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mayihavethisdanse · 4 years ago

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“What is this, the Dark Ages?”

Or, Arthurian themes and allusions in the Brotherhood of Steel mythos as seen in Fallout 4. (But that’s a lot of words.)

Yep. We're doing this.

First, some obligatory caveats: there is no single Arthurian canon, just 1500 years of assorted fanfic based on the whims of whoever was writing at the time. For this extremely highbrow Tumblr meta, I have ignored most of it and drawn on my favorites. Also Wikipedia.

Also, I am not an expert in Arthurian literature (or Fallout lore, come to that), and I preemptively beg the pardon of anyone who is.

Finally, in no way am I claiming that all these parallels and thematic echoes are deliberate or even significant. In fact, I'd break it down into:

Clearly deliberate allusions, whether in or out of universe;

Probably coincidence, but could be someone deliberately capitalizing on a coincidental similarity;

Almost certainly coincidence, but fun to speculate about; annnnd

Blatant Monty Python references. (Because of course there are.)

I'll start with the big one.

Arthur Maxson, boy king and unifier

(source)

So across all the retellings and variations of King Arthur’s life story, there are a few consistent elements, particularly in his early life and rise to power. Some of these threads are echoed in the Fallout universe, specifically (and unsurprisingly) in the person of Arthur Maxson.

Both the legendary King Arthur and Arthur Maxson were born with a claim to power lying in their ancestry, both were fostered away from their families, and both proved themselves in combat at a young age.

King Arthur united the warring kingdoms of Britain into a single entity, making them stronger against outsiders and receiving general admiration and acclaim. Arthur Maxson united the divided factions of the BoS after the events of Fallout 3 and is held in similarly high regard by his men.

The name Prydwen is a reference to the ship of the original King Arthur. Presumably, Arthur Maxson (or someone in the BoS who anticipated his promotion) christened the airship in a deliberate homage to the Arthurian myth.

King Arthur is associated with his legendary sword. I think it’s notable that Maxson’s legend is associated with a bladed weapon, too. ("He killed a DEATHCLAW with a COMBAT KNIFE!”)

Probably coincidence, but fun: the historical emperor Magnus Maximus, who pops up a lot in early Arthurian legend, was known in Welsh as... Macsen. (⌐■_■)

Round Table, but make it dieselpunk

(Continued under the cut.)

Moving away from obvious allusions and into some looser parallels:

Like the Round Table, the Brotherhood is an exclusive knightly order with its leader being the one able to open it up to his chosen few.

Like the Round Table, the BoS sees itself as defending human civilization against forces of chaos. (I’ll touch on their tech-hoarding tendencies when I get to the Grail stuff.) This idea of civilization in the face of chaos goes back to the BoS’s founding, even though the level of isolationism we see in most of the Fallout franchise is not exactly what founder Roger Maxson had in mind: “Notably, Maxson's ultimate intention was to establish the Brotherhood as an organization that works closely with people outside of the Brotherhood, as guardians of civilizations, not its gatekeepers.” (source) In a lot of ways, Arthur Maxson represents a return to his ancestor’s original ideals.

Renegade knights? Internal politics? Traitors within? We gotchu.

In both the medieval legends and in all chapters of the BoS we’ve seen, there’s a big focus on bloodlines (ew). Ironically, it’s probably Arthur Maxson’s unquestionable ancestry that allows him to be more progressive than either of his East Coast predecessors when it comes to boosting Brotherhood numbers by recruitment (even though you can still see a clear division between “born Brotherhood” and recruited soldiers, but that’s a topic for another day). Maxson sees himself as an Elder who "cares for the people"—however misguided and patronizing that attitude might be—and whatever else you might say about the guy, you can't say he doesn't believe he has a duty. Which brings us to…

Know Your Enemy: Danse as Gawain

Before I start this section, an acknowledgement of authorial bias:

Gawain, as portrayed in the Middle English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, is my very favorite of King Arthur’s knights. (Other stories aren't always as flattering, but like I said at the outset: I'm sticking to the ones I like.)

That poem is my very favorite piece of medieval Arthurian literature. In this section, I'll refer to the modern English translation by Simon Armitage.

...that’s it, I have no other biases to disclose.

What? 👀

(Art: Clive Hicks-Jenkins)

All right. So in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, you’ve got this himbo loyal knight of Arthur’s who finds himself caught up in... you know what, let me just paste in the Wikipedia summary. (The Toast, RIP, also did a pretty entertaining and more-or-less accurate recap.)

It describes how Sir Gawain, a knight of King Arthur's Round Table, accepts a challenge from a mysterious "Green Knight" who dares any knight to strike him with his axe if he will take a return blow in a year and a day. Gawain accepts and beheads him with his blow, at which the Green Knight stands up, picks up his head and reminds Gawain of the appointed time. In his struggles to keep his bargain, Gawain demonstrates chivalry and loyalty until his honour is called into question by a test involving the lord and the lady of the castle where he is a guest.

Don’t worry too much about the plot details, though; for this post, I’m more interested in the thematic parallels. The Green Knight story is full of contrasts: order vs. chaos, civilization vs. wilderness, mortal man vs. Other... but let’s start with Gawain himself.

Some stuff to know about Gawain:

He was "as good as the purest gold, devoid of vices but virtuous and loyal". Gawain took his principles more seriously even than the rest of Arthur’s knights, not out of pride but out of humility: "I would rather drop dead than default from duty," he says.

He’s faithful and honorable and never even tempted to betray an oath, even when offered every variety of seduction and riches, except for a single moment of weakness in a desperate desire not to be executed for random shit by powerful forces for reasons he doesn't understand.

Even though he doesn’t really understand why he needs to die, he sticks to his oath. Gawain's one weakness is a moment of desperate, private, human desire for survival. He'll submit to the headsman’s axe if he has to, but he'd still rather live.

Above all, Gawain is the ideal of a human man: he might be the bravest and loyal man there is, but he’s still fundamentally human.

You can probably see where I'm going with this.

A few more fun facts about Gawain that resonate with Paladin Danse’s story:

He’s got a bunch of really shitty brothers. (No comment.)

Gawain (SPOILERS!) doesn't actually end up beheaded, but he does willingly kneel for his execution and gets a cut on the throat as a reminder of his sin. And, uh, Danse can also get his throat cut! It doesn’t end as nicely but it’s, you know, a thing that can happen.

Gawain might be a really good guy, and he tries really hard to be one, but in the end he’s nothing more than that: there’s nothing supernatural about him, he has no special powers beyond his own principles and devotion. He’s just a dude doing his Best.

Wait, why not Danselot?

Oh, that guy? Here’s the thing.

Lancelot personifies the continental ideals of courtly love that became popular in the High Middle Ages. Central to his story is the prioritization of personal relationships and romantic feelings in a way that you don’t really see in Gawain's, at least in the Green Knight tale. (Later stories hook Gawain up with an extremely delightful lady, but even that is a different flavor of romance than Lancelot's and has more to do with Gawain honoring his word and his egalitarian treatment of women (hell yeah). In the poem, Gawain is impressed by Bertilak's wife but resists her temptation; in fact, the biggest risk is not that he'll yield to her advances but that he'll be discourteous to her, i.e., violate his principles and cause dishonor to his king and his host.)

Lancelot is driven by passions over principles in a way that Gawain never really is (at least in the stories I’m talking about; later writers have committed character assassination to various degrees). Yes, you could argue that both Gawain and Lancelot betray their oaths, but Lancelot’s betrayal is never, um, blind. He knows what he’s doing and makes a deliberate choice to prioritize his love for the queen over his love for the king. It doesn’t make him a bad guy—he too is an ideal knight with one fatal flaw—but his character isn’t as comparable to Paladin Danse.

Yeah, Gawain is (in most stories) a prince and a kinsman of Arthur’s, but he’s ultimately a native boy who doesn’t break the mold of a Knight of the Round Table. Likewise, Danse is portrayed as competent and valuable to the BoS, but not exceptional or breaking the mold of what a BoS soldier should be: he simply represents the ideal. Meanwhile, Lancelot is a foreign prince who was marked from childhood as special and fancy, and his storyline goes alllll over the place. (Much like this post.)

For example, Lancelot goes to absolutely absurd extremes to prove his devotion for no other reason than to prove it. (“I’ll do any useless humiliating thing you want. I’ll betray every oath except the one I made to you. That’s what love is!”) Gawain would never. Danse would never.

Ultimately, Gawain's tests are of his character and not of his love. And like Gawain, Danse’s devotion is to service and his principles, not to another person—even Arthur Maxson.

All that said, there are some similarities: both are beloved by Arthur, both are held up as the ideal of what a knight should be. And even if their fatal flaws are different, both make the point that no matter how good and brave and loyal they might be, no human being can be perfect.

(Except Galahad. Who is, as a result, very boring.)

I’ll conclude this section with a quote from someone else’s take on the Greek Knight poem:

I like Gawain. He’s not perfect, but he’s trying his best which is all any of us can do. He’s not like the other knights in the Arthurian legends who occasionally ‘accidentally’ kill women on their little adventures and then feel hard done by when they have to deal with the consequences of that. Gawain holds himself to a high standard – higher, it seems, than Arthur and his knights hold him to considering how hard they laugh when Gawain tells them how bad he feels about the whole thing.

I think Gawain is very relatable in this story. We all want to be better than we actually are.

And that, more than anything else, is Danse.

The Grail myth

What’s that? Lost relics of power? Better send some large armed men after ‘em!

The parallels to the BoS’s tech-hoarding ways are obvious enough that the games themselves lampshade them (albeit by way of Monty Python). But it also ties into the larger themes of “purity” versus “corruption” and the BoS’s self-image as a bastion between civilization and chaos. (See Maxson's line in response to the Sole Survivor’s quip about the Dark Ages: “Judging from the state of the world, it wouldn't be a stretch to say we're living in that era again.”)

But the ultimate futility of the Grail mission is also worthy of note. The BoS might want the power of prewar tech on their side, but they’re no more to be trusted with it than any other group of human beings. No matter how they try, the “corruption” of humanity can’t be overcome as long as they’re striving to harness power for their own ends. You can only achieve power by surrendering control of it.

The death of Arthur

The nature of gameplay being what it is, it's not guaranteed that the Arthur figure will be fatally betrayed, bringing Camelot down with him—but it's not unlikely, either.

Awkward.

Some final spitballing:

Outside the Brotherhood, there are some fun parallels of the Arthur myth with the rest of Fallout 4. Betrayal by one’s own son, for example.

The key difference between the BoS and the legendary Round Table: King Arthur’s knights, for all their flaws and human weaknesses, are usually presented as unambiguous Good Guys. The BoS is... a little more ambiguous...

...but damn if they don’t think they're the good guys.

A-ad victoriam, fellas!

#fallout #fallout 4 #brotherhood of steel #arthur maxson #paladin danse #sir gawain and the green knight #sir gawain #gawain #knights of the round table #king arthur #elder maxson #fallout 3 #fallout lore #maxson #roger maxson #look mom I did a meta

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threeletterslife · 2 years ago

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....hi :)

I didn't realise a whole month had gone by 😭 school started in august and I've been feeling like shit lately, so I just didnt want to come on tumblr. I was in a state where I felt like crying... pretty much all the time.

BUT I am doing much better now so I'm back!! I missed yoongi and y/n and I thought today's finally the day I read the chapters I've missed. I'm so, so sorry for disappearing out of the blue. I felt so bad about it, and I always meant to stay up and read it at night but I was so exhausted I fell asleep right away.

I'll try to come back to tumblr regularly again, though I can't promise anything. Fingers crossed!!

