#she teaches at Signal now with Tai

[scareqrowbranwen]

@etruatcaelum liked for a Summer starter!

It's been a long time since Summer has been in Ozpin's office. She wanted it to be longer, honestly, but apparently the man had other plans.

Her face sours as she remembers why she's here in the first place, glaring at him over his desk. "You can't let Ruby into Beacon. She's fifteen."

She's not ready yet. Summer wasn't even sure she wanted her to go to Beacon, but the girl was stubborn and idealistic and... well, everything Summer had been in her own youth. She had tried to make sure her girls went into this world more knowledgeable than she had. She'd tried so damn hard.

But she'd thought she'd had another two years to prep Ruby on the things she would see. The things Ozpin would make her do. The special treatment Ozpin was sure to give her.

She wished Qrow wasn't off on a mission, because she could really use his support right now.

[transnats]

Selectively mute reader! finally speaking in front of the others and the first and only word they’ve heard from them is the word "fuck"

I feel like the reason why they would say that is probably because they dropped something or because they hurt themselves by accident and instead of asking if they’re okay the others just stare at them for a moment before actually asking if they’re okay. After that I feel like r! Would start speaking a little bit but not so much but even then whoever they talk to cherishes that time with them since they are so interesting to learn about and since they always have something interesting to say

I can imagine that once the group starts to get worse as time passes by, they go back to being completely silent because they feel alone again despite the others still being with them. I also feel like if they were to join in on hunts, nobody would be able to hear them at all because they learned to keep their breathing steady and quieter than the rest so it’s just a whole ass horror movie chase once they find the person they are hunting

I’m sorry I yapped so much

—🪼

yap as much as you want anon that’s literally what my inbox is for!

when they heard you curse, obviously they were shocked to hear you speak. they would be happy about it but they’re also trying to figure out what’s wrong. so they kinda just are all staring at you to assess the situation but once you tell them that you’re okay, they’re calm again. the girls all separately spend time with you in their own ways.

nat brings you hunting with her whenever travis pisses her off enough, tai and van play card games with you and they make it a competition to see who can get you to curse first cause of trash talk or because you lost the game, jackie is telling you about some boy she used to see and how much of a loser he was, so on and so forth.

you soon begin to realize why you didn’t talk to them so much now. the same topics were regurgitated because literally what else could they talk about if they were in the middle of the canadian wilderness? the color of lotties shoelaces? but also, some secret third thing nobody knew about.

so, slowly, you stopped talking again. they noticed how you regressed back into your grunts, nods and hand signals as communication. they were sad but they wouldn’t push you.

more about hunting with nat! :3 i think you’d be most useful because your breathing is steady and quiet, so you were sure you didnt alert any animals. icl nat would definitely be so impressed and shes asking for tips. you weren’t really 100% sure on what you should teach her or how you’d even do it anyways, but nonetheless you attempt to ‘teach her your ways’. nat was generally a quick learner and slowly began to pick up what you were putting down overtime. her hunts became more successful because of you.

with this knowledge now, she didn’t really need you to be there, but she figured you were lucky so she still asks you to join her from time to time. #girlbossing! 😆

[weirdowithaquill]

The Destruction of Engine Culture:

Ok, so this is going to be another long, and rambling post. So be warned. And as usual, this is a RWS theory post, so there will be talk of scrap.

That said, let's dive into the destruction of engine culture.

So, I think the first thing to ask is what would be 'engine culture' and how would it affect the railways of Britian (and globally) - and the answer is quite simple: it's the same as human culture. Humans have developed cultures for millennia, and they are often quite similar, and this is hypothesized to be because these cultures had similar things to warn about. Warning about the dangers of flooding, of wild animals, of droughts and fires. Many of the oldest stories are tales told to teach practical lessons. Little Red Riding Hood is as much about stranger danger and the threat wild animals pose as it is a story about a crossdressing wolf. Some scientists believe games like tag and catch were developed by our hunter-gatherer ancestors to teach hand-eye coordination and improve stamina. This is of course very early culture: stories, games and songs passed down from one generation to the next - but that's what we're talking about here. Railways are 220 years old at the oldest possible (and there are surviving engines from this era), so it's an early era of culture for them.

Furthermore, engines would inherit much of their railways' culture, depending on where they are. An engine working in Tsarist Russia would grow up with that culture, whereas an engine in Argentina, or France, or Kenya would grow up with the local cultures. This includes language, music, belief systems and otherwise. So that's the basis of engine culture itself: human culture. Engines learn human language, they sing human songs and they might even take on human beliefs.

They do, however, have their own beliefs. Lady, for one, with her gold dust and magic, has been used by fanfic authors as an 'engine deity', while Thomas and Friends alluded to Proteus being a deity of some sort, with a magic lamp. These engine 'deities' exist, it seems, as a focal point for engines. Proteus represents the ability to make wishes - something engines really don't have, while Lady represents freedom. She's able to travel great distances on her own, between continents, without needing to pull trains. Does that not sound like the railway version of attaining freedom?

So the engines have 'deities'. I won't call them gods, because that's very likely not what they are, but they are legends told by older engines to younger ones.

The other kind of legends that would really dominate engine culture would be practical moral tales - in the same vein as Little Red Riding Hood being about stranger danger and the threat of wild animals, stories told between engines would be warnings about the trucks, or bad stretches of line, or dangerous weather. But unlike fairy tales, these stories would come from experience. Engine culture is very new, and it's being developed continuously during the Victorian era. Incidents like the Tay Bridge Disaster, or William Huskisson's death, or the Abbots Ripton rail disaster all are quickly turned into stories told by the older engines to teach the new arrivals (of which there are hundreds by the year) about how to run the railway as safely as possible.

The engines also develop games which help them to watch signals, or counter miles, or figure out their location in adverse conditions. These games started as training exercises, but became more fun as young engines made them competitions. They also develop songs of their own, which can tell messages:

"Once an engine when fixed to a train Was alarmed at a few drops of rain, So went "puff" from its funnel Then fled to a tunnel, And would not come out again."

The message: don't stop in a tunnel.

But the thing is, this post is about the destruction of engine culture, and now that I've explained it, I'm going to explore how it was decimated.

And for that, we start with the Second World War, which saw a complete upheaval of the railways of Britain. The war was especially hard on the railways, and engines were often used around the clock with no rest. This meant that a lot of the newer engines never got to hear these stories before being sent out for weeks at a time, as they never spent any time at a single shed. And even if they were parked up at a shed, everyone was so exhausted they didn't have time to tell tales. And at the end of the war, a lot of the oldest engines were withdrawn, completely worn out. The oldest engines were the ones who told many of the tales, and their loss was the start of a decline.

The Railway Series, however, would pick up a lot of the slack from this loss, as many of its earliest stories were in that same moral vein as traditional 'engine culture' stories, focusing on listening to elders, not stopping in tunnels, being patient, gentle with coaches, careful with trucks - it's all there. And I can see that being due to Edward teaching the Reverend many of these stories, in a bid to keep them from vanishing. And he would continue on, joined by other older engines like Skarloey, Rheneas and Toby, as the book series went on. Things like listening to advice and not acting recklessly pop up constantly - especially with Duncan, who Skarloey had to deal with.

It all gets worse when British Railways forms though. And this is where the 'railway rulebook', the attitudes of diesels and the doctrine of BR all come in to play. As the doctrine and official rulebook of British Railways portrays steam engines as inferior, weaker engines, the diesels are indoctrinated into believing it - and thus, they refuse to listen. Take Diesel for example, who believes that diesels can just arrive at a yard and 'improve it'. He is immediately foiled by some jammed breaks - something he may have learnt about from a story or a tale from a steam engine. But he never stopped to listen. And it's the same across the country, across the world in fact. As the successful diesel classes prove themselves to their managers, they are rolled out and steam engines are withdrawn - and with that, so is the culture they were the keepers of.

But this isn't quite the end of this 'engine culture' yet, because one group willing to listen to the steam engines are the 'failures'. Engines like BoCo and Derek would be very willing to listen to the engines that have tales that may just help them. Stories like how to best use sand in a storm, or how to conserve energy over the Settle-Carlisle route. And so even as steam dies, these 'failures' hold their culture, and try their best to preserve it, alongside the preserved engines. The Railway Series does too, such as in 'Stepney the Bluebell Engine', where sanding is explicitly mentioned. Another group that take in this engine culture is the GWR diesel-hydraulics, who grew up with GWR ideology, and thus would have been more willing to listen to their steam ancestors.

But these 'non-standard' engines were also quickly wiped out. And this leaves only a few pockets of engines who remember the old stories: the preserved engines, and the few Gen-1 diesels who did listen. By the end of the working lives of the Class 40s, the Deltics and the 'Peaks', they are the last engines who remember the old stories from the steam era working on British Railways, and when they are scrapped, the next generation grows up relearning everything.

Because the fact is that these stories held a major purpose, and the destruction of that culture means that every mistake every warned against is suddenly being made again, and again, and again. We notice this in the Railway Series, where Diesel, and Class 40, and D199 and even Bear all make very elementary mistakes that would have been warned against in these cultural stories - like taking care around trucks or looking out for the wind. And it only gets worse as this first generation are scrapped. Engines scramble to a standstill on leaves again, engines get trapped in floods, or lost in storms, or run through signals - and it's because the games, the songs, the stories, everything that would have prevented these accidents is lost.

It's not until these diesels reach preservation that they hear the stories remembered by the steam engines, and that's when they realise that... hey, maybe the ancestors were right after all.

The saddest part is that it's not only a global thing, but that it's still very much a problem on modern railways. The loss of 'engine culture' between the 1950s and the 1980s would have a domino effect that would still impact modern railways, as the even newer electric engines and multiple units face the same issues but with no prior knowledge.

The pictures in this post are not mine.

[imjusthereforironwood]

Doing His Best

Taiyang had a long day. No, correction, Taiyang had a long week. As one of the few Hunters in Patch, it was his duty to hunt any Grimm that came near the small community. And for some reason, every dang horde in this whole dang hemisphere had decided to come into his domain. Practically every day he had to go out and fight off an invasion. And Grimm don't follow business hours, meaning Tai may have to leave in the middle of class, having breakfast with Yang and Ruby, or at 2:00 in the middle of the night. Vacuo wasn't even this busy with Grimm activity right now, and it's freaking Vacuo.

On top of that, the history teacher at Signal had been sick all week, and Taiyang had to cover for him. Plus, Qrow, who teaches combat, had left on another long unannounced trip, and Tai had to pick up his class too. (Heh, Qrow being habitually absent. I guess you could say he was a flight risk. Jokes aside, Qrow had a streak of absenteeism in more than one area of his life.) That meant that for this whole week, the blond Huntsman had been teaching his class of aura techniques, Qrow's combat class, and a history class, plus grading homework.

Tai trudged into his home, not even bothering to kick off his shoes before flopping onto the old, worn couch. His body ached, his mind was tired, and his soul was exhausted.

"Daaad!" a familiar voice called out.

Taiyang turned his head to see Yang and Ruby. Yang was probably one of the tallest 3rd graders in her class, and she had definitely adopted Taiyang's confidence (and Raven's stubbornness). Her golden hair was all messy, even though Tai was certain he brushed it out for her this morning. She had a bright grin on her face and a bandaid on her right cheek. Tai did a quick count of the bandaids, and yep, that's a new one. She must have gotten another scrape at school. She's certainly a Xiao Long.

