#sdc looks!!! I AM READY

[faebaex]

Tangled in Wonderland - A Simulation

author note: ... so this got out of hand and ended up being over 6500 words x-x really curious to see how you guys like it and react to the twist. i'm so anxious if you guys will enjoy it that i can't even right my usual rambly A/N!!

characters: Idia Shroud x GN!Reader, Ortho Shroud (Platonic)

Thump. Thump. Thump. Slam.

You sighed.

The sound of quarrelling which, through Ramshackle’s thin walls, sounded like it could be happening right next door to you.

The sound of a quiet but stern lecture, a voice full of authority that would not stand being questioned.

You rolled over in bed and checked the time on your phone. 7:00 am. On a Saturday. You groaned and rolled onto your stomach and buried your face in your pillow – not the best quality but comfortable enough – as Grim snored, spread out at the foot of the bed. You were pretty sure he could sleep through a hurricane.

Just why had you agreed to allow the NRC Tribe to stay here, again? Perhaps it was masochism?

But that didn’t do Vil any justice. He had warned you that tenacity was Pomefiore’s thing.

The morning after Vil had grandly declared that he had moved in was… Something. The best way you could describe it was that it played out like a fever dream. You had hoped it was, actually. You kept pinching yourself, hoping you’d wake up any moment. Of course, you didn’t.

You had woken the next morning to Vil knocking on your door. He was rather insistent, as he didn’t leave even when you ignored his knockings in favour of burying yourself further into the warm comfort of your bed. Finally, you dragged yourself out of bed and ripped open the door, glaring bleary eyed at Vil, who stood looking annoyingly immaculate for so early in the morning.

“I’ve prepared us some breakfast. I see you need time to get ready, but please do hurry. I have a schedule to keep.” Vil informed you, not even waiting for your response as he turned on his heel and walked down the hall. You grumbled and slammed the door shut, reeling both from the early morning veiled insult and the fact that somehow Grim had slept through it all, still snoring away peacefully on your bed.

You readied yourself as quickly as you could but took an extra few moments to smooth out your appearance more than you usually would. You’d be sitting opposite Vil Schoenheit after all, and you could really do without his comments this early in the morning.

You walked down to the lounge to see that Vil had indeed set the table up for breakfast. Mismatched bowls filled with yoghurt, berries, and some sort of… Seeds? A jug of orange juice also sat on the table, just enough for one glass each, along with a heartier jug filled to the brim with water. You had to admit, you hadn’t had such a healthy, well put together breakfast since you got there. Most days you had to forgo your breakfast entirely in order to stop Grim terrorising the school population before first period began. If this was Vil’s charm offensive, you could get behind it.

“This was the best I could do with your dorm’s… Limited implements,” Vil sighed as he drizzled a modest serving of honey on his own bowl of yoghurt before pushing the honey container towards you, “I would have brought my blender but I wasn’t if Ramshackle had running electricity.” Vil commented dryly, “does Crowley not ensure you have the needed facilities to live adequately? That man is shameless.”

Now this was a conversation you could get behind.

“Crowley doesn’t ensure anything ever.” You grumbled as you drizzled some honey onto your own yoghurt bowl under the watchful eye of Vil. The amount you put must have been satisfactory because he didn’t say anything, only began to mix his spoon in his own bowl.

“The prize money from the SDC would help change that. You could get yourself better kitchenware, maybe some more soft furnishings…” Vil began, and you rolled your eyes as you munched on some berries. Nice segway.

“Not interested.” You responded bluntly, although Vil didn’t seem too surprised by that. He picked up the orange juice jug, pouring you a glass first before filling his own, as manners would dictate. “Why are you so against the NRC Tribe staying here? You only stand to gain from doing so. Whilst there may be a bit of disruption, I’ve assured you that I would keep disruption to your routine to a minimum. I must say… I do find your stalwart refusal a little odd.” Vil stared hard at you now, and you tried not to visibly squirm from the intensity that he was studying you.

It seemed that all your efforts to not bring attention to yourself were doing the exact opposite in this situation. Vil found your behaviour odd, and Ace and Deuce had also found your behaviour odd when you didn’t attend the Pomefiore ballroom when you were requested to do so. It was rather annoying, actually, how all your hard work to be as unnoticeable as possible was turning out to be fruitless.

But if there was one thing you could rely on for a believable defence, it was the inherent selfishness of the Night Raven College students (and arguably, staff).

“Why should I go out of my way to help you? Regardless of what you offer, it sounds like a pain. I have to accommodate seven extra students? On top of all the trouble I get from Grim anyway? Sounds like a drag. Plus I enjoy having my own space.” You quipped back, your expression indifferent.

“Hmph. It seems like you fit in here more than you think.” Vil shot back sassily, an elegant eyebrow raised at your open self-centeredness.

All throughout breakfast you and Vil had an unproductive back and forth where he tried to gain some ground on getting the training camp to go ahead in Ramshackle. It was exhausting, but you managed to hold out long enough that breakfast was over and there was no reason to stay at the table any longer, for either of you. You were just leaving the lounge when there was a energetic knock on Ramshackle’s main doors. You sighed, wondering why someone else was now knocking on your door, but for all you knew it could be Ace and Deuce, wanting to walk with you to class. That reminded you that you needed to get Grim up too. Reluctantly, you walked towards the entrance, pulling one of the creaky doors open.

“Bonjo—”

You slammed the door shut.

“That was rude. Rook is here to walk with me to class. He also is delivering my blender.” Vil scolded, having followed you partially to the entrance, obviously predicting that it was Rook. You groaned loudly regardless of this, bumping your forehead lightly against the entrance door’s old wood. You had to deal with Rook Hunt now too? This was getting out of hand.

Grudgingly, you pulled open the door again, not bothering to mask your expression of displeasure as you stared at Rook, who stood with his usual enigmatic smile on your doorstep, with a blender tucked carefully under his arm.

“Ahh Trickster! How delightful your disgruntled expression looks first thing in the morning! Magnifique! Like a raging storm cloud threatening the blue skies! And Roi de Poison, as radiant as ever! Like the brightest of suns in comparison! Oh, how I wish I could burn this image into my mind forevermore!” Rook enthusiastically sang, and it was as if you could feel your mood plummeting in real time.

“Oh give it a rest…” You muttered under your breath, having to duck out of the way as Vil breezed past you and grabbed the blender off of Rook. “Yes, that is quite enough of that, Rook. There is no cloud on this earth that could threaten my shine.” Vil commented, disappearing back into Ramshackle to no doubt deposit his blender in the kitchen. “Of course not, beautiful Vil!” Rook eagerly agreed.

Now why were you catching back handed insults from both Pomefiore housewardens?!

You grumbled under your breath about this, but Rook didn’t seem to mind or care. He continued to smile at you, watching you with those ever-observing eyes.

“You seem agitated, Trickster! But might I say, you do look beautiful this morning. A fine colour to your cheeks and a wicked glint in your eye! I see that your shared breakfast with Vil has done wonders for your complexion and spirit already.” Rook continued, managing to look harmless and sly at the same time. Quite the feat.

How exactly did he know that you had breakfast with Vil?! Had he been watching you? You cursed internally, swearing to yourself that you’d buy some thick curtains for Ramshackle out of your next allowance. But knowing Rook, that wouldn’t be enough.

Instead, you glare at Rook and point a finger at him, which he watches with glee, as if he is enjoying the situation. “Stop talking.” You say firmly, and he holds his hands up genially, not at all offended at your shortness. In your opinion, Rook Hunt was a whole valid reason on why you didn’t want the NRC Tribe to stay at Ramshackle.

“Rook, it’s time for us to go. I don’t want to be late.” Vil declared as he strode out of Ramshackle, and you had to agree with Rook in that the run down exterior of Ramshackle didn’t take away from Vil’s shine in the slightest. It was quite amazing, and also kind of irritating. “You should leave shortly too, being late would be unbecoming of a dorm Prefect.” Vil sniped over his shoulder at you as he began to leave with Rook. Rook gave you a hearty parting wave, “farewell, Trickster! I do hope to be sharing a dorm with you soon!”

Not at all ominous, thank you Rook.

“And don’t forget about Grim.” Vil called, not even bothering to turn towards you as he continued on in the direction of Night Raven’s main school building.

Oh, damn it. Grim! You rushed back upstairs, on a mission to get Grim out of bed and out of Ramshackle before you were late and Crewel chewed you both out again.

After that, Vil was a semi-permanent fixture at Ramshackle. He would return in the evenings, no doubt after running the NRC Tribe ragged during practice, and then he would put you through your paces. He’d critique most of the things you did, and it wasn’t like his words of advice were unhelpful, it just didn’t help that they were delivered with the trademark Schoenheit sass. More often than not you were left reeling because he delivered his flyby judgments with such poise and poison, you were suddenly gaining a new appreciation for poor Epel.

Eventually you relented and agreed to allow the NRC Tribe to stay at Ramshackle until the SDC, but under very strict conditions. You would be receiving Vil and Rook’s share of the prize money if they won. You were not to be disturbed under any circumstances by the members of the NRC Tribe, and they were strictly forbidden from entering your bedroom. Groceries would be provided for the duration of the training camp. You also made it clear that you would not be responsible for any shenanigans that Grim pulled off during their stay, so not to even bother pestering you about it. And lastly, you would not be attending the SDC.

It was a difficult decision for you to make, but you realised that with Vil hounding you about allowing the NRC Tribe to stay, you were perhaps interacting with Vil way more than you potentially would during book five’s story path. A foul thought crossed your mind, Vil overblotting because negotiating with you had eaten into his preparation time for the SDC. At least with these conditions, you effectively minimised your role in book five to pretty much nothing, and if book five’s story decided to run its course like normal, then it was nothing to do with you.

Vil had stared at you with a knowing look when you first came to him telling him that you would agree for the training camp to go ahead, but his face slowly fell into a judging frown once you got to the end of your conditions.

“You don’t want to see your friends perform at the SDC? You do realise this is one of the biggest events of the school calendar? There might not ever be another opportunity for you to witness such a spectacle, let alone one that your friends are performing in. Not to mention… They’ve been working so hard.” Vil questions you, his tone almost scolding, and his eyes wrought with curiosity as to why you’d be so callous to the two who you’d known the longest since arriving here.

You kept your expression indifferent, giving an excuse that loud spectacles weren’t your thing. You did feel bad that you would miss Ace and Deuce’s big moment, but there was no way you could allow yourself to get dragged into a potential overblot situation again.

Of course, all of that felt meaningless now, considering that they weren’t even complying with the conditions that you had set out.

You could vaguely hear Ace complaining to Deuce about having to be up so early despite Vil technically giving them the morning off, whatever that meant. You hoped that the voices would eventually die down and you could get a couple hours more sleep, but the banging, thumping and voices went on and on. You even attempted to pass sometime by playing around on some mobile games that you had downloaded, a guilty pleasure that was a temptation too hard to resist when Crowley gave you the phone. But the noise never abated, and with a disgruntled sigh you got out of bed and decided to get ready for the day.

It felt weird being on campus so early in the morning on the weekend. It was mostly empty, which you assumed had to do with most students forgoing breakfast to sleep in, although there were a few early risers milling around campus. Some were heading towards the gates, likely heading out to town, whilst others made their way to the many other facilities that Night Raven had to offer. You yourself had decided to visit the mystery shop on a whim, thinking you could pick up a snack or two for during your breaks at the library.

You were walking up the path towards the shop when some… Large boxes came floating out the door… You stopped in your tracks, blinking several times. Were you that tired that you were seeing things now?

