#and then after a while niko just “... I still have my studies here” to just subtly tell him he'll come back sooner or later

[puppetgearing]

thinking about niko returning to fontaine for a holiday break and he prepared a shit tons of gifts for everyone, like fresh sumeru water for neuvillette, local sweets for furina, fresh ingredients for sigewinne, ect...

he likes to say he doesn't care but he really can't can't care yknow

[ashipiko]

—NIKO CIMARRON

All information on Niko Cimarron ATM! Will most likely be updated ☆

—MORE UNDER CUT

BASIC INFORMATION:

Class: 2-A

Birthday: October 24

Height: 176cm

Dominant Hand: Right

From: Land of Pyroxene / Shaftlands

Club: Film Studies (visits on occasion, inactive member)

Favorite Subject: Magic Analysis

Best Subject: Animal Languages

Likes: Making a profit

Dislikes: Getting outsmarted

Favorite Food: Berries / Berry flavored things

Least Favorite Food: Anything too hot

Specialty: Balancing on the line of lie and truth

GALLERY:

VOICE CLAIM:

YUU’S INTERVIEW:

— Scarabia Dorms - Niko��s Room —

for easier reading, all yuu dialogue will be in italics and all niko dialogue will be in a normal black font instead of green.

There you are. Surprised you came to visit me, Carrots.

> You know what I’m here for, Niko.

> Why are you surprised?

No need to act like that. Interview, right? Or should I say an interrogation? If you wanted to hang out with me, you didn’t need to hide around the bush, you know…

It’s cute seeing you all dodgy, but still. ♡

> I think it matches your vibe.

> You’re one to talk.

Yeah, yeah. How many questions do we have planned for today? Don’t take too long, now. I’ve gotta start pumping out those treats for my profit.

…Oh. No need to worry about a pen and paper, I’ve got one for you.

> I didn’t expect for you to be so prepared.

> (…They’re cuter than expected.)

Something something about matching the vibes… They’re modeled after an old movie about cops and so, interrogating. Figured you’d like them. A carrot for Carrots. It’s cute.

It’s about time to start though, huh?

> Yeah.

> No more wasting time.

INTERVIEW: START!

1. Can we get some basic info about you from… you?

A second year Scarabia student who’s a fox beastman. I guess I’m what you’d call a charmer, thief of the heart, man of your dreams… I’ve heard it all. But the real name’s Niko. Niko Cimarron. My surname means “Wild”, so you could call me Mr. Wild if you like that too. Heh, actually, it’s a business thing, so I guess you’d only call me that if you bought my products… Say, Carrots, you feeling like you need a snack? I have some lefties if you’d like.

> No thanks.

> Why not?

They’re tasty, I prommie~.

2. Speaking of which, what are your “pawpsicles” made from? How do you make them?

Those little things? Why, I’ll let you know I put my blood, sweat, and tears in those treats. Makes me happy to see other people happy, like the faces on a thaumark. To make ‘em, it’s just some tasty berries from the school grounds that get mushed up to get juice, where they go into a mold and freeze up. It’s hard work! I’ve gotta walk so many steps around the school and all across campus… You’re lucky you never saw me in my first year. Took me a while to get used to the schedule… Though, I’m a well-organized man now, I’ll have you know. It’s good for the public image.

3. You’re from the Shaftlands, aren’t you? Do you have any connections to Vil, Cater, or Jack?

Connections? I have them with everyone, really… though I don’t think those three are really aware I came from the same place as them. To be fair, the Shaftlands is a pretty big area. People even go as far to call it a utopia.

If anything, I’ve talked to Diamond more at NRC than anywhere in the Shaftlands. Is that because I never even saw him once? Maybe. So I can’t say about back then, but I can enjoy a good conversation with him now. He’s a good customer and a good influencer. Back then, he got me a good chunk of costumers off of a Magicam post, so I’ve got to give it to him. Who knew people could just follow trendy things at the drop of a hat? Crazy, right?

Vil is a major celebrity, and Jack, I didn’t even know existed ‘till this year. I’ve got nothing to say about Mr. Hardhead, but I’ve had my fair share of talks with Vil. When we were kids, I got a wave from him once… It was great bragging rights. Heh, he kinda freaks me out now though. The reason why I don’t actually participate in club activities. He’s probably too high of a standard for a lowlife like me, so it’s not something that bothers me anyway.

4. You don’t seem to have a Unique Magic. Any reason why?

Ah. Magic? A little bit of a sour topic for me, Carrots, ow… I’m just a late bloomer, is all. I’ve got magic in me, but I never played around with it when I was younger, so I’m way more rusty than all of the other guys here. It doesn’t mean I don’t know the brain stuff, though. Just inexperienced.

If I’m being dead honest, it’s kind of a miracle how I got into NRC. I guess they wanted the fox vote, huh? Heh.

5. Not sure if I’ve seen you around a lot with one particular person. Is there a secret someone?

Secret someone? Getting jealous, are you? Haha, I would’ve never taken you to be the type!

> Not the focus of the question.

> That’s not…!

It’s your fault for wording it like that. You’ve got to watch your words, Carrots. Well, the business life is a cold one, isn’t it? Being around a bunch of highschool guys isn’t really the “ideal” grounds for making business partners either, so it is what it is. At least this way, I get all the profits, so I don’t mind. If you want, I can save a spot for you by my side. ♡

> Again, no thanks.

> Maybe after I get a break from all the things this school brings.

Keep me in mind~.

6. Our last question. You say a lot of random stuff. People get annoyed with it pretty often. How do you feel about that?

…? Oh, you picked up on it, huh? Heh, I mean… I guess I could come clean. I think it’s interesting you haven’t walked away from me yet, y’know. Usually people aren’t into this stuff.

> You are annoying, but…

> (Would it be mean to say something?)

I appreciate you, Carrots. A little too much than I’d like.

Usually people don’t really like the stereotypical foxiness I bring to the table. They run away because I’m either something they don’t wanna get mixed up with, or just something they don’t like. I think you’re a weirdo who’s looking for entertainment when you come into my room and talk to me like this.

…But I guess that just means that you like the way I talk to you, right? You can’t get enough? Is that what’s happening here? ♡

> For a second, I thought you were going to need some comfort, but I guess not.

> Really, it’s fine, Niko…

Don’t pretend like your cheeks aren’t a little red. I like the reactions I get out of you. ♡

Is that all you wanted? Yeah? Alright, we’re done here, then. Hand me the pen, would ya?

> It was nice being able to talk to you like this.

> (That was a quick turnaround.)

…Yeah. Hurry on up, shouldn’t you be studying up on actual things worth studying? Live up to that Smarty McSmart Pants title. Bye-bye now~.

INTERVIEW: END!

> (I feel like Niko’s more than meets the eye.)

> (I feel like Niko’s… hiding something.)

.

.

.

TRIVIA:

Niko is twisted off of Nick Wilde from Zootopia!

Niko is actually magicless. Not entirely, as he does have some running in his blood, so he didn’t lie, but it’s not enough where he can successfully conjure spells. Because of this, at NRC, he often has to get by with con-artist type excuses and acts. It works most of the time, as he has Crowley’s support. For now, he’s getting by with the excuse of being a late bloomer, but I’m sure suspicions are beginning to rise… Perhaps, if it were to be found out that he’s unable to conjure spells, he would be kicked out of NRC.

He made it to NRC after being dared to attempt to con his way in by his magicless best friend. His name is not noted, but he’s a very angry and violent French fennec fox. Niko is often bullied by him.

He can be considered a fan of Vil.

Niko enjoys the pop genre a lot, but is embarrassed to admit it.

Despite being a playboy, Niko is easily flustered at the thought of someone seriously making moves on him.

Niko can also count as a bit of a heartbreaker. For the romantics around the school, everyone knows Niko as that kid who’ll charm you for a week and leave you heartbroken when he inevitability rejects you. It’s not anything against anybody, really, but more so the fact that Niko can’t ever imagine dating someone before he tells them his secret. It feels unfair to him. But people take offense to it nonetheless, the heartbroken people usually cutting Niko off as soon as they figure out that there won’t be anything working between them.

Because of the way some people leave him as soon as they sense no romance, Niko finds the concept of love to be sort of flaky. It takes a while for him to develop a crush, despite his flighty, flirty attitude.

Due to being a class 2-A student, Niko often ends up selling his treats most often there. Kalim and Silver are his number one customers, as Kalim buys bundles of them to give to Scarabia members, and Silver buys them for Lilia to enjoy.

Niko attends the Playful Land event and ends up staying in contact with Fellow Honest afterwards. This relationship ends up contributing a lot to Niko’s development.

Even though he doesn’t want to, he feels obligated to play into the deceitful foxiness of himself, because that’s what people naturally expect of him. It stops them from getting curious about him, as it seems like they’ve already got him figured out.

He says things that are considered shallow, like flirting or bargaining because he wants to get a reaction out of people. Niko does small things like this for small reactions — enough of these small reactions will fulfill the same satisfaction of seeing someone he loves flustered or happy, he thinks. In truth, he knows it won’t amount to much. Niko tries to satisfy himself enough so that he won’t need the real thing.

Niko feels very guilty for deceiving everyone at NRC, especially the prefect. Even still, he doesn’t have the heart to tell them that he truly doesn’t belong here, taking up a spot possibly for somebody who deserves it much more.

Niko’s way of thinking suggests that if he acts distasteful enough, it will cause people to stray far away from him. He believes that he really is just a lowlife fox, but the truth of his actions is something he think people would hate him for most; living in a lie. Because of this, he acts like a playboy and an annoyance in attempts to get people to stay away, preventing them from finding out the even uglier truth of him.

Additionally, he’s afraid to have the truth leak out because he doesn’t want to leave NRC. Though he doesn’t have much, he doesn’t want to lose the little bit he does have, and the little bits he keeps on gaining.

Even still, Niko craves for someone who will take time to understand him. Which is why he’s so attached to the prefect.

More to be added!

^ the pawpsicle icons in this relationship chart represent whether if the character is an avid pawpsicle enjoyer (has the icon), has experienced it once but never had it again (once!), and if they have never had it.

[waffledforbreakfast]

Receiving Love Letters - [MUTI! BLLK X F!READER]

(SEPARATE) pt1

Staring: rin, sae, shidou, niko, kaiser

pt2: ness, otoya, karasu, Reo

[ BLLK Scenario Masterlist ]

TW: heavy ooc, bad grammar, bad spelling, bad formatting, cringe, scuff, etc.

>Rin

With(OUT) the help(OR JUDGMENT) of his brother, Rin finally made a letter back to you. Just ignore the 20 failed copies sitting in the trash-

You wouldn’t be able to tell he was panicking when he slipped the paper into your textbook, man was perfectly composed(??)

He carried on with his day as usual, the letter slowly leaving his mind. 

Until he saw anything that remotely reminded him of you, which was anything pretty really-

He tried not to cringe at himself as we waited to see if you’d make the next move

“[Y/N], I’ve liked you for ages, why did you wait so long before confessing? Whatever. Go out with me, I’ll take you around town and treat you well, I promise. All you have to do is accept, and I’ll take care of the rest. Be mine, please?- Rin 

He was slightly worried it wasn’t you who sent it, but he was 99% sure it was.

Now all he had to do was wait for you to answer

It was at lunch when he had finally ran into you, since you two didn’t share any classes in the morning

You ran up to him with a hug, accepting his offer in the letter

He smiled, before giving you a quick kiss on the lips

He’d never been happier. Rin gave you a tight hug, almost suffocating you, still not letting go <3

>Shidou

Shidou didn’t bother making you a letter

Instead, he ran up to you first thing the next day, and tackle you (affectionately) with a hug

“[Y/N] I LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU PLEASE BE MY GIRLFRINED :DD”

In front of the whole school. You better pretend that you aren’t socially anxious because lord someone’s gotta save you-

Luckily it was pretty early in the morning, so there weren’t many people around. And those that were learnt to automatically ignore anything Shidou screams.

He wouldn’t stop asking, and only shut up once you agreed ;2;

You were supposed to study after school, but Shidou said you guys are going out, and it really wasn’t a choice :3 

But he did actually let you do your homework first

He just sat beside you, silently pouting but not verbally complaining, but patiently waiting

He helped you clean up and then took you out :D 

You would complain, but it was actually pretty fun :D (I hope-)

>Sae

Sae left the house, walking himself and Rin to school

Today was the day he was going to send you the letter back, but he wasn’t too stressed

“Nii-Chan, today you’re gonna make her your girlfriend, right?” Rin looked up at him

“Hopefully.” he responded

As the day progressed, Sae waited for a an opportunity to send the letter to you, and finally he had the chance

You were just sitting in class, waiting for it to start when he approached you

“Here, for you.” He handed you the letter

“oOooooooo” everyone in the class was watching, interested in what he was going to say

Sae just gestured for you to read the letter, and you hesitantly did so

“[Y/N], I had no clue you liked me, but i’m happy you do because I like you too. Be my girlfriend?”

It was a short and simple letter, maybe because he wasn’t too sure what he was supposed to do. Which you found pretty funny-

“So…” Sae mumbled, slightly embarrassed now

You laughed, “Sure, I’d love to.”

>Niko

Niko had just finished with his letter, and was planning on giving it to you the next school daye

Until Aiku and the rest of the Ubers team started bothering him, asking him to show them the letters

“Aiku, you old snitch…” he cursed under his breath, before denying in the gc that he liked anyone

Niko sighed before throwing his phone down, starting his night-routine

He was about to go to sleep, before checking the Ubers gc. Literally everyone had asked for a pic of the love letters.

He rolled his eyes, but decided why not :) 

So he snapped the letter you wrote to him and sent it

He woke up to 46 notifications.

Niko sped read through them while walking to school, most the people were just rambling about how cute it was, and somewhere asking what Niko would send back

There was no way he’d embarrass himself like that tho, so he just left them on read

If he watched you correctly, then you we’re currently on the 4th book of a new series, so all he’d have to do is slip the letter into the 5th and he’d be set

He took a breath to calm himself before opening the book to a random page and leaving the envelope there. Sure it was risky, but surely it’ll pay off… right?

Niko was panicking, he almost chickened out-

He decided it maybe wasn’t such a good idea, and went back after school to find the book and take it back

But by then, the book had already been checked out

“[Y/N] currently has it, would you like me to put it on hold?” is what the librarian said when he asked,

“No it’s fine.” he answered, unsure if he should be happy or scared, but there was nothing he could do now

And yet he still worried, and his teammates laughed at him when he told them

“Shut up. I’m not a coward.”

“LMAOOO YOU TOTALLY AREE-”

“sHUT U-”

You had just gotten home, about to dive into your manga. You leafed through the pages, listening to them flip, until it stopped suddenly

It was an envelope made of cardstock, so it caught your attention quickly. You plucked it from the book, examining it carefully 

You were reminded of Niko as you read it,

“Hey [Y/N], i’m hoping that you’re the one reading this and not someone else… and also that you’re the one who sent the first letter I’ve been waiting so long to finally confess, but it’s nice that you did it first. I’ve liked you for the longest time and always wished that you felt the same, it makes me really happy that you do Do you think maybe we could go out sometime? But this time we can go as more than friends… if that’s alright with you - Niko Ikki

He was basically on edge for the whole day, til you responded, telling him that you’d love to go out ;)

Was so happy after, and all of Ubers made fun of him for it :’) 

A/N: Question, does anyone especially like Niko? Tbh he’s one of my favourites, but if you guys don’t feel strongly towards him, I’m prob gonna take him out and write for Nagi instead 👀, any thoughts? Ik a lot of ppl like Nagi so i’ll try my best if i do end up doing that!

>Kaiser

Kaiser was acting more distant that week towards Ness. Well, not more distant, just more busy.

That turned out to be because Kaiser had told himself that he needed to write back. Yet he just sat there, scrolling his phone, procrastinating.

Ness had a feeling that this would happen, so he’d frequently remind him to finish it. And finally he did.

Kaiser made Ness drop off the letter to you (bc ofc he did-) a day or two after (he didn’t want to seem too eager/was procrastinating the writing 😭)

You ended up catching Ness as he tried to very sneakily hide it somewhere you’d find it (Kaiser was pretty mad at him for that 😭)

He shifted his attention to watching you open it as he hid behind the lockers

“Hey Mein Liebe, took you a while to confess ;)You know, if you did it any later, I may have just moved on! But you’re lucky I gave you a chance, so don’t waste it~How bout you and me go out some time, what do you say? I’ll pay for whatever, my treat.

~ Michael Kaiser ♕”

You scoffed a smile, but accepted it anyway, putting it away in your bag and carrying on with your day

Kaiser, on the other hand, had a smug smile, patting himself on the back for a successful confession(??)

Ness was maybe slightly judging him, but he just shrugged it off, long as Kaiser was happy

A/N: Can you tell I like sneaking in Itoshi fluff? pre-spain sae was such a good brother :') not that i would know- im an only child, which also means i have no clue how to write siblings

[milaisreading]

CD!YN does that accidental rizz all the time to the boys. They trip and she catches them. Stray football flying towards them? She blocks it. They twist their ankle? She carries them princess style to the infirmary.

🌱🩷: Here it goes! Hope you like the fic and thanks for the request!

Warning: Reader uses she/her, but since she is crossdressing the boys use he/him. Requests are open

⚽️Blue lock belongs to Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura⚽️

"Isagi. Rin. Stop arguing, you two. We are not going anywhere with this and we still have to practice." (Y/n) called out as her, Aryu, and Tokimitsu watched the two bicker about God knows what now.

"He started it! If he stopped being in my way I wouldn't be arguing!" Rin said as Isagi pouted.

"In your way?! We are practicing together here!"

'They act like kids.' (Y/n) looked at them in disbelief as they continued arguing like nothing happened.

'Ok. That's it. This is worse than when I had to teach Reo and Nagi.' She thought as she walked to one of the abandoned balls and kicked them in their direction.

"Watch out!" Tokimitsu yelled as Aryu looked at (Y/n) in surprise. Luckily, Isagi and Rin noticed the football and moved away, so the ball just flew between them and into the wall.