Ruby was rocking back and forth on her boots, tugging on the strings of her little red hoodie. She was one of the more quiet first graders, her nose more often in a book that was far above what her reading level should be. (Taiyang wasn't sure where she picked up her bookworm nature. Aside from reading the occasional bedtime story, he didn't read much.) Ruby had a small smile, her front two teeth not having grown back yet.

"Hey, kiddos," Tai grunted out, his joints cracking as he sat up. "How was school?"

"Good, are ya ready to go?" Yang asked, beginning to bounce up and down like a spring.

Tai blinked, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he attempted under what Yang meant.

"You promised to take us to the Valean Aquarium," Ruby said quietly, scratching her boot into the carpet.

Ah, crud. He did promise that last week. It would be a long drive, about a three hour roundtrip, not counting traffic.

Tai was sore and exhausted. It would be so easy, so convenient to brush Yang and Ruby off, tell them they weren't going to the aquarium.

But he couldn't do that to them. He had made a promise to his daughters, and he was going to keep it. They deserved to have fun excursions and little memories. (Tai wanted to be a better father than his dad.)

Tai popped off the couch and stretched his arms and legs. A smile crossed his tired face.

"Alright, grab your helmets, I'll get your riding jackets."

Yang and Ruby let out little cheers as they raced each other to their bedrooms (naturally, Ruby won.)

A few minutes later, and all three of them had gotten onto Tai's old touring motorcycle, Yang and Ruby getting into the sidecar. Soon they were on the road, the wind whipping around them.

It was a long drive to the Valean Aquarium, but seeing Ruby and Yang's eyes light up looking at all the different sea creatures, hearing them giggle at some of the goofy looking fish and Tai's endless fish puns, and listening to them talk on and on about which ones they want for pets (Yang wanted a shark, obviously) made the whole trip worth it.

Somewhere along the aquarium visit, Ruby had gotten tired, and was riding piggyback on Tai's shoulders. Somehow, she had managed to fall asleep, still perfectly balanced on his shoulders.

"Hey, dad?" Yang asked, wrapping her arms around Tai in a hug. "Thanks."

Yeah, this was definitely worth it.

[captain-of-the-roses]

Ozqrow Week Day 7- Free Day

"Qrow," Ozpin couldn't help but laugh as the other dragged him closer to an airship. "What ever are you doing?"

Qrow grinned over his shoulder, but still didn't let go of Oz's hand. "Well, this is your first day off in, what, a century, right? I'm here to help you make the most of it!"

"We can do that just as easily at Beacon. Really, dearest, a day in bed is fine."

"That's just your age catching up to you," Qrow waved a hand dismissedly, as if he isn't older than Ozpin. Oz the wizard may be old, but Ozpin the professor wasn't. Qrow went on, "And you've been stuck in Vale since I've known you! Some greenery would do some good."

Ozpin, wordlessly, gestured to his outfit. Qrow grinned.

Sighing, Ozpin picks up his step so he is not longer being dragged. Better to not make his students worry, which they already were, if the occasional stray glance was anything to go by. Instead, it now looked like him and Qrow were just a couple on a walk, though that probably wouldn't help the students. Ozpin's children seemed quite intent on their thoughts that he was untouchable.

"See, that's why we have to get you out of this place." Qrow suddenly said.

Ozpin frowned and glanced over to Qrow, raising an eyebrow at having been broken out of his thoughts. "Pardon?"

Qrow used their interlocked hands to gesture to Beacon's campus and the students milling about. "Being here makes you stressed. You're all 'Oh, I need to look presentable and put together so no one is worried,' as if you aren't the biggest mess I've ever met besides myself."

"I'd hardly say I'm stressed."

"Yeah? Well I would."

Ozpin huffed even as he accepted Qrow's hand, letting the other pull him up into the airship. Though he was exaggerating, Qrow wasn't entirely wrong. Ozpin -Oz- was often stressed about keeping up appearances. After all, who would have hope to fight if their leader was a mess?

"Stop thinking so hard," Qrow chided after giving instruction to the pilot. He leaned up and bumped their foreheads together with an added whisper, "If your hair wasn't already gray, I would be able to see it losing color."

"Would you now?" Ozpin hummed as the airship took off. It slowly lifted into the sky, engines firing. They were quickly flying towards their destination soon after.

Ozpin stepped away from Qrow to look out the door. Beacon and his students slowly grew smaller as more of the world came into view. Forever Fall and the Emerald Forest looked as beautiful as always, Vale shinned in the early morning light, and the distant oceans similarly sparkled.

He smiled softly, watching it past below him. Footsteps approached and then Qrow wrapped an arm around Ozpin's waist.

"Enjoying the view?" He teased.

Ozpin turned back to him with a soft smile, "I always try to. It is not often that I'm allowed to. Speaking of: where are you taking me?"

Qrow grinned back with twinkling eyes. Stepping back, he held his arms out wide before giving a dramatic bow, saying, "You'll have to wait and see, oh, mystical wizard."

Quirking an eyebrow, Ozpin continued to stare at his husband. Qrow shrugged, offering no answers. Not that Ozpin expected one, really; out of habit, Qrow was remarkably good at keeping quiet about things, even from family. Speaking of-

"Fine then." Ozpin shifted to lean against the wall of the airship. He tapped his fingers along his cane. "If you refuse to tell me, and if I am to not contemplate jumping out this door, tell me about your neices."

"Our nieces," Qrow corrected, as easy as breathing. "And they're doing fine. Ruby just got into Signal, absolutely whooping butt. Tai threw her a party the other week, too." He chuckled. "Yang's been sneaking out to go to bars. She's really bad at being subtle, I'll probably have to teach her how to actually do it."

"Qrow Branwen, you are not teaching Yang how to spy."

"No, of course not. I'm teaching Yang how to lie to authority." Qrow shrugged again. They both knew Ozpin wasn't going to stop him, and they both knew that it wouldn't have stopped the old bird anyway.

Sighing, Ozpin pushed, "And Tai?"

"Eh, you know how he is. He's thinking about picking up being a huntsman for hire again, though." Qrow pulled out his flask and took a swing, ignoring the look thrown at him seemingly out of habit. "Probably going to wait until both of the girls are in Beacon."

Ozpin nodded and looked out the door again. The nearly clear seas signaling the coast of Mistral passed beneath them. He said, "Likely for the best. The girls are far too young to lose yet another parent."

The mood suddenly plummeted at that one sentence. Summer's memory still hung heavy over everyone, and Raven's betrayal wasn't much better. With Qrow out constantly, too…

Qrow sighed heavily, bumping their shoulders together. "You're great at killing the mood, you know that?" He asked.

"My apologies."

"Nah, don't be sorry. That's why we're heading out: to teach you how to lighten up."

Ozpin wrinkled his nose, "Love, I don't think that is possible. I'm unsure if that was possible even before the old chaperone in my head."

"Well, that's what we're here to find out." Qrow grinned. He suddenly leaned forward and squinted down at the ground before him. Ozpin really needed to ask Glynda to set up an eye appointment.

Shaking his head, Ozpin turned to look down as well. Large swathes of farmland passed below them. Mistral's outskirts, by the looks of it.

"How fast is our pilot going?" He mumbled, quickly electing Qrow's boisterous laugh.

"Ah, don't worry about that. Just jump!"

"Jump?"

"Jump!" And then Qrow was flying. Not literally, apparently choosing to opt out of his magic. Instead, Ozpin watched him fling himself out of the airship and dive through the sky, down toward the farmlands.

Ozpin blinked. Muttered, "Oh, I married a mad man." Then he jumped, too.

Instantly, adrenaline began to rush through him, reminding him of his Beacon initiation. Back then, he had just wanted to get everything over with. Ozpin had landed in a tree, hopped down, and made immediate eye contact with a white haired girl. Then, he had simply turned around and left, the old man laughing all the while.

Now, he didn't land in a tree. Ozpin dove through the air, twisting through the skies. A windmill approached and he held out a hand. He caught the windmill and used his momentum to spin around it until he reached the ground. A large crow settled nearby not long after.

"Cheater," he laughed, watching as the black feathers melted away into tanned skin. Qrow stood and ran a hand through his hair.

"It ain't cheating if you also have magic." Qrow teased back. He turned to gesture to a farm in the distance. He explained, "That's our stop."

Ozpin looked towards it as they began to walk. It was a small thing, with only a barn and a house that likely only had two bedrooms. Around it were stretches of wheat and corn, only separated by a trail of trees, probably a path. He smiled.

"You've always been so good at finding these places, my dusty old crow." Ozpin praised. There was a pull in his chest, too, that had him walking faster than he already was. Excitement? Curiosity? Or, perhaps something deeper than that?

He heard Qrow snicker behind him, practically flaunting as he responded, "Obviously. I wouldn't be your right hand man for anything else, right?"

"Of course. The intelligence and fighting capabilities are just perks."

The two laughed, getting ever closer to the barn. Ozpin's peppy steps must have been noticeable given Qrow's continued laughing. The two of them reached the porch of the barn and Qrow went up to knock. A few moments of silence and then-

"Hello, Mr. Qrow!" A voice chirped as the door opened. A small boy with hazel eyes and freckles stared up at them, and Ozpin and the voice in his head both shuddered. "Is this your friend?"

"Yeah, Oscar." Qrow grinned. "This is my friend. Oscar, meet Ozpin. Oz, meet Oscar Pine."

Ozpin let out a breath, trying to dispell that shaking feeling. Kneeling down to Oscar's level, he smiled and held out a hand, "It's nice to meet you, dear one."

"It's nice to meet you, too!" Oscar took Ozpin's much larger hand and shook it. The feeling shuddered again, then eased. Ozpin turned to Qrow and smiled, both only partially listening into the little boy's excited chirps. It would seem this was, in the end, the best way to spend his vacation.

[deadbeatbirdmom]

Great analysis @enigma2meagain, Citadel and @tumblingxelian!

I think Tai absolutely does project. I doubt he's even aware of it. If he was maybe he'd be able to rethink how his daughter really fights.

Part of the problem may well be that all he's seen is Yang in training spars with him and the televised Vytal tournament fights (and maybe some lesser tournament at Signal presuming there was one and that he wasn't busy with teaching). As far as we know Yang doesn't even use her Semblance in training fights.

That would mean Tai's experience with it is whatever he took away from the Vytal fights he saw, and presumably when Yang's Semblance first unlocked up to the point when she got Burn under control. If it unlocked when she was still a child and tended to flare up when she was angry and lost her temper... no wonder Tai sees it as a temper tantrum.

Hopefully one day he'll realise it's changed. Although he'd probably credit it to Yang taking his advice in Vol 4. If only Tai knew how she broke Adam's Aura and confiscated his sword: Yang absolutely did not follow her dad's advice in how she used Burn then.

I do think the link between Yang's anger and her Semblance is perhaps confused by how her eyes also sometimes turn red when she's angry. Certainly not every time. There's also the moment in Burning the Candle when Yang's frustrated with Blake and her eyes turn red and there's a distinctive crackling sound like flames that does seem linked to her Semblance, like she just barely held it back.

Maybe now her eyes seem to turn a fiery orange instead of red when using her Semblance the difference between angry red eyes and actually using her Semblance will be clearer. As seen here, both from Volume 7:

Yang's eyes when Marrow asks why she and Blake don't branch out instead of sticking together. Very much angry eyes.

Yang's eyes when using her Semblance against Elm. Maybe a bit angry, but mostly determined.

Think what strikes me most about the conversation between Taiyang and Yang in V4 is just how much he's simultaneously shown to be someone who does understand and is able to understand certain aspects of a problem, but is also constantly held back by his own inability to properly address his own biases, and how it affects the way he approaches conflict.