“Sorry Prefect, I don’t want to accidentally bump you!” Said a chipper voice coming from behind the boxes, startling you and making you hop out of the way. Behind the boxes was one Ortho Shroud, and suddenly the floating made sense. Not so much the boxes, though.

“Ah, my brother got a little caught up yesterday and forgot to do his usual food order, so I came to the mystery shop to pick up a few supplies to tide us over!” Ortho told you as he saw you eyeing up the boxes in his arms in confusion. He floated towards you where you stood off the path, and gently placed the boxes down, and they were nearly as tall as you were! Just a few supplies?!

“What are you playing?” Ortho asked enthusiastically, and you belatedly realised that you had one of the mobile games you had downloaded open on your phone, and muscle memory made you want to close it down immediately, but Ortho’s big, excited eyes made you feel too guilty to do so.

“Oh, uh… It’s just a game I downloaded, I don’t know much about it…” You fielded awkwardly, hoping to brush the topic away but Ortho only floated closer to get a better look at the screen.

“My brother plays that one too!!” Ortho gushes with glee, the sudden burst of elation catching you a little off guard. Really? This didn’t seem like Idia’s type of game… You swear you vaguely remember him saying he wasn’t that into dating sims… Although, you did suppose this one wasn’t a conventional dating simulator at the very least.

“But what happened to your screen?” Ortho asked, ripping you out of your thoughts, his head tilting to the side curiously. Now that did make you lock your phone to attempt to hide your shamefully cracked phone screen. Kalim, that’s what happened, you thought dryly. “Oh it’s nothing,” you said quickly, “I just had a small accident with it. It still works just fine!”

“Let’s get my brother to fix it!”

Oh no.

Ortho was beaming at you, eyes sparkling at the idea. You could feel your heart sinking.

“Oh no, no. I wouldn’t want to bother him! It’s totally fine, I promise!” You said hurriedly, hoping to derail the idea and make a quick escape, but it seemed like the idea had already firmly taken root in Ortho’s brain.

“It wouldn’t be a bother! My brother is really good with machines, he’ll get it fixed in no time! Plus, you two can talk about that game together! I’m sure he’d love to know there was someone else on campus who likes the same game as him!” Ortho encouraged.

Ah. So that was what this was about.

Book six had Ortho really encouraging Idia to share his gaming interests with the other students at Night Raven. Considering that the Ignihyde chapter was the next in line after book five, it did make sense that Ortho was taking this coincidence and running with it, considering you had just made it a thousand times easier for him to do so by just happening to like the same game as his beloved brother.

… But how were you supposed to say no to those eyes?! How were humanoids allowed to have such heart wrenching eyes?! It wasn’t fair.

You chewed on your bottom lip in indecision. It would be useful to get your phone screen fixed, even to stop Vil’s sassy barbs that he kept firing at you whenever he caught sight of it (something something “your belongings are a reflection of you” something something, blah blah). And this was Idia you were talking about here. He would probably freak out as soon as Ortho brought you to his room, fix the phone as quickly as possible and kick you out. Win, win?

“Okay, sure.” You relented, watching as Ortho lit up even more at your positive response. You swear you saw his hair get brighter. “But I can’t stay for long, I have other things planned for today.” You stated firmly, giving yourself an escape plan if needed. Ortho still seemed delighted regardless, moving once again to pick up those ridiculously large boxes he had been carrying. You followed suit, picking up the box from the top of the pile, much to Ortho’s surprise.

“It’s okay, I can carry them!” Ortho assured, but you shook your head, adjusting your grip on the box. It was a little heavy, but nothing you couldn’t handle. “Nah, I can’t let you carry them all by yourself. Besides, this is the least I can do if you’re going to fix my phone for me.” You remarked casually, beginning to walk with Ortho towards the Hall of Mirrors.

“You’re very kind, Prefect.” Ortho hummed, seeming quite taken with your courteous gesture.

The walk to the Hall of Mirrors from the mystery shop wasn’t long, and as you stepped through the Ignihyde mirror, you realised that you’ve never actually really seen the inside of the Ignihyde dorm. Sure, the game lets you buy Ignihyde backgrounds such as the entrance and the lounge, and you can get Idia’s dorm room as a background on his birthday, but other than that, the Ignihyde dorm has largely been a mystery compared to the other dorms. You had no idea what to expect.

It was… Very white. And shiny. Kinda made you wish you had brought a pair of sunglasses. The hallways were deserted, and you felt like you stood out like a sore thumb. You suddenly started to feel uneasy about the whole thing.

You followed closely behind Ortho as he led you to Idia’s dorm room, not trusting yourself not to get lost. He seemed to know exactly where he was going, even with the boxes he was carrying partially obscuring his view.

“Ortho, are you sure this is okay?” You asked, unable to hide the unease in your voice. Ortho didn’t stop, continuing to float along the hallways and making turns where necessary. “Don’t worry, Prefect! It’ll be fun! We’re almost there!” He insisted, and you very much felt that you and Idia were about to be in for a very unfun time. Ortho suddenly turned and opened a door that you would have missed if it wasn’t for him, as it blended into the wall so well.

“Idia, I’m back!” Ortho announced, floating in nonchalantly. You followed awkwardly, managing to bump the door closed behind you and place the box you were carrying on top of the other ones that Ortho had left by the wardrobe.

You took a moment to glance around the room. It wasn’t… As messy as you thought it would be. Wow, the background you can buy in the game really doesn’t do it any justice. That or Ortho cleaned up.

“Ah Ortho! Come check this out! I finally beat the final boss in that boss rush and got some cool new— Gah!!”

Idia had swivelled in his chair to look at Ortho but saw you instead and almost tumbled straight out of it with the way he flinched backwards, face morphing into terror. You gave him a small smile and waved awkwardly, but that only seemed to make it worse.

“I invited someone over!” Ortho stated cheerfully as Idia ducked behind the high back of his chair to avoid being seen. Rather fruitlessly too, considering you could still see his characteristic flaming hair.

“I-I can see that, Ortho! W-w-why did you invite an extrovert into my room?!” Idia complained, trying to keep his voice low but not really succeeding. The interaction was so odd to watch that you wondered if you should leave but settled for looking away instead. Ortho didn’t seem bothered at all, smiling at Idia like nothing was wrong.

“This is the Prefect from Ramshackle! I ran into them at the mystery shop, and they helped me carry our shopping back! Wasn’t that kind of them?” Ortho rambled on, floating over to his brother. Idia seemed to pluck up the courage to peek over his chair to get a better look at you, prompted by Ortho’s words, but when you looked back towards him, he shot back down in his chair, the ends of his wispy hair turning bright pink.

Wait, was he blushing?

“B-but Ortho…” Idia stammered out, but it seemed that Ortho had no mercy for him today.

“The Prefect’s phone screen is broken, and I told them that you could help fix it!” Ortho piped up over Idia’s stammering, his smile taking no prisoners, “you can help them, right Idia? Something so simple won’t even take you ten minutes.” Ortho encouraged, beaming smile still on his face.

Talking tech seemed to kick Idia out of his fluster somewhat, and you could hear Idia’s back thump against his chair as he opened one of his desk drawers and started rifling through it. “Tch, typical normies with no protection on their device, then crying when it gets bodied. So noob coded…” Idia muttered under his breath like he’d forgotten you were right there as he finally found what he was looking for, pulling the kit he was looking for out of his drawer and placing it on his desk.

Ouch.

He pushed his keyboard back, assumedly making space to him to work. “Gimme. The quicker I fix it, the quicker they leave, right?”

“Prefect isn’t a normie! They play the same game as you!” Ortho retorted and you cringed, as you sincerely hoped that wouldn’t get brought up into conversation before you could leave. But apparently, Ortho had taken it upon himself to defend your honour from his brother. Lucky you.

“Show him, Prefect!” Ortho compelled you, and you would almost find it funny how he was basically strong-arming Idia to have an interaction if it didn’t involve you. You sighed internally, powerless to Ortho’s big eyes, and walked slowly towards Idia’s desk, loading the game up on your phone. You held it up, arm outstretched so you didn’t get too close and give the guy a heart attack.

“It’s this one. I don’t play much, but this is the game I play the most. I at least make sure to login every day to get the bonuses and stuff…” You mumbled awkwardly, not actually understanding why you felt so awkward either. It wasn’t like it was a big deal. But suddenly your phone was snatched from your hand, and you were startled to see that Idia had grabbed it.

“You play this too?! I’m so into this at the moment. How far are you in the story? What cards do you have? Who is your favourite? Ugh, this screen totally kills the vibe. Hang on, let me just…”

You blinked in surprise as Idia rapidly fired off multiple questions about the game at you before putting your phone on his desk and hunching over as he got to work. It was like he was a completely different person. You knew it was the case that he could become very lively when he got to talk about his hobbies and interests, but seeing it happen in person was… Truly something. You looked between him and Ortho, with Ortho looking absolutely delighted about the interaction, and gesturing for you to take a seat on Idia’s bed whilst he worked.

“Oh, uh… I’m not very far in the story, I cleared the prologue but that’s about it. I don’t get the chance to play often… I don’t get many chances to roll the gatcha either, I never have any currency…” You answered. You didn’t really know any of the characters well enough to say what cards you had or who your favourite was, so you kept quiet on that.

“Sounds like you’re still in noobville. I’ll teach you how to play, but first I have to… Whee hee hee…” Idia volunteered, his voice pittering out as he got more entranced on working with your phone. The room lulled into silence, and you began conversing with Ortho instead, random giggles and mumbles from Idia in the background as you and Ortho chatted. Midway through one of your conversations with Ortho you noticed that Idia had been working on your phone for way longer than ten minutes. Now, you had no idea how long it took to replace a phone screen, you were no engineer. You also factored in that Ortho could have just been bigging up his brother’s ego when he said it would only take him ten minutes, but did it really take that long to fix? It felt like you had been in here way over an hour…

Ortho was projecting some clips of his favourite video games when Idia finally swivelled around, brandishing your phone with a manic grin.

“The freshly refurbished Prefect Custom Gamer Deluxe! I replaced the screen and reinforced it so it won’t break again but still has high grade touch screen sensitivity. I upgraded the battery to a larger capacity model so that you can game for longer, and of course a 2TB memory card. The original memory was awful, where did you get it? Sam’s bargain basket? Kek.” Idia gushed about your newly juiced mobile, fully in his element, “I didn’t know what your preferred colours are, so I didn’t add any custom lights. Blue’s good, though.” He commented, and that is when he finally caught you blinking at him, staring rather blankly.

“… Did you get any of that? Sigh, noobs OTL…”

You didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth, so you quickly snapped yourself out of vacant stare and quickly spoke, “I think so… It means I won’t have to delete anything to update my games anymore, right?”

That seemed to be enough, because he was smiling that startingly sharp toothed grin again. “Exactly.”

The room fell into silence again, with Idia seeming to realise that he’d burst out into a rave about his interests. He held out your phone towards you awkwardly for you to take, and you stepped forward quickly to take it, but Ortho was faster.

“Show the Prefect your cards on the game you both play!” Ortho insisted cheerfully but forcefully, clearly not willing to let this interaction between you and Idia ends just yet. You don’t know if it was because it was a game, or because he had been suitably warmed up from the tech talk, or Ortho’s wide, eager eyes. Maybe even a combination of all three, but either way, Idia agreed.

“So… Uh… Did you hear all the aggro online about what’s happened?” Idia muttered as he waited for his game to boot up. It booted up a lot faster than yours usually did. Is that what he did to your phone? If so, you weren’t going to complain.

 “Can’t say I have…” You answered honestly, and Idia scoffed lightly under his breath. “Oh right. I forgot you’re a casual.”

