#every dorm leader has their tragic background

[rakiah]

Forgot to post those! Here Gabriel and his little brother Shemaiah (when he wasn’t turned into stone cough) They used to be very close, Gabriel sang a lot back then but everything changed when Shemaiah went totally deaf at his 9. It was hard at the beginning, especially for Gabriel. He never sang again. And above all, he never got rid of that unfairness. _(:3 」∠)_

[serene-quill]

Emerson College took its sweet time, but it looks like they're finally getting around to issuing statements (and alumni like me have been lighting them up non-stop) about the violent arrests of Pro-Palestine protestors on the campus.

The tl;dr summary: The city of Boston and BPD made the decision against the college's wishes. Emerson is bailing out students and making sure they have summer housing when dorms close if they can't convince the DA not to press charges.

In fairness, Emerson sits around one end of the Boston Commons, and our campus is absolutely city property as well as campus property. I hope everything they convey to the alumni proves true.

Read the full statement to Emerson Alumni:

Dear Emersonians:

As we begin a new week, I wanted to share some reflections on the past few days and where we are today as a campus community.

 

In my relatively short time at Emerson, I have come to deeply value our community's strong and passionate views, even when they are sometimes hard to hear. I respect and support how our students, faculty, and staff embody those values in their actions. It takes immense bravery to speak out and act in support of a cause. As an institution, the College may not take positions on global conflicts, but our overarching goal is for Emerson to be unyielding in our support for our students' education and their ability to find and express their voices.

Last week, 118 protesters were arrested in Boylston Place Alley, where an encampment was established, like at many other campuses across the nation, to draw attention to the tragic loss of life of Palestinians in Gaza. As a community, whatever our position on the conflict, we should respect their right to raise their collective voices while also acknowledging the disruptions created by their encampment occupying a public right-of-way.

Because we are committed to our students' right to protest, Emerson made every possible effort to avoid confrontation between the police and the protesters at the encampment. Prior to the law enforcement action, the College advocated with the City and Boston Police Department for several days to delay the removal of the encampment. When it became clear the City intended to clear the tents from the alley, we actively encouraged the protestors to remove them to prevent arrest. We also strongly and directly advocated for the police to peacefully remove tents without making arrests.   

We know that the events of that night were, and are, emotionally overwhelming for our entire community, especially for the students present at the protest and the staff and faculty who were on site to provide support. Emerson has continued to be supportive in multiple ways – sending staff to all the precincts and posting bail for arrested students, canceling and modifying classes so our community could process what had occurred, and providing additional care and support for our community to heal. 

The College will not bring any campus disciplinary charges against the protestors and will encourage the district attorney not to pursue charges related to encampment violations. We will also provide housing support to students required to stay in town for court appearances following the closing of their dorms. 

But these are only initial steps toward healing and growth.     

As leaders of Emerson College, we are responsible for creating a safe environment for our entire community. This responsibility includes physical and emotional safety and assuring that our public and private spaces are free from harassment or intimidation, including Antisemitism and Islamophobia. Emersonians from all backgrounds and beliefs must always feel welcome and safe at our College, and we must all share the responsibility of enforcing this core value without exception or excuse. 

The College has done its best to keep all community members safe every day during these challenging times, but we recognize that we must do more. Our leadership team is committed to redoubling our efforts, engaging and respecting all voices across our community, and actively listening and learning how to move forward together.  

Though we are nearing the end of the academic year, our commitments to free expression, safety, and an inclusive community will remain top priorities for our leadership team far beyond this semester. We ask you to join us now and in the future to learn from the events of recent days and weeks to help us build the safe, passionate, and unified community that we all desire and deserve. 

Respectfully,

Jay Bernhardt

President

[lovee-infected]

hi geo ~!! (◠‿◠✿)

so i haven’t really done this before, but i have some theories involving twisted wonderland and i’d like to share with you and everyone else here !

➺ i theorize that dire crowley might be a decscendant of diaval; the raven from sleeping beauty, maleficent’s loyal pet.

