her date arrives and he's equally as lovely. But then! He gets up to go to the bathroom and another man appears and sits in his chair. She was clearly upset by his presence. After offering water to tables nearby, I find out that this new guy is her ex. My heart is racing for her. Her date will come back to another guy in his sit and who knows what drama will unfold.

So I decided to assist her. I came over and asked her if she would like another seat for her extra guest to join? She said no. Then I turned to her ex, I requested that he calmly lower his voice, as our other customers are trying to enjoy the atmosphere. If he wasn't intending to dine at the cafe or lower his tone, I’d have to ask him to leave. I walked away and he continued yelling at her, causing a scene. I walked back over, stood by, and said, “Sir, you may leave now”. He left just as her date was arriving back to the table. He saw the whole thing and it was so sad to watch, as I polished the cutlery.

Blake, 23.

I made these smoothies for the table that was clearly having a first date. They were getting along, nerves were obvious but nothing too interesting. Time goes by, and a customer notifies me about the toilets, they didn't give me much detail. In hospitality, we have to stock and clean the toilets. I collected some toilet rolls and walked over to the unisex toilet. We have one toilet and there is usually a line of two-three people waiting. But as I walked over, the smell of poo was so strong! I see brown splashes on the pebble walkway that leads to the bathroom and it continues at random. Everyone has their noses covered and there is a line of six people. Some leave unable to hear and smell the scene any longer. I knock on the stall door and ask if the customer is alright. He clearly has food poisoning. It was so bad, I needed assistance from other staff to clean it up with a hose. Long story short, he was the guy on the date. I had to tell his date, that he had food poisoning and that we were taking care of the bill, and to not wait on him. She patiently waited 30minutes and left after that. Poor fella. He had to call a family member to bring a spare set of pants and underwear. It was that bad.

We all know someone that has their fair share of date horror stories. Next time, ask your friend that has worked in hospitality. They have horrific requests, cringe-worthy interactions with customers, and overhear everything. We won't list where these dates happened or the customer's names because you know privacy. But the people listed are the waiters/waitresses that experienced these moments. Laughter is good for the soul, so we hope you enjoy these. Also, It’s good to reflect on the topic. We're all human and experience nerves on the first dates. There are many variables that can occur and kindness is key. Happy Dating!

Author: Sunshine Zandt

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fank0ne · 4 years

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ONE CHICAGO FINALES

MED:

The Marchexton (yeah, I did that) triangle. I'm so sad for April, I kinda felt it coming. It seems like she doesn't even wanna find an alternative method and that's totally understandable.

I didn't like Ethan reaction at the whole "I don't know if I want to have a baby". I mean, I personally don't think you can find a compromise on that topic, but what the hell Ethan, are you with her because you love her or because you want her to give you a bunch of little Chexton? And you give her an ultimatum? Fuck you, dawg! It's difficult to rationalize and I know it's not black or white, I get that, but still... I understand him, but I didn't like how he acted.

And if I side with April on that, I totally have to disagree for what she did later. I hate cheating, physically, mentally, whatever you got, I hate when people are dishonest about their feelings. I know she was trying to process the bad news and she feels like Ethan was not being supportive, I know Dr. Marcel is charming and all that, but these were not valid reasons for her to kiss Crockett. I'm sorry. You come clean, you tell your partner how you feel, you talk to him/her about what to do next, then you get to do whatever the fuck you want.

Daniel and Cece. Damn, seeing Dr. Charles cry broke my heart. His relationship with Cece is so adorable, though I have a feeling is not gonna last any longer. Cece is really sick, unfortunately. Oh, hi Robin! I'm now used to seeing Mekia on The Rookie, didn't think she would made an appearance on Med anymore.

Maggie and Ben. Ben wasn't actually dying! I wanna see their relationship improve, but I don't wanna see Maggie acting like a dumb fool who doesn't have a functioning brain. She needs to get it together and stop being unreasonable.

Manstead is over. Is it, though? I wanna make sure we're done with this nightmare of a relationship for good, I don't don't wanna be surprised at the end of this season.

"I have been so unfair to Will" well, I'm glad you realized that, Nat! It's funny to me that she was saying those things while Elsa was next to her and, you know, Elsa has a crush on Will (though she's still the gayest character on Med to me), allegedly.

"We aren't good for one another, all we do is hurt each other. (...) I feel free" wow William, took you long enough to understand that, but I guess we made it. I'm so glad he's the one who said those words and I'm pretty sure he really means them. He looked so at peace with this realisation, it really made me happy. My cute baby!

FIRE:

Stella. She had to make an accident to admit that she needed to slow down a little bit. I swear to God, seeing her all agitated at doing multitasking almost triggered my anxiety, I'm not even kidding.

Aw, Boden apologized to her. I love that he told her that he respects her and her potential and that he himself should've done better than this. It was cute.

Dawsey. Why the fuck did Gabby come back for? I still don't get it. I don't wanna be mean or anything, but that visit was totally uncalled for and pointless. What kind of closure is that? Just say you wanted to fuck one last time, don't try to come up with fake deep excuses. I don't know, it was good to see Monica again (God, that woman is so gorgeous, it's unfair), but Gabby could've stayed in Puerto Rico.

Ouch, I saw Sylvie's bummed face and god do I know that feeling! I'm still not 100% sure about Brettsey (mostly because Matt doesn't seem to know what he really wants yet), but we'll see.

Thank you Matt for mentioning Antonio! It seems like he's the only one who hasn't forgot about him. Yes, I'm being super petty.

Gallo and Ritter. Unless they show me who tf Ritter's boyfriend is, I'm still going to believe it's/ship him with Blake.

Crotis forever! I'm so glad they're still talking about Brian and not acting like he wasn't an important part of 51. His friendship with Joe is one of the best things on the show.

Severide. That lady at OFI... sis has taste, that's all I can say. I wish Kelly would explicitly mention that he has a girlfriend so that woman (I'm sorry, I didn't get her name) would know what boundaries she shouldn't overstep.

The last scene... can you give this man a break? Just when he has a little taste of tranquility in his life, boom!, something happens. I love drama, though, so I'm digging whatever is coming, for sure.

PD:

That Buzerk convo... what tf was that? Awkward, almost cringe-worthy. Yikes.

Jay's undercover name has changed. Goodbye Ryan, say hello to Jim!

"Jay's going through a few things" when isn't he, though? Drama is his second name.

I know he wasn't thinking straight and he wanted to come clean for whatever reason, but, damn, he's so stupid sometimes. Of course Angela was gonna rat him out/want him dead if he told her he's a cop - the one who basiclly got his husband killed.

Hailey. I loved her. I absolutely adore how she's got Jay's back no matter what and, damn, the fact that he was kidnapped really got to her. She was pissed, worried, angry... we've never seen her like this, at least not to this extents! I actually liked to see Adam comfort her. I totally ship Upstead (like, I would literally die for them), but I like the fact that Adam is still somebody she can rely on.

I swear to god, when she broke that cup a shard went into her eye, I SAW IT. How come she's not blind?!

I kinda missed seeing Voight beat the shit outta people in that cage. It was nice to witness it again. LOL

Angela, I swear to god, if Voight or Hailey don't kill you, I Will (Halstead - get it? It's fun, leave me alone).

Guys, I honestly thought it was gonna be like when Kev got kidnapped and nothing extreme happened, apart from his injured leg, but that bitch really shot my son Jay! I thought he was gonna trick her somehow into giving up that gun, but it didn't happened... which is fine by me, because yeah I love my man, but I wanna see him suffer too. Sounds fucked up? Hell yeah, it does. Do I care? No, I don't. Give me my whump!Jay/Upstead content and I'll be happy.

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razorblade180 · 5 years

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Sunshower 4

Our unlikely trio find themselves sitting on a patio with umbrellas blocking the afternoon sunset. A table seperates Neptune from Sun and Ilia who sit on the other side with menus in their hand. It isn’t long before a teenaged boy in a casual waiter uniform approaches them. He waves with one hand as his rat tail grabs the notepad and paper out of apron pocket.

Neptune:*whispers* I’m not the only one who thinks a rat faunus working in a restaurant is in poor taste?

Ilia*kicks him* Are you assuming he’s dirty? What’s next, a faunus with mosquitos features can’t grow up and be a veterinary?

Sun:Shut up, he’s getting closer... What’s up dude!!

Dan:Nothing much, my name is Dan and I’ll be your server. Anything you need just ask me and I’ll let our head chef Remi know; you guys ready to order?

Neptune:Uhhh I think we all need a few more minutes.

Dan:That’s fine, I can get your drinks now.

Sun:Iced Peach Tea

Neptune:Blueberry lemonade

Ilia:Is it happy hour yet?

Sun and Neptune:*stare at her*...........

Ilia:Ugh fine, iced mango tea.

Dan:Done and done! *walks off*

Ilia:Can you scoot over? I’m practically falling out the seat and I want to rest my arm.

Sun:We could switch spots!

Ilia:I’m using you to block the sunlight so there’s no glare on the menu.

Neptune:*snorts* Are you to short for the umbrella to-

Ilia:I’ll kick you again....

Sun:*slides over*be nice you two.

Neptune:I can’t believe you asked if it was happy hour. What even is the drinking age here?

Ilia:Honestly as long as you’re not a kid and you’ve seen some stuff, people don’t mind letting you get a drink or two.

Neptune:No offense but you look like you’d get carded for the rest of your life. I can imagine people think you’re pretty young.

Ilia:That looks bad on you since you’ve flirted with me. “Super tall dude flirts unapologetically to any girl in his sight knows no limits.” I can see the headline now.

Neptune:.......*gets a chill* Yeah I don’t need that kind of attention in my life.

Sun:You flirted with Weiss, another short girl that makes her look younger than she is. Maybe you have a type.

Neptune:Everyone knows my type is beautiful women. Tall, short, big, small, if I’m into you then I’m into you. *chuckles* which means I probably also want to get into you.

Ilia:Please don’t ruin my appetite. *reading* food is the only thing I’m looking forward to today now.

Neptune:Uhhh this entire Island is gonna be a giant party the moment that sunlight is gone and those dust infused flags you put up start shining.

Ilia:My part mood is ruined.......

Neptune:*looks at Sun* Can you help me out here?

Sun:Actually, I’m not really feeling-

Neptune:Wrong answer! Blake is expecting to have a grand time with the two people who helped her topple an organization filled with blood thirsty terroist.

Ilia:Ahem......

Neptune:What? You stabbed Sun with no hesitation right?

Ilia:I have half a mind to-

Dan:Here are the drinks! *hands them out* Ready to order?

Neptune:Fish and Chips Platter with steak fries.

Sun:Shrimp basket, also replace the fries with more shrimp, but then give me an extra order of fries.

Everyone:.........

Sun:*red* I like shrimp.....

Ilia:Double Cheeseburger, seasoned fries, and double the fries.

Dan:Got it! *walks away*

Neptune:You know eating because your sad is-

Sun and Ilia:*Glare......*

Neptune:.........

Neptune:*sips drink* Gee all that decorating made you both really hungry. Hehehehe this lemonade is great. In all seriousness however, This party should have nothing but happy faces from everyone; especially the guest of honor.

Ilia:I’m sure her new girlfriend won’t have a problem managing that. *folds her arms*

No one spoke for a minute after that. Neptune didn’t look like it but he was in fact treading lightly with this conversation in his own way. Sun wasn’t hard to read when it came to his feelings over this thanks to their friendship; watching Ilia’s not so subtle body reactions was pretty was almost too easy. It didn’t help her that these reactions were being caused by Blake as well. Finding the write words to break the silence was tricky, but fortunately he didn’t have to. The moment Ilia took a sip of tea her face scrunched up slid it away.

Neptune:Uhhhh are you okay?

Ilia:Blegh!!! That isn’t mango....

Sun:*sips his* This one definitely is. Honest mistake getting them crisscrossed. *switches drinks around*

Neptune:Who has that type of reaction over peach tea?

Ilia:Someone who was ready for the taste of mango. They put way too much syrup in there.

Sun:*about to sip* That’s why you stir your drink before-

Ilia:Wait.....

Sun:Hmmm?

Ilia:*swaps their straws* that’s better....

Sun:Really? Was it gonna bother you that much.

Ilia:I’m not using the same straw as you. Who knows where your mouth has bee-

Sun:.............

Ilia:Okay that’s a weak response at the moment. It’s still gross; I don’t need your germs.

Neptune:💡!!!! But Ilia aren’t you planning on cutting loose tonight?

