#and vale being a 'detour' of sorts—

[strqyr]

having thought about ozma's task these past few days has made me realize how much of a non-issue it is in the show itself.

like, in V5 he tells the group that he was cursed by the gods for failing to stop salem once. this was proven false in the lost fable, but no one was mad at him for leading them astray and towards a judgment day that might spell the end of their world.

none of them have even showed any concern over the possibility that the gods would return to remnant and stay, let alone being against it.

the focus has solely been on stopping salem and how to do it when she can't be destroyed or beaten, and i feel like at some point it's like... it's cutting it really close to do a switch around and make the brother gods be the real problem that must be dealt with, especially when V9 did give them and their past focus, and all that amounted to was information to understand them better, not that either of them are the real issue that the gang must prepare for.

[atopvisenyashill]

What would've happened if Cersei and Jaime only had daughters?

To be completely honest, I think Robert goes hard in the PAINT for his daughters to inherit after him. Joffrey (Jocelyn, perhaps) will almost definitely be a handful the realm is not prepared to deal with because if we think a son of Robert, Cersei, and Jaime was going to be insane that's nothing compared to what an oldest girl and heir presumptive is going to be like. She's not likely to be as strong willed and kind as Myrcella because Mycrella is like that due to the abusive behavior of her parents and older brother; more like, we'd have a sort of mini-Cersei who believes other women are weak, that might makes right, and that as the heir presumptive she is worth more than all others around her. She's not likely to be quite as violent as Joffrey but Saera Targaryen did just fine torturing the court fool instead of innocent cats, so it's likely our Jocelyn Baratheon is going to act similarly.

At the same time - if Tommen comes out a girl, Cersei is going to start getting desperate to have a boy. Maybe she and Jaime get riskier and start fucking more often, where they're more likely to get caught. Maybe Cersei switches to other men and if Jaime gets wind of that (if the main series is anything to go by) he is going to react badly. While all this is going on, Jon Arryn and Robert are discussing succession. I'm saying it again but I think Robert is stubborn enough in the same way Balon and Stannis are, and would push his daughter to be named Crown Princess over Stannis or Renly, and that brings up all the issues that Rhaenyra (and Rhaena and Daenerys the First and Rhaenys) would bring up, the main issue of which is: CAN THE IRON THRONE PASS TO A WOMAN???

Slight historical detour here: Despite Maester Munkin's bitch ass opinions (if you recall, when debating whether Baela or Rhaena should be Aegon III's heir, Munkin simply says that a woman can't sit the Iron Throne because even though there is no other option but the dragon twins, because as Rhaenys says, men would rather put the realm to the torch than let a woman rule over them), and yet after the Dance there is a point where the Crown's heir is a woman despite male relatives being alive. Aerys I acknowledges Aelora (daughter of his next closest sibling, Rhaegel) as his heir but when Aelora dies, he doesn't then acknowledge Daenora as his heir (even though she's Rhaegel's youngest) but Maekar as his heir. And mind you, little Maegor is put forth not as Daenora's heir but as Aerion's heir instead (and then dismissed on account of being a literal infant). So women can be heirs potentially, if the King feels like it, but they can't inherit nor can their children. You can see where the problem is here, lol, lmao.

I think Jon Arryn is going to continue pushing for a male heir but at the same time, Jon has his female line backup heir ready in Harry Hardyng and the Vale has been ruled by an heiress turned Ruling Lady before in Jeyne Arryn. If Robert pushes for it, there's certainly a chance Jon agrees that from now on the Iron Throne will follow Andal law, wherein a daughter comes before an uncle. Indeed, Stannis also sticks by Andal law (he tells Renly directly that Renly would be heir over Shireen, because it's assumed Shireen would be his heir. After that, he makes sure to tell his men directly that Shireen is the new heir. Stannis, at least, also feels that Andal law should prevail so it's not a far stretch that Robert would agree and fight Jon Arryn over this). That makes the marriage match for Jocelyn Baratheon 100% more important because her husband's family must be aware that they may have to help fight for her claim AND it gives Dorne a potential in to push for absolute primogeniture.

This ripples out to Dany and Viserys in Essos. If Dany can make an actual claim to inherit something (because right now, her claim is tenuous at best under Targaryen rule! Women are not allowed to sit the throne!!) because the Throne is now a bit more egalitarian AND she has dragons? I do think she catches Varys' attention a little earlier in that scenario.

(if Robert really wants to he can engage Joffrey to Robb. You'd run into the same issues with Corlys/Laenor/Lucerys though since there haven't been enough prince-consorts to explain what an heir would do if he's consort, vs an heiress like Myriah was required to give up her seat to her younger brother. This would mean an earlier - and likely longer - conversation with Ned about betrothals. If Robert really wants his heir to marry a Stark, he can tell Ned that Robb can marry Jocelyn and either his second born inherits or Bran can inherit and Robb gives up his claim to Lord of Winterfell and set the precedent one way or the other. Then he'd do well to look at Dorne and the Reach for Myrcella and Tommen because he needs to shore up support while the girls are still young if he wants to avoid another gender based civil war. Otherwise, looking to the Reach, the Marches, and Dorne is an excellent idea to head off any rebellion issues. Most of the Blackfyre supporters were in the Marches and the Reach which makes sense because the Marches have a continuous geographic & ethnic based beef with Dorne, and the Reach is filled with shitty fantasy catholics. If he gets most of them on his side like Daeron II tried to, he can get in front of any rebellions coming from Stannis or Renly loyalists early).

Of course....the problem is that the children aren't actually Robert's. So while he's going ham on making sure his daughter is inheriting, Stannis and Jon are still getting suspcious as to why all three kids look golden haired, and Jaime and Cersei are still sneaking around...what happens then? Mess, is what happens, hahahaha.

[mudstoneabyss]

so technically it's not just to have him be their house guest I imagine it's actually that they need his help with a problem in db but Kevin realizes. there's no way they can get him to just Willingly come to db to help. so they have to get him Unwillingly.

and so he's been jacking into all of Cecil's broadcasts to listen and find an opportunity and it comes in Carlos having some sort of family emergency that he has to leave Night Vale for. so Kevin's like AWESOME we can use that, Charles we'll find an opportunity for you to go out there and pretend to be Carlos back from that trip and lure Cecil to us. and after some more stalking Cecil's broadcasts and now also phone communication he finds out that there's a party being thrown that Cecil's gonna go to (don't ask who's throwing it idk yet) and THAT'S the ideal place to put the plan into action because he's away from home and Steve and Abby will be babysitting.

so Kevin, insistent that the "Charles pretending to be Carlos" strategy will work (Charles is insistent that it won't and that they'll need a backup plan) feeds Charles an excessive and frankly uncomfortable amount of information about Carlos and. when he gets to Night Vale he avoid being bothered upon entry because he signed up to be driver for Detours (thanks for writing that one brinknor so I could add it to this idea I have) and they supply the cars as many of the spirits don't have one and he chose the exact type of car Carlos has, so even if he doesn't pass as Carlos he has an excuse to be in town

he gets to the party a couple hours after it starts, and he's really questioning this plan because part of it is trying to avoid as much attention as possible so people other than Cecil don't look too closely at him and realize he's not Carlos and Kevin is expecting them to be able to tell but not Literally Carlos's Husband? but either way, he's going in and going ghost so other people don't really notice him or pay him any mind (which he does by putting himself in the headspace he was in in Pine Cliff, which is to say depressed) and starting the look for Cecil which I imagine takes a bit and he's having kind of a miserable time on account of the essentially slowly killing himself again But eventually he finds him and Cecil? well Cecil was also having a miserable time because it's been a while since Carlos left and he's basically unattended at this party with alcohol so he is sad and Incredibly Drunk, drunk (and desperate) enough in fact to 100% believe Charles is Carlos

so, though people haven't been noticing Charles, they definitely will notice Cecil losing his mind about Carlos being back (and also he's starting to worry about if hes smelling like putrefaction) so it now becomes the challenge of trying to stay in character to never tip off Cecil that maybe he's Not Carlos and trying to, as non-suspiciously as possible, keep Cecil quiet and get him out of the party. which he manages to do, despite him being So Over All Of This at this point

the last bit of this stint is Charles helping him into the car and giving him some a couple benadryls to knock him out so he doesn't realize they're not heading to his house (with an aspirin to avoid suspicion, though lbh Cecil is not inspecting these pills), driving to the dog park, leaving the car parked there and carrying Cecil to and through the wall (hard to do because 1. Cecils heavy and Charles isn't the strongest guy and also do you have any idea how much concentration it takes to make a whole other person also incorporeal for a moment), heading through an old oak door that conveniently opens to his crv, then driving that back to his and Kevin's house

Kevin opens the door for him like "yay you did it ^-^" but Charles just kinda pushes past and sets Cecil on the guest room bed (locks the door to it when he leaves ofc) then immediately heads for the bathroom because he's gonna be honest Kevin if puppy doesnt get a shower right now he's going to Kill that man

omg ok so I know I've mentioned it because it's such a funny concept to me but I have a scenario I imagine of Charles and Kevin (or really just Charles) kidnapping Cecil just to have him be their house guest

[skye-huntress]

RWBY V8 Finale “The Final Word” Reactions

Thus concludes the first Volume I get to watch as it airs week by week, and react to it

MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW! SERIOUSLY IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED THE EPISODE YET AND FOR WHATEVER REASON STILL SEE THIS EVEN WITH THE SPOILER TAG, CONSIDER THIS YOUR LAST WARNING

Sooo, I cannot not talk about this big one first because it gives me personal feelings. Penny is a character that is very precious to me, always has been. I binged the show up to Volume 7 last year so I didn’t have to go through years of new episodes knowing she was gone and then when she came back and throughout Volume 8, she cemented herself as one of my favourites, right up there with Ruby and Weiss. I even warmed up to Frosen Steel. I honestly did not think nor did I want to think that the show would kill her again, even knowing this was going to be a rough volume for her being the central figure in the whole conflict. The only consolation I have is that she died on her own terms.

