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itsclydebitches · 4 years ago

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RWBY Recaps: Volume 8 “Dark”

Welcome back, everyone! Can you believe it's been six weeks already? I can't. Something something the uncomfortable passage of time during a pandemic as emphasized by a web-series.

But we're here to talk about RWBY the fictional story, not RWBY the cultural icon. At least, we will in a moment. First, I'd like to acknowledge that shaky line between the two, growing blurrier with every volume. A sort of good news, bad news situation.

The bad news — to get that out of the way — is that we cannot easily separate RWBY from its authors and those authors have, sadly, been drawing a lot of negative attention as of late. This isn't anything new, not at all, but I think the unexpectedly long hiatus gave a lot of fans (myself included) the chance to think about Rooster Teeth's failings without getting distracted by their biggest and brightest production. There's a laundry list of problems here — everything from the behavior of voice actors to the quality of their merch — but as a sort of summary issue, I'd like to highlight the reviews that continue to pop up on websites like Glassdoor, detailing the toxic, sexist, crunch-obsessed environment that RT employees are forced to work in. A lot of these websites requires a login to read more than a page of reviews, but you can check out a Twitter thread about it here.

Now, I want to be clear: I'm not bringing this up as a way to shame anyone enjoying RWBY. This isn't a simplistic claim of, "The authors are Problematic™ and therefore you can't like the stuff they produce." Nor is this meant to be a catch-all excuse for RWBY's problems. If it were, I'd have dropped these recaps years ago. I'm of the belief that audiences maintain the right to both praise and criticize the work they're given, regardless of the context in which that work was produced. At the end of the day, RT has presented RWBY as a finished product and, more than that, presents it as an excellent product, one worth both our emotional investment and our money (whether in the form of paying for a First account, or encouraging us to buy merch, attend cons, etc.) I'll continue to critique RWBY as needed, but I a) wanted fans to be at least peripherally aware of these issues and b) clarify that my use of "RT" in statements like, "I can't believe RT is screwing up this badly" is meant to be a broad, nebulas acknowledgement that someone in the company is screwing up, either creatively (doesn't have the skill to write a good scene) or morally (hasn't created an environment in which other creators are capable of crafting a good scene). The real, inner workings of such companies are mostly a secret to their audiences and thus it's near impossible for someone like me — random fan writing these for fun as a casual side hobby — to accurately point fingers. Hence, broad "RT." I just wanted to clarify that when I use this it's as a necessary placeholder for whoever is actually responsible, not a damnation of the overworked animator breaking down in a bathroom. Heavy stuff, but I thought it was necessary (or at least worthwhile) to acknowledge this issue as we head into the second half of the volume.

Now for the good news: RWBY has reached 100 episodes! For any who may not know, 100 is a pretty significant number in the TV world because, when talking about prime time programming, it guarantees syndicated reruns. Basically, networks don't want audiences to get burned out with a show — changing the channel when it comes on because ugh, I've seen this already, recently too — and 100 episodes allows for a roughly five month run without any repeats, making it very profitable. RWBY is obviously not a television show and doesn't benefit from any of this (hell, modern television doesn't benefit from this as much as it used to, not in the age of streaming), but the 100 episode threshold is still ingrained in American culture. Beyond just being a nice, rounded number, it is historically a measure of huge success and I can't imagine that RT isn't aware of that. Regardless of what we think of RWBY's current quality, this is one hell of a milestone and should be applauded.

All that being said... RWBY's quality is definitely still lacking lol.

Our 100th episode is titled "Dark" — keeping with the one word titles, then — and I'd like to emphasize that, as a 100th episode, it definitely delivers in terms of plot. There's plenty of action, important character beats, and at least one major reveal, everything we'd expect from a milestone and a Part II premiere. The animation also continues to be noteworthy for its beauty, as I found myself admiring many of the screenshots I took for this recap. There are certainly things to praise. The only problem (one we're all familiar with by now) is that these small successes are situated within a narrative that's otherwise falling apart. It's all good stuff... provided you ignore literally everything else surrounding it.

But let's dive into some examples. We open on Qrow starting, awoken by the thunder outside. Robyn has been watching him and makes a peppy comment about how none of them will be sleeping tonight, followed by a more serious, "Sounds bad out there." Yeah, it does sound bad, especially when they all know — thanks to Ruby's message back in Volume 7 — that this is due to Salem's arrival. I think a lot of the fandom has forgotten that little detail because people often discuss Qrow as if he is entirely ignorant of what is going on outside his cell. Even if we were to assume that he's forgotten all about the pesky Salem issue (the horror of Clover's death overriding everything else, perhaps) he still knows that Tyrian is running loose in a heat-less city with a creepy storm going on and, from his perspective, the Very Evil Ironwood is still running the show. So it's bad, which begs the question of why Qrow (and Robyn, for that matter) hasn't displayed an ounce of legitimate worry for everyone he knows out there. Thus far, their interactions have centered entirely around Qrow's misplaced blame and Robyn's terrible attempts to lighten the mood, despite the fact that a war is raging right beyond that wall. It's another example of RWBY's inability to manage tone properly, to say nothing of balancing the multiple concerns any one character should be trying to juggle. Just as it rankles that Ruby and Yang don't seem to care about what has happened to their uncle, Qrow likewise doesn't seem to care about what might be happening to his nieces. When did we reach a point where these relationships are so broken that someone can be arrested/chucked into a deadly battle and the others just... ignore that?

So Robyn's otherwise innocuous comment immediately reminds me of how badly the narrative has treated these conflicts and, sadly, things don't improve much from here. We are thankfully spared more of Robyn's jokes when Qrow realizes that what he's hearing can't be thunder. A second later, Cinder blasts through the wall — called it! — and Qrow instinctively transforms.

The only downside to this moment is that the whole ceiling falls down on Qrow and the others because APPARENTLY these cells don't have tops on them. Seriously. As far as I can recall we don't see the stone breaking through the forcefield somehow and this looks pretty open to me.

If it is... you're telling me these crazy powerful fighters who practice landing strategies and leap tall buildings in a single bound —

— can't just hop over this mildly high electric fence to get out? Qrow can't just fly away?

We're, like, two minutes in, folks.

We transfer to Nora's perspective as she wakes up, seeing Klein giving her the IV. He tells her not to worry, that "you and your friend are going to be just fine." What friend? Penny? Klein went upstairs prior to Weiss hugging Whitley or Penny crash landing outside. I had thought them bursting through the door with another unconscious friend was the first time he learned what the big bang outside was, but apparently not.

Penny is, obviously, a mess. While I now understand the choice to make her blood such an eye-catching color when that's crucial to the Hound's hunt, I still think it looks strange visually. Like someone has taken a copy of RWBY and painted over it. It doesn't look like it fits the art style. More than that, it implies some rather complicated things about Penny's humanity, especially in a volume focused around her being a "real girl." Real enough for Maiden powers, but with obviously inhuman blood that isn't even referred to as "bleeding." Penny "leaks" instead.

Toss in the fact that she's literally an android who is made up of tech — recall the running gags about her being heavy, or it hurts to fist-bump her, to say nothing of keeping things like multiple blades inside her body — yet Klein says that her "basic anatomy" is the same and he can "stitch up that wound."

I'm sorry, what? Whatever Penny looks like on the inside, it's not going to resemble a human woman's anatomy, and Klein might be able to stitch the outer layer of skin she's got, but that won't do anything to fix whatever metal bits have been broken underneath. Penny isn't a human-robot hybrid, she's a robot with an aura. Penny has knives in her back, rockets in her feet, and a super computer behind her eyes. When our clip introduced that Klein would be the one to help Penny, my initial reaction was, "Seriously? He's a butler and a doctor and an engineer?" But RWBY didn't even try to get away with a Super Klein explanation, they just waved away Penny's very obvious, inhuman anatomy. Yeah, I'm sure "stitching up" an android wound is just like giving Nora her IV. I hope the surgical sutures he used are extra strong!

In an effort to not entirely drag this episode, I do appreciate that Whitley is allowed an "ugh" moment about the non-blood covering his shirt without anyone calling him out on it. That felt like the sort of thing the show would usually try to make a character feel guilty about and I'm glad that, for once, he was just allowed to be frustrated without comment.

Then the power goes out and May calls, which raises questions about what state the CCTS is in and when scrolls are available to our protagonists vs. when they're not. But whatever. She's checking in because she just "saw another bombing run light up the Kingdom" and —

Wait. Bombing? Salem is bombing the city? I know we've seen explosions in the sky, but I'd always just attributed that to evil aesthetic. Why does this dialogue sound like it's from a World War II film and not a fantasy sci-fi show about literal monsters launching a ground attack?

May looks pretty against the sky though. I like her hair color against that purple.

I'm admittedly grasping at positives here because we finally return to her "You have to choose" ultimatum and — surprise! — May has pulled back completely. Ruby says that once they've helped Penny, "We'll...we'll do something!" which is once again her avoiding making a decision. Ruby still refuses to choose, instead falling back on generic, optimistic pep talks. They'll figure out how to stop Salem later. They'll think about the impact of telling the world later. They'll choose who to help later. Ruby keeps pushing these problems into the future where, she hopes, a perfect, magical solution will have appeared for her to latch onto. When that continues to not happen, others pressuring her to actually do something and stop waiting for perfection — Ironwood, Yang, May — she panics and continues stalling for time. Wait an episode and the narrative supports her in this.

Because initially May was forcing Ruby to decide. Now, May enables her desire to keep putting things off. "Don't beat yourself up, kid. At this point, I don't know how much is left to be done." That's the exact opposite of what May believed last episode, that there was still so much work and good to do for the people of Mantle. This is precisely what the show did with Yang and Ren's scenes too, having people call Ruby out... but then return to a message of, 'Don't worry, you're actually doing just fine' before Ruby is forced to actually change.

None of which even touches on May calling her "kid" in this moment. That continues to be a convenient way of absolving Ruby of any responsibility. When she wants to steal airships or Amity Tower, she's an adult everyone should listen to, the leader of this war. When the story wants to absolve her of previously mentioned flaws, she becomes a kid who shouldn't "beat herself up." I said years ago that RWBY couldn't continue to let the group be both children and adults simultaneously, yet here we are.

So that was a thoroughly disappointing scene. Ruby gets her moment to look sad and defeated, listing "the grimm, the crater, Nora, Penny" as problems she doesn't know how to solve. Note that 'Immortal witch attacking the city I've helped trap here' isn't included in that list. Ruby is still ignoring Salem herself and no one in the group is picking up where May left off, challenging her to do more than wring her hands over things others are already trying to take care of: Ironwood is fighting the grimm, May has gone off to help the crater, Klein is patching up Nora and Penny. Ruby, as one flawed individual, should not be expected to come up with a solution to everything, but she does need to stop acting like she can come up with a solution to everything when it matters most (office scene) and rejecting others' solutions when they ask for her help (Ironwood, May).

If it feels like I'm dragging the flawed, traumatized teenager too much, it's not in an effort to ignore those aspects of her identity. Rather, it's because she's also the licensed huntress who wrested control from a world leader and violently demanded she be put in charge of this battle. Ruby, by her own actions, is now responsible for dealing with these problems, or admitting she was wrong and letting others take the lead, without purposefully derailing their plans. She doesn't get to suddenly go, "I don't know," cry a little, and get sympathetic pats.

But of course that's precisely what happens, courtesy of Weiss.

During this whole scene I kept wondering why no one was celebrating Nora waking up, especially when Ruby outright mentions her. Have they just not noticed given all the Penny drama? Because Nora absolutely woke up.

Aaaand went back to sleep, I guess. What was the point of that POV shot? No worries though, she'll wake up again in a minute.

Willow arrives and announces that they can fix the power (and Penny) using the generator at the edge of the property. I'm convinced RT doesn't actually know what a generator is because the characters are acting like it's some super special device that only richy-rich could possibly have. Whitley says that it's the SDC executives who have their "own power supply" and that it's "extremely unfair." Now, don't get me wrong, a good generator powering large portions of your house can run you 30k+, but you can also get one that plugs into your extension cord and powers your fridge for a couple hundred. There's absolutely a class issue here, just not the one Whitley and Weiss seem to be commenting on. They make a generator sound like the sort of device that only a politician-CEO could possible have and it's weird.

Likely, it sounds weird because it's a choppy way of getting Whitley to bring up the wealth disparity so he can then go, 'That's right! We're crazy rich with a company housing tons of ships! We can use those to evacuate Mantle.' Awkwardness aside, I do like that the Schnee wealth is being used for good purposes, but... evacuate where? To the city currently under attack by a giant whale? In a RWBY that wasn't determined to demonize Ironwood, this would have been a great plot point during the office scene instead, with Weiss offering her services to Ironwood, even if the group decides that a continued evacuation still isn't possible.

Instead, we get it here from Whitley. Do I need to point out the obvious? That Whitley is the MVP of this episode? He's done more good in an HOUR than the group has managed in a year. Give this kid some training and make him a huntsmen instead.

We're given a (very pretty!) shot of the shattered moon because it wouldn't be RWBY if we weren't continually reminded that gods once wiped out humanity before destroying part of a celestial body... and absolutely no one talks about that lol.

Blake's coat might not make any sense for her color scheme, but it does make her easy to spot as she and Ruby run across the grounds. Oh my god, they're actually doing something together! It only took eight years. They even get a lovely talk where Blake admits how much she looks up to Ruby, despite her being younger, and once again I'm struck at how much more I would have loved this scene if it had appeared elsewhere in the series. It is, indeed, as sweet and emotional as all the RWBY GIF-ers are claiming... provided you overlook that this is the exact opposite of what Ruby needs to hear right now. She doesn't need to hear that she's more mature and reliable than her elders when she's functioning under a "We don't need adults" mentality. She doesn't need to hear that not knowing what to do is totally fine, not when that led to her turning on Ironwood, despite not knowing how to stop Salem. She doesn't need to hear that "doing something" — doing anything — is a strength, because Ruby keeps avoiding the big problems for smaller ones she's comfortable with, like standing by Penny's bedside instead of deciding between Mantle and Atlas. Blake's speech is heartfelt, but it's a speech that suits a Beacon days Ruby who is having some doubts about her leadership skills, not the girl whose impulsive — and now lack of — actions is having world-wide repercussions. Everyone is babying Ruby to a staggering degree. It's like if we had a med show where the doctor is standing by the bedside of a coding patient, fretting between two treatments. 'Don't worry,' their colleague says, patting their shoulder. 'I've always looked up to you. You'll do something when you're ready' and then they continue to watch the patient, you know, die.

Also: who does Ruby look up to? Everyone talks about how much they depend on and trust Ruby, but who does Ruby look to for guidance? A number of her problems stem from the fact that she has rejected the advice of everyone who has tried to help her improve: Qrow, Ozpin, Ironwood, even Yang. Ruby is presented as the pinnacle of what to strive for in a leader, rather than a leader who has only been doing this for two years and still has a great deal to learn.

Anyway, they get the generator on and the Hound shows up.

I am begging RT to just make RWBY a horror story. All their best scenes the last three years have been horror I am bEGGING —

Anyway, while Ruby waits to be eaten we cut to Willow and Klein, the former of which is reaching for her bottle, pulling back, reaching again, all while her hand shakes. This is good. This is what we should have gotten with Qrow. Which isn't to say that their (or anyone's) addiction should be identical, but rather that this is a far more engaging and complex look at addiction than what our birb got. Willow tells us that she doesn't drink in the dark despite bringing the bottle with her; tries to resist drinking when she's scared and ultimately fails. Qrow just decided to stop drinking after decades of addiction, seemingly for no reason, and that was that. Why is a side character we only met this volume written better than one of the main cast?

Blake manages to call Weiss about the Hound and she asks if Whitley can handle the airships without her. I mean, I assume so given that Weiss is looking at the bookshelves while Whitley does all the work lol. He makes a teasing comment about how he can if she can handle that grimm and she comments that they still need to work on his "attitude."

No they don't. Weiss stuck a weapon in her kid brother's face. Whitley made a joke. Even if Weiss' comment is likewise meant to be read as teasing, it's clear that we've bypassed any meaningful conversation between them. That hug was supposed to be a Fix Everything moment even though, as I've laid out elsewhere, it didn't even come close.

We cut back to Ruby getting thrown through a wall into the backyard and the Hound creepily coming after her. She's freaked out by this clearly abnormal grimm and Blake is weirdly... not? "It's just a grimm. Just focus!" Uh, it's obviously not. Have we reached the traumatized, sleep-deprived point where the group is sinking into full-blown denial? I wouldn't be surprised. They've been awake for like... 40+ hours.

Because the Hound knocks Ruby out with a single hit. Just, bam, she's down. "Focusing" is not the solution here.

Weiss calls to warn the others about the grimm, telling them to stick together. Willow (understandably) starts freaking out and flees the room (classic horror trope!). Klein is left alone when Penny wakes up with red eyes. Oh no!

Don't worry. You know nothing meaningful happens.

She shoves Klein before (somehow?) resisting the hack, her Maiden powers going wild in the process. Just when it looks as if Penny might cause some serious damage, Nora wakes up, takes her hand, and says, I kid you not:

"Hey... no one is going to make you do anything you don't want to do... It's just a part of you. Don't forget about the rest."

Okay. I want to re-emphasize that I love hopeful, uplifting, victory-won-through-the-power-of-love stories. Istg I'm not dead inside, it's just that RWBY does this so badly. I mean, what is this? It has similarities to the character shouting, 'No! Resist!' to their mind-controlled ally, but this is not presented as a desperate, last-ditch effort by Nora. She just speaks like this is the most obvious truth in the world. If you don't want to have your mind taken over... just don't! It's that simple. The problem definitely isn't that Watts has changed her coding and has implemented a command she can't override, it's that Penny has forgotten about the "rest" of her personhood.

And this works. Granted, not for long, but we leave Nora having successfully calmed Penny down and until her eyes unexpectedly go red again scenes later, we're left assuming that this is a permanent solution. That, imo anyway, is taking the Power of Love too far, overriding the basic reality of Penny being hacked. It’s not a personal failing she must overcome, it’s an external attack. I would have rather had Nora react to the scars she saw on her arm, or have a moment with Klein, or get some love from the group. Not a wakes up, falls asleep, wakes up again to save Penny with a Ruby level 'Just ignore reality' pep-talk, then back to sleep again.

So Penny isn't attacking her allies, or mistakenly hurting her allies with wild Maiden powers. Not that the group doesn't have enough to deal with, but still. Weiss arrives to help with the Hound and attempts a new summon, only to fail when two minor grimm burrow up into her glyphs. I really enjoyed that moment, both for the wing visual and the knowledge that Weiss' glyphs can fail if you break them somehow (which makes sense). Also, I just like that she failed in general? Weiss is, as per usual now, about to demonstrate just how OP she is compared to the rest of the team, so it was nice to see her faltering here.

