#Oscar I KNOW you can do this. fuck team orders. do your thing. and WIN

[things-methinks]

HOW about an Oscar win and Lestappen podium at Spa?

[mcnyoom]

So I am going to ramble some more about my Oscar goes apeshit in Baku predictions because it has grabbed my by the lapels and shaken me around.

So we start with Hungary. First win, big win, this is awesome, but he seems generally unenthusiastic. Haha, we all say, typical unemotional Oscar. Boo, the media says, you should have prioritized Lando, that’s not a real win because team orders.

And then we have spa. Solid, p3 that became p2, but —a theme that will develop— unrealized potential with Oscar chasing someone down and not quite making it on the last laps. Will-he-won’t-he, and it seems he won’t. He’s clearly not pleased in post race debriefs.

Zandvoort. Everyone knows the McLaren is the fastest car by this point, and Lando has the race of his life. A 20 second gap to second, and Oscar spends most of the race chasing Leclerc for third, so close but yet so far. Another race ended by chasing someone down and not quite making it. Media calls it a SPECTACULAR drive by Lando (it was!) and overall a disappointing weekend for Oscar, who at this point is probably gnashing his teeth off camera somewhere.

And so we come to Monza!! This weekend is Oscar throwing his elbows out in a big way. He’s making a statement, and the statement is fuck your team orders, fuck being “second driver” and fuck this narrative of Oscar being the guy who can’t quite pull it off. Except, yet again, he doesn’t quite pull it off and is stuck, yet again, behind Charles Leclerc. In the cooldown room after, when he says to Leclerc “I didn’t think you’d make it to the end, or I did but I thought you’d be slower” what he’s actually saying is “how the fuck did you do that, you fucking bastard”. Points for self restraint, but you can see in post race interviews he’s pissed.

This is Oscar, so there’s still calculation here: when he’s mean about Lance to the media afterwards? It’s funny, but also, he’s trial running a much sharper persona than we’ve seen so far. I’ve described it in tags before as heading in an Alonso direction — he doesn’t mind having a little villain arc!

The problem with Monza is he didn’t win. Gauntlets thrown, papaya rules in the wind, and he’s still only p2. That’s frustrating (and possibly embarrassing) in a big way, especially in light of people who still say his first win was gifted. So now we have an Oscar that’s getting more comfortable being the bad guy, doing dramatic bold things to get what he wants, and he still hasn’t quite got it.

So I think he’s gonna go fucking insane in Baku.

[cutielando]

hungary 2024.

okay, we need to talk about the Hungarian Grand Prix.

i've seen a lot of people all over the internet saying how Oscar didn't deserve the win and that he stole it away from Lando, that Lando shouldn't have let Oscar past, all kinds of theories.

first things first.

BE HAPPY FOR OSCAR.

it's really unfair towards him that everyone is overlooking his win, not celebrating him for the amazingly talented driver that he is, and are instead pitying Lando, talking about mistreatment from the team and so on (both of which are true and fair, but it seems like everybody is overlooking the fact that he won his first F1 race in his SECOND season).

I am a Lando fan, I was at the race as well, and I am just as sad that I didn't get to watch him win, but let's not forget how compliant Oscar has been ever since the start of the season when it comes to Lando's races.

he has sacrificed many of his races in order to help Lando defend his position and has not once complained about it. he has been nothing short of a stellar team player without complaints. i can imagine the way he must have been feeling, knowing the team was prioritizing Lando in races, which is not a great conclusion to come to.

Lando knows how much Oscar has helped him, and he knew that if he hadn't let him past, he would have lost his support and help down the road. he would have found himself fighting for results by himself, which is not something you want when you're close in the championship. he knew he needs Oscar, that's why he ended up obeying to team orders.

now we arrive to the real root of the problem and the real bad guy. McLaren.

i understand that they wanted Oscar to win, to give something back to make up for the situations he had been put in, but this was not the way to do it. had they wanted Oscar to win "fair and square" they should have pitted him first. he would have come out behind Lando, and then they would have pitted Lando and he would have come out behind Oscar, thus creating Oscar P1 and Lando P2 from the very beginning.

the audacity of Will to say those things to Lando over the radio, the audacity to straight up blackmail him into giving away a win to Oscar was so not the way to speak to someone who has been with the team for 6 years and committed at least 3-4 more years of his career to the team. it's not fair towards Lando because the situation was not his fault, it was the fault of their strategy team.

don't ever blackmail someone into doing your bidding when you've put them in the wrong spot ON PURPOSE and the entire situation is your fault.

the sole fault here lies with McLaren. Lando and Oscar have no fault in this. Lando should have never been given the opportunity to lead the race in the last stint when everyone was aiming for an Oscar win. the strategy failed, the blame lies with the team orders.

McLaren, I love you, I love your drivers, and I'm a papaya girl through and through. BUT GROW THE FUCK UP AND GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER.

We deserve better.

Lando deserves so much better.

Oscar deserves so much better.

With that being said, don't let this take away the joy of winning a race from Oscar just because you made a mistake.

He deserves the win, he should feel that indescribable joy of winning. He deserves to be happy.

He’s a winner, let’s celebrate him accordingly. 🧡

[chilling-seavey]

What an exhausting race omg. I have so many emotions right now I'm just going to word vomit them all onto my blog.

Firstly: OSCAR SLAY. Little guy did so well from turn 1 :') I actually had a dream last night that he won this weekend and the fact that it came true is kind of creepy so amazing. The stress to get todays win though - oh my God. The fact Oscar felt like he had to apologize...my sweet boy, let me hug you.

It was crazy today to be a McLaren fan and to be one who's equally adoring of both drivers. My heart went out to Lando so strongly because everything lined up in his favour near the end, he saw this as his moment, and yet the team seemed to be pitted against him. I could empathize so strongly with his frustration on the radio, his attitude, his reluctantly to give the position back to Oscar. He made a fair point in saying 'well you should have pitted him first then'. The only part I didn't agree with or, rather, made me upset with him was his subtle few digs at Oscar ('then tell him to drive faster' type things). That made my McLaren 'mom' heart hurt ngl. But truly, Lando was really faced with an unfair ethical dilemma today and, honestly, I wouldn't have faulted him for not giving the place back at all. But, the moment he slowed down to let Oscar past, I shed a tear. That must have been so fucking hard for him but it really does show a lot for his character. He can be brash and a little cocky and a little reckless and, hell, selfish to no end at times, but he's a good guy and that was only shown today. He gave up his second win for Oscar to have his first. That must lay heavy on his heart and I commend him so strongly - for not only doing that but also for putting on a smile as much as he could muster throughout the post-race celebrations. (Woohoo champagne pop!)

And on the other side of my team, my lil Oscar. We knew it was only a matter of time before he won; it's easy to see his skill. Part of me thinks this was a disappointing way to win his first race - having to just battle over the radio with engineers and teams and struggling to know if you were just going to be 'gifted' your place back. I can see that the strangeness of this win lingers on Oscar's heart too. Was it worth it? But then I look back at the rest of the race; how he led for so long, how he performed so smoothly, so brilliantly, and was only about to have the pay-off taken from him by his silly team orders, and I understand that the call was the right one for his sake. It was a win he deserved, albeit a strange one. Hell, Lando deserved a win today too, but as we know well, there can be only one. This day just leaned more in Oscar's favour. I hope Oscar doesn't focus on the melancholy of the reality of it too much; it's a moment for him to be selfish and proud 🧡

My boys are now tied for wins...so bring on Belgium to see who breaks the tie ;)

[httpiastri]

ngl im pretty pissed at lando

i think this is my first (and probably last) post about this because i have so many feelings and i know i cant waste more time diving into them because i will just cry more and waste time and-

i understand that lando was mad. i understand that he was furious with the team – so was i – and that excuses 99% of his actions in my mind. he's allowed to be bitchy on the radio (which he wasn't really, tbh, he was mostly quiet lol), he's allowed to act strangely and espECIALLY when the team doesn't give him any straighforward orders (should've been a "lando. you will let oscar pass. end of discussion." instead of "hey... think of all our morning meetings together..." and the other emotional blackmail).

BUT. the thing it doesnt excuse is him ignoring oscar on the podium. im getting more and more furious over this the more time passes and the more times i re-watch the clip, because what. the. fuck. ?!?!??!!?

yes you're upset at the team, but it's not oscar's fault. in no way does oscar need your anger. like, i know lando is better than this! he can handle his emotions, he's not a little baby. oscar already had his first win not feel like a win; he didn't get to celebrate on the radio, he wasn't overjoyed in parc ferme. the least you can do is douse your friend in champagne to make him feel better!!!!

and like to me there's just nothing that excuses this. no "he didn't wanna break his trophy" (solution: wait and let osc put it down, then do your champagne pop and attack him) and no "he was upset" (solution: grow tf up, this isn't oscar's fault!!).

it's all based on the fact that lando is more mature and smarter than this. if it had been another driver, maybe i wouldn't have been surprised. if it had been another pairing, i probs wouldn't have cared. but lando this isn't just anyone, this is oscar. your osc, your osco. he didn't deserve to be standing there on the podium, seeing both lando and lewis walk away from him.

[landofourwins]

If Lando is regarded as a bottler who didnt win a championship when he should have, then Charles is the ultimate bottler to ever bottle.

Remember 2022? France for example, where Charles was leading the race with no pressure on him from behind, aaaand he spun off into the barriers. On his own.

Yet that got less hate then Lando got for finishing fucking 6th in Brazil. Charles made sooooo many mistakes, was the OG non-converter from pole to win, yet Lando is now seen as worse?

When Lando speaks out on the radio, its all "oh what a brat" when Charles does it even worse its all "Oh poor sweet pookie baby, Carlos should know his place and move over for you AGAIN because he was quicker but you deserve it more"

When Lando is given team orders in favor of him he is critisised for "wanting oscar to be bottas when he isnt hamilton" wheras when Charles does it, its fine. I'd like to argue that no, Charles also isnt Hamilton, and when Carlos is quicker he shouldnt have to yield to Charles.

And then he whines about if on the radio as if he is so "mister nice guy" and "the only one who can fight max" when seriously, that just isnt true.

Phew, do with that what you will, im interested in your opinion <3

I HAVE BEEN SAYING THIS

rn i am like thinking of this one thing kavi sent me, hollup lemme link it here https://www.tumblr.com/xspeaknowx/768225052016705536?source=share

lando has a higher pole success rate than sharl, and people wanna shittalk that?? sharl is the ultimate bottler no matter the lecfosi delusion unfortunately...

i unfortunately only started watching end of last year (ik crucify me) but i have heard of that. i have touched on this i think, but people like to say he has bad luck, he does not, he makes his own mistakes majority of the time...

again, double standards. il depression can do no wrong, but lando just so much as leans in the wrong direction, burn the witch.

do not even get me started on "wanting oscar to be bottas when lando is not hamilton" nobody is lewis hamilton,he is a once in a generation driver ... and like why are we acting like botttas was not good af??

i have never really seen sharl fight max unfortunately. but he def is not the only one. lewis fought him, hell, lando fought him.

i think my opinion is the exact same as your in all honesty. i think i have sad i more or less everything i can imo.

but the main point; sharl is not the god they make him out to be. he is not screwed by the narrative or ferrari, he is screwed by his own choices and mistakes.

[novemberdevils]

I took a shower before puck drop so you will get only intermission thoughts for today.

Jack keeping his hotel is just like me to the unending hatred that my sister for me, NO BECAUSE first race ALWAYS STRESS ME THE FUCK OUT-im a Ferrari fan im always stressed, jack my dear stupid Ferrari driver nico is not playing a game he just figured out that you have a praise kink and he is obsessed with you, oh jack I will wait for you oh oh moment to realise I actually think about nico a lot not because he is my rival but it’s because I love him, jack feeling like everything is tight and everything fits wrong is the worst anxiety feelings ever so please nico give him a hug and tell him it’s from me, Formation laps are awful. Oh I know -throwback when I went to bring my phone and looked away for literally two seconds and charles was in the fucking wall-, OUR FIRST RACE IS ON!! And let me tell you the way I was STRESSING reading the commentary and when they fucking touched?? Oh I lost it had to put my phone down to breath because first corner is ALWAYS stressful, you have killed it with the Ferrari radio bit it was so good genuinely got me even more into the fic and it made me so much invested with everything.