While we’re on this note, my sympathies to Jaune for having to be the one to send her on her way. My sympathies to a lot of characters because whether or not Nuts and Dolts is platonic or romantic, she was particularly special to Ruby who once again was not there to save her.

Penny finally got her song, and it hurts

I could tell from the beginning that the Ace Ops were overrated. They seemed cool on the surface and as individual fighters they were probably up there, but I’m also sceptical of the ones that everyone (including themselves) called the “best” at anything. The reality is that they were a mess, they told to bury their feelings, and told to always accept their Jimmy’s judgment over even their own. Clover died a meaningless death because he ignored his own better judgment. That said, for Vine, the least expressive of the whole bunch to not only talk Harriet down but make a sacrifice for his team friends was not something I would have called. And yet I remember how he tried to comfort Elm, and how when Marrow was nearly killed how expressive he was in his shock and fear. Honestly, I should know better, as someone who isn’t able to express the full depth of my emotions very well, I should have known that Vine was probably the one who cared for his friends more than they ever realised.

Qrow was actually lucky for once. I have a theory. If Ren’s semblance can evolve from masking emotions to sensing them, maybe Qrow’s semblance could evolve so that he could change his or others’ fortunes for the better and not just for the worst. At the very least, rubbing the pin made him believe he could in fact be lucky, maybe that’s all he needed.

Harriet has a lot of issues to sort through, but maybe now without the toxicity of the military and Jimmy, she and her remaining friends can allow themselves to feel, grieve, heal and grow.

So we have Robyn, Qrow, Harriet, Elm and Marrow on a transport leaving Solitas through conventional travel. They probably can’t fly their transport straight to Vacuo so they may have to make some stops on the way, probably at Argus or Vale.

As for Ironwood, what a fitting end. He always saw himself as the hero of Remnant, the one with all the answers, the one who was always right, and who would save the day. But in the end, he wasn’t anyone even worth killing. To the villains, he was always a joke, someone to be used, and right when he is finally face to face with his greatest enemy, she never even looked at him once. In the end, neither he nor his precious Atlas proved to be very relevant or impressive.

Neo thought she was clever but she was a fool. That’s what happens when you let anger and vengeance consume you, it warps your judgment. Cinder was always using her, to get what she wanted, and as a means to get her own vengeance on Ruby.

Speaking of not letting not letting vengeance consume you, Blake. She saw how close she was to losing everyone else she cared about she switched tacts. I’m proud of her. And she risked the fall to save Ruby, unfortunately this risk was too great for her.

My WhiteRose heart cheered when Weiss went to back up Ruby. I assume Blake knew the partners could assist each other better than she could. It hurt that she had to watch the rest of her team family fall, to be the last one standing, using Gambol Shroud. And then she fell right in front of her sister.

Ruby really needs more practice with her eyes before she faces Cinder again. It was impressive though how she goaded Neo and knocked her over the edge. Unfortunately, there was more than one person there who really wanted her dead.

As for Ruby’s mental state, she never really had time to process anything that had happened, she was in survival mode the entire time. Falling into the same place as Yang did might give her hope that her sister is still alive and if she fell with Blake, all the better, then she won’t be alone. But like I said, Penny was very important to her, and this is the second time she has lost her. Just imagine though, if Penny’s body falls into the void with them and Ruby finds it, that’d be all the worse than just hearing about it from Weiss or Jaune.

Now, Winter, she is the MVP of this episode. Winter is now the Winter Maiden, not because Ironwood chose her to be or because she actually chose it herself but because Penny chose her. Penny believed in her friend. My love of Penny gives me a lot of conflicting feelings for this and the implications but it was satisfying to see Winter own Ironwood and hold her own against Cinder. And now she is the champion for Atlas’ refugees, but failing Weiss and Penny is going to have a significant impact on her. At least she’ll allow herself to feel and she still has some family left.

Now for the weapons. When Crescent Rose fell, it was like watching an entirely separate character fall as well. Gambol Shroud and Neo’s umbrella fell on their own, too. And Jaune’s weapon that was reforged with Pyrrha’s ruined weapon was destroyed by none other than Cinder. So basically the only ones still completely armed are Weiss and Yang, but of course the latter also has a concussion.

It wasn’t the complete victory she wanted but it was decisive. I figured a victory for Cinder would be getting both relics and she did. But I knew she wouldn’t get the Maiden powers, that’s always the part she fails at again and again. She tries to syphon a Maiden’s magic only to be interrupted. Every. Single. Time. Seriously, Cinder will just never learn from this mistake and its why she will likely never have more than one Maiden’s power at the rate she is going. But as decisive as this victory was, it will cost her in the long run. She needed help from Jinn, Neo and Watts in order to beat Team RWBY but they’ll come back stronger, smarter and more pissed off and Cinder won’t have all of that help next time. If anything, she might have put herself back on top of Neo’s shitlist.

Watts’ end is also rather fitting and also completely expected. Like Jimmy and Jaques, he represented a lot of what was wrong with Atlas, particularly the elite. How annoyed would Ambrosius be with Cinder though? “More fire, that’s it? This is my cosmic karma for being annoyed about being used by the same kids twice in a row.”

Atlas fell as I always knew it would, after all the relics exist to help humanity and a flying city did nothing but fuelled the egos of those who lived on that floating rock. Mantle was something to be proud of, but Atlas was a lie. Now Remnant’s “greatest kingdom in the world” reduced to ruin and it’s people refugees in a land their ancestors made a wasteland. This will have dire consequences.

So in the end, no help came for Atlas. Not surprising in retrospect. Atlesians didn’t have the best reputation to begin with, then Ironwood made a series of terrible decisions (that everyone around him strongly advised against), destroying Atlas’ relations with the other Kingdoms. Then came Ruby’s broadcast out of nowhere where she dropped some insane bombshells and then her message was cut off and global comms went down again. Few can vouch for Ruby’s character and even fewer can verify anything of what she said. I still believe it had an impact and we’ll see it as we visit other Kingdoms again, but the full pay off won’t be for quite some time. As I said before, the message was just the first of many, many small steps to uniting the world against Salem

So now for the detour, and that cursed image of Crescent Rose alone, slammed into the ground. It’s likely Volume 9 will focus mostly on our girls, Jaune and Neo, surviving in this strange environment and finding a way home.

Was that everything? Probably not. Now the mourning period begins as I try to process all of that.

[wu-sisyphus-gang]

Motion Sickness Chapter 44

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(Neo POV)

Jaune Arc was a bit like Roman. Not much but it was there. They both had a similarly loose moral code. One I found I'd be able to live inside of.

They were both smooth with their heists. Jaune Arc had proven that, in and out, nice and easy. He got what he needed. He got what information he needed. He got the job done.

Jaune Arc, or Cloud Strife if he prefered, it didn't matter to me, had shown that he knew the stakes when he tortured and killed people to get what he wanted. That proved he was trustworthy. He knew what the world was like.

It compelled me to follow him, more than the money had and as much as the promise of revenge against Cinder Fall, the woman who had set up my Roman Torchwick. Who got him arrested. Who undermined his authority. The list went on.

She'd set up Roman to die and for that I needed my vengeance. Cloud Strife got that. He understood. So even with this little detour if he still got me in a position to watch her die, then I could live with it. Hell, I'd even help with it. He made it sound important, even necessary. What with tales of how he was being mind controlled by Cinder's own boss.

There was always a bigger fish. Everyone always had a boss.

I watched him smoke. Roman Torchwick had been a heavy smoker, too. Nicotine, instead of Marijuana. Same-same but different.

What was with me and metrosexual men? Cloud Strife's piercings were as bad as Torchwick's mascara. It was a good look though. There was no denying that.

They both tried to control me. Which was fine, I guess. Cloud Strife played things fast and loose unlike Torchwick. Cloud was also a tad mad. He spouted about his mother controlling his thoughts. His mother being Cinder's boss. He was a touch insane, he rode sanity like a knife's edge and I wasn't sure whether he was going to end up cutting himself on it. He was on board with my more sadistic pleasures. He even, dare I say it, appreciated them. Roman never did that. Roman preferred to leave all the torture to me. Cloud got his hands dirty with it. It was like a change in scenery. In the end it was not so different.

I held close to him as he rode. The trees slowly went by to the steady beat of the horse's hooves.

Unlike Roman, Cloud Strife was a competent warrior. In fact, he was mostly a fighter first and a criminal second. It had been the reverse under Roman.