Now, back to my lovelies :( i missed them

(I'm going to read chapter 15 for now)

OH RIGHT THE MYSTERY MAN I nearly forgot

Oh, it's so cute how she still cares for him even though she knows nothing about him. She's worried that he might not have moved on, oh sweetheart :(((

Doyun my LOVE I missed you too mUAH <3

These dreams are starting to frustrate me too, I can only imagine how y/n feels. Like, why NOW of all times?? Leave her and yoongi in peace so they can have their love story 😭😭

EVEN DOYUN'S SHIPPING THEM PLEASE

Doyun's being practical with her advice, I like that. As a hoarder myself, i hate letting go of shit whether it's memories or physical things, but eventually, sometimes you just... have to. It's better than spending your time being frustrated about it

AHHH the world building, those little stories and fairytales I love it

Minhee :( Doyun, sweetheart... I want to hug her :((

AHSHSHS IT ISNT A LOD CHAPTER IF Y/N ISNT SHITTING ON HIM FOR HIS POSTURE it's so funny help-

I already knew yoongi was always a sweetheart, but this just confirms it. I love hearing stories of when people were kids, it's just so sweet and it tells you so much about a person

"Badmouth his family and he'll get furious" why do I feel like this is foreshadowing 💀💀 y/n's going to say some stupid shit about his mother or brother and they're gonna fight, I'm calling it

Y/N SWEETHEART CALL YOURSELF A BOTHER ONE MORE TIME I FUCKING DARE YOU just you wait until I get myself into your world I'm going to give you the biggest, sweetest hug you've ever had

Bro all the symbolism and connections with the solarian lore, it's so cool

Please why do I relate with y/n's thoughts so often. We're the same kind of messed up-

HELP THEYRE BOTH IN DENIAL

I love the way yoongi and y/ns thoughts practically mirror each other, they're always thinking similar things and they're both so cute-

Yo he finally straightened his posture. All you need to say is "yn was talking about you" and the mf straightens immediately-

NO yoongi so WHAT if she's darlarean you son of a bitch (I say this while because I can't put all my thoughts down in writing. Part of me is sympathising with him while the other part is screaming at him, my brain is a very jumbled mess doing two things at once)

It's so funny, they have such sweet thoughts then immediately try to justify them in entire paragraphs full of half-assed logic, just say you're whipped and go 😭😭

LMAO DOYUN'S RETELLING IS PURE GOKD

Hwayoung really does sound like y/n, it's so cuteRiding off towards the sun??? Y/n, babe, this is your reincarnation I'm sure of it

Y/NS NEVER CALLED HIM BY HIS NAME??? ABSOLUTELY NOT WE CANT HAVE THIS I NEED BOTH OF THEM TO GET DRUNK ASAP AND DO EMBARRASSING SHIT TOGETYER

CHANA baby great job as always <333 ill try to read chapter 16 soon when I need to procrastinate from doing my homework

I love you <33333

well, hello there!! i'm sorry you were in that mental state, but it's great to hear that you're fine now :)) don't be sorry about prioritizing your health! i definitely took a break from tumblr as well—things have been pretty hectic at school, so i haven't had as much time to look on social media

ahh yes OC has such a kind heart 😭😭 she be feeling bad for a STRANGER. but then again, is he really a stranger? she def feels guilty for not feeling anything for someone who she should be feeling something for LOL

LMAOO "Leave her and yoongi in peace so they can have their love story" PLEASE. ALSO WBK DOYUN KNOWSSS SHE KNOWS EVERYTHING

and yes i very much agree. it's nice to hold onto things, but sometimes you also have to learn to let things go. it can feel more cathartic that way

LMAO OC ALWAYS HAS SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT THE GENERAL'S SHITTY ASS POSTURE

omg yes i love hearing childhood stories. i totally agree; it really says a lot about a person ngl

LMAOO NOT YOU RELATING TO OC????

IT'S NOT A SLOW BURN WITHOUT DENIAL? THAT'S LIKE STAGE ONE

eheheheheh it's gonna take a while until she calls him by his name :)))))

i don't want to keep you away from your homework! thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with me!! as usual, i really really enjoyed reading through all of your reactions LOL. have a wonderful rest of your day <33333

#ask #chimchiekookie #lod #legends of dalaria

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bigskydreaming · 3 years ago

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Sorry to bother you, but RE: the Jason Todd in Arkham thing, like, what was Dick supposed to do? Take him home to the same house where two of the KIDS that Jason had threatened/attacked were supposed to be living in what one hoped would be relative safety?

Like, full offence, Jason had at that point proven himself a danger to all the people around him. If he wound up at Arkham, oh well, maybe don’t kill a whole bunch of ppl and harm numerous others. If Arkham doesn’t work as a hospital, maybe he should have been at another one, but at that point in his character arc, a secure mental health facility was probably the best he could expect.

It’s like ppl forget he’s a multiple murderer with a history of targeting the ppl Dick loves. I don’t even read the comics and I know this much.

Oh for sure, I mean, I've posted meta about this before because the fandom accepted narrative gets it sooooooo wrong. Like, I'll always be right at the front of the line yelling IT WAS JASON'S CHARACTERIZATION THAT WAS CRAP THROUGH ALL THAT, THAT'S NOT JASON, GIMME NUANCE OR GIMME DEATH. Y'know, something like that.

But like, given that Jason was written as repeatedly trying to kill Dick's other two brothers its like, yeah?! What was Dick supposed to do? He'd tried asking Jason nicely hey could you stop doing that and Jason was like LOL no.

And also....people are like - Dick callously threw Jason into Arkham right next to the Joker and then just left him there and forgot about him and....SOURCE?

1) Dick didn't DO this to Jason, JASON went after Dick and Damian and in the process of fighting him in a very public space, Dick beat Jason and police were already like....right there? Dick didn't actually have the option of being uh no, you can't take this known and notorious criminal into custody, I'll stop you on the basis of - well I can't tell you actually but plz just trust me okay, he totes didn't mean it! (except like also, at that point he totes did, so.....)

2) What pull Dick DID have as Batman with the GCPD, he used to get Jason put into Arkham INSTEAD of Blackgate for his SAFETY. We know this to be true. Jason himself confirmed that absolutely nothing bad happened to him in Arkham, he just didn't want to be there but WHO THE HELL EVER WANTS TO BE IN A PRISON OF ANY SORT? And the first thing Dick said when Bruce said Jason had demanded to be transferred to Blackgate is that Jason wouldn't be safe there with all the enemies he had gunning for him. It was abundantly clear that Jason's safety had been a primary concern for Dick the whole time (and Jason wasn't safe at Blackgate, its just fine, he only wanted to be transferred in order to enact an escape plan that got like 80 people indiscriminately killed but whatevs. Its Gotham, what's a few dozen more dead criminals am I right? *rolls eyes at how often that little detail gets left out of the narrative).

3) Dick consistently put time, focus and Wayne Enterprises money into Arkham Asylum while he was Batman, since Arkham was being rebuilt from the ground up after it was blown up in Battle for the Cowl. Also, Dick had been one of the last 'patients' in the old Arkham, given that he went undercover to infiltrate the Black Glove while they were in control of Arkham and spent a week in there drugged to the gills, locked up and in a straitjacket before being almost lobotomized. He has every grievance with Arkham that fan writers like to PRETEND Jason has from his stay there, but Jason's only complaint was that he again, was bored, and he had to take psych evals every other week because it was after all, still a mental health institution. Dick did everything in his power at the time to make sure that even if Jason did have to be locked up to keep him from going after more people, like, it was going to be as humane as possible and the stuff that Dick himself had JUST experienced in the old Arkham WOULDN'T happen to Jason.

4) The Joker was literally nowhere near Arkham THE ENTIRE TIME. This is not a small detail, given that 'the Joker was just five cells down' is the entire basis of most writers' Jason-in-Arkham angst and the anti-Dick sentiments they tend to create. All the major Rogues escaped from the old Arkham in Battle for the Cowl BEFORE it blew up. That's why they're not DEAD. Dick's run as Batman was primarily about fighting the escapees. And Joker, very significantly, was clearly among those Rogues not present in Arkham during Dick's Batman run, given he was literally toying with Dick and Damian through most of it. Seriously, how much do people have to hate Dick and think the worst of him to think that he - the dude who btw, BEAT THE JOKER TO DEATH WITH HIS BARE HANDS FOR MAKING JOKES ABOUT KILLING JASON - would just....obliviously lock Jason up right next to the Joker and throw away the key?

Like...and it goes on and on, lol. I remember the first time I brought all this up in an argument with some Jason stans, they literally started laughing back and forth to each other in the replies about how someone was a bit too carried away with their own fanon, and its like...LMAO! Yes! Someone is! Its YOU! You are the people you guys are talking about, looooool, I can literally back all this up with sourced panels.

Buuuuuuut, c'est la vie.

I mean, this is nothing new for us, its literally Teen Wolf fandom alllll over again. Probably why I just said nope, not doing this again awhile back and was like umm actually I will NOT just be ignoring the blatant false narratives thrown around here just so that people happy with the fanon narratives that prioritize the characters they like and sling shit at the characters they don't can have their fandom just the way they want it at the expense of everyone else in it. You wanna push bad faith interpretations of specific characters at every literal opportunity, its like, that's cool! I got the drive! I can push back with actual facts, its all good!

But the most hilarious thing to me will always be how fucking INDIGNANT people get about that, like "How dare you point out the precedent we established in not caring about any fandom experience other than our own and thus being loud and everpresent with our preferred interpretations in an attempt to drown out any other possible interpretation just so that the most people possible would be influenced by us instead of anything else, and we'd get more of the content we like at the expense of any possible nuance whatsoever."

Like, the most common complaint I get is people griping about how damn often I'm saying "mmmm, no, this isn't what happened actually" and "okay but have you considered flipping the script BACK from the way you flipped it initially in order to get this weird ass interpretation of a superhero noted for his emphasis on emotional caretaking of his loved ones actually being this callous oblivious selfish jerk who tramples all over the feelings of everyone around them and makes them just the woobiest woobies that ever did woobie all throughout Woobieland?"

And I'm just like, okay see, I hear you, its just the thing is, the THING IS......

If you didn't want that to be the topic of conversation so damn often, then hey, just a suggesh, but maybe you shouldn't have devoted literal years to coming up with the most bad faith interpretations of this character possible at literally every available opportunity. Maybe there'd be like.....less reason for the topic to come up so often, if like....you by your own actions hadn't made it a necessary topic to tackle so often?

I DON'T KNOW, I'M JUST SPIT-BALLING HERE, DON'T MIND ME AND MY CRAZY-ASS IDEAS OF FAIR PLAY.

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dewipersikkk · 4 years ago

Text

Pursuit of Happiness : Chapter 3 Ackerman's Tea Shop

Rating : General Audiences

Words count : 1367 words

Notes: A few bit of spoiler but safe to read, not much. We're all been depressed lately because of the ending BUT I hope fanfics might cure/heal me or any RM shippers here. So this is just a gift for my fellow Rivamika shippers here and I would like to thank you for the awesome journey with you guys! I'm grateful that I've been in the RM community for years and yes the fandom is worth it. Hands down.

I hope you like it!

Available in AO3

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

Levi is left alone with his 3 months old daughter, who keeps smacking her wet hand to his cheek. The baby went to put her fist into her small mouth and wetting it with the drools.

"Oi keeps your hand away from your mouth, brat," He lightly scolds as he puts her hand away, but only earns a coo from his daughter.

Levi is a person who prioritizes hygiene above all especially to his family. He didn't want them to get dirty or even unhygienic. It reminds him of his past when he was a young boy, who kept unclean and filthy. Luckily, Kenny was there to 'help' him. He didn't want his children to be like him in the past. They deserve better and this is the time to make the changes.

Mikasa went out to somewhere for a moment, leaving her husband and child in the house.

"Probably shopping with Annie? Or...tch I rather don't want to know,"

He didn't want to bother where she will be going. It's not that he didn't want to care but the thought of his wife wandering somewhere to that place, only hurts his brain.

Then, Levi could hear the wet sound his daughter makes that disgusts him.

"Oi, don't put your hand again to your mouth!"

The baby let out a genuine laugh, showing her toothless grin. Levi smiles looking at his daughter's behaviour and kisses her temple.

Levi suddenly remembers his tea shop. Probably visiting his tea shop might be a good idea to spend time alone with his beloved daughter.

"Hey, let's go visit our tea shop, later on, the tea shop will be yours, Kuchel,"

......

At the Ackerman's Tea

The tea shop recently operates its business and surprisingly, there are a lot of customers from every part of the cities, even the neighbouring countries are willing to travels across the shore just to visits Levi's tea shop. Most of the customers are from the East Sea, which Levi is not a fan of them.

Levi remembers when those people arrive at his tea shop, asking for more discounts and some of them offering him a good amount of cash for investment. Of course, Levi instantly refuses. He didn't want them to interfere with his family's business. The tea shop will be passed to his children and another generation.

Some of the customers are infuriating and he has the urge to kick out the customers. He recalls the time that causes his blood to boil when a customer asked Mikasa about her relationship with Eren.

"Mrs Ackerman! How are you?" The boisterous man suddenly approached Mikasa. The man frequently went to the tea shop in the late afternoon for black tea.

