#this gremlin child needs an oscar | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

secret-engima · 4 years ago

Note

I got my second covid shot yesterday, and the side effects are happening. Got anything in any of your RWBY AUs that'll makr me feel less Generally Bad?

Awww, sorry the side effects are happening, anon. :( Lemme see what I can find that isn't horribly angsty.

...

Team Gremlin verse:

Hei Xiong —Junior to literally everyone because apparently Mistralen names were too much for Vale tongues to handle— knew his boys weren’t … the brightest or the best. That was fine. His father wouldn’t have given him the brightest and the best even if he hadn’t been the family disappointment. But he had expected his boys to at least know the basic rule of, say, not bringing children into a criminal operation. Semi-criminal. Far less criminal than his father wanted it to be.

It was an abandoned warehouse full of guys with guns. Not a child suitable environment.

“Boys,” he ground out past the budding headache he got just looking at the tiny child sitting politely on a random box —the kid was tiny, how old was he, four?—, “I’m pretty sure I said to ‘go get us some cash’. Not ‘steal a random child’. And if one of you bozos did this thinking about holding a toddler for ransom-.”

“I’m not a toddler!” Piped up the child in the indignant tone of the young.

Junior ignored that outburst for the moment, “Then I’m going to throw all of you in the river. I told you, we’re not resorting to kidnapping to get the funds for this! If I wanted to do that I’d just go back to the old man and lick his boots for more money.”

His men cringed, and the biggest of them —Tiny, and why his men all gave themselves the stupidest, least relevant nicknames was still a mystery to him— held up his hands defensively, “We didn’t kidnap him! … Not … intentionally?”

Junior pinched the bridge of his nose, “Did he wander inside on his own?”

“Well, no-.”

“Are any of you related to him?”

“Well, no, but-.”

“Do his parents or guardians know where he is right this second?”

“Uh- I don’t think so-.”

“Then it’s kidnapping, you idiots! I oughta-!”

A light but firm whap to his knee cut Junior off and he stared at the toddler in shock, because since when did toddlers have canes to whack people with? “Excuse me,” said the boy in a tone that was far too prim for this part of town, “Please stop yelling at your men.” The boy ducked his head a little, looking almost embarrassed, “They were just trying to help me. I got separated from my friends and I don’t … my leg isn’t very good. They let me come inside to catch my breath.”

…This kid was very articulate for a four year old, maybe he really was a bit older than he looked. Still, Junior felt another sigh building in his chest that he squashed down with effort —he was twenty two years old and sometimes he already felt like he was his old man’s age—, “What are you doing out here, kid? The docks is no place for a kid, especially one who needs a cane.”

The boy scowled at him, cheeks puffing and oh no, he was adorable, “I can handle myself! Besides, one of my friends works here. I was with her before I got. Um.” The boy blushed and looked down at the ground, “A little turned around.”

Hummer, the quietest and arguably most observant of his boys, leaned over to whisper in his ear, “He was having a panic attack on the sidewalk about a block from here. We think he lost track of his caretaker at one of the intersections. He’s definitely from out of the kingdoms, he was terrified of the cars. He probably panicked at the sight of so many of them and bolt- ow.”

The boy pointed his cane warningly at Hum as the man held his knee in pain, “I can hear you. I wasn’t scared of cars, I just- got startled. That’s all.”

“Sure kid,” muttered one of Junior’s boys and Junior grunted loudly, because they were getting off topic.

...

One in a Hundred verse

The familiar jolt of rising, of sliding into place, and the body snapped awake with a startled gasp. Ozpin flailed, accidentally rolling right out of bed and landing on the floor in a tangled, confused lump of limbs and blankets. His head ached with the remnants of tears and when he waggled his fingers, they were gloved. He was … in control? No. No-no-no-no that wasn’t right, he only took control when it was necessary. “Oscar,” he rasped hoarsely in a voice that wasn’t his —was far too young and soft to be his—, “Oscar, where are you?” He sat up, groping frantically for the sense of Oscar under the dangerous thrum of Old Kings. He finally found a sense of him, a glimmer of Oscar under the flow, but when he reached to pull it out, the boy just batted his mental hand away like a tired, cranky cat, sliding deeper under the flow instead. Ozpin tried four more times before a spiking headache and repeated flairs of exhausted-agitated magic made him stop for fear of injuring either himself or the boy.

It would seem that … whatever had happened, Ozpin was temporarily in control.

…He hoped it was temporary.

Well. Lying in this position wasn’t good for either of them, so Ozpin careful set about untangling the body and … taking care of things he supposed. He debated the merits of a shower, and normally wouldn’t have dared, but Oscar’s frame was shivering slightly and felt clammy from sweat —from the nightmares of reliving a past life as Ozpin walked through it, just as he had relived his past when Oscar walked through his—. He grimaced, but so long as he was in control he had to take responsibility and care, so he hastily stripped down and hurried his way through a cold shower.

He froze up briefly in front of the mirror, because Oscar —by habit it seemed— rarely looked in a mirror or down at his hands, and never without his gloves and bandages on. Ozpin swallowed hard and saw the thick, ugly scarring on a too-young neck ripple with the motion and felt queasy. Grimm attack. He knew the signs. He just- hadn’t expected to —had hoped never to— see them on a boy this young. Then he shook it off and rummaged around for clean bandages and gloves and clothes. Finding a proper brush was a little trickier, because just a hair brush wouldn’t suffice, at least if his foggy memories of past lives were to be believed.

He took his time getting himself sorted, meticulously brushing out all the kinks and trying not to twinge anything sensitive —he was out of practice with that—, before putting on clothes. A few failed tries at tucking everything away without pinching and he gave up —he was very out of practice, not that it could be helped—. If Oscar’s aunt was accepting of multiple personalities and body-hopping cursed wizards, she would no doubt have long ago accepted this part of Oscar’s own body.

Ozpin made his way downstairs carefully, grimacing past the phantom ache in a leg he knew was just fine but would never feel fine to him, hanging onto the stair railing and repeatedly reaching out to Oscar in the hopes the boy would wake up from whatever strange trance he seemed to be in and take back his rightful control.

Miss Pine looked up in open surprise when he skirted carefully into the kitchen, “Oscar? I thought you said you were going to have a Quiet Day. I was just about to come check on you.”

Ah. This was likely going to go poorly, “My apologies, Miss Pine,” Ozpin murmured and refused to flinch when she stiffened in realization, “I … I do not know what is going on. I woke up in control through no action or intent of my own. I have tried waking up Oscar multiple times but he- he doesn’t respond.”

For a moment, he thought she would accuse him of lying, of stealing control. She would hardly be the first. But after a moment of hard staring, the fight left her shoulders and she sighed heavily, “No, I don’t suppose he would. I should have realized a Quiet Day with … another person … in his head would lead to something like this. Sit down, you might as well eat. Oscar won’t otherwise.”

Ozpin tentatively sat down, careful of how he moved so nothing pinched or was pinned, “You and Oscar mentioned those before. Quiet … days?”

“That’s what we call it when Oscar loses control of the voices. He usually spends the day sleeping or drifting around the house in a daze, unresponsive, barely eating.” She looked pained, worried for a moment, then shook her head, “At least they don’t make him sick and feverish anymore.”

#SE asks #anon asks #Secret Engima Rambles #One in a Hundred verse #Team Gremlin verse

59 notes · View notes

alyss-spazz-penedo · 5 years ago

Text

Headcanon things that I can’t seem to work into my Salem-raised!Oscar AU But are definitely happening:

Oscar knows how to make (or cobble together) a LOT of shit in Watts' lab, but ONLY there. Remove him from that environment and he has no idea where to find the stuff he needs to do Things.

Oscar’s circadian rhythm is completely borked bc there was no sun for several of his developmental years and he has no sleep schedule. My boi lives on catnaps all over the place; Qrow has tracked him into closets and under furniture, snoozing away. He is reliably awake at one(1) time of day and that’s Salem’s teatime.

After the initial hugging fiasco Oscar is wary of Nora and doesn’t let her get close enough for a repeat. This is clearly A Challenge; Nora accepts.

So Nora is forever trying to bribe Oscar into her space by leaving him treats, as you do with feral animals. It goes... eh

Cookies and the like are too sweet for Oscar, btw, since he grew up on what were basically army rations. Like, painfully sweet. He eats them anyways, cursing Ozpin’s sugar addiction the entire time.

Again due to living off prepackaged food, Oscar can’t cook to save his life --actually, no, he probably could, Oscar will do a LOT to save his life, but like... why would he ever need to do that, seriously

Oh also he will eat food off the floor, bc he is an Actual Gremlin and no one ever taught him better; the only person who cared about his eating habits was Tyrian (for poisoning purposes) and he is a Bad Role Model who also thought it was hilarious.

Ozpin cares. Ozpin also nags.

In fact, Ozpin always nags. If at any point I don't specifically say that Ozpin's being quiet please assume that the man is just constantly commenting on Oscar's poor life choices in the background of the narrative (and being summarily ignored). The man has an endless patience for child-raising and advice-dispensing that is matched only by Oscar's sheer bullheaded irreverence and utter lack of faith in the advice of the man who has literally gotten himself killed more than anyone else in the actual entire world, head-leech, shut up and let me do what I do in peace-

Anywho back to the gremlin thing: the only manners Oscar ever learned had to do with backtalk (don’t do it if you can’t back it up) and tea (how to properly make it, serve it, and drink it).

This is sometimes confusing to the RWBYJRNQ gang, bc Oscar will do things like dramatically wax poetic in outdated vernacular about how they’re all going to die, but then turn around and swear like a prickly punk teenager as soon as someone pokes him, and then an hour later he’ll knock everything off the fireplace like a cat bc he wants to climb up and take a nap there. Two and a half hours later he’ll be snarling about soot and halfway up the chimney with a bucket of water and a rag. Which are not actually appropriate chimney cleaning materials, but Oscar was Magic At Cleaning (by necessity) before Ozpin ever showed his dead face anywhere in his feral little head. Boy makes it work.

Oh also did they mention the cleaning? Bc Oscar does that constantly. It’s gotten to the point where everyone's just grown super careful about not making messes.

Paaaaaartially due to guilt, but mostly because if they fuck up Oscar will show up in 1.5 seconds with a mop or broom and just start working with a completely blank face like some kind of robot, and it’s creepy af. And if anyone tries to help (especially the person who made the mess to begin with), then he goes from blank to suspiciously confused, and that's just sad. No one wants to deal with that.