Dan:Food is done! Enjoy....*passes it out*

Ilia:What is rattling in that head of yours? *eating fries*

Neptune:Oh nothing, I just thought a single and awesome women such as yourself would love a giant event like this. Music, tons of prettt girls, good drinks that everyone will probably be passing around for free, dancing, and you know... a chance to show Blake- no....to show Yang and Blake that you’re the shit.

Ilia:Are you telling me to make them jealous or something? *grabbing burger*

Neptune:Not specifically; just show them how much fun and happy you are without having to constantly be around them. Walk up and be all friendly of course but let Blake see you’re not here for her. It’s a party and you both just happen to be there.

Sun:The party is for Blake.......

Neptune:Shut up! You know what I mean. Don’t let her be the center of your attention you two. Walk up to her with other friends and stuff. That shouldn’t be hard right Ili- what the what?

Ilia:What?

Neptune:What happened to all your food?

Ilia:*looking at an empty plate* I ate all the food on it obviously. Should’ve gotten more fries....

Sun:.......*dumps half his fries on her plate*

Ilia:*happily eating*

Neptune and Sun:(Geez where does all that go?)

Sun:Anyways..... I don’t think that’s a good idea. Alcohol and romantic rivalry plans sound like a poor combination. Especially when one of us still isn’t seen in the best light.

He had a pretty good point. Even with all the help Ilia is doing for Menagerie, some citizens are still put off by her. Especially the captain of the police she regularly still has to touch base with just for the sake of keeping up appearances. Yet, the idea of cutting loss was something that was really interesting to say the least.

Ilia:I’ll just do all the meet and greet stuff before I actually start drinking. Also it’s not like I’ll have an empty stomach by tonight; actually that might be bad....

Dan:Would any of you like dessert?

Neptune:I think we’re-

Sun:A vanilla milkshake please.

Dan:*thumps up*

Neptune:I’m starting to think we should split the bill by who how much we actually ate.

Ilia:Nice try but no.

Sun:Just worry about the tip and I’ll handle the rest Neptune.

Ilia:*snickers* Wow I didn’t know you two were that close.

Neptune:I always have Sun’s tip covered.

Sun:Yeah it’s how this relationship works.

Ilia:.......You two are no fun to tease.

Neptune:You are not the first and won’t be the last to make those jokes. Scarlet would love meeting you.

Sun:Sage would probably love meeting her too if she eats this much. So is all your weight going to your hair or....?

Ilia:You’re just jealous I can eat what I want when I want.

Neptune:Except for Blake *sips lemonade*

Ilia:..........

Neptune:Too soon? That was too soon. *stands up. Well I gotta go get ready for tonight. I don’t have the luxury of still having a guest room in Blake’s house or jumping from roof to roof to reach the inn I barely remember the shape of. *tosses money down* seriously you two, make the most of tonight and don’t stress this whole thing too much. From what Kali told me, this celebration already looks like it could last a month. People really party here like uhhhh.... ummm

Ilia:Stop being scared, no one is gonna best you up for saying party animals.

Sun:Ghira might, please do not say that too loud or at all just to be safe.

Neptune:Noted......*leaves*

Ilia:Stop ruining my fun. Watching him trying not to offend anyone is great.

Sun:Be nice, he’s my best friend. He could be yours too.

Ilia:Gross...

Sun:Oh come on, he’s actually a great guy. Don’t let all the dumb things he says fool you. *smiles* his heart is in the right place.

There was something about that smile that was a little familiar to Ilia. The way he spoke so highly of his friend felt like there was a genuine since of admiration or bond between the two. Neptune was actually a big help to her finding Sun and the boy did seem to try to help both of them in earnest. There wasn’t even a single time he actually attempted to flirt with her just now. Maybe she should ease up on him if only just a little.

Ilia:If you say so, I’ll keep that in mind.

Dan:Here’s the milkshake and receipt. Do you both need one straw or two?

Ilia???........Oh! No we’re not a.....this is all him right here. I’m just here on business.

Dan:My mistake you two just sort of seemed.... yeah. *walks away*

Ilia:Sort of seemed what?

Sun:This is what happens when you want more room on the bench. People make assumptions.

Ilia:Oh whatever, you just hate being my personal sun blocker. You gonna follow Neptune’s advice.

Sun:*shrugs* I’m sure when the time comes I’ll find a way to not be awkward; definitely don’t want to ruin her night and I know you don’t either.

Ilia:*groans* Maybe, maybe not. We don’t have an obligation to keep her happy.

Sun:No but it’s the right thing to do as her friend.

Ilia:A friend wouldn’t have strung you along or mislead you when it comes to emotions. Aren’t you upset at her even in the slightest? It’s like she.........*holds her tongue*

For a moment her skin turns red before her whole body turns gray. Her lip is slightly quivering and she starts slouching.

Sun:What does gray mean? This like the third time I’ve seen it.

Ilia:It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.

Sun:You know you can open up to me right? We’re in the same-

Ilia:Don’t say we’re in the same boat because we’re not okay!?

Sun:......

Ilia:*changes back* I’m sorry I yelled. I’m sorry I keep yelling at you. This is just something that I’m not too comfortable talking with.

Sun:No need to explain yourself to me. Just trying to be friend is all. *puts money the table* Honestly I need walk around a bit and get into a good mindset too. I’ll see you at the party maybe?

Ilia:Yeah......probably.....

Sun:Cool, there’s still milkshake left if you want any.

She gets up so he has an easier time getting out. As she sits back he waves goodbye and his tail mimics the sway of his hand. It got real quiet with her now just sitting there alone, staring at half a milkshake. Now would’ve been a good time to call Dan over and get that second straw but he was busy with other customers. Honestly germs and little things like that were the least of her worries right now. Still it bothered just the tiniest piece of her and the tea straw wasn’t big enough to deal with the dense dessert. Drinking right out the cup was bound to end in with whipped cream and frozen milk all over her face.

Ilia:.........Oh to hell with it. *sips milkshake* Huh, this is pretty good.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

#rwby #rwby sunshower #sun wukong #ilia amitola #neptune vasilias

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miso-vicious · 4 years

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RWBY Volume 7 Chapter 2 & 3

SPOILERS

Greetings. Due to me staying up for the full 24 hours for Rooster Teeth Extra Life and surviving on 5 hour energy, chocolate, and water, I got real sick. I lost the will to write an analysis of Chapter 2, especially for an episode that was fairly slow, but still full of information. Which is why I will be reviewing both Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 this week. So for like the 20 something people that will skim read this post, strap in. This was a pretty heavy week.

Same as always, this post contains several SPOILERS. Do not read unless you are completely caught up on the show.

Love Will Thaw A Frozen Heart

We had a beautiful reunion between our second favorite sister duo, which was very heart warming, but we still have to wait for the big Schnee reunion.

And now that Ironwood possesses the first Relic, the group now has the upper hand on Salem. Salem has lost her only Maiden, the Spring Maiden is in the wind, and apparently, Ironwood has the Winter Maiden secured and in “stable” condition. According to Qrow, “She’s no spring chicken.” So that must mean that she’s an elderly woman with declining health. That means we’re back to where we were in Volume 3, they have to secure a new vessel for the new Winter Maiden. Either they will take the gamble and hope that whomever the current Winter Maiden chooses to inherit the power gets the power. Or they will do the soul merger machine plan that they tried to force upon Pyrrha. If we were to take a guess as to who would be Ironwood’s Champion, it would have to be Winter. While Penny does have a soul, there’s no telling what would happen to the power if she were to die. The only other person Ironwood trusts just as much as Qrow or Ozpin is Winter. It’s unclear if the machine could transfer the Maiden power to a male host, but that would be an interesting thought.

I Have No Heart, And So I Must Be Very Careful

Now, Irondaddy has been making his own plans since we’ve last seen him. With Ozpin “gone”, Ironwood has been his own moral compass. The embargo and recall of the Atlas military was only the first step of his master plan. Now that the Relic of Knowledge and Creation and the Winter Maiden are secure, the next step is to reestablish communication between the Kingdoms.

By building a new CCT tower on top of Amity Arena, it will act as a form of satellite. It will float above the clouds, higher than any Grimm can reach, and will still provide global communication even if another tower were to be destroyed. The next step is to tell the world about Salem.

That isn’t one the best plans this show has thrown at us. Ozpin has kept Salem a secret for hundreds of years. Beyond keeping his own shameful part of her evil reign a secret, the other reason was because of the inevitable chaos that would occur if the people found out there was this all powerful Goddess out there hell bent on the destruction of the world. But that’s a gamble Ironwood is willing to take apparently! His military are supposed to run damage control once the inevitable chaos breaks out among not only Atlas and Mantle, but the whole world.

Ruby made the executive decision to keep certain truths from Ironwood. Including Ozpin’s true past with Salem, Ozpin’s disappearance, Jinn being out of questions, Salem being allegedly unbeatable, and her Silver Eyes. With good reason, we have no idea what Ironwood would do with this information. Our heroes almost quit after hearing all of this, Ironwood has the world’s strongest army at his disposal. He might have a more violent reaction, and decide to go after Salem with everything he has. Ironwood is already in a volatile state, Dr. Pietro has already testified to his current paranoia. And based on the opening alluding to Jacques Schnee adding fuel to the fire, Ironwood is being manipulated into putting the needs of Atlas above the rest of the world. Of course, he seems completely level headed now. He even gave the Relic back to Ruby, offered them safe harbor in the Academy, and has basically gave them his blessing to be unofficial Huntsmen.

Ironwood even gave Qrow a super awkward hug, like a man who has never been hugged his whole life but has always wanted to try it.

A New Plan

So the next step is to reclaim an abandoned dust mine that has been taken over Grimm. (It’s insinuated that this is the same Schnee Dust Mine cave in that killed several Faunus, including Ilia’s parents). The dust mine will serve as a launch sight for Amity Arena and the dust inside is needed by the science team, until it’s clear, the CCT tower cannot launch. Why that is, why they can’t just find a new launch sight is not made clear. But this is what we have to work with.

That’s when we get our big glow up reveal, and they all look fantastic. Like, Yang’s detachable pant legs, Weiss’ excessive belts, Ruby’s steel toe boots, Blake’s new hair, I am literally living for this.

Now our team is outfitted with new tricked out scrolls. The scrolls track their vitals and aura levels, and are synced up to one another. So everyone can check on each other on the field. And if Ironwood hasn’t outfitted their scrolls with listening devices to eavesdrop on them, I will be severely disappointed in him. In this episode alone, they have talked about literally everything they’re hiding from Ironwood. Imagine all of the recordings of them being thrown back in their face.

One of the moments is between Ruby and Oscar.

Oscar was left behind at the academy, but before they leave, Ruby entrusts the Relic to Oscar. Claiming that it isn’t a good idea to be toting around an ancient Relic on her hip like a key chain. Good point. Oscar decides to let Ruby know that he’s uncomfortable with the idea of lying to Ironwood, saying it’s just like what Ozpin did to them. While the lies will probably blow up in their face, I still feel that Ruby’s hesitation is validated. She doesn’t know Ironwood, or what he will do with the information, or if he will try to claim Jinn’s last question. Only time will tell if Ruby will come forward herself, or if someone else will do it for her.

Team Chemistry

It’s not totally relevant to the plot currently, but there was a lot of onscreen chemistry between some of our team members. I’m sure aaaaaallll the shippers are losing their minds with the Bumbleby scene. Yang gets all flustered over Blake’s new look, and Blake gets all blushy. While I personally ship Blake/Sun, it’s just nice to see some LGBTQ representation. It means a lot.

Of course, Nora is still pining after Ren, who is either completely oblivious, or just isn’t ready to see his surrogate sister as a potential romantic partner, even if he does reciprocate her feelings. Ren isn’t exactly known for being upfront with his feelings. After losing Arkos, I really hope they get together, and not five minutes before one of them dies.

I’m not crazy, right? There was definitely a vibe here. Maybe Clover is just generally a flirty person, but he was sending those flirty vibes towards Qrow.

You Have To Go Inside

The inside of the mine is full of Grimm, but the main target is a Geist. It has already claimed the lives of several Atlesian soldiers.

They follow it down to the deep depths of the mines, where the Geist merges with the surrounding terrain, which includes big chunks of Gravity Dust. Which means that they have to be weary of attacking it, or they could set off the dust in the Geist, which would have a chain reaction and set off the rest of the dust in the mine, effectively killing them.

So Team RWBY, JNR, and Qrow take a back seat and let the ACE ops take over.

It was a great action scene, the ACE ops got to flex their abilities, and the Geist was effectively dealt with. But there was a very interesting scene between Harriet Bree and Ruby Rose. Ruby notes that Harriet’s semblance is speed, just like hers. But when Harriet tries to run and catch a falling shard of dust…

Ruby beats her by an inch. Harriet makes it a point to tell her that Ruby’s semblance is not speed related, but something different. I always assumed that Ruby had two semblances, the first being her Silver Eyes, and the second is her speed, which mirrors her fast paced personality. Perhaps her speed is merely an extension of another power. Only time will tell.

