#so they can go back to something resembling how happy Yang's family is

[innerpalaces]

THE PRINCESS WEI YANG - 189 PART 2

CHAPTER 189: Visiting Relatives in the Palace

Princess Qixia... That beautiful but thin shadow passed through Eunuch Zhang's mind, and he felt his body stiffen. Until now, he could not forget the scene on the day Princess Qixia died. At that time, Princess Qixia's mental state was very unstable, so they, the eunuchs and maids, took turns to watch over her carefully. But one day, her mind was inexplicably clear, and she was very happy, and specially invited His Majesty to come and talk. Even though they only spoke for a while, His Majesty was already extremely happy.

The servants thought that the princess's condition had improved, and they felt relieved. So that night, no one expected that something like that would happen. The next day, as soon as His Majesty woke up, he heard someone screaming, "Oh no, there's someone here, they're dead, they're dead -!" He got up in a hurry, only to find that Princess Qixia was missing, and he and others were in a panic. When he rushed to the lotus pond in a panic, he saw a pair of beautiful embroidered shoes neatly placed next to the lotus pond.

Princess Qixia walked out of the palace step by step, through the garden, and arrived at the lotus pond. Everyone could see the princess in her favorite dress, drowning in the lotus pond full of pink hibiscus flowers. When she was fished out, she had a smile on her face. This kind of scene will never be forgotten by anyone who has seen it. It's really terrible...

His Majesty watched her die in front of his eyes, and his heart was torn apart by a thousand blades, and a large mouthful of blood spurted out with a loud sound...

Eunuch Zhang didn't dare to think about it anymore, he just looked at Yuan Lie and warned him again: "My lord, please don't say that name again. This old slave is scared when he hears it!"

"Really? What's there to be afraid of?" Yuan Lie smiled thoughtfully.

Eunuch Zhang looked at Yuan Lie's face, and a strange thought suddenly passed through his mind. His voice suddenly dropped three octaves: "My lord, I heard someone mentioned that you grew up outside the palace when you were a child. Why didn't you come back before?"

Yuan Lie looked at this very shrewd eunuch and said calmly: "I was not in good health, so my father asked me to stay outside to recuperate. You must also know the situation in the household. If I come back, I'm afraid I won't grow this big."

What he said was very clear. Eunuch Zhang smiled sheepishly: Indeed, the old Princess Hu is not easy to deal with.

"Eunuch Zhang has been here for so many years, so he must know a lot of things."

Yuan Lie's tone was very easy-going, as if it was just a small talk. But Eunuch Zhang was a little nervous and said: "This slave is old and has forgotten many things in the past."

All of the members of the Yuexi imperial family are gorgeous, but no one can compare with Princess Qixia. Eunuch Zhang suddenly remembered that Princess Qixia had given birth to a son, but he died just after being born. If he had survived, he would have been as handsome and extraordinary as Grand Prince Xu in front of him. Turning his head, Yuan Lie looked at him intently, and Eunuch Zhang was shocked. His eyes and expression not only resembled that person, but also resembled the current Emperor. God! Could it be that that child was still alive back then? How can this be! He obviously watched that child die with his own eyes...

Yuan Lie just smiled, knowing that the old eunuch must be a clever person to survive to this day. He did not expose it, but simply changed the topic and said: "His Majesty's headache, has it gotten better these past two days?"

Eunuch Zhang's expression remained unchanged, but he felt much more relaxed and said, "It's getting better. Since the prince returned to the capital, His Majesty's headache has been getting better day by day."

The death of Princess Qixia was a huge blow to the Emperor. He became suspicious and felt that Princess Qixia was murdered. He searched for the murderer everywhere and killed many people in the palace, which caused rumors for a while. Even when dealing with courtiers, his temperament changed drastically, and he had the Head of the Ministry of Industry killed for a joke. The Imperial Censor Zhong Cheng protested that Princess Qixia should not be buried with such high standards of etiquette, and the Emperor immediately ordered him to be dragged out and torn apart; General Wu Lin, who was talking about Princess Qixia, was shot more than a hundred times with arrows by the Emperor himself and died... The Emperor was always wise and had never done such ridiculous and terrible things before. During that time, almost everyone was in danger, and even the Empress shut her doors and did not come out. The concubines in the palace also did not dare to go to his bed, for fear of offending the Emperor with just one word and ending up with a tragic end.

The Emperor had been imprisoned since he was a child (t/n: As a reminder, the history of the current Emperor of Yuexi and why he grew up imprisoned was explained by Yuan Lie/Minde in chapter 109), and his health was not very good. Coupled with this tragedy, he often got angry and finally fell ill. Of course, this is just an outside statement. The truth is that Princess Qixia contracted a fever for some unknown reason in the middle of the month. It was highly contagious and extremely difficult to recover from, making people avoid her. But the Emperor insisted on taking care of her personally. As time passed, the princess's illness recovered, but the root of the fever was buried in the Emperor's body, and it became more and more serious later. Fortunately, the palace took good care of him. After three years, the Emperor improved again, but he still suffered from headaches. Once he got angry, he would have a splitting headache, and the pain would last for three days and three nights. Even the imperial doctor's acupuncture could not relieve the pain. Later, thanks to the Empress presenting Pei's heirloom ice and snow cicada, the pain could be relieved. Over the years, the Emperor's headaches still occur frequently, and they become more and more serious. Sometimes he even falls into a crazed state and is unable to handle government affairs at all...

Eunuch Zhang said no more words, "Your highness, hurry up and enter. His Majesty is waiting for you!"

Yuan Lie did not answer. Eunuch Zhang looked up secretly and found that Grand Prince Xu was distracted again. He was staring in the direction of Changchun Palace, but the palace door was closed and he couldn't see anything. What was there to look at?

The play on the stage was reaching its climax, and Li Wei Yang seemed to be fascinated by it. The Gracious Consort ordered someone to prepare fresh fruit and bring it to Li Wei Yang to eat.

Madam Guo then quietly spoke to Consort Guo: "How are you doing in the palace?"

Gracious Consort Guo looked at the maids nearby, gestured for them to stand farther away, smiled and said, "Look, what's wrong with me?"

Madam Guo shook her head: "Back then, your eldest brother said that you would not be able to bear such a life." After a pause, she muttered: "Based on your temperament, , I never thought you would be able to endure in the palace. I thought you would fight to the death with Empress Pei." Every time she entered the palace, Gracious Consort Guo acted as if nothing had happened, but she still felt that this life was not one ordinary people could live. If it were her, she would go crazy sooner or later.

The Gracious Consort said softly: "Yes, when my first child died because of her, I hated her to the extreme, but since then I have become more thoughtful and know that I can no longer live as carefree as I did in the Guo family before. Even if I don't think about myself, I must think of the Guo family who cares about me and my future children. For this reason, I had to suppress my hot temper and be patient with her. In the past two years, my son has grown up, and I am even more worried. I don't expect him to compete for the throne, but others may not be willing to let him go..."

Madam Guo was silent for a long time and then whispered: "I understand that your life is not as glamorous as it seems. You've been wronged for the sake of the Guo family."

Gracious Consort Guo didn't take it seriously and said: "You always say this, but I was willing to enter the palace." She glanced at Li Wei Yang, who was staring at the stage with all her attention, as if she didn't notice them, and then continued. , "When my father asked me to enter the palace, it was to balance the Pei family. I was willing to do something for the family. Besides, marrying someone like His Majesty, wouldn't it be hypocritical to say that I am wronged?"

His Majesty is indeed handsome and intelligent, but over the years, he has been moody and doesn't even recognize his relatives when he has a headache. He is basically a sober lunatic. Moreover, he has respect for Gracious Consort Guo but no affection at all. Can one be called happy by staying by his side? Madam Guo sighed and said no more.

"The Empress is here!"

The expressions of Gracious Consort Guo and Madam Guo changed at the same time. They looked at each other with slightly strange expressions. The Gracious Consort reunited with her relatives and talking about their family relationship. What is the Empress doing here? But having said that, proper etiquette cannot be ignored. Everyone stood up and bowed, looking very respectful.

When Li Wei Yang heard that the Empress had arrived, her body trembled involuntarily, but it was not because of fear, but because she felt faintly excited. She originally thought that she might encounter this person when she entered the palace, but she didn't expect to meet Empress Pei so soon!

"Get up." The voice was very young and beautiful.

After everyone heard this, they all stood, but they still looked down.

"I heard the sound of drums in the courtyard from a long way away, and my theater addiction stirred, so I came over to take a look. What a coincidence, Madam Guo is also here." Empress Pei said.

Consort Guo sneered in her heart, she had already sent the news to her superiors, how could the Empress not know that the Guo family is here! But there was no expression on her face as she said: "Are you all blind? Quickly go and set up a seat for the Empress!" The maids were busy for a moment, and then Empress Pei sat down.

Li Wei Yang kept her head lowered, as if she were very frightened by the arrival of Empress Pei.

"Is this the daughter of the Guo family? I remember you just returned to Dadu. Are you used to it?"

"Many thanks for the Empress's concern. This subject's daughter is very used to it." Li Wei Yang answered unhurriedly and politely.

"Well..." Empress Pei smiled slightly, "raise your head and let me take a look."

Upon hearing this, Madam Guo frowned imperceptibly. The Gracious Consort winked at her and told her to see what Empress Pei was going to do first.

When Li Wei Yang heard these words, she raised her head. Empress Pei was holding a colorful glass cup in her hand. The gold thread on the cuffs was as light as ivory. The Zhai pattern shone in the sun, making her hands look as white as jade. But none of this compares to her stunning appearance. Her facial features were beautiful and refined, as if the heavens had calculated everything for her without any deviation, and they were perfect. Compared with Li Chang Le, the most beautiful woman in the Dali Empire back then, Empress Pei was even more graceful and gorgeous.

Empress Pei put down the tea cup and stared straight at Li Wei Yang. She seemed to be smiling, but upon closer inspection, the bloodlust in her eyes had subsided, and what remained on the surface was only a gentle and cheerful expression.

Such a scene made Li Wei Yang feel that all the blood in her body was trembling, but she just stood motionless with a submissive smile on her face, letting Empress Pei look at her.

Empress Pei already understood that the girl in front of her was definitely not an ordinary character. She smiled and said, "You are really good-looking. No wonder Madam Guo treats you as such a treasure, making it hard for others to see!" There was a trace of deep sarcasm in her unsmiling eyes, and she glanced sideways at Madam Guo.

Madam Guo had a smile on her face, but she said insincerely: "Thank you for the compliment, Your Majesty." She seemed to be very honest as if she could not understand the meaning of the Empress's words at all.

A deep smile appeared on Empress Pei's face: "It's impossible to hide such a girl. Speaking of which, this child is somewhat similar to sister Gracious Consort." Empress Pei's voice sounded profound: "Especially these deep eyes. I wonder how many men will fall in love with them?"

Gracious Consort Guo just had a calm smile on her face: "What is the Empress saying? Jia'er has a gentle personality and never leaves home." What do you mean 'how many men will fall'?  This is something that only frivolous women would do. Do you think everyone is like your daughter, Princess Lin'an?

"Oh? Then there's no marriage arrangements yet?" Empress Pei seemed very interested.

Consort Guo smiled faintly and said: "Well... His Majesty once said that the Guo family's marriage should be approved by him personally. Without His Majesty's will, how can we dare to decide in private?" It was a nail that was neither soft nor hard.

This means that the Empress does not have to worry about her niece's marriage. No one else would ever dare to talk to Empress Pei like this, but the Gracious Consort was a extraordinary  person.

"That being said, I'm afraid the Guo Family has too high standards. However, it is better not to keep your daughter for too long, or it will be difficult to find a good marriage in the future." Empress Pei was not angry and answered with a smile.

Li Wei Yang sneered in her heart. If these words were said by others, it would seem that they were caring about her, but when they were said by Empress Pei, it was really a bit creepy. She raised her head and looked at Empress Pei. The Empress's phoenix were curved into a smile, carrying with it a trace of an inexplicable strangeness.

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[unofficialadamtaurus]

If you had to rewrite Adam in canon, what would you do?

Is this question a rite of passage for rwde blogs? I feel like I see it a lot.

This turned out more as a ramble-ridden Beacon arc rewrite than anything but I guess that's just how my brain wanted to treat this question.

It's also been a minute since I watched the first three volumes, so if the order of events is inconsistent, that's why and it's definitely not intentional.

Diving right in: I'd keep his history as a child slave. I'd keep the branding. I'd even keep the toxic relationship he had with Blake and the emotional manipulation he used to keep her in the Fang after she was uncomfortable. Like in canon, immediately after Blake leaves, he dismisses her to focus on the Fang, only for Cinder and co. to force him into service solely to take down Beacon. That's pretty much as far as maintaining canon goes.

In this rewrite, he would chafe at Cinder's gun to his head the entire time and make it lowkey clear to the members of his branch that, if they want out, they should get out. Cinder of course isn't thrilled about this but he basically tells her to pound sand since he can't keep track of every single member of his division, I mean, what does she expect of him? Omniscience?

In the process of scouting out Beacon and making battle plans, Adam learns of Blake's presence there. This stirs up a lot in him - she was his best student, after all, and they were close - and he's questioning his own feelings about her getting caught up in this. Like at first he's a little vindicated, but then he stops and reevaluates because...that's petty. That's not what he as a branch leader should be focusing on given how shit his current situation is. Maybe she could even help end this hostage situation...somehow...not that she wants anything to do with him.

Around this time a bunch of WF members talk to him in secret about their fears for what will happen to their friends/family in Vale once Beacon falls. Adam can't reveal Cinder's plans without Cinder nuking his branch from existence (since Adam can't be everywhere to protect his people and his people are now very spread out), so with this group he makes contingency plans, sets up and sets aside evacuation routes and craft. In the confusion of that final attack, Cinder won't be able to stop his branch from turning on her and helping innocent faunus get out of harm's way without risking her actual objective.

And at this point he can't delude himself into thinking that this is only his problem to deal with anymore; there's too much at stake. He contacts Sienna and tells her what's going on, she agrees to help get faunus, WF or otherwise, away from Vale. They also set up a plan to have WF reinforcements from other branches arrive in Vale during Beacon's fall to provide additional security and protection for the faunus who might get stuck in the city. It's not like the huntsman will prioritize them, after all.

Blake challenges the WF she encounters on following the orders of a human, they make it pretty clear they don't want to be doing it, which just makes her more determined to figure out what the hell is going on. She debates trying to contact Adam but gives up when a combo of the fact that she doesn't have a way to contact him and Yang's demand for her to rely on her team breaking her stubborn streak.

Mountain Glenn up to the Vytal festival proceeds more or less as canon, though the WF members who aren't in Torchwick's line of sight are suspiciously willing to stay down after the first hit in a fight - all except for those who go after Weiss.

So Penny dies, Vale is in chaos, and Adam conveniently planned to have himself on one of the ships landing at Beacon. And oh, how tragic that so many of the WF ships that were supposed to ferry grimm to the school and to the Vytal arena seem to be crashing, what a shame that only the pilots know how to use parachutes, truly unfortunate. Once things get going the WF abruptly switches sides and starts mowing down grimm.

Adam tracks Blake down, she thinks he's there for revenge, he takes a hot second to clarify the situation (and make it clear that he doesn't forgive her for leaving but there are bigger fish right now) and tells her to get the word out of what's going on, mobilize a force to help the faunus, something. She's a huntress-in-training, after all, surely she has some kind of reach at Beacon.

So now Blake knows about Cinder and she knows that Cinder wants something at Beacon (which Adam surmised over the months of scheming. Cinder put up the pretense of just wanting to take down the school but she was very insistent that Adam not just plant explosives and call it a day). Yang shows up, Blake calls Ozpin to tell him everything (at which point Ozpin contacts Ironwood to tell him that the WF are not their enemies), and then she, Yang, and Adam all agree to go down into Vale and help with the evacuations. Blake and Yang convince Adam to let humans into the ships too because do they really have the time to waste sifting through all of the panicking people and picking out the faunus? People are dying and they have the space.

So they do that for a minute until the grimm dragon thing shows up, a scout on a rooftop yells for Adam and they scramble to the roof to get a better look. Seeing the dragon, Adam orders the scout to get to the ships, they're pulling out. Most of the people have already been evacuated thanks to Sienna's reinforcements and none of them want to tangle with that thing blotting out the moon.

They see Ruby's silver eye flash from where they're standing, Yang and Blake's scrolls buzz with notifications that Ruby's aura has just dropped into the red, and Yang is hotwiring a bike and Adam eyes a Blake torn between her own team and helping the faunus for a moment before saying, "Go, I'll handle things here." (and hey, that's him finally making peace with Blake leaving back on the train)

So Blake goes with Yang back to Beacon, Adam sees to the last of the evacuations, and Beacon falls.

That's the basic idea. Adam and Blake aren't strictly enemies but they're not allies either. Adam and the WF as a whole are on guard against Cinder and might just be interested in thwarting further plans by her in retaliation for using the WF the way she did.

[thecousinsdangereux]

the land of race car ya yas

A short little ficlet for @corvophobia who has drawn a bunch of art for the bees racer au of my dreams. This is ALL based on her drawings, so make sure you check out her stuff. Happy birthday, Amber! You are one of my two favorite British children. <3

(Please note that I know nothing about street racing. I've only watched the Fast and the Furious movies. Forgive me....)

--

“How’d you do that?”

Blake’s used to the question or some version of it, and maybe that’s why she takes in the words before she notices the tone, imagines a scowl (a lowered brow, hands curled into fists, the flash of teeth as the scowl turns into a snarl) with the same instinct that has her shoulders tensing. It’s only mid-turn that she realizes the question is laced with wonder rather than anger, but even this awareness doesn’t prepare her for the sight that meets her. It’s a woman, her smile wide and unrestrained by pesky things like self-consciousness or insecurity, and her eyes are nearly glowing in the low light, purple and bright and full of open admiration. Her black leather jacket, classic in cut, has the sleeves rolled up mid-forearm, revealing a prosthetic of black and yellow, and her grey jeans are tight, showing off a body that Blake has to work to avoid following the curves of. Her hair is long, blonde, curling around her shoulders and down her back, artful in its disorder, down to the single, stubborn cowlick at the top of her head.

In short, she’s beautiful, and Blake stares for longer than she should, feeling heat in her veins.

“Do what?”

She manages a response, but it’s absent minded. She’s just noticed the light dusting of pink on the woman’s cheeks, coloring the spaces in between her freckles, and it has her re-evaluating, pulling her thoughts to the effort she’s put into her own outfit that evening: a cropped and sleeveless hoodie with blocked colors of white and purple, tight leather shorts, and clunky boots that hit just under the knee. Blake looks good and this woman knows it, which makes them even on this particular front, and that's a settling sort of feeling.

“Win,” the woman says simply, her smile growing. “And don’t just say NOS.”

“NOS,” Blake drawls, just because she can, and she’s rewarded by the woman’s laugh, rewarded even more when she steps closer.

“No, but what’s your delivery method? Direct port, obviously, but you had to have used a custom kit, right? I’ve been telling you, Yang, I need to recalibrate yours. Can I look at your car? Would you mind if I just took a tiny peak just to see what you’ve done with your injection site? We really need to upgrade, Yang. A nozzle with less back pressure will give you a better squeeze. I’ve been telling you!”

She hadn’t noticed the other woman, but blinks at her now, a red blur waving her arms about, hoping from one foot to the other, firing out words faster than Blake — an aficionado of all things fast — can keep up with. The woman (Yang?) seems to find the act familiar and reacts with affection tinged with a false exasperation (put upon for Blake’s benefit or maybe as a means of gentle chiding), sighing and placing a hand on the smaller girl’s shoulder.

“And I’ve been telling you, you can’t just ask people to look at their shit!” She turns to Blake now, and this time her eye roll is definitely for Blake. “Sorry about that, I swear we’re not trying to steal any of your trade secrets. Ruby just… really likes cars.”

“It’s so pretty too,” Ruby coos, batting away Yang’s hand and taking a step towards the vehicle Blake had used to push past Yang at the last moment, a fact neither of these women seem to hold against her. ��The purple stripes. But I bet the engine is prettier.”

It’s unprecedented, really. Blake’s been on the scene for a while — longer than she would admit to anyone here — first as a tagalong and now as a driver, but she’s never had an encounter quite like this. The unexpectedness of it all has her feeling off-balance, has her reacting without any of her customary cool anger as Ruby stares at her hood (as though if she focuses hard enough, she’ll be able to see through the metal to the parts underneath). Maybe that’s why Blake responds in a way that’s decidedly unwise, without any further thought at all.

“You can take a look. I don’t mind.”

“Really?” Ruby squeals, but doesn’t wait for Blake to confirm, darting around her and flipping open the hood in the span of three seconds.

“Really?” Yang asks, and the word sounds wildly different coming from her, sliding out from behind her crooked lips like thanks or maybe a challenge (or maybe both). “Not worried about my mechanic figuring you out before the next race?”

Blake should be, of course. But.

“Can’t say I am.”

“Maybe not the smartest move.” Yang crosses her arms; the chrome of her right glints under one of the flickering street lights. For the first time, she looks away from Blake’s gaze, eyes darting over to check on Ruby (who’s leaning so far into the front of Blake’s car that her feet nearly lift off the ground) and then to another group of drivers, a good distance behind them, but clearly watching in curiosity. It’s never wise to gather after a race, but everyone always does when it goes well, and for the first time, Blake’s glad for it. “She’s pretty vicious about giving me an edge. I wish I could say it was familial loyalty, but really, she just wants to make the fastest car in the city.” Yang pauses, tilting her head in thought. “Or country. Or world. Not sure when she’ll be satisfied, to be honest.”

“Sisters?” Blake asks. She can’t really see the resemblance, but then again, she hasn’t spent as much time looking at the younger of the pair, even though she should probably be less focused on the elder (the one not pouring over her engine. Sun and Ilia were going to kill her).

“Yeah.” Yang probably doesn’t realize how much her smile grows in the confirmation, saturated with pride and love. “Scary brilliant too. Give her five minutes with a car and she’ll take it apart, put it back together, and it’ll run better than it ever has. But all that means she always thinks it’s the car that puts a driver ahead.”

Blake arches a brow. “And you think she’s… wrong?”

“Well, yeah.” Yang’s closer than Blake remembers her being, maybe because her legs are long, her strides somehow longer, and it only takes a step before she’s close enough for Blake to feel the heat radiating off her body. “I know it’s only the driver that puts a driver ahead. That’s why I’m here talking to you instead of looking at your car.” Her lips twitch and she amends her statement quickly. “Part of the reason, at least.”

The other part of her reasoning is made pretty obvious when Yang’s eyes trace up Blake’s form once more. It should probably bother Blake, but it doesn’t, maybe because she’s done the same to Yang during this conversation (more than once). Still, there are things better avoided, and Blake knows this better than anyone. She does her best to get back on track.

“It wasn’t me,” she says (almost blurts), and then feels her neck warm when Yang looks at her quizzically. “Before, you asked how I won. But it wasn’t me, not really. You could have had it if you hadn’t fired your nitrous early. You were impatient.”

It’s too blunt, Blake knows this as soon as the words leave her lips. She’s backtracked too much, retreated into aloofness as she was wont to do, but Yang only laughs, and the sound cracks through Blake’s go-to defense, a corner of her lips curling before she can stop it.

“You’re right. I used to be way worse, back when I started out, but I’m a lot better now. Usually.”

“So what happened today?” It’s the question Yang wants her to ask, of this Blake is sure, but it hardly feels like a chore.

“Ah, bad luck, I guess. I took one look at the driver next to me and all that impatience came rushing back. All I wanted to do was finish the race and meet her properly.” She winks. Combined with the cheesy line, it shouldn’t work as well as it does (but it does). “I’m Yang.”

“Blake.”

They don’t shake hands, and Blake’s glad for it. There’s something buzzing between them, a tingling sensation at the tips of her fingers, the build up right before a lightning strike, and Blake’s not entirely sure what the contact — however brief and friendly — might do to her.

“Next time, maybe I’ll be a little more prepared.” Yang’s eyes roam across her face, settling once more on gold. “But probably not.”