Like his point about finding other ways around a tough problem, which doesn't sound bad on paper, but it's also interesting how it's reflective of the way HE approaches his problems:

Namely, by not really dealing with them at all, and trying to go around them. Especially in regards to Raven and Summer. Rather than properly confronting his complicated history and difficulties with the former, he basically just avoids the subject entirely even when it means actively ensuring that the issue is never resolved and festers until it comes back when he doesn't want it to, or pushes him against the wall until he has no choice but to face the issue, IF he even chooses to do so.

And his interactions with Yang, treating her issues with her Semblance as if it's a tantrum, is also quite demeaning, since that really isn't the issue at all. Rather, it's that she has severely repressed anger and resentment that he and the adults failed to address, and she has to basically vent it out either via her Semblance and fights as the closest thing to a constructive coping mechanism she has, or by pretending everything is okay. She's shown pretty consistently to be a smart fighter, so that was never really the actual problem; it's that people around her depend on her, while very much overlooking how much she's having to bear a burden she shouldn't have had to bear in the first place.

I'm sure I might get some pushback on this but Tai projects, Tai projects A LOT.

And yeah, Yang's biggest problem is her trauma and it's only gotten better because of her friends and Blake but I'd say she's far from healed. The adults in her life and Ruby's failed them.

And before someone comes at me, that's also a theme of the show. How the previous generations have failed and the current one has to pick up the pieces.

[bridgyrose]

Please can we get more of the Faunus Raven AU. Seems super interesting.

Raven flew through the trees on Patch, feathers shifting colors in the light as she tried to keep herself unseen as she flew closer to the home at the edge of the forest. As she lowered herself, she shifted and bounded from tree to tree, her skin keeping herself camouflaged as she finally made it to the edge of the forest. A small smile crossed her lips as she watched Yang spar with her father… until she felt a rock hit the back of her head and caused her to lose her balance. 

“You’re late, Raven,” Qrow said as he tossed a small pebble in his hand. “I thought you were going to be on time today.” 

“I am on time, not my fault they started early!” Raven half-yelled as she caught her balance and rubbed the back of her head. A heavy sigh left her as she made her way down the tree. “I would’ve been back sooner, but I… had to check on something.” 

“You were looking for Summer again, werent you?” 

“Because she’s not dead!” Raven’s skin turned red and yellow as she yelled at her brother, her fingers tensed up as she took a breath to calm herself. “She’s… she’s not dead. She’s out there somewhere, I know it. I… I just need time to figure out why my semblance doesnt work to get to her-” 

“Because she’s gone and we all need to accept it.” Qrow sighed and leaned up against a tree. “We… need to accept that she’s gone and isnt coming back. But that’s not anything you should worry about right now. You need to get to Yang.” 

Raven nodded and slowly walked over to the house as she watched Yang spar with Tai. Golden scales reflected light and shone the same way her hair did in the sun. “I thought you both were going to wait until I got back.” 

“Yang… got a bit… excited.” Tai quickly dodged out of the way of one of Yang’s punches and grabbed her arm to stop her. “Time to take a break, my little sunny dragon.” 

“But daaaad-” 

“No buts. You promised your mother you’d train with her when she got back.” 

Yang rolled her eyes and smiled, scales shimmering against the sun like flames. “What are you going to teach me today?” 

Raven motioned for Yang to follow her into the forest. “Today, I’m going to teach you a little about survival.” 

“I thought you were going to teach me how to use a sword like dad’s been teaching me close quarters combat.” Yang rushed ahead and jumped up onto a fallen log and mimicked how she watched her mother hold a sword. She made a few quick slashes in the air with a small grin. “Dad says you’re deadly with a single strike! O-or you can show me how to use a sword like Qrow’s! Or maybe-” 

“After your first year at Signal, I’ll teach you how to use a sword. But how to use weapons is only a part of how to be a great huntress. Knowing how to survive, blending in with your surroundings-” Raven smiled as she disappeared into the shadows. “-knowing your own talents and how to keep yourself alive are all equally needed. And since I grew up outside of the kingdoms, I’m better suited to teach you than your father is.” 

Yang watched as Raven reappeared, her skin taking its natural color again. “And how do you plan to do that?” 

Raven smiled and pulled out her sword and sliced into the air, her semblance activating as a portal opened in front of her like a tear. “I’m going to take you on a trip to watch my old tribe. No better way to learn than trial by fire.”

[tashas-life]

Summer Shenanigans

Paxton and Devi spend the summer together and have a banging playlist

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“Nothing really.”

“I’m outside, let’s go to the beach.”

Devi threw her bag through the back window of Paxton’s jeep and jumped in the front seat.

“Did you bring my suit?” Devi asks as she pulled on her seatbelt. Devi’s mom would never let her wear a bikini so she had to save up her money from working at the summer camp to buy it. She usually hid it at the back of her underwear drawer but since she’d been going swimming with Paxton more days than not, she just kept it in his car.

“Yep, I threw it in the laundry.” Paxton pulled out onto the road and Devi started messing with the music.

Her and Paxton were both working at the same summer camp so they spent most days together. Paxton had spent the last two summers working at the camp and Devi wanted to make her own money so she had applied too. It was also convenient because she always had a ride to work instead of asking her mom or Kamala. Paxton had promised to teach her to drive this summer but she always chickened out whenever he offered.

Devi always insisted on picking the music when they went anywhere and Paxton didn’t mind. She settled on Ariana Grande’s album and turned up the volume as Motive filled the car. Paxton rolled down all the windows and stuck his arm out to feel the breeze. It was one of the hottest days of the summer so Paxton’s shirt was mostly open and Devi had her new sunglasses on. This was the first summer that Devi was making real money and she tended to spend most of it by the time the next pay day had rolled around.

Once they got to the beach Devi jumped in the backseat and Paxton got out to stand guard. Devi was a pro at the quick change at this point and quickly shimmied into her bikini without having to take off her dress completely.

Once Devi hopped out of the backseat, Paxton grabbed the drinks cooler and Devi grabbed their towels and a speaker. Usually the beaches were packed on hot days but Paxton had a special super power of finding an empty part of the beach to spend the day. They found a spot to settle and Devi started applying sunscreen.

“Did you hear Kenny is sick again. Mono.” Paxton said with an eye roll and Devi groaned.

“You think he’s going to be out all week again? Taylor should just fire him and hire someone else at this point.” Devi tossed Paxton the sunscreen and laid down on her towel.

“Yea right, Taylor probably gave him the mono. He’ll never fire him.” Devi laughed and closed her eyes.

“I don’t even understand how they find the time to mack. Those kids never stop.” Devi said.

“Yea well, next week they’re going to be our problem again.” Usually each camp leader had about 5-10 kids to watch but with Kenny constantly gone they always ended up with more kids.

“Honestly, fuck Kenny.” Devi grumbled and Paxton nodded. “Did you see Eleanor’s insta post? Her and Trent are like embarrassingly in love.” Devi asked as she pulled out her phone to show him a boomerang of them kissing on some hike.

“I think it’s cute.” Paxton grinned as Devi made a vomiting face. “I invited them to come today but apparently they would rather be aloneeee.”

“That’s so nasty.” Devi said and Paxton laughed.

“I’m going in, you coming?” Paxton asked but Devi shook her head.

“Nah man, I’m working on my tan.” Devi said but really she just preferred laying on the sand and watching the water than actually being in it.

“Your loss.” Paxton replied, shoving her as he got up to go swimming.

……

“Okay, the thing is that I just don’t think I’m coordinated enough for this.” Devi said as she stood on Paxton’s skateboard. She felt a little embarrassed at how wobbly she was and that she was wearing her bike helmet that she got when she was ten. Paxton had his car door open and Lizzo’s album was playing. Juice blasted into the street and Devi knew people would complain soon.

“I’m literally holding on to you. You can’t fall.” Paxton said as he led her down the road.

“I feel like I could still fall.” Devi said as she started tipping back and Paxton’s grip tightened as he pulled her forward.

“I won’t let you fall Devi. Would you just trust me for once?” He asked playfully annoyed.

“Shut up, I literally trust you all the time.”

“You shut up.” Paxton countered.

“Wow, real mature.” Devi replied sarcastically.

Devi was too busy arguing to notice them start to go faster. Of course that is until she did notice. Then she was falling again and she was falling fast. Paxton managed to grab her before she fell on her face and swung her off the skateboard. Devi held onto Paxton as the skateboard started rolling down the street without them. They looked at each other and immediately started laughing.

“I think you might be right about the coordination thing.” Paxton said and Devi shoved him away from her.

“Or maybe you’re a bad teacher.” She grinned at his shocked face as she ran to grab the skateboard.

“I’m never teaching you anything ever again” he retaliated.

“Come over here and help me loser.” Paxton crossed his arm in defiance.

“Tell me I’m a good teacher.”

“Stop being a baby.”

“Wooooow, even more insults. Bad teacher and a baby.”

“Fine, you’re a good teacher. Now let’s get on with this.” Devi said as she started to get on the skateboard again.

“Thank you.” Paxton replied satisfied. He grinned and went to help her again.

……..

Usually, they were separated during their days at camp since each group rotated through activities but on Fridays all of the kids got to go to the community pool. Those were obviously Paxton’s favourite days because he got to hang out with Devi but he also loved getting to teach some of the kids how to swim.

Usually, Paxton stayed in the shallow end with the younger kids and Devi sat at the deep end with the older kids. Vacation by Dirty Heads was playing over the pool speakers and Devi had her legs in the water as she chatted with some kids.

“Yea, high school kind of sucks. What you gotta do is find a popular kid and force them to be your friend.” Devi told some kids who were going to be freshmen in the fall.

“That’s terrible advice.” Paxton laughed as he came to stand next to her in the pool. He had switched with Kenny who was now watching the younger kids. They had given up on learning to swim and were mostly just playing and splashing water at Kenny.

“Really? You got anything better?” Devi asked crossing her arms.

“Yes. Find something that makes you excited to go to school, for me that was swimming, for D it was being my best friend. And also don’t give a shit about what other people think of you.” Paxton told the kids and Devi kicked his arm. “Oh shit, I mean just don’t care what other people think.”

“I meant the best friend thing.” Devi rolled her eyes.

“You were literally obsessed-“ before Paxton could finish Devi had jumped in and shoved Paxton’s head underwater.

Paxton managed to push Devi away from him and had his arm out separating them.

“Hey, you better stop or your top is going to fall off again.” Paxton laughed and Devi’s face started burning up. Yes, the bikini was cute but it wasn’t the most reliable bathing suit she had. Rough housing had led to a very embarrassing incident that Devi was trying to forget.

“I’m going to kill you.” Devi lunged at him and Paxton managed to grab her arms.

“Hey anger issues, chill out.” Paxton said with a grin. Devi managed to pull her arms away and splashed Paxton.

“Go do your job loser!” Devi yelled as she turned to go back to her post.

……

Devi swung the door open and was surprised to see Paxton. Usually he just texted her when he got to her house.

“Let’s go for a drive.” Paxton said as he held up his car keys.

“Okayyy.” Devi said as she grabbed her backpack from the door.

“Here ya go.” He said as he tossed the keys to her. She just about dropped them and didn’t move from her front door.

“Naaaa, I don’t think today’s the day.” Devi said nervously. She had failed her drivers test last month because she hadn’t practiced enough. It was the first time she hadn’t prepared and it was also the first time she had failed a test.

“Come on D, your test is in a few weeks and don’t you want to have your licence by the time school starts?” Paxton asked as he opened the drivers side door. He motioned for her to get in and she groaned before going to the car.