Why did it sting when he said it like that?!

Idia spent some time giving you some tips on free ways to get in game currency so you could roll on the gatcha more, and even recommended some social media accounts you could follow to get information on future events so that you could plan your resources and gatcha rolling accordingly. It was… Pretty helpful, actually. It was oddly nice to just chat innocently about a hobby for once, instead of constantly having to have your guard up in case someone tried to screw you over.

Idia made you boot up the game on your own phone (which you were pleasantly surprised to notice loaded up just as quickly as his own) and took a look through your card collection. He wasn’t impressed (“do you even statgrind?”) but gave you some advice regardless on who your best cards were and the more effective way to power them up, so you didn’t get locked out of the story when you progressed.

“Now show them your cards, Idia!” Ortho suggested yet again. You hadn’t missed his thrilled expression as you and Idia had been chatting, realising that he was likely delighted that Idia was talking to someone in person for once. But he was being awfully pushy about Idia showing you his card collection, even when the conversation didn’t need to be facilitated by him…

The tips of Idia’s hair went bright pink yet again, and you couldn’t resist raising a brow. What was he so embarrassed about? They were just cards, right? Idia tucked his chin in, turning his screen away suddenly. “I-I-I don’t know, my collection is pretty a-average…”

“No way! You have so many cards, show them!” Ortho tugged on Idia’s arm, with Idia trying to hide his phone in his lap, “or I’ll just project your cards for the Prefect to see!”

Idia sat up straight, looking very panicked at Ortho’s oddly specific threat. “O-okay, okay! Let me just…” He tapped away at his phone, and you had no idea what he was doing, but eventually he turned the screen back to you, showing you his card collection in all its glory.

Wow. He had tons of SSR cards. Even some UR cards… By the look of it, he seemed to only go for the ultra-rare cards of the same characters, so they must be his favourites. You looked at his card collection, nodding appreciatively and making a comment here and there, but otherwise you didn’t really have much to say. Idia’s hair was still tinged pink, and even his cheeks had an awkward half blush for reasons that escaped you.

Out the corner of your eye you saw Ortho staring at you rather insistently, as if he was urging you to keep the conversation going. Just why were you allowing yourself to be exhorted by this kid? Clearly, Ortho Shroud’s powers of compulsion know no bounds.

“Who is your favourite character?” You blurted out, hoping that would satisfy. To your surprise, Idia’s hair burned brighter, the pink flaring up at your question.

“O-oh, um… I-i… I can’t show you, because of… You know, all that aggro online…” Idia mumbled under his breath, looking down at his lap. What was up with him?

Either way, now your curiosity had been piqued.

“Tell me about the drama.” You asked, although you supposed it came out sounding more like a demand. Idia looked up at you suddenly, staring at you for a long moment, “… a-are you sure? It’s pretty long…” He mumbled, and you nodded anyway. Perhaps this would finally satisfy Ortho and then you could make your exit.

Idia’s demeanour entirely changed again, his elbows landing on his knees and he leaned towards you, his hands caging his phone. “This has been big news in the community. Like, God tier discourse. Everyone has come together to try to figure out what is going on, scrubs and tryhards alike. People have been mining the data files, I’ve tried hacking the serv—”

“Wait, wait, wait!” You stopped him, waving your hands to get him to slow down, “tell me what happened before you talk fandom dramatics.” Idia rolls his eyes but acquests.

“So a couple of months ago, something happened to the game. I’m not talking a limited time event or anything like that. I’m talking one day, every logged in for the next daily login period, and a character was missing.” Idia informed you, and you raised your eyebrows at this.

“Like, gone?” You questioned, and Idia nodded, frantically enough that his wispy hair bounced a little. You scratched your cheek, finding yourself slightly intrigued in this despite just doing it to get Ortho off your back. “I don’t think I follow what you mean…” You admitted, almost a little sheepishly, “how can a character just be gone? Wouldn’t you still have their cards?”

Idia, to his credit, didn’t seem to be bothered by you not following, only nodding along eagerly with your train of thought. “Right? But that is where it gets even weirder…” Idia begins to tap at his phone again, changing the filters on his card collection before turning the screen back towards you again, “because the cards are still there, but the character is missing.”

The sight was eerie, almost ominous. You deduced this character must be one of Idia’s favourites, considering how many cards he had, all maxed out. It made sense why he was so invested. But the cards themselves, they were…

Empty.

The cards were still there, in his collection. The background of the cards was still visible, even the other characters that appeared in the art were still there. But the character the card belonged to? Gone. Just an odd, inky smudge left in their place.

“That’s…” You couldn’t finish your thought, finding yourself at a loss for words at the bizarre, oddly chilling sight.

“Right?!” Idia hissed, really getting into the conversation now.

“Surely it must be some sort of event, right? Something to do with the story?” You tried to reason, and Idia shook his head wildly.

“That’s what we all thought, at first! Maybe they were springing some big event on us that none of the info trading accounts had managed to dig up. Sure it was a bit early for a Halloween event, GG developers, but it wasn’t like that hasn’t happened before.” You nodded along to Idia’s logic, this was exactly what you had assumed. The creepy feel of the cards definitely gave a Halloween vibe.

“But the official game pages never posted anything about it. And they weren’t responding to comments or messages about it either. So, we started to wonder if it was an update gone wrong, or a bug, and the devs were going to patch it. But still, we heard nothing from any official channels.”

You were staring at Idia, transfixed by this odd phenomenon. You’d never had anything of the sort happen in any of the games you had ever played, that’s for sure.

Idia’s cheeks flared a little pinker as he continued, “I-i have every one of that character’s cards, so I was able to check that it wasn’t just one card that had the issue, it was all of them. Other players reported the same issues, so that’s how we knew it was a game wide issue. The devs finally issued a statement, some vague BS about how they would be troubleshooting some issues with the game but not exactly what they were trying to fix. I personally think the devs have no clue what’s going on. Which is stupid, who doesn’t know what’s happening with their own software? Is it amateur hour over in that studio…” Idia finished, starting to mutter under his breath.

You mulled all this information over. Wow, clearly fandom drama in Twisted Wonderland was way more over the top than in your world.

“That’s really… Wow.” You hummed, which you thought summed up the situation quite well. You were pondering over it, eyes back on your own phone as you opened your card collection back up. You guessed you hadn’t noticed because you hadn’t rolled any of that specific character’s cards in the gatcha. You were kind of grateful, actually. It probably would have given you a fright.

“Uh…” You heard Idia hum, and you looked up at him, seeing him watching you with an apprehensive expression, “I have something to show you, if you want to… See… But you might find it weird…” He said slowly, his posture more hunched than before.

“Oh, okay?” You nodded, waiting for him to continue. You wondered if you were making him uncomfortable and had overstayed your welcome, considering Idia was starting to become more withdrawn again. His social battery was probably starting to go flat. You’d leave after this, you decided. Maybe quicker, if he was going to show you something really weird.

“The character is gone from the game’s cards, but they still appear in promotional materials that were posted online. Do you… Want to see?” Idia asked hesitantly, and whilst you found the way he asked the question a little odd, you had no reason to decline.

“Sure, why not? I feel like I’m invested now.” You smiled at him, but he didn’t smile back, only turned his gaze to Ortho. “Ortho, can you project the promotional art?”

“Easy! Searching promotional art… Loading… And, done!”

… … …

You felt your blood run cold instantly and you couldn’t stop the look of petrified horror that froze upon your face.

Projected onto the muted walls of Idia’s bedroom, in crystal clear clarity, was the promotional art of the character that Idia had been telling you about, just as he had asked Ortho to do. There was no inky smudge replacing their appearance, and they were posed rather dramatically, the norm for promo art. But something about it had your heart stopping in your chest and your hands trembling in your lap…

The promotional art…

The promotional art looked exactly like you.

[1ovede1uxe]

13. the truth┊ ┊⋆ beyond the stars - kakyoin x reader

series synopsis - you've been sent to join the joestar crew on their mission to defeat dio by... dio? y/n is an undercover stand user who joins the sdc to report back to dio their findings and notes about their stands, up until a few moral dilemmas get in the way of your original mission. series masterlist

recap and synopsis - you all arrive at the mansion and are reunited after taking care of Kakyoin in the hospital. Getting your words out is really difficult.

finally coming to the final chapters of this series! i hope you've all had fun with it :)

"Are you ready to head out?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

It had been almost a week, which felt like an eternity for Noriaki in the hospital. He honestly believed he recovered faster due to your love and care. Did you actively tend to his wounds? No, not really. He had the Speedwagon Foundation doctors for that. However, having you by his side made him more determined to recover, and he believed his body healed faster because of it.

You began to pack up yours and Nori's belongings.

"Are you going to be alright?" You asked for the billionth time in the last twenty minutes. Noriaki grabbed your arm, signaling for you to look over at him.

"(Y/N), I know you're worried, but I'll really be alright. They wouldn't discharge me if they didn't think I was able," he said with a heart-melting smile. It calmed your nerves, but you still felt more nervous for him to reunite with the group.

"Oh, and before I forget!" You said just before Nori was finally going to walk out that door.

"(Y/N)…." He began, starting to get a bit annoyed.

"No, I promise this is something else. I wanted to give you these instead of those, um, hospital-provided goggles. When I came back yesterday and sat outside for so long, these were what I was making."

You stretched out your hands and gifted Noriaki a pair of sleek sunglasses that fit the shape of his face just right. Despite his visible blush, you immediately backtracked. "It's totally okay if you don't like them; I just figured you'd prefer them to the hospital glasses to protect your eyes, and it's no biggie. But anyways there was something else—"

"I love them," he cut you off. You shared a smile, and he kissed you on the cheek. In your time together, you've grown closer, and your romantic feelings for each other became less hidden each day, but even still, there were some things you just couldn't get used to.

The something else that he cut off however, was that after some careful consideration, you had wanted to pair your gift with an admission of the truth about your loyalties. You weren't sure how he'd react.

Taking your hand and holding the door for you, an energetic Noriaki followed you briskly out the door.

"Someone's excited."

"I'm excited to not be bedridden. It was nice not to have to worry about threats for a while, but I miss our friends. I imagine you did too, especially since you were looking after me."

"I did, but it was nice to get to spend time together just us."

"Call it cheesy, but I'm honestly excited for this to be all over and we can call ourselves a real couple."

If I'm going to tell him it's now or never. I have to. I can still back out before anyone gets hurt. We're so close to the mansion.

"I am too, but also can we stop for a sec before we meet up with the others? I wanted to let you know something."

"Yes, is everything alright?" Noriaki asked, the concern in his face surpassing his glasses.

Noriaki's concern deepens, etched across his face. "Yes, is everything alright?"

"It's just... I came into your lives suddenly, and you welcomed me without hesitation. I'm grateful for that, but—"

"Holy shit, is that Iggy?" Noriaki interrupts, rushing towards the injured dog. My thoughts scatter as I follow in his wake.

Claw marks. Pet Shop.

After tending to Iggy with the help of a young boy, we turn a corner.

"Now, what was it you wanted to tell me?" Noriaki asks, his attention back on me.

"Okay, this might shock you, but please, just—"

"Kakyoin! (y/n)!" The party calls out, their voices cutting through again. Relief and dread intertwine as we reunite. It's like seeing family after a long absence, a bittersweet calm before the storm. Mr. Joestar had scooped Iggy up in his arms only for him to get fussy and push himself out.

"Hey Iggy, where are you going?" Mr. Joestar questioned.

