#david zaslav can suck it

[roninkairi]

You can only reblog this today.*

*PLEASE READ THE TAGS

[edsrosetattoo]

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This made me laugh so hard.

Fuck you Max! 📣🐦

[thowawayuntilfurthernotice]

[pennybunpirate]

Well.

It's been approximately 12 hours since I saw the news. As all of you, I am heartbroken. This shit fucking hurts.

I didn't cry on January 9th. Last night I was sobbing quietly in bed at 1 am. 2 months ago I hadn't even made my first post on here, spending my first few months in the fandom lurking. After that day, the love everyone continued to pour out made it impossible to resist taking part and creating some of my own fanart offerings to share the love. The time we spent in the gravy basket feels special and precious. I've fallen more deeply in love with both the show and the fandom, which is why it hurts so much more this time, but I have no regrets about getting in deeper.

I feel like I'm experiencing all the stages of grief at once, and the fact that includes a smidge of acceptance is because of all the love here. I am so, so sad and angry I don't get to hang out and gush about new season stuff with you all. But.

Yesterday I got to squeal when I saw an author whose work I enjoy has started a new story. I got to weep and have butterflies from the beautiful reunion longfic I'm currently reading (which was published a year and a half ago). I full on snort laughed at photos of Ed's backside, and the comments that went with them, posted on here. Last night's news can't take that away from me, nor will it take away my enjoyment of it in the future.

I've got more to share, more art planned, heck, I just got an iPad to draw on because I finally have felt inspired to try digital art, thanks to this fandom.

I am mourning the end of the road for the show, and everything we don't get to have, but I will continue to appreciate all the beautiful art you lovely lunatics keep making. Two things can be true. And I believe the love and joy will stick around longer than the grief and anger.

[hopeymchope]

Oh GOD the fiendish David Zaslav is rebooting Harry Potter with a new "extremely faithful" adaption of the seven books. J.K. TERFling is heavily involved, she's executive producing, and they've made a TEN-YEAR COMMITMENT already.

Five Rapid-Fire Thoughts I Had in Reaction to This News:

Fuck Zaslav. (Btw, did I mention that — after deleting half of HBO Max's original content — Zaslav has now announced a price hike to the newly christened "MAX" service? As if giving a shitload of money to the planet's most notable TERF wasn't enough fuckery. FUCK that fucking shitheel.)

See below.

3. All y'all who were like "Boycott Hogwart's Legacy or You're Automatically a Terrible Person" or whatever because Rowling was going to make like a 1% royalty off of that game had GODDAMN BETTER boycott HBO MAX (....uh, sorry, it's just "MAX" now, I keep forgetting bc that name sucks — "HBO MAX" wasn't all that good a name to begin with IMO, but now it's worse) from here on out. YES, I know it's harder to boycott an entire streaming service that may contain OTHER content you want, but c'mon now, just bootleg anything you want off MAX in the future. (I'll help! I will send you a link or whatever if you need assistance. Message me. It's cool.) Because this is going to make her SO MUCH MORE MONEY due to involving her FAR MORE DIRECTLY. FUCK. WHY. Why did they fucking do this.

4. There are so many things in the books that are either A) poorly explained workarounds for continuity/logic issues or B) extremely problematic that the movies were actually BETTER for ignoring them. Can't wait to see the scene where every single known Time-Turner gets accidentally broken shortly after Prisoner of Azkaban in order to ensure the characters can never use time travel to fix their problems again! SUPER excited for the plotline where Hermione has to learn that she's silly and wrong for trying to free slaves because the slaves are fucking happier being enslaved! OH BOY!

5. God, a ten-year production commitment UP FRONT. I hope they lose so much money on this stupid-ass project that they wind up dragging their feet to produce future seasons for so long that the contract runs out before they've gotten farther than like, the third novel, and then it just dies on the vine. Would be HILARIOUS.

[dynared]

More rumors concerning future happenings in the Energon Universe have hit the internet

And while I won't share them because I don't know how true they are, the general reaction seems to be, well -

Once again though, I'm thinking two things.

Boy, this really needs to be animated, I mean you wouldn't have gotten Robert Kirkman on board if you didn't have plans for this outside of comics, right?

It has to really suck to be the writers behind Transformers Earthspark right now, between the toys not selling, the show on a platform belonging to a company that is entertaining buyout offers (and people are hoping gets mothballed into whoever buys it, so long as it's not David Zaslav), and this comic series completely stealing your thunder in a way that no one could have predicted.

Earthspark has, through no fault of its own, become the third wheel in a very busy year for the Transformers, with the Energon Universe providing some of the most excitement the comic book medium has seen in a good while, Transformers One hitting theaters and essentially calling "DO OVER!" on the wretched War for Cybertron Trilogy, and Transformers Reactivate possibly coming out this year. Not to mention with the increased calls to animate the Energon Universe (something Hasbro may be amenable to so they can release Void Rivals toys) Earthspark really does feel like that "thing we need to get done with so we can get to the good stuff."

It has to suck to be an Earthspark writer though. You make this show with a clear emphasis on new characters and feelings and representation...and no one cares because they want to see the expensive prequel movie, or want a big Japanese studio to animate Optimus Prime taking Starscream to Suplex City, Duke being interesting to the public for the first time in decades, and Cobra Commander being well...Cobra Commander. If they had a tie-in comic, I'd expect some of this frustration to boil over on it, that they go out of the way to make Terrans like Hashtag and Nightshade, and all the public wants is Autobots and Decepticons brawling.

[aliveandfullofjoy]

i have nothing witty or insightful to say about the tcm layoffs except it fucking sucks, losing tcm would be catastrophic for film history, and david zaslav can go fuck himself a million times over

[yeahiwasintheshit]

Good!

Yea no fuckin shit they’re hemorrhaging subscribers! They made the max streaming platform fuckin unusable! So fucking shitty!

I quit out of it so often out of frustration cause it fucking sucks!

The hbomax setup was so much more usable. Like several times a month I’d check into the old hbomax to see the recently uploaded movies page, which was very easily accessible from the front page, and I’d mark the movies I’d want to watch before the end of the month and it was great that way. Very user friendly. Now it’s a fuckin mess. I can never find it, & it doesn’t seem to be in the same spot each time and it’s never updated. The site is a mess. Especially now that it’s clogged with the fucking discovery channel garbage! You are never gonna get me to click on one of those fuckin shows, david zaslav, no matter how much you shove them in my face you pile of shit! I fucking loathe that homophobic christian magnolia bitch and her husband who flip houses or whatever. I will never watch that shit and it’s fuckin everywhere

Let me customize the experience I want on the app I pay for, not what you want me to watch, you fuckin fuck!

[pearwaldorf]

David Zaslav you owe me and all the fans AT LEAST two episodes' worth of character and story development. Or I guess we could just throw you under your yacht. I'm not picky.

I think everybody did the best they could with the time they were allotted. But oh god we needed at least five minutes of Stede and Ricky actually interacting. I'm so fucking mad we didn't get a good narrative and character parallel because it would have been so wonderfully chewy.

I love that Pop Pop didn't actually think to try and vet Ed as an actual person who can fish lmao. I'm still chewing on "Do what you're good at," because without that well-honed expertise everybody would have died. But any skill is a tool. It's not bad to kill to protect the people you love (in fiction anyways). I would argue sometimes it's absolutely necessary.

I'm a little sad we didn't get more Ed and Zheng (and Stede!) teamup. I would read so much fic where they all bicker about leadership and professionalism and why they all have to switch off on being bad cop.

I thought there was a possibility they'd kill Izzy off. So much of the dialogue from the trailer is from this last episode. I understand narrative beats and arcs. And given what happened this season, there's not really much more to say.

I would have preferred that he lived*, but he was given the best send-off you can give a fictional character: emotionally at peace, loved (and wouldn't that have been a mindfuck at the end of S1), and fences mended with the people you've hurt most and have hurt you. I hope we are all that lucky.