Cloud clicked his tongue and the horse came to a slow stop.

"And who are you little lady?"

I thought he was talking to me for a second. I peeked out around him. There was a little girl in the middle of the road. She might have been thirteen, maybe fifteen. What? I didn't know kids' ages. She was armed though. A massive shuriken in one hand and a sort of shield-gauntlet down the other arm. Her posture was one that indicated imminent violence.

"I'm a dust thief."

"I'm sorry," Cloud sounded bemused. "We don't use dust." I knew he had some pure crystals on him and that he knew how to use them. He was lying. He did so easily enough.

"Yeah right. A couple hunters like you. I bet you're loaded with it."

"You're mistaken, little lady."

"I'm not a lady."

Cloud tapped his pipe out and dismounted. He pocketed the pipe at his belt near the blue and gold lamp he carried. I watched from my seat, even this was giving me flashbacks to another little girl and another criminal mastermind. He took calm steps towards her with heavy boot falls. "You're a bandit, then?"

"Yeah. So what?"

"Couple a huntsman types like me are supposed to get rid of bandits like you. You got support in these trees?"

"No it's just me. I'm going to take your dust."

"Just you," I heard the frown in Cloud's voice. "I don't buy it."

"It doesn't matter. I'm robbing you!"

"Seriously, where's your back up? I'm not playing around, kid."

"Neither am I. I'm a huntress, I don't need back up."

Cloud rocked on his heels. "I'm being pranked."

She let out a battle cry and rushed him and he swiped her shuriken to the side and knocked her into the dirt. He didn't even draw his weapon.

Tan aura flared over the little girl when he swept her leg with one of his. I just watched from where I sat sidesaddle on the horse.

"Look kid I'm looking for a place called Wutai, you heard of it?"

She rose back to her feet with a fire. "Shut up. I'm not a kid. And of course I've heard of it."

"Good, you can lead us there."

"I'm not doing that. We-we're fighting!"

"At best I'm fighting you. And I feel bad the entire time I'm doing it."

"I bet you're scared of me!"

"I'm petrified."

"What?! I'll show you!"

She flung the shuriken at Cloud but he just spun so it bounced off his shield on his back. The little girl caught it again when it rebounded.

"Come on kid, I'm trying to take it easy on you. Don't make me get violent, now. What's a helpless kid like you doing this far from civilization? There could be bandits out here."

"I'm a bandit out here."

"You're really not," Cloud said, pityingly.

She tried to swing her shuriken at him but he stepped in and caught her by the arm. He kicked her legs out from underneath her again.

He ripped the shuriken out of her hands once she was on the ground.

"Hey! You spikey haired jerk!"

"Let me guess. You got aura so now you think you're invincible. You think you're hot shit." Cloud was teaching her a lesson it seemed. Well, he seemed sane enough for the moment. Cloud had moments where the crazy in him shone through. Moments where I wasn't sure he'd kill me just for the sheer pleasure of it.

"I have a semblance!"

"Everyone does."

She tried to rise and he put a heavy boot in the middle of her back.

"Hey-yuh!"

"Give it up, kid," Cloud said calmly. He watched her struggle for a few moments.

It was like watching a pinned ant. And I thought I was cruel.

I'd never tortured a little kid before. Some young people sure but never anyone as young as this girl seemed to be. I'd killed some pretty young people too but again not as young as her.

Not that what Cloud was doing was violent or even torture. He was just holding her down until she gave up. He was sparring her life because he was strong and she was weak.

"Neo," he called out. "Catch." He tossed me the shuriken. I caught it easily enough.

"Ugh! Fine!"

"What was that?"

"I said fine! You win or whatever!"

Cloud took his boot off her back. "You'll take us to Wutai, then."

"Um-" she glanced over at me where I held the weapon. My parasol was propped against my shoulder to ward off the sun. "Can I have my weapon back."

"Ask me nicely and I'll consider it."

"Ugh! Can I have it back, please?"

"After you take us to Wutai, sure. You can even think of it as payment."

Cloud walked over and grabbed the horse's reins. The whole confrontation had been so nonviolent the horse hadn't been disturbed.

He began to lead the horse beside the kid. "Well go on. Lead the way."

"It's not like it's far or anything. I'll show you."

The girl began to stride alongside Cloud.

"Have you been a hunter long?"

"Just a couple of years," Cloud answered her. I filed that information away. Cloud really hadn't been at this all too long. Some people's semblances and powers developed even more. Cloud's was definitely the type that was nebulous enough to do so.

I took the girl in now that she was closer.

She wore a white headband with a green sleeveless turtleneck which showed her stomach not unlike my new clothes. She wore orange fingerless gloves and bright orange shoes.

She watched me lash the shuriken to the horse's side. I wasn't going to carry it the whole time and Cloud didn't seem to mind in the slightest. He was pragmatic, like Roman.

"You're really strong. Like my father."

"Your father eh?"

"He's the leader of Wutai."

"It's a good thing I didn't rough you up too much, then. You got a name kid?"

"It's Yuma. Yuma Kisaragi. Not kid."

"Sorry Yuma. Well, you steal from hunters often?"

"Not really. I try and it never seems to work."

"Probably for the best."

"That's what my dad always says."

Unlike Roman, Cloud had a way with kids, it seemed. Some women liked that but I couldn't really get it.

"So what's your name?"

"I'm Cloud."

"And who's the lady with you?"

"This? Oh this is Neo. She doesn't talk much."

Ever. She doesn't talk ever.

"What kind of weapon do you use?"

"Just a sword and shield."

"That's pretty plain."

"I'm a pretty plain guy."

"I use that shuriken."

"I saw. You're not so bad with it."

"You really think so?"

Cloud nodded. "A few more years and you'll be in a pretty good place."

"That seems like forever."

"You'd be surprised how fast time goes. Keep at it."

"Ugh, you sound even more like my dad. Do you have a semblance.

Cloud gave her a slow nod. He seemed wary of talking about his semblance. That was wise of him. To prevent anyone from figuring out his weaknesses.

"Can you show me?"

"I wouldn't. It's pretty lackluster."

I snorted. Cloud had won the superpower lottery. Limit Breaker made him damn near unstoppable. I had yet to see him really use it in force. He beat me by standing still and his weapon had another form. I was sure of it though he had yet to use it against me.

"She doesn't seem to think so. I bet your semblance is pretty great."

"Well thank you kindly." Cloud did a southern Vale accent. "But you know a semblance is only as good as it's wielder."

"Then I'm going to have the best semblance."

"I thought you said you had it already."

"I well-" the kid stammered. "I haven't quite unlocked it yet."

She didn't have it, then. Didn't have a clue. Damn, kids were a bother.

"Bluffing, were ya?"

"Maybe a little.

The kid was annoying. I wish he'd dump her already. But I guess he must have some kind of plan in mind for her. Maybe for getting in the leader of Wutai's good graces.

"You ought to be more careful. If I was somebody else I might have hurt you."

"Yeah, yeah. I'd have managed some way or another. I'm a huntress," She repeated.

"Even hunters die."

"Hunters like my dad always seem so strong, though."

"Until they fight another hunter. The matchup could be bad for them and when they lose it's for keeps."

"Really?" She sounded like she couldn't believe it.

"Only all the time."

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"Dad, dad!" Yuma went running out into the village.

"Oi! I thought you wanted your weapon back!?" Cloud called out to her.

"Oh that's right."

Reminded, she came running back in those bright orange shoes for her shuriken. An elderly fellow came out from the largest house to see us. Middle-aged and with the gentle thrum of aura and nothing to prove.

Cloud handed her her weapon back, unstrapping it from beside the horse.

"Payment done. A pleasure doing business with you."

She beamed up at Cloud.

"Hail stranger. What are you doing with my daughter?"

"She tried to ambush us on the side of the road. Something about taking our dust. I'm not really sure." Cloud smiled easily.

"Yuma…" The man growled. He bought our story easily enough to make me wonder about the young girl's habits.

"Dad this is Cloud. He's a hunter. He's really strong!"

The kid didn't know the half of it. Cloud was cunning and he was brutal. I remembered him snapping that guy's fingers like pretzels. Plus he shattered aura and killed without hesitation. Roman wasn't like that.

"Hush now Yuma. I apologize for the trouble my daughter caused you."

She loudly humphed but did as her father bade.

"No harm, no fowl," Cloud replied easily.

"I appreciate you taking it easy on her. I am Godo Kisaragi."

"I'm just glad I found her before some bandits did," Cloud said, an easy smile on his lips. "I'm Cloud Strife. This is Neapolitan, just Neapolitan," he introduced us to the Dono of the town.

"I must ask since we don't often get strangers this way, what brings two young hunters out here?"

"I'm looking for Merlot's laboratory. Do you know of it? Do you know where it is?"

"I do. It's a place of true abominations. I must ask what ever for? No one has been out to see the laboratory in years. What business is it of yours?"

"He and I have unfinished business. I'm looking for him and I have to start somewhere. I got wind of this lab and made it a part of my agenda."

"What of the little miss on the horseback, Neapolitan was it?"

"Oh, she doesn't talk." Cloud went on with that same relaxed smile. I suppose he and Roman both had a way with people. "I've been her mouth piece, I suppose."