"Huh..." Isagi gulped as he looked back at (Y/n) while Rin silently backed away as she gave them a tight smile.

"You two... What did I say about arguing for no reason?" She asked cheerfully, walking closer to them.

"To... to not do it." Isagi said back.

"And what did you two do?"

"Argue for no reason." Now it was Rin's turn.

"Exactly. 20 laps around the training grounds. Now."

"What?! Since when do you have a say in this?" Rin asked as he shook a little in fear.

"So 30, then?"

"I-"

"40?" She interrupted Isagi, causing the two to quickly shake their heads.

"We will run! We will run!" They said as (Y/n) nodded her head, unaware of Tokimitsu's awestruck look and Aryu's swooning.

'Amazing! He is so brave for that!!' Tokimitsu thought while blushing.

'What grace and dashing confidence! I like that!' Aryu thought in return as (Y/n) looked back at the two.

'Do they have a fever?' She wondered in worry when she noticed their red faces.

⚽️

Now, (Y/n) wasn't familiar with friendships and their bonds. Her whole life she mostly spent her time playing football, studying, or going to some random gatherings with her family. The most she got of the experience of friendships was from Reo and Nagi back in Hakuho, and even that wasn't much. But, if there was one thing she knew, it is that you shouldn't ignore someone in distress. Especially when it was someone she could consider her friend. That's how she found herself walking up to Niko when she noticed him walking back and forth one night after it was already past everyone's bedtime.

"Are you ok, Niko? Why are you up so late?" She asked in worry as the youngest contestant looked at her in surprise.

"Oh... I am fine. I just couldn't sleep." The boy admitted, causing (Y/n) to rise an eyebrow.

"And why is that? Today's exercises would have made anyone fall asleep." (Y/n) argued back as the boy quietly looked down.

"You know, you can tell me if something bothers you. I don't mind listening." She offered, her tone softening a little as she leaned her back against the wall, something Niko copied soon after.

"Well... I just don't know if I want to be here anymore." Niko admitted, surprising the girl.

"And why is that? You are holding up very well, and your skills are great, too."

"It's just, I remembered something. It's all." The boy said, not ready to confess that the words of his high school bullies were haunting him. (Y/n) kept on looking at the boy, wondering what to do or say.

'I always felt at peace when my nanny or mom would pet my head. Maybe that works here as well?' She thought, slowly moving her hand on top of Niko's hair.

'It's so soft!' She thought, mot noticing the boy tense up or his face turn red.

"Whatever is bothering you is normal. We all have our doubts here, but don't let them control your life." She said softly.

"A-alright." Niko stuttered out. Noticing his nervousness, (Y/n) panicked a little and tried to move her hand a way.

"Sorry about that! It's something my mom used to do-"

"It's ok! I like it!" Niko quickly said and grabbed her hand, moving it back on his hair.

⚽️

"Chigiri? Are you doing alright? You seem quite out of breath." (Y/n) asked in worry as the redhead looked back at her, quickly nodding his head.

"I am fine! Don't worry! I can still stand! My leg is alright!"

"I never asked about your leg." (Y/n)'s words caused Chigiri to flinch and he looked down on the ground as (Y/n) walked closer to him.

"Your ankle hurts, I am guessing." She said, not getting an answer in return, which pretty much confirmed her suspicions.

"Look, I am fine. I can handle this, let's just continue on with our practice." Chigiri argued, a little bit embarrassed by the whole thing. (Y/n), being more stubborn here than he was just sighed and walked up to Chigiri, quickly picking him up.

"Huh?!" The redhead let out surprised, looking back at (Y/n) with a red face.

"What... What are you doing?!"

"Taking you to the infirmary, and then you will rest. You already did enough for the day." (Y/n) answered simply as the boy started protesting.

"But we need to practice-"

"Your well being comes first, Chigiri. Please don't argue with me over this." (Y/n) warned as she continued to carry Chigiri down the hallway. The boy could feel his heartbeat quickening as he looked back at (Y/n), not saying anything for a minute or two.

"Why do you care so much?" (Y/n) looked back at Chigiri in confusion.

"I just do. I don't like seeing you hurt... or anyone else on that matter." (Y/n) stated.

'He cares for me that much?!' Chigiri thought happily as his face got redder.

'Another fever?!' (Y/n() thought in worry as she noticed that.

⚽️

"Food! Finally! Its been so long since I ate!" (Y/n) exclaimed as Karasu, Otoya, and Yukimiya looked at her in amusement.

"You say that like you are getting starved here or something." Karasu teased, poking (Y/n)'s cheek. Yukimiya chuckled and put and arm around the excited girl's shoulder.

"Leave him alone. It's kinda cute when you get like this, you know." Yukimiya said while winking earning an eyeroll from Otoya and Karasu.

"Huh? Like what? Also, what do you all think we will get for desserts today? It is a Saturday, after all." She wondered, oblivious to Yukimiya's words, which caused Otoya to laugh a little.

"Your flirting skills are so mid, Yukki."

"Whatever." Yukimiya sent Otoya a side-glare, but still kept his arm around (Y/n)'s shoulders.

"Let's just get him some food." Karasu argued, pinching (Y/n)'s cheek as she protested at that behavior.

Once they were in the dining hall, the group walked to an empty table with their meals in hand.

'Delicious!' (Y/n) thought while munching on her food, too lost in her thoughts to notice the trio looking at her while blushing.

'So cute!' Yukimiya sighed.

'I bet it would be even better to pinch his cheeks now...' Karasu blushed while fighting back the urge to grab the other player's cheeks.

'So adorable! I can die happily knowing I witnessed this!' Otoya thought as he put some of his food in front of (Y/n).

"Take some of my food as well." Otoya said, surprising the girl.

"But, it's yours-"

"No! Take mine! The grilled chicken us way better!" Yukimiya argued, pushing Otoya's food away.

"No! Here! These veggies are way better." Karasu argued as the trio glared at each other.

"Ahh... I am fine with the food I have." But her words were ignored.

⚽️

It was one of the rare few days when the Blue Lock team could go home and relax for a bit. And on this day in particular (Y/n) had agreed to meet up with Isagi to watch a movie that recently came out.

"Isagi!! There you are! Sorry, I had to get ready and I didn't notice how late I was." The blue-eyed boy looked away from his phone and towards (Y/n), freezing up for a moment before slowly shaking his head.

"I-it's alright. I arrived here a few minutes ago as well..." The boy said back as his face slowly turned red the more he looked at (Y/n).

"Oh, thank God. Sorry, I had to figure out how this eyeliner worked, it's my first time putting it on."  The girl explained taking in a few breathes and looked back at Isagi. The girl and boy kept looking at each other in silence for a few minutes, which caused her to grow self-conscious.

"I... It looks ridiculous, doesn't it?" She gulped nervously as she looked down at her dress. Isagi quickly shook his head quickly and started speaking with a red face.

"You look great! You look great! The dress suits you. And the make-up as well!" (Y/n)'s face turned dark red for a moment and she slowly nodded her head.

"O-oh... You think?"

"Yep! Beautiful." Isagi said quickly.

"Th-thanks. I am glad. You look nice as well." She said back as they stared at each other in silence for a moment.

"S-so... should we go?"

"Yeah! Absolutely, we should go and get our snacks as well."

'So pretty!' Isagi thought as they walked towards the cinema, glancing at the girl a few times.

⚽️

"Bachira, no."

"Bachira, yes."

'What am I even looking at?' (Y/n) thought as she looked between Reo and Bachira, who were arguing over something stupid, probably.

"What are they arguing about now?" She asked Nagi, who shrugged his shoulders and leaned against her shoulder.

"Bachira had an idea for a new trick him and Reo could perform during the U-20 match and, well, Reo isn't all too happy with the idea." Nagi explained, resting his head on her shoulders.

'He smells really nice.' Nagi thought with a small blush, which the girl ignored.

"Arguing won't get us anywhere now." She rolled her eyes and walked over to the duo, to which Nagi pouted and followed right after.

"You two, we need to practice. You can argue after we are done with the match." (Y/n) said, catching the attention of the two.

"But, my plan is fool-proof! Tell Reo to listen to me!" Bachira pouted as Reo chimed in.

"It's stupid as hell! I am not taking part in it!"

"Coward."

"What did you just call me?!"

(Y/n) looked between the two while Nagi silently leaned against her again.

'What to do... what to do... Maybe bribing will work?!' (Y/n) thought as she cleared her throat, catching the arguing duo's attention.

"Ah! I will give you two my lunch if you stop arguing!" This statement caused Reo and Bachira to stop arguing and blinked at her for a while.

"You will give us..."

"...your food?" Bachira and Reo said at the same time, seemingly in a daze at first, but quickly got out of it as (Y/n) nodded her head.

"Ok!"

"Sounds like a plan!"

The two cheered as Nagi tugged on the hem of her shirt.

"I want food from you as well."

"Uh? Ok." (Y/n) said in confusion, unaware of the satisfied smiles on Bachira and Reo.

⚽️

"I know this isn't much fun, but I hope you like it here." Gagamaru said quietly as (Y/n) looked away from her grilled fish and at him.

"What do you mean?" She asked as she took a bite from her food.

"Well, you probably didn't want to spend your weekend camping when you agreed for a hang out."

"Huh? I don't care about that. Besides, it's nice to get out of the city once in a while."

"Hmmm...." Gagamaru nodded his head slowly, unsure if he should believe her or not. The noticed it and silently ate her fish, trying to think of a way to cheer him up. The quietness stayed like that for a few minutes until she patted his back and spoke up.

"You are fun to hang out with, Gagamaru. And I am enjoying my time in the forest with you. Don't think too much about that." The boy tensed up and looked back at her.

"Really?"

"Really. Don't cut yourself short." She smiled over at Gagamaru, who slowly nodded his head as his face heated up.

"Th-thanks!" Gagamaru nodded his head as he quickly ate his food again.

'Is he sick now as well?!' She thought in worry.

⚽️

"Can I have some of that?" Kunigami wondered, pointing at (Y/n)'s stake. The girl stopped eating and looked at the orange-haired boy, who was giving her puppy eyes.

"Oh, sure-"

"Get your own food, hero. That's (Y/n)'s." Barou interrupted before she could finish, which caused Kunigami to roll his eyes at him.

"I just wanted one bite-"

"I don't care it's kot your food." Barou said again as (Y/n) tried to interrupt their arguing.

"It's ok. I don't mind-"

"You should really learn to mind your business, Barou."

"Right back at you. Why are you even sitting with us here?"

The girl felt a headache come up and she cut up two smaller slices of her stake. One she fed to Barou and the other to Kunigami.

"There. You can leave the argument behind now." She said, going back to eating as the two stared at her with red faces.

'He really fed me his food! Take that, Chigiri!' Kunigami thought as Barou stared at her in a daze.

⚽️

"Kaiser, I swear to God, if you don't shut up I will kick a football in your face."

"What was that, princess? Was that you saying you are finally devoting your skills to me?" Kaiser smirked at the agitated girl. The duo continued arguing as Kurona and Hiori stared at them with confused and amused looks.

"I am happy (Y/n) is feeling better today. That fever yesterday scared me a lot." Hiori said as Kurona nodded along.

"I am, too. If only Kaiser would stop provoking him now." The rehead said as Hiori silently agreed. They were both pretty much agitated by Kaiser stealing her attention from them.

'Arrogant asshole.'

'Loud mouth.' Hiori and Kurona thought, completely forgetting that some players were practicing behind them. Sadly, they only remembered after they heard Gesner yell at them to.move away. Hiori and Kurona turned around, only to notice a football flying fast their way. Closing their eyes, the boys stayed still, waiting for the football to hit them, only for it to never come.

"Huh?" Hiori muttered, slowly opening his eyes.

"What happened?" Kurona wondered as he opened his eyes as well, only for the both of them to see (Y/n) panting and holding the football in her hands.

"Are you both alright?" She asked, looking at the duo in worry, the two slowly realizing what had happened.

"I am fine." Hiori swooned and nodded his head.

'He really ran all the way so I won't get hurt~'

"I am fine as well. Thank you." Kurona said as his cheeks turned a soft shade of pink.

'He is the best! I love him.'

"Nothing to thank me for." (Y/n) quickly answered and put away the football.

⚽️

"Here." (Y/n) said as she pushed a piece of cake in Rin's direction. The sulking boy stopped whatever he was thinking and looked at the piece of cake and then at (Y/n), who was sending him a smile.

"What is this for?" Rin asked with raised eyebrow as the girl shrugged her shoulders.

"It's for you. You looked a little troubled and a little bit of cake always helps people out. Don't you think so?" She said playfully. Rin was dumbfounded as he stared at her and slowly nodded his head, still trying to understand what she just did for him.

"Great! Enjoy the cake and don't go too late to bed." (Y/n) said as she waved at Rin while leaving the dining hall.

"Of...of course." Rin said as he waved back numbly, his own face turning redder and redder.

'He gave me some cake... (Y/n) gave ME some cake...' He kept on thinking while slowly eating the piece.

[novankenn]

The TA -- Joan(Jaune) Arc

Artwork Inspired Posts - First / Second / Third / Fourth / Fifth

(Artwork created/owned by @pilot-boi, No rights Claimed/Implied by the author of this story)

"Joan(Jaune), please come out of the closet."

"I never thought I'd hear you say those words." Joan(Jaune) chuckled awkwardly as she open the door and peeked out through the door. "Is it safe?"

"Depends on your definition of... safe." Glynda responded her face fixed in a displeased scowl. "Now get out here."

"Yes Auntie." Joan(Jaune) spoke in a submission tone, as she fully open the door, pausing at the sight of the gouges that marred the door's exterior surface.

"Explain." Glynda instructed her niece, her facial expression moving into the dreaded, I'm disappointed in you stare.

"Explain? What's there to explain?" Joan(Jaune) swallowing nervously and starting to fidget under the unrelenting gaze of her Aunt. "You know how unstable this... um kids are."

"Really? Unstable you say? Nothing to explain?" Glynda's look once again changed becoming THE GLARE. "You have much to explain. Firstly why is Ms Valkyrie currently being sedated, while yelling about dainty deliciousness, Kiss of Death and a Soul Sucking Succubus?"

"OR, why Ms Nikos, is now comatose?" Glynda questioned cutting of Joan(Jaune)'s response. "Maybe you can tell me how Mr Ren is currently being checked out for a possible concussion?"

"Well, um..."

"Maybe you would like to give me a reason why I had to leave my first class of the day, of the year to help the medical staff regain control of their workspace?"

"Where would you like me to start?"

"Ms Valkyrie."

"Well, um... I sort of made her feel me up, and she's not slightly obsessed with my chest now."

"Why?"

"She said I didn't have a chest worth noticing, so I proved her wrong."

"Continue."

"Well then I discovered that Pyrrha was having a crisis about her sexual orientation... she is severely repressed." Joan(Jaune) continued in her explanation, "SO I tried to talk to her about it."

"Is that all?"

"No, so I got frustrated with her denseness so I used Ren, as an example and kissed him... he's a good kisser, just needs some practice." Joan(Jaune) offered.

"Really?" Glynda's expression didn't change, in the slightest.

"Yes? Anyway Pyrrha wasn't getting the point so I kissed her as well." Joan(Jaune) admitted, "She didn't take it very well."

"And Mr Ren's possible concussion?"

"After Pyrrha when limp fish, Ren also collapsed, and Nora declared me a Soul Sucking Succubus with a Kiss of Death."

"I see." Glynda sighed as she dropped The GLARE, and pinched her nose. "Not even one day. One day, with out ridiculousness."

"I'm sorry?"

"Be that as it may, you're still grounded."

"WHAT? YOU... you can't do that!"

"I can, and just did. One week of no setting foot outside of Beacon or our apartment unless it is to fulfil the duties of your position." Glynda's tone allowed no room for discussion. "Now head back to the class room, dismiss the first year class and inform the Second year class that it I will be delayed. They are to use that free time to better themselves. Understood?"

"Yes Auntie."

Ten minutes later Joan(Jaune) was doing as instructed. The first years evacuated the class faster than, her prom date's climax while taking her first time, in the backseat of his dad's car. The second years were very much more disciplined and took the time to study, or finishing upcoming homework. Without much else to do, Joan(Jaune) started going through her Aunt's paperwork.

About ten minutes in, a shadow fell over her. Looking up Joan(Jaune) and seeing the extremely fashionable young woman sitting on the edge of her Aunt's desk. Joan(Jaune) felt she was being visually undressed and devoured.

"Can I help you?"

"Maybe. It depends."

"Depends on what?" Joan(Jaune) didn't like where this was going.

"If you're single, like girls and want to get a coffee?"

"Yes, yes also boys, and no." Joan(Jaune) answered, before asking, "And who might you be Ms?"

"Coco Adel, angel."

Joan(Jaune) froze. The warning her Aunt had given her jumping to the forefront of her mind.

"Oh, you heard of me!" Coco smiled, before leaning in closer and purring her next words. "All good things I... HOPE."

Not for the first time in her relatively short life, Joan(Jaune) was praying for her Aunt to save her.

[spooksverse-asks]

DBDA AU

Here is what I have for the "Dead Boy Detectives" AU I mentioned in one of my previous posts! :D Like mentioned on that post, for now I just took my four main characters(Suzie, Shadow, Liam, and Kyle) and tried to translate them into the roles of the four main characters from the show, with some similarities but obvious differences to not be total copies. I did have some struggles with these initially, but I think I got my ideas to a good place right now. If you would like to see more from this AU or learn more about, please let me know! Otherwise, I hope you enjoy~

================================================

. Suzie: Crystal stand in. Still has her medium-related abilities, but was a full part of the popular kids at her school. A people-pleaser who had a hard time stopping her "friends" from being bullies, but found it hard to break away from them as she kept getting pulled into their bullying antics. Aside from those "friends", she has also had a few boyfriends who were also not the best of influences or good for her mental health. She also didn't receive the best attention at home, as she is the middle child and her parents didn't always know how to help her compared to her sisters. Not wanting to be forgotten or pushed aside, she did what she could to stand out and have more people on her side, even if said people weren't all that good to be around. Experiences some sort of corruption event at the hands of an ex that allows for her to temporarily forget her family and meet the others. First met the boys after she wanted answers for what she felt was a supernatural cause to her memory loss, before they later all met Shadow and came together as a group.