"I'm fine," Mikasa replied and showed the man a soft smile to please her customer.

"I'm quite surprised you married with that shorty! I thought you will end up with that Yeager kid,"

Shocked with what the man has said, Mikasa's smile turns into a frown, her face not showing any contentment that she often

showed after finding her happiness with Levi and tears started to build up in her eyes.

The man sensed the sudden change of Mrs Ackerman and tried to apologize to her.

"I-I'm sorry,"

"It's okay, sir and I'm sorry I have to go to the bathroom," Mikasa walked away with her hands on her cheeks, trying to remove the tears that slipped out from her eyes.

Levi who was standing behind the counter heard the whole interaction between the man and his wife. He felt his muscle tense, his blood boiled that he could felt to explode and his hands were shaking. He couldn't help but break one of the teacups.

"YOU!" Levi pointed at the scared man. He looked at the man with a furious face that he once gave to Zeke Yeager.

Levi paced toward the man and grabbed a hold of his collar. Even though Levi is short, but he managed to lift the shitty man and felt as if he was the taller one.

"Who the fuck are you to say something like THAT to my wife!?" He barked as he tightened the hold on the man's collar, "A fool like you is stupid enough to fucking mention that name TO MY WIFE!"

"I'm-I'm sorry Mr-," The man pleaded.

"You don't know how many years I have to make her happy like she is right now, you don't know how many years she's been depressed, you don't know the shits we've all gone through and YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MANY TIMES I HAVE TO SUFFER TO MAKE HER COME BACK FROM THE DEAD!" Levi threw away the man to the floor.

"P-p-please I'm sorry, Mr Ackerman," The man cried as he crawled toward Levi for forgiveness.

"Just get the fuck out of here,"

"Mr Ackerman-,"

"I said get out, don't ever show your face here again,"

The man ran out of the place and never came back.

Levi feels Kuchel's wet hand slaps on his temple. Again. The baby stares at her father with curiosity as if she understands what her father has been thinking for a while when they arrive at the tea shop.

"You don't want your father to remembering something?" He asks and the baby only stares at him with wide eyes, "And stop putting your hand inside your mouth,"

The baby laughs and it's warm Levi's heart seeing his daughter. He puts Kuchel on the counter and tickles her sides which causes her to let out a belly laugh.

Abruptly, there are knocking on the door that force Levi to stop his action. He just wants to share some moment with his daughter alone but the stupid person who knocks on the door deserves a kick.

"Who the fuck dare to knock on my door when the business is close? Did they even read the operating hours?"

He stomps toward the door and opens it just to see the two kids who always accompanies him wherever he goes. The kids who he sees as his own children. The kids who also a part of his happiness.

"H-Hi Paps," Falco said as he smiles nervously. The same goes for the girl behind him, Gabi, who waves her hand.

"What are you doing here? How did you know I was here?" Levi said with annoyance. Actually, he didn't mind the kids visiting.

Gabi moves forward as she shows a confident smile.

"We miss you so much, Paps and of course not only you but Kuchel too!"

"Tch...Just come in and Kuchel is here," He shoves the kids inside and closes the door, "Wash your hands before touching her,"

"Aye aye, Captain,"

"Tch...brats,"

Levi smiles.

......

Throughout the day, they had a very good time bonding between a father and his three lovely brats. Levi teaches and demonstrates the 'art' of making a perfect tea to Falco and Gabi. Both of them did their best but the taste of the teas aren't that nice.

"Tch...You make the worst tea that I'd ever drink!" Levi snorts.

Falco and Gabi laugh and surprisingly, Baby Kuchel also let out an enormous belly laugh.

"You love to laugh at your father right, Kuchel?"

Then, Gabi and Falco play with Baby Kuchel until Baby Kuchel falls asleep due to the exhaustion of playing with her brother and sister. The two of them also falls asleep, Falco's head on Gabi's shoulder as he snores while Gabi sleeping soundly.

Levi stares at them with a smile forms on his face. He didn't know he has the urge to cry just to look at his children sleeping together. Gabi and Falco are not his own biological children but he sees them like his own.

He didn't expect he's still alive after they have gone through a lot. Every morning, he thanks his mother, his uncle, his old squad, Erwin, Hange for being with him and watching him. He also thanks Mikasa, for giving him a chance to love, to form a beautiful family and bearing him a gorgeous baby girl.

Levi is grateful for what he has now and he's finally a happy family man.

#rivamika #levi x mikasa #rivamika fanfics #levi #mikasa #aot

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transbuckaroo · 3 years ago

Text

pain, applause

hello. my name is andrew, and i wrote a short lambden fic a few days ago. this will be based on the “following the thread” quest from “the witcher 3: wild hunt” developed by cd projekt red. the characters are based on dev patel as sir gawain in the 2021 film “the green knight” as directed by david lowery, and paul bullion in the upcoming 2021 seaon 2 of “the witcher” as directed by stephen surjik. i haven’t written very much these past two or three years, but i am proud of this finished product. please keep any comments/criticisms kind. thank you, enjoy!

_________

The moment Aiden realized how well and truly fucked him and Baby Steadfast were, he was already surrounded on all sides. He could sense them. His medallion hummed gently against his chest with the signal of danger with every step he took. If he could get out of this clearing, he thought, just into the tree line to stay hidden. It wasn’t far; he could make it, just keep going. The Cat kept his hand at the ready to make quick work of grabbing his battle axe and kept his breaths even as he walked. Aiden knew what was waiting for him. It seemed the fox did as well. Always intuitive, the little one.

Jad Karadin came out of the trees in front of him like a shadow from an alley, looming and dagger drawn in his right hand. Aiden slowed his pace, too exposed, ears picking up the slide of multiple steel swords off to the left. Then two figures emerged from behind Jad, appearing as if they had come directly from within his body. Lund first, after came Hammond. Baby laid back his ears flat, centering himself lower to the ground in a defensive position. He placed himself between the three and Aiden as he went.

There was no running from them. These people were never meant to be his enemies; Jad was supposed to be his brother especially. If anyone here was supposed to be on his side more than anyone, it was Jad. An elder Cat, someone Aiden was supposed to be able to look up to as a mentor. Jad had broken the mold. Had children, a wife, a life away from being a Witcher. Beyond it. He had proof that there was more.

These things didn’t matter anymore. Whoever Jad Karadin was supposed to be was pointless now. Because he was an evil man today. He and whoever else followed him here.

Aiden drew his axe, pulling a deep and centering breath as he went. There were more of this group, hiding somewhere in the thick of trees, awaiting their moment. This was only to end one of two ways. There would be no other option besides these. For a split second, Aiden found himself missing the presence of a certain Wolf over his right shoulder.

Lambert. Lambert wouldn’t let him get hurt. He would protect Aiden here and now, and the Cat wouldn’t have to worry about a thing. In fact, Lambert would have already drawn his sword and made a calculated advancement on their enemy. He would have won, too, because Aiden has never seen him fail a task when he gets that crease between his brows as they furrow in his determination. Lambert, with his fiery curls and attitude to match. Lambert, with his impossible wit and unrelenting promises made to Aiden that have never broken. Lambert, the little brother of Kaer Morhen, baby of the lot of them.

Lambert, who Aiden swore to see back in the valley in Kaedwen where the Buina and Gwenllech rivers part in Daevon so them and Baby Steadfast could finally make the trek up to Kaer Morhen together.

The heat in between Aiden’s shoulder blades told him he wasn’t going to make it up to the keep this year.

“Aiden,” Jad spoke, knuckles white around the hilt of his dagger. Aiden snapped back into focus. He didn’t even dare to blink. “You know why I’ve come?”

“I didn’t kill the Duke’s daughter. I couldn’t save her. I tried.” The contract Aiden had held just months ago in the start of spring. A young girl, cursed, incurable despite the Duke’s pleads and Aiden’s best attempts to reverse it. She had succumbed to her circumstances. Aiden was paid for his efforts, bowed his head with sorrow as the Duke grieved, and went on his way.

“I’ve come to hear otherwise. You’ve botched it, boy. People are angry with the results of your work and lack thereof. You fucked up, and you’ve not shite to say for it.”

“I didn’t botch anything, I did my job. Not everyone gets a happy ending, Karadin. You’re a Cat. A Witcher. You should know.”

To be completely honest, Aiden hadn’t a goddamnable clue how he was going to get through this. Maybe he could take them. Most rivals don’t tend to waste time talking through events, let alone listen to their target. This time, maybe this time, Aiden could walk away with a mere banishment from the city. Possibly, hopefully, he could meet Lambert in time in the valley.

“You’re right,” said Jad, some semblance of resignation on his face. It wasn’t real, his tone sounded fabricated. “Aiden. Not everyone gets a happy ending.”

The arrow came right in that moment, whizzing through the air and lodging itself into the ground by Aiden’s left foot. He startled, stepped back, whipping his head around to try and follow its trajectory. Someone was up high. Someone was in the trees. Jad brought a sniper with him. Of course he did. Oh, of course that motherfucker did. This horrid, abomination of a man. The tree line was too dense, impossible to know where in the leaves the arrow came from where Aiden was standing in the field. He had only tried to look for a moment though before the sound of running footsteps came too close for comfort. And fuck, he could only gain so much momentum with his axe from this angle but he had to try.

Aiden spun back around on his heel, hands braced on either end of the hilt of his axe, prioritizing blocking the blow and creating distance before landing a strike of his own. Jad was successfully pushed back at the chest. Sent fumbling backwards to regain his footing. He growled in anger at the same time Aiden swung at his accompanying attackers, just barely missing them with the blade of his weapon. Steel struck and sounded a metal clang through the clearing. Aiden grunted with the effort of three-and-a-sniper against one, swinging his axe to catch a sword under the head and vaulting his enemy away. Distance was vital, energy was crucial to use sparingly.

“Baby!” He shouted towards his fox, whom of which was bee-lining for the trees where the arrow had come. “No! Run home! Home! Go home!”

It was something they’d agreed upon once. Home. They knew what home was, who home was. Where home was. The valley. Lambert. The point they meet and part at every year, the small town the Wolves have passed through many times in prior years. It was an easy place to go. That was where they found home, him and Baby. Lambert was home. Baby Steadfast knew this command well and clear as day. Go home. Go find Lambert; he’ll know what it means for the fox to show up without the company of his Cat Witcher. He’ll spring into action.

All it took was one incorrect turn, expose just a little too much of something or other, at just the right moment. It wasn’t because he’d called out to Baby; he knew how to give direction without faltering in his task. It was fucked luck. Terrible, awful, shit luck. All he did was avoid another two arrows in the ground, one grazing his cloak as it went.

Jad caught him in his right side with his dagger, blade plunging in deep and ripping a pained and surprised shout from Aiden’s throat. All the way in and right back out. Aiden staggered, snarled, and lunged at the man in front of him. Jad was a monster on this day, and Witchers know damn well to dispose of those. His side was on fire. The younger Cat swung, but Jad ducked underneath the blade. As Aiden turned with the momentum, one of the others kicked a boot into his chest and sent him backwards into Karadin’s grasp. The dagger entered the same area as before as Jad grappled an arm around Aiden’s throat. He was stuck. He was bleeding horribly. Baby Steadfast had gone to get Lambert. There was no way they would find one another in time.

With a strong shove from the man behind him, the dagger dislodged, and in the same moment whoever was at his left ripped his axe out of his hands. Aiden tried to spin around to face them as he propelled forward, but only managed to end up on his back on the grass. It was still cold with morning dew. Aiden could see the fog of his breath as he fell.

And in the most startling of realizations as Jad came to kneel over him, Aiden realized he was going to die. Without Baby. Without his dignity. Without Lambert. Without telling Lambert how much he truly and purely loved him.

He thought he had more time. Had it all planned out. They would meet in three weeks hence, and the night before they would make the ascent to the keep for the winter, Aiden would tell Lambert that he loved him in their room. This incredible, selfless, beautiful Wolf. Part of him even believed Lambert might say it back. He would feel the same. They were just like comfortable lovers already, what with the way they shared beds and blankets and curled up in the night to sleep, the way they helped wash and put up one another’s hair, cooked for each other, looked out for each other, lost all sense of personal space with each other. Melitele, the two of them even refused to separate their bedrolls while they camped out during their travels. They called each other “pup” and “kitten” respectively, dressed wounds, mended clothes and armor, cleaned weapons, hunted together, laughed and smiled and hugged and shared stories. Oh, Lambert was beautiful. Of course Aiden was in love with him. To expect anything else were a fool’s game.