It was a good skill to have in our business.

"Indeed, you treated my daughter well. That's reason enough for me to like you. Why don't you come in for tea and we can discuss Merlot and his laboratory. Yuma, go get tea started for our young guests."

Cloud tied the horse off and helped me down off the horse's back like a gentleman. He left his weapon at the door meanwhile I folded my parasol neatly and attached it to my waist such that the blade of the sword-stick was in easy drawing distance. Cloud gave me a warning look but said nothing about it. No doubt he was slightly happier with one of us armed but he wanted me to start no trouble.

Fine by me.

Godo led the way inside and Yuma disappeared into a kitchen to put water on to boil.

"What do you intend to do with his laboratory?"

"Destroy it, probably. Along with the Grimm he left behind."

"No mean feat. There's a reason the laboratory is mostly abandoned and left alone by us. We tend to skirt the edges of it when we need to go near it at all."

"I take it he's no longer here, then."

"No one has seen him in months. It's likely he left some time ago, leaving only augmented monstrosities behind and a building."

"He augmented the Grimm?"

"Some. Others are vaguely human, creations of his laboratory that were deemed failures in his eyes. He set them loose on the landscape. We've been dealing with them for years now."

Cloud's eyes narrowed. Yuma came in with hot water and poured some tea.

"Sorry," she murmured after she spilled some. She wiped it down with a spare cloth she was using to hold the kettle.

"You're doing fine," Cloud returned.

I drank some of the sweet tea. It tasted fine, even if tea wasn't quite my, well- my cup of tea.

"I need to get in there and find out where he headed next," Cloud said. "Know thy enemy and all that jazz."

"Why? If you don't mind me asking."

"I- he hurt me. His work did me harm. It's a touch personal. He got some of my friends killed, it was in a roundabout way but he's still at fault."

"Ah- forgive me then."

"There's nothing to forgive." Cloud took a sip of his own tea. "It's good. You did well, Yuma."

She blushed like a school girl under his praise. Cloud was good looking I suppose. And he didn't even need Roman's makeup to pull off his looks. The earrings made him look a little effeminate but it was countered by his wide shoulders and arms. His frame simply wasn't that of a woman's. With wide shoulders and narrow hips.

He cut a dangerous figure.

"Well, I never thought hunters would come out to help us with our little problem."

"Don't get my motivation twisted."

"I shan't," Godo said. "You are out for vengeance. At least your motivation is understandable. And who better to be the target of your rage than Merlot? At least in my eyes. All the same, if you can remove this looming threat, I shall sleep better at night."

"I suppose. Tell me about the laboratory."

"It's built to withstand punishment. It's crawling with green Grimm. Modified by Dr. Merlot. The humanoid Grimm lurk deeper into their territory. They are fast with wicked claws and a sort of malicious intelligence."

"Are they self aware? Do they plan and communicate?"

"No. And not to my knowledge. Anything is possible with old Grimm but I do not see them as capable of such."

"Always good news. I'd hate to fight them if they were truly person-like."

"They are not. They are wretched, desperate things. Could you imagine a human Grimm?" Cloud took a long drink of tea. He'd mentioned the possibility that he had Grimm to his nature himself. Talk of this lab only seemed to back that up. Well, it certainly explained his psychosis. "Capable of walking amongst us? Of talking?"

"Terrifying," Cloud agreed. "It's what I had been afraid of when you mentioned human Grimm."

"They are nothing like that. Though they are dangerous. They are more like Grimm in the shape of a person rather than person-Grimm." Some Grimm took on attributes of the creatures they looked like. Cloud seemed content that this wasn't the case with these artificial Grimm.

"It sounds like they're monsters all the same. I can destroy them if that's all they are."

"I would warn you not to be arrogant but I can tell you are confident in your abilities. Many people have underestimated their speed and suffered for it. They occasionally make their way North here to the village."

"Just wandering? Or in real groups?"

"Sometimes one and the other."

"I can't promise to kill them all, just to cut a path through them to the lab."

"That's more than I could have asked a sane person for. I'm not as fit as I once was. I was slowly dwindling their number as they splayed out and little more. Your presence and assault will be a great boon to us. Wutai will be in your debt."

"I wouldn't sweat it. You don't have anything I want. Except those directions to the lab."

"Of course."

pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq

-WG

[starwarsfandomh8speopleofcolor]

a brown woman,Nosheen Iqbal, made an interview with Daisy Ridley where she said she isn't privileged. Now rey and daisy fans are defending daisy and saying the journalist did a terrible work. Of course the journalist of color is "wrong" not the 27yo white woman who grew up in Maida Vale.

Ok so here’s the article

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/dec/07/daisy-ridley-jj-abrams-star-wars-a-religion

and this is the relevant section:

I ask if she thinks it has been easier to be confident and navigate her celebrity because of the privilege in her life – of boarding school, her upbringing and so on? Ridley is suddenly incredulous.

“The privilege I have – how? No, genuinely, how?”

Well, I say, in terms of wealth, class, education – that kind of privilege, in knowing how to decode the rules in certain spaces. As a caveat, I add that both of us have privilege, and it’s not a criticism; I was simply curious to know what she thought. Things take an awkward turn.

“Well no, because, no… ” There is a very long and tense pause, before she insists that, actually, there is little difference between her experience and that of her co-star John Boyega, who grew up in south London to British Nigerian immigrant parents. “John grew up on a council estate in Peckham and I think me and him are similar enough that… no.” I don’t point out that members of Ridley’s family were establishment figures (her grandfather, John Ridley OBE, was head of engineering at the BBC from 1950 to 1965; his brother was the Dad’s Army actor and playwright Arthur Ridley), while Boyega had to apply for a hardship fund to join Theatre Peckham.

“Also,” she adds, “I went to a boarding school for performing arts, which was different.” (Her publicist later calls to clarify that Ridley won a scholarship.)But surely nine years of private education gave her some additional confidence?“No.” Ridley leans on her elbow while twirling a small knot in her hair. “No. I think, also, it has taken me a little while to be OK with it. I was always fairly confident, and I think that comes from being part of a big family who are all quite chatty.”It’s an unexpectedly defensive detour, as if the mere mention of privilege is an attempt to diminish Ridley’s hard work or talent. I try to change the subject but get the distinct feeling that her publicist, sitting behind me in Ridley’s eyeline, has made some sort of silent intervention. “I’m not saying what you’re saying is wrong,” Ridley adds. “I’ve just never been asked that before, so I’m like, oh. I don’t think so.” We move on.

Now here’s the thing. What Iqbal didn’t include was this bit that was in the Daily Mail https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-7767115/Daisy-Ridley-slammed-tone-deaf-claiming-isnt-privileged.html :

Daisy is the youngest of three daughters born to Louise Fawkner-Corbett, a banker, and Christopher Ridley, a photographer.

She has two older sisters, Kika Rose and Poppy Sophia.

Her mother's family, the Fawkner-Corbetts, were landed gentry with a military and medical background.

I bring out both of these sections to make it clear that its not just Iqbal who noticed that Daisy has privilege.  Daisy fans can scream all they want about the biased brown woman who took down their beloved Daisy but at the end of the day the reality is Daisy Ridley is absolutely blind to her white privilege and class privilege. 

Now I know nothing about Iqbal but she says they both have privilege which I thought was wise of her to point out but if you look at her photo she’s still visibly brown. So like she might have class privilege or a good education but her skin color still singles her out.  

Daisy fans can try and condemn Iqbal all they want but this was a legitimate line of questioning that frankly should have been asked much earlier. But of course white writers don’t dare ask the real questions. 

mod m

[brightbeautifulthings]

Vengeful by V.E. Schwab

"'Maybe you're in Hell.' You don't believe in Hell, thought Eli. The corner of Victor's mouth twitched. 'But you do.'"

Year Read: 2020

Rating: 3/5

About: There are spoilers ahead for Vicious. After their complicated victory over Eli Ever, the regenerating EO who was determined to wipe out others of their kind, Victor, Mitch, and Sydney leave Merit, possibly for good. They rarely stay in one place for long, knowing that EON is still looking for people with powers, but Victor has a new problem. Being brought back from the dead has specific consequences for EOs, and he's desperate to find someone who can fix what was broken when Sydney resurrected him. In the meantime, Merit has a new supervillain in Marcella Morgan, the scorned wife of a former mob boss who is determined to ruin him and anything else that stands in her way. Trigger warnings: death, animal death (mostly temporary), body horror, torture, vivisection, some gore, abuse/abusive households, violence, fires/burns, severe injury, hospitals, needles, guns.

Thoughts: There was something very unsatisfying about this book, and that's not a feeling I like to be left with when I turn the final page. What I wanted out of a Vicious sequel was more of the found family unit among Victor, Mitch, and Sydney, and I would have been happy to spend the entire book with them while they attempt to sort out Victor's problem. Unfortunately, Schwab and I seem to have a difference of opinion on who/what is most interesting in this novel, since it spends maybe a third of its time with those characters. There's barely any development at all on the three of them, and while I loved their found family in the first one, Schwab seems at pains in this book to point out that Victor Vale has no business raising a child.