And these two fucking idiots. Neither of them know a goddamn thing about carpentry. Ed is going to forget to eat and have a hangry meltdown. Stede is going to bottle his feelings up because he's absolute fucking shit at taking his own advice about talking. They're both going to be terrible at customer service for different reasons, and they're going to try and kill whatever asshole is rude to the other.

And it's going to be hard, and it's going to suck sometimes, but it's a life that's going to be theirs. A thing they've both picked after not having a choice for so long. And I hope they'll keep picking it, because love and relationships are things you have to continually recommit to. But as I've said before, sometimes you cherish something the most fiercely because you've fought the hardest for it. I don't think either of them will lose sight of that.

--

* Was that even a Chekov's seagull when you know there's going to be some witchery afoot?

[understandableparadox]

We are rapidly heading into a media era of "Follow the leader or Follow the Chart". one of these is far more common place, the follow the leader strategy has always been somewhat a thing in terms of media and content creation, for every blockbuster their are fifty plus Block Ticklers, some of which can become cult classics.

but we are now seeing both an acceleration of that plus an addition of fill by number plot lines that follow threads. that lack of originality is of company origin, committee driven decisions to continue plot lines that clearly should have died or creating movies with safe plots that can be sold on international markets with pretty faces, big actions and maybe a decent enough scene a director managed to sneak in between the board directors cocaine lines.

for example let's look at the HBO show for harry potter, a vary clear follow the leader. the percy jackson disney show came out, had great word of mouth, had everything a stockholder creams their overly expensive suit pants over.

oh and would you look at that, hbo had their own critically acclaimed children's book series that could be translated into an episodic book series where each book becomes one season. Ain't That A Coinkydink.

now here is where shit gets interesting, despite the by committee factor, there is still a cultural factor. People Get Sick of things. I love little debbie banana marshmallow pies but if i eat a goddamn box of those little yellow fuckers, i'm going to throw up neon yellow. people are wiped out on by the numbers hero movies. people are wiped on the fucking musician biopics.

and it doesn't stop there, David zaslav is notoriously Bad at making cultural decisions, the number of movies he has shelved has already made him enemy numero fucking uno and killing his own company slowly through a nerd hate that's slowly becoming a Mainstream Hate.

companies should be able to balance out the hatred they get with the product they put out, creating a more cynical dramatic persona, for every slop movie that's there to suck money, you let out a few Art Pieces to make sure people at the vary least assume that its not Your fault movies are bad but instead the movie makers themselves.

though companies seemed to have forgotten that. this show is a blatant show of whatever icarus esque confidence and barely coherent risk analysis they managed to do. the harry potter show banks on the idea that we don't care enough about hbo, we don't care that they killed off so many cool looking movies, that they are detrimentally money hungry, that we don't mind giving out money to a noted transphobic shit wagon and that we don't care that they are trying to shove another fucking movie down our throat from a series that has had 11 installments including the spin offs, 18 games, multiple theme park attractions, a fucking Baffling Stage play on route to become a movie and a partridge that refuses to stop spewing hate on twitter roosting on a pear tree.

it is a badly calculated business decision attempting to ride the coat tails of another series when all we have had since the start of the 20 20s are by the number films that swarm and suck the blood out of the actually good shit that manages to Squirm its way out of the morass.

[bobauthorman]

I have something serious to say

As I'm sure many of you know, it's been announced that David Zaslav has decided to shut down Rooster Teeth. For many, this decision has effectively killed RWBY. I've spent the last few days trying to figure out how I feel about this situation.

On one hand, I hate it. RWBY is an incredible series, and the idea that it won't go on or get any sort of proper closure angers me. It's a decade of work being thrown down the drain because one CEO (death to CEOs) deciding, "Nah, too much work."

On the other, I'm...regrettably used to it. Desensitized, even. The problem with a series that has an over-arching narrative is that there's a good chance the parent company might not want to keep it going. That it would putter out before reaching the end.

My first brush with this sort of thing was in the 90s, with The Pirates of Dark Water. It took several cycling through the reruns to realize that Ren's crew was never going to get all 13 Treasures of Rule.

Then there was Samurai Jack in the 2000s. After four seasons, Cartoon Network stopped Jack's quest. It was about 13 years later that the Samurai was allowed to go back to the past.

the Mega Man Legends series also puttered out with Mega Man still trapped on that space station. An attempt to make a third game was made in 2010, but didn't amount to anything.

And even when a series is allowed to go to the end, it can seem rushed and a bit lacking. Gravity Falls would have made more sense to go for 3 seasons, but the creators thought that would have drawn out the story too much. The Owl House did get cancelled, but was allowed three specials as its third and final season. And, as I've said before, Samurai Jack.

I'm still holding onto hope that the CRWBY will be able to find a way to keep the story going. If a kickstarter is put up, I will definitely put some money in it.

This is the first time I've heard of an entire company being thrown under a bus though. I know there have been controversies about Rooster Teeth, and I can't say much on the subject. But I can't in full honesty be happy about layoffs. It's not something I want to promote or endorse.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this. My point is, the situation sucks, but I'm going to keep on keeping on.

Peace out.

[sideburndanny]

You know, it sucks that the term “fake geek” is only ever used as a misogynistic slur against women in fandom spaces, created to feed the paranoid insecurities and victim complexes of socially stunted white men by fostering the idea that women are only pretending to share your interests to lead you on.

In my opinion, the “fake geek” label would be more accurately used against alt-righters who pretend to be part of certain fandoms just so they can create outrage and indoctrinate white male nerds into fighting their culture wars for them.

For example, I remember some time ago I said that the dude-bro hate campaign against the female-led Ghostbusters reboot was waged mostly by people who never really gave a fuck about Ghostbusters and just wanted an excuse to attack women. The same is true, I think, of other “white male nerd temper tantrums” of late.

The Star Wars sequels met with a years-long backlash of male nerds obnoxiously whining about how the new movies’ diversity was ruining the franchise they grew up with when the sequels really weren’t that much more diverse than the movies that came before, and whatever problems the sequels may have had are barely different from problems people have had with previous Star Wars installments. Of note is all the so-called fans calling Rey a Mary Sue whose existence goes against everything the franchise has been known for when she really doesn’t do anything Luke wasn’t capable of in the old movies. If I were a smug contrarian dickhead, I’d use this to assert that Luke was always a terrible character that the fans only like because of nostalgia, but since I still love the old Star Wars films and have mixed feelings about the newer ones, I think it’s more reasonable to conclude that neither character is perfect or irredeemable and the more rabid detractors only hate Rey because she has a vagina.

The insincerity behind these outrage-addicted fandom shit-stirrers only gets more transparent when the topic shifts to superhero movies and you have these self-proclaimed comic book diehards displaying a stunning ignorance of the subject they claim is so near and dear to them. Female-led superhero flicks are decried as products of modern “wokeness” and “political correctness gone mad” when the characters they’re decrying have been a huge part of the original comics for decades. The existence of the She-Hulk series prompted a tidal wave of fanboy outrage, whining that Marvel has “gone woke” and at one point saying that Stan Lee would be rolling in his grave… you know, the same Stan Lee who created She-Hulk back in the 70s! You’d think hardcore comic fans would know that Shulkie has been a major player in Marvel Comics for almost 50 years before finally getting any kind of significant outside exposure. Those who are really committed to the act will say that She-Hulk’s MCU counterpart is nothing like the original comics, but all the things they hate about her are also true of her comic counterpart.

It doesn’t get any better on DC’s side, as there were many fanboys who celebrated David Zaslav’s decision to cancel the Batgirl movie, saying that a female reboot of Batman would be an affront to comic fans everywhere… except anyone with even a passing familiarity with DC would know Batgirl was never “a female reboot of Batman”, but his sidekick and protege, a member of his extended family, and has been since she was created in the 1960s! I’m tempted to say “they would know that if they were REAL comic fans,” but Batgirl has appeared so many times in TV, movies, and video games that even people who have never picked up a comic book in their lives would be bound to know about her! Fucking hell, they can’t even claim their judgments are based on the leaked details about the movie-that-never-was, because even those scant details clearly explained that Batman still exists as a separate character in the movie’s continuity and they never intended to just retcon him into being a woman!