Okay second period has started so we will be back in the second intermission! 

WHAT DO YOU THINK FERRARI’S CALL WILL BE IF SAINZ GETS UP TO SECOND? Please dont do this to me I Will Cry, ryan being tired of jack and it’s only the first race is something I will cherish because no one can annoy the race engineers like drives do it’s a talent they all share and race engineer just have to suffer through it, but anyway yes let them fight, A JACK WIN!!!!!!! YAYYYYYYY AND IT IS A FERRARI 1-2!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for writing this and making me happy over fake results, ah jack having the home race curse there always a Ferrari driver who has it but he has a hundred home races he is good, oh my jack my dear you are in LOVE; what do you mean he thinks about what might noco say and is thinking about the articles they might be writing about him like boy get a grip, AND thinking he hasnt earn it because he didnt get to fight him for his he win JACK WTF??? This Is Not Normal Behaviour, “You didn’t like getting an easy win?” Where is that twitter meme the “you like pancakes? So you must hate waffles”, anyways jack really went and said I want nico to race me so I can earn my win; my guy wtf? YOU PUT THE COOL DOWN ROOM I let a squeal when I read it.

Okay third period has started and im getting so sleepy from my shower so I will end my rambling thoughts here today and will be back later to continue.

ferrari fan stress is so real... i will confess i was always more of a red bull fan myself but i live with ferrari fans lmao so we were just fighting whenever the race was on. go red bull. that was the easy life when i was paying my highest attention to the sport... what a great season it was. when max won like 15 races or whatever it was. he is so crazy <- i promise i am not doing That breed of crazy in my fic

i cannot resist the jack hughes praise kink. i swear it writes itself. i had nothing to do with that. don't look at me!!!

ferrari's call will be Annoying as always. ferrari team orders sideplot goes crazy. the only thing jack and carlos can agree on is fuck that we are not listening to their nonsense. i love when teams give team orders and the drivers just say no (oscar piastri TAKE NOTES.)

jack will forever be fighting the idiots in the media... and he will also forever be fighting. Himself. home race curse is real but like cmon man you DO have three home races a season there's got to be SOME hope for your unlucky ass. no spoilers though. it is about to be his first home race though yippee!!!

cool down room is a necessity i do intend to do it for every single race for the entire fic

[adolin]

tldr: formula 1 is nominally a team sport, in that each team has two drivers, who compete against everyone else and try to max points for the team, but ultimately only one of them can win, so teammates are also in fierce competition against each other.

simplifying: teams will split their resources among their drivers, and attempt fairness — for example, alternate which one gets the optimal races strategy each time, and/or prioritise the driver who's ahead in a given race on his own merit. Basically, one driver will end up outscoring his teammate at each race, but teams aim to minimise interference when possible. However! A team's first priority is always to maximise the points combined that both drivers will bring in, so sometimes they give directives to drivers that means they have to compromise their own results so that their teammate can reap a hopefully bigger point reward, and the team as a whole can benefit. This is controversial and not usually done lightly

Hungary 2024: a driver (Lando) who'd qualified above his teammate (Oscar) subsequently bottled the beginning of his race so that Oscar overtook him right away and led most of the race. Because Oscar was in the lead, it was understood he should get preferred strategy over Lando. However, the team kind of bottled the tyre change (pit stop) which left the two drivers with swapped positions, Lando in the lead. Immediately, the team got on the radio with Lando. They should have told him “mate, we screwed up there, your teammate was leading up to now so you should give back his first position”

As I said. Ordering a driver to let another driver past is not something that's done lightly, but in a situation like this there's an unspoken understanding that since Oscar got screwed over, the team would intervene to make sure his teammate gave him first position back. Only... it's not what they did. Instead of ordering their driver to swap positions right away (with the understanding that, after that, Lando would've been free to race his teammate for first if he could manage it! they're racing drivers! the team got the same number of points either way) <- instead of doing any of that, which would have immediate effect and leave Lando free to fight for first place if he wanted to try, the team were like 👉 👈 🥺 HEY mate... it'd be great if you could swap back. whenever u feel like it. no pressure!!

so naturally this guy didn't immediately swap back, you know? it wasn't an order. time passed. the end of the race got closer. Oscar in the other car had ben assured he would get swapped back soon, but it wasn't happening.

the team got on radio again. they were like, HEY Lando buddy. I know you will do the right thing. remember every nice thing Oscar did for you. your beloved teammate. remember all our Sunday morning meetings. Will u please 😌 🙏 let him pass? for us? 😘

and still. at no point they said, MATE THIS IS A DIRECTIVE. LET THAT OTHER CAR PASS. instead it was all “You've proved your point. You've shown us that you're a strong cool fast racing driver. Now pretty please”

The whole thing felt like a hostage negotiation montage. It was like watching a soap opera with all this back and forth. Keep in mind it was all happening while these guys were vroom vrooming around at 300km/h, and Oscar in the other car had no fucking idea why his teammate wasn't letting him pass, but was told to wait and not race aggressively, and everyone watching at home was losing their mind bc the entire thing was insane. Like... I probably can't convey how insane it felt to watch. Usually when these things happen they're very much orders! No driver likes to be told they have to let themselves get overtaken but sometimes u gotta. It's mildly unpleasant an you move on. But that time it really was like watching a telenovela.

There was other stuff going on including this moment + layers of lore I won't get into and overall it was a super fun race. but seriously. those radio messages sounded like a hostage negotiation bit.

just wanted to pop in and say thank you to all your 💀 anons… they bring so much joy and haterism into this old woman’s life 🥹

I am experiencing so much joy. I feel high. I feel happy and honoured to be charged with this level of no-stake pettiness. is this how hairdressers feel when they get all the neighbourhood gossip. i need to bottle this feeling and sell it.

[amillionmillionvoices]

your last snippet made me cry! That ending 🥹😭

So from the list of prompts, this one caught my eye: “you caught me doing something dangerous and flipped out”

But against popular belief, I think, Rebecca is the one doing something dangerous… 💜

Thank you so much for the prompt!! So this got wildly out of control through no fault of my own and now is Proper Fic Length so I put it on AO3. Hope that's okay, and I hope you like it! <3

TW: violence (fist fight), blood, canon-typical references to suicide, panic attacks.

--

and all this devotion was rushing out of me

They lose.

Not badly, but they lose—it’s a brutal, dirty game and no matter what they try, what new plays they enact, Nate seems to know everything. They score one goal and West Ham score two and it’s over before they have time to get their feet under them.

The locker room is mostly silent, a stirring of disappointment, and anger at the way Ted had reached out for Nate’s hand, and Nate slapped it away. It’s not a good look for anyone, either team, but there’s the added twisting of a knife, Rupert crowing somewhere on television, and it hurts.

He doesn’t blame the team, mostly himself, but then Rebecca is there, gives a short but heartfelt speech about how proud she is of everyone and how well they played and how it isn’t over—it’s one loss, and yes, a hard one, but they still have time to win the whole damn thing and show the world what they can do. What she knows they’re all capable of.

Ted smiles, proud of her, for how far she’s come, when she looks the team over and says, “Right. No moping. We’re going out and drinks are on me,” and then the team start talking again, congratulating each other on good plays and heading for showers, and Rebecca pauses a moment to look at Ted, to give him a small smile and a nod.

Later, when they’re alone, he knows they’ll have to process, but they’ll do it together the way they’ve done everything else and that warms him somewhat.

They find a club nearby, not one of their usual haunts, and after the first round of drinks he can tell the boys are lighter. Feel less weighted. They talk about everything and nothing and there’s karaoke and Colin butchers My Heart Will Go On so badly (and, Ted thinks, on purpose, because he knows Colin can actually sing) that it becomes comical, everyone laughing together. It feels good, and the drinks keep coming and a few kind folks come up to him and say it was a rough game and they did great and fuck West Ham, and that makes him feel good, too. A bit guilty, but it’s nice to know there are fans in their corner.

And, if Rebecca sticks close to him all night, her hand on his leg under the table, that helps, too.

He’d wanted to win so badly, win it for her, but there’s no trace of disappointment in her eyes, just pride, and a love for him he’s only just starting to accept, starting to realize isn’t conditional.

They’ve been together six months, quietly, only the team and their friends know and today is not the day to announce it to anyone else, but he’s fine with that. Fine with their quiet little bubble. The way he knows they’ll go home together and hold each other and in the morning it’ll all look brighter because they’re together.

They sit at a back table with Keeley and Roy and Beard, chatting over the music, Rebecca’s thigh pressed to his. They spend a few hours just wandering from topic to topic, everything light and teasing. Roy seems tense still, however, so he isn’t surprised when Keeley finally nudges him out the booth, saying something about taking Oscar the Grouch home for a bath and “maybe a blowjob” and Ted chokes a bit on his whisky and Beard raises one eyebrow and Rebecca laughs at the way Roy’s ears, even in the darkness of the club, are obviously red.

“You’re a fucking menace,” he grumbles to Keeley, who just smirks and kisses his cheek and drags him away.

Rebecca looks at their drinks and decides refills are in order, and squeezes Ted’s knee before she slips out of the booth, and he watches her, sees her lay a hand on Isaac’s shoulder at the bar, knows she’ll be fine for a moment. With a nod to Beard, he slips out the back door.

He just needs a moment of quiet, space to breathe. His chest still feels a bit tight, and though he isn’t anxious, he quickly realizes maybe alone isn’t the best place for him right now.

So he’s grateful when Beard steps out behind him, listens as he rambles for a moment about missing stars and club smells and then admits,

“I wanted to win it for her.”

continued on ao3

[sid471]

An OBJECTIVE look at James Ironwood

A much needed TL;DR: Ironwood’s story is sad. But it doesn’t excuse his actions just cause we’ve known him longer.

So I’ve made it.... abundantly clear on many many posts that ever since the end of volume 7 and into volume 8, I’ve hated General James Ironwood. I’ve made SOME posts “throwing him a bone” but I usually end up still emphasizing his flaws. So... Here’s a post where I DON’T focus solely on his flaws. Here’s a look at Ironwood’s actions from his introduction in volume 2, to now. And I’ll try to be as, well, objective as possible.

So James’ first appearance is in episode 2 of Volume 2 where he talks to Ozpin and, briefly, Glynda. He clearly has some history with Glynda, maybe a romantic relationship that I personally support 😗... Well I mean not NOW but I did. So Ironwood seems to be a bit of a 3rd wheel to Oz and Glynda, Glynda dismissing him and his compliment and Oz not being PARTICULARLY happy with him and his army’s presence in Vale and after a bit of arguing, James says the infamous line, that’s even quoted in his theme track, “Do you honestly believe your children can win a war?” James bringing his army to Vale, and then later going behind Oz’s back to the Vale counsel to get permission to protect the kingdom, and also get Ozpin in the Counsel’s bad graces? He... meant well. But it was still a betrayal of Ozpin’s trust. Which is ironic considering trust is Ironwood’s whole... thing.

And it also tells us something interesting. He UNDERESTIMATES the capabilities and potential of humans. I know that may sound a bit like I’m reaching but think about it, Atlas mostly sends soldier bots to take care of Grimm attacks instead of humans. And even when he DOES send human soldiers, they rely on surprise attacks to get the job done, like the Ace Ops arresting RWBY and friends at the beginning of Volume 7. And when they DON’T have surprise attacks, Atlas’ huntsman lose. The Ace Ops lost to RWBY, they basically lost to Penny in a 1v4 fight, which Harriet admits in saying “Good work would’ve been capturing Penny.” So yeah they lost, Clover lost to Tyrian and Qrow, which I know is a different scenario but still if he were among the best of the best he would’ve either recognized the bigger threat in Tyrian, or would’ve been able to hold them both off, or, 3rd option, would’ve retreated and let Qrow and Tyrian have it out then come back to arrest them both, or the remaining one considering Qrow vs Tyrian, when we get it again, is GONNA end in a death. Fair Game bias aside, everyone blames Qrow but Clover also could’ve been smarter in his final moments. 