#destiny has written your end #oscar pine #rwby #my writing #fanfic #headcanons #the Salem-raises-Oscar AU that nobody asked for and exists only to hurt people

52 notes · View notes

whatsupwithher · 5 years ago

Text

Ok it's me here to rant about TROS again.

I think Disney having that R//ylo kiss shoved in at the end was a huge mistake. Thinking about it makes me wish I never liked Star Wars in the first place. Literally where is the respect for Rey's character? This is a grown man who kidnapped her, devled into her mind to take what ever he wanted, tried to kill her, tried to kill her friends. Yet it's suddenly okay because she turned Kylo Ren back to the light? It doesn't make any sense. Plot wise it just came from no where. You spend a whole trilogy building up this battle between the dark and the light (aka, a battle between Rey and Kylo Ren) only for them to kiss with no real romantic build up? Gross. It's like they tried to make a Han and Leia romance 2.0, which I've seen a lot of R//ylos try to compare the two, because of their age difference. But newsflash! Han Solo didn't kidnap Leia, nor did he torture her, or actively try to kill her!! So sit down with your comparisons because they are not the same!! That kiss just leaves a sour taste in my mouth. I remember sitting there on opening night, seeing one disappointment on screen after another. Some things I could push aside, and other things I predicted would happen, but that just left me with a feeling that I had just, wasted so many years being so excited about how the series would end. I was so, so disapointed.

Not to mention there were so many opportunities missed with this film. Finn and Poe? They've had so much natural on screen chemistry. SO natural. I mean, how often do you hear an actor having fought so passionately to get a gay couple on screen? Oscar Isaac fought for that for years and the Disney gremlins said no. He's right, they are overlords. And also good for John Boyega going absolutely feral destorying R//ylo's left and right (nothing but respect for my kings). The introduction of Zorrii is Disney's way of holding their hands up to say "obviously Poe isn't gay look theres a GIrL!" (Which is similar to that Rose and Finn kiss at the end of TLJ, because like, when rewatching it I still see no hints of romance prior to that kiss.) Disney are cowards. Fuck Disney. If you didn't want a gay couple then why not use the next most natural-chemistry filled couple... Finnrey? You know, an actual loving relationship?

Leia's "sacrifice" felt so wasted and unnecessary. It hurts. Like why are we pretending Kylo Ren deserved to be redeemed? If he wanted out of the FO regime I'm sure after he killed Snoke he would've been happily able to bail, but no, he stuck around, played the role of SUPREME LEADER for A WHOLE YEAR. Does that sound like someone who wanted out? Seriously. It's a joke.

Finn should've has such a huge arc learning about his force-sensitivity but again, Disney are fucking cowards and needed to side line him.

Where the fuck were the knights the year before? Why don't they speak? Literally wtf?

HUX? That still hurts.

Rey's Palpatine connection? Gross. Creepy. You're telling me Palpatine cannonically fucks? Get OUT. I remember Daisy Ridley saying in an interview something like "why does everyone need to connect Rey to another character? She's just strong." And I felt that. Why couldn't she be Rey? Just Rey? Who's parents and lineage were nobodys? Who just happens to be powerful with the force? - That kid of the end of TLJ has no connections to any of the characters we've met and clearly has the force. Why couldn't Rey have been the same? Maddens me.

Also Daisy Ridley did NOT like R//ylo. So...

I remember getting goosebumps when I watched the first trailer for TROS, but looking back now, I dont know why. And god, my dad was obsessed with the original trilogy when he was a kid, he turned to me after we watched it and he genuinely looked sad. That movie has actually let him down, that story he watched so much as a child was literally ruined for him. He said that it wasn't even like a Star Wars movie. Disney seriously let down everyone with that movie. They let everyone down with the sequel trilogy. It's silly but my heart is heavy. They offered us something good with TFA, and it only went (rapidly) downhill from there.

Disney said oh you like the characters we gave you in TFA? How about we make Star Wars fans every where hate the franchise they grew up with :) and thats exactly what they did. Fuck Disney and fuck whatever the hell they did to the sequel trilogy.

#im mad af #tros #star wars #rey #finn #poe dameron #kylo ren #general hux #rose tico

44 notes · View notes

archiveofidentityconstellations · 5 years ago

Text

cass won't share her cheese nibs and bruce doesn't love me and i think?? that i deserve better??? than this???? i'm moving to alaska where NO ONE CAN TELL ME WHAT TO DO

the sequel to that one trix yogurt fic

I feel like I should tell you that I am MASSIVELY fucked up right now

like i am such a garbage heap that oscar the grouch took a look at me and said

“fuckk off!! i have standards!”

anyways

it’s Brimothy, bitch

what is UP mothertrucksrs it is Me i am back here to write a report on the UNBELIEVABLE SHIT I JUST HANDLED.

okay so u know how Gotham city is on crack cocaine all the time. with like some LSD and heroin and never ever any weed except for like who is that pig guy?? nevrm he doesn’t have weeeed but like he is definitely a Pig. what the fuck is his name. what the fuck.

okay so anyways

is it Goyle

Doyle

Pigoyle

tin foil? lmao

OKAY FUCK anyways the City, who Also May Be My Lover, is in a constant life crisis (which i relate? a Lot) and do you want to know this s h i t

Crocodile

Killer Croc

who Steve Irwin would be v disappointed in

Is climbing

into people’s FUCKING TOILETS

???????????????

THIS ISN’T FLORIDA

THIS IS NEW JERSEY

WE WEAR SHOES IN THE WINTER

WHAT SORT OF FLIP-FLOP WEARING CUCKER DOES HE THINK HE IS

okay so obviously KC is a big guy. a Dude. a whack-o whaler of a Male. a Big Boh. the largest banananana in the pack. he is Big. so he cAn’t fit into most people’s toilets. he can, however, fit into Big People’s toilets (big as in wealthy, not As in Tom Hanks)

so KC (crispy,,,nuggest…i wonder if fried alligator is good—not that im thinking of eating him, though someone really should threaten him with cannibalism, like if you’re going to be a bitch about it then you deserve the same done to you, it’s just manners) is in cahoots and canoodles with Someone Who Shall Not Be Named (not bc i don’t know, I do, that’s how detectives work. it’s my JOB to know, and i was a prodigy) but bc there is a whole other report detailing this person and their movements and its case file #4461 if u don’t believe me, but i ain’t no snitch, but i will say that tonight’s events connect to file #4461 so Dad if you’re reading this you should already have it out bc it’s your JOB

speaking of jobs ding ding here is mine coming round the mountain as she comes bc the apple bottom jeans the boots with the fur will be coming round the mountain when she comes shE’ll be coming round the mountain she’ll be coming round the mountain she’ll b e coming round and getting low low low low low l ow low

It was a crisp October night. The sun was blinking its sleepy lids, setting the ballroom with an incandescent glow. Bruce Wayne strode across the floor, his daughter Cassandra accompanying him. They wore matching expressions that the privileged always wear: guarded, yet hungry. Hungry for what? Probably for the crab cakes just out of reach. Neither of them had an allergy, and Cassandra in particular had a propensity to shove anything edible in her mouth, so it really was a tragedy that those crab cakes were all the way across the room. There should really be a table right in the middle of the dance floor just for snacks. That way caterers wouldn’t have to do so much leg work, which is actually a good thing, because that ballroom floor is slippery af. This narrator should know, he has Died A Few Times getting there. Suddenly, the night’s festivities were interrupted by a social faux pas: a scream.

You don’t just scream at regular parties, it’s uncouth and hysterical. But you can scream if the social boundaries have already been crossed, and boy, were they crossed.

You see, Dear Reader, there was a man in the toilet.

I use the term “man” loosely, as his glaring yellow eyes do wonders when you might just crap your pantaloons. You start imagining things, like dinosaurs whcih i am personally a big fan of bc Jurassic Park has a kid named Tim in it and I am also Tim.

hI y is our toilet so big that Killer Croc could wiggle his way up? also how long can he hold his breath.

it seems to be impressively long

hey Bdad how long can he hold his breath? please let me know if you can, and if you won’t i will eat all your wafers becauzs i wa

Mrs. Trenton screamed and fled the impertinent bathroom guest, who wasted no time in ripping the commode to pieces. There was a roar and all the guests paused, unsure if it was merely pipe problems or if they were under attack.

Reader: They were, in fact, under attack.

The guests, deciding that Mrs. Trenton was a social entrepreneur, followed her lead and began to scream. Killer Croc had made it to ballroom, standing at an impressive height just outside the doors.

He was Not wearing a shirt.

okay have u ever noticed that Killer Crog hasn’t got any nipples????? where are they? he’s got pecs but no nipples??

where did they go where are his nip nops i kno people don’t like to think about this but i hAve wondered since i was like 13 like where did they go. has anyone ever asked him.

did they fall off

“Take the crab cakes!” shouted Matthew Fielder, a lil bitch.

“No, take me!” said Cassandra Wayne, who would literally rather die than give up those crab cakes.

Killer Croc paid them no heed. He desired one thing and one thing only, the sweet satisfaction for his carnal craving: Humain Flesh.

(alliteration hell yeah hell yeah take that Mrs. Johnson i do know shit and im creative as well u jusy don’t know how my brian works it’s like a golden goose egg trap ye ye ye)

i just Realized

i am…a high school drop out

i don’t know why im doing this

Dear Reader, as an Aside: Smoking can lead to many health issues, especially if one begins smoking at a young age. Harmful side effects include increased risk of stroke and brain damage; muscular degeneration, eye cataracts; cancer of lips, nose, tongue, and mouth, and nipple loss.

Jason you may want to have a talk with you and your mipples

The terror in the air was stifling. Cannibalism conduct was not something conveyed in etiquette classes. Rich people never expect to be eaten.

Reader, everyone hardly breathed. Something deeply primal had occurred.

From the doorway the golden eyes struck. Deadly. Lethal. Hungry.