I think my point can best be summed up by taking a look at the alt-right sources that promoted GamerGate back in the day: a number of far-right people and websites had rallied male gamers into attacking feminists they accused of trying to destroy video games, all the while promising up and down that they would defend gamers with their very lives if male nerds just gave them power. Fast forward about half a decade later, and now those same far-right people and websites are saying that people who play video games are stupid filthy degenerates who are holding us back as a species — all the while more mainstream right-wing sources continue to repeat the age-old “video games cause mass shootings” myth. This proves, if nothing else, that GamerGate was never really about video games. It was about women having opinions and men not liking that.

[larnax]

on the ofmd revolución website and this is easily one of the websites ever made

firstly. ok have you seen the dan olson contrepeneur video where he says "they say not to do review trading before giving you the instructions to do all the steps of review trading"

well if you thought that method of farming engagement was fucking weird and accidentally revealed that the show didn't have enough fans to provide this organically, wait until you see the fucking 'impact' page!

they don't even have joe biden's email OR hamas.com. shameful.

this is just buying views except you're not even getting money for it. what are you gonna do if ofmd gets renewed because you emailed david zaslav enough and then all this engagement turns out to be completely artificial and the execs find out that it's just, like, 12 annoying people? maybe if your show sucked less ass you wouldn't need to manipulate streaming statistics!

their about page mentions that now that they've bought their stupid fucking billboard and paid their server costs they're raising money for charity. you might expect me to be like "well you've gotta hand it to 'em" but like. come on, yall had one job and it was to not make this look like a bunch of white losers with a weird complex about The Only Queer Show Ever. torching all this money on a dumbass webite and a billboard wouldn't have been good if they'd also run a campaign for e-sims for gaza, but picking a queer charity based in the global north as their only partner kinda makes it ever less plausible that 'we can care about two things at once'.

then the actual petition.

[image of soviet propaganda wishing death upon the USA wouldn't show up in image search]

i think. liberalism might have been a mistake.

in conclusion why did they choose this frame for the contact page

[incarnateirony]

KELIOS, HELLER RECEIPTS. I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH. YOU NOT UNDERSTANDING THAT JENSEN DIRECTLY AND ONLY REPORTS TO DAVID ZASLAV UNDER WBD'S CURRENT STRUCTURE IS YOUR TINY BRAINS NOT FUCKING COMPREHENDING THIS. THATS JUST YOU.

Jensen NEVER SOLD Winchesters, all NEW Content IS his. Latika Carlos etc are HIS. the production house is HIS. He has all license agreements ALREADY SQUARED ON THE OLD IP and there is *NO ONE BUT ZASLAV TO QUESTION HIM ANYMORE*

I don't fucking care if your two braincells can fucking send enough sparks to understand this yet but this is how all of WBD works now and I'm very sorry for your fucking loss but the fake jensen you knew is dead.

Under new WBD structure, Zaslav has REMOVED RED TAPE FROM EXECUTIVE CREATORS, and is letting them autofunction numbers willing, and Creative Executives ONLY report DIRECTLY to Zaslav. Zaslav has zero reason to fight Jensen and roth you morons

This is it. This is the way the world works now, whether you want it to or not. Jensen will report only to Zaslav if there are problems or for general quarterlies. His production house will be left with its already squared mixed licensing arrangement.

If any problems arise with the product's actual performance, Dungey's desk forwards a notice to Zaslav, Zaslav calls, and the creative executive attends. It's not fucking complicated darlings

Jensen IS The Power That Be. Whether you fucking like it or not. Welcome to the real world. Sucks to be on that end, doesn’t it.

Tiered reporting is gone. And what tiers are within this show itself are all stacked with Jensen.

You ever hear that philosophy question, "What supports the earth?" and someone says "a turtle", "well what's under the turtle" "another turtle" and this becomes infinite regression theory 

but guys 

it's jensens all the way down

Robbie, bobo et all write the writers draft. Cm via production deal and zaslavs methods handles the studio draft. Then nextar gives whatever a try while they sort out what works and doesnt

It's genuinely not hard

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

More Pixar layoffs, because of upper Disney management blundering. 20% of their staff, though not imminent.

Apparently it's a lot of staff that were hired specifically for Disney+ projects, like DUG DAYS and the upcoming WIN OR LOSE. Pixar's scaling down again, and are probably just focusing on features and a handful of shorts. Like they always did.

The Walt Disney Company definitely went all-in on the Disney+ thing, like all these companies did. Streaming was the future be-all end-all, everything else is IRRELEVANT. Best Buy phasing out selling physical media in stores, David Zaslav erasing things, Disney initially withholding Marvel and Star Wars limited series from being shown *anywhere* else, the models for these shows clearly not working... It's like COVID-19 and the streaming blitz accelerated two entirely separate problems in movie-dom, and now we're seeing a sorry fallout of it all.

This is not dissimilar to Pixar opening a Vancouver unit in 2010, which would've handled shorts and specials, only for them to be closed down three years later and their entire staff (around 50-100 people) laid off. And it really sucks, because finding another job isn't all that easy, and being put in that position is stressful and anxiety-stoking to begin with...

It appears history kinda repeated itself in 2024, a little over four years after Disney+ launched. I liked the idea of more Pixar short-form stuff, it's a good way to revisit characters/worlds without having to do more sequels, but streaming can only go so far and it's clearly not making the revenue Disney and shareholders want. And who gets hit the hardest? The creatives, the crews, the people who actually do all the hard work, while the execs - who could probably float to another gig unscathed - fuck around at the top. There were layoffs last year, too, among them Angus MacLane, Galyn Susman, and Steve Purcell. Some real heavy-hitters there...

Of course, the less-educated will immediately see "layoffs" and whine that Pixar should go back to letting only five nerdy white dads direct movies. And that one of those dads, a toxic misogynist who rightfully got Me Too'd, should be their leader again. What kind of animation fan are you? Even if I didn't like the latest movies made at that studio, even hated them... I wouldn't want the people who have to work hard to keep a roof over their heads to get laid off, nor blame their misfortunes on how much you didn't like the teen panda movie. And wanting someone who made many women uncomfortable to be their boss again. The hell is he running another animation studio for? The hell is wrong with ya??

Anyways... I hope those who will be affected find work without struggle.

[rwbyremnants]

This is the epilogue! It's been a long, strange trip, but I finally completed this one! I'm going to get a bit sentimental and long-winded about Rooster Teeth under the cut, but (so you can skip it: just CTRL+F and search for "Chapter 60") up here I'll just say thanks so much for reading. I hope you like these last few surprises!

WARNING: ROOSTER TEETH RAMBLING. You don't have to read this, it's not about Princess And The Dragons! You have been warned.

So as everybody probably knows by now, Rooster Teeth is on death row, and the fate of RWBY is totally up in the air. If you're learning about it this way… I'm very sorry; here's an article with more details. TL:DR, Warner Bros Discovery swallowed their parent company a while back, and that led to some cool collabs like Justice League x RWBY, but…

I'll keep this rant brief. David Zaslav is a callous corporate jerk that hates art, and has no business being in charge of a content creation company when all he cares about is money. His body count is rising (Batgirl, Final Space, Adult Swim Games, etc), and I hope he generates enough hate that he gets fired and never finds work in his field again. That is all.

Anyway, because RT couldn't turn a profit in the 1.5 years since they became part of WBD, they're getting shut down in a couple months, and they're going to try to shop its various properties around to other companies. Crunchyroll is a good candidate for RWBY, since they already aired volume 9, but nothing is certain yet at all. It's entirely possible we will never see a volume 10 - or it might be in some other format, like a comic book. All we can do is wait and see.