In fact EVERY major Atlesian we’ve seen has lost a fight at least once. Winter lost to Qrow in Volume 3, if you count that AS a fight, and Cinder in Volume 7, Ace Ops lost to RWBY and Penny, Clover, as mentioned, lost to Tyrian and Qrow, Watts lost to Ironwood, and Weiss has, notoriously, lost a lot of fights but among the first was against Banesaw, the White fang lieutenant in Volume 2, and most recently, Rhodes lost to Cinder, if you count him. Whyyyy? I’m personally of the belief that it’s because of Atlas’ over reliance on its tech, and I know I’m not the only who thinks this 😗. Atlas has the best Tech on remnant and can easily create robosoldiers or mechs to protect the pilot while also allowing the pilot to still fight. What use is training humans to fight when they have mechs and robots to do it for them? 

Phew. That was a little off topic. I’m sorry, anyway, so in volume 3, James brings Penny to Vale to participate in the Vytal festival which, speaking of trust, he didn’t tell anyone about. I understand not making it public knowledge. Soldier bots are one thing but a robot that looks like a little girl? I don’t think that woulda sat right with people. So, yeah not making it general knowledge, makes sense. But not trusting your 3 closest allies, and FRIENDS, in Oz, Glynda, and Qrow? Like Glynda said, it’s time to stop talking about trust and start showing it. That aside, things go decently well. No DIRECT signs of any conflict *looks at Cinder* and the festival goes well until the one on one finals. Yang attacking a “defenseless” student, in James’ mind, is horrible yes, but people’ll move past it, especially cause he disqualified her. But then shortly after that, Pyrrha, Ozpin’s chosen one for the Fall Maiden’s power, dismembers Penny on national TV. That is a huge blow for both the festival and him personally.

Continuing with Volume 3, while he’s calling for reinforcements, the robosoldiers that’re in his plane with him are hacked and cause him to crash land. Also a hit to him personally, HE ordered these be created and the fact that they were so easily turned against him and the people he swore to protect? Yeah... Kinda get it. Although, something else interesting in Volume 3, when he DOES rendezvous with Qrow and Glynda, Qrow immediately turns his sword into Scythe form for the first time in the show. And James’ immediate reaction? “Qrow! This wasn’t my doing!” and preparing his gun for a fight, before turning around and realizing that Qrow actually just saved him from a Griffon. This is........ interesting. Why would he assume a colleague he’s worked with for so long would suddenly be turning on him? I dunno. Just seems a little... paranoid wouldn’t ya say?

Volume 4, we see a new side of James. We see that he cares for Weiss, at least somewhat. More than Jacques, but granted a squirrel cares more about the Schneeblings than Jacques. But yeah, James has some pretty sweet moments with Weiss in volume 4, standing up for her at Jacques’ party, offering her a place at Atlas academy, he’s a pretty stand up guy to Weiss. But, big picture? This volume shows the signs of his paranoia being something serious. He completely shuts down Atlas. In his own words, “No one in. No one out. Not without the Counsel’s permission.” now, he knows about Salem. But he doesn’t know what she’s CAPABLE of, as implied by Qrow last volume. So, from James’ perspective, this DOES seem like the safest course of action. But this is exactly what Salem wants. Separation. Anxiety. Paranoia. FUEL for the Grimm. And this is the first sign of a common theme of James inadvertently playing into Salem’s hands.

Jumping to Volume 7, we don’t see him in 5 or 6 😗, James is still hella, HELLA paranoid, but he’s still happy to see Qrow and happy to have new allies. Now this is where we get a little dicey because volume 7 is a.......... divisive volume 😓. I’m gonna talk about JAMES’ perspective of events. Not necessarily my thoughts because... well... I’ve done that already lol. Many times 😓. So JAMES’ perspective on Volume 7. James sent the Ace Ops to investigate a stolen air ship and arrest the ones responsible for... ya know... stealing the air ship. So the Ace Ops do. And then they go back and take them to James’ office, and it’s the general’s old friend Qrow and his niece’s team and her friends, and a mysterious young man. We can see that James is happy to see Qrow, especially cause of the hug :3, and he’s especially happy to see Oscar, the new Ozpin. He trains Ruby and her friends with his Ace Ops, and allows Winter to help Weiss. And he DOES start to relax more. He starts to, dare I say it, let loose. He allows some lenience, he lets RWBY have the night off. Ruby going to Robyn’s celebration, Yang and Blake going on a double date with Flynt and Neon, and let’s the boys and Weiss have a movie night. He even gives RWBY and their friends their huntsman licenses. These are really great things to do :3

But where things start to crumble is after he announces that Amity is ready, which is a whole speech full of half truths, that he didn’t tell any of his allies about once again, to lure out Watts. It works, they fight, he wins, and we see THIS face.

This is a man who is completely CONTENT. He is happy in this moment. He’s arrested a man who’s always, by his own admission, been a pain in the ass, he has Clover, Qrow, and Robyn on the way back with Tyrian Callows, everything is great right now. He KNOWS that Ruby and her friends lied to him because Oscar told him, but he can sort that out with an honest conversation right? In my opinion, THIS screenshot is Ironwood’s last GOOD moment in the series. That thought process of everything is great goes to shit when he sees the Black Queen piece that Cinder left expressly to fuck with his head. And THEN he gets irrational and, once again, plays into Salem’s hands. He directly ORDERS the divide of the people. He plans to abandon Mantle, leaving them to die in the process, and he plans to completely sever Atlas from all of Remnant basically by launching it into the atmosphere to keep the Vault safe. That only ACTUALLY accomplishes one thing, being keeping the vault, which IS important. But it isn’t more important than keeping the people, ALL of the people, calm and prepared to face this threat, like he did at Beacon. He should have remained calm, like an experienced military official should, and made an announcement to all of Atlas and Mantle saying kind of what he did in Volume 3. “Grimm are all over the kingdom. You can either stay and protect your kingdom, or save yourself. No one will fault you if you leave.” 

Ironwood has a thing with fear. He doesn’t want to admit he’s afraid of Salem. As evidenced both times he’s shot someone....... interesting 😓. In the last episode of Volume 7, The Enemy of Trust, this exchange happens. Ironwood: You still think I'm afraid? Oscar: We all are. It's what we do in our fear that reveals--Ironwood: That's easy for you to say!

And then later, in the first episode of Volume 8 Divide, he shoots and kills Sleet once he says... Well... His last words “And what’s this about martial law? Have you lost your damn mind?! Are you that scared of what-- “ And notice, Ironwood shoots after Sleet goes to say “Are you that scared of what might happen?” And he IS right about one thing. It IS easy for Oscar to say “It’s what we do in our fear.” Because Oscar is child who can AFFORD to be afraid. James doesn’t have the luxury. He’s denying his fear because he’s the general. He’s James Ironwood. He can’t AFFORD to be afraid. If he’s afraid, everyone is going to be afraid. And, well, he can’t have that. That would attract the Grimm. He thinks he HAS to have a level head at all times for the sake of the kingdom. But James even generals in the military have feelings.... and sometimes need therapy to talk through some shit 😶. But... well... Maybe too late for that 😶😓.

In conclusion: James Ironwood is indeed a tragic character. A character who has taken A LOT of blows. A character who has always been paranoid. ALWAYS been ready for an attack. But even though he’s always been ready, he still wasn’t PREPARED. He wasn’t prepared for the sheer strength and AMOUNT of Salem’s forces. If he was more calm and more rational, he could have prepared better. He could have had Mantle and Atlas united against Salem, and that’s what can beat Salem, like Ruby said. James Ironwood is a tragic character, he has had it rough. But that doesn’t mean we should overlook his OBJECTIVELY horrible actions through out these last 2 volumes. Like ya know... Murder.

Phew .-. This is DEFINITELY my longest post. This better get attention I didn’t do all this for nothing >_>

[youllneverknowrac]

Oscar Diaz-No Sharing

Written for a follower on wattpad

Enjoy guys! <3

~

It was your senior year, the year everything was suppose to be perfect. You already had the somewhat perfect life, at least in your own opinion. You were the top cheerleader and your boyfriend of two years just made captain on the varsity team. You had straight A’s and amazing friends...See? Perfect. That was until Oscar Diaz got out of jail and walked into your life a few weeks ago.

You met him the last weekend before school started back up at a party that you attended after a argument with your boyfriend. His party to be more precise. One thing led to another and somehow you ended up in his bed. Your boyfriend long forgotten as Oscar thrusted into you, his lips making sure to cover every single inch of your body. After that, you were hooked. The two of you meeting up almost every night for a secret rendezvous.

“What are you thinking about?” Oscar asks softly as you lay your head on his chest.

“Hm? Oh nothing, just the game tomorrow.”

“Damn I forgot you had a game tomorrow.” Oscar frowns, hating that practices and game days took up so much of your day,”You gonna come over after? You can stay the night.”

“Our first sleepover?” You smile as you sit up in the bed, the sheet falling into your lap and exposing your bare chest,”Sounds fun.”

“Well on one condition.” He smirks as he takes in your freshly fucked body,”You gotta bring your little uniform and put on a show for me.”

“You’re so lame.” You giggle as you throw the rest of the sheet off of you,”I’m not saying no, but I’ll let you know tomorrow.”

“Why? Plans with your little boyfriend?” Oscar asks, his mood completely changing,”You still letting him hit?”

“What? No!” You scoff as you search for your underwear,”I haven’t slept with him since I met you. Why are you even bringing him up?”

“I’m bringing him up because he’s obviously the reason you can’t give me a straight answer about tomorrow.” He says as he reaches for

his boxers and pulls them on from where he still lays,”I don’t know why you can’t just leave his ass.”

“Oscar.” You sigh softly as you pull on your underwear, followed by your t-shirt,”I’ve been with him for so long, I can’t just break it off for no reason.”

“Oh so I’m not reason enough?” Oscar asks with a raised eyebrow

“I didn’t mean it like that.” You say with a shake of your head as you stride over to the bed and straddle his lap, your hands on either side of his face,”You’re more than reason enough, but he’s not going to see it like that. I don’t want everybody to know that I did him dirty. Just give me a little more time and I’ll do it. I promise.”

“How long?” Oscar says with a scowl

“Few days, a week tops.” You shrug as you rest your forehead against his and let him hear what he wants,”Look we have a dinner planned with his family tomorrow after the game and then after that me and my little uniform are all yours. So lighten up Spooooky.”

“Aight, fine.” He says with a small smile,”I can’t wait till you’re only mine.” He adds, his hands sliding down to your ass and roughly squeezing it,”Never sharing you with anybody again. You’re only gonna be my girl.”

“Your’s.” You agree with a smile and pull your shirt off once more so you can remind him of that fact.

~

*Why are you ignoring me?* You read the seventh message from Oscar popping up on your screen before you glance at your boyfriend in the drivers seat who had picked you up this morning.

*Can’t talk right now. I’ll hit you up later.* you quickly reply before blocking his number and deleting the evidence. Already knowing that you’ll get a earful about it tonight, Oscar hating when you blocked him.

“We still on for tonight?” Aaron asks as he focuses on the road in front of him.

“Yeah. Totally.” You smile as you look over at him.

“Maybe I could sneak in tonight.” He offers hopefully.

“Oh...I don’t know. I think Sara was spending the night.” You lie with ease,”Sorry. She asked me yesterday.”

“Seriously babe?”

“Seriously what?”

“We haven’t done anything in weeks, I mean even the last time you kissed me was like a week ago. Is something going on?”

“Nothing’s gong on.” You groan,”I’m fine. Everything is fine, but I already said yes to Sara.”

“Then what’s up? Why have you been distant?”

“I’m not trying to be, I swear. I’m sorry if I’m coming off that way.”

“Do you still love me?” He asks, his eyes glancing over at you,”Cause it doesn’t feel like it lately.”

“Yes. Always.” You tell him, which wasn’t a lie. He was your best friend before he was your boyfriend, you’d always have love for him. He was your first everything which is why you feel like the shittiest person in the world right now.