This was more than vengeance. It was a sadistic occasion of play.

okay good thing Dames wasn’t there because he fucking HATES KC he gets all huffy and shrieky about him like “he’s a HYGIENE PROBLEM” and it’s like,,,,,.ur right but i don’t want to agree with you because where do we stand if i do that?? as brothers???

i think the fuck not

anyways i just realized i’ve been calling Waylon Jones KC the entire damn time (NEWSFLASH ASSHOLE) but to be fucking h, he wants to to be called that. i called him Allen once and he was so PISSED so i can only think of actually calling him by his name. he wouldn’t even be chill with me naming the sewer alligators even tho they were awesome names. i called one Dundee. that’s fucking genius. that’s just. i’m fucking amazing. stupenous. and unappreciated.

maybe his nipples fell off because he swims in shit every night?????

question: why do i swim in shit almost as often

what the dfck

what are my life choices

i feel like there should have been some fine print involved here

“Robin duties include scraping shit off your asschreks 3 times a week”

mahbe,,,,maybe not what i want

personal choice

though i haven’t really seen any alligators in the sewers for years now, which is

oh my god OH MY GOD HE ATE THEM HE ATE THEM OH MY GOD OH MY GOD !!!!!!!!!!

HE FUCKING HE FUCKING. HE. HE ATE HIMSELF HE FUCNING ATE HIMAELF AND HIS FAMILY HIS COUSINS HIS CPOUSINS HIS FAMILY OH MY GOD THIS IS LIKE MY 8TH GRADE GRADUATION ALL OVER AGAIN

im so disturbed……..i like, need to eat something. Fucking hell. this Not what i had in mind when i decided to be alive.

i feel like as if i woke up one day and i was the only one in the entire world who remembered Caillou. also could pull off my face and eat it like taffy. imw so. i.

mom i know i refused to go to Shabbat when i was ten so i don’t get to say this but:

this is Not kosher

oh heyy i want some pIckes

i was also thinking of takin a spin class?? like fuck it i like to bike. fuck it. and maybe iwdont want bruce and nigtwink fucking watxhing me with their beady eyes. like get those off my calves. my cleavage is up here, gentlemen. stop talking about proper form. some people can do things and suck at them. i’m never going to be like a professional ice curler. and i shouldn’t feel bad about that. who the fuck curls for fun. maybe Canada???????

note to self: look up the history of the sport of curling

i’m going to get good at it to piss off Jason

Back On Topic:

Killer Croc took a step forward. His mouth trembled, watering in anticipation. He took another step.

Mrs. Trenton drew in a breath.

The room was silent.

Far across the room, Bruce Wayne clenched his champagne glass. Cassandra Wayne stopped chewing the crab cakes. Reader, I won’t mince words: Waylon Jones crossed the threshold.

and the instant he put his foot down on the ballroom floor he fucking slipped like a drunkass toddler

like when Damian is really really tired bc he’s like 2 years old (only an evil 2 years old like chucky) and Jason tries to give him a high five

gremlin still doesn’t get that “down low” precedes “too slow”

and he like. faceplants

onto the fucking concrete

and then Bruce yells at Jason

and then Jason yells back

“I NEVER ASKED FOR SIBLINGS”

like it was something we all did, like wrote it down on our batmas lists for Brucie Claus

and im sitting there, a perennial Forgotten Middle Child

and Damian is like still. on the ground.

anyways KC is just slipping across the ballroom, slippering and sliding bc the floor was just waxed and it’s silent except for the wet slaps of his feet against the floor and the screech his tail makes every time he trips (sort of like this) and when he sometimes falls it makes that sound of when your thighs SLAP against the mats and it sounds like a wet walrus coming to cheer you on while a Giant simultaneously swallows a liquid-filled gummy worm down his throat like QAWAGGHHHHHHH only his falls reverberated against the ceiling panels and the cherubs looked down in like. disgust.

Cass began chewing the crab cakes again by the time Killer Croc fell for the twelfth time so idk it was an embarrassing situation

we all did that Thing people do when a social barrier is breached

we like…..avoided each other’s eyes and made light conversation

meanwhile Killer Croc’s body screeched in the background

anyways Matthew Fielder was like “so I hear you dance ballet” and Cass responded “uh huh. tap too” and the chewed up crab cake crumbs fell out of her mouth and onto the floor

i CAN’T

scrambled cock on a cracker, Cass why does Alfred let this happen????? what is this?????? like she can snort creme puffs like cocaine but GOD FORBID i put my elbows on the table and call damian “a poisonous little bitch” because he ate my croutons

the standards in this family are unbelievable

So everyone is just talking and Mrs. Trenton is sipping champagne now and Luis Alvarez is doing that thing where he starts trying to eat caviar one teeny tiny egg at a time and KC is just like WHUMPH for the thirtieth time

finally dad takes pity on him and crouches down and is like “hey how you doing slugger” which???? Offended me. Very Much.

that’s MY nickname

has Waylon No-Nipples Jones been adopted by Bruce Wayne??? has Waylon No-Nipples Jones retrieved HIS sorry ass from time?? i don’t fucking think so

the audacity of this man

but before Killer Croc can reply

Red Hood

BURSTS INTO THE ROOM

guns out, voice modulator kind of fuzzy like a broke refrigerator that makes an “eeeeeeeeeee” sound ever since i tripped over it and fell on it

which wASN’T MY FAULT

IM NOT “deformed baby zebra clumsy” FUCK YOU JASON

MAYBE HE SHOULDN’T KEEP HIS EXPENSIVE HELMET ON THE FLOOR THEN

you know what? I’m GLAD i tripped over it.

yeah. suck it.

im glad you sound like a 90s japanese transistor radio

off brand too

fuck you

I GOT A BRUISE NOT THAT ANYONE CARES

even Bruce was like “hey tim you need to watch where you’re going”

???

how about YOU watch where YOU’RE GOING

“where” as in TIME TRAVEL

REMEMBER THAT BRUCE

REMEMBER THAT?!???????

HUH BIG GUY?!???????!!???

no one is allowed to criticize me from now on

i am Above Reproach

anyways yeah Red Hood appears at the party and shoots KC and Bruce was like “why the FUCK would you SHOOT HIM” as if he has some misplaced paternal feeling for Waylon No-Nipples Jones because he called him slugger which is something he calls one of his other kids but whatever im not bitter im just insecure and sad all the time but don’t worry about it maybe i’ll die one day and you’ll all be sorry especially about Certain Things like not sharing cheese nibs huh Cassandra

so RH and Bruce Wayne kind of argue. like. literally sniping at each other bc SOMEBODY forgot that Red Hood is a criminal and not their misplaced son and RH is like “it’s!!!!! a tranquilizer!!!!! ya big hoe!!!!!” only he doesn’t really say it like that but everyone isn’t even listening at this point because this party has already been so goddamn weird and we’re all suffering from secondhand embarrassment

i am Assuming,,,,,that Killer Croc Jones “Jonsie No-Nipples” has been taken away to be put into jail and studied for his non-nipple properties but at this point i’ve been sitting here huffing that cold medicine or whatever Bruce gave me. which

oh yeah i was crushed earlier

it was by “slugger” but whatever

yeah his body broke mine

it was because Bruce and Jason were fighting again and not paying attention so

KC was tranquillized and like

fell on me

he drooled on me too

those ballroom floors really hurt

like my head feels like mush

Alfred’s oatmeal

on its second day

because i refused to eat it on the first day

that man has a spine of Steel and he Does Not Let You Waste Food

btw he fell on me because i pushed Luis Alvarez out of the way

he was really transfixed by those tiny fish eggs

it’s fun to put them on your tongue and let them like slide around

so i pushed him out of the way and was promptly crushed to death

B said something about a broken collarbone

i am more worried about a broken butt

fuck

my coccyx

PROFESSOR PYM wait no shit that’s a comic book character

anyways my butt is broken and im hungry and dad wouldn’t let me get out of the chair so i write up this report because I am A Real Life Detective and I do my JOB

once again im the best

hey red jood can you get me some cheese nibs cassandrA won’t share which is p mean especially since i was all for being eaten to give her those crab cakes red hoof red why isn’t he responding to me i want xheese nibs red hanz red red Red Hood please I require sustenance red fhau red gjji red hhood ted joood redb hood red red edds red red edd dedd red red red red red wd red what the fuck what a right bastard sometimes oh hi Badaman

EDIT: His name is “Pyg.” Fucking. Pyg. Points taken off for unoriginality.

decided to have a tumblr version too ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#take this and put it on my grave #in remembrance of me

144 notes · View notes

tonotbelionized · 5 years ago

Text

Volume 7, Episode 3: Ace Operatives

I’ve now resigned to my fate of pushing out reviews a week after the actual episode came out. Still, at least other fans will have watched it before reading, so let’s just jump right in!

It seems that the episodes are gradually declining for me this volume. I didn’t expect the third episode to be as good as the third episode of Volume 6, as that was my favourite out of the entire series. The bar was too high, so I didn’t hold out too much hope to avoid being disappointed, and it seems that I made the right choice.

Onto the positives first, the biggest thing that I liked in this episode was the whole arc surrounding Ozpin and Ruby lying to Ironwood. The girls are moving away from the hive mind they all had in the previous volume, with different sides and views being taken. Yang and Oscar are not all that happy with Ruby lying, while Weiss and Blake acknowledge that they couldn’t trust Ironwood with how far mentally he’s fallen.

Like I said in my previous review, Ruby isn’t really in the right or the wrong for this. It’s certainly hypocritical given that they were quick to demonize Ozpin for lying yet deciding that lying and withholding information is actually a good choice to make, but you can understand why she thought she had to do it.

Yang is really interesting in this scene. I’m not angry with her, she’s my favourite character, so I’m more intrigued why she was the one to pipe up about Ruby lying. Yang is one who has a secret too, Raven being the Spring Maiden. It’s a serious secret to keep given that Raven is essential to Salem’s plan, and with Cinder still kicking around and knowing Raven’s secret, I’m sure it’ll come up eventually.

Even if the information can’t be used right then and there, it’s not really Yang’s secret to keep, and she can’t get angry at others for lying when she’s lying by omission. Eventually, the group will have to learn that Raven’s the Spring Maiden and that Yang knew, but I’m not mad because this is an interesting flaw for Yang to have.

And Oscar’s question was amazing. Isn’t that exactly what Ozpin did to us?

By Ruby’s reaction, she seems to know that she’s doing what Ozpin did, what the group shouted and derided him for, and this is the perfect thing for Ruby to grow. She can’t be naive anymore, she has to realise that being the leader means that she will have to make choices that aren’t always what’s right, and that she will make mistakes.

Moving on from that, I can safely say that CRWBY has bumped the Ace Ops in my list of favourite characters. I especially love Marrow, he reminds me more of Louis from The Walking Dead Game, and his and Harriet’s relationship is funny and cute. The fact that the Ace Ops clearly outrank the protagonists very much drives home that, no matter what they did to get there, they still have a long way to go before they can match the older Huntsmen, and Salem’s group.