“Oh, kitty cat,” he heard from above, and focused his eyes on Jad. The coldness of his gaze, so detached and unaffected. The only indication he’d ever been in a fight at all was the way his chest pulled bigger breaths than before. “Don’t go and cry now, will ye? This is just the natural order of things.”

Oh, Gods above, Aiden was crying. Silent little tears slipping free from the corners of his eyes, sliding down into his hair that lay fanned out in the grass below. Without dignity indeed. Wounds screaming in white-hot pain, vision blurring with tears that he could not control, heart aching, voice beyond him.

“Please,” the younger Cat spoke in a soft, quivering voice. He blinked hard once, twice, willing the tears away. They did not relent.

“Please.” He was being mocked. Then someone spat from out of his sight right into his hair. It smelled of salmon and tobacco. This time Jad’s dagger entered slowly, and new hot tears fell from Aiden’s eyes with the hurt of it, hand coming to grab his wrist in a feeble attempt to stop him. It did nothing. If anything it encouraged the man.

Aiden couldn’t grant him the final victory of looking away from Karadin’s eyes. Even as the blade ripped out of his body once more. Karadin spoke again. “You beg me to spare your life. Your pathetic little life. Insignificant, worthless, liar’s life. You were never going to change; your batch was doomed from the start. Your death is hardly any repayment, but it is the best we can do to provide peace and closure for the Duke and his people. A life for a life. It is but the way of the world, Aiden. Certainly you understand.”

Oh, he understood. A life for a life was the most polite way to speak of revenge. Talk of debts and dues, exchanges of wins and losses. A life for a life meant a day of reckoning to come. Lambert, kind as Aiden ever saw him, would cash this in as quickly and mercilessly as he could. He was coming no matter what. If he was unable to save Aiden now, he as sure as all things was going to tear apart whoever hurt him. What a gorgeous soul he was.

The fourth and final stab, a telling sign of Karadin’s assassinations. Aiden couldn’t fight it this time. A cluster of wounds just under the right side of someone’s ribs, always in four, always fatal. Aiden choked out a cry of searing agony, feeling the blade twist inside of him with force, squeezing his eyes shut and clenching his jaw so tightly he should have broken a few teeth. It twisted again as it was taken out, and all Aiden could do was let the fat tears roll as it happened. He felt Jad grab his medallion from under his shirt and opened his eyes as it was ripped off his neck and placed into a pouch at Karadin’s hip. Proof of death. The easiest form of it, but still worth enough to get paid. Hired by anyone associated closely with a Duke, Jad was sure to be rewarded handsomely for his work.

“Now,” spoke Jad. Aiden’s eyes were starting to get heavy, chest heaving, vision spotting behind the blur of tears. “You’ll be gone in moments, boy. A few minutes and this will be over. The pain will dull just prior, don’t fret. I will not seek out your fox nor that Wolf you travel with, but should they come I will be ready. Goodnight, Aiden. Sleep well.”

Then Jad started to walk away. Hammond and Lund went with him. Aiden could only lay there in the grass, sending his apologies to Baby and Lambert skyward and hope they would understand. He never meant for this to happen. If there hadn’t been that damned sniper, then maybe he could have taken them. But there was no time to dwell now. Darkness crept in, and Aiden’s breathing slowed, and it went dark once and for all as he bled out. He had failed. He was sorry. He could only imagine how horrifically pathetic he appeared. Perhaps he could be forgiven in time by his fox and his Wolf for never coming home.

In some months, when the snow lay thick on the ground, white and untouched blanketing where grass once resided, there would be the choking gasp of a man within the Brokilon Forest. Waking from a healing sleep induced by an old magic, cast by resident Dryads within the cover of trees that towered above. Known by many as the forest of death, breathing life back into someone who simply had not been due to die.

“Sir Witcher Aiden,” said a calming voice, a person standing kindly to the side. Her palm lay gently at the crown of his head, soothing. “We welcome you back to the living world. It has been some time.”

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thatsamericano · 4 years ago

Text

Temptation Is Not An Island (But Alfred Wouldn’t Be Tempted Anyway)

Pairing/Characters/Genre: America/Romano that is probably one-sided at this point, with an appearance from Canada. Cankraine and Romano/an OMC are mentioned. This is a human AU.

Rating/Warnings: Rated Teen. Warnings for discussion of infidelity and briefly depicted unhealthy alcohol use.

Word Count: 2003

Summary: The day before Valentine’s Day, Alfred is hanging out with his brother and watching reality TV to distract himself the fact that Savino is probably doing something romantic with his boyfriend. But when his best friend suddenly shows up at his apartment out of the blue, Alfred’s February 13th plans change.

Notes: Written for @hetaliancupid-hetaliaevent‘s Day 6 prompt, Hug.

Alfred was not looking forward to Valentine’s Day this year. Part of it was that he was single as hell. He’d accepted that he was on the aromantic and asexual spectrums a while ago, but Valentine’s Day always made him feel weird, like he was supposed to have a romantic partner because that’s what society expected of him. This year he was particularly lonely because his best friend Savino, the only person he’d ever had romantic feelings for, would be spending the day with his stupid boyfriend Nathaniel. Nathaniel had always rubbed Alfred the wrong way, and not just because he was jealous of his relationship with Vinny (though that was admittedly part of the problem). Alfred had tried to be friendly to the guy, but he could tell Nathaniel was only bothering to acknowledge Alfred’s existence because Vinny was around. He wouldn’t even let Alfred give him a nickname and insisted on being called Nathaniel in full. Alfred thought Savino could do loads better. If he didn’t want to be with Alfred, he could at least be with someone who wasn’t such a complete tool.

Matthew knew that Alfred would be having a hard time this year, so he came over on February 13th to spend some quality time with his brother. He would obviously be spending the next day with his girlfriend Kateryna, and Alfred didn’t begrudge him that. It was really nice of Mattie to come over so close to Valentine’s Day and try to cheer him up. Watching reruns of Temptation Island wasn’t normally Matthew’s idea of a good time, but he put up with it because Alfred wanted to watch a silly reality show instead of thinking about whatever Savino was doing with his boyfriend.

They were in the middle of an episode when, out of nowhere, they suddenly heard a strange noise at the front door of the apartment. It sounded like someone was trying to get in, but that didn’t make sense. Alfred had never bothered to change the locks after Vinny moved out to live with his boyfriend, but there was no way he should be here right now.

Vinny shoved open the door, dropped a duffle bag by the entrance, and then slammed the door shut behind him. “You know I kept reminding you to change the fucking locks, but I guess it’s a good thing you were too lazy to do that. Where the hell do you keep your wine?”

Alfred was baffled, to say the least. “I, uhh… don’t think I even have wine anymore? I’m pretty sure you took it all when you moved out, and I’m not much of a drinker. But there’s some beer in the fridge. Gil left it when he came over a few days ago.”

“Fine. I’ll have the albino bastard’s beer.” He stomped over to the kitchen, obviously in a foul mood, and Matthew put the TV on mute and leaned over to whisper to his brother.

“Didn’t you say he’d be with his boyfriend right now?”

Alfred nodded. “I thought he would be.”

Matthew frowned thoughtfully. “I think something bad must’ve happened with him and Nathaniel. Savino is acting a lot more pissed off than normal.”

Alfred sighed. “I think you’re right, Mattie. I’ll go talk to him and see what it is.”

When he got to the kitchen, Savino was slugging down a bottle of Gilbert’s expensive, imported German beer like it was water and he’d just gone on a five-mile run in the August heat.

Alfred cautiously approached him. “Wow, I… uh, didn’t know you liked beer so much, dude.”

“I don’t,” Savino snapped. “I just needed something to wash out the taste of my boyfriend fucking cheating on me like the lowlife sack of shit he is.”

Alfred’s face fell. “Vinny—”

Savino set the beer down on the counter so he could use both hands to gesture as he ranted. “You saw us together, Alfredo. Tell me, did I strike you as a bad boyfriend? Did I mistreat or neglect Nathaniel in any way?”

“No, no you didn’t.” Savino had been affectionate and loving towards Nathaniel, so much so that it could turn Alfred’s stomach at times. The envy he’d felt, and that hopeless wish to be in Nathaniel’s place, was what had clued Alfred in to the fact he didn’t just see Vinny as a friend. But by the time he had figured that out, Alfred couldn’t say anything because Savino was happy and he and Nathaniel were in a serious, committed relationship. He couldn’t say anything then, and he definitely couldn’t say anything now after Savino had just had his heart broken.

Mostly, he felt immense sympathy towards Savino, which is the emotion one should feel when a friend’s boyfriend turns out to be a disloyal asshole. But there was a tiny piece of Alfred’s heart that found Savino’s complicated hand gesturing cute, even though that was a completely inappropriate thing to notice in this situation.

“Then tell me why the fuck that testa di minchia decided to start sexting another guy!” Savino shouted. “And then he had the nerve to get angry at me for ‘snooping’ through his phone! I only checked because I happened to see a suspicious message pop up on the screen while he was out of the room! Can you believe that bullshit?!”

“It was totally normal for you to check his phone if you saw something weird,” Alfred said. “He shouldn’t have been sexting with someone else anyway.” Seriously, what the hell was wrong with Nathaniel? Couldn’t he keep it in his pants for five goddamn minutes, especially when he had someone like Savino to come home to? Alfred would give anything to have the relationship with Savino that Nathaniel had so carelessly disregarded, and he would never even think of cheating. He had never really understood why people would feel tempted to cheat, because Vinny was the only person he’d ever been attracted to that way. That’s why he had decided to watch Temptation Island, because a bunch of horny, straight allosexuals who couldn’t keep it in their pants was weirdly amusing to him.

But he was far from amused when someone he cared about got cheated on. He could tell that Savino was deeply hurt by his boyfriend’s betrayal, even if he was trying to conceal it by pretending he only felt outrage.

“I just… I can’t figure out why he’d do that to me. If he was unhappy, he should’ve said something or just dumped me! That would have been so much better than this.” Savino looked away, but not before Alfred noticed tears forming in his beautiful hazel eyes. “I hate him. I hate him so goddamn much.”

Alfred stepped in closer and opened up his arms in invitation. “C’mere, Savi.”

Savino hugged him, burying his head in Alfred’s shoulder and squeezing his arms around him tightly. Alfred returned the embrace and started to rub gentle circles over Savino’s trembling shoulder blades, and that made him break down into heartbroken sobs.

“That fucker knew! He knew the issues I have with my self-esteem, and then he went and fucked somebody else! I loved him, and he made me feel like a pile of stinking garbage!”

Alfred glared past Savino at the kitchen cabinets, but in his mind, he was glaring at the shithead who dared to make his best friend cry. “Want me to kill him for you?”

Savino laughed, even though Alfred hadn’t been entirely joking. (Murder was pretty extreme, but he wouldn’t mind beating the shit out of Nathaniel to teach him a lesson.) “That’s okay. I broke his phone while I was screaming at him. Not on purpose, but when he tried to defend himself, I was so goddamn furious I threw it to the ground and stomped on it. He seemed pretty scared of me after that. I don’t think he’ll be bothering me again.”

Alfred smirked a little at how badass Savi had been. Woe to anyone who betrayed his trust the way Nathaniel had.

“In that case, I’m just gonna keep holding you until you’re ready for me to let go.” Honestly, if the circumstances were better, Alfred wouldn’t mind holding Savino like this for the rest of his life. His body ran a little warmer than average, he smelled like an Italian herb garden mixed with expensive cologne, and the size difference made him fit perfectly into Alfred’s arms. Alfred liked hugging anyone he was reasonably close to, but he’d never enjoyed hugging anyone else as much as he did Savino.

“I’m not done yet. I’m feeling pretty worthless, and I’m not ready to face the world yet.” But his heavy sobs had already softened into gentle weeping, so he would probably let go soon. “I think I got snot on your shirt. Sorry about that.”

“Eh, that’s okay. I got it from Walmart, so it’s not like you have to worry about ruining something that cost a lot of money.”

Savino chuckled, and then he lifted his head away from Alfred’s shoulder with a hint of a smile. “Good thing you’re such a cheapskate then.”

“Guess so.” Alfred just didn’t care much about clothing. He had a few more expensive things in his closet that he wore if he had to be somewhere fancy, but when he was at home, he preferred t-shirts and jeans. He prioritized comfort over fashion.