The Scorpion and The Frog

It was revealed in Chapter 2 that Watts and Tyrian have rolled into town. Watts reveals that while the codes have been updated in Atlas, none of it has been updated in Mantle. He easily takes control of all of Mantle security cameras and traffic lights, which is probably only a fraction of the destruction he can cause. And of course, Tyrian is already causing his form of mayhem by killing people. Even in a place like Mantle, he’s gonna raise some red flags. But subtlety was never Tyrian’s strong suit.

Now, Tyrian has tracked down our friend Forrest, a man who was in the police vehicle when the ACE ops apprehended our team last chapter. Forrest, as we know of now, is just a regular guy caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. But I don’t think Tyrian is going to care very much. Killing him after finding what limited information he has is just gravy.

Yaaaaaaas, Queen

Now, onto our team’s upgrades.

Aside from Ruby’s more aerodynamic look, Crescent Rose also got an upgrade. It probably has been a long time since this fine weapon has had some fine tuning, what with Ruby always being on the road. And since Ruby makes all her upgrades herself, and it’s only been one episode, the only visual change to Crescent Rose is it is now able to rotate its scythe. Thus giving Ruby one less step to do when slaying Grimm. And the fact that the haircut is slightly reminiscent of bird feathers, much like her uncle’s hair, is so cute.

Weiss is looking like a fucking Winter Queen with her new look. If she doesn’t at some point use that ponytail braid as a weapon to slay Grimm, it would be such a waste. I don’t even care that she has so many unnecessary belts, she looks fire. Aside from her new outfit, Myrtenaster does not seem to have any visual upgrades. Since most of her fighting technique comes from her semblance, I’m looking forward to see if she develops any new skills. Especially now that Winter, her mentor, and Weiss are back together again.

Now that Blake has liberated the White Fang from Adam’s tyranny, as well as conquered some personal demons, Blake has undergone a big change. She chopped off her beautiful long hair, and now has a cute bob. It’s most likely symbolic of her being ready to stop hiding who she is and being more open with people. She also has a newly fixed Gambol Shroud, which has a very noticeable gold streak where the blade was once broken. I’m sure that the scientists could have rebuilt Gambol Shroud with no evidence that it was ever broken in the first place. Meaning that this was a cosmetic change that Blake specifically requested. Again, Bumbleby shippers have been waiting years for actual evidence of Blake and Yang’s feelings for one another. Good for them.

Of course, Yang is living her truth. She is wearing a jumpsuit with detachable pant legs and an aviator jacket. Now I feel the overwhelming urge to buy pants with detachable pant legs. Her prosthetic arm has gotten an upgrade too, now fitted with a matching Ember Celica, balancing out her whole look. But that wasn’t the only thing she got done.

Ember Celica is now capable of releasing small bombs, which Yang can activate from a safe distance. Of course, that means that Yang is toting around bombs on her wrists. Hopefully that doesn’t become a problem.

I went into what Jaune’s upgrades would be last time, but now we’ve seen him in action. His shield, Crocea Mors, now acts as a make shift para-glider, can expand to an even larger shield, and can release shock waves that can knock back large Grimm. Crocea Mors also magnetically attaches to his forearm, much like Pyrrha’s shield did. Ren’s dual pistols, Storm Flower, now has the ability to shoot the blades that are now attached cables, giving Ren the power to move more aerodynamically. There are no visual changes to Nora’s weapon, Magnhild, please leave a comment if I missed something there.

Aces Wild

Clover Ebi, he wields a sort of fishing rod that doubles as a hook sword. His semblance is Good Fortune, the exact opposite of Qrow’s semblance. Good things happen around him. Which did make me suspicious as to how his missed the Geist when he seems to have no problem aiming that fancy fish hook. Maybe it was simply a way to bring up his semblance, or he missed on purpose. Why? Maybe to allow his team an opportunity to flex their abilities and instill the fact that they’re supposed to be the good guys and can be trusted.

Harriet Bree, rocking the classic All Might bunny ear hair style, wears robotic gauntlets to fight hand to hand. But her main feature is her speed semblance. She runs so fast, she is literally charged full of electricity. She ran fast enough catch a falling piece of dust all the way on the other side of the cave, and delivered the final blow to the Geist. She is most likely based off of the Hare from the Tortoise and the Hare.

Vine Zeki, a more mysterious member of the ACE ops. He seems to be the no nonsense type, and doesn’t lay his cards on the table. He currently wields no weapons, relying on his semblance. He is able to project his aura and create elongated arms and hands. Very useful for getting around or holding onto struggling prey.

Elm Ederne, a very overzealous woman, who seems to have good intentions. She immediately befriends Ruby once the dust settles on their fight last chapter, and compliments Team JNR a few times too. She wields a giant hammer, and her semblance appears to be being able to literally plant herself like a tree. Her aura wraps around her feet and attaches to the ground beneath her, making her a somewhat immovable object. For a powerhouse like Elm, I’m sure her semblance makes her a tough opponent to fight.

Marrow Amin, a dog type Faunus who likes to put up a tough front but seems to actually be more puppy than wolf. Being the only Faunus on this elite team, I’m sure that he’s barely tolerated by the Atlas aristocrats. He is astutely aware of how his species are treated as subhuman, and are dispensable to the people in Atlas. But that doesn’t seem to affect his ability to do his duty. Marrow’s weapon is some sort of chainsaw boomerang-rifle. It does not obey the laws of physics. Nor does Marrow obey the laws of time. His semblance seems to be a form of time dilation. With a snap of his fingers, he froze two Grimm centipeetls in midair, but it only affected the Grimm. That must mean that his semblance has a certain range of effectiveness. But it’s still a really powerful semblance.

Agents Of Chaos

As the viewer, who knows just how dire the situation is, everything else seems small. When you see Whitely Schnee screwing over Weiss to get her spot as heir of the Schnee Dust Company, Jacques Schnee’s charade to be the top of the societal pyramid, and just the entirety of Atlas just seems so petty in the grand scheme of things. We are literally the brink of the end of the world. Do they really think Salem will care who has the most money, comes from the oldest family, or has the most dust if she gets all the Relics? We’re finally making some headway. They have two Relics (one in a vault), one Maiden (but still know who the Summer Maiden is), and a girl with the ability to turn Grimm into stone. Leaving us with Watts and Tyrian to worry about. The two of them will be stirring the pot in Mantle, while Atlas will probably be a big enough headache on their own.

If you made it to the end of this post, you are one very determined individual. Please leave a comment if I missed anything, got anything wrong, or if you have your own theories. I’d love to hear them.

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davidmann95 · 5 years

Note

Velvet's battle is a great choice, though I'll always have a special place in my heart for the fight against the Grimm Deathstalker and the Nevermore in Episode 8. That said, what do you think of the individual members of Team RWBY?

I decided to wait on this until I caught up on the series thus far, which I just finished doing the night before last in pretty much the only time in my life I’ve ever really properly binged anything other than comics, and…wow. I knew RWBY was a thing just as a matter of course from being on this site and Youtube, and from watching Death Battle, so I picked up some major beats by osmosis. But my main impression was that it was a charming pseudo-anime online thing of decent quality that unsurprisingly got heavier as it went along as such things tend to do, with extremely rad fights and music along the way; figured it’d be more than serviceable to watch while I was on the treadmill as a disposable distraction from the agony of propelling my wheezing, sweating, loathsome meat-scaffolding forward.

I did *not* expect it to eventually end up after growing pains a - while far from flawless - intensely engrossing story of all-consuming personal and generational pain and people who choose to love and do the right thing in defiance of that trauma and loss and hopelessness, where also occasionally a corgi gets fastball specialed at mechas. Though once it became clear that’s what it is, it pretty clearly sat at an intersection of a hell of a lot of my favorite things, especially when characters copped in-universe in both the main series and spinoff material that this is basically a superhero thing. My initial impressions re: the fights and music were on-point though.

I actually have quite a few thoughts on pretty much all the protagonists of note at this point (other than I suppose Oscar and Maria. Like them both though, and I do hope that nice boy’s brain somehow doesn’t dissolve into the blender of Ozpin’s subconscious), but I’ll just stick with the core four here as requested for now unless someone asks otherwise. Weiss is the simplest to get at the core of, I’d say: her arc is learning that fuck rich people, actually. She’s a seriously difficult character to get onboard for at first - especially if you’re watching those first episodes for the first time in 2019 - as the mean unconsciously racist rich girl who learns to be less mean and racist but still kinda mean. But after you’ve extensively seen the hideously toxic environment she grew up in, and fully understand her efforts to grow past the empty values it inculcated in her in favor of everything she was raised to think of herself as above, she becomes a hell of a figure to root for. Assuming RWBY is gonna go, say, a respectable 10 seasons given it was just renewed through 9, I could easily see the upcoming 7th be the climax of her arc with her return to Atlas and likely further reckoning with the consequences of her families’ actions beyond how they’ve hurt her personally.

Yang is also, in a certain abstract narrative sense, simple, in that she’s built around the very oldest trick in the book for characters whose main deal is ‘can punch better than absolutely anyone’: give them problems that cannot be solved by punching. Except in her case it’s less a material “well, this person is invulnerable to punching!” or “well, actually this other person can punch most best of all” issue blocking her path than “punching cannot solve depression, abandonment issues, questioning whether what she considers her purpose in life is one she’s truly pursuing for noble reasons or if she even has the resolve for it anymore after what’s happened to her, or PTSD”. Yet, while it may not be the kind that manifests in the form of punching people with a smirk and a bad pun anymore (much as she still definitely does that all the time) what ultimately drives her and defines her is still her strength: to move forward, to forgive, to let go, to do the right thing in spite of the risks. Which could easily come off as some unpleasant “you just have to get over your moping!” dismissal - there’s a bit with her dad that means it saddles riiiiight up to the edge of that - but there’s a weight to how her traumas remain a consistent factor in her life and have shaped her outlook even as her circumstances and day-to-day disposition improve that makes it feel thematically like it’s coming from a place of acknowledgment and endurance rather than denial, even if it’s not handled perfectly. Great to see her apparently recapturing some more of her joie de vivre based on the trailer for Volume 7, and how that’ll interact with how she’s grown should be interesting.

Blake is…tough, because you fundamentally cannot talk about Blake without getting into the Faunus, which is maybe the biggest aspect of RWBY that leaves it in the realm of Problematic Fave. It really, really wants to have something substantial to say about the proper response to racism, and every now and then it pumps out a “capitalism greases the wheels of systemic oppression and vice-versa” or “it’s perfectly reasonable for the oppressed to seek to fight back directly against their oppressors, and even the pacifist in the room can recognize that’s a defensible approach that deserves its place”. But then Abusive Boyfriend Magneto literally murders nuance in Vol. 5 episode 2, and it descends into some borderline “but what about black on black violence” respectability politics shit. It’s the classic X-Men setup - this persecuted race of often superpowered folks torn between pacifism and efforts to prove themselves to their oppressors, and those who think they should rise up and annihilate the flatscans - with most of the same pitfalls, but also we haven’t had over 50 years to get used to that just being how it works here, and it doesn’t have the excuse of having to expand as best it can on a metaphor that was originally devised before most of the people currently handling it were born. All of which would be rough enough, but given I watched this right as Jonathan Hickman’s been completely refining the entire X-Men paradigm outside that outdated binary, it especially grates. I’d love to be directed to any solid counterarguments - I’ve heard it might actually be an analogue, and a well-done one, for The Troubles, which I am one million percent unqualified to evaluate - especially since apparently one of the writers grew up in a mixed-race household, and at the end of the day I’m a white guy who may well be talking completely out his ass. But it sure comes off at a glance as some well-intentioned dudes stumbling through stuff that’s not their business, and that’s inextricable from Blake’s character when so much of her story is her navigating through that metaphor. Hopefully with new writers coming onboard this is something that can be navigated more insightfully in the future.

On a purely personal basis however, Blake’s a standout in terms of relatability when her story comes down to a pretty universal shared horror: how to climb back from having fucked up. She tried really hard to do the right thing, was taken advantage of and led into doing things she eventually realized were wrong, was so shaken that she couldn’t tell who to trust, and then the situation spiraled out of control on every possible front just as things finally seemed to be stabilizing. The way a single mistake - enabled and exacerbated by an abusive past relationship in her case - expands into a self-loathing far beyond the bounds of anything she could possibly be responsible for is brutal and completely understandable, and seeing her start put her self-esteem back together with the help of those closest to her and the power of her original convictions is arguably the single strongest, most clearly conveyed individual character arc in the series. I’m very curious where it goes from here: Adam’s finish represents a logical climax and the setup for a happily-ever-after with Yang (or Sun if they end up going that way after all) for her to coast through the remainder of the series on, but the way emotional consequences have played out in the series thus far I doubt her demons are going to be put to bed that simply.

