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minawritesfanfic · 7 months

Text

Backyard Boy Part 3

Rodrick Heffley x Reader

Word Count: 2k+

Summary: School is officially back in session and things are looking great, well we’re looking great. An unexpected reunion at the beginning of class is throwing you for a loop, and it seems you aren’t going to be able to avoid the impending confrontation. But hey pizza with your favorite drummer boy is bound to make you feel better, right..?

Part 3

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Summer came and went faster than I wanted it to but at least it was fun, I was able to split my time evenly between hanging out with Rodrick and Racrn. Racrn is the silly little acronym I came up with using the first letters of everyone's names: Renatta, Alejandro, Cecily, Reese, and Nolan. Apparently, they liked it too, and it ended up sticking as a nickname for the group. It was just an easier way to refer to the group compared to ‘insert someone's name and them’. Lame and obnoxiously wordy.

School finally started up again, in my senior year. In a sorta new town, new friends, new clothes, and a very new me. I walked into the school like I had months before during the last week of school, this was different though. No longer did tension hang heavy in the air from final exams, instead the air was full of life and excitement as students talked through the hallways buzzing with joy and telling their peers the glories or tragedies of their summer break.

I exhaled with a smile, very happy about the changed atmosphere, and made my way through the sea of people to my locker. It was in one of the main school hallways which thankfully wasn’t too crowded at the moment. I opened it and tucked my backpack neatly inside before pulling out some of the locker decorations I’d bought the week before. I lined the inner part of the door with taped-up pictures, one from hangouts with Racrn, pictures of me and Rodrick, and a few cute stickers. I smiled at the sight of my freshly customized locker then grabbed the stuff I’d need for class before shutting and locking my locker.

I headed towards the stairs hoping to make it to my first period in time when I spotted a certain black-haired dork standing off to the side. He talked animatedly to his friends as he twirled a drumstick idly in his hand, he glanced over at me when he presumably felt me staring. He flashed me a grin and I waved and mouthed a ‘Don’t be late to class’ before walking off. I didn’t manage to catch him rolling his eyes before I disappeared up the stairs though.

My first few classes weren’t that bad, it was a bunch of electives since I opted out of most of the classes I already had enough credits for. Except for math, for some stupid reason, I needed to take it. My old school was apparently weird and because I didn’t finish out the secound semester for math I didn’t get the full credit, why or how that is I have no clue. So I buckled in mentally to take another math class, which of course was pre-calculus and my next class.

I walked into the classroom and it was partially empty as there were still three minutes until the bell rang. I smiled seeing Renatta was in class with me nodding along as a blonde girl spoke to her. I waved as I walked over, she waved back and the blonde girl turned to look at me.

“O m g! If it isn’t little ole California Sunshine themself, what on Earth brings you to this side of the world?” Heather fucking Hills said with that same condescending tone and smile on her pretty face.

I forced a smile while sitting down behind Renatta who looked like a deer in headlights, her mouth agape and all, looking between the two of us. I knew I would have a lot of explaining to do later and I was not at all looking forward to it.

“Nice to see you’re still the Same Heather, never thought I’d see you again.”

‘More like I hoped I’d never see you again.’

“I know, but seriously what are you doing here? Didn’t you totally say you’d never leave California, like ever?” She asked, quaking her head to the side, her face etched with fake curiosity and a hint of unease.

“Yeah that was the plan, but there was a pretty bad earthquake that ended up splitting our home in half. My parents were tired of earthquakes and moved us out here to completely avoid them. What are you doing here? I thought you lived in Oregon?”

“Okay, I’m going to cut you guys off right there. How the hell do you two know each other?!” Renatta asked, flabbergasted as she looked back and forth between us, Heather glanced quickly over at me but I didn’t even have to look at her to know what she was feeling.

“We met on a family vacation, she was in the room next to mine and we just ended up.. hanging out,” I said with a shrug and Heather just looked me up and down before turning away.

“Hanging out is a bit of an overstatement, but whatever.”

Renatta looked ready to ask more questions but as the bell rang, Mr. Lanaski began class giving her no opportunity to. I knew that this would only be a temporary measure though, as I had lunch with the whole Racrcn group next period. I slumped back into my chair and absently listened to the teacher as he gave us a rundown of how his class would be, it was even worse with me receiving knowing looks from both Renatta and Heather. Who I would also probably have to talk too soon, and I had no idea how that conversation would go.

★ ✮ ★

The bell rings and both girls try and drag me away with them out of the class, they cast glares at each other while everyone else is quickly filling out of the classroom. I managed to break free from their grasp but the looks on both their faces told me that I’d regret even trying to leave, I just started to pack my things as they argued about who gets to talk to me first.

“They were my friend before they were yours!” Heather huffs crossing her arms.

“I thought you guys barely even hung out, besides don’t you have a class to go to? We’re headed to lunch.” Renatta snapped back flipping her hair over her shoulder.

“Oh really? That’s perfect, we’re all friends, yeah, so I’ll join you at your lunch table.”

“Oh, absolutely not!-“ Renatta began but I immediately opted out of sitting with Heather AND Racrn at one lunch table, before either of them could react I grabbed my stuff and bolted out of the classroom.

Thankfully the hallway was still crowded so I could blend in and quickly get away, once I felt safe I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. I headed to my locker ready to drop off my stuff and spend lunch anywhere but the library when I felt someone blow on the back of my neck and whisper.

“Boo.” I jumped and slammed my locker shut, I turned slowly praying it wasn’t Heather or Renatta but thankfully it was just Rodrick.

“Jeez Rodrick, don't do that! You scared the ever-loving shit outta me!” I said with a heavy sigh and leaned back against my locker while Rodrick stepped back his hands in the air to surrender.

“Sorry, sorry! I couldn’t resist, anyways where are you headed next?”

“I have lunch right now but I’m definitely not going to that cafeteria, for a number of reasons.”

“Perfect, cuz I was wondering if you would be down to skip the rest of school with me. It’s all just boring ass-“

I didn’t even let him finish trying to convince me, “Yes! I mean yeah, let’s cut school. Nothing important I’m going to miss out on, let’s go.”

He was a bit surprised by how readily I agreed but rolled with it, he led me out of the school to where his van was parked then we peeled out of the parking lot. I let out a relieved sigh as I watched the school grow smaller in the rearview mirror, though I could see Rodrick eyeing me curiously out of the corner of my eye.

“So… what do you want to go and do?”

“You asked me to ditch and didn’t even have a plan to do anything?”

“I didn’t expect to get that far okay! I figured you’d be a stick in the mud and I’d just have to ask Ben to skip with me.” I just laughed and shook my head.

“Fine, since I’m skipping lunch let’s go grab something to eat then we could hang out at my place. How’s that sound?”

“You had me at lunch.” He said with a grin speeding off to the nearest fast food joint.

★ ✮ ★

We ended up splitting a pizza, Rodrick ate on the floor while I sat in a bean bag chair I’d recently gotten. Rodrick talked on and on all, while he ate, I was perfectly content on just half listening and trying to be grossed out that he talked while he ate. I was kind of lost in my own head, trying to figure out what to do. I glanced over at my phone and sat on my bed, I was not looking forward to the dozens of calls I likely already had from Renatta.

“- and then he turned into an alien and kidnapped me… Dude, are you even listening?” Rodrick said and I snapped my gaze down to him, nodding quickly.

“Uh huh yeah, an alien guy kidnapped you- no I’m sorry I wasn’t at all. Just start again from the party I’m listening to now.” He shook his head and sat up, taking another slice of pizza.

“Nah it’s not that important, talk to me. You’ve seemed out of it since we left school, what’s up?” He took a bite out of his pizza and gestured for me to talk, I let out a heavy sigh and sunk deeper into the bean bag chair.

“My entire world kinda just flipped on its axis? I mean it’s not that huge of a deal but maybe I’m minimizing it cuz if I do start thinking it’s that big of a deal I might just die on the spot. But uh so you know how I lived in Cali, right? I was on vacation in a different town there and met this girl, we bonded over some stuff and became really close. Well turns out she goes to our school and is kind of friends with Renatta, both of whom really want to talk to me. And I’m just not ready for it.” I paused letting some of that sink in as I finished the rest of my slice of pizza before going for another one.

“When do you think you’ll be ready to talk to them?”

“I don’t really know to be honest, I don’t even know what to say to either of them. But I can’t talk to one without talking to the other, and I can’t even talk to anyone about what we need to talk about. Which would easily explain how we know each other, just ugh I might just drop out.” I groaned and angrily took a bite out of my pizza as I stared up at my ceiling, Rodrick stayed silent for a moment thinking about what I said.

“Well you have to talk to them eventually, but they’ll both have to accept that that will only happen on your own time. So just like let them know that and take it slow. If they’re even worth your time they’ll understand and wait until you’re ready, especially if it’s important.” He said in between mouthfuls, though his words resonated with me.

He was right, I didn’t have to explain and talk about everything right now. Heather’s cool but she knows how much I have at stake here too and should understand where I’m coming from, and Renatta is still a newish friend and shouldn’t expect me to relay every little detail of my life to her.

“Thanks, Rodrick, that was really helpful. I don’t owe either of them an explanation or my time right now. You really rock dude.” I said with a smile feeling a little bit better.

But then the doorbell rang, again and again and again. I jumped shocked by the incessant ringing, Rodrick looked as surprised as I was and got up. He went into the hallway and peered through the blinds out the window before coming back into the room.

“By any chance.. was that girl you met on vacation Heather Hills?” He asked wide-eyed as he held the door frame, I nodded and stood shakily.

I could tell her that we would talk later, it would be simple enough right? It’s not like we left off on bad terms, we left off on great ones, right? No amount of reassurance seemed to work as I descended the stairs and made my way to the front door, the doorbell still ringing loudly through the house. But the closer I got the more clearly I could hear her yelling, I took a deep breath and opened the door. She was mid-doorbell press and all of Racrn stood behind her, all of them equally confused and loving the drama.

“Uhm Hi…?”

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#reader insert #x reader #fluff #minawritesfanfic #my writing #rodrick heffley x reader #drama #doawk rodrick #doawk #fanfic #fanfiction #part 3

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marivoid · 1 month

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Another day in the G.U.I.D.E…

And I have some great news for once! Yesterday was my 17th birthday! Meaning I got to speak to our Admin about my job in the future. There are a lot of jobs to do in the G.U.I.D.E, I know, but I want to do something great! Something good for the people in the G.U.I.D.E! I’ll ask our Admin about becoming his apprentice! Maybe then I’ll be able to make our home even better for the future generations to come!

Yours Truly

MLW.

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Another day in the G.U.I.D.E

Coming at you with another update! I got to speak with him the day after I last wrote here and would you believe it! He needs an apprentice to take over when his time passes. And who better than the kid who has been helping around the G.U.I.D.E ever since he was a baby! I start my training tomorrow- Heck! He will even tell me what G.U.I.D.E means! Its not something that is taught during schooling because we need to be at least Green Names, but with this apprenticeship? I’ll be even higher than a Green Name! A purple name! One of the best ranks a G.U.I.D.E member could ever get their hands on! Of course I only want to use this position for good! I want to make this G.U.I.D.E better for everyone! Increase production of food and water, maybe expand our farms to allow for more cattle and slaughter animals- Heck! I may be able to speak to the Watchers themselves! Ask them to help us out! That is what they are meant to do as the founders of the G.U.I.D.Es!