"Iggy never showed any interest in humans or stands, but I think he wants to lead us somewhere. I don't know what happened between him and the enemy stand but perhaps for him, it's now a matter of revenge."

You all followed Iggy intently and in intense silence, however only you had a sense of dread wash over as you realized what street you were on.

I was really planning on telling Kakyoin only first, but I should really say something now, we're headed to the mansion.

Anxiety built, your stomach twisting in knots. What would any of them say? If you didn't say anything, what would happen at the mansion? If you revealed yourself, would anything happen to your mother?

It's too late now.

A car was getting towed that was absolutely destroyed. Mr. Joestar and the others seemed to recognize the car, you and Kakyoin remaining lost in your thoughts.

You reached over to his hand and grabbed it, squeezing it as to say "I love you." You looked up at Noriaki, and he looked back, sunglasses tilted down. You shared that longing look at each other, a guarantee of love behind his eyes for the last time.

The aura of dread must've at this point spread to the others.

"Iggy, you found it!" Mr. Joestar said in shock. The gates were wide open and the front door creaked. "I don't know how, but he can almost track us, just as we can him."

Your heart pounded fiercely in my chest, and tears welled up in your eyes for the first time in ages.

"The door is opening! Stay on guard!" Avdol's voice rang out with authority. Polnareff glanced back at me, briefly squeezing my shoulder, before peering cautiously around the corner.

"Look at this hallway, you can't see the other side. It can't be real…" Polnareff murmured, his voice tinged with disbelief.

Only Vanilla Ice and the other Darby remained.

"Something is coming this way!"

"Shit, what is he!? Is he a stand user?!"

The younger Darby hovered menacingly in the doorway, casting a chilling gaze upon all of the crusaders.

"We've been expecting you. Welcome home, Miss (y/n)," the younger Darby declared.

The men before you parted, creating a pathway for you to be seen.

"(y/n), what is he talking about?" Noriaki's voice was strained with stress. You fought back tears, dropping Noriaki's hand as you silently walked through the door.

"Trying to get the girl in first is a low blow, man," Polnareff remarked, not processing the current implications. The others were just too stunned to speak.

"Lord Dio wishes to speak with you, you know where you're headed." The Younger Darby sneered, looking at the reactions of the men you had journeyed with. Turning down the right corridor, you kept going, not letting yourself look back.

previous chapter // next chapter // masterlist

i almost named this chapter sussy among us imposter but i believe that would show my inability to take literally anything seriously. taglist is still open for any poor souls who want to hop on the last couple stops on this train

taglist: @kerto-p, @pancakesyrupthief, @kakyoinslastcherry @marvelmayo, @kitchenscissorbangs 

special shout out to y'all for being here for the long ride and supporting my work, you're all angels <3

[papillaee]

I should be sleeping rn but I am thinking about rwby's worldbuilding. Of course.

It seems to me that the writers do understand the very, very basic concepts of worldbuilding... They try to make each kingdom different from one another somehow, give each of them a very, very basic idea of a culture and a history, there is dust and the SDC, Grimm and the hunters, but they don't expand on any of this enough. The world just doesn't seem... Alive?

We know that in Remnant people live among Grimm, use dust and auras/semblances. Okay. But what else? How those things affect the day to day life of an average Remnant citizen? How do people live with the fact that there are man-eating monsters ready that will hunt them if they just show an ounce of negative emotion? MAYBE, just maybe, a lot of things would be very different from our world. Maybe kingdoms would at least try to avoid grimm attacks by investing in a good quality of life for the citizens with entertainment, and/or good healthcare? Maybe the Grimm affect people like the faunus or the poor the most if they are ignored and don't have a good quality of life like everyone else.

There is a lot that can be done with those concepts, but the worldbuilding in rwby doesn't have enough depth. It might look wide and vast from the surface, but it is as deep as a kiddie pool. Instead of thinking about how life in Remnant might be different, the writers just decide that Remnant is mostly like our world, with the minor inconvenience of spooky monsters and people with magical superpowers roaming around.

[mr-laveau]

20 Questions for Fic Writers Game

Tagged by a darling, @autisticempathydaemon! Thanks for the tag!

Tagging @agentplutonium because I wanna pull some SH style interrogative shenanigans/lh

1 - How many works do you have on AO3?

Seventeen, not a lot but it's to be expected somewhat I suppose since I'm busy writing NeXus.

2 - What's your total AO3 word count?

64,509-Oh look I beat Lexi/j/pos

3 - What fandoms do you write for?

Redacted mostly, I have some unreleased Castle Audios fics, an unfinished JJBA SDC fic to finish and a Scott Pilgrim fic to start.

4 - What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

#1 is an Ironpanther Marvel Fic of Avenger's Academy I have not touched in forever called "How Tony Stark landed a king and how T'Challa landed a genius". It was fun tho cuz my hc of T'Challa being demisexual was really well received to my knowledge. #2 is "Spitfire", which admittedly is a good FL/Damien fic and people should read it. #3 is "Ghost of the Past", my Sam/SH fic where they both used to be roommates in DUMP. #4 is "Friends...Am I right?" which was a really fun Darlin/Sam & BE+Fred fic. Finally, #5 is "Moments That Flash By" which is a really good Darlin/David fic for my soul.

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

I do respond when I remember...ADHD makes me do silly silly things like forget that stuff exists. I like comments and they let me know I'm doing s good job.

6 - What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Easy! "Shattered Glass Makes a Good Weapon" Gods, I love that fic so much. It was really fun for me to reach deep down and write Darlin and Quinn like that.

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

uhhhhhhh I dunno, probably a Marvel fic called "Crossing Buckies and Dotting Hawkeyes", I am a winterhawk girlie and I had fun writing that, others might think it's "Spitfire" or "Break time, Gorgeous" but subjectively, it's that fic.

8 - Do you get hate on fics?

If I have then I haven't seen it. I don't really engage much with fandom to care about hate comments because "haha, look at you getting mad over words about fictional characters kissing", like shut your goofy ass and move on.

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

I have but I'm not releasing it. I don't feel compelled to do it-mostly cuz it's for me and I like toying with the idea in my head and the people of my current fandom are not ready for the depravity I could unleash.

10 - Do you write crossovers?

No? I have ideated one but I'm still not sure if I want to do it.

11 - Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope.

12 - Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nuh uh.

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

Uhhhh no but I have ideated with Lexi about one and I have been too busy to finish the first chapter.

14 - What's your all time favorite ship?

My redactedsona/redacted men What? who said that? It's Darlin/Sam/David/Angel/Damien/Asher/Baaabe/SH/Milo. It's my ship and yes, they're all poly, yes, they're a network and yes, I am happy with myself.

15 - What's a WIP that you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

"Platinum Portrait", It was an old JJBA fic with my OC/Jotaro and I really liked how it was going. Dunno, we'll see how it goes.

16 - What are your writing strengths?

I'm good at dialogue and characterization as well as pacing(?).

17 - What are your writing weaknesses?

Gore, writing long fics, Dead Dove Do Not Eats (I wanna do those at some point with Quinn or Hush OR Porter OR OR OR Imperium Vincent) I like dark shit, idk what to tell y'all and I wanna get better at exploring darker topics properly in my writing.

18 - Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Gods, I love doing it. If you've read "Break Time, Gorgeous" then I want you to know, I love you and it was fun as hell to write.

19 - First fandom you wrote for?

Marvel. Specifically it was my Ironpanther fic.

20 - Favorite fic you've written?

An unreleased Sam/Darlin smut fic where they fuck in an alleyway. I think it's fun.

[skye-huntress]

Hello! I'm a big fan of your nuanced commentary/analysis, especially in regards to Weiss.

Do you have any spare thoughts in regards to the trajectory of Weiss and Ruby’s character arcs moving forward? Or what the future might look like for the both of them?

Thank you for the kind words. Hope you don’t mind, I’ve taken some time to get my thoughts in order.

Starting with Ruby, it seems she is being set up for an opportunity to make a change within herself. I do agree that a change is necessary for her to start moving forward again, the question is whether that change will be positive or negative, and what part of her old self will be lost in the process.

As far as I am concerned, she doesn’t need some big, dramatic change, because she already has most of the desired qualities of both a Huntress and a leader. The problem is it doesn’t matter what I think, or what happens to be true, this is about what Ruby believes. She believes her choices lead to Atlas’ destruction, and that she got Penny killed. She believes if she continues to be leader, her friends will continue to get hurt and possibly die, because of her. We saw a bit of this side in Ruby during the board game. It’s a good thing that Ruby cares for her team, and for the people she’s charged with protecting, but the reality of being a leader is that not all of your decisions will work out, and that some things will be out of your control. However, she is far more capable than she gives herself credit for, and not just her, her team as well. She should have more faith in herself, and she should trust her team know what the risks are and yet choose to follow her anyway, because they have faith in her.

As for Weiss, although she finally got to arrest her father and reconnect with the rest of her family, her life is now a complete mess. Worst of all, being stuck in the Ever After means she has no choice but to postpone even attempting to sort it all out, which I suspect is why she more than anyone is so openly frustrated with the situation. Who has the time and patience for fairy tales when your home was just destroyed and you don’t know if your family is even alive? The team’s latest predicament certainly won’t help her mood, she’s now too small to be much good for anything and has to rely on her unarmed, emotionally vulnerable best friend to carry her forward.

And then there is that issue. They’re all aware that Ruby is not okay, but none of them know what to say or do for her. It wasn’t that long ago that Blake and Yang tried to talk to her, but I could tell their words weren’t enough to dispel her deepest fears and insecurities. Yang is her sister and practically raised her, while Blake was very similar to Ruby and can relate to her on being disillusioned with the world and their efforts to change it for the better. Weiss brings yet another unique perspective, yet it is one we haven’t heard from yet. We all know what Weiss thought of Ruby when they first met, and it’s probably not too far off from how Ruby thinks of herself now, yet Weiss has chosen to follow her and to go along with even the craziest of her plans. She was the biggest sceptic that turned into the most faithful believer, which is why I think it is Weiss’ perspective that Ruby needs to hear most. However, I don’t think Weiss has figured out what she should say, and Ruby’s probably not ready to listen just yet.

Moving past Volume 9, for Ruby it will depend on what about herself she chooses to change, but Weiss will probably have other issues to deal with. Her family are in Vacuo as refugees, without any of their wealth, or the resources of the SDC. Vacuo is Salem’s next target, with Tyrian and Mercury likely already beginning the prep work for a repeat of what happened to Atlas. While Vacuo had the space to move thousands of refugees to, and the available Huntsmen to protect them from the Grimm, it’s very unlikely they have the spare resources to do much else for them. It would take time to contact Vale and Mistral for aid, and those Kingdoms are still recovering from their own attacks. If Weiss can’t get her family out of Vacuo quickly enough, they’re bound to get caught in another war zone, and without the benefit of hiding in a manor this time. Of particular concern is Winter, whom now has a massive target on her back. Unlike Raven, she’ll continue to directly oppose Salem, and she’ll have to contend with Cinder pulling every dirty trick she can to steal her power.

I bring all this up to say that compared to the other three, Weiss may end up having a lot on her plate to be worried about, and I only mentioned her short-term concerns. She may end up juggling multiple priorities and obligations: on one hand, there is her team and their mission to stop Salem; and on the other, is her family, their safety and their future. Hopefully, she’ll get the support she needs from both her families, so she isn’t too overwhelmed, but I am somewhat concerned.

Because I am such a hopeless White Rose shipper, I close off with what I think of their relationship. Regardless of whether they end up together-together, what I do see is Weiss often standing at Ruby’s side and constantly watching out for her. She is Ruby’s loyal knight in shining spectral armour, or perhaps now we should consider her Ruby’s guardian angel.