. Shadow: Niko stand in. A witch who is also a loner as she found it difficult finding or making friends with similar interests as her, or who didn't immediately outcast her as "weird". As her mother died when she was young, she found it hard to let others into her life as she shut most people out as part of not confronting her feelings. Originally born with black hair, but during a spell she was working on that went wrong and she ended up getting possessed, her hair gained blonde streaks afterwards. She was attending a normal public school before her possession, where afterwards she dropped out, both from feeling lethargy and that there was no point in her learning stuff she already had a somewhat good grasp on. Out of the others she first met Suzie, feeling drawn to her before she met the boys. After hearing about their mini detective agency, she wanted to join to contribute her witchcraft and pre-existing supernatural knowledge on potential cases.

. Liam: Edwin stand in. Died from an electrocution accident. In life he was very quiet and reserved, kept to himself as he attended to his private school studies instead of making friends, which he was never good at. While he always tried to present himself as calm, mature, and put-together, he has a lot of internal feelings he either tries to hide or is oblivious to. Cordial with most people, though he does have a low-key sassy and bitter side that sometimes peeps through when dealing with people he doesn't particularly like. Had an interest in the growing technology of the world, partially thanks to his parents' business, and planned to learn all he could to be a knowledge resource for all. At the same time, he also wanted to learn more about the time manipulation abilities he seemingly had, not knowing where they came from or why he had them. One day when he was walking near a factory he abandoned his better judgement to check it out, experiencing a fatal shock that ended up taking his life. Was stuck in a limbo-like state for many years, before he found himself back on the mortal plane. Soon after his return he met Kyle, who quickly became his best friend as they talked and related life experiences with each other.

. Kyle: Charles stand in. Died in a car accident. While he always had a good relationship with his mother growing up, his relationship with his other family members in comparison wasn't the best. His father was always busy with work, so he rarely had time to be there or be supportive of him. His older half-brother, while not around a lot, always was a big source for his anxiety as he always felt like he was walking on eggshells around him with his dismissiveness and hostility. Through his other struggles in life, he tried to remain positive by enjoying the things he loves, such as retro or obscure media and fashion trends, theater, and golf. While these things did bring a more positive outlet to his life, between some family and peer troubles, he was too riddled with anxiety one night and ended up in a devastating car crash. Not long after he came back as a ghost, he met Liam, who quickly became his best friend as they talked and related life experiences with each other. Both wanting to do better by others than how they were treated in life, they started up a mini detective agency, with Liam taking more of the "brains" role with his research and gadgets, and Kyle taking the "brawn" role with his impulsivity and more "physical" interests.

[umichenginabroad]

Madrid Week 17: My Experience at UC3M

Hola a todxs!! It’s Niko again, back (very) late again, with another blog about my experience studying in Madrid. Most of the blogs I have written have been highly personalized. Whether about my experiences traveling, getting involved with different communities in Madrid, or literally an entire blog about cooking, I’ve injected a ton of personal reflection into all of these, which, while have allowed me to grow substantially during my time in Madrid, may not be the most directly applicable to prospective students at UMich who are considering studying at UC3M. So, let’s change that !!

This short blog is about everything I wish I would have known about UC3M before I got there. Grading, difficulty, campus, all that nice stuff. Let’s jump in.

Overview

Universidad Carlos Tercero de Madrid, AKA UCIIIM AKA UC3M is a public university in Madrid, with two undergraduate campuses south of the city, in Getafe and Leganes. UC3M is a pretty unique school in that 20% of its students are international (not from Spain). It is a big destination for Americans and Europeans doing a semester abroad (which, for Europeans, is not called study abroad — it’s called Erasmus). 

There are a ton of classes taught in English — especially engineering classes — and there were other Americans and Europeans in all of the classes that I took. This isn’t to say that your classes will be full of only Americans, like many study abroad campuses or study centers overseas. Imagine transforming into a Spaniard and taking classes at UMich. It’s like that (kind of — the ratio of international students to Spanish students is much less, but still the same vibe). Taking classes alongside Spanish students, meeting them, and making friends with them was one of my favorite parts of the semester.

One more fun tidbit about UC3M — It’s generally a more competitive school to get into for Spanish students. When I told locals I was studying there, I would usually get something along the lines of “ooh, that’s pretty good”. Good to know.

Class Registration

Class registration is one of the biggest points of contention for a prospective study abroad students at UC3M. It’s a somewhat stressful process, but it’s not all that different from Michigan. Here’s generally how it works:

First, the people at CEA will train you on how to register during orientation (which is worth going to, in general — I met some great friends there!). They do a pretty good job of explaining how it works and helping you get prepared, but the registration process is ultimately up to the individual.

Every CEA student gets the same time slot for registration. Unfortunately, this is one of the later slots. Many local students will have already registered before this point, so it’s possible one of the classes you planned to take fills up before you get your turn (just like Michigan).

Once the time hits, you have to add every class you need to your “backpack” as fast as possible (a stressful 2 minutes). Once you add it to your backpack, you’re safe, and just need to click confirm. If you didn’t get a class you need, you can continually check over the next few days for openings when students drop.

So, how was the process for me? It went well, luckily. I did not get the first schedule that I wanted (some time slots for classes were already taken, but I still avoided class on Fridays), but I did get all the classes that I wanted — I even switched into a different class a week into the semester after I realized one was too difficult. I know many people who got what they needed. I also know a good amount of people that didn’t get into one or more. It’s kind of luck of the draw, and you can’t know how many sections/slots exist for a class before you get there.

With all of this said, I do not recommend going to UC3M if there are 4 classes that you NEED to graduate on time. There’s a chance you won’t get it, and there’s no strings the people at CEA can pull to help you get in. However, I do recommend UC3M if you have flexibility!

Before enrolling, I planned to take 2 technical electives and 2 humanities courses for the international minor for engineers. Because all 4 of these classes were electives, I had a much easier time picking and choosing a schedule that fit best with my desired schedule. I had over 8 Michigan approved classes for each category. This made the whole process a lot less stressful.

For some general advice: If you’re reading this as a freshman or sophomore and want to study abroad, save your electives!!!! I cannot stress this enough. They’re much easier to get approved by Michigan and will leave you with a lot more flexibility, wherever you go. They’re also probably going to be easier than major-specific ones, and who doesn’t want easy classes abroad?

Here’s all of UC3M’s majors, with the list of classes they offer (look at 2nd term classes under “Program”). There’s a huge amount of engineering classes, which is awesome: Class List

Here’s the course equivalency database for UC3M: Course Equivalencies

As you can see, there’s a ton already approved, and it’s not too hard to get more (not just electives, major specific courses too!). Look at these far in advance and build a huge list of options, it will be worth it.

Grading Structure/Class Difficulty

The grading system at UC3M and Spain is much different from the USA.

First, you get graded from 1 to 10. Passing is a 5 or above for most classes, which is what you need to get the course to transfer to Michigan.

Course grades get split into weighted categories like they do at Michigan. However, the split is much different. For reference:

In my files & databases class, partial exams and projects were weighed 50% (called continuous assessment), and the final exam was worth 50%. In my materials science class, the 3 partial exams (midterms) were worth 10% each, labwork was worth 10%, and the final exam was worth 60%. In the philosophy class I took, essays and a project were worth 40%, and the final was 60%.

You can probably see a pattern: much more weight is put on the final exam. Unlike classes at Michigan, there is very little emphasis put on homework. Consequently, I didn’t really study much outside of class aside from a large grind session for the occasional deadline. This is a blessing and a curse. You can have a ton of free time. And it’s really easy to completely neglect your classes, bomb the final, and fail. Learning is very much self-guided, vs at Michigan, it’s somewhat more forced because you have to do weekly problem sets, homeworks, etc.

I passed all of my classes with healthy margins. I know many people who did the same. I also know a lot of people who failed one or more classes due to lack of attention and effort.

The classes I took at UC3M were not as hard as the ones I’ve taken at Michigan, especially because I only needed to pass. However, they are real classes with real Spanish students, who are required to take them for their major (and their grades matter). Let this inform you of their difficulty. 

If you want to go abroad, do basically nothing, and pass all your classes (which is possible in some study abroad programs), then do not go to UC3M. If you don’t mind going to class and putting in a basic level of work, UC3M is great. Even though grinding for many hours on a SQL project while I could have been exploring Madrid was a bit sad, I honestly appreciated the fact that my classes were real. It gave me a better idea of what it felt like actually living in Madrid with real responsibilities instead of just vacationing there, which is a distinct and unique experience.

Engineering Classes

Now for some more specifics on my experience in the engineering classes I took:

I took Materials Science (MATSCI 220 equivalent) and Files and Databases (EECS 400 LVL equivalent). Honestly, I didn’t find either of the classes to be taught particularly well. Classes were split into lectures and problem solving sessions, and they were all taught in English by Spanish professors, who spoke the language well (albeit with an accent). I found my lecturers in both classes to be quite difficult to follow and not very engaging, even though I went to every class and (attempted) to take notes. Some of my friends had similar experiences. 

My guess is that if the classes were taught in Spanish, the lecturers’ first languages, things would have been explained a bit better. Regardless, going to class helped me stay on schedule, learn the basic concepts that we were covering, and maintain structure in my day to day.

Problem solving sessions consisted of the lecturers solving individual problems (usually exam-type problems) on the chalkboard. These were generally much more useful. In my materials science class, we also had a lab, where we did fun little experiments and wrote reports about them.

Even though lectures weren’t good, I still learned a ton in both classes. My files and databases class had 3 projects, 2 of which were quite intensive. I had to teach myself how to use and understand SQL in order to complete them. In this class, basically the only work I did at home was these projects, which took up the majority of my time in the week leading up to the deadline. Because I attended class and did well on the projects/partial exams, I didn’t study too intensively for the final and passed with a lot of margin. One thing to note — this class required certain scores in certain exams/projects (at least 20% on every project, at least 40% on one of the midterms). Without these, you forfeit continuous assessment (5 points), and you have to get a very high exam on the final to pass. Requirements like these exist in many classes.

In my materials science class, there were no projects (only lab reports, which took maybe 30 minutes to complete after the lab). Otherwise, I studied maybe 1 day in advance for the 3 partial exams during the semester, which, consequently, I didn’t do too well on. The real work for me in this class was back loaded. In the 5 days leading up to the final exam, I studied every day for basically the whole day, essentially re-learning the entire class from front to back. Because of the effort I put in, I passed with good margin, and learned a decent amount of materials science along the way.

In general, computer science classes at UC3M will have more projects and thus more work required during the semester, but if you do well on the projects, you don’t have to study as much for the final. Other classes may involve more of a grind for the final at the end. Pick your poison (and check out the syllabuses, they list the weighting). I would recommend taking classes for first or second year UC3M students, as they’ll be a bit easier.

Humanities Classes

I took one humanities class in English, called social groups and their cultural imaginaries. I loved the content, and the professor was awesome and an easy grader (Natalie <3). Highly recommend. This class was much easier than my engineering classes, which is generally true across the board for humanities.

One thing I wish I knew about humanities classes was the ability to take them in Spanish. I planned on taking one humanities class in Spanish (like, a class for local Spanish students), but the CEA employees dissuaded me from taking them because they would be very difficult for a non-native speaker.

Would this have been much more difficult? Certainly. I probably would have had to give presentations in Spanish in front of an entire class, and write exams in the language as well. Very scary. However, I ended up meeting plenty of American students in different programs who took humanities classes in Spanish who weren’t heritage speakers, and did just fine.

My point is, if you have a very good level of Spanish but aren’t a native or a heritage speaker, don’t be dissuaded from taking a class in Spanish if it’s something you really want. If you’re willing to put yourself in some uncomfortable situations, you will certainly improve your Spanish a ton, and grow personally as well !

International School Classes

If you’re not as confident in Spanish but still want to take classes in the language, the international school is the way to go. They offer Spanish language courses and humanities courses in Spanish geared for non-native speakers. If you think you might want to take a class in the international school but aren’t positive, take the placement exam! It’s a small test, and it opens the door to a ton of classes that you can’t enroll in without a placement. As an added benefit, you’re guaranteed to get into the Spanish language course you were placed into if you take the exam.

There are Spanish classes for all levels, from absolute beginner to very advanced. My Spanish language class was great. Very chill, very conversational, and the project was open ended and enjoyable. If you take a class with Raquel, tell her Niko says Holaaaa! <3

Campus Life

Going to UC3M was a great experience, but the campus community there does not compare in the slightest to the community that exists at UMich. I think this is a general difference between European and American universities. In the USA, much more emphasis is put on clubs, sports, and campus life in general, which creates a very strong culture. At Michigan, we have UMich students, and everyone lives within walking distance of campus. At UC3M, you have students that go to UC3M. Many live nearby, but many commute in, which takes away a lot of that community. 

Consequently, I didn’t really get involved with any clubs during my time there, even though I did look into them. There weren’t all that many, and they weren’t very accessible. One club I would definitely look into getting into that is very accessible: Erasmus Student Network (ESN). It’s an organization for international students at UC3M, and they organize fun events that are open and (usually) free to go to. It’s a great way to meet new people from around the world.

Orientation for international students (hosted by UC3M) happened at the beginning of the semester before classes started. I would recommend going and signing up for the buddy system they have beforehand (look out for an email). Even though my buddy ended up not existing, it was another great way to meet people. In general, people are very open to forming new connections at the beginning of the semester and become less so as time goes on. Putting in effort at the start will pay off !

Campus itself is pretty nice. There’s two campuses, Getafe (humanities) and Leganes (engineering). Both are small, and not nearly as fancy as UMich’s newer buildings. Many of them are comparable to the old ones around the diag. Getafe campus has a pretty good vibe, especially in the spring — people are out on the grass chilling between classes. There’s also a great library. Leganes feels a bit more studious, but it’s cool too. There’s a simple gym that you can join for pretty cheap, and dining halls serve hearty lunches for ~5 euros. There’s also no shortage of cheap coffee (I’m addicted now).

The Commute

One apprehension I had about UC3M was the distance that the campuses are from Madrid. It took me about 35 minutes by train to get to Getafe, and 45 minutes to get to Leganes. Once I learned the route, the commute was easy thanks to Madrid’s wonderful public transit. The trains to get there were reliable (and free) and usually not crowded. What started as a huge concern ended up being a very minor inconvenience, if I would even call it that.

Two tips: You’re only going to want to go to and leave campus once per day, so bunching up your classes will maximize the time you can spend in the city. If you’re taking a Getafe and a Leganes class on the same day (which I did), make sure you leave at least 30 minutes for the bus ride it takes to transfer between the campuses. 

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

So, another long blogpost, but hopefully a very useful one. If anyone reading this has any other questions about my time at UC3M (specifics on the classes I took, how I met people, recommendations on campus, etc.) please email me at the address listed below! I would be happy to help. Hope everyone has a great rest of their week.

Adios,

Niko Economos

Aerospace Engineering

Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

Madrid, Spain

economos@umich.edu 

[n1ko-whoisdefinatelynotacat]

More out of canon lore dumping but specifically about Niko and Rizu here

I don’t know how to segway into this.

Niko Facts

Eyes: After the solstice run, and Niko finally returned home, they discovered that their eyes permanently glow. The same is also true when they cry, with their tears being a yellow color. This is likely due to it holding the sun so close to their eyes, which led to them absorbing heavy quantities of yellow phosphor. This has also improved their vision significantly, especially during the night hours.

School: Around the time Niko hit 13, their mom decided that it would be a good idea for Niko to attend a school in a somewhat faraway city. I did say around the time of starting this that they lived with its aunt, but I’m retconning that. This school is effectively a boarding school. So Niko lives in a dorm, and for the most part is free to do as they please, when not attending school. It was also discovered that Niko is a pretty bright student, and they were boosted into a somewhat accelerated course of study, and are allowed to choose more classes than others. One of these, to probably very few people’s surprise, was a coding course.

Possible trauma things: it’s highly likely that Niko has some form of ptsd, or just some severe reactions to anything that reminds them of some of the more traumatic moments within the simulation. I don’t know all that much about ptsd, so I’m going to look into it more so I can portray it more accurately. The things that can induce a response include black outs, computer glitches, especially when coding, and occasionally, something square shaped.

Personal identity: this is where some of my headcanons really shine. Personally, I think Niko was born afab. This could be me projecting a bit, but I digress. When they were younger, they decided they liked they/them more than she/her. Now, at this age, they have added it/it’s/itself to the pronouns they enjoy. They also identify as either demi-romantic asexual, or simply aroace. That’s one I’m working out still.

Rizu Facts

Hand deformity: Rizu was born with a slight hand deformity, thought it doesn’t cause her much trouble now, as she’s been living with it her whole life. She was born with three fingers and her thumb on each hand. Her fingers also lack nails, and instead are pointed on the end, with much tougher skin, and probably slightly stronger bones on the ends. This has never caused her trouble while learning how to play the many instruments she now does play.

Musical talents: Rizu from a young age realized she very much enjoys playing and writing songs. So she picked up a guitar, and learned how to play it, and play it well. Now, several years later, she can play not only guitar, but piano, and she’s currently learning drums, violin, and flute. She also still writes songs, and sometimes will work with others in the musical tract she’s enrolled in.

School: Rizu is attending the same school as Niko, in the same grade. She’s enrolled in a special music tract within the school though, so she takes different classes than them. They also live in the dorms, ironically, in the same one as Niko. That’s how they got to be such good friends.

Family: as any good comedic relief character usually has, she has a somewhat depressing background. Her father left when she was maybe 4, and her mother remarried to, at the time, a very pleasant woman. Sadly, a few years later, she found out her father had passed, though the reasons were unknown. And not only even a full year later, her mother passed as well. The woman who is her step mother displayed her true colors. She wasn’t necessarily abusive in any way, but she neglected Rizu to such an extent that for a long time, Rizu was severely malnourished. After her situation was found out, she was taken from that home, and later on enrolled at the school she now attends. She now lives there full time, and is technically the legally adopted child of one of the professors, specifically of one within the science tract. Identity: Rizu identifies as female, using she/her. However she does on occasion use they/them. She also identifies as a lesbian, and Niko finds one of the greatest pass times is in fact watching her attempt to flirt with women. She’s very bad at it.