It wasn’t legal for Paxton to teach her how to drive but her only other option was her mother which hadn’t worked out. Devi was pretty sure she failed her test because driving with her mom had made her so anxious that getting behind the wheel made her want to throw up even when her mom wasn’t around. She had even done drivers ed but that apparently wasn’t enough because she still failed.

“Are you sure? What if I scratch your car or something?” Devi asked as they both got in the car.

“Then I’ll literally kill you, so don’t scratch my baby.” Paxton said as he gently caressed his dash.

“That’s not really helpful.” Devi muttered as she nervously changed the seat settings.

“We’ll go to the school parking lot. It’s just down the street and the lot will be empty.” Devi nodded as she turned the car on. She kept her foot on the brakes as she looked at Paxton desperately.

“Listen to Tai, you’re going to be A-O-K.” Paxton said as he turned up the music. “Also, don’t forget to signal, you lost so many points for that.”

Paxton didn’t look nervous at all which made Devi feel a little bit better. If he could be confident in her driving skills than so could she. Devi signalled and did a very exaggerated shoulder check before she pulled onto the road. There were no cars around the whole way to the school so the only thing she had to deal with were some stop signs and one set of lights. She totally could do this.

Devi’s whole body relaxed once they pulled into the parking lot and she didn’t have to worry about hitting things or people anymore.

“That was pretty good actually. How did you fail?” Paxton asked.

“Probably because I suck at driving?” Devi told him as she put the car in park.

“Shut up, you had issues with the parallel park right?” Paxton asked as he got out of the car.

“What are you doing?” Devi asked as he closed the door.

“Im going to teach you how to parallel park.” Paxton grinned sticking his head through the window.

Devi waited as he grabbed stuff from out of his trunk. A bin full of blankets and an empty cooler he had forgotten about. He set them up as pretend cars and he went to the drivers side.

“Okay, line yourself up.” Paxton said as Devi slowly moved the car so the bin of blankets was lined up with the back of the jeep.

Paxton gave her instructions and ran around indicating for her how far to back up and how much to turn the wheel and eventually she got into the spot.

“I don’t think they’re going to let you guide me into a spot on the test.” Devi said annoyed that it took so long.

“You just gotta keep practicing, eventually it’ll just be second nature.” Paxton said as he got back in the car. “Pull out and this time I’m not going to help you.” Paxton said as she groaned.

“I hate this.” Devi said getting frustrated.

“You won’t hate this once you can drive yourself anywhere you want. Now start moving before I force you to practice highway driving.” Paxton said as he relaxed into his seat.

Devi wanted to hit him and get angry but she knew he was her only hope of passing her test in a month so she contained herself and kept practicing.

When the day of Devi’s test came around she felt pretty confident she was going to fail again. Paxton had given her a pep talk before he left her house the night before but it hadn’t helped with her nerves.

“You got this, okay? Just make sure you signal, and don’t forget the emergency brake when you do the hill park.” He told her as he held her shoulders. “By this time tomorrow, you’re going to be fully licensed because you’re a great driver.”

Devi was just as shocked as her mother when she pulled into the DMV and had almost no deductions on her test. Nalini didn’t know about Paxton teaching her to drive but she managed to convince her that is was because the tester was a lot nicer than the last one. She had smiled the entire time she got her new license and had raced back to the car. She knew Paxton would be waiting for her at her house and she was beyond excited to tell him that his methods had actually worked.

Paxton was leaning on his car checking his phone when they got home. She had to stop herself from running to Paxton to tell him the good news. She got out of the car and Nalini kissed her head before going into the house.

“How’d it go?” He asked as she crossed her arms and pretended to look disappointed.

“I passed babyyy!” She screamed as she whipped out her temporary license.

“I fucking knew it! You never trust me.” Paxton grabbed her and spun her around.

“Where do you wanna go? I’m driving.” Devi said and Paxton laughed as he got in the passenger seat.

…..

“Can you spot me ten bucks?” Devi asked as she searched through her backpack for some money.

“You have literally worked all summer, how are you always broke?” Paxton muttered as he pulled out some change from his console.

“I just don’t have any cash on me.”

Paxton gave her a handful of change and Devi looked at him annoyed.

“Quarters? Really?” Devi struggled to hold all the coins and Paxton shrugged.

“Take it or leave it, but if you want boba I suggest you take it.” Paxton grinned and Devi rolled her eyes as she realized she couldn’t open the door holding all the change.

Paxton laughed as he leaned over to open the door for her. “Get me a milk tea.” He said as she hopped out of the car.

“If I even make it there without any hands.” She grumbled.

By the time she got back with their drinks, Paxton had all the windows down blasting Young Dumb & Broke by Khalid.

“Really?!” She had to scream for him to hear her over the music. He lip synced to the lyrics as he pointed to her and dramatically danced to the music. “You’re so annoying!” She screamed as he took a big sip of his tea. He pointed at the drink as if to say that it tastes good and gave her the ok sign with his fingers. Devi just rolled her eyes and sipped on her mango slush. She guessed it was worth the embarrassing amount of quarters she gave to the cashier and having to listen to Paxton call her dumb and broke.

“Are you going to make it to Trent’s this weekend? Last party of the summer.” Paxton asked as he turned the music down.

“Have you met my mother? She’s not going to let me go to Trent’s house for a party.” Devi replied looking through Paxton’s Spotify.

“Since when do you tell your mom about going to parties?” Paxton asked snorting.

“I’m trying to turn over a new leaf this year. No more lying, especially to my mom.” She said as she put on Savage by Megan Thee Stallion and Beyoncé.

“What if she knew I was taking you?” Paxton knew the party would suck without Devi there.

“Yeaaaaa, my mom might like you now but not that much.”

“Come on D, it’s the last party of the summer. You have to go!” Paxton pouted as he pulled out of the parking lot.

“Fine, fine, I’ll figure out a way to go out but there’s no way she’ll let me stay out past 11.” Paxton smiled at her and agreed to be DD so he could get her home by 11.

By the time the weekend rolled around, Nalini didn’t even seem bothered by Devi leaving. Her and Kamala had been going crazy planning her wedding and Devi tended to be unhelpful in that area. She was only good for the grunt work, which she was sure there would be a lot of once it got closer to the day.

All she had to say was that she was going to Eleanor’s house for a back to school hangout and Nalini quickly agreed to get her out of the house. Technically she wasn’t lying because they had to pick up Eleanor at her house and they were having a back to school hangout. It was just a hangout with most of the school and alcohol.

Devi acted as casual as possible as she closed the front door but she sprinted as soon as the door closed. She didn’t want to risk her mom seeing her actually getting in Paxton’s car instead of Fabiola’s. Devi had been asking her mom for a car for weeks but still nothing. Her mom was convinced that she should have enough money saved since she had a summer job but summer camps didn’t exactly pay top dollar and Devi was pretty irresponsible with her money this summer. She figured she had two more summers to hustle before she went to Princeton.

“You look so pretty in that dress.” Paxton said as soon as she got in the car.

Devi blushed and couldn’t control her smile. “Shut up loser.”

Paxton smiled back at her as they went to pick up Eleanor and Fabiola.

Trent’s house was packed full of people but he was standing at the door waiting for Eleanor. He hugged her tightly and dragged her off to the back of the house.

Paxton went to grab them some drinks and handed Devi and Fabiola beers. “Bread soda.”

Devi rolled her eyes and shoved him away. Fabiola had learned a long time to ignore their inside jokes and she wandered off.

Paxton was always treated like a god at parties and everyone wanted their time with him. Paxton gave people his typical cool guy head nod and pulled Devi outside where it was less crowded.

“So, you excited for school to start?” Paxton asked and Devi looked confused.

“Sure, I guess.” Paxton looked nervous which made Devi more confused. “Why are you making weird small talk?”

“I just guess this is the last time we’re hanging out before school starts.” Devi’s confusion became anger very quickly.

“What is that supposed to mean? Like things are going to change when school starts?” Devi questioned starting to get upset.

“No, chill Devi. I mean I do want things to change but not the way you think.” Now Devi was back to confused.

Paxton looked frustrated and looked around them. No one was around or paying attention to them. Paxton turned back to Devi and got way closer to her than she was used to. Kiss Me More by Doja Cat and SZA was playing in the house but it sounded far away.

He touched her cheek and lifted her mouth to his. “Is this okay?” He asked nervously.

Instead of answering Devi pushed her lips against his. Paxton smiled against her and pulled her tight to him.

……

“You want me to pick you up tomorrow?” Paxton texted and Devi smiled when she saw the message.

“Sure, if you don’t mind.” She replied quickly.

“No worries, we’re both going to the same place. Better for the environment and all that”

“I’ll make a driving playlist.” He sent back a smiley face and an ok hand.

Devi couldn’t wait for tomorrow. This was going to be the best summer of her life.

[rwby-encrusted-blog]

Willow: ... You and Ruby like the same man.

Summer: Yes.

Willow: Ruby is dating the Arc's boy.

Summer: Yes.

Willow: You kissed him?

Summer: Yes ...

Willow: So what your saying is, you kissed the boy your Daughter is dating?

Summer: That ... That is what I'm saying ...

Willow: Well, Summer, I don't really know what I can say other than. Be honest.

Willow: You're a wonderful person, or at least I remember you being one, always looking out for others.

Willow: You deserve something for yourself, or at the very least you should try to share, though ...

Willow: You do like him for Him right? you don't just see Taiyang, right?

Summer: ... I don't. I wanted to, to convince myself that I did, but he isn't Tai.

Summer: He is more boyish, I'll admit, but he's more direct, a bit more cunning, and ... So much more.

Willow: Well. I'm one to give advice seeing how my marriage is turning out, but. Try it. Who knows. It might work out.

Summer: ... Thank you Willow. I'll. I'll call again soon. Knowing Ruby She's planning on booking it the second she can, no matter how she is, and I want to sort this out before she bolts.

Willow: That reminds me of someone. Someone with bright, silver eyes, a kind, gentle soul, and who is a kickass Huntress.

Summer: ... I'm not a huntress anymore. Not a licensed one, I'm just a teacher at Signal now.

Willow: ... Well I'm sorry to hear you joined the club. How's Qrow been?

Summer: He's. He's not great. He's not around often, and when he is, He tends to be drunk, or he plans on getting drunk. It's sad to see someone fall as far as he has.

Willow looked at her desk. There was a half empty bottle of wine on her desk, soon to join the one in her trash bin.

She turned away from the reflection in her computer screen.

Willow: I'm sorry to hear that Summer. I pray he gets well. Something has come up and I will be needing to cut this call short, unfortunately. Be well, My dear.

Summer: Good bye Willow. Thank you.

When the call ended Willow simply sat for a while, glaring at the glass of wine in front of her. She picked it up, emptied it, and then sealed the bottle back up.

Willow: You're still on Patch, aren't you Summer.

She looked across the manor yard, past the fence, to the edge of Atlas.

Willow: No one is and Island, so we strand ourselves on them to make do, Don't we?

Opened her scroll, sending a request to Klein.

Willow: Klein, please bring Peper Teure and Zumir to my office, along with maintenance equipment. When you're done teaching Weiss the difference between Car and cooking Oil, of course.

Weapons of Summer Love Part 4

Jaune: What?

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

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

Ren: I doubt we would have time.

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

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

Jaune: Our baby?

Ruby: You know, your new weapon.

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

Ruby: We can figure that out later.

Jaune: No.

Ruby: No?

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

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

Nora: *Nods*

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

Jaune: We're not telling Summer?

Ruby: Nope.

Jaune: Why not?

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

Yang: I'm not going Rubes.