I’ll update this as soon as I can.

Yours Truly

MLW

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Another day in the G.U.I.D.E…

It has been one hell of a busy week! Our admin, TinFoilChef (TFC for short) showed me so many things that I had never thought possible! We have huge computers running the G.U.I.D.E and keeping up the production of our bare necessities- Oh! Right! G.U.I.D.Es! I know what the acronym stands for! It sounds a bit silly (And the way TFC explained it sounded even weirder) but it still is pretty cool!

Government

Units

In Case Of

DIsastrous

Events.

It sounds silly, huh? Government Units? What, was there some sort of world outside of the G.U.I.D.Es before my time? Psh, please! They would have taught us those sorts of things! The Watchers would want us to know absolutely everything we possibly could to better the G.U.I.D.Es! I mean, what would be the point in hiding that kind of information?

Anyways- Back to TFC! He’s absolutely amazing! He reminds me of my own grandfather. Kind heart, big beard, long white hair always pulled back in a bun or braid- He’s also really smart! He’s got this huge office filled to the brim with all these cool books and journals. When I asked him about it, he said I could read them in my free time when I was done with my daily training!

I’ve also been officially promoted to a Purple Name! I get to go practically anywhere in the G.U.I.D.E! And my friend, Scott, he gets to stick around with me! I think he really likes that I’m including him on my exploration of the G.U.I.D.Es. I mean, why wouldn’t I? He’s been my best friend for years now! I’m not about to leave him behind just because I’m a Purple Name!

That’s enough for one night. I really got to rest up or else I’ll be exhausted tomorrow- Not a good look for TFC’s apprentice to have bags under his eyes!

Yours Truly

MLW

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Another day in the G.U.I.D.E.

Sorry it's been a month since I’ve last written here. I have been… Learning a lot of stuff. A lot more than what I thought was possible.

There is a whole world outside of the G.U.I.D.Es. A destroyed, broken, contaminated world that just wants to kill everyone- But a world nonetheless. A world that had people! It had buildings and farms and transportation, things we all have down here, but on a huge scale!

TFC is happy that I am willing to learn so much! He says he’s never seen a more eager student. But.. He said that I have to be careful with telling people this stuff. That it can overwhelm people in the G.U.I.D.Es and that we have to keep their faith in the Watchers- But surely he does not mean to hide it from Scott! There’s no way he could. I do not want to hide such knowledge from him. He is one of the only people I can truly trust!

I will have to speak to TFC in the morning about it. I… I need to have my best friend by my side. I don’t know what I’d do without Scott. Hell I don’t think I would be alive without him- Let alone be sane!

I’ll see what happens tomorrow.

Yours Truly

MLW

Another day in the G.U.I.D.E

TFC said to not let Scott know. That I have to hide this from him.

To lie to his face.

I don’t know what to say.

MLW

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Another day in the G.U.I.D.E…

No. Fuck that.

Log 1

It has been exactly three months and twelve days since I have wrote a log. Training to become an Admin is difficult. There are so many things to learn, things that I must keep hidden away and tell nobody.

Scott noticed within the first week. And yet I cannot tell him the truth. I have to keep quiet. I cannot tell a single soul.

But his face… He knows I am lying to him. He looks so hurt every time I have to tell him that he can’t visit my quarters. That we cannot hang out because of my training. I… I missed his 17th birthday. I missed him getting assigned his job. I missed everything. What the fuck kind of shit friend misses a 17th birthday?

Me. I’m the shit friend.

Tonight I need to get to him. I need to tell him I’m sorry. I need to let him know what is going on. I can’t keep hiding this from Scott. If I am allowed to know about these kinds of things, then he should be allowed to know. Scott’s my best friend. I can’t imagine a world without him by my side and keeping me sane.

End Log - MLW

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Log 2

He kissed me.

I don’t know what to think right now.

He’s sleeping in my bed right now as I write this. He seemed drunk off of something. We don’t have beer or alcohol down in the G.U.I.D.Es so it may just be his emotions? I don’t know.

At first Scott was so happy to see me! I managed to sit down with him, congratulate him on his new job and celebrate the way we were supposed to! We had the music blaring and even made a really shitty cake… And then the next thing I know he’s kissing me. I don’t think he meant it. Not with the way he jumped back and began to apologize over and over again. That was when he got really upset. Started crying and telling me how he missed us being together. Missed our late nights watching horrible G.U.I.D.E films and pretending to chart stars. How he hated seeing me turning my back to him and hiding everything from him.

I can’t say I don’t feel the same. I miss those dumb activities and laughing our asses off until five am… By the Watchers what am I getting myself into? Do I chase this? Let that little moment become more? I wouldn’t… I don’t think I would be entirely against that idea. He’s my best friend! Would allowing us to be more really be all that bad?

What would TFC think? Would he be proud of me? He said to keep this information close to my chest but Scott is close to my chest! He’s got a spot in my heart that I can’t ever get rid of.

I just have to hope TFC will understand in the morning… But right now, I have a bed to get back to. And a friend I need to be with.

Maybe something more than a friend. Who knows?

I’ll update in the morning.

End Log - MLW

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Log 3

He’s gone.

Scott is missing.

He left.

TFC won’t look me in the eye.

What have I done?

End Log - MLW

#hermitblr #hermitcraft #the crash #the void speaks #hermitaday #tinfoilchef #tfc hermitcraft #scott smajor #dangthatsalongname #smajor1995 #mcyt #martyn itlw #martyn inthelittlewood

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giantchasm · 11 months

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Hello. May you like to share any recent Susie-isms on your brain 👁👁

(Or any Kirby blorbo honestly. I just like your character vibes)

OUUUGHHHH. SUSIE MY FRIEND SUSIE. SHE'S EVERYTHING TO ME.

(Sorry this answer is a few days late, but I really do have a lot of thoughts about her)

Recently I've been thinking abt her relationship w mechanization a lot recently. I know it's left ambiguous in canon whether or not she's actually part machine, but she's suuuuch a robotgirl to me.

This bitch has a microchip in her brain and mechanical hands and big scary LED eyes. But also they're kinda cute and when she's choosing how to get dressed up every day she can decide on different colors and even symbols like hearts in her eyes to match whatever cute and/or unhinged vibe she's going for.

She's only part robot, but sometimes she wishes she were all robot. Life would be easier if she was perfect and unfeeling and cold and didn't make mistakes. But sadly she can't fully mechanize herself because then "She'd effectively die," and while she sometimes wonders if that would be for the best (Replacing herself with a better version of herself and all), she knows it would unfortunately make her friends sad.

Even though she's not a real robot she uses it/its pronouns sometimes and has an acronym picked out for what S.U.S.I.E allegedly stands for because she likes feeling like a machine anyways.

She has a complicated relationship with her robotics sometimes because for a long time she was convinced they made her superior to everyone else, but now that she's learning that's not true and that mechanization was apparently "a horrific thing to do to people," she occasionally wonders if people see her as some kind of freak.

But she tries not to think about it! She's better than everyone else, OK? She has to believe that. Or else she'll spiral.

Although most of her is mechanical and because of that she can't feel super well, one of her hands is still flesh and secretly she likes it when people hold it.

She thinks about her dad a lot. Her relationship with him is soooo complicated. Sometimes she hates him, but she misses him just as much. There's so much anger mixed in with crushing sadness. She wonders if he'd despise her for everything she did. She can't really blame him. She despises him too. Doesn't make it any easier, though. And so she just. Tries not to think about it. And fails.

Taranza (He's her best friend, ok?) tells her it's okay to let herself grieve and process those complicated feelings, but that's not always easy for her. She doesn't even know where to begin.

She's a loser. An unhinged, emotionally damaged wreck of a woman. Someone in the fandom as of late has taken to referring to her as 'Losie' and they're so right. I need less content of Susie actually being a girlboss and more content of Susie desperately trying to pretend to be a girlboss while actually just barely pretending to cling to her sanity with her fingernails.

Susie's interesting to me in that she like. Wears a mask on top of a mask. She pretends to be this honestly pretty nice silly cutesy unbothered chick to people she doesn't know well, but in 'reality,' she sees herself as this realistic, unbothered, cynical and strong person. But she's not that either. She's fooling even herself. Deep down, what Susie is is a scared, angry, sad little girl. Like she's not a little girl anymore-- she's a grown woman, but she'll always be the same scared little girl who got lost in Another Dimension. And she hates that fact. So she won't acknowledge it.

Funfact: in my headcanons when she first started going by 'Susie' it was when she initially got back from Another Dimension. After being forced to confront the fact that her dad didn't recognize her and being mechanized to join the company, she decided that the old Susanna was dead and she was someone new. Someone who would never cry again. She's not, but it's nice to pretend.

I also like to think she literally can't cry anymore-- LED eyes and all. Doesn't mean she doesn't want to sometimes, though.

She hates it when anyone calls her Susanna. Except Taranza. He can get away with it occasionally.

He, Magolor, Kirby and the Mage Sisters are her closest friends. She doesn't really like to admit it, but they're her buddies... even if there was some strife between her and the Mage Sisters at one point (I wrote a whole fic about this. I'm working on making it presentable to upload)

She pretends she doesn't like Magolor, but she does. See: this idea I came up with the other night and still can't get off my mind.

But then after that they pretend they didn't have a moment. NO, Kirby. You DIDN'T find them quivering and holding hands. Shut up.

Susie is weirdly liked amongst her employees. She's not even that good of a boss. Like she's a cold, calculating bitch. But after Star Dream shut down a lot of the technology that kept mechanized people functioning and alive started shutting down and she fixed all of the Haltworkers one by one. She didn't think anything of it-- she was just trying not to lose valuable workers, which would be a stupid waste of money, but now they love her. I think more than anything she just seems like an okay boss in comparison because Haltmann was so hilariously mean to his employees when in reality she's still pretty draconian.

She's trying to do better now, though! She's learning to care about 'ethics.'

When she was 7 years old and before she experienced the horrors she read Space Warrior Cats. Space Warrior Cats is exactly like real Warrior Cats except every character has 'Space' in front of their name (I.E. "Space Firestar.)

I love this hot pink bitch named breakfast.

#sorry not sorry for the long post but anon waited for it so i said everything on my mind #kirby #susie haltmann #susie kirby #susanna patrya haltmann #long post #sack’s kirbyverse

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jamiesfootball · 6 months

Note

⭐️ here's a director's cut question for OGYGGI(YHNBGL) (side note: i love this acronym. it may not be convenient to type but i hear it in my mind as the sound of a giant sea monster rising from the deep):

do you have a process for figuring out how to hint at what's going on with jamie and the other characters before roy knows about it? are there any alternate-pov versions of scenes that live in your brain, like with Low Battery?

also, anything you want to talk about with the 5+1 falling asleep fic! i love all the snippets you've posted from it very much

I too love the acronym. Look at it. It's so silly. I love the thought of it as a giant see monster rinsing from the deep - honestly I've looking at it and my dyslexic brain keeps filling in 'Oingo-Boingo.'

do you have a process for figuring out how to hint at what's going on with jamie and the other characters before roy knows about it?