➺ dire crowley has a very eccentric air and he can be irresponsible, manipulative. i theorize that he knows the leaders were going to overblot and he just lets it happen/leave it for yuu to deal with. (possibly a mastermind or he’s just very dense and doesn’t pay attention to it all.)

➺ lilia mentions that he used to be a war commander? if that’s what i heard correctly. if that’s the case, and malleus/silver are orphans. there could’ve been a possible war between the faeries and humans. both of their parents have died and lilia covers this from silver. he may have also been around when maleficent was in power.

silver may not be aware of this, and they placed a sort of sleeping curse on him (unknown) but i theorize this and that it links together somehow. this could also be a reason why sebek dislikes silver and is degrading towards every human he meets.

➺ i theorize that idia carries a lot of guilt and regret over his younger brother, ortho. either he or someone else in his family (possibly hades himself) had jealous envy over ortho, similar to how the movie hercules went.

➺ i theorize that idia and ortho are the children of hades OR they are just related somehow, because they are a spitting image. if that’s the case, they might be immortal, possibly gods or even a demigod...

➺ it’s still hard to tell who might overblot in the diasmonia dorm or why. it could be malleus, i’ve read theories that it’s lilia. that something terrible happens to silver or even Yuu and they are sent over the edge because of this. either way i feel this chapter will be the darkest..and the most tragic/saddest one.

www I'm glad you decided to drop by babe!! And when it's a theory discussion it's always a YES for me~

1) There's a chance of Crowley being partly inspired by Maleficent's crow! I'd say the crow reference is very strong because it resembles two of the very important characters within the Disney's villains verse at the same time: Maleficent's crow and Evil Queen's crow. BUT- after nearly two months of investigation and trying to figure out what Crowley might be up to, I'd say he's mainly twisted from Evil Queen's crow!

The thing with Crowley is we still can't tell if he's the villain of this story or not, at some point all of our theories saying how much of an evil mastermind he is might turn out to be wrong! But, his aura is mysterious enough for us to know that 1) He is up to something important & 2) He is not as stupid as he pretends to be.

2)Yup! It's confirmed that Lilia used to be a general back in the war as he's still one of the strongest magicians of the valley of thorns.

Regarding the war, there still isn't much we know about it but I'm like 99 percent sure that Lilia adopted/ found Silver during or a while after the war was over. That also makes a perfect sense since we need explanation for both: why Lilia adopted Silver and why he wishes for nothing more than he wishes for peace!

Can't wait to learn more about this infamous war in chapter 7...

3) Honestly whenever I try to theorize either Diasomnia or Ignihyde's backgrounds I end up having mental breakdowns- Seems like it's indirectly confirmed that the Ortho we know and see in the story is nothing but a robot, not a half human. Seems like the real Ortho is already... you know.

Actually I think Ortho resemblances Hercules's incompleteness; Hercules lost his immortality, while Ortho lost his life.

Idia also happens to come from a rich yet infamous family that almost everyone knows about them, so even Idia is not much less than a celebrity but on the cursed side of fame-

4) Diasomnia's literally the household of pain, the angsty potential with this dorm is scarily high and even Malleus's birthday SSR story was more of a reason to cry rather than a happy chance to get to know him. I know that Twst's just teasing us with Dia 'cause they want to keep the best parts for the very end...Diasomnia's plot is more like a room filled with dynamite that can explode at any second- no wonder why they chose Diasomnia's chapter to be the very last one of dormitory stories...

[frauleinjustice]

Oumasai Week Prompt 1: Angst

@oumasaiweek

 I decided to do the angst prompt for oumasai week! To give a small summary: Shuichi talking about his parents to Kokichi and knowing it’s a hard subject for him to talk about and all....yeah... 