Finally there’s Ruby, and I am contractually obligated to note up front: she is clearly not a Superman analogue. There is precisely zero percent chance that she was conceived as such or was ever deliberately executed in such a way that mirroring him was kept in mind. Though she IS a super-powered idealist raised in the middle of nowhere with a significant deceased parent who wears a red cape, flies, gives inspiring rallying speeches, has black-ish but primary color-tinted hair, and has a mysterious birthright that involves being able to shoot lasers from her eyes, plus she has a dog who also essentially has superpowers, plus she tells someone they’re stronger than they think they are, plus Yang basically quotes a bit from Kingdom Come regarding her in Rest and Resolutions. But it probably goes a ways in explaining why she works so well for me.

There’s more to it than that of course, though it does bring up the closest way in which she relates to the superhero paradigm: she doesn’t go through an arc in quite the same way as the others, instead being an already solidly-defined character who is simply illustrated by how she interacts with the people and situations around her. She learns and grows and matures, but her most basic motivations and goals and outlook haven’t really changed since the day she enrolled at Beacon. She’s a good, caring person, a leader archetype who still has more than enough personality to spare to keep from falling into the genericism that can often plague that role. A big part of the key I believe is that she’s the audience surrogate in a profound way beyond the obvious touchstones of her frequent awkwardness and self-doubt: the reason she does this is because she was inspired by stories. She’s a fan, ultimately, but one who learned all the right lessons, whether recognizing from day one the way reality falls short of the tales she was raised on but still believing in the ideals they represent, or openly holding up Qrow as a role model while being willing to call him on his shit when push comes to shove. It’s a romantic, hopeful perspective that stands out sharply from even our other heroes even as it mirrors their struggles, but as of yet there’s little to suggest it comes from a place of naivete so much as a belief that it’s the only way to bear the pain of the world and continue to believe in it. Bit by bit it’s clear she’s heading for a breaking point, but all signs point to that being a matter of her ability to withstand what she’s been through, rather than any doubt that it’s necessary, and should that time come she’s inspired plenty who’ll be able to help her back onto her feet the way she has for so many others. So while I understand her speeches apparently grate on some, as far as I’m concerned keep them coming, they’re the beating caring heart of the series and often the sole respite in the eye in the storm.

#RWBY #Ruby Rose #Weiss Schnee #Blake Belladonna #Yang Xiao Long #Mental Health #Racism #Superman #Analysis #Opinion

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midnightmarev · 5 years

Text

Once Upon A Time... Not

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Find it on AO3 at dahliadragonheart

Relationships: Might be Prinxiety, might be LAMP. I don’t know, we’ll see how it goes. Eventual Logicality. Eventual Demus. Remile. Original Female Characters.

Summary: Virgil Blake moves to Gainesville, Florida, at the age of 17 with his father and twin sister after his mother’s death. He doesn’t believe in a ‘happily, ever after’. At least not for himself. Virgil thinks it is stupid because he’s seen for himself that not even his parents got to have one, even though they always told him they would while he was a child. He moves to Florida with the opinion that fairy-tales are stupid - that or he fears them - and that he will never have a ‘happily, ever after’. But how wrong he is proven when he bumps into Roman Garcia, Patton Maine, and Logan Connors. He gets whirled up in his very own - down to earth - fairy-tale.

Notes: Salutations. I was inspired by something my teacher said in class one day. Well, he mentioned 'Once Upon A Time' and I was like: Once Upon A Time is dead. No maybe, Once Upon A Time doesn't exist. Not. AAHHHH! Long story short, I started writing, and all of a sudden, I had planned out future chapters and written character sheets.

It didn’t start out like it, but it ended up basically being a twin AU, meaning everyone has a twin. At least the gang. They’re called the twin-squad in school because they are all friends and often hang out together. TS for short. You know? Like Thomas Sanders? Alright, I’ll shut up now. Enjoy!

Chapter Summary: Virgil and his twin are moving with their father to America three months after their mother's death. Virgil finds a mysterious box under his bed that seemingly belongs to her. Does he open it? And what could it hold?

Trigger Warnings: Anxiety, self-deprecating thoughts, mentions of minor character death, panic attack, unintentional child neglect, a dad joke or two (they are bad). Let me know if I missed any.

Word count: 2628

Next Chapter

Chapter 1: Prologue

‘Once upon a time’ is not real. ‘Happily, ever after’ doesn’t exist. I once believed it did, but so did everyone else. I was just a kid. Like everyone else.

At least, ‘happily, ever after’ doesn’t exist to people like me. I will never have it, no matter how much I might want it. So, ‘once upon a time’ is dead. So is ‘happily, ever after’.

These kinds of thoughts are not an uncommon occurrence for me. Though usually, they are worse. I would’ve thought they would have been worse, seeing as Father, my sister, and I are moving to a completely different country, away from my mother’s grave. The only positive I can see is the fact that I don’t have to wear school uniform anymore.

A knock on my door. “Are you done packing the rest of your stuff?” my father asks. He doesn’t open it. Probably too scared that he would find me collapsed on the floor like he did my mother.

I don’t answer. At least not verbally. I send him a text. A text saying I had been done for quite some time. I have been laying in my bed for a long time now, stuck in my thoughts. As much as I didn’t want to move, I didn’t want to stay, either. Too many memories. Memories of her.

“That’s good. That’s good. Uh, yeah. I’ve made some dinner. It’s not much but, yeah. I would like the three of us to eat dinner one last time before we move. You don’t have to, but I would like it, and I think it would be good for the three of us,” Father says tentatively like I’m gonna bolt out the window if he speaks too loudly or something.

I consider it. I _have _been closing myself off for some time now. School was a no-go. Father thought so, too, so he had made an arrangement with the school. They sent everything to me digitally so I would still be able to keep up with school. And I don’t like being behind, but school just became too much after Mother…

I shook my head. I really didn’t wanna think about her right now. That would only open up too many wounds. I open up my phone again to answer Father yes, I will be down in a few minutes. I then hear footsteps leaving my door.

I sigh. Might as well get it over with. It’s been three months, but it’s still really awkward at the dinner table when I actually on rare occasions venture downstairs. And it’s the last day we’re staying here anyway. What better way to say goodbye than having one last ‘family-dinner’?

Another knock on my door. This one lighter, almost ghost-like. “Hey, it’s me. Can I come in?” It’s my twin sister’s voice. I knock on my wall once for yes. She enters and slowly walks over to me and tentatively sits down on the edge of my bed. “You know you don’t have to come down if you’re not feeling up to it, right? Father won’t hold it against you.”

I sit up. _“I know,” _I sign before hanging my head, looking down at the mattress. I feel a hand on my knee and look up to meet her eyes with a soft smile on her lips. I hesitate before continuing. “I just feel like I owe it to her, you know?”

“I know Vee, I know,” she says softly. She takes my hand and gives it what I’m assuming is meant to be a comforting squeeze. She’s the only one I’ve allowed to touch me since we buried Mother. She’s the only one whose touch doesn’t feel like it can send me into a panic attack.

I give her a small smile in return. She releases my hand, and I start signing. “Should we head downstairs then?” At that, she smiles and nods to me before standing up. I frown when she doesn’t head to the door, but to one of the moving boxes. She’s picking something up, but I can’t see it from my angle.

“Here,” she says softly and turns around. She’s standing with my hoodie. The one I worked on with Mother. My patchwork hoodie. Black with stitched on purple plaid patches. “It’s a bit cold downstairs, might wanna wear this,” she smiles.

I just stare at her. Is she serious? There was a reason why I packed it down in the first place. After a few moments, I slowly reach out for it. It feels weird to hold it again. I look to her with a questioning look, but she just nods to me. Then I notice that she is wearing the jacket she made with Mother.

A tear falls from my eye with no accompanying sound. I open up my mouth to speak, but no sound came. I close it and try again. It takes a few more tries, but eventually, I’m able to croak out “Thank you,” before winching. I hadn’t used my voice in days, it sounded awful.

But she just smiles at me. I then put on the hoodie, sips it up and looks at her. She has her hand outstretched to me. “Shall we, brother dear?” she smiles at me. I nod and take her hand.

When we come downstairs, the table is set for the three of us with what looks like some improvised veggie stew on the table.

“Hey you two, I made veggie stew.” Oh no, Father just tried to make a rhyme. We’re in for it. He’s gonna make us sit through a lot of super bad dad jokes and puns, all in the name of trying to cheer us up. And worst of all? That tactic always works!

My sister giggles a bit. “Nice. Though it looks like you just raided the fridge,” she winks at Father. Ah, because we’re moving and need to have the fridge cleared out. I roll my eyes and sign, good-naturedly, to her to shut up.

My Father minutely sags. Maybe he had hoped I would talk, but I haven’t actually had a verbal conversation since Mother died. Don’t know why he would get his hopes up.

“Well, Virgil, Anastacia, I present to you: some veggie stew. And yes, it’s basically what was left in the fridge, so anything we don’t eat everything tonight, we’ll bring with us at our travels to America.” He sighs. “I know you still miss your mother dearly, trust me, I know, but we will have to move on eventually. Who knows? Maybe this new start in America is precisely what we need,” he tries, smiling a bit. He was hoping for us to make friends. For me to make friends since Ann didn’t have a problem with that. But I have her, don’t need other people in my life that I will lose eventually. I lost Mother, I’ve almost lost Father, and with the move to America, I might lose my twin, for the most part, to her future-to-be friends. Bottom line, if I get attached to someone, I will lose them. Either they die, or they abandon me. Simple as that.

Ann gives my hand another squeeze, pulling me out of my thoughts, and we sit down at the table. The stew is actually pretty good, considering Father can’t really cook all that well.

After we ate, I went back to my room. The moving truck will be coming later in the evening, so I have to get what I need for the trip and get the boxes ready for pick-up. I hate that we are leaving. It’s doing nothing good for my anxiety. I hate change.

Moving to a new school means all new people. New bullies. Just hope they won't discover my binder as fast. They will eventually though. And that only adds to the things that are wrong with me; the things bullies can use against me.

I rummage through the last box to get my sketch pad and pencils. I put my fidget cube on the lid of the box, but with me moving it, I accidentally knock it under my bed. My bed which we will be leaving behind. The bed Mother always would sit so tentatively on and card her fingers through my hair and guide me through my panic attack. How she would lay down on it and sign me lullabies and point out constellations and the stories behind them and NO! Stop thinking about that!

I sigh. It’s gonna be a long night. I bend down to pick up the cube and notice a glint. It’s a wooden box. It’s gathered a lot of dust. I don’t even remember putting it down there, so it must have been sitting there for a long time. The glint came from the sun shining on the lock. A combination lock. Hmm, I wonder. Mother and I always used the same number-combination for these kinds of things, so if it were Mother’s, I would still be able to open it. The question now is, do I open it?

Fidget cube and art supplies forgotten at the moment, I slowly put in the right combination of numbers and open it. What? I might be an anxious mess, but sometimes my curiosity gets the better of me, okay?

The first thing I notice is the engraving on the inside of the lid. It’s beautiful, artistic, looks incredibly complicated, and, most importantly, something my mother used to make! I flinch back at the sudden realisation. Nonononono! This is bad! Very bad! I don’t want painful memories of her flooding my mind!

I start doing my breathing exercises. In for four seconds. Hold for seven. And out for eight. Repeat. And repeat. And repeat. Repeat until I have my breathing under control and I’m sure I won't have a flashback.

It’s pitch black. Is it night already? Oh, my eyes are closed. That’s why. When did I close my eyes? I slowly open them. And look straight into Ann’s eyes. She looks distraught. That’s when I notice a tapping on my knee. Tap tap tap tap. Pause. Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap. Pause. Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap tap. Repeat. 4-7-8. Oh.

She’s speaking, but I can’t hear her. Instead, I read her lips. ‘you hear me, Virgil? There you are. Can you hear me? Tap once for yes and twice for no. Please?’ I tap twice. She nods. Then she disappeared from my view. She returned after what felt like an eternity. With something in her hand. My fidget cube. I wonder why… oh nevermind. This is nice. I look up at her again. She’s signing something to me. I don’t catch it, so I just stare at her. She smiles softly. At me. Why would she smile to me? I’m not worth it. She looks down now. I follow her eyes and my eyes land on a piece of paper.