The Hound tries to make off with Ruby and Blake does an excellent job of keeping it tethered. Ruby finally wakes, only to realize that the grimm is actually after Penny since it's staring at her power up through the window, no longer trying to escape. Moments like this remind me that there's someone on RT's writing team that knows what they're doing, at least some of the time. The assumption that the Hound is after Ruby as a SEW, the surprise that it's actually Penny, realizing it holds up because Ruby is covered in Penny's blood and Blake is not... that's all nice, tight plotting. More of that please!

The Hound drops her and Ruby's aura shatters when she hits the ground. I want everyone to remember this moment as an example of how strong the Hound is. The group may be tired, but unlike YJR they've been sitting around in the Schnee manor for a number of hours, regaining strength. We saw the Hound hit Ruby twice — once through the wall and once to knock her out — and then she falls from a not very high distance for a huntress, yet her aura is toast. That's the level of power and skill the Hound possesses. Decimating YJR, knocking Oscar out, same for Ruby, avoiding Blake and Weiss' hits, soon to treat Penny like a ragdoll. Just remember all this for the episode's end.

Blake tells Weiss she'll take care of Ruby, you go help the others. Yay breaking up the duos more! Bad timing though as the new acid-spitting grimm pops out of the ground and Blake is now left alone to face it.

Weiss re-enters the mansion, knowing the Hound is somewhere nearby, but not where. Suddenly, Willow's voice sounds through her scroll with an, "Above you!" which... doesn't keep Weiss from getting hit lol. But it's the thought that counts! Willow has accessed the cameras she's set up throughout the manor, watching the Hound's movements, and I have to say, that is a WAY better use of her separation from Klein than I thought we were getting. I legit thought they'd have Willow run away in a panic, meet the Hound, die, and then Weiss could be sad about losing her mom.

It does say something about RWBY's writing that this was my knee-jerk theory, as well as my surprise when we got something way better.

The Hound runs off, uninterested in Weiss, and she asks Willow to keep tabs on it. It heads for Whitley next (also covered in Penny's blood) and very creepily stalks him in the office with a, "I know you're here." Whitley is seconds away from being Hound chow before one of Weiss' boars pin it against the wall. He runs, then runs BACK to finish deploying the airships, before finally escaping assumed death. Goddamn this boy is pulling his weight.

I assume all these ships are automated then? I hope someone takes a moment to call May. Otherwise it's going to be super weird for the Mantle citizens if a fleet of SDC ships just show up and hover there...

I don't entirely understand how Weiss saved him though. She's nowhere to be seen when Whitley leaves and he runs a fair distance before he and Willow encounter Weiss again. We know her summons don't have to keep right next to her, but are they capable of rudimentary thought, attacking an enemy — and an enemy only — despite Weiss being a couple corridors down and unable to see the current battlefield? I don't know. In another series I'd theorize that this was a deliberate hint, a way to clue us into the fact that Willow, someone who we currently know almost nothing about, had training in the past and summoned the boar herself. Weiss and Winter certainly didn't get that hereditary skill from Jacques. Hell, we might still get that, Weiss reacting with confusion next episode when Whitley thanks her for the boar, but I doubt it. That scene with Ruby and the Hound aside, the show isn't this good at laying groundwork and then following up on it.

Case in point: Weiss says, "I didn't forget you" to Whitley after he gets away from the Hound, the moment trying to harken back to her promise to Willow. Key word is "trying." Because she absolutely forgot him! Weiss threatened and ignored Whitley until he proved his usefulness. I also shouldn't need to point out that, "Don't forget your brother" does not mean, "Don't let your brother die a horrible death by abnormal grimm." Weiss acts like her saving him is a fulfillment of her promise, rather than just the most basic of human decency. And also, you know, her job.

So that part is frustrating. The entire Schnee dynamic is a mess, from Weiss making a joke of her father's arrest, to Willow (presumably) fixing their relationship by putting a hand on her daughter's shoulder. Okay.

Then Weiss cuts off the Hound by summoning a giant wall of ice. My brain, every time this happens:

YOU COULD HAVE FIXED THE HOLE IN MANTLE'S WALL.

Moving on, Blake's fight against the acid... thing has some great choreography, including Blake using her semblance which we haven't seen in AGES.

I really like the fight itself, just not what Blake is shouting the whole time. "I need you, Ruby! We all need you!" This has really gotten ridiculous. Ruby is presented as everyone's sole savior despite failing time and time again. It's not that I don't think Blake as a character should have faith in her leader, it's that I don't think the writers should be crafting a story where everyone puts their unshakable hopes in an untrained, disloyal, impulsive 17 year old. I mean, Ruby is currently unconscious, yet Blake is acting like if she doesn't wake up — she, as an individual, if Ruby Rose does not re-join this fight — then all is lost. If Ruby doesn't save them, no one can. Which is, of course, absurd on numerous levels. Blake doesn't need the passed out, aura-less Ruby right now, she needs the still very healthy Weiss pulling out multiple summons and an ice wall! Use your scroll and call for backup again.

But of course, Ruby wakes up and kills the new, terrifying grimm with a single hit. It's a preview of what's to come with the Hound and it's just as ridiculous here as it will be there.

Speaking of the Hound, am I the only one who thought this was... cute?

I can't possibly be the only one. That head-tilt is exactly what my dogs do and my brain instinctively went, "Aww, puppy!"

Murderous puppy.

The Hound realizes none of the Schnees are who it's looking for and runs off. Penny, meanwhile, has been fully taken over because, well, that's just what's convenient now. She resists long enough keep Amity up, then succumbs, then resists to apologize to Ruby, then succumbs, then resists because Nora asked her to, then succumbs once it's time to knock her out. If RWBY was willing to commit to consequences, Penny would have been taken over and that was that. The characters would need to deal with whatever outcome happens as a result. Instead, the show very carefully avoids any of those pesky consequences by having Penny successfully resisting at key moments, despite no explanation of how she's managing that.

She shoves Klein again (Klein is having a Bad Time) and starts walking down the main steps. When Whitley wants to know where the hell she's going, Penny mechanically responds that she must "Open the vault, then self-destruct." I suppose the change Watts made was the self-destruct order? Ironwood obviously wants the vault open, though not necessarily Penny's death. Think what you will of his moral compass, she's a damn powerful ally — a research project, perhaps — and a Maiden to boot. At the very least, her death may give the powers to someone even worse.

God, please don't let them have brought Penny back and made her a Maiden just to kill her again.

The Hound arrives though and, as said, knocks Penny out. We're back to square one with her, then. Note though that this attack is near instantaneous. She grabs its hands one second, is hanging limply the next. Wow, the Hound sure is a terrifying antagonist!

Not for long.

"That's enough," Ruby says and one-shots it with her eyes.

Now, I want to talk for a moment about the implications of that line. "That's enough." Obviously Ruby is #done with this situation and emotionally unwilling to let the Hound kidnap Penny (congratulations, Nuts and Dolts shippers), but there's a meta reading here as well. Not intentional, but glaring to me nonetheless. Basically, the idea that the Hound has, from a plot perspective, done enough. It has served its singular purpose. It kidnapped Oscar and now it dies. Never-mind how insanely powerful we've established the Hound to be, never-mind how Ruby's eyes also work or don't work according to whether anything of actual import is on the line. From a plot perspective "that's enough" and the Hound can be disposed of instantly. It got Oscar and gave us an episode of filler creepiness. Move along now.

The idea behind Ruby's eyes isn't bad, but the execution absolutely is. RT has undermined a huge portion of the stakes by giving their protagonist an instant kill-shot that always works precisely when she needs it to. Starting with the Apathy, we have yet to get a moment where Ruby's eyes fail to save the day when she really needs them to, no matter how incredible the challenge. The Hound was very intentionally written to be a grimm outside of the group's current power level. It thinks, it talks, they literally can't touch it. This creates the expectation that the group will need to grow stronger — or at least become smarter — in order to surmount this new obstacle, yet Ruby's eyes undermine all of that. The group hasn't grown in years, the show just makes enemies weaker as needed (Ace Ops), or has Ruby pull out her eyes as a trump card. It wouldn't be that bad if we'd at least gotten a good battle out of it, one where the group gets close to defeating the Hound on their own, but needs Ruby's eyes to finish it off. Instead, she literally walks up without any aura, announces to the audience that this antagonist's time is up, and blasts it out a window.

Granted, Ruby's eyes don't completely finish it. The Hound pulls itself to its feet and we see this.

Yup, that's a guy and yup, those are silver eyes.

I would like to issue a formal apology to the "It's secretly Summer!" theorists in the fandom. I mean, I still think it would be ridiculous (and at this point highly improbable) that Ruby's dead mother has actually been a grimm mutant this whole time, just hanging out in Salem's realm while she waits for the plot to start before attacking the world, and then sends some no-name faunus dude after the group instead of their leader's mother for extra, emotional torture... but you all were definitely right about the “It's a person” part! I... don't know how I feel about this. Admittedly, it seems to be a logical continuation of the other grimm-human hybrids we've seen — namely Cinder and Salem herself — and it finally explains why Salem wants Ruby alive (even though it actually doesn't because WHY did she want more SEWs for Hound grimm when she wasn't even attacking back then? And already has all these other insanely powerful tools??), but at the same time, it feels like it's complicating a story that doesn't need further complications. The group fights monsters and has an immortal enemy. You don't need to add 'Some of those monsters are secretly human' to the mix.

It doesn't hurt that this twist is giving me Attack on Titan vibes, which, ew. A dark time in my fandom life, folks.

The Hound staggers a few steps before Whitley and Willow dump a suit of armor on it. That's all it takes to kill the most dangerous grimm we've ever seen: a single flash of silver eyes and some heavy metal. This also wreaks havoc with the implication that Salem wants SEWs alive because they create such powerful grimm. Obviously not. I mean yeah, normal huntsmen are going to have serious problems, we’ve seen that this volume, but any other SEWs nearby will take a Hound out instantaneously. For a villain with so many other powerful abilities — immortality, magic, endless normal grimm, her nifty soup — Salem would be much better served just killing SEWs straight out. Clearly, creating Hounds isn't worth the effort.

The Hound leaves some bones behind and Ruby collapses to her knees, overcome with the knowledge that this was once a person. Again, uncomfortable Attack on Titan parallels.

We finish our premiere with Cinder clearing away rubble to reveal Watts. Honestly, I like that we ended on this because her rescue is hilarious. She just slings him over her shoulders like a sack of potatoes and blasts off with her magic fire feet. Fantastic.

Note though that with this scene we've seen almost everything from the clip and the trailer. What's to come in the rest of Volume 8? No idea. Outside of Winter leading the charge with the bomb, we got it all here.

Time to update the bingo board!

I'm crossing off "Introducing new grimm that are quickly abandoned." Between the Hound and acid-dude both falling to a single blast/cut from Ruby, we've more than earned this square.

It doesn't look as if we'll get another Watts-Jacques team-up now that he's left, but you never know.

Maria's got me worried. I feel like her Yoda fight against Neo is the one thing she'll be allowed to do this volume, but given that we didn't see anyone except Ruby's group this episode, we don't yet know whether the story is now ignoring her and Pietro, or if they'll re-appear in another episode like YJR.

Qrow is free. Will he get a drink before trying to murder Ironwood? Perhaps.

Still no bingo :(

All in all, the episode was by no means horrible. I think there were lots of horrible parts, but also some legitimately well executed moments, fun action, and scenes that I can easily imagine as squee worthy if you lean back and squint. Everything is comparative and in the growing collection of bad RWBY episodes, this one isn't securing a top slot. Which doesn't mean I think it's good, just... not as bad as it could have been and primarily only bad due to long-running problems, not things this specific episode has done. That's my bar then, so low it has officially entered the underworld.

Still, RWBY is back and a part of me is eager to see where this volume takes us, for better or for worse.

Until next week! 💜

[Ko-Fi]

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

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valkyrieelysia18 · 5 years ago

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RWBY Rewrite: Penny Polendina

Salutations Tumblr users! Today, we tackle beloved fan favorite robot girl Penny Polendina.

Now as I stated before, I dropped RWBY after Volume 6 and didn’t really watch Volume 7. I have however heard about certain developments and one plot point made me grateful I got out earlier or I would have rage quit this Volume anyway.

They brought back Penny, with all her memories completely intact.

This destroys one of the best pieces of writing in the show. Penny’s death was meant to symbolize the death of innocence in the show and it led in to the Fall of Beacon as well as Pyrrha’s death. Up until now, the show had been treating it as if a real girl had died. Vexed Viewer on YouTube has done a video on the topic that explains this better than I could. Even if they were going to bring Penny back in some way, she shouldn’t have been exactly the same as if nothing happened. Such as her memory of Vale (and everyone she met) being completely gone or her personality being significantly changed she isn’t even the same person anymore.

So, in this post I am going to be going over her history, role in the plot, and ‘successor’ for the Atlas Arc.

Creation and History

Okay, slight can of worms, but if Doctor Polendina is black, why is his daughter one of the most obviously white characters of the cast?

Alright, there actually is a legitimate reason for that in this rewrite. Penny’s physical features are actually based on Pietro’s late wife Clara Polendina (reference to the Nutcracker ballet) who worked with her husband. The two were very much happy and in love, but Clara died in a Grimm attack before they could have children. Thus, Penny is basically the daughter Pietro never got to have with her. Clara won’t come up that much in the Rewrite, but she was close to both of her husband’s prized students Arthur Watts and Willow Schnee. Arthur would note the resemblance and bring it up during his final confrontation with the doctor (This is what you ruined my life for as well as countless others?! Clara would be ashamed.) Willow would also bring it up and notice the similarities in both Penny and her successor.

However, the Atlas military and Ironwood’s desires to build something like Penny is less heartwarming. There was the original desire of making stronger robots for mass production to protect humans that evolved into infiltration and espionage purposes. But James Ironwood would see Polendina’s plans and see an immense opportunity. A young woman who would never age or die. An individual that they would never have to worry about running away or disobeying orders. Such a person becoming a Maiden would mean that they would never have to worry about the transfer process ever again. That would explain why Penny said that it would be her job to save the world one day, but they don’t think she’s ready for it yet. She is Ironwood’s hope for the future of the Maidens. And just in case she isn’t perfected in time for the next transfer, Winter is being trained and kept in reserve. Ironwood would provide all of the materials Pietro could need, including a crystalized substance that no one knows much about other than it being a classified by the military. It’s source will be noted in a spoiler’s section in this post, but it’s the very thing finally got things to work.

But while Pietro is aware something is up and suspicious of Ironwood’s intentions, he loves his little robot daughter regardless. There will be some flashbacks involving her first days awake (showing her curiosity and determination) as well as her bidding her father good bye when she leaves for the Vytal Festival.

Vale

The only thing I’d really change about Penny in the Vale Arc is giving her more time to interact with the cast, especially Ruby. What we got was okay, but I think it would be much more impactful if Ruby got to spend more time with Penny before her death. I’d definitely like it if Penny would bring up her father during their conversations, saying she was sure that two of them would get along given how much Ruby likes weapons.

It might be also nice for Pyrrha to feel a little off by her sensing all the metal when they first meet, but not realize why or how important that is. Just bit of foreshadowing.

Pelia

So, as you might have guessed by now, Penny will stay dead in this Rewrite. With the kind of story and tone I’m working with, it’s important that there is legitimate consequences to events and actions of the characters. As such, characters who died will stay dead. They may be referenced, appear in flashbacks, haunt our characters’ dreams, perhaps having a spirit linger with unfinished business to help the main characters on their path, but there is no chance of resurrection.

Not that Pietro wasn’t thinking along the same lines as others had considering Penny is a robot. They did manage to retrieve her body and core, but when he managed to build a new body, reboot, and restart, it wasn’t Penny greeting him. Rather, it was a completely personality. And they did not recognize anything or anyone. Pietro was devastated.

Thus I introduce Pelia Polendina, or Pelly. This is reference to the Coppelia ballet that actually includes a toy inventor trying bring a doll to life that he calls a daughter, much like Pinocchio. Only instead of magic bringing a puppet to life, the inventor tries to bring Coppelia to life by stealing a human soul and putting it in the doll. Quite the dark contrast and is actually going to be a bit of foreshadowing. I will say her appearance is actually pretty similar to Penny’s redesign with longer hair, though I would picture her more similar to dishwasher 1910′s design in https://www.deviantart.com/dishwasher1910/art/penny3-0-SD-758463321 . Check them out on DeviantArt, their work is amazing.

Pelia is considerably different than Penny. Whereas Penny was bright, enthusiastic, and rather trusting; Pelly is subdued, talks very mechanically, and is significantly less naïve. While Penny longed to be a part of something greater and be with humans despite her lack of social skills, Pelly avoids most people and is afraid of what Atlas(and by extension Ironwood) wants with a robot like her. This is partly due to her finding about Penny and how the world reacted with the Fall of Beacon.

In regards to Penny, she feels rather guilty about being alive in her place though she doesn’t quite realize that’s what she is feeling. This would lead to her trying to find out everything she could on Penny to understand her emotions, learning about Ruby and the others in the process. Pietro is devastated by the loss and incredibly frustrated with her, not really considering her alive in the same way Penny was which given her personality isn’t that unreasonable to think. Pelia does care about her creator and tries to assist him in what ways she can, but his attitude towards her is not positive and as such she mostly stays out of his way.

Atlas

Pelia’s first proper appearance would be in the Atlas Arc when the group visits Doctor Polendina for weapons repairs after their meeting with Ironwood doesn’t go well and the good doctor isn’t the on the best terms with the General at present. The man is not pleased or in the mood to humor them, though he does defrost a little when Ruby shows her geeky know how on weapons. (He may have also said some rather terrible things about Pyrrha which made the group somewhat grateful JNR wasn’t there.) As the group leaves the building and goes on their way, Ruby looks up to the upstairs window as she feels she’s being watched. She doesn’t see anything, but as she turns and walks away Pelia comes into view from the window. Having recognized who the people who just visited were, Pelly sneaks out and follows the group in the secret for a while.

She finally gets revealed while the group is watching Weiss dance ballet at a Mantle Community Theater. The Atlas Arc is primarily Weiss centric and part of her Arc in proving herself as worthy of the Schnee name will have her prove herself to people of Mantle. One such instance will have her helping out at the community theatre in learning and teaching dance. It’s in which she is showing off her skills Pelia accidentally reveals herself to the group having been incredibly entranced in ballet (little show to her inspiration). Ruby at first mistakes her for Penny so she gets very emotional, only to temper down when she realizes Pelia’s not her. The situation is cleared up and the group gets more insight into the situation of Atlas as well as the strain between the General and Pietro.

Pelia has three distinct dynamics of interactions with the group: Ruby on Penny, Weiss and Winter on siblings, and Oscar on succession. With Ruby, Pelia gets to know more about Penny as a person and Ruby gets a chance to fully process her loss. Pelia’s not Penny, but she comes to appreciate her all the same. Ruby also comes up with Yang in regards to sibling interactions, but Pelia’s focus in this case is more on the Schnee siblings. She’s basically wondering what sisters act like and whether Penny would have seen her as a sister. This lets her get some ballet lessons from Weiss as well as close to Winter. Then there’s her relationship with Oscar with the two of them having to deal with their predecessors and the problems they’ve let them to deal with. The both of them come to realize through talking with each other is that they shouldn’t compare themselves to those who came before. They have their own views and ways of doing things different from their predecessors and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The only thing they can do is do things the best THEY can.