Nevertheless, I hope all who reads this still enjoys it and thank you in advance for doing so! ☆

A 'hands-off approach' of taking care of him; that's how Shuichi would describe the relationship with his parents. With a forced laugh or smile, he would brush the topic off. But in reality, it was a topic that was never easy for him to talk about and one he wanted to end as soon as it started, which was usually not like the detective. It made one had to wonder if Shuichi purposely did not realize his parents truly neglected him...or if he subconsciously refused to acknowledge the emotional impact the negligence from his parents has on him.

On the topic of parents: it made Kokichi curious about Shuichi's. Mostly everyone else in their class knows Shuichi lives with his uncle and is raised by him; but he doesn't remember the detective ever mentioning his parents. And not that he would admit it, even to himself; but he's grown to care about Shuichi enough to actively want to learn more about him.

After school eventually came and it wasn't particularly something he wanted to ask him about in the open, so Kokichi secretly tails Shuichi back to the dorms. As Shuichi approaches his door and opens it: having hid behind the corner, Kokichi yells out “Incomiiing...!” before barreling past him and right into Shuichi's room.

"-?!" Shuichi was shoved back slightly in response, looking understandably really confused as he didn't even know the other was close by.  "Wh... O-Ouma-kun?" Once most of the confusion wears off, Shuichi gives a small sigh and steps inside of his room, closing the door behind him. "You startled me... where did you even come from?"

"Nishishi… don’t worry about it. Don’t even try to kick me out, either. If you try it… my secret agents on stakeout will have something to say about that." Claims the supreme leader confidently, of course not being serious.

"Uhh, r-right... well, it's not as if I really mind if you want to hang out in my room for a bit. Unless...there was something in particular you wanted?" Shuichi asks, going over to sit down at his desk.

As Kokichi grabs another chair to drag over to Shuichi's desk, he gives a nod. "Yup! I'm recruiting more members to build up my ever growing organization, you see... and you keep refusing, but not this time! But that's a lie: I really came to ask you something, Saihara-chan!" He sits down, facing the other.

"Oh...?" He wasn't sure if it'd be a ridiculous question or a real one, but either way he was curious. "Sure. Ask away."

"...What's the story with your parents?"

"....!" Shuichi's mouth is slightly agape, not expecting that of all things to be asked about. His body tenses slightly. “Huh? My...parents?”

Kokichi of course took instant note of Shuichi's reaction. To look instantly uncomfortable like that… he must have hit a sore spot. Now normally, he wouldn’t care if he was making someone tense or uneasy, but there was that slight twinge of nervousness that Shuichi would not consider him close enough to want to talk about it. Though he of course refuses to let that nervousness show and instead, balls his fists up excitedly with a big smile on his face. “Yup! I want to hear alll about Saihara-chan’s tragic anime backstory!”

"It... isn’t a sad story, but anyway: my mother is a screenwriter and my father is an actor.” He begins. "I used to live with them when I was younger, but then their careers started becoming busier than ever. Eventually, they began to fly overseas and they couldn't... bring me along with them, so that's when I started living with my uncle."

Kokichi silently listens as Shuichi explains. He knew the two grew up in very different backgrounds, but even then: he was surprised to learn Shuichi practically had celebrities for parents. But something about the fact they basically dumped him off to his uncle...bothered him. "...Why couldn't they just bring you along with them?"

"B-Because like I said: they've been extremely busy and I would just be in the way, I suppose." Fingers nervously fiddle with each other. "Even now, they're still traveling all over the place and so.. yeah..."

"Mmh...and I bet you haven't even talked to them in a long time, huh?"

"...No. Contact between me and my parents is....rare. But, you could say they...indirectly take care of me? If that makes sense." He chuckles, albeit slightly forced. "They still send me money when they can, so that my uncle isn't the sole person supporting me financially... and they at least try to contact me on my birthday and other important holidays, so-"

"So in other words: Saihara-chan's parents care more about their stupid jobs than their own son!" He interrupts, making Shuichi wince at the bold statement.

"...Huh?" For a second, his words caught in his throat, unsure of what to say next. "That...That isn’t true.” He states in a slightly forced tone. “They do care about me, it’s just… they won’t always have the time to check on me, you know? It’s understandable.”