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

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

Yang: Which honestly, I doubt I will.

[emmajh97-mumaji]

"YOUR TWIN SISTER BETRAYED ME! YOUR DAMN SEMBLANCE KILLED SUMMER! And now my daughters are dead because YOU FAILED TO PROTECT THEM!"

"T-tai I--"

"GET OUT, QROW. I never want to see your face again."

Taiyang Xiao Long had never regretted saying something so much in his entire life.

It had been weeks since Qrow had come by to tell him Ruby and Yang were gone... but Tai was still haunted by how devastated Qrow looked as he left.

Tai had been extremely upset... overcome with sorrow and hate... it made sense to lash out. However, that didn't make the guilt any less heavy...

Tai knew none of those words were true. Raven may have left him, but Qrow had proved to be the most loyal friend Tai had ever known. Qrow's snarky attitude was infuriating and he was certainly a bad influence... but when Summer died he went out of his way to help raise Ruby and Yang.

It was evening... Tai sat in the kitchen, bathed in moonlight from an open window...

Qrow was probably all the way in Vacuo now... And as he stared down at the table, Tai finally realized... there went the only family he had left.

Then... Out of the corner of his eye... Tai noticed the dark shadow of a bird come towards him.

Tai: (hopeful) Qrow...?

Tai looked up as he heard the 'pwoof' of a transformation-

Tai: ...oh.

Standing before him was Raven Branwen. His hopefulness immediately faded.

Tai: ......it's you.

Raven: (sarcasm) I missed you too, sweetheart.

Tai: What do you want, Raven?

Raven: I don't want anything... I just thought you might like to know about your daughters.

Tai's face filled with suspicion as he rose a brow.

Tai: ...what are you talking about?

Raven: The girls are still alive, Tai.

Tai went wide-eyed.

What did she just say? Yang and Ruby were alive?!

But wait. This was Raven he was talking to. His expression became jaded as he glared at her.

Tai: ...messing with my emotions is a new low for you.

Raven: I'm not joking, Tai.

Tai was caught off guard again.

Tai: But... where?! And how do you know?!

Raven: My portals, you idiot. I have one for Yang, remember?

Tai: (JUMPING UP from his seat) Take me to them!!

Raven was startled by that-! It took her a few seconds to calm down and remove her hand from her sword hilt.

Raven: I can't.

Tai: Why not?! Your protals can take you literally anywhere on Remnant--

Raven: They AREN'T ON REMNANT, Tai.

Tai took a beat to process that, then glared.

Tai: That's bullshit-!

Raven: (glares back) I'm telling you the truth!

She grabbed her sword, and swiftly opened a portal behind her--

Raven: See for yourself.

Tai ran over and inspected it... the red swirling energy was unstable, wobbling violently. It stung him when he tried to go through it! But... he could hear them... the words were incoherent from the distortion, but those were definitely Yang and Ruby's voices!

Tai: But if they aren't on Remnant... where are they?!

Raven: My guess? ...they're stuck in the same realm where Old Man Oz kept the Relics.

Tai was exhilarated. For the first time in ages he felt hope again. Like there was something he could do to bring his family back-!

Tai: If that's so, then... we should be able to go save them!

Raven: (disgusted look) We...?

Tai: (annoyed) Oh, I'm sorry, I meant *I* can go save them. I keep forgetting you don't care about your own daughter.

Raven: I'm just being realistic.

Tai: So am I! You said you opened the Haven Vault, right? We can just walk in through there!

Raven: And get ourselves lost on in some mysterious realm with who knows what dangers awaiting us?!

Raven: No Tai-- I'm staying here and watching over my tribe, like a rational person.

Tai: (hisses) Fine..! Then I'll find someone else to come with me!

Raven laughed mockingly at him.

Raven: Who? In case you forgot, the entire world is currently being besieged by Salem's forces!

Taiyang grew anxious. All he cared about was seeing his daughters again.

Tai: Huntsmen and huntresses are gathering at Shade, I'm sure I could find someone there who will--

Raven: Someone? You're going to trust your life, the lives of your daughters, to some random huntress?!

Tai: If that's the only choice I have!

Raven: It's not, Tai.

Tai glared at her. She took the hint, continuing-

Raven: There IS a huntsman who would be willing to help you. Someone with experience scouting and searching for people. Someone strong enough to take on even ME in battle... well, when I'm not using my power, anyway~

Tai gave her a look of curious confusion. Raven sighed, frustrated that he wasn't getting the hint yet.

Raven: He's the only other man I know who would be foolish enough to sacrifice the fate of the entire world... for the sake of Ruby and my daughter.

Tai felt a pit start to form in his stomach... He finally realized who she was talking about.

Raven smiled sadistically at his face, and twisted the knife--

Raven: ...and you told him you never wanted to see him again.

Tai swallowed the lump in his throat. With a sigh he looked over at Raven-

Tai: So you were listening in that time?

Raven: It was hard not to hear, when you were yelling so loudly. (smirks) My favorite part was you blaming my dear twin for the death of Summ-

Tai: (cutting her off) OKAY!! I get it! Look- are you going to make me a portal to Qrow, or what?

Raven looks Tai over, admiring his pajamas-

Raven: Aren't you a bit underdressed to be going to Vacuo right now?

Tai: (groans) YOU KNOW WHAT I MEANT!

Raven chuckled, giving him a terse nod before turning away and walking over to the window.

Raven: ...I'll be back in three days. Be ready.

And with a puff of feathers, she was gone.

...

Afternoon, three days later...

Raven: Tai.

Tai: What?

Tai stopped right as he was about to step through the portal.

Tai had already taken care of everything. Port and Oobleck would help teach his classes at Signal. Some neighbors on Patch would watch over the house and dogsit Zwei. He had all his desert exploration supplies prepared. New haircut, new gear-- the only thing in his way was his ex interrupting him.

Raven looked him square in the eyes for a solid minute.

Raven: ...I am no traitor.

Tai took a few second to process that... then his eyes widened-

Tai: Is that SERIOUSLY the only reason you're helping m--?!

But before he could finish, a gust of wind pushed him through the portal, which then closed behind him!

Tai stumbled out into what appeared to be some sort of sandy-colored diner.

Tai: --me?! ...Ugh.

Tai sighed. He could deal with Raven later.

For now...

...there was someone he wanted to apologize to.

[secret-engima]

This. Has been a perfectly terrible day. Can I beg you for a ficbit or a snippet from one of your works, like Team Gremlin or Noctscar or something ? I just - they’re beautiful, and I just really, really need something beautiful right now.

SURE. I don’t have much in the way of snippets, but lemme see what I can find. I might have to throw in something from BNHA cause that’s the fandom the muses are chewing on this exact second.

...

Team Gremlin:

     It had been … a very bad few weeks for Qrow all told. And that was saying something. Everything had seemed fine one day, business as usual. Tai was back from his requisite number of missions to keep his license and teaching at Signal again —which he genuinely seemed to enjoy for some reason—, his nieces were as adorable as ever, and Summer was sometimes talking his ear off about maybe taking a teaching position somewhere herself after running a few missions to keep her own license active —she’d been busier lately with the girls than running around kicking butt, but it wasn’t like Qrow blamed her for that—.

     Then Leo was found dead in his office. Knifed in the neck, one round discharged from his weapon in the direction of the guest couch, blood pooling all over the chair and low table where the investigators said he’d been dragged from and laid on the floor in some kind of pose. No one unusual had been seen going in or out, there had been nothing on the office cameras —covered by a Semblance of some kind, it was decided, because of the fading, glass-like Aura shards on the floor—. The only warning had been the sound of Leo’s single shot before he died. Qrow had arrived as soon as he could to help investigate, since the primary suspect would … not be one the police even knew to look for. He had helped Dyna —poor woman had been wire tense with rage rather than her usual calm self, and it was no wonder—, search for clues the police would miss, then searched the secret tunnels for good measure.

     They had found a Grimm inside one of the deeper antechambers, far too deep to have gotten there by accident, a strange, jellyfish like beast that had been surprisingly hard to kill for something that small. They’d never seen it’s like before, and the thought of it being under the school, where kids were, where Oz and his inner circle were supposed to hold sway-. He’d never seen the otter Faunus more furious as they stood amid the fading Dark dust, her lips twisted, brow wrinkled in a way that had made the black line and red dots of her old bandit tattoos look more pronounced.

     They’d found no other signs that Salem knew how to get into the school tunnels, but they rechecked them all and trapped several of the ones leading outward as temporary security measures. With Dyna in place as the new —temporary on paper but soon to be permanent— Headmaster, Qrow had gathered up what evidence they could pry loose from their police contacts and gone back to Oz so they could try to sort this out.

     Of course, Qrow’s first impulse was to blame Salem, but Oz had listened to the report of a jellyfish Grimm under the school and his expression had folded into something pained. Knowing. He must have known what kind of Grimm it was, but hadn’t elaborated yet, just told Dyna to investigate all of Leo’s documents, Scroll calls, and communications over the past year, and insisted he would not explain until there was either evidence or not for his theory, for fear of making them biased.

     So, with Salem seemingly not the automatic culprit, they had started hunting for info. Summer had offered to come back and help, but Oz had told her to stay on her chosen mission instead.

     The pen had been an unexpected complication.

...

Always I Dreamed verse

     Summer ducked past her into the shower as Raven left it, pausing to stare at Raven’s tattoos for only a moment before chirping a quiet good morning and asking if she was okay after yesterday. Raven just grunted, because she was combat functional and frankly that was all that mattered. She had already pulled on her clothes from yesterday —all their possessions were in her inventory and she didn’t want questions on where it came from, she’d have to stuff it all in a duffel bag and hide it in the den to explain that away later— by the time Taiyang got up and Raven remembered the uniforms. Raven nudged open the bag while Qrow ducked out of their den and peered over her shoulder, “Everybody has to wear that stuff?” Qrow sneered as Raven pulled out the first button down shirt, “Hardly looks sturdy.”

     “It’s just for the school grounds I think, we have our combat gear for training missions and stuff anyway.” Taiyang said as he pulled out a shirt of his own from a different bag. Raven took a moment to glance at his bare torso. He slept in pants but not a shirt apparently, which was stupid, but better than being entirely naked at night. He had a decent build, which she knew from watching him fight yesterday, and a truly appalling lack of scars. Her life had been saved by somebody who had probably never had a truly decent fight in his life before that day. Wonderful.

     He also had tattoos, and Raven squinted at them for a moment because despite the differing size and placement, they all looked very much like the ones Raven and Qrow had gotten during a rare moment of total drunkenness at fifteen. He was missing the large asian dragon outline that wound up Raven’s own torso, but he had the blue crow perched as if about to take flight that Raven had, the running blue wolf who’s lower half dissolved into petals, and she thought she glimpsed a blue clockwork rabbit under his right arm. When he turned around briefly to put his back to them, she saw that most of his back had been taken up with the stylized outline of a raven in flight.

     She shook her head and looked away. Whatever. Summer possessed a tattoo on her arm similar to the asian dragon winding up Qrow’s arm from elbow to shoulder. Some tattoos were just popular, and blue ink was easier to come by for fill-in tattoos than the black used for outlines.

     Qrow must have remembered Taiyang’s words last night about Raven’s uniform being at the top, because he was already rooting down to the outfit right beneath hers —there was more fabric in the bag than that, but Raven wasn’t going to worry about why just yet—. He yanked out a shirt and jacket that looked his size, then blinked when something short and plaid tumbled out with it. Snatching it up, he unfolded it and made a face, “Is this a skirt? With my uniform?”