“I love you more.” He reply’s contently with your answer and grabs your hand to press a small kiss to the back of it.

I’m the worst person ever. The thought replaying over and over again in your mind as you stare at Aaron with a sad smile as he continues the drive to school.

~

“Yeah! Let’s go boys!” You cheer as the football game resumes after half time. Your red and blue uniform ironed to perfection, your white sneakers a blinding white, and Aaron’s jersey number painted on your cheek.

“Yo! Y/N!” You hear a all to familiar voice yell from the sidelines,”Aye, turn your ass around ma!”

You slowly turn around and take in the scene before you, Oscar along with the core 4 seated in the first row of the stands. You offer a small wave with your Pom-Pom before turning around and trying to calm your nerves down. Of course he would show up here, you’ve been ignoring him since this morning. This was his way of getting innocent revenge, he knew him being here would make you squirm at the thought of Aaron possibly finding out about you two. You shake the thought and get back into your over preppy robotic persona with the rest of your squad. You try to focus on the game but every few minutes you catch yourself glancing back at Oscar.

“Winning touch down by Mr.Aaron Cardenas!” The announcer shouts, the crowd going crazy as the home team wins a while later. You shout out in victory and do one final jump before your boyfriend comes over and picks you up.

“Did you see that?!” He asks out of breath as he spins you around one time.

“I did, good job.” You smile and wrap your arms around his neck. His face inching towards yours for a kiss,”You’re all sweaty.” You object and turn your head to the side, Aaron not liking this and setting you back down.

“It’s never been a problem before.” He says,”What’s going on Y/N?”

“Nothing, I already told you.” You say with a small reassuring smile,”Just go hop in the shower so we can get going. I don’t want to keep your parents waiting.”

“No, you’ve been being distant so I’m going to ask you again. What’s up? And don’t lie to me, we’ve known each other for far too long. Just be real with me Y/N.”

“I can’t tell you Aaron. At least not here, so please can we just hurry and go with your parents.” You tell him quietly as you look at anywhere but him.

“No.” He says with a shake of his head,”I’m done tonight. If you can’t be honest with me then what’s the point of us being together. It seems like we both need some time for our selves.”

“Aaron I.” You begin to object but get cut off by him.

“Stop.” He says with a sigh,”Hit me up when you actually want to act like a girlfriend, or don’t. I don’t care at this point.” With those final words he picks up his helmet and bag from the ground and heads for the locker rooms. You can’t help but get teary eyed as you gather the rest of your things, not bothering to shower or change. You just wanted to get out of here and fast.

“Where you think you going? Walking past me like I’m a fucking stranger.” Oscar smacks as you walk by him as he leaned on the hood of his car with his arms crossed,”You still ignoring me?”

“I’m going home.” You reply as you stop in your tracks and slowly turn to face him with tears in your eyes,”Can I please do that? I know you’re angry, but can we just do this tomorrow?”

“Get in the car.” He says as he pushes himself forward and snatches your bag,”Lets go.” He demands and tosses your belongings in the back before sliding into the drivers seat. A small huff escapes you as you walk over to the car and climb in. You didn’t really feel like walking anyway.

“Go on then. Take me home.” You say after buckling up.

“Nah.” He says with a shake of his head as he reaches into the back seat and grabs a rag,”And take that stupid shit off your face. You’re my girl not his.” Oscar orders as he tosses the rag into your lap.

“If you’re going to be a dick just let me get out right now.” You warn as you reach for the door handle.

“Chill. I’m just saying that I don’t want to see his fucking jersey number on your face.” He says as he stops your actions by pulling out of the parking spot.

“Yeah well he’s not a issue anymore, you obviously know that since I’m currently in your car and not with him.”

“Is that why you’re crying?” Oscar asks with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes.” You say as you wipe at a fallen tear with a shake of your head,”I feel like shit.”

“He found out about us?” He asks confusedly

“No. He just said that I was being distant and acting weird so he dumped me.”

“I don’t really see the problem ma.” Oscar shrugs,”You were going to break up with him anyway.”

“Yes Oscar but I still feel like a horrible person.” You snort,”You wouldn’t understand...and I don’t want to talk about it anymore.” You add as you pull down the visor and begin to rub at your cheek with the rag.

Oscar doesn’t reply and opts for turning the radio on instead so you can recompose yourself. It’s not until the car is parked in the driveway that he speaks,”You gonna be okay?” He asks, annoyed at the reason you were upset but keeping it to himself so he could try to help you feel better.

“I’m okay.” You nod,”I just needed to get that out...and I did. So let’s go in, yeah?” You sniffle offering a small reassuring smile. You don’t regret what you had going on with Oscar because what you two shared was special. He made you feel things that Aaron never could, how could you regret that? The only thing that you wish you could change was how the whole relationship started. It’s to late for that though, now it’s time to live in the present. In the present with Oscar,”It’s our first sleep over and I promised you a little show. You don’t want to miss it, do you?” You smirk as you hurry out of the car, the older Diaz brother hot on your heels.

~

“Who’s girl are you?” Oscar asks sleepily as the two of you cuddle under his sheets after a few wild rounds.

“Your girl.” You reply with a lazy smile.

“Hm, that’s right.” He grins as he nuzzles his face into your neck,”Say it again.”

“I’m your girl. Only yours.”

“Yeah, my girl.” He says as he let’s his eyes close, the two of you dozing off moments later, this being the first night of many for you two.

[immortalbeigewizard]

Rewatched RWBY 8 eps 1-5, a couple things:

The Hound is gooey

I appreciate how the story isn’t punishing scavenging during a disaster

The writing team did a really good job this volume showing and not telling that dust isn’t just a combat thing

I am Concerned about what will happen to the crater if Atlas falls

Qrow choosing murder instead of alcohol is a win in my book for the sad bird man

I also appreciate how they are showing that Penny embodies the spirit of what the maidens are supposed to be, protectors of the people, and not just keys for the relics

I love all of the Happy Huntresses and I would die for them

I love how even though Penny has to be serious in the Grimm apocalypse she’s still loves her friends

Nora I love you but please get some therapy

Ren I love you please get therapy

PENNY

Can Rooster Teeth stop hiring actors who are so good at doing tortured screams of pain please?

I need Robyn to know I love her

Fuck Jacques Schnee you Mike Pence looking bitch

Marrow please defect already Marrow

Ironwood is amazing as a complicated villain and I just know that people aren’t going to get that he’s a bad guy and I’m not going through this discourse

OSCAR NO BABY NO WHY THE POOR FARM BOY NO WHY CRWBY WHY DO YOU KEEP HURTING HIM

Hey Oz? Can you take control of the body now ? Oz? Please escape Oz

Also good job writing team pointing out that Oscar does an Oz impression in order to try to establish control of situations

Salem’s tiddy window isn’t cushioning the torture CRWBY, I’m not anti tiddy window but I’m not less upset with or without tiddies.

Hazel what the hell is your deal dude you’ve got a weaker explanation for being a villain than Mercury or Tyrian. Dude why the fuck are you torturing a child. What the fuck. What the fuck.

Jaune I love you’ve grown from Vol1 you have become such a good and well rounded huntsman keep up the good work

Thank you Barbara and Arryn for bringing the bees this season

Grimm River

[justmemewriting]

The Sister (Javier Peña x reader) Part 13 - celebrations

The next day, you, Javi and Steve left early to go to the press. To be exact, you were going to 'El Espectador'.

You were really nervous because you knew you were going to receive a lot of anger from your superiors for this. But you also knew that this was the only way to receive a reaction from Escobar which was what you needed to continue your investigations.

All you were hoping for at this point was that you wouldn't lose your job because your job pretty much was the only thing that kept you going at the moment.

"Are you guys sure that this is the right thing to do?" you asked them one last time. You were sure that you were willing to do everything it takes to catch Escobar, but you just had to make sure that they were too.

"We can either play politics or we can do the job," Steve told you.

"Well, we were never any good at playing politics anyway," Javi confirmed. You nodded in response.

It was now or never.

You arrived in the office of one of the head publishers. After politely greeting him, you handed him the photos that El Paisa took while Javi explained the story to him.

"What do you think?" Javi asked him in Spanish.

"These photos are worth looking into. And believe me, I'm going to," the man paused and placed the photos on his desk. "If it's true, this is going to cause a shit storm, you know?" he said in English. After that he left his office.

"Well, fuck president Gaviria," Javi told you and you nodded.

What you were doing felt wrong, but you knew that on some level it was the right thing to do.

"Fuck La Catedral," you answered and smirked at Javi and Steve.

"And fuck Pablo," Steve added.

————

Just a few days later, the story about Escobar killing the two men made the news. The story actually blew up more than you had expected it to. This was the closest you had ever come to a victory in your hunt for Escobar and it felt great. It was a small light in the darkness that you faced everyday.

When you arrived at the Embassy in the morning people were already watching the news as a reporter informed the public of this new investigation against Escobar. So were you. It felt great knowing that things finally began to change when it came to Escobar.

You noticed that people were cheering and went over to Steve and Javi to congratulate them. People gave them whiskey, vodka and other gifts in order to congratulate them on the big win.

But did they give you anything? No. If you asked any of the men in the office, they'd tell you what a great job Steve and Javi did, but they certainly wouldn't mention you.

Maybe it was because you were a woman. It probably was because you contributed to the win just as much as Javi and Steve did.

After a few more quiet hours in the office, you were called into the Ambassador's office. Turns out you got suspended until further notice. At least you got some recognition for your work here. Even if it wasn't in a positive way.

The three of you went into your shared office. Steve and Javi still insisted on celebrating the win even though they also just got suspended.

Javi offered you a drink, but you declined.

"C'mon, (Y/N). Celebrate our win with us," Javi told you.

"I already told you that I'm not in the mood to celebrate with you," you told him, but he just wouldn't listen.

You decided that you finally had enough for the day, you grabbed your jacker and got up to leave.

Before you left you said "But you know what? Have fun celebrating your win. You deserve it," you told them and with that you quickly left.

Javi and Steve just shared a confused look. They probably hadn't even noticed that not a single person had congratulated you on the win or told you what a good job you had done.

After having left the office, you quickly searched for Oscar hoping that he would drive. Lucky for you, you quickly found him and he told you that he was happy to drive you.

Once you were in his car, he must've realized that something was up.

"Are you ok, (Y/N)?" he asked you gently. "Shouldn't you be celebrating right now?"

"I'm just not really in the mood," you told him.

"Why's that? You guys scored a big win today. So why aren't you out celebrating with the others?" he asked you.

"Alright, I'll tell you. I don't know if this sounds stupid, but it doesn't really feel like this is my win too. I did just as much as Javi and Steve did. For some reason, no one really seems to acknowledge that. I had to work harder than all the other men to get into the DEA, because people always doubted me and my skills immediately just because I'm a woman. Javi and Steve never had that issue.

I'm just sick of people immediately assuming that my work isn't as good as theirs just because I'm a woman. So, I don't really feel like celebrating right now. And I know that it's not Steve or Javi's fault, but I don't think that they even noticed that the praise was only directed at them," you rambled.

"Oh," Oscar told you. "Obviously, I don't know what that feels like since I haven't experienced anything similar. But you shouldn't forget that your work is worth just as much as theirs is and that you are as important to the team as they are."

"Thanks, Oscar. That's really sweet of you. It's dumb of me really. I'm not even doing this for the praise or anything. It's just that it'd be nice to have my work recognized just as much," you told him and shrugged.

"You know what? If you're up for it, I'd like to invite you to have a drink with me at the bar tonight. You and I can celebrate the win together. So, are you up for it?" he asked you.

"Hell yeah," you told him and smiled.

Oscar and you decided that you'd go to the bar across from you apartment building.

You had to say that Oscar was being super sweet. He paid for your beer, and it was really nice to get to know him.

At some point you thought that he might be getting a bit flirtatious with you, but you honestly weren't sure.

Oscar had just finished telling you the story of how he completely embarrassed himself while he was training to become and officer which nearly made beer come out of your nose.