The rest is devoted to establishing new faces, Marcella and June, or circling back to old ones like Eli and Dom, the ex-military EO with chronic pain and an ability to slip out of time. I like Dom and sympathize with him; I don't care at all about the rest. I've never liked Eli, as a character or a villain, with his pious self-aggrandizing and god-given mission to murder people, and I didn't care for a detour into his history (bitter, also, that we don't get any of this on Victor). I was even less interested in Marcella's gross relationship with her abusive husband, although I liked her quite a bit more once she came into her power. June is simply underdeveloped on every front. This may be a product of her shapeshifting power; she's never able to be herself, so we can never really know her, but I didn't understand her motivations at all. There's never an attempt to explain why she's so drawn to Sydney or what she stands to gain from their friendship, and given the lengths she goes to protect her, her last chapter is utterly baffling.

However, so much of this hinges on being interested in the new characters, and I can see Vengeful really working for readers who are. Structurally, it's really interesting, and it continues to jump around timelines and narrators like Vicious and the graphic novels it's mirroring, leading up to a Ground Zero-type confrontation much like the first book. It stays on one narrator for several chapters and ramps up the suspense before moving onto another. While I sometimes find it difficult to stay invested in books that jump around a lot, I think it really works for the kind of story Schwab is telling. I just wish I'd liked it more. I wasn't satisfied with the endings for a single character, even the ones I didn't like. It would be easy to pick up the story for a third novel, but I don't know whether that would help or make things worse at this point.

[the-loststone]

My opinion on Sansa’s relationships

So I just wanted to jot down some of my thoughts on Sansa’s relationships with her siblings. 

In Season 1/Book1, her relationship with Arya is that of rival siblings who don’t get along. A lot of people notice that Sansa is closer to their mother and Arya feels left out, and often feels as though her mother is trying to force her into a role of a lady and to be more like Sansa. She obviously has a closer relationship to her father, in comparison, who encouraged her to be herself. Where Arya feels like she’s left out from a relationship with her mother, Sansa feels like she’s left out from a relationship with her father. Both children love their parents and are loved in turn, but their parents have made it sort of obvious that they understand and get along with one child more than the other. Sansa idealizes her mother, and tries to imitate her, and expects Arya to do the same since they are both the same gender. However, Arya idealizes her father, and resists conforming to societal expectations. 

It’s important to note that they are children. Sansa is 11-12 depending on books or seasons, when we meet her, and Arya is 9-10. We are introduced to Sansa through Arya’s perspective, and since she’s such a lovable character, we automatically see Sansa as her antithesis, since they are such opposites. But BOTH are bratty kids. Sansa is snobby, and Arya is rebellious. Sansa doesn’t want to see life outside of what songs tell her, and Arya doesn’t want to acknowledge the privileges she has due to her position in society (only seeing the drawbacks). Neither wants to understand the other. But again, they are siblings and love each other deeply. The point of having siblings so close in age is that they fight a lot and can be vicious. But family means unconditional love: even if you don’t like them all the time, you love them all the time. And that goes both ways (for Arya and for Sansa).

Her relationship with her other siblings is easier: She is closer to Robb, or as close as she can be to her brothers, and she is an older sibling to Bran and Rickon, without the tension that she has with Arya. She understands that they have different roles in society, and is able to interact with them normally. Her closest relationship could be Bran because they both dreamed of living in the southern court, one as a princess, the other as a knight.

Her relationship with Jon is different. Because Jon is her father’s bastard son, and is disliked by Catelyn, Sansa imitates this behavior to some degree. She knows her mother doesn’t like Jon, and at worst, is indifferent with some teasing. Perhaps, if her relationship with her father was stronger/closer like the one he has with Arya, this would have been different. But as it is, Sansa’s education and parenting was basically left up to Catelyn, and Ned is the father who will tell her she looks pretty and that he’ll give her a good husband one day. This is not to say that she didn’t have a relationship with Jon. In the books, we do know that when Jon thinks of Sansa, he remembers that she taught him how to talk to girls and how to dance. So we can think that either they had initially had a good relationship before Sansa understood what a bastard was, and why her mother disliked Jon, or we can think that even while she knew that Jon was a bastard, she sometimes still interacted with him without being bratty. Which isn’t unbelievable. 

A lot of people use the situation at the crossings as evidence that Sansa is a bad sibling. On that score, I have only to quote what Ned said to Arya, which was Sansa was put in the position of having to call the prince a liar in front of the king and queen. She was already betrothed to Joffrey, and was trying to set up a rapport with him in some fashion. A lot of criticism is that Sansa fell in love with Joffrey because she wanted to be queen. Well Sansa was a preteen, and I liken her initial behavior with Joffrey as the same as Anna from Frozen when she met Hans for the first time. Her fantasy was finally coming true and her life was finally starting, at least in her mind. Anyways, Sansa is the one who loses the most, as Lady dies -- which incidentally pushes her further from her father and sister since she blames them for her death. Which isn’t entirely unfounded; her father did kill Lady and Arya’s wolf was the one that bit Joffrey. It doesn’t help that Arya blames Sansa for Mycah’s murder (or at least holds Sansa to some level of responsibility -- like the queen and Joffrey and the hound). I want to be super clear when i say that Sansa had nothing to do with that -- Mycah was already run down by the time they were having the meeting with the king. 

So at this point we have Sansa’s relationship with her father and sister rocky. Ned can’t bridge the gap because he doesn’t understand how to be a parent to Sansa. He understand’s Arya because they are similar, but Sansa is different. She’s a lady who was raised and influenced by his southern wife and a septa. (And it’s not just her, Ned also had a lot of Southern influence having grown up in the Vale and having his BFF be the lord of the Stormlands, and marrying a Southern woman, and he’s still considered super Northern. So...) This doesn’t mean she isn’t Northern. She is very proud of the fact that she understands houses of the north and reading and writing better than her brothers (though Arya is better at math than her). But Sansa prepared for a life in the south. Which is why she puts a lot of effort into repairing her relationship with her fiance. At this point, and actually throughout the entire first book, Ned has said nothing against Joffrey. Sansa is doing what she is meant to be doing. 

Now in the books -- not the shows -- Sansa goes to the queen to tell her Ned plans to return them home. She has no idea that Ned went to the queen to tell her he knew about her infidelity. Why would she, Ned didn’t confide in anyone. He hasn’t told her anything besides the fact that she was leaving kingslanding and that the betrothal she has be working on for the past year was over. Going behind her fathers back to tell the queen, while it sounds bad, is equivalent to say asking your friend’s parent if you could stay for a sleepover when your parents already said you can’t. And if you say, well she still shouldn’t have done that, well I want to say again that Ned killed Lady. Those wolves have deep relationships with the Starks. Ned, who claimed to be very close to Robert, did nothing besides a half-hearted attempt at convincing the king to spare her. He didn’t suggest sending her north, he didn’t pack up and leave right away, he didn’t do anything but kill his daughter’s direwolf. 

As viewers/readers, we know the Lannisters are bad news. But to a character like Sansa, they aren’t even the ruling family, the Baratheons are. Any fault can be put on Robert’s feet since he is the king. She has no idea that Robert has little say in the going ons of the realm since he’s in so much debt to the Lannisters, and that he’s outnumbered by Lannister men. But the death of Lady is put more a the feet of Robert than Cersei, especially since at this point, Sansa still lives in the fantasy that Queens are supposed to be kind and gracious (and why wouldn’t she think that; her idols are figures like good Queen Alysanne and she hasn’t ever heard of Cersei doing anything bad). It won’t be until Cersei starts showing her true colors that she puts the blame of lady’s death on Cersei. 

In Book2-3/Season 2-3, we get a bit more of a glimpse on Sansa’s relationship with Robb. Robb is Sansa’s knight in shining armor. (while we can’t exactly say he started a war for her -- he started a war for their father -- we knows that he continued south because he wanted her back (and he wanted Joffrey off the throne, but it would have been easier to hold the north than lead a campaign south) But she knows that he is fighting a war and that she would return to him if he won. I want to say that i completely understand Robb not giving up Jamie for his sister. He is the king and he has to think about the good of his people before anything else. However, Sansa does see on some level what she’s worth when Robb marries the wrong girl (Talisa/Jeyne). He loses most of his army to marry a woman, rather than risk that army to return his sister to him. Now, Robb (books and shows) is a child. He little more than 15 in the books, 17-18 in the shows. if we can be sympathetic to him for being a kid and making mistakes, we can be understanding to a little girl who was even younger.  I don’t blame Robb; he had bad advisors, in the books he had plans to go back North and reclaim it from the iron born after the wedding, and in the show, he had plans to take Casterly rock and send men to the North after securing the frey army. But Roose bolton suggested he detour on the way and none of his other advisors, besides telling him he’s an idiot who lost the North, ever really did anything. Sansa doesn’t blame her brother either -- in the preview of Winds of Winter, she remarks how young a boy is and says that if her brother was alive he would be that young. She maintains that her brother was her hero, even if he failed. 

While George barely mentioned Sansa in the last two books, because of her central role in the show, I have high hopes for Sansa in the coming books. 

And those are just some of my thoughts on Sansa’s relationships with her siblings. 

[plotmaster]

I have no heart, for you long ago stole it

Summary: In which Eros, one of the six gods of love, falls for a mortal who thinks he's unlovable.