[yibowang]

220809 YIBO-OFFICIAL weibo update

[bridgyrose]

lady bridgy ma'am, may i ask for a continuation of the trans weiss drabble? (´;ω;)

Weiss brushed a hand through her shortened hair and let out a heavy sigh. For once she was glad her hair grew quickly, though the longer she stared at her reflection, the more she saw who she used to be. The idol everyone knew and listened to, the young boy whose words were never his own, just what his father and producer wanted him to say. The same person she thought she left behind and buried after she figured out who she really was… 

A knock on the door pulled her out of her thoughts and she cleared her throat. “O-one moment.” Without much thought, she quickly adjusted her tie and shirt to make sure she looked proper, even if it felt wrong. Once she was slightly pleased with how she looked in the mirror, she opened the door with a breath. “Ruby…” 

“I uh.. I came to walk you to class,” Ruby said nervously as she held her binder to her chest. “I know I’m not supposed to come to your dorm-” 

“Its fine, Ruby.” Weiss walked out of the dorm and shut the door, glad it was just Ruby. “You can walk with me to class, you’re just not allowed to walk into my dorm. Even if I’m not fond of my father's reason why…” 

“I know, but I still worry anything I do will get you in trouble. Take a look at everything else we’ve done. Taken on the White Fang, arrested a few criminals, took on a rampaging goliath… the fact we havent been expelled is surprising.” 

“I think it helps that Ozpin has his eyes on you.” Weiss nodded to Ruby and started to walk to class. “And the fact that we havent exactly failed with any of that.” 

“I know, but still…” Ruby walked with Weiss and gently brushed her hand against hers. “Even walking with you feels like its… wrong. N-not that there’s anything wrong with you-” 

“I… get what you mean. With my father keeping a close eye on me these last couple weeks…” 

Ruby nodded. “Yeah…” 

“Besides, if this is what father wants for me, then… who am I to deny him?” The words left a sour taste in her mouth no matter how many times she practiced it. Of course she wanted to deny him, wanted to be her own person, wanted to be the woman she was meant to be. Though every time she tried to break her chains, every attempt she made at distancing herself from who her father wanted her to be, the more she felt his grasp tighten around her. 

“And… you’re just okay with that?” 

*No, of course not,* she thought to herself. “Yes, I am.” 

Ruby accepted the lie and took Weiss’s hand. “Well, we only have a couple years left, so… I guess it wont be that long for you. A-and once you’re graduated you can be yourself-” 

“You know that’s not how its going to work.” Weiss stopped in her tracks and tightened the grip she had on her books. “Once I graduate, I… wont be a huntress. I’ll work with the SDC under my father’s guidance as a board member.” 

“Under your father’s guidance?” 

Weiss nodded and started to walk again, her chest feeling tighter the more she spoke. “I uh… I’ll be under his guidance until he deems me ready to take over. So as long as I follow what he wants, I’ll… I’ll be fine.” 

“Weiss-” Ruby paused as she felt Weiss pull her hand away. “You know you have us, right?” 

“I’ll meet you in class. I… I need to check a couple things.” 

“I could come with-” 

“Alone, Ruby.” Weiss rushed off to the bathroom, her heart pounding with every movement. “I-I wont be long.” 

“A-alright…” 

Weiss made her way into the nearest bathroom and took a few breaths as she leaned against the sink. She took a few heavy breaths and looked herself over. She hated the way she looked, hated that all she could do was follow her father’s desires. After all, even if she could try to defy him anymore, he still had the pull to make her life miserable. To lock away her future and decide the rest of her life for her. 

Weiss closed her eyes and splashed a bit of water on her face. “Alright, Weiss, you can do this. Just like father instructed.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small pill bottle. She popped a pill in her mouth as quickly as it came out from the bottle and sighed once she swallowed. Her body relaxed and her breathing started to calm. “One pill a day to relax, and those pesky thoughts will go away. Be a good son for father and Ruby will be safe.” 

Prev

[jojosbizarrefanfics]

hihi!! i was wondering if you could write a jotaro fic where him and the reader get in an argument and then have sexy time to make up for it ? post- SDC joot of course :) and maybe star platinum could join them? i love your fics !!

make up sex is such a fitting prompt for joot and I’m here for it 😏 I got a little carried away oops

Jotaro didn’t mean to slam the door behind him, but he forgot his own strength for a moment. He leaned against the wall for a moment, the brim of his white hat covering his eyes, and you could hear him mutter his go-to “やれ やれ だぜ” beneath his breath.

You sat on the edge of the bed in the hotel room at the Morioh Grand Hotel and sighed. You were both fairly private and didn’t want to have this conversation in front of Josuke and his friends, so you felt like this had been bottling up now and was ready to burst. You weren’t sure if you would speak first or if Jotaro would. It ended up being him.

“You could have been seriously hurt out there. We don’t know the full scope of what we’re dealing with.”

“They needed my help. They’d all be seriously hurt, if not worse, had I not shown up in time,” you said. “I know you know that.”

“And I’m sure they’d have figured something out with Crazy Diamond,” Jotaro retorted. “There’s a killer out there, (YN). Do you want your hand to be the next one they find in a sandwich bag?”

“No, but I do wish you’d actually trust me to help. Is that not why I was brought along? In case any weird shit popped up?”

Jotaro took a few steps forward to ditch his hat on the desk. “I brought you along to make sure you were safe. Maybe that was a mistake. Maybe you’d be safer back at home.”

“You know I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself!”

“I can’t lose you, too!” Jotaro snapped. His hands gripped tightly at the chair in front of him. You were both quiet for a few moments after that. Your breathing felt heavy, like there was a weight on your chest, and the air was stiff with the silence.

To your surprise, Star Platinum emerged while Jotaro focused on his hat on the table, probably trying to calm himself down - he hadn’t snapped like that, especially at you, since he was a teenager. But Star Platinum moved to be at your eye-level and just looked at you; you felt like he could see into you.

You offered the Stand a smile, and he took that as an invitation to gently caress your cheek. You ran your fingers through Star Platinum’s hair, paying extra attention near the roots — Jotaro wouldn’t admit it verbally, but he was practically putty in your hands when you gently massaged his scalp.

“I’m not going to apologize for helping Josuke,” you said. “But I am sorry that I scared you.” With your other hand, you took a hold of Star Platinum’s. You weren’t sure how comfortable Jotaro was right now, but you knew he could feel everything Star Platinum was feeling.

“I’m sorry for yelling,” Jotaro said as he finally glanced over at you. “I...” He took a deep breath, and you noticed it sounded a bit shaky; to an untrained ear it wouldn’t, but you knew Jotaro well enough to tell.

“I know,” you said. Egypt had really messed him up all those years ago. He was always so afraid of getting close and what came after.

He nodded as he closed his eyes. His grip on the chair tightened, then Star Platinum shifted to embrace you. You let Star Platinum hug you, and you left a gentle kiss on his cheek in hopes that Jotaro would feel that, too.

“JoJo, come here,” you beckoned, patting the spot on the bed next to you. He sighed and released his grip on the chair, the color returning to his skin, and he defeatedly sat down beside you. You were now between him and Star Platinum.

You could tell there was so much that Jotaro wanted to say. His mind was racing but he was always horrible, he thought, at actually forming the words in a way that wouldn’t come across as harsh. But it was you, and you always understood him, so he decided to speak up. “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you, too.”

You thought of a joke - ‘visit me with Reimi, I guess’ - but you deemed it too inappropriate to say. You knew sometimes your more nonchalant sense of humor cheered him up, but now was not one of those times. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Jotaro kissed you with a stronger wave of passion than you initially anticipated. Jotaro was extremely protective of you, so in high stakes situations, he got tense even if he never showed it. It was like all of his emotions bottling up couldn’t help but pour over once he was alone with you, especially if he had been frightened.

The more vulnerable emotions usually were visible to you in the form of Star Platinum; as Jotaro kissed you and gripped at your hips with an incomparable ferocity, Star Platinum was gentle and soft with the way his hands ran up your back or over your breasts. It wasn’t long before you two ended up practically clawing at each other, desperate to simply discard of your clothing, forget about the events earlier and just be as close to one another as humanly possible.

You’d tease Jotaro by stroking Star Platinum’s cock so Jotaro could feel the phantom sensations, and eventually he guided one of your hands to his own cock so you were stroking them both at the same time. While your boyfriend was running his hands closer to your upper inner thighs and sucking at the spot where your neck and shoulder met (it was as if something almost feral was set off in him today by the threat of losing you to Kira), Star Platinum continued to gently caress your breasts and run his thumbs over your nipples in the way that had you yearning for more.

Ready for more of you, Jotaro laid back so his hips were on the edge of the bed but his feet were touching the ground. He was facing the mirror in the room, and Star Platinum was standing next to said mirror.

“Come here. Face the mirror,” Jotaro instructed; his voice was even deeper and huskier than usual. “Star needs you right now, too.”

You didn’t dare play bratty right now, and the idea of both Jotaro watching you and making you watch yourself was so dirty that it just made you even more wet with anticipation. You straddled your boyfriend and faced the mirror, and once you had sank onto his cock, he gripped tightly at your ass with his hands.

“Come here, Star, it’s okay,” you said once you found a steady rhythm on top of Jotaro. Star Platinum shifted his loincloth to reveal his cock, equally long and as thick as Jotaro’s. Star Platinum was tall enough to have you suck him off, so you opened your mouth for the Stand.

It was almost overwhelming; Star Platinum was fucking your face, very much in control, as Jotaro gripped at your ass and hips and controlled the pace at which you rode him. You trusted Jotaro with your life, and giving up yourself to him like this was something incredibly intimate for the two of you. It wasn’t long before you were coming on Jotaro.

“Hmph. Good girl,” he said as he thrust his hips more deeply into you. Star Platinum ran his fingers through your hair as you continued blowing him, and your moans from your orgasm only heightened the sensations for Star Platinum (and, by extension, Jotaro).

The contrast between Jotaro and Star never ceased to amaze you; you knew it was because Star Platinum was an extension of Jotaro and he was terrified of hurting you, but it still was so strange to see his Stand like this out of battle and being used as a vessel for Jotaro’s softer side.

By the time your third orgasm came around, you couldn’t hold them back anymore; it felt like a continuous release because you felt so full. Your head was spinning and you barely remembered why you and Jotaro were arguing in the first place.

At the feeling of your continuous orgasm on his cock, Jotaro couldn’t hold back much longer either. Both him and Star Platinum, being one in the same, came together. You felt Star Platinum’s cum shoot down your throat as Jotaro came inside you, his cock gently pulsing inside you as he filled you up.

When they both were done, Star Platinum picked you up and gently laid you down on the bed so you were lying beside Jotaro, and then laid on the other side of you so you were sandwiched between the two of them. Some of Jotaro’s cum had spilled out of you, but you were both feeling too wiped out and in the moment to even think about cleaning up yet.

Jotaro, as per usual, was a man of few words. He wasn’t the type to show his emotions. But your heart swelled as he kissed your forehead and pulled you closer in a rare moment of tenderness.

[jostepherjoestar]

Hiiiii) can I get some HC's for SDC? can you write their reaction to a fem reader who has a bad memory? she may be late for a meeting because she forgets where to go or get lost in a hotel because she forgets the way. And because of that she feels like a burden to them (with Joseph too, please. Parent material ♡ )

SDC with reader  who has a bad memory HC’s

fem reader // sfw

since it wasn’t specified I’ll situate this during the trip to Egypt :) foggy head gang unite!! thanks for requesting <3

Avdol

Avdol could never be annoyed with you, you were a valuable member of the team, always worked hard and were an amazing fighter. He’s very understanding of your bad memory and tries his best to help you whenever he can.