I found RWBY through a friend in 2014, which led me to RT as a whole. It's one of several things that changed my life that year - most of them for the better. I spent a lot of time with Achievement Hunter and Rage Quit videos, the RT Podcast and Always Open… went to see Lazer Team (and RWBY volume debuts) in actual theaters. I wish I had been able to make it to RTX, but it was too far away for me to be able to get there. At one point, it was a pretty huge part of my life. Then, like with most things, I sort of gravitated away, though I kept going back for the podcasts, and kept up with RWBY of course.

But I knew RT might not last that much longer when it was announced that Always Open was cancelled for a second time, and that RWBY Volume 10 still wasn't even greenlit. There were too many controversies (we don't have to get into those). Some of the founders were already gone, I hardly ever saw the people I was most fond of onscreen. For the first time in almost a decade, I cancelled my First membership, because it felt like my favorite content wasn't coming to the platform anymore… and I'm broke. I feel a little bad, of course, but I think we all kind of knew that they might not survive the changing landscape of streaming content. The minute they became part of WBD, their lack of profitability spelled the end.

Sorry, I'm all in my feelings about it, and I don't want to make the comments or the end of this fic all about RT, but I felt like I couldn't post a new chapter of a RWBY fic without at least addressing the situation, and giving my own history and perspective on it. This is just the state of the fandom, and I'm really sad and depressed about it, and wishing that something could have been done. But at the end of the day, it's actually pretty amazing that a bunch of drunk guys created a company in their bedroom that lasted 21 years and gave us a hundred shows. Just sucks it had to end because of mergers and nonsense, but I guess nothing lasts forever.

Thanks for listening, if you did; no shade if you didn't. I'm just really going to miss those guys and that content-creation family always being there to provide amusing and comforting content, like friends you could hang out with whenever you wanted. Thanks for all the memories, RT, and for being one of my safe spaces when I needed one.

-NBW

----------------------------------------------------

=Chapter 60

  Weiss Schnee took a deep breath, eyes closing as she let the aromas of roasting turkey and gravy fill her nostrils. This was always her favourite part about Thanksgiving. Sure, pumpkin pie and potatoes were wonderful dishes, but the centerpiece was the artfully-prepared bird, without a doubt.

Especially with Kali cooking it this year. Their chef had been lost in the family scuffles, and it made no financial sense to hire another when they could all learn to pitch in a little more instead.

Besides, Willow seemed to have turned over a new leaf. Since she had no head for business, she allowed the interim director to stay on and only asked for updates from him once a week – with Kali in attendance, naturally. That was enough to ensure that nothing unscrupulous was going on beneath her nose. Meanwhile, that left Weiss's mother with little else to do besides taking care of house and home… which suited her in a way Weiss never would have expected. Though it had begun as penance for years of absentee parenting, now it was more like a calling. A place she felt she belonged.

“Ready to head down?”

The princess leaned a little more fully against Yang as they lounged in their bed. Their bed… even this many weeks later, it still sounded strange to think of it that way. “Just about ready.”

“Why?” she insisted with a fierce grin, a hand drifting up to turn Weiss’s face up to look at her. “Careful, Schnee, or I’ll think you caught… Xiao Long Madness.”

“Xiao Long Madness?” Her hand pressed into the center of her chest as she heaved a theatrical gasp. “What on earth could that be?”

“Well… it starts out slow.” Two fingers began to tiptoe up along her thigh. “You don’t even know you’ve got it until it’s creeping up on you.” The hand smoothed along her stomach through the soft material of her party dress, and Weiss had to suppress a shiver. “Makes you a little tingly, breathe faster… heart beating louder and louder…”

“Yang, you little…” Pushing her hand away with a giggle once it reached her breast, she admonished her, “We have to get to the table! Without messing up our clothes! Just grab those earth pads so we can join the others.”

Chuckling with her, the Dragon turned and got up from the bed, snatching up two pairs of shoes from the floor. “Alright, alright. Even though both our parents know? What, they’re going to be shocked that we got a little frisky today, too?”

“That isn’t the point! I want to be presentable for our families, and the Belladonnas!” Her brief indignation subsided as Yang started lovingly putting her heels on. “Oh… I know, I’m being silly. But can we please have a lovely, respectable family dinner? Just this once, for the holiday?”

“Of course,” she promised with an earnest tone, smiling up at her before she kissed Weiss’s other foot. “Princess Toes.” Then she slid the other heel on and grabbed for her own – but Weiss snatched them away. “Hey, what gives? I mean, you actually got me into a dress and now you’re trying to keep me from-”

“Shush.” Weiss returned the favour, sliding the very un-Yang-like heels on while Yang’s cheeks went the tiniest bit pink. They always did when she was doted on since it was such an uncommon occurrence for the bruiser; Weiss adored that. And she adored being the only one trusted to be sweet to her in that way.

“Mkay, Weiss. Now I’m all dolled up for you. Like a pig wearing lipstick.”

Sighing, she swatted Yang on the arm. “Don’t be stupid. You are a beautiful woman. Being strong as an ox doesn’t change that.”

“If you see me that way, then that’s all that matters.” They shared a brief kiss, humming against each other’s lips before they broke apart and stood. “Let’s go strap the ol’ feedbag on.”

“How charming,” she deadpanned.

As they walked past Weiss’s dresser, she glanced at the framed photograph on the wall. There they were: the Dragons. Every last living member, with the youngest arranged in the front. Even if it was a little incriminating, she had decided in the end that it was much more important to the little gangster princess to have this memento than it was to “play it safe” - especially now that the only Vale citizen who would have thrown a tantrum about its existence was long dead.

Emerald and Cinder with their arms around each other. Ilia hanging off Blake despite how she was rolling her eyes. A grinning Coco who still had Velvet on her arm instead of lost to another continent – the picture had been taken with her camera, after all, set on a timer. Even Salem was smiling, albeit in an irritated and resigned way. Happiness in a wooden frame.

“You coming?” Yang asked.

“Yeah, yeah,” she sighed as she tripped after her girlfriend into the hall. “Hold your horses.”

“Who are you and what have you done with my snooty girlfriend?”

“HEY!”

Downstairs, Blake, Ilia, and Whitley were all seated in the living room, chatting politely about the weather and other surface topics. Though her brother wasn’t thrilled terribly to know the Dragons, he had seemed to accept it – and to accept them as humans rather than foul beasts that were beneath him.

“Hey, good lookin’,” Blake bade her.

“Good evening.” Weiss actually curtsied, and Ilia giggled. “I'm excited. Is that silly?”

“Maybe a little. But I think we're allowed to be a little silly after the Autumn we've had.”

True enough. Weiss flashed a tight smile before she turned toward the kitchen.

“Watch that gravy!”

Raven's hands quickly moved toward the stove while Kali hastily crimped the edges of her pie. The latter was poised and pristine; the former, a sweating nervous wreck. But she was trying. Most of the dishes were already arranged on the counter, kept warm by potholders and waiting to be served.

“Oh my God,” Yang muttered in Weiss's ear. “Where's Rod Serling? Because I think we just entered The Twilight Zone.”

“The what?”

“Oh, it's a new show. Don't worry about it. Just meant watching Raven really cook is like science fiction.”

Meanwhile, Willow at last noticed they were standing there and waved them over to the dining room. “Hey, girls! Come help me set the table.”

They did as they were told. Mrs. Schnee was humming and cheerful, eyes full of light as she made sure all the silverware was properly placed, each napkin neatly folded.

“You're really excited, aren't you, Mother?”

“Ohhhh yes,” she told her immediately, grinning from ear to ear. “Very! It's our first big dinner with everyone together, isn't it? Our ragtag little family. And it already feels more like…”

When she didn't finish, Yang prompted, “Like?”

“Like a real Thanksgiving. Far more than the past few years.”

“I know what you mean,” Weiss said as she placed the last few forks. “You weren't yourself, and Father was… well.”

But Willow brushed it off with an elegant hand. Still no calluses forming from her sudden uptick of housework, but they would, eventually, if she didn't keep up conditioning them. Pampering herself. Honestly, Weiss had no idea if she would go one way or the other.