[ivdiaries]

List of people I talked to or dated after my 4 year-relationship with Kath

Hi there! Here's the list of the people I talked to or dated (?) after my 4 year relationship. To note, this will start around 2022, the year my ex and I broke up.

Quick backstory, I tried online dating again 3 months after Kath and I broke up - I'm not looking for anything serious at the time, what I needed is someone to talk to.

But since we're here 2 years after the break up, it's normal to have my preferences when it comes to dating, changed or upgraded. So here's the list of the people (girl/s included) that I talked to or dated from 2022-2023.

Buns (April-May 2022) Buns is a girl I met on a dating app called Tinder. At first, I swiped right because she seems oddly familiar, until I realized that she is one of Kath's friends (and no, I didn't meet her in person during the time Kath and I were still together because they're not really that close - and they met because of a mutual friend). They used to play COD along with their other friends as well. When we started talking, I didn't tell her immediately that I knew her, and so I started telling her about Kath without actually telling her who she was. Until the next day, I came up with a plan to tell her that I know people from where she used to study in college. And that's when she found out that the ex I was referring to was Kath. We only met once because I was curious and I wanted to see what she looks like in person. The date was short and decent (plus I paid for it ugh) but the conversation is a bit boring. Through the days that followed, she told me that she wanted me to be her girlfriend but at the time, I wasn't really looking for anything serious, and hell, I just got out of a serious relationship. At the time, she's been single for 2 years while I've only been single for 3 months. Also it concerned me that it doesn't bother her that Kath used to be my girlfriend, and that she doesn't care if Kath is her friend - she still wants to be with me. But I never gave in, because at the time, I know I can't and I know it will never work out. Until the last few weeks of May, her replies became a little bit cold and she replies hours or days late. Until eventually, we started falling out because she never replied on my last message. And I never bothered messaging her too again.

Niko (April-May 2022) As you can see, there has been an overlap with Buns and Niko. At the time, when I was active on Tinder, I also met Niko. The gist was, I swiped right because Niko used to be my high school schoolmate, only he was from the upper batch. When I was in high school, I really found him charismatic, hence I had a slight crush on him during high school. Niko is nice and easy to talk to. Also our humor are on the same wavelength that's why we vibed so much. The only thing was he's more quiet in person. And I found that a bit boring. But between him and Buns, I preferred him more. We went out twice but with other people, I think we never really went out just the two of us which was probably one of the reasons why it didn't work out. Plus whenever we'd go out, there's always alcohol involved. And alcohols are harmful for a reason. Don't worry, we never had sex. I'm just saying, alcohols are harmful. Anyway, the last time I saw him was during my 25th birthday celebration. I invited him along with my super duper close friends for a pre-birthday celebration dinner. I'm glad that he went, but at the same time I'm not happy with what he wore that night. And let me tell you why. Imagine celebrating your birthday in one of BGC's well lit area where people kind of dress decently. Not exactly the suit and tie kind, but pants, nice top/shirt, and shoes. So we celebrated my birthday at Tipsy Pig, and other people are clothed decently, and to my surprise I saw him outside Tipsy Pig wearing a satire Jollibee shirt, shorts, slippers, and jacket. I know I might sound a bit shallow, but it was a birthday dinner in BGC - he could've worn something nice - like TSHIRTS are generally okay with me I don't care - plain, printed, checkered, or plaid - whatever you prefer as long as you wear PANTS and sneakers. That's it. As shallow as that sounds, it was a major turn off for me. I don't care if you didn't get me a gift - and I am glad he came, but the effort of him AT LEAST dressing NICELY or DECENTLY was kind of what I was hoping for. We still talked a bit on my actual birthday, but I never replied after. I really didn't have the energy to reply anymore. Around June of 2022, he unfollowed me on Instagram and unfriended me on Facebook. But last October 2023, he started following me again on Instagram. No romance ever rekindled, don't worry.

Aaron (late 2022 or early 2023 - until December 2023) I never actually dated this guy but we were talking for months (on and off talking). I just can't remember when it started. Aaron was a friend from high school. Although we're not really schoolmates back then, we had lots of mutual friends. I really thought of taking him a bit seriously given that I'm already on the verge of being ready to date again. He asked me out a lot but he never gave me a sure date when. It's always, "Sige isipin ko muna kung kelan." So I never went out with him, because that made me unsure of him. Also, location kind of became an issue since he always wanted to hang out around Makati where he lives. I used to live in Makati, and whenever I'll go to Makati, it's usually me hanging out with my friends especially during the weekend, to relax and destress after a long work week. He told me he doesn't really want to go here in Antipolo where I currently live because it's far and he might get lost. So he wants me to go to Makati for him. Which I never did. He wanted me to go and hang out with him, and I say yes, but why should I be the one who'd travel that far just to "hang out"? I told him lots of times that we can meet half way. And yet no dates were ever secured. After all, if you really want to pursue someone, wouldn't you go against all odds just to prove that you really like this person? But well, I guess he doesn't really like me enough. Maybe he just likes the idea of having someone. 4. Ninyo (July 2022) I met Ninyo (or also known as Hans on Bumble) during my active on Bumble era. Honestly, he was very easy to talk to to the point we both decided to move the conversation on Telegram. We talked for a few days on Telegram until he ghosted me. I never bothered messaging him again and just deleted the conversation. 5. Mark (2017, 2022-2023) Mark IS honestly the guy I would TOTALLY date if I'll be given a chance to. He really became my crush to the point that if he JUST seriously asked me out I would put down all my defenses and say YES in a heartbeat. I met Mark through a mutual friend one night in 2017. At the time, I was in a new relationship with Kath. My friend told me Mark had a crush on me, but since I was in a relationship at the time, I've never really given it much thought. We then became social media friends, and soon I found out that he has a girlfriend (I wasn't jealous okay, I was in a relationship!!!) The same year Kath and I broke up was also the same year him and his girlfriend broke up. Although Kath and I broke up around January 2022, they broke up around late 2022 - I don't know exactly when. When I was going through the break up phase, Mark was messaging me like some sort of advices, asking me if I was okay and so I did the same thing when they broke up - to note, we gave each other advice as FRIENDS. Around late 2022 to early 2023, there were messages between us where flirty exchanges are happening, and that's when I thought that if this guy decided to pursue me, I WOULD DEFINITELY SAY YES. But nothing really happened because one day we were talking about life, talking about our individual future plans and the next day he just stops replying. And weeks will pass by. Until that became a cycle. The conversation would only start again whenever I'd post a selfie on my Instagram or Messenger story - then we'd talk again for days, until he'd stop replying again. So of course, I got tired of the cycle, I stopped entertaining him then. We won't tolerate the mixed signals - ANYMORE.

[dranathedragon]

So, here’s my opinion on the matter. When Charles says that Edwin is the only one he’d go to hell for, he’s being 100% genuine. I don’t mean that he would LEAVE anyone else, Crystal, Niko, his mom etc, in hell, he would definitely try to get them out.

But with Edwin, GOING to hell was OPTION FUCKING ONE. He begged the Night Nurse to go get him and when she refused he immediately requested she let him go and that was the plan he was sticking with.

He didn’t try to find any other work arounds, maybe a summoning or something, no, it was “Edwin is in hell, I need to go get him.”

Another thing to remember, is that if it isn’t Edwin in need of rescue from hell, then Charles HAS EDWIN. Edwin who spent 73 years there, escaped on his own, has spent 35 years studying magic, and is probably a veritable expert on hell. I don’t think his very first thought would be “Open a door and I’ll go get them.” It would be to defer to Edwin, because Edwin got himself out, maybe he knows how to get others out.

There’s the argument, “He now knows the layout, how hell operates etc”, which is true, he does, but we’re also forgetting he had a MAP to where Edwin was taken. It was a Hail Mary even at that, since he might not have been taken to the same place as before, but Charles had a map to work with to figure out where to go to get Edwin. If someone else is taken after his trip to hell, he wouldn’t really know where they were, and hell is massive, if not infinite.

Charles is impulsive, yes, but he’s not stupid. He wouldn’t just rush to hell without a plan, especially not if he had Edwin’s guidance. He would definitely find a way to get whoever it is out, but it would be much different than what happened with Edwin.

Now the Crystal thing. @alexwilltellyouthings mentioned that Crystal doesn’t see much to live for outside of her three friends, and is stupidly brave. I agree for the most part, except the bravery thing. Yes, I agree that Crystal is brave, but in general, not in this instance. She wasn’t being brave, she was being stubborn, self destructive, and foolhardy.

My ten year old niece, who is moving up to middle school in September, told me she was scared of it. She’d be going to a new school and it scared her, but her parents kept telling her to be brave, she’s brave, there’s nothing to be scared of. I told her it was alright to be scared, bravery isn’t a lack of fear, bravery is being afraid, but doing/confronting what scares you anyway.

Crystal isn’t scared here and she isn’t listening to reason. She’s CONFIDENT, then when she’s told no, she’s ANGRY. She honestly thought going to hell, ALONE, without a MAP to guide her, being reliant on a very unreliable demon for entry and exit strategy, while still alive and very killable, was a viable option, and she wouldn’t be dissuaded. Foolhardy.

I think it’s commendable that she thinks that highly of Edwin and cares that much for him, but she was also ultimately being stubborn and selfish. Her being in hell would’ve been a liability, and instead of accepting that, she stormed off on her own. All of that, I think, comes back to her being in a very dark place mentally.

I should probably finish up what has turned into a Tedtalk and get off my soapbox.

In conclusion, I believe Charles when he says Edwin is the only one he’d go to hell for. Because in every other scenario, he would HAVE EDWIN WITH HIM, and they could work out another possible solution, or go together. Even then he’d do whatever he could to keep Edwin out of hell, and Edwin would never allow him to go alone. But when it comes to Edwin being in hell, going himself, to him, is the ONLY solution.

My confession: I don't believe Charles that wouldn't go to hell for anyone except Edwin.

I believe that he thought he meant it in that moment. But imagine that Crystal gets dragged to hell at some point in the future. Does anyone really believe that Charles, who now knows how hell operates, generally knows its layout, and knows that it's possible to get people out, would just shrug his shoulders and move on with his afterlife? Absolutely not. He would never leave her to that fate, especially after seeing what Edwin suffered.

So while it's a very sweet sentiment I am always completely taken out of the confession by how false it rings. It just feels impossible to imagine that Charles wouldn't brave hell for Crystal, or Niko, or his mother, or anyone he genuinely cares about. And that really diminishes the power of that scene for me.

.

[solartranslations]

AF2 Pace Epilogue 2: Until the End of Eternity

~*Scene: Nordia Street*~

Pace: Hm? Someone call for me?

Teo: You’re hearing things, Four-Eyes

Pace: Come on, Teo-chan. Can’t you call me “Lasagna” instead of Four-Eyes?

Teo: Stupid, why should I? And stop calling me Teo-chan

Pace: Nope

Felicita: [I wonder what time it is for Pace when it’s morning in Regalo]

Felicita: [Or how he felt when his life became eternal when it should have ended]

Felicita: [I don’t have the power to read hearts anymore, and—]

Felicita: [Now, Pace’s gone too]

Felicita: [And whenever I smell lasagna in the air]

Felicita: [I swallow down the pain and go to sleep watching over my treasure]

Felicita: [All while thinking of the one I love]

~*Scene: Courtyard*~

Jolly: So, when is Alberto coming back to the island?

Felicita: He said in a week

Jolly: To study foreign trade? This is a longer trip than usual

Felicita: He wrote back saying that’s why it’s been so informative

Jolly: That’s good. Has he been helpful to you since becoming your new assistant?

Felicita: I couldn’t possibly have lead the island as the lord on my own

Felicita: I’m where I am now thanks to both the Family and Alberto’s support

Jolly: I can tell you’ve been working hard too, Ojou-sama

Felicita: I could, thanks to the treasures Pace left me

Jolly: The twins…Eleniko and Pricilla?

Luca: The sweets I baked are ready! Over here!

Debito: It’s snack time, kids. Hurry before they’re gone

Eleniko: Oh, snacks?

Pricilla: I want some!

Luca: Here you go! Ah, and Pricilla’s already eating them…

Nova: Their appetite sure reminds me of someone. Not that I need to say it…

Liberta: Pace, obviously. Even the girl is like him…

Ash: And somehow Niko takes after Strawberry Head as the quiet but smart one. They sure are different for twins

Dante: His friendly smile is just like Pace’s though

Dante: Hm? Pricilla, you have crumbs on your mouth. Don’t move, I’ll wipe it for you

Pricilla: Hey, you’re just trying to take my snacks. Hyah!

(*bonk) Dante: H-hey…

Felicita: Don’t hit Dante now, Pricilla

Felicita: You should be more ladylike!

Debito: Do you really get to say that, Bambina?

Luca: Ojou-sama was never ladylike at all. I can attest to it

Felicita: You really don’t need to…

Pricilla: I can’t hit him?

Felicita: If you have to, then hit Jolly

Jolly: …Excuse me?

Ash: Well, you are the one everyone hates

Liberta: Yeah! Have Pricilla give him what he deserves!

Jolly: Insolent…

Felicita: I’m kidding. Sorry about that, Dante

Dante: It’s alright, Ojou-san. Children will be children. I’m just glad they have so much energy!

Felicita: But they do need discipline if they misbehave

Nova: You’ve really become a mother now

Eleniko: Ah!

Felicita: Niko, what’s wrong?

Eleniko: My amaretti…

Pricilla: *eating*…

Felicita: That’s Niko’s share, not yours

Pricilla: But I want more…

Luca: Wait right there. I’ll make some more

Pricilla: I want more now…

Pricilla: *eating*…

Nova: Isn’t that our share?

Liberta: Wait! I haven’t had any yet!

Eleniko: M-me neither…uwaah!

Debito: Agh, come on. Boys shouldn’t cry over something like that

Eleniko: But…uwaaah!

Jolly: My, what a nuisance. If this is how they are every day, you must be worried for their future

Felicita: I’ll still raise them as best I can, so they can take over the lordship someday

Felicita: Because they’re the treasures…that Pace left me

~*Scene: Nordia Street*~

Felicita: [Right, Pace…?]

~*End of Scene*~

(Back to Directory)

[snow-and-scarlet]

Dancing with Destiny

"No."

"But I-"

"My answer was no yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that. It's always going to be no."

"But what if-"

"Still no! Do you know why? Because no matter how you finish that sentence, it won't make me want to go to the dance with you! What part of that don't you get? Now go ask someone else and leave… me… alone."

Weiss shut the door firmly — she did not slam it, thank you very much — in Jaune's face and turned to stalk back over to her bed, where she sat down heavily with a frustrated humph. What nerve he had! As if she hadn't made it abundantly clear she had no interest in him whatsoever… it was bad enough that he was woefully unqualified to be there at Beacon — or even one of the junior combat academies for that matter! — bad enough that he had all the social graces of a boarbatusk, but worse by far was how terribly envious she was of him. He got to spend every night training with Pyrrha Nikos. He got to study with her, fight alongside her, eat with her, laugh with her, smile with her, sleep with her — she felt her cheeks warming — not like that; in a bed beside hers! Still… what she wouldn't give to be in his place… and if she were, then maybe…

Weiss groaned and threw herself onto the bed, then rolled over and grabbed onto her pillow tightly to scream into it, kicking her feet petulantly all the while. Why!? Why couldn't it have been her!? Why did she have to freeze up like that, to fall back on her icy persona? Sure, she'd been a little starstruck — okay fine, more than a little — but she knew Pyrrha would be there… that was half the reason she chose Beacon to begin with.

She'd been harbouring a crush for some time, and yes, celebrity crushes come and go, but she could feel how alike they were from the interviews, the look in the Invincible Girl's eyes and just… she had to try, right? But despite all the rehearsing, all that she did to shed her nervous energy, the moment the real Pyrrha Nikos was there before her, and Weiss could see the emerald depth of her eyes and the way the sunlight played off her hair and seemed to light her skin from within, she just had to freeze and revert to the haughty little princess her father expected and ruin everything. And maybe if it weren't for Jaune Arc she could've still salvaged things, could've caught up to Pyrrha in the forest once the panic of seeing her smile fade at Weiss' behaviour had subsided. Maybe if it weren't for his absolute lack of… well, of anything Pyrrha wouldn't have had to rescue him from certain death — such a kind woman she was, truly remarkable! — and taken the burden of him onto herself. But maybe didn't happen; Jaune Arc had bumbled his way here, had ruined any chance Weiss had to fix her first impression with Pyrrha, and was now not only aggravating her with his constant invitations to the dance but preventing her from inviting Pyrrha with his very presence because of course he was!!

Weiss screamed into her pillow again, as loud as she could.

I shouldn't have come…

Pyrrha sighed as she looked out across the dance floor where couples twirled and swayed, her head dipping a bit further than it already was along with her mood. She had fretted about it for awhile — long enough to arrive late, even — but in the end decided to come to the party in the hope that although no one had invited her, perhaps she could still enjoy the evening… and maybe, just maybe, there might be someone there waiting for her after all.

She'd been wrong, of course. It had only been a few minutes now but already her heart was sinking, the sight of happy couples dancing and smiling only serving as a painful reminder of that which she lacked. There were others who had come alone, naturally — Jaune, who seemed to have finally found Ruby at the punch bowl, Neptune Vasilias, Weiss Schnee oddly enough — but she suspected that, save perhaps for Ruby, in none of their cases was it for lack of offers. For Pyrrha it was different… no one had even asked, and she knew no one well enough to ask herself that wasn't already claimed or obviously infatuated with another.

Pyrrha made her way through the crowd to the staircase and up, out to the balcony to rest her hands upon the railing, gazing up to the night sky.

Is this truly my destiny? Am I to be forever alone, the Invincible, Isolated Girl? No… no, I cannot believe that. There must be someone, somewhere who-

"Pyrrha?"

Pyrrha blinked at the interruption to her thoughts and the tentative tapping of approaching steps.