“Immersion therapy,” Blake quips. “Give it time.”

Yang whistles sharply, and it takes Blake a moment to realize that she’s called her sister back over. (Blake had forgotten about her entirely, though the grease on her hands and face leads her to believe that Ruby had done a thorough dive under her hood, the sort Blake ought to be worried about.)

“Time is exactly what I plan on giving it. A lot of time, if you’ll let me.” Yang nudges her sister back in the direction they’d come from. Ruby waves, offers a wide grin of thanks, but Blake’s stuck on purple.

“Well. Let’s see how you do in the next race,” she murmurs.

“Looking forward to it.”

And Blake, who started racing to get away, who started racing to run, who started racing so she never had to stay in one place for long, finds that she is too.

—

“What the hell is your problem?”

Blake’s used to this question too, or some form of it, and this time, the tone is exactly what she expects. The small, white-haired woman in a vest and tie, however, is not.

“Listen, I’m sorry I hurt your boyfriend’s feelings by being a better driver than him, but you’re only embarrassing yourself now.” Blake takes another look at the woman’s attire; her sleeves are rolled up to her elbows and — despite the country club hairstyle and the heels — the hint of a tattoo on her pale skin, just under the fabric makes up Blake’s mind for her. “Or… Girlfriend?”

“Not quite,” says a familiar voice.

Today, Yang has decided to show off her abs (and she most certainly does have abs) with a cropped jacket of black and gold checks, and Blake can’t quite bring herself to look beyond that for too long, though she catches the black driving gloves, the oversized and gold sunglasses, the oversized cargo pants. In the seconds it takes for Blake to wind her brain back up, Yang grins, cocksure, and continues.

“Though you were right about the gay thing. I mean, look at her.”

“Look at you,” the other woman sniffs, actually physically turning up her nose. “Could you be any gayer?”

“Yeah, I could be wearing a vest and tie,” Yang fires back, but it’s clear the banter is familiar, it’s obvious these two know each other well enough for their back and forth to not contain any real barbs.

“I wouldn’t mind that,” Blake drawls, before she’s able to stop herself, and Yang turns back to her with an arched brow. “Good to see you again, Yang.”

“Oh, is it? Could have fooled me!” The other woman’s ire has been refocused, and it’s seemingly stronger than before, the pitch of her words higher, more dire. “Given you nearly killed her just now.”

“Weiss,” Yang sighs, but Blake winces, feeling the sting of the words despite Yang’s quick glance of reassurance sent her way.

“I didn’t realize you’d pull off when I drifted. I thought you’d… lean in.”

It’s not an excuse. They’d been neck and neck towards the end of the race (again), and when she’d nudged the side of Yang’s car — far gentler than she would against anyone else — she’d assumed the woman would give as good as she got, like most every other racer she’d gone against. But Yang hadn’t taken any chances, and it’d cost her the race.

“We don’t do that here,” the woman — Weiss — says, lips pursed to the point of contortion, but Yang only laughs.

“We do that here all the time. I did way worse to Mercury last week.”

“Yes, but Mercury is a creep.” Weiss pauses, considering. “We only do that to creeps here.”

Blake’s hands lift, a show of peace. “Hey, no one handed me the Beacon Street Racing Etiquette Guide when I joined up the other week. Maybe you could loan me your copy.”

This doesn’t exactly smooth things over with the woman, especially not when Yang snickers, but Weiss can clearly see the writing on the wall, and tosses her hair over her shoulder with a huff.

“Whatever. I’m telling Ruby about this,” she warns Yang (or maybe Blake, or maybe both of them), before stalking away, her last words called over her shoulder. “She’s not going to be happy.”

There’s no concern on Yang’s face as she watches her go, if anything she looks amused. “Sorry about that. She’s… protective.”

“I can see that. I guess that’s what happens when you’ve been friends with someone for a while.” It’s a guess (and a probe), but Yang doesn’t correct any of her phrasing, so it must be close enough to the truth.

“Yeah, but I didn’t mean protective of me.” Yang’s grin shows a flash of white teeth. “Weiss bet on me tonight. You lost her money. And that’s the real sin.”

Blake’s surprised at how easily her laugh comes (more surprised how easily the fondness slips through the cracks in her chest). “Oh, I see. So I can kick your ass up and down the streets as long as I convince her to bet on me in the future? Good to know.”

“I’m not sure that’s the message I want you to be taking from this,” Yang drawls, but still smiles, flicking her glasses up to her forehead. “Besides, like she said, Ruby’s the one to look out for. She seemed all sweet and innocent yesterday, but gods help the person she turns her disapproving stare on. I’ve seen people break into tears on the spot.”

From what Blake had seen yesterday, Ruby isn’t the sort that loses her chipper bounce very easily, so despite Yang’s teasing tone, she files the information away as useful. If she were being a little more self-searching, she might question the action, given her tendency to not stick around in any one place for long. (Surely Beacon isn’t any different. Surely she couldn’t know now if it were.)

“Lucky she missed the race today, then.” Her lips curve, a sharp corner that would require a drift. “What, she couldn’t bear to see you lose again?”

“Oh, ha ha. No, she had class. And she knows there’s no skipping for racing; that’s the only hard and fast rule for our household.” It’s not what she expects, the straight answer backed with genuinity, but it strikes Blake as endearing, somehow, especially when Yang continues. “I started racing here so we could pay for those classes, so I think it’s only fair.”

“That’s — ” Kind. Authentic. Surprising. Blake’s not sure which word to use so she disgards them all. “I wouldn’t have pegged you as the type who was racing for the money. Not that… there’s anything wrong with that. Especially in your case.”

Yang laughs. “Hey, don’t mistake me. I started racing here for the money, but it’s not why I race in general.”

“So why do you?” Blake asks, even though she suspects she knows the answer. (It’s not wise to take your eyes off the road, but she’s done it in both of her races with Yang, eyes darting to the side to find the woman speeding alongside her: eyes wild, grin wide, the fervor of the moment all over her face. There’s freedom there, more than there is anywhere else, and Blake thinks she sees that in Yang as much as she does in herself.)

“Same as you, I think,” Yang murmurs, closer now, sliding in when Blake’s distracted once again.

“I’m not sure you know me well enough to say that.”

A bluff, of course, but it gets the intended result.

“Not yet.” From this close, Yang looks taller, and Blake has to tilt her chin to look into her eyes. “But I’m still looking to fix that.”

Blake wets her lips. It’s too much, and she’s not sure she can tack on ‘too soon’ to quantify the thought, make it less tame. If she had to guess, Yang will always be too much, like sunlight after coming out of a room. Blake’s not sure she’ll ever adjust to the rays, or if she wants to.

“Let’s see how you do in the next race,” she says again, and Yang laughs again, totally unabashed.

“Okay, I’m sensing a trend here. What, you’re not going to let me take you out unless I win a race again you?”

“If I say ‘yes’, what are you going to do?”

It’s not cockiness that overtakes Yang’s face then, not exactly. It’s confidence or want or determination or maybe just the flush that comes from the thrill of a challenge. Blake’s setting herself up for something here, she knows, failure or disappointment or something like it, but right then, she doesn’t care. There’s a freedom in this sort of race too, and that she’s come to love.

“Oh, that’s easy, Blake.” Yang leans in a little more, and Blake knows it’s audible, the way her breath is cut short. “I’m going to win.”

[stayndays]

𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐝𝐬! - 𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐣𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧

part of my anime!skz series, this story is based off of “Toradora!” and will include spoilers on the plot of the show.

genres & tropes: fluff, minor angst (mostly at the end), high school au, love triangle/square, enemies & neighbors to lovers au, tsundere!jeongin (i guess?), gender neutral reader, reader is misunderstood as a cold person

disclaimers: drowning (but no death), mentions of rumor spreading & outcasting, mentions of anxious feelings/actual anxiety, one or two swear words, i have not proofread this so if the last few episodes seem really wonky that’s why

word count: 11k... we don’t comment on that

summary: “Y/L/N Y/N. Yang Jeongin. Kim “Chuu” Jiwoo. Kim Seungmin. You like Seungmin, Jeongin likes Chuu. You’re best friends with Chuu, Jeongin’s best friends with Seungmin. You don’t like Jeongin, but you know about each other’s crush. It’s time to play a game of Cupid, while being struck with Cupid’s arrow yourself.”

a/n: happy valentines day and belated jeongin day! this is the first story i’ve decided to tackle for my anime!skz series as well, so i get to hit three birds with one stone with this fic. also, i decided to take out a couple elements in the original anime (such as the addition of a character that’s like ami, taiga’s family issues, and some events) just so it’s simpler and totally not because i’m on a time crunch. i hope you enjoy reading this! <3

taglist: @skzwriternet​ @dayawantstosleep​ @desertofdessert​ @mr-jisung​ @dreamylunarnight​ (sorry if i forgot you i’m running on 0.2 braincells)

anime!skz masterlist is here!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Episode 1: Collision Course

“Psst, look over there!”

“Huh? What?”

“The fennec fox is about to face off against the dark delinquent!”

You turn to face the two students after overhearing the words “dark delinquent”, making the duo back away in fear. Cursing your parents who gave you these intimidating genes, you heave out a breath out of annoyance, and continue walking down the hallway.

Alas, maybe your appearance is the reason why people never approach you unless it’s absolutely necessary. You still manage to give off this dark atmosphere despite how much you try to change your appearance. 

“Don’t worry, Y/N,” your best friend, Chuu, attempts to reassure you. “It’s only the first day of school! You still have an entire school year to prove them wrong.”

You’d be lying if you said you didn’t envy your best friend, who basically embodies the definition of the sun. Always smiling and having a positive attitude regarding the situation, you just so happened to be the exact opposite of her. Boys are constantly crushing on her, she’s one of the most popular girls of your year, but she just so happens to be buddies with you. 

“Oh, watch out Y/N!” Distracted by your thoughts, you process Chuu’s warning just a second too late, and collide with a particularly tall boy, somehow smacking your face right into the torso part of his male school uniform. The force manages to knock the both off you to the ground, sending your papers flying all over the place. 

Oh, that’s right. That’s what the two girls were talking about. You’ve heard rumors of who this “fennec fox” person is, and how he has a really bad temper when you push his gears. But this guy you just bumped into? A fennec fox?

You guess you can see some resemblance of a fox in his facial structure, but his figure literally towered over you, making you feel like an ant standing next to a tree. The small crowd of passing students trying their absolute least to hold in their giggles make you feel even smaller, your neck growing hot because of how embarrassed you are.

“Watch where you’re going next time!” the boy scolds you, brushing off the paper that landed on top of his head. His voice makes you flinch slightly, and it’s only in that moment that you realize the rumors, so far at least, were true. 

“Er, sorry,” you quietly mumble out, scratching the side of your face. He definitely looks pissed, you thought, smoke practically fuming out of the guy’s ears. “Here, I’ll help you gather your stuff.” 

“I’ll help you guys out, too!” you hear a familiar voice, and meet the eyes belonging to a face you know all too well. 

Kim Seungmin: your secret crush that nobody truly knows about (you’ve tried approaching the topic to Chuu multiple times, only to be interrupted by her other friends). He’s the vice president of your school, a role he’s gained through the student body president herself. The definition of hardworking and kind at the same time, who would you be not to fall for a guy like him?

Your breath gets caught up in your throat as you try to answer him. “Oh- Uh- Thank you, Seungmin.”

“Of course! Wouldn’t hurt to help out my best friend, too,” Seungmin replies.

Best friend?

“Thanks..” the boy simply mumbles in response, and you almost did a double take on what you just heard. Seungmin and this guy... best friends? Before you can dwell on it long enough, however, you’re already being pulled to your feet by Chuu, and your papers are back in your hands. 

“Let’s go, Y/N!” Chuu beams with enthusiasm, and you could only afford a small smile in return. “Say, which class are you two in this year?”

“2-A,” the boy answers in a composed manner, the anger he released on you must’ve vanished by now, and you could almost see the pink dust coating his face. “What about you, Chuu?” 

You can’t even process the way the guy completely skipped over you to only ask Chuu personally before you blurt out, 

“We’re in the same class?!”

Episode 2: A Bold Strategy 

Bad news: your love letter is gone. 

That bastard fox dude, Jeongin, you learned his name was, must’ve taken it when you bumped into him in the morning. Not that you blame him entirely, because how could you remember to grab your letter in the ocean of textbooks and notebook paper?

Good news: you have his own love letter.

Why good news? Well, that just means he’s in the exact same boat as you, and now you can call yourself even with him. An exchange of love letters, it almost makes your heart calm down for a split second.

Until you read who the letter was addressed to.

There’s no way in hell this guy could get with your best friend. Jeongin, based off of first impressions, is a literal firecracker (who, for some reason, shouts at people he just met), while Chuu is a ball of sunshine. You don’t blame him, though, as almost every male classmate you’ve had has taken some sort of interest in her at some point, and you guess he’s no exception.

Then again, you’re in the same situation as him, crushing on somebody way out of your league.

While Seungmin is a star student, always willing to help people out and socialize, you’re a total outcast who can barely get average grades in school. Seungmin just so happened to be one of two (the other being Chuu) who’s approached you willingly, and that’s why you fell for him. That charming smile of his, and his caring nature. It was all too much for you.

As you thought about it more, flipping Jeongin’s love letter to Chuu between the flesh of your fingers, it’s not a terrible idea to help out Jeongin. He may currently have a 0% chance of getting with Chuu, but if you succeed and play a bit of matchmaking, he could return the favor to you.

You like his best friend, he likes your best friend...

You gently rip open the envelope encasing Jeongin’s letter, and start reading.

Episode 3: The Cupid Game Begins

“Uh, Jeongin-” you tap the boy’s shoulder once, which was conveniently right in front of your desk. He continues to talk to the people around him, which makes you tap his shoulder harder.

Jeongin whips his head around to meet your calm eyes, only turning slightly frightened when you flinch at his sudden movement. “Wha- Ah! What do you want?” He says in an aggravated tone.

“Sorry,” you apologize quickly for making him jump, not wanting to cause another scene like yesterday. “I just need to talk to you about something for a few minutes.”

Jeongin lets out a groan, fixing his position so he can look behind him more comfortably. “What exactly do you want to talk about?”

“Something I’m sure you don’t want your friends to hear,” you respond casually, picking at the skin on your fingers. The boy’s eyes visibly perk up at your reasoning, and finally nods. “Thanks,” you say to him and stand up, pushing in your seat.

“Careful Jeongin!”

“Fight back if they hit you!”

You let out a deep sigh at the comments directed towards you, not even bothering to shoot them a glance in response. It’ll only make the rumors worse, you think as you walk out of the classroom, Jeongin trailing behind your footsteps after closing the door.

The hallway was silent once you stepped out of your class, no longer hearing the chattering of your fellow classmates about the latest gossip and homework. You could only hear your very own footsteps, along with Jeongin’s feet, which were behind you. Once the two of you made your way to the vending machines near the school stairs, you take out the coin you were holding in your hand and insert it into one of the machines.

“Which drink do you want?” you ask the boy without turning to face him, fishing out another coin in your mini wallet.

“The melon one-” Jeongin does a double take, not believing what he heard as he watches you insert another coin into the vending machine. “Wait, why are you buying a drink for me?” He questions your antics, slowly sliding down the wall to sit on the floor.

You stick your hand into the machine to grab Jeongin’s drink, making eye contact with him as you hand it over. “Why not? Is there a reason I should be buying you a drink?”

“Well, I mean,” Jeongin scratches the back of his neck in confusion. “Aren’t you supposed to be... a delinquent?”

You chuckle at his explanation, “Does that mean you’re a fox? Our nicknames in this school are only based off of our appearances, isn’t that funny?” Joining him on the floor, you crack open your own drink. “So no, I’m not a delinquent, and I’ll never be one.”

“That’s not what I’m here to talk about anyways,” you don’t bother to check Jeongin’s facial expressions as you continue, starting to take out his envelope before you’re stopped by him.

“Wait! I have something to give you too,” Jeongin stops your movement, slipping out something from his pocket as well.

“Is this yours?” 

You both say at the same time, revealing each other’s envelopes. There’s yours, with a tacky, red heart sticker stamped onto the envelope to seal it. Then there’s Jeongin’s, with only the word “To: Chuu” on the back.

Jeongin quickly snatches his letter from your hand, and quickly throws your own onto your lap. “Uh, thanks for returning it. You didn’t- Give it to Chuu for her to read... right?”

“Of course not.”

“And you didn’t read what’s inside?”

“..You got me there, I’ll admit it,” you chuckle slightly, raising your hands in defeat as your face starts to grow hot. Jeongin hums a bit, surprisingly not even a tad bit angry at your confession.

“Well,” Jeongin leans back against the wall. “I guess we’re even then.”

“What?!” you exclaim in surprise. “I mean- Yeah, cool. Actually, this works out perfectly.”

“Why?”

“I have a proposal for you,” you start. “We both like each other’s best friend, right? So we could be each other’s wingman and try to get with our crush. It’ll just take a bit of cooperation, though.”

Jeongin scoffs, “You made me look like a fool on the first day of school, why should I?”

“Well, besides being the apparent ‘delinquent’ of this school, I’d say I’m quite good at matchmaking thanks to Chuu, a cupid, you could almost say,” you cross your arms in defense. “Then again, since I’ve already read your sappy love letter to Chuu, I could always tell her that-”

“Fine!” Jeongin finally gives in. “I’m in, I’m in. I have absolutely no idea how I could get somebody like Seungmin to like somebody like you, but if you’re able to get me and Chuu into a relationship, I’ll try my best to play cupid. Okay?”

“I’m just going to ignore that comment about me and take it,” you shrug, standing up after checking the clock on the wall. “I’ll give you my address on a piece of paper later, so we could meet up and start planning.”

“Yeah, sure,” Jeongin follows your actions, standing up and tossing his drink into the trash can. 

“Remind me to pay you back for the drink, by the way.”

Episode 4: His Angelic Neighbor

“How ironic.”

“How ironic, indeed,” Jeongin agrees with you, the two of you standing at the entrance of Eda Apartments Complex, your backpacks on your back.

The studio apartment complex the both of you just so happen to live in, that is.

Part of you is relieved that you live near Jeongin, so maybe you could get to know him better (not as a friend, of course, but to see if Chuu would actually like him), and of course to work out your cupid plans together. However, the other part of you is confused as to why you’ve never even seen him around your apartment until now. 

These thoughts run through your head as Jeongin leads you to his apartment, walking up a lengthy three flights of stairs, as opposed to your usual two. 

When he’s about to open the door to his place, Jeongin turns around to face you, key in hand. “Whatever you do, don’t comment about my place.”

“Okay...?” you comply with an incredibly confused tone, but it seems to be enough for Jeongin, as he swings the door open.

Soda cans upon soda cans are messily piled up near a trash can, which was overflowing with paper plates and tissues. His bed, which is in the corner of the room (which, to be fair, it’s a studio apartment, and you have the same bed layout as him), wasn’t even made, and what you could assume to be a dining table had leftover Chinese takeout boxes on it.

When you peered into the sink after reluctantly placing your belongings near the door, it’s almost clogged up with muck and filth, making a shiver run down your spine. Not to mention, when you asked Jeongin if you could have a drink from the fridge, all your eyes could see were frozen meals & rows of soda and juice. How long has Jeongin been living this way?

“Uhm, hate to mention this to you,” you close the fridge gently after grabbing a can of soda. “but your place is really-”

“What did I say to you before I opened the door?” Jeongin fires back before you could finish.

You stay silent.

“Exactly. Now can we please start talking about our ‘Cupid Plans’ as you like to refer to it?” Jeongin raises an eyebrow at you, taking out the items in his backpack. 

“It’s a cute name, okay?” you respond, making your way to the table as Jeongin pushes the takeout boxes to the side. “And we’ll be studying too, we have a quiz tomorrow, remember?”

“I’ll rather do the studying later,” Jeongin. “So what does Chuu like?”

“Hmm...” it takes you a moment to think about what your best friend likes when it comes to love, which is a bit strange, because you’d think you’d know what Chuu likes after watching people confess to her after all these years. “I think she’d prefer something planned? Even extravagant, if you really push it. She likes plushies and small gifts.”

“What about Seungmin?” you ask Jeongin.

It also takes Jeongin a second to come up with an answer. “He’s always been into nerdy, yet bubbly people, I guess? Since you’re so antisocial, though, he probably won’t like somebody like you right now.”

“Wow, thanks.”

“I’m only trying to help!”

The conversation shifts slightly, and to your surprise, flows well despite your polar opposite personality. You and Jeongin discuss possible ideas as to how both of you could help each other out while studying for your upcoming quiz. 

“And for equation 17, would it be-” you lift your head up from your math textbook, only to see Jeongin using his arm as a pillow and sleeping on his own book. You blink a couple times in disbelief, but remember that you’ve been over at his house for a little over three hours at this point. Shrugging, you gently close your textbook and decide to call it a day at Jeongin’s place.

But then you go back to your senses and remember how filthy of an apartment you’ve been at this entire time. The more you look at your surroundings, the more you desire to clean up the place.

A neat freak, that’s what everybody calls you. It’s what your mom taught you all throughout your childhood, and it’s a trait you’ve kept until now.

Your mind goes into autopilot mode as you start moving around his place left and right. Somehow, you were able to find a box of plastic gloves stored in the back of the sink cabinet, so you put a pair on and start cleaning. Tying up garbage bags and cleaning out the sink, you also make the effort to place the leftover Chinese food into the fridge after checking if it’s spoiled or not. Most people would stare at you in confusion, but you shake your head at the thought, only hoping that Jeongin would at least appreciate your efforts. 

By the end of your cleaning session, you could now call the studio apartment an apartment, and not some kind of swamp. Pleased at your work, you take out one of your notebooks and rip out a piece of paper, grabbing a pencil along the way. You write a quick note for Jeongin to read when he wakes up:

“Cleaned up your place while you were asleep, I could also cook for you and teach you how to cook? (Chuu likes food) text me: xxx-xxx-xxxx”

Swinging your backpack onto your pack, you leave his apartment and make your way to your own.

Later that night, your phone dings with a message from an unknown number.

[Unknown: i’m so tired of frozen meals and takeout, please cook for me (and teach me how)]

Episode 5: However

“Here’s your lunch, Yang,” you pass your spare lunchbox to the seat in front of you, which Jeongin takes gratefully. Chuu, who was making her way over to the seat next to you, catches sight of your interaction with Jeongin.

“Y/N’s food is good, isn’t it Jeongin?” Chuu strikes up a conversation right away, leaving Jeongin flustered, and most likely burning hot.

“Y-Yeah, it is.”

“Say, you two have been talking a lot lately,” Chuu starts talking as you tilt your head up to take a sip of your drink. “Have you two been, or should I say, has Y/N finally gotten a-”

You choke on your drink, almost spitting it all over Jeongin’s back before catching yourself. Jeongin has almost the same reaction as you, only choking on the food you prepared for him instead. It had only been two weeks of school; two weeks of talking to Jeongin solely about each other’s crush, and yet Chuu believes that you two have something going on.

“Absolutely not, Chuu.”

“Yeah, no way.”

You exchange a glare with Jeongin, almost in a panicked manner. If Chuu believes that you two are dating, that would practically be the end of your chances to be with Seungmin, same going for Jeongin with Chuu.

“Alrighty then, I trust you two,” Chuu leans back in the chair she’s sitting on, before promptly getting up and making her way to the door of the classroom. “I’m gonna use the bathroom.”

As soon as she closes the door, Jeongin immediately leans over to your desk, ignoring his bento box. “We have to do something about what Chuu said.”

“Duh, there’s no way we could let her think that about us,” you agree with him. “What are some solutions? We could try to be more distant with each other, which honestly I don’t think either of us would mind too much. I could simply tell Chuu that we aren’t even close friends, or-”

“You need to confess to Seungmin,” Jeongin bluntly tells you, catching you off guard. 

“What- why would I do that?!” you almost yell at the boy in front of his face. His plan is all kinds of crazy, you would’ve never thought of it yourself.

“You’ve known Seungmin longer than I’ve known Chuu, so you have a lower risk of being rejected. And if you actually end up dating Seungmin, then Chuu would know that us two aren’t a couple,” Jeongin crosses his arms over his chest. “It’s a win-win situation.”