"It's getting pretty late, so I probably should get you him," Oscar told you.

The two of you then walked to your apartment building and Oscar insisted on accompanying you to your apartment door to make sure that you were safe since you had a bit to drink.

"Thanks for the lovely evening, Oscar. You really cheered me up," you told him once you unlocked the door.

"It was my pleasure. Would it be alright if I were to ask you out on a date some time?" he asked you sweetly.

You hesitated for a second, but then said "Sure, I'd love that."

"Alright, we'll talk some more about that tomorrow, okay?" You nodded.

"Good night,"

"Good night, (Y/N)" he told you.

And with that you disappeared into your apartment.

——

The next day at work was pretty uneventful. You did have your date with Oscar planned, though which was at least one thing to look forward to.

The day was slow and there just didn't seem to be enough work to do which is why Steve decided to go and get some lunch with Connie.

"(Y/N), you want to join Connie and me at lunch later?," Steve asked you.

You looked up from your desk and noticed that it was only Steve in your office.

"Well, actually I already have plans. But maybe next time," you told him.

"What kind of plans?" he asked you curiously.

"A date."

"A date? With who?"

"With Oscar."

"That officer that's been driving you?"

"Yes, exactly. He's actually really sweet."

"But what happened to you and Javi? I thought you were going to talk to him?" he asked you.

"I know, but I realized that I shouldn't wait around for Javi to maybe like me back. If he did feel the same, he would've told me after I talked to him about the kiss. Now there's somebody who actually likes me, so I thought 'why not go for it?'"

"So, you're over Javi?"

"I'm not. I'm just saying that I got tired of waiting around. So, I'm going on date. That's not forbidden, is it?"

"Of course it isn't. It's just a shame about you and Javi, though. I really thought-"

"Me too, Steve. I did too."

"Alright. Be careful, though,"

"I always am"

"And if you want to come over later after your date, Connie and I would love to spend some time with you,"

"Thanks, Steve. I'll definitely keep that in mind," you told him.

If you were being honest, you were actually really nervous about your date. One reason why is because you hadn't been on one in a few years. What if you made a complete fool out of yourself?

Another reason was because while Oscar was really nice, you weren't sure if that was something you wanted to pursue. You obviously still weren't over Javi and it somehow felt wrong going on a date with Oscar then.

You were glad that you had Steve because you knew that he'd always support you. Even though your relationship hadn't been the best one when you first arrived in Colombia, you and Steve had grown really close over the past few months. Knowing that you could always count on Steve really helped.

Now, you only had to go on that date. Who knows how that's going to turn out.

[warsmith-38]

How I would do RWBY Pt. 0

Disclaimer: It is easier to improve what already exist than it is to create something new. Boy howdy do I know that. That being said, I believe that RWBY has more than its fair share of flaws and this is how I would do it differently if I was behind the reigns. This is just a collection of my opinions and ideas which in the end will probably amount to nothing. I felt the need to do this because my brain just decided ‘nah motherfucker, you ain’t thinking of anything else from now on’ and this is the end result for nothing else would satisfy my rage.

I wouldn’t quite call this a complete re-haul, but more rather a rework with some of my own brand of polish. It’s not a compete rebuild from the ground up in a different world with different concepts and themes, but how I would go about a second go around with the series from the base that is already there. If a detail is missing from my musings then assume it is either unchanged or removed, depending on context.

If some of my complaints were addressed after I stopped watching, I honestly don’t much care. If it takes longer than 4 seasons to fix what I view as fundamental problems, then it’s far too little too late for me. I paid scant attention to the series post my stopping point and liked little to none of what I saw.

Please do not take this as a specific attack on anything other than the writing of the show itself. This is not directed or targeted against anyone, regardless of position or feelings on the topic at hand. If you ignore what I just said and decide to take this as an insult, then I say that you need to be more self-secure in your tastes and interests.

Things I would remove + reason why

Silver eyed warriors as a concept- it’s more or less the same concept as dojutsu from Naruto. It’s the fucking sharingan (rubygan). It’s not quite chosen one level, but crap like this is the blight of good protagonists. It’s fucking eugenics that makes you awesome not your own skills or training but on your bloodline. No need for personal development or life-changing hardship when you have a built in power that can be cultivated like a fucking bumper crop.

Maidens- Wasn’t intended originally and only made the overall story more cluttered with power creep and plot device. It’s a similar problem as above. No need for training or anything if people can just kill the person who has the power currently and take if from them. Which, at that point, why do you want that power if you’re already strong enough to kill and take it from the person who has it to begin with? It’s something someone just shouted out and they rolled with it because it sounded cool in the moment.

The Relics- McGuffin dragonballs that serve as plot device and little else. A story can be told without needing to monotonously race for Excalibur or the holy grail. Considering the Maidens, I doubt that the relics were intended in the first place and as such if you can’t tell a story without throwing something in after a few seasons because you realized that you didn’t have a plot, then you’re not that good at telling stories.

Oscar- The show didn’t need more main protagonists when what was already there wasn’t being given enough characterization to begin with. For that matter-

Quite a few characters- The cast is cluttered and convoluted enough as is with seemingly important characters getting the shaft in favor of yet another new character that would barely do anything. Time and effort seems to be put into one-off schmucks that would be better served making the story not need poochie the dog, let alone several. Character integration is not ‘create a character to do one thing and then pretend they don’t exist’. There’s already plenty of characters than can be used wherever.

The overt shipping bait, especially if it’s just going to be taken up or abandoned on a whim- I don’t mean relationship building, I mean the obvious baiting of a relationship that, in the end, might not even happen. All it does is dumb down characters and character arcs, draw out pointless scenes, and make the fans have conniptions one way or another. People are pissed off whenever things don’t go their way with shipping so the only winning move with these people is not to play their game. Looking at you Klance and Zutara. Either don’t do anything or have a fucking plan and stick to it and not make complete swerves when fans get uppity. If it genuinely matters to you, then pretend whatever ship happens at whatever point, I don’t care.

Changes to the world that I think would go over better-

Everyone has a level of aura with a naturally high level generally meaning that they might be able to unlock a semblance. A semblance is unlocked through some sort of specific event, typically a stressful one IE: Yang and Ruby are caught in the woods by grimm and Yang gets frustrated and scared at not being able to defend her sister before getting angry and her rage mode semblance unlocking. Not everyone who unlocks a semblance goes into combat schools but it is a requirement for acceptance into most of them. Having the potential to unlock a semblance seems entirely random but has a higher chance with genetics.

There are two types of semblances: 1 is hereditary like the Schnee glyphs, changing only slightly, if at all, through the generations. 2 is a random personal power like Yang having her rage mode as compared to Raven’s portals. Whichever you get tends to be random with the occasional exception depending on genetics and the specific semblance.

Every 1 in assumedly 10 people who have semblances have the potential to have two semblances, often times, but not necessarily, being one hereditary and one random. The process of unlocking the second semblance involves immense emotional distress and in some cases might not even happen for the individual who has the potential, period, thus skewing data. This gives an enhanced type power but isn’t protagonist exclusive. It shows a higher than average power capacity, but isn’t a gamebreaker to the same level as a fucking kekkei genkai or getting the powers of a fucking demigod. A good amount of characters would only have one semblance and be considerable badasses despite it and even be able to beat a couple of the few that have two.

Establish Menagerie as the official Fifth Kingdom, the newest of the great kingdoms. Maybe not the singularly strongest or most influential, but make it so Menagerie and its people, the faunus, have a considerable role in the world’s affairs, if even from an isolationist standpoint. Don’t have them as even a semi thriving entity that isn’t a kingdom because that only begs the question as to why the kingdoms are so important to begin with then.

Make the White Fang a faunus supremacist group that has very little support, if any, from the faunus people as a whole. Faunus right issues are history for the vast majority of the world and the White Fang as a whole is only using the problems in Atlas with the SDC as a means of trying to gain power. There are actual faunus rights groups trying to make things better for their race in Atlas and other marginalized areas but the White Fang dislikes them on the grounds that they go against their goal and it makes them look even worse.

Fucking pronounce names correctly, I mean, Christ. Weiss, the word, is pronounced like ‘Vice’. It’s an actual fucking word. It’s the German word for white. It’s like saying tor-till-uh not tor-tee-ah. Blake is Bella-doe-nah not Bella-dawn-uh. Shit like that. No you don’t need to put on a heavy accent to say these words but pronouncing things so inaccurately just makes you look like an ignorant rube (no, that was not a pun). I don’t fucking care what your reasons are. Why use these words in the first place if you’re not even going to try to say them right?

Ozpin is order to Salem’s chaos. Ancient demigods of both archetypes vying for power across the ages and the innocent peoples of the world be damned in the crossfire. Neither are entirely good nor evil but both are not exactly helpful to the free peoples on the world and the continued livelihood thereof. Their progenitor god created them to try and guide humanity in a balanced way. That seemed to work at first, but then failed like a bad marriage and they waged war ever since like a bad divorce. The grimm are a creation of Salem’s to test humanity and make then stronger through conflict. Ozpin ranges from the lawman to the fascist fairly duplicitously. The two can only be permanently killed by each other but neither wants to get too close to the other because of that exact same reason. If killed by other means, they will resurrect after a fashion no worse for wear.

Overt changes to (and complaints about) Ruby Rose- It is a crime that the titular character has so little actual character beyond just being ‘Hyperactive Anime Protagonist #235’. Most of her (few) character traits are tell not show, and of course she’s got the fucking rubygan bloodline ability crap. She has next to nothing that isn’t allotted by default to most anime protags on the grounds of the stereotype. For the main character to have less character than any of the members of the fucking B-team is a travesty.

1. Give her a clear rebellious streak, a distinct problem with authority, and a headstrong attitude. Daddy doesn’t want her to be in danger, so she decides to become a huntress. She’s told to stay put, so she hunts down Roman. She’s told that she needs to stay home and recover, so she sets out on her own not thinking about the exact consequences. Make her the impetus for the team’s involvement with the problems of the world in the early seasons. Make her a driving part of the plot, not just being along for the ride or because someone else said so.

2. Give her blood knight tendencies. Make her VERY willing to get into a fight with the bad guys, not just fights in general, but fights against bad guys. Nothing over the top, but enough that she has a scene or three where she says “Shut up bad guy, skip to the part where we get to kick the crap out of you,” or something of that nature. Hyper combative characters are fun and ethical.

3. Give her more traits as a mechanic and weapon nerd. Include scenes of her fixing everyone’s weapons for fun or being able to analyze an opponent’s fighting style based on the type, design, and/or wear & tear of their weapon, make her a polyglot of weapons that can be at least proficient in using just about any weapon. Come to think of it…

4. Anything that could give her actual character traits. They don’t even have to be all that major traits, just give her enough so that we actually have a character with more definition than printer paper. She’s the main character, the titular character at that. This isn’t a video game with a blank-slate protagonist. If the main character isn’t even really a character, like, at all, then what’s the fucking point?

5. Convert silver eyes power into a second semblance for white fire vision that kills grimm like nothing else. Gotten as a hereditary semblance from Summer. Which is also why Summer was specifically targeted by Salem on the grounds that it makes her just a little too dangerous for her long-term plans. This makes it so she isn’t just the fucking chosen one, but still has a clear definitive reason to be involved against the big bad because, y’know, dead mom. Yes, this kinda goes into the whole ‘bloodline is what determines importance’ thing I wanted to be rid of, but it’s only a chance two generations instead of a massive lineage of nonsense and keeps more of the onus of involvement on Ruby herself.

6. Give her a very clear motivation that’s deeper than surface level. ‘Oh, I want to do the right thing’ is a flimsy as balls motivation especially compared to the rest of her team that has that AND an actual reason for thinking that way. Why does she want to be the good guy? What happened in her life that makes her this motivated to doing the right thing? Yang has her desire to find her mother (which, come to think of it, doesn’t necessitate being a good guy), Blake has wanting to make up for being a terrorist, Weiss has her desire to step out from under the shadow of her family’s reputation, even fucking Jaune, the b-team protagonist, who wants to live up to his family reputation, has a proper motivation to be involved in the story. WHY is Ruby involved beyond ‘I’m the main character’ level reasoning? As much as admitting it makes me wish to commit Sudoku, even SAO has better main character motivations. Good god, I need hooch after typing that.