“All in the past. We're starting fresh, aren't we, Weiss?”

“We sure are,” she said immediately, beaming back at her mother. Proud of her progress and new outlook on life. “Annnnd… I think the table’s ready. What's next?”

“Not much.” A bell sounded throughout the house, and her eyes lifted. “Oh, could you see who that is? I think I should help Raven and Kali.”

Her daughter obeyed, moving through the living room where Whitley was just standing. She waved him back down and pulled the door wide.

And found herself face to face with such a haggard, unenthused face that she instinctively took a step back. The man's ominous eyes almost looked through her. Her fight or flight instincts were starting to kick in, but she knew she shouldn’t literally attack someone who had done nothing more than come to her front door – not without further provocation.

“U-um…”

“Hey!” From around his back popped Ruby's cheery face, and she added a little wave. “Sorry we're so late; Grumpy Gus didn't wanna get ready.”

“I was ready,” Qrow growled as he pushed past Weiss without a word of greeting. “You didn't like what I was wearing.”

With a dramatic sigh, Ruby followed, stopping to hug Weiss. Penny was close on her heels, freckles seeming to glow with excitement as she hefted a casserole dish. Yang was next in line for hugs while Qrow seemed magnetically drawn to the wetbar in the corner.

“U-um!” came from the door as Weiss tried to close it. Pulling it wide revealed a very flustered neighbour. “Hello again!”

“Pyrrha?! What are you doing here? I thought you would be sitting down with your folks right about now!”

The athlete shrugged, cheeks rosy as she fidgeted in her lovely golden-hued frock. There was clearly an internal struggle playing out behind her bright green eyes, which remained mostly pointed down at her black pumps. “Well… I just wanted to wish you a happy Thanksgiving! Before we all dig in! So… so now I have! And, well, bye!”

However, as she turned to stride down the steps and away from the house, Weiss jogged after her. “Wait!”

“Yes?” she asked as she turned.

“There's something else, isn't there?” No immediate answer. “Come on. What's a best friend for if she can't help a girl through thick and thin?”

After a brief internal debate, the redhead let out a long sigh. “Jaune is coming to dinner.”

“Really? That's fantastic news!” Again, Pyrrha hesitated, so Weiss asked, “It's… not fantastic news?”

“Well… ordinarily, yes. But Cinder and Emerald are already there.”

“WHAT?!”

“SHHHH!” she hissed at her friend, green eyes wide. “I didn't think I would get as close to him as I have since the dance, and… I had already invited them before he asked me to homecoming! Then I forgot, and they showed up with a whole ham, and it would have been so rude to turn them away…”

Weiss laid a gentle hand on her arm. “Relax, okay? I'm sure everything will be fine.”

“But you know how Cinder is around boys! She hates them! And I know she has good reason, but Jaune is very important to me, and… and I don't want anyone to have an unhappy holiday thanks to me!”

“They won't. I promise. You are the nicest host, and the sweetest friend. And Emerald and Cinder have each other now; they're much less bitter and unhappy.”

“Oh… I know you're right. Thank you. And I shouldn't get flustered every time they try to kiss me anymore, I- I have to get used to that eventually, don't I?”

“Of course!” she chirruped with a patient smile. “Just keep rebuffing those advances; they will get the message.”

At those words, her childhood friend fell silent. Seconds ticked by while she squirmed. Then she whispered, “It may be too late for that plan.”

“What? I mean… what do you mean?”

“Well, if I were to rebuff their advances, I probably shouldn't have let Cinder steal a little kiss at homecoming.” When her fellow paper-shaker only gaped, the red-faced track star’s face grew yet redder. “Or behind the malt shop last weekend. Or just before I walked over here.”

“PYRRHA NIKOS!”

“I'm sorry! I told you, she makes me feel… swept away,” she breathed with a shy smile. “Even though I'm more attracted to Jaune, like him more and get along with him so well, I don't dislike Cinder… and she's strong, and confident, and beautiful…”

A laughing Weiss reassured her, “You don't have to explain anything to me. I have my own similar arrangement with a blonde and a brunette, so why on Earth would I throw stones in my glass house?”

“But what do I do? Poor Jaune has no idea women go around with other women as much as we do – a-and what about Emerald? Ordinarily I would be concerned about her feeling jealous, but she watches Cinder tease me – encourages it! That seems so dirty, and that's without the things they threaten to do to me if I let them!”

“Holy moley,” she breathed. “Pyrrha! You're a Dragon in sheep's clothing!”

That smile was still shy, but also a little excited. “Am not. But the kissing is… women's lips are so soft!”

“Aren't they?” Both girls sighed dreamily, then giggled. “Your secret is safe with me, but I think the sooner you explain all this to Jaune, the less bad it will be in the long run.”

“You… are probably right. But not now. I don't want to ruin the holiday for my parents.”

“Of course. You should probably get back.” As Pyrrha nodded, she tilted her head and asked, “What did you tell them about Cinder and Emerald, anyway?”

“Just that they're new friends of yours, and mine. And that they had no family to dine with. It's true, after all.”

Weiss nodded sagely. “And you wanted them to have a big slice of Pyrrha pie for dessert.”

“Mmhmm! I thought it would be… very- oh, you're so mean to me!”

“Maybe,” she cackled, leaning closer. “Or maybe I'm jealous because I want some for myself.”

And without waiting for a response, Weiss gave her a quick peck on the lips. Just a fun little tease without any deeper meaning behind it. Pyrrha was too startled to respond until Weiss's impish grin began to slip a notch – and then she laughed, loudly and freely.

“Oh Weiss! I think we both have our hands full enough as it is! But… thank you. For more than just now, for so, so much.”

Curtsying playfully, she giggled, “And thank you, madam. It is Thanksgiving, after all; we should be expressing our gratitude.”

“True!” As she skipped away, Pyrrha sang out over her shoulder, “Happy Thanksgiving!”

“You too, best friend!”

When she re-entered the living room, it was to a highly stressful scene. Qrow and Raven were seated one each upon the armchair and the couch, ranged across from each other, and if ever the phrase “glaring daggers” applied, it would be to those two siblings.

“You look good, sis,” he rumbled with a poisonous smirk. “Really got some color in your cheeks for once. What's your secret?”

“Staying away from things that are hazardous to my health. Like you.”

“Wow,” Penny breathed from Ruby's side, as surprised as anyone at how venomous they were toward each other. From her, Weiss glanced around at the various uncomfortable guests and eventually spotted Yang standing in the doorway of the kitchen, indecisive.

“Ooooh, temper temper. Still haven't figured out that's what made Taiyang ditch you, huh?” When Raven started to sit forward as if she would attack, he raised up both hands, palms out. “Easy now. Didn't come here to pick a fight, just came to eat.”

Teeth clenched hard enough to grind corn into meal, she hissed at him, “Funny way of showing it. Then again, you never did know when to quit.”

“Seems to me like I knew exactly when to quit. Before the Dragons turned into the Bulldyk-”

“Who would like a drink?” Weiss called out in a voice far too high to be natural. A few of her peers turned in her direction, but Raven and Qrow didn't budge at all. “Anyone?”

“May I have a lemonade?” Penny said in her usual oblivious-but-pleasant tone.

“Alright, look,” Yang finally sighed as she walked a little deeper into the room. “You guys hate each other; we get it. But it's Thanksgiving, and there are more people here than just you two chowderheads. So can we just… put that on the back burner until tomorrow? Please?”

Silence reigned for a long few seconds. Then Qrow heaved himself to his feet. “Think I'll take you up on that drink, Schnee.” He returned to the wet bar to refill his glass. Luckily, it seemed like the breaking of their staring contest gave Raven the right to let herself relax, and she ran her hand over her hair.

“Are they always like this?” Ilia asked in a soft murmur, mostly to Blake.

“Raven, yes. I have no idea about him, I haven't seen him more than once in my whole life before now.”