‘You’re doing great. Keep going, Vee. I’m proud of you. Please keep focusing on your breathing.’

I look to her again. I watch as she slowly leans towards me. I don’t flinch. I never do when it’s her. She brushes my cheek. Her hand comes away wet, I notice. Wet from my tears. When did I start crying? She opens her mouth again.

“How you feeling now, Vee? Is there anything else I can do?” I can hear her again. I don’t know how to answer, though. My hands are shaking too much to sign. She moves her hand again, slowly, as to let me know what she wants to do. I follow her hand with my eyes. She’s reaching for the paper. Scribbles something on it.

‘Water, blanket, fidget cube, paper and pencil, stuffed animal, other.’

“Could you point to one of these? Very good, you’re doing amazing,” she says after I point to the blanket and stuffed animal. “I’ll be right back, Vee.”

She doesn’t return. It’s been a long time. Where is she? It feels like she left hours ago. My breathing picks up again, and so does my anxiety. Suddenly I feel something on my shoulders. I jolt. Oh, it’s just a blanket. Ann didn’t leave me after all. I can see her again. I can feel she is tapping my knee again. I try to match my breathing to it. It is hard, but after I don’t know how long, I can breathe normally again. Finally. She is handing me something. A stuffed animal. Why is she giving me that? I furrow my eyebrows to try to remember. I look down and spot the paper. Oh yeah, I pointed to what I would like to have at that moment.

I accept the stuffed animal. It’s a lynx. She has big, like really big, eyes and they look like they change colour when the light hits them from different angles. The colours of the rainbow. She’s my only stuffed animal. I haven’t ever really been a fan of stuffed animals, but something about Linx just made me love her the moment I laid my eyes on her. Yes, I named her Linx. Deal with it. Creativity is not my department. At least not creativity involving names.

“How you feeling now? Think you can sign?” I look at my hands. They’re not shaking badly anymore, so I try to sign a single ‘yes’. I then nod to her, giving her a hint of a smile. And she returns it tenfold. “Awesome. Do you want me to stay with you tonight? And before you ask; no. You wouldn’t be bothering me at all. I would do anything for you Vee. You know that!” she says, sounding stern, but stern in a soft way.

I chuckle soundlessly, feeling my anxiety ebb away. ‘I don’t think I’m going to have another panic attack at the moment, so I’m feeling better. Not good or great, but better.’ I have to stop after that. Signing that much after an attack can take the strength out of you. When I catch my breath again, I continue to sign. ‘And I would like it if you would stay with me.’

She nods, still smiling, though it’s softened. “I think it would be best for us to go to your bed and not staying here on the floor. Can you stand, or would you like me to pick you up and carry you to bed? 1 or 2?” she asks. I think about it for a bit. My legs feel like boiled spaghetti, so I think it would be a bad idea for me to try and walk; even with Anastacia’s help. I hold up two fingers. She nods.

Before she moves to pick me up, she closes the box and pushes it aside. Making sure it’s out of my sight so that I won’t even be able to see it even in my peripheral view. Pretty sure she knows that’s what caused the attack in the first place.

Before I know it, Ann and I are cuddled up on my bed at midnight. Wait, midnight? It’s already midnight? Wait, ‘already’? I mean ‘only’. I don’t know, my inner clock is broken from my many late nights. Insomnia’s a bitch.

“Goodnight, Vee. I love you more than you will ever believe. It’s always gonna be the two of us, no matter what. I’ll never leave you,” she whispers in my ear. Don’t make promises you can’t keep sis. Sooner or later, you’ll leave me too. It’s only a matter of time. You’ll get tired of having to put up with my shit and having to pull me out of panic attacks over stupid things. Just wait and see. You will.

Endnotes: If you have any notes on the panic attack Virgil has, and think it was totally wrongly written, then please let me know. It's my first time writing a panic attack. I have never had one myself, but I tried to research the best I could about them, how they felt, and how to help a person through them.

What was in the box, you ask? Well, stay tuned to find out. It might be a while, but Virgil will get the courage to open it up. Eventually.

I've never written a person with anxiety, so I might get a lot of things wrong. If you want to correct me, if I'm doing something completely wrong, please let me know.

Also, I've never written a trans person before, so if I'm writing their troubles wrong, or you just want to add something that might be useful, don't be afraid to comment and let me know.

Until next time. Take it easy guys, gal, and non-binary pals. See ya.

#sanders sides #virgil sanders #original characters #Once Upon A Time... Not #OUAT...N #trans virgil #tw: anxiety #self-deprecation #self-deprecating thoughts #mentions of minor character death #panic attack #unintentional child neglect #a dad joke or two (they are bad)#Let me know if I missed any trigger warnings

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calliecat93 · 5 years

Text

Top 5 Things I Disliked About RWBY Volume 5

(Top 5 Likes)

I don’t think that I’m exaggerating when I say that RWBY V5 is most likely the most hated volume thus far. I… don’t hate it. Oh don’t get me wrong, it is a flawed volume and suffers badly in the pacing department. I still put it above Volumes 1 and 2, but it is definitely below the rest. But hate it? Nah! There’s plenty that I like about it, and I’ll get to all those on the Likes post! But we gotta do Dislikes first. While I don’t hate V5, with how much hate it had gotten and still does even nearly two years later… let’s just say that I have a lot of negative feelings towards it. So I have not looked forward to going over it again, especially in a negative context. But… I do have dislikes and I do want to talk about them, and I’m not gonna let my own feelings prevent me from doing so.

So, let’s get to my Top 5 Dislikes of Volume 5 and get this over with.

#5. Corsic and Fennec

So… imo, the worst villain in the show is Cardin because he is just a one-dimensional bully who only exists to be a hate sink. But my second least favorite is these two guys. While I really like their designs and voices, as villains? They suck. THey’re just kinda creepy followers of Adam. Why? Why are they following Adam? Why are they serving the extremist side of the White Fang? I know why Ilia is doing it, but why these guys? If they were just nameless mooks I wouldn’t care, but they’re the main antagonists of Blake’s arc in this volume aside from Adam and the ones fueling Ilia’s extremism. I was expecting more substance, but… nope. There is none.

They have no motivation. They seem to want what’s best for the Faunus, like Ilia does, they’re just less hesitant than she is. But they have no real character. They’re just… there. I never felt like they were a threat or a concern. They’re just creepy cult leaders, and that’s just boring for me. Maybe that was the intent? IDK. As villains though, they suck. But as I said, they had good voice actors and hey at least unlike Cardin they have some kind of purpose, so I’ll leave it at Number Five

#4. Leo Lionheart

Honestly, Leo wasn’t a bad character. I understood where he was coming from, especially after V6. He feels like Salem can’t be and is afraid, so he shifted to Salem to survive. He knows that what he’s doing is wrong and that he’s giving in to cowardice, which hey he’s honest, unlike say… Raven. Clearly, we’re supposed to feel bad for this guy and his turn after serving Ozpin faithfully for so many years and this is a fall from grace form a once-proud Huntsmana nd Academy Headmaster. But… I… don’t feel bad for this guy. At all.

So you know how ‘show don’t tell’ is a frequent critique towards RWBY. Well, V5 may have gotten that the worst. Leo suffers from that. We’re told about how he was this great Huntsman How he was once one of Ozpin’s most loyal followers, and the betrayal still has Oz reeling in the next volume. But I don’t see any of that. We never knew about Leo until this volume. We never see or hear about how great and loyal he is until now. We don’t even find out that he’s a Faunus, and considering Mistral’s racism you’d think that that would be a bigger deal than it gets made out to be. I don’t feel bad for this guy. I just see him as a coward who allowed various Huntsmen to die just because he was scared. I didn’t care if he felt bad because I had zero reasons to feel sympathy for him or feel bad about his fall from grace. He led people to their deaths all because he was a coward, and there is no sympathy in that.

Leo was a weak character. As such, as horrifying as it was, I was perfectly happy when he died when I’m pretty sure that I was supposed to feel some sympathy. His voice actor did a really good job, but sadly the character himself was underdeveloped. It’s a shame, and hopefully, they avoid that with the Vacuo Headmaster. But yeah, Leo was weak, and good riddance to him.

#3. The Battle of Haven

By far, the most well-known criticism. I knew that this wouldn’t be as epic as the Fall fo Beacon considering that they weren’t going for a mass assault/statement like in Vale. Which was fine and since they were still new to Maya, I wasn’t expecting a massive brawl like then anyways. Like I’ve said before, I feel like V3 raised a somewhat impossible standard so IDT that the Haven fight would have pleased a lot of people no matter what they did. But… that being said… they didn’t do a very good job here.

It starts off well, but from about the point that Weiss gets stabbed, it goes downhill. We have characters just standing around. Fights just end without us getting to see them. The pacing is awkward. Some of the animations are awkward. We get fight teases like Qrow vs Raven and RWB vs HEM… and it’s already over when we cut back to them. It’s frustrating as Hell. Now group fights are very difficult… but this was just… lackluster. Now animaiton is not easy, so I think that the animators likely did the best that they could in the time that they had. It’s just unfortunate that the final result was not very good.

FOr what was meant to be the grand event, it sadly wasn’t very grand at all. I do think that they improved as the next massive brawl against Cordo’s mech was much better and gave everyone something to do. It’s what I appreciate about CRWBY, they acknowledge the mistakes and they do their best to correct them. Honestly, it could have been worse and again, animaiton is hard and they’re on a time limit. It’s unfortunate that the final result couldn’t have been better, but ah well. I’ll take what we get.

#2. The Pacing/Exposition

The thing best known about this volume, aside from the issues with the Battle, is it’s over-reliance of exposition and having nothing really happen. I mean, The House has become infamous. I think that some of the exposition was necessary, like Raven making Yang question Oz, but it does drag quite a bit. We have a long stretch of volumes where it’s mainly just characters telling stuff to others. The RNJR training arc goes nowhere. Qrow recruiting Huntsmen goes nowhere. Blake repeating Ilia’s backstory despite the Blake trailer already going into it. The Weiss Sky fight, as awesome as it was, probably could have been trimmed down quite a bit.

All of this makes it feel like the volume is going on forever and it gets boring to watch. I’m glad to have all fo this info and clarifications, but they don’t do anything to make it interesting. Like when Qrow tells us about the God’s in V4, they use some creative animation to make it visually interesting and keep our attention. They don’t do that here, and they don’t do anything interesting with the camera work or the character reactions to make it at least entertaining to listen to. And as I already covered, the Battle for Haven dragged out and had choppy fights that got cut short or happened off-screen. Which made what should have felt super exciting… well… not.

This volume drag. They gave it a good start, and then just… kinda stretched it out to fit the 14 episodes. A lot could have been trimmed down I think. I heard that writing fell behind a pretty good amount, so this one is fully on Miles and Kerry. I’m sure that they tried their best, and I can only guess that they got overwhelmed. I mean heck, they had to cut out an entire plotline while well into production, and don’t worry we’ll get to that in a minute. Had they done a little reworking and rearranging, the pacing could have been a lot better. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. IDK if I’d call it the worst written, but it may just be the most boring.

Still, the volume did has a lot of good character stuff and conversations. As such, I can suck up the pacing. That being said, there was one thing about V5 that did genuinely upset me. Like I still feel like V5 gets hated on more than it should, but this I very much did not defend. What is it?

#1. Ruby Rose Was Poorly Handled

This just angered me. Ruby is my favorite character. I had a lot of expectations for her in this volume. We’re going into another Battle. We have an arc et up to have Ruby improve as a fighter and not be overly reliant on Crescent Rose. Even the Yang Trailer hinted at that. With Oz back, Ruby can start to question about the Silver Eyes and maybe figure out how to properly utilize them to help int he fight. She’s about to get her team back, so we can see how her leadership skills have improved. Maybe we’ll have her open up about her pent-up feelings. We kind got that when she talked to Oscar, which to be fair was a good scene. But we were still waiting to see her open up and to have a payoff for all that was built up, especially with her renewed resolve to be a Huntress.

And they did absolutely nothing.

I can’t begin to tell you how disappointed I was. Her training arc amounts to her head-butting Mercury and is still completely reliant on Crescent Rose. Aside from the one scene with Oscar and when Yang re-appears, she doesn’t open up about her feelings at all and little is done to get her to do so. We see that she has PTSD in Haven when Cinder goes at Jaune, but she has zero real reaction to Cinder nor the damage that she dished out to her in V3. She doesn’t really interact with her team when they’re back… though the reunion scenes themselves are really good. She doesn’t question Ozpin whatsoever about the Silver Eyes or even indicates that she’s wondering about it. Like… really guys? Really? Even if Oz just said that he didn’t know anything outside what Qrow told her, we still could have had something from her end. Anything.