"Oh, hello Weiss."

"Are you alright? You look… well, wonderful, but also very lonely."

"Thank you…" Pyrrha turned back to the balcony to cover the fall in her expression; she wished she could do the same for her voice.

"Did your date stand you up?," Weiss asked as she stepped over to lean against the railing as well.

Pyrrha sighed, hanging her head slightly. "Not exactly."

Weiss blinked. "You mean he actually brought you here and ditched you!?"

Pyrrha turned to Weiss and shook her head. "I never had a date."

Weiss' jaw dropped. "What?? How could you not have a date!?"

"Nobody asked me," Pyrrha explained with a sad shake of her head.

"But… but you're Pyrrha Nikos! You're…! How could nobody ask you!?" Weiss looked for all the world like a robot in one of those old movies, whose head was about to explode when presented with a paradox.

Pyrrha's eyes lingered on Weiss for a long moment, as though gauging what to say, before she shook her head. "You wouldn't understand." She began to turn back toward the door.

That seemed to shake Weiss out of her shock, and she extended a hand to gently touch Pyrrha's arm. "Try me." She smiled warmly up to the taller girl. "We haven't spoken much, and I know my first impression… wasn't great, but I wouldn't be here if I was just the spoiled princess everyone thinks I am."

Pyrrha looked down to the hand at her arm, then to Weiss' eyes. What she said… it made some sense. Her first impression had been rather dreadful, but if that truly was the extent of Weiss Schnee why bother coming to Beacon? She turned back to Weiss and nodded slightly.

"I've been blessed with incredible talents and opportunities. I'm constantly surrounded by love and praise, but when you're placed on a pedestal like that for so long, you become separated from the people that put you there in the first place. Everyone assumes I'm too good for them. That I'm on a level they simply can't attain. It's become impossible to form any sort of meaningful relationship with people. No one sees me for me, they see the Champion of Mistral, the Invincible Girl, and nobody will ask her to a dance."

Weiss nodded slowly. "I do understand, sort of. I may not be the Invincible Girl, but… all anyone sees when they look at me is my name, and all they want are the connections it brings."

"I suppose you do," Pyrrha replied softly. "Is that why you came alone tonight? You believe that anyone who asked was only interested in your name?"

Weiss shook her head. "No… I know your partner isn't like that, but he does need to learn to take 'no' for an answer. He's just not my type."

"And no one else asked you? You are Weiss Schnee after all."

"Others did…" Weiss looked away a little sheepishly at the admission given Pyrrha's lack of invitations, "but not the person I wanted to."

"You didn't invite him? Forgive me, but you don't seem like someone who would stand aside as the chance slipped away."

"Yeah, about that… by the time I could've possibly asked, I kind of assumed that she already had a date?" Weiss nervously bit her lip.

"Oh." Why did Weiss just assume everyone had a date? Was that normal for Atlesian socialites?

An uncomfortable silence lingered.

"But better late than never, right? So, would you, uh… like to go to the dance with me, Pyrrha? No titles, no masks, just the real us." Weiss held her hand out in offer, her eyes hopeful.

"… Oh!" Pyrrha's cheeks flushed bright red as Weiss' question shed entirely new light on their interactions thus far, the little lingering looks she'd thought were scheming to take advantage of her talents, the envious glances toward Jaune she assumed were fuelled by Weiss' ambition. "I…" Her head reeled; she had never even considered Weiss as a date, not least of all because of their initial meeting, but… but Weiss was right, or at least she deserved the chance to prove that she was, that like Pyrrha herself there was more to her than her name and her mask. She reached to take Weiss' hand, smiling for the first time that evening, and nodded. "Yes, that would be lovely."

Over the course of the ensuing night of dancing and revelry, Pyrrha came to understand many things about Weiss, and about herself. She learnt that Weiss was indeed not simply the icy princess but quite warm and caring, that she knew all too well what it was like not to be seen, that loneliness gripped her heart as it did Pyrrha's. She discovered that Weiss was an excellent dancer — she rather enjoyed spinning and swaying and sashaying with the smaller girl, and simply holding her and being held in turn — and that she quite liked talking and smiling and laughing with her — the real Weiss had a subtly different voice than the persona she adopted, livelier to match the light in her eyes that was never there in the heiress'.

As the night wore on and the partygoers began to leave neither Pyrrha nor Weiss felt ready to retire, and so the pair found themselves atop the roof exchanging stories of childhood, sharing dreams gone by and those yet held dear. By the time the girls watched the first light of dawn creep over the horizon, a singular thought came to the forefront of Pyrrha's mind, a thought which brought with it a smile.

Perhaps solitude is not my destiny after all.

Weiss was giddy. The night had gone better than she could have possibly expected, and while she couldn't be entirely sure whether certain parts actually happened or her mind had added them in during the few hours of sleep she managed between finally returning to the RWBY dorm and being awoken by Yang — had she really kissed Pyrrha? Much as she'd like to think so, she'd better assume that part was a dream until she knew otherwise — she was certain she'd made up for her first impression, and then some. They had really connected, she felt it and she was sure Pyrrha did too; why else would she have stayed out so late? Even news of Ruby's encounter last night couldn't dampen Weiss' spirits, nothing could, and now she and her teammates were on the way to the auditorium where she would undoubtedly see Pyrrha again, and things could only get better and-

"Weiss!"

Weiss turned to see Jaune running up from behind. Alone. She looked around momentarily for the rest of his team whilst the rest of hers simply prepared for the by-now-expected failed courting attempt.

"Can, uh… can we talk?" Jaune looked to the rest of team RWBY, drawing a chorus of curious looks; this was new.

"… Sure." Weiss turned back to the others. "Go on ahead, I'll catch up."

"Are you sure?," asked Ruby.

"We don't mind waiting," Yang added with a glance to Blake, who nodded in confirmation.

"Absolutely. Besides," Weiss smiled to them, "if you don't get there soon, all the good seats will be taken." And I won't get to sit close to Pyrrha.

Ruby hesitated briefly, then nodded and turned to continue toward the auditorium, Blake and Yang following along, and Weiss turned back to Jaune, waiting for him to speak.

It took him a few nervous moments to do so. "So, uh… great party last night, huh? You looked really nice."

"… Really?" Weiss folded her arms and somehow looked down her nose at him despite being a full head shorter even in heels. "Still? Even after you saw me dancing with Pyrrha??" She scoffed and threw her hands up in exasperation, turning to walk away.

"Wait!" Jaune rushed around in a panic to get in front of her again, holding his hands out pleadingly. "Please, just… I'm sorry, that came out all wrong. That's what I really wanted to talk to you about — Pyrrha, I mean."

Weiss stopped and gave him a look. "What about her? Is she okay?"

"Y-yeah, she's… great, actually. She's been smiling all morning, and dancing around when she doesn't think we're looking. It's, uh… kinda adorable, really." Jaune looked away, lifting a hand to rub at the back of his head.

Weiss blinked, suddenly picturing the usually-reserved Pyrrha as giddy as she herself felt, dancing through the halls, and couldn't quite suppress the giggle that rose within her though she did cover her mouth with her hand.

"I think this is the first time I've seen her genuinely happy," Jaune continued, smiling a little himself now and looking back to Weiss. "She deserves that, and you gave it to her. Thank you…"

Weiss' smile grew, and she found her eyes growing a bit misty. "She does. I'd like to make a habit of it, if she'll let me."

Jaune gave her a bigger smile in return. "I won't get in your way. I'm sorry I've been such a… well, an ass, but not anymore. Friend hug?" He spread his arms.

Weiss nodded and stepped closer to hug him.

"We should get to the auditorium; everyone'll be waiting for us. Buuut if you want, I'll make sure you can sit next to Pyr."

Weiss looked up to Jaune, her eyes widening a little. "You'd do that for me?"

"Hey, team leader's prerogative where to sit, right?"

Things were getting better already!

"… and he caught me in the air by my face and slammed me into the ground. From there things get a little blurry…" Weiss' brow furrowed a little in thought and she shook her head. "I still can't remember exactly. I woke up in another car with Blake and Yang, and we climbed up top with Ruby and Dr. Oobleck, and I had just enough Aura to put up some ice around us to take some of the impact from the crash; you know the rest, you were there."

"Oh my…" Pyrrha looked upon her with concern, wishing more than ever that she'd been with team RWBY on their mission. Weiss had nearly died…twice! And it sounded as though Yang and Ruby had very close calls as well.

"Yeah…" Weiss looked down to her hands where they sat folded in her lap. "You know the funny thing though? I'm a huntress in training, and we were on that train racing toward the city knowing it would bring the Grimm, but when he grabbed me like that and I thought I was going to die it wasn't Vale I was thinking about." She smiled softly and glanced over to Pyrrha. "It was you. I thought about how I was going to miss our date… how I'd never see you again, never get to make you smile again, just when I finally managed to." Her eyes grew misty and she looked back down, lifting a hand to wipe at them.

Pyrrha blushed and fidgeted a little. She didn't know what to say; on the one hand that was hardly becoming for a huntress — she should always put the lives of civilians first — but on the other it set her heart aflutter to hear that what would've been Weiss' final thoughts were of her, that she held Pyrrha so dear as to value her happiness over her own life. It was just so romantic!

The girls were seated on a bench in one of Vale's numerous parks — not the date they had planned, but after Weiss' near-death experience and early return, waiting was unthinkable and something simple where they could just talk suited both.

"Thankfully, that didn't happen," Pyrrha finally replied as she reached to gently take Weiss' hand. "You came back. Here you are, and here I am, and I'm smiling." Indeed she was, though there was a tension there as well. "But… please don't do that again. When we arrived and saw the wreckage and the Grimm, I thought… I feared I'd…, " her voice broke and she shook her head a little.

"Pyrrha?" Weiss turned toward her, looking up to her eyes.

Pyrrha turned as well, to fully face Weiss, lifting her hand to Weiss' shoulder. "I told you, that night at the dance, that nobody sees me for me. I've waited my entire life to meet someone who did, someone who would treat me the same as anybody else, someone to whom I was just Pyrrha. I waited and waited, and I had begun to believe that I would never find someone like that, that I would forever be alone. And then… then I met you, the real you, and now I realise that it isn't what I was waiting for after all. That's part of it, but I was also waiting for someone who… who could understand me, who knew what it's like to be seen for what you are rather than who you are. Someone who knew what it feels like to be burdened by the expectations of everyone you meet, to never have the luxury of anonymity no matter where you may go. Someone… like you."

Pyrrha leaned forward to softly touch her brow to Weiss' and her hand drifted upward a little to cup her cheek. "And then, just when I found you, I almost lost you. I…I don't think I could bear it…" A soft sob shook her body at the thought and she wrapped her other arm around Weiss' shoulders. "So please, Weiss… promise me you won't do that again… that you won't leave me alone…"

It was Weiss' turn to blush at the tender touches and heartfelt words, her own slim arms wrapping around Pyrrha in kind. "Pyrrha, I… you know I can't promise that nothing will ever happen to me, even if I wish I could for you." She pulled back gently, raising a hand to brush hair from Pyrrha's face so she could gaze deeply into her eyes. "But I promise you, with all my heart, if there's anything I can possibly do about it I will never, ever leave you alone." She smiled softly, and after a moment so did Pyrrha.

At first she didn't notice herself being drawn slowly closer to Weiss. It was an odd feeling, not like using Polarity on her own armour — perhaps if someone were made entirely of metal, and she were using it subtly on them, they might feel thus. No, she was too mesmerised by the blue eyes into which she gazed, the warm breath upon her skin, to notice herself drawing closer until she felt the touch of her lips against Weiss'. She gave a slight start, as did Weiss; neither seemed aware of just who had initiated the contact, both blushed profusely.

So soft…

"I'm sorry," Pyrrha murmured.

"N-no, don't… apologise…" Weiss sucked her lip and fidgeted momentarily.

"But-"

Weiss turned and leaned in, pausing just long enough for Pyrrha to turn away or push her aside if she so chose — she did not — before kissing her more fully, her lips cutting off any further words and muffling the little sound of surprise that rose in Pyrrha's throat.

Later, Pyrrha would have to fend off paparazzi even more than usual. Later, rumours would circulate through the entire school that brought even more looks, even more remarks, even more jealousy and of an entirely new sort. Later, she would learn that even her and Weiss' teammates' good natured teasing could grow quite tiresome. But just then, on that bench, nothing mattered but those lips, the girl they belonged to, and the electricity they were sending through Pyrrha's body and soul.

Pyrrha sat forlornly against the wall, lost to her thoughts. How could she not be, with all that was happening? She was the sole remaining Vytal finalist for Beacon after Yang's disqualification, and the pressure and shock and sympathy alone would have been enough but right now they were the least of her concerns. Of far greater import were the secrets Professor Ozpin and the others had revealed to her… and the choice they laid before her.

Maidens? Magic? Fairy tales made real? It was all so mind-boggling, but the worst part… the worst was what they asked of her. To have the Aura of this Amber woman — her very soul — shoved into herself…what would it do to her? How much of Pyrrha would be left? At the start of the year, her decision would have been an easy one… what would it have mattered if there was nothing left of Pyrrha Nikos, when Pyrrha Nikos was nothing more than an embodiment of victory and a tool to save others? She would not have hesitated, would have simply accepted then and there as another step toward the culmination of her destiny, and if the price were herself it would have been a small one. But now… things were different. Now she had friends who cared for her, friends for whom she cared deeply. Now she had hopes and dreams beyond just her destiny. Now…now she had Weiss.

It had been over a month now since the dance, over a month that she and Weiss had officially been dating; not so long in the scheme of things and yet it felt like a whole new life, as though everything before had been a colourless, muted dream. She knew Weiss felt similarly — she'd said as much, but more importantly Pyrrha could see it in her eyes, in her smile, the smile that only came out for her. Would Weiss still smile like that if Amber's Aura changed her? If Pyrrha ceased to be, would Weiss' eyes lose their shine forever? If she rejected Professor Ozpin's request she chose possible danger for all humanity, but she was only his first choice; surely there must be another candidate? If she accepted, she made the choice not only on her own behalf but Weiss' and her friends' as well, without them even knowing. Vacuan roulette to keep terrible power out of dangerous hands… even if the gamble succeeded, could she be forgiven for taking that risk? Would she deserve to be?

So preoccupied was she that Pyrrha didn't notice she wasn't alone until she felt a soft touch upon her shoulder. She blinked several times in rapid succession, looking over to find Weiss looming over her — a rare sight indeed given how she usually towered over her dearest — worry writ large on her face.

"Are you… okay?" Weiss looked into Pyrrha's eyes, as if by looking deep enough she could see the thoughts that so troubled her.

"Weiss." Pyrrha smiled, if only a little, before the sight of her brought the turmoil surging right back, and higher than ever. "I… just have a lot on my mind."

Weiss frowned as she saw the smile fade. "I see that," she replied whilst moving to sit beside Pyrrha and gently, comfortingly taking her hand. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Pyrrha sighed and turned her gaze downward where the breeze teased a few autumn leaves along the ground nearby. "I wish I could, truly. It would make everything so much easier…"

Weiss' worry only grew at that, and she turned and leaned closer, lifting her opposite hand to urge Pyrrha's face to turn and meet her gaze. "Whatever's going on, whatever this is, you can trust me… you know that, right? You don't have to face it alone; I don't care if it's someone from your past or the evil wizard Goldemort or the brothers themselves, I'll be right there beside you." She smiled that smile that said she was trying to reassure Pyrrha, but inside was terrified — it was the same smile she'd worn when she'd first asked Pyrrha to the dance, at the dance.

"Thank you…" Pyrrha found her eyes growing wet. Oh, how she wished she could tell Weiss… she yearned so badly to tell her, to ask what she should do, but how could she? She would sound crazy, and moreover Ozpin and the others were very clear that this was not to be spread. But how could she not and still make this decision? Slowly, she leaned over to rest against Weiss, and the smaller girl wrapped an arm around her and kissed her temple just below her circlet.

"Please, Pyr…," Weiss said after a long silence, "please don't shut me out… I promised I would never leave you alone, remember? What can I do to help?"

"You're already doing it." Pyrrha's eyes drifted closed and a small smile slowly returned to her as she nestled against Weiss, simply basking in her presence. If she accepted the request, it may be one of her final memories after all…

Weiss' expression didn't lighten nearly so much — she couldn't help but enjoy the cuddling, however with whatever was bothering Pyrrha so still a mystery she was ill at ease. Still, she raised her hand to gently stroke Pyrrha's hair, to do what little she could in the circumstances to provide comfort at least. And for quite some time that was how they sat, until Weiss had lost all feeling in one arm and the other burned and she had begun to wonder if Pyrrha had fallen asleep.

"I don't know what to do, Weiss." Pyrrha's voice was barely above a whisper, and quavered with fear.

That in itself sent a chill down Weiss' spine. She had only heard Pyrrha frightened once before, when she had asked Weiss to promise not to leave her alone; what could possibly do so like this that she couldn't speak of? "What do you mean?" It took her a moment to respond, and when she did her voice was soft but betrayed her worry.

Pyrrha sat up straighter, gazing skyward in thought momentarily. "Do you believe in destiny?"

Weiss blinked, not having expected that. "You mean like… fate?" She brought her arms back and pushed herself up a little, suppressing a wince as returning feeling brought pins and needles.

Pyrrha shook her head. "When I think of destiny, I don't think of a predetermined fate you can't escape. But rather… some sort of final goal, something you work towards your entire life."

"Oh. Well, I've never heard it put that way before but yeah, I believe in that."

"Well… what would you do if something came along that you… never expected? Something that had the potential to stand between you and your destiny?" Pyrrha glanced to Weiss as she spoke, her voice growing more nervous toward the end.

"Uh… depends on the something?" Weiss looked terribly confused.

Pyrrha didn't quite wait for Weiss to answer fully before continuing. "Or what if you could suddenly fulfil your destiny in an instant, but at the cost of who you were?"

"Whoa, Pyrrha, slow down! You're really scaring me now… seriously, what's going on?" Weiss reached for her arm, to lay a calming touch there, but Pyrrha stood and stepped away, holding herself and trembling.