Before Ilia could form a response, an “Ahem” came from the doorway leading into the dining room. Kali stood there with a polite smile on her face, hands clasped in front of her stomach; the picture of a polite hostess.

“I believe dinner is served. If you will all come through and seat yourselves, we would love to begin.”

Raven was the first to exit, seemingly to give herself at least a few scant seconds without her brother in the same room. Then her daughter followed soon afterward, and everyone else stood and began to follow the others.

“Wheeee,” Ruby deadpanned as she led Penny inside.

The spread look amazing. Kali had definitely outdone herself, and somehow Willow and Raven had not ruined all her good work with their awkward attempts to help. Turkey, dressing, casserole, fresh hot buns, and gleaming red cranberry sauce were already weighing down the table. Weiss's beaming mother stood behind the chair at the head of the table, waiting for the others to sit before she seated herself.

“Thank you all for coming,” she said in a quiet, nervously excited voice. “I know this will probably be strange, as some of you hardly even know who I am, much less have met me. But I'm happy to meet you all and welcome you to my home.”

“I am happy to be here,” Penny replied brightly as if she were being directly addressed. But Willow only smiled right back at her, and the girl grinned from ear-to-ear.

“Before we dig in, I'd like us all to go around the table and say something we are thankful for from this past year.” One or two groans sounded from the guests, but most of them were polite enough to keep their desire to eat right away to themselves. “Would anyone like to start?”

As she brought in a dish of beans, Kali said, “Go on, Willow dear. Set us an example.”

“Oh, very well.” As Whitley sat at her left, Weiss at her right, she composed herself for a moment. “I’m thankful for my family. My real family – everyone here, even if some of us are just meeting tonight. And that my eyes are open enough for me to appreciate that now.”

After a moment or two of silence, a few people nodding along, she turned to Whitley. Starting, he said, “Ah. Well, I suppose I’m thankful that all the nastiness is behind us. This year has been unpleasant but… well, looking around here, I must admit we’re coming out the other side.”

As Penny clapped for him, and a few others stifled laughter at her clapping, Kali spoke up, “I’m thankful for a certain little princess for bringing us all together. If not for her, this might have been an easier year, but a lot less interesting.” And she raised her water glass to Weiss, who waved her off – despite her cheeks tinting pink.

“Same here,” Blake agreed with a big smile. “She really shook things up in the best of ways. Still a little weird that I get to be friends with her. But thanks, Weiss.”

“And you could probably guess I’m going to say thanks for helping me finally get Blake’s attention,” Ilia sighed resignedly as the others chuckled. Hands were definitely being held under the table, and Weiss had a hard time not squealing with secondhand glee. Then they all turned to look at Qrow.

“Huh? Oh, uh… skip me.”

Ruby nudged him hard. “No skipping!”

“Fine. I’m thankful for this dumb squirt.” He ruffled her hair aggressively, and she laughed – even if she was hastily patting her hair back into place right afterward. “That A-okay, kiddo?”

“Sure.” Then she cleared her throat and said, “I’m grateful for… well, a lotta stuff. But I can’t pick between the two big things: Penny asking me out, and…” Her eyes began to water. “And getting my sister back. They’re b-both pretty outta sight.”

“Nah, you should pick Penny,” Yang said with a wistful smile. “I ain’t that special.”

“Don’t say that! You’re my sister and you’re amazing!”

“Okay, okay,” Raven interrupted them with a sigh. “Break up the happy-fight, girls. Let’s hurry this along so we can all eat. Penny?”

Blinking her huge green eyes, the freckle-faced girl chirruped, “Oh! Well, I am thankful for Ruby, of course. And her family – which seems to be all of you! And for the food we are about to eat. Amen.”

“Amen,” Whitley muttered automatically, even though everyone else was blinking in confusion. Weiss wasn’t sure at which point Penny’s thanks had turned into grace, but it was even stranger to call attention to it. So no one did.

“And I’m thankful for Yang putting up with me,” Raven said simply. “Go on.”

But Yang wasn’t about to let that slip past. “Wait, what do you mean?”

“My attitude. I’ve…” Her sigh was weary, her glare burning a hole into the table. “I’ve been a terrible mother. Nobody has to tell me,” she said over the handful of protests. “Just because I did my best, tried to make my kid tough enough the world wouldn’t eat her alive, doesn’t mean my best was very good. But I think…” Her sharp eyes flicked up to Qrow, waiting for some kind of scathing comment.

“No, no, go on,” he told her smoothly. And though his face might have been slightly smug, he didn’t goad her any more than that.

“I think Willow’s been good for me. I’ve done worse than her and she’s trying so hard to… fix what’s wrong. Have to be a real dope to not try the same thing. Guess that’s what I’m glad for this year.” Then she flung at her brother, “So you can sit on that, Jack.”

“Gladly,” he rumbled, lowering his glass of something strong-smelling and regarding her evenly. “I ain’t no prince, either, Sis. Louse everything up every day. All we can do is our best to make up for it.”

While Raven was busy blinking at the almost-nice sentiment from her estranged sibling, Yang cleared her throat and stood up. That already surprised Weiss before she even started talking – and then she surprised her even more.

“So I’m not that good at speech-making,” she chuckled, scratching the back of her neck. “Or wearing heels. But I’m gonna do both at the same time, I guess.

“Life has been pretty kooky since this princess fell in my lap. Honest, I thought she would snub me and that would be that – or that I could have a little fun before I got the cold shoulder, maybe. But this amazing, beautiful, talented, strong knock-out…” For a moment, Yang just laughed, trying to figure out what else she was saying. “She changed me. Changed my whole life in a good way, and I can’t even imagine what I would do without her now. And I don’t wanna. So yeah. Thanks, Weiss, for taming this Dragon.”

Weiss was just smiling tearily up at her proud, cocky features that were currently gazing right back at her with a megaton force of love, when most of the others began to clap. Starting, she covered her face to hide her blush, but then she felt Yang’s lips gently pushing into the back of her hand.

“I mean it,” she whispered as Weiss cooed. “On the hook for you, Schnee.”

“My sweet angel,” Willow breathed softly, beaming at both of them.

“Oh, stop it, all of you,” Weiss blustered, but the pink-cheeked grin somewhat undercut her words. Then she spoke up a little louder. “As for me… oh, I don’t have anything.”

“You don’t?” Blake asked incredulously, folding her arms over her chest and smirking. “You? Nothing comes to mind for the girl who can normally talk the hind leg off a mule?”

“Everything does. It’s everything. I mean, other than a few unpleasant things I had to witness, but… I wouldn’t trade this year for the world. I have a real family now, and some of them are even my actual blood relatives. So thank you, God, for ALL of this.”

“Amen,” Whitley said again a little more firmly than before, and this time Yang snorted a little.

“Amen!” Willow put in brightly. “And with that, let’s dig in!”

“Thank GOD for THAT!” Ruby burst out, and the others all giggled. For a tiny little slip of a girl, she had a voracious appetite.

-----------------------------------------

    Dinner was everything the Schnees had desperately hoped it would be and more. Though Raven avoided speaking to Qrow at all costs, the upside of that was that she actually didn’t resist all of Kali’s attempts at conversation. They would likely never be the best of friends again, but it was a start toward reconciliation that Weiss found extremely heartening.

However, there were a couple of hiccups. Kali and Raven got into a very terse argument about the best path for Yang’s future that didn’t particularly go anywhere. Ilia spilled gravy all over Qrow, earning her a strong glare; Willow hurried him upstairs and gave him some of Jacques’s clothes to change into while they were washing his shirt, which fit at least well enough. Whitley made the mistake of casually mentioning that his sister was a “deviant” in a room full of such deviants, though he hastily apologised and insisted he did not mean any offense when he noticed all the eyes glinting with doom. Still, all in all not a bad evening.

“I couldn’t eat another bite,” Yang burped as she helped them move all the dishes to the sink. “But I want to! It’s all so good, I haven’t even tasted Kali’s food that was this good before! And hers is always the bee’s knees!”