No? Really? We’re just... not gonna do anything? She is the main character, so... shouldn't there be at least a little? Still no? Okay...

Ruby was wasted. This should have been when she began to rise up, take the reigns back with her restored team, and become more serious about her training. I don’t expect her to become a Yang-level brawler, but I do expect to see her trying to progress and getting some kind of payoff. But there was none. She didn’t grow whatsoever. Not as a fighter, nor as a character. What’s worst? You know that cut plotline I mentioned? Yeah, it WAS supposed to be about Ruby and the Silver Eyes. They were going to introduce Maria here and have Ruby begin to understand her power and likely have a proper payoff to her training arc if Maria got involved. But due to timing, they had to cut it and push it into Volume 6. While I fully understand why they did this, the results of that decision show. Ruby was done overall poorly, and while V6 did a lot to fix that, it is still the thing that I dislike most about RWBY Volume 5.

Okay, no more negativity with this volume! Onto the good things! Happy thoughts folks~!

#rwby #rwby reviews #top likes/dislikes

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likeanemployee · 5 years

Text

Rwby characters discovering some ships

Obviously no author bias is involved here at all

Whiterose:

Ruby: aww it would be like we were extra super besties

Weiss: never! Don't be ridiculous *blushing profusely clearly actually into it*

Yang: yeah I can see it

Blake: they could make a cute couple

Bumblebee:

Yang: I mean sure, I could do worse

Blake: as long as she didn't make me kill her

Ruby: I always new yang was a cat person!

Weiss: honestly I always thought they were just close as friends and partners but that is a close relationship and I can see how some might think it crosses over into romantic interest. It wouldn't be the first time team partners became romantic partners...

Ladybug:

Blake: Ruby? no I don't think so I mean beyond the fact were teammates, which isn't insignificant, we're really not that close

Ruby: I mean Blake's alright but she can be kinda intense and I feel like I never really learned how to talk to her.

Yang: I'm not sure I get this one I mean I guess they can both be socially awkward but like in totally opposite ways rubes is goofy and kinda clumsy while Blake is just quiet and mysterious.

Weiss: there is no way Ruby would be into her. Is there? No there isn't that's ridiculous.

Monochrome:

Blake: Weiss actually does have her moment's and I guess I can see where people are coming from but I feel like she's still too much the ice queen for me

Weiss: Blake is a great person and a great teammate there's a lot I can admire about her but we're also very different people from literally opposite backgrounds it would never last

Ruby: What!?! No. Not Weiss not with Blake that would be wrong because umm because it would be.

Yang: ha they'd be constantly fighting I can only imagine. it wouldn't possible last more then a month.

Black Sun:

Sun: "ha well duh I mean aren't we basically already together. Although maybe somebody should tell Blake that. Oh crap I should tell Blake that. I gotta go!

Blake: I mean he's sweet and funny and he's really been there for me but well.. I know he means well but he can be kinda a pain in the ass sometimes

Yang: dudes built well she could do worse although he can be kinda cheesy

Weiss: I can't stand him. He's so obnoxious and annoying but Blake seems into him and I think he's been good for her so I hope the best for them.

Renora:

Nora: what no we're not... we're just friends. I mean I like him and we're REALLY good friends but... wait unless did he say something no he wouldn't have because we're just friends yeah just friends

Ren: *smiles*

Pyrhha: they're already dating

Juane: they're already dating

Team RWBY: they're already dating

Arkos: (pre-fall)

Pyrhaa: *sighing* well maybe one day

Weiss: I don't see what she could possibly see in him but anything that'll make him leave me alone

Juane: *finally realizing a lot of things* ohhhhhh.....*bangig his head* stupid, stupid, stupid!

Nuts and dolts

Penny: well let's just say I'm not only combat ready!

Weiss: ha "nuts and dolts" that's exactly what they'd be a couple of dolts!

Yang: well I mean I love rubes but given her people skills a robot might be her best chance.

Ruby: PENNY!!

Whiteknight:

Juane: that's what I've been trying to say!

Weiss: I'd rather swim back to Atlas with an anchor tied around my neck

Ruby: *luaghs hysterically and dismissively*

Lancaster:

Ruby: ok I love Juane but in a he will always be vomit boy sorta way

Juane: I mean Ruby's great but she's Ruby she's kinda just you know... Ruby.

Yang: honestly it makes a lot of sense to me but I think p-money and the girl who has too much money would both be upset.

That's all I've got for now but please comment possible additions or revisions as I joked above there's probably a fair amount of bias present in this and I'd love to see other peoples take on the characters possible reactions

Addition 1 per request:

Black Sunshine (BlakexSunxYang):

Blake: well that's certainly an innovative solution to a problem which never should have existed.

Yang: I wouldn't have ever thought of that but I'll try anything once!

Sun: I mean... I'm not about to say no!

Addition 2:

Solarflare (SunxYang)

Blake: I feel like this an attack on me. Why would someone want to do this to me

Sun: well I mean she's hot but we really only know each other because we both like Blake soooo... yeah

Yang: mad respect for the abs but he's kinda cheesy I guess I could maybe see it for just like fooling around but not a serious relationship

Addition 3:

Bee's Schnees (BlakexYangxWeiss)

Blake: *whispering* why is she here too

Yang: I dunno I kinda like her, sometimes

Blake: huh me too, sometimes

Yang: ok ok I think I see how this works out we only include her when she's being friendly and leave her to Ruby when she's not

Weiss: WHAT!!!

Freezer burn

Yang: I don't know she can be pretty... Weiss cold. *laughs hysterically*

Weiss: do you see this do you see what you want me to put up with.

169 notes · View notes

razieltwelve · 5 years

Text

Exam (Final Rose)

“Is this really necessary?” Ruby grumbled.

Vanille smiled sunnily. “Yes, Ruby, it is. As the future of the hunting community, it is imperative that we ensure you students are in the best of health. As the foremost medical practitioner on Remnant, it is up to me to give each of you a brief medical examination.”

Ruby’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Are you sure this isn’t just an excuse to dress Professor Cuddles up as a doctor?”

Professor Cuddles gave an adorable squeak from a nearby table and reached up to adjust the miniature stethoscope he had. He was also wearing a tiny doctor’s outfit. Vanille shook her head. “Of course not. Seeing Professor Cuddle dressed up like a doctor is simply a happy coincidence.”

“I guess…”

“If you’re not comfortable with my doing the examination,” Vanille said. “I do have several assistants who are all ridiculously qualified too.”

“No,” Ruby said at last. “I don’t mind you doing it.” At least she knew Vanille. “But can you tell me the real reason we’re having these examinations?”

“Basically, puberty is a really important time for people with large Auras. Not only do a host of Aura-related changes occur but they are also coupled with physical changes. Most of the time, everything goes well. However, there are times when things can get a bit dicey. It’s my job to catch anything like that before it becomes a problem. Taking regular notes about your abilities is also important since it allows us to track your improvement.”

“That does make sense,” Ruby conceded. “So how am I doing?”

Vanille rubbed her chin. “Well, you’ve probably noticed that you’ve been going through a lot of changes lately.” Ruby blinked, and Vanille gestured at her chest. “You know, like that.”

“Ah.” Ruby blushed furiously. She had definitely started to fill out over the past several months, adding more womanly curves as she shot up several inches in height. “I’m taller too.”

“Yep. Now, this sort of thing isn’t too unusual. For whatever reason, it’s not uncommon for people with certain Semblances to not develop physically at the same rate as their peers. But once a certain threshold is met, they go through a period of accelerated development. You seem to be one of them.”

“But why does that happen?” Ruby sighed. “Yang never went through anything like this.”

“We still don’t understand why only some Semblances do this, but in most cases it’s because the Semblances has to do a whole lot of extra work first. In your case, your Semblance had to make massive changes to your neurological and perceptual systems, so all of your body’s energy and growth went into that.”

“Really?”

“Ruby, you can currently move fast enough to dodge bullets, but you can somehow stay aware of and respond to your surroundings without making any mistakes. Do you have any idea how crazy that is?”

“Well, my Semblance wouldn’t be much good if I could move super faster but my reflexes were normal.”

“Exactly. So instead of you growing taller and doing all that other stuff, your Semblance was busy working on changing your brain and everything else. Now that it’s got a lot of the hard work out of the way, you’re starting to shoot up like a weed. I expect the same sort of thing will happen to Diana. Once Ragnarok has the transformation all streamlined and smoothed out, she won’t be such a ragamuffin. She’ll look even more like Fang than she already does.”

“Does that mean Weiss will get taller too?”

Vanille laughed. “Nope. I’ve studied the genetics of several families with inheritable Semblances. There doesn’t tend to be too much deviation from the mean with regards to physical abilities. Weiss might get a tad taller, but she’s never going to be as tall as Yang or Blake, or you for that matter.”

Ruby nodded slowly and then gave Vanille a solemn look. “Don’t ever tell her that.”

“I won’t. If she’s lucky she might, maybe, match her sister, Winter, in height, but I’m not sure she’ll get there.” Vanille continued to poke and prod Ruby while taking readings. To Ruby amazement, Professor Cuddles appeared to be taking notes of some kind on a scroll, hopping over the device to enter details. “Now, is there anything you want to tell me about? You have been going through a lot of changes, and there’s only so much my equipment can tell me. It’s your body. You can tell me if you’ve noticed anything strange going on.”

“Hmm…” Ruby pursed her lips. “Sometimes… sometimes it’s like the world is moving in slow motion. Most of the time, it’s just for a moment or two, but sometimes, it goes for a bit longer.”

“And it goes back to normal when you focus?” Ruby nodded, and Vanille smiled. “Then don’t worry. What you’re getting are perceptual side effects from your Semblance. Basically, since you need to be able to perceive everything in slow motion when you have your Semblance on, it’s sometimes going to happen even with your Semblance off. It should ease off as you get used to your Semblance’s evolution. If it’s still happening in a couple of months, let me know.”

“I will.” Ruby grinned. “So… what’s the weirdest thing you ever found in an examination?”

Vanille rubbed her chin. “Obviously, I can’t name any names, but I did have one Faunus a while back who actually grew a tail during puberty.”

“They grew a tail?”

“Yeah. Now some Faunus have tails and some don’t, but it’s pretty rare for someone to grow a tail during puberty. In all my years of practicing, I’ve seen only seen it happen twice. Normally, a Faunus will have their tail from birth.” Vanille chuckled. “They were convinced they’d damaged their spine on a mission or something. We had to get a lot of their clothes fixed up, but they got used to it pretty quickly.” She got Ruby to sit down. “Can you open your mouth, please?”

Ruby opened her mouth.

“Now, if you’re wondering why we do this, it’s mostly a holdover from the checkups we give Faunus since some form of dental development is not unusual during puberty. You’re not a Faunus, so I doubt we’ll find anything.” Vanille paused. “Although…”

“What is it?” Ruby managed to say.

“You really shouldn’t skip out on brushing your teeth before bed if you’re going to eat cookies, Ruby.” Vanille lifted another one of her instruments. “You’ve got a cavity on one of your upper left molars.”

“A cavity?” Ruby was aghast. “Does that mean I have to get a filling.”

Vanille cackled ominously, and Professor Cuddles crept forward with a drill. “Prepare yourself!” Ruby wailed, and Vanille rolled her eyes. “Ruby, when was the last time you went to a dentist?”

“I… I try not to go,” Ruby said. “They make me nervous.”

“Well, dental care has advanced since you were a kid. We don’t give people fillings anymore. We’ve developed ways to regenerate teeth in the same way we can use technology to regenerate other tissue. All I have to do is clear out the cavity and then apply a solution of nanites that reconstruct the damaged part of your teeth.”

“Oh.”

“But it may require a giant needle.”

“Ah!”

“I’m kidding.” Vanille lifted up what looked a lot like a syringe. “I’m not actually going to jab you with this. It’s actually used to apply the nanites. Now, hold still while I clean out the cavity.” She paused. “And just make sure you brush your teeth more. Even if we can use technology to fix cavities, it’s better not to have to do it in the first place.”

“Yes, Professor Dia.”

“Good.” She gestured at Professor Cuddles. “Press the blue button with a tooth symbol on it.”

X X X

Blake tried not to fidget as Professor Dia examined her. Instead, she kept her focus on Professor Cuddles as the hamster dutifully tapped away at a scroll as Professor Dia talked.

“Is he really taking notes for you?” Blake asked.

“As a matter of fact, he is. I mean I have something recording notes for me, but this is a sort of training exercise for him. He’s very clever. He just can’t use a scroll as easily as you or I can.” Vanille sat Blake down on a chair. “Now, we’ll continue going with the rest of the exam, but here comes the awkward part.”