He still wants to treat you like an adult and not limit your independence. He’ll write down the directions to your room so you won’t get lost or light the way with Magicians Red so you’ll only have to follow the cute little flames to your room.  

During the trip he’s always keeping an eye out for you, he’s keeping tabs on everyone which is tiring but he’ll gladly protect all of you.

One time in a little city not far out from the trip’s destination, you’d excused yourself to the bathroom of the restaurant you’d all been eating at. 15 minutes and counting, Avdol was starting to get nervous, thinking you’d been attacked by a stand or had somehow gotten lost again.

When he went to go check, he found you opening the service door with an annoyed look on your face. “Wrong again. I swear the exit was close by!” you grumbled. An embarrassed smile on your face when you see Avdol’s concerned one, quickly walking up to him. He let out a sigh of relief and hooked your arm in his so you’d stay by his side till you reached the dinner table again. Trying your best to hide your blushy cheeks from his stern hold on you.

Joseph

Joseph would go full helicopter mom. He’d make sure you were rarely alone, to your dismay. Always sending one of the boys along with you if you needed a bathroom break or to get something you forgot. He asked at least 10 times a day if you were ok and if you’ve eaten already.

You liked that he was concerned but his care was getting a little too involved. When a rare moment of spare time arrived while waiting for a car rental to go through, you had some time to browse shops. You saw a cute dress inside one of the colourful stores and thinking Joseph was following right behind you, like he is most of the time, you went into the shop to try it on.

Right in the middle of putting on the dress, your head halfway through the hole, you heard Joseph frantically calling your name through the store. Struggling with the dress you tried your best to respond, opening the dressingroom curtain so he could spot you.

He located you and ran towards your little dressing room with an angry look on his face. Ready to start his scolding, you stopped him before he could. “Joseph I’m an adult ok. I can do things by myself every once in a while.” explaining further how you can handle yourself and you know when to ask for help.

The two of you talking for a while, Joseph feeling bad for being a little too involved. He buys the dress for you and apologises, saying how he’s just very protective of you, that if he can’t even protect you, then how will he save Holly? After a big hug you both talked it out, making a system that helped you and put his mind at ease for the rest of the trip.

Polnareff

Polnareff rarely ever gets bothered about your forgetfulness. But sometimes his mouth moves faster than his brain and a crude comment gets spoken. You already felt bad about forgetting your bag in the car but his “Of course you did.” just added another level of guilt and now anger. The rest of the group seeming shocked at his words.

Even Polnareff himself doesn’t know what to say and remains with his mouth hanging open, sputtering like an old car and trying to apologise. You hadn’t replied, just silently got your bag from the car and returned with it on your shoulder, a cold dead stare in your eyes as you walked past him.

There was a heavy tension in the air everyone could feel. Polnareff had often accompanied you so you wouldn’t get lost, you knew he liked to keep you company so it was quite surprising to hear those words coming from him.

It was getting dark around the new camping spot you’d all picked out, the small campfire lighting a circle around it. Most of the group already asleep, you were on guard by your request. When Polnareff came to sit next to you, you didn’t move or say anything. Let him work his way out of this one.

He started apologising profusely, saying how he didn’t mean it and it was his tiredness talking. He kept saying how sorry he was and how much he liked you, even starting to tear up at his frustration that he hurt you. Deciding you let him suffer enough, you held his hand in response. “Don’t ever say that again, ok? I really try my hardest.” you tell him, still not meeting his gaze. He’ll have to continue to make it up to you.  

Kakyoin

Kayoin was often times your companion. He liked spending time with you and talking about all the stuff you had in common. Kakyoin was always there to help you out but quickly noticed whenever you didn’t need it.

He’d always be the one to put notes on stuff or write the time you had to be at the team meetups on your hand.

You felt proud of the youth, that he always knew how to act without overstepping. The two of you even having a few running jokes about forgetfulness or funny situations you’d found yourself in.

You had went a full day without forgetting the way or the time you’d all were going to meet up at the hotel. The sun was setting and you were feeling proud of yourself, having such a successful day deserves a celebration. After the full day of traveling everyone was ready for a little bit of relaxation.

You invited your team to the bar nearby, being in a good mood and all, promising to buy them a round. Kakyoin and you talking about how good of a day it was and Kayoin laughing a little too hard at a not so funny joke you made, questioning him why.

“Well, is now a good time to say you have pen on your face from your hand? It’s been there since morning.” you hit him on the shoulder, scolding him for only telling you now. “That’s it! I’m ordering you a glass of milk and sending you to bed, you big baby!” you yelled as he continued to laugh at you.  

Jotaro

Jotaro understood your forgetfulness but couldn’t help be annoyed by it. But he never showed or spoke about said annoyance. He knows you can’t help it. He just doesn’t feel like the most helpful person, he doesn’t think he can do anything to improve the situation since the rest of the group is always ready by your side.

Still, he always keeps an eye out for you, getting a little pang of anxiety if he doesn’t spot you after a thorough scan of his surroundings. He’s actually pretty good at finding you as well, knowing your patterns and the way you always seem to unconsciously favour the right side.

So when you’re late to the morning meetup, everyone already waiting in front of the hotel, Jotaro knows exactly where to go. Factoring in the location of your room he offers to go back inside to look for you, since he’ll only take a minute.

You had forgotten the meeting time was 9 am but you realised it at 8:47, so you quickly got ready and were out the door by 9. If only the inviting vending machine near the end of the hallway hadn’t grabbed your attention.

It was full of snacks and you were hungry, the growling in your stomach making you forget that you should have already been outside. You heard soft footsteps as you grabbed the wrapped snack you just bought when a hand grabs ahold of your collar. “Come on, we gotta go.” But before the two of you left, Jotaro made you buy snacks for everyone, as an apology gift.

[1ovede1uxe]

04. death xiii, part one┊ ┊⋆ beyond the stars - kakyoin x reader

synopsis - you've been sent to join the joestar crew on their mission to defeat dio by... dio? y/n is an undercover stand user who joins the sdc to report back to dio their findings and notes about their stands, up until a few moral dilemmas get in the way of your original mission.

ch. synopsis - we're gonna crash !!!

The blaring alarm on your phone rudely interrupted the remnants of your peaceful slumber, signaling the unrelenting reality that it was already 7:30 am. Groggy from the previous night's exploits, the temptation to linger in bed for just five more minutes was almost irresistible. Nevertheless, with a reluctant sigh, you sat upright, unlocking your phone for a quick scroll, only to be jolted by the realization that it was already 7:55.

Shit.

Your mind was awake, but your limbs seemed to contrast your mind, as each step to the bathroom feeling like an arduous journey. There was no time to wait for hot water in a hot shower; the cool water hit your skin, inducing goosebumps as you hurriedly scrubbed a cleanser across your face. Emerging from the shower, you felt only halfway refreshed, your tired eyes struggling to open fully. Unexpectedly, a tenor scream pierced the air.

Kakyoin.

Propelling yourself through the connecting door into Kakyoin's room without a second thought, you entered to see that with a scorned look nestled in his bed, lay Kakyoin. He spoke something to himself, but the following holler derailed your train of thought.

Kakyoin's sudden thrashing dispelled any doubts. "Kakyoin?" you called, hoping to wake him. The yell only continued, and you moved closer, leaning over his broad frame, shaking him urgently. "Wake up!" His eyes shot open, breath labored. "(Y-Y/N)?" Upon realizing it was you, it almost felt like his breathing calmed. “Alright you two, let’s wrap things up here. Mr. Joestar and Jotaro are already at the airstrip.” Polnareff, now towering in the doorway, stated.

As you gathered your belongings, Kakyoin began to get ready. "I had a dream... a really terrible one," he began to explain, wiping the sweat that dripped down his forehead. "Hah! What was it about? Tell me everything!" Polnareff urged. However, that was the last you heard after stepping out the door.

Walking out of the hotel, a different holler reached your ears compared to the one before. The scene was gruesome – a dog's head sliced open, and a boy crying over it. You stood there, almost entranced yet equally disgusted. Your instinct to comfort the boy kicked in; no one deserves to suffer heartbreak and loss in such a way. Just as you took a step toward him, Kakyoin tapped your shoulder.

"(Y/N), we have to keep moving," he said, glancing at what had captured your attention. "A dog... I remember seeing a dog's body recently."

"Though it's disgusting, it has nothing to do with us. Let's go," Polnareff announced.

Approaching Jotaro and Joseph, you noticed a commotion and heard something about not being able to get the plane.

"Truth is, this baby is sick with a 39-degree fever. There are no doctors in this village; he'll have to be taken to one that does" the salesman explained. Kakyoin tensed visibly at the mention of a baby, and you shared a side-eye with Polnareff.

After some awkward and honestly poor decision-making, somehow, the five of you ended up with a baby aboard the plane as it ascended into the sky. It sat in your lap in the basket peacefully. You weren't quite sure what to do but just stare and make sure the child didn't wake.

After a bit of cruising through the sky, Polnareff began to dose off, his head nodded against the window. You suddenly felt pressure on your shoulder, and you glanced away from this so called precious child for only a moment, only to understand that Kakyoin had been sleeping peacefully and drifted over to you. Face dusted pink, you look up and see Jotaro turning himself back around. He'd definitely taken note of this.

There was a sudden putrid smell in the air, and you definitely could tell the source. "(Y/N)! You're a woman, can you change the baby?" Your once tickled pink face quickly turned to green, mostly out of disgust for the idea. "Wait...What did you just say to me?"

"Ugh, nevermind, POLNAREFF!" The old man hollered; Polnareff stirred. "Change the baby before you go back to sleep." Kakyoin lifted his head from your shoulder to lean to the wall of the plane. He began to mumble and sweat. Polnareff finally was awake. "Ugh... I think I had a bad dream."

"DIAPER!!!" Mr. Joestar is not a patient man.

Polnareff tried every which way to change that damn baby. Even if it was in your lap you would just do your best to look out the window and breathe through your mouth. Kakyoin began to mumble and stir again, catching the attention of Jotaro. "Hey Kakyoin.." He called out softly. Without warning, Kakyoin began to thrash and yell in his sleep. "Kakyoin! what's wrong?!" Jotaro exclaimed.

It was a commotion. You held onto that basket for dear life. “Oh Shit! This is Bad! He bumped the controls!”

“Are we gonna crash?!”

“Someone hold down Kakyoin!”

Polnareff held down Kakyoin with all his strength, blood suddenly dripping from the restrained man’s wrist. The plane was stabilized, Mr. Joestar had saved the day once again. However, this is Joseph Joestar in a plane. This did not last long.

bonus dio tweets :D

previous chapter // next chapter // masterlist

Thank you so much to everyone for the well wishes for me and my mom, it’s very much appreciated! Things seem to be going a lot better with her. I hope you’re all enjoying the series! I’ll probably edit this later tbh, I just wanted to get out a chapter for y’all. Constructive criticism is always appreciated and the taglist is still open to those interested!

taglist: @kerto-p :)

[gorillageek27]

I have this idea and want your opinion, I'll have a part two soon.

Live Bait AU

Jaune offering Jacques a chance of redemption for helping Watts, leading to Mantle in tatters. He hastily accepts, not knowing what he had in mind.

*RWBY and company freeing Robyn and Qrow.*

Jaune: Say, Jacques, you want out?

Jacques: Yes!!!! Please!!!! I'll do anything!!!!!!!!

Weiss: You can't be serious!