"I'm scared too, Weiss… this isn't how things were supposed to happen."

Weiss rose as well and took a tentative step closer, practically in tears. "Then let me help you! Tell me what's wrong, what this is all about… tell me something, please…I don't want to lose you…" She gesticulated as she spoke, her voice breaking toward the end as her hand moved to clutch at her heart.

Pyrrha took a deep, steadying breath. "I've always felt as though I was destined to become a Huntress — to protect the world…," she sighed, "and it's become increasingly clear to me that my feelings were right. But…" she turned back toward Weiss, her eyes shining with tears, "…I don't know if I can do it."

Weiss frowned, then shook her head resolutely. "No."

Pyrrha was taken aback by that, both the speed of the answer and the certainty with which it had been given. Did… Weiss not believe she had what it took to be a Huntress? "No?"

"No. That's not what's bothering you," Weiss declared, stepping closer, close enough to reach out and touch her now. "You wouldn't be here at all, acing every class, if you didn't know you wanted to be a Huntress. You were already doing that last week and you weren't feeling conflicted like this. This is something new, something in the last few days." She slowly reached out to take Pyrrha's hands lest she withdraw again. "Please, just trust me… I've been trusted with corporate and state secrets, whatever it is, I promise you it stays between us."

Pyrrha hesitated — how much could she say? She had to say something… Weiss had a right to know, as much pain as it could cause her — before finally, carefully speaking. "I've been given an offer… an offer that carries a great deal of responsibility and the potential to fulfil my destiny immediately, to protect the world from enormous danger…"

Weiss held Pyrrha's gaze, peering through emerald windows to the soul beyond in search of what she wasn't saying. "But?"

"But… it also carries significant risk. I would be targeted by great evil all my life, and…" Pyrrha hesitated, but Weiss only waited, her eyes imploring Pyrrha to continue. "And by accepting the offer… I may lose my soul…"

Weiss blinked. "Lose your soul? You mean like… it's a really sketchy deal?" Her eyes narrowed. "Wait, is this something my father is doing?"

Pyrrha shook her head. "No, Weiss… I mean my actual soul… the Pyrrha you know may cease to exist…"

Weiss' eyes widened and she paled, no small feat for someone so white already. "Cease to… N-no! No, that isn't fair! Why would you do that!?"

"If I don't, the world will be in grave danger. You will be in grave danger."

"Then we can face it together! There must be another way, someone else that can take that responsibility! General Ironwood, o-or Professor Ozpin, or-!"

"They can't." Pyrrha stepped closer to wrap Weiss in an embrace and buried her face in the shorter girl's hair, her voice breaking with a sob.

"Someone can! There has to be someone!!" Weiss was frantic now. "Please, Pyr… don't do this… there are other ways to reach your destiny. I'll help you get there, I swear I will… I-I'll do anything, just please don't throw your life away…" She sniffled against Pyrrha's chest, clinging to her and trembling.

That was it then. She couldn't do that to Weiss, not after everything she'd done, after she'd given Pyrrha the one thing she never had: real happiness. "Alright…," she whispered, absolutely drained. She gave Weiss a gentle squeeze and nuzzled her hair. "I'll tell them tomorrow… I'll tell them… that they need to find someone else…" She couldn't help the guilt from seeping into her voice.

"Thank you…" The tension melting off Weiss was palpable — not all of it, certainly not, but the greater part; she trusted Pyrrha not to lie to her.

I'm sorry, Professor… I'm so, so sorry…

This was madness. Absolute, unthinkable madness. Grimm and White Fang attacking the festival, working together somehow? It simply wasn't possible!

She'd been in the stands with Jaune, Nora, and Ren, watching Pyrrha's match and cheering her on, as much as she could muster cheer after their earlier conversation. In all honesty she had wished Pyrrha's name hadn't been called — Pyrrha felt the same, she knew, but the matches were random and alas she had been — and they could have just gone back to the dorms to rest; the others would understand that she needed to stay with Pyrrha tonight, their relationship was no secret. Nevertheless, everything had been going well enough; even fatigued by her lack of sleep and emotional state, even with her mind in turmoil, Pyrrha was winning and then… and then someone did something to Pyrrha that made her kill that poor girl Penny — she never would've done it intentionally, not ever, of that Weiss was absolutely certain. Then Ruby was there, and General Ironwood, and before she knew it she was on a ship with everyone else headed for Beacon to join the fight. Now here she was, gliding on glyphs past Jaune as he slashed at an ursa, past Pyrrha cleaving through several beowolves, to skewer a boarbatusk with her blade.

"This is crazy!" Weiss moved to regroup with JNPR at a quick step. "Since when do Grimm work with people!?"

"Since today apparently," Sun replied, leading his team over to join them.

A roar from above drew their attention to a great wyvern passing overhead, dropping globs of a viscous black goo in the courtyard nearby. Almost as soon as they splattered upon the ground, Grimm began to rise from their inky depths.

"Oh, come on!" Jaune gestured in exasperation at the newly-formed group beginning to charge them.

"Aw, don't be like that; just think of it as team building!," Nora replied with a laugh, launching a grenade into the midst of the Grimm.

Weiss was more inclined to agree with Jaune, especially once she saw the look in Pyrrha's eyes as their gazes met. That look wasn't just worried, or stressed, or even frightened… that look was apologetic. This had something to do with the 'great evil' or 'enormous danger' Pyrrha mentioned before, or at least she thought it did.

Pyrrha looked away then and wilted a little; Weiss began to step closer when a shot whizzed past her face. She looked to see a squad of Atlesian Knights firing on the students — really!? Now their allies were turning on them too? — and launched a few ice shards at them, then turned back to Pyrrha only to find that she was no longer there.

"Pyrrha?" Fear gripped Weiss' heart and she cast her gaze around frantically.

"Where's she going?," she heard Nora say, spinning to follow her friend's gaze. There! Pyrrha was approaching Ozpin at the base of the CCT tower.

"I'll go with her!," Weiss called back over her shoulder, already at a run to catch up; she wasn't about to let Pyrrha go off on her own — and as far as she was concerned, right now, if she wasn't with Weiss or her teammates, she was on her own.

"Miss Schnee," Ozpin looked at her over his glasses, his voice serious rather than its usual friendly tone, "you will be most helpful out there with the others."

"So will Pyrrha," Weiss countered just as firmly, "or is there something you're not telling me, Professor?"

Ozpin glanced to Pyrrha, who looked away sadly. "Miss Nikos has a different role to play, I'm afraid."

"Then so do I."

"Miss Schnee-"

"Where she goes, I go." Weiss gave the professor her very best glare, just like Winter taught her.

Ozpin held her gaze impassively for a moment, then huffed. "We haven't the time for this. Very well, this way." He turned and led them to the lift.

As they walked, Weiss looked over to Pyrrha meaningfully, only for Pyrrha to turn her eyes away guiltily. Weiss frowned. "This is it, isn't it?," she whispered; Pyrrha hung her head, all the answer she needed. "Don't do this!"

"I have to," Pyrrha whispered back dejectedly. "Look at what's happening out there."

"That doesn't mean-!"

"Ahem," Ozpin gave Weiss a very disapproving look — one she gave right back — as he ushered them through the door. "Miss Schnee, I will thank you not to make this any more difficult for Miss Nikos than it already is."

Weiss' eyes widened with outrage at that, and as they began to descend she exploded. "I'm making it difficult!? What about you!? You're the one asking her to do whatever this is, risking her soul, keeping everything so secret she can't even talk to the people she loves about what's going on!!"

"Miss Sch-"

"You're the one that wants to put her in constant danger for the rest of her life!! You're the one asking a teenage girl to take the fate of the world in her hands!! But you don't even care, do you!? You don't even care what that does to her!! You don't even care if she's still Pyrrha!! You don't care what happens to her!! You don't care about her at all, you just want your protector!!"

Weiss was trembling with fury, seething; Pyrrha was shocked, her hands covering her mouth.

"Are you finished?," Ozpin asked calmly after a silent moment. When he received no response save Weiss' livid glare, he sighed. "Your accusations are not without some merit, Miss Schnee. Indeed I have asked these things of Miss Nikos," he looked to Pyrrha apologetically, "and it is my failure that has led us into the present situation. For that I am truly sorry. However," he took both girls in with his gaze, "my guilt does not change the circumstances, and the simple truth is that we have run out of time. You may hate me if you wish, you may lay your blame upon me, I will not deny its due, but the enemy is at the gate and whether or not any of us survive to see morning may well hinge upon this decision." The weight of his words hung in the air briefly before a soft ding announced the stopping of the lift.

"We are not finished!," Weiss snapped at Ozpin with a pointed finger for emphasis before turning to run alongside Pyrrha toward a pair of strange pods on the other side of the enormous vault. Why was there a massive vault here? What could a school possibly need something like this for? Why was there another girl in one of the pods!?

"No, Miss Schnee, I didn't expect we were…," Ozpin murmured mostly to himself before dashing off with the girls.

Weiss looked warily toward the pod with the unconscious girl, then to Pyrrha. "Are you sure about this? You heard him, he screws up; maybe he's wrong now!"

Pyrrha shook her head. "I can't take that chance… you saw what's going on; if it continues all of Vale will be destroyed. I'm sorry, Weiss… I have to do this."

They slowed to a stop as they reached the pods and Weiss tearfully took Pyrrha's hands in her own, gazing up into her eyes. "Pyr, please… I can't lose you…"

Pyrrha smiled down to her, her own eyes glistening wetly. "Then be my anchor… believe in me, and hold me here."

"Always." Weiss choked up, returning her smile despite the fear.

"Miss Nikos… it's time to choose." Ozpin stood at the controls for the pods, looking toward the girls. Pyrrha took a deep, steadying breath, then nodded. "Thank you." Ozpin pressed a button and the second pod opened. "Then, if you please?"

Pyrrha began to turn toward the pod, but Weiss held her arm. "Wait."

"Miss Schnee, this isn't the-"

Weiss leapt up to kiss Pyrrha deeply, catching her by surprise, then sinking back to her tiptoes as Pyrrha leaned over with her. For a long moment they stayed there, then finally Weiss pulled back. "To help anchor you." Pyrrha smiled and gave her a little nod, then turned and climbed into the pod, which closed over her.

Weiss turned to Ozpin. "If this is her last memory, it's going to be a good one," she murmured softly, moving over then. "This better work."

"I sincerely hope it does," Ozpin replied. "If you'd like to help, make sure nothing happens to the pods until the transfer is completed."

Weiss nodded, drawing her weapon and summoning a number of glyphs around the pods, gravity to turn aside any projectiles and ice to trap anyone who might try and approach — or which she could activate to create a barrier if need be.

Ozpin pressed a few more buttons, then looked to Pyrrha. "Are you ready?" She gave a small, slow nod. "I… need to hear you say it." Weiss shot him a look.

Don't act like you suddenly care. One way or another you're going to make this up to her.

Pyrrha took a deep breath. "Yes."

"Very well." Ozpin pressed a few more buttons and the other pod raised up, an orange glow suffusing the unconscious girl and her eyelids beginning to flutter. The glow travelled along the pipes connecting the pods, then surrounded Pyrrha, who begun to scream in agony.

"PYRRHA!!" Weiss' eyes were wide with panic and she stepped toward Pyrrha's pod, but was stopped by Ozpin, who looked away sadly. "I'm… so sorry."

Weiss frantically tried to push past, to no avail, then shoved herself away from him. "Sorry!? You're sorry!? What does that mean!? What-!?"

The sound of glass being pierced followed immediately by a dull thunk drew their attention to the other pod, where the shaft of a black arrow stood out from the glass. Weiss' breath caught in her throat; she was supposed to protect the pods… what would happen if something interrupted the process? Would Pyrrha be lost for certain?

Oh no… oh no, no no no please gods no!

For a few agonising heartbeats, everything felt like it was moving in slow motion. Weiss called a half-dozen glyphs to fully cover the pod as she rushed to look. The arrow had buried itself in the back of the pod, having nicked the unconscious girl's ear along the way — a small trickle of blood was just beginning to stain her neck.

Weiss released the breath she hadn't realised she held, just in time for another arrow to break through her glyph and slam into her shoulder, what would've been a heart—piercing shot adjusted for the effects of her gravity glyph. Even with her Aura it spun her around and threw her against the pod, and she saw Ozpin rushing forward, his cane held much as she would her rapier, to engage their assailant. Faintly over the sound of her own hammering heart and Pyrrha's soul-wrenching screams she heard him calling out to her to protect the pods.

Until my very last breath.

She activated the ice glyphs to form a wall between the pods and the duel, risking a glance over at Pyrrha's pod — those screams tore at her heart… oh, how she wished to never hear their like — and the control panel with all its holographic buttons and readouts.

No… no, this wasn't right. She didn't know how to operate this machine; she didn't even know what this machine was. Professor Ozpin should be here so that he could monitor its progress and make sure everything went well, so that he could respond to complications and keep Pyrrha… Pyrrha. It should be Weiss out there keeping that woman at bay.

Weiss took a deep breath, then called a glyph to propel her up and over the ice wall and another to launch herself sword-first toward the woman — Cinder? But why? — who easily evaded the attack.

"What are you doing!? I told you to protect the pods!"

"I know, but I don't know how to use that thing!" Weiss parried a strike and dodged another, but it was very clear to her that she was no match for Cinder alone, only given room to breathe by Ozpin's counterattack landing solidly. If Ozpin relented and left her to fight, the only victory she could hope to find was to hold out long enough for the transfer to finish. "Pyrrha needs you back there."

"But-"

Weiss turned a pleading look to her headmaster. "I've got this." If I don't… make it worth it. Make sure she comes out herself.

Ozpin hesitated, but nodded — whether he cared about how important this was to her or just didn't think it was worth the argument she couldn't say — and withdrew, leaping over the ice wall with the aid of a glyph.

"Is that so?"

Weiss turned back to Cinder, who circled slowly, flourishing her obsidian scimitars. "That's right. I don't care who you are, you're not getting to those pods. Not while I'm alive."

"Oh," Cinder smirked, "well I guess I'll just have to kill you then." She pounced like lightning, her blades weaving a deadly pattern through the air. Weiss desperately gave ground and parried, but even so Cinder's blades slashed at her Aura; she couldn't find time, let alone an opening, to attack.

This won't work! You can't just keep retreating, she'll have you too soon!

Weiss leapt back as far as she could, creating an ice glyph in front of her as she did so — Cinder punished her for the lapse in defence, even with Aura she felt that one — and trapped her opponent's feet; it bought her only a moment before Cinder freed herself with a cut, but enough time to call up more glyphs and rapidly launch herself from one to the next to the next, striking a blinding flurry from dizzying angles. She landed a decent hit, a pair of grazing blows… everything else was intercepted by Cinder's flashing blades, which lashed out at Weiss during her assault as well; she took as many hits as she gave.

"This is how you're going to stop me?" Cinder's tone dripped amusement. "You should just take down your little wall and leave, you're not even worth killing."

"Never." Weiss feinted a high thrust at Cinder's throat, dropping it to her abdomen at the last instant; she was rewarded with a parry and a cut to her sword arm… her Aura was getting low now, she could feel it. "I won't let you touch her!"

"'Her' is it? How sweet." Cinder chuckled, throwing a quick flurry to break Weiss' defence and nip at her Aura a bit more, then viciously kicking her in her exposed middle and sending her to the floor. "Last chance… drop it and I'll kill her quickly. If I have to kill you… I'll make her suffer."

Weiss clenched her teeth and scrambled to her feet — Cinder let her, she knew… she was playing with her — and held her weapon at the ready once more, calling up one last glyph. This was it. This was her last stand, her last trick, her last chance to stall, to put up a fight, to hold Cinder off for a few more seconds. I hope it's enough… please be enough. "She would never forgive me if I gave up."

Cinder frowned. "Have it your way." She spun her swords once, then rushed in like lightning, no longer playing, but something was different. Every slash was met with a parry and a blindingly fast riposte, not all of which she managed to catch. "What?"

Weiss pushed herself to the limit: thrust, parry, parry, riposte, slash — she even threw in a kick here and there — but it was a pace she couldn't maintain. Her time dilation glyph was one of her best, but came with a terrible drawback… the instant it wore off, she would be slowed to a crawl, absolutely defenceless in the face of Cinder's wrath, and her Aura was nearly gone. When her speed ran out, her life ran out.

Make the most of it, make it count! This is for Pyrrha!

She pushed Cinder back, back away from the ice wall, back toward the lift, chipping at her Aura all the while. For those few glorious moments Weiss felt as though she might actually pull it off, as though she might, against all odds, defeat this demon and save her princess like some sort of storybook hero. But this was not a storybook, it was reality; she was not a hero, she was but a student; and her princess was not waiting to be saved so they could live happily ever after, she was screaming in unspeakable pain when she could draw breath at all as her soul was torn asunder and stitched back together.

The slow-motion of the world began to speed back up.

No, not yet!

Cinder's movements rapidly accelerated to match Weiss' speed…

Please, just a little more time!

…then surpass it…

No! No, they're not done yet!

And suddenly the world was a blur to Weiss, and Cinder the blurriest of all.

I'm sorry, Pyr… I'm so sorry…

Weiss couldn't even tell which blows landed first, or how many there were for that matter. Her Aura shattered like so much glass and the swords bit deeply into her, throwing her back with a cry to land in a limp heap as her own weapon skittered away.

I tried… I gave everything I had… until my… last… breath…

The ice wall crumbled and fell, and as its rumbles and the echoes of Weiss' voice faded, for a brief moment the vault was silent. No sounds of combat… no agonised screams. Cinder stalked over toward the pods, hidden in the fog left by the dissipated ice.

"You should leave."

Ozpin's voice stopped Cinder in her tracks, her blades held at guard before her. "And why would I do that?"

"Because you're too late." Ozpin stepped forward so that she could see him in the fog. "The transfer is complete. There is a new Fall Maiden, one who will not be so easily bested." His gaze darkened. "And that," he gestured to the still form of Weiss, "is the girl she loves."