The big turning point in the Atlas Arc for Pelia is when Pietro finds out abut the Winter Maiden and what Ironwood’s original plans were. While I am majorly rewriting the Atlas Arc, I do actually like the idea of an old Winter Maiden who is on her last legs. Pietro doesn’t get all the details of course, but it gives him the idea that the magic could bring Penny back to life. Aside from the whole ‘Dead means dead’ world I’m working with, it’s also a way to show that magic that cannot bring back the dead. I know that’s very much true in the show though not directly stated, but here I want to lay the ground rules down on what magic is and is not capable of.

After being called back by Pietro and assisting him in breaking into the facility where the transfer is soon to take place, the two enter the room that was originally prepped for Winter (who is distracted with everyone else on things going wrong due to Pietro’s interference) with the old woman in the pod. Pietro has explained things and orders Pelia to get in the other pod. Pelia doesn’t move, having been conflicted during this entre plan which shows all over her face. The doctor orders again, much firmer this time. A few moments pass as she thinks it over; fear, doubt, determination all playout in her expressions. Finally, she speaks. “No.”

While Pelia may have been built to be a weapon, she still has free will. Unlike Penny who accepted her role without many doubts, Pelia rejects that her only purpose is to be someone’s tool of war. She wants to help others, but she doesn’t want to fight. I think that if you bring choice into a story as a main theme, you also have to give the characters the choice not to fight, to walk away even if they don’t actually do it. Above all, Pelia doesn’t think that sacrificing others for herself is what Penny would have wanted after having met Ruby and gotten to know what she was like.

She would tell this to Pietro, who would get furious and argue with her. this would continue until they were interrupted by Watts. Watts, with revenge on the brain, would focus on Doctor Polendina and tell Pelia to run along. I know this seems a little hypocritical for Watts to do this considering his advice to Cinder in Volume 5, but this a different situation. Spoilers for the future Atlas Arc Rewrite and future James Ironwood post, go to the next paragraph if you don’t want spoilers. You see, the villains don’t need the Winter Maiden to open the Vault for them because Ironwood already took the Relic of Creation out of the Vault years ago (and is NOT holding up Atlas). In fact, a bit of the power from the staff was used to create Penny which was the the crystalized substance. Watts knows this due to his hacking Ironwood’s system and has already retrieved the Relic and sent it on the way to Salem. This will make the results in Atlas a lot more bittersweet: our heroes will win on the people’s side of things, but lose the Relic. Back to Watts, the man is all about efficiency. While the Winter Maiden’s powers would be nice, they don’t have a vessel for it at the moment and it’s not necessary for their primary goal. Once the business side of things is taken care of, then he’ll indulge in revenge.

Pelia, while conflicted, would run and get to the group to tell them everything. She would then spend the rest of the conflicting helping to escort and treat the wounded, giving her a presence to the people of Atlas. Pietro will be arrested and will be convicted for his crimes, Watts dead but having gotten the last laugh in the end with his technological abilities exposing his teacher and those who left him out to dry.

Once everything is settled, Pelly will stay behind in Atlas as the new right hand of new Headmistress Winter Schnee. Basically, she becomes the Glynda to Winter’s Ozpin (though Winter is a much more hands on no nonsense person). She bids the group goodbye, hoping to Ruby that they will meet again.

After Atlas

I don’t have much in mind for Pelia after the Atlas Arc except for two things. Firstly, that she and Pietro do eventually reconcile and develop something of a relationship when she visits him in prison on her off days. (Jacques is not so lucky in regards to his children.)

The second is when she and Winter will meet everyone at the lowest point of the story. Ruby will have learned some pretty dark truths, including some choices her mother made that’s really made her think. Pelia will actually have a similar conversation with Ruby that she had with Oscar. In how she’s no more Penny than Ruby is Summer. She’ll remark that perhaps Ruby put her mother on a bit too much of a pedestal thanks to the way her family viewed her. When in reality Summer was just a person and people make mistakes. Right now, what choices Summer made in the past aren’t what matters. What matters is what Ruby wants to do now.

Okay, I think I started before the coronavirus stuff went crazy. I am so sorry. Not sure when I’ll get beck to this.

However, I know the next subject is going to quite the doozy...

#rwde #rwby rewrite #penny polendina #dr polendina #ruby rose #weiss schnee #Oscar Pine #winter schnee

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ishgard · 5 years ago

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a soft @autumnslance - I was throwing thoughts along these lines around and then your post came up and I spring-boarded off of it, but didn’t wanna go hijacking your post with a lot of my obviously bias goo-goo-for-Gaius brains. <3

Gonna toss it under a cut cuz Ruby Weapon/5.2 spoilers, ya’ll.

First things first: I agree definitely, the writing isn't up to par with what it could be (not from what we’ve seen). But I think they've shown in whatever limited capacity Gaius already regrets his past and sees the consequences. He's not scraping and bowing for forgiveness, but I'm of the opinion he doesn't even want it - it's beyond him.

No, he doesn’t strike me remotely as wanting redemption, let alone to try actively seeking it apart from doing exactly what he's doing: sharing information, his skills, and trying to prevent his mistakes from causing further damage. (Which, it's gonna get worse before it gets better.)

It's unfortunately more the lazy writing around characters like Cid and Raubahn and their dismissal that's the biggest offender here. (What the hell happened to Cid's VERY recent 'he should have stayed dead'????) They're supposed to be the narratives vessels for us to see the progress of redemption, and the fact that they just hand-waved it all is where the issue comes in.

Raubahn being level-headed and calm is perfectly viable as a leader who has so much on his plate and few options on how to deal with any of it - but having even a bit more vitriol or more apparent distaste, more displeased emoting or facial expressions, could have made it more palatable. There’s no way of knowing what his reaction was when he first met Gaius, sadly, and I don’t think they’re ever going to give it to us which only furthers the ‘bad writing’ of it all.

So Raubahn, I can barely let slide (at the moment) with: position where he has to maybe make compromises and we didn’t see their off-screen first encounter. Surely he got some scalding jabs in there, right?

Cid... I don’t even know where to start (again his ‘should have stayed dead’ line orz). Maybe if there was more/better voice-acting in Praetorium there were nuances we might have caught, but I’m pretty sure we’ve all run Prae enough to know he didn’t really give any indication that he was suddenly stricken with nostalgia over how much he actually respected Gaius. For real.

Ya’ll know me, I want a good Gaius redemption arc, it is the desire that sustains my soul. This is... the hammiest hamfisted writing. I’m reading this over and straight up gagging. I can agree with these points Cid, those things are in essence ‘sympathetic’, but to have them handed over so bluntly... I don’t want this, this is ‘telling’ not ‘showing’, and it’s being done in the worst way.

You were mad, and you had every right to BE mad.

But I still have hope that it’s working towards something in the long run. And if not, I’m still going to make the most of it and I really do enjoy this storyline in essence. I like my lizard kids, I love bad-but-well-meaning(?) dad Gaius (still better than Varis and Thordan), I LOVE this whole transference of souls in the Ruby Weapons. It’s the writing specifically around the matter of redemption that’s off to a real rocky start here.

Hilariously I was just talking with some friends drawing comparisons between Gaius and Emet when I saw your post, and how I wonder if we aren't supposed to be remembering Emet in some part, going forward. Emet did atrocious things, and wanted his way to be acknowledged as the truth, and died for the cause he believed in (summing it up in the most godawful nutshell). Gaius did atrocious things, but his truth has been flipped on its head, and he seems resolved perhaps to die undoing what he did in the name of that 'truth'. (hi please no, none of that)

It'll be interesting if we do see any further parallels, but we've still only just started the storyline. Trying to guess how it'll all hash out is anyone's game - and if they're actually intending to draw him out into the next expansion, there might be more far-reaching plans and goals the team has in mind.

ANYWAY I apologize, I’ve had thoughts about this and... have more still, but finally figured I’d toss ‘em out there.

#5.2 spoilers #i... this isn't really discourse it's discussion #i have no interest in arguing just interested in sharing different opinions.#[though... mostly i'm in agreement]#anyway that's my onion

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kob131 · 5 years ago

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https://www.reddit.com/r/RWBYcritics/comments/dl1jsm/cj_black0s_rewrite/

So who wants to see another shitty rewrite?

Okay, let's start with the big change of v6 first, Adam's ending. I'm scratching him dying here as I have bigger plans for him for Atlas. But what I change exactly is what occurs in his battle against Yang & Blake upon Yang entering the fray & how it would alter things.

Instead of Yang barely reacting to finally coming face to face with the man that ran through & broke her, there's an actual mental reaction here, but it's not fear...but absolute rage. Her fear of Adam is gone, but in its place is an inferno of hatred towards the man before her.

So Yang didn’t learn her lesson from her dad about controlling her anger and we don’t have the payoff for the numerous times Yangs temper fucked her over.

He broke the show IN THE EXACT SAME WAY he bitches the creators do...and this is suppose to be better. *slow claps*.

She no longer panics or fears the thought of him, but trembles at the thought of doing even worse to him than he committed to her & Blake, & with him here now & attacking Blake once again, Yang slips & goes full berserker on Adam.

So now Yang’s being sadistic. Out of fucking nowhere as she hasn’t even displayed this kind of behavior before this and the build up is about her being SCARED. So we have an OOC moment serving nothing for the character, in fact COMPRIMISING her character as Yang never showed this aspect of herself and it paints her in a negative light. For...what? ‘My self insert survives’?

Cool, tell me about how Blake and Yang fight the patriarchy next since we’re doing cringy fanfiction bullshit.

But though she is fighting with incredible ferocity, speed & timing, she's not thinking or planning at all.

‘timing’

‘not thinking or planning at all.’

So CJ bitches the show retconned Aura by being technical about the word ‘passive’ and yet technically you need to THINK or PLAN to have good timing like that.

She's acting like a wild unhinged animal & both Adam & Blake notices this as Adam uses it to his advantage to slowly start tipping the fight in his favor as he blocks Yang's hits & sends the power right back to her.

Again, acting like the thing she was suppose to have GOTTEN OVER. In fact, worse because Yang never acted like an animal and now she is? When her build up was suppose to be about keeping her cool?

Hm, I believe the man you parrot Vexed Viewer has something for this. What was it...? Oh yeah- Stupid for the sake of the plot.

All the while, Blake is trying desperately to get Yang to stop & listen to her & calm down, but nothing gets through to Yang which eventually results in Blake barely managing to move Yang out of a fatal attack & then finally get through to her as she takes her hand & tells her to please stop & calm down as she doesn't want to lose anyone that she cares about, especially to Adam & that she'll always be here for Yang & will always have her back until the end no matter what & even starts crying.

Still fucking stupid while also being technically as shippy as the original fight so far. You know, that thing you screech about all the time.

Also why isn’t Blake helping Yang? All she did was try to calm Yang down and not try to fight with her? You never said that Yang was fighting in a way that prevented Blake from helping and she knows that Adam won’t stop so playing disruption to disable Adam is the logical choice.

And also- Why is Adam allowing this to happen? Critics bitch the villains do stupid shit and yet you CJ, someone who groups himself in with them, seem to be ignoring that. There was talking in the original but A. This would take more time than anything else in the fight to say and B. it was still bitched out.

Hearing & seeing this finally gets through to Yang as she sends a few shots at the feet of an approaching Adam & now with a clear mind, thanks Blake & tells her she'll always be there for her too from here on out. And from there the fight continues as it does in the show & the 2 win in the end.

So instead of the struggle coming from Adam’s own power and skill, along with displaying how far Yang had come from her last encounter with Adam by showing her more defensive style in the fight and ending with Adam’s own anger and rashness getting the better of him- We get something that you could uber pandering to Bumbleby shippers while proclaiming ‘POWER OF FRIENDSHIP!’.

Nice standards you have CJ ‘Hypocrite’ Black.

However, just when Adam's about to make that final struggle, Atlas personnel arrive on the scene(also on the Mech's location) to provide backup & arrest everyone. However upon seeing Adam, they all immediately panic & try to apprehend the dangerous terrorist but in their rush, provide Adam with a hostage & enough time to escape into the woods & later outside of Argus which is later swarmed by Grimm, better helping his escape. Now having been defeated twice (both in mission & combat) by Blake & her friends, Adam is utterly spouting with rage & hate...so much so that he's sensed by Cinder.

So Yang and Blake do nothing to stop him. Congrats *slow claps.*

Also, Adam is by your own admission spouting with rage and hate...THE SHIT GRIMM ARE ATTRACTED TO. How the FUCK are the Grimm of things helping him escape and not giving everyone a living trail to follow as they logically rush after him? What, did you ACTUALLY retcon the Grimm or just ignore it for your plot?

Also how the hell would Cinder sense him? She’d be in an airship and he’d be on the ground. Unless Adam just so happens to be seen out of all the shit on the ground by Cinder (while displaying CLEAR mental instability)- She’d miss him.

Seeing the woman who pulled him into all this in the first place, Adam lashes out at Cinder. But with him being tired, without aura & injured, the maiden easily swats him away. She brings up how the 2 are planning on following Ruby to Atlas to kill her & this piques Adam's interest as he asks to accompany them as he explains he too wants to kill someone in RWBY & with him knowing a guy in Atlas who could help them make all their goals easier, it's a win-win.

So Adam just cares solely about Blake here. He’s perfectly fine with teaming up with a human that YOU BELIEVE he hates with a passion.

Effectively, you MADE Adam the same thing you say he was turned into.

So stealing an airship from Argus & using Neo & Adam to act as soldiers delivering the dangerous criminal Adam Taurus to face justice in Atlas, the 3 make their way into the kingdom. As part of the plan, once Adam gets transferred to other soldiers, he quickly disposes of them & escapes as he then reveals their newest ally, leader of the WF Atlas branch...Banesaw.

Who immediately shoots him dead hearing about how he tried to blow up his own men and would be IMMENSELY disgusted with the man for his own personal vendetta endangering his cause...even though Adam wouldn’t care since you NEVER built him up as returning to the WF and the show definitively displayed that part of him was over now.

Also, how the fuck wouldn’t they just see through this shit?

With this loyal & powerful man of Adam Taurus who now leads the most dangerous branch of the WF on their side along with Watts & Tyrian eventually coming into contact with the Atlas branch & Cinder & deciding to work together, team CABN (pronounced Cain or Cabin) is ready...

Where Watts and Tyrian kill everyone because Cinder is a traitor out for her own ends (hence why she AVOIDED them in the actual show) and Adam’s long since dead because to think that a leader of the WF wouldn’t have heard about Haven is to make me believe he’s an idiot.

Also can’t fit into Volume 7 because you can’t cut anything due to everything being important to the build up of the plot.

Also left out Watts and Tyrian out of the team name. You added them in despite not FITTING IN.

Also you didn’t build up Banesaw so by your standards with Blake’s parents and Illa, he’s a retcon.

Also if this branch is so dangerous why wasn’t THE HIGH LEADER OF THE WHITE FANG STATIONED THERE? You know, Sienna being stationed in Mistral would imply that’s the most fortified place there is for the WF to protect their leader?

Gee, it’s almost like CJ Black doesn’t CARE about good writing and is just pissy his fanfiction didn’t become real.

‘B-but this is from 9 months ago-’

And as previous posts about him will show- CJ hasn’t changed.

NO ONE doing these rewrites care about good writing. Because THAT’D require actually paying attention to the damn show thus seeing what stuff built up to. Not, you know, making up delusions about the show to fit their narrative.

Mark my words, his RWBY0 rewrite will tank and burn.

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razieltwelve · 6 years ago

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Friday Nights Are For Fighting (RWBY AU Snippet)

Yang glanced at the large grandfather clock. She would have preferred something a little smaller, but Ruby had always found the mechanics of the clock fascinating. She’d even given it a nickname. Gerald, the grandfather clock, had been with them for the better part of three hundred years, and Ruby had even taken lessons from a horologist to ensure the clock would be with them for three hundred more.

The clock was about to strike nine o'clock in the evening on a Friday night, which meant she was about to receive her weekly visit from the Vampire Hunters’ Association. Last week’s intruders had been a thoroughly disappointing trio who had accidentally blown themselves up when they’d tried to demonstrate the awesome power of gunpowder.

Now, Yang had no problems with explosives. In fact, she rather liked them. However, she was also a two-thousand-year-old ancient vampire who could laugh off being blown into thousands of pieces. The average vampire hunter was considerably less good at surviving being blown into thousands of pieces.

As the clock began to strike the hour, Yang took a moment to strike a suitably menacing pose at the top of the grand stairs that led deeper into the manor she and Ruby shared. Whoever the Association sent was unlikely to be much of a challenge, but appearances were important. A vampire hunter could afford to be scruffy, an ancient vampire with connections to the rest of the vampire nobility could not.

Right on cue, the doors of the manor burst open. She gestured for her servants to leave the area. Not all vampire hunters were considerate enough to try to avoid collateral damage, and some of the servants belonged to families that had served her for generations.

“Prepare to face your doom, villain!”

Yang smiled faintly as a pair of huntresses walked in. One of them was very clearly a Schnee. She’d faced enough of them over the years to spot them from a mile away. This particular Schnee was a little on the short side and very petite. However, her blue eyes blazed with righteous fury as she struck a pose by the ruined doors and jabbed one finger in Yang’s direction.

“Vile temptress! Tonight is the day your maiden-seducing reign of terror comes to an end!” The Schnee drew her rapier with a flourish. “I, Weiss Schnee, have come to personally strike you down.”

“Is that so?” Yang drawled. She pointed. “And who would that be beside you?”

Weiss winced. “Ah, right.’ She turned. “I would like to introduce my associate, Blake Belladonna. She will also be striking you down. That is, we will be striking you down together.” Weiss paused. “As a team.”

“…” Blake sighed. “Weiss, next time, let me introduce myself. You make me sound like your sidekick.”

“Well…” Weiss began. “I am the heiress to an ancient and noble clan of huntresses…”

“And I’m basically Faunus royalty.”

“Normally,” Yang said. “The Association tries to have only one protagonist on each team. It makes the whole pre-battle banter thing much easier.” She smiled. “Not that I’m complaining.”

She would never understand why huntresses had to wear such form-fitting or revealing clothing, but she was not about to complain. Weiss might not have the most buxom figure, but the trousers she wore did a fantastic job of showing off her legs while her corset emphasised her slender waist and bust. Blake, though, was a much tastier dish, at least in Yang’s opinion. With an athletic build that the form-fitting ninja-like garb she wore showed off to perfection, Blake was the very definition of delectable. Oh, and she had the most adorable cat ears too.

“Are you ogling us?” Weiss cried. “How dare you! Does your vampiric lechery know no bounds?”

Yang rubbed her ears. “Does she always yell?” she asked Blake.