You scoff, “And if I get rejected?”

“I’ll like- I don’t know, buy you ice cream?” Jeongin attempts to persuade you, to which you sigh as a response. 

“I guess I’ll trust you on this.”

The day passes by without a hitch, to your utter shock, as the churning in your stomach says otherwise. The thought of impulsively confessing to your long time crush makes you feel lightheaded and dizzy, as it was something you’ve never done before. However, your stubbornness is refusing you to back down from Jeongin’s wild plan, so here you are, face to face with Seungmin at the roof of the school.

“Erm- So-”

“The weather is pretty nice today, isn’t it Y/N?” Seungmin casually breaks the ice wall between you two.

The sudden question catches you off guard. “Ah, yes.. yes it is...” Already, you could feel the heat rising up your body, even when the weather today was particularly cloudy. “Uhm, I brought you here to tell you something, Seungmin.”

“Oh, what is it?” Seungmin seems surprised at your statement, but the voice in your head tells you otherwise. He’s smart enough to look through people, you know that already, so why are you trying to hide your feelings when you’re already this far?

It’s time to take a leap of faith, you think, as you take in a large breath before telling him everything. “Uh, you see.. I’ve always appreciated you ever since you approached me that one day. Nobody’s ever done that for me except for you and Chuu, and because of that I think you’re a.. great person... What- What I’m trying to say here is-”

“I like you, Seungmin.”

You tilt your head downwards, almost in shame as you play with your fingers anxiously. Letting out a shaky exhale, you can’t believe that you just confessed all of those things to your own crush. Your heart beating a thousand miles a second, it felt like you were about to explode from either embarrassment or anticipation; quite possibly even both at the same time.

“You, know, Y/N..” Seungmin starts to chuckle, grabbing onto his left wrist with his right hand.

“I used to like you.”

That made you look back up at him in shock, blinking a couple times out of disbelief. “Really?!”

Seungmin simply hums, confirming what he just stated. “That’s why I approached you in the first place. There was something about you that drew me into talking to you. And of course, you didn’t disappoint me,” he flashes you a comforting smile, but it soon goes away at his next word.

“However...”

Seungmin leaves you hanging after that one word: however. His mouth opens and closes, most likely trying to come up with the right words to say. You wobble your feet back and forth, becoming more and more impatient.

But then, he says something. A simple, ten word sentence. Not a compound nor a complex sentence. Easy for a little kid to understand.

“I hope we can be good friends in the future.” 

And yet it cracks your heart.

In a blink of an eye, Seungmin has disappeared from your view. An unexpected wind blows through your body, almost feeling like a comforting pat on the back after being rejected; friend-zoned. 

You make your way to the front of the school, dragging your feet in a lazy manner. Jeongin’s head perks up when he nears footsteps, only to gaze down at your slumped figure. Letting out a deep exhale, you give Jeongin a glare that could cut him in half; one of disappointment and exhaustion.

“You owe me ice cream.”

The ice cream place is about two blocks away from your apartment complex, decorated in obnoxious pastel colors that make your eyes squint. Jeongin is relatively quiet throughout your walk there, only offering to carry your backpack if it’s too heavy for you, to which you declined quietly. You can feel the burn of his eyes on top of your head, anticipating for you to let out a scream in anger, but you’re simply not that kind of person. 

You remain deep in thought even when you sit down, grabbing a menu to cover your face. Jeongin’s eyes remain on your figure, and you wonder if he’s actually, genuinely, worried for you.

“Er, what do you want to order?” Jeongin asks you in an attempt to break the tension. “I’ll pay, since you seem a bit heartbroken right now-”

“Hi, welcome 901 Freeze Treats Parlor-” you look up from the menu at the sound of a familiar, cheery voice.

You forgot Chuu works here.

And you forgot to tell Jeongin that information.

“Oh, Y/N! And Jeongin, hi guys,” Chuu flashes a grin at the both of you, and you can’t help but smile and almost giggle at how Jeongin grows beetroot red. She’s sporting a pair of pigtails in her hair, and the striped uniform topped with a cute hat on top. “What can I get you guys?” “I’ll- I’ll get the banana split Chuu!” Jeongin exclaims a bit too loud, attracting the rest of the customers at the parlor. Chuu, although a bit confused, seems to enjoy Jeongin’s enthusiasm for ice cream and writes down the order.

You set down the menu and point to what you want with a hum, to which Chuu bends forward slightly in order to see what you want. “You always order that, Y/N! Don’t you want to try something else?”

“I’m good, Chuu, thanks,” you give her a gentle smile, praying that she won’t comment about how tired and defeated you look. Fortunately for you, she leaves you alone, and you’re left back with just Jeongin.

“How have my letters been doing?” Jeongin blurts out before he could stop himself, covering his mouth with one of his hands soon after. “I- I mean, I shouldn’t.. really ask when you’re sad.. but I mean I might as well ask you since we just talked to her, right? Sorry-”

“They’re doing good, she likes them a lot,” you reply softly to the frantic boy, and he lets out a sigh of relief at your answer. You’ve spent the past few weeks helping Jeongin write love letters to Chuu, even decorating them with cute stickers. For once, your writing skills can come into play, and you haven’t let Jeongin down yet. “And it’s okay, my head is just in the clouds. At least he let me down gently.”

“What exactly did he say?” Jeongin eggs you on, wanting you to elaborate further.

“Something along the lines of us being good friends in the future,” you explain to him. “He even said that he used to like me, but I don’t know-”

“Then you still have a chance, right?” Jeongin doesn’t wait for you to finish your sentence before jumping in. “He left the door wide open for you to walk into, or- something like that at least. And, now thinking about it, I actually do think he used to like you.”

You roll your eyes, “You’re only saying that to make me feel better about this.”

“No, really! He mentioned that he liked somebody quiet and mysterious, and that he was gravitated towards that person. He told me that he would approach that person someday. It must’ve been you! I’ve known Seungmin for years, and this is one of two times he’s told me about his crushes,” Jeongin carries on with his own explanation. “So, in conclusion, I still believe it’s possible to win over his heart.”

Your lips press into a thin line, “You sure? Like, you’re absolutely positive about this?”

Jeongin nods, and for the first time since you’ve met him, he sends you a genuinely positive smile. It’s not like the annoyed snarks or the cheeky smirks he gives you all the time, but rather, something you could find comfort in. Just like Seungmin’s smile.

“Okay then, I’ll trust you.”

Episode 6: Swimming Lessons 

“Did you guys hear that the school’s swimming pool is opening next week?” A masculine voice you know all too well, yet you wish you didn’t at the same time, is heard from behind your back. Seungmin locks eyes with you as he tosses an arm around Jeongin’s shoulder while you continue walking down the hallway. 

It’s all too weird in your opinion that Seungmin is actually even friendlier after rejecting you. Because, shouldn’t the two of you be distant for at least a week or two? You guess that’s just not how Seungmin operates, then, as he dove right back into talking with you after that dreadful day on the school rooftop. 

“Yeah, Seung!” Jeongin answers with a joyful tone, giving you the chance to break your eye contact with Seungmin. You, on the other hand, were not a swimmer whatsoever.

Being submerged into a body of water to the point where your toes can’t reach the ground has never been ideal for you. Any kind of physical action required to even survive in the water is off putting in your option, so you’ve always stuck to dipping your feet into the water and nothing else.

But you guess that changes starting today.

“You know Seungmin,” Jeongin starts to say, “Y/N is actually a pretty good swimmer! I think they could even beat you in a swimming race.”

Your head jumps up in surprise, eyes widening when Jeongin turns to you. He mumbles the words “trust me” before going back to Seungmin. How many times will you have to trust Jeongin and his crazy schemes?

“Oh, really?”

Jeongin hums in confirmation, ignoring the side nudges coming from you. 

“Then we should race once the pool opens, Y/N!” Seungmin suggests with visible excitement beaming from his face. 

Your gut immediately tells you to deny, but then you have to consider Jeongin’s “trust me.” He seems fairly confident that everything would work out, so is the risk worth the possible reward?

“Oh- Uhm... Sure! Sure, let’s.. let’s race, yeah,” you manage to let out before you could change your mind. “Just give me time to prepare, I, uh, haven’t swam in a while.”

“Of course!” Seungmin grins. “Let’s do it in two weeks, okay?

All you could respond with is a nod, which Seungmin takes without anymore questions. He bids the both of you well, and makes a left to the student council room. 

You feel like a puddle of mush, waiting to collapse onto the tile floor of the school hallway. “I. Hate. You,” you scowl harshly at Jeongin.

“What?” Jeongin is caught off guard at your sudden hostility. “You never mentioned that you were afraid of the pool, and I don’t think it’s that bad of an idea. This is your chance to impress Seungmin!”

You scratch your head in confusion and denial. “Isn’t this a bit much, though? And who’s going to teach me how to swim?”

“You could always get me back with any ridiculous idea on how to get Chuu to like me,” Jeongin suggests to you. “And I’ll teach you, I’m a decent swimmer.”

“Sure, sure. Thanks for the idea, by the way,” you comment with a smirk, watching as Jeongin’s expression turns into one of regret.

“Now, teach me how to swim.”

An entire two weeks pass, and with those two weeks, comes the opening of the school pool. Although the vast majority of your classmates are genuinely excited to get a chance to cool down in the recent, scorching weather, you’re visibly less enthusiastic about it. You still try to keep a smile on your face with Seungmin is around though, so he doesn’t see through the lie Jeongin spontaneously made up.

“Y/N!” Chuu approaches you after exiting the changing room near the pool; you’ve already changed prior to her. “Your race with Seungmin is today, right? I see you’re all decked out in floaties.”

“Yeah, I’m just, uh- using them for safety purposes.” you give her a short and sweet response due to the churning in your stomach after being reminded of the event happening today. It’s a shame that your entire class knows what’s going down in just a few minutes, because they’re all anticipating your match with Seungmin. “The Delinquent vs The Student Pet” is what they’ve dubbed the match.

Also, Seungmin was generous enough to add onto the rules that floats were allowed to be used. So now you have floats all around your figure: some attached onto you, some you have to hold. 

“Hey Y/N-” Jeongin stops walking towards you after noticing Chuu, her hair in a braid and only wearing a casual swimsuit. “Oh- Hi Chuu!”

Chuu acknowledges Jeongin’s presence, but quickly turns back to you. “I hope you win the race, Y/N. I have faith that you could do it!”

“Y-Yeah Y/N! We didn’t train all for nothing,” Jeongin adds onto Chuu’s comment. Thankfully, although Chuu doesn’t even know that you couldn’t swim prior to now, she doesn’t question Jeongin’s extra addition of training. “Let’s head over to the start of the pool? Seungmin’s already there, I’m just here to fetch Y/N.”

“Okay! I’m referee as well, so I have to be there too,” Chuu claims, and the three 

Seungmin turns around from a group of boys to greet you, “Hey, Y/N! Ready for our match?

“H-Hey Seungmin,” you greet him with a friendly, yet shy tone, along with a nod.

“Okay!” Chuu gathers everybody’s attention with just the sound of her voice. “We’re here today to watch the race of Y/N vs Seungmin. On the count of three, I’ll blow my whistle and they’ll start swimming. You must go to the end of the pool, and right back to where we are right now. Ready?”

“3...”

“Also, just to calm your nerves a bit,” Seungmin whispers to just you right before the race begins.

“2...”

“I already know that you didn’t know how to swim before this. It’s okay if you fail, I’ll make sure nobody makes fun of you. Just stay safe, okay?”

“1...”

Your breath hitches for a split second, but before you can fully process what Seungmin just confessed to you, the whistle blows. 

Seungmin dives into the water head first, while you jump in measly with your feet touching the water before the rest of your body. By the time you’re able to start kicking your legs, Seungmin is already ahead of you, so you push against the wall using your feet and start doggy paddling. It’s quite pathetic, and you’re sure that’s what everybody is thinking as they watch you swim, but it doesn’t matter at this point. 

Or does it?

Because while you’re swimming across the pool, your brain just had to remind yourself about what Seungmin said seconds before the race started. He already knew you couldn’t swim, so it’s not really about impressing him anymore. 

Then again, it’s not necessarily about winning, but about showing Seungmin that you’re dedicated enough to try new things to have fun with him.

That’s why it matters now.

However, it feels like you’re sinking.

Throughout the race, you’ve lost float after float, and now you only have the two floats that wrap around your arms. The water is slowly starting to touch your lips, and falling into a standing position, making your situation even worse. Your heart pounds faster and faster in a panicked frenzy, struggling to comprehend what to do.

Thankfully, cupid comes to rescue you.

He jumps into the pool like a lifeguard, placing his hands near your armpits before pulling you out of the water with a surprising amount of strength. Despite the midst of chaos you were put in, you’re able to hear cheers and applauds, signaling that Seungmin must’ve finished the race. Once again, you’re left to vanish, with the only other misunderstood student to help you.

You feel the surface of the concrete outside of the pool on your bottom as you cough out water. Yet, Jeongin is nowhere in your sight.

That’s when you realized. He’s submerged under the water.

You assume that he must’ve lost energy while saving you, resulting in the two of you swapping places. Eyes widening at the sight, you sprint across the flooring of the pool site, screaming your lungs out for somebody to help.

“Shit!” you curse yourself when you finally get the an adult’s attention after being unable to get a classmate to help you. All of your classmates ended up next to Seungmin, aka, the opposite end of where you stopped swimming. It’s only when the teacher pulls Jeongin’s unconscious body out of the water for it to lay down that it grabs everybody’s attention, swarming to see what was happening.

That’s when you snap.

“I’m disappointed in all of you right now!” you scold all of your classmates, something you’d never think you’d get the courage to do until now. “All of you were focused on that stupid race, but you never bothered to check on Jeongin. He could’ve died because of your ignorance! I hope you all know that.”

After leaving your classmates’ mouths agape, you storm out of the crowd, and make your way to the changing room. Nobody, not even Chuu or Seungmin, bothers to approach you.

Later that day, after some of your classmates apologized for not noticing what was happening, you, and a now in-stable-condition Jeongin, walk home after an exhausting day. Not many words are said, just like your regular walks after each school day, until Jeongin turns to you.

“Uhm, I just wanna say..” Jeongin starts to speak,. “Thanks for defending me earlier after I drowned.”

You blink in surprise, “Wait, you heard all of that?”

“Yeah, I was already conscious for a few seconds before you started going off on them. But thank you, seriously. I appreciate it after being misunderstood by our classmates for all these years,” Jeongin sighs, and then gives you another one of his kind smiles.

“Of course...” your mouth forms a thin line after you mumble out those two words.

Why is your heart fluttering like Jeongin’s pair of cupid wings?

Episode 7: All For Your Happiness 

“Hey Chuu, listen to this!” you hold your phone right next to Chuu’s ear, which was playing the sounds you’d find at a haunted mansion. She yelps once she realizes what she’s listening to, and pushes your phone away with her palm, making everybody laugh.

Never in a million years would you find yourself sitting on a train with Chuu, Jeongin, and Seungmin all at once. The four of you were on your way to Chuu’s beach house, a place you’ve been to before during every summer break prior to this one, but it was always just the two of you. Now, however, you have your very own crush tagging along, plus his own best friend (and you don’t exactly know what you should call him anymore... Friend? Good Friend? Partner in Crime? Cupid Partner?). 

And you and Jeongin have a plan. One time, for once, you came up with, and you believe that it’s less traumatizing than nearly drowning in a pool.

It just so turns out that Jeongin is a horror movie enthusiast, so he slipped multiple DVD sets of horror movie classics into his suitcase to do a watching marathon at the beach house. It also turns out that Chuu is terrified of anything that could scare her, like jump scares. So, the plan is for Jeongin to become Chuu’s knight in shining armor for whenever she gets scared during this trip.

“Why are you making me listen to all of these things?” Chuu whines with a pout. To be fair, you’ve been making her listen to these chilling noises for the entire train ride, to the point where you’re almost at your stop.

“It’s kind of funny to watch your reactions, that’s all,” you semi lie, because while it is a bit hilarious to see Chuu’s dramatic reactions, you’re waiting for the moment for Jeongin to strike. 

And it’s at that moment when Jeongin finally speaks up, “Er- Chuu! If you ever get scared during this trip, come to me and I’ll-”

You mouth the word “protect” to Jeongin once he stops speaking.

“Uh- protect you!” Jeongin finishes after looking at you.

“Oh okay!” Chuu gives Jeongin a heartfelt grin. “I’ll make sure to go to you then, thanks!”

Jeongin nods eagerly, something Seungmin chuckles at, and you lean back in your seat at ease. If you’re able to successfully help Jeongin be Chuu’s knight during this trip, you’re certain that Chuu will at least take some interest at Jeongin. 

The train reaches your destination swiftly after Jeongin’s interaction with Chuu, and after a quick bus ride and a trek to the beach, you’ve finally reached Chuu’s family beach house.

“Wow, this is awesome Chuu!” Seungmin shouts gleefully as he looks at the house. The house is relatively small and gives off a modern feel, but it’s fortunately enough to fit four people in.

Chuu smiles at the compliment, “Thank you! My family is fortunate enough to own a place like this for the summer. But since my parents are always overseas when summer rolls around, this place turns into a paradise for Y/N and I!”

“Anyways,” Chuu continues. “We should probably clean up the house since it hasn’t been used since last year, but I say we go play on the beach first!”

While Seungmin and Jeongin nod their heads eagerly, a lightbulb is turned on in your head.

“Actually,” you speak up. “I’ll go on ahead and clean up the house first. It’s probably messy inside, and you guys know how much of a ‘neat freak’ I am.”

Jeongin seems to catch onto your idea, his eyebrows rising, “Oh, then I’ll clean up with Y/N too!”

“But you seem really excited for the beach Jeongin,” Seungmin questions, but Jeongin waves it off.

“It’s okay! You two can go play first,” Jeongin insists, and the other two don’t ask anymore questions, heading towards the ocean. “You really are a smart person, aren’t you Y/N?”

There it is; that fluttering in your heart again, but why now? “Well, you’re smart for catching on. Let’s go place scary traps all over the house?”

“Heck yeah.”

After some time cleaning up the house (and making what would be Seungmin and Jeongin’s room especially clean) and placing various objects around the rooms to create a horror effect, the two of you had finally joined the others at the beach. It was then that the “Scare Chuu Montage” officially began.

During your time at the beach, you attempted to kick some seaweed at Chuu’s legs to make her jump, but the ocean water never agreed to your intentions and spared her. That night, Chuu walked into the dark bathroom only to meet eyes with a reflection in the mirror. But when Jeongin came rushing over, Chuu had already turned on the light and saw the makeshift face you created on the mirror using face cream and cotton balls. 

The second day, Chuu woke up to the sound of being a woman screaming her head off, making her jump out of her bed in alert. It was simply a sound you found on the internet, but at least it woke up her up. The day was spent shopping at the nearby mall, so you couldn’t do very much to scare Chuu other than to hide at various nooks and crannies. You also ordered for Jeongin to stay by Chuu’s side at all times, but he didn’t do very much other than attempt to hold her hand (which was a very poor attempt, so of course, he failed). At least you and Seungmin talked individually while getting some ice cream, and to your utter surprise, it wasn’t that awkward.

The third day, you finally got Seungmin on board with your plans. Although a bit skeptical at first, you insisted that it would be a fun and harmless prank, and counteracted him by saying he laughed when Chuu got scared during the train ride. With Seungmin teaming up with you and Jeongin (without knowing your real intentions with the pranks), the horror movie marathon started despite Chuu’s pleads (to ensure that Chuu didn’t find any other movie disks around the place, you hid them all on the first day in a location she’d never look). 

With Jeongin and Chuu on the couch and you and Seungmin on the floor, you don’t think it’s possible for the two to still be away from each other after this marathon ends. The first movie starts off generally slow pacing, but it’s enough for Chuu to mutter out pleas of worry for the characters. Jeongin quietly laughs at her antics, telling her once more that he’s there if she needs to be comforted, and you give Jeongin a mental high five. 

By the end of the night, the two were cuddling, Chuu’s face looking especially scarred, while you and Seungmin finished the massive bowl of popcorn. When the lights finally came on, Chuu and Jeongin finally realized the position they were both in, and quickly scurried away from each other to your amusement. 

The fourth morning came shortly afterwards, and with that morning came the end of your trip at the beach house. Although it was spent mostly with your attempts at scaring your very own best friend, you still had fun yourself, and even spent some time with your crush.

And it seemed like your efforts finally paid off, because Chuu wanted to talk with Jeongin privately. 

After Jeongin shoots a glance at you while walking off to a private room of the house with Chuu, you quickly shuffle your feet over when Chuu’s not looking, placing your back against the wall. You hear footsteps inside the room before they suddenly stop, and then hushed whispers are all you could hear.

But then, Jeongin’s voice increases in volume. 

“You.. You knew that we were pranking you?” 

Your next breath gets caught up in your throat once you realize what exactly that meant. 

You failed?

Chuu hums, “I did, but I didn’t bother to tell you because it looked like you and Y/N were having so much fun. Actually, I was only guessing that you were pranking me this entire time, until Seungmin came and confirmed it with me.”

“Seungmin?!”

“Yeah, Seungmin! I guess he played you guys,” Chuu laughs. “At least you had fun on this trip! I actually did, too, because I love scary stuff. I’m not afraid of it at all.”

“Oh...”

“Hey, cheer up! You made me happy, and you’re happy too, isn’t that what matters?” Chuu reassures Jeongin. “Anyways, we should continue packing. I just wanted to get that off of my chest.”

You hear more footsteps, and then something that sounds like a cushioned thud.

“Thank you, Jeongin.”

You must’ve heard Jeongin squeak, because he has to clear his throat before answering. “S-Sure, Chuu. Yeah, of course!” Jeongin says the last few words more confidently as Chuu giggles.

That’s when you rushed into the nearest bathroom moments after the door swings open. The shuffling of footsteps is heard again, until they stop once more, and then somebody knocks on the door.

“I know you’re there, Y/N,” Jeongin claims, and that’s your signal to open the door.

“Yeah, but that’s not what matters here!” Jeongin’s eyes are wide open as he lets out wheeze after wheeze. “I- No- We made her happy, Y/N! She really enjoyed these past couple of days! And, and! She gave me a hug, Y/N!! I don’t think I’ll ever get over this, seriously. I’m falling for her more and more.”

It’s the first time that you’ve seen Jeongin as giddy as this, in the several months you’ve known him. Is this what love does to people? Is it supposed to make their heart burst like what you’re seeing right now?

Because, if so, why don’t you feel like that for Seungmin anymore?

Note to self: Jeongin, out of all people, loves hugs.

Episode 8: And He’s Gone 

Seungmin has been acting.. rather odd lately. 

To be fair, the school festival had just ended, plus the student council election was about to occur, so you’d reckon he must be exhausted as vice president of the council. Perhaps he must be busy thinking of ways to campaign (not that he needs to, everybody agrees that he’s the best person to become the next president) or maybe he’s just getting a good rest.

But that’s not what Jeongin claims.

[Jeongin: he doesn’t want to run for president]

[You: really?!]

[Jeongin: yeah, but he won’t even tell me the reason]

[You: ahhh what do we do now T-T]

[You: on one hand we should respect his decision]

[You: but on the other, the school will crumble without him]

[Jeongin: idk y/n]

[Jeongin: i could try to explain to him why he should run or at least try to get his reasoning]

[You: yeah you should do that]

[Jeongin: cya]

You drop your phone down onto your chest, sighing heavily. Rolling over on your bed to face the window, you ponder as to why Seungmin would make such an impulsive decision like that. He was always so passionate about being a member of the student council, so why is he backing away from it now?

“Bad news: I wasn’t able to get any info from Seungmin,” Jeongin confesses as the two of you walk to school for another day. “Good news: I have a plan in case Seungmin truly doesn’t want to run for president!”

“It seems like all of your plans are either dumb, crazy, or both,” you retort back at him. “But shoot.”

“One of us runs for president!”

“Don’t shoot, nevermind.”

“No no no, you have to listen to me for this,” Jeongin attempts to persuade you. “Because after you hear my explanation, you’ll probably think it’s a good idea.”