Cinder tensed. Fighting a new half-Maiden was one thing… fighting one who was enraged and out for her head whilst also fighting Ozpin, with a damaged Aura, and finishing it before reinforcements could arrive was something else entirely. A growl rose in her throat. "This is not over."

"No, I don't suspect it is."

Cinder glared, then turned and ran for the lift.

Once Cinder was gone Ozpin relaxed and sighed, looking mournfully to the fallen Weiss, to the pod where Pyrrha lay unconscious. It was fortunate the ice wall's passing had left that fog… although defeated Weiss had succeeded. He went to check on her — still breathing, but barely… faint and ragged, and that was a lot of blood — then took out his scroll and called General Ironwood.

"Oz?"

"It's done."

"You mean…"

"Yes… the procedure was successful, but…"

"But?"

"We need a medical team, immediately. A very good one."

"Of course." There was a brief pause. "They're on the way now. What happened?"

"There was an… altercation. A student was gravely injured… I don't know that she'll survive."

Ironwood's countenance fell. "I'm sorry. It wasn't-"

"No, the Maiden is secure. But James…"

"Hmm?"

"Your adjutant may wish to be here as well."

Ironwood looked puzzled. "Winter? Why would she-," then it struck him and his eyes widened slightly. "You mean… oh no."

"I'm afraid so."

"… Nikos?"

Pyrrha sat in Professor Ozpin’s temporary office - his normal one had been damaged in the battle and not yet repaired — with her head hanging, a pensive look upon her face.

"Are you alright?"

With her, aside from Ozpin himself, were General Ironwood, Professor Goodwitch, and Winter Schnee, who had been admitted at the General’s insistence given the near-fatal incident with her sister; to say she was unhappy would be a great understatement.

"Miss Nikos?"

Finally Pyrrha lifted her head to meet Ozpin’s gaze and found all eyes on her, with concerned expressions.

"I was asking you how you’re feeling?"

"Oh. I’m sorry. I feel… horrible."

The others shared a glance.

"Your vitals are all excellent…," Professor Goodwitch noted.

"And your Aura is strong and shows no sign of degradation from the procedure," added the General.

Pyrrha shook her head. "No, not… physically…"

"Ah." Ozpin tented his fingers. "You’re referring to Miss Schnee."

Pyrrha nodded morosely.

"What happened… wasn’t your fault. She made a choice, as did you; she insisted on accompanying you, and when Cinder Fall presented a threat, she insisted that I monitor the procedure to give you the best chance of a positive outcome." A small, sad smile came to him. "She cares a great deal for you, Miss Nikos… though her injuries are regrettable, we were very fortunate she was there."

Winter grew visibly more upset seemingly by the word, finally losing her decorum. "Fortunate? You were fortunate!? If you had anywhere near the security you should for something so important Cinder Fall never would have seen that vault, let alone-!"

"Schnee!" Ironwood barked the name with the sternness befitting his rank, and Winter’s tirade immediately ceased with an audible click of her teeth as her jaw clenched. He gave her a disapproving look, then turned his gaze to Ozpin.

"My apologies for her outburst, Oz; it won’t happen again." He glanced back to Winter at that last before returning his attention to his fellow headmaster. "That said, she’s right. We’ve been on the back foot for too long, that’s become painfully clear. Amber, the CCT tower, Mountain Glenn, and now this, an attack in broad daylight on the Vytal Festival?"

Ozpin frowned. "What are you saying, James?"

"I’m saying it’s time we go on the offensive."

Glynda’s eyes widened. "You want to start a war?"

"We’re already at war!"

"A shadow war, not open combat!"

"Don’t be naïve!," Ironwood exclaimed, gesturing to the window for emphasis. "Look out there. Do you see that smoke? Those are people’s homes, people’s lives. Your people! How many died over the past two days? How many students did you lose?" He turned to Pyrrha. "How many friends?"

Her breath caught for a moment. Thankfully, none of her team had been lost, nor team RWBY, but some of the others… she’d seen faces she knew among the fallen. Faces she would never see again. A hand rose to cover her mouth at the thought.

"That isn’t fair, don’t bring her into this," Glynda protested.

"She’s already in it," Ironwood countered, and they all knew he was right. She was already in it… whether she wanted to be or not, she would be in it for the rest of her life. She was their new Fall Maiden, intrinsically linked to this conflict. He turned back to Ozpin. "I know it sounds like I’m blaming this all on you. I’m not; my ship was taken too, my Knights and Paladins killed some of those people out there. Their blood is on my hands, and I’ll never forgive myself for it. As soon as I get back to Atlas, the entire force is getting refitted; this will never happen again."

"Then how do you expect to fight your war?" Ozpin arched a brow.

"Our war. They won’t be out of commission for long. In the meantime the most promising students in the Specialist program can be fast-tracked."

"Your war. I’m afraid I cannot condone this, James; it will only bring more panic, and panic is already higher than ever after this latest attack."

Ironwood sighed. "I’m not asking permission, Oz. I’d like for you to join me in this — you know her better than anyone — but the war is here. If you want to hide and wait for her to come for you, that’s fine; Atlas is taking the fight to her." He turned to Pyrrha then. "What about you, Miss Nikos?"

Pyrrha didn’t know all of what they were talking about — who was this ‘her’ they kept referring to? — but she knew some… she knew enough.

But they talked over her anyway. "She needs to stay here," Ozpin replied firmly.

Weiss wasn’t staying here, she was being taken home to Atlas for treatment.

"Shouldn’t she have the choice?," countered Ironwood.

Professor Ozpin had told her she had a choice.

"I want to go…"

"She is the Fall Maiden, she must remain here; you know that."

Pyrrha stood up. "I’m going to Atlas." The General gave her a small smile and a nod.

Ozpin, on the other hand, looked over his glasses in that manner by which elders would explain to the youth why something they didn’t like was for their own good. "Miss Nikos…I’m sorry, but that simply isn’t possible. You must understand the pivotal role you now play in safeguarding the world, and to play that role you must stay nearby so that we can protect you."

"Except you can’t, can you?" Pyrrha felt her heartbeat quickening. "You couldn’t even protect me in the heart of Beacon when you stood beside me yourself, Weiss had to-" Her voice broke as her melancholy began to give way to the hurt and anger she’d been suppressing. Anger at Cinder Fall for nearly killing her dear Weiss, at Cinder's associates for actually killing so many others and destroying so much of this place she’d come to call home. Anger at Ozpin for his failure to protect them, for allowing this to happen, both to Beacon and to Weiss. But most of all by far, anger at herself… for allowing herself to be deceived and bringing the Grimm to Vale, for heeding the Professor’s request and bringing Weiss down to that place, for being too weak to complete the transfer sooner. Weiss had been right, she could have done more good on the surface; all that she did in that vault was scream and pass out, and the worst of the battle was over by the time she awoke. Perhaps if she’d listened and rejected Ozpin’s request, she could’ve saved some of those lost. Perhaps Weiss wouldn’t now be lying in a hospital bed fighting to stay alive.

Pyrrha took a breath to calm herself. "General Ironwood is right, no fight can be won by defence alone."

"Miss Nikos-"

"I will be far safer surrounded by the Atlesian military than I will be here."

"Pyrrha-," Glynda began.

"I am going!" The others seemed shocked, though the General less so. Not because Maidenfire had suddenly flared up around her eye, except in Winter’s case — no, that was to be expected when a newly-minted Maiden became emotional — but because soft-spoken Pyrrha, chosen in part for her malleability, was shouting her defiance.

Ozpin sighed. "There is nothing I can do to dissuade you?" Perhaps in his many lifetimes, he had grown too far detached from humanity to account for just how strongly a teenage girl’s heartstrings could bond to another.

Pyrrha shook her head. "I’m afraid not." She turned her gaze to Ironwood. "It’s as you said: we are at war, I am already involved. But to win a war you need soldiers. I don’t know who this enemy is, but I know that Cinder Fall is among them and she has the other half of this power inside me; let me be your champion and take it back." Let me make her pay for what she’s done!

Pyrrha’s understanding of what soldiers were might be a little out of date — several thousand years or so — but it still elicited a smile and a chuckle from Ironwood. "Atlas will be glad to have you."

"I’m sorry to hear that." Ozpin sighed, seeming somehow older. "Then it seems we have no more to discuss. Good luck in your new home, Miss Nikos."

Pyrrha gave him a slow nod, then turned to leave along with Ironwood and Winter.

"Oh, and Miss Nikos?"

Pyrrha stopped just before stepping past the doors, half-turning to look back to the headmaster.

"Do be careful."

His words, or rather his tone, sent a shiver down Pyrrha’s spine — she couldn’t say why — but she tried not to dwell on it as she turned back to step on with the Atlesians, making a point not to meet Ozpin’s gaze as the doors closed.

[the-killer-queenie]

Good Impression (Tommi Lalli x reader)

Inspired by this video and by suggestions of a couple of anons, I presented you all this Tommi/reader fic

Words: 1438

English is not my native language so sorry for the mistakes/typos you might found.

Note: for the sake of the story, let’s pretend Tommi lives in Helsinki and not in Oulu.

Hope y'all enjoy it!☺️

Tommi’s parents have invited you to spend the weekend at their house since it was going to be Tommi’s grandma's birthday and there would be a family reunion to celebrate it back in Oulu.

You hadn’t really ever left Helsinki or its surroundings, your work and studies tying you to the capital, so you were pretty excited to have this mini road trip all the way up to Tommi’s natal city and to get to know his family. It wasn’t exactly a “meet the parents” situation, since you’ve already met them one time when they were in the city visiting Tommi. So you weren’t extremely nervous although the usual bad scenarios popped up in your mind from time to time.

The night before leaving, you were sitting on the floor of your shared bedroom, still trying to pack your bag. Tommi was on his phone, already laying in bed, since you planned on leaving early in the morning.

“Babe, which blouse should I take, this green one or the black one?” you asked, showing both options to him.

“I’d much prefer you without one,” Tommi said without looking up from his phone.

“Always the tease,” you said as you decided on one of them and put it on your bag.

“Remember it’s only a weekend though and it won’t be that fancy of an event…”

“I know, but I just want to make sure I leave a good impression,” you replied as you closed your bag, deciding you already had everything you’ll need for the weekend.

Having finished packing, you crawled into bed next to Tommi, who left his phone on the nightstand and wrapped his arm around you.

“There’s no way you won’t be leaving nothing but a good impression, prinsessa” Tommi whispered in your ear as you drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, you woke up to an empty space next to you and to sounds coming from the kitchen. Someone was not wasting any time. After having some quick breakfast Tommi had prepared and loading your bags in the trunk of the car, you were ready to leave.

“Ready kulta?” Tommi asked as he put his sunglasses on.

“Ready Tommi-bear.” you answered as you opened the music app on your phone. You have spent the week prior crafting a playlist to blast through the road trip. It had some of yours and Tommi’s favourite songs plus some duet worthy songs, since you weren’t oblivious of the fact that Tommi had a beautiful voice. So of course you didn’t waste any chance you got of hearing it.

“Ok, here we go,” he said as you pressed shuffle on the playlist.

The first song that came through the car’s speakers was Dancing Queen by ABBA. Tommi chuckled. “I thought you made the playlist, not Aleksi,” he ironically said, commenting on how the dark haired DJ plays that song on concerts, soundchecks and pretty much whenever he gets the chance.

“Hey, it’s a good song.” you said and started singing along. Tommi smiled and eventually joined in.

After a couple of duets passed by, you suddenly shut up, leaving Tommi singing on his own. He didn’t realise it wasn’t a duet anymore until a couple of minutes later, when he turned his sight from the road to you, who were softly smiling at him.

“What?” Tommi asked, and you could swear he slightly blushed.

“You should sing more often, you know?”

“Oh shut up,”

“I really mean it! Maybe I should text Niko or Joel…”

You told him how his voice was really lovely and soothing but he just brushed it off, although you could see a little smirk growing on his face.

The ride went really well and smoothly. You both chatted about everything and nothing, music playing on the back as you made sure to get some chill songs besides the karaoke worthy ones.

Since Tommi had made the road countless times, mostly because of Blind Channel gigs, he recounted some funny stories with the boys as some places you were driving though made him remember about them. Of course, the anecdotes were nothing but pure Blind Channel chaos which had you laughing up to the point of crying.

Speaking of Blind Channel, you had thrown into the mix one or two of their songs so when they came into the shuffle, you headbanged like there wasn’t a tomorrow and randomly played air drums, trying to copy Tommi’s moves when on stage, which made him laugh out loud.

“Maybe I could give you some drum lessons when we go back,” he said while tapping his fingers to the beat of the song.

You bit your lip. The image of you sitting on his lap while giving you drum lessons presented you with thousands of thoughts that you decided to keep for yourself, at least until you got back to your apartment back in Helsinki.

As you were getting closer to Oulu, you asked Tommi who he thought would be at his grandma’s party. Tommi started listing an incredible number of people, describing them and telling how they were related. Basically giving you a sort of brief of his family. But as the list grew, your nerves too started to rise up.

You passed through a sign telling you were now entering Oulu and you became quieter and started mindlessly tapping your foot. Tommi noticed the sudden change of the atmosphere.

“Hey, you’re gonna make a hole on the car’s floor if you keep with the tapping,” he said, trying to bring up the lively spirit again.

You giggle and stop with the tapping, but remained silent while looking at the passing scenery through the window.

“Nervous?” Tommi asked.

“Yeah, I guess... I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m really excited to meet your family but at the same time there’s this voice in my head sort of panicking and questioning ``what if they don’t like me?´´” you confessed to him.

“Well, then I guess I’ll have to cut ties with them if they don’t like you,” he replied with a straight face.

You gave Tommi a playful punch on his arm.

“No, but in all seriousness, I can’t think of a simple reason they won’t like you. You know, I haven’t told you this but my parents didn’t do anything but praise you after meeting you. And I’m sure they already passed on their stamp of approval to the rest of the family,” he reassured you.

Tommi’s words comforted you and made you relax a little. You turned up the music and tried to enjoy the last couple of kilometres you got left of the trip.

You finally arrived at Tommi’s parents house, who were waiting for you on the porch. They greeted you both and asked how the trip was. But before you could answer, an old lady came out of the house, calling Tommi’s name. It was his grandmother. You recognized her from some family photos Tommi had shown you ahead of the trip. She made her way up to where you were all standing and you couldn’t help but melt at the sight of the height difference between her and Tommi when she went for a hug.

“So you’re the young lady that stole my Tommi,” the woman said as she turned around to look at you. You gulped, not sure if she was being serious or just messing with you. She must have seen the panic in your face as she clarified with a laugh, “I’m only joking. For what I see, he’s actually the lucky one,” she said with a warm smile. You blushed at the woman’s words and thanked her while allowing yourself to loosen up a little.

Tommi’s mum invited you to come into the house, since she had prepared something for both of you to eat after the long journey. As Tommi took out your bags from the car, the old lady intertwined her arm with yours and slowly began walking towards the house.

“Now, we have many things to chat about that grandson of mine. Like, have you noticed his nose…” she started saying, lowering her voice as if it were a confidence only you were allowed to hear.

“Ei, mummo, not again…” Tommi groaned, interrupting her while escorting both of you on the way into the house.

You just giggled and continued to listen to the old lady’s complaints of his grandson's features. You might disagree with her on that but as you start approaching the house, you started to feel at ease and though to yourself that it will be a fun weekend.

Ei, mummo = No, grandma (thanks duolingo)

yeah, sorry if the end sucked but I really wanted to make the reference to the q&a video.

[notmaplemable]

Who were you, Pyrrha Nikos?

Yang relaxed on her bed, playing a game on her scroll. Weiss was studying and forcing Ruby to do so along side her, and Blake was half asleep trying to read some of her dirty books.

A knocking came on the door as Weiss groaned.

Weiss: I swear if that's Arc again-

Ruby: Be nice to Jaune! *Pouts* At least he actually asks you out.

Yang: Are one of you gonna get the door?

Ruby: I'll get it!

Ruby opened the door.

Ruby: Oh hey Py- ... What was that?

The person at the door whispered something Yang couldn't hear.

Ruby: Wait you're gonna- Oh Oh, sure I'll get her. Yang it's for you!

Yang: Who is it?

Ruby: Oh you know, someone very cool and super datable. ... What do you mean I'm not helping?

Yang: Rrriiiggghhhttt.

Yang hopped off her bunk to answer the mystery person at the door. Expecting to find some random guy, or lady, trying to ask her to the dance. She'd have to turn them down of course. She was the hostess and would probably end up mingling most of the dance anyways.

That and she was hoping for someone in particular to ask her.

Opening the door again she found someone she didn't quite expect to see. Pyrrha Nikos, with Jaune standing behind her. She was blushing for whatever reason and waving awkwardly.

Pyrrha: Hi Yang.

Yang: Umm hey P-money, what do you need me for? It's a bit late to spar.

Pyrrha: Well you see- I was thinking- Perhaps you would- If you would lik- I... I'm sorry!!!

Pyrrha turned around, face now matching her hair, and attempted to Ruby out of the situation. Jaune catching her, turning her back around, and whispering to her.

Jaune: Come on Pyrrha, just like we practiced.

Yang: Okay? I'm waiting.

Pyrrha: ...

Pyrrha: ...

Pyrrha: ...

Pyrrha: I like your boobs!

Jaune: *Facepalm*

Pyrrha: A-a-and I think they would look very nice in a dress while we're at the dance. When I go with you. Youknowasgirlfriends... I mean as my date!

Yang: You're asking me out to the dance?

Pyrrha: *Nods*

Yang: Sure, I'd love to go with you.

Pyrrha: *Squeak* Really?

Pyrrha: I mean, really?

Yang: Yeah, it'll be fun. I'll make sure to wear something that'll give you a good look at the girls too. *winks*

Pyrrha: *Literally collapses back into Jaune's arms*

Did you leave friends, or a dear sweetheart behind?

Jaune and Ruby watched Pyrrha and Yang dance after Jaune gave Pyrrha a quick pep talk.

Ruby: Looks like everything is going to plan.

Jaune: Yep.

Ruby: And now we're here in the awkward corner by the punch again.

Jaune: *Chuckles* I guess we are. Can I have my punch back?