Savino started to pull away, and Alfred dropped his arms, ignoring the pang of regret that accompanied his absence. “Is it okay if I spend the night here? I don’t exactly have a place to stay right now since I obviously won’t be living with my ex anymore.”

“You can move back in,” Alfred told him. “I didn’t get another roommate, so your room’s still available. And to be honest, I kind of missed having you around.” More like pined pathetically for the days they used to live together, but Savino didn’t need to know that right now.

“I kind of missed living with you too, idiota.” He sighed and glanced in the direction of the living room. “We probably need to go out there and let Matthew know what’s going on, huh?”

“I think he might have overheard everything. You were yelling pretty loud.”

“I did,” Matthew confirmed from the other room. “I’m sorry your boyfriend cheated on you, Savino. It wasn’t right.”

“Thanks,” Savino replied. He picked up his beer and started to walk out to the living room, and Alfred followed him.

Matthew had gotten off the couch, which would be too small to fit three people, and sat down in a nearby armchair. He shot Savino a sympathetic look as they entered the room, and Savino sat down on the couch. Alfred took a seat right next to him, and Savino sipped at his beer, but a more normal, less concerning rate.

“Do you want to watch something on TV? It might help you get your mind off things.”

Savino shrugged. “I don’t have enough energy to focus on a complex plotline. You can watch whatever the fuck you want.”

Alfred picked up the remote, turned the sound back on, and quickly switched to a news channel. Savi had said he could watch whatever he wanted, but a reality show about people “testing” their relationships and frequently hooking up with attractive strangers would be incredibly insensitive after what Savi had just gone through.

After a bit of browsing, he settled on one of those cooking competition shows he knew Savino enjoyed. Thirty minutes into the program, Savino had gotten invested enough to start pointing out the mistakes the contestants were making and talking to the television as if it could respond to his commands. Alfred exchanged an amused, fond glance with Mattie, who grinned at him. He knew Savino wasn’t all better and that he would need time to get over Nathaniel, but Alfred was glad to see Savino acting a little more like his normal self.

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aegonbeingfakeisracist · 4 years ago

Note

I don’t get what ppl think Dorne should’ve done in Robert’s Rebellion. Aerys was holding Elia and her kids hostage. Also, I don’t understand why Robert didn’t make a show of punishing Gregor and Lorch as a way of showing how much better he was than the old king. He didn’t have to even punish Tywin, but it’s not like there would be huge political consequences if he punished 2 men of minor houses. Even if he privately approved, wouldn’t publicly condemning be the smart move politically?

YUP. Everyone prioritizes their family, but Doran doing so is beyond the pale, apparently - how dare anyone give a shit about Elia? Everyone’s decisions have got to be driven by what’s best for the Starks. As for Robert, logically, that’s what someone would do. For the sake of the plot making sense, Robert had to condone the murders, but that doesn’t mean it made sense as an actual course of action.

Also, it frustrates me how much all of this is to develop the character arcs of white people. Elia herself is the linchpin of the entire Dornish plotline and it doesn’t make sense without her, but white characters’ stories are driven by these murders. Robert’s Rebellion in general and his reaction to those corpses specifically was the turning point for Robert. He had displayed some casual dickishness - mocking his brother for nursing a hawk back to health - but really nothing unforgivable. Up until then, he was a pretty decent guy. He’d delighted in his daughter, going to visit her and showing her off to Ned; he was likeable and forgiving. But then he descended into abusiveness and alcoholism after accepting these corpses. And as I’ve complained about countless times, Jon as a character makes no sense without dead Rhaenys.

#books-laughter-love #replies

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jhoudiey · 4 years ago

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Let the Rescue Mission begin!

Finished writing the Yoru crashes the Ghost Marriage story, her and Ortho are going to fuck shit up, no one marries Idia on their watch. What did they blow up? Probably Crowley tbh. Also remind me to never draw Ortho again, 11/10 regrets.

I tried to make it fit along with the regular story as best I could, so I used some of the text from @kibadreams translation of it! (Go check out the translations if you haven’t already, and leave a tip if you can :D) All translation text I’ve used I’ve got in italics, final word count is 1900! Full story under the cut.

Crowley gestured grandly at the students gathered around him, “A friend's life is in danger. And I know the wonderfully kind students here will save Shroud-kun……” He wilted with the resounding chorus of no’s he’d received in response.

“What, why? You've gotta help me!” Ortho said, rejected and hurt that no one was willing to help his brother.

Vil sighed and shrugged, looking at Ortho with pity ”He's always avoiding people, and only appears when there's a problem to be solved. You're asking too much.”

”This is your "brother's" problem. Do something about it yourself.” Leona drawled, not willing to help either.

Ortho sighed, dejected. ”….. I see. Fine, ugh. I'll be okay by myself. Simulating: Idia Shroud recovery pattern. Condition: prioritize speed of rescue operation. …..Simulated operation successful. Now executing actual operation. Now loading dark magic. Target locked: Set on Nightraven College, Main Building. Time until dark magic beam fire: 5 seconds. 4…...3…....2….....”

”STOP THIS AT ONCE------!” Crowley said, shocked that young Ortho would go to such lengths “You actually intend to blow our school, with hundreds of years of tradition, into smithereens? Dark magic beams are forbidden!” He shook his head

”...Well no one was prepared to help, so this is all I could do.” Ortho said, downtrodden that his only solution had been denied.

Yoru dropped from the sky into the students' midst, to a chorus of “what the...?” from everyone who hadn’t met or seen her before.

“Boooooo, you all suck” she said to the group at large, she looked at Ortho “I’ll help you get Idia back, don’t worry.”

“Thank you Yoru-san! Together we will save Nii-san!”

“You could still blow up the school though if you want, might be fun” Yoru laughed, grinning at Crowley

“Hey now…” Crowley started before Leona butted in

“Who the hell is this, anyway?” he asked, jutting his thumb towards her.

“Ahhh Yoru-san, it seems you were watching the whole thing?” Azul asked, hand on his chin in contemplation “that unique magic of yours does seem to be very handy…”

“Yea. Ortho, maybe you should threaten to destroy his shitty Octopus lounge too and he’d help” Ortho giggled “Anyways, let's get out of here, these useless guys can’t do anything anyway”. She grabbed Ortho under the arms and flew away from the group as quickly as she came.

“Excuse me, would someone please explain why there is a feral woman with wings on campus?” Vil said, clearly annoyed.

“Ahhh, my apologies” Crowley batted his hand at them “That is my daughter, she is… uhh...spirited, to say the least”

“You look pretty proud though” Leona chuckled, looking at the puffed up and smiling Crowley

“Well you know… fathers and their daughters… anyways, back to the task. We can’t leave it up to my sweet and cute daughter to save Shroud-kun, Operation “guilt trip them is underway!” He said, straightening his jacket

“Did he just say… operation guilt trip?” Ace muttered under his breath

“Ah, here's one now! A Nightraven College student!" Crowley said getting in Ace’s face with a make believe microphone

Ace jumped back from him, confused “Wha- what are you doing all of a sudden?”

Crowley, undeterred, continued to push his fake microphone into his face "I'm a reporter from TBC News! You are a student of Nightraven College, yes?!"

“Whaaat is happening?” Ace asked, looking around at his classmates

***

“K Ortho, how do you want to do this? I saw what happened, but I don’t think I’ll be able to fight a ghost” Yoru sat across from him in the tree she’d flown them to.

“Well I can blow up the school but…” he paused

“It might be a bit of an overkill” They said together, laughing

“What sort of specs do you have in that body of yours? Anything that can destroy a ghost?”

“No, if I did I’d have saved Nii-san by now” Ortho said sadly

“Well, that’s alright” Yoru replied, patting him on the shoulder “I can see where they are, but we’ll need a distraction to get him out of there...and we’ll need something that we can actually hit them with”

“So we gotta go to Sams Mystery Shop!” Ortho said, excited to start the rescue plan

“Eventually... the idiot party has moved in front of his shop and I’d rather avoid them, I don’t really like being seen around campus” She grimaced

“But what about Nii-san! We need to save him right now!” Ortho stood, indignant that Yoru wasn’t wanting to jump to action immediately.

“Ortho, it’s okay. I’ve got eyes on Idia, and eyes on the shop, we can go once everyone has moved on, they’re planning on helping after all. Dad must have guilted them good” She laughed and stuck her tongue out at Ortho, he was reassured and sat back down in the tree.

They stayed in the tree, making plans and discussing how to fight ghosts. Eventually Yoru saw through the crows that the last group of students had left the shop, and she signaled to Ortho that it was time to go.

“Ahhh more little devils have come to visit my shop! Anything you need is IN STOCK NOW!” Sam said jovially when they walked through the door

“Hey Sam, we need something to repel ghosts” Yoru said with no preamble or pleasantries

“Another devil wanting to fight ghosts! Lucky for you, I always make sure to have some extra goodies for my favourite little demon!” He teased her, patting her on the head. She swatted his hand away

“Haha” She said flatly “I don’t want to marry the crappy ghost bride, I want to destroy her for kidnapping my friend” Ortho furiously nodded behind her.

“Haha what funny little demons you are! Let me know how it goes, I do love hearing stories from the dead” He handed them a small torch and grinned at them. “This will attract the ghosts and they’ll be temporarily frozen in place. Remember to use it, your feet will be of no use to you in this fight” he smiled.

“Okay Ortho. They’ve moved Idia to the cafeteria, if we go in through one of the windows do you think you can sneak up to him and grab him while I cause a diversion? ”

“Yup! Don’t doubt me when Nii-san is concerned! He’s in danger so I’ll do anything to save him!”

“You’re a good kid, Ortho. Lets go get your brother back” She grinned and grabbed him in her feet, speeding off towards the great hall.

The sounds of slaps rung through the hall, Yoru had to suppress her laughter from where she hid in the window with Ortho. This was too good to ruin, Idia could wait a few more moments. The look on Azul’s face was particularly satisfying after his initial refusal to help.

“We should use the others as a diversion, when they come to attempt to propose to the princess we’ll grab Idia and get out of here” She whispered to him, keeping a close eye on the ghosts. “Shouldn’t be long now…”

“But Yoru, they’re all chanting Kiss! Kiss! Nii-san is going to be taken away to the land of the dead!” Ortho whispered, getting more upset by the minute.

“It’s not quite time yet, Ortho, please believe in me! I’m not going to let anything bad happen to Idia” Yoru reassured him, patting him on the shoulder again.

There was a ruckus outside the cafeteria, the guards left to protect the princess from the new would be suitors. “It’s time, Ortho, let's go” Yoru said, dropping down to the center of the cafeteria in a flurry of feathers and fury.

“Ehhh? Fugu-chan you came to fight a ghost?” Floyd laughed, surprised, grinning at the chaos.

Eliza screeched for her guards, how DARE a commoner attack her! At her own wedding, no less! She stood back as her ghostly consort moved to protect her from Yoru’s furious attacks.

“I’m not letting you marry Idia you shitty ghost!” she shouted, flying at Eliza

“Ah, it is almost midnight…. Finally, the time to seal our vows with a kiss!.. Get out of my way you terrible bird girl!” Eliza tried to get passed Yoru to where she could reach Idia.

“Heeeeeeeh is Fugu-chan jealous that Hataruika-senpai is going to marry the ghost?” Floyd pouted from where he stood, frozen

“Fufufu, I don’t think Yoru-san is the jealous one here…” Jade muttered with a smile on his face, looking at his brother

“Ah it seems there is at least some entertainment at this wedding” Lilia chuckled, clearly enjoying the drama as it unfolded.

None of Yoru’s attacks were having any effect, but the ghosts were weary of the torch she still held in her hand, it could cause them problems if they were caught with it... if she actually remembered to use it. Yoru had so far managed to avoid being slapped, but she was losing. The torch provided her some extra leeway, but there were too many ghosts for her to handle without getting caught and slapped like the rest of them. The doors to the cafeteria slammed open, help had arrived.

“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE WITH THE WEDDING—-!!!!”

The ghosts that were occupied with Yoru turned their attention from her and towards Ace, framed in the doorway. She used the distraction to fly towards Idia, where Ortho was slowly dragging him towards the windows.

“Yoru help! He can’t move and he’s hard to move like this!” Ortho struggled, trying to lift him

“Time for your dramatic manga rescue” Yoru teased Idia as she grabbed his arms in her feet, scooping Ortho under the arms, and flew them out the window.

“Does she always enter and leave so dramatically?” Cater sighed, secretly wishing he could master the art of a flashy entrance to the same degree.