“Oh.” Blake squirmed. “That part.”

“Yeah. That part.” Professor Dia sat down opposite Blake and patted her leg. “Relax. I’m a Faunus too. I get it. I’m not going to make fun of you or anything, and Professor Cuddles is a hamster.”

“Right…” Blake took a deep breath to steady herself. “So… um…”

“How are the pills going?” Vanille asked. “Are they working? Any side effects?”

Blake blushed furiously. Since her Semblance had begun to evolve, she’d been having… issues. Now that she could perceive what her clones did, she’d been experienced multiplied emotions, thoughts, and desires. It was overwhelming at times, especially when she went through one of her… sensitive periods. “They’re working. I… uh… thank you for them by the way.”

“It’s fine. If anything, it was an interesting exercise since I had to come up with something strong enough to work which would kill you.” Vanille studied Blake’s expression, taking note of every little tic. “So… any unusual urges?”

Blake sighed. “A lot of them.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “I was sparring with Yang, and I got her tangled up with Gambol Shroud. There was a part of me that wanted to just… I don’t…”

“Leave her tied up and ravish her senseless before biting her to make sure she knew who she belonged to?”

Blake covered her face with her hands. “Do you have to say it like that?”

Vanille gave Blake a sympathetic smile. “Blake, I have a binding rod. You know what that is, right?” Blake nodded. “You have no idea how many times I thought about doing that exact same thing to my wife when we were attending Beacon. Having the thought isn’t wrong. It’s just a thought. The important thing is that you didn’t actually do that.”

“I suppose.” Blake took another deep breath. “It’s not just Yang either.”

“I would be surprised if it was.” Vanille grinned impishly. “Did you know that I once came up with an important theory for topology because I was fantasising about how my whole team could enjoy ourselves together with each other all at the same time?”

“Tell me you’re joking.”

“Nope. Of course, I didn’t tell anyone that was where the inspiration came from.” Vanille tapped her cheek one one finger. “So… Weiss?”

Blake nodded morosely. “She’s just… so delicate, you know. I saw her stretching, and I kind of just wanted to… to pin her down and just have her over and over just to see how much she take, you know, to see if she was really as delicate as she looked or if she could really take it.”

“Hmm… not an uncommon fantasy,” Vanille said. “When a Faunus is going through a sensitive period, they do tend to over-emphasise things like dominance in their fantasies. Given the physical differences between Yang and Weiss, it’s not surprising your fantasies about them would be different too. What about Ruby?”

“Please, don’t tell Yang,” Blake said.

“Of course, I won’t. I’m a doctor. I’m bound by doctor-patient privilege.” She pointed at Professor Cuddles. “And so is he.”

“He’s a doctor?”

“Technically, he’s a medical assistant. Even I can’t get a hamster recognised as a doctor. Yet.” Professor Cuddles cackled evilly.

“We’re reading together,” Blake said quietly. “And then we re-enact some of the scenes.”

“Naughty, naughty.” Professor Dia chuckled and then patted Blake’s leg again. “Relax, Blake. Relax. Fantasising about this stuff is normal, okay. From what we’ve begun to understand about your Semblance, now that you can see through the eyes of your clones, you’re starting to feel things more intensely too. Now, based on my research of similar Semblances, you should start getting that under control through practice, meditation, and experience. But for the time being, you’ll just have to deal with it as best you can.”

“Similar Semblances?”

“Most Semblances with a mental component have related effects.” Vanille paused thoughtfully. “I once treated someone who could read the minds of others. And, no, I’m not talking about Jihl Nabaat. When their Semblance started ramping up in puberty, they would go through brief periods when they were convinced they were someone else. Why? They would get the thoughts of others confused with their own thoughts.”

“That sounds awful.”

“It was, but we were able to manage it, and it worked out okay.” Vanille smiled. “You might want to ask Pyrrha about some of the meditative practices she uses. Her Semblance is extraordinarily powerful, and it’s taken her some time to get used to it. I think she could help you a lot when it comes to the mental aspect.”

“I think I will ask her. Thank you.”

“Now,” Vanille said. “Just to be clear, have you engaged in sexual activity recently?”

“Do I really have to answer that?” Blake asked. “Would it even matter?”

“Depending on who you’re engaging in sexual activity with, yes, it could.” Vanille’s expression turned serious. “Not all of the stuff you hear about Aura resonance is make believe. If you’re very close to someone emotionally and physically, then Aura resonance is easier to achieve. For a married couple with a good relationship, it’s basically automatic.”

“How far are we talking about… when it comes to sexual activity?”

Vanille stared at Blake for a long moment. “Hmm… in your case, it’s probably not quite far enough to count yet.”

“What?” Blake blurted.

“I have extremely keen Aura senses. Sure, I can’t throw Aura around the way Professor Yun can, but my senses are really, really sharp. If I get familiar with someone, I can sense even minute fluctuations in their Aura. Once you start getting emotionally involved with someone, there are little changes. Since you’re the sort of person who wouldn’t get physically involved without emotional involvement, I think it’s safe to say you haven’t gone that far… at least, not recently.”

Blake blushed. “Do people realise you can tell stuff like that by looking at them?”

“Yeah, but it’s just polite not to mention it.” Vanille shrugged. “It’s like Faunus can usually tell who is sleeping with who, but none of us mention it, right?”

Blake thought back to her time in the White Fang. She’d known exactly who was sleeping with whom, but everybody had just pretended to ignore it. “I guess so.” She looked around. “So does everyone go through an examination?”

“Almost everyone. Some people have examinations on a more regular basis, and they get to skip this.” Vanille got back up and continued to study Blake. “My number one minion, for example, gets a checkup once a month, so she can skip this.”

“Isn’t Diana in perfect health?”

“Better than perfect health, but due to the massive physiological changes Ragnarok can create, I like to keep an eye on her, at least, until she’s out of puberty and her Semblance has mostly stabilised.” Vanille laughed. “It’s pretty boring, really. Every examination has the same report: subject in perfect health if short and scrawny. No extra tentacles detected yet.”

“Extra tentacles?”

“Diana can totally make tentacles if she feels like it. She used to use them in combat sometimes, but it freaked people out.” Vanille shrugged. “Apparently, they’re freakier than the ability to spit explosive acid.”

Tentacles? Blake shuddered. Yeah, she was not going to fight someone with tentacles if she could avoid it. “So… how am I look, professor?”

“Physically, you’re in exceptionally good shape. Your physical parameters are in the top 5% of your year, which is incredibly impressive considering you’re attending Beacon. You could actually be higher, but we’d need to do a more demanding exam to max out your scores. Emotionally, you’re a bit touchy about certain things, but that’s okay. It makes sense given how things are going for you.” Vanille looked Blake in the eye. “Which is why I want you to come talk to either me or one of the other qualified people if you need to get something off your chest. This a tough time for you, Blake. There’s no shame in asking for help. That’s what being in a team is about, and Beacon, Blake, is one big team when you get right down to it.” She smiled. “Now, open your mouth. Let’s see if you’ve got any cavities.”

“Did Ruby?” Blake asked.

“I can neither confirm nor deny that.”

X X X

“Well, you’re not dying,” Vanille said dryly.

Weiss rolled her eyes. “Of course, I’m not dying, professor. I assume I am in excellent health.”

“Well above the average.” Vanille grinned impishly. “But you could stand to improve your physical conditioning a bit.”

Weiss’s eye twitched. “Professor…”

“In all seriousness though, I want to congratulate you.” Vanille smiled. “Your improvement from last semester to this semester has been excellent, well above what could be expected from simple physical maturation.”

Weiss smiled. “I have been working very hard, professor, and I have my team to thank for much of my improvement.” She grinned. “Yang might be crazy, but she is excellent at physical conditioning. I have also approached the other professors about physical regimens, and they have been very helpful.”

“Good.” Vanille smirked. “So… have you beaten her yet?”

Weiss made a disgusted sound. “That obnoxious girl is far too good at hand-to-hand combat for her own good.” The obnoxious girl in question was Rin Tohsaka, a fellow student, and the last scion of a family that had once competed with the Schnees in the business world before being crushed. “Of course, she’s yet to beat me with a weapon, so I suppose we’re even.”

“Do you use Dust in your fights?” Vanille asked.

“Of course. We are both experts in Dust usage. It would be absurd to neglect it in our sparring matches although we do conduct bouts without it regularly since there is no telling when you might run out of Dust in the field.”

“Good. Dust is great, but you might have to fight without it.” Vanille had to admit that from a physical standpoint, Weiss was one of her easiest patients to deal with. Weiss was petite, sure, but her Semblance didn’t have any weird effects on her body, nor was she going through any dramatic bodily changes. She was still growing, of course, but it was normal growth. “How are things on the family front?”

Weiss growled. “Less than wonderful. My father is still wondering why I’m not at the top of all my classes. I’m beginning to wonder about his sanity. True, his expectation for me to top my Dust classes is reasonable, and I am indeed topping those. But topping single combat? Is he insane? Even if I could beat someone like Ruby in single combat - and that’s a big if - there is no way I’m getting past people like Pyrrha or Averia.”

“Some might consider that a defeatist attitude.”

“It is a practical attitude,” Weiss countered. “Look. I want to be the best, and I will absolutely train my hardest, but I am not delusional. My Semblance and abilities are perfect for a glass cannon/support type. I doubt there are many people at Beacon who can match me in that area. But single combat is different, and although I am confident in my ability to dispatch almost any opponent, the very top students are not just any other opponents.”

“That’s a mature attitude to have,” Vanille said. “And it’s one that some students take years to develop. I’m proud of you for seeing it so early.” She grinned. “Of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t try to win.”

“I always do,” Weiss said. An almost vicious smile crossed her lips. “You should have seen the look on Averia’s face when I almost punched her in the face.” She paused. “Unfortunately, she dodged at the last second and then kicked me through a wall, but you know, I almost got her.”

“Very few people can say they have gotten that close.” Vanille smirked. “And never forget that sparring matches are different from the real world. If you ever have to fight someone who you know is stronger and better than you, then you have to cheat.”

“Cheat?”

“Look at me, Weiss. There’s no way I could ever beat my wife in anything even remotely resembling a fair fight. That’s why the last time we had a more no-holds barred match, I brought in flight-capable artillery. Sure, it was cheating, but in a fight to the death, cheating doesn’t really mean anything. You’ve got Glyphs. Think of what you could do with more long-lasting Glyphs and time to prepare.”

Weiss bared her teeth. “You have the best ideas, professor.”

“Yes, because I’m a genius.” Vanille glanced down at her notes. “Now, I know it’s not much, but you are slightly bigger this semester.”

“Bigger?”

Vanille pointed at Weiss’s chest. “Like I said, not much, but still, you’re a little bigger than the last time.”

“Well,” Weiss said. “Any improvement is welcome.” She turned her head as Professor Cuddles hopped onto his scroll again, tapping out a sequence of keys. “By the way, is Blake sick? I saw her taking some pills the other day, and I want to know if there’s anything I can do to help.”

“Well… just ask her.” Vanille raised one hand. “It’s nothing bad. It’s just private. If you want to know, then ask her.”

“Right.” She chuckled. “Oh, and I’ll be keeping an eye on Ruby. She said something about you fixing her cavity.”

“I did.”

“Well, I’ll make sure she doesn’t need any fixed in the future.”

X X X

“So… am I awesome?” Yang asked.

Vanille laughed. “For the most part, yes.”

The blonde smirked. “I thought so.” Her expression sobered. “Is there anything I need to worry about, doc?”

“Not really. Your physical progress is excellent. In fact, you’re actually exceeding our initial projections. If I had to guess, it’s because you’re finally getting pushed to your very limits.”

Yang nodded. “It’s not easy to be at your best if you don’t have people to push you. There are all kinds of challenges at Beacon, lots of people I’m not sure I can beat, and that just means I have to train more and do better.” She drove her fist into her palm. “There’s nothing I like more than a real challenge.”

“Good attitude.” Vanille pursed her lips. “Which brings me to the only thing that worries me. You’ve been getting a bit reckless in your fights recently. I’ve seen the footage. You’re taking more damage than you should.”

“With my Semblance, I can take it,” Yang replied.

“Most of the time, yes, but I’m worried about what happens if you run into a situation where you can’t simply take the hit.” Vanille paused what she was doing and nodded. Professor Cuddles hopped into Yang’s lap, and the blonde ran one hand through his soft, soft fur. “I think it might be a psychological side effect of your Semblance’s development.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Your Semblance feeds off taking damage, so there will likely be some drive to take damage. The important thing is that you stay aware of it, so you can keep it from getting out of hand.”