"Oh?" Irritation starting to slip more into his voice, Kokichi leans in uncomfortably close, in which Shuichi instinctively moves his head back. "Understandable”, huh? “Understandable” for them to only feel bothered to contact you very few times a year and aside from those times: not give a damn about you again after they dumped you off to their uncle? “Understandable” that their ohhh so busy jobs are their excuse to neglect you? Maaan, Saihara-chan really is an oblivious idiot if he can't even see that!"

Kokichi's words were brutally honest and harsh; that, he was aware of. But he was upset: upset at not only Shuichi's parents, but at Shuichi himself for not realizing that the rare contact his parents give him is not at all okay. There was no excuse to not try reaching out to his son more, he believes. Anxiety rising inside of Shuichi, he didn't want to keep talking about this. He didn't want to think too hard about the thoughts he feared believing: that he truly wasn't that important to his parents. "Stop it. I don't want to talk about this anymore. You're just...you're just assuming things you don't even know."

Kokichi leans back in his seat. Looking more visibly irritated, he points a finger at Shuichi. "You're the one who doesn't know anything! Stupid detective always says he wants to aim for the truth, yet lies to himself like this and then wants to run away like a coward. Laaame!"

"I..sh-shut... ......." His voice dies down, Shuichi looking down at his lap. "I am not lying to myself. It's not...it's not a big deal..." Yet his words weren't spoken with much confidence: more like, uncertainty. "......." For a minute, there was silence in the air before Shuichi speaks up again, voice almost a whisper. "...I can take care of myself by now, they'd say: th-that I can't expect them to always have the time to talk to me."

A part of Kokichi was expecting Shuichi at this point to tell him to just go away, so when he started speaking more on his own accord; he was surprised, but honestly glad. He definitely would not consider himself the type one would go to whenever they needed to vent...but he wouldn't had chided Shuichi like that, if he wasn't ready to lend a listening ear.

To accept he truly is neglected by his parents... it was like a harsh truth that even Shuichi did not want to bring himself to accept, nor acknowledge. He didn't feel as "okay" with his parents barely reaching out to him as he believed he did: truthfully he felt pained, lonely, and subconsciously angry at them for it.

Shuichi continues, fingers anxiously gripping at the fabric of his pants. "I try to understand. I really do! But I.... I miss them, honestly. If they at least tried more often to try seeing me or talking to me, then that'd be fine but..." He looks back towards Kokichi. "...I guess I'm not that worth it to them in the end, huh?" He gives a pained smile. "Maybe they wanted a son who became interested in what they did, instead."

"Saihara-chan..." He sighs, shaking his head. For a moment, he was hesitant to do so, but... Kokichi scoots his chair even closer to Shuichi until their knees are almost touching. He gently cups one of Shuichi's hands in his own, sullen expression on his face. "...It doesn't matter what kind of son you'd turn out to be. Your parents should love you for you. But whatever; they're just morons who don't realize how lucky they are to have a son like you. And to see that; Saihara-chan deserves to be... loved and cared about." It was truly how he felt. Even if showing a more...softer and vulnerable side like this was unlike him, a side of him he would never show so easily, especially not willingly: Shuichi felt...special enough to him at this point. Not feeling as if the detective would mock or tease him for it.

"!!!" Shuichi is stunned silent, eyes widening. Those were words he never thought he would be told to him by Kokichi of all people. "I-I..." But before he could try getting out the words that caught in his throat...

"P...Pfft..."

"?"

Kokichi's mouth wriggles a bit, head lowered so his face couldn't be seen...before he lifts it back up, bellowing in laughter. "Hahaha! Like I'd ever be THAT corny, nishishishi~!" Yet, Kokichi didn't say the usual 'just kidding!' or 'that was a lie!' afterwards, indicating all the more that he meant every word he said in that second.

"......." Shuichi doesn't respond at first. Before he realizes it; he finds himself pulling Kokichi much closer to him in a tight hug.