Or in which Yuuri goes to the Temple of Eros to plea for help and ends up being courted by the god himself instead.

based off of this artwork by @crimson-chains

read on ao3

word count: 4k

Yuuri Katsuki is an unlovable man, and that is the fact of the matter.

Don’t get him wrong, his parents love him. His sister loves him, his friends regard him with close platonic affection. Yet, no one has ever stepped forward to ask for his hand to court, asked him to walk with them under the romantic spread of a starlit street.

He has walked that road before, where all couples in their city stroll while leaning into each other and laughing at the joy of being together, but Yuuri always walks it alone, to use as a shortcut from his home to his mentor’s studio. He convinces himself, most days, that the solitude of his footsteps on that road doesn’t mean anything.

Some days though, he speeds his steps and tries to touch his sandals to path as little as possible, because it is a place for lovers, and Yuuri — for all the friends he has and all the love that surrounds him — has no one to walk down it with. He doesn’t belong there. On other days, he simply takes a long detour, to avoid being reminded of the lack of romance in his life.

It is his sixth failed blind date set up by his friend Phichit that gives him the painful revelation that he’s unlovable. “You’re not my type,” they say, or, “I don’t think that we’d work out,” even though their conversation had been light and their company joyful. It’s like a switch goes off between their last laugh and their last words — one moment their feelings are synched, and Yuuri thinks that they will want to meet again, but the next moment their eyes shutter, and they say with barely any regret that they would rather not meet again at all.

Phichit declares that they’re foolish, and so is Yuuri. “You’re not unlovable!” he insists, gold bangles clinking together as his hands gesture wildly. “People have different tastes, Yuuri, and they probably decided that you didn’t fit it!”

“Six times in a row?” Yuuri asks, sitting on the stone steps leading to his home. “If I really wasn’t their type, Phichit, I’m pretty sure that they would leave earlier than, say, twenty minutes after we’re done eating.” He sighs, dropping his head onto his hands. “It’s strange. One moment everything is fine, and I think that this is the one, we can work things out, but the next they just... don’t want anything to do with me anymore.”

“Well, that’s a good thing then,” Phichit says, his eyes hard, “If they don’t want anything to do with you, they don’t deserve you.” He reaches for a comforting pat on the shoulder. “But trust me, Yuuri, you are not unlovable at all and anyone that thinks you are should get their head checked by the doctors.”

Yuuri accepts the pat with a small smile. “Thanks, Phichit,” he replies, standing up and brushing some dirt off his tunic. “I think I’m going to go inside now. My parents will want to know... and I’ll have to tell them that it didn’t work out. Again.” He drops his chin with a sigh, but squares his shoulders to go in and face them.

His parents take the news as well as they normally do — that is, comforting him and telling him that maybe next time, things would work out. They mean well, he knows, and they want the best for him, but sometimes their comfort feels like pity, and it aches. Gnaws at his heart with anxiety. Mari is fortunate, he thinks, she doesn’t want a romantic relationship, and she’s happy.

On the other hand, Yuuri dreams of it, regards the thought of romance wistfully and hopes with all his heart to someday have someone to walk down the lover’s lane with. Taller than me, he decides as he walks to his room. Taller, with eyes that sparkle when they look at me.

As he enters his room and takes off his tunic to change into a more comfortable one so he can help downstairs in the restaurant part of the building, a dove coos before spreading its white wings and flying away.

“Maybe,” his sister slides to stand next to him during a lull in the dinner shift, taking a drag of her smoking pipe, “Maybe you should pay a visit to a temple.”

Yuuri can’t help but give her a surprised look. “What for?”

“I heard from mom and dad about how the latest date went,” Mari drawls before setting her pipe aside. She reaches up to adjust her hair instead. “I was thinking that maybe you should pay an offering to one of the gods to meet the right person for you. I can tell that you’re not as okay with this situation as you tell our parents.” She fixes him with a knowing stare.

Yuuri winces, but can feel gratefulness welling in his heart. Mari has always been blunt, and has always been good at reading him, and her well-meaning doesn’t come off as pity that much. “Which god would I even go to?” he asks. “There are six gods of love, Mari.”

“Eros,” she says without hesitation. “Seduce yourself someone nice, little brother.” She throws him a wink as she gets back to work, leaving Yuuri sputtering with embarrassment.

The embarrassment manifests on his face as a near-perpetual blush for the rest of the evening, and even carries onto the next morning. Eros, the god of sexual love? He hasn’t had sex much (mostly to enjoy the physical sensation with one or two of his close friends, to understand how the pleasure works) but Yuuri knows that Eros is not the kind of love that he’s interested in. Sexual love is... a way to start a relationship, but Yuuri wants something longer, slower, more long-lasting. Pragma.

Eros is the spark of the first meeting, an excited tension that carries people together into bed to enjoy themselves. It’s a love that one would do mad things for. Eros is what spurred the reputation of Helen of Troy, the woman so beautiful that all sorts of people across the land came to court her. Yuuri doesn’t want to lose control like that, or for someone to go mad for him. (Even if the thought is flattering.)

At noon, however, Yuuri fastens on his best tunic and laces on his sandals to go to the temple of Eros. After all, it had been the one that Mari suggested, and there really was no harm in taking her advice. I can visit Pragma another day, if Eros does not work out.

The dove that usually perches on his windowsill coos louder than normal that day, before taking off as he leaves.

The temple of Eros is built that same as all other small temples of love — six pillars around a domed building. There are two rooms inside, one with the statue of the god and the place to put offerings and make prayers, and another for priests and priestesses to meditate and do their duties throughout the day. The only difference is in the statues, and the decorations.

Yuuri enters nervously, and just takes a moment to wipe his glasses. When he puts them back on though, a priestess has floated over to him, her hood hiding most of her features. Only her lips are visible as she speaks. “I know of you,” she says, and Yuuri balks. “White lilies.”

“I- what?” Yuuri asks, confused.

The priestess nods, and places her hands together. “Eros has told us of you, Yuuri Katsuki.” Yuuri gapes. “You will find the love that you seek if you go to the Vale, where the white lilies grow.”

The Vale? I must have misheard. “That’s sacred ground, though,” Yuuri protests.

“Go there if you want the love you seek,” is all she says before she drifts off.

He goes, in the end. The valley is an hour’s walk from the city, and the path is frequented by worshippers of the six gods of love, so the journey is safe. He goes the same day, departing after a quick meal in the afternoon so that he doesn’t let his anxiety talk him out of the idea.

Mari looks on approvingly when he says that he visited the temple of Eros, and that is at a priestess’ behest that he’s going. His parents are just as approvingly, and pack him a light meal to eat on the road and wish him safe travel. Phichit accompanies him to the city gates and wishes him luck.

The trip is easy, but entering the valley is not. Hundreds of people kneel near the divine pillars that separate the sacred ground from the rest of the world, and there are guards standing to makes sure that none try to enter. But the priestess had been clear in her instructions, and there is no place in this area other than the Vale that grows white lilies. He approaches the boundary cautiously.

A guard stops him, of course, a young man with a square jaw and the back of his head closely shaven. “None may enter.” Judging by the stripes that adorn his wrist-guards, he serves the god of Agape.

“A priestess of Eros sent me here,” Yuuri says. “I’m to go to the white lilies.”

“You are Yuuri Katsuki?” the guard asks, looking down at him.

“... Yes.”

The guard nods, and steps aside.

“Wait,” Yuuri touches the man’s bracer uncertainly. “How do you know me?”

The guard stares at him blankly. “I may serve Agape, but I have heard of you. All those that interact with Eros have.”

“What?”

“Go to the white lilies, Yuuri Katsuki.” The guard returns to his post, and says no more.

The inside of the Vale is silent, albeit for the cooing of doves and flap of butterfly wings brushing against plants. The sun seems to shine brighter, almost blindingly so, but Yuuri clutches the hem of his tunic before continuing on. He’s careful to tread lightly, for fear of crushing the plants that grow on the sacred ground, and there is no path that he could use to walk.

He finds the white lilies eventually. Whether it is a long period of time or a short period of time, he doesn’t know. They’re all in bloom, beautiful and fragrant, and Yuuri hesitates on the edge of the plants, as he is uncertain as to what next. But a dove coos, and he turns to the sound. It looks to be the same one that usually perches on his windowsill. “Hello,” he greets it softly.

The dove blinks at him before flapping up at his head, prompting him to step into the flowers as so to avoid getting hit. He turns around to scold it, or possibly ask what the fuck even though it wouldn’t respond, but it's gone.

“I’ve been waiting for you for a long time,” the being hovering there instead says. Yuuri steps back into the lilies, staring even as he reaches a hand to caress Yuuri’s jawline.

Brown wings fading into white at the bottom keep him in the air, and there is a black cloth obscuring his eyes, trailing off and mixing in with beautiful long strands of silver hair that skimmers in the sun. The being is mostly naked, a loincloth wrapped around his hips and cloth wrapped around his wrists. A bow rests in one hand, and a quiver on his back.

He’s beautiful.

“Eros?” Yuuri whispers, for the being is too beautiful to be anything but one of the deities of love that reside in the Vale. The bow and arrows give him away as well.