Ruby: Oh yeah, sure.

Jaune: *About to take a drink* Wait, is there less punch in here than there was when I gave it to you?

Ruby: *Blushing* No I don't think so.

Jaune: Huh, well if you say so. *Takes a sip*

Ruby: *Thinking* Indirect kiss!!!

In some faithful heart is your memory enshrined?

In the dull morning light of their hotel room, Yang looked up at Pyrrha. Her girlfriend still sleeping soundly as Yang cuddled close to her.

Yang always treasured these quiet moments. As much as most people would be surprised to hear that from her. As a huntress you never knew how many of them you would get. Her mother could tell you that it's often far too little.

So Yang let Pyrrha sleep. She always looked so peaceful when she did. Like the weight of fame and destiny were lifted from her shoulders completely.

Yang smiled and kissed Pyrrha softly on the cheek. She wished that this moment could stretch on for an eternity.

In that faithful heart will you be forever 18?

Jaune entered Yang's hospital room, with her uncle Qrow following closely behind. Leaning on the doorframe.

Yang watched Jaune closely. Looking for his reaction or anything that could tell her what he about to say. He'd been crying. His hair was still unwashed and messy, though he'd changed out of his hoodie and into a plain t-shirt.

He stood next to her bed. On her left side. Her good side now, she supposed.

Jaune: Hey Yang. How are you doing?

Yang: I lost an arm and I feel like shit.

Jaune: ...

Yang: Sorry. Just... Just tell me what you came here to.

Jaune: ...Okay... Ruby is doing better. She's still unconscious, but she's not in any danger anymore.

Yang: That's good.

Jaune: Ren and Nora were mostly uninjured. They're helping with the evacuation right now.

Yang: Good... What about Pyrrha?

Jaune: ...

Yang: Jaune? Is Pyrrha okay?

Jaune: No...

Yang sat up in her bed.

Yang: Is she hurt? Did- Did she lose anything? Please tell me she didn't.

Jaune: Yang... I-I-

Yang: Can I go see her? Please just let me see her.

Jaune: No Yang. You can't see her. Not yet at least.

Yang: Why not? I-Is she in surgery or something? Jaune just tell me. I-I need-

Jaune hugged Yang. Holding her tight as tears flowed freely now.

Jaune: Yang... I'm sorry... Pyrrha... Pyrrha...

The last two terrible words came out as a nothing more than a whisper.

Jaune: She's dead

Weapons of Summer Love Part 4

Jaune: What?

Ruby: We go to Haven, and we get answers.

Nora: Back to Anima. It's been a minute. Maybe we can visit that petting zoo that we visited before we left for Beacon?

Ren: I doubt we would have time.

Jaune: Hold on a second. Ruby you're in no condition to go all the way to Mistral.

Ruby: I didn't say we would go now. In a few months when I'm fully recovered and you've had some time to train with our baby.

Jaune: Our baby?

Ruby: You know, your new weapon.

Jaune: That's... nevermind. How are we going to get over there? Most of the passage between kingdoms has been shut down.

Ruby: We can figure that out later.

Jaune: No.

Ruby: No?

Jaune: We aren't just going to figure it out later. If we're doing this we're going to have all the major stuff figured out. And how we're getting to Mistral is way to important to leave to later.

Ren: I would have to agree with Jaune. We don't want to be stranded or lose time from something we could have figured out far in advance.

Nora: *Nods*

Ruby: Well umm... I guess I'm just use to winging it. But you're all right. We'll get everything setup before we go. Now we just have to do that without mom finding out.

Jaune: We're not telling Summer?

Ruby: Nope.

Jaune: Why not?

Ruby: I just... I just don't think she should know. She'll be fine here with Zwei. Me, you, Ren, Nora, and Yang are all we need!

Yang: I'm not going Rubes.

Ruby: But we could find the people who attacked Beacon.

Yang: What am I going to do in a fight Ruby? I've got to relearn my fighting style, by myself by the way, and that's even if I decide to try to be a huntress again.

Yang: Which honestly, I doubt I will.

[introductions-are-a-spook]

Feedback appreciated!

Maxwell was busy at work in his study. He refused to be confused any longer. Andrew was a suspect, and there was good reason for it. It was high time Maxwell put aside his feelings and started acting like the detective he was.

Throughout the week following their date, Andrew had been seen in several suspicious locations. Apparently he had been walking around near Jennifer McAllen’s manor- the case’s prime suspect- while, oddly enough, being adamantly followed by a black cat.

Later that night Miss McAllen had reported an intruder that fled upon seeing her. Another man, Nikos Antigone, had said he was outright robbed, with force. Odd, ‘Blinker’ didn’t seem the violent type. Neither person had been left the classic note.

Most curiously, Maxwell had received an anonymous yet well written letter, telling him to run away from Andrew and never look back. It had been delivered to his personal mailbox. It isn’t necessarily related to the case, Maxwell thought. Could be a jealous ex-girlfriend.

Wait, jealous of who, him? He was doing it again! Still trying to make him and Andrew out to be something in his mind. Dammit.

There was a sudden knock at the door, startling Maxwell and causing him to drop his pen. His older brother- George's- voice came through the door, asking to come in.

“Oh, now you want permission?” Maxwell snarked at him.

The door opened. “Well, after last week's squirrel incident, I thought you might appreciate the extra privacy.”

“You admitted to having at least one camera in my room that morning. What do you mean, ‘privacy?’”

A second, lighter voice sounded from the doorway, interrupting them both. The second youngest, Casey. “Hey Maxwell! So, Darwin told us you had a second date today? That’s so exciting! Who are they, what do you have planned?”

Maxwell rubbed his eyes, minding the glasses, and huffed. “How did he find out?” he asked in exasperation. “No, it’s none of your business. Now if you all don’t mind-“

“Actually, what time is it? Aren’t you going to be late?”

Maxwell rolled his eyes at Casey and checked his watch. It was almost time, he decided. “Oh, fine, you all win this round,” he said, as he grabbed his coat, wallet, and keys while walking out the door.

~*~

Maxwell drove over to the bakery to find Andrew nowhere in sight. He strode in, where Isabella cleaned up after the last customer and closed up shop.

“Hello Isabella. Is Andrew here?”

“Hello again, Mr. Chapman. Why do you ask?” she gave him a look that could easily have been taken as a smirk.

He snickered. “You of all people should know why.”

She returned a chuckle. “He’s up in his apartment. I think he got a little frantic over his most recent piece.”

“I see,” Maxwell sniffed in amusement, going through the gate that led to the stairs. On the way, he heard the faint plucking of strings, playing the same motif again and again, a little different each time.

There the man sat, holding his violin like a guitar, pizzing away with an austere look on his face. Maxwell covered his smile with a hand and watched, unnoticed, a little longer. The tune was pretty, but it was missing something. And yet, Maxwell may have had just the thing to help.

He cleared his throat, and Andrew jumped up, stammering.

“Oh my god, Maxwell! I’m so sorry, I completely forgot about-”

“Oh shush,” Maxwell spoke, walking over to the upright piano in the corner and running a finger over the keys. “Do you mind if I try something?”

Maxwell noticed that Andrew had not yet looked him in the eye, instead choosing to avert his head. Nevertheless, he nodded, and Maxwell played the theme Andrew had been plucking. A few progression notes and a key change, and the piece was moving forward. He paused. “What do you think?”

“Huh, that was really good! And then maybe this?’ He played the theme, the transition, and the key change, followed by a bridge and then the theme again.

“That does sound nice. Though maybe put the key change toward the end, instead. Like…” He played the whole idea, frowning when he realized it was only half a minute long. “Add a few more phrases, perhaps?”

“Enough to write an entire piece? Well that could take-”

“Not terribly long, if we work together. Besides, this is far more enjoyable than whatever stuffy concert we had planned.” And so the work began. Andrew continued to turn away, and eye contact was still scarce. He had some kind of bandage over the bridge of his nose, but Maxwell couldn’t quite see why. And it was possible that Andrew was catching on to the staring.

So halfway through composing the ninth line, Maxwell leant forward, coarsely taking the man’s chin in his hand. Andrew put his hands up in protest as Maxwell turned his face.

“Good riddance, Andrew, you’ve been avoiding my- oh,” Maxwell stopped short. His tone went from exasperated to concerned in a moment. “Andrew, your nose, it’s broken! Why would you hide this?”

Andrew bashfully pulled away. “It doesn’t matter. I had Isabella look at it, anyway.”

Maxwell huffed. “I'd imagine you’re always terrible at lying under pressure, then. Why did this happen? Who did it?”

“It’s none of your business, quit worrying about it.”

“Andrew, this isn’t like you-“

“What would you know? We barely know each other.”

“Stop it.” Andrew shut up. “Now tell me what happened.”

Andrew took a deep breath and smirked. “Y’know I don’t wanna tell you. Why don’t you use your detective skills and figure it out?”

Maxwell sighed and returned the grin. “Perhaps I will.”

And so the music continued. Maxwell continued to interrogate Andrew about his injury, and had managed to weasel out of him that it had happened four days back. He also mentioned that he was alone when it happened, and Maxwell had a suspicion that there were two perpetrators.

The progress on the music continued, and the two gradually resumed a companionable silence. By nine at night, Andrew had played what he could on the violin, and both took turns on the piano. Still, it wasn’t right. The tune was both bright and whimsical, of which they could only play the first half.

“Perhaps I should mention- We both learned piano for the sake of it, but my true skill lies with the harp. We could arrange it as a duet, but we’d have to do it in my home. It’s simply too much effort to bring it here.”

Andrew laughed. “Show me.”

[hopeaterart]

RWBY HPTR AU: Timeline

More of my embarrassingly self-indulgent AU. It tackles the timeline of events happening before the show starts. For those for who it's the first time here: most of the antagonists in the show are students at Beacon here, hence why the 63 A.G.W. point is probably a bit confusing, as well as the presence of many, many OCs. Warning: Very Ozpin-centric, especially at the beginning, because I'm insane and constructed a whole backstory for this man. If you want me to add something to the timeline, or have questions about the AU, just ask. ^^

(REFERENCE: A.G.W. stands for After Great War.)

34 A.G.W.: Ozborn Pinhead is born to con-artists living in the mountains of Vale.

45 A.G.W.: King Ozymandias Valenoa dies. On a side-note, Aura Lycoris is born.

46 A.G.W.: Ozymandias/Ozma reincarnates into Ozborn the moment he hits puberty. A few months later, Ozborn runs away from home to join a Collibet Monastery.

(REFERENCE: Collibet is branch of religion in the world of Remnant. It's followers' main belief is that life is to be enjoyed to it's fullest, and they have to help people enjoy it. Their worship is mainly centered on the God of Light.)

51 A.G.W.: Ozborn decides to enroll in Beacon for multiple reasons. He's placed in Team DSOO with Cadmium Duat, Zephyr Olympia, and Jade Sheng. He will become very close to Jade, almost like siblings. She's the one who coins the Ozpin nickname.

52 A.G.W.: Vytal festival happens in Haven. Ozborn ends up being finalist instead of his teammate through circumstances that went against his will, and ends up befriending fellow finalist from Shade Theodore Yellowstone, as well as a Faunus competitor from Haven called Leonardo Lionheart. Theodore is the winner.

53 A.G.W.: During a training mission that brought them to Solitas, Team DSOO ends up working with James Ironwood. Even if difficult to work with, Ozborn forms a tentative friendship with him, which they'll maintain through CCT communications. Ozborn also accidently ends up mentoring a first year named Glynda Goodwitch.

54 A.G.W.: Team STRQ enrolls in Beacon. Ozborn ends up being their mentor (intentionally this time) through a mentorship program at Beacon. Summer Rose is the winner of the Vytal Festival, having beaten Ironwood. After warning them that the truth isn't pretty, Ozborn comes clean about his cycle of reincarnation to Jade, STRQ, Glynda, Theodore, Lionheart and Ironwood, as well as Salem and her immortality. The only one unwilling to get involved is Taiyang Xiao Long, who can see that Ozborn absolutely does not want to be in this situation, thinks he's in way over his head and probably needs to take some distance from Huntsman business. Qrow and Raven are given their bird powers.

55 A.G.W.: Having taken Taiyang's opinion on the situation to heart, Ozborn decides to take a step back and go back in the Monastery he grew up in in order to become a Priest. Jade joins him in a show of support.

57 A.G.W.: Ozborn gets ordained, and he and Jade promptly go on a pilgrimage together with one very clear objective in mind: fuck Salem over. They find her at the end of the year, successfully lie to Salem about Ozborn's identity and fool her into thinking they want to join her side. On a side note, Gretchen Reinhart, Hazel Reinhart and Winter Schnee are all born.

58 A.G.W.: After getting out of Salem the secret to her immortality and the location of the God of Light's pool/former residence, Ozborn and Jade run away in the night in order for Ozborn to get similar immortality. Salem finds out about the betrayal, successfully kills Jade before Ozborn can go in the pool, and permanently cripples him with a magical attack that destroys his leg in a way that the pool's magic isn't able to completely fix. Ozborn still obtains immortality, permanently changing the game. He also sheds away the identity of Ozborn Pinhead, and renames himself after Jade's nickname for him.

59 A.G.W.: Ozpin comes back, and marries Taiyang, Raven Branwen and Summer Rose together. He also enrolls in Beacon as the Myth & Religion teacher.

60 A.G.W.: Desperate to get back at Ozpin after such an humiliating defeat, Salem takes a teenage Aura Lycoris under her wing.

62 A.G.W.: Aura starts the deep-undercover operation of gaining Ozpin's trust, starting by enrolling into Beacon.

63 A.G.W.: Yang Xiao Long, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladona, Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren, Arthur Watts, Tyrian Callows, Cinder Fall, Mercury Black, Emerald Sustrai, Roman Brunswick, Trivia Vanille, Ochre Wedjat, Raoul Arsenic, Wilhemia Key and Lys Rosenbed are all born. On a side-note, Ozpin and Qrow start a tentative romantic relationship at the end of the year.

65 A.G.W.: Ruby Rose is born.

66 A.G.W.: Aura graduates, and goes on a small pause in her mission in order to clean up some loose ends on Salem's part.

67 A.G.W.: Summer dies on a mission gone wrong (Unless/until we get something specific, Aura's partially responsible in my AU). Overwhelmed and disillusioned by the demise of the woman she loved, Raven abandons the rest of her family and goes back to the Branwen tribe. Both Taiyang and Qrow are left broken by this series of events, and Qrow ends up falling to alcoholism, leaving Ozpin to pick up the broken pieces of the inner circle. On a side note, both Oscar Pine and Whitley Schnee are born.

68 A.G.W.: Following a convoluted series of events that leaves Oscar orphaned for a total of maybe an hour before Ozpin adopts him, the wizard finally starts getting his shit back together, and starts formulating a plan to get back on his feet properly. On a side-note, Marcus Black steals his son's- Mercury- Semblance.

69 A.G.W.: Ozpin successfully becomes Beacon's headmaster, and promptly pulls strings to put Theodore, Lionheart and Ironwood in the same positions in their respective kingdoms. He also makes Glynda into his successor to the position. Meanwhile, Aura joins his staff as the Study Hall teacher/supervisor. Kuroyuri is destroyed by the Nuckelavee, orphaning Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie.

72 A.G.W.: Mountain Glenn is destroyed. Ozpin is able to save a few people at the last minute, including the Reinhart twins, thus inspiring Gretchen to become a Huntress. On a side note, James Ironwood becomes General, and thus Atlas' Chief of Armies, and gains a second seat on the Atlesian Council. The rest of the inner circle has mixed feelings about this, mostly negative.

73 A.G.W.: After a very long time of frustration at the Atlesian Council, Hagatha Greene snaps after a combination of her project being denied in favor of Pietro's, and being forced to work with an actual child (10 years old Arthur Watts). She's approached by Salem via Aura, and fakes her death. On a side note, the Brunswick farm is invaded by Apathy, forcing Roman to run away. He'll later stow himself away to Vale and rename himself Torchwick in order to cut ties with his past.

74 A.G.W.: Lionheart is forced to inform the Spring Maiden about what Salem can do. Overwhelmed, she runs away to the Branwen tribe. Lionheart himself latter approached by Greene, who more-or-less blackmails him into joining Salem. He calls Ozpin to know what he's supposed to do, and ends up becoming a double-agent. On a side-note, Gretchen signs up for Beacon, and Winter for Atlas in her first step to distance herself from her family.

76 A.G.W.: Gretchen is severely wounded on a training mission. Since her body was never found, it was assumed she died. Despite knowing that he'd probably be attacked on sight- and he was- Ozpin is able to provide Hazel with a bit of peace concerning the demise of his sister. Unknown to the both of them, Gretchen was actually found by Salem's circle and brought to her in order to get a new underling. On a side-note, the Spring Maiden dies and passes the power to Raven.

77 A.G.W.: Cinder and Arthur meet off-handedly while running away from Atlas for different reasons (Cinder is running from the Madame, Arthur from the military) due to sneaking on the same cargo ship. They separate after. Cinder ends up staying in Mistral, while Arthur wanders around Anima and ends up meeting Tyrian, who's part of a circus. Tyrian ends up following Arthur, who intends on getting to Vale as fast as possible. The two end up becoming fast friends after some initial frostiness. Trivia also runs away from home and meets Roman, and renames herself Neopolitan after the imaginary friend she had in her childhood.

78 A.G.W.: Cinder meets Emerald in the streets of Mistral, and the two bond over their dreams of becoming Huntresses. After Cinders remembers something Arthur told her about Beacon having a program for students like them, the two girls set off for Beacon.

79 A.G.W.: Marcus is hired to assassinate Ozpin, and fails in this task. Some time after, Cinder and Emerald, who recently got to Vale, cross path with Mercury, who's running away from his abusive father after a savage fight with him due to the man cutting off his legs. Marcus joins Salem after.

(AMBIGUOUS TIME PERIOD: Somewhere in the 70s, Aura found and started forming all the members of Team ORKL. I don't have a precise time period, but for those curious, the order she found them in was: Raoul, Lys, Ochre and Whilemia.)

80 A.G.W.: The story starts.