You stay silent.

Jeongin continues though, “So, if one of us runs for president, and campaigns really bad, we’re talking ‘I’m going to give everybody six ounces of homework when I become president’ bad, then Seungmin would want to jump in to save the school!” 

“Why don’t we make somebody else do it? Like- Chuu for example!” you insist, but Jeongin’s not having any of it.

“Chuu’s too popular, she might actually win. So it has to be one of us.”

“Then you do it because it’s your idea.”

“Nope.”

You sigh in defeat, “Rock paper scissors?” Jeongin nods, and gets his hands out. You’re quite confident that you’ll win, as you’re somehow incredibly good at rock papers scissors. Jeongin seems like the type of person to throw out scissors as a first move, and since this isn’t a best out of three game, you have to take your shot.

“Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!”

Your rock is meant with his paper as Jeongin chuckles, covering your fist with his hand.

“Looks like you’re running for president!” Jeongin beams at you.

It’s now a week after your rock paper scissor match with Jeongin, the reason you’re even here in the first place. Next to you is a set of speakers, and in your hand is a megaphone. Taking a deep breath, and taking the time to glance at the boy behind you, you put the megaphone next to your mouth.

“Listen up you morons!” you shout at the confused crowd of students beneath your feet, trying to ignore the burning of your face. “I, Y/L/N Y/N, am running for president! So unless any of you cowards decide to run as well, I’ll be your new president! Get used to it!”

“Y/N’s running?”

“Out of all people?”

“Gosh, why isn’t Seungmin here when we need him?”

You continue on with your speech, going on and on about how you’re basically going to rip this school into shreds. You start to worry that you’ll be doing this until the school bell rings for first period, starting to question how much courage you have left to not collapse out of embarrassment, until he finally shows up.

“Excuse me! Sorry, I need to get through!”

“Why are you doing this, Y/N? And why are you helping them Jeongin?! This isn’t like you guys,” Seungmin demands with a worried expression on his face.

You and Jeongin look at each other, before you decide to answer. “We’re doing this because you weren’t running for president for some dumb reason. This school needs you, Seungmin!”

Seungmin’s mouth forms on “o” shape as he realizes your intentions, his eyes sparkling in the sunlight.

He chuckles, “You really are something, aren’t you Y/N?” Seungmin’s expression softens when he meets your eyes, showing gratitude. He gently takes the megaphone from your hands, and clears his throat.

“My name is Kim Seungmin, and I will be your next student council president!”

An uproar of cheers follow his announcement, and you let out a laugh of relief. Now you could bail out of the election, leaving Seungmin as the only person the school could vote for as president. It’s a win win situation.

Until the election ceremony rolls around.

All of the students are packed into the gymnasium, each class standing in rows. On the stage you could see the current student council members, along with Seungmin, and your heart races for him. 

He’s called up to the front of the stage after being announced as the school’s new president, and a thunder of applause booms through the gym. Seungmin stands in front of the microphone.

“I’m Kim Seungmin, I’m your new president, and... and-”

“I am in love with our former president, Park Jihyo!”

He’s in love... with Jihyo?

Jeongin immediately turns to look at you, his mouth agape just like yours. The rest of the audience starts murmuring to each other in disbelief. Seungmin, out of all people, pulling a stunt like this? 

Oddly enough though, you don’t feel the same heartburn that you felt the first time you were rejected. It’s almost as if... you’re okay with this.

“You’re the reason why I’m standing here today; because you gave me a purpose at this school! And I know that you’re leaving to study abroad right after I take your role of president, so that’s why I’m shooting my shot today!” Seungmin explains loudly to the microphone, right in front of Jihyo, who’s standing there with an unamused look on her face. “Do I have any chance to be with you? Any chance whatsoever?!”

By the end of his speech, Seungmin is out of breath from shouting so much, and Jihyo seems to be stunned. She quickly shakes her head to clear out her mind, though, and takes the nearest microphone into her hands.

“And here, ladies and gentlemen, is your new student body president,” Jihyo calmly announces to everybody, not even acknowledging Seungmin’s confession at first. 

“I taught him how to be a good leader, and that’s how he ended up on this stage today. I have absolutely no doubt that Seungmin will do an incredible job as body president. I care for him quite deeply, and I hope you will help him succeed at his duties of being president.”

“Please look after my good friend, Kim Seungmin, while I’m gone. Thank you.”

Rejection: unrequited love, but confirmed. To some, it may feel like a glass filled to the brim with water suddenly shattering onto the floor. To others, it’s a gentle, yet brutal, falling of a feather, easing its way to the ground.

While Jeongin thinks that two hearts were broken in that gymnasium, only one truly was.

And it wasn’t yours.

“So you’re saying you’re over Seungmin at this point?” Jeongin’s voice goes higher in pitch when he asks you. “Did I shoot my cupid’s arrow at the wrong person or something?”

You walk in silence for a few moments, letting the both of you ponder for a bit. How do you answer that question without obviously revealing who you truly like?

“Yah,” you ultimately avoid the question. “You never paid me back for that peach drink I bought for you.

Episode 9: Shot an Arrow at Each Other

[Chuu: i think i like him]

[You: who?]

[Chuu: jeongin]

You suck in an unexpected breath, and it’s almost as if your heart stops. Valentines Day is tomorrow, so it’s no wonder that Chuu’s coming to you for love advice. When you don’t reply, Chuu keeps sending texts.

[Chuu: i think i might confess to him on valentines]

[Chuu: and i have suspicion that he’s the one who’s been sending me love letters, but im not too sure]

You gulp, turning over onto your side and tucking yourself further into the sheets of your bed.

[You: then go for it!]

[Chuu: i would but]

[Chuu: i feel like somebody else would be happier with him]

[You: care to elaborate?]

[Chuu: i know there’s somebody else out there who could treat him better than me]

Does Chuu know? Are you that obvious?

[Chuu: y/n]

[Chuu: you have a special connection with jeongin]

[Chuu: you like him, don’t you? ^_^]

That damn emojicon. You could imagine that if this conversation were to happen in person, she would smile at your real big before dropping the bomb.

And you wouldn’t know how to respond. Because she’s right.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. Jeongin wasn’t supposed to be nice to you. Jeongin wasn’t supposed to save you from drowning. Jeongin wasn’t supposed to encourage you to confess to Seungmin when you still liked him, and he wasn’t supposed to buy you ice cream

But at the same time, you weren’t supposed to buy him a drink. You weren’t supposed to clean his apartment. You weren’t supposed to cook him meals willingly. You weren’t supposed to help him that much during summer break.

The two of you were supposed to just be each other’s cupid, but because you weren’t, you’ve fallen for him.

[You: but jeongin likes you]

No, you refuse. You refuse to let your emotions get in the way of Jeongin’s and Chuu’s happy ending. You refuse to let your emotions get in the way of what you and Jeongin have been striving for this entire school year. You’re better than that, stronger than that.

But why does it hurt so much?

The next day, Valentines Day, comes faster than you would’ve liked. Normally, this would be your favorite day of the year, because you liked seeing other people happy despite you being alone yourself. The outcasting you’ve put up with for the majority of your school life doesn’t bother you on this day surprisingly, as it’s always fun to see Chuu’s desk swamped with candies and anonymous letters.

It’s fun watching other people be happy.

This year, however, you’re left with a stain in your heart that you’re constantly reminded of throughout the day. Jeongin raves on about how he’s thinking about confessing to Chuu, yet you don’t have the heart or the energy to tell him that Chuu is thinking of the same thing. Then again, it’s better not to get in the way of love, right?

Chuu hasn’t spoken to you much ever since she read your final message to her last night. You don’t blame her, really, but she should do what’s best for her, not what’s best for you.

And Seungmin, to your utter shock, has been pretty chill this Valentines Day, not making a fuss over being rejected by Jihyo. Jihyo has already been abroad for several months at this point, so it’s given time for Seungmin to heal.

You make it through the day without too much distracting you, other than those thoughts buzzing in your head. The bell rings, signaling the end of the draining school day, but Chuu grabs onto your wrist and drags you into an empty classroom.

Your stomach starts churning once more when you see Jeongin and Seungmin in the room. Flinching when Chuu slams the door close a little too hard, you watch as she walks to the center of the room.

“Seungmin, you’re only here if I need backup, okay?” Chuu eases down Seungmin’s nerves, to which he responds with a nod.

“So,” Chuu takes a deep breath. “Don’t you have something to say to me, Y/N and Jeongin?”

You’re caught off guard by the sudden question. “What- What do you mean?”

Chuu only laughs, “You and Jeongin teamed up to make sure I fall in love with Jeongin this year, right?”

You and Jeongin freeze.

“And also, you tried to make Seungmin fall in love with Y/N, yes? But it didn’t work out, which brings us here,” Chuu crosses her arms over her chest. “You know, you almost did make me fall in love with Jeongin. Remember our conversation yesterday, Y/N? About how I was gonna confess to Jeongin?”

You don’t bother to move a muscle, but Jeongin, across the room from you, looks stunned.

“Well, I never bothered with that plan anymore. I realized that I only merely had a crush on Jeongin, and crushes never go that far. So with that being said-”

“Why are you... ruining everything now?” you take the chance to ask Chuu, but your question comes out in a more timid tone than you had anticipated. 

“Ruining everything, you say?” Chuu scoffs. “That’s not what I’m doing here! I’m making sure everybody gets the ending they’re happy with.”

“But this isn’t how it was supposed to go!” you finally yell at the top of your lungs. “Jeongin liked you, and now you like Jeongin. The two of you already have a happy ending, why do you need to push this further?”

“Because you like Jeongin, that’s why!”

You shut your mouth before you could utter another word, panic spreading all over your body. Not even making the effort to look at Jeongin’s current expression, you raise your head up to look at Seungmin, who looks like he could offer you no help whatsoever.

It’s all falling apart.

“Y/N-” Jeongin attempts to speak, but you cut him off without realizing.

“I.. I don’t want to do this anymore.”

“You’re running away, Y/N,” Chuu states, which makes you grit your teeth.

“Wait, Y/N, just listen to me-”

“Please, not now-”

“Y/N!”

Once Jeongin shouts your name, Chuu accidentally releases her grip on your wrist, and you flee the classroom, sprinting as fast as you could in your school shoes. Chuu stares at Jeongin once you swiftly exit the classroom, to which Jeongin responds by running after you, Chuu following behind right after after thanking Seungmin for being there.

“You can’t force love! You can’t make two people fall in love with each other!” Chuu tries to tell you while running through the hallways. “Love happens naturally. I might love Jeongin, but Jeongin only had a crush on me, that’s not the same!”

“So I’m willing to put aside my feelings to help two people who truly, genuinely, love each other without any doubt in their hearts! Can’t you see? Jeongin loves you, not me. And you love Jeongin, not anybody else.”

And then Jeongin snaps.

“SHE’S RIGHT!” Jeongin booms. “Y/L/N Y/N, you’re the one I love! I love y-”

But you’re already gone from their sight. The school entrance has no people around, not even a silhouette of you running in the distance. The two catching their breaths at the entrance of your high school, their shoulders slump over in defeat.

Of course, it doesn’t end there.

Hours after the incident, hours after crying over the mixed emotions you experienced this Valentines Day, your doorbell is rung. You hesitate on whether you should even answer the door in the first place, sifting through the possible scenarios in your head. Your feet answers first, though, making your way to the door before your brain could even stop your motions.

It’s a letter, and you know that handwriting.

“come upstairs!”

And despite how reluctant you are, you still head to his apartment.

Jeongin greets you at the door, still wearing his school uniform just like you. In his hand is a rubber spatula, which is somewhat odd because you’ve never seen him hold kitchen utensils unless you were teaching him how to cook.

But there’s the aroma of food coming from the kitchen, one of various vegetables, and even the smell of meat. When you turn the corner, you infer that Jeongin was attempting to cook one of your one pot pasta meals, and it seemed to be almost done.

“Honestly,” Jeongin quickly goes back to tending to his cooking. “I wasn’t even sure if you were going to come, and that would be bad because this is two servings of pasta. But I knew you wouldn’t left me hanging.”

You hum, taking a seat at the dining table that was sparkling clean (something Jeongin kept up with even after you cleaned his apartment). Jeongin brings over two plates of pasta, steam still coming off of them. 

“Try it! It’s your recipe, so unless I messed up something, it should be good,” Jeongin dives in with a fork, slurping up the noodles eagerly as you do the same.

“It’s good, really good, actually,” you compliment him. “But why did you invite me over here?”

“Well,” Jeongin says with food still in his mouth, but he swallows shortly after. “This is a date.”

You almost choke on your food at the word “date” coming out of his mouth. “But what about Chuu-”

“Didn’t you hear Chuu while we were running earlier? She’s content at the fact that we’re about to become a couple. She told me that she rarely ever saw you as bright and as happy before you met me, that’s a good sign, right?” Jeongin smiles at you, and it’s that smile again.

“A good sign that...?”

“You love me too.”

You pause your movements for a full three second, before you laugh tiredly. The realization hits you while you twirl your pasta with your fork. “This is weird.”

“What is?”

“That we tried to be each other’s cupid, but ended up falling for each other instead.”

Your analogy makes Jeongin burst into laughter, nodding his head excessively. “Yeah, you’re right.”

The two of you eat Jeongin’s food in a comfortable silence for a few moments, before Jeongin speaks up again.

“Does that mean that I shot an arrow at myself then?!” Jeongin gawks at you comedically, almost making you choke on his food.

“Perhaps,” you simply shrug, leaving your, what you assume you could finally call your boyfriend, up to speculate for himself.

The cupid game was finally over, after many, many months of pinning.

And it ended with a pair of cupids, in love with each other.

~

it’s promo time baby!

follow my networks @fluffyskzclub​ and @/angstyskzclub, our members provide you with sfw fluff & angst content for you to read!

i’m starting an official taglist for my fics! there’s one for oneshots like these, and one for my stray kids ot8 reactions & scenarios! (not gonna bother with one for my blurbs, don’t waste your time on a 2 minute read fic LOL) just let me know through my inbox as to which one(s) you’d like the join.

thank you so incredibly much for reading “a pair of cupids!” this story was physically and mentally draining. i wrote the first 3 sections last week, took a 3 day break because my family visited another state, and then wrote these last 6 sections in a span of... 5 days? it was NOT FUN my back is killing me oh my gosh have mercy on me if you think this was bad

[kpop---scenarios]

The Ride (3)

Part One | Part Two |

Pairing: Byun Baekhyun x Reader

Warning: Violence, Blood, Smut

Word Count: 2.8k

"Hey cousin." Rose sneers, looking at you up and down as if you were pathetic. "Not so tough now, are we?" She laughs, fake pouting before erupting in laughter. 

"When grandpa gets.." you begin but she cuts you off quickly. 

"Grandpa isn't going to do a fucking thing. He still hasn't responded to that little home movie we sent." She admits. "We'll give him another few hours before making another move." She finishes with a wink before leaving you alone, closing the heavy door behind her. 

That fucking bitch, you think. Your blood is boiling that she did this to you. You were going to get out of these ropes and when you did, you were going to beat her ass. 

You looked around the room for something, anything that you could use to saw through the ropes. Lucky for you, you see a small nail sticking out of the corner of the wall and you manage to crawl over despite your ankles being tied together as well. 

You stand up, trying to ignore the pain that radiating through your entire body as you rub the rope over the nail, listening to the faint sound of the rope unravelling.

** 

You're laying in the same spot as you were when Rose left the last time, the only difference now is that your hands are free, as well as your feet but she doesn't need to know that. You lay there waiting, just waiting for the moment of her return. 

"We'll start soon. Just let me make her look a little worse." You hear Rose from the other side of the door. Taking a deep breath, you prepare yourself as she opens the door. You close your eyes, waiting for the perfect moment. You listen closely, the sound of her feet dragging gets closer and closer to you. 

She kneels, you can feel her breath as she hovers over you. "Pathetic." She spits. 

"Yes bitch, you are." You say, sitting up and colliding your head with hers to knock her back. She gasps as she stumbled backwards, her fingers reaching up and touching under her nose and feeling the blood leaking down. 

"You bitch." She snarls, charging for you. Her hands balled into fists, she takes a swing for your face, landing the punch on your cheek. You now charge for her, your hand grabbing a clump of her hair, yanking her head down as you lift your knee quickly, hearing the crunch of her nose as her face meets your knee. She lets out a scream as you push her to the ground, walking towards her, your chest heaving. She scrambles to her feet, charging at you like a linebacker, knocking you into the wall. You bring your elbow up, nailing it into her back a couple of times as he continues to pin you. When she finally let's go, she swiftly punches you in the stomach a few times, hitting your ribs, making you double over in pain. 

But you knew if you were going to get out of there, you needed to step it up and fight through your pain. You muster up all the energy you have inside of you and punch her in the face before lifting your leg, kicking her in the stomach, knocking her to the ground. You climb on top of her and feed her shot after shot, until she's crying, blood spewing from her face. 

"Whose plan was this!?" You growl. 

"Mine!" She cries. 

"Bullshit. You're not that smart." You spit. "You sent this to grandpa.. for what?" You ask, hitting her again. 

"It was his idea!" She screams, crying heavily. "It was grandpa who planned this." She finishes. 

You stumble back off her, looking at her confused with tears brimming in your eyes. You and he were so close, this didn't make any sense. "W-what? Why?" You whisper.

"I may have put it in his head you were going to have him voted out and take over." She coughs. "I knew if he thought that, he'd get rid of you and sure enough he tried." She says, still laying on the floor. 

"I would never." You say. 

"Well in his mind, you were. I wanted you gone. You were always his favourite and I hated it. So I thought if I could make him think you were trying to get him out, maybe he'd love me more." She says. 

A few seconds later her two partners run into the room, looking around at all the blood and then seeing Rose laying on the floor. 

"Rose! Rose! Are you okay?" One asks. 

"No you fucking idiot." She scoffs. "Do I look okay? Take me to a hospital." She whines. 

"What about.. her?" The other one asks. 

"Let her go. I'm done with this bullshit." She finishes, as one of the men helps her up. "Here." She says, tossing you a set of car keys. 

You limp your way out to the car, your hand holding your ribs as you climb into the passenger seat. Rage fills your body as you start the engine before speeding out of the gravel parking lot. Rose's words spin through your head as you speed to your grandpa's house. 

Twenty minutes later you speed into the driveway, feeling lucky the gates had already been open. You come to a complete stop, throwing the car into park and getting out, limping to the front door. You bust inside, yelling as you walk down the hallway towards the living room. 

"Grandpa!" You sing as you make it to the staircase, where you see Baekhyun running down to see what was going on. 

"Ayn?" He whispers, staring at you shocked. "How.. how did you get out?" He asks, gently pulling you in for a hug. "What happened? Where were you?" He questions. 

"It was Rose." You breathe, trying not to cry. 

"What?" Baekhyun asks. 

"She did it." You pause. "For him." You spit, your voice is shaky as you point to your grandfather who was standing in the doorway of his office. 

"What are you doing here?." He asks, his face remaining unimpressed. 

"Aren't you happy to see me?" You yell. "I know this was you. Rose told me everything." 

He says nothing. 

"She told me all about how she made you think I was trying to get a vote going to get you out. That's not true! I never did that and would never do that!" You cry. "She lied to you." 

"Oh, now Rose wouldn't do that." He chuckles. "I've seen the way you've been acting around here. Whispering to people, clearly trying to get them to vote for you." 

"I've never once said or did that. Grandpa, you know I would never! You know me! How can you believe her?" You ask, feeling heartbroken.  You couldn't believe that he thought of you like this. 

"You know what, I just need a doctor now. I'm going to lay in my room." You spit, turning to the staircase with the help of Baekhyun.

"I can't have a traitor living in my house." He chuckles. "You are no family of mine anymore, Ayn. And if I were you, I'd watch my back. And don't think about doing anything.. that might harm anyone." He finishes, turning to go back into his office. 

Baekhyun scoops you up in his arms, carrying you out the front door of the house you used to call home. 

** 

An hour later Baekhyun pulls you from his car, carrying you into EXO's house. He carries you inside, calling out for someone. 

"Lay! I need help." He yells, taking you to the living room and laying you down on the couch. 

"What happened?" A blonde man asks, kneeling beside the couch, trying to decide on which wound to look at first. 

"Her grandfather, Chairman Yang had her kidnapped and tortured." Baekhyun seethes, his teeth clenched together. 

"What the fuck." One of the mumbles, his eyes wide as you try your best to breathe. 

"I'm going to need to reset some ribs and some other things. Bring her downstairs, she's going to have to be put under." Lay says. "Kyungsoo I'm going to need your help." He says to another man who rushes off. 

Baekhyun scoops you up again, bringing you down the narrow staircase, and into a room that closely resembles a surgical room at a hospital. 

"You'll be okay." Baekhyun smiles, rubbing your head as you get hooked up to some machines. "I'll be right here when you wake up." He finishes as they inject you with the sedation. Your eyes become heavy and the last thing you see is Baekhyun's smiling face as you close your eyes. 

** 

It feels like minutes, but according to Baekhyun it's two days later you wake up from your surgery. Lay had told him that your injuries weren't as severe as he expected when he went in there but they were still pretty bad and it would take you some time to recover. 

"I have to lay in bed for 4 weeks?" You groan, throwing your hand over your eyes. "I need to get revenge, or do something." 

"You leave that to me, just focus on getting better. But did you have anything in mind for Chairman Yang and Rose?" Baekhyun asks. 

"Take. Them. Out." You grit through your teeth. Your family wanted to turn on you, frame you and disown you? Then you owed them nothing and didn't give a fuck about them. You close your eyes again, the exhaustion taking over once again.  

** 

The 4 weeks you were practically forced to stay in bed were the longest weeks of your life. By the second week, you had been feeling much better but no one would let you do anything, except shuffle your way to and from the bathroom if Baekhyun would even allow that. 

Not to mention, he refused to touch you at all, and to say you were horny was a huge understatement. 

"So I'm cleared now?" You ask Lay. "To do anything?" You ask, winking at him weirdly. 

"Yes, you can have sex now." Lay chuckles, standing up to leave your room. 

You quickly rushed from your bed and to your shower, needing to freshen up before Baekhyun got back from whatever errand he had to run. You scrubbed your hair, your body, shaved every surface, just made sure there was no longer any smell associated with what had happened left. You were dealing with the trauma, but right now you wanted to forget it all and get railed by Baekhyun. 

After your shower, you quickly dried your hair and went to the dresser to find any kind of lingerie. Luckily for you, tucked way in the back was a small little lace piece that was just your size. You ripped the tag off, shoving it back in the drawer before putting it on and loving the way it made your tits look. 

You could hear Baekhyun's voice down the hallway, so you sprinted back into your bed, covering yourself with the covers when Baekhyun walked in. 

"Hi." He smiles. "How are you feeling?" He asks. 

"I'm okay." You smile. "I have a surprise for you." You whisper. "Turn around." 

Baekhyun smiles widely, turning around and tapping his foot as he waits. You get out from under the covers, sitting on your knees you adjust yourself before telling him to turn around. 

When he turns, his mouth drops as his eyes scan your body up and down a few times. 

"I.. uh. Wow. Like.. wow." He says, clearing his throat. "I thought.. " he pauses. 

"Lay cleared me." You purr. 

"For?" He asks. 

"Everything." You whisper. 

You crawl off the bed to where Baekhyun is standing, you can see the outline of his hard cock through his jeans, making your pussy throb. You undo the button and the zipper of his jeans, pulling them down along with his boxers to free his cock. You grip your hand around his already throbbing cock, stroking him from base to tip. 

"So hard.” You moan. You slowly stroke his cock, back and forth, watching the precum already dripping from his red, swollen tip. You lick your lips before opening up your mouth, engulfing his cock, his tip hitting the back of your throat as you begin to hum, the sweet vibration sending so many chills down his spine. 

Your hand pumps his base as your mouth takes on the rest of him, your tongue swirling around. You can feel the saliva seep from your mouth as you swallow him, sucking and pumping until he's almost ready to bust. 