Overt changes to (and complaints about) Yang Xiao-Long- Her arc was mostly fine, barring some of the pacing. Raven being a maiden undercut the message of ‘screw that deadbeat bitch, go to your real family’ by making her important to the overall world state and confirming a measure of later relevance but that’s more a flaw with Raven than Yang.

1. Keep her motivation about getting strong enough to find her mother but add in the clear desire to kick her ass for leaving her and Tai. Of course it’s more about just getting the answers to her questions, but the ass-kicking should also be a major component.

2. Amp up the rivalry between her and Mercury. Mercury was designed as an opposite to Yang, I mean for fuck’s sake, look at him. Consider their respective backstories too; both raised in a single father home yet one was supported and loved (if a little neglected) while the other was horrifyingly maimed and abused. Punch vs kick. It works.

3. Make her more protective of her little sister, explicitly going along with her personal crusade to keep her safe (safer, rather). If she’s supposed to be the good older sister, maybe just maybe, something more than lip-service to that idea should be done. Hell, maybe she can be overprotective like their father, or even the exact opposite, not really giving a shit and then learning to give one. That might lead to a little tension and growth between the two of them.

4. Make her semblance consistent. Is she supposed to have super saiyan rage mode or is it energy buildup and dispersal? Is it supposed to be both? Just make it rage mode, for the sake of fuck, and don’t flip-flop. Speaking of…

5. Give her anger issues. Flesh out her being the kind of gal that would start a fight in a nightclub when she doesn’t get what she needed with little justification. This would stem from abandonment issues from Raven, Summer (inadvertently), and Tai and her general thrill seeking personality. This could lead to tensions and dramas until she overcomes it and learns to use her aggressive feelings and not let them use her.

Overt changes to (and complaints about) Blake Belladonna- Shitty-kitty is shitty, here’s why.

1. Do something with the hypocrisy of being, more or less, princess of Menagerie, a world power albeit a minor one, and joining a band of terrorists that do more harm than good for the people they claim to represent. It’s like a trust-fund baby joining some charity organization in Africa for a few weeks, doing jack-shit to help, joining some jihadists, and then acting like she’s Mahatma Gandhi.

2. Make her arc less about running away and fighting Adam, more about realizing that running is for assholes and try to find her team to at least apologize for cutting and running like she did. Doing that and stopping Adam are not mutually exclusive. The friend thing should be the priority. As it stands she is almost rewarded for abandoning her team just to focus on her own problems.

3. Make her arc involve going from ‘There’s no such thing as pure evil’ to ‘Okay maybe some people are just too evil to work with’. Some people are too far gone and, despite still having good traits, will only ever continue to do evil things and don’t deserve the benefit of the doubt. Not everyone has some sort of good motive beneath the surface and, even then, does that matter when the only action they do is objectively evil? Still, y’know, save who you can, like Ilia.

4. Have Belladonna not actually be her last name. If she’s the daughter of a the chief of Menagerie, the closest thing the faunus have to a unified racial leader, then how the unholy shit does nobody recognize her name? She is, again, princess of Menagerie, yet nobody recognizes the name in a grander context. Have ‘Belladonna’ be a cover name so she can hide her identity better so that she’s using what should be a very recognizable real name in a tournament that is broadcasted worldwide. Her real family name could be “Nightshade” or some shit like that.

5. If she’s supposed to be ‘The quiet one’ maybe actually have her be quiet and not make big speeches every season or have loud arguments with her team. Just a fucking thought. If she’s still supposed to do that, then make her ‘the opinionated one’ or ‘the kind of mean one’ or even ‘the one who doesn’t shut up’. Blake, as seen, or rather heard, is not the quiet one.

6. Have her actually fucking interact with Ruby. Maybe they have a two-person book club. Maybe Blake teaches Ruby to meditate or something. Anything, anything at all would be fine, anything more than nothing at all. Blake’s whole interaction with the team shouldn’t just be through Yang and cursory scenes with Weiss.

Overt changes to (and complaints about) Weiss Schnee- You can’t solve racism with like two scenes.

1. Make the racism thing a much more gradual decay rather than more or less disappearing after a single conversation. Hell, make jokes about it, ‘oh, no, one of my best friends is a faunus,’ stuff. It’s hard to unlearn an upbringing of hate, but she’s trying type stuff.

2. Involve her at least a little with the White Fang plot. It only makes sense that the heiress of the company that still more or less has slave labor is at least semi-involved with the plotline involving terrorists that want that company destroyed. Make her subject to assassination attempts at a young age, or even have her been kidnaped at a young age and held hostage, getting her scar in the process.

3. As evident by some of the intros, her rival was supposed to be Emerald. This could be serviceable, at the very least. The street rat pickpocket that had to learn life lessons the hard way and was taken in by the baddies VS. the rich heiress born with a silver spoon but raised by a dickhead. There’s potential there and it is a crime that it is not explored in the slightest. Even Yang and Mercury had a minor fight.

4. Like Yang, make her semblance consistent. Is it supposed to be summoning or physics altering magic symbols? These are two completely different powers, it’s not like super speed also giving super reflexes or whatever. Just make it one or the other, don’t bullshit us on these things. Or, hell, make it a second semblance she gets during the course of story.

5. Emphasize her loneliness. Make the main onus of her personal arc be about how she goes from this prickly, spoiled, opinionated, brat to a warm and caring friend who only wants the best for everyone. Yes, this might be the main intention in canon, but I feel it could have used a little more refining.

Overt changes to (and complaints about) Cinder Fall- If she’s supposed to be Ruby’s chief rival and foil then she needs a lot of work to even be close. She shouldn’t be nothing but the rival, but at that same time she should have that be a considerable part of her characterization and role in the series. I feel the best way to do it is to have their similarities highlight their differences in both character and design. Basically, make her the Vergil to Ruby’s Dante.

1. Make her Ruby’s age. Being the same age as Ruby while initially outclassing her, and even veteran hunters, provides risk and contrast between the two. Throw in an evil sadistic streak compared to Ruby’s happy-go-lucky personality to further the contrast and you’ve got a good little yin-yang thing for them. It also shows just how bad someone can turn out if raised to be a killing machine.

2. Keep her using the bow/twin swords as a comparably simple weapon in contrast to Ruby’s, even in universe, overcomplicated Scythe/Sniper rifle. Both weapons are long range marksmen’s weapons as well as vicious close combat weapons but are still very different in essence. Also make sure she keeps the red with black and gold color scheme is contrast with Ruby’s Black with red and silver. Even minor visual cues can work to the rival schema.

3. Make her one of the people who have two semblances. Pyromancy (pyrokinesis? Fire bending, she has fire bending) and dilated perception (bullet time) so that Ruby’s super speed and the dilated perception cancel each other out, adding a little extra tension to the fights now that both parties’ signature abilities are moot points against each other.

4. Make her competent. She kills Ozpin and Pyrrha and then she either fails or draws every fucking fight she has afterwards baring nameless jobbers here and there. Even before that, she needed help to take down Amber and even manages to fuck that up. The more failures she has and the less intimidating she is. Too much of that and she’s just a jobber that makes you wonder why she was ever seen as intimidating in the first place. When that happens then Ruby beating her is just the status quo and not a triumph of any sort.

5. Make her Ruby’s long lost fraternal twin sister. Incredibly cliché, I admit, but siblings make the best rivals, especially twins. Once again, it’s all about adding the similarities and the contrasts. In this case it creates the ‘there but for the grace of god go I’ idea with the two of them. Ruby seeing it as how evil she could have turned out and Cinder seeing it as how weak she could have been (Eventually becoming how good she could have had it because I’m a sucker for redemption arcs) Who said that?

Overt changes to (and complaints about) Team JNPR- JNPR was fine-ish but the over focus on Jaune and the underutilization of Ren + Nora early on are both issues. B-team should not get jack shit before the A-team gets the lions share.

1. Downplay Jaune’s screen time. I doubt this is a particularly controversial statement. Jaune is not the titular character. This is (technically) a shoujo not a shounen. It’s supposed to be about the girls more than the guys. It kind of undercuts that idea when the guy (the side guy at that) gets the lion’s share of characterization, attention, and growth before the girl (the main girl) does.

2. Make Ren and Nora actual characters earlier on. Comic relief is all well and good, but either extend that to the whole team or make these two characters more than just comic relief in the early parts of the story. Make them, y’know, actual characters. They ain’t gotta be all that important, but they do have to be actual characters.

3. Make Pyrrha’s deathflags less blindingly obvious. We all knew Pyrrha was going to get clipped. The self-sacrificing type, all the musical and visual cues throughout, being based on Achilles, and ‘oh she just confessed to the boy she likes’. Homegirl was waving deathflags like an insecure redneck with the confederate flag. When you foreshadow obvious things that much it’s not a surprise to the audience when it happens and the reaction of the in universe characters seems overdone. If it’s not supposed to be a surprise then, whatever, but that’s clearly not the case if you’re going for just shock value. It’s fine for a character to die, but for the love of Jaysus you got to do something with it more than ‘this character’s sole purpose is to die for the angst and to up the stakes’. Pyrrha was just a plot jobber.

4. Make them a little more independent in the overall plot. Give them their own full sub-plots, have them go on their own little adventures, have them do things completely separate from RWBY that has plot relevance but not overtaking the main story in grandeur or importance. B-team gets B-plots and are cool in it of themselves.

Overt changes to (and complaints about) Qrow Branwen- Take or leave this, I just felt the need to include this because reasons.

1. Just make him Dante from Devil May Cry. Just make his personality the same as Dante from Devil May Cry. Make him stylish and cool but low-key a massive dork. He’s too cool to drink or smoke or anything harsher than PG-13. This series could use a guy like that, says I.

2. Make his semblance something that makes sense and isn’t just an angst generator. How do you even quantify ‘bad luck aura’ as a power? Make it short range teleportation as a connection to Raven’s portals. Make it so that he can direct the bad luck at will. Do SOMETHING with it that isn’t just an excuse for mostly pointless character angst.

3. This technically also counts as a Raven change but whatever. Make the Branwen family old nobility and not a loser bandit tribe from nowhere. Or at least make it so they used to rich or something. They come from a family that had a good amount of cash and even a chateau in Mistral. After the money dried up and the chateau ransacked by grimm, the Branwen twins had differing opinions on how to proceed. Qrow fully integrated into the hunter thing while Raven ran away and became a bandit, using it as further excuse to skedaddle on Tai and a recently born Yang.

[charmspoint]

What do you think about the rest of the second year students?

If I tell you my fav jjk characters in no particular order are nobara maki inumaki yuuta gojo geto and choso and that i love them all so much that they are constantly shifting places in that line up to the point where im hardly ever able to tell who i love the most would that answer your question?

I love first years but second years are my fav squad by far i wish we got more of them and im looking forward to the movie so! much! More under cut cuz this bitch got stupid long

I love Maki so much, it’s actually her story line with Mai that got me actually invested into jjk. Like before that i was liking it but when i read that i was like OWO I NEED MORE NOW. I just love like....normal siblings storylines, like legit ask me about Choso i love Choso so much for this exact reason but we are talking about Maki now. I love how her background with Mai is very complicated and you can’t really call one or the other right. Like of course Maki has every right to leave an abusive household on her own terms and Mai has no excuses in wanting her to stay in said abusive household just so they can be together but you can also understand how abandoned and thrown away Mai would have felt at that moment. Like sure theyd probs treat her a little better then Maki because she can actually see curses but they also still clearly treated her badly and as a servant because her technique is weak. You can understand how she would have felt betrayed by being left behind by the only person who should have been on her side in this horrible situation. I just really love Maki and Mai and by god i hope they get to met again and talk and work together MAKI AND MAI TEAM UP PLEASE. I’m not sure can their relationship ever be really good i feel like there's a lot there to work through but i also really want them to start working through it. Aside from that I just love her cuz shes Maki and she’s a badass. I love women who are so fucking driven and ready to fight their way to the top when the world has given them crappy cards. She’s a fighter and she’s a survivor. She’s made from tough stuff, she has survived being fuckin set on fire. I LOVE her redesign its so fuckin good like holy shit i already thought she was cool but now she looks like 10 times cooler the cape the fuckin cape. Anyway i like her a whole bunch i hope her and megumi work something out about the zenin clan and id also like to see more of her thoughts from her about that whole situation. Because she’s not able to prove herself and win over the clan like she wanted to :(. But i guess that doesnt really matter anymore with the whole situation going on. She has already proven herself to be tougher then Naobito and by god i hope she puts Naoya into the ground, actually i hope this is where her and Mai will team up and put him into the ground together.