"!!" A surprised yelp leaving him when he found himself wrapped in the detective's arms, Kokichi's laughter instantly comes to a stop. "Wh-"

"....Thank you, Ouma-kun." He softly mumbles, giving him a gentle squeeze in the hug. "That...really means a lot to hear." A small exhale, a lone tear streams down Shuichi's cheek, followed by a faint chuckle. Shuichi really didn't realize how much he really just needed to hear something like that. That he didn't deserve to be neglected and forgotten; rather, deserves to be cared about and loved.

"......" There was something about being genuinely told thank you-especially from Shuichi-that made his heart feel warm. It honestly made him a bit flustered as well, Kokichi's cheeks turning a light pink. Wanting to take advantage of this moment for now, he returns the hug. "G-Geez....Saihara-chan's so cheesy...gross!"

"Hahaha...ah." That’s when it finally hits him that he still has the other in a tight embrace. Shuichi’s cheeks turn a notable shade of red, allowing the other to pull away once he does. “S-Sorry." He gives a meek smile, eyes darted down. "I feel a little better, though. It's...not often I talk about them, nor do I really like to. But... I'm fine. I'll be okay. Even if my relationship with my parents is rocky... I've been nothing but happy while living with ojisan. He's also like a father to me as well, anyway." A fond smile crosses on his face. "That's why I happily try to repay him however way I can for taking care of me all these years."

"Pfft, I doubt you have to actually repay him, nerd! But you can repay me for being merciful enough to spare you for tonight; by, saaay....joining my organization~?" 'Innocent' flutters of his eyelashes, he tilts his head cutely at Shuichi.

"No thanks." He replies flatly with an exasperated look on his face...until his mouth instantly cracks into a smile. "I'll pass for now."

Also trying to hold back from smiling, Kokichi gives a huff. "Rude! I'll get you to join my organization sometime, just you watch!" And then his mouth instantly cracks into a smile anyways, laughing with him. He felt like he got a little closer to Shuichi, even if just a little. And that alone made him even happier as well.

[kaen-ace-of-diamonds]

i’m going to talk about some of my Emerald headcanons for a little bit because i can’t shut up about my faves for a single second

and because come on, being homeless, alone, and starving for most of her life absolutely 100% left her with physical and psychological scars that may or may not ever be brought up in canon

- Like her teammates, she doesn’t have a good relationship with either of her parents.

Her father, also a skilled thief, left the family when she was five years old, and she has no idea where he is, what he’s doing, or why he’s gone, only that if she ever sees him again, she’s going to make him pay dearly for abandoning her. 

(He actually left to try and make a fortune to support his girls, but refuses to return or contact them until then, out of pride. He doesn’t think things through very well: he ends up becoming the successful leader of a gang of forty thieves, but returns home to find his family gone without a trace, years after his wife died and just a few days after Emerald left their home city with Cinder. He has no idea where to go from there.)

Her mother was a drug dealer, which wasn’t a very profitable profession seeing as dealers of illicit products are a dime a dozen in Mistral, and compared to the rest, she didn’t have much to bring to the table. Life in abject poverty with a bitter, stressed, temperamental mom was difficult enough, but then Emerald unlocked her Semblance and somehow shit got even worse.

Her mother freaked the fuck out at the idea of her kid being able to mess with her head, and threw Emerald out of the house, calling her a freak and telling her to never come near her again. Emerald was eight. About five years later, she came across her mother in the street, dead of a gunshot wound, and was disgusted with herself for still getting upset at the sight.

Cinder is the only one who has ever told her that her Semblance wasn’t bad or wrong, that it made her wonderful and special and was something to be proud of. It was the first time in Emerald’s life that she felt like she was worth something.

- Her immune system is total shit. She used to get bad cases of flu and chest infections every winter, and even had pneumonia once, which would have killed her if she hadn’t managed to steal some antibiotics. Even now that she’s able to take better care of herself (despite mammothrider’s claims to the contrary, Cinder doesn’t exactly have a healthcare plan for her minions, but she can pay for medicine, vitamin supplements, etc., when needed), she’s still pretty vulnerable in bad conditions, and absolutely detests the winter. 