Eros nods, humming a tune as he traces Yuuri’s face with his fingers, a smile playing on his lips. He pauses when he touches Yuuri’s glasses, but continues on exploring Yuuri’s face. “You’ve finally came,” he says. “And please, call me Victor.”

Yuuri doesn’t know which statement to react to first. “You’ve been waiting for me?” he asks.

Eros’ face splits into a grin. “Of course I have!” he says, taking Yuuri’s hands in his. “I’ve been waiting for so very long for you, Yuuri! All people come to my temple at some point, but my servants have been waiting for you to step in to give you my message for years!”

“Eros, I-” Yuuri licks his lips, “What-?”

“Call me Victor,” he says.

Yuuri can’t wrap his head around the idea of referring to Eros as anything but his title, but he complies anyways. He clenches his hands, aware that their fingers are intertwined, but strangely not feeling like pulling away. It feels wrong to pull away. “What do you mean you’ve been waiting for me, Victor? I came here seeking love.”

Victor makes a happy sound in his throat. “And you found me!” he floats closer to Yuuri, “If only I could see you like this. You have the most beautiful blush. All your expressions are beautiful, but I love when you blush.” He breaks his grip on one hand to return to caressing Yuuri’s face.

“What?” Yuuri sounds as lost as he feels.

“You’re mine,” Victor says matter-of-factly. “That’s why you’re unlovable to humans. You’ve been marked mine a long time ago, so any that would dare love the one that I love have their hearts reversed.”

Have their hearts reversed. No wonder all those people he had felt chemistry with- Yuuri steps backwards, away from Victor. “What are you talking about?” he asks desperately. “You can’t possibly-” Yuuri came to find love in the Vale, yes, but he had never expected this.

To meet Eros, one of the forms of love.

To hear that the god loves him, and that’s why no one else has.

Victor scoffs, and tosses his hair over his shoulder. “I decided, a very long time ago,” he sings, grip tightening on Yuuri, “When children were throwing rocks at me as a dove, you were the one that chased them away. You have a beautiful heart, and I may be Eros, but I am lonely. I bring love to you mortals, but no mortal loved me.” Even with the blindfold on, Victor’s sadness is clear. “But you- I hope-” he takes in a deep breath, “Will you love me, Yuuri Katsuki?” Victor brings Yuuri’s hand up as he says the words, spreading his fingers across his bare chest.

Yuuri has no idea where to begin.

“You want me to love you,” Yuuri says. Victor nods. “You want me to love you.”

“I want you.” Victor’s tone is clear and guileless. “I bring love to mortals, but lately it feels so stagnant. Uninspiring. But you make me feel differently. You remind me that love exists beyond my arrows, and I want you.” He holds Yuuri’s hand to his chest still.

“I don’t understand,” Yuuri says helplessly. “I just wanted to find an answer to why I’m unlovable, not... find out that a god loves me.” He frowns, “Why is your chest so...”

“I have no heart,” Victor says. “For you long ago stole it, when you danced at the festival of the loves and made a little flower crown for the dove on your windowsill.”

Something clicks. “The dove the whole time was you!?” Yuuri is horrified. The dove that usually stayed near his window had been there for many years. He had complained to it, changed in front of it, done so many very embarrassing things because he had thought it was just a bird.

Victor smiles again, his mouth somewhat heart-shaped in his cheer. “Surprise!”

“Oh my god,” Yuuri says, and he blacks out.

When Yuuri comes to, he’s staring at the ceiling of his bedroom, and someone is holding his hand.

He turns in bed, joints stiff from probably lying too long, and stills in shock at the man by his bedside. Victor is no longer mostly naked, wearing a fine tunic, and his hair is tied up neatly, one bang hanging over his left eye, the blindfold gone with his wings. He stirs, and impossibly blue eyes meet Yuuri’s brown, expression immediately morphing into cheer. “You’re awake!” he moves forward, and the next thing that Yuuri knows is that he’s being hugged.

“Victor?” he says the being’s name with all the confusion he feels at the moment. “What are you doing here?”

Victor withdraws, and Yuuri finds himself missing the contact almost immediately, which is- strange. But it had felt good, so.... his thoughts are so jumbled right now. “Agape came and yelled at me after you fainted,” Victor explains, running his thumb of Yuuri’s hands, staring at him with some unreadable intent. “He said I went about courting you wrong. Which is funny, because Agape does unconditional love, so what does he know about courting- but anyway, you fainted. I was so worried!”

“I see,” is all Yuuri can really say.

Victor looks away. “I went and asked the one that oversees us, and asked him if I may... have permission, to spend time as a human, when I am not doing my duties.” Well, that explains the lack of wings and the blindfold. “May I court you properly, Yuuri? I’ve donned human form to do so.”

And oh, Yuuri’s breath leaves his lungs. Part of him is frozen is disbelief, but another part leaps in elation. “I still don’t understand, Victor,” he says carefully, “Why do you want to court me?”

Victor tilts his head. “An easier question would be why wouldn’t I want to court you? There’s nothing about you to not love. Even those that made you think that you were unlovable — that was my fault, because I had set my eyes on you for such a long time that those that would try to take you away...” he sighs, but his gaze returns to Yuuri. “At the moment, your parents believe that I am a friendly traveller who found you on the road after you fainted for an unknown reason, and brought you back. They would not mind, I think. They seemed happy that I expressed interest in you.”

“They want me to be happy,” Yuuri says.

“Ah.” Victor reaches across Yuuri, and tugs his other hand, clasping it tightly. “Will you let me try to make you happy, Yuuri? I want this. I want to.”

Looking at Victor’s beseeching expression, his sky-blue eyes and the purse of his lips, Yuuri feels for a moment — feels a wonder at what if I said yes? — but a worry weighs on the tip of his tongue. “I’m human, you know. I’ll die, and you’ll be left alone. What then?”

“I am a god,” Victor counters, “I will wait for you to be reborn, and we’ll fall in love all over again.”

Yuuri wants love and Victor wants to give him that love. They want the same thing in the end, to share love together and not feel as if they’re all alone — Yuuri in Victor’s inadvertent dismissal of all his suitors, Victor in that being a deity that brings love, he has no one to make himself feel love. And while Victor’s solution isn’t perfect, doesn’t offer a permanent solution, Yuuri looks in his heart and feels contentment. Like he’s finally settled into his feelings.

“Court me then, Victor,” Yuuri says, “We’ll be happy together, and when I’m reborn, I’m sure that I’ll be happy to fall in love with you all over again.”

Victor beams, his lips forming a heart, before he shifts to- kiss Yuuri on the mouth. It’s quick, just the barest of pressure that Yuuri registers, Victor drawing back just as quickly as he had moved forward. “Was that okay?” he asks breathlessly. “Or am I moving too fast for human standards?”

Yuuri touches his lips self-consciously, somewhat in a daze. It takes a few moments before his looks up at Victor again. “I think I might need another one to make a decision,” he says with the slightest hint of a smirk.

And oh, Victor had thought he already loved everything about Yuuri that was there to love but- he may have just fallen in love a little bit more just now.

(It takes many more kisses before Yuuri reaches a decision, and it’s a resounding conclusion that kissing Victor is very okay.)

“I’m sorry,” the apology spills from Victor’s mouth suddenly, hours later after dinner and Yuuri introducing him to his parents as a potential lover. “It’s my fault that you felt unloved.”

Yuuri is no fool. “You aren’t at all, are you?” he doesn’t look at Victor as he says it, merely holding up their hands to fit them together. “You’re happy that there’s no competition for you.” They’re sitting on his bed together, Yuuri’s head tucked under Victor’s chin, Victor’s form curled around him. A strange acceptance had settled in Yuuri’s chest ever since Victor’s admittance in the lilies. There is little one can do when the gods have become set and their ways, and while the sting of the rejections hurt- he has an answer now, at least. And an apology, even if it isn’t entirely genuine.

“I’m sorry that I made you feel unloved, then,” Victor amends, bowing his head to lean on Yuuri’s shoulder, his silver hair falling over both of them. “I never wished for you to feel that way.”

Yuuri hesitates for just the briefest second before reach up to pat Victor’s head. “Thank you for apologizing, at least. Your honesty... means something.”

They sit in silence like that for a little while, Victor’s arms wrapped around Yuuri’s waist as he threads fingers through Victor’s hair. It is only after the sun sets that Victor speaks again. “Eros is a love associated with doing crazy acts, you humans say,” he says, sitting up so that his breath ghosts over Yuuri’s right ear. He smiles at the way Yuuri shudders in his embrace. “It must be true, as I’ve gone to the point of donning a human skin to court you.”

“Wouldn’t it have been easier to just shoot me?” Yuuri asks. He couldn’t help but be curious, even if it was an unpleasant thought. At the moment, he doesn’t love Victor. There is an attraction, yes, for how could one not be attracted to Victor, whose appearance is exactly what one would think a god in human guise would look. Being with Victor so far is... comfortable.

So while Yuuri doesn’t love Victor yet, he’s willing to fall in love with him.

“The arrows don’t work when it pertains to the gods,” Victor says. “And besides, I don’t...” He shifts restlessly, his grip on Yuuri tightening for a moment. “I want you to love me for me, not because I used my powers.” He laughs, a laugh that is a pale imitation of true laughter because of the sadness that weighs it down. “It sounds crazy, doesn’t it? The one who watches over us thought so too. He said that my nature is too fleeting for this to last.”