A bit of world building in this episode is nice. The implied connection between the mine explosion and the explosion that killed Ilia’s parents make it feel connected, and that Ilia isn’t just thrown into the void now that she’s no longer useful.

Also, I will admit that some of the outfits don’t look so bad in motion, compared to still images. The first one would be Jaune’s hair. I don’t know what happened, but the person responsible picked the most unflattering angle for him when they first showed the models, but now that he’s moving around and showing it in different angles.

The same could be said for Weiss’ braid. In some angles, it looks fine, but then when you see it when she’s looking straight ahead or showing more of the right side of her face, you can see just how awkward and clumsy it looks. It’s too far from her head, it’s rendered poorly, and I still don’t like it. Overall, they are still my least favourite outfits in the series and CRWBY really dropped the ball on them.

The final positive I can say is that Tyrian continues to be my favourite villain in the volume. I missed him and was happy when he was in Volume 6, so now that he’s given more screen time and room to move without the surplus of villains bogging the pacing down, he continues to be up there in character and writing.

Onto the negatives, and there were plenty that lowered the overall quality of the episode for me.

On top of her design being my least favourite of the group, Blake’s change being the only one to be acknowledges is... ugh. I actually think that Yang’s flustered attempts to compliment her was cute, but I don’t like that Blake’s change was the only one to be acknowledged, and that Yang was the only one who noticed. Weiss and Ruby changed their hair too, they’ve all changed their looks, it’s stilted and awkwardly done when it could’ve been a nice scene between the girls.

While I enjoyed the dust mine exposition, there were a few things that annoyed me.

Firstly was Weiss blaming herself for what the Schnee Dust Company, and therefore her father, did. This becomes a problem when we’ve had a whole song and dance in Volume 4 about how Weiss isn’t responsible for her father’s crimes, that she isn’t a bad person just because she was born a Schnee, but now she feels complacent in the company’s subjugation of the Faunus when she was just an abused child with no real power?

And Blake just doesn’t say anything. She puts her hand on Weiss’ shoulder and comforts her, but she doesn’t actually say that Weiss isn’t responsible for what the SDC is doing.

On top of that, the two Faunus that were actively affected by the discrimination and the SDC in Atlas are not there.

Ilia lost her parents in that dust mine explosion, becoming an orphan, and had to hide who she was in a deeply racist society, even more so than Beacon. Her friends weren’t like Blake’s friends, they actively badmouthed the Faunus, calling them racist slurs that Ilia had to join in on or risk being outed. This is her home, her experience, and she’s not there. She’s instead shoved out of the show because there was no room for her, even when CRWBY continued to add one off characters that ultimately take up space.

Adam was branded. He was enslaved by the SDC from when he was a child, likely has no parents of his own, and it ultimately cost him his sanity. This Volume could've had a villain who was personally connected to the SDC and the Faunus racism, but instead he was killed off just after showing that he was horribly subjugated, and now we’re floating around with no real villain to tie this all together.

All we have is Blake. A Faunus who isn’t from Atlas, who lived on an island surrounded by her own kind, in a mansion, has two loving parents, and has never come into contact with the SDC until she fought them in the White Fang, meaning that she never met them when she was in a position of vulnerability. Her abuse at Adam’s hands had nothing to do with her Faunus heritage, her friends are all understanding, even after Weiss’ racist gremlin tendencies in Volume 1 which she grew out of, and now she’s the only Faunus that’s in Atlas and connected to this arc.

CRWBY really wrote themselves into a corner with this, and it’s telling that Miles and Kerry wrote this one given this wildly out of character moment.

Moving on, the scene with Qrow and Clover was alright. Up until the talk about his Semblance.

It’s so awkwardly worded and clunky, and it’s strange that Qrow would tell Clover straight away when it took him seventeen years to tell Ruby and Yang. People try to say that it’s because he was on a mission and Clover needed to know, but that’s still wierd given that it paints Qrow as someone who would rather keep his Semblance a secret from his niece, who’s put herself on this dangerous mission because he told her that Cinder was from Haven and that’s where he’s going next, and stay away from her even when she was in danger.

Ruby nearly died when she was attacked by Tyrian, Qrow barely reached her in time, but if he was honest and stayed with her throughout the journey to look out for her, and tell her his secrets like he expects Ozpin to do, then he would’ve been there from the moment Tyrian attacked.

But he tells Clover immediately. Sure.

On the topic of Clover, I have to say this. I don’t like him. He’s really boring and I find myself caring for the rest of the Ace Ops way more than him. His weapon is dumb, his personality is just meh, but the positive is that his design is pretty cool. He has the Ace Ops uniform to tie him to his team, but with his own twist. I like all the good luck charms on his person, even if it does scream in your face that he’s meant to be lucky.

I’m sure no one was surprised when he said his Semblance was Good Luck. It’s as obvious as Qrow “Bad Luck Charm” Branwen and Leonardo “He’s the Cowardly Fucking Lion” Lionheart.

So that’s it for the episode. It’s certainly my least favourite of the Volume so far, given that it’s full of really annoying scenes that pull down the good, the fight with the Giest was over pretty quickly given how menacing they made it look in the trailer, and character moments that made me roll my eyes to the back of my skull.

Still better than “So That’s How It Is”, though.

Episode Rating: 6 / 10

#rwby #rwby volume 7 spoilers #rwby spoilers #crtq #episode review #me: the review will be out tomorrow #me a week later: I know what I said but LISTEN

6 notes · View notes

archivepolarisornah · 5 years ago

Text

A Little bit in trouble | James & Tina - Completed

It wasn’t a good day for Tina. She had been back at work for a few days since the party, and was still seething at having been dunked in the pool by her boss. She had been avoiding him, or maybe he had been avoiding her, but it was a guarantee that she wouldn’t be forgiving him any time soon.

Her least favourite job at work just happened to be right at the top of the to-do list (The icing on the cake of a day filled with pure frustration). Tina had made a grand total of two single beds, and one double today, though the latter was of a questionable quality.

See, Tina was just too small to make anything bigger than a single. Her arms didn’t reach, and she ended up performing some elaborate acrobatics just to get the corners of the sheet over the mattress. Duvets swamped her, and standing on the bed to shake them out was definitely not protocol.

She had spent close to forty minutes in the next room (of which the door was propped open with a chair to let some air in). To put it lightly, it wasn’t going well. In fact, Tina was now lying face down in the middle of the bed, a pillow over her head and sheets thrown carelessly across the mattress. Her uniform was creased (and totally not practical for this job, might she add) and lord knows the state of her hair was something to behold.

What kind of boss would James be if he wouldn’t be aware of the smallest of details, such as his employer avoiding him for reasons he imagined to be from a certain ordeal at a certain party where said certain employer might have been dropped into a pool. Well, at least she wasn’t the only one that got wet at the party considering he jumped in with her. He had a strange sense of humour and he would blame it on the alcohol, though he was still quite sober when all of it happened.

As a boss, James learned a close representation of what a routine is. He was aware of task Tina would have at this moment, and even if he didn’t know where she was surveillance cameras would show it soon. Right now she would be making the beds, which meant he could uninvitedly show up and perhaps do something about that big frown of hers.

That and she was laying on a bed, which wasn’t what she was expected to do. “Fighting quite some beast aren’t you.” The look she had at this moment was difficult to put into words. It looked like she participated in a wrestling match and lost. She just lacked the bruises. “I thought princesses were meant to be saved from monsters, not face them alone.” He teased. Remembering the small pet name that had formed since their last meeting. Though if he was honest, perhaps the angry gremlin did suit her more

Tina barely heard Hook enter the room through her covered ears, and she only held on to the pillow tighter when his voice broke through the feathery barrier. Maybe (hopefully) she misheard and it was a customer entering the room. She could explain herself to them at least - pretend she was a guest with weird sleeping habits. But then he called her a damned princess and she wanted the bed to swallow her whole.

“Fuck off,” came a muffled grumble from under the pillow. And then she lifted her head just enough to glare out from underneath. From the bridge of her nose out to the tips of her ears, Tina flushed a deep shade of scarlet. She was not. in. the. mood. Not for talking, not for games, and certainly not for work. Part of her was convinced that Hook gave her the job of making the beds just to make her suffer. (But really, who wouldn’t want to see that? Tina was a petulant child sometimes. Hard work was the least she deserved.)

“Unless you want me to go for another princess carry to drag you out of the bed?” He raised his eyebrow, though his lips curled into a smirk.

“You’re doing a downright fucking awful job, if that’s why you’re here,” Tina spat. If there was one thing she hated more than not being able to do something on her own, it was other people acknowledging that she was hopeless and needed help. It seemed spite was a great motivator, but right now her anger was overriding that instinct and she wouldn’t try any longer.

The pillow flew through the air with force, hitting it’s target, one James Hook, with a dull thud.

“Shut up!” An exasperated sigh escaped Tina’s lips and she slumped back on to the bed. “Talk about your feelings, blah, blah,” came a mocking voice and an eye roll so dramatic The Academy were already having ‘Tina Bell’ engraved on an Oscar. “Gross! Go away…” Clearly she had inadvertently chosen the second option.

A flashback to the party caused her to sit upright again, her hair as wild as the look in her eye. Tina did not want to be touched right now. But stubborness being what it was, she stuck up her middle finger. At this point it would be easier to just quit her job and run away to live in the forest.

“I’m doing an awful job by helping someone who clearly is wasting too much time?” He certainly disagreed. Well, he got used to Tina’s temper, at this moment she looked like a child having a tantrum. Sometimes you need help, it was that simple. These beds needed to be made, guests were going to arrive in a couple of minutes.

A pillow hit his chest and he frowned at her. Alright very angry.

“Alright if you do not want to talk, at least allow me to help to get this finished.” He ignored the rude remarks she was making, mainly because it didn’t really get to him.

“Oh right.” He walked out for a moment and dropped two bags onto her hands. “It’s a large cupcake from the bakery and a bag from Mode. I was planning to give this to you this morning as an apology but work prevented me. If you see Peter tell him he also has a cake with his name on it in the fridge in my office. So he can come to see me to get his share.”

As she flipped him the bird James saw no other thing to do than to talk to her: “You go take a breather outside, you are way too over your head. You might want to go and relax for a bit. I expect you back at four pm.” He picked the pillow and placed it back on the bed. “Go, Tina, I got work to do.”

