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all-about-kyu · 2 years

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Pairing: Toyger!Mark x fem!reader Genre: fluff, very minor angst, hybrid au Rating: PG Warnings: breakups, language, brief Markhyuck, mentions of anxiety, kissing, mentions of feeling inferior/judged, vague allusions to sex Word Count: 7,740 Summary: You’ve worked alongside Mark almost your entire career. You stay by his side when you learn about his somewhat awkward breakup. The closer you get, the more you realize that you enjoy his company. Maybe you want to stay by his side longer than you thought.

Neo Hybridverse Masterlist || Toyger!Mark Masterlist

Mark was minding his business, getting ready to head into his office for the day. Nothing seemed out of place other than the fact that Donghyuck was already out of bed and making himself breakfast. His boyfriend never got up this early if he could help it. Still, he didn’t pay it any mind as he went about his usual morning routine. Donghyuck’s scent was slightly off and smokier than his familiar campfire smell, but Mark still paid it no mind. As he moved around the apartment, he didn’t bother asking his boyfriend if anything was wrong. More likely than not, it was because he got mad at the game he was playing during his stream the night before.

It isn’t until he comes back to the kitchen table, where the younger was angrily munching on his cereal, that things explode. Mark had simply leaned down to kiss the tip of the Shiba’s ear. Donghyuck jerked in the opposite direction. He glared at his boyfriend before standing up and moving a chair away. This time though, Mark doesn’t shrug it off. Instead, he moves over to the chair his boyfriend had moved to. Again, he tried to kiss the tip of his furry ear, and the younger jerked away.

“Baby pup, what’s wrong? Was your stream really that rough last night?” the kitty hybrid asks naïvely.

“Fuck you.” the Shiba grumbles, not adding much else to the conversation.

“I can’t fix anything if I don’t know what’s wrong, Hyuck. Can you communicate so I don’t leave you here all angry?”

“There’s nothing you can fucking do!” the younger screams out, “You’re always fucking working, and I can’t remember the last time we had a proper date and-” he breaks down in tears on the spot.

“Pup,” Mark sighs, taking the slightly smaller puppy hybrid in his arms, “I thought we were on the same page with everything. We’ve been dating since I started this career. I thought you understood that I’d be working weird hours. My creative flow for writing doesn’t have a set schedule. I’m sure I annoy the hell out of my illustrator for making her wake up and come into the office at 2 am at least once a week.” he says, trying to lighten the mood while running his hand up and down the Shiba hybrid’s spine (who still has yet to stop crying), “I’m sorry I hurt you Hyuckie, that wasn’t my intention at all. Maybe-” he interrupts himself with a sigh, “maybe this isn’t going to work out.”

Hyuck’s already agitated smokey smell got more intense, “What did you just fucking say? Know what fuck you, Mark Lee! Fuck you and your stupid fucking job!” he forces himself out of the kitty’s grasp and storms off to his gaming room, slamming the door behind him.

Mark can’t do anything to fix it anymore, he said something he can’t take back, and now he’s suddenly single. As much as he would love to fix things between them, he also knows that he’s already running late for work as it is. He knew you would kill him when he stepped foot in the office too. If he asked if you could be there at 8 am sharp, he should be there by at least 7:30. Collecting the last of what he needed. He left the apartment despite the notably furious Donghyuck on the other side of the shared home.

“Hey, it’s about time you showed up!” you call without looking up, hearing Mark enter the small work studio, “Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb are sitting in our kitchen right now. Don’t ask me why neither of them are-” you stop rambling when a very frisky Bengal kitty stomps into the room.

“I know for a fact you did not just refer to my absolutely fabulous boyfriend and myself as those blubbering idiots from Alice in Wonderland. If anything, we’re Romeo and Juliet… wait, no, they both end up dead… maybe-”

“Down, kitty,” Johnny says, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend, “you’re going to hurt yourself thinking about a good duo for us.” he laughs.

Mark doesn’t say a thing, though. He just quietly shuffled over to his desk, which was probably not helpful since there was a picture of him and Donghyuck sitting in the corner. The youngest kitty groans and slams his head down against the desk, effectively making everyone else aware of his emotional state. Only then do Ten and Johnny notice how Mark’s scent has changed. His normally smooth green tea scent was bitter, almost chalky in a way. Of course, being human, you couldn’t smell the change in his scent. Despite your whole family being hybrids, you’re the only one who was born human. The only advantage you have in this situation is that you’re slightly more in tune with handling the situation than the average human. You watch as Ten releases himself from Johnny’s grip and slinks over to sit on the edge of Mark’s desk. Reaching over, he starts stroking the younger’s kitty ears, hoping to soothe him a little, just enough to relax his scent.

“Do you want to talk about it?” you offer gently, still sitting at your art table, keeping a distance.

Mark groans in reply.

“Come on, Mark,” Johnny adds, “Ten, and I can smell that you’re not happy right now. And we both know that she can sense it even if she can’t smell it.”

“You must’ve at least talked to Donghyuck about it, right?” Ten adds, hoping it’s a helpful addition.

When Mark’s scent gets even more bitter, Ten puts two and two together. Looking over at his boyfriend, then back to Mark, then to you, and again back to Mark, he tries to find the best words to say. You sigh and finally stand up from your workbench and gently move Johnny out of the way. Ten, of course, catches the hint and moves as well. You take the more petite kitty’s place and begin rubbing the base of Mark’s furry ears, and a soft purr of appreciation erupts from his throat. It took quite a while for Mark to be comfortable enough to show any of his kitty qualities to you. Still, he’s timid about showing them. Now though, he couldn’t care less due to his emotional state.

“When did it happen?” you ask softly, “Your breakup with Donghyuck, I mean.”

“This morning,” Mark finally sighs, “just before I left to come here. So that’s the reason I was late.”

You hum in response. With your free hand, you take a picture of the former couple and pass it to Johnny. You knew the picture on his desk would only add salt to his incredibly fresh wound. You prod further into the situation and coax Mark to talk bit by bit until you get the full story from his perspective. You have always known Donghyuck to be a somewhat impulsive person, it was his nature, but for him to explode like that, you knew it must’ve been weeks, if not months, of the build-up to get to this point. You look over at the other two kitties, who, in the past few months, you’ve grown to become friends with too. You share a silent conversation and ultimately realize that Mark is simply in no state to write or edit anything.

“Since she’s got it under control, I hate to say it, but Yuta just texted me saying there was a walk-in customer asking me to do a tattoo for them. He tried to tell them I wasn’t in until the afternoon, but…” he trails off.

“It’s okay. I should probably… write, I guess… I need to finish this chapter of the book.” Mark sighs.

“You will not be working.” you state matter-of-factly, “I’m treating you to a nice little brunch at the cafe downtown. You’re in no mindset to write, and I’m sure you don’t really want to do that right now either.”

“Go relax and decompress a little bit Mark.” the oldest kitty adds as soon as he notices Mark is about to protest.

Before the youngest could fight anything, both his older friends left the small office, leaving the two of you alone, which is not uncommon. More often than not, if you were both sitting in your shared office space, there was quiet music playing or silence as you both did the tasks you needed to complete for the day. Of course, the occasional question regarding which scene to illustrate came up, and Mark asked if the flow was okay or used you as a bounce board for ideas. It was always comfortable, though. There was never an awkward air between you. With your fingers gently scratching the base of the kitty hybrid’s ear, you don’t feel a single strand of tension in the air.

“You want me to continue scratching your ear for a little bit? Or would you rather head out to go to that cafe now?”

“This is nice,” he admits, “I was never really on the receiving end of these scratches with Hyuck. He much preferred having his ears scratched than scratching mine.”

“Do you like this?”

“Yeah, it’s really comforting. Not something I ever got a lot as a kid either.”

So you stay like that for a while, knowing you were providing some comfort to him was more than enough satisfaction to you right now. You offer absentminded questions, get short but meaningful responses out of him, and offer them back when he asks for your reply. You even managed to get a few giggles or chuckles from him when you mentioned a rather interesting or random anecdote. You take note of his tail flicking back and forth in a content manner. That’s when you decide to remove your hand from his head and offer to begin your drive downtown to the cafe. He finally lifts his head from the wooden surface and nods in agreement.

The entire drive to the cafe, you continue to have leisurely conversations. Despite you working side by side for a few years now, you rarely get to talk about things outside the sphere of work. You learn very quickly that when Mark is comfortable, he’ll talk forever. You also get more insight into how he processes the world and, ultimately, how he builds the worlds in his novels. You couldn’t smell his scent, but you knew he was still not feeling his best. Being raised around hybrids your whole life helped you immensely when it came to deciphering your co-worker’s emotional state. Even after you had parked and started to walk towards the doors of the café, his tail wasn’t swaying like it typically does, nor were his ears upright and perky. All you can do for now is keep him distracted and as happy as you can.

“Why don’t you go find a table, and I’ll order our drinks.” you smile.

“Do you know what I want?” “You always get the same thing, Mark, I know.” you giggle.

Luckily it isn’t busy, but you know Mark will want a sunny seat. He’ll never admit it out loud, but he loves when the sun shines on him in the office. As you get in line to order, you see him sit in the corner where the sun is beaming through the window, just as expected. His ear twitches seemingly content, even if you know the actual underlying cause of the twitching is anxiety. You order your typical drink and order Mark his go-to. Peach Jelly Iced Tea; he’s never been fond of coffee as long as you’ve known him. He shudders every time he witnesses Johnny drink black coffee in the office when he’s around. With the drinks in hand, you make your way over to wear Mark had chosen to sit. His tail flicks lazily back and forth under the table. It’s a habit he has when he’s lost in thought.

“Where’d you run off to?” you tease lightly, placing the drink down in front of him.

“Hmm?” he jumps slightly, “oh, just one of the upcoming chapters of the book we’re working on. I think I want to have that android escape his factory and meet the professor.”

“What if he met Kyren? She’s kind of a rouge. It’s more likely that he’d meet her rather than the professor.”

Mark chitters slightly but swallows the sound before it entirely escapes him, “He can’t! Kyren is in prison right now after stealing those bionic parts for Becca. You’re right, though. The professor wouldn’t cross paths with him.” he whines, the two characters have a lot of history. He’s putting them through hell as any good author would.

“Dzia? She escaped that facility in the previous chapter you wrote, right?”

“She did. Maybe that could work. Dzia is the one to start the uprising against the government. It couldn’t hurt to have the android assisting her.”

You giggle at the pout that grows on his lips as he thinks. You nudge his drink closer to him before taking your own sip. He doesn’t notice until you push it enough to have the cold cup touch his hand. He scratches the back of his head, slightly embarrassed that he got so lost in thought. There are a few moments of silence before either of you speaks again. Mark makes a happy sound as he sips his tea, filling your chest with warmth.

“What made you start liking that specific tea so much?”

“You’ve heard about Yuta, right?” you nod, “He got this tea for me a while ago, and he got me immediately hooked on it. Jungwoo, one of my and Jaehyun’s friends, really likes it too. It’s like our thing to get these together when we hang out.”

“Jaehyun, as in that Newfie hybrid that comes around with those pups?” you question.

“Yeah, those are his boys. He really loves them a lot.”

“Wait, they’re all his? Isn’t he close to our age?”

Mark chuckles and takes another sip of his fruity beverage, “Yeah, we’ll just say that Jaehyun has always really wanted to be a dad. His boys are well-behaved, though. He’s a good dad. I babysit for him sometimes so he and his girlfriend can do classes or have dates. Baekhyun is seven now; he’s a Newfie like Jae. He’s a terrific kid, and I can’t wait to see what he does when he gets older. Hoseok is five, a basenji like his mom. He just started kindergarten this year, but he’s such a funny kid. Jaehyun thinks he’s going to do big things one day. They just had their third, Subin. He’s a cute baby. His ears are far too big for him, but all pups grow into their ears eventually. Much calmer than his brothers ever were.”

You smile gently, listening to him talk about his friends and their kids, “Do you think they’ll have more?”

Mark nearly spits out his tea, laughing, “If Jae has anything to say about it, they won’t stop until he gets a little girl. That’s all he wants.”

“And what does his girlfriend think about that?”

“She’s had three kids in the past seven years. The poor woman wants a break from being pregnant.” “I can’t blame her.” you laugh, “I give her a lot of credit for doing that and also still going to school.”

From there, your conversation with Mark devolves into whatever comes to mind. You’re having such a good time with him that you lose track of time. The spot eventually got shady, and then the sun began setting outside. The golden light hits him at just the right angle that it seems like his irises glow a gorgeous amber color. It nearly takes your breath away. You have no idea where these emotions came bubbling from, but you think it best to suppress them. He turns his head and looks out the large window beside the two of you. A piece of his hair falls on his face as he turns. His kitty ears twitch again when a different bit of hair tickles against them in just the right way.

“We didn’t get any word done today.” he says in a slightly sad tone.

“Good. You needed the day off.” you say determinedly.

He sighs, “I guess I did. Let’s get back to the office. I have to walk back to my apartment.”

You can’t smell his scent, but you can tell how he deflates. You’ve known both him and his ex-boyfriend long enough to know that Donghyuck has already moved all of his things out. A small pit in your stomach forms thinking about how horrible your kitty friend must feel.

“I’ll drive you home. Do you have anything we could use to make a suitable dinner?”

“I couldn’t ask- you shouldn’t-” he stutters, “I don’t want to bug you any longer than I already have.”

You sigh, “Fine, then we’ll have to get dinner together on a different day.”

“Deal,” he smiles softly, “consider it a date!”

He slaps his hand over his mouth after processing what he just said. His tail flicks behind him quickly, trying to express any excess energy it can. You just smile and put your jacket on.

“If you want to call it that, we can see how it goes.”

About two weeks later, you’re turning off the overhead lights of your art desk in the office. Mark is still clacking away at his keyboard, getting his last few thoughts out onto the document. You had agreed to get dinner tonight since it worked well for both of you. The weather was uncharacteristically chilly for this time of year. The leaves have just started changing to the bright fall colors, yet the weather seems to be bordering on a winter feeling. Over the two weeks before your date, you and Mark have become closer than ever. It got to the point that Ten asked if you were dating. Mark lets out a low growl at him, but it does nothing, though. Ten is just proud of him for allowing one of his kitty sounds out while you were around.

“You almost done?” you chuckle, pressing your fingers into the scrunched-up skin between his eyebrows.

“Yeah, one more paragraph.”

You know that one more paragraph actually means two more chapters of writing, at least. Eventually, you talk him down to only finishing the paragraph he’s currently writing. You take a peek at what he’s working on. The imagery of his words alone gives you plenty of material to work with for the illustrations. You’ve always been very thankful that he describes everything so clearly, and if he doesn’t, then he’s always very helpful when it comes time for you to draw a scene. Just as he shuts down his computer, his phone starts ringing. You glance down and see that it’s Jaehyun. You know that the puppy hybrid doesn’t call unless it’s an emergency.

“Is everything okay?” Mark asks as soon as he accepts the call, “What? Are you sure he’s not just fucking with you?” his eyes go wide, “Sicheng never- okay, um, one second.” he mutes himself and looks up at you. “Sicheng backed out of babysitting last minute. Jae wants to know if I can babysit tonight.”

“I don’t mind watching the boys with you. If Jae and his girlfriend are really in a bind, I don’t mind tagging along.”

He nods at you and unmutes himself, “You cool if my um- the girl I’m talking to comes too?... my illustrator… Okay, cool, cool, we’ll be there in like,” he pauses to look at the time, “fifteen minutes.”

The drive is relatively peaceful despite the sudden change in plans. As always, Mark walked to work today, so you drove. The house you pull up to is small, but you can still feel the love radiating from it. You opt to park along the curb on the off chance that both parents would be driving separately. Mark smiles at you, eyes curving into pretty crescents as he does so. Mark gets out of your car, his tail swishing happily behind him as he approaches the front door, and you follow behind him. As you approach the door, you can hear the liveliness of the home bursting through. Mark turns around, flashing you a smile before knocking on the door. When it opens, a pretty basenji hybrid opens the door, one arm full, holding a little pup.

“Thanks for coming on such short notice.” she sighs, “Jae and I both have lectures we need to attend tonight and-”

“Baekhyun, come back in here and clean up after yourself.”

“Sorry about him. Baek has been forgetful lately. I think it’s partly on purpose at times. Please come on in.” she smiles softly, moving out of the way.

The home is just as welcoming on the inside. There are a few areas covered in toys, but you can’t be too surprised when three kids are in the house. First, you spot a tall kid running past with big brown floppy ears. You assume it’s Baekhyun since a more petite boy with blonde ears comes bounding up and throws himself in Mark’s direction.

“Hi, Hoseok,” Mark giggles, “how has school been?”

“Good!” the little boy chuckles, showing a toothy grin that’s missing a tooth right in front.

Jaehyun walks up a few moments later and sighs before speaking, “Thanks so much for doing this, and I hate to ruin your date- it was a date, right?”

“Yeah,” you smile, “it’s okay. You and your girlfriend have classes to take care of. I’m sure your boys won’t be too hard to wrangle.”

The puppy hybrid lets out an airy laugh and shakes his head. His girlfriend joined him not much later, still holding Subin in her arms. She passes the small pup to him before informing the three of you that she’ll be getting her school supplies ready to go. Jaehyun called after her to grab his stuff as well. Mark’s older friend chats with you for a few more moments before Subin gets fussy.

“He should get a bottle soon. The instructions are on the fridge. Baekhyun has one more assignment for homework he needs to do. After that, Hoseok should be all set. Both of them go to bed in about an hour and a half. Subin should be ready to sleep right after he has his bottle.” he pauses for a moment, “That should be about it.”

“We’ll be back around 9:30 from our classes!” his counterpart calls down the hallway.

“That too.” he chuckles, “You comfortable with holding the baby?”

You nod, “Do you trust Mark to make the bottle, though?”

“Hey!” he argues, ear twitching as he speaks, “I can do it!”

“You can’t even make eggs, Mark.” you tease.

Jaehyun passes Subin over to you and takes his bookbag from his girlfriend. She calls both of her older boys into the room. Giving them each a kiss on the tops of their heads and then scratching Subin’s ears, she grabs her own things. With that, both parents were out the door. Mark’s tail starts swishing back and forth again, displaying his content state. However, Hoseok sees his tail as something he can pounce on. The kitty hybrid nearly jumps out of his skin when he feels his tail being tugged. Turning around, he scoops the puppy up and spins him around in his arms. The little boy giggles up a storm as his uncle shakes him and tosses him around.

You bounce Subin in your arms as you make your way to the kitchen. Mark is right. He’s an adorable baby. The Jung boys are very adorable pups. Perks of having two gorgeous parents. As Jaehyun had mentioned, the instructions for Subin’s bottle are on the fridge. Shifting the newborn to be resting against your shoulder, you start preparing the bottle. It doesn’t take incredibly long, nor is it complicated, but to anyone who hasn’t had any interactions with babies, you could understand why it would be slightly confusing. So you just stand in the kitchen, rocking the tiny baby back and forth in your arms until his bottle is ready.