“Does that sort of thing happen a lot?”

“More than you’d think. I know someone whose Semblance allows them to use their own blood as a weapon. No matter what happens, they always end up bleeding all over the place during a fight, even if they don’t have to. Semblances want to be used, and many of them have psychological aspects that help hone them. However, that’s only really pronounced during evolutionary phases. As your Semblance stabilises, it should be easier to manage.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Yang stood up as Vanille continued taking readings and measurements. “How are the others?”

“While I can’t say anything specific, I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

“Good.” Yang’s lips twitched. “It’s crazy. I’ve only known them for a bit over a year, but it’s like I’ve known Blake and Weiss my whole life. It’s crazy. When we first got introduced, I didn’t think we’d all fit together so well, and I was kind of worried about Ruby being leader.” She paused. “Not that I doubted her, I was kind of worried about how Blake and Weiss would handle Ruby being the leader. It wasn’t always easy, but we got through it, and now we feel like… like a real team.”

“I know the feeling,” Vanille replied. “And it’s a good feeling to have. Your team becomes like a second family. They become people you could trust with your life.”

“Yeah.” Yang smiled. “We’ve saved each other’s lives a couple of times already, actually.”

“It’s one thing for someone to say they’d lay down their life for you. It’s quite another to realise that it’s true.” Vanille chuckled. “You should have seen Team LFSC when they were in your position. We were all taking bets on how long it would take for Caius to quit, Snow to leave, and for Lightning and Fang to kill each other.”

“Seriously? But they’re like… super close now.”

“That’s the thing. If we pick the team right, then that’s how they should feel.”

“Heh.” Yang nodded. “I think you guys did a great job with my team. There’s just one thing…”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think we could get a balcony put in?”

“No.”

#final rose #fanfiction #oerba dia vanille #team rwby

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itsclydebitches · 5 years

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RWBY Recaps: The Shining Beacon Pt. 2

This is the last (!!!) reposting from March 26, 2018 in an effort to get all my recaps onto tumblr. Thanks!

With Volume Five completed and the latest season of RWBY Chibi underway, I thought it time to start these recaps back up again. Yes, we're jumping around a bit--back to Volume One--but we'll get to all the episodes eventually!

In fact, the simple days of Volume One feel pretty wonderful right now...

We begin with a pan across Beacon's entrance (our shining Beacon as the title attests), giving us another good look at the school that's presumably the best Huntsmen academy in Remnant. We're not told exactly how much time has passed between this episode and the last, but I guess it's been a couple of hours? When we last saw Ruby and Jaune they were lost, looking for a food court, and when they meet up with Yang she asks Ruby how her day has been. I'd love to read some fics exploring their first few hours together before they finally figured out where to go.

So it's presumably late afternoon when all the freshmen gather in a large meeting room, the same one that will later be used to welcome the other academies and allow everyone to choose their first missions. For now though it's chock full of shadow people and Ruby immediately abandons Jaune once she spots Yang--which is pretty rude of her? I get that Ruby is supposedly bad at making friends, but contrary to that we've always seen her as incredibly sensitive towards others and she was just abandoned by Yang earlier that day. She calls her out on it two seconds later too, so I actually find it a little hard to believe that Ruby would ditch the one new person who's been nice to her when he clearly has nowhere else to go. Jaune literally lurks in the background being awkward.

I’ve been there, Jaune. It sucks.

Nevertheless, it allows the writers to flesh out his Nice Guy mentality that we'll see him working to overcome over the next two volumes. As Ruby leaves, Jaune wonders where he'll find another "nice, quirky girl to talk to." We're not in a YA novel, Jaune. There are no manic pixie dream girls to sooth your manly angst.

Oh, except for the redhead that's conspicuously revealed when Jaune walks off screen. Not that I would ever disparage the glorious Pyrrha Nikos with such a title.

Yang: "I saved you a spot!"

You... did? In the giant room with only a handful of people that Rooster Teeth had the time and budget to animate? Oh yeah, I'm sure it was real hard claiming that spot for Ruby.

As Ruby tears into Yang for ditching her and recaps all the shit she went through that morning, Yang develops an expression that is the very embodiment of yikes and asks if Ruby is having a "meltdown already?" Interesting choice of words. It could just be exaggerated, sibling teasing--to match what Yang assumes is an exaggerated tale--but I do wonder if Ruby has had "meltdowns" before. We don't know much about their lives pre-Beacon, but I can imagine that a socially awkward girl growing up in a world infested by grimm, who lost her mom too early, dealt with a depressed father, and was in part raised by a sister just two years older than her might have had a tantrum or two.

I do find it a little hilarious though that Yang doesn't believe her at first. Given everything Ruby is going to do in the next week alone, it’s 100% believable that she would explode on her first day of school. Classic Ruby.

As she recounts the whole debacle, who should overhear but scary, shouting Weiss? I absolutely love that they have her literally creeping up behind Ruby only to yell "YOU!" at the end of her speech. If Weiss really hated this girl she could have easily ignored her. But no. Weiss' dramatic ass has to re-introduce herself in the most extra way possible. As Ruby throws herself into Yang's arms (adorable) Weiss gives a sped-up, high-pitched legal info dump about what the Schnee Dust Company is and is not responsible for. At the time this was pretty funny--another one of the cutesy edits that characterize Volumes One through Two--but now that we know more about Weiss' home life? About her abusive father and how the dignity of the Schnee name has been ground into her since birth? The fact that Weiss can rattle this off and feels like she has to suddenly isn't very funny anymore.

Ruby tries to salvage the situation by starting things over and asking to be friends, and of course Weiss is an absolute brat about it. She mimics the cliched, air-headed girl, saying that she and Ruby can "Try on cute clothes and paint our nails and talk about boys!" throwing in an insult at poor Jaune while she's at it ("scraggly"). The fact that Ruby happily agrees tells me two things: 1. She shares a lot of those traditionally "feminine" interests (which is great considering we usually only see her geeking out over weaponry) and 2. this is some of the first evidence we see for headcanoned autistic!Ruby. Weiss' tone is very clearly sarcastic, but Ruby reads it as quite earnest, honestly surprised when it's revealed she's being duped. Before these three can start a real fight though Ozpin takes the stage to make, in his own words, a short announcement.

Now this is by far one of the most fascinating moments in Volume One. Especially after Volume Five's world building. A lot of fans have speculated that Ozpin isn't... well, Ozpin here. That one of his other souls (perhaps the man whose body he currently inhabits) is the one speaking to the new students. This is based mostly off of Ruby and Yang's comments that he "seemed kind of off" and, crucially, that is was "almost like he wasn't even there." Admittedly there are a number of holes in this theory (If a full merge is a thing, wouldn't Ozpin's latest two souls already have merged by now considering that he's possessed that body for years? How does Yang know when he's "off"? She's never even met the guy), and ultimately I'm inclined to think that these were lines that perhaps were supposed to go somewhere, but were then dropped. Or just generic ‘oooh look Ozpin is mysterious’ characterization.

Regardless, there is something pretty fishy about this scene, most notably the cinematography. Ozpin is animated primarily in close ups with half his face (his eyes) cut off, he's shot once from behind, and only once do we get to see his whole expression. As said, he's filmed as if he's this mysterious, shadowy figure that we're just meeting; like we hadn't already had a whole conversation with him over cookies two episodes back. If you wanted to make a case that someone other than Ozpin is speaking here, the cinematography might be one way to do it. But, more likely, I think it’s RT pushing for the ‘he’s super morally gray!’ aspect, even though we actually learn too much about Ozpin to really make that work.

His dialogue is just as interesting though. Ozpin tells the kids that all he sees is "wasted energy," that no matter how driven they might be to succeed it means nothing without proper effort. Dreams alone won't cut it: "Knowledge will only take you so far. It's up to you to take the first step." Ozpin is far from one to shy away from reality, but he's usually kinder than this too. This is perhaps additional evidence that a part of Ozpin--one we don't see very often--is in control here; a personality not as inclined to sugarcoat things.

This word choice also tells us a lot about his motivations. As we'll learn later, Jaune forged his transcripts to get into Beacon and a lot of people wonder why the hell Ozpin would let an untrained kid get away with that. Ultimately though Jaune isn't in much more danger than anyone else. As Pyrrha's death makes abundantly clear, even the strongest of them can easily fall when up against the sorts of enemies they face. Thus, Ozpin prizes determination--the drive to do good--over talent or current levels of strength. Jaune was let in because he took his own first (admittedly illegal and arguably immoral) step and Ozpin, like with Ruby, rewards his resolve. This reminds me of Raven who has the knowledge of the threat Salem poses but refuses to do anything about it. Already we’re seeing characters who have internal motivations (a need to do good) and later we’ll meet others who just... don’t.

Again, Pyrrha showed us that being a prodigy is not a guarantee of success. Ozpin reminds everyone of that here.

But that horrible episode is still a ways off!

For now the kids shrug off his ominous speech and crowd together later that night in the dining hall for a sleepover, considering that they still haven't passed initiation and haven't found their teams yet. Yang jokes that Dad wouldn't approve of them sleeping with all these boys, though it's clear that she does. (Bi Yang, bi Yang!) Ruby continues writing a letter to "the gang back at Signal" which honestly kind of drives me up the wall? Yang ran off with her shadow friends and Ruby is writing to Signal friends and neither of these groups are ever heard from again. Yes, obviously the show is about their new friends at Beacon, but past friendships are important too, particularly for Ruby. She's been uprooted two years early and is supposedly really bad at forming new relationships. Theoretically we should have gotten something touching on all this: Yang torn between her new team and old loyalties; Ruby avoiding trying to get close to Weiss by texting Signal buddies. It would have rounded things out a whole lot more and, once we expand beyond Beacon in Volume Four, would have given us a lot of opportunities to see how these girls are connected to Remnant as a whole.

They're certainly determined to make friends now though. Ruby spots the girl from earlier in the courtyard (Blake) and before she can stop her Yang quite literally drags them over with a hilariously drawn-out, "Hello!" Too bad Blake isn't interested in pleasantries. Especially when Yang draws attention to her bow. She won't shake their hands and is pretty damn blunt about how she wants them to leave. We have a clear divide down the team between the social butterflies (Ruby + Yang) and the abused girls who haven't had the chance to figure out how to talk to people yet (Weiss + Blake). It makes for a well-balanced dynamic and later a whole lot of conflict.

Blake will always have a soft spot for books though. She opens up a bit when Ruby asks the title of hers and explains that it's about “A man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body.” Ha. THAT'S not significant or anything.

We have some lovely setup for Volume Two/Three in which Blake lectures Ruby on how real life isn't like a fairy tale. Ruby already knows this. She just wants to work to make it as close to one as possible. A lot of viewers forget the difference between naivety and optimism when it comes to her characterization and though Ruby will prove short-sighted in many respects later on, she’s never thought the world was perfect.

As Ruby and Yang get into another cartoon fight (a visual technique we won't be seeing for long), the commotion draws over Weiss who is not pleased that the troublemaker is Ruby again. She yells that Ruby is a "hazard to my health!" and I cackle at what a little drama queen she is. As they continue their fight Blake blows out her candle, ending our episode with the first shot that contains all of Team RWBY.

Other Details

When Weiss yells at Ruby she cries, "Oh god it's happening again!" 'Oh God' is such a common phrase in the English language that it only makes sense we'd use it to help characters express themselves, but it still raises some interesting, in-world questions. Is there a lot of organized religion? We know Qrow mentions people believing in various gods, but is it common enough to create this same phrase? Meanwhile, poor Ozpin has to cope with knowing that gods do exist and they're absolute assholes.

Ozpin doesn't even introduce himself to the kids. Like yeah, obviously everyone already knows who he is, but he could have at least started with a "Hey, I'm old as balls Ozpin" instead of jumping straight into a lecture about how pathetic their work ethic is. I’m torn between the “That wasn’t Ozpin” theory and just a straight up, “The man is SAVAGE at times hell yeah.” Granted, this is the guy that’s gonna chuck his students off a cliff in a few hours, so I’m leaning towards the latter...

We see Ozpin making use of his cane despite the fact that he doesn't appear to need it 99% of the time. Easiest way to walk around with it, or was this particular body injured once?

Love how horribly offensive Yang is here lol: "Yeah, this girl is a lost cause." Like damn Blake's right there!

Ruby is dressed in a tank top that I think has an Ursa on it. Made all cute of course and with a face mask with matching, red slitted eyes. It's a great bit of world building and says a lot about Ruby's personality. (Honestly I wouldn't be surprised to see Nora in those PJs either.)

#rwby #mymetas #RWBY Recaps

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