Part of the fun (for me) with keeping everything in Roy's pov is the challenge of balancing how to get across what is happening elsewhere. Which is why I have The Spreadsheet:

(I think I have appropriately blurred this out enough that there shouldn't be spoilers)

(Also this has reminded me I have more notes that need added to it)

So on the left I have my List of Things. On this list are:

-Characters: anyone I regularly check in with and/or who has something going on in the background (Roy, Jamie, Colin, Keeley, etc)

-Character groups: any combination of characters who have plot beats going on as part of their group dynamic (Roy & Jamie, the Diamond Dogs, Roy & his family, etc)

-Specific plots: any recurring plot thread that I need to keep an eye on (Jamie's impending Brazil photoshoot, the Roy & Jamie Book Club)

-Recurring details: anything recurring that changes but doesn't necessarily impact the action (for instance, the renovation and maintenance being done to the Richmond locker room that Roy witnesses over the course of the month)

-The Thesis Statement: this is the BIG ONE for me and it's right at the top. With so many interwoven stories and Roy's journey of big mental health stuff being the big driving focus, I needed some way of making sure I was always moving the story forward for him, even in the chapters where he doesn't have a therapy session. So each chapter has an I-Statement for Roy that is a clear idea of where he's at that point in the chapter. Here's the one for chapter one:

"I am angry and miserable and lonely. I don't know how to show people I care. I don't want to fuck this up. I will change something"

They're not elegant - they're raw and simple and to the point. It helps me keep on task and make sure the chapter is hitting the right notes.

EDIT: realized I forgot to explain- the column headers are chapters.

are there any alternate-pov versions of scenes that live in your brain, like with Low Battery?

YES THERE ARE. The big big BIG one being Jamie's eventual trip to Manchester to visit his dad in rehab - a scene that I have honestly been considering writing just so I have a version of it in my head to reference when he's telling Roy about it. I already have some of it figured out and ooof. OOF I say.

Another one that I've been considering is Jamie and Ted's eventual Talk about what's been going on - both with Jamie and his dad, and with Jamie having finally finished reading The Beautiful & Damned. That one is tricky, because Roy isn't involved or around for that conversation at all, but he does speak to Ted immediately after.

A much smaller one that's recently crept into the running is Jamie's reaction to finally hearing from his dad for the first time, which is.....it's going to be very soon.

also, anything you want to talk about with the 5+1 falling asleep fic!

The big one there is that I SWEAR IT'S STILL IN PROGRESS. For a while there, I had time reconnecting with it, and I realized (this morning actually) that part of my issue was that I was struggling to reach that raw place that wrote most of it. Now that I've let it set a bit, I've recharged, and it's back on the writing block come new years!

From this ask game but specific questions only please!

#ask game #director's cut #fic: oh god you're gonna get it (you have not been given love)#fic: I still feel like the same person I've been #writing progress #writing stuff

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quiet-gremlin · 7 months

Text

ive got silly guys for you!!! (repost from my old acc) its a little older so im not as proud of it but !! we need more gremlin connor content out here

SFW!!!!! NSFW DNI

switch!connor + switch!schlatt (a little heavier on lee schlatt though Augh) | 1.3k words !!

Bored

{🐏🦔}

Connor huffed, collapsing onto the couch right next to Schlatt. Schlatt turned his head slowly, his annoyed face very clear to the hedgehog.

Connor frowned, looking up at Schlatt. He opened his mouth to speak, before Schlatt interrupted him.

"Connor, I just want to warn you, that if you are going to say anything about being bored, I am going to lose my fucking mind."

Connor couldn't help but laugh. It was a frequent complaint that the brunette had, and usually everybody suffered when he went through it.

"Well, boy do I have news for you."

The shorter paused, staring as the ram waited.

"I'm bored."

Schlatt groaned, rubbing at this eyes and setting down his book.

"Fine. You win. What do you want me to do about it?"

He was exasperated, and the only response his friend paid him was a simple shrug.

"Dunno."

"Do you wanna watch a movie?"

The taller said, hoping to find an end to their talk. Even though Schlatt loved Connor with his whole heart, running a business is hard work! And he needed time to recharge before he did shit again.

"I guess...."

But of course, the other hybrid had to make everything difficult. What did he even want if he didn't want a simple hang out session?

"You guess? Con, my man, it's a yes or no question."

They both laughed, and Connor finally gave a proper response.

"Fine. But only if it's not a horror movie. I can't stand those."

Schlatt nodded frantically, agreeing. Anything to get out of the conversation and into silently watching a movie.

He was quick to turn on some dumb Disney movie, picking Mulan since he knew for a fact it was among Connor's favorites.

Schlatt opened his book, reading through it as he thought the conversation had come to an end, and they would just watch the movie.

Connor though, seemed to not be even close to done. He snaked his arm around Schlatt's waist, his eyes glued to the screen. The ram didn't think it was anything different, his arm finding its place around his friend's shoulders. It was a common occurrence to find them holding onto each other, as best friends often did.

What Schlatt failed to see, was another common occurrence the two found themselves in the habit of doing.

Without saying a word, both of Connor's hands found their way to Schlatt's sides, and he immediately started taking advantage of that.

"Whahat the fuhuck-"

Schlatt tried his best to shut up, and not let Connor see his hard work pay off, but he was woefully unprepared for this.

The hedgehog simply shrugged, his hands finding their way to the ram's ribs. Maybe he'd think about not wearing a shirt around the house next time.

"Ohokay, ohOHKAY!"

Schlatt tried to back away, but his best friend only followed. He was still holding his book, and really didn't want to drop and ruin it.

"I told you I was bored. Maybe, next time, you won't try and shut me up with a movie. Tee Bee Ache, you kinda deserve it."

Schlatt was going to bring up the spelling of the acronym 'To Be Honest' out loud, but he couldn't focus on that, as Connor had wormed his way to his lower back, scratching at the area by his tail.

That actually made Schlatt collapse against the pillows, trying to squeeze out Connor's hands. But that only helped what he was trying to hurt, Connor moving one of his hands to come after his lower tummy.

Schlatt shook his head, trying to control the giggles that continued to leave his mouth. What didn't help, was that Connor said absolutely nothing as he fucked with him.

"Cohon, CohoHONNEHER!"

He tried to beg, watching the older look up at him.

"Yeah? What's up, Schlatt?"

The ram cackled, his head falling back to the pillow behind him. Of course he picked an asshole to be his best friend.

It took him a moment to process that he could be fighting back instead of sitting back and taking it.

Schlatt brought his hands down, trying to collect Connor's. He actually got a good grip on one of the smaller wrists before the tickles stopped, and bright blue eyes stared at him.

".....Heyyyy, Schlatt-"

He said, looking just a tad nervous. Good.

"Hehey, Connor."

Schlatt responded, a death stare finding its way to Connor.

Even through his short breathed giggles, Schlatt was a scary man. Usually it was to Connor's advantage! But this time? ....no, not really.

"Uhm, what's going on?"

Connor asked, testing the grip that the ram had on one of his hands, using the other to rub his palm on his pant leg.

Schlatt looked calm, shrugging.

"Nothing much. You want your hand back?"

He asked, doing his best to keep his growing smirk off his face.

"Yeah, uh, that'd be nice."

Connor replied, avoiding the other's eyes by trying to pry off the fingers that held the freedom of his hand.

"Wow. That's gotta suck, then."

He finally responded, the shorter looking up at him in confusion.

"What?"

He asked, but it was already too late. Schlatt held his hand palm up, furiously scribbling at it.

The hedgehog shrieked, the shock of his situation hitting harder than the movements themselves. His heel dug into the floor under the couch, and he tried to pull his hand back.

Schlatt wasn't giving in though, his nails scratching up and down the ridiculously sensitive area.

Connor was reduced to giggles, shaking his head as if he were embarrassed.

"The funniest thing about you, is that you don't even fight back! You just sit there and take it!"

The ram teased, watching his friend's face light up a bright red. He knew that he was right though, by the way he just shrinked into the couch.

He didn't respond, uselessly giggling. While that was a good spot, Schlatt wanted to try and get a different kind of laughter that he knew Connor could produce.

He gave the hands a rest, looking the hedgehog up and down. Eventually, before Connor could fully recover, his hands found their way to the other's sides, grinning as he did so.

"You should really just get good, Con."

He said, starting to quickly squeeze. Connor's giggles returned, and he tried to push at Schlatt's hands. It was only when the ram tried to scribble at his tummy that he fought back, actually pushing Schlatt's hands off of him and sitting up to dig into his hips.

Schlatt immediately retracted his hands, freezing up for a second before he weakly pushed at Connor's.

"Screhehew you!"

Connor exclaimed, moving a hand to claw once more at the other's lower back and tail area. Schlatt didn't take this well, but he didn't do much to stop it, too taken in by the sensations attacking his nervous system.

Connor took his time abusing that spot, Schlatt kicking his legs and basically unable to do anything. Finnally, after too much time (in Schlatt's opinion), he finally switched, one hand focusing on his ribs and the other scratching at the base of his horn.

The melt spot and regular tickles hit him like a truck, purring mixed with laughter tiring him out more than Connor probably meant to.

Eventually, he called out what Connor had been waiting to hear.

"Uhuhuncle! UhuncehEHELE!"

That led the older to finally stop, grinning widely at his friend.

"I won!"

He said proudly, rubbing away any ghosty tingles that stayed on Schlatt's skin.

"Oh fuhuck yohou."

Schlatt hissed in response, glaring. Of course, he'd have to get Connor back. But that'd happen on a day he didn't know to expect it.

"Wanna watch a movie?"

His friend asked, an innocent look plastered on his face.

"Die."

#i hate tagging.#tickle community #sfw tickling community #tickling community #lee!schlatt #lee!jschlatt #ler!schlatt #ler!jschlatt #lee!connor #lee!connoreatspants #ler!connor #ler!connoreatspants #switch!schlatt #switch!jschlatt #switch!connor #switch!connoreatspants #dsmp tickle

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lobotemi · 1 year

Text

formulating small thoughts on all of the sinners in limbus so far (some vague limbus company spoilers, LARGE TEXT WALL WARNING):

yi sang - the blorbo. the scrimblo even. he is definitely one of my favourite sinners after canto 4 (will post my full thoughts on that later) which is surprising because i didn't really like him that much before at all. i was really neutral on him but canto 4 has just made me love him to bits

faust - she is super interesting to me, considering her source material i think she has the potential to have the best canto. i am also just constantly entertained by her antics (hell's chicken was the BEST for getting to know everyone a little more outside of the main plot. i'm super excited for 4.5) it's obvious she's hiding something, i think dante even mentions as such, but i think that makes her cooler. she is the one who (presumably) recruited all the sinners and vergilius, so she's rlly rlly interesting and i hope we get to know more soon (soon as in 2 YEARS WHEN HER CANTO IS OUT)

don quixote - definitely top 3 sinners for me, she's everything... she grew on me so much, after things like her moment with sinclair, the facade slip in canto 2... she's just super interesting to me and i'm really excited to see what comes with her canto. plus her favourite moment of mine which is the bongy chicken log where she talks about eating the chickens, and then proceeds to not own up to it. phenomenal job don

ryoshu - hellscreen is one of my favourite pieces of literature referenced by limbus, and it's real fucked up. ryoshu is very entertaining to watch, though she rarely speaks. seeing sinclair translate her acronyms is very silly and overall as a character i really like her so far. excited to see what's to come for her

meursault - i like meursault, there's no one i actively dislike, but i'm just neutral on him. he's cool i just dunno how to feel about him yet. his source material is cool though i'm excited to see how his canto goes. his moment in hell's chicken was silly and made me like him a lot more

hong lu - he's silly. i think all of the sinners are silly but hong lu takes the cake. though after canto 4 i've started respecting him a lot more, he can be really mature and he is a sweet little guy he's just a little dumb sometimes. i really enjoy his presence in the group though, he's great, i can't wait for his canto (though i'll probably never read his source material because of its sheer length, but i'll probably force myself to eventually because i am interested). thank you project moon for making me read classical literature

heathcliff - funnily enough heathcliff was one of my least favourites out of the group at the start of the game, but he is definitely one of my favourites now. it's been really sweet to see him gradually start to care about the other sinners and he has mellowed out a lot which i appreciate. wuthering heights is cool and i'm excited to see his canto (which i think is coming after ishmael's, so hype!)