“You look pretty.”

Hearing Mark’s voice makes you jump, “How long were you standing there?”

“Not long, seriously though, you look pretty.”

You don’t know how to react; he’s never been so direct with you before. Right now, of all times, is another reason you don’t know how to respond; you’re standing in his friend’s kitchen holding said friend’s newborn. You just stand there and look at him for a few moments. There are stars in his eyes as he looks back at you. His hair seems to frame his face and ears so perfectly. Then, mark walks closer to you, and it looks like he’s about to kiss you in the small kitchen. Your heart pounds out of your chest at the idea that he might do it. Then, just as he starts to search your eyes for any remnants of an answer to his silent question, you hear a quiet growl.

“I think that’s Baekhyun,” he says quietly, “I’ll go check on him.”

You nod and redirect your attention to the bottle that is finally ready to give to the baby. With the bottle in hand, you move to the couch. It would be easiest to hold and feed him there so you could also be comfortable. Subin almost instantly takes the bottle in his mouth and drinks to his heart’s content. However, you feel a pair of eyes on you. It’s not Mark; you can hear him talking down the hall. When you look up, you see Hoseok looking at you with a confused expression. One of his blonde ears flops over as he tilts his head at you. He doesn’t say a word to you and just looks at you. You can practically see the cogs turning in his mind. You smile before looking down at Subin again, ensuring he’s alright. Two pairs of footsteps come down the hall, and you see Baekhyun, followed by Mark, entering the living area. Only then does Hoseok speak.

“Where are your ears? Do you not have ears? Do you only have a tail? My classmate only has a tail… he keeps it hidden, though, cause it’s a little bunny tail. Not a big long tail like Baek and me have.”

“Hoseok! You can’t ask people that!” Baekhyun chastises.

“Why not?” the younger pup asks, utterly oblivious to why his question was bad.

“It’s okay, Baekhyun,” you assure, “I don’t have ears or a tail, Hoseok. I’m a human, not a hybrid.”

“Ohhhhh,” the five-year-old draws out, “are your mommy and daddy humans too?”

You shift slightly and move Subin into a position so you can burp him. Hoseok doesn’t mean to make you uncomfortable by any means; he’s only five, after all. The question does hit a bit of a sensitive topic for you, though. Baekhyun seems to sense your discomfort despite your attempts to brush it off. You answer just as he’s about to drag his brother away to play with him.

“No, my parents are hybrids like you guys. They’re a type of kitty hybrid.” you smile sweetly, “I just wasn’t born like them.”

“Oh, I think it’s cool that you’re a human!” he giggles, showing the empty space where his tooth should be, “I think Uncle Mark likes you too.”

Mark seems to choke on air when the pup says that. He’s coughing up a storm off to the side, and you do nothing but giggle. You finish burping the baby moments later, and both of the boys settle in front of you, playing with their toys together. Jaehyun had told you that Subin would likely fall asleep quickly after his bottle, but you still lay him against your chest and rubbed his small back to be sure. Mark comes and sits beside you but doesn’t speak. You can tell something’s on his mind, though. He offers to take the infant from you, but you reject it. You rather like the comfort the small hybrid brings. He’s only a month old, but the slight weight against your chest, combine with his warmth and little puffs of breath against your neck, makes you feel more at ease.

You both hear a disgruntled noise escape Baekhyun again. When you look over at where he was previously sitting with his brother, he wasn’t there. A few moments later, you hear his footsteps pad back into the main area of the home. He’s holding a singular sheet of paper and a pack of colored pencils. You can immediately tell what’s wrong and, this time, take Mark’s offer and hand him the baby. The oldest of the three boys sits at the dining table, clearly brooding over the blank paper in front of him. You approach slowly, gauging where he is emotionally as you do so.

“You okay there, Baekhyun?” you ask quietly, sitting beside him at the table.

“‘M fine.” he grumbles, “It’s just a stupid project.”

“What’s stupid about it?”

You glance down at the paper and read the instructions. He needs to read a short story and then draw what he visualizes. It’s not very difficult, but as an artist, you can understand how frustrating it can be just to draw sometimes. The seven-year-old groans and flops his head down face first on the table, his chocolate brown ears laying flat out on either side of his head. You scratch his hair gently, and a giggle escapes your lips as you notice his tail wagging slightly.

“I just don’t know where to start.” he admits, “There’s too many parts I could draw…”

“Do you want my help?”

The boy looks up at you with glittery eyes, “You can help me?”

You nod and smile at him, “I do all the drawings in your Uncle Mark’s books. I won’t do it for you, but I can absolutely help you.”

The next fifteen or so minutes were spent helping Baekhyun choose which scene he wanted to draw and how to get it started. His eyes seemed to light up when you offered a little bit of direction to his creative energy. You know precisely what that spark is, he loves what he’s doing, and you remember when you first felt that spark for art as well. It’s one of the most rewarding feelings you’ve ever had in your life. Now, you get to show that spark to someone else. Yet, something about the entire situation feels extremely domestic. You’re sitting and helping Baekhyun with homework; Hoseok peacefully plays with his toys while Mark watches him and holds Subin. Yet, a flutter of something invades your belly that, at this moment, you’re choosing not to address.

Once Baekhyun is finished with his art assignment, you walk back over to Mark. Baekhyun rejoins his younger brother on the floor playing. Mark smiles at you when you return. His ears are angled out slightly, and he blinks slowly. It’s extremely obvious that he’s happy. When you look down at the infant, you see that he’s happily asleep in his arms. The tiny pup nuzzles closer against Mark’s chest. Even in his sleep, Subin displays his comfort with his kitty uncle. You sit beside him for a few minutes; the silence is comfortable, and not a single word feels the need to be said.

“I’ll get the older two ready for bed. You seem like you’re enjoying your time with Subinnie.” you giggle quietly.

“You’ll come back and sit with us, right?” this time, his slow blinks are directed at you.

“I will,” you promise.

Just as you go to stand up again, Mark calls your name. You turn towards him, and before he can talk himself out of it, he leans forward and places a quick peck against your lips. You don’t get a moment to react because a pup, namely Hoseok, is crying out in disgust.

“Don’t you know Uncle Mark has cooties!” he half yells.

“Shh, your brother is sleeping.” you chastise gently, “Don’t worry, I can’t catch his cooties.”

“Are you sure?” the five-year-old asks, narrowing his eyes.

“I’m sure, pup. You and Baekhyun need to clean up now. It’s bedtime.”

Both older boys whine but do as their told and clean up their toys. Baekhyun is the first to make it to their shared bedroom, nearly slamming the door in his younger brother’s face. You hear the younger whine before opening the door again and closing it behind him. After Baekhyun pops his head out of the bedroom door again, you take it as a sign to go check on them. Baekhyun looks up at you with big eyes when you get to the door. He doesn’t say anything but opens the door more to show you that Hoseok is currently fighting with the buttons of his pajama shirt. The older puppy tells you that his brother won’t let him help. You just chuckle lightly and make your way over to the growling five-year-old. His frustration subsides almost immediately after you make your presence known to him. Hoseok’s ears fall down slightly, making it clear that he’s now more relaxed. Baekhyun makes a noise that you can only call a rumble when he sees his brother calm down. The two boys dash into the bathroom moments later to brush their teeth and wash their faces. You, of course, assist Hoseok with both tasks when he asks with the most adorable pout ever.

Baekhyun and Hoseok say good night to Mark and their baby brother before you tuck them into bed for the night. When you return to the couch, you see Mark happily cuddling with the sleeping baby. He’s purring quietly; the sound makes your chest burst with warmth. Unfortunately, though, the moment he registers that you’re back, he forces the noise back. You plop down beside him, laying your head back against the couch. Lolling your head to the side, you find Mark already looking at you.

“I can go put him in his crib.” you offer.

“I like cuddling him.” the kitty responds.

You nod, “Ten more minutes. Jae and his girlfriend would have our heads if we readjusted Subin to only sleep while being held.”

Mark nods, looking down at the small pup, “Ya know, I never really thought about being a parent until I heard Jaehyun talking about his boys. That kind of unconditional love is so crazy to me. Something you have to experience. It can’t really be described in words.”

“Yeah?” you respond, “Is that something you and Hyuck ever talked about?”

“No,” he replies shortly.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be bringing that stuff up. Especially when this was supposed to be a date.”

He hums, “Can I ask you something?” you nod, “Are you the only human in your family? Like including extended family and such.” “Yeah, it was hard for me growing up. That’s part of why I applied to art schools here; I needed to get away from it.”

“I get that,” he responds, “being the only kitty in my family was really rough for me too. They didn’t really understand how to handle my behavior sometimes. That’s why when I reached the end of grade eight, I talked my parents into letting me come here for the end of grade school. Same as you, kinda.”

“Do you miss it?”

“Hmm? Do you mean Canada? Of course, I love working here, though. I don’t feel as suffocated by my family when I’m here.”

“Suffocated?”

“They love me, my parents and brother, they mean well… they just… stigmatize me a little bit.” he sighs, “I wish they could just see me like you see me. I’m just Mark. I’m not ‘the cat son’ or ‘little kitty’... I’m just… Mark.”

“Well, just Mark, you never have to feel out of place with me. I know exactly what it’s like to feel out of place when you should be very much in place.”

The kitty hybrid smiles at you, leans his head forward, and nuzzles against you. It’s the first time he’s genuinely let his kitty behaviors display around you. You chuckle and let him nuzzle as long as he wishes. But, of course, Subin isn’t a fan of being leaned over slightly. He whimpers quietly, and Mark takes that as a sign to put the baby in his crib finally. He sighs and gets up to lay the infant down to sleep. His tail swishes happily behind him as he walks away. You find it rather endearing. He doesn’t take long to return. When he does, his tail is still happily swishing, his ears are slightly tilted out, and a soft smile rests on his lips.

“Hey,” he sighs happily, “I checked on Baek and Hoseok; they’re both fast asleep already.”

He plops down next to you and leans his head on your shoulder. You smile at him and reach to take his hand in yours. At first, Mark tenses up at the feeling of your hand on his. After a few moments, he relaxes and laces his fingers with yours. The silence between you two is comfortable; you don’t feel any need to speak up and fill the quiet moment with sound. His furry ears tickle against your skin lightly, but you don’t mind it one bit.

“Sorry,” Mark whispers softly, “about earlier…”

“There’s nothing to apologize about, Mark. If anything, I should say thank you.” you chuckle.

“Thank me? I kissed you without even asking first… and also disgusted the boys in the process…”

You giggle again, “Mark,” you start, squeezing his hand for good measure, “I may not have said anything, but I’m so happy you did kiss me.”

He picks his head up from your shoulder to properly look at you now, “Is it if I kiss you again? Like properly, not whatever I did before.”

“Of course,” you smile, though your heart is beating out of your chest, “I like you, Mark.”

“I like you too.” he whispers.

He leans in and presses his lips softly against yours. His grip on your hand tightens as if you would disappear from his hold at any moment. Your other arm wraps around his shoulders, bringing him closer to you. You can feel the slight rumble of a purr growing in his chest. Smiling against his lips, you think you could burst right there due to how happy you feel. His fingers unthread from yours to wrap both his arms around your waist. The positioning you’re sat in isn’t exactly ideal, but at the current moment, you couldn’t be bothered to care about that. You’re so caught up in the moment that you don’t hear the front door unlock or open.

“Woah, woah, woah.”

Jaehyun makes his presence known immediately. Mark jumps away from you as if you burned him. Meanwhile, Jaehyun’s girlfriend laughs quietly.

“Happy things are great between you two, but I don’t need any more children being made in this house… right now.”

“We weren’t- it’s not-” Mark stutters trying to find the right words.

“Noted.” you smile, “All three are out cold, and Subin had his last bottle around 45 minutes ago.”

You get up off the couch and grab your bag from the kitchen table. Mark is still stunned, not sure how to react to his older puppy friend’s comment. You have to physically walk over to him and guide him to the front door where his shoes and jacket are. You say goodbye to the couple, and Mark gives some semblance of one. He’s still shocked by Jaehyun’s forwardness, but at least now he’s speaking and just a little jittery. Even during the walk back to your car, Mark seems to be deep in thought. His right ear keeps twitching, and he holds the end of his tail, wringing it gently as he walks.

“You okay there?” you tease once you’re settled in the car.

“I won’t be able to look Jaehyun in the eyes ever again.” he deadpans.

“Why?” you ask, trying not to laugh.

“He implied… and he also… nope, nope, nope! Let’s just go home.”

“Home meaning dropping you off, or am I staying over, or are you staying at mine?”

He blushes, “Just drop me off tonight.” he explains.

“Where is she?” Ten asks the moment he steps into Mark’s office.

“Hmm?” Mark hums, not looking away from his computer.

Ten narrows his eyes at the younger kitty and hisses slightly. Johnny chuckles and takes the liberty of sitting down at your empty station. Mark pushes his glasses back up his nose and finally looks at his older friend. Ten’s tail flicks annoyedly, and his arms are crossed over his chest. Mark just blinks at him a few times slowly.

“Oh?” Ten questions, amused now, “How long have you been feeling that way towards her?”

“Huh?” his boyfriend questioned, “What did he do?”

“He was slow blinking! Johnny! He-” Ten cuts himself off with a happy noise, “Tell me, tell me!”

Mark takes a breath, about to speak, when you walk through the door with a cup carrier full of drinks. Ten notes the slight change in Mark’s scent; it gets slightly smoother and calmer. Johnny picks up on it too. The oldest of the three suddenly is very invested in what’s happening despite being highly interested in his phone moments ago.

“Good morning, boys.” you beam, “I got you guys drinks.”

You set the carrier down at your desk, shooing Johnny out of your seat in the process. Next, you place your bag on the floor against your station and take off your jacket and scarf. Once you’re reasonably situated, you look at each of them.

“A large Iced Americano for you,” you state, handing Johnny his coffee, “a caffe americano for you,” you walk over and hand Ten his drink,

“Thank you,” the kitty smiles at you.

“It’s not a big deal,” you reply, “this is mine,” you say to yourself as you place your drink on a coaster, “and this a Peach Jelly Iced Tea for you.”

You walk the short distance over to Mark. You notice his slow blinks again and smile at the sight. Handing him his drink, your fingers just hardly touch. You still haven’t gotten past the butterflies that erupt in your belly each time you come in contact with him in any physical way. You’re about to step away, but Mark grabs your wrist. You turn back around and hold eye contact with him for a few moments. You know exactly what he wants when he tugs on your arm slightly; you know exactly what he wants. You lean down and press a peck against his lips.

“Thank you, sweetheart.”

“Hold the fuck on!” Ten interrupts your moment, “I think we skipped a few chapters. Can I get a refresher?” “Ten, you ruined their moment!” Johnny teases.

“Fuck that! When the hell did you two start dating?”

“Um,” you start.

“About two weeks ago… when we babysat for Jae…”

Both older kitties seem to accept it as the truth. You, however, are trying to hold back a laugh.

“Mark, you never asked me out yet.” your voice laced with a slight bit of laughter.

“I-” he goes to defend himself, “I didn’t…”

Ten isn’t as subtle as you. He bursts out in loud laughter, “Good job, Mark.”

“How did you mess that one up?” Johnny adds to the teasing.

“Shut up.” Mark whines, “We’re dating. I’m not making things up! We’re just writing our story our way, right? ” he directs the question to you.

“Of course, we are,” you smile, “now, you two out! We have work to get done, and you’re distractions.”

You start ushering Johnny and Ten toward the exit of your small office.

“Don’t have too much fun, you two.” Ten winks.

“Goodbye, Ten.” you groan, “Bye, Johnny.” you sigh.

Once they’re out of the office and the door is shut, you lean your body against the doorframe. You let out a sigh before pushing off and walking towards your boyfriend. He has since reburied himself in his writing. You come up behind him and gently rub the base of his stripped ears. A slight purr escapes his lips before he looks up at you.

“You finally figure out where the plot’s going again?” you ask softly.

“Mhm, do you think you could illustrate this scene?” he asks, highlighting a section he had just written.

You read over it briefly, “Of course, I can. Can you just jot down that description so I can get sketching?” you ask, kissing the crown of his head.

He nods and takes a napkin quickly, writing down what he had just described in the story. You think for a few moments about what has just transpired in the past few weeks. Life threw a huge curveball at you in the best way. Did you ever think you’d fall for Mark? No, not at all. You would never change a thing that happened in the past month.

��Maybe we should move your art table right in front of mine, so you don’t have to get up mid-sketch to show me what you’re doing…” he thinks out loud, then processes that you’re zoned out, “Where’d you run off to?” Mark asks, just like you had asked him the day you took him to the cafe.

“Just somewhere.” you chuckle, “thinking about how crazy the past month has been.”

“It was a good crazy, though.” Mark adds, handing you the napkin note.

“That it has.” you smile, taking the note from him, “Shall we get back to work?”

“Let’s.” he smiles, “I’m serious about rearranging the office, by the way.”

“I know you are. I like how you think.” you nod, “Plus, the added benefit of seeing your face every time I look up from my sketchbook.”

“Shut up!” he whines out of embarrassment.

You just giggle and place a kiss on his cheek. Now off to sketch out the art. As you sketch, you find yourself wandering in your mind again, thinking about the present and the future. Yeah, this is good. Writing your future with Mark is more than you could ever wish for.

Networks: @neowritingsnet @nct-writers @k-vanity @kwritersworld @kdiarynet

Tag List: @raibebe @its-taeil-time @jaehunnyy @brattybunfornct @notbeforelong @n0hyuck @spiderrenjunfics @umbralhelwolf @tarutarumilk

#nct fluff #neowritingsnet #nct-writers #kvanity #kwritersworldnet #kdiarynet #nct fanfic #nct x reader #nct hybrid au #mark lee fanfic #mark lee x reader #mark lee fluff

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randomtwordbloog · 1 year

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That fanfic I promised based on this post by @coy-lee btw THANK YOU for letting me get away with this. Means a lot!! This is my first time doing this, so please excuse the Y/N and errors. Anywho, let’s get on with it!