Blake sighed and rubbed her cat ears. “Pretty much.” She shrugged. “But, yeah, we’re basically here to kill you.”

“You’re here to try,” Yang replied. “And, quite frankly, I don’t think you’ll have much luck.”

“We don’t need luck,” Weiss countered. “Taste the cleansing fire of my family’s magic!” She used her rapier to draw an intricate set of runes in the air. Ribbons of fire raced toward Yang only to stop as the ancient vampire held up one hand.

“Hmmm…” Yang grabbed one of the ribbons and tugged on it. It shattered into a stream of embers. “Not bad. Your casting speed was excellent, and the power behind the spell was great too. However, you really do need to do your homework.”

Weiss’s eyes narrowed. “Vampires are weak against fire. Everyone knows that.”

“Most vampires are weak against fire.” Yang’s magic flared, and flames erupted into existence around her, a maelstrom of heat so intense that the stone floor at her feet began to glow. “I’m not most vampires.”

“Hmmm…” Weiss rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “That could be problematic.” She sheathed her rapier. “In that case, I shall have to rely on Plan B.” She pulled a wooden stake out of a holster on her back. “Behold! This is a stake carved from a branch of the World Tree and blessed by the Seven Holy Maidens. Not even you, an ancient vampire, will be able to withstand its deadly power!”

Yang tilted her head to one side. “You’re going to try and stake me? What do you think I am, a garden variety fledgling in my first decade of vampiric life?”

Weiss stuttered. “Of course not! You are a vampire of unrivalled licentiousness whose lust has corrupted countless innocent maidens. But, as I said, this is no mere stake! it is a stake carved from a branch of the -”

“I don’t suppose you’ve got anything better than that?” Yang asked Blake.

As Weiss spluttered in outrage, the Faunus replied. “I was actually planning to kill you using the sealing arts of my people that have been passed down for countless generations and honed in the seemingly endless struggle against the horrors that assail my homeland.”

“Hmm… you know, maybe you are the protagonist in this group,” Yang replied. “You’ve certainly got a more tragic and inspiring backstory.”

“What?” Weiss leapt in front of Blake. “How dare you! I was in the middle of giving my speech! You can’t just cut me off.” She raised the stake high above her head. “You won’t be laughing when I drive this into your twisted, maiden-seducing heart!”

“Weiss,” Blake said. “Do we really know that she goes around seducing maidens willy-nilly? I mean… I know she’s a vampire, but we probably shouldn’t just accuse people of maiden-seducing without proof. It’s a fairly serious accusation.”

“…” Weiss’s jaw clenched. “She is a maiden-seducing fiend, Blake. She tried to seduce my sister last year.”

Yang guffawed. “Tried? I was honestly amazed by how flexible she -”

“Silence!” Weiss screeched. “After you defeated her, my sister left our clan. She now wanders the world as an exile. I will avenge her and -”

Yang made a face. “Oh… about that. She’s not exactly an exile.”

“What?” Weiss’s eyes widened in horror. “Don’t tell me you’ve turned her! You fiend! Was defiling her with your vampiric lust not enough? You had to turn her into a vampire as well? There is no end to your villainy, is there?”

"You know, I’ll be honest with you. She and I still, you know, enjoy each other on a regular basis, but I did not turn her into a vampire. She works for me now, taking out vampires who don’t obey the rules. She’s very good at it.”

The sound of Weiss’s teeth grinding together was loud enough for all of them to hear. “I will put an end to you, villain, and free my sister!”

“Weiss, maybe we’re not approaching this in the right way,” Blake began. When Weiss tried to lunge at Yang, Blake grabbed her by the wrist. “Weiss, calm down. You can’t let her get to you. For all we know, she’s just saying whatever she thinks will make us mad, so we lose our cool.”

“Oh…” Yang snickered. “It looks like the kitty has claws.”

“That’s it.” Blake stepped forward. “Give me the stake, Weiss. I’ll kill her myself.”

“It looks like someone is a little touchy about being compared to a cat,” Yang teased. “But if the shoe fits… or should I say, if the ears fit?”

It was a testament to just how fast Blake was that Yang only dodged her attack by about a foot. The dark-haired huntress simply blurred forward, and Yang stepped neatly to one side as one magic-enhanced foot pulverised the spot she’d been standing in. But Blake wasn’t done yet. Dozens of paper seals floated through the air.

“Nice kitty.” Yang patted Blake on the head and then flipped backward as a sword threatened to cut her in half. “Actually, bad kitty.”

“Stop calling me a cat.” Blake clasped her hands together. “Belladonna Sealing Technique: Hundred Explosion Nightmare.”

Yang tilted her head to one side as the paper seals rushed toward her. “You know, I really don’t think you’ve got a hundred of those seals of yours. And why do ninjas always shout out their techniques?”

Blake just smirked and pointed at the ground.

Yang looked down and smiled. Clever girl. Somehow, Blake had managed to transfer the writing from dozens of paper seals onto the floor where she was standing. “Not bad.”

The resulting explosions shook the manor to its foundations, blew out all of the windows, and sent every door in the vicinity flying off its hinges.

X X X

Weiss covered her face with her arm as the shockwave of Blake’s attack threatened to overwhelm the barrier she’d hastily thrown up. The other huntress was extremely skilled, and that attack had to have done some damage. As the explosions began to taper off, Weiss prepared to move forward when she realised there was someone else there.

“Oh, thank goodness Gerald is okay.”

Weiss turned. The woman standing behind her had dark hair and silver eyes, and she was holding the massive grandfather clock that had been near the top of the stairs with one arm. “Wait… who are you?”

The woman scratched the back of her head with one hand and set the grandfather clock down gently. “I’m Ruby.”

“Ruby.” Weiss nodded. “Oh. Wait!” She leapt back and jabbed her blessed stake in the direction of Ruby. “You’re an ancient vampire too! You’re the sister of that maiden-seducing, sister-corrupting, vampiric fiend!”

“You mean Yang?” Ruby asked.

“…”

“But, yeah, she’s my big sister.” Ruby smiled sunnily. “And, just for clarification, are you here because she seduced your sister or because she seduced you?”

“What?” Weiss squawked. “Because she seduced my sister! She has yet to lay so much as a single vampiric finger on my person!”

“Oh, that’s good.”

“It is?” Weiss blurted.

“Yeah, because I think you’re pretty cute, and it’d be a shame if she got to you first.”

Weiss’s eye twitched. “Don’t underestimate me, vampire! I am not some helpless -” Weiss stopped talking because she realised that something was wrong. She was no longer holding the stake that had been carved out of a branch of the world tree and blessed by seven holy maidens. Ruby was holding it, and Ruby and the grandfather clock were now on the other side of her. “What did you just do?”

“Well… I walked over with Gerald, he’s the grandfather clock, by the way, and I took your stake. Except I did it super fast. So fast you didn’t notice.”

“Impossible!” Weiss growled. “I am an elite huntress. I have honed my senses to their limits, and I am currently enhanced by at least a dozen runes. There is no way that -”

“Hmm…” Ruby was suddenly right in front of her with a smile on her face. “You know, you should smile more. I think you’d have a lovely smile, but I have to admit, you look pretty nice when you’re angry too.”

“Gah!” Weiss howled. “Stop doing that.” She drew her rapier. “Prepare for death, villain!”

“You keep calling me and my sister villains, but you’re the ones who broke into someone’s manor, knocked down the doors, and almost blew up Gerald. I’d say that makes you the villains, doesn’t it?”

“What we do,” Weiss replied. “We do for the good of society.” She lunged forward only for Ruby to dodge. Her next half a dozen blows met with similar lack of success. “Stand still, so I can stab you.”

“Okay.” Ruby stopped, and Weiss gaped in disbelief as her blade pierced right through the vampire’s chest. Still smiling, Ruby reached out and caught Weiss’s wrist in one hand. The strength in her grip was telling. Ruby was being gentle, but she could crush Weiss’s hand into pulp if she so chose. “So… now what?”

“Um… if I pull my rapier out of your chest will you let go of my hand?” Weiss squeaked.

“I don’t know,” Ruby said, not the least bit bothered by the rapier stuck in her chest. “You did stab me in the chest.”

“…” Weiss searched her mind for something, anything she could use to bargain her way out of this. Finally, her desperate mind latched onto the one small glimmer of hope she had. “I have a cookie in my satchel! If I give it to you, will you let me go?”

“If it’s a good cookie, I just might.”

X X X

Blake took several deep breaths as she waited for the dust to clear. Weiss was currently attempting to bribe another ancient vampire with a cookie, but Blake couldn’t afford to take her attention off the dust cloud for even a second. Ancient vampires were immensely powerful, and although she’d hit Yang the Defiler (a name Weiss had come up with) with enough explosions to destroy most vampires several times over, she wasn’t about to relax until she had confirmation that Yang had been defeated. At the very least, she should have taken major damage. if she hadn’t, Blake would be in trouble. Seals were difficult to put onto anything that hadn’t been prepared beforehand, and transferring so many onto the stone floor so quickly had definitely dented her magical reserves.

As the dust cleared, she caught a glimpse of a crater and then -

“Not bad.” Yang cracked her neck and stretched her shoulders. “I actually felt that.”

“…” Blake stared and tried not to stare at the same time. “Do you realise you’re naked?”

“And whose fault is that? I’m an ancient vampire, so I’m practically invincible. The same doesn’t go for my clothes.” Yang smirked. “What? Do you like what you see?”

Blake glared. “Yes.” Her eyes widened. “I mean no. I mean... shut up.”

“Yang,” the other ancient vampire shouted. “Put on some clothes. We’re not savages.”

“Hey, I had clothes. Blame Little Miss Kitty here for blowing them up.”

“Don’t call me a cat!”

“Does your perversion know no limits?” Weiss wailed. “Put on some clothes!”

“How about you stop staring?” Yang asked. “Unless you like what you see?”

“Shut up!” Weiss roared.

“Yang,” the other vampire whined. “You already have the cat. Let me have this one!”

“Stop calling me a cat!”

Yang laughed. “This is the most fun I’ve had in years.” She smiled. “Look, how about we make a deal?”

“I don’t make deals with -”

Yang darted forward too fast for Blake to react and seized her by the wrist. “You really want to make a deal.”

Blake’s eyes widened. “I… fine. What kind of deal?”

“Since it’s obvious that you and Weiss there aren’t properly prepared to fight two vampires of our power and standing, how about we let you go? You can come back next week and give it another shot. What do you say?”

“What?” Blake asked. “You’d just let us go?”

“When you’ve lived as long as I have,” Yang replied. “You come to treasure fun moments like this. I imagine I’ll have even more fun if you two have a chance to prepare a bit better.”

“Fine,” Blake hissed. “Weiss, we’re going.”

“But…”

“Weiss, we’re not going to win this today. We should withdraw and come back later.”

“Okay.” Weiss sighed. “You’re right.”

“Wait…” the other vampire said, holding one hand out. “Before you go…” Weiss handed the vampire a cookie. “Thank you. And, just to be clear, are you coming back next Friday? I’d like to be around since this was so much fun.”

“Yes,” Weiss said with a sigh. “We’re coming back next Friday.” She paused dramatically. “So enjoy the last week of your lives, villains!”

“…” Blake stepped away from Yang, and the vampire let her go. “Weiss, that would be more intimidating if they hadn’t basically kicked our asses.”

X X X

Ruby watched the two huntresses go and smiled. “That was fun, wasn’t it, Yang?”

“Yep.”

“So… about next Friday, are you going to call Winter back?”

“Damn straight.” Yang snickered. “Maybe I’ll ask her to come in a maid outfit too. That would just drive Weiss nuts.”

X X X

Author’s Notes

Vampires are serious and noble creatures, supernatural beings of terrible might and grand demeanour. Or most of them are. If Ruby and Yang ever became vampires, they would definitely not be the most conventional vampires.

Consider this a little nod to Halloween. We’re not far off now.

You can find me on fanfiction.net, AO3, and Amazon. Please check out my newest story on Amazon. It’s called Monster Whisperer. If you enjoy my sense of humour you might also want to check out Attempted Vampirism, or The Unconventional Heroes series.

#rwby #fanfiction #yang xiao long #weiss schnee #blake belladonna #ruby rose #bumblebee #white rose

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razorblade180 · 6 years ago

Text

Twin Snowflakes pt2: Warming Up

[Saph’s place]

In the guest room Summer sleeps peacefully in the bed with tons of covers to keep her warm. To the right of the bed is a night stand with a bowl of stew beef and tea. On the left sits Nicholas attentively watching over her. The room itself is pretty warm so currently he’s on in a white shirt and blue shorts.

Saph:*opens door* Pssst how is she?

Nick:Her face as gotten color back into it again. She’ll be fine with a little rest and the food you made her. Thanks for that by the way.

Saph:Ain’t no thang for my adorable niece and nephew. You know you should really get good at cooking yourself; sixteen years old and all I ever seen you cook is some eggs.

Nick:*chuckles* You would think sword skills would transfer to kitchen knife ability but it certainly does not. Maybe I should spend more time reading recipes books...

Saph:Having you two over for cooking lessons instead of secret training would be a nice change of pace. I wouldn’t have to worry about my dear baby brother yelling at me if he finds out.

Nick:Aren’t you supposed to be the older sibling that can’t be picked on?

Saph:*smirks* Doesn’t Summer pick on you?

Nick:Hey! I’m older by minutes while you have years on dad. Besides I totally let her make fun of me.

Summer:*waking up* Keep telling yourself that.

Saph:Well look who it is!?

Nick:Wow, you are awake way sooner than usual.

Summer:How much time has passed?

Nick:Four hours since you clocked out in the snow.

Summer:Well that’s a full thirteen faster than last time. *rubbing her head* Makes sense, Shiva wasn’t out for too long. We should probably continue to tr- is that stew beef!!!? *grabs the bowl*

Saph:Talking one minute, stuffing your face the next. Definitely Summer talking to us.

Nick:You okay? Well rested, no fatigue, no broken bones, or bruises? How is your-

A spoon gets put in his mouth to prevent him from speaking.

Saph:Shut up and stop babying me. I’m perfectly fine okay? If anything you should be worrying about yourself it seems. *points to his side.*

He looks down to see a small red smudge. Saphron lifts his shirt to reveal a shallow cut that slightly bleeding. Nick tries to laugh off the this new discovery but is met with two pairs of highly upset cobalt eyes.

Summer:What’s the point of worrying about me if you’re not gonna take the time to make sure that everything is okay with yourself?

Nick:I only got grazed a little, plus it’s healing so it’s no big deal.

Saph:It’s totally a big deal! Just because you look like your father doesn’t mean you should be just as reckless as he is. Take care yourself and don’t take outrageous risk!

Nick:*scared* Yes Ma’am!!!

Saph:Good! Now go ask Adrian to borrow a clean shirt and get yourself some food as well.

Nick:*mumbles* But I’m not hungry....

Saph:*Death Glare*

Nick:Alright!!! I’ll make a small bowl or something. *leaving* Geez, you’re gonna give Bleiss a run for her money with that look.

Saph:I heard that!

Nick:I know! I said loud! *laughing*

Saph:*smiling* Your brother is a real piece of work.

Summer:.........

Saph:Summer?

Summer:Huh? I’m sorry, I spaced out....

Saph:Is you know who trying to speak with you.

Summer:No, I can’t even hear Shiva’s voice right now. I’m too warm and she’s too tired. Besides, anytime she decides to open her mouth it’s usually to insult me. I could go the rest of my life without hearing her. I’m just upset Nicholas is hurt because of me again.

Saph:I know we just grilled him and all over it but you shouldn’t feel too bad over a cut. Things could’ve been a lot worse.

Summer:They might be if I don’t get a handle on this fast. Six years of worrying about hurting your family is really, really stressful..... almost enough to make me feel crazier than I already am.

Saph:Hey, you are not crazy young lady.

Summer:Then what exactly would you call me? A freak of nature doesn’t sound any better, and being called “sick” isn’t comforting either.

The two quietly looked at each other blankly. Summer was waiting for some type of answer but her loving aunt couldn’t find any words that would help make her feel better about her situation. Saphron instead sat right next to the teenager and gave her a reassuring hug. Summer couldn’t help but return the embrace.

Saph:I’d be lying if I said I had a good answer to that question. However, I do know one day you’ll conquer this; all that training you put into this is bound to pay off. Even if some of it goes over my head sometimes. *smiles* One day you’ll kick Shiva’s but to the curve! Arcs and Schnees seemed to be really good at sticking up for themselves when it comes to being ordered around or bullied by someone else.

Ruby:*in the form frame* Ain’t that the truth!

Summer:You’re still here Auntie!

Ruby:Of course! I wasn’t gonna leave before I knew for a fact you were okay. Also, try not to think so negative all the time. We all believe in you so don’t go doubting yourself. More importantly, don’t try to rush progress. That’s when the worst mistakes happen.

Saph:Just ask Terra. She shut down power to all of Argus before on accident; all because she tried to finish all her work for the week without taking a break. Just to make sure she could attend Adrian’s graduation.

Terra:*down stairs* Stop telling that story! My boss still won’t let it go!

Saph:*whispers* No one is even mad at her. It was just really funny and unlike her.

Summer:*smiling* That must’ve been an eventful day.

Saph:It was a good thing Adrian was graduating. Imagine having to go to school with all the kids knowing that. Actually...he might’ve been seen as a hero when I think about it.

Ruby:Speaking of school....

Saph:Please don’t, let me enjoy winter break while it last. I only have two more days left then back to the worst place imaginable.

Ruby:Two days, some regular classes for everyone to get back into the swing of things, and then The Combat School Tournament!

Hearing that name made Summer a little anxious. They might as well change the name to Jr Vytal festival. The Combat School Tournament is where students from all over Remnant gets to strut their stuff against one another; home school or not. It’s always televised and it’s made to show that the next generation of huntsman and huntress are growing strong. Many games and side events will also be held for fun to show unity between everyone.

However, Summer won’t be partaking in those nice and simple events. She won’t even be in the regular tournament where anyone and everyone will be at arms with each other. No, She and her over eager brother will be going to be in special bracket. A bracket reserved for only the winners of their respective regionals along with the runner ups. The main attraction that’s sure to be watched in every house hold.

Summer:Ruler of the Castle......

Nick:*down stairs* Woooooo!!!!!!!!!

Ruby:Oh I’m so excited!!!!!!!

Summer:Because you’re not in it! No way I’m ready for that.

Saph:Last time I checked, your gold medal in regionals says other wise.

Summer:I only got gold in duos. Nicholas was practically the reason we one that. I got fifth place in singles while he got runner up.

Ruby:What did I just say about negativity? Nicholas’s shout tells me he’s not worried in the slightest.

Nick:*rushes in* Better believe I’m not! You and I are gonna clean up in duos and let everyone know there’s no greater tag team than us.

Summer:What makes you so sure?

Nick:Close your eyes and you’ll see.