ishmael - ISHMAEL. she is amazing. wonderful. beautiful. i'm not sure if i'd say she's my favourite sinner but she is definitely in my top 3 with donquixote, though if you asked me idfk who else is in the top 3. SO excited for her canto and she seems really interesting from the tidbits we got about her so far. like, she's gone to the outskirts? i hope she finally gets the closure she needs and deserves (..and we get a sea shanty from mili LOL)

rodya - the mother of the group... rodya was another character i didn't really care for at the start of the game but she's SO sweet and i don't understand how i didn't like her. canto 2 wasn't my favourite but it was really silly and i hope she gets another focus canto at some point because it feels unfair that sinclair and yi sang (and probably everyone else from this point) get a mili song but gregor and rodya don't??? i dunno, i really like both of them and i think it's a shame since their arcs didn't feel complete.. so hopefully she gets more spotlight!

sinclair - sinclair is very very cool. i like him very much, his canto was really interesting and kromer was a really cool villain, i like seeing him slowly gain confidence over the story and demian looks to be a really cool character as well. like gregor and rodya, his arc didn't feel fully complete to me (?) but hopefully he can get more of a spotlight in the future despite canto 3 being phenomenal already. i am not opposed to more sinclair content, he fits in the group really well and he bounces off the other sinners well. i really like him!!!

outis - words cannot describe how excited i am to learn more about outis. she's such an asshole but we support women's wrongs. was there any need to make fun of sinclair like that in canto 4? no, but she did it anyway. she seems to give less and less of a fuck about maintaining her relationship with dante every canto and i find that hilarious, outis is amazing. i'm really excited for her canto, i like her a lot

gregor - he is done so wrong in his canto. SO WRONG... gregor deserves the world, all he has ever done is be a cool guy to the rest of the sinners and he was the first person to kinda be nice to dante. and that was from the start as well. massive respect to trauma dad he is amazing. i hope he gets more spotlight soon, he works so well in the group and he has such fun interactions with everyone.

dantehh - they're so cool. they're so amazing. shuckaroonies they are a really interesting character. i really REALLY appreciate that they're not a self-insert because i think that would shatter my soul. i'm really interested to find out who they are, how this whole reversing people's time came from and where they came from because faust seems to know who they were before. they are a very good executive manager. well done on scoring those goals for lcg you absolute legend

these obviously aren't my full thoughts on all of the sinners, i'd love to do individual posts analysing all of the sinners and possibly a post with predictions about the next cantos based on the their respective source materials. but this is just how i feel about them after engaging in limbus for about 2 months and getting into lobcorp and ruina. (if you have read this far, and somehow haven't played these two games, PLEASE PLAY THEM THEY ARE SO GOOD...........)

#not adding tags because i don't want people to see this #this is embarrassing

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am-i-the-asshole-official · 5 months

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WIBTA for telling the blunt truth to my roommate, that shes immature, irresponsible, and rude?

[-.-] < so I can recognize

so I (20) have three roommates, A(20), B(21 or 22), and C(20). We all attend the same college. I have lived with A for 2 years, but we only started living with B and C in fall 2023. so far there have been some issues, and most of them revolve around interacting with C. C has a cat, and they keep the litterbox in their room of our apartment, so they always have their door open. This itself isnt really a problem, but I feel like its eroding the distinction between common space and their personal space for them. Often when there is another conversation happening at the table or on the couch, C will come out of their room, sit on the couch, and watch loud videos on their phone without headphones. Then, they will hear a small part of our conversation, react in TOTAL shock and awe, demand we recap the last 5-10 minutes of conversation to catch them up, then go right back to their video. On another occasion, I was talking with either A or B as well as C, when C said they were overstimulated and needed some quiet time (no problem with that, it happens) so they were going to put in their headphones and. stay in the living room on the couch. instead of going to their room.

They also will completely derail conversations into complete dead ends and traumadumping. I was driving, C was in the passenger seat, and B and our friend G(18 or 19 iirc) were in the back. we were chatting about our parents being silly and making harmless fun of us at various points, and C multiple times said "we're not talking about times my parents took away phones bc Trauma!" like. If you dont want to talk about it DONT BRING IT UP. C could have chimed in w a time their friend did something like that and it would be fine! but instead they latched onto the parent part. They do this fairly often, and it makes it really hard to have a conversation where we casually mention our childhoods, bc its always a minefield w C, as they will make a point to bring up that they lacked the circumstances for whatever experience we are talking about, either due to bad relationships w parents or due to growing up poor.

On top of all this, they also are not financially in a good place. They routinely dont have money for food and end up eating mostly communal stuff. Sometimes when they are low on money I will end up buying something communal just so they will stop carrying on. IMO if they are in that sort of financial situation they shouldnt have gotten a cat, bc I honestly dont think they can afford it. tbh I feel like they pretty much live on the cheese and tortillas I buy, and i'm starting to feel the financial stress of it.

They are constantly making every interaction about themselves in ways that make it really hard, even when they arent even part of the conversation.

Repeatedly i've wanted to tell them that they dont have to be involved in everything, and that they dont have to always be talking or generating noise. That when other people are talking, they need to either contribute constructively to the conversation, wait their turn, or at the very least stop and apologize when they interrupt someone instead of talking right over them for minutes at a time. And that its not our responsibility to help them when they are low on money, that maybe they shouldnt have gotten a cat if they werent able to financially support it, and also that it shouldnt be our (me, A and B)'s job to walk on egg shells bc they have emotional outbursts over incredibly minor things (they do take mood stabilizers and have a disorder that effects their mood, but that doesnt mean its ok that they will sometimes seem really angry and aggressive out of absolutely nowhere, yelling swears with no provocation).

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole

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druidshollow · 5 months

Note

same with the acronyms thing for me just diff context. budding ochre opportunties... was going to just be budding opportunities but it needed another o sound. and now her acronym is BOO which is incredibly silly.

also I couldn't make a good name out of it as it was LMAO

its good you added the ochr3 because what would youve shortened it to, bud maybe? boo is the cutest acronym ever

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itsclydebitches · 2 years

Text

RWBY Ice Queendom Recaps: “This is Beacon”

Welcome to Episode Two, everyone!

Before we begin, I have something to say that I can’t believe I forgot to mention last recap. It’s vitally important and absolutely relevant to this series.

EVERYONE LOOK AT MY NEW CAT:

Her name is Caly and love her so, so, so, so much ^_^

Okay, with that crucial bit of info out of the way, we can continue on with Ice Queendom!

We begin right where we left off, with all our characters - mostly the future Team JNPR and Team RWBY - flying the, apparently, 2+ hour journey to Beacon Academy. Well, that gives us a slightly better sense of Vale’s size. They’re obviously not the only ones on this trip though. The airship is packed full of potential students, none of whom are shadow people, and as I’ll get into a bit during the initiation sequence, IQ sparks the same question that has plagued RWBY since Volume 1 dropped.

Namely, what happened to the rest of those students?

Did they fail initiation? Join background teams like Cardin’s? Get put on some waiting list if there weren’t a number of successes divisible by four and/or if their names couldn’t be put into a color-related acronym? Obviously we’re not meant to overthink these details, but it can be fun to pull at RWBY’s loose threads on occasion; see which we might explain with headcanons and which are just left dangling.

We see Lisa Lavender reporting, though this time it’s just about the start of Beacon’s school year. Jaune walks by still feeling nauseous and Nora runs up to Ren, shouting excitedly about how the bus they’re on is really flying! ... despite the fact that they’ve been flying for a while now. Also, it’s not a bus, Nora, it’s an airship.

This is the kind of throwaway line that I like a lot more after having watched RWBY. On its own this just makes Nora look stupid, but if you know about her and Ren’s background — orphans, presumably isolated with just one another for company, living poor in the wilds of Remnant — it makes more sense that she’d be both in awe of and slightly confused by a state of the art, Atlas airship. I mean yeah, she’s still Nora. Her silliness still shines through in the late observation and the choice to call it a “bus,” but the larger takeaway changes when you realize that this is probably the first time Nora and Ren have ever had the chance to go on a trip like this.

Meanwhile, Weiss is busy reading up on the “entrance ceremony,” which gives the audience some insight into the rest of the episode before Ozpin and Glynda re-explain things, namely about the teams. With partners on the brain, Weiss spots Pyrrha and immediately recognizes her, pulling up a picture of her Pumpkin Pete’s shoot. Though both smile, IQ!Pyrrha appears more enthusiastic about advertising a marshmallow cereal, despite later admitting to disliking it.

I also like the “New Look Packaging!” prominently stamped on the side because that’s partly what IQ is, right? At least these first few episodes. It’s RWBY, but with a new look, new packaging — a slightly new experience.

While Weiss plots how to form the best team Beacon has ever seen, Ruby regresses from last episode and tells Yang all about how she doesn’t really need to make any new friends. She can just spend all her time with her big sis! I pointed out in “Red, White, Black, Yellow” that we’ve got a different version of Ruby here, one who is promising her father to make lots of connections rather than shying away from socializing... yet here that’s been tossed aside. I suppose, while hanging in the realm of headcanon, we could theorize that Ruby was just lying to Tai, telling him what she knew he wanted to hear so as not to worry him, but frankly I liked that changed, especially since IQ is already emphasizing Ruby’s need to step out from Yang’s shadow. You don’t need a general difficulty with making friends when we’ve already got a more specific conflict to work through, especially since, like in RWBY, Ruby doesn’t have trouble connecting with her team. Nearly every hurdle in her way is external — Weiss thinking she’s too good to follow Ruby, Blake deliberately keeping to herself — rather than something Ruby herself is doing to make forming friendships a challenge. In both versions, from her immediately bonding with Jaune while lost (RWBY), to engaging Blake in conversation about her book (both), Ruby isn’t written as someone struggling to connect with others, especially when you toss in iffy canonical details like her writing back to her Signal buddies.

This is one of a couple moments where I think IQ is including aspects of the original RWBY because they’re part of the original RWBY, not because it makes sense for this AU. Which, interestingly, is a problem I see a lot in fic AUs too. Often characters will maintain characteristics because it makes them recognizable, despite the fact that, removed from their original context, that characteristic should not longer exist — and, crucially, the AU hasn’t given another explanation for how it developed. IQ appears to be including certain aspects because they recognize that this is how the characters normally function, this is who they are... even though, by writing a parallel reality (or whatever) they’ve irrevocably changed the characters and freed themselves from the need to repeat such beats in the first place.