One thing missing

Their latest ‘experiment’ wasn’t…going well, to say the least. It’d already exploded in their faces 7 times, and that’s not including the test runs. The worst part is, they didn’t even know what they were doing wrong! “I just don’t get it! We did everything right!” Y/N was getting frustrated. “Hey, it’s alright! We tried our best, and that’s what counts here! Not if we were successful or not. That’s nothing special in my eyes(?).” Jack was getting upset with them giving up. It was frustrating just thinking about their smile off their face. But suddenly, he had an idea. “Hey, Y/N.” “Kinda busy fixing this robot right now.” “Oh, I know, I know. But could you take your mind off that for just a minute? I have something else we can do!” Really? And it’ll be easier on me?” “Yes! And it’ll be fun~!” “Don’t get cocky, Skellington.” They weren’t kidding when they said they were angry. They *were*. It was bad this time, though. He just *had* to cheer them up now! ‘I suppose it was inevitable. They were going to get upset over that.’ He thought to himself. However, this could be useful.’ (end of thoughts) “Alright. FINE. I’ll play your game.” Oh, wonderful! The plan was going swimmingly! “However.” Uh oh. “This’ll be a *short* game. I have to get back to work on this robot body, and I have to have it done by the end of the week for work.” Oh. That didn’t sound so bad. “Alright, you have yourself a deal.” And with that, they were pinned on the bed in his room. They knew what this meant. “I realized something. Our latest experiment needed something, but so long as you hold still, it should be easy to get out of you.” Oh no. OH NO. “Ready?” And with that, the gun was fired. His fingers were fast on their underarms, and that wasn’t good. “AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” They were sensitive there, and it was like ticklish HELL. It only got worse from there, when he moved over to their ribs. “How many of these do you have again? One, two..” He’d started teasing now. They were a goner. “AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STAHAHAHAHAP T-TEAHAHAHAHASING!” “Ugh! Stop squirming around! You made me lose count! One, two, three~..” He kept at it there for a minute, almost as an achievement. “STAHAHAHAHAP! TOHOHOHOHOHOHOO MUCH!” They were getting desperate. “Stop? Oh, but Y/N~, I just started! Besides, I haven’t finished counting these ribs of yours yet! 7, 8, 9- Hey! No moving!” “SOHOHOHAHAHARRY! I’M HAPPY NOW! OK?!” They knew why he was doing it. He would normally pin them on the bed like this and tickle them whenever they were upset, or when he was just bored! It was INFURIATING how often he’d do that! “Well, I think you’ve been successfully put in a better mood!” “*HEAVY BREATHING INTENSIFIES*” Oh, dear. Perhaps he’d been too hard on them. “It’s alright, take as long as you need to breathe after that. I sure wouldn’t last a SECOND of that!” He said, booping their nose. He got up, and they sat up in turn. “Now, about that robot.”

This was SO FUN to write, even tho I did it at 2:30 am. Again, I wanna thank @coy-lee for making the sketch dump, and allowing me to write this. I may even write another one with Jack being on the receiving end of the tickles, but that depends on how this is received. Also. Y/N made Spamton Neo’s body in this universe. Just explaining that. Enough talk. Bye now, my friends!

#ler!jack skellington

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heretherebedork · 2 years

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And now for the ranking...

We've got the GMMTV teasers for 2023 and, um, the fact that they're going to make a TayNew Cherry Magic remake.

So now... what am I excited about? Let's do a count down! I'm only doing shows I have teasers for, I can't judge a poster.

8. A Boss and a Babe: Honestly? I just... I'm not feeling this one. I should be more excited but the teaser just didn't grab me, I'm not super interested in the conflict they showed and it just... I'm looking forward to it, but I dunno. It never came together for me. In the teaser.

7. Hidden Agenda: It's gonna be messy and lots of lying but I really do like Joong and the out gay couple that we got a glimpse of looked enjoyable so... torn.

6. Our Skyy 2: I am excited for half of this and dreading half of this soooo... I dunno. It could be higher but I'm keeping it low because I know for every episode I enjoy there is likely to be one I'll be dreading.

5. Last Twilight: I cannot deny that I'm very interested in this show. It reminds me so strongly of Want to See You and I loved Want to See You. So I'm hopeful that they can handle this and approach it with respect. Hopeful but not certain.

4. Cooking Crush: I mean, it's OffGun, cooking and Neo is part of the side pairing. Of course this was gonna go higher on my list.

3. 23.5: They're doing a GL! With PINING. And secret flirting! And a little BL couple!

2. Dangerous Romance: ... I just love the idea, okay? I love the idea of a class issues and money issues and the idea of him forcefully tutoring and the breakdowns and it's going to hurt like hell but I want it anyway.

1. Only Friends: ... Did you see Neo in this trailer? And an entire group of queer friends trying to navigate romance, sex, love, crushes and friendship? I'm here already.

#gmmtv 2023 #gmmtv lineup #gmmtv #thaibl #thai bl #thai ql #thaiql #ql drama #ql series #bl series #bl drama #what am i excited for?#i am excited for the cherry magic remake but i need a teaser to judge

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kitkatopinions · 1 year

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ALrighty!

Spoilers for RWBY ep.... 8 I think? Below the keep reading as well as criticism:

So I was wrong about the Cat. I wish it had turned out to be a morally dubious good guy, but whatever, guess the writers wanted yet another 'the person guiding you is actually not trustworthy' plot.

Here's what I'm gonna say - Neo got fucking taken over and possessed the moment that she actually started getting a spotlight as a villain? HATE that shit. I want Neo, not just some conglomerate taken over by the cat? And I don't like that she talked at all. It should've just been the cat's voice.

Idk if Little is dead or not, but I really don't care about or like Little, so if they are dead, okay??? Better than having to see them again tbh.

Seeing people 'resurrected' but all wrong was kind of dissatisfying? Torchwick was the only one of them who was actually used well (because rwby is going through plotpoints at the speed of light in fourteen to sixteen minute eps so of course we can't sit with things,) but his voice acting was off and so it messed with the immersion some. I don't blame them for not being able to get an exact copycat and I don't think they tried very hard since they didn't need Roman for long, but still, I wish his voice actor had done better. The animation of him was pretty good though.

Ruby ascended? Fuck that shit! I have hope that we're actually going to get 'Ruby down in the tree realizing what 'ascension' actually is, but first off, I wanted Ruby to have a breakdown and struggle, not to be full on suicidal and decide to basically kill herself. Second of all, if this means 'no more Ruby' I am going to be so pissed off. This is Ruby's show, right? Or it's supposed to be! Even if this means that we don't get much Ruby for the next two episodes, I'm still gonna be mad. The 'development' we've gotten so far is just Ruby being in pain, and then seemingly dying? I'm trying not to count my chickens before they hatch or whatever, but this could be worst case scenario, people.

The moment where Ruby was getting attacked by everyone who was dead was... Well, first off, it was weird. Because A. Why would Neo bring in Clover, Leo, and Ozpin? Was she just bringing in everyone she thinks that Ruby may have sort of known who died? Second off, why does Neo think Penny cared about Ruby most in the world? When did she have access to that information? How did she know to use Penny that way? Third off, I liked the 'Ruby strikes out at Ozpin, only for Neo to replace him with Oscar' thing in theory but I would be wrong if I didn't point out that once again the only member of Team RWBYJNOR with dark skin gets the most violent things happening, which is a bad pattern. I get that it may be because Oscar is actually more like Ruby's friend than the rest of her team atm (which is sad,) but I just think the writers should be aware that this is a thing they do that they maybe should correct. Maybe they could've had it be Weiss or Yang that Ruby 'accidentally killed' in these visions? Just a thought. Fourth off! I liked how Neo transformed people into Ruby's alive friends and family, judging her for the 'murder.' Fifth off, I just gotta say the combat was not good for me once again. Neo literally has several people there fighting for her, and they all shot like stormtroopers? Ruby's discombobulated and depressed, so her going down without much fight isn't the problem, the problem is that Neo alone by herself should have been able to easily bring her down, let alone with her clones there to help her. Maybe she only knew Roman well enough to really replicate his style, but Neo and Roman? Tag team of the century!

On to... Team WBYJ. I'm not even gonna get into the fact that Blake and Weiss were more sympathetic to Ruby's struggles than Yang was (I am really frustrated with Yang this season,) but they all just stand there and do nothing while Ruby drinks down poison? What the hell? That is not a freaking good look, guys.

Anyway... I don't know how to feel about this episode, but I'm mostly frustrated and disappointed. And on the other hand, I guess we got good pics of Roman and Neo? I'm gonna have to wait to form a concrete opinions on this ep until we can confirm what the frick actually happened next ep, but for now, it's looking like another 3/10. I got some enjoyment, but overall a bad experience once again.

#rwde #anti-rwby #rwby-crit #mention of suicide #tw; suicide #trigger warning; suicide #hate that I have to tag those

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morathicain · 10 months

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Twenty Questions for Fic Writers!

Thank you for tagging me @inrainprose :D

Here we go! ^^

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Currently at 227 on Ao3, which might change any day with how obsessed I currently am with writing for Kiseki XD Also have a few on animexx and fanfiktion.de from old old times which I probably should start transferring ^^°

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

1,120,354 so far which I'm quite proud of, especially since most of it was written during the past 4 years (3wbf be thanked)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

A LOT! I constantly write for 3wbf and then whatever I am watching (whether it be show or movie that inspires me). Some fandoms appear more often or reappear after months or years again, others just once and then never again. Lots of niche stuff though (either the show or topic) XD

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Wait what (My Engineer - RamKing) with 737 kudos

Mutual anything (KinnPorsche AU - KinnPorsche) with 7 chapters and 700 kudos

One Moment to adore you (My Engineer - RamKing) with 649 kudos

Now you know (Not me the series - SeanWhite) with 608 kudos

Loving you on my second thought (My Engineer - RamKing) with 536 kudos

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Absolutely, YES! I've met some of my best friends through comment-discussions and -talks and I also wanna thank the people who take the time to show their appreciation <3

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Oh ... PHU! Good question? I guess it would be "One last call", a JynCassian fic which of course ends with them dying?

Or "I wish you were mine but I wasn't yours", a Bad Buddy fic which has Pran push Pat away?

(if anyone has other contenders in mind, let me know, my brain is a bit overwhelmed XD I don't count the BMF one because while it ends with a breakup, for me it's a hopeful ending)

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I ... I don't know? I suppose each fic that has Ter and Mae and Phon alive and together should be considered a worthy contender for that question! And I love them all <3

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not really. Got some when I started writing in English but I'm glad I managed to continue anyway ^^° only weird ones sometimes that are hard to interpret but are usually not meant in a mean way? I think?

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes, I do. It always depends on the fandom actually. And ... I don't really know how to describe it but I'm usually not that explicit, I think? Lots of emotions are involved and I try to switch things up.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Probably the SPN One Piece crossover from over ten years ago? XD They were in a prompt I got, so I had to do it :P Otherwise the crossover between Manner of Death and My Engineer "It's all about the plants, babe" with King as TanBun's child. That was a lot of fun :D

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of? Fingers crossed and wood gets tapped!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yessssss! A few into Russian and French and a Cherry Magic one into Vietnamese ^^

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

So many years back. One with a friend, another with my brother, a crack one with another friend XD Not sure we ever finished any of those and it was fun back then but I don't think I can do it again ^^°

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

To no one's surprise at all it's Shin/Neo/Miw <3

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

So far the wips I really want to finish are still on my list. I fear I might not be able to finish the one 3wbf one or the The Player one because other shows and ideas get in between, but it's still planned!

16. What are your writing strengths?

I was told I'm good at yearning and banter? Definitely like diving into angst XD

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Long plots, I tend to get distracted and also lose myself in the technicalities v.v

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

If it makes sense, why not? But not if it should be understood by everyone and happens more often.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Inu Yasha! It's been a long long time since then XD

20. Favorite fic you've written?

You ask WHAT of me????? askdjbaksjbdakjsbd

I can't say for sure. Like, I enjoy my own atots bodyguard AUs often enough, I love my own version for Moonlight Chicken more than the show itself, I very much love my current collection for Kiseki because they've taken over my whole soul. So many favourites when it comes to RamKing and omg, don't get me started on my 3wbf fics!

Me and you, both of you is one of my faves when it comes to giving Shin/Neo/Miw a happy ending though and when it's about underappreciated fics, I had a lot of fun with is "Revenge is a dish best served dead" with Ter and Phon killing Thana as ghosts :P And one I am still happy about, even if it's an old one, is a High&Low one: A kitten's persistence

Tagging now (but no pressure): @ommited-miscellaneously @nevaehs @himmelsstern ;)

#tag game #writing #writer game #this was fun #and wow digging through my ao3 account and fics took a while!

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twilightguardian · 2 years

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Well well. Looks like Lil is still up to her incoherent screaming. Let's take a look, shall we?

I gotta wonder what she means by 'absolutely nothing'. Like by definition 'absolutely nothing' would mean that there has been nothing going on. At all. The equivalent of sitting at a desk, not even twiddling your pencil between your fingers because twiddling would be something.

Episode 2 continues on from episode 1 with what Ruby bought at the festival, revealing them to be friendship bracelets for WBY, establishing how happy she is that not only her team, but her friends are back.

Qrow is still drunk, and unlike in the show, it's becoming actually debilitating for those around him, with Jaune and Ruby having to carry him to the station.

Blake says goodbye to her parents, Sun and Ilia just like in canon. (But I guess since Lilith thinks that's absolutely nothing, we can count that as nothing of worth to canon, either.)

There's also brief mention about the White Fang going to help Vale's recovery.

First episode we saw Roman and Neo pickpocketing people at the festival, and that got paid off when they got into first class on the train.

Mercury and Emerald have a discussion about Cinder and their differing views on her and parenthood.

Cardin and Russell replace Dee and Dudley both as characters we care about and filling in some exposition about the status in Vale.

Brief comedic scene where Yang tells Neptune the truth about 'Jane', because why keep friends in the dark about such things.

That's 8 'nothings' that have happened in the episode. So if you want to break it down into the most important things, we can say establishing RWBY as rekindling their bond, Cardin and Russel's cameo, Emercury's discussion and Qrow's drunkenness as being the core elements.

Ooof. You've never actually read fanfiction, have you, Lilith? You should join the Tundra discord server and join us for bad fanfiction night. Because all this tells me is that you don't know what incompetence is.

Actually, I have no idea if you even read. That's not an insult, that's just a general statement of fact. I've never seen any mention of books on your blogs, and I don't know you as a person.

Why would Cardin's return make you want to watch Fixing RWBY unless you had the expectation that Cardin, who you think only abuses women for some reason, would abuse a woman. Is abusing women something you like to see? People generally avoid things they don't like, you know. That's pretty dang weird.

Emphasizing again that Cardin isn't an abuser of women, specifically. He was a general bully in canon and a rather toothless one at that. He more went after Jaune in canon. Raymond gave him some teeth and his ass was still humbled for it. Now he knows better. When was the last time we've seen Cardin 'abuse' a woman?

Casually insulting all fanfic writers while trying to shit on one guy you have a hateboner for. Nice. You know there's not a single thing you said here that also can't also apply to your average fanfic author. Authors that may like a male character for whatever reason and may want to focus on that male character. Fanfic authors in general create derivative works that aren't 'their own' and many take from each other based on common fanfic tropes, themes and scenarios. The point of Fixing RWBY is to keep as close to the original as possible while also not being afraid to cut unnecessary fat and rearrange things. There isn't a single thing done to Fixing RWBY that one could say impacts the story in any substantially detrimental way. Oscar not being around doesn't matter because Ozpin still has a host. Expanding Menagerie's arc still resulted in Blake meeting up with everyone at the school.

lol

And she wonders why I have no faith in her ability to write when she doesn't seem to understand the concept of foreshadowing and Chekhov's Gun. No, he didn't do the Apathy Arc in V4. It was establishing when the backstory that Maria read in that book took place.

Also prove that the Apathy Arc is going to be 'all about Roman Torchwick' because you're just pulling that out of your ass with no basis other than you want it to be that way. You know, criticism comes after something you disagree with happens, not before.

I don't mind if you think that the first two episodes are slow. That's perfectly fine as valid criticism as not everyone is going to feel the same. Doesn't make it bad, it just means that's your preference. But that doesn't mean you get to pull shit out of your ass like you're fucking Jillian Epperly.

I don't understand this criticism. Are you saying that because Adam has a bike that Yang doesn't have her bike? Or that Yang owning a bike gets diminished because Adam has one because only one person is allowed to own a bike at a time?

Hey @iamafanofcartoons, hello, we haven't formally met yet. I've actually been very interested in talking to you at some point, and I'm sure this might wreck that a bit. But permit me to ask you what this even means lol

When has Raymond ever said that CardinxVelvet is going to for sure be canon in FRWBY? Because like... there's a difference between shipping a ship and then making that ship canon in the story you're working on. And really, obsession? How is Raymond obsessed with men who harass women? Because so far the one who talks the most about Shiloh is you.

And I wouldn't even say that either Shiloh or Shay D. 'harassed' Yang. The dude was drunk and tried to flirt. She wasn't interested and while touching her could have been assault, she was the one that touched him first to hit him instead of moving out of the way and verbally telling him off. Harassment actually deals with continued intimidation and threats. Yang was never threatened by Shay/Shiloh in either version. Yang was not a victim of harassment. So I would appreciate it if you would not infantilize Yang by saying such an innocuous altercation was harassment as it really makes out real harassment out to be not that bad if that's the comparison.

Yeah. I can't wait to see him prove you wrong because you're saying this with no proof.

#rwby #rwde #lilith fairen #frwby #fixing rwby #canonseeker #iamafanofcartoons

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invisiblegarters · 1 year

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Be Mine Superstar Ep 8

(Fair Warning the first four paragraphs of this are actually about Only Friends. It's what I do now, apparently. Feel free to skip to past the gif if you don't care)

Much later than usual, but the truth is aside from having responsibilities that unfortunately kept me away from dramas a lot so far this week, the Only Friends brainrot is real. Pretty much the entire time I'm *not* doing things that I need to do I'm thinking about Boston and his motivations and how he could easily be just a two dimensional fuckboy villain but there's too much going on with his face for me to buy it (Neo Trai is a gem guys, it's true. I've known it but now I really know it, you know?) and pondering how heavily Ray's issues with alcohol are going to factor in (my guess is very), how bad it's gonna get (also very), how many relationships he's going to destroy (all, probably), and who he's gonna hurt (physically as well as emotionally - look, drunk driving is a whole theme, we've had two (2) episodes and Sand and Ray and dangerous driving have been mentioned no less than three (3) times - call it Chekov's Gun, call it the Sword of Damocles (I've done both because I'm dramatic af) or be normal and simply call it foreshadowing, I just can't believe they've mentioned it this many times not to have it rear it's head in a really nasty way).

And that's not even counting the stuff that just amuses me, like counting how many times Mew looks sus in one episode (a lot), or building my SandTop exes agenda (also a MewSand agenda and a NickSand agenda...look I just think Sand should get around, okay?) and cackling over the idea that we're going to get everything in the trailer so far by episode 5.

Do you see? the brainrot is so real that I just spent paragraphs talking about OF and not the show I'm ostensibly here for. It's been a long time since a drama took over my brain to this extent. I'd say send help but I'm actually having way too much fun.

So I do apologize for the person I've become. For anyone that's not here for me to go on about OF at literally any opportunity, I really am sorry. I don't think any post will be free of it until October.

That said, let's actually talk about this show now, eh?