Jaune: I am.

Robyn: Your just gonna let this snake with a mus- *Jaune gestures to let him finish. The others were a bit skeptical of what he was thinking.*

Nora: Have some faith in Fearless Leader.

Jaune: We just need a little help getting something out of a hole. After that, your free to go.

Pyrrha: What do you have in mind?

45 Minutes Later

Jaune: Ok, that looks good. Maybe a bit lower and ... perfect!

*Screen pans to Jaqcues being hoisted over a massive pit that was part of the SDC mines by a crane. Ruby, Blake, Ren, Nora, Robyn, Fiona, Joanna, and Qrow surround the pit. Jaune a little further back to eye May lowering Jacques down via crane.*

Jaqcues: AAAAAAAAAGGGGHHH, THIS IS INHUMANE, YOU BASTARD!!!!!!!

Blake: Inhumane? You done that for years!

Yang *smirking*: Besides, you did agree to helping us out.

Jacques: I'll sue you for all your worth, you filthy bastards!!!

Yang: Yeah, not gonna happen. You hurt a lot of people and many paid the price. Us included. *Yang puts her hand in Blake's.*

Robyn: Okay, I know we kinda been harsh on you kids but you've really out done yourselves.

Ruby: It's ok. Given the circumstances, we couldn't blame you.

Ren: Guess next step is be ready together, all of our teams united.

Okay thats pretty funny. Looney tunes.

[kakyoinryoko]

I uh. Actually have some thoughts abt jotaro on the infinity train so i'm gonna put them here:

I feel like he'd board the train twice. Once with kakyoin when they're teens in the middle of sdc, kakyoin would get his number down to 0 and jotaro wouldn't (he'd get his number a bit down but not to 0) but the train would let him go anyway in a sort of "we'll meet again one day" manner. And then 33 years later when he gets jolyne out of prison him and jolyne will end up boarding the train together (possibly with the rest of the SO cast but i feel like they'd get separated from them on the train) and he'd be very close to actually getting his number down to 0 but then made in heaven happens and the train is forced to let him and jolyne go

TLDR: boards train twice, once in sdc with kak and once in so with jolyne, doesn't get his number down to 0 (but comes very close the 2nd time) but the train is forced to let him go anyway both times

hmm honestly i feel like if kakyoin boarded the train it would have to be something he did alone, without any stand users. at the end of sdc he does make big strides towards selflessness but i also don’t think that necessarily indicates he’s made any strides towards seeing non stand users as people, and i think having another stand user there would hold him back from receiving that message. part of kakyoin’s problem is that he sees his own fatal flaw as cowardice without really acknowledging any of his other flaws, and i think having jotaro of all people with him would be more a hindrance than a help in confronting his real deep-seated shortcomings. if i were to put him on the train i would say it should probably be a post-sdc thing that he does by himself, in a period where he’s feeling very stuck. i will not get into my Future Kakyoin Lore right now though that would take way too long

i also think jotaro boarding the train would have to be post-sdc just because during sdc itself, he actually IS bettering himself and unlearning some of the unhealthy shit he has internalized. the problem is all of that comes crashing down at the end because of the horrible shit that happens to him and his friends in the final few arcs. similar to how i think kakyoin would end up post-sdc, except in a way we actually see play out in canon, jotaro becomes a very stagnant person. he doesn’t change much from part to part. he doesn’t improve. he mellows out over time, but that’s about it. i think a big part of the train’s purpose is helping people when they are feeling frustrated with the states of their lives but have nowhere else to go; it’s a literal escape, and one way to drag jotaro out of his self destructive spiral would be to force him to leave behind everything else in the world for a while. i just don’t think that could happen in a period where he is actively improving. i do think the idea of him leaving the train before he’s ready and being forced to go back later is really really awesome in concept, though i’m not sure how i would work that in.

jolyne being there with him would be one way to force them to confront their relationship, although honestly their relationship being strained is pretty much entirely jotaro’s fault, and within the canon of infinity train the relationships we see being mended over time (well i primarily mean min gi and ryan, both because they’re also a dual passenger situation and because its the season i’ve watched most recently and remember the most of, lol) are ones in which the fault is a two way street; neither party is entirely innocent in the pain. jotaro’s pain wrt jolyne is pretty much entirely self-inflicted, and on the other side of that, no matter what jolyne does jotaro is going to keep hurting her. if jolyne had a journey on the train, assuming we are going from before the beginning of stone ocean, i think it would perhaps have to rely on looking within herself to find peace rather than attempting to seek validation through empty relationships with whomever she can get to stick around. we dont see a ton of that because it seems like she gets over it pretty quickly (her sudden shift in character is a problem i have with stone ocean, but i digress) but canonically a lot of her teenage years were shaped by rebellion and dating shitty guys to fill the void of affection in her life, so maybe that could be something. otherwise though i think she’s well rounded enough as stocean progresses that the train might not even need to come for her. i think in the context of infinity train jotaro’s relationship with jolyne would have to be mended in a similar way to jesse’s with his little brother; it has to be more about realizing that he’s fucked up, how, why, and what he needs to do to fix it than about talking it out and realizing their own respective shortcomings, since there’s little in that situation that jolyne has done to wrong jotaro.

well. ok. well. so. this is just what i think i am so sorry if it sounded like i was just tearing down all your ideas or something sorry sorry its fine i am just saying whatever. you can anything.

[sunnysunsins]

RWBY volume 8 opening analysis. Obv, spoilers

Ok, so. Imma do what I do best: overanalyze the shit out of every frame i find interesting. AGAIN SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

We start off with Then-Now cut of Mantle and Atlas being overrun by Grimm. Nothing new here. Then we have our girls with their past selves.

Interesting things: while RWB are prepared to fight (with Ruby being confident, Weiss - careful and Blake - serious), Yang is just hugging her arm with a smile. Also notice the glowing dots around them. I’ll bring it up later We also have that effect with Ironwood and Atlas

Which burns to shit as that light in Iron’s eyes is gone. Also small detail, but note that Atlas starts to burn as Clover’s hand is shown.

Clover let’s go of his pin

And it shows the AceOps. Elm is serious

Vine is praying

Marrow is sad and remorseful

And Harriet is pissed. And note how she shares her shot with a sullen Qrow. If i may throw some bullshit, i have two thoughts: 1.Harriet was close friends with Clover. 2.She is going to take his place as the leader of AceOps

But back to Qrow. He is offered a hand by Robyn

And he takes it, both wearing serious looks. 

Remember that Robyn needs to shake a person’s hand to activate her semblance. Maybe she used it and knows that Qrow isn’t lying about Tyrian killing Clover.

And now we got The Boi.

In a cage, tormented by Grimm. Some have said it could be an illusion created by Emerald, but honestly I want this to be literal. Mostly because it will be a great way to develop Oscar. And it also remind’s me of “It’s Venomous” by @shadowsnowdapple​ and it’s always a great thing. 

Oooo spoopy Mommy Salami. Imagine she really CAN grow wings tho! Also her caging and intimidating Oscar is just- everything I wanted, honestly. 

Next we see Jaune. Notice how his sword splits the screen in the middle

And when the camera pulls back, we see why - Ren and Nora

Ren looks back at her with a sad look 

And she does the same, but unlike him, she turns completely - 

And the pink lightning crosses her eyes along with the snowstorm.  As we know, Nora was supposed to have her backstory in vol.7, but it got pushed back.  While lightning is her power, it is also in the skillset of the maidens. And notice how the snowstorm picked up when the lightning crossed the screen. I am a strong believer that “Fria is Nora’s grandmother” theory is still possible.

Next we have the Schneesters. They walk across the SDC snowflake like preparing for a duel.

Winter with her old clothes - passes Weiss - new clothes

She looks at Weiss with seriousness and maybe anger -

And as they are back to back, she drops the act and let’s sadness and maybe remorse show

Whitley is worried, Willow is just sad

And the SDC logo shatters, giving rise to Salem and her army of Grimm. Funny how it was Jackass and his stupidity that let Salem get into Atlas without much of a problem.

I find it interesting how both Salem AND Ironwood are Queens in this chess match 

Watts is a smiling motherfucker. I couldn’t find any easter eggs on his screen

And his reflection turns into Pietro(s). While he is working, his reflection is worried about Penny

And she still tries to come to terms with her being the Winter Maiden

And as the glass shatters, one Penny is trying to calm herself, while the other is worried, looking for something offscreen. We will get to this later

Next is a single snowflake landing on Ren’s palm

That turns into a pink petal, color similar to Nora’s

Ren holds it with a sad/determined look as Jaune comforts him

The Mantle Squad is here. Team JOYRide ready for action

Another petal floats by

And Nora tries to catch it

But can’t. 

But hey, the Amity Squad is also here!

Everyone looks onto the 3 tasks at hand: protect Mantle, get Amity up and running and get Salem out of here. Also, I love the composition of this shot with dawn sky transitioning into red clouds around Grimm

And notice how when the squad is ready to fight, Penny floats up and turns to us, hovering under Amity with her blades out. Remember that too 

Ruby and Yang nod to each other

And get to working on the Grimm. 

Nothing to see in the fight. 

But then Cinder walks by, taking a casual stroll through the frozen in time fight

Neo is not amused at all (BACKSTAB BACKSTAB BACKSTAB)

Emerald raises her hand to great Cinder, but get’s ignored

And she doesn’t like that.

Cinder get’s tormented by her grimm arm, with solemn Emerald in the background

From Cinder’s fire come our other bad guys. 

Hazel looks sad... with his weirdass muscles and weirdass clothes..... 

Tyrian is always a delight

Mercury looks like he’s about to drop the thiccest diss track

And THICC indeed

Oh my queen~ I get why Ozma wanted to smash even after she fell into a lake of bleach

And nice contrast of her red eyes with the Relic’s blue glow

And they BOTH have smoke trailing out of them! Could this be the Staff also has a being inside it? 

Whatever it is, it makes Ruby’s eyes turn brown in this shot

Or it’s just the sunrise, lol

Notice how her scythe split the party into the two squads. ALSO NOTICE WHO ISN’T IN THIS SHOT. (I’m getting to her, just wait a bit) 

The ground breaks

And the girls fall into abyss, reminiscent of Volume 3 opening

AND the fall into the motherfucking pool of Light that Salem got dunked in by the gods

Notice how the waves on Ruby’s face are the same as what Salem had. And also notice those glowing dots that i mentioned at the very beginning

Ruby is reaching for the Staff

But a certain grimm hand pulls her back. The only hand with 5 fingers.  Remember in volume 6 Cinder fell into a lake below the Haven vault?  Also I’d like to point out that she gently pulls Ruby’s hand away. Seriously, look at it in the op! She doesn’t grab her and tries to rip her arm off. She just takes her hand like “no, don’t do it.” and gently holds it back while all the other grimm arms reach up towards the staff. And then we have two messages:

And, on the contrary:

And all of this is interwoven with those sketchy images:

The bloodhound grimm that Salem sent after Oscar

Penny being hacked. Come on, this one is obvious. And i did say to keep in mind some other sus scenes with her.

And as the weapons fall...

Only one remains standing.

[accio-victuuri]

Wishful Thinking : Wang Yibo as Hua Cheng

If you don’t know who Hua Cheng is, He is a character from MXTX’s 3rd novel, Tian Guan Ci Fu. Also known as San Lang / Crimson Rain Sought Flower / Ghost King. He is also the most devoted follower of Xie Lian, which is his driving force for the entire Novel. There will be spoilers In this post. 

Disclaimer : This is all very CPN. I’m not tagging this under WYB, Hualian or TGCF because not all of them are BJYX friendly. As usual, everything is Fake.