To be clear this isn’t, like, some huge and distracting problem. It’s just a little trend I’ve noticed. They could have maintained Ruby’s newfound desire to be social, or simply not introduced that in the first place. Instead though, we have a weird back-and-forth where the characters embody their AU characterizations in one scene, acting slightly — but not drastically — different from their RWBY counterparts, only to suddenly switch back when IQ decides it wants to copy-paste a scene from the original. It creates a bit of a disconnect in a show that otherwise flows far better than the webseries.

What I do like though is that Yang flashes back to her conversation with Tai where he reminds her that Ruby needs to forge her own path, not simply follow theirs. So though Ruby herself might be bouncing between a friends/no friends attitude, Yang has the new and I think better motivation of helping her sister grow. Whether she’s embracing her sisterly role, or more of a mom-like role, having Yang push Ruby towards Blake because she thinks that’s good for her is WAY nicer than ditching Ruby for shadow people the second they step on campus.

Especially when, like Ruby’s Signal friends, Yang’s apparently cease to exist post-ditching.

After a cut to commercials, we get another shot of our background students who... don’t look like teenagers?

Seriously. That dude on the left is in his late thirties, at least.

I’m not sure if this is another instance of the RWBY franchise (and perhaps animation as a whole?) failing to accurately depict ages — insert disbelief about 12yo Cinder here — or if that guy is deliberately meant to be an adult trying out for the program. I’m partial to the latter option because that would make a lot of sense, wouldn’t it? I mean sure, our actual story might be about a bunch of teenagers, but in Remnant there’s no reason why you wouldn’t get adults wanting to be huntsmen too, especially when we’ve got so many fighters coming from different backgrounds. Does it take long to secure a spot if you weren’t able to attend another combat school and, unlike Jaune, weren’t willing to pay for fake transcripts? How many students does Beacon accept each year and how long might you wait for a spot? If you grow up outside of the Kingdoms, maybe you’ve spent all your life being a badass fighter, but you need a degree to become a licensed huntsmen and fight grimm in the streets (think Clover pointing out that RWBYJNOR technically aren’t allowed to fight those grimm in Atlas, despite the fact that they were really arrested for illegal entry). It would track with what else we know about Remnant. Like college, you have students who had to put off education for any number of reasons, or are entering programs they’ve already passed in their own country, or are just seeking legal entry into a career they’ve been practicing off the grid. Personally, I think it would have been cool to see a Beacon where there’s a balance of ages and backgrounds.

Anyway, Yang spots Blake sitting by herself and drags Ruby over, so this is a version of events where Ruby gets to bond with Blake prior to seeing her tear Weiss a new one. At least a little. Blake is still reading her book about a man with two souls, implying (alongside our intro speech) that Ozpin remains his immortal self, housed in some poor bastard of a host.

(TELL ME WHO “OZPIN” IS, IQ. DO IT. PLEASE. WE KNOW OZMA, BUT WHO IS THE HOST? WHERE DID HE GO? WHAT WAS HE LIKE? IS OSCAR DESTINED TO DISAPPEAR LIKE HE DID IF THEY DIE TOO? IS THE MERGE LITERAL AND “OZPIN” HAS BEEN SUCKED INTO SOME OZMA VOID? HAS OZMA HIMSELF BASICALLY CEASED TO EXIST, FORCED TO BECOME AN AMALGAMATION OF GENERATIONS OF PERSONALITIES BY CONTINUALLY REINCARNATING AGAINST HIS WILL? IS THERE ANY HOPE FOR ALL THESE MEN TO GAIN FREEDOM WHEN THE CURSE IS BROKEN, OR ARE THEY ANOTHER SACRIFICE TO THIS WAR BUILT ON THE GODS’ CALLOUS NATURES? INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW.)

In less angsty news, Yang introduces Ruby as her “cute baby sister,” which is sweet :)

She and Blake have their little talk about whether the world is anything like a fairy tale, with Ruby agreeing that it’s not... but that’s why they’re here, to make things better! That also makes Yang gush with pride and I’m doing the grinning-hugely-with-hands-fisted-up-around-my-mouth thing because the sisterly energy of IQ is off the charts.

This also gives Blake something new to soften to. Rather than smiling at their play-fighting antics, she succumbs to the more wholesome charms of the Xiao-Long-Rose sisters. Like all the other characters, small changes — such as crying a bit while getting her Beacon acceptance, or smiling now — likewise change the read on Blake’s personality. She comes across as a bit more subdued to me in IQ. A fighter, sure, but no longer the woman who marched up to Weiss solely to tell her how awful her family is, unprompted. Interestingly, that role goes more to Yang next episode.

Case in point, when Lavender pops back up to report on a protest gone wrong after the White Fang’s appearance, Blake keeps quiet at first, leaving Yang to mention the “rumors” that the Schnee Dust Company is corrupt and using their employees like slaves. When Weiss comes over to tell them off, we’ve got a situation where Blake should presumably be more endeared towards Ruby and Yang for at least trying to take that information seriously. There’s a 3 vs. 1 setup here that’s going to influence Blake’s later identity reveal.

Weiss spouts her usual, racist rhetoric — the White Fang are “anti-human” and a “lowlife group of thieves” — and Blake finally starts pushing back, resulting in another split-screen. I like the technique here, with more space going to whoever is being the most aggressive in the conversation: first Weiss, then Blake.

Ruby tries to diffuse the situation by asking them to all get along. Maybe they can even go shopping together! Cue Weiss’ sarcastic line about how yeah, they’ll even talk about cute boys like him.

This is actually so mean lol. Poor Jaune. His character has been such a point of contention in the fandom, but you’ve really got to feel bad for him sometimes.

Ozpin and Glynda both appear via TV screen in the airship with the tops of their faces cut off for the first couple of shots, similar to what we got with Ozpin during the original welcoming ceremony.

It’s a choice I’m still not sure what to make of given that we’ve met both of them already and this is a framing usually reserved for the mysterious newcomer: think Shino under that massive hat. Regardless, it certainly adds to the creepy atmosphere IQ is courting.

They explain that the students will be given their first test today and, far as I can gather, this is a surprise to pretty much everyone. Weiss knows that they’ll get teammates, but not how, and everyone seems to be working under the assumption that they were already, fully accepted into the school. Only Yang appears to be in the know and that’s because Tai, as a former student and (potential) Inner Circle member, gave his daughters the low-down on what to expect. Well, it would be daughters, plural, if Ruby remembered any of what her dad had told her lol.

Ruby claims no one told her about teams in general either and I’m like what? Did you think?? STRQ was??? Tai literally mentions it in the first episode! I mean granted, not to Ruby, but you’ve gotta wonder how she’s gone her whole life without knowing her parents + uncle went to Beacon, knowing they were members of this team, and not putting two-and-two together to get, “I’ll be in a team when I attend Beacon.”

Someone help this child.

Knowing now that they’re heading for the forest, everyone goes to the on-board lockers to retrieve their weapons. Weiss still approaches Pyrrha about being partners, but now the implication is that Weiss is willing to cheat. If I’m remembering my RWBY timeline correctly, the group originally meets in the locker room, goes to the cliffs, and then Ozpin explains the rules of their initiation, including the whole “The first person you make eye contact with will be your partner” bit. However, here the rules are explained first and then they go to the lockers... meaning Weiss just heard this rule and went, ‘Lol yeah right. I’m deciding my partner ahead of time!’

Which, you know, isn’t much of a revelation. She’s very willing to ditch Ruby when they run into each other until she decides that Jaune is the worse option. Still, I think of Weiss as such a goody-goody when it comes to school stuff — “We’ll have the best grades!” — that realizing she was willing to manipulate the team-ups, just minutes after being told how they were supposed to work, kinda threw me for a moment.

Not that I think IQ intentionally meant to send that message. Like Ruby’s characterization discussed above, this is another moment where repeating the canon after introducing new elements changes things in a way the story doesn’t really acknowledge. The group originally talked in the locker room? Let’s do it again! Never mind how changing the order of events, even slightly, will likewise change our characters’ implied motivations.

(Why does Weiss look like a child here ajdflaskjfa)

In asking Pyrrha to team-up with her, Weiss unintentionally get the attention of the whole room. In a single shot IQ does a good job of showing just how famous Pyrrha is, at least among other fighters, and how her name alone can spark a host of mutterings and glances. It’s at this point that Jaune barges in — somewhat hilariously in a second-hand embarrassment kinda way — by trying to confirm from Weiss that she’s into him. You said you were my type, yeah? ;)

He’s trying the whole ‘Girls only like confidence thing.’ Yikes. 😬

It backfires, obviously, and Jaune reveals his ignorance regarding Pyrrha: “Play your cards right and maybe you can join the winning team.” Interestingly though, he doesn’t recognize her with a bit of prompting. Whereas RWBY!Jaune is made to look stupid by knowing Pyrrha through a sugary cereal than all her combat achievements, IQ!Jaune doesn’t know her, period. Weiss is the one with a Pumpkin Pete’s fixation (apparently), bringing it up the second she thinks she spots Pyrrha Nikos and trying to use it to jog Jaune’s memory. Other than that introduction — in which Jaune seems to quickly realize this isn’t working for him — he’s pretty likable here, managing to bond with Pyrrha a little over how much they’re not a fan of unhealthy, marshmallow breakfasts.

Frankly, I like this version of events better. It makes Jaune feel like more of a person than a cartoon archetype; someone who’s just legitimately awkward and not, you know, the butt of an endless joke. Same with Weiss. Imagining the pampered heiress having a soft spot for a dessert-like cereal that she was probably never allowed to have — can you imagine a Pumpkin Pete’s box sitting in the Schnee dining room? — feels more genuine than a character who is concerned with Pyrrha’s legitimate accomplishments, and legitimate accomplishments only. Most importantly though, this change actually gives Pyrrha a reason to be interested in Jaune. I’ve said for years that RWBY undermines its own argument by having Jaune freak out about the Pumpkin Pete’s thing. It doesn’t matter why he’s interested in her celebrity status, or that it took him a little longer to get there than others would, the end result is still a fanboy reaction that should make Pyrrha uncomfortable, just like all the other reactions have. This claim that she cares for Jaune because he treated her differently never sat right with me because, well... he didn’t. But IQ!Jaune does. He straight up doesn’t know Pyrrha Nikos and thus treats her like anyone else (minus his stupid approach to women as a whole). He’ll interrupt a conversation, talk himself up as a partner, and chat about cereal because why wouldn’t he? She’s just another student in his eyes.

Good job, Ice Queendom. I like this change. Granted, it does raise even more questions about what Remnant sized rock Jaune has been living under that he doesn’t know about Pyrrha OR Aura... but that’s a rant for further along in the recap.

And for the next recap.

Seriously, IQ manages to make the whole Aura situation worse and I’m kind of impressed.

The airship finally arrives, the group exits, and — oh look! Shadow people! :D

Actually wait, can we acknowledge what a missed opportunity that was? With everything streamlined together (cutting the meeting in the courtyard, the sleepover, the opening speech about color names) I had assumed that IQ would pull a Myers and drop all the students directly into the forest. Why wait? Ozpin already explained what’s happening and that’s one way to produce a landing strategy! I mean, I love Ozpin’s yeet device as much as the next RWBY fan, but I think the IQ cast should get dropped from an airship, as a treat.

Instead they land and walk and then yeet. Lame.

This time, the setup is way fancier with everyone having an assigned spot and nameplate. The lack of shadow people, while wonderful from an animation standpoint, does end up highlighting one of RWBY’s worldbuilding problems though. Namely, where are the other students? When we were given a bunch of faceless silhouettes disappearing into the distance, it was easy to assume that everyone we see later in the series was there, just hidden. Here though, we can see precisely who is involved in the initiation and it’s... just 2/3rds of Team RWBY?