“Flatterer.” Kali herself came in behind her and put the empty casserole dish on the counter, then pulled Yang in for a little cheek-kiss. “But keep it coming; I might save you an extra piece of pie.”

As Yang laughed nervously, her mother strode over and said, “Hey, cut that out. Stop tryin’ to be my kid’s mom. That’s my job.” And then she kissed her on the cheek, as well, leaving a very shocked Yang glancing between them. As if waiting to have to break up a fight should it flare up from nowhere.

But all Kali did was smile and say, “Good.” Then she started scrubbing a pot vigorously, humming a light little tune.

“Um, let us do those,” Yang volunteered. “You cooked, it’s the least we can do.”

“Oh, that’s alright.”

“No it’s not. You do so much, Mrs. B, and everybody takes it for granted. I’m not gonna anymore.”

As Yang moved into position in front of the sink, Kali pressed a hand to the center of her chest and fluttered her eyelashes. “My my myyyy, Weiss, you certainly have found yourself a stand-up woman. Good thing for you I’m-”

“Watch how you finish that,” Raven warned. “Talking about my daughter there.”

“That I’m… not twenty years younger,” she finished slyly. “And I will leave it at that, alright?” When Raven nodded curtly, she rolled her eyes and tittered as she moved to stand beside Weiss. “Come with me.”

Confused, she let herself be taken to the dining room again, which was mostly empty. Everyone had moved to the living room by now. “Yes?”

“I thought I should tell you sometime when we had a moment; there’s been too much going on before now.” Glancing around, Kali whispered, “Salem has agreed that we’re rebuilding Shopkeeper’s. The money will come out of a nest egg she had set aside to renovate her own home and to retire on; she won’t be able to do those things now for a while yet, but at least we’ll all have a home again.”

“That’s fantastic news!” When Kali only frowned, she asked, “Or is it? What’s wrong?”

“Well… to be frank, I’m a little disappointed you aren’t looking at my chest.”

“Huh?!”

Smirking, she whispered, “My hands were wet when I held one to my chest a moment ago, so now the top of my dress is all damp. Don’t tell me you didn’t notice! I must be losing my touch.”

Unable to help briefly glancing at the more pronounced outline of Kali’s bosom, she stamped her foot and hissed, “You stop that! I thought there was a real problem!”

“How is this not a ‘real’ problem? My looks are fading!” The back of her hand flew to her forehead as she clutched the neckline of her dress like a silent film starlet. “It won’t be long now, little Weiss; you’ll be seeing me in a casket, old and wrinkled. Past my prime and with no bevy of saucy young things surrounding me, weeping their eyes out at the loss!”

“Oh, enough!” Kali’s laugh made her smile against her will. “Your breasts are as magnetic and splendid as ever, if you must know. Just… have other breasts on my mind. And things besides breasts.”

“Of course. It’s quite alright, really.” Cupping Weiss’s cheek tenderly, stroking with her thumb, she whispered, “I just miss chasing you around my kitchen and being ogled; it was harmless fun.”

“Me, too. We’ll do it again soon, okay?”

Kali’s grin was genuine. “Please. You might be with Yang and my Blake, but that’s a game I’m not willing to give up.”

Still playing this game, were they? Well, Weiss wasn’t going to keep being a helpless target anymore. “That’s good. Neither am I.”

Nothing could have prepared Kali for Weiss reaching back to pinch her on the rear end before she walked past into the kitchen. The squeak of surprise was as flustered as she had ever heard Blake’s mother, even if it was brief and not terribly loud. Weiss had to swallow down her own giggle – and the slight thrill of how nice that pinch had felt, fleeting as it was. When Kali followed her in a few seconds later, she was markedly more composed, but grinning wolfishly and had the faintest of blushes in her cheeks.

And her chest bore the evidence of the pinch, as well. Blake, who had been dropping off the last of the plates, noticed the stiffened peaks within seconds and hurried to finish putting them down before excusing herself. This time, Kali noticed, but only seemed vaguely curious and puzzled rather than scandalised. It seemed her daughter’s secret would remain safe for a little while longer.

Once the dishes were done, Weiss cleared her throat and made an announcement to everyone congregating in the living room. “Attention! If you all would be so kind as to join us in the drawing room, Ilia Amitola and myself will be performing ‘Ave Maria’. Just a little post-dinner entertainment.”

“Ooh!” Ruby gasped, hopping up and down in her seat. “You’re gonna play something?”

“Ilia will play, I will sing.”

“OOH!”

Qrow sighed. “I’m staying down here. Maybe Donna Reed’s on.”

“I’m game,” Raven said with a careless shrug. The others seemed to have similar opinions, and began to make their way upstairs.

On the landing, Weiss’s mother hesitated. She backtracked into the hall to ask her, “What’s wrong?”

“Unpleasant memories of that room.”

“Oh… of course.” A flash of seeing her father struck over the head with a vase filled her vision before she blinked to clear it away. “Tell you what, Mommy. Let’s start making some new memories in there, right now. Can we try that?”

Swallowing hard, her mother’s eyes flicked back and forth a little as she took up Weiss’s hand and gave it a would-be firm pat. “You’re right. I’d love to hear my angel sing again.”

Chest puffing out like a male frigatebird, Weiss turned and strode toward the piano where a clearly-nervous Ilia was playing a few scales very quietly. Blake was leaning against one wall, watching her with a genuine fondness in her amber eyes. That gave Weiss some comfort; it looked like their budding relationship was truly heading in the right direction.

So she played. And Weiss sang. The voices that were muttering seconds before fell silent. Every day of her life, she had let her father’s insistences that she needed to practice more, to make sure her instrument was honed to perfection before she displayed it to others, keep her voice caged and silent. She was through letting her past bar her way to her future.

By the time the final note wavered and faded, several hands were pressed to mouths. Kali had to sit down. Ruby and Penny were huddled close, sniffling. Even Raven’s eyes were slightly damp, though she was trying to appear her usual detached self. Everyone but Yang and her own mother were completely stunned. The issue was, several of the Dragons had heard Ilia play already and knew she had talent, but Weiss’s was brand new to most of them.

So Weiss barely had time to curtsy before they were being swarmed.

“Oh my GOD, Schnee!” Blake was gushing. “How did I not know about this?!”

“That was INCREDIBLE!” Ruby piped up, literally hopping up and down. “I’m flipping, what a gas!”

With a slight chuckle, Raven said, “How are we supposed to understand what these damn curtain climbers are saying these days?” But instead of leaving it at that, she looked Weiss dead in the eyes and added, “Nice pipes. Really.”

“Th-thanks,” she breathed. The grumpy woman only nodded and turned back to Ilia, patting her on the back too hard and making her almost fall over into the piano.

“Maybe you ought to be chasing me,” Kali told her, gripping her hands firmly. “Oh, I’m so proud of you, though. A songbird on top of everything else!”

“S-stop,” she tried again with a huge, bashful grin, but it was useless; Penny and Whitley were clapping again, and Yang was massaging her shoulders, and…

And the room was full of love, and reassurance. Camaraderie and affection. Family.

“Okay, okay!” Ilia finally cackled as Ruby gave her a big showy kiss on the cheek, causing it to change colours. “Who wants to hear something else? I could play ‘Night Train’, but it doesn’t have any words.”

“What about ‘Chances Are’?” Raven suggested with something like a grin. And Weiss had to fight down a laugh; she should have known Johnny Mathis would come up sooner or later. The woman was addicted to the crooner. “O-or ‘Misty’… doesn’t matter. Forget it.”

But Ilia was thoughtful. “I haven’t tried either before, but the piano parts are pretty simple. Weiss? You up to the vocals?” When Weiss nodded, she cracked her knuckles. “I could probably pick it out if you give me a-”

“HEY!” interrupted a gruff voice from downstairs. “Some dame’s tryin’ to break into your house!”

Stunned by that proclamation, Weiss and her mother quickly stole down the stairs to see what Qrow meant. The others were hot on their heels - and they nearly ended up in a heap, since the Schnee women had stopped dead in their tracks at the bottom of the staircase.