Sigh. So we're gonna do another outing plot here hey. That's wonderful I so love these (I really, really don't). But I guess there has to be some sort of drama happening since everything's been fairly adorable so far. Yippee?

Can I just say that the Muang/Doctor plot feels weirdly rushed and disjointed? I was so looking forward to them after the first ep and now I barely care, and that is sad.

Punn and Ashi are really cute though.

Are we also still doing the Title crushing on Ashi thing? I felt like that was there and then it got dropped, but now they're picking it up again. He's not gonna be happy with those pics. Oh but hey if it leads to him begging his asshole manager not to be an asshole then sure.

"It's not that hard to win Ashi's heart." Especially when you'll be in Japan with him and Punn won't. Just saying. Although I just incredibly doubt it'll work - this really does not strike me as that type of BL. But hey, a little angst never hurt anyone, right?

Just once I would like one of these places to look lived in. They did a little better with Punn's house but man, it depresses me how spotless everything is all the time. It's like when they order food and don't eat it. Or sleep with the lights on.

/tangent

I love that the Daddy Muang thing hasn't been dropped even though now Punn has Ashi as he wants and there's really no need for it.

The brothers remain very good. I like this sibling relationship. Feels real in a lot of ways.

Oooh I like that shot with all of them in the car park.

I find I have to keep reminding myself that Punn is only 20. But frankly, I am cringing hard at this jealousy plot. I just wanna grab him and tell him he's being too transparent, aaaah. Me, I have a pride issue. I would never. I could never.

Punn is the cutest though - I do like how he just lets every feeling show on his face, even if I could never.

"No one is taking Ashi away from you." Maybe not, but they're certainly trying lol.

Although...maybe trust in your boyfriend just a little more. It's not like you're in a show where he has one foot out the door anyway.

I wonder now if Muang has figured out Title is definitely making moves, lol. He's not stupid, even if Ashi is, a little (genuinely, I think he's just focused on his job. This is his big international break, right? Of course he just wants to do the thing right. And he has no reason to suspect that Title's trying to split him up from the boyfriend no one is even supposed to know about).

Anyway this kind of angst is my jam so I'm not even a little mad. Poor sad Punn with his poor sad Punn face, though. It just doesn't feel right to watch him be unhappy.

I love those dogs.

Hahahaha okay Punn manipulating Muang and co into helping him separate Title and Ashi is funny. I have to admit that. Yes, childish, but again, twenty. And not exactly a hugely mature twenty, either. :D

Damn, Muang. That was kinda harsh. I love it. Be meaner!! Make someone cry!

Sorry. Feeling a little vicious today, apparently.

Well at least Punn acknowledges he was being kind of immature. Yes, yes, Title is being a deliberate butt, but Punn doesn't really know that he just sort of suspects, and he was already being a little ridiculous before that.

Twenty. He's twenty. Remember he's twenty.

Ooh I did like that hop and carry though. Very nice.

And now off to Japan we go! Well. Half of us. The other half is still hanging out in Thailand.

Pfft and now there's yet another man after Ashi's pretty self. He's a hot commodity.

Beep boop time for the blackmail. Although to be fair this is going in a direction that I didn't quite expect. So props for that, I guess.

Oh hey, everyone's in Japan next week. Nice.

#be mine superstar #episode 8

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itsclydebitches · 4 years

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RWBY Recaps: Volume 8 “Divide”

Hello, everyone, and welcome back! It feels good to be doing some normal RWBY-ing in this strange world of ours. First, some supplementary materials.

Number One: In response to any (valid) questions along the lines of, “Hey Clyde, it’s now been a full year since Volume 7 was airing and you still haven’t answered my ask about it. Or the ones about Volume 6… what’s up with that?” I’ve created what I hope is an informative video detailing the problem:

vimeo

(I assure you, the Earth, Wind & Fire was a happy accident during the screen recording.)

Needless to say, there’s a lot and I’ve known for some time now that I will LITERALLY never get through all my asks. Which doesn’t mean I don’t want you to send future thoughts in! Just know that as we head into Volume 8 territory I’ll most likely prioritize those, as well as any Volume 7 asks that aren’t woefully out of date. But I do want everyone to know that I read all the asks I receive, appreciate them immensely, and think too much about hypothetical answers, even if I don’t have time to actually write them out 💜

Number Two: There’s a bingo board this year!

Jury’s out on whether I’ll remember to update it, but at the very least this serves as a decent glimpse into my — and others’ — expectations going into this volume.

Number Three: I’ve collected a list of things I’ve heard about Volume 8 from what seem to be reputable sources. I did this because RT is developing a tendency to talk up certain points and then fail to deliver, either because something was taken out of a volume/moved to another, or because RT apparently has radically different ideas about what including something means. So this might be handy to keep on file and ask ourselves two months from now, “Did RT actually deliver on what they promised?”

Emphasis on Ruby’s leadership and how Summer’s death has impacted her

Insight into Ren and Nora’s flaws

May Merigold will supposedly have a larger part

More information about The Long Memory (Ozpin’s cane)

Theme of the volume is that you can respect someone but that doesn’t necessarily mean you agree with them

Very short timeline (supposedly just two days)

Yang in particular is very suspicious and distrustful

I was also going to include a list of all the threads that need to be continued/wrapped up, but honestly that would have taken too large a chunk off my life. Let’s just throw out the highlights:

Are we really going to have Qrow gunning for Ironwood?

Clover is dead regardless. Press ‘F’ to pay respects

Oscar bb you got shot please acknowledge this

Ozpin bb you got done dirty please acknowledge this

Penny is a Maiden now. I feel like the fandom has been sleeping on this (myself included)

Queer baiting, queer baiting… you’re on thin ice at this point, RWBY. Just skate on over to the queer snack bar before you fall straight into the lake.

Ren spill your deep dark secret already and it had better be something more than just ‘Oh no Nora might someday die :( ’

Salem is here so how the actual fuck is the cast surviving this?

Will Ironwood likewise survive his descent into antagonism? Yes or please yes no?

I think that’s all the biggies. I strive to keep lists like this in mind while analyzing, but honestly RWBY has a hundred moving parts that are abandoned or changed or simply retconned at the drop of a hat. So an attempt will be made.

Number Four (last one I promise!): Normal disclaimers and reminders for Recaps apply:

Please don’t fill up the already full inbox with flames. It’s still 2020. No one has time for that nonsense.

There will absolutely be typos and wonky parts because I try to get these out the same day an episode premieres. I have now been working on this for ten hours, nearly straight, and have no more energy for edits. Apologies in advance and RIP to my Saturdays.

I reserve the right to use stupid GIFs and memes at my discretion.

I strive to keep my focus on recapping/analyzing but salt tends to worm its way in… If you’re a die-hard RWBY fan with little patience for criticism, let alone (at times) snarky criticism, please proceed with caution.

No wait I lied, this is the last thing:

Okay, got that out of my system LET’S DO THIS!

We start not with the episode itself but rather Rooster Teeth’s (RT’s) strange non-promotion of it. If you follow my blog you may have caught the post where I pointed out that there was nothing on RT’s website to suggest that one of their most popular shows—if not the most popular show—was premiering today. Nothing on the main page. Nothing on the RWBY page either, not unless you count the Volume 8 poster background (easily mistaken for the Volume 7 poster) and the trailer buried all the way down past Episodes, past Merch, in the Bonus Features section along with videos like Live From Remnant and the volume intros. RT… the promotion of your feature show is not a bonus. This should be front and center! Honest to god, five minutes before the episode dropped I was checking the website for a Volume 8 section, a countdown, anything that would tell me the episode was imminent without relying on fans on tumblr to keep me in the loop. We got nada, zilch. I’m not sure whether that speaks more to RT’s iffy management of the series or simply the website’s horrible design—RIP losing RWBY on Youtube—but I was surprised when I saw the episode a few minutes after 11:00am. At that point I honestly expected to hear about a dely.

So that’s the mood I entered the premiere in, but truly? We start off strong. Things take a pretty severe nosedive later on, we’ll get to that, but I was impressed with our beginning and that probably has a lot to do with the fact that we start with our villains.

We open on a Cinderella character, Cinder, and thus I’m immediately pleased that we’re getting something about her backstory after all this time. Seven years! She appeared in episode one, folks! To say we’re overdue is an understatement. There isn’t a whole lot to go on, just a younger Cinder sadly scrubbing the floor, poised under a spotlight. What we learn, or potentially learn, is based far more in cultural knowledge than this scene. We know Cinderella’s story, which includes the abusive family, the longing for more, the eventual escape, and thus we’re able to read all of that in this image, despite the image itself not telling us any of this overtly. That means we could be wrong in our interpretation, but if we’re not it’s an easy shorthand in an already packed story.

What I’m really impressed with is the sound bridge between the scrubbing and her nails on the back of Neo’s chair. Fantastic way to confirm that this is Cinder as well as showcasing just how far she’s come. The sound of her labor has been replaced with the sound of her power and given that Cinder’s power is stolen, tied to a grimm arm, the property of a genocidal maniac… that’s messed up. It’s a Cinderella story gone wrong.

So yeah, Cinder tells Neo to head straight into the creepy, grimm infested blood cloud to see Salem and Neo is like, ‘Uh… no thank you?’ lol.

RT does a good job this episode with her expressions, ensuring we know exactly what she’s thinking despite an unwillingness/inability to speak.

Poor Neo might be in too deep, but I quite like the overall atmosphere of this opening. Say what we will about Salem’s awful characterization, at least she has style. This woman knows how to make an entrance and, piggybacking off of the Apathy, RT knows how to infuse horror elements into their fantasy. The red and purple coloring of the clouds, spiked whale teeth peeking through, bright orange in the background looking like explosions… that’s all 👌 Including the intro card.

The only thing I want to gripe about is this:

I’m sorry, why does the whale grimm have landing pads? Or something like it?? The whale otherwise works because it’s poised between the natural and the fantasy synthetic. It looks like a real grimm whale on the outside, but is sporting a throne room, a control panel, and other unnatural elements on the inside. It’s a visual indicator of Salem’s ability to control and change grimm. Now though, the additions are wrong, infringing on the line between organic and tech, the line between what helps the grimm individually (giving monkeys wings) and what just helps Salem. Every other aspect of the whale straddles that line wonderfully, adding to the creep factor, like a grimm version of the Uncanny Valley: it’s not quite a whale anymore… but landing pads? That looks ridiculous. Why does Salem even have that? How many ships are her people feasibly using? Why are there five?

Take it away, please.

Cinder waltzes in like this is a normal home visit, but Neo has an appropriate ‘What the actual fuck?’ face going on.

They approach Salem on her throne where Cinder immediately kneels, greeting her with, “My queen.” I mentioned during my trailer breakdown that I think Cinder is lying her ass off here, and I still think that based on a line we’ll get in a minute, but now at least we have a sense of how she can pull this off. A woman who started out as a (presumed) servant is going to know how to mimic subservience, even if her heart isn’t in it. Salem is very good at playing the girl who will still kneel and scrub the floor for you. She will scrub the floor, she’ll do everything you want, she’ll just be plotting her own rise to power while she does it.

There’s quite a bit of interesting cinematography in this episode, not all of it good, and I think one of the mistakes is here when we get a closeup on Salem’s mouth as she greets Cinder. A closeup like that should be reserved for more significant dialogue—“Rosebud”—and yet we get this shot again when Cinder tells Emerald to be quiet. It’s awkward and coupled with the numerous eye closeups we got in the trailer, I think RT is playing a little fast and loose with the camera. Each shot should add something to the scene, not distract from it. If you don’t have a reason for including a technique like that then leave it be.

Back to the actual dialogue though. We knew that Salem knew Cinder was alive and now it seems that she just expected her to come back? I’m slightly lost. It feels like we’re missing something here. Cinder goes off to secure the lamp, fails, nearly dies, wanders on her own for months, and then randomly shows back up on Salem’s whale doorstep, yet Salem isn’t angry at all? Did she have faith that Cinder would return when she has something to offer? Did she just not care about Cinder, considering her return an unnecessary but otherwise welcome surprise? That would make the least sense given that she holds the key to accessing Beacon’s relic… but that circles right back around to why Salem is seemingly indifferent to Cinder’s comings and goings. Surely she can’t actually believe that Cinder is loyal?

“So I trust you wouldn’t return to me empty handed,” she says. Yeah, trust means nothing in this show, Salem, didn’t you watch Volumes 6 and 7? Again, I simply don’t know. I suppose I’ll just chalk it up to confidence, that if Cinder did bail Salem knew she could track her down again. Deciphering her motivations and beliefs is a lost cause when the show continually gives us so little.

The important thing now is that Cinder does indeed have an offering and you can see that Salem is somewhat surprised at being handed the relic.

Cinder, of course, takes credit for the victory and we’re given another wonderful shot of Neo. ‘YOU took it?’

Oh, Neo. Best get out while you still can.

Tyrian appears having obviously made his way to Salem’s ship sometime between her arrival and now. The exchange is pretty standard for this group. He insults Cinder for failing and needing this victory to make amends, talks about how any win against Ironwood says more about his lack of intelligence than her skill, and Cinder… doesn’t have a whole lot of comebacks, actually. I’d say Tyrian won that verbal spar, enhanced by a better use of the camera when we get his tail looming menacingly towards Cinder and Neo.

He goes on to say that Watts was a “necessary sacrifice” so, uh… I’m just going to toss out the ask I answered yesterday. Based on our intro I’d say Watts is still significant to the volume—hacking Penny is my guess—but by the end? He could be in trouble.

(As a side note: I plan to analyze the intro next week. It’s just easier when it comes first.)

Tyrian also calls Neo “little one” which I just found absolutely hilarious. In an on brand creepy manner, that is. Not that Neo couldn’t kick his ass, but there’s something wonderfully chilling about having the serial killer use an endearment towards a potential victim, one that comments on her size while he’s looming.

In contrast, Cinder refers to Neo as a “valuable asset” and we get our third mood of the episode.

Who’s going to start a Neo reaction image collection?

It’s true enough on the surface—who wouldn’t want an ally who can turn into anyone else?—but we’re still bumping up against question of why Salem needs this. She’s immortal! She has an endless army! Magic! This scene works well with a villain who needs a skillset like Neo’s to succeed, but Salem doesn’t. RT is doing a great job writing a story thus far, just not the story we’ve previously been given. This isn’t the story they set up.

This will come back up when we reach the RWBYJNOR group. Just wait.

Before that though, the gang’s all here as Emerald, Mercury, and Hazel show up, all in new outfits.

I think I like everything except for the weird Xs on Emerald’s jacket—it’s way too distracting and frankly makes an otherwise good look ugly—and the fact that she’s showing her midriff in Atlas. Hazel doesn’t have any sleeves! Oh my god, why doesn’t anyone dress for the weather in this show?

Frankly, I found their reunion to be kind of lackluster. I mean, there was nothing wrong with it. Emerald does sound briefly excited, she does run, and it’s in character for Cinder to cut her off… it just didn’t resonate with me emotionally. I thought after two volumes of thinking she’s dead, then working through the knowledge that she’s alive, that I would feel Emerald’s shock and relief more, but I didn’t. And I’m not entirely sure why. I don’t want to level any accusations at the voice acting because frankly I know next to nothing about that skill (and from what I’ve seen it’s usually praised in the fandom), but I will say that throughout the premiere I was noticing it more than I ever have before. The lack of emotion here and some awkward deliveries later, like when Yang goes, “Ruby, there is no way Ironwood will cooperate with us” and I immediately thought, “Wow, that came out stilted.” These observations stick with me because, as said, voice acting usually isn’t on my radar. It’s not something I’ve studied or had practice analyzing. If you’d never told me that Ren or Qrow’s VA changed then after a year hiatus I literally wouldn’t notice… but there’s something about this episode that didn’t sit right. Anyone else get that sense, or was it just me?

Regardless, the arrival of our other three villains really doesn’t amount to much, though I’m happy for all the Emerald and Mercury fans who get to see them in new outfits. The focus is still on Cinder as she delivers a line indicative of her true motivations: “That power will be mine.” Yeah, she’s not loyal to Salem, she’s just power hungry. Of course, Salem immediately takes note of this and raises her hand, in another nice use of the foreground, reminding her that she hasn’t given that order.

Cinder is shocked, angry even, but quickly covers it up with her “Without you I am nothing” line. If I caught it right I think she also calls Salem “Ma’am”? Hilarious. Again, skilled at playing the servant.

Also, before I forget, it’s worth noting that almost everything from our trailer appeared in this episode. Yeah, there are a few details like Nora attacking some tech and the group on their bikes, but on the whole we’ve already seen the majority of our promo material and will likely get most of the rest next week. It makes me both interested and nervous for what another twelve episodes are going to hold.

Salem opens her whale, or opens a portal type view in it, something that gives us a long-distance look at Atlas. I don’t know what exactly is going on here, but it’s pretty so I’ll take it.

She also delivers the frankly badass line, “Just because you’re more valuable to me than a pawn does not make you a player.”

She waves them all away with perfect ‘You mean nothing to me’ attitude and we sadly leave our villains.

Sad not because I don’t love my farm boy, but because things are about to get a whole lot messier.

Oscar has made his way to a camp of civilian survivors… all of whom are just hanging out in the supposedly deadly cold. Yeah, there’s a single fire, but at least four of them aren’t anywhere near it. Three of them also aren’t wearing gloves. What was that survival rate again?

A nice if gruff dude gives Oscar soup—water?—while showing off his… badger claws? I don’t know what kind of faunus he’s supposed to be, but he feels like the sort of two second, minor character who could easily become a meme lol.

Oscar thanks him (my polite son!) and hands the bowl back after a single sip. Which is impressive because I would have assumed the guy was giving me the whole bowl and just taken it. Hell, I’ve done that even when I didn’t assume it’s all for me. A Starbucks barista once approached me with a tray and a plate of samples, I knew I was supposed to take just one, yet for some reason my hand went to take the whole goddamn plate. He had to tell me off, then I was trying to explain that I didn’t actually want or think I should have eight shots of cappuccino all to myself, I don’t even like coffee, he clearly didn’t believe me… it was awkward. So good job, Oscar. You’re less awkward than me (though that’s not saying much).

Now a question, Oscar. Darling. Brilliant boy who has been through too much: why the fuck aren’t you talking to Ozpin? This will be A Thing later when he presents a lack of time to talk as justification for keeping more secrets (we’ll get to that too…) yet here is time! You’re just sitting there for who knows how long, with plenty of privacy to hide a supposedly one-sided conversation so the Mantle citizens don’t get weirded out or suspicious. Talk to Ozpin. Our headmaster gets two lines in this episode, utterly inconsequential lines like his airship scene, lines that feel like they exist to say, “See? He’s still included in the story!” even though he absolutely is not. Two volumes of mostly silence, a perfect setup to start the reconciliation process, but we’re going to put it off again?