“You heard what I said,” Tina stated, her arms flying to cover her face where the pillow had previously been. She muttered in to the sleeve of her shirt, barely audible; “You’re not helping by standing in the door watching me suffer.”

Maybe if she wished hard enough the bed would just eat her whole and she wouldn’t have to look at anyone or work ever again. Or even better, maybe the bed would eat James and she would be free from this hell!

The girl sat up again as James left the room briefly, folding her legs beneath her and huffing in to her hands. When he returned, he handed her two bags. Tina eyed the bags with suspicion, holding them at arms reach. And then her eyebrow quirked at James. An… apology? An apology?! The nerve! she thought. (Of course an apology was totally reasonable, but in her blind fit of anger, nothing was reasonable.)

“You can’t buy my forgiveness! And I don’t need a breather, I’m fine!” The nest of hair that was once a bun on the top of her head threatened to unfurl as she shook her head. The first statement was true, for the moment, but the sprite of a girl was temperamental and could change her mind whenever she felt like. The second was a bold faced lie.

Tina sprang to her feet almost immediately when told to leave. Not because she was going to take orders from James, absolutely not, but any excuse not to finish making the beds was a good enough one for her. Before she could bound out the door, however, she had to make sure she had the final word. “Just some advice, by the way,” Tina was now standing in front of James at her full unimpressive height and gave him a jab in the chest with her finger. “Hire some taller people.”

“I did hear what you say, I’m for one actually listening.” He sighed. He watched her cling to the pillow before shaking his head. “You didn’t want my help, you truly are indecisive aren’t you. Either you want help, or you don’t want help. It’s one of the two.”

He didn’t understand why Smee was the only one he employed that actually was willing to do his job. Why did he hire her in the first place? It was in moments like these he started to question this.

“I’m not buying your forgiveness.” He honestly didn’t care if she would forgive him or not. “There is smoke coming out of your ears princess - I think you do need a breather.” He rolled his eyes, arms locked and a part of him wanted to groan, loudly.

Honestly, what was it that made it so hard for the both of them to get along? Part of him was really getting tired of this, he’d been patient. And he tried to deal with the insults, the rudeness in her voice and allowing her to work for him even though she showed little to no respect to him.

She did, however, make a mistake when she put her finger on his chest and he honestly got tired of everything in this moment. So he did the one thing he knew would get her angry to the point he’d regret his actions quite immediately. He picked her up as he had done with the pool and dropped her back on the bed.

“Look, Tina.” His voice turned cold, his eyes hard and his lips were pressed into a firm line. He turned into his scold mode. “The reason I hired you was not because of your height. And no, we are talking this out because I’m so done with this. Why can’t we get along?” What more did he have to do to be treated as a respectful adult? Or well an actual human being. “I’m allowing you to work here, honestly if you ever find yourself in trouble I’d be the first to bail you out. You are not a bloody charity case before you going to fucking come up with that excuse. And yes, I’m fucking fed up now. What the hell Tina?” His voice turned into a low hiss. “You are getting properly paid, I’m not giving you any trouble for not doing your work properly, I’m just bloody expecting you to ask for some help when you need it.” Honestly, for a man of little words, he truly turned into a waterfall when he was pissed.

“I’m not harmful, I pay you more than what you should earn. I’m fed up with this behaviour. I want to know why? Why you keep acting like a spoiled brat and why do you have so much issue with asking help.” Was it the same reason he did? The lack of having support around him? Was it something more, did he do something to distrust her? “At the end of the day, I’m still your boss.” Some respect he at least deserved.

“What do you expect from me, because honestly, I don’t fucking know it anymore.”

It seemed that Tina had made a very poor judgement call when she decided to prod James on the chest. There was no way she could have seen his next action coming. Before a single word could fly out of her mouth her feet were lifted from the ground and she hit the mattress with a surprised “oof!”

Tina would have been fully prepared to rip James a new one had she not just been given the fright of her life. For a brief part of the ‘lecture’ she couldn’t hear a word James said because her heart was beating so loudly she could feel it in her ears. The redness in her cheeks disappeared almost immediately. The blue of Tina’s eyes flashed with a sense of frenzied fright. And she was frozen momentarily on the spot.

It seemed there was one thing that Tina was simply awful at, and that was hiding her feelings. They flashed across her face like an obnoxious neon billboard. The girl couldn’t have hidden the panic if she tried. It was one thing to be man-handled and carried with some air of grace while drunk, another to be picked up and flung quickly on to a bed in the heat of an argument while stone-cold sober.

Tina hadn’t ever been afraid of James but it was a disquieting to realise just how easily he could over-power her.

Her heart slowed to a thrum and James’ words made it to her ears. Finally the panic morphed in to a petulant scoff. Maybe it was a defense mechanism. She felt small. She hated it.

If the scolding had been aimed at anyone else, they would have apologised for their behaviour and walked away with their tail between their legs. But it wasn’t aimed at anyone else. It was all on Tina. She was absolutely in the wrong and adamant that she would not be taking the heat for it.

An insolent look graced her features. Tina chewed the inside of her cheek, gaze averted in point-blank refusal to look James in the eye. She could have burned a hole in the wardrobe with the intensity of her glare. Her pre-school teachers had seen this look a thousand times, as had her high school teachers and her college professors. It had even been the precursor to a fair share of fist fights.

Today, however, all that followed was a shrug.

A shrug. That was all Tina had given him with the rainfall of words he had basically threw at her. Which he replied to with a raise of an eyebrow and a face that just showed how he had expected a reaction.

A groan followed a deep sigh, an eyeroll to the lowering of his shoulders. Part of him wanted to see her crack under the weight of the seriousness in the situation. it’s the same feeling he expected for screaming against a child for numerous minutes just to get an: ok. from them.

He wanted…What? Why did it bother him so much what Peter and Tina even did? He found himself growing silent. He didn’t want to know, moreover he refused to look deep inside himself to figure out what made him feel this way because, why would he? What would it offer him? Probably more complication that he wished to deal with. Yet he couldn’t walk away either. Nor could he end the conversation where it was right now. “Tina.” His voice grew soft because he basically had already given her the scolding of a lifetime. “This has to stop.” At the end of the day, he was her employer. And for this hotel to run working together had to be key in their interaction.

“Why can’t you ask such a simple question, or just go ahead and tell me, hey dude I’m too small to do the beds properly move your dumb ass and get this shit working kay.” He rolled his eyes for a moment but it was what he expected. “You’ve been rude plenty of times let’s be fair here.” He didn’t fire her then, he wouldn’t now. “

Another thing that bothered him he voiced. “Look, I’m not asking you to like working here, nor am I asking you to like me as your boss.” She was Peter’s girl, not his. “What I do ask of you- is to rely on me, or on those who work here. Heck, you can even bother Peter for this, you get my permission since he doesn’t do anything I ask of him.” He shrugged. “But I do expect you to figure something out to keep things like this from happening, I’m not your dad, I’m not your teacher, heck I’m not your family. But I’m your boss.” That’s the relationship they had. Employer and employé.

“Sorry I threw you again.” Not sure why he developed that habit. Maybe the reaction was a tiny bit funny to him. A part of him was glad she didn’t resort to violence with him. Yet a part also wondered why she didn’t do that.

He couldn’t figure her out and on this point. It was pretty much driving him mad.

There was a palpable tension in the room when James grew silent.

Tina wanted to get up and run. Or give James a solid punch in the face. But she just stayed where she sat, fidgeting with a loose thread on the end of her shirt. She thought that if she tried either, James would just pick her right back up again and that was the last thing she wanted.

Actually, quite a fair amount of her Do Not Wants were happening right now. She didn’t want to be at work, or making the beds. She didn’t want to feel totally hopeless at it. Tina didn’t want to ask for help, because that meant admitting defeat. And she definitely didn’t want to be cornered, like an ant under a magnifying glass and called out for her bullshit attitude.

Later that night, when trying to sleep, she would cry about it. But right now she was too stubborn to even do that.

James finally spoke and Tina found herself sighing heavily. She looked him in the eye, even though that was another thing she didn’t want to do. It felt like he was still taking jabs at her, despite his voice softening. Tina was very aware that he was probably trying to reason with her now.

Eventually her voice came back. But it was quiet. A mumble. A far cry from the screeching brat she had been moments ago. It was like, if she spoke too loud, if anyone actually heard her, then it would all be too real. Once it was out of the box, she couldn’t force it back in.

“I can’t help it…”

The glare dissipated and Tina looked at her knees. It was the closest to an admission of guilt Tina was ever going to get. And the sincerest she had been for a very long time. Another shrug followed.

“I just– It–” A heavy, frustrated groan followed and Tina was back to lying on the bed with her hands covering her face. “I hate this…” Though it didn’t look like it, she was listening. To everything - To James’ suggestion, to his insistence on viewing him only as a boss, and begrudgingly to his apology. It just so happened that, for once in her life, she didn’t know what to say without giving in. Nor was she certain the little ball of anger that lived in the back of her head would stay away much longer. If he kept talking at her she might explode all over again.

There were certain things James didn’t enjoy, and one of them was a deafening silence. The kind of silence that makes you want to reflect on yourself and experience emotions he was pretty darn sure about he’d locked away the moment he left the orphanage. How foolish of him to think that was an option.

In this situation, he’d rather get punched, instead of this game of pull where it was seemingly about who caves in first. Yet never would he have imagined seeing such a change in demeanour with Tina. The always so snappy girl had actually turned quiet. It was enough to get James to actually worry about her wellbeing, well a little bit. That was what he told himself, he cared a little. His gaze shifted on her hands, which for one was picking at a loose thread on her shirt, and he had to refrain himself to still her hands from doing so.

The sigh made him wonder what was going on in her mind, it was pretty unlikely to see her in this position, and James didn’t know what to think of it. She seemed…Vulnerable. Which wasn’t the sort of position he got to see her in. Yet it didn’t mean he was unaware that she could have this sort of moments, it just simply was a first.

“I can’t help it.” Never had James ever heard her sound so small. It made him blink, look at her carefully as if to try to read a novel written in a foreign language. He couldn’t grasp it, yet a large part of him wanted to know.

“Why?”