- She’s touch-starved as all hell, and would love to be held and cuddled, even if she doesn’t yet realize that fully. Cinder, however, gets exactly what’s going on when Emerald reacts more strongly than is typical to things like quick hugs and little hair strokes, and immediately files it away as another tool of emotional manipulation.

All I’m saying is, back in “Best Day Ever,” Emerald probably wouldn’t have tried to go in for a hug if she didn’t think there was a chance she’d get one

- She’s an avid reader when she can get her hands on books (a habit she unknowingly shares with her father), and primarily enjoys mysteries and suspense. Adventures are okay, too, so long as the protagonists aren’t annoyingly happy and pure of heart and all that. Antiheroes are her favorites.

- She sleeps curled up tight in the fetal position, either hugging herself or hugging a pillow, under as many blankets as possible; the warmth and pressure make her feel safe. She's also a very light sleeper; any touch or noise near her will wake her up and for a second, she’ll be terrified and think someone is attacking her, until she remembers that she’s not alone on the streets anymore and calms down. 

- She based her current outfit partially on the one Cinder used to wear. Look me in the eyes and try to tell me that this didn’t look at this and become this. 

- She and Mercury got along surprisingly well with Neo when she was brought onto the team to go to Beacon, though Neo’s cheerful sadism still unsettled them both at times. 

They were the ones who helped her come up with an alias to use on her fake records, since she was the only one whose name and face were public knowledge and had to be kept secret. It took a little while, but the three of them finally decided on Nero Midori: “black” and “green” to go with her chosen disguise. 

(Cinder thought it was ridiculous that it took them that long to come up with the idea of just adding a letter, but whatever, she supposes that that’s just what happens when you discourage your subordinates from thinking too much.)

Emerald and Neo conspired to steal one of Mercury’s legs and keep hiding it as a joke, but had to stop after only a couple times: they had to keep the secret that the legs were prosthetics from the rest of the school, and there were only so many hiding places in Team CMNE’s dorm room.

Neo was interested in comparing her own Semblance to Emerald’s, since they both deal with disguises and illusions, and wanted to see how far Emerald could take hers. Emerald is...far less willing to experiment with the boundaries of her Semblance, considering that she gets those splitting headaches whenever she pushes it too far.

- The illusion of the little girl that she used to lure in Amber was based on how she herself looked as a child. It’s the easiest for her to create, so it’s one of her go-to illusions for distractions.

- It’s not by much, but she’s the youngest member of Team CMNE.

- She can’t eat more than a little bit at a time or it will make her nauseous, but Emerald has found that she loves candy and other sweet things. 

Both Mercury and Ruby have had a lot of fun giving her new treats to try and watching her have a quiet “oh my god this is so good this is so good this is sO GOOD” freakout. 

Neo’s first token of friendship was to steal her a tub of neapolitan ice cream, signing, “Food is always sweeter when it’s stolen, don’t you agree?”

Cinder, in the background with no sweet tooth at all, snacks on her Dragon’s Breath chili peppers and Ghost Pepper hot sauce and wonders what all the fuss is about. 

- Now that she has unlimited access to food (something she’s still lowkey shocked by, every once in a while), Emerald is fascinated by the idea of cooking and baking, and likes to experiment in the kitchen when she gets the chance, but hasn’t quite gotten the hang of it yet. The first time she seriously tried to cook something nice, she accidentally burned Mercury’s eyebrows off. (Not that they were missed, but still.) She’s trying, though.

- Speaking of which, she has...quite a few issues centered around food.

She has an absolutely cast-iron stomach, from scrounging around in the garbage to eat when she couldn’t steal any money. There’s nothing she can’t choke down if she has to, no matter how disgusting it is.

She also can’t quite break the habit of eating as much as she can, as fast as she can, because there’s still that little part of her that’s warning her that she doesn’t know when she’ll eat again so she has to. 