Instead Ruby randomly and conveniently appears. I want to know how she found him. Oscar isn’t wearing a tracker. He clearly didn’t call them because he’s surprised when Ruby shows up. He fell alllllllll the way back down to Mantle and then wandered to a random part of the slums. You’re telling me they flew over the entire city—after beginning this search thinking he was in Atlas—and somehow managed to spot him from up in the air? C’mon. I would have rather had a beginning where Oscar makes his way back to the group himself, giving him and Ozpin time to hash things out.

“Need a lift?” Ruby says, eliminating that potential. Sigh.

Oscar immediately starts beating himself up when he gets onboard, saying that he “was stupid to think the General would listen.” Nah, you were stupid to buy into Ruby’s nonsensical confidence and for telling Ironwood he’s as bad as Salem. Sorry, Oscar, but everyone is written badly these days. I will, however, say that I am THRILLED at the group’s reaction to his return. Ruby says that she’s “just glad you’re alright.” Nora has a wonderfully tender moment where she hugs him gently rather than her usual glomp.

That? That added a year to my life. Everyone else seems relieved that he’s okay too, so kudos there. After four years of Oscar being an outsider in the group, this is one of the few moments that feel like he’s 100% accepted. Really glad to see it.

Now let’s see if it sticks after they learn Ozpin is back...

They fly to the Happy Huntresses’ base and I again feel like I’ve missed something crucial. When did they team up? I mean, RWBYJNOR was working directly under Ironwood up until the last hour and Robyn ran off to fight Tyrian/Clover in the last couple episodes. When did she have time to explain her (briefly) changed allegiance and why would the Happy Huntresses trust the group without that? Did Robyn share that Blake and Yang went behind Ironwood’s back for her? Do the Huntresses instinctively trust them because they’re now wanted by the military? How did they even run into each other?

Again, I think we would have been better served to have an episode before all this. Let Oscar make his way back and let the group struggle with the magnitude of their situation on the airship, before they find new allies. Transferring directly to, “They have help and a secret base and a plan in the works!” makes me feel like I missed the real premiere last week. You know, the one where Salem unexpectedly arrived and we left the group like this.

This is where we’ve ended up though. The group is cozy in this hideout, getting info from Joanna, and my only other thought is, “Why is she giving all this exposition?”

Shouldn’t it be May? I mean, we were told that she was going to play more of a role this volume, a promise that’s pretty important imo given her status as a (so far off screen) trans character, so why not put her in the role of mediator between the Happy Huntresses and RWBYJNR? Giving her that setup as a leader among her people as well as lots of lines would be meaningful. A trans character just existing and being a part of this fight! May could obviously still fill that role—I’m well aware that we’re only one episode in—but it just seems like a missed opportunity to me. Out of all the undeveloped Happy Huntresses, our premiere focuses on the one who has the least importance to the fandom.

As said, Joanna talks a fair bit but what it basically boils down to is trying to get everyone to the crater below Atlas. It’s apparently not safe, but it’s warm, which is what matters right now.

So… let me get this straight. You want to gather everyone into a not safe crater, by leading them through an army of grimm, so that they can wait there in case someone moves the Staff, thus dropping an entire city on top of their heads? That’s the plan? Which admittedly isn’t Joanna’s fault. This is another instance of RWBYJNOR having information that a leader does not and they should really consider speaking up about it. But of course they don’t.

Also, how long does everyone have in regards to the cold? Shouldn’t there be dead civilians by now? The time it would take to find the Happy Huntresses, team up with them, get settled in the base, and find Oscar says that things should be pretty grim right now (pardon the pun), yet every non-aura user in this city seems content to just hang out in the snow. Either the cold is deadly enough to justify moving everyone to the crater, or it’s mild enough to let everyone survive this long, not both.

After hugs are given everyone obviously wants to know what happened to Oscar. His response?

“It’s a… long story. I get the feeling there’s been a few of those tonight.”

That’s a check for the bingo card! We’re halfway through the first episode and we’ve already got another secret. Yes, this is a secret. Oscar actively chooses not to tell anyone that Ozpin is back—something Ozpin himself comments on—and then skillfully draws attention away from himself with “I get the feeling there’s been a few of those tonight.” Indeed, all eyes go to Penny. Oscar’s plight is forgotten, which is what he wanted. His justification?

Ozpin: “You’re not going to tell them?”

Oscar: “You and I aren’t done talking yet.”

Along with this look.

Oscar no. There’s so much wrong with this I don’t even know where to begin. Let’s create a list.

As said, you had plenty of time to talk to Ozpin and chose not to. Miss me with this excuse.

You are now doing to your friends exactly what you and your friends did to Ironwood, which in turn is what Ozpin did to you! I can’t believe we’ve got Oscar critically side-eyeing him when they are still—still—repeating the behavior they drove Ozpin away for.

What is there to even talk about now? Oscar didn’t punch himself/Ozpin (lol) but he did steal Jinn’s name from Ozpin in the first place. You got what you wanted, drove him away, and have been lying and keeping secrets ever since. The only thing they should be talking about involves apologizing. Any further criticism—which is what Oscar’s expression and curt reply suggests—is beyond hypocritical.

Seriously, what needs to be discussed? There’s no reason not to tell the group unless Oscar wants to talk about whether they should tell them. There’s no good ending here...

Don’t you think it would be nice to know that Ozpin is back and you’ve got super magic powers while making plans to save the entire world?

This is all especially stupid given Oscar’s “Salem wants to divide us” reminder to Ruby in a moment. Oscar, you are doing the most to divide the group right now. By not forgiving Ozpin. By refusing to work with him. By keeping him secret from everyone else.

This is bad, friends, I worry for what the rest of the volume will bring…

The story is done with Ozpin for now so I guess I will be too. The group continues filling Oscar in and we get some shots of the base, including a rather prominent poster of what I assume are two Happy Huntresses. Did they die in battle perhaps?

It’s a little strange.

Oscar: “Where’s Qrow?”

Me: “Likely still making bad decisions.”

No one knows so they just drop it. Which I kind of get, only so much you can do to find him if he’s not out on the streets like Oscar, but it still reads as kind of iffy that two nieces look down at the ground for a hot second and then move on with their plans, content to leave Qrow to whatever fate befell him. In a minute we’ll see Yang firmly take Ren’s side regarding helping the people they can in Mantle, which frankly comes out of nowhere for her. I think an easy motivation would have been Qrow. Ruby wants to save the world, Yang wants to find and save their uncle, and that just happens to align with Ren’s desire to save the civilians who need immediate grimm and cold help. Don’t get me wrong, I like that there’s finally some division between the sisters, I just wish it hadn’t come about so abruptly. Ren had setup for standing up to Ruby. Yang did not.

But I’m getting a little ahead of myself. Joanna lists the grimm horde and no heat as the major threats to everyone. The group agrees.

Me: What about Salem?

Joanna says that this is all doubly dangerous because there’s “no more military protection.”

Me: Oh, so now you want the military?

This is all so disjointed. Even more-so when Joanna mentions that Ironwood has stopped all evacuations to Atlas, likely due to the “hard light shields” that are the only thing standing between Salem and the city. Thing is, the show never makes this connection, I just did it myself based on this scene and the one that comes later. The show presents Joanna’s line as a pure condemnation. Ironwood won’t let more evacuees in because… he’s just evil, I guess. Yet there is a justification here, namely that continuing the evacuations even while he’s stuck without Penny leaves him wide open to a Salem attack, the death of everyone currently safe, but that argument is never presented to the viewer. I don’t need people to agree with Ironwood’s perspective, I just wish that perspective was offered as an option. The show is very good about acting like RWBYJNOR’s opinion is the only justified opinion, or simply the only opinion at all.

After everything is laid out Weiss goes, “We’re never going to sleep again, I just know it.”

I could make a crack about the lack of continuity and how the group should be collapsing right now… but that was a funny line. It can stay.

What is far more of a problem is the fact that no one is talking about Salem. Okay, that’s a lie. They do talk about her, but in a roundabout way like her presence isn’t impacting every decision they make. That’s the real issue. They’re acting as if Salem isn’t here right now, like she’s off far away, maybe approaching slowly, and they’re arguing over how best to prep the world for her eventual attack. There’s no emotion here—let alone action—to reflect that the series’ Big Bad has arrived and is poised to murder them all. Literally what is this? Ruby is yelling about warning the world and, ignoring the continued question of why that’s a good thing when the world can do nothing to stop Salem and knowledge of her continually drives people to horrible acts, she has yet to acknowledge that… she’s the world? Ruby is the world in this conflict. She, Mantle, and Atlas. Salem is here for you all. Right now. You are, this instant, in the situation you want to warn others about, so why don’t you try to do something about it? Or at least acknowledge it. Ruby wants to warn the neighborhood about a potential fire while her house is actively ablaze, and the fire could have totally killed her by now but decided not to for… reasons.

“Ruby’s right,” Nora says. They have to tell the world so “they can prepare.” How? How are they supposed to prepare for this? The story cannot continue ignoring Salem’s immortality.

“Ruby’s right,” is all Blake says and I’m starting to thinks that’s why her character exists now, to agree with Ruby. It’s great that she’s getting a little distance from Yang, but man.

As Ruby asks whether Pietro can get Amity up and running despite it not being finished (called it) we start an incredibly odd sequence of flashforwards to their individual missions. I’ve seen a lot of praise for this already and though I agree that, in theory, it’s a good way to save time, I found the actual execution to be jarring. Upon thinking back through our timeline, it became clear they were flashforwards, but while watching I thought they might be flashbacks (especially since that’s more common).

Some of the shots, like Nora’s, just look awkward when you’ve got the exact expression and pose transplanted from one scene to another, like she’s a cardboard cutout behind a green screen. To say nothing of how the flashforwards ruin any suspense (I use that word loosely) in the conversation itself. If the question is, “Will they decide to go to the military compound?” then that question is answered when we see Ruby scoping out the compound, not when the group actually decides on the course of action.

It just made an already muddled scene worse for me, so I hope this trend doesn’t continue.

And of course, Amity can be used despite all the info last volume claiming that it wasn’t finished. Pietro suddenly acts like it is finished and the only thing standing in their way is Ironwood providing access. If that were the case, he would have used Amity weeks or days ago like he wanted to! When was it finished? Not after Watts commented on how incomplete it was. When did they get back the resources they needed from Robyn? It’s as ridiculous and retcon-y as I thought it would be.

Yang points out that Ironwood will never listen to them and Ruby counters that “he doesn’t have to.” They’ll just take the access from him. Because why wouldn’t they in a series where they’ve already stolen two airships? Stealing from the super evil military that Joanna wishes were helping them right now is just the group’s go-to plan nowadays.

Pietro isn’t sold on this plan though. He lists at least three obstacles they’d need to get through “and then… oh boy, I might need to think about this some more.” “And just to clarify,” Oscar says, “This is the easy option?” Um...no it’s not? We also know there’s an access point in Ironwood’s office so… why not go there instead? They really think the Academy is less guarded than the military base? There’s a potential justification here along the lines of, “After Neo and Cinder broke into his office Ironwood will have the place on high alert,” but unless I missed it the group doesn’t assume anything like that. They just listen to Pietro point out all the ways they can’t get into the military base and jump straight to that being the best option. It feels like a transparent way to create conflict for the group. We’ll just have them taking the most dangerous route despite an easy route being offered alongside it. Why bother mentioning his office at all? Just have the access in the military base. Boom, done.

It’s that conflict and the fact that Ruby tends to hear “You can’t” and digs in her heels. You can’t go to Atlas. I’ll just steal a ship then. You can’t defeat Salem. Watch me. You can’t break into this base. Guess what I’m doing! She’s dangerous in her fairy tale, meta-driven insistence that everything will turn out her way because she wants it to.

Speaking of, we finally—FINALLY—get someone challenging Ruby. Sort of. Not actually but it’s the closest we’ve ever gotten:

Yang: “Ruby, when we came here we said we’d follow your lead… but things haven’t exactly worked out.”

Now, there are two things to take away from this moment. The first is how utterly shocked Ruby and the others are. I mean, take a look at these expressions.

Ruby straight up can’t believe what she’s hearing. Weiss put her hand to her mouth like this is the most dramatic thing to ever happen to her. Oscar looks down in a ‘Yeah, I agree but please don’t look at me and make me admit that’ way. And Nora looks indifferent in the screenshot but animated she goes sort of stern, likely pissed that Yang would dare say that given her own agreement with Ruby. This not only reiterates that Yang’s challenge came out of nowhere—seriously, how did we move from following Ruby no matter what to this? Last volume she asked a single question along the lines of, ‘You sure?’ and when Ruby said ‘Yes’ Yang was entirely on board—but also demonstrates that no one has EVER said no to her before. Ruby is amazed that someone would challenge her. The act of challenging Ruby is, in and of itself, shocking. This group has gotten so used to following Ruby blindly that the teensiest little pushback is greeted with this.

Because it is teensy. This is the second takeaway: Yang barely challenges her and that challenge leads nowhere. She doesn’t accuse Ruby of anything, she doesn’t question her continued authority, she just broadly implies that things could be better. We followed you, now things are bad, take from that what you will. It’s incredibly mild as far as criticism goes, making the shock all the more, well, shocking, but it also amounts to—wait for it—nothing! Because Yang didn’t truly challenge Ruby’s leadership. She’s still in charge, she’s still calling the shots, and they’re still listening to her. We might have gotten some change if this division had been allowed to play out, but instead Jaune comes in with a, “Let’s go for both!” solution. It let’s both groups get what they want which, in turn, releases them from the need to grapple with whether they’ll listen to Ruby when she’s advocating for something they don’t agree with. We have now lost the chance to see whether, when push comes to shove, Ren and Yang will cave to Ruby’s will or stick by their own beliefs.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s more conflict than we’ve gotten in years, but that doesn’t mean it’s particularly compelling conflict. It’s good by RWBY’s standards, which doesn’t necessarily make it good. The actual issues at hand—Ruby’s dangerous arrogance, the group’s loyalty, her choices up until now—are just swept under the rug. For all the visuals we get insisting that there’s this great divide in the group… there’s really not. Not in any way that matters.

Also, Ruby is an idiot. Okay, that was mean, but she really is in this scene. She’s actually not an idiot overall because she was written as wonderfully intelligent in the early volumes, but now? Lately? She makes me want to bang my head against a wall.

“But that’s how Salem got this far,” she cries. “By dividing us!”

Ruby… oh my god, Ruby. No one should have to explain to you that dividing people means turning them against each other, not literally dividing your team to complete separate tasks. This girl honestly thought that because there was this teensy disagreement and that half the team would complete Plan A while she and the other half completed Plan B, both of which notably work towards the goal of, “Protect people from Salem,” that this was somehow what Salem wanted. That is was dangerous. Honestly, it’s a scary look at her view of leadership too: If everyone doesn’t 100% agree with me and do what I say, that’s an objectively bad thing that the grimm queen wants, right? Does Ruby think that unification means following a single person (her) without question or variation? That would explain a lot...

The fact that Oscar needs to explain the difference to her is not good. It really doesn’t say great things about this version of Ruby. Though he was comparing Ironwood to Salem last volume, so really they should all be wearing dunce hats.

Penny offers to take the relic directly to Salem in exchange for her leaving the kingdom alone. I honestly didn’t expect that. If anyone took that risk I would have put my money on Ozpin (but of course, during all this talk of the women he knows best, he’s kept quiet). Oscar is again the voice of wisdom, pointing out that they have no reassurance that Salem will keep her word. At least Penny is thinking about Salem as a threat though, so kudos for that. When this plan is shot down she volunteers to get Ruby past the military security instead and, uh, she’s a little intense about it.

I’m not entirely sure what is going on with Penny. She disagreed with Winter but then seemed to come around to her point of view, enough to help anyway. They had another (stupid) disagreement about the value of individual lives, so that helps to explain why she’s teaming up with RWBYJNOR (if you ignore that Ironwood is also trying to save individual lives...). Did watching Fria die shake her up? Is it being the Winter Maiden that’s not sitting right? Does Penny have lingering feelings about the framing that haven’t shown up until now? Her status as a ‘real girl’? We’ve got a lot of reasons that could definitely explain this sudden need to fight, but we’re not told which—if any of these—is the driving force.

We’re then given a lot of little details. Someone points out that if Salem gets the staff and “create[s] anything else” then Atlas will fall (so yeah, let’s move the people underneath it). We still don’t know what exactly the Staff does because “creation” is kind of broad and “powering a city to float” doesn’t seem to sit within that category at all. Pietro gives Yang the keys to his lab so they can get the bikes. We see the group dividing in the flashforwards, something I do like, especially since the show has gone out of its way to break up most of the usual duos. Nora in particular is pissed at Ren for his choice.

“Oh, I’m saving Mantle because I actually believe we can do this.”

#yikes. Well, I did say I wanted a conflict other than ‘Oh no, one of us might die’ and it looks like I got it. But Nora, the only reason you can do this is because the plot is in your corner: none of you are collapsing from two major fights, you didn’t lose your aura so the cold isn’t a danger, the military is barely a threat all of a sudden, Salem is helpfully hanging out in her whale instead of killing you, and the story decided that Amity can function so long as you all are the ones who get to use it. That’s why you can do this. Ren, who follows in-world logic and doesn’t want to risk a whole kingdom’s worth of lives on a pipe dream, thinks differently, oddly enough.

As they leave though Penny gets a call from Ironwood. I know precisely what the fandom is going to say here: “This evil man is just trying to use Penny to open the vault!” Of course he is. He needs it open to save everyone he can, Penny included. Plus the concept of “using” her is a double-edged sword. What do we think the group is doing right now? Using her to get past the security. Penny’s power is a tool any way you slice it. Granted, Penny volunteers to help the group, but notably here Ruby speaks for her. Penny seems torn and Ruby takes the scroll away with, “She’s not going anywhere until you change your mind about Mantle.”

Sorry, Ruby, but coming from you that sounds less like a reassurance for Penny and more like just an order for Ironwood. Remember Harriet? We’ll stop attacking you provided you do what we want. Ruby has yet to learn about compromises, let alone acknowledge that she might be wrong. How about you let Penny decide where she goes, especially since by all logic she should have a lot of loyalty to Ironwood. She knew him before she ever met you. She’s worked with him since she was rebuild post-Volume 3. Despite what Penny has said, if the story would just let her think about his actions for a hot second—making her the protector of Mantle, sticking up for her after the framing, sending her to the party, teaming her up with Ruby, etc.—she might realize that the ‘He doesn’t want me to have friends’ and ‘He just treats me like a tool’ assumptions are just that, unfounded assumptions. But no, Ruby speaks for them both because Ironwood is evil now.

“If she makes it through our defenses,” Ironwood says, “everything that follows will be on your hands.”

That’s true! Kind of like how it’s own Qrow’s hands that Clover died. When you insist on making a bad situation worse you hold responsibility when the shit hits the fan. You know though that Salem won’t get through their defenses now, somehow, so that there’s no chance RWBYJNOR will be blamed for it. Or, by that point Ironwood will be so crazed that anything coming out of his mouth is dismissed, no matter how accurate it might be.