I also really love Yuuta, like he has the same soft boy protag vibes as Yuji but he also looks fucking depressed and anxious 90% of the time which just makes it all the better??? Like i love Yuji, but Yuuta has been through so much shit, he’s been terrorized by a curse of his own making for years, Rika had probably hurt a bunch of people because of him and like you can see it in his face, that dudes a wreck, have you see his fucking eyebags he hasnt slept in 25927 years and i love him so much. He’s so kind and caring and god if i dont love characters who go absolutely stupid feral for their friends. When the fanbook came out and it was like his biggest stress atm is not being with his friends i was like ;-;. I’m just a sap, I love him, I love how much he has progressed from this anxious stressed out kid to someone who can act calmly and tactically and even offer valuable advice to his underclassmen, he has grown so much! It’s just nice to see him coming into his own and becoming more confident into himself and his power. I’m really fucking sad hes gonna be separated from the squad again after JUST saying he doesnt want to be away from everyone again. Anyway his oscar worthy performance in Shibuya really fuckin got me like, the whole time i was thinking ‘noooo Yuuta wouldnt do this nooo its gojos student they are basically step brothers by teacher he wouldnt do this’ BUT i wasnt sure! I still felt like him becoming all fuckin feral for his friend was perfectly in character and also like really thematically interesting from the stand point of two protagonists clashing together. But honestly im glad he was just putting on an act, idk would my heart be able to handle villain Yuuta for long ;-; Another thing I like about Yuuta is Rika, like man I LOVE Rika, half of my upcoming curse!Gojo au is based on what Yuuta and Rika are. I was SO fuckin hyped to see her return like I was as hyped for Rika’s return as I was for Yuutas. Sure we don’t know if that’s ACTUALLY Rika or something else but god I hope we find out soon. Anyway I absolutely LOVE Yuuta’s n Rika’s dynamic like im feral for this shit. 1. Big monster girlfriend and smol human boyfriend 2. Master and servant allusions 3. THEY ARE AN ACTUAL PARTNERSHIP. Like sure Yuuta is in control but Rika is the one lending him her power and basically agreeing to play along, he needs to earn the strength to wield her. Like they aren’t on completely equal terms and boy would I love if they were cuz completely equal curse sorcerer partnership would be so! Cool! But they are the closest thing to that. Like she isn’t a shikigami like Megumi has or anything like that, her and Yuuta feel like actual partners who depend on each other’s strengths and cover each other’s weaknesses and I DIG THAT SHIT SO MUCH. Would I have loved if they developed a truly equal partnership and that Rika didn’t have to go? Yes. Am I happy with what I got? Also yes. Yuuta monsterfucker king. That whole ‘This is true love’ bit, amazing I love him.

 Panda is the only second year I don’t passionately love ajkkjbj sorry Panda but you’re just Panda. Like I like him, I like the concept of him, I like how he obviously sees himself as not the same as the humans and doesn’t really understand them and I would love to see him explored more, his third core, his relationship with Yaga who’s basically his dad, his relationship with other sorcerers, but I’m not feral about him like I’m about Maki and Yuuta. I think he’s a neat character and a funny joke and I love when he and Toge interact they are prank bros its cute. But that’s p much all I feel about him hjvbjhbj sorry Panda

[hopes4gf]

Thievery and Mischief- (a descendants/marvel crossover)

After the tour, I decide to pay a little visit to my friends at Auradon Prep, Tia and Tavian, my favorite twins from Louisiana and drama club captains.

”Yo, Adri! What’s up?” Tavian says.

”Long time no see, how y’all doing?” I ask.

”Good now that there’s some peace and quiet,” Tia says, looking up towards the top of the stage.

”Not my fault you guys are so boring,” A voice says from the rafters.

I look up and see a guy with large wings, almost like a bird’s.

He stares at me, his eyes widening and suddenly he swoops down. 

“Holy crap, you’re Adri Ababwa. I’m a big fan,” The guy says now standing in front of me.

”Nice wings man,” I say.

”Thanks, I grew them myself. Mutant powers y’know?” Angel says.

”Mutants?” I ask.

”My dad is a fairy, my mom is a sorceress. I’m Angel, by the way,” He says.

”Angel...by any chance are you the Bell twins’ cousin?” I ask.

He nods.

”They talk about you all the time, I see why now,” I say.

”It’s rare to see mutants in families. Some have wings, have claws in their hands, can shapeshift, that’s probably why I look up to you,” Angel says.

”Cause I can shapeshift into a tiger?” I ask.

”Exactly,” Angel says.

Tia and Tavian stare at us confusedly.

”Power talk,” I say.

The bell rings and the twins collect their things.

”Ooh, Tia! When’s the next time your mom can make me some of her famous gumbo?” I ask.

”If you come with me now, we can stop by her restaurant,” Tia says.

I turn to Angel.

”Wanna come?” I ask.

”Sure,” Angel says.

————

After meeting Angel, I learned some things about mutants and their abilities. This lesson was pretty enlightening and made me feel like I wasn't alone with my curse.

Later, I get a call from a number I don't recognize while walking through the gardens. I pick up the phone.

"Hello?" I say through the phone.

"Hey, Adri. It's been a while," A familiar voice says through the phone.

I recognize the voice to be Stefani, or Lady Gaga through the phone.

"Oh my gosh, Stefani! It's such an honor to talk to you again," I say happily. 

I sit under the usual gossip tree to take the call.

"I know. Anyways, darling, I have a little project for you. You're someone who I love and hold dear as an artist, so I want to collaborate with you on a couple of songs for a movie I'm producing a soundtrack for," Stefani says.

"You want to collaborate with me for a motion picture soundtrack?" I ask.

"Mark Ronson is also gonna help and a couple of people from my team too. I was also looking in the credits for your album and I saw your boyfriend did the mixing for a couple of songs. I was hoping you and him might want to tag along on this," Stefani adds.

"I'm sure he would e happy to, but for now all I can say is yes to you on my own behalf. I would absolutely love to," I say with a smile.

"Great! I'll text you meeting details on Friday," Stefani says.

"Great!" I say.

I hang up the phone and giggle. I feel like screaming for joy. So many great things are happening! I guess that's what happens when you hit rock-bottom, you only go up from there. And now, everything is looking up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I walk to the gym where I find Jay with Lonnie and the rest of the fencing team.

”Take a break, boys!” Lonnie says, blowing her new captain’s whistle.

Jay spots me by the doors and walks over with a smile on his face.

”Hey, babe,” He greets.

Before he can kiss me, I put my finger over his lips.

”We have songs to write for Gaga,” I say with a smile.

Jay’s smile drops.

”Gaga? As in, Lady Gaga? Grammy award winner, Gaga?” Jay asks.

”She just called me and she wants us to write her songs for a movie,” I say.

Jay smiles widely and lifts me of the ground, hugging me tightly. 

“Jesus, why didn’t you tell me sooner? That’s great! What if we win as Oscar or a Grammy or even a Teen choice award? I’m so proud of you,” Jay rants.

I laugh at his reaction to the news.

”Why is Jay smiling like that?” Lonnie asks, coming up to us.

”We get to write music for Lady Gaga,” Jay says proudly.

Lonnie’s jaw drops.

”Congratulations! You deserve it for making such good songs for her album,” Lonnie says, patting Jay’s shoulder.

”Nah, the real mastermind is Adri. Her lyrics and her voice made the songs much more beautiful,” Jay says.

I blush softly and punch his arm shyly.

”Shut up,” I mutter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After Jay’s practice, we follow Lonnie to Coach Jenkin’s office.

”There's my favorite captains!” Coach says.

“Oh shush, we know we’re good,” I say with a smirk.

I first bump Lonnie.

”Speaking of Captains, I got word of your schedule changes,” He says, pointing to me and Jay.

”Even though these changes have been made, I still think you’d be able to advise your teams. Especially you, Jay, since Ben is out of action,” Coach explains.

”Are you promoting me?” Jay asks.

”I’m making you Captain of the Tourney team, Jay,” Coach says.

Jay’s jaw drops.

”No way,” Jay says in shock.

“Looks like things are looking up, JJ,” I say with a smile.

Jay’s mouth morphs into a smirk.

”Damn right,” He says.

Coach gives us a soft smile.

”You guys can celebrate or something, but on Monday, I expect you all to adjust,” Coach says.

”Yeah,” We all agree.

Suddenly, the announcements go off.

”Adri Ababwa, please report to Fairy Godmother’s office,” The announcement says.

”Did you get your skateboard taken again?” Jay asks.

”How many times are you gonna get that thing confiscated?” Lonnie asks, rolling her eyes.

”It’s in my locker, chill. I have no idea,” I say, getting up from my seat.

I walk through the door and walk to the office.

I walk into the headmistress’s office and I see Mal and Ben with Fairy Godmother.

”Long time no see,” I say to Ben and Mal.

”Glad you’re here,” Ben says, hugging me.

”We called you here because Mal has a proposal for you,” Fairy Godmother explains.

“Rogers stepped down from his position,” Mal says.

My smile fades. Steve Rogers? Family friend, Avengers, Steve?

”Steve stepped down from Captain? Why?” I ask.

“He and Tony had a dispute after Voltron in Germany. I’ve tried to keep a temporary position since Uma came into the Isle, but we need more troops. I think you’d be the best for it because of your powers and experience. And plus, you're already trusted on the court,” Mal explains.

”Mal, I’d be honored to. But I have to find a way to fit it into my schedule. The only free time I have is around now,” I say.

”So, then you can clock in at 5 and finish at 8,” Ben says.

”It's an intensive training role. You’d pick up recruits, train them, and go to the dungeons,” Ben says.

”Not bad,” I think.

”Fine, I’ll do it,” I say.

”Thank you so much,” Mal says with a smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I walk into the base of operations and spot a familiar face. Bucky Barnes, Steve’s best friend, and newest Avenger.

”Hey, metal arm,” I joke.

”Thank god you’re here,” Bucky says, spotting me.

He gives me a side hug.

”What the hell is wrong with Steve?” I ask him.

”Steve doesn’t agree with the new laws set by Rhodes and the Marshall. Since Sokovia, they wanna add restrictions on our powers because of the explosion and because of that telekinesis girl,” Bucky says.

”I mean they did destroy the city too,” I mention.

”The reason for Tony’s nightmares,” Bucky recalls.

”He has nightmares?” I ask.

”Yeah, if Loki ever comes back, he’ll have a malfunction,” Bucky says.

”Let’s hope that his arc reactor surgery saves him,” I say.

Bucky laughs, remembering he doesn’t have a heart.

”Anyways, let me show you around. So, this is the center of the base, here we have our tanks, our fake grenades, our armory, and training center,” Bucky explains.

”And the troops?” I ask.

”I think that’s your job to cause the first commotion,” Bucky says, handing me a grenade.

”Watch this, grandpa,” I say, taking the grenade from his hands. 

I toss the grenade into a group of guys.

They all huddle near the grenade trying to cover it and push each other away.

”Hey! What the hell are you sons if bitches doing? If you see an enemy grenade, you take cover!” I yell.

”The hell is this bitch?” One of the guys asks.

”Bitch? I’m not anyone’s bitch, and for the record, I’m your new Captain,” I say.

The troops all mutter and scoff at each other.

”Go home, kid! You’re kidding yourself if you think you’re gonna train us,” Another guy says.

”What’re your names?” I ask the guys.

They both look at me like I’m dumb.