She follows his orders while the others are a bit confused. He quietly grabs her spoon and closes his eyes as well. The boy throws the spoon right at her only for Summer to catch it. Without opening her eyes she throws it his left knee which instinctively raises up right before contact to bounce it in the air. Nick hits it back at her chest where Summer is already prepared to counter by grabbing the bowl for it to land. The entire bowl is tossed up and lands on a glyph that floats back down to the nightstand. Both of them open their eyes smiling.

Ruby:*whistles* You guys practice that little trick.

Nick:Nope! It’s a twin thing. Somehow we always know just what the other might do in a pinch.

Summer:It’s super annoying. Our snowball fights against each other always end up looking like a war where nobody got to win.

Nick:Yeah but our matches against other people always went undefeated. This isn’t gonna be any different! I got your back and you have mine; more gold medals are the only thing we’re gonna get. Duos is all about teamwork and we got that spades. *eyes shining* We’re gonna look so cool!

Summer:So it this about showing the world how skilled we are or just a way for you to look cool in front of Valerie?

Nick:*blushing* Valerie has nothing to do with this! Although if she so happened to be amazed by my- our skills and was left in complete shock then that would be nice.

Saph:Careful there tiger, she’s the reason you’re runner up in singles in the first place. Might wanna keep those hormones in cheek if by some chance both of you end up in the finals again.

Summer:Oooo imagine if she gets another gold medal off of you. Talk about embarrassing... *chuckling*

Nick:Wow! So much for the confidence. I got sucker punched last time. No way I’d lose to her again.

Ruby:I wonder how many times Jaune said that before sparring with Nora? *smiling*

Nick:All of you suck.... *red*

Adrian:*in his room* I believe in you Nick!

Nick:That’s why you’re my favorite cousin!

Saph:I’m telling the others you said that if they show up to tournament.

Nick:Please don’t.....I can’t fight my entire family tree; too many branches. Who is coming anyways?

Ruby:I’ll be there of course, Yang, Blake most likely, Veronica-

Summer:Uuuuuuggggggghhhhhhh!

Everyone:........

Summer:What?

Nick:Can you both be civil for an evening.

Summer:Can she not be such a b-

Saph:I’ll tell your mother.

Summer:Insufferable person? I’m not talking to her and hopefully she doesn’t speak to me. *mumbles* I wish she was in the tournament. I’d pay off the referee to match us up just to fight her.

Ruby:Be nice to my niece please? Maybe she’s changed a bit?

Summer:..........You think Veronica Belladonna, the girl that’s so extra that she has two faunus features, has changed?

Ruby:You know your mom is the queen of extra right? I think there’s another reason you two might be all feisty towards each other if you catch my drift.

Summer:I know what you’re implying and it has nothing to do with that! That’s not even a thing.

Nick:What’s not a thing?

Summer:Don’t worry about it!

Nick:???

Few people could get Summer worked like Veronica could. Between her and Shiva it was almost like a war on two fronts when it came to her self confidence. Though she did appreciate that at least Veronica isn’t actually trying to destroy her. It’s the small things like that which made things more tolerable at best. Now that she was fired up, Summer hoped out of bed and grabbed her twins hand.

Summer:We’re going to glyph train in the garden.

Nick:Right now!? Don’t you wanna rest a little mo-

Summer:Nope! If I’m forced to be in the same area as little miss perfect then she’s gonna see me at my absolute best! *drags him out the room*

Ruby:Poor girl must constantly feel weird about every thought and action in her life. Especially at sixteen.

Saph:It’s no different than Jaune or a couple other of our siblings. Preferences and other things tend to get all added into decision making when you have tight net families and such reliable siblings. It’s nothing to worry about. Don’t tell Jaune I told you but for awhile the girls he tried dating when we were younger sort of looked like us because he thought we were the prettiest.

Ruby:Hey I mean I fell for him hard for awhile and he looks like my dad. I think we all naturally seek out something familiar yet different. Once you accept the fact your taste is little awkward but natural, you laugh about it.

Saph:It’s going to be an hilarious day when she brings a boy home that looks vaguely like Nick and Jaune but doesn’t realize it.

Ruby:I will cackle on the floor for hours. Please don’t speak that into existence.

Saph:*snickering* Remember when she had a crush on Adrian. Telling her they weren’t blood related was the funniest thing ever.

Ruby:I guess it just shows that Arc boys are just too good. No wonder why few are born; too much power is contained in that smile.

Saph:Ain’t that the truth. I really hope Nick and Adrian don’t get into too many shenanigans. Not that I won’t get a good lecture from every woman in our family if they do.

Ruby:They’ll be fine. Then again Nick is half Schnee. That’s a double threat. Schnee’s got their own brand of charm. Just ask my uncle or Jaune.

Saph:*looking at Ruby’s wedding ring* I think you’re forgetting someone.

Ruby:*blushing and smiling* Oh I didn’t want to mention my fantastic husband but if you insist... *pulls out scroll* wanna see our vacation pictures!?

Saph:*rolls eyes playfully* I don’t know how Whitley puts up with you.

Part 1

#rwby #rwby twin snowflakes #summer schnee #nicholas schnee #ruby rose #saphron cotta arc #adrian arc #terra cotta arc #rwby whiteknight #rwby wild rose #saphron arc

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the-necessary-unnecessary · 6 years ago

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hi again 😂😂 i keep send you asked so i hope it's o.k. hard question: surely we need another CF so we can rest viv, if you could pick someone, who would it be?, you need to be realistic cuz as we know viv will play the most minutes.

definitely okay to send me asks, you have interesting insight! Okay so I’ve mulled this one over for a while because its a hard one to get right and joe really has his work cut out here. He might keep insisting that we don’t need another cf as there are players to cover viv and other lineups that would work whilst resting her. I’d honestly like to see Jill play in that position too since she used to be a CF anyways so I’d like to see how she does more in that position. I also wouldn’t totally disregard the academy players Ruby Grant and Melissa Filis from being experimented in a cf position as they’re very attacking midfielders from what it seems.

But if we are to sign another cf basically we need someone who is on the rise and will take the opportunity to play at Arsenal even if she’s not going to get much playing time, someone who isn’t being played much already/ believes they’re going to be played even less because of other signings or someone who is versatile and can also by played as a winger or CAM if necessary. I’m also going to keep it to players who are already in the wsl, my brain can’t think on a global level at the point and honestly if they’re not going to get that many minutes anyway its less likely someone will come from abroad

This is a mix of ideally and realistically. Ebony Salmon, who plays for Bristol City and the england u-19 nt, could be a good option. Yes she just transferred to bristol over the summer so she might not be just ready to leave, but honestly bristol just haven’t been getting the results whilst she’s playing pretty well so might consider her options elsewhere. She is definitely a quality player, scoring 3 out of 6 of Bristol’s goals this season and performing well in the u-19 team. She is young and clearly has a future ahead of her so I’d like to see her in the arsenal squad shadowing viv a bit to begin with whilst simultaneously developing her own skills and play.

A more high profile player who they could sign is Chelsea and England’s Fran Kirby. Still a London team so wouldn’t have to move far/be far from Maren, but may ensure her fractionally more playing time what with Beth England already taking that starting spot and Sam Kerr’s transfer too. She’s well-weathered, she’s smart on the ball, she’s world-renown but doesn’t have too many playing expectations at the moment so would be relatively likely to take on that role at arsenal.

#wow that took a while #there's more options i'd consider but i'm too tired for this rn sorry #the asks #arsenal wfc #fran kirby #ebony salmon #og

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plushgamedev · 5 years ago

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Progress Update - 8/22/2020

Hey, everyone, welcome to the first progress update and character spotlight of Plush! This should give you a basic idea of what these will be like. Remember, the next one is in two weeks - 9/5/2020!

So, with that, here’s the nutshell version for those who don’t want to do extensive reading:

- I’ve finished programming all available plushies and enemies for the demo I’ve been working on!

- I plan on designing maps next; I’m currently in the process of hiring an artist for map-related purposes!

To those who are okay with extensive reading? Read on!

Disclaimer: Any maps in the background of screenshots are being made with placeholder assets.

What I’ve Been Working On

I’ve started working on the demo, which will encompass the first dungeon of the game, the Tenebrous Taiga. I started with the different plushies you can obtain, which will receive spotlights in the future for sure. Plushies will work a little differently in the demo - normally you buy them from a plush store with a separate currency from the one dropped by enemies, but there’s actually no real world segment in the demo from what I have planned, so instead you’ll be getting them with the standard RPG currency!

As shown above, there are seven plushies - Lisanne is our main character. You get Benjamin for free (he’ll be spotlighted next update!), but the others will need to be bought. More details will follow in the future about each plush individually!

I’ve also finished programming each enemy into the demo! There are a total of eight enemies that are planned to appear in the demo - five regular enemies, one miniboss, one boss, and a boss assistant. I can’t say much else other than that right now, but know that they exist - though they may need some rebalancing when I actually playtest the demo fully, they’re at a satisfactory state for now!

Here are the regular enemies. I’ll leave the other three a mystery!

What I Plan To Work On Next

This is an easy one. What good are plushies and enemies without a map to fight on? I’m going to be working on designing the maps for the forseeable future! I have everything planned out for the Tenebrous Taiga, so it’s only a matter of actually transferring it into the game.

That said, I do not have an artist for maps - my current artist, Ioana, focuses on stuff like battle sprites, portraits, and overworld character sprites. I’ve been searching hard for a map artist and have found a few good candidates, so another part of my next step is hiring someone to fit that role! By the next update, I’ll definitely have a new face on board.

Now, then... let’s get to the fun part, shall we?

Character Spotlight: Lisanne Wolfgang

What better character spotlight to start with than of our main character?

Introducing Lisanne Wolfgang, the protagonist of Plush! Lisanne is 12 years old and just starting middle school - she’s had a big imagination ever since she was a kid, and hasn’t let go of it just yet!

Lisanne is as you’d expect a kid to be - sweet, a little naive, but well-meaning and more intelligent than people give her credit for. Her parents are pretty good people too; her mother Beatrix and her father Ulrich take great care of her and she idolizes them... to the point where they’re king and queen in her imagination world.

(Pictured: Lisanne and Mom talking.)

Lisanne is the only party member in the game you have from start to finish. Plush toys have durability - every time they lose HP, their durability drops, and if it hits zero, they’re ruined! But Lisanne is, well, a human being, and isn’t subject to that. As the person who’s there for a long time, I wanted to make her an incredibly versatile party member, and this comes with some unique mechanics!

Using some of Yanfly’s RPG Maker MV plugins, Lisanne has two things that make her easy to customize. The first is a skill learn system; Lisanne can learn skills with items called Pure Crystals that come in three varieties - Pure Rubies, Pure Emeralds, and Pure Diamonds. Those are in order of value - you can get stronger skills with more valuable ones! Lisanne has three different skill trees - physical, magical, and support, so you can build her in one specifically... or build her in all of these; it’s all up to you!

Lisanne starts off a little lacking in options, but you get a Pure Crystal every time you defeat a boss, so you can quickly build her up to be very versatile. You can also obtain them through completing sidequests - and if you have enough money, you can straight up buy them, though you’ll need to find an NPC who can convert them into the more valuable varieties in that case!

The second thing that helps make Lisanne a versatile party member is a stat allocation menu! You can distribute her stats however you’d like, and you don’t need to do anything special to get stat allocation points (”AP”). Just level up and you can pump up her stats as you see fit!

She’s level 1 in this screenshot, so... she doesn’t really have anything to boost in her stats. You’ll have to take my word for it. Using this and the skill learn system in conjunction, you can build Lisanne pretty much however you want; she can work with any plush toy! You can also revert her AP at any time if you’d like to try a different build... though you can’t refund Pure Crystals, so spend them on your skills carefully.

And that’s pretty much all I have for Lisanne! Thank you all for reading, to those who made it this far. Next time, the character spotlight will be on Lisanne’s trusty assistant and the current avatar of this blog, Benjamin!

See you all then, and I hope you continue to enjoy the world of Plush!

#rpg maker mv #devblog #plushgamedev #lisanne #rpg #video games #updates

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lawyergear10-blog · 5 years ago

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Free Online Program.

Is Devops Challenging? Please Note

#toc background: #f9f9f9;border: 1px solid #aaa;display: table;margin-bottom: 1em;padding: 1em;width: 350px; .toctitle font-weight: 700;text-align: center;

Content

ÄHnliche JobsuchezurüCkweiter.

Easy Ways To Be A Reliable Software Program Tester.

An Aim To The Future Of Software Application Testing.

User Interface Designer.

Leading 10 Software Application Testing Courses.

ÄHnliche JobsuchezurüCkweiter.

Which type of software testing is in demand?

Yes, of course, you can learn Selenium without knowing Java. Selenium IDE is a GUI based tool but it works only in Mozilla Firefox. However, if you want to create test cases using Selenium WebDriver, you should know one programming language out of - Java, C#, Python, Perl, Ruby, PHP.

A subreddit for those with concerns about operating in the tech market or in a computer-science-related job. I feel that in Workflow as well as QA you can easily 'burn-out' because of the lengthy hrs and repetitive job. For me development tends to be one of the most 'fun' and also therefore lowers the stress degrees. I don't recognize how difficult QA job is as I've never done it.

Easy Ways To Be An Efficient Software Tester.

Is DevOps easy to learn?

Java language and programming for Selenium Java is a vast language. However, You don't need to learn full features of Java as that's not required for selenium automation testing. You only need to learn a selected portion of Java language. That's a good news.

Experience shows that the optimum length of a test instance is between 3-8 steps. Then you will do every person on your team a huge favor, if you write clean and also thorough insect records. It's great technique to keep every one of your important communication in one place. You will require to take another look at information traded in between you and participants of your group. You will certainly do your future self a support by making it available.

How long does it take to learn software testing?

Many employers look for software tester candidates with a bachelor's degree in computer science, math or engineering, although it's not always required. If you've got a lot of experience, a stable work history and solid references or letters of recommendation, it's possible to land a job without a college degree.

and also new ones are still being produced, one should note that roughly 90% of the concepts one learns in a specific language are likewise suitable to totally different languages. When opleiding java testers knows with the core essentials, establishing comparable skills with another language just boils down to understanding the syntactical nuances. creating or coding automation script, I am expanding a lot more burnt out. # 13) Find out more books, short articles, attend testing meetup and also seminars.

Constantly think of what you can do today to relocate closer to that goal and also act appropriately. Testers are extremely passionate at the start of their professions. But when the discovering curve is filled they start feeling bored. They promptly obtain tired of writing the exact same Pest reports and performing the same test situations repeatedly.

An Aim To The Future Of Software Program Testing.

When you develop an arranged framework to store all of your important information you have the ability to collect the appropriate information and form your testing approach for that task. If you do not have a method to keep this details, after that you will certainly miss vital details.

So, quick responses, supported by smart test automation systems, is going to be essential.

A lot more software is being developed, with a lower obstacle to entry, and faster time to market.

At the very same time, testing will certainly continue to become native to the island across other components of the software program lifecycle process, with fast-evolving devices bringing tests within the reach of a lot more staff member.

While they are frequently still the unsung heroes, the work that QA professionals do is significantly acknowledged for its contributions to DevOps.

You will certainly get advice on real-world software program testing, QA, monitoring, test automation, and also advancement proficiency in a wide variety of software growth firms varying from little to large scale.

You and also the developer need to be honored and also satisfied that what has simply been launched is pest totally free (" ish"), not just you. Eventually, as others have claimed, it's a different sort of anxiety. As QA, I was continuously worried that I missed bugs I should have caught. As a programmer, my anxiety comes from feeling like I should understand how to do something already as well as I don't. That stated, it is completely possible that my anxiety degrees in a dev function are not as high because I. still do not make a great deal of huge decisions.

How can I be good tester?

Robotic Process Automation (RPA): Advances in software and AI world have paved the way for Robotic Process Automation (RPA). It is the most recent technology which has the capability to re-invent the business process management landscape. To know more about RPA's role in the software testing industry.

It is important in this regard to look for some advice and real-world assistance from gamers who have some experience in the field, as well as whose insights can aid you when making that critical pre-development decision. to script code, over time, differences will certainly emerge in between the languages. Consequently, activities that operate well in a specific language could be counter and repetitive user-friendly in a various one.

youtube

Interface Designer.

Growth can be rather difficult during crunch time when you're required to make style concessions as well as provided no time to clean up your work. But it can be a lot of enjoyable, also, which is in fact more frequently the situation for me. It's a GREAT DEAL easier to handle the job anxiety when you recognize the work and also your coworkers. Much easier to reduce, yes, equally as simple to outsource as development is however. QA is only demanding in that you have much less job safety and security than a dev.

I will collaborate with various other devs on my group if I'm unsure concerning a specific means of doing something, or the pros and cons of 2 things that, to me, appear similarly good/bad. I angle speak for QA given that my experience is in dev however from my interactions with them, it definitely does not appear like a cinch. As soon as you begin surrounding deadlines, everybody in the process feels the warm. I've done both, and also I've been burnt out by numerous aspects of each of them.

When your goals as a tester straighten with the goals of the app, you will certainly have the ability to provide significant outcomes. A tester's mindset can indicate the distinction in between discovering the most important insect in the app and finding absolutely nothing. You simply need to choose which response makes the a lot of sense once you comprehend what the inquiry is. You are provided an application, and also you should decide what must be evaluated, what the result should be, and apply a testing technique. You raise the possibility of somebody on your team falling short to carry out a job when you include more actions to an examination situation.

Discuss what they are doing, what they have actually developed, what situations they have taken into consideration, is there anything you can contribute to help them recognize the product much better. # 7) Collaborate with the QA groups from various other projects also.

Leading 10 Software Application Testing Courses.

youtube

Consistency provided by the WebDriver API across languages, simplifies the procedure of porting examination expertise of one language to one more. Examination engineers come to be better assets to their organizations as they can be transferred to any kind of internet project, created in any programs language, and also still have the ability to produce tests for it instantaneously.

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celestialmazer · 5 years ago

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Van Cleef & Arpels Automate Fée Ondine https://youtu.be/I-O5HHflcC4

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https://youtu.be/7B9RltuQiJg

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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/17/fashion/clock-van-cleef-arpels.html

From Van Cleef & Arpels, a Fairy Tableau

By Ming Liu

Jan. 17, 2017

For the past decade Van Cleef & Arpels has been honing its Poetic Complications range, a narrative-based watchmaking collection designed for women.

As Nicolas Bos, the Parisian company’s president and chief executive, explained: “As a jewelry house, we have been telling stories that we feel resonate with feminine tastes. We have colleagues that create fantastic men’s watches — highly technical, very masculine sports pieces — but that is not our world. What we try to do is transfer our identity into the world of watchmaking.”

And making its debut at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie this week is the Fée Ondine automaton, a bejeweled timepiece that is 12 inches high and 15 inches wide. It was about eight years in the making, involving the skills of both in-house artisans and stonecutters, enamel specialists and cabinet makers from about 15 independent workshops.