     Summer poked her head out of the bathroom, a wash of steam following her —oh right, hot water showers were a thing, darn— while Taiyang looked from Qrow to the skirt and back. Qrow was busy staring at the skirt, so he missed the expression of pure glee that flickered over the other teen’s face before he casually said, “What, that? It’s a kilt, man. Old Vale tradition.” Raven blinked very slowly, because that was a surprisingly good lie even though she knew it was nonsense —her memory on early canon was fuzzy, but she would have remembered the male characters running around in skirts—. She debated calling him on it for a moment, but she was from outside the kingdoms like Qrow, so technically she had no way to know that Taiyang was lying.

     Besides, if Taiyang wanted to poke the bear that was her brother’s temper, better he do it now and get it over with than later when they were training.

     Qrow was still making annoyed noises under his breath as he examined the “kilt”, and a glance at Summer slipping out of the shower in a towel showed she was fighting down laughter. Silver eyes met Raven’s with hopeful amusement and Raven looked away. She was still angry that the Story had forced itself into place in her life. With a shake of her head, Raven finished yanking out her uniform —one of? There was so much fabric in there, did the school really waste money making multiple outfits for each student?— and started pulling off her old clothes to put it on. Taiyang made a noise like someone had knifed him just as she dropped her shirt to the floor and she looked up in alarm. Taiyang had whipped around to put his back to her, and she could see the flush of color crawling up his neck and the backs of his ears. He didn’t look hurt or anything, but when Summer wandered in and dropped her towel onto her bed to put on her uniform —huh, she had the same tattoos as Raven, Qrow, and Taiyang, just with the perched crow as a large outline that went down to her mid back and a large blue raven in flight over her abdomen that looked like the smaller one on Qrow’s back—, Taiyang made the dying noise again, snatched up his bag of clothes, and rushed for the bathroom.

     Raven had the feeling she should understand what that was about, but she didn’t get it, and when she risked a glance at Summer, the other girl actually looked just as baffled. So maybe it wasn’t some social thing she’d forgotten. Maybe it was just a thing with him specifically.

...

Feather-Light and Fire-Bright verse (BNHA)

     Which was why, the next time she spotted a little red feather slinking over to place a trio of shiny buttons on the park bench she liked best, she hastily caught it with one hand. It was very soft, wiggling slightly in her grip, twitching and fluttering almost like a frightened living thing, so much so she shushed it gently on instinct, “It’s okay, I won’t damage you.” Taking out the note she’d spent days agonizing over, she skewered it to the quill of the feather, “I need you to take a message to whoever controls you.” She let it go and the feather wiggled erratically in the air, like a cat trying to wiggle free of an unfamiliar collar before flitting away. Fuyumi resisted the urge to chase it and see where it led. She’d sent her note, now she would wait for a reaction.

     She absently took the three coat buttons and put them in her pocket before going home. It would be stupid to leave them as litter in the park, but it also felt like a bad idea to throw them away and possibly anger whoever was watching her. Besides, she had a collection going now, she almost had enough matching buttons to make a full set for a long coat.

     A week went by with no sign of her shadow before she finally spotted a red feather again. It lurked on the edges of the park, flitting out into view as she walked by before slipping off in the direction of a more sequestered part of the park. Fuyumi hesitated, saw the feather come back and swirl around her a few times like an excited puppy before rushing off again and decided she was either about to meet someone shy or about to be kidnapped and potentially murdered. Slipping her hand into her handbag to grip the small pro-grade taser inside just in case, Fuyumi followed the feather into the copse of trees that shielded that part of the park from the street and the rest of the grassy area.

     The feather slipped away to rejoin … a lot of other feathers, and Fuyumi paused on the edges of the little forested nook to get a good look at her mysterious shadow for the first time. Golden eyes, piercing and almost predatory in intensity, flitted up to meet her gaze as he stood up. He was about her age she would guess, maybe a year older, so lean that if she hadn’t been able to see the muscles of his bare arms she would have called him scrawny. He was wearing a sleeveless hoodie that looked like it had lost a few too many rounds with a washing machine, clean but all faded and stretched and worn looking. His hair was all tousled and pale gold, and the red feathers were clustered on his back in huge wings that looked like they belonged on someone about twice his size and weight. He smiled a little, a practiced thing that was too nervous to be real, but if Fuyumi hadn’t lived her entire life around Pro Heroes and the children of other such elites, she would never had known.

     He held up her note between too fingers, not commenting on the wary distance still between them nor making any moves to close it, “Um, I’m not a stalker, just wanna get that out of the way. Sorry if I … came off that way? I’m, uh, not good at introducing myself and I didn’t … really know what else to do.”

[osir-ethria]

Head canon time: Yang angst that might be off from canon but hey, I like this better. (Dunno if someone has said this before but here we go.)

I’ve gotta give Yang best older sister reward, despite me being a huge fan of Winter.

Yang and Ruby had lost their mother at a young age and I head canon both Tai and Qrow to be mentally unavailable. Both of them started drinking heavily because of it. By no means were they abusive but they were very pulled away and just there existing but non-existent. Yang probably had to learn how to cook at a young age and the only times did their two adult figures snap out of it was if they were in danger or they had to do a job. Qrow probably went on more life risking missions when he began drinking, rarely being around to help them, and Tai probably shut down all together pulling himself away from his kids. He was probably thinking that by pulling himself away he’d protect them from his grief but all it did was hurt them and become a selfish act to hide away.

Yang caught on pretty quick. She would have most likely have gotten hungry and went to ask Tai to make something but instead found him dazed. Trying to snap him out of it wouldn’t of worked despite however many punches he wasn’t responding. So her next best option was to take some money from his wallet and go buy some food for the two of them after they had become really hungry. After having to do this for the next week she’d have clicked that he wasn’t going to snap out of it any time soon so she started teaching herself how to cook.

I actually head canon Yang to be a pretty amazing cook but doesn’t do it or purposefully messes up because she gets bad memories from that time. She’d also be the one to teach Ruby how to bake and Ruby, out of respect for Yang, would keep quiet about it.

She’d go on jobs to get money despite being young. Tai finally snapped out of it when Yang was on her last four years. He tried to say he raised them and helped them out, as well as Qrow, but Yang snapped and yelled about how she was the one raising Ruby while they were morning over a death for 8 years. The guys weren’t allowed into the house until a month had passed by.

While I’m sure Weiss would have called Yang slacking, I actually doubt that she is entirely like that. I think she kept perfect grades during Signal academy because she didn’t have faith in her father and uncle and strived to make a better life for Ruby. She’d make sure that she’d be a huntress, a strong one so she could keep Ruby safe.

When she got into Beacon she was in full honesty, really happy. Her goal is to travel and see more because she’s been trapped in patch but further more she wanted to make sure Ruby was steady and had a strong role model. When Ruby told Yang that she was skipped ahead two years Yang was split on emotions. She was proud of Ruby and to see her training be recognized but also worried. She’s just lost out on finishing what I’m going to call ‘high school’ and will become a huntress at an early age. What if she gets hurt, dies, what if Yang herself dies and leaves Ruby.

Now throughout this time, Yang would tell stories about their mother from all the jobs she’d tell her about and how cool and strong she was. Ruby was always enthralled with their mom despite not knowing her to well. She looked up to her a lot, and Yang was happy for her when it came to that. Yang was also rather sad, all the things she’s done for Ruby and she’s not the person Ruby looks up to?

Well that’s what Yang thinks but I’d say Ruby always put Summer as second best. Despite knowing she was ready to help the people and all, she looked up to Yang more. Her older sister threw away her childhood to ensure she could have hers and she can see that Yang deals with abandonment issues by the time the Fall of Beacon was over. I also think that’s why she’d approve of Blake and Yang because Yang has finally found something other than Ruby that makes her extremely happy. Weiss too but she’s put on the sibling aspect and Blake was the first person to come back.

Anyways sad, angst head canon for Yang growing up and her devotion to her sister.

[ask-rwby-multishipper]

Is Rhodes alive and has he adopted Cinder yet?! Also, what are the adults doing (teachers, headmaster, STRQ, parents, Edward Caspian, other Ace-Ops, etc)

A very good question! Time for lore development! (Idk if this is going to contradict past posts but it’s what I came up with now fjgjfjdhdgds)

In this AU, Rhodes didn’t adopt Cinder. He did train her like we see in canon, but one day after Rhodes gifts her her swords, she runs away, never to be seen by Rhodes or her “family” again. She tries to hijack an airship to escape Atlas but ends up crashing into the tundra just outside Mantle. She gets into a fight with a hoard of Grimm, and she looses her arm and eye in this fiery encounter. Fortunately, huntresses from Mantle are able to rescue her and bring her to the city, where a doctor helps her recover and even gifts her a prototype cybernetic prosthetic. She doesn’t stick around, though, and flees before she can even get to know anyone. Her attempts to escape the kingdom eventually brings her to Mistral, where she gets by by picking pockets and slaying Grimm for money. Eventually she catches the attention of the head instructor for a combat school, who offers to admit her to their school so she might have a chance of getting into a huntsman academy. This eventually leads to her attending Beacon.

Basically all of Team CENM are rogue orphans who found a family in each other 🥺🥺🥺

As for other characters in question, they’re pretty much doing what you’d expect. Beacon has its instructors, Qrow and Tai teach at Signal, Raven is doing her bandit tribe thing, Ghira with Kali is chieftain of Menagerie, etc. Harriet, Elm, and Marrow are all academy students. Not sure what Clover and Vine are up to, same goes for the Caspians.

[disregardcanon]

rwby julie and the phantoms au featuring dead girl band rwby and jaune as the conduit. but like, jaune who just half-way cheated his way into music school

the year is 1995 and the girl band RWBY is a rising power in the indie music world. composed of four talented, each with a rich and interesting backstory for the public to latch onto, they’re well on their way to becoming LGBT icons- if not actual stars. weiss, blake, and yang are twenty and ruby is eighteen.

weiss schnee is the daughter of silicone valley tycoon jacques schnee, who made headlines when she cut off all her hair and ran away from home to join a queer girl band. she’s the second schnee daughter to leave home, winter having joined the military back in 1992. she’s the band’s lead vocalist, though she occasionally plays violin in tracks that they write it into.

blake belladonna is already a famous singer. she sprung onto the scene in 1992 in a duo known as “bellataurus”. acting as the full sonny and cher package, adam taurus served as both older boyfriend and older manager until blake broke from him and helped to form RWBY in 1994. she took her vocals, her piano skills, GUITAR skills, and her songwriting skills with her.

yang xiao long and ruby rose are legacies of the highest order. summer, raven, qrow, and tai formed a band when they were kids and they became some of the biggest rockstars of the seventies and eighties- and later some of the biggest scandals. raven and tai’s messy, public breakup after the birth of their daughter signaled the band’s death- but then the birth of tai and SUMMER’S child signaled an even bigger scandal. the tabloids had an absolute field day over the new baby.

yang learned lots of instruments, but mainly took up the drums from her dad. the same went for ruby, but she mainly stole qrow’s guitar and made him teach her to shred.

unfortunately, the media never stopped following the two kids around, even through ruby’s transition. in a mixed bag for the remnants of STRQ and their children, the media circus that followed ruby rose coming out as a girl in NINETEEN NINETY TWO. the remaining members of STRQ still had a lot of clout and fully put their support behind her, but transmisognyny’s a bitch and it still followed them everywhere. yang coming out publicly as a lesbian neither helped nor hindered the situation, but it did make ruby feel a bit less alone.