"S-stop before I cum." He growls, but you continue sucking him off, making him pant. His hand grabs a clump of your hair, yanking your head back, forcing his cock from in your mouth. 

"I said stop, baby." He growls, staring down at you. His hand is still gripping your hair, forcing you to look up at him as a mixture of his precum and your saliva drips down your chin. 

"Yes, sir." You smile. 

"Hands and knees." He demands.

Eagerly, you climb on the bed, getting onto your hands and knees, swaying your ass from side to side as Baekhyun comes up behind you. He grabs your ass, squeezing harshly before raising his hand and laying a hard slap on your right cheek, making you yelp. 

"Quiet now, princess." He purrs.

You feel his fingers gently grazing your clit from underneath before moving up, his fingers slowly pushing into your pussy. 

"Ahh." You gasp, it's been so long. Your head drops down as you bite your lip, moving back and forth against his hand. 

"Are you eager?" He chuckles. 

"Fuck me." You beg. "Please push your cock in me and fuck me until I cum all over it." You whine. 

"As you wish." Baekhyun groans. He pulls his fingers from inside you, sucking them clean of your juices. 

He pumps his cock a few times before pushing himself into you, stretching your pussy around his cock. 

"Fuck." You both huff. You missed the feeling of Baekhyun's large cock stretching you out, fucking you raw until your scream. 

"Fuck me hard." You demand. Baekhyun's hands land on your hips, his fingers digging deeply into you. He snaps his hips once, thrusting so hard it jolted you forward, causing shivers to spread across your body. 

"Please. Just like that." You whine. Baekhyun continues to fuck you slow, but thrust hard, making you cry out in pleasure each time. 

His hand leaves your hips, moving to underneath you, his fingers pressing your swollen clit, rubbing the bud and making you cry out louder. 

He hunches himself over you, continuing to rub your clit but his thrusts are fast and hard, pounding his cock into you. 

"Don't.. don't stop." You stutter, your breathing laboured as your orgasm builds so quickly. "I'm gonna.. cum." You whimper, your orgasm spreading through your entire body, making you shake as you cum around his cock. You tighten your pussy, making Baekhyun cry out as he releases himself into you, filling your pussy up with his juices. 

"Fuck." He breathes, sitting up, his cock still inside you. He raises his hand, landing a smack on your ass again, chuckling while he pulls out and drags you to the shower with him, his cum dripping down your leg. 

** 

A few days later, Baekhyun stood by the front door with you, pleading for you to rethink going on a run. 

"I have something else we can do?" He winks, nudging your arm. 

"I need this run but when I get back, definitely." You smile. "Plus we need to go over the retaliation on Chairman Yang. Make sure everything is going according to plan." You finish, giving Baekhyun a peck on the lips before walking out the door. 

You plug in your headphones as the sun shines down on you. You feel good, you're happy and things are working out just the way they should. Just as you leave the gates, you see a familiar car sitting outside, with your grandpa leaning against the car. You pull out your headphones, yelling over to him. 

"What do you want?" You yell. 

He chuckles and shakes his head as he walks towards you. "I told you not to try anything stupid." He says. "And now here you are planning on retaliating against me?" He says. 

"How did you.. " you trail off. 

"How did I know?" He asks. "I've got a rat in there." He laughs. "I warned you. And now you'll pay the price." He finishes turning around to head back towards his car. 

You roll your eyes, turning around to walk the other way. Just as you're putting your headphone back in, you hear what sounds like a gunshot before you feel a hot, burning sensation in your back, along with wetness pouring down your back. You collapse to your knee before falling to your stomach, laying on the gravel bleeding. You barely hear the car driving away, just as you barely hear the sounds of Baekhyun screaming your name before you succumb to the darkness

[kittyprincessofcats]

I finished RWBY Volume 5!!

Loved it!! After volume 4 was (understandably) a bit slower-paced, I didn’t expect things to get intense and serious this quickly, but I’m glad they did! I have so many thoughts I wanted to write down, so here we go:

[There will be spoilers for RWBY up to Volume 5 in this post (duh). Please don’t leave spoilers for anything after Volume 5 on this post, otherwise I will block you.]

- I have to say, I definitely liked Cinder more when she wasn’t talking. During Volume 4, I kind of started feeling bad for her on some level, but then she got better and started being her old condescending, power-hungry self and I was like… nevermind, I hate you again.

- Qrow being super drunk when he first brings Oscar home was absolutely hilarious.

- Yang is SO COOL. Have I mentioned that she’s so cool? Like wow, I wish I was that cool! The bike, the new (amazing) outfit, the way she just punched that creepy guy and walked right up to her mom’s bandit camp making demands of her – she’s so cool and I’m here for it.

- Yang and Weiss’ reunion was so sweet! 😭 I was waiting for literally any of Team RWBY’s members to reunite and that got me right in the feels! (Also, I loved the whole “Wait, your mom kidnapped me?” “Wait, you kidnapped her?” exchange - brilliant 😂.)

- Ruby’s reunion with Yang and Weiss was so sweet, too! 😭 Tears were definitely shed over reunions in this volume! And it was so nice to finally have most of Team RWBY and what’s left of Team JNPR back together and see them bond and catch up with each other 😭. Found family back together! It’s what they deserve!

- Yang being so angry at Blake for leaving makes perfect sense, imo, especially considering her own abandonment issues. And even more so considering that she lost that arm while protecting Blake. Also, I don’t think it’s reading too much into it to say that Yang and Blake’s interactions and their storyline together have had romantic undertones since volume 2. (And no, I’m not just saying that because I ship Bumbleby; it’s the other way around – I ship Bumbleby because those romantic undertones were there in the first place.) So yeah, Yang always tried to help and support Blake, lost an arm protecting her from her abusive ex, and then Blake just left – I get why Yang’s hurt and angry. And that moment where she goes from complaining about how she just wants to be there for Blake, before finally admitting “What if I needed her there for me?” - that’s a really good moment for Yang, even beyond the romantic subtext. It’s nice to see Yang admit that she also wants someone else to be there for her, that she wants to receive that same love and care in return.

- I also want to point out that it’s nice to see how far Weiss has come since volume one. She really took a level in kindness and became a lot more mature, to the point where she’s now giving Yang relationship advice. It’s really nice to see.

- Ruby’s talk with Oscar about Penny and Pyrrha really got me teary eyed.

- I wasn’t that fond of Sun at first, but he had some really great moments in this volume, so he’s starting to grow on me now. I still don’t ship him with Blake, but their friendship is sweet.

- And now, let’s talk about THE standout character of the whole volume for me: ILIA!! Holy hell, I love everything about her! You know how some characters grow on you over time, and then there are those characters that you see one episode with and they just become instant favourites? That second one was Ilia for me. I watched Blake’s character short before Volume 5 and the moment I heard her backstory she jumped right to the top of my favourite character list without question AND I started shipping her and Blake right away. (Yes, I love Bumbleby and all, but I’m a multishipper. I’m perfectly capable of equally loving two ships that contradict each other.)

- It’s just – Ilia and Blake’s dynamic got me hooked! Not to compare everything to my OTP (Catra and Adora from She-Ra and the Princesses of Power), but let me quickly make this comparison: Two girls who grew up together, were both members of a certain evil organization until one of them left it and the other didn’t, now they’re on opposing sides and have to fight each other, but they still clearly care about each other. Plus, there are confirmed romantic feelings from at least one side there. I know many people (including myself) have compared Bumbleby to Catradora before – because you’ve got one blonde jock and one catgirl – but when it comes to the dynamic and the backstory, Blake and Ilia (what’s that ship called? Catmeleon, I think?) resemble Catradora even more. And it’s just the kind of dynamic I’m weak for.

(Honestly, it’s kind of funny how predictable I am both when it comes to favourite characters and favourite ships. My sister, who got me into both She-Ra and RWBY, took one look at Catra years ago and immediately predicted that I would love her. And when she first saw Ilia, she also immediately knew she’d be one of my favourites. Basically, my sister once described my “type” of favourite characters as “troubled, cute and gay” and that pretty much sums it up.)

- Speaking of troubled, cute, and gay: I’m glad RWBY finally has some CANON LGBT representation! Hell yes for that! Honestly, I interpreted Ilia’s feelings for Blake as romantic right away, but I wondered if it was just bait or my usual tendency to see romantic undertones in any interaction between two girls. But then that “I wanted you to look at me that way” line happened and… WOW. Yes. Amazing, talented, brilliant, never been done before, showstopping, incredible. I’m 100% sold on both the ship and Ilia as a character.

(One more thing before I change topics: I try to keep these posts positive and not get into discourse too much (since I’ve heard there was (is?) a lot of discourse in the RWBY fandom – but I took just one look into the tag for Volume 5 and immediately saw people arguing that Ilia’s not good representation because she’s a villain. And I just want to quickly address why that’s nonsense, in my opinion (and before you ask, yes I am a lesbian myself): First of all, she’s not even a full-blown villain. She’s clearly shown as confused and misguided from the beginning. And her feelings for Blake are never portrayed as a negative thing. She also has a redemption literally two episodes after being revealed to be queer. And in general, I don’t think queer villains are necessarily a bad thing and I’m tired of queer characters not being allowed to be flawed. How come straight characters get to just exist, but any queer character better be a shining beacon of morality or else they’re bad representation? I agree that RWBY should introduce more queer characters to balance things out a bit, but I wouldn’t say Ilia was bad representation by herself, since she’s a character I think we’re meant to have sympathy for.

- Now I just hope that future volumes of RWBY don’t pull a Bury Your Gays and kill Ilia off... I’d really hate that. (No spoilers on this post, please!)

- The entire fight at the Belladonnas’ house had me so on edge the whole time. I thought someone (most likely one or both of Blake’s parents) was going to die any second. Basically, the ending of volume 3 burned me and now I constantly expect characters to die. I’m glad it all (mostly) turned out well!

- Blake’s speech to the Faunus might have made me a bit emotional. That was a really great moment for her.

- And then there were those final episodes… WOW. Like I said, I really didn’t expect everything to go down so quickly (or for the ending to be that happy – like I said, volume 3 burned me.)

- Jaune unlocking his semblance was nice! And I’m proud of myself for having correctly predicted that he’d have some sort of healing powers. (I was waiting for him to unlock some healing semblance back when Qrow got injured in Volume 4 – I’m glad it finally happened!)

- I was worried about Weiss for a second, then I realized there’s no way she can die since I’ve already seen pictures of her outfit in later volumes. (Plus, I’m pretty sure if a main character had died, I’d have been unable to completely avoid spoilers about it. So those 4 are pretty much the only ones I’m not that worried about.)

- Raven is a really cool and interesting character, but an awful person. (I got so angry at her when she blasted Ruby after Ruby was just so nice to her*. How dare you, lady?) I love her design, though!

[*EDIT: I just rewatched it and realized that it was Cinder who blasted Ruby, Raven just created the portal. Point still stands, tough.]

- The plot twist of who the Spring Maiden really is was EPIC. Really loved that reveal! (And I honestly didn’t see it coming.) Though I have to say, I feel really bad for Vernal, and for the previous Spring Maiden.

- The Cinder VS Raven fight was absolutely epic and just stunning to watch visually. I was wondering if we’d ever get a maiden vs maiden battle, and that scene more than delivered! And while I don’t particularly like either of them, I was definitely rooting for Raven in that fight.

- I’m not sure if Cinder really died there. If so, I’m honestly not too sad about it, but I would be disappointed because I kind of expected her to become a more interesting character later on. After Volume 4, I expected at least a bit of growth there or something that would make her more interesting. And I’m not talking about a redemption, just to be clear! I just think the potential to make her more interesting as a villain was there, and if they just killed her off it’s kind of wasted now and she stayed a very flat character until the end. But I guess we’ll see.

- Raven and Yang’s confrontation was pretty intense. I liked that Raven finally had to admit that she’s afraid and doing all of this just to protect herself, and the contrast to Yang, who is also scared but still does what she thinks is right. And the fact that Raven was willing to let Yang have the relic despite the danger that would put her in – mom of the year indeed 🙄.

- Blake and the other Faunus are the real MVPs of the battle, tbh. The fact that they just completely stopped Adam and the White Fang by sheer numbers and didn’t even give them the chance to attack anyone? God tier stuff. And when Blake’s mom came in with the police? 10/10, we stan.

- Also, Blake telling Adam she’s not there for him? Hell yes, girl! I love how she’s taking power away from her abuser by showing she isn’t doing any of this for him. Really nice.

- Yang and Blake’s reunion in the last episode was super nice. I like how there was so much attention on that reunion in particular. And while I’m glad Yang wasn’t too angry at Blake and it makes for a nice happy ending, I still hope there’s a scene next volume where Blake properly apologizes to Yang for leaving and explains her side of things. And then, they should get together and live happily ever after and have lots of kittens. I mean, what?

- And finally, all of Team RWBY is back together! And they’ll have a lot to catch each other up on. Blake doesn’t even know about the maidens, the relics and Salem yet, while the rest didn’t even know about the White Fang attack. Also, I want Blake to introduce the others to Ilia and to her parents.

I really loved this volume. Lots of action, lots of really sweet moments, lots of epic fights and cool plot twists. I find it hard to rank them, but this might have been my favourite volume yet (volume 3 was also really good, though).

[a-monsters-love]

The Air Between Us: Conversations with an Avatar

[Prologue] [Part 1] [Blurb 1] [Part 2] [Blurb 2] [Epilogue]

Genre: sad, angst

Word count: 1,586

Warnings: This is just filler; IF YOU HAVENT READ THE AIR BETWEEN US THIS WILL NOT MAKE MUCH SENSE

A/N: This is a side note, or something that happened to (Y/N) that wasn’t posted in the original story I wrote, mostly because I figured you guys would like the whole idea VS me summarizing it to fit into the story.

A/N 2: No one is allowed to be mad at me for not posting this earlier but I’ll be 100% honest when I say I forgot. I fell in a rut and started writing BNHA fics and then started working 12hr shifts at work so- yeah. I’m very sorry

——

Zuko hasn’t woken up yet. You helped the sages get him into a bed and watched Katara start healing him. You feel yourself crumbling, falling back into the dark place you tried so hard to hide and crawl out of. You’re tired, you feel your eyes getting heavy. You blink and see something blue, something bright and looking right at you. If you weren’t so tired you might jump up and fight, but your body wouldn’t move. You doze off for a short period before you feel a jolt, like you just fell back into your body. You eyes fly open and you look up, at the figure in front of you. “Suki?” You rub your eyes, trying to reorient yourself and stretch.

“I didn’t know I looked like Suki.” You hear a small laugh, it’s Aang. If he’s here then you must’ve won. You quickly stand up and pull the young boy in for a hug.

Aang hugs you back firmly, tears start falling down your face. “You’re not allowed to disappear like that again.” You cry as you pull him into you, he’s like a little brother to you, and he was the only other air bender you knew. You were terrified, you knew how much he felt like family to you.

“It wasn’t on purpose, I swear.” He chuckles and lets you cry. “Come on, lets get you some food.” He pulled you by your hand and you hesitate to leave Zuko’s side. “He’ll be fine, but you won’t be if you don’t eat.” You let the younger boy pull you into the dining hall. You ate with everyone, the mood was tense but everyone was just exhausted.

“Longest day - ever.” Sokka whines, Suki pinched him causing him to yelp. She knows it’s been harder for some. Pointing a hand at you and Aang.

You barely touched your food but you tried. You try to smile at everyone and walk out. Katara goes to call out for you but Aang just puts a hand out and shakes his head before following you out. He follows you down every hall and turn, you walked slowly until your found your way outside. This takes longer than you would’ve liked but you were a bit disoriented from the events of the day. You found your way to a pond. You sit down pulling your knees into your chest, your tears feel like they’ve dried out. Aang watches you for some time before coming and sitting next to you. Neither of you say anything for some time.

You knew Aang was following you, you knew you could stop him. It’s not that you wanted to be alone but you just felt awful. You just wanted someone to tell you that you weren’t a mistake, that hurting people wasn’t the point of your life. You rub your face an sigh, looking up at the sky. “My mom used to tell me and Shu stories about the stars.” You start, Aang looks over and watches you. “She said that the stars were just our ancestors watching over us. That the moon collected them to protect them in the spirit realm, she would tell us that destiny never worked out the way we wanted it to but the way it was meant to.” You continue, you’ve never really talked about your parents. Not even with Shu, “She would always sing and dance about, teaching us songs. She taught us how to play piano and guitar, she loved to teach us new things. Our dad was a stern person but he would always showed his love in little ways. A pat on the head, a thumbs up, he’d teach us a new trick about some.. nonsense.” You trailed on before stopping. You had both a lot and very few memories of your parents.

“What happened to them?” Aang asks quietly, you tilt your head a little and look at him from the corner of your eyes. You bit your lip, scolding yourself for bringing it up.

You sigh and look down, you drop your head and cross your legs. Holding your ankles, Aang thought you resembled Shu in this position. “When uhm, when we found out I was an Air Bender I had very little control over it. Shu and I were maybe 3-4?” You lift your head up and take a deep breath, “When we were about 5 we were in the Earth Kingdom visiting someone when a small burst of air came from me. Spirits, my poor moms face looked terrified. Apparently she wasn’t the only one to notice, our parents were taken away for questioning and we never saw them again.” You look over at Aang who’s face held so much pain, reflecting how you felt. “I always blamed myself. I stayed a stage hand at the circus because I blamed myself, something I want selfishly always hurts the people I care about most.” You indicated you the palace, referencing Zuko. “I’ve always been so ashamed and angry and felt guilty of my existence.” You pull your legs up and put your face in your knees for some time.

You feel a large and heavy hand on your shoulder, “Go away, Shu.” You say without lifting your head.

“My name isn’t ‘Shu’,” You hear a soft but husky voice say, you lifted your head and looked over. You see Avatar Kyoshi. “I’ve been trying to talk to you for some time but Aang wasn’t fully connected with the Avatar state yet.”

You stare at her, partly frightened and partly confused, “W-why would you want to talk to me?” You ask quietly. You didn’t understand, honestly you just couldn’t comprehend the point.

Kyoshi stares down at you, she wasn’t as terrifying as you first thought to your surprise. She reminds you a lot of your twin, which helps you calm down. “I spent a large part of my life angry at my parents. Angry at their decisions, and ashamed of their choices.” You could see sorrow and empathy in her face.

Tears stream down your face as she speaks, you had no idea. You hadn’t even considered how she felt at the choices your ancestors made, she was effected differently for the same reasons. “I just-“ You stutter through your tears, “I just don’t know what to do, or how to feel. I’m just so angry!” The air starts moving aggressively around the two of you, Kyoshi watches your surroundings and then back at you when it calms. “I’m just so angry with myself, Auntie.” You cry, you can’t stop it anymore.

Auntie, the word brings a small smile to her face. “You inherited my heart, while your brother inherited my height.” She chuckles lightly, “However you both inherited my strength.” She puts a hand on your back as you sob. “You twins are Yin and Yang. You balance each other perfectly but that will be found irrelevant if you can find balance within yourself.”

Kyoshi pulls you upright and straightens out your attire as you sniffle yourself calm, you chuckle at her actions. “What are you doing..?” You ask in a raspy voice.

“I never had children, I don’t know how to comfort kids when they’re sad.” She finishes organizing your attire and making you sit and face her, “All our actions always have an effect. Sometimes positive, sometimes negative and sometimes not for many life times. You are the effect, you (Y/N) are not to blame for what happened to your parents, you are not to blame for what happened to the Fire Prince. You are allowed to be selfish. There’s nothing wrong with you, and I’m glad that you made it to this period in time.”

You feel tears bubble up again, you smile and hug her. “Thank you, Auntie.”

She hugs you back firmly and let’s go, putting her hands on your shoulders. “Be happy.” She says as she faded away, leaving Aang in her place. He looks at you quizzically as information starts to come to him, Aang smiles at you.

You almost tackle the young Avatar, giving him a hug and chuckling softly. You lean back and wipe your face into your shirt. “Avatar Kyoshi is not as menacing as history portrays her to be.” You both laugh and get up, “Thank you, Aang.”

“Hey, I didn’t do anything this time.” He pulls up his hands and smiles, glad that you’re feeling better.

You find the rest of the gaang quickly as you walk back towards the palace. Apparently they watched the whole scene, “YOU CALLED HER AUNTIE.” Suki squeals at you.

————————

A/N: I’m just over here cutting onions, it’s fine. But on an honest note, I have really bad depression and when I was writing this series I lightly touched on (Y/N)’s mental health and felt she deserved to have someone tell her she’s allowed to be happy. I know like friends and S/O’s say stuff like that but when you’re in deep and depressy sometimes it doesn’t matter.

Tag List:

@coalsmind @bucky-blogs @fanficflaneuse @cutiepoo16 @eridanuswave @grapesauze @theblueslytherin @coolpenguingoddess @royahllty @whalerus @shemakesfanvids @lammello @ditu-m9 @kryptidkova @gxrleexis-arctic-monks @azriels-forgotten-shadow @zukosvice @woohoney @zuko-is-my-love @etherealhobii 

[words-writ-in-starlight]

THE UNTAMED, YOUR CHOICE OF OURAN AU, SOUL EATER AU, S&S AU, OR CORPSE BRIDE AU

OKAYI’M GOING TO DO THE OURAN AU BECAUSE I THINK IT’S REALLY FUNNY AND I MADE THEBAD CHOICE™ OF READING A BUNCH OF NEWS TODAY.  Uh.  Mycomputer crashed halfway through this and I think somehow it got longer,so.  Sorry about that one.

ONE

Wen Ning is a scholarship student.  He’s more than ascholarship student, really, he’s a here by the grace of every godever and also his sister student who also, incidentally, is ona scholarship.  The phenomenally wealthy Wen family recently went down ina blaze of indignity and political scandal, but newly-broke Wen Qing is not hearing any arguments about sending her babybrother to a less-than-top-of-the-line high school, especially since he acedthe tests and was given a full ride except for books and uniform.  SinceWen Qing was halfway through med school at the time of the Wen scandal, they’reburning through their meager inheritance to get her degree and make ends meetfor food, on the gamble eventually they might be able to move out of their absolutelyshit one-bedroom apartment on a doctor’s salary and also because Wen Ning pointblank refused to let her drop out.  Therefore, when Wen Ning tries to hideout in an empty music room and accidentally breaks a very expensive vase, he hasa moment of abject dread and–well, yeah, okay, he’ll work it off, he guesses.

TWO

WeiWuxian isn’t actually planning to charge this kid for a vase that is definitelyworth more than the entire apartment building he lives in!  Wei Wuxian isnot an asshole!  It’s just that he hasnever seen this scholarship kid with the secondhand clothes and the long hairhiding his face and the unfortunate name speak to anyone outside of absolutelymandatory conversation, and it’s kind of depressing.  So, Wuxian has decided to adopt him, teachhim how to talk to people, and maybe buy him a ponytail holder.  He has about five seconds to get all of thatout on the third day since recruiting Wen Ning, when a very petite woman in ared coat storms in like a hurricane and corners Wuxian alone (or rather, withonly Lan Wangji, which is as close as it gets) with apparently homicidal intentto snarl, “If you’re messing with my brother’s head, no one will ever find yourbody.”

(WenNing did not mention being low-key press-ganged into a host club on the firstday.  On the second day, he came home ina real uniform that actually fit, with his hair cut into something thatresembled a style and pulled back from his face, and he had to spill hisguts because not even Wen Qing’s sleep schedule was going to make her miss thatone.)

Turnsout that the sister Wen Ning mentioned, implying that she was the same kind ofangelic creature as Jiang Yanli, is fucking terrifying.  Wei Wuxian rambles through hisexplanation so fast that he kind of doubts Wen Qing gets all of it, and then hewaves his hands helplessly and says, “I don’t know, he just seemed kind oflonely?”  Wen Qing narrows her eyes athim.  “It’s true!  I never see him talk to anyone!”

“A-Ningis a good kid,” she says, shoving a finger into Wuxian’s chestthreateningly.  “Our family never likedhim because he’s too nice, and no one else likes him because of his name, so ifI hear you’re messing with him…”

“Iswear,” Wuxian says, raising his hand.  “Ijust thought maybe it would be good for him, having some people to hang outwith.”