Not only are we missing background characters like Cardin, but Ren, Nora, Pyrrha, and Blake are missing too. It’s a little weird. I suppose the easiest explanation, given the number of students on the airship, is that there are multiple starting points throughout the forest and... only one is lucky enough to get the Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress sendoff? Again, weird. Why not at least animate Blake? Or better yet, give us our main cast of eight and let us assume all the non-protagonists are testing elsewhere. We’re already left with the question of what happened to 75% of the incoming class. They’re nowhere in the forest, they don’t fight the grimm, and they’re not given teams at the ceremony. I’ve never been sure whether we’re supposed to interpret this as them just existing off screen, or if this test truly is a gauntlet that only a few manage to pass, resulting in large portions of each class losing their place before they ever set foot on campus.

Maybe that explains why guys in their 40s are still trying to get in.

Jaune remains out of his depth here, but this time he doesn’t have a conversation with Ozpin about parachutes and landing strategies. Instead, that time is given to the mysterious new professor who shows up after all the kids have been yeeted away.

This is Shion Zaiden — color name stemming from a very pretty flower — and until we get confirmation otherwise, I’ll be using he/him pronouns to refer to him.

In case you’ve missed it, there’s been a bit of confusion regarding Shion’s identity. While watching the first three episodes I had no idea that he was non-binary, but apparently (going off of others’ posts) that’s been confirmed by RT. Problem is, there’s no clear agreement on what pronouns he uses. The original Japanese — which I don’t know how to read — apparently says one thing, the English dub might say another, the fandom talk I’ve heard has agreed on he/him, but the fandom wiki uses they/them, and the Ice Queendom website uses he/him. To be clear, any and all of these work. I feel like I may have unintentionally implied otherwise in another post, but my confusion definitely doesn’t stem from a non-binary character using he/him pronouns (or any set for that matter), only in which set (or sets) is canonical. I’ve decided on he/him simply because the Ice Queendom website is the closest to an official source I’ve come across so far, but again, I’m hoping for further clarification down the line.

Better yet, I’d love some confirmation in the actual show. While it’s great that Shion is joining the cast of RWBY’s queer characters — I wasn’t expecting that! — the fact that I had to find this out via a message on an answered ask, which in turn (presumably) stems from word-of-mouth info gleaned from a RWBY side-show that not everyone in the fandom watches is... not the best way to do things. Especially when we’re already dealing with the confusion of dubs, subs, two companies working on the same product, multiple websites with different information, and a bunch of miscommunication regarding IQ overall. I mean, I want in-show representation as a matter of course, but in this case I also want it to avoid the potential fandom drama of viewers coming at each other for supposedly disrespecting the character. Unfortunately, I can easily picture a future, not too far off, where fans are attacking one another because they haven’t gotten clear information about Shion and are thus, supposedly, attacking a queer character directly. Rather than just, you know, suffering under RT’s iffy communication skills.

Obviously we’re only three episodes in though, so let’s see how it pans out.

After emerging from his awesome purple hat, Shion reveals that he’s tracked some mysterious prey back to Beacon and the initiation might be more dangerous as a result. I got an ask — and have seen a few other posts — about Ozpin’s choice to continue the test regardless. Rather than re-summarizing all my points, I’m just going to reproduce what I’ve already said:

(Anon submission regarding what bad thing Ozpin did): “Its mainly the moment where he is told that the Grimm is here and that the students were in danger, and responds with 'No such thing as a safe initiation test' under the justification that a huntsman should be able to overcome anything, as Zion. And him not telling the kids leads to Jaune and Weiss infections, the latter seems to be what causes the plot

That moment...Especially when we learn what the Grimm is feels, hella callous? Like, Oz in canon has a big rule about making sure people know what they are getting into, as memed as the landing strategy scene is, all the students knew what it was except Jaune as he was not experienced, there was the 'I need to here you say it' scene in volume 3...

So Oz letting his students be in this level of danger ('Be mentally tortured by Grimm as it uses your body as a breeding ground' level danger)and not telling them just to further test them feels different?” - Anon

“Mmm interesting! That didn't even register as terribly callous to me (as evidenced by my earlier confusion lol). Re-watching the scene and thinking it through, there are a couple reasons why I'm pretty okay with Ozpin's response.

First, Shion, Glynda, and Ozpin don't act as if there's much they can do about this grimm yet. Indeed, the fact that Shion was hunting the Nightmare, but only found it when Jaune was totally in its clutches + the fact that he (presumably) hasn't realized there's a second Nightmare possessing Weiss, heavily implies that this is the kind of grimm that's really hard to find until its already got its claws in someone. What are the chances of them finding it in a big-ass forest before the students are infected when, from our perspective, it happens near instantaneously from a single, red-eyed look? Regardless, it's not like Ozpin planned to have the Nightmare involved in the initiation. Shion went off on this "journey," initiation begins, it's already underway with everyone spread out below, and then he unexpectedly shows up and announces that the grimm he's hunting is "here." Does "here" mean specifically the forest? Beacon Academy as a whole? The Kingdom of Vale? I think the forest is implied by him saying the initiation itself might get dangerous... but then Shion leaves? If he knew the grimm was specifically somewhere down below, wouldn't he go join the students to hunt it? The second time around I read it more as, "I know the grimm is somewhere here-ish, in/around/near Beacon, and that means the initiation MAY be more dangerous than usual simply by virtue of students existing in the same area, but even if I knew precisely where this thing was, the chances of capturing it before it possesses someone seem slim as hell. And once it does possess someone we apparently don't know about it until they're sick, unable to wake, and covered in thorn-like bruising — not exactly subtle anymore. Given that neither character noticed being possessed and went days living their lives pretty normally, this thing appears almost undetectable until we're in the danger zone." Based on what we've seen so far, I just don't know what they would have done other than recalled everyone... but then wouldn't the Nightmares just move to the school? Also filled to the brim with students to possess? It doesn't feel like there was a particularly useful plan to implement, other than to watch and wait. So might as well continue the initiation as normal.

Second (and more important imo) Ozpin is pretty callous in the original RWBY too, at least when it comes to facing the realities of being a huntsmen. Yes, he gives people choices for huge, life-altering decisions that they absolutely did not sign up for when attending his academy — "Will you potentially give up your life, or your soul, or your personality, to merge with another person in an experimental fusion to keep the magic you just realized exists safe, Pyrrha?" "Will you help me check up on another magical object, guarded by stupidly powerful villains, after you've only had one year of training because you're literally the only allies I have right now, RWBYJNOR?" None of that was in Beacon's admission info. But fighting and putting themselves near the clutches of dangerous grimm? That's why they're here. You bring up the landing strategy scene and I think it's super telling that Ozpin doesn't refrain from launching Jaune off that cliff. Sure, he explains that a landing strategy is needed... but not how to come up with one. Ozpin knew Jaune was untrained (fake transcripts). He knew, thanks to that conversation, that he had no idea how to survive this fall. He may have even known his Aura wasn't unlocked yet. But this is the reality of being a huntsmen. It's 100% not safe. There's little hand-holding. If Jaune actually wants this he will have to find a way to survive it... and he does! Thanks to Pyrrha's kindness (Ozpin emphasizes teamwork for a reason) and his own head for strategy, Jaune pulls through against all odds. Ozpin wants his students to be kids whenever possible (food fight scene), but he's not blind to the fact that they've all explicitly joined a life-threatening program. We can theorize about whether the instructors watching would have really stayed on the sidelines if something went terribly wrong, but canonically RWBY!Ozpin says that the students are on their own:

“After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you will die. You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene.”

Personally, I think he was serious, both because our heroes initially run from the Nevermore (despite winning in the end, that was an encounter out of their league that could have easily killed them, yet no one showed up to help) and because Ozpin ignores Jaune's raised hand, gives cryptic info about landing strategies, and then still launches him off a cliff. Ruby stopped a Dust robbery. Yang attacked a club full of fighters. Blake was a member of an extremist group. Weiss fought another possessed grimm just to have the chance of applying for Beacon. Everyone who has made it this far knows very well that they're living super dangerous lives, trying out for a super dangerous program, so that they can enter a super dangerous career. It’s a combination of, “I have complete faith in the students I’ve chosen to get through these trials” and “They’ve committed to facing such trials in the first place. It would do them a disservice, and put them in more danger in the long-run, to step in every time their back is up against a wall.”

So an additional, unforeseen grimm really doesn't seem like much of a problem to me, or, I would think, to Ozpin. That's the entire point. This job is deadly and unpredictable. Coddling the students now, at this stage in their training (AKA, after four years of places like Signal that already taught them to defend themselves + the high standard required to get into Beacon in the first place), is just going to get them killed down the line. Port has Weiss fight a grimm in the middle of class. Ozpin sends the girls off to investigate a grimm infested city. A villain breaks into the school and Ruby is praised for trying to take her down alone. This isn't a real life, normal school concerned with keeping students safe above everything else, it's a school concerned with putting students in danger so that they can be equipped to handle that off campus too. For me, "No such thing as a safe initiation test" feels very in line with the original webseries and what else we've seen of Beacon's program.

I mean yeah, the Nightmares are absolutely horrific (although I think rescuing Jaune so easily/making his dream so weird undermined a lot of that. I'll get into that more in the recap), but is a psychological attack really any worse than everything else in the initiation? It's just a different kind of danger, not necessarily a worse one. Basically, I imagine a conversation like:

Us: Omg, Ozpin, how could you make them potentially face the Nightmare? You're so cruel!

Ozpin, watching one student nearly fall to his death before an unexpected save, Weiss setting the forest on fire, the group nearly being skewered by giant feathers, almost crushed by the tip of a tail ten times their size because these grimm are fucking huge, dodging collapsing bridges, keeping the Nevermore from swallowing them whole, thrown against stone with a sickening crunch after being told Aura can only survive one or two hits, forced to decapitate this huge-ass monster in order to earn the privilege of doing this shit every day for the rest of their short lives because we've seen like two huntsmen reach old age: ...We're really drawing a line at the Nightmare?

To be clear, I do think IQ!Ozpin is written as way, way, WAY colder than his RWBY counterpart (😭), but the initiation feels pretty similar to me. This Ozpin shrugs off the Nightmare being nearby. That Ozpin sips cocoa as Jaune is potentially launched to his death. Tomato tomahto.” - Me

Continuing on from all that, Shion leaves and we cut to a few of the group enacting their landing strategies. I know IQ hasn’t emphasized them like RWBY did — hasn’t even mentioned them as a crucial skill, really — but I’m still disappointed that we don’t get to see the whole crew surviving a plummet in various creative ways. If my memory serves, it’s just Ruby and Yang, with Jaune also getting caught by Pyrrha’s spear.

More importantly though, I think the landings look... bad? Really bad, actually. Ruby’s isn’t awful, though she seems to just sort of plunge herself into the ground and hop over Crescent Rose, rather than using multiple shots to slow her descent. Yang’s is a mess though. She shoots the cliff-side, grabs a large chunk of rubble that just kinda... hangs there? And then drops? Not only is the animation not as clear about how they’re using their weapons to slow their descent, but the animation just looks plain shoddy to me. It’s a moment where I think it’s obvious where the budget went to (Nevermore fight) and where corners were cut.