the girls formed their band about a year before their- uh, UNTIMELY deaths in 1995. this came 3 days after a confrontation between blake and adam, where she promised that she would never, EVER date him again. she wouldn’t even work with him again. she and her band were going to become stars and actually help make social changes, instead of them just bullying her into going along with whatever THEY want from her and keeping her mouth shut because politics kills careers. 

they’re playing the ORPHEUM! the theater where so many bands have gotten their big break! she doesn’t need him now and she didn’t need him then.

eating bad street hot dogs after the warm up for a performance that blake promised adam 3 days ago would be the best that she ever gave- well. that’s just a weird coincidence, right?

cue 2020.

jaune arc has recently gotten into his first semester at a prestigious music college in the LA area, close to his family’s home where he still lives. the garage/studio out back remains largely untouched. half of that’s because cleaning the place out would be a lot of work, but half of it’s because his parents feel bad about the idea of cleaning out all of STRQ’s old recording equipment that both summer and tai promised they “didn’t want anymore” while selling the house in the wake of their daughters’ deaths. 

it’s not like the area is really suitable as a garage, and the arcs can spare a little room just in case those people ever change their minds.. even though they haven’t in twenty five years.

jaune’s house isn’t completely empty because he still has one of his older sisters going to college in LA at the same time, but it’s preeetttyy empty. his parents are hands off at this point and don’t even wonder how their baby who never even took any music lessons has gotten into a school like this.

it’s not like he doesn’t sing and sing pretty well, but they’re not even certain he can read music. spoiler alert: he can’t.

jaune is actually VERY good at working by ear and performing, but his music education growing up was lacking. on all levels. his parents encouraged him to do sports as his primary activity and he had no time for anything else and his public school music ed did not get him what he needed to go to music school.

frankly, he doesn’t even know what a treble clef is called. so. he’s a bit behind when going into his college classes. he was only able to fake the paperwork to get into music theory II, but considering that he’s. uh, completely unaware of what those notes mean he’s a bit fucked.

he’s always just been able to pull the song out of his ass because he listened to enough music to learn stuff by ear, but now he’s supposed to work through all this stuff with notation and he MIGHT BE DYING

he’s assigned to a group project with ren and nora and pyrrha and, well, thank god pyrrha notices and is kind enough to try to fill in the cracks.

but there’s a lot of cracks, you know? he’s barely pulling the grades that he needs to not get kicked out of the program at the moment, and he’s not entirely sure how to go about getting an accompanist for his end of semester showcase and ren and nora are already working together (they both play guitar and sing together) and pyrrha’s a soloist and -

oh god, he’s going to get kicked out of this program, isn’t he?

pyrrha keeps talking him down out of the anxiety because she is very kind and has a very big crush because jaune still has noticed that she’s a pop star that wanted to (but is failing to) have a normal college experience.

she lets him borrow her copy of RWBY’s first and only album and lets him take it home to listen to it. he decides to listen to it in the studio because he knows that’s where music, at one point, happened.

and it of course summons the souls of all four girls. they have ghostly mischief as they try to figure out how to make things work, and realize that while people who aren’t jaune can’t see them- people can HEAR THEM. and then when they play along with jaune for his end of semester show case- they realize that people can SEE THEM when they play with him.

pyrrha is confused about why jaune’s hologram band looks so much like RWBY, and she’s a little jealous and hurt that he’s been keeping this from her while letting HER bear the brunt of helping him with his struggles. jaune doesn’t know how to say that yeah, those are the actual ghosts of RWBY.

petty drama, petty drama, the girls are feeling suffocated by the fact that they’re actually dead and can’t interact with anyone who’s alive. ruby decides to go clear her head and meets another, very sweet and enthusiastic ghost named penny who likes to skateboard. 

penny is very sweet and ruby has what is known in show biz as a CRUSH. ruby learns a bit about how this ghost stuff works from her (some powers, about the unfinished business being what’s tying them to the land of the living, that she is VERY GAY) and she comes back to her friends to say hello yes i know things now and am also gay. wasn’t positive about that before but it’s a fact now

here’s where i lose my thread and am too tired to find it again but other things

1. ironwood is the villain of this. if you’re familiar with jatp, he serves the same function as caleb covington if not the exact same motives. he seals souls to him by a contract but with the express purpose of building a safe afterlife for ghosts... by making sure that all of them are under his control. winter, who died in one of the united state’s middle eastern campaigns is his right hand ghost. 

weiss is majorly conflicted by this because. it’s winter, you know? it’s winter. and it seems like this guy is trying to make things better for ghosts, right? he’s got a homebase and he can make them visible sometimes and make it so they can eat food and lots of stuff. but it comes with a heavy level of control. 

he doesn’t go after the girls until later because he thinks that they’ll come back, but when he DOES... the fact that he owns penny’s soul and doesn’t see her or any of the souls under his control as full people comes up in an ugly way.

2. adam taurus is the trevor wilson of this, but waaaayyy worse. he did in fact kill the girls and pillaged what he could of blake’s songs to record and put out under his own name. he‘s a big star, but a fading one, and he has a few vengeful ghost coming for him.

3. winter is a ghost, but whitley is a ghost of himself. at this point he’s forty and still doesn’t even know what he wants because he’s molded himself into what his dad wants so thoroughly. getting him to realize that he wants more and wants things for himself definitely comes up. winter also helps take down ironwood and free the souls. eventually

4. jaune IS a necromancer. he’s going to be able to see penny and others and eventually can give ghosts the power they need to be seen whenever they want. RWBYJNPR eventually becomes a big band that plays together sometimes

5. raven only came back for a few days for yang and ruby’s funeral before disappearing. qrow fell from grace quite dramatically when he accused adam taurus of murder with no evidence and became the laughing stock of america. he kept trying to find something that would fill the holes in his life, but he hasn’t lucked out with that yet... except the alcoholism, maybe.

tai and summer are still together, but they’re pretty miserable and they moved far away from LA to get out of the spotlight.

RWBY gets summer, tai, and qrow back together on purpose... and raven shows up when she sees her dead daughter singing on national television. the STRQ reunion is awkward and stilted, but things get better from there.

strq instruments

summer: vocalist with some piano

raven and qrow: bass and standard guitar respectively with some vocals

tai: drummer with some vocals

6. pyrrha and jaune eventually actually become the great duo that adam tried to market himself and blake as. sorry not sorry

7. not sure how they do it but they DO prove that adam murdered them and all of them including qrow get Vindication TM

8. the bumbleby isn’t a big plot point but they were dancing around getting together when they died and it happens slowly once they’re back <3

[theladypeace]

Talk about your AUs🔪 anything you want just ramble for as long as you want

Give me those random details that might not even make it into the story

Give me it all

I haven’t spoken about my current fic,,, like at all lmao so...

Cloqwork Modern AU

- if you didn’t know, Oz is a trans lady in this fic because I really wanted to play with that idea.

- She was an orphan who grew up on the streets. She only got through school, life in general, thanks to Maria Calavera. Maria is the headmaster of Signal. She basically raised Oz.

- I’m thinking their first interaction is like Oz is found on campus, probably attempting to steal food, but she’s caught by staff. They bring her to the headmistress. Maria talks to her. Since she hasn’t transitioned, she assumes she’s a male. She calls her a “young man” but Oz is clearly uncomfortable by that. Maria notices and asks her “you don’t like being called that, huh?” Ozpin nods. Maria tells her “ok, what would you like to be called?” Oz shrugs. Maria says “that’s fine. We’ll figure it out. Now what’s your name, hon?”

- I think I want Weiss to learn about police brutality. She’s beginning to understand the types of things Faunus face, but she is unaware of how racist the justice system really is. Blake teaches her.

- Winter is a cop, a detective, in this AU. Now that Weiss is educated, she’ll help her older sister understand why she should quit.

- Whitely, last chapter, said some homophobic and transphobic things to Oscar. He only said these things because he’s overheard his father say them. He doesn’t actually understand what he’s saying.

- Oscar and him are forced into a school project together. They slowly become friends, maybe more 👀

- Oscar teaches Whitely about the LGBT+ community and more. Basically, thanks to Oscar, Whitely becomes a gay socialist.

- Ozpin and Qrow may end up going to some fancy ball. They ditch the party to go to a beach. Qrow jumps into the water and invites Oz to join him. She tells him she never learned to swim, she didn’t have anyone to teach her. As a solution; Qrow introduces the idea of him holding onto Ozpin and slowly bringing her deeper into the water. They have fun and it gets romantic. Qrow goes for a kiss, but Oz covers his mouth. She tells him she’s not ready. He understands and smiles at her.

- Qrow finds a scar on Oz. He asks about it, and for the first time, she opens up to him. She vaguely tells him that it was the result of a toxic relationship.

- RWBY goes to a school dance. Ruby and Blake have nice suits, and Yang and Weiss wear dresses. Bumbleby and Whiterose dance together. Ruby realizes she may have a crush on Weiss.

- Ruby and Weiss end up dating. Blake and Yang date too.

- Later on, Penny is introduced. Ruby starts crushing on her too. She gets confused about why she’s feeling like this. She may go to Oz, Qrow, or Tai for advice. Regardless of who it is, they tell her that it’s normal and she could be poly. Ruby introduces the idea of being in a poly relationship with Weiss and Penny. They think about it but eventually agree.

[sleepdeprivedheretic]

Those Shoes (Ch.3)

Song Inspired: I Want You by Savage Garden

Notes: @youtubequeens Hope you stay hydrated and have a lovely time! <3 Here’s this bit for now :3

Warnings: Creepy people, not getting the hint that a person’s uncomfortable, unwanted flirting, and talk about emotions bc honestly what are they?

He smiled as Eijirou took a bite of his onigiri, Tamaki sighed softly at his younger brother, as said boy had specks of sticky rice on his face.

It was a lazy Sunday morning, the boys were home from school, and Taishiro was enjoying his day off.  

“Did ya have a good day at work, Papa?” The ruby-eyed boy inquired, and Tai smiled, ruffling his hair.

“Ya bet I did, kiddo.”

 He didn’t tell his boys what he had exactly did for a living, but he promised himself that he would, in the future. So far, all they knew is that he was a professional dancer.

“Dancing must be hard.” Tamaki broke the silence after chewing on his scrambled egg, and his father laughed.

“Nah. It takes a lotta practice. Did you boys had fun at yer day at school?” He pondered, sipping from his cup of coffee.

“Yeah! There was a nice new boy who was shy! There were some mean kids, but I protected him!” Eijirou rambled excitedly. Taishiro chuckled, and then looked at Tamaki.

“Mirio fell in a puddle. Face first. I had to take him to the nurse.” He shrugged, yet Taishiro didn’t miss the soft glint that speckled in his eyes. He smiled.

“That kid’s pretty resilient, huh? Anyways, eat yer breakfast, then we’ll head out to the park, alright?”

………………

It was a pretty November day. Skeleton trees hovered beneath the rich blue sky as your shoes crunched up against the fallen colorful leaves. Although it hasn’t been a week, yet, you were slowly re-adapting to your hostess job, and nit and tucking the dancer’s clothes.

You were surprised on how many had requested your services, staying absolutely still as you kept a cool facade, keeping the pointed needle from digging into skin as you measured, cut, and sewed loose fabric. You believed in your abilities, yet it felt as if it didn’t matter.

You weren’t good at holding the obvious flirty conversations that somehow were being thrown at you out of nowhere. They would giggle, and you had to still your hand so that you couldn’t accidentally jab their shaking bodies, whilst trying to be polite.