That one word he immediately regretted, because Tina wasn’t one to share such things. She valued being tough, she valued being noticed. Being emotional wasn’t something many people got to see her as, let alone James. As she looked at her knees James lowered himself, to look at her from the same eye level. Quite a puzzle she is. And she had been ever since she had come to work for him. He saw her as an extension of Peter, though part of him wondered when he began to see her as a separate being.

And then he chuckled, a reply to her groan and he shook his head. A soft smile carried on his lips as the silence still lingered. “First of all, what do you hate. Second of all what can I do to change it.” He wanted her to feel more at ease. This place was never meant as a place for torment. “I don’t know what you think Tina, but-” He carefully worded his next line. “You are doing alright here, I’m not finding many issues when you work, well you are a little menace at times. But I just took it as part of your personality. Something tells me the you I am seeing, isn’t something you share quite often.” He found that truly regrettable. “Know if you need help you can ask me. I won’t think of you as any less, you are a strong girl and you are capable of many things. You are an out of the box thinker. And I’m proud of you.” As someone who never had heard those words himself, he knew how important at times it was to hear them.

“Why..?” Tina repeated just as softly, but it seemed something sparked behind her eyes and in less than a millisecond her temperature was rising again and her ears burned that same hot shade of red as before. Her voice rose with it. “Why?! What kind of stupid question is that? I don’t fucking know why?!” If she knew the answer, then she certainly wouldn’t be lying where she was right now, having the worst existential crisis of her life. The problem would already have been solved and the beds would have been made without an issue!

Tina’s wall shot straight back up. She couldn’t begin to fathom the look James gave her when he came down to her level and looked her in the eye. It was like… confused? Worried? Amused? She didn’t really know what to call it. And she definitely didn’t want to keep looking at him.

Then he laughed and Tina could feel her frustration building all over again because he was asking more questions and she just wanted him to stop it already. The magnifying glass had found a ray of light and it was burning her alive.

“I– This! I hate this!” Tina whined, shaking her head and gesturing her hands frantically. Whatever hair had been left hanging on to her bun had now unfurled completely and she looked as wild as she felt. James’ sappiness was just the icing on top of the cake. It made her squirm. The exact thing that Tina didn’t want happening was happening right now - someone was seeing her as the small, damaged little thing that she really was and now nothing was on her terms any more. James felt sorry for her in a way that she hadn’t planned on.

This attention was all wrong.

She wanted to be done. “Can you just… Like… Stop. Stop talking. Jesus Christ! I don’t need help, I don’t need you feeling sorry for me, or, or… Proud of me or whatever. You’ve just ripped me a fucking new one and– and now you’re just making it worse! I just need you to stop.”

Thank god, James knew how to press the wrong buttons with Tina because for some reason, her being upset with him felt much more comfortable than to realize a human being isn’t limited to happiness, and anger. He had no need for a new unknown range of emotions, that honestly why were they even installed as an instinct. He gave up crying years ago.

“It’s a question.” James pointed out, it was hard to acknowledge the anger when it came to Tina. When wasn’t she angry around him. This was a more common area for James than her being emotional. This he could deal with. Perhaps all of this was a lie. He simply didn’t know how to handle Tina, he just ended up being himself around her, how crappy that might have been. Honestly, he truly believed this side of him was dropped off with the orphanage he spends the first 18 years of his life at. This was also turning unpleasant for him.

The frustration was readable on her face, a soft redness behind her ears and he knew, he knew that he had upset her. Though it caused a rather conflicting feeling to weld up inside him. Was this amusing to him? Honestly, He needed a drink. Maybe a few. How many hours till work was over again?

He sighed, though it hadn’t had to do anything with her, it was the trail of thoughts that annoyed him. Honestly, this much emotion for what? Being unable to do some bedsheets on the beds properly. After a whole wave of emotions, he had finally settle with annoyance.

He rolled his eyes, puffed his chest to escape a loud huff. She hated this? He hated this too. He hated how he couldn’t deal with anything else than upsetting her. At least that was easy. It was much easier to make her angry than to make her smile. A part of him hated himself for it as well.

It seemed like she was unable to read him as well. Hence the poor communication between the both of them. Yet James refused to give up. One day they would manage a conversation without anger. Even if it’ll end him. He didn’t want to know why he wanted this, he refused to pry deeper. As he did with a lot of things that happened in his life. Such as why is Peter still in his hotel, knowing the boy doesn’t do shit.

“I can stop talking, doesn’t mean I will.” She couldn’t have her way all the time. Nor did he find it very respectful in how she phrased it, yet he was aware Tina wasn’t the type of person to think what to say before she said it. She just said it. Which worked both ways honestly. Her honesty could be both welcoming and annoying, or well insulting. “Don’t charm yourself, I don’t pity anyone. Nor do I pity you at this moment. That’s not an emotion I have.” He didn’t lack empathy, however. But no he didn’t pity her at this moment. If anything she was quite acting ridiculous right now.

He didn’t like his time being wasted, but when it came to her and Peter, they always got to. Instead of having this emotional dramatic moment, he could’ve just done the bed already and walked away. Yet, it felt like loosing. And he wasn’t turning back from a fight if taunted. Nor could he leave someone this much in distress.

Lord Tina was truly testing his patience here.

“Doesn’t mean I will,” Tina repeated in a mocking tone, shaking her head. Her face had now turned completely scarlet, and no amount of wafting her hands around could hide it. “Pfft, yeah, clearly because you’re still going! Can you actually hear yourself? Do you know what you sound like?”

Tina sat upright for what felt like the hundredth time, hands landing squarely on hips. She felt like she was on a trampoline with all the ups and downs happening right now. If she bounced one more time she might end up nauseous. Her head was reeling. Why couldn’t he have just let her be dramatic for five minutes? That’s all she ever needed! Had she not been so absolutely, horribly stubborn, that breather might have helped too. But there was no chance she was admitting James Hook would have been right. Ah, but hindsight was a wonderful thing!

The girl huffed a piece of hair from her face, and decided in that moment that she was finished arguing. Finished listening, and being scolded, and being cornered. Somehow she had to seem in control of what was happening right now, and if James wasn’t going to leave her alone then she was going to leave, by her own choice.

“I’ve decided I’m going home,” Tina stated rather suddenly, quite matter-of-factly. She stood, dusting herself off and adjusting her clothes in the hopes she would look significantly less disheveled. Her nose stuck high in to the air. But her face was still red, and her hair was still a mess. “Consider this me calling in sick.” The urge to give James another hard poke on the chest returned briefly, but she squashed that thought down quickly by folding her arms.

And then she wasn’t sure if she should wait for him to agree or not. Because he would probably say no, right? And then rant some more about how lazy and irresponsible she was being, and that running away from your problems never fixes them. Okay, she definitely wasn’t waiting. Her ears would bleed if she had to listen to any more yelling. Tina stormed past James and straight for the door.

It was unfortunate that she made it half way down the corridor and remembered about the cake he had brought for her. It looked like a really good cake and surely she couldn’t just let it go to waste, that would just be sad. Like, really sad…

Tina turned swiftly on her heels, sprinted back to the room, barged past James and grabbed the cake, before flitting back down the corridor in a flash. “I’m still having this, by the way!!” she yelled as she went.

That mocking tone really was just, very much like Tina. James had to suppress quite an urge to grin at the moment. That flustered face, however, was new, another thing James found himself enjoying as he gazed upon her. “Seemingly so.” He agreed though he could sense she was quite done with talking. He couldn’t blame her, he too wanted to move forward to the work that had been waiting for him. “Oh, I hear myself just fine, as I also hear you just fine. I wasn’t born a deaf man after all.” Ah, the insults. Quite a routine they had become.

Yes, all of this was amusing to him now. He managed to accept this behaviour quite smoothly.

It was as if he had finally figured her out for a bit, and found himself feeling quite proud for it too. Well, he had been carefully taking notice of her behaviour for a while, not with any intentions he had told himself. More due to a mere curiosity. Yes, that was all. She was dramatic, quite sharp of a girl, especially when it came to making excuses. Intriguing in a way. But he would never voice that out loud, she didn’t need a bigger ego.

He had to laugh as she blew a strand of hair away, it was as if he was watching something, a cat perhaps. No matter what they did, how angry they became, it still got him to laugh. She absolutely looked done with him, now that truely had lightened up something inside of him, especially mixed with that blush of her. Oh, he’d certainly taunt her for it next time. And then he blinked to himself. Since when was teasing Tina an actual thing he looked forward to. Shrugging to himself he found himself not paying too much attention to her more, that however stopped as she announced she was going home. A smirk carried on his lips. So the princess planned to flee, how peculiar.

She looked like quite an adorable mess at the moment. Her hair was ruffled, her cheeks were red, and she was absolutely furious. How cute. She thinks she could act like a queen around him, now wasn’t that the most heartwarming thing. He’d cut her pay for leaving like this. He might fancy her, but like all things, if it didn’t profit him, he wouldn’t be nice about it. “Like you were sick last time?” He asked her, a reference to that time she lied having a major assignment while she hadn’t. Lies always came around to reveal the truth in the end. He found himself making way for her, smirking, a grin from ear to ear.

“Be my guest, I wouldn’t want you to waste your time feeling sick princess.” It was a taunt, for once James was going to play a game in a way that it would drive Tina mad, and he would test her, plenty of times to see this type of reaction. And he was going to enjoy every second of it. He’d let her run away from her problems, from him. She could even cry to Peter if she felt the need to. Perhaps that would get the boy for treating her better. He chuckled.

And then she was gone and he found himself laying on the bed for a moment. Shaking his head. Now the day would feel awfully long, he, however, jumped when she returned for the cake. And he rolled his eyes.

She could always amaze him.

“Enjoy your cake, Princess.” He called back to her. Laughing. Well, it certainly was time to return to work.

#A Little bit in trouble #A Little bit in trouble - Tina #Tina #xaspiringbeamoflightx #theneverlandjameshook #[Greetings (Gremlin) Princess - Tina]#replied

1 note · View note

secret-engima · 4 years ago

Text

More Thoughts On Team Gremlin verse

-This thing’s official name is “Saving the World for Fun and Profit” because I find that funny.