WenQing studies him for another moment, and then she steps back and nods and says,“It will be.”

Andthat’s how the host club gets a part-time manager in addition to its latestrecruit.

THREE

Thehosts are:

[rose_petal_animation.gif]

WeiWuxian, whois nominally in charge because he came up with this whole idea, on the argumentthat, quote, “Jiang Cheng needs to learn to be nicer.”  It was also tacitly agreed that he and JiangCheng needed something that would keep them out of the house and therefore outof Madam Yu’s way after school, and they’d already been kicked out of themartial arts club after a slight incident involving Wei Wuxian’s fist, JinZixuan’s face, and Jiang Cheng’s unapologetic support.  Wuxian went around and recruited some folks,and now he has a host club, which, in his opinion, is markedly more fun thanthe martial arts club.  The Mischievoustype.

JiangCheng,who has spent three years in this circus and is not noticeably nicer.  He’s likable enough with the guests, but nomatter what Wei Wuxian says, Jiang Cheng does know how to be civil whenthe situation calls for it.  He spends mostof his time trying to reign in his brother’s more wild ideas, but his successrate isn’t great, because their sets-and-costumes guy is a horrible enablerwith family money who is more than willing to contribute to all kinds ofnonsense as long as he can show up with a fan and look mysterious while hewatches the chaos at their events.  JiangCheng says he’s the Long-Suffering type but actually he’s the Bad Boy typebecause of his temper.

JinZixuan,who is only here because his mother said he’d be grounded until he graduatesunless he found a good extracurricular and he didn’t know who ran the host clubwhen he blurted out that he was planning to join it.  Now he’s committed because his mother will notsupport him leaving and it’s been three years and also he still hasn’t gottenJiang Yanli’s phone number, which has become absolutely necessary because thethree minutes he sees her every Thursday when she comes to get her brothers fortheir weekly sibling dinner are the best of his week.  There is a good chance Zixuan’s going to getpunched again when he finally gets his courage up to ask her out, but sometimesit be like that.  The Princely type, althoughhe’s hopeless when he’s not playing a part.

LanWangji, treasurer,who is only here because Wei Wuxian asked him to be, and everyone (except WeiWuxian) knows it.  He’s still remarkablypopular with the guests, despite the fact that most people are lucky to get fiveconsecutive words out of him and it’s a known fact that he’ll bow out of aconversation with nothing more than a brief apology and a nod the moment Wuxiancalls him.  Somehow, three years later,Wuxian has not picked up on the fact that Wangji is really not here tolearn to talk to women.  Save him.  The Stoic type.

LanXichen, generalsource of stability if not necessarily common sense, who is here because hisbrother is here.  He and Wen Qing bondimmediately over their shared Protective Older Sibling energies, although WenQing is very much here to beat up anyone who looks sideways at her brother andXichen is very much here to wingman his brother as hard as he can manage.  He’s a year older than the others, graduatingthis year, and the most popular host by a long shot.  The Chivalrous type.

WenNing, who,yeah, is wide-eyed and shy and tends to start stuttering if more than threeguests are looking at him at any given moment, but he has an apparently innatetalent for sweet and unassuming kindness that’s a big hit.  The guests are charmed by his nervousness andthey’re always happy to listen to him talk about his favorite subjects (his sister,his friends, and archery, which he currently can’t afford to do but knowseverything about, in that order). The Natural type.

Honorablemention to Nie Mingjue, who graduated last year and was only partof the host club because Lan Xichen made him. Which is to say, Xichen smiled at him and talked about how gladhe was that Wangji was making friends and how good it would look onMingjue’s college applications as a complement to his more athleticextracurriculars and how happy Huaisang would be to do something withhis brother, and then Mingjue blinked and boom, host club.  He doesn’t have any idea what happened.  Xichen is like that.  The Jock type.

FOUR

NieHuaisang has been Wei Wuxian’s top enabler and partner in chaos since they werein middle school and he also knows everyone and everything despite hisreputation as a top-notch dumbass.  Hisentire rationale for not being part of the host club is that it wouldrequire him to admit to knowing things, and he Won’t, which—top student Wei “IHandle My Adequacy Issues By Being Smart But Also Have Guilt About It” Wuxiandoesn’t totally get that, but sure, okay, proceed.  Huaisang does, however, have anexcellent grasp of how to acquire all manner of strange things, so he is theirone-man supply center for all manner of wild concepts.  One time he got an entire apple treenext-day-shipped just to prove he could.

Also,Huaisang is personally responsible for making most of the host club’s money,because he has a camera and a good sense for the kind of pictures that peoplewill pay for.  Even funneling most of the money back into funding the club activities, Huaisang is still managing to turn a decent profit all told.  He takes a nice 7% cut for himself (friends and family discount), which is half the reason Mingjue didn’t kick up even more of a fuss about it.

Huaisang’svisceral hatred of the head editor of the school paper is the best kept secretin the school but on god Huaisang’s connections are better than that JinGuangyao asshole’s and he’s going to take him down before graduation.

FIVE

Halfwaythrough the school year, Wei Wuxian gets in a car wreck and the way Lan Wangjireacts to being the first number the paramedics find in Wuxian’s phone is informative.  It’s taken five and a half years, four brokenribs, a punctured lung, a concussion, and a spirited yelling sessionfrom Jiang Cheng, among other things, but Wei Wuxian has finally managed to geta clue.

Anda boyfriend.

Nowall they need to do is resolve Huaisang’s vendetta, figure out how the hell afirst year like Xue Yang managed to so comprehensively destroy ex-teacher XiaoXingchen’s reputation, and try and make it to Wen Qing’s graduation on time,and they’re golden.

[bssaz97]

Meeting Xing and Citrine! Part 1

- Rose Household -

Ruby sips on her hot chocolate while her beautiful children and Sister eat their breakfast while sitting with her in their dining room table. Rowan was eating a plate of scrambled eggs and a piece of toast that was smothered in ketchup. Summer sat down besides her twin brother, eating her own scrambled eggs that were drenched in ketchup and a perfectly edible buttered toast. But they both would always drink a glass of milk, something they both could compromise on. Yang had once said that her children had inherited her strange appetite but she thinks she was exaggerating.

Everything about today was going about how it normally would go. Then out of nowhere, a small white envelope appeared and was descending down to the middle of the table. Once it touched down on the table Ruby took hold of the letter and on the front side it read:

“From Bssaz ^U^

The Library

To Rose Xiao-Long Family

Patch Island”

Ruby: “What is that man up to now?”

Summer: “Who’s the letter from Mom?”

Rowan: “Is it from Bssaz?” *leaning forward*

Ruby: “Looks that way, he send us a letter by the looks of it.” *pulls at the seal, opening the envelope*

Rowan: “That’s cool. You think he wants us to do another asking poll? Wait, what if he wants to go on a treasure hunt or something! Or maybe-!”

Yang: “Or maybe we can wait to see what the letter has to say before jumping to any conclusions.” *she said as she ruffled her nephew’s hair*

Ruby: *opens letter* “Lets see. ‘Ahem!’”

Dear Ruby and Yang,

I wanted to write this letter to inform you that I have made arrangements with a friend of mine to have your children go visit your little brother from a alternate universe. In exchange, he agreed to let his universe’s version of you and Yang’s children come visit your lovely home.....

Basically I need to borrow your kids for a few. Thanks!

Sincerely, Bssaz ^U^

Ruby: Wait what?

*ZWOOM!*

[Two portals appeared above both Rowan and Summer and suddenly as it appeared it started teleporting them away]

Rowan: “Whoa!” *let out as he was pulled upwards*

Summer: “But I’m not done eating yeeeet!!...” *she cried as she was pulled up as well*

*WHOOM!*

Ruby: “MY BABIES!!” *She cried out in panic*

Yang: “WHAT THE HELL?!” *she raised out of her chair*

After a moment of reflecting of what had just occurred, they take a moment to reevaluate the situation and then exhale in frustration. They knew that the strange being known only as “Bssaz” was a bit of a nutcase so they could only hope that Ruby’s children are safe and sound. Then both sisters perked you when she remembered something said in the letter.

Ruby: “Wait, did he say our little brother?” *she asked confusingly*

Yang: “Yeah and something about me having a kid?”

They both looked to reread and examine cafefully the message on the letter. What they could gather was that they had another sibling and different children from this other being’s universe. However they find there’s a message on the back of the letter for them to read.

P.S. Sorry if I gave you and Yang a bit of a scare. So in the hope of alleviate your worries, the children are safe and in good care in my associate’s, Tanaka, universe. Also yes you two do have a brother there, in fact it’s a Faunus version of Zwei who was born from Summer a few years after Ruby was born. As for the children you will meet, they are Xing Xiao-Long (8-9) and Citrine Rose (4-5). Also when you meet them I would refrain from asking about Xing’s father if you can, it’s a sensitive subject. Well I hope the two of you will enjoy having the two of them over! Also if anyone asks just say they’re distant relatives ;).

Bye!

Yang: “Great, he couldn’t have said that in the beginning?” *she asked rhetorically*

Ruby: “Waut there’s something else.” *she says as new words appeared on the letter*

P.P.S. In hindsight that probably would’ve been best wouldn’t it. Oh well.

Yang: *rubs her temples* “...Gods are real and the one we got is a dumbass.”

Ruby: “So...when do you think the kids will arri-?”

*Knock! Knock! Knock!*

The sisters look at one another and then towards the door. After having a silent agreement, they both walked towards the door and opened it.

On the other side stood two little children, a boy with grey hair and lilac eyes who was holding the hand of a little girl who had blonde hair and silver eyes. The resemblance was immediately noticeable, save for the boy’s hair color but it did raise some questions in Yang’s mind.

Yang: *internally* (“Oh boy this is gonna be a confusing one.”)

Ruby: “Um, Hi there! You must be our new guests that we’ve been told about. It’s nice to meet you!” *she lowered herself to the ground, going instantly in to Mom mode*

Citrine: *whimper and hides behind Xing’s leg*

Xing: “Wow. You look...almost exactly like Aunt Ruby.” *the young boy stared in genuine amazement*

Ruby: “Xing right? I know this is...more than a little weird for you and Citrine here but I am happy to meet you two. I also hope that we can come to consider ourselves family to you as well.” *she smiles at her nephew from another world, offering her right hand to him*

Xing: *stares at her hand* “...Aren’t we technically family already though? You are still technically my aunt I don’t think going to a new universe changes that.”

Ruby: “Huh... I suppose you’re right. So would you two like to come in, I can make both of you some sandwiches if you’d like.” *she said with her motherly tone*

Citrine: “Um... Can I have mine with strawberries too, please?” *pokes her head out from behind Xing*

Ruby: “Of course sweetie, anything you’d like.”

Citrine looks at her Mommy’s look-alike, then she begins to smile. She looks up at her cousin tugs on his shirt.

Citrine: “Xing, you want sandwiches too?”

Xing: *shrugs* “Why not?”

Ruby: “Great! Please come in.” *offers her hand to the boy*

Xing: “Thanks, auntie.” *takes her hand with his prosthetic arm*

Yang: “OH MY GODS! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR ARM?!”

A/N: This here is a special collab between me and @tanakaclinkbeard that’s been in the making for the while. Basically it has our RWBY Kids visit our individual AUs where they’ll meet different versions of their family. I got both Citrine and Xing, so that means Rowan and Summer are over at Tanaka’s AU.

Will they be ok? Probably.

Craziness inbound? Guaranteed.

[tigereyes45]

RWBY request: Blacksun leaves Ruby to babysit for them, but discover that she brought Zwei with her. Blake’s less than enthused to find the Barking Bane of Beacon snuggled up with her baby. Ruby and Sun just think it’s cute!

Here’s your requests anon! Please no hate because of the ship everyone! This was a request and I’m currently still accepting them. I’ll write for almost any ship since I enjoy most of the ones in the fandom. So if you don’t enjoy Blacksun feel free to request something else!  (Or you know just avoid this post.) I am still accepting them at the moment! 

Ao3 link is here: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tigereyes45

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It was well past eleven am when Ruby finally arrives. Anxiously Blake had been pacing around Melanie's playpen for the last hour. Sun watched her go again and again around the fenced-in area from his spot on the couch. They had gotten lunch reservations at a new restaurant in town. Not only was it difficult finding any stores near them, but ever since they moved to Patch to be closer to the rest of the team it was hard to get any time to themselves. A fact that had gotten worst with her taking some time away from hunting. Midday was really the only time of the day Blake could stand to be away from Melanie for a few hours. Ever since little Melanie finally recovered from that persistent fever. It's been two months. Yet Blake was still so fiercely protective. This lunch was just as likely to be canceled as Ruby was to show up. Neither thought helped to keep Sun from bouncing his legs.

Melanie played blissfully unaware that anything was wrong. Her playpen area took up the back half of the living room. All the way from the glass back door, ending right between the black couch and white loveseat. Sun smiled. He had always been better at hiding his nerves. Though when he couldn't they were far more expressive on his face then Blake's.

When the bell rang Blake's feet finally stopped. His legs freeze. Before either parent could make it to the door, Ruby lets herself in. She greets them. Her signature nervous smile pinned to her face. The twenty-six-year-old was sweating profusely. Black bangs hang down over the right side of her face. The red-streaked strands swept off to the sides of her messy head. Clearly she had used her semblance more than once on the way over.

"What happened?" Blake rounds on her team leader almost as quickly as she had stopped mid-step. Ruby throws her hands up.

"Nothing. Nothing happened. Your living room looks great Blake. I, uh," long black hair falls in front of silver eyes. The perfect camouflage as the younger woman searches the room. Eventually, her grip tightens around the bag she brought along. "I made cookies!"

Scrambling, Ruby digs through her bag. Deep down, under the diapers, wipes, the bottles, and extra pack of formula she frees a bag of squished chocolate chip cookies. Blake frowns. Her black ears fold flat against her head. Nose twitching, her amber eyes stop narrowing.

"You overslept. Again."

"Now now Blake. I promised you I would set my alarms. And I did. Ergo I didn't oversleep. I lost track of time cooking," the shorter woman shoves the bag into Sun's hands. "the cookies. You'd be surprised how long this new recipe takes." With a quick push, Ruby is out from between Blake and the door. The Faunus barely gets a sigh out. Sun's hands gently knead the back of her shoulders. A soft smile and Ruby knows she's gotten away with her obvious lie this time.

"Ru! Ru!" Melanie's short, dark black curls cling to her face. Her skin was already becoming darker like her father's. Though not as dark as her long black tail. Sun insists it looks like his, but Blake seemed to believe it resembles a cat's more. Long and slender it sways back and forth with excitement as she sees Ruby. Small, fat hands grab at the air. With determination, they go again and again. Every hand just trying to pulls the space between them shorter. She was about to Ruby's knee when standing straight up. That had to be about three inches since her last visit. A few inches within a couple of weeks, was that normal? The huntress resigns to asking her father later. She dreads the thought that this baby girl would be yet another person taller than herself.

She pulls her long scarlet cloak off. It swishes past Melanie, like the curtains do when she plays in them. The three-year-old giggles. Red encircles the young Belladonna. The long fabric swallows the baby girl up whole. The outline of hands pats against the cloth a few times. Ruby smiles down at her goddaughter from the hole of the hood.

"Ruby you're gonna make her dizzy."

"Oh, sorry Blake." The shorter woman spins the cloak up and into a ball. Melanie's laughter stops. She looks around confused. Her big blue eyes narrow in on Ruby's hands. They stay trained there. Nothing could make them waiver from their target. Not even her parents picking her up and kissing her chubby cheeks goodbye could move them. They were like a pair of blue bullets, focused, and moving forward before Ruby had a chance to pull the cloak away. She all but hands it back to the toddler as she leans out of her parent's grasp, right at Ruby.

"Gotcha!" The twenty-six-year-old babysit did indeed have her. Though she also had the ire of her mother. Honestly, there were a lot of new expressions Ruby was starting to see from Blake. A whole array she had never used in the field before. The leader couldn't help but wonder if those were a part of the changes her dad had warned her of.

"Just be careful." Exhaustion. That was a voice of pure fatigue. Yang's tired voice was usually grouchier. So in a way, Ruby was lucky. Just not as lucky as she would have been if she hadn't broken her alarm yesterday.

"I'm always careful!" Well, she always tried to be. It was pretty much the same thing. No point in crossing hairs over the small stuff now.

"Thanks Rubes." Sun squeezes Blake's shoulders. "We really appreciate this. Our reservation starts soon though so we should really be going." That last part was more for Blake then her. Nodding gingerly Ruby shifts Melanie out of her arms and onto her hip.

"You guys go. Have fun. I've got this!" Ruby flexes her free arm. Melanie waves her arms wildly. Ruby holds her smile even as they hit her shoulder. Still, that anxious look never left Blake. Not even as they walked out the door. She casts one last look back before Sun shuts the door. Running over to the window Ruby watches them leave. Melanie waves goodbye as her parents walk off.

Blake's whole demeanor changes as they walk away. Slowly and visibly the tenseness in her shoulders shrinks. She stands taller. Her smile isn't nervous. With every step away she looks more like she had before Melanie had gotten sick. Happy. Not afraid of anything. Ruby holds Melanie closer to her. Just a few months ago they weren't sure if she would recover. What had started out as just a fever became so much worst, so quickly. Blake stopped going out on missions. Sun started selling his keepsakes from old missions. Anything to save up enough if for the travel. Their doctor insisted it would pass, but Ruby had seen it. She looked so sick. It looked like she had jaundice the way her skin had shifted to yellowish tints. All her energy was gone constantly, and it was hard for anyone to get her to eat.

They had all been so scared that Ruby can't really hold all this newfound protectiveness against Blake. Even if everyone thought it was overkill, they understood. Really the rest of team RWBY and SSUN was shocked that Sun wasn't also acting somewhat overprotective as well. He shrugged off those months of fear and nervousness as if it were nothing.

'She's better now!' He insists anytime someone tries to bring it up. He was right. She was better now, but there's something in the way he was so easily able to blow everyone off. In a matter of days, he had effectively cut ties with everyone. Not in his usual way of going off without saying anything either. He wasn't talking to anyone. Wasn't reaching out and couldn't be reached. When they came around either Sun had Melanie in his arms or the two of them couldn't be found. Blake knew where they would go, but the family never told anyone.

'He needs some space. Melanie's safe and with him.' She assured Yang and herself once when they had brought some leftovers by.

"Ru!" Ruby's head shoots down. Melanie was squirming in her arms. Her eyes were squeezed shut as she pushes on Ruby's side. "Let go!" The huntress realizes that she had been squishing the young girl against her.

"Ah, Aunt Ruby is sorry Melanie. She didn't realize." Quickly she sets her down. Kneeling on one knee Ruby keeps her hands out. They hover a few inches away from either side of Melanie. Ready to catch her if the toddler starts to fall again. She had been walking for two years now. Her clumsiness wouldn't know it though. She fell on her butt just as often as she actually stands. Maybe clumsiness was a learned trait? It certainly felt like Melanie shared a lot of traits with Ruby. They both had dark black hair. Though Melanie's was curly like her father, and a shade closer to her mother's. They were both really clumsy, and-

" 's fine Ru. We ate cookies?"

Ruby laughs. Gently she pokes Melanie's cheeks. "Yes, we can eat the cookies now." Ruby lets Melanie follow her over towards the table Blake had set her bag on. The cookies sit beside it in their open bag.

"Wanna know what the best thing about Aunt Ruby's cookies are?"

"Wat?" She screams the word as if that was the only way she could get an answer. Melanie was going to be loud like her dad. No doubt about it.

"There's always more!" Ruby cheers pulling out a full jar. It's heavier then it had been earlier. Suspicious she looks down to see the jar had no cookies. In fact it was filled with black fur. Strands of white hair stand out here and there. Of course he couldn't have just let her leave. Zwei has found quite a knack for following her out of the house lately. Blake was going to be pissed. Letting out a heavy sigh, Ruby pops the top off the jar. There's the sound of scrapping nails against glass. Then just like that, Zwei pushes himself free. With a loud pop, his head falls out of the jar.

Somehow Melanie manages to catch the old dog. Right in her arms, he landed. The two of them go down together. Melanie's hands never letting go of Zwei. His cheerful yip sounds raspy. Ruby frowns. She hadn't brought his medication with her. At least Blake and Sun would only be gone for a couple of hours. That wasn't too long, and she could just give it to him after.

As soon as he was in her hands Melanie was running off with him. Practically hopping back onto her feet as she holds him closer to her. Zwei yips cheerfully. The two dash through the living room cheering and barking. Ruby rushes after them. Mustering all her speed the dignified huntress was turned into a storm of limbs. Her hands and feet darting every which way after the tornado that was Melanie with Zwei.

It was a constant battle, keeping the house clean after the two of them. Suddenly Ruby could recall every reason she had for not bringing Zwei over anymore. Blake's disdain for the dog being the lowest on the list after this current shit show. It takes the better half of two hours before the dastardly dup was done. Their chaotic messy energy began to die down when Melanie tripped over Zwei. From there all their teamwork only went downhill. A plane crashing and burning right into Ruby's arms. They land on the couch tired and ready for a nap. Instinctually Melanie reaches out for Zwei. She finds the dog resting next to her. Of course, she pulls him closer.

It was an adorable sight! Melanie's tail curls around Zwei's stomach. The old dog wiggles closer her chest. He was so comfortable on his back with Melanie's arms tucked under his head and around his chest beside her tail. She coos a little as her beautiful blue eyes slowly drift close. The pair of them were just so cute and warm Ruby couldn't help herself but curl up on the couch with them. Carefully she adjusts her shoulder under her head and gently lifts Melanie's head up to rest on her wrist. Zwei whines. He quickly quiets down as he realizing it was just Ruby joining them for a nap. It didn't take long for the three to all drift off.

Ruby's peaceful dreams were interrupted by a soft touch. A nudge that grew intensity the longer she kept her eyes closed. Begrudgingly the red-clad woman opens her eyes. The soft hand that had been shaking her was indeed one she knew. Blake's ears were standing at attention. Turned slightly towards the two small bodies Ruby could feel against her side. Sunlight filters in from a window somewhere in the room. They must've finished lunch already.

"Oh hey, Blake. How was lunch?"

"It was great! Thanks Ruby!" Sun answers in a hushed whisper from somewhere towards her left.

"It was nice. Thank you for babysitting, but Ruby," Blake stops and looks at the two still sleeping forms. "What is he doing here?"

"Huh?" Slowly Ruby pulls her arm free from under Melanie's head. He? Rubbing at her eyes she sits up. There, sound asleep on his back was Zwei. "Ah him. He snuck into my cookie jar."

"And you couldn't send him home?" Blake asks. Ruby notices that she was hovering above her daughter, but the rest of her body was leaning away. The awkward pose an obvious attempt to try and keep some distance between her and Zwei.

"Blake my house is a few miles away from here. I'm not making him do that trip on his own. He's old now." She pokes his little black nose that now had little white spots freckled on it. "He can't even keep up with Melanie let alone try and run home alone."

"Fine. Fine. Can you take him home then?" Blake asks taking a few steps back.

"Yeah sure. Though I think Sun might be right. Melanie doesn't have any problems with Zwei. Maybe she's a monkey faunus."

"Thanks Ruby, but Blake doesn't like Zwei because she's a cat. She's just a weirdo." Sun adds crossing his arms over his chest. Blake shoots him a glare. but her ears fold down. Obviously she was more insulted by the joke then actually bothered.

Time to change the subject. "Aw they look cute together! All snuggled up like that." Ruby grabs her left wrist. "I want to pinch them! Must. Fight. The. Urge." She makes a show of her hand inching forward before being pulled back with every word. "Just. Sooooo cute."

Blake rounds on her with a glare. "You wake Melanie up and I'll ask Weiss to babysit from now on."

Ruby gasps. She holds her hands over her chest as if Blake had just broken her heart. "You wouldn't dare!"

Blake just gives her a look that screams, 'try me'. Something Ruby honestly was too tired to do now. Dejected Ruby sticks her tongue out in one last act of defiance. Sun smiles from over Blake's shoulder. He winks and holds up his scroll. A picture of Zwei and Melanie cuddling fills the screen. Ruby mouths, 'send me that'. Sun nods and hides his scroll as Blake turns around. The monkey faunus smiles innocently as she looks him over.