Where did the sudden interest come from? You wondered. Your mother, undoubtedly, was on high alert as she noticed it, too. The flirting, joking, the inquiring questions. Luckily, the fitting room had a camera, and thankfully, your patients had known it too, so they were extra careful in not doing anything that was against the regulations. Your mother was watching, you all knew.

Speaking of which, she did not try to make things better. She would wink, or make subtle little jokes, as she explained that it was good for business. You couldn’t help but press your mouth in a firm line.

You worked so hard, finding the perfect materials, ignoring your own discomfort as you bit the bullet and tried to focus on making the outfit snug and resilient, while the owners ignored your tense shoulders and set jaw. You were appalled, as they used alluring honeyed words, directed your attention to a “loose” fabric between their thighs, and so on.

You, feeling a surge of retaliation, growled out that it would cost extra for you to fix certain areas, and preferred that the outfit was on a mannequin, instead.

Your spitfire attitude had certainly weeded out a few of the unwanted customers, but, gained some more who thought it was a challenge. You didn’t miss the look of sheer pride from your mother, however, as she sported a wicked grin.

“That’ll teach them. Might make your blond a little less jealous.” She winked, and you paled in question. He was jealous? Of what? You were only doing your job, charging the dancers a certain amount, and giving your mother, your boss, a small part of the revenue as she requested. Although a thorn in your side, she was also a beautiful rose, and you knew that she was helping you in her own way, thus, opening your eyes more to the situation.

It didn’t take you long to realize, that yes, he was jealous, and you were too busy to acknowledge the possibility, until your mother had to basically tell you. So, you took your time to observe your surroundings.

Daggers for a stare had met each and everyone of the customers who had followed you into the fitting room, you’ve seen. While hosting, you started to take breaks to watch him, much to the oddly placed chagrin in the other dancers. His style was a little different, more suave and seductive, rather than downright dirty. Back against the pole, he slid up slowly as he jutted out his chin, staring at you through blond lashes while sucking suggestively at one of his suckers, hardly minding the crowd as he gave you a show that was basically personal.  

He was addictive, you couldn’t help but think. His outfits, dances, and downright attitude made the other’s shadow in comparison.

 It brought you back to the present. Your feet shuffled against the dirt as you pushed yourself on the swing, breathing out huffs of warm air that meshed with the chilly atmosphere.

 He didn’t make you feel too uncomfortable, either. He did make a request, to tuck in a few strings into his nurse outfit, you remembered it so clearly. He had strutted into your office around the right time, white fishnet stockings and heels blended in nicely with the light aqua blue fabric that left very little to the imagination.

“Jus’ some strings near the neck, Sugar. Might even give ya a sucker if ya behave.” He winked, and you couldn’t help but laugh at how corny it was, earning a smug smile and tinted cheeks. Although a little flirty, he stood perfectly still as you fixed the frayed mess that was near his clavicle, feeling his warmth resonate around you as you couldn’t help but seep it in. You hoped that he wouldn’t say anything about it. How you could feel a thundering, fast-paced heartbeat underneath your fingertips, despite his cocky facade, your face blushing immensely, or how the atmosphere seemed as if it might just break from underneath the metaphorical weight between the two of you.

However, true to his word, he began letting out pieces of information.

“We actually go to the same college.”

 You stopped to stare at him with full surprise.

“What? Really?”

“Well, ya graduated before I did, but I live near the campus. I…kinda saw ya every day. Not as a stalker!” He rushed before you could think of anything.

“-as in, my road to the school kinda passes your road, and I couldn’t help but not look away when ya were…ya know…It’s a very connected town, so I’ve seen ya…around.”

Then it hit you.

“Ah, so you must’ve seen me doing volunteer work?” You murmured, and he nodded.

“Well, yeah. You’re a familiar face. Couldn’t really ignore ya, ‘specially when you’re bein’ so wonderful half the damned time. Ya don’t know me, and I know it might be a lil’ creepy, but I promise ya that I don’t mean to be.” He babbled, face tinting a little more pink, and your ears burned from the forward acknowledged statement.  

So he noticed your volunteer work, and where you lived, and yet you didn’t really see him creeping around the bushes, or any tall figure of his build stalking around, for instance.

“So…is this why you have a sudden interest?” You asked, and you heard him swallow thickly.

“Pretty much. Doesn’t help that you’re kinda allurin’. Like a magnet.” He finished lamely, eyes shifting as he bit his bottom lip, and you couldn’t believe the shy signals that he was giving off as your own cheeks burned.

“Ah. Um…yeah.” You couldn’t help but say, and he snorted. You jutted your chin up and was about to give him a piece of your mind.

“We’re both kinda terrible at this. Anyways, that’s what I wanted to tell ya. Been seein’ ya around and makin’ the world a better place, an’ so I couldn’t help but like ya.” He waved off your short-lived glare as your expression softened.

“I don’t understand? You’re shy but not?” You questioned, nipping the small extra thread that you’ve already tucked in.

He shrugged.

“Emotions are emotions. Ya do things to me that I can’t explain, and I make ya into a flustered mess, and vice versa. I was at first too fuckin’ scared to really say or do anything, because the last thing I wanna be, is to be a creepy stalker in yer eyes.”

“I think I understand. As I don’t believe that you are a stalker…um…how do you? How did you-”

“Body language is a dead giveaway. Studyin’ to be a therapist. Plus, it’s relievin’ to get another validation that ya don’t find me creepy. ‘Specially after hearin’ my story.” He grinned, and your shoulders relaxed as you finished up your work.

“Ah, all done?” He pouted, and you couldn’t help but roll your eyes.

“You have another appointments, as well as my number.” You reasoned, and his eyes lit up.

“So, I could call ya?” He asked hopefully, and you found yourself nodding before you could comprehend what he said.

“Awesome. I’ll see ya around, Chickadee.” He hummed, digging into his wallet as he paid you upfront, letting his hand brush against yours, and yet you didn’t mind. All too fleeting, he sauntered away, but not before giving you a final look.

“The ball is in yer hands, in whichever ya want this to be. Although, I gotta up my game, if I wanna keep the competition at bay.” He winked, and then turned to leave the room. The wheels in your head had seemed to stop, before whirling again with realization.

So, he was aware of it all? The flirting and unwanted attention that you were gaining? As if he had to compete against anybody, you couldn’t help but think.

He wasn’t like the other “suitors” who were more aggressive and rude, you couldn’t help but think, your chest fluttering at the idea of him being your partner.

It’s been three days after that. You did shoot him a text, and almost immediately, he responded. He was forward with his interest, and you were still in a bit of confusion, why he, still a stranger, had decided to pursue you so quickly. You couldn’t help but think that the stars must have aligned in the both of your favor, or that it must have been fate, for you couldn’t help but start to like him, as well.

His forward approach, his respectful nature, the duality of his emotions, on how he could be so forward, and yet somehow kind of shy, he hunted at a distance, not too close or disrupting your boundaries, while never failing to look for you, or put on a show.

An excited voice rambled you out of your thoughts, a very, familiar excited voice, and your attention snapped towards the direction at the upcoming person, or people.

……………………………….

He sucked. He was a sucker, and he let his emotions get the best of him. Why did he have to spill out everything? Now she knew that he was an eager fool, and he didn’t mention the most important part; his two boys. Although not biologically his, blood didn’t matter, they were his sons.  

Of course, while in his interest in pursuing, he was so caught up with classes, dancing, and raising his kids, a lot of things had passed his mind. He remembered laying in the darkness of his bedroom, staring up at the ceiling as his heart clenched.

What if she was only attracted to his dancing? The two of them had never made plans to meet outside of work, and if they did, would she be turned off by his more shy attitude? His more softer, meeker side? Unwanted thoughts swirled within his head.

He was making a mistake, he was putting too much time into a woman who he barely knew, and if she did like him, would she like his boys? They would always be his first and top priority, he could never lower their needs before a potential future partner.

Growling, he picked up his phone, searching for her contact. He began typing, and re-typing as he made sure that the sentence sounded perfect.

Me: I know it’s late, but do ya wanna go to the park, tomorrow around 9 am?

He bit his lip and pressed send. It’ll just be a hang out, he told himself. He’ll bring his sons, and if she reacted negatively, he would stop cold. Maybe move to another club. It was his fault for not mentioning that he had kids, and he didn’t blame her for not wanting to deal with him for not telling her in the first place. She was an adult, she could make her own decisions, and children might not be her priority, and he could respect that. The fated ding of his phone pulled him out of his thoughts.

Chickadee: Sure. It’s supposed to be chilly, tomorrow, so wear something warm.

His cheeks felt like fire as his heart warmed up from the thoughtfulness. A chuckle escaped his throat. Even while texting, she still used proper grammar, and he couldn’t help but find that adorable. He kind of hoped that she wouldn’t be upset that he had kids, and he wouldn’t force her into anything that she didn’t want, if he did break it to her that he wanted to see her as a partner.

He was a dumb mess, he told himself. However, he wouldn’t mind to have her as a good friend, if anything else. He couldn’t help but like her, and she had a blunt, straight to the point attitude mixed in with that sweetness.

……………….

    “-lunch lady?!” A voice gasped in shock, the three familiar figures caught your full attention. Time stood still as you recognized the two small boys instantly, and behind them, stood none other than Taishiro. Surprise had hit you, but you couldn’t help but feel joy as little arms wrapped around your leg as you stopped the swing, seeing Eijirou glanced up at you with a toothy smile and bright eyes.

You couldn’t help but smile, pinching his cheeks a little as he giggled.  

“Hey, um, small world?” Taishiro asked, breaking you out of your trance.

“I volunteered at the orphanage a while back. That’s amazing, I’m so glad to you two, again.” You explained, looking at the boys.

“It’s good to see you, as well.” Tamaki said softly, and you smiled at the slightly older boy who gripped Taishiro’s jacket.  

“Oh, that’s pretty neat. Ya were in dietary?” He asked, sitting down on the swing next to you, Tamaki following closely. You looked down a bit shyly.

“Um, yeah. They were kind of short staffed, that year, and I was a pretty familiar face, so they asked, and I said yes.” You rambled, and he chuckled.

“You’re right about the pretty part.” He winked, and you huffed out a surprised laugh.

“Do you ever not flirt?” You inquired, and he grinned.

“I don’t flirt as much as ya think. Anyways, I wanted to know, if ya like to hang out with us, for the day?” He murmured softly at the end, and you felt yourself smile a little.

“I’d like to. It’s been a while since I’ve seen the boys. Although I missed the children, I couldn’t really stay, had college to go through, you know? It’s good that they’ve been adopted.” You rambled, watching Tamaki push Eijirou gently on the swing next to yours, the shyest of smiles graced the raven-hair’s features as the two were basically in their own little world.

“When I first came to this town, I didn’t really have anybody. So I took some time to think it over, and decided to adopt. They’ve been the light of my life for three years, now. Can’t imagine bein’ without ‘em.” He said softly, and you felt a burst of warmth envelop you.

“It’s good that they have a good dad. Do they know of your-?” You let the sentence hang, and he shook his head.

“Later. I doubt that they’ll judge, but I don’t want ‘em to know, just yet.”

It surprised you on how easy it was to make small talk, each of you opening up a little bit more. You fixed Tamaki’s coat, brushing the hair out of his eyes slightly when Taishiro had offered the group to get hot chocolate from the coffee shop that was near, chuckling as Eijirou’s eyes widened with pure glee.

Tamaki gripped your hand, Eijirou gripped Taishiro’s, and Taishiro held your free hand as the four of you crossed the street, and you couldn’t help but feel warmth at the domesticated atmosphere within your little group.

You wouldn’t mind if these sudden feelings stayed a little while longer.