-At some point in their escapades, Whitley joins the team. No, he’s not a time traveler, he’s just a smol child Schnee that certain members of the White Fang thought would be good to hold for ransom. Naturally, Oscar found him and put a stop to that and trundled off with a kid his physical age in tow. Torchwick oFFERED to put the kid back where he belonged (once he caught the kids with an extra in their midst, which took about a week) but Whitley is young and impressionable and has just gone from a house that is empty and cold and devoid of anyone willing to love him to spending a week or so with this crew of crazy kids who hug him and ruffle his hair and let him get dirty while playing and feed him candy and don’t scold him for not spending hours practicing for his recitals. Who have an adult that acts so vibrant and *different* from his parents and who pays attention to Whitley when he speaks. Who even have a DOG that is friendly and huge and TALKS which almost makes up for how he’s a bit goopy instead of fluffy like the books say dogs should be.

-He turns those big hopeful eyes on them and asks if he can *stay* and Oscar immediately turns the puppy eyes on Torchwick, because if Whitley, who helped him in the future-that-isn’t, wants to stay and be happy here then of course Oscar is onboard.

-Torchwick: Noooo. Noooooo. Arrgggh don’t you DARE try to cute me you tiny terror-.

-Oscar and Whitley: *puppy eyes intensify*

-Also Torchwick: FINE. But he needs to dye his hair so people don’t instantly know he’s a Schnee.

-Neo: *whips out a two bottles of dye that both match her hair and beams because she always wanted a baby brother*

-At some OTHER point in time, Oscar accidentally mentions that a Certain Person shot him off a cliff when he was out of Aura. Torchwick, being the reasonable, focused, definitely-not-a-dad criminal mastermind he is, absolutely does NOT break into General Ironwood’s home to break his nose.

-The fact that his entire info network in Mantle and Atlas is now running a side operation of Make The General Miserable is complete coincidence. Truly. So is Neo disappearing for a week and coming back smelling of Tundra, with bloody knuckles and a satisfied expression.

-Oscar: Guys, I told you to leave him alone! He was suffering a mental breakdown, and I survived the fall. It’s fine!

-Mercury: You and I have *very* different opinions on what counts as fine, Boss. And that’s counting the fact that I was raised by Marcus Black.

-Sondor the Grimm Hound is the goodest boy. He crawled his way out of the experimental goo pool Salem had dumped his founding material in several years early just to go find his Pups.

-Everyone is a Pup to Sondor.

-Yes even Torchwick. Torchwick is just more like a bratty yearling pup to him.

-Except Neo, she acts too much like a cat to be a Pup.

-Of course his favorite Pup is Oscar Pup. Who is small and fierce and doesn’t understand that because he is hurt, he shouldn’t be trying to hunt the same way the others do. Here Oscar Pup climb on his back, he will help.

-Sondor, like in canon, can speak, he just tends to stick to short phrases because talking is tricky when you have a skull shape Like That. The kids have maybe had too much fun trying to teach him human single-word memes.

-Behold, the Grimm who knows the meaning of and can say Yeet at the correct time.

-Sondor is a firm believer in bedtime. The concept was introduced to him pre-time travel when Neo, Mercury, and Emerald were all trying to put Oscar back together mentally and physically. Often, Oscar would lose all concept of time (and self) while trying to mentally navigate around the ragged hole left by what Salem did to Ozpin inside him, and this could lead to Oscar just- straight up forgetting to SLEEP. For Days. So since Sondor was always a constant at Oscar’s side (no one else wanted to deal with the Grimm but also no one else wanted to try removing him from the side of the one person he was attached to and who would in turn spontaneously use magic to defend), Em sat down with the Giant Death Dog and taught this sucker the concept of bedtime. Specifically, if the Broken Light (moon) was out and the clock looked like So, then Oscar needed to be IN BED, lying down and SLEEPING until the clock looked like This.

-It took a few tries but Sondor got the gist eventually, and this makes taking bby out on nighttime heists post-time travel tricky because Sondor is prone to just looking up at the moon, rasping “Bedtime. For pups.” and then scooping Oscar up and trundling off to the nearest comfy spot. He will 100% lie down with Oscar and gently rest his head on Oscar’s torso so that the boy can’t escape. Oscar would protest but he does need the help and Sondor has also done this to any of the other Pups if he catches them up too late at night.

-Sondor must be *bribed* to let Oscar participate in any activity past his “bedtime” that Emerald first taught him. And then Oscar has to make up for it by taking a daytime nap. Oscar would protest but physically he is 6 and working his way up so he does actually need sleep.

-If anyone ever told Oscar that someday the fastest way to put him to sleep would be to have a giant, vaguely gooey Grimm hound that can shapeshift into even more terrifying forms cuddle him and make low rumbly noises he would have... well depending on timeline he would have stared, run away, or just laughed hard enough to choke on his own blood because sure why not, it’s not like his day can get any weirder after being kidnapped and tortured by an evil grimm queen lady.

-Everyone picture Oscar riding Sondor into battle. Or just riding around on him in general because bby has joint problems and height problems and riding his Best Friend Doggo is a great way to help with both.

-Everyone picture Oscar smiling serenely at some criminal gang who has surrounded him to try to kidnap him and hold him over Torchwick’s head. They have a lot of men.

-“I have a Sondor.”

-*furious bellowing Hound Grimm with bloody-colored wings drops from the sky to LOOM protectively over Oscar, roaring bloody murder at the criminals who thought the child with the limp and the cane was a good target*.

-Sondor’s second favorite Pup is Emerald, because she gives the Good Scritches and also has more sense than most of the other Pups combined. Mercury is Trouble Pup, Neo is Kitten. Whitley is New Pup and has been occasionally dubbed Brat. Sondor is not afraid to gently drag Whitley out of trouble by his leg. The fact that his entire leg can fit in this giant Grimm’s mouth should probably terrify Whitley, but he’s picked up his cues from Mercury (who has also been dragged around by his leg by an annoyed Sondor) and thus just whines and flails.

#Secret Engima Rambles #Team Gremlin verse #rwby #rwby au #Oscar and his posse of bad guys save the world

86 notes · View notes

secret-engima · 4 years ago

Note

So, I'm working on editing something and a thought pops into my head: What would happen if Blood of my Blood Noct and Dyn tripped into Saving the world for Fun and Profit? preferably before Noct makes it home, but anytime in the Saving the World timeline is interesting. Noct meeting Oscar, and these two princes pause as they assess one another and find someone who can really, truly understand them, (1/2)

shadowdragongem

said:

(2/2) because both of them have too many memories (that are, largely, not theirs), too much magic (that wasn't originally theirs), trauma related to corrupted ... relatives? Enemies? Estranged cousins? and too many responsibilities with too little safety to relax into. They've also both lived these lives before. and I think it would be interesting to see them interact with each other.

Me: *stares* That ... that would be really interesting. REALLY interesting. Noct and his tiny son tripping into another world, and Noct is familiar enough with the sensation to know it and Panic™ because NOT NOW WORLD. But he’s lucky and encounters the Emerald City circus almost instantly, possibly wakes up on the outskirts of wherever they are performing and wanders in cautiously and well- Oscar can sense Noct’s magic, sprawling and passive but not HIDDEN and not SALEM’S or Ozpin’s and he’s curious. He slips out to meet it and finds a scared teenage father and his tiny son. A father who feels like age and too-much-power and unwound time.

Oh.

“You appear to be a long way from home,” he says pleasantly, adjusting the edge of his top hat and leaning on his cane.

Noct startles warily, but the magic threading against his, while just as deep and powerful as his, is calm and friendly and comes from a too-young-too-old child with calm, understanding eyes. Noctis looks at this boy in his circus finery and his fancy cane, with magic that chimes with old clocks and gears and whispers of far off rain and ... relaxes slowly. He doesn’t know this boy or his story, but he knows the feel of a soul like his, “Yeah. Very.”

The boy smiles and wiggles his fingers gently at the curious little Dyn in Noct’s arms, “I’m Oscar, do you want to come in for a bit? The little one looks hungry. My group is a bit strange, but I promise none of us will lay a hand on him.”

Noctis studies the boy, wary and cautious by habit but ... there is a familiarity there with this stranger. And understanding. These two are more alike than they seem on the outside, they have spilled blood for the same reasons and picked up pieces shattered by the same kinds of pain. And there is still kindness singing in Oscar’s magic despite it all, so he adjusts his grip on Dyn and nods, “I’d ... appreciate that.”

Oscar leads him to the backstage tends and gives them food, and when his Gremlins make curious noises Oscar smiles and says that Noctis is visiting from far away. Noctis flinches and almost reacts poorly to Sondor, but the Grimm just placidly wags his tail from his spot at Oscar’s feet and Noctis reminds himself that this is another world. That ... dog ... is probably a perfectly normal pet around here. Not a daemon.

Oscar totally wows bby Dyn with harmlessly little magic shows right there in the tents, little card tricks and such mixed with real magic that makes bby Dyn coo in wonder.

And yes, I can see Noctis and Oscar getting along very, very well. Neither of them talk about it, about their traumas and similarities and the way their magic is both too-big and too-old for the bodies they have now, but then, neither of them need to. They can feel it in the air, in the soft push and pull of their respective oceans of power. They can feel the understanding and shared pain, the similar little flinches and ticks and the whisper of old clock gears. They share their silence like others share secrets or fine wine, and they smile as Team MEOWN gleefully dotes on Dyn until it is time for Noctis to wander home.

“It gets better,” Oscar tells him right before they leave, “It’s never the same, but it gets better.”

Noctis, brittle and wary, already dreading going back to the wilds and the daemons and the danger of a past that doesn’t know him, takes a deep breath. He lets it out slowly, “Even when your ghosts don’t know you anymore?”

Oscar’s smile is too-old and edged with loss to be a happy one, “Even then.”

Noctis huffs. He knows this too old child is right, “...Thanks.”

Oscar tips his brightly colored hat, “Safe journeys, King of Crystal.”

Noctis does laugh, short and sharp, because he has not told Oscar he was royalty, or a king, or connected to the ancient Crystal of the Lucis Caelums, yet he’s not surprised that this boy wizard somehow knows, “Fair winds and good fortune, Prince With a Thousand Enemies,” he returns with the same solemnity, for even though the title is form a storybook, it is one that fits perfectly to the bend of Oscar’s shoulders. They share a mischievous smile before Noctis and his son fade back to Eos and his magic signature disappears from Remnant’s air.

#SE asks #shadowdragongem asks #Team Gremlin verse #Child of My Blood verse #Blood of my Blood (That Was Shed On the Throne) verse #Secret Engima Rambles #this was fun

74 notes · View notes

secret-engima · 4 years ago

Note

In your Gremlin!verse, it looks like Ringmaster!Oscar, The Emerald City, and his heartfelt closing songs have become a name on the level of Mr. Rogers and Bob Ross, with a simple message of hope and an earnest belief that people can be better.