“I’m impressed she didn’t get slapped” Lilia pouted, still playing up his injury like it actually hurt.

***

“Yoru! Do you think you can c-carry us both?” Idia stuttered, swaying in the air from where he was hanging from her feet.

“I don’t need to carry Ortho, he can float down, I’ve just gotta carry you. I only needed to grab him long enough to get out of the school”. She let go of Ortho, who was happy to float along beside them

“EEEEaaaaaaahhhhhh this isn’t the rescue I’d dreamt oooooffffffffff!!” Idia screamed as they flew towards the mirror chamber, him swinging precariously in her talons. Ortho giggled, glad to have his brother back.

“Okay, make sure to not get kidnapped by any more ghosts” Yoru laughed as they landed in the mirror chamber, in front of the passage back to Ignihyde.

“I-I didn’t want to b-be kidnapped in the f-first place!” He stuttered, clearly still shaken at the day's events.

“Ahahahahahah, you almost married a ghost! Luckily we came to your rescue like valiant… uhhh… knights? That normally… save the kidnapped princess?” Yoru poked fun at him “I don’t know what happens in the manga you like to read” She laughed as he sputtered and tried to think of something to protest with

“Yea Nii-san! The princess has to kiss the hero that saves them at the end!” Ortho giggled, looking between them

They both paused, awkwardly staring at each other for a few moments

“...No. Absolutely not. Nu-uh. Nope.” They both said shaking their heads, in perfect unison.

#twst oc #twisted wonderland oc #yoru crowley #idia shroud #ortho shroud #ghost marriage #dire crowley #leona kingscholar #vil shoenheit #cater diamond #ace #floyd leech #jade leech #azul ashengrotto #lilia vanrouge #twisute oc

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itsclydebitches · 5 years ago

Text

RWBY Recaps: “A New Approach”

A friend of mine has a van that she calls the Fun Bus. Oh that’s cute, I thought. I should chuck that into a recap sometime. “All aboard the RWBY Fun Bus!” Except my fun levels are ehhh right now, so how about we just don’t.

In fact, let’s be totally up front about things and get the major positives out of the way:

The animation this volume is absolutely stunning holy shit

I would once again die for James Ironwood. All hail the Hug King

Excellent introduction for Tyrian and Watts. I love feeling like the villains are actually dangerous again

The rest? I’ve got some things to say.

We open on Ruby looking appropriately downtrodden over their circumstances. Getting carted off in an Atlas police craft and all that. We get a pan across each side of the airship with the group looking angry (Yang) or defeated (everyone else)... with the exception of Nora, who is trying to eat through her bonds. I’m well aware that I’m nit-picking at this point, but for once I’d like the serious moments to remain serious in this show. Given her reaction to Salem, Kuroyuri, etc. we’re all well aware by now that Nora is more than just the comic relief. Undermining the others’ reactions with her making dog noises was an early cue that the writers weren’t going to treat the group’s arrest earnestly. To say nothing of the disservice it does to her character.

Actually, there were a lot of coincidental dog references in this scene. Nora’s growling. Referring to the Ace-Ops as Ironwood’s “personal attack dogs.” Deducing that he must have a “bone to pick” with them. Obviously this all means precisely nothing. What I want it to mean is that Zwei will arrive in another package courtesy of Tai, wondering how his kids are doing after one ran off and the other went to find her.

(Seriously though, does everyone remember Volume Five’s ending with Raven? Heaven only knows when that will become relevant again.)

While Nora continues to try and eat metal like a rabid animal, Jaune expresses disbelief that the Ace-Ops “took us out like it was nothing.” Honestly, it never ceases to amaze me how often the group is surprised by other people being stronger than them. Like they’re not the youngest and least trained in a world of professional huntsmen. Rather than acknowledging their need for improvement though---callback to Ruby’s “But we already know how to fight” anyone?---Weiss frames it as an exceptionalism intrinsic to her city. “Welcome to Atlas.” You know, the same city she quickly agreed to steal from and then draw the attention of the guards by giving a racist civilian what-for. The speed with which the show flip-flops between ‘We should fear this city’ and ‘But we shouldn’t take any actual precautions’ is pretty impressive.

All of which is made weirder by Weiss’ next line to the other prisoner locked up with them: “They’re not that big of a deal.” So... which is it, Weiss? Are the Ace-Ops Ironwood’s elites who can obviously take out a group of nine in seconds flat? Or are they worth scoffing and rolling your eyes at? Because you had a rather different opinion literally seconds ago. She does the same thing when the prisoner uses the term “tyranny” to describe the situation in Mantle. She claims now that the label is a “bit much” when before the whole group decided not to approach Ironwood precisely because of how tyrannical he appeared. I swear, good chunks of the dialogue just functions as openings for the plot---let the random prisoner explain all the horrors of this city!---rather than something the character in question would actually say.

But I’m harping. We learn a bit more about Hill and her “Happy Huntresses,” clearly a parallel to Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men. I was actually surprised to learn that she’s a full-on freedom fighter, just based on her posters last episode. The number of them and their professional look felt more like Atlas’ brand of propaganda. Big brother sister is watching you and all that. Then again, we also learn that Hill is gunning for a seat on the council, so it sounds like she’s not an ally of Ironwood’s plotting betrayal, and not a radical entirely removed from him either. We’ll have to wait and see precisely where she falls in this divide between Atlas and Mantle.

That fight is treated rather cheaply by the writing though. In this episode at least. Despite providing numerous looks at how horrible things are for the citizens here, this prisoner, currently representing that fight against the elite, is depicted as an absolute buffoon. He’s not engaging in an important, glorious battle for human rights. He just chucked a brick at an airship. He’s over the top, overly passionate, crazed enough that the group is looking away as he desperately tries to convince the guards up front that these things are important. The thing is? He’s right. But the writing doesn’t encourage us to treat his cause with respect, not when he’s bouncing off the walls and yelling like a conspiracy theorist. Actually, that’s the best comparison I can think of here. It’s like if someone laying out 100% real issues with climate change were written like a crack-pot loner who believes in aliens. That’s this guy.

We’re shown again that literally everyone recognizes Weiss Schnee---does no one else in all of Remnant have white hair?---before Jaune and a few others get distracted by how pretty the view is outside. Qrow commented earlier that they were no doubt going to jail.

Spoiler! It’s not jail.

It’s Atlas Academy, animated in a truly stunning design that reminds me of Weiss’ trip to the CTV tower to contact her dad. Looking back, that skyscraper-esque building probably made her anxious for reasons outside of just the call.

“I guess we will be seeing the General,” Ruby says because yeah, why would we have the group experiencing one iota of punishment before being handed the solution to their current predicament?

Look, anyone who follows these recaps is well aware of my feelings towards the airship debacle. I said last week that I wanted the writing to treat the group’s horrific mistakes and criminal activities seriously, but I wasn’t overly hopeful. I was right not to be. From now until the conversation about Salem, the ‘protagonists can do no wrong’ mindset that drove Volume Six is pulled out again in full force.

First, Winter sees the group in handcuffs and responds with, “You have ten seconds to take those off before I start hurting you.” Which is completely out of character to me. Does Winter adore Weiss? Without a doubt. But Winter is also a stickler for protocol and rules. This is the women who threatened to remove Qrow’s tongue over a few vague, anti-Atlas statements. She is all about devotion to her Kingdom. So how should she react when she sees a group of kids being formally brought in for charges? I don’t know, maybe find out what’s going on before demanding an immediate release? Here, Winter prioritizes the emotional assumption that Weiss and her friends are perfectly innocent as opposed to trusting that they’re in handcuffs for a reason. Which they are. Combine that with the humor of the guards scrambling to obey her with more silly sound effects and it’s once again clear that the group’s arrest was never going to be taken seriously.

Things get so much worse though. Ironwood starts apologizing to them, also working under the assumption that this was all some sort of silly mistake. Of course you shouldn’t be in handcuffs. You’re the good guys! Yang and a few others have the gall to be haughty here (yeah, how dare you arrest us after we committed multiple crimes) and for a moment I think all of this will actually amount to something when Ironwood laughs and says, “We assumed [the ship] was stolen!”

Uh yeah, goes Ruby. It... was?

Which results in a brief moment of shock and about three seconds of anger from Winter... and then that’s it. That’s all we get. Weiss interrupts her with, “I’m sorry I worried you, but we did what we had to do” which, no?? Okay first off, worrying Winter is not the issue here. She’s been worried for literally those three seconds and nothing more. Second, as I’ve established numerous times in the past, they did not “do what they had to do.” Absolutely nothing in Argus forced their hand to the point where stealing military property, fighting Cordovin, drawing that grimm, and then deliberately hiding out from Atlas authorities was justified. Why doesn’t Winter or Ironwood challenge them on this? Why the hell would two military personnel accept at face value that committing all of these crimes was necessary? Imagine your younger sister steals a car (which is in no way comparable to an Atlas airship, but let’s run with it). She and her friends then get caught by the neighbor they stole it from, started a fight instead of giving it back, endangered a bunch of other people on the road, got the police involved, and hid out until they were finally arrested. Then at the police station big sister gets angry at the officers for daring to book you and is pacified with a hug. Don’t worry, dear. I know there’s no possible way you could be in the wrong here. No reason to acknowledge, let alone address, why you thought those were acceptable actions in the first place.

Qrow is briefly called out for letting this happen, but like Maria’s comment last episode about the group being incapable of keeping a low profile, he shrugs it off with a joke. “You try stopping these kids when they have their mind set on something.” You know what these ‘jokes’ remind me of? Privilege. Stuff like “Boys will be boys ¯\_(ツ)_/¯” where people accept that change is impossible, so why would we bother calling anyone out on their mistakes? Boys are just hardwired to hurt girls and call it love. Teens are just hardwired to steal airships and call it necessary. You know what they’re like. Putting your foot down is useless because that’s just how they naturally function... and we’re all going to ignore the fact that no one else could get away with this shit. They’re the special ones exempt from repercussions. There’s a reason why both both Oscar and Ruby smile here. They know they’re not in trouble.

What all of this boils down to is that the group is above both the law and basic decency. That’s what Cordovin, Ironwood, Winter, and the writing all tell us. It doesn’t matter how many people you endanger. What you steal. What you break in order to accomplish that. Or how long you might try to hide what you’ve done. You’re you, a nebulous acceptance that you’re somehow above everyone and everything. These kids are never going to learn anything because each time they make a mistake---even massive mistakes that put a whole city in danger---they’re rewarded with smiles and a blanket acceptance that they did what they had to do. That is beyond frustrating to me. For the love of god, let them face an actual consequence for once.

It’s not going to happen though. Even the Ace-Ops apologize for doing their job (and treat Ruby like some sort of celebrity in the process). RWBYJNRQO is painted as victims for suffering the indignity of arrest... when they did numerous things they should have been arrested for. I particularly love Weiss’, “You could have asked us some questions first.” Yes, because everyone should be in the habit of taking a criminal’s word at face value and then letting them go when they say, “I’m innocent.” Rather than acknowledging any of this, the writing has the Ace-Ops go out of their way to emphasize how special the group is. You’re kids, but only technically. You’re students, but who cares. You’re as good as us, regardless of training or qualifications. That fact remains that the group did in fact do everything they were accused of and more, something that should generate reflection on whether they’re up for being paired with professionals, rather than an insistence that they’re automatically on par with these adults who complete their missions in a legal, safe manner. If that Argus fight gets them hugs and cool new weaponry, I shudder to think what else the group can not only get away with, but be rewarded for.

Once everyone blindly bypasses one of the biggest conflicts of Volume Six, we hit on the other divisive choice this episode: Ruby lying to Ironwood about Ozpin and the relic.

Okay. I’m going to be as clear as I can here: Ruby is being a massive hypocrite. That’s it. That’s the situation. I shouldn’t have been surprised by the fandom’s reaction, and yet I somehow still was. In just a few hours I’ve seen at least twenty posts detailing how Ruby is not a hypocrite because her situation is totally different from Ozpin’s. HE can’t keep secrets. SHE can. Which is the definition of hypocrisy: the group holding someone to a moral standard that they themselves will not strive for. Are there differences between telling the group about Salem and telling Ironwood about Salem? Yes, but the decision of whether or not to tell them derives from the exact same concerns:

Ozpin: I don’t know if I should tell these kids about Salem. I don’t know if I can fully trust them. I worry that admitting the relic still has questions will result in them using one irresponsibly.