Now that starvation is no longer a real possibility for her, she needs to be careful not to gorge herself so much and so fast that it makes her sick. Her stomach still isn’t 100% used to normal meals or too-rich food.

(Cinder watches her new subordinate bolting down the meal she’s been given like she’s afraid somebody is going to snatch it away from her, and she smiles, because gods be praised, this is just too easy.)

(“It’s all right,” she says sweetly, “don’t make yourself sick. It’s not going to disappear on you. And there’s plenty more when you want it.”)

- But, more than anything else, Emerald has a Sakura Kyouko-like tendency to get furious whenever she sees somebody wasting food. 

(If Team CMNE had gotten to Beacon in time to witness The Epic Food Fight of 2014, she would have had no conflicted feelings about seeing everyone in the school get eaten by Grimm; death to those who would throw away perfectly good food that could have gone to starving Mistrali orphans named Emerald - !)

She and Mercury bicker plenty right from the start, but the first serious argument she has with him is one night a few weeks after he was recruited, when the trio are on the road and eating dinner around the campfire. It’s nothing special; Emerald finishes it off quickly, true to form. But Mercury decides halfway through that he’s had enough, and throws the rest of the meal away uneaten. Emerald freezes, then flares up and starts reaming him out. 

Mercury is startled and extremely confused, and defensively yells right back, not getting what the big deal is. “Lay off! It’s just a little food!” and Emerald sees red for a moment because not too long ago, just a little food could have made the difference between her surviving the day and starving to death. And instead of silencing her, Cinder takes her side for once and chastises Mercury, too (though her anger is far more restrained), and it only frustrates Mercury more. “Damn it, what is with you two? What’s your problem?!”

Because neither of them have leveled up anywhere near enough to unlock her tragic backstory yet, Cinder clams up, refuses to explain herself, and storms off. But Emerald and Mercury stay by the campfire -- no longer shouting, but still angry, still unwilling to back down. The silence hangs, for a solid minute of glaring. Then, without really thinking about it, Emerald snarls, “You want to know what my problem is?” And Mercury snaps back, “Yeah. Fine, I do. Why don’t you tell me all about it?”

Both of them are fully expecting for it to devolve into another argument. But, to their surprise...They end up actually talking, albeit with some reluctance to divulge their most personal pains. Emerald explains, in the most bare-bones way she can, how she has lived up until now, stealing and struggling for every scrap of food she ate, never quite feeling satisfied. Mercury has never known starvation or thirst, but he knows suffering intimately, knows how deep its roots run even after the worst is over, and it’s shared knowledge of suffering and their new release from it that the pair start to truly bond over.

The fire cools and dies, and their anger does, too. Calm is restored, maybe a grudging apology or two is uttered, and Emerald and Mercury can’t exactly call each other friends, but they understand each other a bit better, now, and that’s what counts.

(Damn it, thinks Cinder, with her ear to the tent flap five feet away from them. I should have been the one to solve that and establish dominance. I really need to get a better handle on this whole ‘being in charge of people’ thing.)

- Before joining Cinder’s team, she’d only ever killed in self-defense before, and even then only once or twice. (She always tried not to think about it. That hasn’t changed.) But she’s always felt bitter and vindictive towards the people around her, both hating and envying their happiness when she has never known any. Cinder, having very similar feelings, catches on right away and uses that to coax Emerald into taking things further and further, down the slippery slope into true villainy. 

You want to do this, says Cinder’s voice at the back of her head, sweet and dark and poisonous. You’ve always wanted to do this. Remember how they’ve laughed at you, looked down on you, beaten and starved you. They don’t care how you suffered, wouldn’t care if you had died. Why should you care what happens to them? They deserve all of this. 

And for a while, it works. Instead of guilt or sadness, she feels only the vindictive pleasure that she was promised. 