Now I’m a glutton for angst, so I can’t help but imagine what his impact is decades later when he finally grew old enough to die. Or his life was cut short abruptly in the war. How do people remember him? How do they tribute to his name and try to carry on the spirit? What does his criminal underworld do without the little bundle of joy that stole all their hearts and believed in them and made them better people? And perhaps how Ozmapin or his next incarnation reacts when they see that Oscar is still making a difference, long after his child’s death.

Is it enough to unite humanity, the death of one person who didn’t stop believing?

How dare you hurt me like this. This genuinely hurts me feels to even think about.

But fine I’ll talk about it a little- I like happy endings so the only death gonna claim Oscar is old age, and also if you think I’m not going to cheerfully break the Oz curse so Ozpin can live the rest of his life knowing Salem is gone forever and he won’t be hopping to a new host then you’ve got another think coming as well. But moving on-

How the regular public remembers Oscar is more like how one remembers a beloved performer, of course. One who offered hope and light and laughter, videos of his performances are archived with care, and there’s probably at least one documentary that tries to puzzle out the life and times of a little boy who’s first major appearance on the world stage was a little song about love and loss. I have no doubt that over his life he’s inspired many people, in person or not, to make a difference, to be better, and his messages still ring true and ring strong even generations after he and his have passed on.

To the underworld- it’s a little different. He was more than just a child to them, more than a performer with moving songs. He was a king, a ruler, wise and just. Who offered mercy, but would not let his own suffer just for the sake of holding a hand to those who rejected it too many times. He taught them much, and led by example even more, and they- they remember.

His empire does not remain cohesive in the wake of his death, but there is little to no infighting over the pieces of it either, his dying will had clear outlines to follow, and they are Loyal creatures, for all it was hard to earn. And even as the years pass and generations rise and fall, as the empire become kingdoms that are more allies than comrades, while a part of the underworld is, of course, rotten and violent and dirty, there is a stronger part, a larger part, that still holds tight to the rules of the Ringmaster. His honor code, his conduct, his beliefs. The children of the streets who grew up with him tell their children of him, and those children pass it on in turn. A mix of truth and legend and belief that borders on that of faith and fairy tale both.

The little Fairy Ring shrines remain, and more of them pop up all over the world. In every city that has homeless children and back alleys, look hard enough and there is a Fairy Ring, a safe haven for them, a place where the more honorable Underworld leave food and blankets and safety and in turn children who can write leave little slips of paper filled with thanks or information on the lip of the little shrine and those who cannot write either ask another to do it for them, or whisper their secrets to the little top hat that is always found in places such as these.

On the honor of the Ringmaster, is a phrase not spoken lightly in that world, and there are many legends of those, years after, that think they can still hear his voice singing softly through the alleys and the run down neighborhoods and the backs of bars that have rules and safe spaces for those on the run from bad situations. Some people say the Ringmaster’s ghost is still there, watching to see what becomes of his kingdom.

Others say he just comes to visit sometimes, to remind people that they, like everyone who knew him in person, can be better than they are. To see if there are any souls so lost that they need him to find them from the Beyond and lead them along to a place where they can be found.

Why would he do that? Scoff some of the younger ones, the ones who grew up with the stories and the honor code, but not the knowing.

Because he cares. Is the simple response that can never fully convey how much this was true. From the elders who remember what it was like to take the hand of the too-wise fae child that looked at them in all their blood and faults and said “I can see someone amazing underneath, if you just let me help you to meet them.”

#SE asks #anon asks #Team Gremlin verse #Secret Engima Rambles #there #i did the epilogue angst #happy?

41 notes · View notes

secret-engima · 4 years ago

Text

hamelin-born

@secret-engima

It is. A very grim comfort to take (no pun intended), but Oscar’s sole almost-solace during that terrible time of blood and pain and (literal) soul-wrenching agony was that Salem hadn’t lied when she called his ‘Ozma’s son’. It was a truth that cut into him like barbed wire, a truth that lashed him with pain and grief and sorrow - but a truth that, as you said, he clung to.

He was son to a murdered father, he was a child of the Infinite Man, and it was - it didn’t bring him comfort, it brought him pain, but it kept him from shattering, it gave him the resolve he needed to hang on.

(And oh, but Salem would have laughed as she shifted the aim of her experiments, her torture - because Oscar was Ozma’s son, so Ozma’s son he would be in every way she could devise, ever similarity she could wrench into his body, down to his scars and to his limp - scars that, one day, Ozpin would take one look at and blanch because he recognized those scars from his own past.)

And Salem would. Salem would have poured her own magic into Oscar, not only to see what happened, not only to triumph over the memory of Ozpin one last time, giddy with the victory of finally killing her one-time husband for good. No. Salem would have set out to make Oscar her son as much as Ozpin’s as well, because she would take everything Ozma had, taint even the memory of him that lingered in the world - Ozma’s child would be her child as well, and best of all, to her? It would hurt Oscar so to know it. To be forced to acknowledge it. To have to call her ‘mother’.

Forget thunderstorms. Oscar might, in a panic, summon a full-on cyclone in an attempt to launch whoever’s pressing the issue as far away from him as possible.

...in a slightly fluffier vein (how did this get so dark?!) just. During their first meeting, or maybe a little later. Imagine Oscar hesitantly asking Ozpin if he’s his dad, because She said he was, but - there’s a difference between being a father and being a Dad.

And Ozpin, not hesitating for a single moment as he says ‘yes’. Yes, he’s Oscar’s dad.

(And that - that might just make Oscar break, for more reasons than one. Break, and *hug* Ozpin like there’s no tomorrow. Because he has healed, he’s worked hard at it, he has his family, he has his Torchdad and his friends/siblings and his magic, but this - this is something old and precious, the most tender of old scars, and now - now it’s split open so it can finally, finally heal clean.)

(He breaks, and goes in for a hug).

...also, Ozpin+Team Gremlin are willing accomplices in unceremoniously ejecting anyone from the room who thinks to ask Oscar about his ‘mom’ or guilt-trip/interrogate him for being ‘Salem’s child’. They will eject the individual at high velocity, preferably from the nearest window - hey, Ozpin is known for dropping people off of cliffs.

Me: Once again plopping this here because the reblog chain was getting super long XD-

It is a very dark comfort indeed, but it was what got him through to the other side in enough coherent pieces to help destroy her once and for all.

(But yessss, oh how she laughed as she shifted her efforts to remaking this child, this remnant, into being the most perfect child copy of Ozma she could make. The perfect *son* in her mind and all that entailed)

Salem wove her magic into Oscar’s and it save his life, but oh what an agonizing price. She took glee in *claiming* one of the few things that could have been once considered solely his and gloried in tainting the last pieces of his legacy (and in the end, isn’t it ironic that her own torments are what undid her, both in the future and in the time rewritten that would come later)

FLUFFY VEIN YES PLEASE. Your comment finally spurred me to actually write that scene btw. And it came out ... angstier than intended but I’m so pleased and I won’t post the whole thing yet but HERE HAVE A SNIP:

...

“Hey, Sondor,” murmured a voice through the tent fabric and Ozpin’s world crystalized, “Everything alright? You left in a bit of a hurry.” A deep rumble, inhuman and bass and … oddly content sounding. The voice —a child’s voice, a gentle voice, a voice he’d just heard laughing and waxing dramatic for a show of fake magic and real mysteries— laughed faintly, “Checking on someone then? You know everyone has to stay up late on performance nights.”

If he held on any tighter to his cane, he thought it might shatter, but the feel of it grounded him like it always had, and with the last bit of courage he possessed in this lifetime, he pushed the tent flap open and slipped inside as the voice —his son— finished saying, “We’ll be sure to take long naps in the morning.”

Ozpin was here. He was standing in the same space as his child, without a crowd to be wary of or a performance to keep them apart. He was standing in some kind of makeshift workshop, with a cot on the floor on the far side and the vast majority of space taken up by a battered, foldable metal table that seemed to be a desk and all the tools of a magician’s trade. Cards and wands and hats, gloves and fanciful outfits and a hundred thousand other things that didn’t matter, because amid all the mess, with his back mostly to the entrance and a massive Grimm lying contentedly next to his feet, was the Ringmaster.

His child.

The Grimm raised its head again to stare at him, a low noise he’d never heard the monsters make before rumbling from its chest, and the boy tilted his head toward the tent entrance absently, still not looking away from the Dust gem he was setting in his elaborate cane, “Hey Neo, you’re back early. I thought you were still scoping … out…” he finished setting the Dust in his cane, looked up and saw Ozpin standing there. Neither of them moved. Green-gold eyes in a young face —he looked ten had Qrow really been correct on estimating his age closer to twelve or thirteen?— went wide, and the magic passively swirling through the tent shrunk in on itself until he couldn’t feel it.

It occurred belatedly to Ozpin that while he had essentially been stalking his son for the last few years in an attempt to meet him and make sure he was okay, the boy wouldn’t know him at all. Or worse, had only heard of him from people who hated him —from Salem herself even—. And now Ozpin had just shown up in the boy’s living space without warning or invitation.

Terror and nerves tangled up all the words he wanted to say, all the ones he’d longed to say, and instead he found himself folding both of his shaking hands on the pommel of his cane and bleating out the first, most habitual line currently living in his brain, “Hello, I’m Professor Ozpin-.”

A shout, loud and gutted, and all his words died in his throat again as the boy threw himself off his little camp chair and at Ozpin. Long Memory clattered to the ground unnoticed as Ozpin instinctively raised his hands to wrap around the little body that collided with his waist, slender arms tightening like a vise around him and Ozpin couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe-.

Had he really said-?

A hiccuping sob from the child in his arms, a fully body thing that shook him from his tousled black hair to his shoes while that word spun endlessly in Ozpin’s mind, haunting him and confusing him because he couldn’t have heard that right. He couldn’t have heard…

“Dad.”

The word echoed between them again, muffled by a young face buried in his suit jacket, and Ozpin felt his own breath start to stammer as he clung tighter to the boy in his arms, sinking down to his knees despite the screaming in his leg and burying his face in flyaway black hair, “I’m here.” He choked out, “I’m right here. I’ve got you. You’re alright. I’m right … I’m right here.”

#Secret Engima Rambles #Team Gremlin verse #Melodies and Manuscripts #long post

68 notes · View notes