Their work presents the story of the Fée Ondine, a fairy: A leaf’s movement wakes a sleeping fairy, who watches a water lily bloom and a butterfly dance before she returns to sleep. The sequence is only 45 seconds long but it displays the multiple complex movements of the four elements: The leaf’s trembling, the fairy’s twitching wings and arching neck, the lily’s opening, the butterfly’s rising and, finally, the fairy’s falling back asleep — all heralded by clear, nursery-rhyme-like chimes. “Altogether it’s one single mechanism where everything is intricately linked,” Mr. Bos said.

The design process pushed the house’s creativity, he recalled. “It was different to a piece of jewelry or even a watch. We looked at it like a movie script or story board,” he said. “The thinking was, if we can go from still life to animation, as you would from photograph to a short movie, then there is definitely something to develop that does not really exist in this industry.”

The mechanisms were produced in collaboration with François Junod, an automaton specialist in Sainte-Croix, Switzerland, the birthplace of the music box industry. (“It’s a very tiny village in the middle of the mountains,” Mr. Bos said. “It’s true Switzerland.”)

The automaton showcases the house’s savoir faire. The fairy’s translucent blue wings are the result of plique-à-jour enameling. Her face, much larger than those of the ballerinas in the house’s signature brooches, was a particular challenge. The fairy is the size of a doll, but “you don’t want it to look like a doll,” Mr. Bos said. “The question was how to keep the preciousness.” In the end, an expert lapidarist faceted an aquamarine by eye to suggest a feminine expression.

The whole scene rests on an ebony veneer base with a retrograde-hour movement that has an eight-day power reserve. The hour is indicated by a ruby ladybug crafted in the house’s signature Mystery Setting.

There is one more mystery: Will the Fée Ondine be offered for sale? “It’s been such a long journey,” Mr. Bos said. “My first wish is to see if it triggers interest and emotion. Then we’ll decide.”

Article & image source http://www.thejewelleryeditor.com/watches/article/time-for-fairy-tale-van-cleef-arpels-fee-ondine-automaton/

16 February 2017 by REBECCA DOULTON

Van Cleef & Arpels Automate Fée Ondine

Although the SIHH 2017 was, on the whole, quieter than past editions with restrained offerings and price containment as the prevailing trends, there were some wonderful timepieces on show whose sole mission was to delight and entertain.

The undisputed star of this category was the Van Cleef & Arpels Fée Ondine, a show-stopping high jewellery automaton that had visitors hypnotised. No matter how accustomed we might be to all the electronic wizardry available today, it is refreshing to be enthralled again by the sheer magic of mechanical animation.

From the house of fairies, flowers and butterflies comes this spellbinding bejewelled automaton. The first “Extraordinary Object” from Van Cleef & Arpels, the Automate Fée Ondine comes alive on command as the fairy, sitting on a lily pad, awakens to a chiming melody to admire a fluttering butterfly emerging from the centre of a flower. The spectacle lasts 50 seconds before the butterfly retreats back inside the flower and the fairy returns to her original position.

When activated the scenery of the Van Cleef & Arpels Fée Ondine comes to life: the water lily flower blooms, the fairy awakens and a butterfly rises into the air.

Crafted in white gold, the miniature mechanism that brings the fairy’s limbs to life is hidden from sight. Dressed like a ballerina with a bodice and tutu set with graduated blue sapphires, the fairy’s flapping wings are crafted in translucent plique-à jour-enamel, while her face is represented by a hand-faceted aquamarine stone.

The tutu and bodice of the gold Van Cleef & Arpels Fée Ondine fairy are set with sapphires and diamonds while her wings are crafted in translucent plique á jour enamel.

Van Cleef & Arpels’ famous Papillon brooches were the inspiration behind the high jewellery white gold butterfly. The mechanism allowing the butterfly to take flight is artfully concealed in its body and the wings are exquisitely set with rose-cut diamonds framing the Australian white opal centre, dotted with four pink sapphires.

The white gold butterfly fluttering its wings on the Van Cleef & Arpels Fée Ondine automaton is embellished with white opal, diamonds and pink sapphires.

The part of the animation that enthralled me the most was when the giant green enamel lily pad began to ripple. Composed of 60 blades that have been arranged like a fan, the movement is gently transmitted from blade to blade, creating a smooth rolling motion.

The giant green enamel lily pad ripples with a smooth rolling motion thanks to the 60 blades that are arranged like a fan on the Van Cleef & Arpels Fée Ondine automaton.

A unique work of art, the Fée Ondine is the collaborative effort of many workshops and unites the experience of François Junod, a famous maker of automata, along with the work of stone cutters, stone setters, enamel artists, watchmakers are even cabinet makers.

A unique work of art, the complex mechanism animating the Van Cleef & Arpels Fée Ondine was developed by automata expert François Junod.

In addition to the marvellous spectacle taking place on the lily pad, the Fée Ondine is also a clock and features a retrograde hour display located at the base of the structure. Time is indicated by a delightful ladybird covered with invisibly-set rubies that pops back to the starting point once it has reached 12 o’clock.

The Van Cleef & Arpels Automate Fée Ondine, a show-stopping mechanical high jewellery automaton, drew crowds at the SIHH 2017.

When activated the scenery of the Van Cleef & Arpels Fée Ondine comes to life: the water lily flower blooms, the fairy awakens and a butterfly rises into the air.

The tutu and bodice of the gold Van Cleef & Arpels Fée Ondine fairy are set with sapphires and diamonds while her wings are crafted in translucent plique á jour enamel.

The giant green enamel lily pad ripples with a smooth rolling motion thanks to the 60 blades that are arranged like a fan on the Van Cleef & Arpels Fée Ondine automaton.

The white gold butterfly fluttering its wings on the Van Cleef & Arpels Fée Ondine automaton is embellished with white opal, diamonds and pink sapphires.

A unique work of art, the complex mechanism animating the Van Cleef & Arpels Fée Ondine was developed by automata expert François Junod.

The time on the Van Cleef & Arpels Fée Ondine is indicated by a ladybird invisibly-set rubies, that pops back to the starting point once it has reac

#automaton #van cleef & arpels #jewellery #fairy #fée ondine #nature #mechanical #silver #enamel #gems #lapidary #lily pad #waterlily #ladybird #françois junod #time #clocks #diamonds #opal

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junionigiri · 7 years ago

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Ruby Red and Caramel Ch 7: Bacon and Eggs

Chapter Summary: The one where Katsuki finally tells Momo his pro-hero name.

Relationship(s): Bakugou Katsuki/Yaoyorozu Momo; really minor Shinsou Hitoshi/Monoma Neito

Rating: T

Warnings/Notes: I’m sorry I’m late!!! This was such a struggle to write haha. I hope you like it!!! Also, will add an omake to this chapter soon. If i could hehehe

The memories are hazy because it’s been so long, but Momo remembers odd bits and pieces of that late afternoon: her lying down on her stomach over the plush carpet of her room, notebooks and reference sprawled around her, the perfect image of diligence. However, her eyes are focused on the television set and nothing else. It explains the sour look on Mother’s face as she and a maid comes in with tea and crumpets.

“Momo, dear,” her mother says in a tone that’s as gentle and sharp as a scalpel through anaesthesised skin, “What is this shameless vulgar display they’re broadcasting so early in the afternoon?”

She sits up straight and arranges herself in a more ladylike posture. “They’re highlights from UA’s Annual Sports Festival, already edited and screened by CNN Japan. It is not meant to be vulgar, Mother.”

The reporter describes an unexpected student’s explosive debut, figuratively and literally. She clearly remembers Mother’s scowl, how she can almost taste the disgust in her own mouth. “You are right, Momo. Vulgar isn’t the term. Barbaric is more apt. Watching this, I simply cannot understand your obsession with heroics. I am relieved I talked you out of enrolling for the heroes course, and UA.”

Trying hard not to be too ashamed, Momo argues, weakly: “I… do not think it is barbaric, Mother. I think it’s… fascinating.” Another beat of silence, to regain her courage. “And I think I could have done as well as the other students. Do you know that this year, not one, not two, but three general studies students were able to--”

Mother’s mouth twists bitterly. “Oh, really? So if your father and I had the poor judgment to allow you to accept UA’s Hero Course Scholarship, do you think you would have stood in the same stage as either of those… those ruffians on the screen?”

She looks up. On the screen, a boy with an explosion quirk faces Endeavor’s son at the final one-on-one battle. “I don’t know mother, but I’m sure I would have done well enough to be in the one-on-one tournament...”

She laughs bitterly, making Momo wince. “Really.” A look of disbelief. “I suppose the Todoroki boy is all right. If you want, Father and I can arrange for you two to meet under more… civilised circumstances.”

She shakes her head immediately at that. She hasn’t enjoyed any of the arrangements that her parents have made for her so far. Somehow she feels that if things were different, she and this Todoroki-san could be friends. But definitely not in that context.

Mother takes note of her disagreement and says nothing more about Todoroki. But as to the other UA student: “But can you imagine you and that vulgar blonde boy getting along? Would you be able to trust a person like that with your life? Hero or not?”

Momo shifts her gaze to the television--the boy screams bloody murder at Endeavor’s son to use his fire, using the worst words in the Japanese vocabulary that she knows, and then some.

She keeps silent.

Mother takes this as her cue to reach for the remote and switch the TV off. The room is thrust into heavy silence, one Momo uses to stare down at her hands until her mother lifts her face in her hands.

“Listen, darling,” she says with a cloying smile. “I understand you, I really do. This desire of yours to help others and to dedicate your life to a life of service is surely a reflection of a noble heart…”

She feels a smile growing on her lips.

“... and a naiveté that comes with these… temporary teenage whims.” Mother slaps her cheeks lightly and lets her go, as if to sober her up. She spends a few moments in stunned silence, simmering in her disbelief.

“Mother, it’s not just a phase. I truly want to help people,” Momo reasons, knowing full well that her arguments are null and invalid, because she isn’t in UA’s uniform, she’s in Shiketsu’s, with a General Studies ID around her neck.

“You’ll understand when you get older,” is all Mother says, as she always has. “Leave heroism and altruism for people who can afford to throw their lives away. Momo… you are much too important for that. Much too intelligent, beautiful, valuable-- ”

The girl says nothing, allows her mother to ramble on about their perceived value, how Momo will go on to change the world and how it’s other people who should serve, not the other way around. She reaches out for her tea and wills the words to go in one ear and out the other.

“... and truly, your father and I have big expectations for you,” Mother finishes, looking right into her eyes. “If you were to inherit our corporation, Momo, and our ideals for a beautiful, industrial world, then in a way, you’d be helping more people than you can imagine.”

She smiles politely and nods, because there’s no other acceptable answer in this case.

Mother smiles at her good, obedient girl and nods. She places her science textbook on her daughter’s lap and looks at her meaningfully and leaves. Things are as they should be.

Years later, All Might isn’t getting any better, and villainy is at an all-time high. More and more people get hurt. Less and less highschoolers enroll for hero courses. And her parents get richer and richer and more and more unaffected. There’s actual burning fervor in her chest, so strong it hurts.

You can’t help what your heart wants.

She’ll never be a pro-hero, but she’ll still be someone who helps people. That’s what she tells herself as she opens Shiketsu University’s Website, looks through the accelerated Medicine courses, and fills out the application forms, behind Mother’s back…

As life-changing as they are, Momo never expects to see those clips again for whatever reason, and especially not in these odd circumstances: exhausted and mildly confused on Shinsou Hitoshi’s apartment floor. With Awase Yosetsu sprawled next to her, Midoriya Izuku calming himself down out on the balcony, and Monoma Neito eyeing everything with fox-like eyes, loaded with equal portions of interest and caution.

Shinsou is obviously the most reluctant one about the whole set-up, and not only because of Monoma’s brief tantrum regarding their need to resolve other people’s issues from more than a decade ago, on their rare date night of all nights. Still, the tired man tries his best for all of them. “You wanted to know how we knew each other. This is it.”

The videos from Youtube are thirteen years old, each viewed more than five million times over that period. He showed them all he could about that sports festival--the first race, which Midoriya won without any use of quirks. The Cavalry battle, where they form the team with the highest valued bandanna--a young Kirishima Eijirou at the front, Midoriya and Shinsou at the back, and Katsuki above them, easily dodging and stealing all they could despite the hero course students going after them with all they’ve got. When they draw lots for the final tournament, how the quirkless Midoriya is forced to back out from the one-on-one battles. How easily it seems for Katsuki to overpower the rest of them, making it to the finals to fight to almost win against a young Todoroki Shouto, who refuses to use his fire for whatever reason, until the last moment…

That year is memorable. Three General Studies students beating the hero course students, getting their valuable spots in the tournaments to show off their skills to the whole world. Strangely none of them being transferred to the hero course, despite the clamor from the hero community. The noise and outrage that followed.

It was a big deal for the other General Studies students not only in UA, but also Shiketsu High. And maybe the other schools too. Momo remembers the twinge of hope in her heart, how close she felt to the brash boy on television who showed everyone that there are people who can be heroes outside of the hero courses. That if a wild one like that has come so close, there might be a chance for someone like her who has nothing to step on but her pedestal.

Would you be able to trust a person like that with your life? Hero or not? Mother’s voice sounds from the back of her head, with the same bitterness.

“So… Bakugou was that GS kid who fought Todoroki,” comments Yosetsu, barely able to hide the awe in his voice. “I remember that, too. A lot of us in our high school seriously thought of shifting into a hero course after that. ‘Course, after we heard that none of you made it in the end, a lot of us gave up on that.”

“Yup. Well, not like UA didn’t try to get that bastard to the hero course after that. There were other reasons probably, but Bakugou himself didn’t want to change courses.” Shinsou sighs, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “You have no idea how much I wanted to kick his ass back then.”

Monoma makes a sound of interest. “Now that’s odd. So he acted like a rabid animal in the competition not because he wants to be a hero, but just because he wanted to show off.” His thin mouth curls into a sardonic smile. “That’s… not very heroic, you have to admit.”

“You’re wrong.”

They all look up cautiously as Midoriya comes in from outside. The chill of the night air tickles Momo’s skin as the glass door slides open and shut. When he comes closer, she sees pale, tired skin and slightly reddened eyes. His breath is shaky as he falls next to her--she feels the cold, lonesome and real, emerging around his aura.

Still, the weakened green-haired man looks at Monoma with determination in his eyes. “Kacchan didn’t do all he did because he didn’t want to be a hero… even though it’s what he wanted from the start, it’s because he knew he couldn’t be, and--”

“Midoriya,” Shinsou says, voice cutting through his ramble like a warning.

Midoriya inhales, closes his eyes for some semblance of control. “It’s… okay, Shinsou-kun. I won’t.”

They stare at him carefully, as carefully as one stares at a pile of bricks on the verge of collapse. Momo reaches out, touches him on the shoulder, for whatever good it does. She meets green eyes.

“It’s okay. I’m okay,” he manages, after a worrisome beat of silence. “I owe you guys a lot of apologies and explanations huh? I’m sorry,” he says bashfully, giving an awkward laugh that’s meant to reassure them, but obviously does the opposite for his cautious audience.

“You sure, dude?” Yosetsu says carefully. “I mean we’re here ‘cause we’re worried about you and we can listen if you want to talk, but you really don’t owe us anything, y’know?”

Yes, because the story between him and Katsuki doesn’t seem like a short one, or a simple one. Even if he doesn’t say a word, Momo has a good guess of the turmoil in the pit of his stomach, based on the anxious glimmer of his eyes--the pain, the fear. The guilt. She doesn’t know why there would be guilt there, but she’s sure it’s there like a rusty bullet wedged in his heart for the past decade.

“Thank you, Awase-kun,” Midoriya says with a sniffle. He shifts his gaze at Momo then, opens his mouth slowly and hesitantly before he speaks. “You and Kacchan… I mean, I’m sorry if I’m wrong, but I just had that feeling earlier…”

The only one who dares to do anything else but to remain in awkward silence is Monoma, who appears both carefully cunning and disinterested when he breaks it after a moment. “Better not go there, Midoriya-kun. One awful sob story at a time.”

That earns him a glare from Yosetsu. Momo isn’t offended, though, because he’s right.

Midoriya makes a sound of understanding, and doesn’t ask any further questions. Instead, he tells her, “I feel like… there’s lots of things you don’t understand about Kacchan. And maybe among all of us here, you’re the one who needs to know about what happened to him the most. And that’s why...”

Another beat of silence. Midoriya inhales again, and it still comes out as a shaky breath.

“... that’s why, I should apologize.” Out of nowhere, he bows his head low, much to everyone’s surprise.

“Why?” Momo asks, after a stunned silence. Her hand reaches out to touch him again in a show of reassurance.

“Because… it hurts too much.” He doesn’t immediately look up, making her wonder if he bowed his head to avoid meeting her eyes any more. When he does, he’s struggling to keep his eyes dry again, so much so that Monoma stands up and leaves, presumably to find tissues. “I thought about it a lot, and… I’m not ready to tell you guys what happened. I thought I would be by this time--it’s stupid, isn’t it, it’s been fourteen years, but I’m scared… scared that you guys will hate me, and--”

“Midoriya,” Shinsou repeats quietly, more gently this time. “It’s okay. Don’t force it.”

“Yeah. If you’re not ready, you’re not ready.” Yosetsu says, although it’s obvious that he’s a little down for not being able to learn anything new.

He wipes his eyes against the back of his hand and looks meaningfully at Momo. “I’m… really sorry, Yaoyorozu-san.”

Something at the back of Momo’s mind itches and spasms and bleeds as she wonders what could have happened to those two, for this amount of guilt and pain from memories that should be gathering dust to still hang over their heads and not heal properly for the past fourteen years. Still, she understands as much. It may be a story she needs to hear, but it isn’t Midoriya’s story to tell.

She nods at him quietly and stands up, much to the surprise of everyone else in the room. “It’s all right, Midoriya-san. After all, Awase-san is correct. You don’t owe us anything.”

Yosetsu scrambles to his feet, intending to follow her out of the apartment, but she holds a hand up, stopping him in his tracks.

Everyone else looks at her face in awe, surprised maybe at how different it may have appeared then. She doesn’t know. She doesn’t feel that different. Just… oddly empty, maybe, because despite seeing all those videos of their childhood and listening to Shinsou’s drawl and Midoriya’s apologies, at the end of the day… she still doesn’t know Katsuki.

Not in the way that she needs to, at least. And the answers will never be found here.

She thanks everyone with a deep bow, and leaves Shinsou’s small apartment. The only sound she hears as she leaves is a confused inhale, and the curious mewl of the old tabby cat who has been lounging about the entryway.

Later, she finds herself staring at the ceiling of her condominium unit. But instead of the unbearable jumble of irrational thoughts that plagued her for the days past, she returns to the most rational ones of them, and attempts to form a solid, concrete answer:

What can she do for Bakugou Katsuki?

The days go on as they ought to, divided into neat eight-hour segments when he needs to drink his meds. Irritatingly quiet on the outside, a chaotic mess inside.