Ruby runs off to find Yang only to run into Weiss. After choosing her over Jaune, Weiss pulls her away while muttering that she can still be on Pyrrha’s team even if she’s “paired with [Ruby]” and I’m like Weiss... honey... Ruby is RIGHT THERE. Like you literally have her back plastered to yours. She can hear you!!

Poor Ruby lol.

As they continue on we move to the PoV of something with a red view of the world which, you know, I’m sure is fine! More seriously though, the obvious implication is that this is the (soon to be named) Nightmare grimm, given that it’s clearly an antagonist and looks at first Weiss, then Jaune, both of whom become infected. I suppose it could be a normal grimm like one of the Ursa stalking them, but it doesn’t seem likely. I bring this up in part because the anon quoted above made another good point (in an ask I still need to answer) that Ozpin would have come across as at least somewhat invested in his student’s well-being if he just warned them about the new danger. He doesn’t have to stop the initiation, just give them a heads up.

For the record, I completely agree that this would make his character appear softer, regardless of the outcome, though I am kinda hung up on the practicalities of the situation. Namely, that we apparently see the moment — or the moment right before — Jaune and Weiss became infected and they had NO idea it was happening. They’re both already on their guard in the middle of a dangerous forest (or as on guard as Jaune can be) and Ruby is plastered to Weiss, providing an additional set of eyes, ears, and whatever supernatural senses huntsmen might have going for them. Yet no one noticed the grimm’s attack. No one even had a ‘Huh, that was weird’ reaction that, had they been better informed, might have tipped them off that something was wrong. RWBY and IQ both remain shows where we can only trust the details so far, but if we’re leveling criticism based on what we’ve actually seen on screen, the implication here is that you straight up can’t tell when this thing sinks its teeth into you... so what’s the point in saying, ‘Watch out?’ At least, what’s the point when the victims are spread out in a forest, not easily communicated with, and freaking them out might mess with test results? I know that later Shion will ask Ozpin to “tell the students to remain diligent,” but I took that to mean, “Tell the students to be on the lookout for classmates who see copies of themselves, are developing weird bruises on the back of their neck, and may be sleeping too much.” Or, to put it another way, be diligent about stuff that comes post-possession, stuff that had no bearing on the group while in the forest because even if they know it’s there and encounter it... what are they doing to do?

Based on current info, dealing with Nightmares occurs post-possession. Shion even says that he’s glad he caught it before it grew, perhaps implying that he never expected to catch it before it found any prey at all. Getting it at the start of a possession is the best case scenario.

But, as always, future episodes might blow all that out of the water, leaving us only with a, “Huh, Ozpin really is a callous dick here” reading lol.

What I find interesting about the (assumed) possession scene though is that it’s accompanied by some appropriately creepy music, but then connects to Pyrrha, of all characters. If you re-watch the moment when Jaune finally leaves the tree we move from that red-eyed perspective to him falling, getting hurt on the way down, a black-clad hand catching the spear, something looming over him... and then it’s Pyrrha. Now, normally that’s a pretty standard ‘Gotcha’ moment. We think the evil grimm is coming for Jaune, but it’s just Pyrrha, yay! Thing is, those moments usually cut the creepy music the moment the reveal occurs. Because it’s part of the joke, yeah? You want that contrast between the horror and then Pyrrha’s bubbly self asking for a team-up, one slamming right into the other. But here, the music continues, making the entirety of Pyrrha’s offer feel like something to be wary of.

Now, notably the music continues through to the commercial break where Yang sees something rustling in the bushes. Given everything else that happens in Episodes Two and Three (mostly Pyrrha not being possessed/shown to be plotting something) I want to read this choice purely as a way to maintain the tension as we leave Yang on a mini-cliffhanger. Is it the Nightmare in those bushes? Another grimm? (Yes.) Her beloved sister? Keeping the music does work... it just makes for a very odd moment between Pyrrha and Jaune. As said, right now I’ve decided that it doesn’t actually mean anything, but I’m also going to cheat and say that it DOES on the off chance I’m right lol. If it turns out that Pyrrha has some hand in all this — unlikely as that seems right now — and our musical cue + creepy approach was indeed a bit of foreshadowing, I reserve the right to celebrate.

Post-commercial Ruby shows off her semblance to Weiss who tries to cover her appreciation with a quip about her showing off. They quickly become surrounded by Ursa though, just like in the original fight, though here we have some odd cuts between this battle and Yang’s. Some of the combat in this series absolutely shines, right on par with Monty, whereas other moments... definitely don’t. This is one of them.

I mean, I know the team can’t create super detailed background for every shot, I do honestly know that, but I am HOWLING over these grimm:

[Insert the names of your favorite disaster trio here.]

Seriously though, their movements look really bad to me too, kinda clunky and... not connected well to the ground?

Yang’s fight is a little better (short as it is) though I couldn’t help but note that this is the first time we get to see her in action. Without the Yellow Trailer we have no real sense of Yang’s fighting style and I’ve gotta say, the lackluster landing strategy and Blake killing the grimm from behind doesn’t help show it.

Toss in the Nevermore battle where Yang is forced to mostly maintain her distance and I’m sad that any RWBY newcomers don’t yet know how completely badass her style is. Hell, we don’t even know what her semblance is, or whether she has one in this AU, though I assume she does. Especially when Glynda later comments on Jaune’s lack of a semblance, implying that here the average Beacon student has already unlocked theirs. That would also explain Weiss’ surprised “A semblance?” when Ruby shows off. A semblance isn’t surprising at Beacon, but a semblance from a kid two years younger might be. Toss in, again, Roman’s assumption that Ruby was already a student there.

Weiss tells Ruby to duck at the last possible moment and sets the forest on fire while taking out the grimm. But it’s fine! I guess Dust fires naturally burn themselves out? 😬 Ruby tries to compliment her for the move, but Weiss is determined to read everything as a veiled insult, following it up with one of her own about how all Ruby does is waste Aura and Dust.

The look Ruby has when she gets frustrated and cuts down the tree is... intense.

Honestly, as a horror fan I’m digging the vibes of IQ.

Weiss appears legitimately upset about the perfection accusation — more-so than in RWBY, far as I recall — given that she flashes back to her failure with Winter.

She bitches back that if Ruby is so great she should just forget the rules and do it all herself.

Weiss you tried to cheat. Twice!!

We finally leave them for Nora riding her Ursa and Ren being the bestest of long-suffering not-yet boyfriends.This time, Nora sings that she’s Queen of the castle AND that Ren is King! Very cute.

Ruby and Weiss show up with the Nevermore at their heels and I love how though Blake immediately starts trying to shoot it — you know, like a huntress in training who values her life — Yang is just like, ‘Omg it’s Ruby! Hey, everyone, that’s my sister! :D :D :D”

Absolutely stellar.

Overall, I really enjoyed the Nevermore fight. As I said above, I think this is where the majority of the episode’s budget went and it shows. Weiss’ glyphs in particular are gorgeous — I like the shot of her stopping the barrage of feathers — and we’ve kept all the background action like Yang launching herself into the Nevermore’s mouth. Ruby is LAUNCHED up the mountain and decapitates the grimm with absolutely no mercy, giving us that classic pose at the end. It’s one of my favorite fights in the whole series and I’m really glad IQ did it justice.

Now, having said all that... what the fuck is up with Jaune’s Aura?

@hivemind42 I hope tumblr decides to tag you today, because I’m slamming your ask in here:

Yeah no shade towards Pyrrha, she’s doing her best, but ABSOLUTELY SHADE TOWARD THE WRITING. Literally what was the point of moving this scene? Nothing makes sense now. Jaune, as said, managed to get through the entirety of the initiation without Aura, period. It’s one thing to nearly hit the tree and be okay falling down to the ground, but getting through the Deathstalker fight? That’s absurd.

Except wait, it gets even better:

Jaune remains the impossibly ignorant character who, as established next episode, still comes from a long line of impressive huntsmen, but doesn’t have any idea what Aura is for, who Pyrrha Nikos is, presumably didn’t attend a combat school, etc.

He somehow manages to survive initiation without having his Aura unlocked.

He then goes through an undetermined number of school days, still without it unlocked. This includes facing off against Cardin with their scrolls tracking the Aura it shouldn’t be able to read yet.

THEN Pyrrha unlocks his Aura on the rooftop, maybe taking the place of her training/Jaune’s reveal that he faked his transcripts? If that’s not canon anymore though, how did he get into Beacon?

Later, after he’s been rescued from the Nightmare grimm, Glynda comments that his Aura is pretty damn weak and that’s a boon because it meant the grimm had little to feed on. No more “You’ve got a lot of it.”

The only way I can even begin to make sense of this is by assuming that Jaune did have his Aura unlocked (despite not knowing what it was...) and Pyrrha just somehow unlocked MORE of it, and somehow, despite getting a double dose of Aura unlocking, Jaune still remains so weak that the teachers are commenting on it.

Really though, this feels like a mess. I mean, more of a mess than it is in RWBY, which is really saying something. How is IQ managing to fix so many obvious mistakes and simultaneously dropping the ball elsewhere?

Anyway, the rest of the fight is mostly what we’ve seen before, minus a few cut moments. Ruby no longer charges the Deathstalker which, honestly, I think is a pretty crucial part of her and Weiss’ relationship. I’ll delve more into this during Episode Three’s recap, but Weiss bounces between characterizations a LOT. She hates Ruby. Actually she looks up to her. Never mind she’s an annoyance. She has complete faith in her. She wants to be leader more than anything. She’s changed her mind with Port’s help and wants to be the best teammate. She’s back to doubting Ruby’s capabilities. She’s racist. She’s learning. She’s regressing a scene later. She’s had a breakthrough. She’s forgotten it.

Admittedly, a lot of this is built on the back-and-forth found in the original webseries, but IQ cranks it up to eleven, until in any scene Weiss feels like she’s in a totally different place emotionally than she was a minute ago. Toss in big changes like standing up to Jacques during the test and I feel like I don’t have a good handle on her trajectory anymore. I suppose we could hand-wave a lot of this away with, “The Nightmare attaches to people who are conflicted. Weiss has to struggle,” but it’s happening so often, so fast, and with so few indicators of why she’s grown/backtracked that it feels messy. I bring this up now because, without the Deathstalker charge and Weiss saving Ruby’s life, we don’t really have a moment where she’s forced to reconsider her new teammate. The whole point of that scene is that Ruby’s life was in danger and Weiss acted, revealing that (duh) her attitude is mostly a front and of course she’s going to help Ruby when push comes to shove. Her small admission that Ruby doesn’t need to prove herself to her feels earned. I love that moment for them. But here, Weiss goes from being thoroughly pissed at Ruby (perfection comment/tree cutting), to being chased by the Nevermore, to... clasping her hand?

To suddenly having total faith in Ruby’s strategies and having their ‘I believe in you’ moment during the launch sequence, without the push-and-pull between trying earlier. The fact that this Ruby says, “Please help me” rather than the confident “I have a plan!” highlights that they’re in a very different stage of their relationship here and yet somehow end in the exact same place.