“Am I too late for dinner?”

It only took a few seconds of awkward smiles and heavy silence before Weiss burst out “WINTER!” and went flying across the entryway and into her big sister’s arms. Winter Schnee was several inches taller, and her trademark Schnee white-blonde hair was pulled into a taut bun. Her arms dropped the heavy duffel bag just barely inside the front door and instantly clamped around Weiss, expression melting into one of affection.

“Ohhhh, Snowball,” she whispered into her shoulder. “I’m sorry it’s been so long.”

“Winter, I don’t understand!” her mother laughed, dashing after her younger daughter and resting a hand on the elder’s shoulder. Winter looked both delighted and surprised to see her so lucid. “What are you doing here so soon? I thought Christmas…”

“Well, after I got the telegram about Father, how could I stay away?” Her brows were furrowed despite the smiles. “Are you all doing alright? I can’t imagine…”

“Oh, fine, fine,” she dismissed with a wave of her hand. Both Raven and Kali rolled their eyes in the background. “You aren’t AWOL, are you?” Winter shook her head. “Oh good. Then how did you manage to slip away? How will you finish your tour of duty if-”

“I’m not. Mother, I’m staying right here in Vale, and taking over the business.”

Their mother’s expression slackened. “Oh… oh no, dear, you mustn’t do that. You enlisted to serve our country, a-and we can get along just fine while you do. It shouldn’t mean you have to drop everyth-”

“Please,” Winter said a little more firmly, finally releasing Weiss as she straightened into a more military stance. “Let me do this. I… what Father has done…” Her voice cracked slightly, even if it was her only overt display of emotion. “I should have been here to protect you, and Weiss and Whitley. And I wasn’t.”

At the mention of his name, Whitley moved into Weiss’s spot and hugged Winter soundly. Though he let go immediately afterward. “There was nothing you could do, I’m afraid, Sister. Though it still pains me to admit his wrongdoing… our father intended to kill Weiss’s friends. It was the response of a coward, and… and he was a killer, and had to be stopped. By death, I’m not quite as sure, but he deserved some sort of justice.”

“Even more reason for me to be here,” she insisted. “I am trained in combat; I could have put his head through a wall before he so much as laid a hand on any of you.”

“Don’t worry,” Willow tried to reassure her in a gentle tone, petting her daughter’s strong jaw. “We had everything well in hand. Oh, I am so very glad to have you back, though!”

Eyes finally lifting to scan the room properly, Winter smiled very slightly and said, “Yes, I see that you have a very… full house, Mother. Who are all these people? You said ‘friends’ were helping you, but…”

“Where are my manners?” Kali chuckled gently as she strode forward, offering her hand. “Kali Belladonna. I’ve been helping your mother through the legal aspects of the divorce and the will, and trying to help clean up around the house. That’s my daughter, Blake.” On cue, Blake waved. “And… well, I’m sure this must be a surprise, such an odd assortment of-”

“Dragons.” When there were a few gasps of surprise, Winter nodded at the leather jackets hanging from the coat rack, her expression vaguely thoughtful. “I remember them well. Wandered into Shopkeeper’s by mistake when I was in my junior year at Vale High, and… well, that was a rather eye-opening experience.”

“Ohhhhhhhh,” Kali suddenly breathed. “That was you? I remember that curious little lamb now. We don’t get many strays like that.”

“Wait, wait,” Weiss found herself saying, shaking her head out. “You’ve seen the inside of Shopkeeper’s, and never mentioned it? And you’re not freaking out that there are Dragons in our house?”

The corner of her mouth did twitch upward in bemusement. “Well… I have to admit, it’s a little unusual, but if you invited them in, you must think of them as friends.”

“Oh. I guess that makes sense.”

“Are they?” Weiss nodded vaguely, and Winter folded her arms over her chest. “Are any of them more than friends?” When the only response she got was widening eyes and pinkening cheeks, Winter blinked in surprise. Clearly, she had not expected her teasing to turn up anything pertinent. “Oh.”

“I… it’s not… you probably think I’m some sort of deviant.” Whitley cringed at the use of that word, memory of being admonished still fresh. “Sorry, this isn’t how I-”

“No, no, don’t apologise. Let me show you something.”

From within her plain black purse, she withdrew a battered-looking leather wallet. Flipping past a few bills and identification cards, eventually she came up with a small photograph of a petite, dark-skinned girl in a beret. Her eyes looked clear and clever, and her lips as if she were trying to suppress a smirk.

“This… is Ciel. She’s someone very special to me. Or… was.” Her eyes were sad as she added, “Her parents are marrying her off, and she told me that we had our fun, but it was over. And honestly, I believe her; I want to say she’s just scared and I’ll ‘win her back’, but I doubt it. Once Ciel’s mind is made up, it’s set in stone.”

However, Weiss was laughing. Everyone else remained quiet, but a little at a time, Winter’s hands moved to her hips as her little sister doubled over with mirth, nearly staggering over into the umbrella stand.

“And what’s the matter with you now?”

Still giggling, she turned around and beckoned Yang closer. The blonde immediately hopped to, edging past her mother and Penny to stride over to Weiss’s side. Immediately, they locked their hands together, and Yang’s eyes widened just a bit. The elder sibling couldn’t help gasping, though she didn’t look displeased. Not in the slightest.

“Oh, Winter,” she breathed with an excited grin. “I think we have a lot to talk about.”

“Maybe we do, Weiss.” Winter leaned their foreheads together as she added, “And I would love that more than anything in the world right now.”

“Me, too. But first, come see what leftovers we have; you’re probably really hungry.”

“Yes, please!” Willow provided with a huge grin – and the fact that she also wasn’t fazed by Winter’s outing herself seemed to make the older of the sisters completely bewildered. “Come inside, dear – Whitley, can you take her bag upstairs? She must be so tired, and we have so much catching up to do!”

“Can’t one of these brutes do it? You know I have minimal upper body strength.”

“Brutes?!” Raven fired up – but Kali’s hand on her arm helped her reign it in. Through her teeth, she growled, “Sure. Anything for the Schnees.” Then she grabbed the bag with one hand, hefting it as she glared briefly at the boy before carrying it toward the bedrooms.

Meanwhile, Weiss was on cloud nine. Winter was there. Her sister was the only missing piece from her family; now it was complete. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ruby jump up and down a little before she rushed over to her side.

“You’re a little sister, too!”

“Yes,” she chuckled quietly as she watched her mother leading Winter into the kitchen, both of them chatting easily. And Winter looked so happy to see her mother wasn’t a lush anymore; was bright-eyed and invested in the world around her. Just like she herself was happy about it. “So what?”

“So it’s really COOL! Maybe that’s why we’re friends, huh? Like, aside from you dating Yang… I always thought we had more of a bond, a-and that’s what it is! We know what it’s like to be little sisters with big strong sisters, a-and that’s neato, huh? Right?”

To stop her from jumping around, she paused to give Ruby a warm hug. “We’re friends because I like you. That’s all. But… you’re right, it’s pretty neat that we both have strong big sisters.”

After only a brief pause, Ruby squeezed her back and whispered, “Yeah. Little sister club!” Then she pulled back with a huge grin. “Go hang out with Winter. She seems so hip.”

“She is.”

As she stepped across the threshold into the dining room, she heard Yang calling out, "Announcing the arrival of Her Majesty, Princess Schnee!"

“Okay, okay!” she laughed easily, turning toward the kitchen. “You got me.”

“Yeah, I do,” Yang whispered as she pulled her in close for a hug and a kiss, ignoring the coos from the other side of the door. “Got you, Schnee. All mine forever.”

Weiss’s blue eyes sparkled with affectionate glee as she leaned heavily against the Dragon. Having so much to say, but finding in the end that she didn’t need to, anyway. All she had to do was whisper a few choice words against Yang’s smirking lips before they connected yet again.

“Hmph. What a brute.”

  THE END