Fighting the Fall Maiden is terrifying, but the girl falls to Cinder’s arrows, just as planned. Emerald grabs her arm and yanks her up, kicks her hard in the back (can she even feel it anymore, the way that arrowhead pierced her spine? Who cares, it doesn’t matter), smirks as Cinder approaches to rip the girl’s powers away. She remembers the stark terror of moments before, the wind knocked out of her and the point of a sharpened gem just seconds from being driven through her body, and thinks, Serves you right. 

It’s easy, she thinks. It’s her idea to find and kill Tukson, in hopes of impressing Cinder by succeeding where Roman is failing. A thief, in many cases, gets her mark by acting friendly and accomodating, and Emerald has perfected her earnest voice and false smile. Both are easy to pull out when she toys with the Faunus, watching him try not to squirm under her cool, unperturbed gaze and liking the sensation of power it seems to give. (She wonders if this is what it feels like to be Cinder.) 

There’s an instant of fright when the claws come out, but between Mercury’s devastating kicks from one side and her own blades flying in from the other, Tukson never stood a chance. Easy -- her self-assured attitude is only broken when it turns out that Cinder’s not impressed, not at all, and scolds her instead of thanking her. She’s a little taken aback (she was only trying to help, wasn’t she?), but decides it must be reasonable: she should know her place by now, and of course Cinder knows better than her anyway.

Plans take time, Cinder emphasizes patience above all, but living at Beacon only makes her want the promised night to come faster. She plays the part of the friendly visitor perfectly, as expected, but it makes her want to puke. These idiot kids, always with their happy-go-lucky smiles, always laughing over nothing...She’s sure none of them have ever known what it is to be hungry or cold, to be terrified right down to the core, to be completely, hopelessly alone. They’re not like us, Cinder says. We’ll teach them pain, Mercury says. She smiles along with them.

The doubles round and the trick with Mercury’s leg are, minus the headache, so simple she barely remembers them. Her final task, however...gives her some pause, when the time comes. She does her best to think of Atlas’ robot as “it” instead of “her,” but she still feels an unpleasant twist in her chest to see the girl torn limb from limb on her own wires. It passes quickly; hearing Cinder’s voice in the air, returning to her side, makes her feel safe again: one of only two in Beacon whose safety is guaranteed tonight.

But when the massacre is finally unfolding below them, that feeling evaporates even faster. The air filled with screams, bodies trampled under the Grimm’s hooves and shredded by their teeth and claws, the scent of blood and terror, heavier than anything she’s ever felt before...Her insides go cold, her stomach turns. She doesn’t want to watch but she can’t look away. This isn’t the grand, perfect revenge she’d been thinking of at all. 

Mercury’s smile is vicious, like a wolf scenting blood and knowing it means a feast. Beautiful, croons Cinder, looking on the chaos like an artist at their masterwork. This time she can’t smile with them, much as part of her wishes it could be just like before; now she can only feel sick. Because it’s just now dawning on her that there’s a limit to how far she can go (willing or not), just how much bloodshed she can stomach. If Cinder and Mercury have any such thing...It certainly hasn’t been found here. And for the first time in a long time, she feels her confidence -- in her place, in Cinder, in herself -- start to shake.

Still, even now, even now, she knows she can’t run away. She isn’t even certain she wants to. When the blinding white wings arch out from the top of Beacon Tower, and she knows with a deep, gut-wrenching certainty that it means Cinder is in trouble (that Cinder needs her), she doesn’t think. Her body just moves, has her sprinting for the tower to help before her mind’s caught up with her. The perfect chance to escape, and she’s too terrified to consider it, or even fully realize it’s there. 

But she wouldn’t have taken it, anyway. This is where she was meant to be. It must be, she tells herself insistently, because where would she be if not for this? Because there is one thing that she is absolutely certain of: she will never go back to where she had been before. She would rather die than risk that, she’ll go through anything if only to protect herself from being alone in the world again. No one else has ever accepted her, or will ever accept her, especially after tonight. And so, she will stay, follow Cinder into hell and back, because there is nowhere else to go.