"Well I doubt I can grab him without waking her up." Ruby mentions, rocking back and forth on her tiptoes. Blake frowns as she looks back at the two. Melanie's tail was wrapped so tightly around Zwei, that it probably would be near impossible. Just another time she wishes she could make her shadows take the forms of others as well as herself. If she could then it wouldn't even be a problem.

"Might as well let them finish sleeping." Sun suggests shrugging. Ruby watches him drops his scroll into his front pocket. They share their sly smiles. Blake shivers at the thought of letting Zwei stay sleeping on her couch. "Come on Rubes. Have you seen the latest episodes of Arena Battles?"

"Nope!"

Sun loops an arm around Blake's waist. "Let them sleep. Ruby can take Zwei as soon as Melanie's naps over."

"Fine."

"Great! Rubes the remote is on the other side of the couch." He pulls Blake along with him. The two fall into the white loveseat together. Blake tucks her arms under Sun's arms. He buries his legs under her's. It was adorable, and gross. Adorably gross.

"Quit staring and start the show Ruby."

"I am! I was just thinking." She rolls her eyes. It was nice seeing the two comfortable around each other again. Maybe things could return to something resembling normal. Carefully Ruby sits on the couch next to the sleeping duo. There was never any telling with the future. She pushes her back deeper within the cushions. At least they could all enjoy this right now.

[chasing-rwby]

So I’ve seen a lot around this theory

It’s “wild”

It’s “insane”

It’s “not plausible”

It’s “shit”

Well let me tell you

If you pay attention. All above claims and others are discredited. Because there is so so so so so so so so so SO S O much evidence backing up the QROW IS RUBY’s dad theory. If you want I can give you the full run down as to the HOW and the WHY this theory is entirely plausible and very much likely the case.

Want a reason? One of many? - THE FUCKING DESIGN OF THE CHARACTERS IN THE SHOW AS A WHOLE - all characters share resemblance, color scheme and personality to BOTH parents. Ruby however shares none of these with Tai, and what she does share is arguably Nurture over Nature. And why would Ruby look solely like Summer when no other character looks solely like ONE of their parents? Ruby doesn’t even share physical appearance with Yang her sister when we know siblings look most alike in the RWBYverse.

There’s many more reasons as to the plausibility of this theory and I’d be happy to share

But big point to the biggest argument- “it was literally discredited by RT”

Well they can’t exactly go “well done, you cracked it” if this is a planned plot point to the show! And yes, I like to think this is Ruby’s subplot rather than romance. Because I think there’s two sides to the coin - romance and family; Weiss clearly has a family subplot, Yang and blake have a romance subplot (BMBLB, YAY, but BlackSun for endgame, the signs are all there, I’m sorry)

And I know a lot of people ship Ruby and Oscar

But let’s not forget OZPIN is living in his head and was her TEACHER making it rather YIKES. But also there’s a likelihood Oz and Oscar already became one person - something was clearly up towards the end of V7 with Oscar, I’m sorry

But Ruby is the one character who doesn’t need a romance subplot given her entire family based subplot with Summer and all that Jazz

So yes. The QROW IS RUBY’s FATHER theory has a rather solid grounding to it. If you think otherwise you’re blind.

[girllovescomic]

Winter Begonia Episode 6 recap

One of my favorite episode, it is in my eyes when Cheng Fengtai (Er Ye) truly falls for our little singer, Shang Xirui.  He was already attracted to him, evidenced by the gaze, but this is what tips him over the line from infatuation to love. This is also an episode where you see how the opera lyrics are integral to the plot. 

We hear Er Ye’s internal thoughts as he watches the opera, engrossed in Shang Lao Ban’s interpretation of Yang Guifei. He tells that when one leaves the Palace for Eternal Youth (the name of the Opera), they can see their lives in the story or some similarities between them and the character, but for him it goes deeper.  He sees the helplessness and compromise he and his family had to make due to circumstances.  For him, he had to give up his literary dreams and return home (from Europe, I presume) to take the family business which had been in ruin. He had no idea what he was doing because he was young, having to deal with creditors taking away everything, their employees leaving them and his sister Meixin forced to marry the Commander Cao and leave the man she loved, so they can settle some debts.  Apparently, this was not enough, leading him to marry Fan Xian aka Er Nainai, who turns out had a lucrative career as a businesswoman that she was forced to becoming a housewife, confined inside the mansion walls to raise their children.  By the way, can we command the way Huang Xiaoming speaks English? He even speaks better than the white girl talking to him.  LOL. 

The play, or specifically the way SXR sings it exposes all the emotions he had pushed aside as he realize that in life you cannot always do what you want, that sometimes the hand of fate forces you to make choices that goes against your dreams, making you suffer silently as you bite your lips and trudge through life. Ooof, I felt that one to my core.  We go back to Shang Lao Ban singing what appears to be sad song. CFT is completely absorbed, to the point of tears as he resumes his narration.  

To him, Xirui’s Yang Guifei is unwilling to submit to fate, to kill herself because the courtiers ask her to, but freely choosing to sacrifice herself

In one of the most beautiful sequence that made me weep, we see SXR as Yang Guifei standing afar from CFT talking to each other, the white cloth falling on the floor.  She (talking about Yang Guifei) is reaching out to him, which makes him look around wondering if he is the one she wants. He tells her that it is her life, he can’t help her; she responds that she does not need his help, she just wants to look at her.  He laments that she did not need to die as long as she was willing to accept her status, but she responds what was she supposed to let go of. He replies that should have taken conformed to the hand of fate, like he did,  but to her that would have been meaningless. He tries to stop her from killing herself, but she replies that if she delays it more, she might start to regret it.  We go back to the present time and CFT is weeping, clearly affected.  Sigh, what a scene.  I am crying while typing this.  

SXR is doing his thing, marveling the audience, who are equally moved.  With everyone gone, CFT is alone in his VIP box, thinking of his mother, who left to pursue her dreams as her singer instead of being confined in her role as mother and wife.  CFT finally understands why his mother made that decision to go back to her love of the opera, as he walks dazed.  

SXR watches as CFT walks dazed to his house.  He is so struck, he doesn’t even see or hear anyone, not his wife nor his household manager.  The man is completely gone, his mind still on his vision of Yang Guifei. 

Again, we are privy to his thoughts and he tells us that SXR not only portrays Yang Guifei but embodies her, not simply acting her out, but being a living and breathing embodiment of the tragic concubine, like a reincarnation. OOOOF, this is poetry! As an aside, this scene was in the novel as well, although not as poetic.  He stands in the courtyard as snowfall as if in a dream-like state, stumbling through his house, much to the other’ consternation.  

Still in a daze, CFT is sitting and humming to himself.  Through a conversation between his wife and the annoying maid, it has been a half day he’s been in this position and that he has not gone to any of his social functions, discuss business or play mahjong, for the past couple of days, completely uninterested in anything.  The annoying maid of course has to run her mouth, claiming that at least Er Ye stays at home instead of being seduced by girls. I swear this girl has a one-track mind. He has been seduced, but not some women, but by an adorable opera singer who can lift his soul. Er Nainai responds that she doesn't care about this nonsense, she feels uneasy by this version of her husband. She clearly knows the annoying little maid can’t process such adult thinking and tells her so.  I like this side of Er Nainai. Meanwhile, Er Ye’s mind is still on the songs and may I say, Huang Xiaoming looks absolutely gorgeous in it.

He tries to replicate the experience, but none of the records he pick come close to the original.  Fan Lian is completely confused by his BIL’s reaction, wondering what he is looking for.  Like a lovestruck teenager who has discover her first pop idol, CFT confesses that he wants to hear Shang Xirui. Fanboy Fan Lian tells him that he has some of SXR records, and will lend it to him, but that is not what CFT is really looking for. 

Me, when I hear shitty house music

 He tells his BIL that when SXR is on stage he is a completely different person, as if he just walked out of book or an opera script.  Fan Lian tells him that he said something similar to SXR, “Body in the mortal realm, but spirit in the performance.” Ooof, I wished I could write something like that in my stories. He adds that of course, it’s a simplistic way to describe the singer’s performance, especially when taking into account his irascible personality and his nebulous past with his cousin.  But he adores the man’s talent, so he is able to ignore all that.  I completely understand bro.  I have a lot of celebrities that I enjoy their work, but dislike their personalities.  Sometimes you have to separate the art from the man/woman.  

CFT tells him that is not what he cares about, since he has no understanding of the art form, but he actually cares about the man’s spirit, which he finds special.  Well, someone is smitten. He finds it refined, rich and sensitive.  He is not only a performer who is amazing at what he does, but compare to him, everyone else are mere mortals.  This goes above Fan Lian’s head.  The look on CFT’s face says it all; this is a man who has fallen in love, so yeah, Fan Lian, you can’t understand what he is talking about or feeling. 

Dressed up in a fabulous attire and strutting his stuff, while his wife looks on, relieved that he is finally leaving the house, he goes out to find SXR.  Er Nainai tells Meixin that she used to be uneasy whenever Er Ye left the house, but now she is relieved that he is going out, as long as his heart is with his family. You might end up regretting those words.  

Meanwhile, SXR is facing another crisis as the opera singer who he was replacing while he was out sick as suddenly decided to come back, probably because he is jealous at the success our little divo is having.  Xiao Lai can’t believe this bullshit, especially since they are running out of place to perform.  

Waiting like a teenage boy for his crush, CFT is standing next to his car, when he spots Shang Lao Ban coming out of the theater with Xiao Lai.  He presses on the horn to get his crush’s attention and I swear this is the cutest thing ever.  SXR sends away Xiao Lai who does not seemed to happy that her boss is spending time with the businessman. Shang Lao Ban asks Er Ye how long he has been waiting in the cold instead of coming backstage. CFT looks at him like a man in love looks at his object of affection. I am so jealous of this fictional character! Seriously, he is practically gazing at the other man, who can only smile and asks where they are going.  Oh my, is this their first date? I squeal! He is taking him for an afternoon tea and actually wants to know what he would like to eat. Our little glutton tells him that he wants something sweet and opens the door to let him in.  I need to pause for a second, tis tew much. 

SXR is scarfing down on a chocolate cake and asks where Er Ye went after the show.  He wants to have his opinion about his performance, which CFT tells him it was really great. In other operas, Yang Guifei would be forced to die at Mawei Station, but SXR version sang about willingly giving her life for love, turning the damsel into a hero.  He was especially struck by one of the lyrics, which is the same lyrics SXR loves about the opera, brought to tears.  

CFT flashes a 1000 watt smile upon hearing that and tells him that his performance of Palace of Eternal Youth does not resemble other version of this opera and should be called something else, like the Legend of the Flourishing Tang Dynasty.  A little history background here.  Yang Guifei was Emperor Ming of Tang’s favored concubine, whom he stole from his own son.  Apparently he lavished her with gifts, built an expensive pavilion for her, neglecting his duties as an Emperor, so much so there was a rebellion.  Wanting to stop the rebellion, the courtiers forced the Emperor to demand Yang Guifei to be killed as they saw her and her family as the reason for the unrest.  Unlike the opera, she does not kill herself, but is killed by Gao Lishin and her body brought to the head of the rebellion as proof of her death.  However, the marks the slow decline of the dynasty..

SXR is confused by what CFT is saying, not grasping the meaning behind the title.  CFT explains that Palace of Eternal Youth is a love story between to high status people confined by their roles, that of an Emperor and his consort.  They have to abide to what his expected of them in their respective roles.  The play not only depicts this confinement, but also the rise and fall of a nation.  SXR version of the play since about a flourishing dynasty yet it is focus on a tragedy of sacrifice, which could be reflected in 1930s China before the horrors of the occupation and the valiant resistance from both communists and nationalists to oust the invaders. This goes above the uneducated SXR who explains to CFT that in the second act of the play, Yang Guifei had angered the Emperor in a fit of jealousy , but afterwards made up.  The reason for the disagreement was due to the fact the Emperor was enamored with another woman called JIang Caiping, feeling Yang Guifei sacrificed herself for no reason.  CFT sees a parallel between SXR situation with Mengping and his story.  SXR tells him that indeed he sees himself in the stories he sings. CFT tells him that he understands as he used to see that opera performers were similar to their characters, but when he saw SXR performed Yang Guifei, he was more than a mere embodiment but was the actual person, which makes SXR sees that CFT understands his performance in depth, and adds that he was using his soul to perform.  This gets CFT to smile, one that I bet even his wife never seen.  It is a naked smile what they shows his true emotion.  We are witnessing the connection of two souls here and it's a beautiful thing.  Once again, how this past censorship is beyond me. 

Look at this smile!

Meanwhile the troupe is waiting.  I have a feeling Xiao Lai told the troupe their leader had left with Er Ye.  As soon as the duo appears, everyone stands up in attention.  SXR shouts to Xiao Lai to warm up some wine, while Shi Jiu is trying her best to put her flirt on. Oh sis, you are wasting your time.  The man is not interested. 

She comments that finally her boss is seeing the light, associating himself with Commander Cao’s BIL is the next best thing than getting the actual man to dispel the rumors and help them out of their desperate situation. The duo chat some more, over wine, talking about the difference between Western Opera and Eastern Opera performers, especially the castrato. They talk about skills needed to be a good singer. They get drunk, so much so that SXR and are hilarious.  

SXR is in his first costume he ever used when performing and despite being average compared to now, he considers it his most prized one; it is his armor, his guts.  I have to say it is a beautiful piece, showcasing the meticulous work put in Eastern embroidery and their use of pearls.  

CFT reveals that he wrote a story when he was in school abroad.  SXR says he is not surprised since he can see that Er Ye understands the art on a deeper level and why they are connecting.  CFT tells him of his story, which is about a woman who eloped with a man she loved, but who abandoned.  While she waited at home, she had many lovers, who came and gone, until the woman finally realize that she didn’t need these men in her life.  They were just a passing folly, not dependable to ensure her happiness and that by controlling her fate, she can do so.  She went on to open her own weaving shop, taking in widows and orphans and went on to have great success, so much so, she was asked by the Empress to make her clothes.  Damn, that is a freaking good story! They laugh and SXR thinks the morale of the story is that for a woman to control her fate, she needs money. Hmm.. aren’t we all? Shang Lao Ban reminds might be too progressive for Beijing Opera; instead the protagonist would be killed.  CFT tells him that stories transcends culture or gender which seems to make SXR teary.  As a performer, he is seen as the dregs of Chinese society, lower than a prostitute, despite the fame. I bet he wished to live in a world that would dispense of this hierarchical structure and see his profession respected by those in higher status.  He tells CFT that he would love to play this type of woman, and I am hoping this is a hint of collaboration between the two.  I actually would love to see him play this kind of character.

The troupe is eavesdropping, hoping their leader would hit up CFT’s wallet to help them out when Lao Ge comes in looking for his boss.  They push him out, claiming Cheng Er Ye is not inside.  Shi Jiu says they should keep anyone from interrupting since it might be their only opportunity; Dashen replies that it depends on their leader’s abilities to charm beg Cheng Er Ye for help.  

Meanwhile, the duo is still discussing opera.  Er Ye does not understand that for the sake of expediency, why not only wear a mask like the Japanese kabuki performers do, which would save time on makeup.  This appears to make SXR laugh hard.  He tells Er Ye that it is not the same thing because you will not be able to see the facial expression, which are an integral part of the opera.  Wearing a mask is like being a ghost on stage, a bit like dubbed voices take away the essence of the emotions conveyed by the actors (any C drama fans would understand).  

They drink again and SXR reveals this has been the happiest day since he came to Beijing.  He never expected to become kindred spirits with Commander Cao’s BIL.  CFT ponders about the title, which constrains me like the rest of his life.  But SXR sees through the facade of a man who seems powerful and wealthy, like the fictional character, General Gao Yaonei who took Lin Chong’s wife, but turns out to be a good person, while CFT also had the wrong picture of Shang Lao Ban as an arrogant prima donna on the cray cray side, but is actually a good person as well.  Shang Lao Ban is asleep and he looks so cute.  The troupe is still standing at the door when a drunk Cheng Er Ye stumbles out.  The troupe does not want to let him go back home and convince him to stay by claiming their leader would beat him up if he leaves without saying goodbye.  Lol these sneaky mofos. It actually succeed and Cheng Er Ye returns to sleep with our adorable Shang Lao Ban.  They have no idea they are helping the ship sail.  

Meanwhile, the weasel family(Jiang father and son) are discussing SXR financial problems and the fact he had to pawn his costume to pay the rent. They are jubilating at the difficulties Shuiyin troupe is facing, especially since they are a big one and there are bound to have problems as morale starts to get low and the funds disappears. With losing his spot at the theater and not being shrewd, he will have problems raising money, leading to his own people turning against him.  Its the next day and the member wants to know how his chat with Cheng Er Ye went, in the hope they got themselves a rich sponsor.  SXR is like “the hell are you talking about? What difficulties?” Then it dawns on him what they are asking and that angers him.  He lets them know that his “friendship" with Er Ye is on a different level, one of being kindred spirits.  He wouldn’t dare use him for money. 

They grumble until CFT appears; he looks like he didn’t sleep on a cushy mattress like he has at home.  CFT asks if SXR heard some rumbling noises last night and SXR asks if it hail last night.  Judging from his face, he knows where this noise came from and Dashen confirms it was loud snoring. LOL.  SXR is obfuscated, claiming he never snores. Xiao Lai brings out the rinse and CFT is also given one.  As he is about to rinse his mouth, SXR breaks out in a voice exercise that makes CFT gulped the rinse.  LOL  There’s a competition between him and one of the merchant selling fried pancake.  There’s a knock on the door and the merchant as left a piece of fried dough for Shang Lao Ban, claiming it as gift.  He splits it and gives a piece to CFT, who can’t turn it down, but you can tell has no interest in putting this commoner’s food in his stomach.  So boogie. While CFT struggles to eat the dough, SXR invites to take him somewhere fun, but the troupe goad Xiao Lai to remind SXR they have to clean out the backstage of the opera house, hoping CFT would hear about their troubles.  SXR is having none of that, sending some of them to clean out their stuff.  He clearly does not want to ask money from CFT and I can’t blame him.  Money has a way to create unease and inequality, especially in a budding relationship/friendship.  Once you owe someone money, it causes problem, especially when you have to pay it back.  SXR leaves with CFT in tow, who still has not taken a bite of the fried dough, leaving it behind for the others. The way he drops the pancake and wipes his hand is so boogie, I cannot.

They walk through a street where many circus-like performers are showing their talent. They are walking so closely to each other already, le sigh. The area is called Tianqiao and someone in the Viki comments stated this is the closest to the amusement park date trope so prevalent in Asian dramas, and I couldn’t agree more. CFT compares it to the Shanghai’s Great World Amusement Park, confirming the statement above.  It is apparently an entertainment and amusement arcade, which opened back in 1917.  Shang Lao Ban reveals that he once sang there and despite the place having a roof which would carry his voice better, he prefers the open air of Tianqiao.  Clearly not full from the friend pancake, he goes and buys persimmon cake.  Geez where does the food go?! He offers one to Er Ye who, of course, turns it down. 

Look how close they are walking!!!

 Unbeknown to him, he is the victim of a pickpocket.  Trying to get his money to buy cigarette (hmm... wait, this is far more unhealthy than the greasy food Shang Lao Ban is offering you bro!), he realizes what happened.  Our kung fu penguin goes after the thief and kicks ass.  Seriously, he is amazing.  CFT looks like he is enjoying seeing his crush fighting skill, especially he is far more proficient with a gun than his fists. He gets the money back and tells the thief to leave.  CFT asks why he didn’t take the thief to the cops, but SXR tells him the way of the street is that if a thief got his ass kicked, that is sufficient punishment. CFT asks about his kung fu skills, saying it is is good looking (Ohhh); SXR reveals it is a skill that has been passed down from his father, the Shang Family Rod, a type of martial arts that is different from the fake fighting on stage that can do real damage.  CFT comments that SXR must have been beaten a lot when he was a child, which the singer admits.  If you seen Farewell My Concubine, you know the abuse these kids go through to become performers.  It is gross.  SXR invites CFT to continue with their walk and this is where it ends.

Ooof, this episode was heavy in emotion and exposition. I truly think this is where the infatuation Cheng Fengtai had developed for our little divo turns into love and where Shang Xirui gets to see the shrewd businessman has someone who possesses a similar artistic passion who had to give it up for circumstances out of his control.   He is like the real Yang Guifei who was forced to accept her fate and be killed by Gao Lishi, whereas Shang Xirui of the opera who chose to sacrifice herself for her love, giving himself fully to his passion. We are also seeing how much the troupe is suffering because of the rumored feud with Commander Cao, which sets up lots of conflicts that will set up the end of our act 1 and push our protagonists to make a decision that will forever change their lives. 

[itsclydebitches]

Yang is the heart anon again. just combine with last ask say didn't Yang somewhat raise Ruby in the absence of Summer? and thus had well developed motherly instincts? so why the hell didn't those kick in when a little boy barely a year younger than Ruby before she joined Beacon is crying his balls out, collapsed in the snow, and everyone is ganging up on them. that is what Older Siblings are supposed to do yes? sheesh Older Siblings just ditching you? Whitley and Oscar have some common Grounds!

(I, quite obviously, did not end up combining the asks because my inbox is an absolute mess lol). 

I've got complicated feelings about the whole "Yang was forced to raise Ruby" thing. Because, like so much in RWBY, it was tossed out with--from what I recall--very little info and has not been brought up since. Some fans have interpreted Yang's admission as, "Omg she raised Ruby almost entirely by herself" which then fed into the "Tai is a horrible father” narrative. I've always subscribed more to the interpretation of, "As an elder sibling Yang probably did things to help out, obviously is incredibly protective of Ruby, watched her father grapple with depression thereby learning at a young age that parents aren't perfect... and that all translates into her head as 'I raised her.'" What we see though is that Tai is an incredibly devoted father who was very capable of supporting Yang when she needed it. We see that although the girls were able to sneak off (which is possible in ANY family) Qrow was immediately on their heels and ready to save them, undermining the assumption that they were just fending for themselves their entire childhood. The girls obviously had to work through their mother's death, but they never struck me as kids who were also working through an absent/neglectful father, not given their good socialization (going to great huntsmen schools), excitement over receiving mail/Zwei from Tai, and the fact that, as said, this is never again mentioned. You can absolutely make the case that a bad family dynamic can and often does exist despite schooling, gifts, etc. but we’ve never seen the girls reacting or confronting Tai in a way that speaks to that childhood hardship. It could just be that RWBY is bad at depicting that, but Yang's talk with Blake, in the context of the whole show, feels more like her talking about one particularly difficult time that was colored by the intense emotion of childhood, rather than describing the Rose-Xiao-Long norm. 

But anyway, that's a side discussion. The real point---why doesn't older sibling Yang extend any sympathy towards others, particularly when those others look young even if, in Ozpin's case, they're technically not---is a good one. Which just circles back to the issue of the writing not considering who these characters are and how their experiences should be impacting their reactions. Just like Blake should understand Ozpin as an abuse survivor, Yang should feel something for a kid close to Ruby's age struggling through all this; just like Yang should have shown something resembling gratitude for how Ironwood has supported her (perhaps complicated by her suspicions of him), Weiss should be working through equally complicated feelings towards Whitley after her mom's request. Characters have been uniform in their reactions lately, which is disappointing given the breadth of experiences they've had to draw from, and the lack of that nuance means that later attempts fall really flat imo. I can’t be excited over Yang casually leaning an arm on Oscar in Volume 7 when weeks (or even just days) ago in-world she was happy to use him as an emotional punching bag and didn’t care enough to apologize. Or even just demonstrate better behavior later on, such as asking if he’s okay after Jaune attacks him rather than the other way around. The sibling, buddy-buddy nature of Volume 7 (leaning on Oscar, training with Oscar, going to the movies with Oscar) is great on paper and I’m glad large swaths of the fandom really enjoyed it, but it always made me somewhat uncomfortable. Just because it doesn’t feel like those moments were earned. Not after the treatment in Volume 6 and Ozpin’s situation still looming over them. Is Yang going to go back to screaming at them the second she realizes Ozpin is back? That question colors all the cutesy moments for me and Oscar has been treated badly enough since his introduction that these bonding moments, while things I do want, need to come after the group has worked through those previous difficulties. Otherwise it just reads as, “Ah... Oscar is part of the group only after he’s agreed to support them 100% at the Argus house, only while Ozpin is keeping quiet, and only so long as he doesn’t push against Ruby’s decision to lie to Ironwood. There seem to be lot of requirements for him to ‘earn’ not being attacked verbally or physically anymore, let alone actually being included into their team.” 