“It sounds like something Eros would do,” Yuuri replies. He turns to Victor, reaches up to touch Victor’s chin. “But it’s possible for the spark of eros to lead the way to pragma, isn’t it?”

It’s hard to not look away from Victor after that, for his eyes are so bright with hope that it almost hurts to see. “Yes,” he says, “Let us turn eros to pragma. I’m sure our relationship will have plenty of eros though, because I am me, but- it sounds wonderful. Yes.”

Excited, “Yes”s are all that follow as Victor pulls Yuuri down to the mattress, to press kisses into his face and neck in sheer exuberance.

I should like to fall in love with you, Yuuri thinks as he returns each and every one.

He thinks he is falling in love a little already.

I may be Eros, but let us have pragma’s long-lasting love together, Victor wishes, revelling in all of Yuuri’s warmth.

He fell a long time ago, for this mortal, but it is glorious to continue falling more and more every day.

Notes:

Not a perfect love story, but the start to a wonderful one.

For the record, Sara and Michele are the gods of Storge, Yurio is Agape, and Mila is Philautia (self-love)

[killamrix88]

Yet Mooore RWBY thoughts

Warning: long fucking post below the break.

Today, let’s look at that time skip. We’ve been told it was a six month skip, yes?

To make it easy, let’s assume it was six months since the moment Ruby and co. left at the end of Vol 3. There’s snow on the ground, where there wasn’t before (I think...), so perhaps that six months includes some of the time before Ruby chose to leave, but if so that’s not made super clear anywhere. Correct me if I’m wrong.

So Ruby and co. are heading to Mistral. If we look at a map, it is shown that Mistral is across an ocean to the East.

There are two ways to look at their trip.

The gap between the continents that Vale and Mistral reside on doesn’t look particularly vast. A fast ship can cross the Atlantic in two weeks, give or take.

However, the city of Vale, and subsequently the island of Patch, are on the WEST coast of the country of Vale. If they sailed out of Vale they’d have to go up and around the whole continent. Let’s say that takes about five weeks.

If they hiked to another port in the East, that could take a month or so, as there is a mountain range in the way and grimm to dodge out on the country side.

So we’re one month down, but that’s honestly half the trip out of the way. The easy half, on their home turf and taking a ship without having to do any navigation themselves. How bad are they at reading a map that they got lost for FIVE MONTHS in Mistral?

If they had just followed the roads, even if they had to detour around Grimm, I can’t imagine it taking FIVE MONTHS.

Or... maybe it would?

We have no good sense of scale, but from coast to coast, the USA is 2,600 - 3,200 miles wide, depending on the route you take. The estimate to traverse that by foot is anywhere from 6 months (what a coincidence) to 280ish days.

Even if they sailed right out of Vale and didn’t have to hike around a mountain, perhaps taking six months to get there, and mind you they were fighting grimm, not JUST walking, isn’t unreasonable. If you look at the maps, the City of Mistral is pretty far to the East. It’s not like they could hop off the boat, grab a bus, and be there by lunch.

Five months with the crazy grimm infested wilderness to deal with is... pretty fast actually. And it’s clear that they stopped and holed up in a town for a few days at least once to upgrade Jaune’s gear. They definitely didn’t walk non-stop.

So, that solves a mystery for us. Why was there a 6 month time skip? So Ruby and co. could make their damn road trip to Mistral by foot.

But what are the consequences of choosing to handle it this way? What ELSE was going on?

With Weiss? No idea.

Yang? Uhh, moping I guess?

Blake? Being stalked by Sun apparently?

Yeah, with Ruby, by some miracle, the time skip actually makes sense. So I’ll give RT props for that.

But it comes at the expense of the other three, who we can’t make sense of so easily. So let’s break it down a bit more.

. . .

Weiss.

Weiss is clearly stagnating back at home. She’s sort of regressing, but is still a member of Team RWBY deep down, so she’s chafing more than usual under her father’s thumb.

One of the first things we see, though, is that her father suddenly wants to hold a charity event. But... it’s been nearly six months at this point. I mean, thanks Jacques, but you’re a bit late. Kinda awkward on the timing there, bud.

I mean, I grant you Weiss probably would take some time before she rebelled, but even two months would have been enough if the same events had transpired. Maybe even just one month. The system shock from being a huntress and hanging out with people like Ruby and Yang and fighting for a cause and then going back to being an heiress would definitely cause believable sparks within a month, and the charity event would have been far more timely.

But sure, six months, so it coincides exactly with the road trip...

. . .

Blake.

This is the weirdest one. At the end of Vol. 3, we see Blake jumping around the rooftops in Vale. And then... who the fuck knows, honestly. Did Sun literally stalk her for SIX MONTHS?

Doing a rough estimate, a boat out of Vale, heading to Menagerie would take 3 months. What was Blake doing for the other three? Taking her sweet time shopping for a new outfit, I guess.

For those who don’t know, Menagerie seems to be underneath the continent of Mistral. Using the rough 1 month estimate for a boat from the City of Vale to Mistral‘s western coast, the trip to Menagerie is about 3x as long, but possibly much shorter if they cut through some of the islands south of Mistral. 3 months is if they go all the way around all land masses.

And seriously, did Sun actually stalk her for six damn months? That’s... uhh... that’s dedication right there. A bit creepy, but dedicated.

I guess we can say Blake needed time to decide that she wanted to go home, and maybe more time to find a boat to take her there... but three+ months? OK I guess.

But then what the hell was she doing?

. . .

Yang.

It’s easier to say what she’s been up to when compared to Weiss and Blake. She’s been marinating at home in her own self-doubt and despair.

It’s shown that she’s still feeling the effects of her confrontation with Adam, though it largely isn’t consuming her every waking moment like it was at the end of Vol. 3. She’s just sort of living with it.

It’s progress, but very little.

I can’t help but think that RT couldn’t think of a good way to show Yang’s progression from depressed lump back to bad ass fighter, so they just said “ah, well, it’s been six months, see? She just needs a good push from daddy now.”

Except when we resumed the show, Yang didn’t even want the arm. Then, next thing we know, she’s like “OK fine, now train me, dad.” And then she’s off to find Rubaby.

We can’t just go from six months in and she’s barely getting past it at all to taking off on a bike with her sick new arm.

Except apparently we can.

But hold up. Yang’s story line gives us one more theory to work with, but I don’t like it because it means that RT SUCKS REALLY BAD AT SHOWING THE PASSAGE OF TIME!

YANG TAKES A FUCKING BOAT TO MISTRAL!

We’ve established that such a trip takes at least a month. Maybe a little less if we say that the RWBY world has some fast as fuck boats.

This means that the stories we’ve been seeing could have been taking place over a decent chunk time... BUT IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO SAY!

Weiss’s story is the only one that gives us a semi-concrete passage of time. Her dad says they’re holding a charity ball int he “coming weeks.” Yeah, OK, it’s actually kinda vague. But let’s take his word for it and say that’s 2-3 weeks and at most a month.

Perhaps it’s actually a five month time skip, and everything we see is leading up to the end of the sixth month. The end of the Volume is where we hit the end of our “six month skip.”

If this is made clear anywhere, I am unaware of it.

However, IF this is the case, then all the storylines... don’t match up at all. If Yang left right at the BEGINNING of the Volume, then it would, but she goes through her angst and training montage first. The only way it makes sense is if Yang’s arc starts EVEN FARTHER BACK, but we’re introduced to Weiss’s arc and then Blake’s first, so that would mean RT is jumping through time like an time-traveling cricket on crack.

But IF, IF we’re nice and say everything on screen took one month, even if we only say all the stories but Ruby’s took one month...

BUT FUCKING DAMN IT BLAKE SCREWS IT UP! Blake’s arc clearly happens over the course of a few days, tops. She catches Sun, fights a water dragon, and then lands back home shortly after. Then she’s with her family for like 2 days, 3 at most, and the Volume ends.

But here’s another way to look at it. And no, it’s not a better way.

What if we START after six months, and this all takes 2-3 weeks MORE on top of it?

I mean jebas fucking christmas, that would just be STUPID.

And it gets worse if we take things as we see them to be the chronological order of events, because that means Ruby and co. have already been in Mistral for OVER A MONTH, because that’s how long it’d take Yang to catch up with them, and she’s not shown on the boat until Ruby begins writing her letter. We can assume that Yang’s been on the boat for a bit at that point so maybe not a month, but that just confuses the timeline even more...

Ugh, I give up. The passage of time is totally FUCKED in Vol. 4.

I was hopeful, really I was. We proved that the six months made sense for Ruby’s trip... but then everything else made it a convoluted mess where we can’t tell what’s happening when and how long it all takes.

Assuming clear roads with no real needs to stop except for sleep, Yang could probably get across Mistral on her bike in 3-4 days. That’s being generous. But there’s no speeding up that boat trip.

We needed a time skip for Ruby’s series of events to play out as they did, but it really got messy with all the other characters. And trying to show off all the different arcs made the whole thing into one nasty headache.

If there’s a concrete timeline that makes sense of it all, please let me know.

I’m out.