We then transfer to the Ace Ops who are, despite what the fandom theorized for many months, clearly upset about Clover. Also pissed. Which they have every right to be. Their friend and leader was killed. Imagine for a moment that Ruby had been murdered by Tyrian with an allies’ help. Exactly what do you think the group would do? Swallow it quietly and get over it? Ha.

I’ve already seen some speculation that Clover survived due to details like showing us the bandage and his room being listed as for a “Patient,” but he looks pretty dead to me.

He got gutted through the chest and left out in the snow for who knows how long. We saw him slip away. Qrow screamed over his dead body. He’s not breathing now. If RWBY suddenly claims he survived this, I’m calling BS.

Most of the other visuals we get here were already dropped in the trailer. Winter is pretty injured from her encounter with Cinder, likely permanently based on her new outfit. Ironwood had to replace his arm—and I am calling BS on that “Losing his arm is reflective of him losing his humanity” commentary from RT. Please go read up on a couple decades worth of ableism in media and then get back to me.

We get Ironwood’s line about the light shields and, notably, a whole lot of empathy. Regardless of what he might want Penny for, he still called her with compassion. He’s watching the Ace Ops mourn their friend. He’s talking about protecting his kingdom. The first thing he says to Winter is, “Thank you, Winter. I don’t know what I would do without you.” Ironwood has a heart! It’s always on display, which makes this scene utterly ridiculous.

I literally don’t know how to respond to this. The gunshot made me jump, both because it’s a gunshot and because, again, what the fuck? I know I said that next volume RT might just have Ironwood descend into full villainy, shooting whoever he pleases now that he’s shot Oscar, but I didn’t actually expect them to do it. Because he never should have shot Oscar in the first place! I wanted the story to let Oscar grapple with it a bit and then quietly backtrack, acknowledging it as the mistake it was. The concept that Ironwood, empathetic Ironwood, rational Ironwood, always thinks before he acts Ironwood, let’s kids yell at him Ironwood, tried to team up with Robyn Ironwood, did everything Ruby wanted Ironwood, won’t kill Watts after he destroyed his arm Ironwood would shoot this guy just to shut him up is absurd. It was absurd then, it’s absurd now.

That being said, there’s a possibility he didn’t actually shoot the council member, but rather just (“just”) gave a warning shot down the hallway. I say this because the reactions to this are pretty tame. Everyone looks startled, yeah, but after the initial shot there’s nothing that I would expect if there was now a guy bleeding out on the floor. The council woman doesn’t scream. Winter doesn’t seem overly shocked. No one is running to try and help him. Basically, if Ironwood had just killed a political figure in front of six witnesses, entirely unprovoked, I would expect a bit more of a reaction than this. This feels far more like a, “Damn he’s not joking around, letting off warning shots to get people to leave him alone” not “WOW, our general just killed someone in cold blood!”

What I really hate though—beyond just assassinating his character—is how many fans think my friends and I are delusional for calling it character assassination at all. I hopped onto the RWBY tag for five minutes this morning and was bombarded with posts about how Ironwood needs to be murdered horrifically, anyone who likes him is sick, the Ironwood stans are as bad as Adam stans, you’re an idiot if you want him redeemed… because apparently the concept of a story writing a character badly doesn’t compute. I’m not here to argue that Ironwood didn’t do these awful things (regardless of whether he actually killed the guy or not). I’m not here to argue that they’re not awful. I’m just here to say that we never should have gotten these scenes in the first place, or if we were going to get them, we deserved an actual descent into murder at the drop of a hat territory. I’ve already explained extensively on this blog how early Ironwood was not accurate foreshadowing for this, and Volume 7 certainly wasn’t setup, but it looks like the majority of fans aren’t interested in examining whether any of this adds up. Which makes my job, as someone trying to examine this series somewhat objectively—in as much as that’s possible for any single viewer—as well as simply enjoy it as a show, really hard. It’s bad enough when a story keeps taking the characters you love and villainizing them, and doing that badly, but then when you turn to the community and see them rallying around the idea that you’re awful for being dissatisfied—you’re the bootlicker, you’re the blind stan, you can’t see what’s ‘really’ going on here… that sucks. For those of you happy and satisfied with Ironwood’s arc, that’s great! I’ve also seen a lot of posts hyping up the complexity of his character now. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying what we’ve been given and I’d never want to imply that just because it’s not what I wanted it’s somehow wrong. I’m honestly thrilled that after a year of worry so many people have adored our premiere, including this scene. I just wish that I could say RWBY had given me something I didn’t want in a persuasive manner and that the fandom as a whole was a bit more welcoming of differing criticisms.

Not that I didn’t already know the RWBY fandom had its flaws, but still lol.

That’s basically it for our premiere. Nice note to end on, huh? Our final scene is of Salem using the lamp to set her bloodhound grimm on the city. Why doesn’t she just go herself? What was she planning to do here in Atlas in the first place, considering that getting the relic was a surprise? Who knows. Little about this holds together. But we do end with another awesome shot, so small favors.

It’s always strange concluding a recap, but even more-so when it’s a premiere, during a historical moment in the U.S., amidst all the nonsense that is 2020. So for now I’ll just conclude with three quick things:

The updated bingo board will be listed at the end of each recap, provided I don’t forget about it lol. Today I’m checking off tone (not nearly enough freaking out about Salem), the team keeping secrets (Oscar), and major plot point dropped (Amity is suddenly finished). I could also probably check off the cold not killing civilians and getting Amity up and running, but we’ll see if any changes with those.

I’m including my Ko-Fi link at the end of recaps now. Not with any expectations. Not with anything resembling pressure. I thought long and hard over whether to include it at all—let alone mention it here—because I love doing these and never want anyone to feel like it comes with strings attached. But life is a little harder and weirder than it was last year, so I figure it can’t hurt. Feel free to pass on by and I won’t be bringing it up past this note.

Far more importantly: thank you for reading! :D

(Bonus 4. Editing this was an absolute nightmare — damn you, tumblr! — so I apologize if anything is super wonky when I finally post.)

See you next week! 💜

[Ko-Fi]

#rwby #rwby spoilers #rwby volume 8 #mymetas #rwby recaps

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kittyprincessofcats · 3 years

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RWBY Volume 8, Episode 13 (Worthy)

Well, wow. That sure was an episode that happened.

Thoughts under the cut.

Anyone who leaves spoilers for episode 14 on this will get blocked.

- First of all, I want to now talk about the spoiler I saw for this episode last week, to put the anger from my last post into context: After I had just finished watching episodes 8-12 and started writing my post about them, I went into one of the RWBY tags bc I’m dumb and saw a post that said (I don’t remember the exact words, but more or less): “I’m so glad Yang is finally dead, so now her fans can shut up about her and everyone can ship Blacksun instead.”

… Yeah. Imagine seeing that when you haven’t seen the actual episode and have no idea what really happened. I honestly completely panicked for a few minutes, before remembering I don’t actually know anything and this might just be a “Weiss gets impaled in Volume 5, but one episode later it turns out she’ll be fine” situation. So then I had to look up what actually happened to Yang, because otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to sleep. So, to the person who made that post: Fuck you. Not only did you freak people out for no reason (because come on, there’s no way falling into the void actually kills you – and even if it does, we at least definitely don’t know that for sure after episode 13), but even if Yang had actually died, it’s super shitty that your first reaction to a beloved queer character’s death would be “yay, now people can ship my m/f ship instead”. Like, I don’t care if you personally dislike Yang/ dislike Bumbleby/ prefer Blacksun – show a little bit of decency.

Phew. Sorry, I had to get that off my chest because it really made me angry. Now let’s get into the actual episode:

- “Worthy” as a title pretty much already made me predict that Cinder would succeed in her plan, since “you have to be worthy” was what Watts told her in his speech. She’s gotten the message and is now back to efficient plans – and while I love to see it, it also very much scares me when it comes to our heroes’ survival chances. The last time Cinder was doing well, we lost Pyrrha, so… help.

- And gosh, this whole episode was so intense! I feel like it mostly set up a bunch of very intense situations that are going to escalate in the last episode that I’m very much not ready for.

- I still think the whole central location between the worlds is really beautiful, if dangerous. (They should have specified to Ambrosius that they want handrails or something.)

- Nora using her hammer like a witch’s broom was amazing.

- I also loved the scene with Jaune and the people at the train station; that was really funny.

- The middle of the desert might not have been the best place for the exit. Didn’t the group consider that there might be a sandstorm or something else unpredictable out there? Couldn’t they have picked a better exit point?

- Cinder causing an explosion in the middle of the evacuation that throws multiple people into the void was bad and all – but it was still one hell of an entrance!

- I love that now that Cinder realized that she has to rely on teamwork, she’s suddenly being so nice to everyone. Apologizing to Neo, complimenting Watts on “tearing the kingdom apart with nothing but his intellect”, that soft “You deserve this, Arthur”, complimenting Team RWBY on their plan, thanking them for teaching her “one last lesson”. Yeah, maybe she’s just talking to Neo and Watts like this because she needs their help, and to Team RWBY because she’s confident she’ll win – but it’s still amazing to see the shift in her attitude and how she’s clearly changed her tactic.

- It’s insane to me that some people correctly predicted that Cinder would ask Jinn the last question based JUST on the fact that there’s a part in the opening where everyone else freezes in time while she walks past them. Holy hell! I love trying to guess stuff based on the intro, but I would have never thought that far.

- Cinder’s question to Jinn seems like a waste considering it was Jinn’s last question, but maybe it just seems that way to us as viewers because Jinn didn’t reveal anything we didn’t already know. Was it the right thing for Cinder to do? I don’t know, to be honest. Yes, it did give her the chance to ruin the heroes’ plans, but I have a feeling Salem won’t be happy about the question being gone. Pretty sure Salem was going to ask Jinn how to get the Beacon relic, and now she can’t do that. (Cinder ruining Salem’s plans for the beacon relic? Let that be foreshadowing, please.) I mean, maybe it’s worth it from Salem’s POV if it gets them the staff and then she’ll have 2 of the 4 relics – but they could have still gotten the staff later, while I don’t know if Salem has any plan B for the beacon relic. And I’m a little worried about Cinder now. I always thought that Salem wouldn’t kill Cinder no matter what, because she still needs the Fall Maiden for the beacon relic – but if she now has to wait another 100 years for the beacon relic anyway, I’m not sure if she’ll have a reason to keep Cinder alive. (And I’m still worried about that “Some lives will end much too soon” line playing over that scene of Cinder clutching her Grimm arm in the opening.) I also wonder if Cinder even knew that this was Jinn’s last question. Did Jinn even tell her that? Also, when will the 100 years even be up? Do the questions just reset every 100 years regardless of when they were used? So maybe we’re already at year 80 or something and will only have to wait 20 years?

- The cut from everyone at the central command place screaming to them being dead was kinda funny in a “very dark humour” way.

- When Harriet first jumped onto that ship with the bomb, I, like an idiot, thought that she was finally being sensible and trying to get the bomb as far away from Atlas and Mantle as possible, not that she was trying to still drop it on Mantle. She and Ironwood might as well be working for Salem’s team at this point, because they’re doing everything to help the villains’ plan. And the villains are even counting on it! Watts freed Ironwood from his cell and is piloting Harriet’s ship. Those two are just straight up helping Salem’s team in their attempts to… what was it? Save Atlas?

- Ironwood killing Jacques was awful and proves once again that Ironwood has zero morals left. And I didn’t like Jacques, but that was the kind of death that absolutely no one deserves. He had no way to escape or fight back, he was defenseless, locked up in a prison cell with nowhere to run – that’s not just a murder, that’s an execution without a trial. And Jacques wasn’t even a threat, he wasn’t in the way of any of Ironwood’s plans. Ironwood killed him literally just because he could. And no one who thinks they’re the good guy (and Ironwood still thinks he’s the good guy) should go around just killing people who aren’t even a threat.

- And then we have Yang falling into the void. Honestly, as heartbreaking as Blake’s sobs and anger are, I kind of love this from a “supreme angst, let’s see my faves suffer” perspective. That said, Yang better actually be fine or else.

- Actually, my prediction is that the rest of team RWBY will jump into the void to save Yang in the last episode. Because they’re all falling in the opening, and because “Sometimes it’s worth it all to risk the fall and fight for every life”. That’s pretty much the only prediction I feel somewhat confident about, for the rest I have no idea.

- I wonder if it would have been better if Penny had just gone through the doorway and gotten the staff to Vacuo. I get why she didn’t, because Yang just fell and her other friends were in danger… but at the same time, she was supposed to protect the population and the staff (and she has the maiden powers that I’m sure Cinder still wants). If she had just gotten out of there, at least the group in Vacuo would have had some help against the sandstorm and the Grimm. But then again, it would have also severely weakened Term RWBY’s chances against Cinder and Neo… it’s a tough call, really.

- “Why didn’t you just learn your lesson?” “Oh, Penny… I did.” Okay, but that’s the thing: She really did! Just not the lesson Penny wanted her to learn. And notice how Cinder called Penny by her first name again? She didn’t use to do that. I still think somewhere down the line Penny has earned her respect.

- I wonder if Penny’s technically weaker now because she’s human (?? is she??). She’s definitely not used to fighting without her robotic parts (as you can see when she tries to reach for her swords and realizes they’re not there anymore). I summoning those swords like she then did her semblance or another maiden power?

- Blake now has to choose between helping Ruby and helping Penny and Weiss – gosh, the suspense…

- I’m glad Vine at least finally tried to stop Harriet now! (Better late than never.) But I really wouldn’t blame Qrow and Robyn for crashing into their ship. It’s not like they had any way of knowing that Vine was trying to talk sense into Harriet. Also, Qrow crashing through Harriet’s windscreen was amazing.

- Winter and Ironwood are going to fight to the death and I’m so scared of it. (I just need Winter to survive, please…)

- When Weiss described the doorway as a “one-way ticket to Vacuo” last episode, I briefly wondered if that meant they wouldn’t be let back through, but then I brushed it aside and didn’t think about it too much anymore. Oh, damn. You really do have to be very specific with Ambrosius.

- I’m not even sure which location is the best to be in right now because they all seem very unsafe: Atlas and Mantle are unsafe because Atlas is falling, because Mantle might still get blown up by Harriet, and because Salem might still come back any time. The place between worlds is unsafe because of the void and because there’s a big fight happening right there. And Vacuo is unsafe because of the Grimm and the sandstorm. So really, they’re all awful for the civilians right now.

- And now I’m thinking the volume might actually end with the protagonists split into three groups as well: Team RWBY in the void (that they’ll spend Volume 9 finding their way back from), one half of the other characters in Vacuo (Oscar, Ren, Emerald, maybe more?), and the other half still in Atlas/Mantle (Qrow, Robyn, Marrow, Winter, maybe more).

- I’m super nervous about the last episode. I haven’t seen any spoilers at all so far, and I plan to keep it that way. I’ll probably completely ignore anything RWBY-related until next week because the anxiety would kill me otherwise. I’m really worried we’ll get a character death or even several. And ironically, my first prediction on who might die this Volume (Penny, Nora, Winter, Cinder) hasn’t changed all that much. I’m worried about Penny because she has the Maiden Powers and the staff, so Cinder will come after her (but I really think it would be an awful writing choice to kill her off after we just went through so much to save her). I’m very worried about Winter because she’s engaged in a duel to the death with a man who has a big canon that he just blew someone up with. I’m worried for Cinder because of the opening and because Salem might be pissed at her for using the last question. I’m worried for everyone who’s still on Atlas and might get blown up by the bomb (Qrow, Robyn, Marrow, Winter again). And I’m very worried for the characters who are in the in-between realm. Not so much Team RWBY, but I’m worried about Nora, Jaune, and Penny. So yeah, I’m pretty much worried about everyone and very much not ready. Now let me ignore RWBY’s existence for a week – or only reblog posts I already have saved as drafts – because it’s the only way I’ll know peace.

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storydays · 3 years

Text

Season 1, Episode 1, p2

You dodged an Earth disc from the opposing team's earthbender's steady hand and used two water blast toward the earthbender and the firebender, sending them into the sink below. The crowd cheered as Mako and Bolin then sent the remaining benders into the sink. "And what an amazing triple play by the Fire Ferrets! If they can win the expedition match, the rookie sensations will be moving into the championship!" You grinned at your long time friends, brothers Mako and Bolin. Bolin was a rather loud, excitable earthbender and happy go luck person in general. Mako, however was a angst filled firebender, very serious, and could be a bit of an unintentional ass.

You stumbled across them about 8 years back, while trying to track down your father with your Auntie Kya, who had been on a break from their busy lives.

*Flashback*

Your Uncle Tenzin was searching with your Aunt Lin, while Aunt Pema and Gran-Gran were staying back with a newborn Ikki and a two year old Jinora. You felt so grown up, helping the adults. Your Auntie was rambling about how her brother's were idiots, and a few not so children friendly cuss words, when you felt a pair of eyes watching you. You stopped, catching her attention. "(Y/N), what's wrong, honey?" She knelt in front of you, waiting.

You would tell her when you were ready. She knew you were listening, for something.

Your (e/c) eyes looked down the alley, before whispering into the older waterbender's ear. Kya smiled, before standing up and followed you to the alley. There you found a pair of kids, one wearing a red scarf around his neck, the other with thick eyebrows. The one with scarf, you knew was a firebender, held sadness, and protection for his brother. The other was an earthbender, and he oozed fear for his brother, and he also held sadness, but could be a different reasons. You put on a gentle smile, before holding your hand out.

"We've been looking for someone, and we found you two. We've been wondering around for hours, and I'm hungry. Do you guys want to join us,at the Rosemary Cafe?" The older brother eyes you and Kya for a moment before looking at his brother, and nodded, trusting your (e/c) eyes. Together, the four of you spent time in Republic City, until your Aunt Kya ran into the pro-bender gym owner. They were old classmates/associates and knowing how hard it was to survive, the older man, adopted the boys, and they became family.

After waving goodbye to them, you and Kya found your father making a fool of himself at a local bar. Your aunt whacked her brother upside her head, grinning as you try to stifle your giggles. That was a day, you would never forget, because it made your Aunt Kya proud at your big heart.

*Flashback end*

You grinned, after taking a sip of water as you listen to Bolin chat happily to his brother who replied bluntly. Other than your family, they were the only ones who knew you were an airbending master, and it was the biggest secret Bolin has ever held which, and it made your proud and special that he could help protect you. You finished changing, fixing your hair, so it hid your arrows again, before answering your radio that you kept on your person while off Air Temple Island. "Yes, Uncle?" You questioned, waving goodbye to your friends. "Yes, I'll meet you there, soon." You hung up, and then whistled for your other pet/friend, a polar bear dog, like Naga, but they were sister and brother. "Neo, here boy." You cooed as he sat in front of you, nudging you and looking at you fondly. "Let's go see Auntie Lin, boy."