Basically, these are similarities between the character and Web ( Wang Yibo ) that I think will make him play & understand the role much better. In turn, translating well on screen. There is a separate post for GG as Xie Lian.

♥ The reason why I made this post in the first place is the fact that Hua Cheng said his biggest fear is to watch with his own eyes his beloved be trampled and ridiculed, yet be unable to do anything. This in parallel to what happened to GG because of 227 and Web’s inability to DO anything, much less speak about it or defend GG is pretty similar. GG was trampled in a sense that everyone was just dragging him and blaming him for everything. Hua Cheng as a character in the present timeline of the Novel is all about protecting Xie Lian and making sure he will not be as helpless as he was before. In Contrast to Web, I think he will relate to this : being stronger for the one you love. Looking at Web’s actions right now, you can definitely see a massive change and STRENGTH in him. From how he interacts with people and presents himself is very different from 2018 Yibo. His presence alone is SO MUCH DIFFERENT. I’m not saying it’s all because of GG, but it could be a part.

♥ Hua Cheng and Web are Gremlin Didis who are devoted to their one and only Gege. While I was reading this, I am reminded of Web’s smirks and in general being a little shit when saying “Zhan-ge” like he knows something we don’t. Lines like, “Don’t worry about me Ge-“ all smug while fighting off Gods with E-ming and his wraith butterflies is very Web.

♥ Hua Cheng and Web are both considered prodigies. Hua Cheng as a young soldier who fought bravely & Web as someone who started in the industry at a very young age. They are both forced to grow up quickly and make decisions with the minimal experience they have.

♥ Devil Timeline. One theory with BJYX is that Web already knew about GG very early on, even before that 2017 DDU episode. That he already liked him and prompted his audition for The Untamed. Similarly with Hua Cheng, he has a LONG history with Xie Lian. From when he was a little boy, to various turning points in Xie Lian’s life without him knowing it. Hua Cheng was always there, supporting and admiring from afar, Until that day  they OFFICIALLY MEET. Until that day he was ready and KNEW he can protect the one he loves most. Web is someone who puts himself last and this makes me think that he can really embody this character.

♥ Double standards : They both treat their special person differently. Hua Cheng is this larger than life Demon King who owns Ghost City. Who challenged 33 Gods and burned down their temples— but he turns into a SOFT BOI for Xie Lian. Web is also known as someone who treats GG very differently. You don’t even have to be BJYX biased to see this. I think even solos noticed it early on.

♥ Duality : Web can be the SDC captain who negotiates for his members one second and a Babie on TTXS the next. With Hua Cheng though, he only shows his softer side to Xie Lian. In the story, He introduces himself first as ‘San Lang’, using his form as a youth who just wants to help. Only later on does he show his true form as the Crimson rain sought flower, but even with that, he can be on both ends the spectrum depending on what the situation needs.

♥ This will only work if Xiao Zhan will play Xie Lian. I don’t think it’s easy to understand the level of devotion Hua Cheng has without reading the book. Web is devoted to his GG, from what we’ve seen. He thinks the world of him and rainbow farts aside, truly means all the praises he gives. Those who don’t believe in BJYX can agree that at bare minimum, during that summer, he really adored GG. Like how a junior will be all ‘notice me sempai.’ It’s just pure and innocent love that I don’t think you can fabricate. I could be wrong. That’s why this whole post is called Wishful Thinking.

I might add more on this post if I remember some more points or you guys can reply on the notes on your thoughts so I can add it here. 

[skye-huntress]

RWBY V8 Episode 8 “Dark” Reaction

Finally back from the mini-hiatus. Also the 100th episode of RWBY 🎉

Qrow, Robyn and Jacques finally have something happen to them. Their condition is currently unknown but Qrow seemed to react pretty quickly so he probably got out relatively unscathed

Back to the Manor of Horrors, Nora is finally coming to, barely. Doubt she’s going to be combat ready any time soon

May had to leave but it seems they’ve all calmed down from their argument over who needs/deserves protecting more. No one was right or wrong there. It’s just difficult to know what to do when they’re so isolated and have multiple things that seem to demand their attention

Whitley is starting to shine a lot. At this rate, he’ll be one of my favourites and after just two episodes. See Oscar, it can be done, you just need to get your shit together and do something actually impactful or impressive

If I understand Whitley correctly, he’s going to use the SDC automated systems to evacuate people away from the Grimm while they are occupied by the army, dealing with one of the many problems that they are facing.

Be so much easier if they could somehow coordinate their efforts with the military, the Happy Huntresses and whoever else to efficiently and effectively address all those issues at once. If only someone hadn’t decided to shut off RWBY’s comms and ignore everything going on in Mantle.

That was a nice heart-to-heart with Blake, and Ruby looked like she definitely needed it

The Hound appears and I was right about its scent being confused by the fluid that leaked on some of their clothes

It pained me to see Ruby smacked around like that and almost taken

Seems Penny is aware of what is happening to her and she appears to be unaltered but the hack seems able to take control of her body. She said it was a “part” of her telling her to go so maybe it can be isolated and removed from the rest of her. I think we know which part. Weapons are considered a part of a Huntress and for Penny that is a little more literal, but as awesome as Floating Array is, it is a part of her that will probably need to be discarded, permanently

Even bedridden, Nora tries her best to help in a way only Nora could. If nothing else I think it bought Penny some time.

Got a feeling that Willow’s issues might be more than just alcoholism and a loveless marriage with an abusive husband. I don’t know, seems like there’s something else there. Whatever she’s going through, at least she didn’t completely tap out and helped her children when she could

Of course, the Hound targeted Whitley while he was alone. He still got his shit done and we got to kind of see Willow in action

Weiss didn’t forget about him

So we have an acid spewing Grimm and Blake barely holding her own. I suppose her weapon isn’t really great for killing larger enemies. Love seeing her dust-enhanced clones again, though

For a moment I was worried that one scream was Weiss but then I remember Penny, and so did the Hound

So Penny’s hack orders are to open the vault AND “self-terminate”! This sounds like Watts’ idea to make sure when the Vault opens, Ironwood can’t close it again but I’ve also long stopped underestimating how stupid and cruel Ironwood can be. Regardless, no, just no! Klein, Ruby, whoever needs to fix that ASAP! I don’t even care about the stupid vault, Penny has to be okay at the end of this

I am very conflicted about the Hound damaging Penny further, but at least she’s not currently off to kill herself at the moment. In her condition, she might not have even made it to the Vault. Plus Ruby’s desire to protect Penny means silver eyes time

Now the disturbing part. Never subscribed to the Summer Hound theory, that seemed a bit much. I couldn’t dismiss the idea that part of what made the Hound so unique was because it used to be a person, as disturbing as the implications are

The Hound is dead, and now everyone in the Manor will have nightmares for life. Unfortunately, Penny isn’t safe, what with being damaged and leaking, the suicide hack and Cinder on the hunt as well. We also don’t know if anything will stop Salem from making more Grimm like the Hound, unless there is a particular kind of host she needs to create them

[zacs-of-rwby]

White Rose Wedding Headcanons

As it pertains to our self-indulgent shipping AU

Set Up

- First things first: Weiss is now in charge of the SDC

- Jacques has been arrested for tax evasion, corruption, and other white collar crimes thanks to a lengthy investigation launched by Ozpin (it's a long story)

- This is only important because it means that Weiss is fucking loaded just in time to start planning the wedding

- The wedding takes place one year after RWBY graduates from Beacon

The Wedding Party

- Winter and Yang are asked to be co-maids of honor but Yang jumps at the chance to switch her title to best man (because fuck gender norms)

- Context: In this AU, Qrow and Oz are married with two kids

- We bring this up only to explain that their children, Aaliyah (my OC) and Oscar are the flower girl and ring bearer, respectively

- All four members of the Branwen family wear matching suits

- They look fucking adorable

- The rest of the wedding party is as follows:

- Bridesmaids = Pyrrha, Nora, Velvet, and Blake

- Groomsmen = Jaune, Ren, Neptune, and Qrow

- Neptune and Weiss became great friends after Neptune came clean about why he turned her down for the ball

- Weiss explained that she wasn't mad because it led to her and Ruby starting a wonderful relationship

- Suddenly Neptune was very invested in their relationship

Neptune: "Spill the tea, girl!!!"

Weiss: "I will tell you what happened if you never say that again."

- From then on, they gossip together all the time and become closer because of it

- At first, they only had three groomsmen, but the uneven number in the wedding party drove Weiss absolutely insane

- Ruby suggests Whitley

- However, the investigation that led to Jacques's arrest greatly damaged Whitley's relationship with his sister so she doesn't feel comfortable having him in the wedding

- He does come, but he is a jackass most of the time

- Ruby then tells Weiss that if she really needs the number to be even she's willing to ask Qrow if he'll step in

Qrow: "Fine, but I am not coming to the bachelorette party."

Ruby, laughing: "I wouldn't want you to."

- Hense why Qrow is the only person above the age of 23 in the wedding party

- At the rehearsal dinner, Yang wears the most obnoxious bright yellow suit you've ever seen

- It's dapper as fuck, it comes with a top hat and monacle (she only wears the top hat)

- While she doesn't wear it to the wedding itself, the yellow suit will make an appearance again (😉)

- Qrow is not at the rehearsal dinner because of huntsman stuff (this will be important later)

THE WEDDING VENUE!!!!!!

(Also known as "My Favorite Part")

- ARE YOU READY FOR THIS SHIT?

- THEY GET MARRIED IN AMITY ARENA

- Weiss keeps it a surprise from Ruby, even going behind her back to set it up

- Weiss has to straight up lobby Ozpin to talk to the council on her behalf so that she can get permission because the arena is a "government building" (for lack of a better phrase)

- Oz does it because Weiss gives a very impassioned speech about how much it would mean to her and Ruby and also because he loves his nieces

- During the ceremony, the four sections of the arena are "activated" to be their favorite terrains from when they fought in the Vytal Festival

- It looks absolutely fucking amazing

- After the ceremony, the terrains are deactivated and the arena floor is turned into a ballroom/reception venue

The Big Day

- Willow walks Weiss down the aisle due to the fact that Jacques is in prison

- Ever since the investigation started, Willow has been much more active in Weiss' life and has started to develop a much more healthy relationship with her family

- Tai also walks Ruby down the aisle because both parents wanted the moment of walking their daughters down the aisle and also because we said so

- Wait, I lied, this is My Favorite Part

- Winter does not find out until the day of the wedding that after the ceremony, she will be legally related to Qrow fucking Branwen

- Winter has met Yang and Tai, but none of Ruby's other relatives, content with Weiss just referring to them as "Ruby's uncle" or "Ruby's cousin"

- Because Qrow was not at the rehearsal dinner, Winter was SHOOK when she saw Qrow assume his position at the last minute (as he was running late, naturally) on the other side of the wedding party

- She barely has time to process this info before the wedding starts

- At the reception, Winter learns

She is now Qrow's niece

Qrow is married to the headmaster of Beacon

Qrow has 2 kids

Surpringly enough, Qrow seems to be a sober, responsible adult who is also a Very Good Dad™️

- The only thing Winter was prepared to learn was Qrow has a husband instead of a wife

- Weiss and Ruby are the ones that have to explain all of this to her

- Every realization leads to Winter shouting "He what????" and Ruby laughing hysterically until she's literally on the floor laughing so hard she can't breathe

- The best part? Weiss knew this would happen because she was fully aware of her sister's childish rivalry with Ruby's uncle

- Yes, Weiss kept the connection a secret on purpose

- Totally worth it