Ruby: I don’t know if I should tell Ironwood about Salem. I don’t know if we can fully trust him. I worry that admitting the relic still has a question left will result in him using it irresponsibly.

And everyone is in on it. During the elevator ride up they all want to know what Ruby will say, meaning that they’re ready and willing to lie the moment she decides that’s best. “We’ll follow your lead,” Blake says. No one pipes up with, “Hey. Why are we considering lying to Ironwood when we decided that there’s no moral justification for keeping secrets like that? Especially from an ally involved in this fight?” Except, the group obviously never decided that. Jaune was happy to keep his secret back at Beacon. Blake too. Yang is still withholding info about the Spring Maiden. They’re all perfectly happy to lie provided they’re the ones doing the lying. Someone else doing that to them though? Omg, how dare you.

That’s hypocrisy.

(As a side note: good lord this group is so astoundingly bad at fighting a strategic war. They announce that they should be careful about what they say to Ironwood while two of Ironwood’s guards are in the elevator with them. This is a needless conversation! No one has to establish that they’ll follow Ruby’s lead! But yes, let’s talk about our plans to withhold information from the General while two of his men are very obviously listening in. We even get a shot of one guard looking over at that little tid-bit. I wouldn’t be surprised if this came back to bite them in the form of:

Guard, who I am naming Brad: “Sir, I thought you should be aware... the prisoners that just left? I overheard them discussing whether or not they would tell you something.”

Ironwood: “What? But I thought we trusted one another... did they say what this something was?”

Brad: “No, sir. They just agreed to be careful about what they said in front of you. They clearly intended to hide something though.”

Ironwood. “Huh. Now that I think about it, Ruby did interrupt Oscar when he was about to say something. And she was awfully nervous about it.”

Brad: “Sounds suspicious, sir. I’d look into it.”

Ironwood: “Right you are, Brad. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I’ll be sure you get a hefty bonus at the holiday party.”

Brad: “Thank you, sir! My husband and I appreciate it.”

Gay guards aside, this is why Ozpin was right to be cautious. This group is too hot-headed, too immature, and often too plain dense to keep world-shattering secrets safe. This moment gets put up alongside Yang’s demand that Ozpin spill all his top-secret info while the random old woman they picked up 30 seconds ago watches. They just don’t think.)

In short, they are in the same exact situation as Ozpin. Weighing truth against potential repercussions. The fact that said repercussions vary in severity---a group of teens betraying him and/or caving under the pressure vs. a potential dictator betraying them and/or caving under pressure---doesn’t matter. They’re both really bad potential outcomes and both parties are right to be cautious. So yes, I agree with Ruby’s hesitance. It’s the smart thing to do. What I don’t agree with is the characters’ and the fandom’s insistence that Ozpin is not likewise smart for doing the exact same thing. Now that Ruby has made this choice she’d better damn well acknowledge her own hypocrisy. If the writing doesn’t give us a serious moment in which the group reconsiders their actions against Ozpin in light of their recent choices, then the ‘protagonists can do no wrong’ mindset has irrevocably damaged this show. Because you can’t have Ruby making the exact same choices her mentor made and not change her perspective now that she’s had the chance to walk in his shoes. “Oh wow. Sometimes you do want to play information close to your chest. Maybe we were wrong to respond so viciously to Ozpin’s secrecy when I literally just did the exact same thing to someone else. I get it now.”

All that being said, I’d actually argue that Ironwood is in a more justified position to have that information. He’s a chosen member of Ozpin’s inner circle. Ozpin never got the chance to vet this group. He’s a fully fledged huntsmen in charge of an entire Kingdom. They’re a bunch of half-trained kids. Checking in on/taking the relic to Atlas does not require knowing about Salem’s immortality. Enacting a plan to tell the whole world about her really, really does.

Because what else is Ironwood’s end game here? The only way this plan makes any sense is if he believes that Salem is mortal. Ozpin may have failed to kill her, but if we get an entire world to attack her at once we’re bound to win! This plan straight up falls apart when you realize that defeating Salem is not a matter of more manpower. Salem’s immortality is the Achilles’ heel of this scheme, whereas fighting the good fight is something the group signed up for right from the start. Not that Ironwood’s plan is a great one, even if it were viable. I’m sorry, but plunging a whole world into despair---something that draws literal monsters out of the woodwork---is a pretty terrible idea. Ironwood’s army can’t be everywhere at once and an announcement of that proportion would cause an untold amount of death and destruction. I can sort of get Ironwood’s sacrificial perspective. Deal with the fallout because the end result (finally defeating Salem) will be worth it. “Trying to hide the truth from the world will eventually kill us all,” he says, except hiding the truth hasn’t limited humanity in the way he assumes it has. It has allowed humanity to live in peace while a select few try to figure out how to kill an immortal woman.

...speaking of, how has Ironwood not realized Salem immortality? This remains a basic if/then construction of the story that blows my mind whenever people fail to pass it. “If Ozpin has fought Salem for over a thousand years, then Salem is either immortal or reincarnating like he does.” Because nothing else is possible! I mean, maybe Ironwood does know about her immortality and he intends his plan to work for reasons I can’t fathom right now, but it’s looking really unlikely after this episode. It just astounds me that we haven’t had a single character go, “Of course she’s immortal. Why is that surprising to everyone?”

Anyway, I’ve gotten horrendously off topic plot-wise. We learn that Penny and Winter now know about the relics and Maidens---something that worries me a bit because, as a piece of technology, Penny is potentially hackable. Especially with Watts on the loose. The Ace-Ops know as well. We also learn that they’ve already found the Winter Maiden who, according to Qrow, is “not exactly a spring chicken.” Huh. Another important piece of information that wasn’t blithely announced because people naturally work on a need-to-know basis... Sorry. Not diving back into the salt. That comment does actually intrigue me though. We know the powers can only pass to young women, so it’s a cool setup to present us with someone who has actually survived with that power for most of her life. I’m also eager to know whether Winter is set up to be the next Maiden. “Young” is a subjective marker and one of the criticisms fans have leveled at Ozpin is the fact that he put that pressure on Pyrrha instead of asking an older, fully trained huntress to be the Fall Maiden. Making Winter the next Maiden will lend support to that criticism. Ozpin could have chosen someone older, an actual adult, and actively chose to give it to a teen. As opposed to the assumption I’ve always worked under: those like Glynda and Winter are now too old. We’ll have to see.

Outside of the Salem part of the plan, I think making Amity Arena into a satellite is an excellent idea. Provided grimm like the Nevermore really can’t reach it. It’s actually cool to see how our real life, kind of boring tech makes its way into a sci-fi/fantasy series.

And while all this stuff is getting revealed we see how utterly thrilled Ironwood is to have them all back. To be blunt: I adore this characterization. I want this to be real. Not only because it’s a breath of fresh air to have someone acting so loving and optimistic towards everyone---He acknowledges Ozpin’s existence! Look at that smile! Kneeling down!---but also because it would be an excellent subversion of the premier’s setup. Dictator-y military figures buckling under paranoia is out. Tired but loving military figures making mistakes they’re willing to fix is in. That hug with Qrow? It added ten years to my life. Tender moments between two stoic guys will carry me through these cold winter months.

But (there’s always a “but”...) I’m not willing to buy into this characterization just yet. Not only because Ruby herself obviously isn’t ready to trust it. Not only because this is a story and we expect conflicts in the form of twists and surprises. Not even because there are moments where our trio feels vaguely threatening, stationed perfectly behind that desk, separated from the rest of the group.

No, I’m hesitating because this whole encounters feels... staged. Let’s review the series of events from Ironwood’s perspective:

You learn that one of your airships has been stolen

Instead of sending some everyday guards like the situation calls for, you send out your most elite group to take care of this issue

They immediately confiscate the relic, demonstrating a) that they know it’s important (they recognize it as a relic) while likewise b) not showing any surprise that one of the four, magical objects in the world just happened to turn up among these random teens

They bring the relic to you

Someone orders the pilots to bring RWBYJNRQO to Atlas Academy, not jail

You then act surprised when the group suddenly arrives

Which, under the circumstances, makes no sense to me. Even if Ironwood had no idea who stole the airship (I’d have expected Cordovin to have contacted him about the distinctive group heading his way...), he would have figured it out the moment the Ace-Ops walked in with a relic in their possession. Someone obviously gave the order for them to bypass jail and come straight to him. Basically, Ironwood is expecting them. Ironwood set up the arrest and everything attached to it. The surprise at their arrival, the fawning over their treatment, really over the top emphasis on trusting each other... This whole thing feels fishy to me considering that he had to have known it was all happening in the first place. It feels like a man crafting a situation where he can look approachable and kindly, arriving like a savior and endearing the group to him. Remember who got you out of those bonds? Huh? Huh? Even the choice to give Ruby the relic back. Do I need to point out how incredibly stupid that is? Ironwood isn’t stupid. He wouldn’t give an invaluable, magical object back to a 17yo unless he had another, good reason for doing so; unless the need to make Ruby and her followers blindly trust him outweighs the risk the relic is in while she carries it.

I mean... seriously. The entire point of coming to Atlas was to put the relic in a safe place. And then Ironwood decides that carrying it around on the streets is somehow better than locking it up in the vault? When Ruby and everyone else just got beat by the Ace-Ops in about five seconds flat? Someone could take the relic off them in a heartbeat! It doesn’t even need to be a main villain. Some stronger-than-average goons could manage it under the right circumstances and a bit of luck. Look at this bright, shiny thing we can sell for quick lien. No, I have to believe Ironwood has an ulterior motive here. As much as I want him to genuinely be what he presents himself as---the embodiment of our opening, “When we trust in love and open up our eyes”---a lot of this just doesn’t fit.

(Then again... it’s RWBY. And the writers are clearly still working with protagonist vision goggles. Maybe Ironwood really does think Ruby keeping the relic is the best option here. In which case he’s just a fool.)

All of which, notably, still keeps our group from tackling the core, ethical issue: why they want to fight Salem when they think it’s impossible. They’re ignoring that question by keeping the truth from Ironwood. The plot avoided them completing their mission by having them get the relic back. We’re just existing in perpetual limbo here.

Which finally brings me to Penny. The end of this episode has her leading the group on an exhausting tour of Atlas Academy, the exact sort of bubbly, silly, casual interaction we got with her in the early volumes. Last week when I pointed out how inappropriate everyone’s reactions were to finding out a friend is back from the dead, a lot of people commented that we’d get to the emotional stuff later. Or going so far as to claim that the group, Ruby in particular, is suffering from a delayed reaction. Except we didn’t see that. There’s a difference between a setup and a non-evidence based assumption that what we want to watch will eventually end up on screen. There was no setup for a delayed reaction. No Ruby holding back tears. Or a closeup on someone grappling with an emotion. Or someone else trying to say something before they were cut off by the sirens. All of those imply that an emotion exists but, since we don’t have the time or the inclination to deal with it now, we’ll come back to it later. That wasn’t the case last week. Every emotion was clear and complete, no variation in regards to the overall chill acceptance of Penny’s resurrection. Now, we’ve seen that trend continue. Ruby doesn’t stop in shock when Penny appears in the Academy hall. We’re given no indication that anyone is distracted by her while discussing business, in the way one might be when a friend and ally is unexpectedly back in your life. When she’s left alone with them, there’s nothing except the montage of exhausted tourism and Ruby’s demands to know where they’re sleeping. Basically, I think this is it. Sure, maybe later down the line---maybe even next week---Ruby will have a heart-to-heart with Penny, but by that point it’ll be too late to feel emotionally fulfilling. We’ve already seen their first meeting, a surprise encounter, doing business, and hanging out together, none of which acknowledges her status as a miracle. Hell, in this episode at least, no one even cares that she knows about relics and Maidens now. Penny has never been closer to the group, but she’s still being treated primarily as the comic relief.

As @valasania-the-pale pointed out to me, we also have the question of when Penny was rebuilt. Doesn’t anyone, at the very least Ruby, care that their friend was brought back and no one thought to tell them about it? Would Ironwood, Pietro, and Penny herself have just let them live with her death indefinitely? It’s a pretty messed up situation when you think about it. A fantastic setup in my opinion, but one that Rooster Teeth isn’t equipped to handle well. Like with so much of RWBY, there’s great potential and very little follow-through.

At least Watts and Tyrian were introduced appropriately. We got confirmation that Watts helped build the Atlas code and now controls it at his whim, causing crashes and powering down security cameras. It’s the perfect threat for a city almost entirely reliant on its technology. Even down to, as said, an ally like Penny who knows all these secrets. Hell, Winter’s comment about the group having access to Atlas’ best weaponry while they’re here is worrisome. What if their upgrades end up hackable as well?