He barked happily, and quickly ran to the police station where your Uncle was waiting. Waving down a nearby guard, you asked him to take Neo to the animal section of the station, before Tenzin began walking. "So, why are we here?" You asked putting your arms behind your head, acting nonchalantly. "We're here because of Korra, it appears she ran away, and came here to start trouble." He grumbled, leading you into an interrogation room, where Korra was flinching under the Chief's stern voice. "Let's see, multiple counts of destruction of private and city property. Not to mention, evading arrest." She slammed the file in front of the girl, before leaning in close.

"You're in a whole mess of trouble, young lady." "But there were some thugs threatening a helpless shopkeeper and I--" Korra tried to explain. "Can it." Lin growled, walking away. "You should have called the police, and stayed out of the way." "But I couldn't just sit by, and do nothing. It's my duty to help people." She pouted, before giving the Chief an awkward smile, "See, I'm the Avatar."

You snicker, seeing the unimpressed look on your aunt's face. "Oh, I'm well aware of who you are, and your avatar tittle might impress some people, but not me." Korra looked a little shocked before relenting. "All right, fine. Then I want to talk to whoever's in charge." Unfazed by her tactics, Lin sat down across from her. "You're talking to her. I'm Chief Beifong." 'And in 3,2,1..' you counted down in your head before realization struck Korra. "Wait, Beifong? Lin Beifong? You're Toph's daughter!" She exclaimed. "What of it?" Lin huffed. "Well, then, why are you treating me like a criminal? Avatar Aang and your mother were friends! They saved the world together.." Korra trailed off.

"That's ancient history. And it's got nothing to do with the mess you're in right now. You can't just waltz in here, and dole out vigilante justice like you own the place!" Your Uncle then ushered you to follow him. "All right, let's go get Korra before Lin kills her." He muttered, making you grin. "Chief, Councilman Tenzin is here." A guard called into the room. "Let him in." Lin sighed before standing up, and folding her arms behind her back. Tenzin walked in with a frown on his face, and you hung in the doorway, leaning against it and crossing your arm with an mischievous grin. "Tenzin, (Y/N), sorry. Got a little sidetracked on my way to see you guys." She shuffled nervously in her seat.

Tenzin inhaled softly, before sparing a grin at Lin. "Lin, you are looking radiant as usual." Your shoulders shake as you tried not to laugh. "Cut the garbage, Tenzin. Why is the Avatar in Republic City?" She growled at the man. "I thought you were supposed to be moving down to the South Pole to train her." "My relocation has been delayed. The Avatar on the other hand, will be heading back to the South Pole immediately, where she will stay put." "But--" Korra tried to cut in, but Tenzin continued as if she hadn't spoken a word, "If you would be so kind, as to drop the charges against Korra," He paused to glare at the shrinking girl's figure. "I will take full responsibility for today's regrettable events and cover all the damages." Lin looked back at the crestfallen teenager, looked at you who smiled cheerfully back, before sighing in resignation.

She waved her hand, unlocking Korra from her cuffs, before crossing her arms. "Fine, get her out of my city." "Always a pleasure, Lin." Tenzin complimented, before turning sternly to the Avatar. "Let's go, Korra. You as well, (Y/N)." "Wait, I need to talk to (Y/N). He'll catch up with you in a second." Lin stated, fighting a grin as the two made their way out. Korra rubbing her wrists, cast a look behind her, only to see Lin shoot her the famous, 'I'm watching you.' look before Korra replied with the same look, only mushing up and mocking the woman. Lin threw her hand up and scrunched her face in confusion before turning to a laughing you. "So, tell me what happened today!" Lin grinned, no one knew it but you, but she loved watching your matches, and tried her best to catch them when she could, or at the very least, listened to the matches on her private radio.

You grin quickly explaining everything to her, and she smiled seeing you hyped up. It wasn't often she saw you this excited and it was a breeze of fresh air, and she was happy to see a spark in your (e/c) eyes. "But yeah, and if we win the expedition match, we go to the finals and we could be the champions!" You cheered. "That's great, (Y/N)! I'll be sure to catch those two matches for sure." She smiled before hugging you and sending you on your way. "See ya tonight for dinner, Aunt Lin."

You quickly grabbed Neo, and followed your Uncle to the harbor where he was trying to get a boat for Korra to leave immediately. "Tenzin, please don't send me back home." "You blatantly disobeyed my wishes and the orders of the White Lotus." Tenzin stated. "It was actually (Y/N)'s idea!" Korra defended. You grumble, ignoring your uncle's withering stare. "It was your idea to have her come here?" He demanded. "Technically, I told her to look for the pro-bending gym, or I'd assumed she would've gone straight to Air Temple Island." Your Uncle then began lecturing you before you blurted out, "I had a vision!" They both looked at you with looks, varying between shock, awe, and surprise. "Why didn't you tell me, (Y/N)?" Tenzin asked calmly, knowing you responded better that way.

"Because I only just figured it out, what that vision meant, and I knew I had to act quickly, to try and speed things along." You fidget in place, Neo whining and gently nudging you in an attempt to comfort you. Seeing you were uncomfortable, Korra spoke up. "Katara agreed with me that I should come. She said my destiny is in Republic City." She felt successful when Tenzin turned his attention to her, face turning redder than his clothing, and you sent a grateful smile to the waterbender. "Don't bring my mother into this!" he snapped, ignoring your laugh. "You look like a tomato, Uncle."

"Look, I can't wait any longer, to finish my training. Being cooped up and hidden away from the world, isn't helping me become a better Avatar. I saw a lot of the city today, and it's totally out of whack. I understand why you and (Y/N) need to stay, Republic City does need you both, but it needs me too." Korra finished her speech, leaving Tenzin to stammer before sighing as a police officer brought Naga to the group. "Is this your polar bear-dog, miss?" He asked tiredly. You laugh before gently taking Naga to see her brother Neo who howled with glee seeing her big brother.

Korra sighed seeing the boat come closer to the port. Tenzin was really making her leave. You stood next to your Uncle as he studied Korra. "You know she's right. It'd be helpful and beneficial for everyone involved, if she stayed. It's going to happen anyways, so it'd be better if she was here under good tenses, instead of her constantly sneaking off." Your conversation was cut short, as the 3 Airbender kids landed in front of your group. Meelo hopping off of Jinora's back, and the kids hugging her legs and waist. "Korra!" They cried happily. "Are you coming to live on the island with us?" Ikki asked, as Korra knelt in front of them. "No, I'm sorry, Ikki. I have to go home now." She felt her heart break at the kids disappointed cries.

"Aw." Tenzin watched the scene with sad eyes. Ikki then hopped on your back, and snuggled into your back. "I don't want Korra to leave." She murmured, sadly. "I know, she doesn't want to leave either." You said, clearly, before sharply elbowing your uncle. He looked into your (e/c) eyes, and then looked at the sad faces of his kids, before sighing in defeat. "Wait." He walked forward to a surprised Korra. "I have done my best to guide Republic City towards the dream my father had for it. But you are right, it has fallen out of balance since he passed. I thought I should put off your training in order to uphold his legacy. But you are his legacy." He put his hand on Korra's shoulder, and smiled softly at the girl.

"You may stay here and train airbending with me." Korra gasped excitedly as Tenzin continued. "Republic City needs its Avatar once again." "Yes! Thank you! You're the best!" Korra cheered as the Airbending kids cheered with her. She grabbed the airbenders in her arms, giving a giant group hug, and making Tenzin groan at the girl's strength. You laugh as Naga snuggled Korra's back, happy that her girl was happy. You smiled softly from atop of Neo, as Nevermore found you and curled in your lap. "Hey girl, didja miss me?" You coo, running your fingers along her scales, before looking into the stars, smiling. 'Things are going to get crazy, aren't they, Mom?'

--The Next Day--

You stood behind your Aunt Lin's stern figure as Korra was at a press conference. The Avatar didn't know where to look with all the flashing lights, but a quick glance to you, made her get her confidence back, she cleared her throat, before speaking. "Hello, I'm Korra, your new Avatar." "Does this mean you moved to Republic City?" An older reporter called out. "Were you trying to send a message to the Triads yesterday?" A green eyed woman asked."Will you be fighting crime, the anti-bending revolution, or both?" Another cried. "Will you be working with Chief Beifong and the police?" A final question rang out. "Uh, yes, I am definitely here to stay, but honestly, I don't have a plan yet. See I'm still in training, but all I know is Avatar Aang meant for this city to be the center of peace and balance in the world, and I believe we can make his dream a reality, and I look forward to serving you! I'm very happy to be here! Thank you, Republic City!" Korra then walked off with Tenzin, as you stood by Lin's side. "That's all, no more questions." Lin demanded, before tugging you along with her.

You grin finding Neo and Naga playfully wrestling, before sitting next to Korra while Tenzin and Lin were talking quietly. "Good job, Avatar. I know things will start to get better now that you're here. Just promise me one thing." You refused to meet her eyes, but you knew she was listening. Turning toward her, you raised your pinky to her, "Promise me, we'll do this together." You beg as she studied you. Korra sent you a gleaming smile before hooking hers around yours.

"I promise."

#legend of korra #legend of korra x reader #x male reader #lok x reader #male reader x legend of korra

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re-diesirae · 3 years

Text

PART II PROLOGUE

"As wave is driven by wave

And each, pursued, pursues the wave ahead,

So time flies on and follows, flies, and follows,

Always, for ever and new. What was before

Is left behind; what never was is now;

And every passing moment is renewed."

― Ovid, Metamorphoses

A voice echoed through the white painted corridors soothed by the soft sound of a music box.

A place filled by solitude; the cries of desperation, fear, and the agony of loss.

Her hand caressed the cold surface of the music box, the small ballerina in it spinning at the melody, she once knew, until it came to a stop.

She heard the keys; she heard the whispers; she heard the mutters...

When the door opened ...

Her pain began.

1. Jill

November 5th, 2016. 8: 00 A.M.

The blond woman passed the security stand, smiling at the friendly guard who had received her. After the kidnapping incident, TerraSave had become warier about their security. Entering the building became a tedious procedure, but she was a regular visitor, and her BSAA badge helped a lot.

It had been eight months since the incident in Germany and Claire's death. Her loss had been a big hit, not only TerraSave but to BSAA, too. That without counting the emotional turmoil that the news had caused. She knew, from Chris, that his sister was always good at leaving marks on people. She hadn't had the chance to get to know the girl well since their schedules were busy all the time, but the people who did know her seemed deeply affected. Chris entered a state of depression that was even worse than the episode he'd suffered in Edonia, but in this case, he had not drowned himself in alcohol. She guessed that he did it in his sister's memory. The girl had hated his drinking habits, after all. The Burton family had seemed affected, as well. Barry had made silent mourning, but his daughter had cried a lot, and even half a year after, some things could still trigger her tears. Then there was Leon, he too, was a silent mourner, but Jill was good at reading people, and she could tell that, after Chris, he was the most affected one. Even the workers in TerraSave are still mourning. They had not chosen a new head to replace Claire, and so BSAA had been handling things until they decided for someone to take over.

Jill pressed the button in the elevator and waited. Her frequent visits were usually to check on things in the place, but today it was different. She had received an urgent call from their chief, summoning an emergency meeting. He gave her no details, but the message said that she had to report to TerraSave HQ immediately. When the door of the elevator opened, she found the familiar figure of Chris standing in front of a wall. He was watching it with a pained expression, and Jill felt her heart shrink.

It was the memorial wall. At least that was how everyone in TerraSave called it. The wall had been Claire's idea, from what she'd heard. She recalled the voice of Dr. Hiwamura as she had explained to her some months ago, on her first check visit.

"Claire thought it was just a good way to honor the fallen. Most of these people died without leaving a body behind, and most have no graveyards or family to mourn them properly. She said real heroes are not always remembered, and that at least we should give them the honor they deserved as a big family. "

The Memorial Wall was something simple. It was a wall filled with pictures of TerraSave agents who had died in action, and there was a table where people could leave flowers or other gifts. The most recent photo, of course, was Claire's. She saw the pretty portrait set on the table, and she noticed that, unlike the rest, her picture was not placed on the wall.

"Claire was always good at fooling us with her deaths. Some of us still find it hard to accept it was real this time, so no one has had the heart to hang it. Hanging it would somehow mean she is gone while having it there is like she'd come to the office one morning and shout at us for slacking off. You may think it's stupid, but people should reach acceptance, slowly."

Jill could understand, though; she put her hand on Chris's shoulder and looked at the pretty picture on the table. Someone had placed a small bouquet of orchids next to the photo.

"You got her flowers today?" she asked, surprised.

Chris shook his head.

"No, it wasn't me. I guess one of her subordinates left it here this morning. A close friend, probably. Orchids were her favorite, but not many knew that." Chris replied softly.

Jill squeezed the man's shoulder comfortingly.

"What are you doing here? Came to see her?" she asked.

"No, not today," Chris said, putting his hands in his pockets, "I got a call from Adams, something about an urgent meeting. I just thought of passing since I was here."

"You, too, huh? I wonder what this is about…"

The pair walked to the meeting room and knocked. A voice, that they recognized as their chief's, told them to come in, and they pushed the door open. Jill was surprised to see that not only they had not been the only ones called to the meeting. Beside their Chief, Edward Adams, there was TerraSave CEO, Ian Wentworth; the new Security secretary of the U.S, Renard Hopkins; Dr. Hiwamura, Barry, and Leon, too.

"Ah good, Valentine and Redfield. We were expecting you. Please take a seat, would you?" Adams said, signaling the two empty seats at his left.

Jill and Chris sat down, exchanging quizzical looks with the rest of the present. None of them seemed to have any idea about the reasons for the meeting.

"I believe most of you are thrilled to know the reason we have summoned you here." Adams said, reading their thoughts, " I am sorry that this meeting came up unexpectedly, and I apologize if it interrupted any important task."

She saw the man look apologetically at Leon. The man nodded in reply, and she guessed that he was probably in some important assignment when he'd gotten called out.

"However, we considered that you need the first to be notified due to the circumstances…" the man continued.

"What circumstances are you talking about? I am not very patient, and you should know that already, Ed," Barry groaned.

"Yes, of course, I do, Barry. Let me fill you in about this. Yesterday we received an urgent report from a TerraSave/ BSAA team stationed in Cardigan Bay, Wales.

Adam pushed a set of folders at them. Jill flipped some of its pages, reading some random lines. It was a regular report of a sea patrol, but the words "Sea Wreck" and "Survivor" caught her attention.

"Four days ago, the sea-patrolling team found a body floating at the coast: a female in her 30's, barely alive, severely wounded, and highly dehydrated. She was taken to a TerraSave Health Center in the area immediately. She had no identification on herself, but a rescuer from the station seemed to know her."

"Oh…?" Barry frowned.

"There is a picture of her at the end of the file," Adams clarified.

Jill flipped to the end of the folder, and her eyes went wide in shock. The woman in the picture had her face covered in bruises and cuts that made her features barely recognizable, her hair was shorter, but it was still the same burgundy color she remembered.

"She said her name was Claire Redfield."

A heavy silence filled the room, and Jill could believe what she'd just heard. Claire Redfield? Was that even possible? When the Manor exploded. There's no way that someone survived that explosion, especially with the wound she had sustained and the cleanup team hadn't found any corpse, but still, even if she had managed to escape from that place alive, how had she ended up in Wales?

"Sir…?" Chris mumbled.

"I know, Chris. We have already arranged for a DNA test to confirm it."

"What if she is a clone...made up by Neo-umbrella?" Leon's voice muttered, "They have done it, and DNA would match."

Jill's heart broke. Among all the present, Chris and Leon were probably the ones who would be the happiest with the news, but their past experiences made them untrustful. It was painful to see that among them, both seemed to be the most skeptical.

"There's a way to...corroborate if it isn't a clone." Dr. Hiwamura said, and everyone in the room turned to her.

"Please, elaborate," Hopkins said with interest.

"Cloning searches to reproduce healthy cells, so naturally, pathologies wouldn't be copied unless it was genetic. If the pathology originated from external factors, it can't be copied."

"My sister was healthy...what are you trying to say?" Chris said with a frown.

"She was a carrier of remnants of the T-Phobos," Hiwamura said, crossing her arms, "She was infected with an inactive strain of the virus."

"Wait, what?" Barry snapped, "she got the antiviral, just like Moira and Natalia. Does that mean…?"

"Moira and Natalia are clean. The vaccine was developed based on the virus we found in Claire's body. She volunteered to be the test subject at the time, so the final version of the drugs did not affect her infection. We have to keep track of it. That was one of the main reasons why I got transferred here. The virus exists in Claire's body. However, it's lost its infectious capacity. It keeps invading cells and replicating, but her immunological system neutralizes the excess of sick cells. That prevents it from growing into infective doses..."

"What are you suggesting, Dr. Hiwamura?"

"If she got cloned, her immunological system would have been reset, and even if they had infected the "new" version with a sample of T-Phobos, the virus would be active, unlike the one infecting Claire. What happened to Claire was an ecological adaptation. To put it simply, unless they had a clone go through a physiological restrain that she went through and under a replica of conditions, the probability of them generating the same reaction is impossible."

"Wait, are you telling me that she was infected by a variation of the t-virus all this time? Damn, that's probably the reason she got targeted eight months ago. How can you tell us this now?" Chris snapped, hitting the table.

"We kept it secret for the same reason." Wentworth said, shaking his head, " When I talked to Claire two years ago, she told me she wanted it that way. Besides Dr. Hiwamura, the men sitting here, and Claire herself. No one knew of this fact. The information was classified, even to her friends to prevent something like that from happening."

"If she knew...then why didn't she get someone to protect her? Fuck! This could have been prevented…" Chris cursed.

"Chris, calm down…" Jill said, pulling his arm and trying to convince him to sit down again.

"She rejected the idea. Bodyguards would have attracted unnecessary attention. I don't think that Claire suspected this to be the reason behind her abduction either."

Chris did not reply. He clenched his fist in anger.

"Dr. Hiwamura, is it a trustworthy way to confirm Ms. Redfield's identity?" Hopkins asked.

"I am 99% sure, sir. I'd need to do the test."

"And...could you do that if we send you there?"

"Well, if you can drag the whole lab there, yes."

"Guess that's a no. We need to bring the woman here." Adams muttered.

"I am sure I can contact the local consulate for help." Hopkins said, "However, will she be in condition for the trip?"

"Was….she injured badly?"Jill asked.

"Yes, according to the medical report attached. It's a miracle that she is still alive." Wentworth sighed, " Multiple lacerations in her body, including organ damage. She lost a lot of blood, and some of her injuries got infected due to seawater. There are more details inside those files."

"There was evidence of a struggle. It's a fair guess that she escaped from someone or from somewhere."

Jill was starting to see what all this conversation was going to be.