He still isn’t sleeping well. Those anger issues aren’t going anywhere, and are louder when he’s by himself and more fucked up than usual. If he allowed himself to drink or to fuck himself up further with drugs, he supposes that he’d always be on the verge of shutting down his brain and the rest of his body. Still, he doesn’t have enough of a will to do even that, and instead struggles with himself and his endless cycle of self-blame until it’s 5 AM and it’s time to run again.

Another morning, not that different from any other morning. Nothing but empty streets and diminishing darkness and cold air for company. Until, of course, the sun rises, and they inevitably run into each other again.

It’s not everyday that it happens, but when it does, he finds himself crossing paths with Yaoyorozu Momo. And the past few mornings, she regards him coldly, dark eyes sharp and focused. As she ought to, he supposes. If he were in her shoes, apart from giving in to the urge of kicking his ass, he won’t even give a fuck.

But she does anyway--give a fuck, that is--and it’s baffling. Whether she’s alone, or with someone else, like that skull guy, that chick with big hands. That shitty glasses guy who went to UA too, back in the day. That fucker with the headband, and he swears he could have beaten his head in if he didn’t have to act so fuckin’ apathetic. (Good thing it was just that one fuckin’ time, because that guy seems to be holding himself back too).

She’d say “good morning,” and he’d grumble it back. They’d run for a few quiet meters in awkward silence, and without missing a beat, she’d declare with that uncharacteristic strong voice of hers:

“Let’s race, Bakugou-san.”

He doesn’t know why he lets her goad him into it. Maybe it’s as simple as him feeling bored, or maybe because having something else to focus on other than his self-hate actually might be doing him good. Still, he hates that it’s as simple as insinuating that he’s too afraid to lose, for her (or anyone else, for that matter), to get him to indulge her and her weird-ass whims.

The race tracks are different each time--sometimes it’s around the quiet, sleeping neighborhood, or the almost empty park, or the empty shopping mall parking lots. The conditions are always the same, though: whoever loses has to do whatever the winner wants.

And it’s fucking stupid as shit because by all accounts, Katsuki should win, dammit. He’s stronger and faster and angrier than anyone else no matter how early in the day it is, meaning he deserves the shallow victories, as meaningless as they may be. After his first loss that fateful morning, he figured that there’s no way he’d lose this time because he knows how to use his quirk to fly from point A to point B.

But to his surprise, Momo has learned to play dirty . There could be a sidestreet or some shortcut that Katsuki didn’t know about, so that she’d be at the finish line with a smug smile on her face as he explodes and curses his way to her. There could be officers nearby who’d catch anyone using their quirks. (Momo’s is subtle, and Katsuki’s and the other extras’ is not, and it’s obvious that they’d arrest an exploding man first before they do a girl on a hoverboard.) One time, she made and threw weights-- fuckin’ 10 kg weights!!!-- at him and Glasses, who both catch them with surprised yelps and just barely manage not fuckin’ die from almost being hit on the head.

Needless to say, despite all the protests of her ‘unsportsmanlike-conduct’, as Glasses so often berates her, Yaoyorozu Momo is the undisputed, slightly thinner victor for the past consecutive mornings. And because of that, she’d always have free breakfast care of her bitchass friends if they’re there, and she’d corner him, staring him down with those searing hot sharp raven eyes of hers.

Everytime she asks, she pauses and takes a deep breath and he feels like dying a little.

“Where did you grow up?”

“What did you take for pre-med? Which university?”

“What are your parents’ names? Do you have any brothers and sisters?”

“Where did you learn how to cook?”

Katsuki, predictably sore from all the losing he does (because honestly, each time he does she’s the one who looks like she’s about to die from exhaustion, so how the fuck does she keep winning?!), gives her clipped answers through grit teeth: Shizuoka. Biology. UA Medical University. The old hag is Mitsuki, and the old man’s Masaru. I’m a fuckin’ only child, do I look like I could be anythin’ else.

I just learned, it’s not that hard.

She nods each time, with a cold and clinical gaze in those raven eyes like she’s interviewing a patient before she puts them to sleep and cuts them open. Difference being, she gives clipped answers of her own, as if he asks her the same inane questions too: I grew up in Nagoya. I took an accelerated course in medicine in Shiketsu University. My parents are named Ichiro and Sara. I don’t have any siblings either.

And yes, cooking is hard. I can’t cook anything.

Katsuki smirks at that, but keeps his rude comments to himself. They aren’t that rude, but they aren’t close enough that he can poke fun at her anymore. Even though they’re playing this stupid twenty questions shit at the risk of Momo’s life.

Instead, he says, “You can learn a lot just from watching other people fuck around. That’s what I did. My old man may be lame, but he knows his shit when it comes to the kitchen.”

Not exactly the most earth-shattering of discoveries about him, but it makes Momo widen her eyes and step back a little. “Oh. So you learned from Masaru-san,” she says, after a stunned silence.

Ah. He didn’t need to say that, did he? He… didn’t want to just volunteer free info about him, not now that Momo wants to work her ass to the bone for each tidbit and at this point he just wants to see how far she’s willing to go.

He plays it off like it’s nothing, though, and shrugs. “Yeah, what about it?”

A small, pretty smile on her lips, as she says: “You two must be close.”

His mouth goes tch as she continues to look amused. He looks away, controls the twitch of his stupid hands wanting more. So it is possible to miss someone, even though they’re standing next to you.

Stupid as fuck. He pushes those sappy thoughts to the back of his mind. As always, she takes the next moment of silence to take her leave politely, with nothing but a wave of her hand and the swish of her ponytail that he watches until it disappears in the distance.

After every encounter, he gives in to an aggravated sigh, wonders why he bothers, and why the weight feels less… heavy, each time. He then goes home as the sun rises behind him.

In the relative, but annoying-as-fuck quiet that comes after each encounter, Katsuki finds himself thinking of Momo even more than before, and under an entirely different light. Never mind that he was already thinking of her more than what he thought was humanly possible, everyday, since the day he caught her gaping at him like a fish outside of his cafe.

Besides her raven eyes and pale skin glowing with the early morning sun, her words and glare and that challenging upturn of her mouth, one that he’s never seen before, pushes into his thoughts without his consent. He’s going insane figuring out what the hell she’s thinking. She really isn’t allowed to smile like that in front of him again, but she does almost every fuckin morning. He can’t say that he’s sick of it, but it can’t be that healthy if his mind keeps attempting to whir itself out of his head every time.

Despite the intrusive thoughts, Katsuki slogs through the days, goes through the same angry motions--goes to the cafe, opens it up. Says his daily expletives to Ears, and then Pikachu when the blonde arrives five minutes late than he should have. Fills out order forms and does accounting shit and makes coffee and pasta and tries not to glare too much at all the dead-inside customers coming and going, gaping at the displays in interest. He is surprised that he’s able to do it at all, given how intrusive his thoughts have been.

“Baku-boss. Something happen?” asks Jirou after the fourth or fifth encounter. Discerning triangle eyes are on him as she makes a cappuccino with practiced hands, barely needing to look at what she’s doing.

He doesn’t answer, just glares at her like her nosy ass deserves.

Jirou gives him a look that’s disinterested enough to reassure him that yes, she understands that it’s none of her business. But the way those ear-jack things are floating in the air tells him otherwise. “Just wondering. You’re a lot less angry today. But kinda fucked-up in a different way. Kinda hard to explain.”

It’s not that fuckin’ hard to explain. He’s always fuckin’ angry and always kinda fucked-up. Just ask his so-called friends, except that shitty fuckin’ ass Deku--no scratch that, that stupid green perm-head isn’t a friend anymore, if Katsuki, even in his years of tolerating him through high school and college and med school and residency, ever considered him as one. (And that’s a big if.)

Being distracted by a certain neurosurgeon’s stupid stunts is entirely different. But Fuckin’ Ears doesn’t need to know that. He goes about arranging the pastries on display as angrily as he can, gives her a glare only threatening enough to stop any other stupid insinuations from forming in her mouth.

That forced, bored look on her face not leaving, she goes back to work. Katsuki doesn’t miss the little knowing smirk ghosting over her mouth though. Like she’s reading his mind and sees nothing but raven hair and that goddamned smirk and the gajillion anger management issues shoved to the sidelines, suddenly and jarringly muted.

If she did, she doesn’t say anything about it. “Meds,” is the only thing she says to him on that shift, dumping a tablet into his palm, matching his glare with one of her own. God, she and everyone else are too much like the fuckin’ old hag when it comes to his medicines. Fuckin’ annoying.

He growls, but obliges more easily than he has the past few days. Jirou is mildly surprised, but takes this development with a small, relieved raise of the eyebrows.

The days go on.

It’s a quiet and early Sunday morning when Momo blearily opens her eyes and sees the light shimmering through the trees above her, and feels grass and soil under her fingernails and her bareback. Her head throbs. Her arm is just strong enough to reach out to hold on to it.

“The fuck, Momo. You wanna die, or something?”

The familiar gruff comes from a warm source next to her. She turns her head slowly and looks up to meet burning red eyes, quietly waiting for her to come to.

When she speaks, her voice is wobbly and she knows she’s pushed herself to the limits of a quirk that she doesn’t challenge enough. “What happened?”

“You fuckin’ passed out, is what. After tryin’ to make a fuckin’ mountain bike out of your skinny ass. Jesus, and I thought I was reckless.”

He’s leaning against the tree, one arm resting on a flexed knee, bare skin steaming under the shade. His body radiates warmth and sweetness and musk--a sudden but not unwelcome assault on Momo’s just-awakening senses, one that makes her struggle with her memories of a few moments ago.

“Did I win?”

He snorts. “‘Course not. If you think you can, with that piece of shit you made over there, I’d like to see you try.”

He gestures to the monstrosity, which is only half a mountain bike. The handlebars and the front wheel came out fine, but the rest of it is soft and rapidly dissipating, made of raw fat dripping on the pavement. Momo winces.

“All right,” she concedes, rolling over to her side to try to face him. She can’t lift her head, though, and when she speaks it’s facing the soft grass. “You win this time.”

“This fuckin’ chick almost dies and talks as if she just let me win. The hell.” He scowls, but a wheezy chuckle escapes from him. “You really are somethin’ else, Momo.”

“Mm.” The sunlight hits her eyes. She shifts her head into the shade, closer to his side, tries to form a coherent or rational thought. She blankly thinks of why she did this, why she thought it was a good idea to challenge him over and over, just for the crumbs of his true identity to be given to her out of his own accord. How she came to the conclusion that all Katsuki will respond to is a good fight. The lengths she has to go through, to prove that she’s strong and he’s strong and that she wants to know him beyond his wounds and weaknesses and how she wants him to know her beyond the pathetic side she’s shown so far.

She can’t, though. Not when again, she’s shown her pathetic side to him. Still, she’s too weak to feel ashamed. All she wants now is to sleep next to his warmth. She’s dizzy. It’s been so long since she had a warm morning like this...

She hears him sigh above her head. One of those searing hot hands make its way to her cheek, slapping it awake. “You need to get up and go home and eat something. Or else you’ll actually die.”

He’s right, because the weakness and dizziness in her body might be from the beginnings of hypoglycemia and dehydration from overusing her quirk, but she doesn’t move. Her eyes don’t want to stay open, and all she manages is a whine.

“Fuckin’ hell. Ain’t a request, doc. It’s an order. Since you lost.” She feels his absence from her side when she stands up, and then the ground’s absence as she feels herself lifted to her feet.

Strong, solid arms go above her and round her shoulder as he dresses her in his discarded hoodie. The shift in position and the sudden proximity wakes her up enough to stand with some support. She looks at his side, and he looks back, one eyebrow raised and mouth in a scowl, quietly asking her if she’s ready.

She nods, and together they shuffle out of the kind shade of the tree, out of the park, and back into the empty city streets.

The walk to her condominium unit usually takes ten minutes, but Momo feels the moments stretch and shrink and dwindle, so that she isn’t sure if they’re too long or too short. It’s been so long since she feels his touch on her, so close, too close, and she isn’t sure if it’s the right that she feels it now, when she feels that she hasn’t done enough, known enough.

Still, her cheeks redden and her chest trembles and her heart beats in anticipation. She curses her body for responding to his proximity so shamelessly.

Eventually, they make it to her unit. Katsuki brings her across the threshold of her own home without hesitation, carefully lets her collapse onto the couch. He gives her a bottle of juice, which she quietly accepts. She’s grateful for the comfort and softness, but immediately wanting of warmth as he leaves her to disappear in the kitchen.

She wonders if it’s improper to remain so quiet to not say a word since their departure from the park. The whole situation took a turn that she hasn’t prepared for. So she shyly listens to the sounds he makes--the whoosh of the flame of her unused stove, cracking eggshells, the crackle and pop of oil on the pan.

He works fast. In minutes, he comes back with a meal that’s simpler than the ones he’d made for her before, but no less appetizing--bacon, eggs, and leftover rice fried in garlic, presented neatly in a Hermes bowl with a pair of chopsticks.

“Eat,” he says, in that demanding tone she hasn’t heard for a long while, making something in her chest flutter. She shakily and carefully takes the bowl and mumbles her thanks.

“What about you?”

He raises an eyebrow at her. “Your kitchen’s fuckin’ empty, Momo. Even if I wanted to eat, ain’t much I can do with a half-eaten croissant and instant noodles. Fuckin’ nasty stuff. I thought you of all people would be above eatin’ that shit.”

She bought those noodles from Don Quixote one evening when she felt especially suffocated. It was more of an experiment than anything. She doesn’t have the strength to explain those trivial things to him, though, and focuses on eating her food instead.

As expected, breakfast is lovely. The bacon is crispy, but not burnt. The eggs are fried perfectly. She didn’t expect that leftover rice in garlic would taste so appetizing, with unexpected crystals of rock salt in the furikake making her want to eat more and more. The words form at the tip of her tongue as she chews.

But as much as she wants to gush about his food, like she does with confidence before, the overwhelming shyness prevails. “This is very good, Katsuki. Thank you,” she says, as she is halfway done.

“‘Course it is,” he grumbles, as it always does. But today the usual pride in his voice is markedly absent.

“Of course,” she repeats, with a quiet smile.

She continues picking at the rice grain by grain, listening to the sound of birds and traffic outside. Sunshine leaks through the windows, casting everything in its too-bright warmth. Dust dances and settles in between the loaded silence, as he watches her in an oddly loaded silence.

And then, as she places a mangled strip of eggwhite in her mouth: “King Explosion Murder.”

She freezes mid-chew and stares at him with more bafflement than anything else. He has his arms crossed in front of him, shoulders leaning forward, red eyes on her and nothing else, pressuring her to understand.

She gives him a look that tells him plainly that she doesn’t, and it’s odd of him to say gibberish out of nowhere when he’s usually so blunt and direct to the point. This amuses him greatly, but he continues: “You asked before. That would have been my hero name, if I had gone pro. I thought of it when I was in middle school.”

She blinks and swallows her food hastily. Before she can go oh, he keeps on talking.

“I was going to be the first one from our middle school to get into UA Heroics. I had the quirk, the money, the paperworks, the glowing recommendations, everything.” He exhales, as if he just held his breath pulling a splinter from his side. “I… wanted to be better than All Might. Do you remember him?”

“Everyone does,” Momo answers softly. It would be hard to forget a hero, no… a man like him. All the sacrifices he made, up until that day when…

Katsuki nods, and this time the look in his eyes is different. His eyebrows crease, his hands shake, his breaths become a little unsteady.

The silence that follows stretches for far too long, and Momo feels the need to place the bowl down and to come closer to him. She embraces him, because he lets her. And she suspect he lets her so that she won’t be able to see his face, as he struggles to continue.

“It was me,” he says, when his strong shoulders shake precariously, and she starts stroking his back. “On that day, when that fucking monster attacked, I died, and then he…”

She closes her eyes and remembers that story: All Might, the then-symbol of peace, saves a child from a villain with a quirk that makes his flesh turn to parasitic sludge, by using his limited strength reserves and then letting himself be the villain’s host, defeating it from the inside out. The unnamed child, who gave in from the prolonged asphyxiation that came with the delayed rescue, had to be given CPR by his friend before he was revived.

Along with All Might, they were sent to a nearby hospital and treated aggressively. But modern medicine and limited manpower can only do so much. The child recovered, although had permanent damage. The same cannot be said for the Symbol of Peace, who has regressed to a weakened skeleton, only having the strength to call out to his successor before he succumbed to a coma that lasted for years…

The harrowing incident shook the country. Many pro-heroes realized that the danger they’re facing is bigger than they’ve ever imagined, and many resigned. So did a lot of kids in the hero courses. Years after, the number of hopeful children in hero courses dwindled, and only revived recently with the rise of Endeavor.

Is this the burden that he’s been carrying all along? Momo had hoped that everything would make sense for her one day, but she never imagined that the truth would be so heavy and painful to hear. She immediately understands why he’s been so afraid, all this time: just hearing this made Momo’s entire soul heavy. She’s sure that he doesn’t want that burden on anyone else.

But somehow… here he is, deciding that maybe… maybe, she can handle the truth. Not because he wants her pity. Not because he pities her. But because things are what they are, and maybe it’s the right time and place to admit these uncomfortable truths to themselves.

So Momo accepts his words. Accepts him--the angry boy on TV, the complicated man in her arms. She thinks she always had, in a way.

“It’s all right. I’m here,” she whispers when Katsuki is unable to say another word.

On another morning, no different from any other morning, Momo crosses paths with Katsuki again.

She’s alone. As is he, but it’s pointless to say so because he always runs alone. It’s been a week since they last saw each other. It may have been entirely an accident that they’ve waited that long to see each other’s faces again. She finds it a relief, then, that his carries the same mild irritation that it always has.

She regards him quietly with a nod and a polite smile, and continues her jog. He falls in next to her quite naturally, the thudding of his feet going along with her rhythm, the heavy sound of it echoing lightly along the dim streets.

Three minutes of this comfortable silence pass before she hears his gruff voice beside her: “Race me.”

She turns to him curiously. In between rapid breaths, she asks, “The same as usual?”

“No.” He turns to the direction of a main boulevard, three kilometers up an incline in a straight line. Security cameras and other early morning joggers pollute the side, as do the sparse early morning traffic. “No quirks, no tricks. Just you and me and the street.”

She isn’t going to win this because there’s no way to outsmart him under such conditions. Still, she might as well try.

They start the race, and as expected Katsuki becomes a blonde-and-black blur, zooming forward like a stray bullet. Momo runs as fast as she can, fast enough that her chest and her heart feels like exploding and all her muscles are cursing her for this exercise in futility.

When she sees the end of the road, she sees him slow down to a half-jog, turning around to finally face her with a victorious grin on her face.

She feels like fainting herself, but she manages to run to him and return his smile, in between gasps for air. “Congratulations, Katsuki. You finally won.”

“Fuck yeah I won, Princess. Time to pay up,” he replies. It’s unfair that he doesn’t appear as exhausted as she feels. But she supposes, after all the hard work she put him through for the past week or so, he’s earned this one.