I know I’ve said this at least twice now, but IQ is struggling with not allowing new content to flourish, instead mushing old and new together in ways that don’t always work. This isn’t a massive issue — obviously the story still reads as logical and mostly cohesive overall — but it reminds me strongly of late RWBY content and how the fandom tends to see first-draft events as set in stone. Just like critics will suggest changes, only to be met with push-back because others don’t understand that yeah, if you change one thing then lots of other things will have to change along with it, a domino effect that (depending on the size of the change) will ripple throughout the whole story, IQ seems to be dipping its toe into AU territory and then pulling back, afraid to commit to that influence.

I assume that these problems will smooth out once we reach Episode Four and are in almost 100% new content territory... but then again, will that happen with so many canon conflicts (Roman, Penny, White Fang, Salem) being set up? Idk.

Some last-minute details I enjoyed are that the Deathstalker’s tail starts to disintegrate a little after Ren’s attack, cuing Jaune into the fact that it can be easily cut now. We also see the tail fall and holy shit, the scale against Ren is GREAT. I mean, you know the grimm are big, but that shot really hammers it home.

We get an ominous line from Shion about how “They’ve already found the hiding place” which I’m kinda confused by? If he knows where the Nightmare grimm have hidden (Weiss, Jaune) then why didn’t he do something about it earlier? Episode Three definitely acts like NPR bring that information to him, discovering Jaune’s predicament first. And though we know Shion sensed multiple Nightmares in the forest, why then is there a singular hiding place — “the”? Will multiple grimm hide in the same person? Is Shion, unlikely as it seems, talking about a different “they”? This could simply come down to a translation miscommunication, or maybe it’s actually nonsensical based on other problems in the plot (like Jaune’s Aura), but either way, I’m not sure what to do with this line yet.

We see the team naming ceremony and the cold, fake!Ozpin 😭

(God bless Yang for smiling there THE REST OF YOU LOOK LIKE HORROR MOVIE DOLLS)

Funny, but for the first time it really struck me how frustrating it must be to not just have Ruby be made leader, but have the whole damn team named after her too lol.

We end on a very cute shot of the group celebrating...

... except oh, what’s that?

We already know what it is because I’ve been talking about it the whole recap lol.

A fun cliffhanger ending though! Definitely a divergence from where RWBY left off.

As I mentioned last recap, I have a stupid number of projects to work on atm, so I’ll be taking Episode Three slow. Hopefully I’ll have it posted before the July 3rd premiere — anyone know if that’s just a repeat of Episodes 1-3, or are we getting 4? — but if not know that this is a failure of my own making and I am buried under all the fandom events I signed up for with a stupidly confident, “I can handle it!”

Ah, hubris.

See you next time! <3

#rwby #rwby: ice queendom #rwde #rwby recaps #mymetas

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xrphansrevival · 11 months

Text

Crack the eggs

[any odd terms/acronyms will be explained more after the drabble. You can control+F to find the stuff with asterisks *]

Many smaller skills go into espionage. It isn’t just about being sneaky and wearing masks, it isn’t all James Bond, or Kingsman, or Totally Spies. Media sensationalizes the art of espionage. Sure, some of it is accurate, but some of it is plain silly. In real life, there aren’t massive evil supervillains individually ready to destroy the whole world.

No, that’s billionaires. Whatever.

That’s not the point of this. Since Hue oh-so-kindly confiscated Quix’s jammers, he’s been working in all his spare time to rebuild. Especially now, if Hue wants the information he demands, Quix has to resort to his gadgets. Lucky for him, he’s not the only one in his class that’s interested in recreating these tech gizmos. What’s already in process cannot be exclusively pinned on him, if at all.

Throughout the past few days, in high traffic areas, Quix has been planting NNEMPs*. It’s easier to blend in. If he plugs in, say, a phone to charge, nobody will pay any mind to what he’s doing otherwise. It’s just a phone. And say, if he drops his phone, nobody is going to question him searching that area for it…

Even in a house of geniuses, people are so fucking easy. Look like you’re bumbling, and they’ll look down on you. Ignore you. Assume you can’t be up to anything because you’re not nearly as sharp or clever.

Some of these NNEMPs have been integrated with precautionary jammers*. Once the NNEMPs have been activated, the jammers with some of them will activate. It’s a safety net. If the cameras don’t get knocked out one way, they’ll get knocked out another.

Then it was about sifting through all the information Quix has on the rooms necessary for this plan to work.

Umbral always pulls his file as soon as he can, as soon as he knows it’s been replaced. But how could he possibly have this information? How does Eye know this is happening? Quix has discovered a routine in the midst of unpredictability. Probability will eventually win over unpredictability if it isn’t true. Umbral picks a ‘different’ day every month, but not really. It’s the same cluster of days. It’s always a day when Umbral should be in class.

Thankfully, it’s this week. But Quix is planning on striking first. Umbral is far more discreet, but is he really? Quix thinks he has someone in his pocket, letting him steal his records and destroy them. How else could he so consistently get away with it? Surely, first and second don’t get a pass on that when it involves other students’ information as well.

Quix is out to make an omelet. He doesn’t have time to win a staff member over. He needs the eggs.

It’s been a few days. Whisper opens their phone. All the NNEMPs appear to be in order, and they’ve snuck their way back onto part of the camera feed. The route that’s most important, along with a few distraction routes in case they’re being monitored. The blind spots are still the same as when their access was revoked. Perfect.

The act begins.

Quix does indeed have epilepsy*. Seizures can be debilitating, frustrating, maddening. Luckily for him, he does not have tonic clonic seizures, otherwise known as grand mal. Though he’s never actually faked a seizure, since they can’t EEG* him on the spot, the seizure or lack thereof will be undetectable anyway.

In the morning, he spoke to Fie and Wight about having a migraine incoming. This is part of a tell for his seizures. Most of the time, if Quix wakes up with a headache or migraine, he’ll wind up having a seizure later that day. It’s extremely infrequent since he’s medicated, but breakthroughs still happen occasionally. Fie and Wight decide to monitor him for the day.

Wight is in his psych class with Professor Obelus. A built in alibi. Halfway through class, Quix spaces out, a blank look glossing over his eyes. He’s trembling slightly. This is a red flag to his best friend. Wight stands up to alert their professor, and in that moment, Quix leans over to the side and throws up on the floor.

Obelus stares for a second. Sigh. “Take him to the infirmary. Do you need help?”

Wight shakes his head. “No, I got him.”

Some of the other students stare. Quix has trouble standing, so Wight slings his arm around him to help.

“B… bag…?” Quix appears confused, face contorted in fear. Another common trait of his seizures. Wight grabs Quix’s bag for him. They leave the classroom together. Yoriko passes them on her way to the room, ready to clean up the spill on isle four.

Wight averts his gaze. He’s still unnerved by them.

The two boys make it to the infirmary without incident. Gamma takes one look at Quix and already knows.

“Did he take his secondary medication?”

Wight frowns. “I dunno. He was drinking a lot of water, but I think he hasn’t been getting good sleep.”

“Should have taken the ubrelvy. Get him on the bed.”

Wight coaxes Quix into the little infirmary bed. He’s still shaking. “Are you cold?”

Quix nods slightly. Wight covers him with the sheet.

“Go back to class, Wight. I’ll watch him.”

There’s no point in arguing with Gamma. Wight takes his leave, setting Quix’s bag by the bed. Gamma walks over and checks out his eyes, feels for his pulse, and a few other things.

“You appear to be rattled, but I believe you won’t have another one. You may rest here for now.”

Gamma turns away from him, and Quix glances at the clock. Perfect timing.

A sudden high pitched beep screams through the orphanage. Similar to the sound of tinnitus, but much, much louder and inescapable. In a moment, the whole place goes dark. The backup generator can’t even kick on. The NNEMPs are effectively doing their jobs.

“Stay here,” Gamma warns, quickly leaving the infirmary. A patient who just suffered a seizure is typically pretty immobile.

If they actually had a seizure.

Quix waits a full minute before hopping out of bed. He doesn’t have much time to work, and he has to move quick. He pops open the Whisper phone.

The cameras necessary are down. Perfect.

He pulls a mask out of his bag and changes his hoodie. Quix slings his bag over his shoulder. Peeking out of the infirmary, no one is around. He can hear quiet chattering. Students are being advised to remain in their rooms. Quix slips away, remaining in blind spots as much as he can, in case the cameras come back up too fast.

Quix arrives at the special office where the students’ records are kept. Normally, it even has a keycode lock. It’s deactivated. With nothing to power it, how could it be armed? He walks right in. Of course there’s nobody there. Things much more important than some measly files are at stake if Wammy’s is under attack. He holds back a laugh.

It's just too fucking easy.

Isn’t it?

A chill runs down his neck. There are far too many files and cabinets for this to be only for the current students. Quix takes a quick look around.

L’s biggest cases. L’s collection of other aliases, such as Denueve. L. L. L.

“Fuck.”

Right as the door bursts open, Quix ducks under a desk. He curls up tight behind that swivel chair. He remains calm, but his heart races.

Footsteps approach. Someone looks around the room, flashlight sweeping over the different drawers.

“There’s nobody here!” A voice calls out.

“You sure?” That’s Deixis’ voice.

“Yeah, I’m sure!”

The person retreats, closing the door behind them. Quix waits another full minute. The loud, screeching sound is dying off. Either the batteries are dying or the NNEMPs are being found and deactivated. Time is running out. He pops his head up, and the two actually did leave. He’s alone again. Quix ignores anything labelled L. He’s not here for that loser.

He's here for the generation of losers, the second generation. Another drawer popped open, and…

“Finally,” Quix grumbles. He thumbs through the aliases. Without looking at the innards, he snatches both Eye’s and…

Where is Umbral? Where-

One of Whisper’s many bits of information pops into his mind. Umbral had a different alias years ago. He changed it over time.

Quix grabs the file on Piper.

Both are stuffed into his bag. He takes another brief look at the room. Everything is how he left it. Quix slips out of the room, once more, nobody in the hallway. On his way back to the infirmary, the rest of the power comes back. The ringing stops. Thank god for blind spots.

Quix returns to the infirmary. Nobody else is there. He wobbles in, putting on an act for the camera in there. He sets his bag down and collapses on the bed.

A moment later, Gamma is there again.

“Did you get up?”

Quix looks at her, the air of confusion back around him. She sighs and helps him readjust. Then, she places the sheet back over him.

“You know you shouldn’t move after a seizure.”

“R… ringing…?”

Gamma pinches the bridge of her nose. “You didn’t imagine it. Don’t worry. You’ll hear about it later.”

Quix closes his eyes. Gamma goes back to business, now checking on the infirmary tech to make sure nothing was broken because of the incident. Quix rolls onto his side and smiles.

Yeah, too fucking easy.

NNEMP: Nonnuclear electro magnetic pulsator, as opposed to NEMPs, nuclear based electro magnetic pulsators. NNEMPS are safer and less commonly used in warfare, however, Quix is not raging a war and does not have access to nukes. Thanks.

Jammers: not sure if this is the right term, but it’s something Quix (and others) use to jam signals from cameras/microphones/etc. Imagine it’s like static on TV or radio.

Epilepsy: a seizure disorder. Seizures and epilepsy have many variations. Quix does not suffer tonic clonic/grand mal seizures, which is what most people think about when they hear ‘seizure’. He has partial/absence seizures, which are less noticeable in general unless they’re on the worse side. Think zoning out and being unresponsive.

EEG: similar to an EKG but for the brain instead of the heart. Electroencephalogram is what it stands for. Painless brain reading. Used in sleep studies and other brain disorder studies.

#drabbles #quix #whisper

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