[robiness]

Qrow was meant to be a punching bag (theory, V7CH12 spoilers)

tw: depression, one brief mention of suicide at the very end

Many are upset about the literal and narrative butchering of two beloved characters in RWBY V7E12. The initial and probably most popular argument against what happened is that it doesn’t make sense, why would these characters do what they did. And honestly, that reasonable reaction to the injustice was mine, too.

But now that I’ve “calmed down”, meaning I’m finally not in a whirlwind of blind rage, indignation, and devastation, I started thinking about “Why did they do that?” with some level of depth. 

The answer I found is still unjust and disgusting, but at least it fell in line with something resembling logic.

Qrow enthusiasts have been complaining about his endless heartbreak. Why can’t be be happy for once? What’s the whole point in his recovery arc this volume if they’ll just scrap it? It’s like they put random tragedies on a dart board and the writers just started throwing.

Hear me out - they meant all of this. Every instance Qrow suffered is intended. They didn’t throw away his recovery arc because he was never meant to recover. 

I think that they’re going to make him an antagonist at worst, or a man driven to the ultimate tragedy at best. 

At this point, you’re probably like. What. Lol no. You’re as silly as the writers are.

But again, let me explain. I used to have that mindset of Qrow always being best but sad boy. A hero who just needs a chance. 

There was NO way this man will ever go dark:

he probably thinks he lost summer to salem

his nieces are actively hunted by salem and her forces, and RWBY for sure ain’t changing sides 

he’s always believed in the principles he has, and he’s always applied them. he’s a good Huntsman who cares, and knows his path 

he believes in ruby’s determination and ability to probs save the world

But that’s the thing.

He’s ALWAYS stuck by the principles he learned from Ozpin. Betrayal after betrayal, he was crushed but managed to somehow bounce back. 

This volume, he was on a good track. A good mind space. His kids are great, but then he met an equal - someone with literal plot armor against his Semblance. Misfortune is the reason why he stays away from the people he loves, why he blames himself for a lot of things, why he feels like baggage. 

A person his age who could be a friend, or more. Huntsman of equal ability and maturity.

Queerbaiting aside (I’m sorry I ever used that phrase, I hate them too), Clover was a possibility. Here was a potential team partner, friend, lover, whatever, but the point is he was finally free to explore what a developing relationship is like because here’s a guy who kinda got him, and probably won’t be harmed by staying close for an extended period of time. 

I think the chemistry in their fights solidified this too. Clover was someone who didn’t get in trouble by being at his side (except the first time in the mines, and Clover took it in stride and still succeeded).

Even better, Clover actually vocalizes that hey, it’s okay.

He doesn’t dismiss Qrow’s semblance, but he encourages Qrow to let go of the guilt a bit, that he’s worth more than his bad luck, and can continue to work around it. 

Qrow was nowhere near full recovery, but he was definitely on the way with a bit of Clover’s help. Later, my precious man finally smiles for real... not his smirk or sad smiles to Ruby. He’s smiling for the enjoyment of the moment and things are looking up!

(slightly sorry for the gif below)

(V7CH12 gifs would be appropriate from here on, but I am NOT doing that to myself)

So what’s the point, Robiness? We all know how THAT story goes. Qrow gets trauma because it’s shown to him, yet again, that his Semblance fucks up the good things, that even someone with the most potential to be safe ISN’T. Not around him. 

The whole crash was OOC, rushed and bad writing, whatever. But why did it happen? 

Qrow is basically the poster boy for mental health in this show. He’s depressed, and to him AND to the outside world, he’s right in thinking he’s only going to hurt people. He’s been proven right, many times, that he is bad luck.

What’s different this time?

He didn’t have hope, the other times he was let down. He had hope for humanity, yes, and that he can somehow contribute to saving it.

But he’s never had hope for himself, that he could be more than his Semblance. Clover’s character gave that to him. He was already trying to quit drinking, but that was for Ruby and the other kids, and by extension their mission, but not for himself.

When CRWBY killed that hope, it killed anything inside of Qrow that could’ve thought that he could be a hero. Or even simply better than he was before.

He’s crushed, his mind is clouded. As Clover died, he wanted to kill Tyrian, then he wanted James to fall. The legal type of justice wouldn’t be enough to assuage his need for vengeance. 

And he’s alone. Perhaps about to be arrested, I don’t know. But every other time he’s been crushed, he had the kids around to divert the attention even a little bit. But this time, there’s no one to help him process and move past this. No positivity from Ruby, no scolding from Yang to keep it together. No one.

If you’ve ever had mental illnesses, you could probably imagine being alone in that fragile state of mind. 

And you know who’s the most likely to know where the heck he is and that he’s going through something? His sister, Raven, because of her Semblance. 

Details have been important in how RWBY is told to the audience (though they retract when convenient lol). Sometimes, this includes release dates. February is the last month of winter, slowly turning into spring. Yes, I mean the Spring maiden. 

Let’s talk about Raven. 

She’s angry at her brother, also for feelings of betrayal. He betrayed their tribe, their values, everything they stood for. He left her, his sister. He chose Ozpin’s mission over her, even though their original plan was to just infiltrate Beacon to learn how to kill Huntsmen better. 

This means she remembers a boy that had the same ideas and supported her and their family. I don’t think she can accept that this Qrow, the one we know, is her actual brother, how he should be. When it comes to Qrow, I think what matters to her the most is proving that she was right all along, that they should’ve just stuck together and kept to their practices. 

And Qrow, regardless of the spring bit, if he encounters her as he is now... could easily believe that she was right. After all, the facts to him are:

He can’t escape his Semblance, ever.

He needs vengeance for Clover, because his death was his fucking fault. His attempt to deescalate the fight (leaving Harbinger in the snow) didn’t matter, because his bad luck won in the end. 

A plausible 3. Doing things “the good way” “the right way” is never going to cut it for him because he is walking misfortune. Something will always go wrong.

So why not drop all fucks and go ahead full-force?

His mind isn’t in its best state right now, and all his decisions will of course be emotional. 

We’ve known Qrow from point A depression to point B somewhat recovery to point C the last fucking straw. I think it’s something to consider that we’ve never heard anything about his youth, except that he used to believe in the brutality of their tribe. He never mentions it, and we don’t know anything about the circumstances that made him change, beyond “Ozpin gave him a place”. 

He gave up his heritage just to be proven that brutality would have protected his loved ones better. 

So yes, the punching bag theme, the endless misery, Clover’s death - all these are most likely building up to that shift in his character. We thought the eventual character shift would just be his recovery, but since that was scrapped, the only other way that makes sense is that he’s going to regress into someone that cannot be saved.

He’s not going to switch sides. He’s not going to stop loving his kids. He’s probably never going to join Salem. 

But his methods will be more ruthless now, driven by heartbreak and rage and self-hatred. God knows how he’ll deal with anyone in his way. He’s not going to fucking listen. He listened to Clover, and where did that get him? 

This way, the violent, straightforward way he used to know, this would protect his kids more efficiently, even if they don’t want him to go down that path. He’d probably leave them to protect them, and to be unhindered in his corner of the war.  

He’ll think that this - to be a rage-filled killing machine - would be the best case scenario for him and the rest of the world. Kind of like how he followed RNJR from a distance, killing all the Grimm that could get in their way.

We thought he was a broken man before, but this has been escalating. It’s been probably planned out since before.

If you’re not convinced yet, remember:

RWBY loves literature parallels. 

Leo Lionheart changed, and gave in to fear. The Cowardly Lion.

James Ironwood, the Tin Man, has proven that he’s thrown away his heart. 

Qrow Branwen, the Scarecrow, was always fucking destined to lose his mind.

I don’t know what will happen after, what kind of sick tragic death he’ll end up with. Since they’re romanticizing his suffering so much, he’ll probably end up killing himself after his work’s done. 

I have no idea how the details will go, but I’m pretty sure this is the path the writers will take. There is just no other reason I can fathom as to why they keep hurting my man. I want to be wrong, but I can’t think of anything else, unless some deus ex machina shit happens in the finale, but hell if I’m ever trusting CRWBY again. 

And yeah, as a depressed person who relates to and loves Qrow, the idea of the message of “it’s never going to get better” fucking sucks. 

[a-very-fond-farewell]

The forbidden crack! Untamed prompts: 24/?

Role-reversed!AU (Song[Xiao]Xue): “Love at First Sight”

[villain!SL/investigator!XY]

[title is from a Kylie Minogue’ song and from nowhere else fight me]

[so. me is embarrassed to say this but. the idea comes from an Italian movie of the late 90’s.]

[which is to say that: (1) Italian comedies are rarely my thing bc they are (pardon my French, I don’t feel like switch to Italian rn) problematique most of the times; (2) it’s been 10 or so years since I last saw this particular movie and even if at the time I liked it I was probably sixteen at the time so... not the best judge also my memory is shit for actual plot points; (3) internalized homophobia runs in the Italian film industry; (4) it deals with criminal gangs and, even if the movie makes fun of them, it is still a sore topic in my country so... I’m not gonna go in detail for this ficlet. it is, in fact, just a prompt; (5) also there is a cop character and... well, I changed it into a private investigator bc fuck it; (6) ignore me, I’m emotional tonight.]

*

Married off. Him. To a lovely girl, for sure, but with a penchant for pickpocketing and letting her mouth run at the most inconvenient of times. The wedding is in six months. Song Lan has to laugh at that.

But Mother has been almost too complacent with him for the longest time, allowing him to play his games and get it on with too many women for him to care to keep track of. He may or may not have disrespected some of them and their powerful families in the past for being a serial womanizer. There’s a logic behind it, of course, but since his eye surgery he cannot seem to remember what that could have possibly been at the time.

The worst of all being that he doesn’t remember why he ever found women attractive in the first place. People of the Baixue Clan tried to cheer him up to no avail for months. They took him to brothels, called in his favorite rent-girls, tipped them extra, brought him out of town on vacation to distract him, but... nothing.

He feels like crying sometimes. He’s done. Broken. Nobody will ever take him seriously anymore now that he’s nothing but his mommy’s boy. Forget for a minute that his mother is keeping the entire Yi City in check by enforcing her law on other clans. Let alone that her word has ruled over rascals and rogue hotheads for decades just by letting them hear her name. BaoShan Sanren would have not forgiven him for turning down the daughter of a competing family, that’s for sure.

Sometimes Song Lan looks down at himself, dressed in ridiculously flashy buttondowns open at the collar, with black jackets and fitting trousers, embezzled shoes on his long feet... and he wants to shriek. He hates everything about himself and he doesn’t know where to start. He doesn’t recognize himself anymore, almost as if his mind had changed about everything he believed to know.

At least he can see again. That should be enough, right?

*

It should have seen it fucking coming, Xue Yang knows this much.

A bullet to the heart would have hurt him less, but it’s been a year since his husband’s death and he’s done. He’s fucking done. Throwing himself away like that, recklessly accepting new cases one after the other just because. He’s got nothing to come home for anyway.

But as he disinfects the slash of a dagger on his shoulder, he wonders if there’s more to life than this. A dirty bathroom where he and his husband used to shave in the morning together before work. A stuffy apartment filled with unwanted memories. Mold on the ceiling, laughter rising to the sky every night before Xiao XingChen died. Before everything else left with him.

Xue Yang flinches when the alcohol stings badly on the cut and he chugs some vodka down for good measure as he prepares to stitch the gaping wound back together. The flame scorches the needle until it becomes almost white and he wonders, not for the first time, how it would feel to just... stop. He cried so much he doesn’t have tears left anymore.

The last time he saw his husband’s beautiful face it was at the morgue, where a dispassionate woman in white had asked him to confirm his identity. She asked him if he had formally agreed to put his husband’s name on the list of organ donors. He refused in the beginning... and then thought about it. About what his righteous husband would have wanted him to do.

Letting go of him –of any part of him, really– so soon tore him apart.

Since there was nothing left of Xiao XingChen, it was just right for not a single thing of Xue Yang to be left in his wake as well.

Well, aside from the pain. But that was to be expected after all.

He had never deserved anything but pain in his life.

Fuck that. Fuck that shit.

*

Mother asked him to look for a mole in the group, but he found a mere nobody snooping around in their area instead. Searching for what, he doesn’t know. But, as he crowds the other man in a dark alley behind the secret entry of their club, Song Lan cannot help himself from staring.

The laundromat from where their regular patrons usually enter to play is open 24/7, the flickering light coming from its open door casting just... the loveliest shadows on the younger man’s face. He’s shorter, much shorter than him. Possibly in his early thirties. Dressed nicely with a gun pointed at Song Lan... but he doesn’t care.

It’s almost as if something has fallen back in its original place and Song Lan is filled with elation. He has never felt more relieved or happy in his life. It feels like a second chance at life, an opportunity he doesn’t want to let slide through his fingers this time around.

He grasps the other man’s hand holding the gun and directs it upwards in a swift move. A bullet cuts through the air as he pushes the shorter man up to the laundromat window, neon lights dancing on Song Lan’s face. Soon people from the club will rush to his aid, knowing full well that he’s out looking for a snitch. He doesn’t have time, so he takes a good look at the person at his mercy.

He knows him.

And he falls in love, immediately.

*

The shot still rings in his ear, the gun burning in his outstretched hand, now caught in a vicious grasp. Xue Yang flinches as he looks up and gets ready to defend himself. He was just following a useless son of a bitch lying to his wife about not playing cards and losing all of their money. He would have never thought it would turn so bad so soon. Usually he gets away quickly enough, running for his life as usual...

...but this is different.

His gaze meets Xiao XingChen’s eyes and he freezes on the spot. He would recognize them anywhere, the same glassy quality to them, the same softness around them. Nothing makes sense anymore.

Because the one in front of him looks nothing like his husband.

And yet he knows him.

He knows what it feels to be looked with fondness and longing by one Xiao XingChen.

Fuck, he missed that.

He missed that so much.

*

[additional nonsense under the cut, bc. I am me]

[the original movie is a comedy, but I saw this post while I was writing the prompt and now it’s a fucking urban-noir kind of deal baby!]

[am I procrastinating another ficlet (slowly turning into a 20k monster bc I’m stupid) by writing this prompt instead? no. what are you talking about?]

[i wanted SL to have a family, but I had no idea what the people at the Temple would have looked like or acted around him, so I imagined BaoShan Sanren hoarding children as she goes (which is canon anyway) but she’s a villain in this bc I’m an asshole.]

[SL is the only one of her children to have an actual father, hence he’s the only one with a last name different from Sanren (which I know is a title but let. me. live. *kissy face* :* :* :* many thanks.]

[I offer Lan QiRen as a tribute for fatherhood, even if I know SL’s surname is written like “mist”, while the Lan Sect is named after the character for “blue”. but let me dream.]

[also I just like the idea of SL’s auntie or big sister being WWX’s mother for no other reason that this is a silly prompt and I need to fill these additional notes with something vaguely resembling a plot.]

[if you want another role-reversed!au check this other (wangxian) prompt of mine. then check all the others and have fun.]

[in the movie there was a scene where the widower runs on a horse to save the man he (begrudgingly) has come to care about from his wedding.]

[for the majority if not the entirety of the movie the widower sees something of his dead wife in the criminal (who received the wife’s eyes through transplant) and denies any attraction to him until the end... even if he runs away with him.]

[the criminal has changed since the transplant and became somewhat a decent person. in the end he runs away with the widower.]

[I wanted actual romance, not plausible deniability, thanks. hence this stupid prompt someone might like, maybe.]

[if you write something based on this prompt (the most angsty or hurt/comfort-y the better, but also fluff or *coughs*smut*coughs* is good) send me an ask. I want to read it! :D]

ok now I go back to my 20k-and-counting monster fic. bye!!

[darksaiyangoku]

Bloodlines AU: Apex Cosplays

Joethefriendlyponybro: I've got another skit for y'all. And this time, it's a skit based off of DarkSaiyan's cosplay stories but set in my next gen RWBY AU. Let's see what I can share what strange stuff me and DarkSaiyan came up with, shall we?

[Vale City Comic-Con, the Belladonna-Wukong family's planned vacation spot for quite some time was just down the street. At a nearby bus stop stood Sun and his and Blake's daughter, Alexandria. Alex for short.

Sun wore a mustard-yellow jumpsuit along with brown gloves and tinted orange goggles. His hair was scruffier than usual to reflect his cosplay getup as Mirage from Apex Legends.

To his side sat Alex wearing a mostly black but also purple getup, her long and scruffy black hair wrapped up in a ponytail as Wraith from the same game.]

Sun: Whoo!!!! Haven’t been in cosplay gear in such a long time. I feel like I’m back at school again, hehe.

Alex: *removes eye contacts, revealing green eyes* Dad, when was the last time you dressed up?

Sun: Let’s see.......I think it was back when Team CFVY were visiting Vacuo. We all decided to cosplay as the MCU heroes. *chuckling* I called dibs on Star Lord. Neptune was piiiiiissed!

Alex: *jumps on top of bus stop* I think Elsa wanted to go as Sif this year. But, with tending to her folks' restaurant, I guess she had to work on filling out orders for con-goers.

Sun: Well, at least Ren and Nora are making some great cash with their kids this year. *muttering* Blake isn’t taking this as well as I thought she would...

Alex: Is mom taking it that bad? Sorry, cat ears. Couldn't help but pick it up.

Sun: Not really. She just hasn’t been in cosplay in long time. It’s kinda strange for her to be back in the den of the nerds. That.... and she’s getting looks from some thirsty boys.

Alex: You're both running Menagerie's own combat school. Not to mention ensuing Faunus relations across Remnant- -Wait. Who's ogling my mom? Who do I have to cast a hex on to remind them she's a married woman?

Sun: *points* That guy on the right at the bench on the end of the street.

[She turned to see a man thirsting over a photo of Blake on her Scroll. Alex immediately went into pack mode, shouting at the creep.]

Alex: *glares at creep, eyes glowing turquoise* HEY SHITHEAD! My mom is taken, so why don't you back off before I twist you into a pretzel, fondue you and feed you to an Ursa?! *bares teeth, resembling fangs*

Perv: *looks up* Oh my- -! *runs away*

Sun: *nods head* That’s my girl!

Alex: *grins at Sun, eyes no longer glowing* I aim to please! *looks around* Where is mom, anyway?

Sun: *smiling* Getting a smoothie. I might join her later. You're still meeting up with Rhiannon, right?

Alex: Yeah. Rhiannon and I are supposed to meet up at that smoothie joint. I wonder what's taking both of them so long?

Sun: Probably got sidetracked. You know what Remnant’s like.

[Before they continue, Alex gets ambushed from behind in a surprise embrace by a red-haired, ponytailed girl with green eyes and a blue tunic.]

Rhiannon: Sneak hug!

Alex: MREOW!

Sun: WOAH!!!! Rhiannon, hi!

Rhiannon: *sets Alex down, cackling* What's good, Mr. Wukong?

[Blake shortly followed. Dressed in black military-style gear as she noticed her daughter's friend being as sneaky as ever. She was panting as if she were out of breath and holding a drink.]

Alex: *stands down, blinking* Rhi? I thought you picked a costume.

Blake: *panting* Finally...got...that...smoothie.

Alex: *looks up* Uh, what was the hold up?

Blake: The thirsty boys, honey. They can be a handful.

Rhiannon: Mrs. B tried jogging in her Bangalore costume as well. Guess that thick padding got to her, first.

Blake: In my defense, I didn’t think it would be that heavy. I've definitely jogged in padding before.

Alex: Never said you didn't. So me and Rhi are headed to the park. Dad told me a bit about your cosplay funk. *lowers ears* Something wrong?

Blake: I haven’t done this in a while. I feel kinda rusty. But... *blushing* I needed a break from all the stress so we could be with you and Rhiannon. *looks down sadly*

Alex: *puts hand on Blake's shoulder* Mom, you look fine. That's why we dressed up for this con, right?

Rhiannon: *folds arms* She's got you there, Mrs. B. Not like I went for it. I just wanted to hang with you guys.

Blake: *smiles* True. You’re all right, I gotta loosen up.

Alex: *points up* I request as your daughter and aspiring Huntress to enjoy yourself since there's a lot on our plate once the school year starts back up again. Besides, *phases out torso, arms and lower legs* I can look the part as Wraith with my Semblance.

Blake: *laughs* Okay, I surrender!

Alex: *phases back in* Also, I'll be sure to smoke any thirsty boy who gives you bedroom eyes.

Rhiannon: I can tie 'em up with one of my rope bolts if it'll help.

Blake: I'll handle them myself, girls. But thank you.

Alex: Whatever you say, mom. *hugs Blake* And thanks for paying for this trip.

[Blake smiled, embracing her daughter back.]

Blake: Oh, honey. You deserve a treat for your hard work.

Sun: Did it have to come from my bank account though?

Alex: *releases Blake* Oh. Uh...Rhi?

Rhiannon: I 'unno. Some major bounty or escort mission he undertook? *checks Scroll* Come on, Alex. Let's get our photoshoot done.

Sun: Have fun, pumpkin. Try not to cloak in public.

Alex: Sure, dad. *walks off to the park with Rhiannon*

Sun: So, what mission was it last? The- -The one where I would split my paycheck with you to pay for this con trip?

Blake: I think it was the mission where I teamed up with the Red Flowers to stop a horde of Creeps.

Sun: *puts finger up to chin* Or, was it the trawler escort at Sockeye Junction? You know how pirates get around fishing villages.

Blake: Or maybe it was the one where Yang almost set a town on fire to kill some Arachnoids?

Sun: That's still a dumb name for spider Grimm. I don't know how Professort Port outvoted Oobleck on that but- -Nevermind. *half hugs Blake, wrapping tail around her waste and holding her like a dancer, barely spilling the smoothie* That's a good look for you, bee tee dubs. *grins*

Blake: *giggles* Sun, stop it! We’re in public.

Sun: 20 years of marriage. I think I've earned the chance to do stuff like this with you.

Blake: Gods. You’re so mischievous. *wraps her arms behind Sun’s neck* And that’s why I love you.

Sun: *picks up smoothie with tail* Love you too, babe. Shall I give you some sugar?

Blake: *pulls him in* Do it, honey.

[Sun pulled Blake in for a kiss. They practically glowed like bioluminescent mushrooms as their auras glowed with their embrace. They let go upon hearing a sloshy splat hit the pavement.]

Sun: *notices spilled smoothie* Uh, whoops.

Blake: Oh no! *teary-eyed* Damn you gravity!

Sun: Uh...I think there are milkshakes at the local Beetroot's we can get instead. Plus, their new salmon burger looks pretty good. *pulls out debit card* And I got membership there! Huah! *tosses debit card into smoothie pile* ...Man, how did the shopkeep do it back then?!

Blake: ...I like salmon.

Sun: See? Win-win! And I'll pay for the milkshakes.

Blake: *small smile* I’d like that.

Sun: Good husband powers no jutsu! *roundhouse kicks, tripping and landing ass-first into the smoothie pile, crushing cup* Ah, crap. These jeans were a rental.

Blake: *laughing* I guess now we’re even!

Sun: Yay. Anyway, onto the burgers! *wraps arm and tail around Blake* I'll let you wear my cosplay goggles for sex tonight~! *winks*

Blake: *purring* Mmm, I like sound of that.

BLATANT TRANSITION THING

Joethefriendlyponybro: Well, that was certainly something. Hopefully your viewers enjoy it as much as I enjoyed doing this skit with you. This was fun, thanks.

DarkSaiyanGoku: Don’t mention it bro, always happy to help out. I might do more of these RPs more often with anyone else, if they ask.