“All right,” she says, willing her heart and breathing to slow down. Even though it’s really hard to do so, given the way he’s stepping into her space, big and heavy and fierce with all his heat emanating off his skin. He doesn’t touch her, but she feels the steam and the burn from where she stands.

He hasn’t been this close in a while. She’d almost forgotten how it feels to have those eyes so close to hers, how she has to fight the urge to relinquish her control and to give in to whatever he desires.

She hates how it’s her body that remembers first, though. Goosebumps rise and shivers go up and down her spine when he reaches out and lets his hand hover over shoulder, down her collar bone, along the side of her neck, before settling on her chin. She has to close her eyes, and barely keeps herself from shuddering when she feels his thumb rub against the suddenly sensitive skin there, making it tingle with nitroglycerin.

“Momo… stop this shit,” he murmurs. His breath is warm against her ear when he leans forward and continues. “I’m sorry for fucking up. For everything. You don’t have to do this anymore. Whatever you want to know, I...”

He’s never sounded so tender before. There’s really no other appropriate response to his apology, but to accept it.

Momo opens her eyes, and smiles. Wordlessly, she takes his hand into hers and puts it in between them, fingers entwining easily and naturally. She nods.

He smiles at her, and nods back.

After that, they walk the familiar streets of Hosu, hand-in-hand, quiet and comfortable and calm. The sun has just begun to rise behind the sleepy buildings of a Sunday morning when they reach Momo’s condominium. So this is where we say goodbye , she wants to say, when she turns from her open door to face him.

But she doesn’t get a chance to get a word out. Her breath stops when she feels his lips on hers and his burning grip on her arms.

He isn’t forceful at all with this kiss, and that surprises her more than the action itself. Momo doesn’t think that he’s capable of gentle movements like this. But his grip on her borders between patience and impatience, of control and pure impulse.

It lasts for a few seconds, but when he pulls back and makes her aware of the growing space between them, she feels that it’s both a moment too long and short.

“Katsuki,” she whispers.

He stares at her as if he’s surprised of what he did, too. But he clearly doesn’t regret it, not by the upturn of his mouth. “Been a while,” is all he says, as he steps back.

She doesn’t let him.

Gripping her hands in the front of his shirt, she pulls him in for another kiss, a hungry and more desperate one, one that tells him clearly just how long ‘a while’ has truly been without him. And as he returns it with the same fervor, he finds himself out of the hallway and past the threshold of her home.

He closes and locks the door behind them.

#ruby red and caramel #bakumomo #bakugou katsuki #yaoyorozu momo #deku midoriya #shinsou #monoma neito #awase yosetsu #really minor monoshin #cafe/hospital au #gosh this chapter made me lose a lotta hair

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iamconstantine · 7 years ago

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RWBY Episode 4 I Need to Speedrun this Series Cuz I have to run through my dashboard to avoid spoilers

* Nora. The Energetic. The Bubbly. The Adorable. * Have I mentioned that bubbly-and-somber duos are always favs of mine? * Nora definitely has a crush on her BFF, right? * I think I red somewhere else that Ren is based off of Mulan (I think?) but I don’t remember who Nora is based off of. I think it was the valkyrie or Thor or something Norse (as I was writing this I just realized Norse = Nora. heeheheheheh) * Does “Lie Ren” have a name meaning behind it, I wonder? * Ruby’s little “heeeeuahge” when she hugs Crescent Rose. * I can kind of see where Yang is coming from. Like if my sibling got into the same thing I was in, I actually might not want them to in my group. To be honest I’d probably feel like I’m not allowed to 100% be myself around them because I’d have to A) make extra sure I don’t do something embarrassing and B) Never Do Anything Wrong Ever or they’ll be upset * I’ve heard Miles Luna before and I’m very confused as to how he manages to voice Jaune * Also is there a word to describe the Typical Awkward Geek’s Slightly High-Pitched and Scratchy Voice? * I have no idea but I really like Pyrrha’s voice. I really cannot explain it, it’s just nice to listen to. * “D’oh stop it” This poor functionless boy * I actually like that instead of the popular student with such high skill being an Aloof Jerk Who Thinks They’re Better Than Everybody Else, she’s genuinely outgoing and friendly and doesn’t seem to be talking down to anyone. * “I’m sorrry :(” God bless you Pyrrha * Also I like that Ruby helps Jaune out I was afraid she was going to be like “nevermind this guy’s too awkward to be friends with :\” for a second there * "heard the rumors about teams?” I don’t quite understand this line. It’s a total nitpick but I was under the impression that teams were just a known fact of Beacon * Ozpin: Or you will die. Nora: :D * I am just slightly discomfited by this being one of those fantasy monster-slaying schools where the adults never intervene. Like if one of the teens gets murdered are they just going to tell their parents “Nothing could be done” “You were standing right there why didn’t you help them?!” “Ehhhhhh” * Basically I get that it’s supposed to be like “the students have to learn for themselves because Hunting is a business where you can’t call on others to help you” but I hope it doesn’t cross a line into “The teachers just straight up don’t care about their students” * I forgot that all humans have anti-gravity powers in this ‘verse so this launch thing is basically just birds learning how to fly by falling out of nests * I didn’t know Monty actually voiced a character in the series :0 but I guess that makes sense sense Miles voices Jaune * I’m not sure if this can be counted as a complaint or not, but the episodes have a bit of slow pacing. Like they’re nice and enjoyable but I feel like this one and the last one could have been combined (assuming, of course, that this isn’t like “we have to release them in small parts or we’ll run out of stuff to release” * I noticed 2 other guys on the launch pads who were unnamed but weren’t black silhouettes so I assume we will meet them eventually * I take it that Beacon is like a “final two years of high school” type of place because it seems that everyone else transferred from some other place * Overall these episodes feel like a prologue series? Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but if the episodes were released in full 20-30 minute episode I feel like all the ones I’ve seen so far would have been the first episode since they’re setting everything up

#rwby #my thoughts

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countessofbiscuit · 7 years ago

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Dollface

For @celebrate-the-clone-wars’ Writing Wednesday Prompt “Your Reputation Precedes You” Rating: M Words: 2414 Inspired by The Adventures of Doll Rex.

(If there isn’t a 69′s in a universe with a 79′s, I’m calling bs)

Having spent themselves silly, the boys in blue who’d brought the house down were long gone, and 69’s grew dull again. The exhibitionism continued, sure, the dancing was always pleasing in a kind of mindless way, and when things got really boring, the massage droid in the break room had a lekku setting that induced comas—it was almost enough to make a showgirl consider marriage.

But the circus this wasn’t. There used to be wardrobe brawls and stampeding reeks and everything. The only adrenaline high to be had here was shaking up assholes who tried to stiff her colleagues until their credits and their shame fell out. A civilian crime, and a dwindling one. The soldiers never did that. Ursula fleeced them for admittance—the bigot—then got mad when the staff stretched the poor sods’ pocket change by giving them free drinks because they were polite and very, very pretty. Oh they made noise. Lots of it. But they viciously policed their own and didn’t put their hands where they shouldn’t. And not just because they thought they might get charged.

They were … “shiny.” And two meters of broad, blood-red Twi might scare the shit out of anybody whose first experience with boobs was two hours ago and three levels up, when they got squished against someone on the dance floor or got flashed by a waitress.

Hence the boredom of a somewhat self-conscious girl who doesn’t like working a room for tips.

“Lala, that’s for you,” chirps Diohn when Laa’let returns from the freshers.

She stops fidgeting with her bra and rebuilding circuses in the sky and glances at the Zabrak bartender. Diohn points at the counter, then returns to digging through the mixer chiller.

A doll is sitting on the end of the bar.

It’s propped up around a bright red cocktail, looking stupidly drunk, resting its chin on the rim of a glass about as wide as its comical face. Laa’let narrows her eyes at the arrangement. A clone. She recognizes the little flared skirt and shoulder decoration—and the golden top of one of those boys in blue. She scans the club for any that fit the description, but it’s just a throbbing sea of maroon sweats and crumpled greys, with a shrinking handful of businessmen pressed against the edges of the room; the only troopers in plates are the wrong color, and most of them are sitting along the rack, where they’ve figured out that two shoulder wings promise some seriously advanced recon—a much more exciting and personal show than anything happening at the bar.

“Who?” asks Laa’let.

“Didn’t see,” Diohn shrugs from inside the chiller, “they just left credits. And a note.”

Laa’let slides up towards the drink, ignoring the vulgar garnish—a cherry shoved in between a split taffy stem. The script is very regular, but the napkin is torn on the angles, like they couldn’t get the pressure right:

For the Ruby Rancor ♥

She grates the sharp tips of her teeth together. “You said you wouldn’t make it a drink.”

“I didn’t! I swear!” Diohn takes her own dulled molars to the cap of a bottle and spits it in the trash. “But you should stop fighting it. It’s definitely caught on.”

“Then what’s with this,” Laa’let says. It’s not just the garnish that’s offensive. Diohn’s clearly chosen her most bulbous glass, and she must have some campari, premixed to the perfect shade, chilling in a jug somewhere.

“That’s just me doing my fucking job. Now you should do yours.”

Diohn won’t share her tips forever, but Laa’let has her limits. Maybe too many of them for this career. “It’s not my job to talk to dolls.”

“Talking to cute faces with nothing but stuffing between their ears? I’d say that’s definitely in your contract. Roll out some carnival tricks.”

Laa’let’s lekku stiffen. “Circus. And I was a fucking acrobat.”

“Whatever. There’s still an audience—and maybe they’ll tip.”

It’s not an audience if you didn’t invite it, she refrains from saying, it’s an embarrassment. Too much like real life. With a frown, Laa’let swipes the drink, and the doll flops face down onto the chromium counter. Pathetic.

“Hand me that,” she says, snapping her fingers at an open bubblezap bottle.

Diohn giggles and swiggs the dregs. “Awww, someone’s had one too many!”

Laa’let maneuvers the doll into a seated position against the bottle, mindful of the oversized head. Its eyes are fixed off to the side, as if deliberately avoiding her boobs. “I need to get on his level. Is this a double?” she asks, stirring the drink once with the garnish.

One of Diohn’s liberal shots cascades over her peach fingers as she preps a line of Fuzzy Yodas—frothy, green, and strong enough to make you talk backwards. “You’ll have a nice time. I promise.”

Laa’let pulls out one of the lethris barstools and drops onto it. She hates sitting on these chairs. They’re sticky and undersized, like everything else here—even the ceiling is too low to accommodate her best tricks on stage. It’s maddening to be reduced to pantomime, the feeling of holding herself by halves, but Diohn’s right. She’s still a consummate performer, she’s still on the clock, and she’s still fucking broke.

“So,” Laa’let begins, taking a long sip that melts her sinuses and makes her damn nipples hard, “I’m new to this job and don’t have a lot of conversation up my sleeve, so do you want tragic backstory or tragic backstory?”

The little soldier makes big eyes at the turquoise Togruta on stage, but doesn’t indicate a preference.

“Tragic backstory it is. You might think it all started when my parents sold me to some charlatan in a travelling circus. Or when my growth spurt went on two years too long and I couldn’t get health insurance—did you know organs over a meter long are considered a pre-existing condition?”

She’s got her lekku draped over her shoulders and she shakes the tip of one in the little soldier’s face.

“Speciesist, I know. Free Porn Taa is laughably small in every department, so it’s not a priority for him. And the Togs aren’t represented in the Senate—not that healthcare is a priority there either.”

“Ugh, Lala,” groans Diohn, loudly dumping an armful of bottles into the bin as she passes by. “Politics? At my bar? No wonder he’s bored.”

Laa’let makes a rude gesture at Diohn’s back. “Anyway,” she says to the disinterested doll, “things really didn’t go downhill for me until the fucking Zillo Beast.”

The rack around Tosha’s stage erupts in applause when she finishes her routine. Another charming clone thing. It’d never occurred to them not to clap.

“Did I see it? You bet your plastic ass I did. Three of its gnarly legs came crashing through the roof during my act.”

Just for something to do, Laa’let takes the garnish from her drink and starts to trace a wet rendering of the monster that ruined her life on the counter.

“Squashed half the audience. I fell into the netting, along with all the buttresses, and was buried with broken ribs for three damn days. And this is where having no health insurance, no transferable skills, and no tolerance for animal abuse lands you,” she says, gesturing at the room, humid and a hazy red in the house lights, like an oversized womb.

Laa’let follows the little soldier’s gaze again. Tosha’s now working the rack for tolls. She’s got her knees on either side of one trooper’s ears, gripping him by his red shoulder wings as he gently tucks some funny money into her panties, ruffled and pink like cotton candy.

“Look, I know she’s topless and I’m not, but you could at least pretend to pay attention.”

A trooper in purple plates, very much paying attention, suddenly materalizes next to the doll. Laa’let takes in his double wings and his skirt—has she been performing for a fancy ARC?—and then moves onto his hair. It’s shaved into a landing strip across his skull and down his chin, and she can’t help wonder if the landscaping extends below the belt, too.

“There you are, Rex!” he declares, smiling broadly like he’d be very happy to enlighten her. “Who’s your pretty friend?” He gives a wave with one of the doll’s stubby arms.

This part always makes Laa’let nervous. What seemed like a good idea when she was eighteen and angry now made her job—wooing credits out of beings already much smaller than herself—very difficult.

“Doesn’t your friend know it’s rude not to stare?” she says, as softly as she can over the synth-glimmik pumping from the speakers, shielding her fangs with full lips—the only gift her mother gave her.

“My apologies, ma’am,” answers the trooper while ogling her tits for both of them. “He said he knew you, but he was probably talking out of his shebs.”

“Nah, he’s just shy. He doesn’t know how to ask,” comes a rumble in her cone. Another trooper pokes his head over her shoulder and starts taking mental soundings down her cleavage.

Mindful of the bulk of her lek, she turns to glance at his plates—also purple, also winged. “Ask what?”

The second one tilts his pretty face up. His hair curls in a way Laa’let recognizes as attractive to humans, and thick black stripes on his cheeks somehow brighten his green eyes, which sparkle at her with all the optimism of someone about two drinks in. “How much to blow bubbles?”

Laa’let takes a moment to parse this phrasing. The soldiers have a funny way of talking, but blowing bubbles is a far cry from their usual slang, crude and derived from military words she doesn’t understand. But eyes speak a pretty universal language, and theirs are glued to her red rack. If anyone’s going to introduce face fapping to the clone lexicon, it won’t be her.

But Green is far too cute to be allowed to bury those sweet cheeks so soon. The cheroot smoking on his breath is making her heart flutter, and she downs the rest of her drink.

“What’s your name, soldier?”

“Jock, ma’am. And that fastidious fucker’s Muse.”

She struts her long fingers atop the bar towards the doll and starts to toy suggestively with his little skirt. “Well, Jock, boys in blue get things on the house,” Laa’let teases with a smile, not bothering about the fangs. If these two are going to spook, better get the disappointment over with.

Muse sits his ass straight down for the long haul, and Jock hovers even closer.

“And boys in other colors?” he mumbles, brushing the back of a finger down her shoulder, evidently still full of hope. That he doesn’t go straight for her plushy lek says he’s got manners, and Laa’let feels her bum go warm on the barstool.

“What makes purple boys special?” she asks, genuinely curious. She’s not encountered any troopers in this soft shade before, and 69’s does a good trade in color—every dancer’s got their favorites, but it’s considered good luck to get crisp tips off a new one. They think it means you’re a trooper’s first; Laa’let just suspects a counterfeit operation somewhere.

“We’ve got walkers and big, fuck-off tanks with psycho warfare tech” and “we’re an elite, hypermobile, armored reconnaissance unit” are the simultaneous answers.

Muse makes a disapproving face at his comrade and straightens up a little when he clarifies. “We’re the 113th Armored Infantry Battalion, ma’am.”

“And the color?” she asks, fingering the lining of Jock’s skirt. Maybe she could get him down to nothing but this, then bribe it off him? The lethris on these things is pretty lush, given it’s army issue.

“Commander’s orders,” says Jock, beaming. “Matches our Jedi’s sabers.”

“Who’s your Jedi?” Laa’let prods, wondering how much two elite soldiers will leak over big tits.

Jock squints at Muse. “I think that’s classified?”

“Definitely classified.”

“He’s sealed tight but … I’m working on it,” Jock assures her with a wink, mischievous and loaded. She can’t tell if he means his Jedi, Muse, or both, but his playfulness is certainly working on her. Even if Diohn hasn’t just made herself conspicuous, inquiring with gestures about the status of flimsi in fingers.

Laa’let smiles, plucks the doll from the counter, and dumps him headfirst into her cleavage.

“Steady on, Rex,” gasps Muse, wide-eyed, grinning stupidly between the doll and slack-jawed Jock.

“For you two,” she begins, giving the little head a very illustrative shake, “this is ten…”

Using the nubbed arms, Laa’let pushes the golden top of her dress down, popping out one ivory nipple, then the other, conscious that she’s already given away about fifteen credits. “Handsies is twenty...”

Flipping the little doll over by the arms, she lets him come to rest where creamy fabric melts into the divot between her hips. Her senses are alight with human! now that Jock’s knees have failed him and his head’s propped up on her shoulder. Her right lek tingles against his balmy cheek. She returns Muse’s puppet wave. “And anything more is subject to performance review.”

“We…” Muse begins, opening and closing his mouth like a blurrg on spice, “we’ve only got twenty between us.”

Laa’let bites her lip and bounces the doll in her broad lap, like she isn’t preparing to inflate more than just their manual scores. She’s flipped her glass and her tits are out. Diohn better be getting her a fucking room.

“Tell you what. Twenty plus this little trooper and you might find I’m big enough to share.”

. . . . .

[CT-61-6898] Are you seated

[CT-27-5555] in briefing w some top squares knock me down my ombre hombre

[CT-61-6898] … RIP Cpt Rex

[CT-27-5555] ! what did those dumbfucks do

[CT-27-5555] its only been 12 hrs we r still in the system ffs

[CT-27-5555] facts tho he was ltd edition not even rex actual has one

[CT-61-6898] unnamed.holo

[CT-27-5555] ! u perv what did u fucking do to him

[CT-61-6898] Shit That wasn’t for you Wrong holo

[CT-27-5555] too late ...rip smokecheck

[CT-27-5555] commdr tano likes ur paintjob

[CT-61-6898] You fucking wish (...but I’ll pass on the compliment)

[CT-27-5555] so he didn’t get creampied good 2 know what happened

[CT-61-6898] rexnruby.holo

[CT-27-5555] !

[CT-61-6898] Is he scuba qualified

[CT-27-5555] !

[CT-61-6898] Muse is sorry not sorry Rex was sacrificed for the mission He did give me a datachip instead

[CT-27-5555] WORTH IT

Smokecheck belongs to tiend. The 113th bros and Miss Laa’let are mine.

#writing wednesday #clone troopers #the clone wars #captain rex #fives #laa'let #biscuit fic #the little alor'ad #don't share toys kids #age appropriate clone shenanigans #clones

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