Tyrian, meanwhile, is still Tyrian. That blood pool was a great shot in my opinion. Wonderful creep factor as he sets off into the city. “I suppose we all have our talents” indeed.

Obviously then, there’s a lot going on. A lot to cover and, on my end, continually dwindling hopes that RWBY will cover it well. I can’t be too excited about the group lying when we 100% bypassed their choices last volume. If the show isn’t willing to call them out on those mistakes, I doubt they’ll be willing to call them out on this one either. I’m preparing myself to watch precisely what we’re getting in the fandom right now: an insistence that Ruby is wonderful for keeping her secrets while further demonizing Ozpin for keeping his. Because that’s where we’ve been for the past fifteen episodes: perpetually insisting that everything the group does is, by default, heroic. Logic and hypocrisy aside.

But we’ll have to see.

Until next week 💜

Minor Things of Note

1. Please pay attention to precisely how many long, wide, and aerial shots we get throughout the episode. This is what happens when your main cast is made up of twelve people all working in the same place. Plus six more including Maria and the Ace-Ops. That’s far, far too many characters.

2. I really love how the Ace-Ops’ tail gives away how excited he is. That was adorable.

3. Despite my enjoyment at Ironwood’s obvious joy over seeing Ozpin... morally this is so fucked up for Oscar. He’s introduced by Qrow as, “the next Ozpin,” essentially undermining his identity as his own person (note how massively uncomfortable his body language is in this moment). Ironwood then immediately starts speaking to him as Ozpin, not at all interested in the kid he’s housed in. If he even understands that Oscar is a separate person. We should all keep in mind that just a few days ago Qrow told Oscar to stop thinking of himself as an individual. Ruby agreed with him via her silence. The whole group was happy-go-lucky when Oscar announced that he’s resigned himself to just disappearing someday. As happy as I am that someone actually acknowledged Ozpin’s existence and (gasp!) was happy to see him, Oscar is still getting the short straw in all this. The group really treats him like he’s some form of transportation and nothing more. Penny, our resident robot, has more agency than he does.

4. Maria is still just hanging out with Pietro, I guess? Does she care that the group got arrested? Is she trying to do anything about it? I’m half expecting a comedic moment where she barges in, prepared to break them out and take on all their captors... only to realize they never needed her help in the first place.

5. I like this shot of the relic, the first thing to be bathed in light when Ironwood’s presentation ends. Not convinced it means anything, but a cool perspective nonetheless.

6. Intrigued by this guy.

7. Love, love, love, love, love Watts’ purple outfit. I mean, I’m just a sucker for purple in general. So... yeah. There’s that.

#rwby #rwby volume 7 #rwby volume 7 spoilers #mymetas #rwby recaps

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vernonfielding · 5 years ago

Text

I got hella homies

Story No. 29 of my Season 7 Countdown Project.

Summary: “Boyle says you brought Jocelyn to Shaw's last week.”

Jocelyn meets (most of) the Nine-Nine. Takes place before The Therapist. (Read on AO3.)

She notices Amy Santiago first, because Amy is standing at the bar wearing a full police uniform, and also, she has incredibly shiny hair, and Jocelyn’s always had a thing for brunettes.

Jocelyn pauses at the threshold of Shaw’s, eyes scanning from Amy to the booths that line the walls, until she finds the one loud group sprawled around a table toward the back. She squints, trying to identify Rosa, and that’s when someone slides up behind her and says, “Don’t move.”

Jocelyn bites her lip to keep from grinning. Rosa smells like fresh lemons and leather and just now, bourbon.

“Or what?”

A hand slips onto her hip and squeezes, and Rosa says, “Or you won’t get the first shower tomorrow morning.”

She gives Jocelyn a quick peck on the cheek, and Jocelyn lifts an eyebrow. “You should probably be careful about sneaking up behind people in a cop bar,” she says.

Rosa shrugs. “I just wanted a second alone before you meet everyone.”

“That’s sweet,” Jocelyn says. She knows Rosa will hate that, and sure enough, Rosa frowns and grimaces.

“C’mon,” she says, and tugs at Jocelyn’s hand.

Jocelyn had picked the right table, and she’s able to identify everyone else even before Rosa makes the introductions. Charles has an open, friendly face and kind eyes, and he’s wearing a tan button-down shirt and the dullest brown tie Jocelyn’s ever seen. Terry is massive and very handsome, but it’s the suspenders that give him away. Amy has re-joined the table and is sitting beside her husband. Jake is the last one she places, because she’s having trouble reconciling this man with the goofy grin and laughing eyes with the obsessed, sleep-deprived, manic detective Rosa described working with on a recent murder investigation.

“Everyone, this is Jocelyn,” Rosa says. “Don’t be weird to her.”

“Hurtful,” Jake says, but he’s smiling, He has an arm slung around Amy’s shoulders, and he leans over the table and reaches toward Jocelyn to shake hands. “You have neat hair.”

“That was weird,” Rosa says.

+++

Jocelyn’s politics swing way left and she’s definitely never dated a cop before. But Rosa is confident and assertive and Jocelyn finds that extremely attractive, and to be honest, the fact that she carries a gun is weirdly hot. She is eagerly anticipating the day she finally gets to see Rosa in uniform.

She knows the past year hasn’t been easy, since Rosa came out to her parents. Jocelyn’s glad she did it -- to be honest, she doesn’t date people who aren’t out anymore. She gets why people stay closeted, she really does. But Jocelyn has been out since middle school and even at age 14 she knew that if someone couldn’t handle who she was, that person wasn’t worth the trouble. Now she’s 38, and she won’t be anyone’s secret.

So yeah, this feels good, squeezed into a booth at the back of a dingy cop bar with Rosa and her friends. Jake and Charles are shout-singing to Taylor Swift and Amy is pretending to be embarrassed but obviously loving it. Terry tells the table in general that he’s texting his wife that he’ll be home in time to put the twins to bed. And Rosa is definitely sitting closer to Jocelyn than she needs to, one hand on Jocelyn’s knee under the table.

+++

The invitation to join Rosa at Shaw’s came out of nowhere, which has been pretty standard. They’ve been dating a little over three months, and for most of that time Rosa’s been on the murder case with Jake, which means a lot of their dates have been spontaneous and pretty casual. (Rosa also has canceled a lot, which ordinarily would be a deal-breaker for Jocelyn, but Rosa did warn her that a detective’s life can be chaotic.)

Jocelyn got the text as she was leaving her frosting and highlighting class, the last of the day, and wondering if she should see if Rosa was free for dinner. She answered yes immediately and did a literal 180 to catch a train to Prospect Heights. Jocelyn has been dying to meet Rosa’s coworkers, who are clearly the most important people in her life given how much she talks about them. Which, honestly, isn’t a lot, but still about five times more than anyone else.

Still, she was a little afraid that the night would be all cop talk. But the Nine-Nine takes her by surprise. Ten minutes after she’s met them Charles has taken out a stack of actual printed photos of his son Nikolaj and is asking Jocelyn if she’s ever had Latvian beetroot soup, and then Terry has to show her photos (on his phone, like a normal person) of his daughters. After that Jocelyn can’t resist sharing a photo of her niece, who’s just eight months old and sadly lives on the other side of the country.

Then Amy asks her about cosmetology school and says that Jake is right, that her hair is neat.

“I’ve always wanted to try short hair but I’m afraid I don’t have the face for it,” Amy says.

“You should come by the school some time for a consultation,” Jocelyn says, tilting her head to imagine a look for Amy. “I could totally cut it for you.”

“No way!” Jake says firmly, mouth gone suddenly all pouty.

Jocelyn feels a punch of knee-jerk rage, that this guy would dare tell his wife what she can and can’t do with her hair. She opens her mouth, ready to lay into him.

And then Jake says, “You said I could cut your hair if you ever decided to go short!”

Amy rolls her eyes. “No, you are not allowed to cut my hair with the paper cutter at work. We’ve talked about this.”

“My wife is the worst,” Jake says in a whine. But he’s smiling and his eyes have gone all crinkly in the corners, and Amy tips her face up to his and kisses the corner of his mouth.

“Sorry, babe,” she says.

So Jocelyn decides that Jake and Amy are adorable and she wishes she could have been at their wedding, which Rosa said was the most romantic shit she’s ever seen, and that was after the bomb scare.

After a second round, Jocelyn asks if the captain ever joins them for drinks and Amy says, “I wish” in a dreamy sort of voice, and then she and Charles launch into a story about Holt single-handedly saving Shaw’s by drinking himself sick on Charbonnay.

“Cabernet?” Jocelyn says.

“No,” Rosa says, looking like the very thought of that particular alcohol is going to give her a hangover. Jocelyn drops the subject.

“When do I get to meet him?” she says instead.

“Holt?” Rosa shrugs. “He’s not very social.”

“Are you kidding?” Charles calls out from Rosa’s other side. He leans over the table to address Jocelyn. “Captain Holt and Kevin love Rosa. I bet they’d have you over for Kevin’s famous white rice. I’m dying to try it but I’m not allowed in their home after last year’s tofu incident.”

Jocelyn has so many questions. “What’s the tofu-”

“Don’t ask,” Rosa says. “We should go.”

Everyone ends up leaving at once. Outside the bar, Charles gives Jocelyn a too-long hug, and Terry tells her he’s so glad they met and then seems to tear up a little and walks away in a hurry. Amy’s goodbye handshake is bone-crushing but her smile is genuine.

Jake pulls Jocelyn aside while Amy and Rosa are discussing a murder case and, improbably, blood-sniffing flies. He tells her in a hushed voice that he’s never seen Rosa happier in a relationship, and then he makes her swear to never tell Rosa he said that. (Jake also calls her Jackie, but he’s so friendly about it that she instantly forgives him.)

Rosa walks her home, and they hold hands and Jocelyn gushes about how great her coworkers are. “I wasn’t expecting to like a bunch of NYPD cops so much,” she says.

It’s dark out and Rosa is pretty inscrutable at all times anyway. But as they pass under a streetlamp, Jocelyn’s pretty sure she sees the smallest quirk of a smile.

“Yeah,” Rosa says, “they’re not bad, I guess.”

Jocelyn laughs. She recognizes high praise from her girlfriend when she hears it.

“Speaking of not bad,” Jocelyn says, and pauses, tugging at Rosa’s hand to make her stop too. She slips her arms around Rosa’s waist, and Rosa gives her another of those half-smiles and lifts a hand up to Jocelyn’s face. When they kiss, Rosa’s lips are full and soft and warm, and the slide of her tongue is electric. Jocelyn closes her eyes and hums a little, and Rosa strokes a thumb along her jawline, to the pulse point behind her ear. Her other hand curls around Jocelyn’s neck to pull her closer.

They’re both a little breathless when they break apart. Rosa’s eyes are so dark they’re almost black, but there’s a spark of something fond and joyful in them. She reaches up to brush aside the bangs that have slipped over Jocelyn’s forehead.

“They’re right,” she says, “your hair is neat.”

Jocelyn laughs out loud, and Rosa’s laughing too when they kiss again.

End Notes:

Title is from Feed the Beast (Bash Brothers).

Another massive thank you to @exploding-snapple, who put together a most amazing timeline of Season 6 without which I would have been totally lost trying to figure out the timing of this story. According to her timeline, Rosa and Jocelyn would have started dating around late December/early January of 2018-19. So by the time Jocelyn met everyone (in early April) they would have been dating about three months. (If that’s wrong for some reason, blame my math, not explodingsnapple’s timeline.)

Interestingly, much of their early dating would have taken place during The Crime Scene, which must have been intense, and perhaps influenced Jocelyn’s eventual frustration that Rosa consistently prioritizes her job over her girlfriend. (Canon is fun!)

I purposefully had Rosa sharing quite a bit of personal info about her coworkers with Jocelyn, which I realize runs counter to the Rosa we know. But my thinking is that Rosa really, really likes Jocelyn, and is maybe making an effort to be open with her. Plus, I think Rosa really loves her Nine-Nine family and would maybe want to talk about them, at this point in her life. Anyway, obviously that’s all open to interpretation.

#b99 fic #b99 season 7 countdown project #missing scene #the therapist #rosa/jocelyn #rosa diaz #jocelyn pryce #amy santiago #jake peralta #charles boyle #terry jeffords

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