”I’m Jack. This is Lio,” Jack says.

”I’m promoting you,” I say.

They both look at each other in shock.

”Both of you are now my Lieutenants. You’re gonna spend the majority of training by my side. Whoever are Lieutenants, you’re demoted. If there’s anything I know about being a soldier, you’d fight any fight or anyone to make it to the top. As I train each of you, you must be following my direct orders only. I will watch you all carefully and see if any of you demonstrate proper soldiers' skills. That will determine if you are my second in command. New recruits will all be promoted in place of older ones. As long as you keep up with your task, you’re safe. Any bullshit, you’re out, understand?” I say.

”Yes ma’am,” The Troops say.

I grab a sword from a barrel and I throw it at Lio.

”Get to work,” I order.

The troops go to their assigned positions and Lio and Jack come towards me.

”Who the hell are y-“ Lío starts.

”Bro, that's Adri Ababwa,” Jack explains.

”The artist?” Lio asks.

“Yeah, I’m a huge fan and I’m so fucking sorry about the way I acted earlier,” Jack apologizes.

”It’s fine, I don’t take shit personally. At least anymore,” I say.

”Bruh, you called her a bitch,” Lio comments.

”Shut up,” Jack mutters.

”Listen, I can already tell you two are friends. So please make this easy for me and shut the fuck up and listen,” I say honestly.

”You know you remind me a lot of Rogers,” Jack says.

”We’re friends,” I say.

”You’re friends with Steve Rogers?” Lio asks.

”Yes, now listen up. We’re gonna do some tactical work. You’re gonna go through the grass here with your rifles, your gonna shoot three birds and bring them to me. Got it?” I order.

”Yes ma’am,” They say.

They then pick up their rifles and crouch through the grass.

They miss every shot when birds pass by. One of them lands on Lio’s head and he coos the bird. I roll my eyes at his action. Then, Jack shoots two birds at once. My eyes widen at his shot. They fall into the grass and he picks them up. Lio shoots a bird and it falls slowly.

”That's one big bird,” Lio comments. 

As it falls to the ground I notice it’s not a bird. 

“Are fucking stupid? That’s a human, not a bird!” Jack shouts. 

I run quickly under the person and they fall in my arms.

”Angel? Jesus, are you okay?” I realize.

The metal winged man winces in pain. I realize his hip is bleeding.

”Lio, what the hell is wrong with you? You shot him in the ribs,” I say.

I place him in the grass and reach for Jack’s medkit. He hands it to me and I open it up. I take a pair of tweezers and some alcohol.

”Sit still,” I advise.

I pry the bullet from his hip slowly and Angel grits his teeth from the pain. The bullet comes out cleanly and I put alcohol on the wound and wrap it up.

”Can you fly?” I ask him.

”Sure,” Angel says.

He uses his wings to fly up straight.

”Now who the fuck mistook me for a hunting duck?” Angel asks.

Jack points to Lio.

”Come on, man,” Lío says exasperatedly to Jack.

”Terrible shot,” Angel comments.

Then he takes the gun from Lio’s hand and shoots a bird. The shot is clean and the bird falls quickly to the grass.

”That's how you shoot,” Angel says, picking up the bird from the grass.

He’s good. And he’s got those wings too. 

“Hey, Angel? You got anything to do after school?” I ask him.

”No,” He scoffs.

”Would you be interested in being a troop?” I ask him.

”What?” Lio and Jack ask.

”Well, I’ve got nothing else to do,” Angel says.

I smirk and pat his shoulder.

Later, I give Angel his new uniform and make him another Lieutenant. We continue tactical shooting until sunset.

I then search the premises of the base and look at the other troops. They whisper and smirk as I pass by. Some troops, practice grenade launching, shooting positions, fencing. I think to myself:

”Maybe this is something Jay would be interested in hearing.”

I smirk to myself as I think about how successful Jay has been so far in his time in Auradon. I walk into the training center and spot Bucky talking to a troop.

”Hey, how was your first day?” Bucky asks.

”Could’ve been better, but it means progress,” I say with a soft smile.

”Good to know you’re a hard hitter instead of a soft princess. Kind of like your mom,” Bucky says.

”Don’t mention me and my mom in the same sentence, you 100-year-old soldier. That’s like putting you and Steve in the same sentence about ice,” I say, rolling my eyes.

”Shut the hell up,” Bucky says punching my arm with his regular fist.

”You ever punch me with your vibranium arm, I will kill you,” I warn.

Bucky laughs and leaves me alone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One day at school, Angel and I decided to sit together at lunch. We talk about training and new things I could teach the troops. As we talk about ammunition I spot Jay talking to Ruby Fitzherberg, Rapunzel’s daughter. I see her pressing upon him and twirling her blonde hair. Jay uncomfortably tries to walk away.

”Oh god,” I say, rolling my eyes.

”God what?” Angel asks me.

”Jay is with Ruby,” I say.

”Ruby? The girl who slept with five guys at once? You better scoop your man before she gets him,” Angel advises.

”How do you know that?” I ask.

”What? I’m gay. Of course, I know,” Angel explains.

My eyes widen at his words.

”Huh?” I ask dumbfoundedly.

”I said what I said, I’m gay,” Angel says.

I blink in confusion and stand up from the bench. 

I walk over to Jay and Ruby and sling my arm around his shoulder. 

“Hey guys,” I say.

”Adri! Nice to see you after you dealt with Angel in the theatre,” Ruby says.

”You were there? I didn’t see you or hear your annoying voice,” I say with a smirk.

”I was just asking Jay whether or not he likes my new hair,” Ruby says flirtatiously towards Jay, ignoring my words.

”Um, it looks the same,” I say.

”That’s what I said,” Jay agrees.

”Come on, I cut it 4 inches!” Ruby says playfully hitting Jay’s arm.

”Excuse me, can you not put your hands on him?” I ask her.

”Why not?” Ruby asks.

”It’s super clear that he’s uncomfortable,” I say.

”No he’s not,” Ruby replies bitterly.

Ruby turns to Jay.

”Adri, can we go?” Jay asks.

”Gladly,” I say through gritted teeth.

I grab Jay’s arm and we walk back to my table.

”Who’s this?” Jay asks, seeing Angel.

”This is Lieutenant Angel, the guy Ruby was talking about,” I say.

”Jay. Jay Farr, I’ve heard quite a bit about you from Adri,” Jay says.

”I’ve heard a lot about you too,” Angel says.

”Anyways, you saw what I saw right?” I ask Angel.

”Um, obviously. Ruby has absolutely no self-control. Hey, I’m gay by the way and if you ever and I mean EVER dump her, you’re either getting a Louboutin heel to the face or a date with me,” Angel says.

I scoff at his remarks.

”What? He’s hot,” Angel compliments.

”Thanks, man but I have plans with this girl so...no thanks,” Jay says, wrapping an arm around my shoulder.

”Like I was saying, Ruby thinks she is all preppy and cool when she’s totally out of line for that shit,” I say to Angel.

”What did she do exactly?” Jay asks, peeking in the conversation.

”She was flirting with you- anyways I try to be sane one...”

”And you’re complaining why?” Jay asks in between my words.

Angel snickers to himself. I glare at Jay.

”You. Are. Mine. End of story,” I say through gritted teeth.

Jay laughs to himself after I speak. 

“Jeez, you’re jealous! I didn’t actually think you’d slide into the conversation because of that,” Jay laughs.

”With your tendencies, it was so obvious that you were uncomfortable but when I walked over you played into it! It was so clear,” I say frustratedly.

Jay continues to laugh at my responses. I look over at Angel and rolls his eyes.

”She feels like your toying with her and she doesn’t like it,” Angel blurts out.

Jay stops laughing and his smile drops. He turns to see me.

I play with the underside of my nail, trying not to look at Jay.

”Is that true?” Jay asks.

”I don’t know. Maybe I just feel like at any moment you could be suddenly interested in some other girl who’s better than I am,” I mutter.

Jay puts a hand on my thigh and I turn to face him.

”Baby, why would I make plans with you if I didn’t love you or care about you enough to stay with you?” Jay asks.

I blush lightly and shrug.

”It’s because I think your worth every minute of my life,” Jay says sincerely.

I smile softly and I kiss his cheek.

”That's cute,” Angel says.

”Shut up,” I giggle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A month later,

”Tell me something, boy. Aren’t you tired try to- Fuck what rhymes with that?” I sing, stopping mid-way to think.

”Void?” Stefani suggests.

”Damn it, why is it so hard to write a love song without having the word love in it?” I ask exasperatedly.

”Cause it’s impossible?” Jay suggests.

”It is possible. We’ve just got two weeks to figure it out,” Stefani says, sitting back down in her chair.

Jay puts out his hand for me to pass him the guitar.

”How about we just repeat a couple of lines?” Jay says, receiving the guitar.

“Tell me something, boy, aren’t you tired of trying to fill that void?

or do you need more?” He starts.

”Aint it hard keeping it so hardcore?”  Stefani finishes.

”Yes! That’s it,” I say, writing it down.

We’re about to finish the last song of the motion picture and we’re almost done. But the lyrics keep falling apart.

”Maybe Bradley should just come in here and help us,” I suggest.

We call in Stefani’s co-star, Bradley and he sits.

”What’s the dilemma?” He asks.

”We need more ears. So, how about it?” Jay asks.

Jay hands Bradley the guitar.

”Shit, I’ve only been in classes for a month,” Bradley hesitates.

”You can do it,” Stefani says confidently.

youtu.be/MUX4ZWkDS-s

Bradley starts to strum the chords of the song. I hand Stefani our brainstorm journal and they both look at our lyrics.

They sing the parts of the song effortlessly. At one part, Stefani improvises and nails the part.

They finish and Jay and I clap.

”That was movie magic at its finest! Now, let’s record it, mix it, and then off we go,” I say.

We all get up from our seats to start working on our parts.

Jay and I lay down the mixing and Bradley and Stefani record. And just for fun, Stefani plays a piano version and we end up recording that too.

Later that night, we come home absolutely exhausted.

I plop onto my dorm room bed and sigh. I look up at my ceiling and see the moonlight peeking through my curtain. The bed sinks and I turn to see Jay lying there next to me, looking at the curtains.

”Long days at work, huh?” Jay asks me.

”I took off training to do that, so, yes,” I say.

We both paused in silence for a minute.

”Hey,” Jay speaks up.

”Yeah?”

”Do you think we’ll get nominated for anything?” Jay asks.

”Probably,” I say, thinking out loud.

”You know. I’m glad you asked me to start making music with you. It’s like something I can remember about you...like our own special thing, you know?” Jay says.

”Yeah. By the way, Stefani was the one who asked for you. Not me,” I say.

”Really? I didn’t think that would ever happen,” Jay says in surprise.

I chuckle at his reaction. I turn to my side and wrap my arm around his body. He does the same, pulling me closer to his chest by gripping my waist.

”Baby, where do you see us in the next year?” Jay asks.

I furrow my brows in confusion.

”I mean. Do you think we’ll be together after senior year next year?” Jay asks.

”I mean, we’ve had no problems with our career schedules so far. Sure we had the situation with Lonnie but luckily I’m that wasn’t real,” I say.

Jay laughs at my recollection.

”I’m sorry for that,” Jay chuckles.

”I know. Anyways, I actually believe we could be traveling, making songs, doing couples interviews and photoshoots, and maybe I can have you come to Agrabah and convince my parents to help us get married?” I suggest.

”Married? You wanna marry me?” Jay asks.

”I mean, we need a new heir in the bloodline. And I don’t think Aziz wants to settle down or rule the kingdom yet,” I say.

Jay chuckles to himself for a minute. He scoops down and places a kiss on my forehead.

”Why can’t we do that now then?” Jay asks.

My eyes widen at his words. I blink twice adjusting to his reaction.

”You wanna do all that now?” I ask him.

”Why not? If that means I get to spend the rest of my life with your crazy ass? Definitely,” Jay agrees.

A smile morphs on my face and I jump up to get my phone.

I dial my mom’s number.

”Ma, it’s Adri. We’ve gotta make some plans...”

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