"Sir, you don't think..." Jill began.

"Claire is a tough cookie…" Barry commented, "always was, always will be. Wherever she was, you can bet that she did not sit down like a docile pup."

Jill knew that Barry was probably right. If Claire had been in a difficult spot, the woman would definitely fight her way out.

"Sir, any idea of where she came from?" Jill asked.

"Unfortunately no, the first assumption was that she'd come from a wrecked ship, but the theory was later refuted when the rescuer recognized her. Listen, I understand this news must be shocking, but if this woman is indeed Claire Redfield. There's no doubt that there is some sort of bioterrorist hazard associated. I want you to go there and investigate the area. See if you find any clues."

Adams looked at the three BSAA agents, and they nodded.

"Agent Kennedy." Hopkins spoke to the blond, who had stayed quiet until then, "Your orders have changed. This woman has been labeled as an especial witness. You will go as a representation of both the DSO and USA, and we don't know what sort of things she might have gone through. We all agreed that it'd be better if the escort was to be someone she knew."

"I understand." the blond nodded.

"As for Dr. Hiwamura…"

"I'll check her state, yes."

"Very well, you leave today at noon. Please make the proper preparations.

NOTE: if you guys want to come and chat about the fic, or just about CLEON in general. Feel free to drop by the discord and say hi! JOIN SERVER

#My fic #my fanfiction #Resident Evil #claire redfield #leon kennedy #jill valentine #claire x leon #leon x claire #Cleon #chris redfield

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sid471 · 4 years

Text

I watched episode 4 you know what that meeeeeans :3

RWBY Volume 8 spoilers you know the drill. TL;DR: Robyn’s funny, Qrow’s sad, JYR are... any synonym for upset, especially Ren, Harriet’s a bitch, but we been knew, Salem is a bitch, as well as a bad bitch, aaaaaand.... Shit >_>. Cool :3

We start off with the Birbs, Robyn telling a funny story about Joanna to try and lighten the mood ^_^... Doesn’t work but the thought that counts. Robyn says “Tough crowd. Maybe Ironwood shoulda gotten better in cell entertainment >_>” And Qrow laughs and Robyn is pleased with herself :3. Aaaand then Qrow gets sad again. Robyn says that she’s sorry for what happened and says it isn’t his fault, which it isn’t >_<, But Qrow says that it is his fault because he made a deal with the Dark and Clover paid the price for it. My Fair Game heart jumped when I heard Qrow say “I thought for once maybe I could...” but he finishes it with “Be around someone without my semblance making things... weird. And now I’m alone again. That thought... It feels like a dream.” And Robyn says “Believe it or not... I kind of know how you feel. When people are afraid you’ll spill their secrets, people tend to avoid you. And it makes making real connections... difficult.” Birb bonding we love to see it :3

And as Qrow is saying “Huh. I never thought about it like that” Harriet and Marrow throw Watts back in his cell. So I guess he fucked up. And those armed soldiers were just for show >_>. Harriet says to Qrow “You don’t get to keep that 😒” referring to Clover’s pin to which Qrow reiterates that he didn’t kill Clover. And Harriet says “You keep saying that but it was your weapon that has it blood on it.” which... true but what happened to Tyrian’s fingerprints .-. Did they just... not try to scan Harbinger for finger prints? Well y’know what makes sense considering where Ironwood is >_> anyways. Robyn sticks up for Qrow, again as she should :3, and says “He didn’t do it and if you were so sure that he did you’d lower my cell and take my hand. 😋 “ And Harriet tries to be all confident and cocky but Robyn goes for the jugular, like the queen she is, and says “Right. Because you don’t actually care about the truth. You just want someone to be mad at 😒.” And Harriet ALMOST unlocks Robyn’s cell but Marrow stops her. But something tells me even if she did open the cell and use Robyn’s semblance she still wouldn’t believe it >_> Because Robyn is right she DOES just want someone to be mad at <_< But yeah, after Marrow stops Harriet from opening the cell they leave and Robyn lays back down on her bed and says “Well. That was almost interesting 🙄 “ and the scene changes

To Ren Jaune and Yang. They’re chasing after The Hound and they Ren manages to grab onto it with the help of Jaune and Stormflower. And Ren just kinda... Flies around for a bit, latching on the Hounds foot while Yang and Jaune continue to give chase. During the chase, The Hound stops carrying Oscar in his, sorry Summer Rose theory believers I’m gonna use he/him pronouns for The Hound lol, mouth and roars, resulting in more Grimm to appear. Kinda like how the Wyvern was able to bring about more Grimm. Which Yang expresses surprise by, not the fact that it was ABLE to bring more Grimm, but by the fact The Hound was calling for reinforcements. Which is also surprising, but he was able to call forth more Grimm by roaring .-.

Anyways, Yang and Jaune continue to ride past the Grimm, Jaune using his tossy shield thing as a ramp, so that’s neat :3 But also did he get it back? .-. We didn’t see him use the Gravity dust in his shield ._. I hope he didn’t just... leave this advanced Atlas tech in the snow 😶 Nah I doubt he did but still weird we didn’t see’im retrieve it. I go off topic, so Jaune and Yang continue driving and evading Grimm until Yang almost drives off a cliff... Well... not almost. She drives off a cliff. But Ren comes by in the nick’a time and saves them ^_^ A clutch use of his Semblance keeps them from being Grimm food :3.

Buuuuuuut now they’re stuck, and lost, in an icy tundra with their Aura in the high 30s all around. So... wonderful. So they’re trekking through and following Ren because he said that he saw the compound when he was flying on the hound. And we FINALLY get some sense of what’s going on with Ren. Well, he said it at the end of volume 7, he doesn’t think they, and by they he means he, aren’t ready to be huntsman. Which Yang says exactly what I’ve been thinking this whole time “Were we ready at the battle at Haven? How about when we stole an Atlas airship >_>” the latter wasn’t the example she used but I couldn’t remember cause it’s been a few hours lol. But Ren continues on his tirade and says that “If we just give the staff to Ironwood everything would be okay”... Now listen I know he wasn’t really THERE when Ironwood broke, it was just RWBY, and he doesn’t know Ironwood shot Oscar, only Oscar knows that, but even so.... Ren, sweetie, honey, baby, that is SOOOOO far from the truth ._. Like even the last time he saw Ironwood he was still on the “Hey let’s ABANDON Mantle” train .-. and now he’s helping to evacuate Mantle... Technically illegally? So... Ugh Ren please don’t get on my shit list >_< He also called out Jaune for “Cheating his way into Beacon”, his exact words. Which brings the question did Jaune tell them about that? Cause last we knew only he, Pyrrha, and Cardin knew. And presumable the rest of CRDL. So did Pyrrha tell them while she was still angry at Jaune for hanging around Cardin or did Jaune tell JNPR in confidence? Either way...... Not cool to just bring up >_> Especially with how much Jaune HAS improved as a leader, a fighter, and a strategist. I don’t talk about it much but I’m proud of Jaune :3. AS proud as I am of Weiss with her whole arc ^_^... Heh... Arc. After Ren says that Jaune, obviously hurt, says “You may not think we’re ready, but I’m still going. We have a job to do.” And Yang says to Ren “Is your goal to push everyone away? 😒”

So then we see Oscar after and Salem is here... Lovely. She tries to coax information out of Oscar, namely the information about the relic of choice, which Oscar says he doesn’t know anything about, and then she asks about the “password” to the Lamp. And Oscar says that he’ll never tell her that. To which Salem promptly BLASTS him with Magic. So............. Oscar’s not doing well. And he’s REALLY not doing well when Hazel appears and starts beating his shit in. So.......... Farm Boi’s really uh... In a predicament. Salem leaves to let Hazel continue his beating, Salem comes across Cinder and Neo, Cinder asking “What is that? 🤨” Referring to The Hound to which Salem says “An experiment. I am quite pleased with the results. Did you need something? 🤨” Despite being uncomfortable around The Hound, Cinder still says her piece, that she should go back to Atlas and claim the Maiden’s powers and gain the Staff. But she stands firm and says no again and when Cinder tries to stick up for herself, The Hound roars in her face. So she backs off and says, for the second time, “Without you, I am nothing.” Which is very interesting that that’s a recurring thing between her and Salem. So, she leaves with Neo to an air ship and says “Salem doesn’t know those children like I do, they won’t ever stop their attempts to save the world.” and her plan is to go to Amity... Ya know... where Penny is, and Pietro is. And then Emerald steps up and says “Well if she [Neo] doesn’t wanna go, I will.” and says that she’s been working on her semblance and that she can help. Great. Just what Penny needs. Hallucinations and Illusions >_>. Cinder, sweetie, love you but I don’t think this is the plan Salem’s GONNA find out .-. she literally has eyes everywhere <_<

And then we see RNBW+May show up to the Schnee Manor so they can help Nora. Whitley isn’t happy to see them but seeing as he got Myrtenaster put in his face he quickly agreed to let them stay there 😊. While Weiss Nora and May are going to, presumably, a guest room, Ruby and Blake have a brief conversation with Blake saying “You know if you’re worried about Yang you can try calling her 🙂.” And we find out that Ruby DID try to call her, which is cute.

After that the scene changes to reveal team JYR found shelter, good :3 and that Yang found something to fix the damaged bike that she and Jaune were on, also good ^_^. Jaune TRIES to talk to Ren but it doesn’t work because Ren is too busy being angry at the world. Which... Don’t get me wrong, fair. I’d be angry too. But if my friend, practically my brother for how long? 2, 3 years? Was trying to tell me to try to open up, I’d open up to him. Like, maybe he was a little uncomfortable with Yang being there, but after Jaune said “Hey the more you bottle up your feelings the worse it’s gonna get.” Ren immediately went outside, so he could’ve gestured Jaune to follow him so they could talk. But they didn’t. Instead, Yang and Jaune talked ^_^ So I mean I’m okay with this lol. Yang asks Jaune “Do you think she thinks less of me? For not going to Atlas...” And Jaune says “Ruby is your sister. She’s gonna love you even if you disagree 🙂.” Which is true :3. But Yang wasn’t talking about Ruby. She was talking about Blake. Which is interestiiiing ooh bees :3

So the episode after the Jaune and Yang talk, Jaune saying he wants to go to sleep but can’t stop thinking about Oscar, and Yang says not to worry and she’ll be sure that Ren doesn’t “Brood himself to death” which I found funny lol. After she says that, the camera pans to the ground to some cracks in the ground. Which then rumble. So................. Damn it Ren your angst is gonna cause another giant Grimm to appear >_>

#RWBY #RWBY8 #RWBY Volume 8 #RWBY8 Spoilers #RWBY Spoilers #RWBY volume 8 spoilers #Yang Xiao Long #Lie Ren #Jaune Arc #Oscar Pine #Salem (RWBY)#Emerald Sustrai #Cinder Fall

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calleo-bricriu · 4 years

Text

I just blew apart the identities of a good 30-ish people on my mom’s side of the family, and it’s a brilliant, wonderful feeling.

There is backstory here, because it doesn’t make sense without it, so grab a snack and get reading. :)

I did the thing I'd sort of half-ass promised my mom I wouldn't do back when I had medical genetic testing done so insurance would cover a few things back in 2016.

That testing was the one where the genetic counselor asked me several times if I was "absolutely sure" I had no Ashkenazi ancestry and after the third time I got a cautious response of, "It's just that you have a lot of markers only found in those populations; the chances of them all being spontaneous mutations are next to zero." then moved on going over the rest of the results.

Insurance ended up covering what it needed to cover, and I had asked my mom about it as she's been really into tracing both sides of the family trees back as far as possible and it's been possible centuries back due to very good paper trails.

She didn't know what I meant by Ashkenazi which is fair enough as most people in the US only know the word because it shows up on medical forms as a yes/no checkbox.

"Jewish. The sort that wasn't just a conversion."

That got a LOOK, and not a confused one a vaguely frightened one and asked where I got that idea.

Told her I had to do medical genetic testing earlier in the year and the genetic counselor had mentioned it and told her in what context.

Got told to "leave it".

Whatever, I'd recently had fairly major surgery anyway so wasn't really in the mood to dig or push about it.

The next year my ex bought one of those "23 and me" type tests for me because I like completely useless things like that, and that one came back with a not insignificant amount labelled Ashkenazi in the mtDNA haplogroup, which would be on my mother's side.

I asked her about it again and showed her two genetic test results, one a formal medical one, and one that had matching genetics that was, you know, not a formal medical set of genetic testing.

Got told to leave it again.

Fine.

She'd also forgotten that she'd added an account I'd made on Ancestry so I could look through the family tree and all the scanned documents (parish records, birth, death, marriage certificates, immigration paperwork, etc...) because it all went back sometimes until the 1600s.

...and I noticed most of went back that far was on my dad's side or on really remote branches of my mom's side.

On her more closely related side, the family she had that emigrated over from Germany in the late 1800s went back to the 1700s, but she's Polish as well.

And the Polish branches stopped at 1930.

They were extensively documented in 1930, with birth certificates, parish records, and immigration papers as they'd all come over to the US from Poland--right around 1930.

For the hell of it, I saved copies of all of that documentation she'd uploaded, and also figured, hey, they're running a 'join for 3 months get a silly DNA kit!' thing, I'll do a third one.

Did a third one.

Got the same results.

Also found that it was less that there was somehow a convenient lack of parish records older than 1930, and parish records don't just disappear, parish records, especially from Europe, are typically very easy to find with minimal difficulty, but I couldn't even find these NAMES earlier than 1930, including the family names.

The thing is, my definitely influenced by being on the autism spectrum special interest period of history is 1900-1945.

One thing you remember, if you do enough more than casual reading, is one of the chief ways Jewish families both got out of Europe more easily AND into the United States more easily in the 1930s was paying to have entirely new identities forged.

New names, new notable dates in terms of births, marriages, etc, and parish records proving they were either Catholic or Protestant. Usually anyone coming from Poland would have gone with Catholic as that's one of Poland's major religions.

Any previous records that would indicate they were anything but Catholic was typically destroyed out of fear of it being dug up and used to deny emigration or immigration (and remember, the United States routinely turned away refugees fleeing Europe if they were found to be Jewish).

So, I went back.

This time, instead of asking, I took the paperwork I'd saved and printed with me, handed it to her, and said, "These are forged. They weren't Catholic. These aren't their names. Does anyone still alive have the older records?"

Her response was, "I thought I told you to leave it!"

"Does anyone alive still remember?"

"...no. Leave it alone."

Turns out, she'd figured it out based on the cutoff date of the records and knowing history in general, but never said anything because, as the conversation later brought up, "It'd throw too many people's identities into chaos." and reiterated multiple times that they converted which, technically true, but it really doesn't...count if you're forced into it out of fear of ending up dead.

That's also the side of the family that, even by 2017, I didn't speak to most of them unless forced to do so because they're a lot of very rural, very right wing, very openly neo nazi jackasses.

That last part? That part is important. That last conversation about it happened in late 2017.

My mother knows me well enough to know that the first set of thoughts through my head absolutely ran along the lines of, "I'm telling these assholes at the next family reunion because they deserve to have their entire belief system and sense of identity shattered."

Also, that's the side of the family when, back around 2012 or so, one of my definitely unpleasant cousins cornered me to talk about the "shared interest" we had in what that dumb motherfucker termed "world war 2" and got his nose broken by the cousin with purple hair and multiple tattoos for saying we had a lot in common so--saying I don't get along with that side of the family is kind of an understatement.

If they're not afraid I'll also break some bone they possess for existing within punching or steel toed boot kicking range, they openly dislike me, which is fine, it's a very mutual feeling.

And there was a long talk of, "Could you not? Just ignore them, they're stupid, but they're harmless." which was mostly "it's kind of a hassle when you physically assault one of your asshole cousins at a picnic".

By that point I rarely went to those things anyway as free food didn't make up for having to listen to them say words where I could hear them so, whatever, I told her I wouldn't say anything.

Most of them hadn't spoken to me in years anyway but a few of them stayed in spotty contact on Facebook and in an often not used outside of planning reunions group that they'd invited me to join partially so it looked like they were 'making an effort' and also because the place we use for those stupid family reunions is owned by my parents (and I'm also on the deed) so I'd be one of the few people that would have a legal right to tell them all they weren't allowed to be on the property.

I accepted the invitation, just never really paid attention to it because, again, I do not like these people on any level.

Turns out, this evening, I stopped thinking they were even remotely harmless and was reminded that they still existed because they started using that group as their apparent safe space to talk about their views on current events; it’s very possible they may have forgotten I was even in the group as they added me close to 3 years ago and I’ve never posted anything.

So, I’m sitting there after work, watching these absolute shitstain excuses for people be smug about some imagined ‘win’, and I decided to remind them I still exist.

My first, last, and only post to the group: "FYI, none of your grandparents were Catholic. They were all Jewish. You're all ethnically Jewish. See you in July! :)" posted all of my genetic test results, the family trees where they were all included because, shocker, we're all related, scans of the forged records with large notations over all the forged information, and left the group.

Blocked the rest of them, and let them blow my phone up for awhile with calls I didn't pick up, texts I didn't read, and voicemails I didn't listen to--and blocked their numbers as well.

Earlier in the evening I mentioned in Discord that I was probably going to hear from my mother about it and I did (they’d long since removed my dad from the group over the MAGA hats in the firepit thing that happened last July, and my parents share a Facebook account), but it was a short and lovely text exchange of:

"What did you do?"

"I told them."

"Oh. Well, they're all assholes anyway. We should be back on Friday."

Also, nobody is going to see them in July because LAST July after they turned up after my parents told them there wasn't going to be a reunion due to Covid, about 30 of them showed up and that was the summer that I got the text from my mom asking if I was going to stop by.

"How many MAGA hats are out in the yard?"

"Hang on, I'll ask your dad."

20 minutes later:

"About a dozen."

"How many would I be able to throw in the fire pit before it'd cause an issue?"

"Hang on, I'll ask your dad."

20 minutes later, and a reminder for those who don't know, my dad is 6'8", built like a tank even in his 70s, and has a white beard down to his waist (Pointless bonus: When he was younger it was orange and his hair was a slightly darker orange than his dad’s was.). Ex-Navy Vet, took a fish bait he was grinding hooks on to the EYE a couple years ago and just sort of calmly walked upstairs to say, “I think I need you to drive me to the ER.” to my mom (whose response was to start laughing and tell him she TOLD him to put safety goggles on so they’re both a little...odd.) about it, not generally the sort of person anyone wants to even begin to fuck with despite the fact that he’s incredibly calm and even tempered:

"8 and they all left about five minutes ago."

#ooc #politics #I NPC those jackasses all the time as relatives that Calleo either generally fucks with and occasionally kills #they definitely deserve that treatment in fiction too #family #I got to shatter the general identities of at least 16 people tonight #and do not regret it #30 if you count their spouses and older children #16 if it's the actual direct cousins #long post

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