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peppymint1986 · 4 years

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Who needs a laugh, or some advice

Source: http://www.eviloverlord.com/lists/overlord.html

I highly recommend going to the site and checking out the ones that did not make the top 100 list.

Peter’s Evil Overlord List

My Legions of Terror will have helmets with clear plexiglass visors, not face-concealing ones.

My ventilation ducts will be too small to crawl through.

My noble half-brother whose throne I usurped will be killed, not kept anonymously imprisoned in a forgotten cell of my dungeon.

Shooting is not too good for my enemies.

The artifact which is the source of my power will not be kept on the Mountain of Despair beyond the River of Fire guarded by the Dragons of Eternity. It will be in my safe-deposit box. The same applies to the object which is my one weakness.

I will not gloat over my enemies' predicament before killing them.

When I've captured my adversary and he says, "Look, before you kill me, will you at least tell me what this is all about?" I'll say, "No." and shoot him. No, on second thought I'll shoot him then say "No."

After I kidnap the beautiful princess, we will be married immediately in a quiet civil ceremony, not a lavish spectacle in three weeks' time during which the final phase of my plan will be carried out.

I will not include a self-destruct mechanism unless absolutely necessary. If it is necessary, it will not be a large red button labelled "Danger: Do Not Push". The big red button marked "Do Not Push" will instead trigger a spray of bullets on anyone stupid enough to disregard it. Similarly, the ON/OFF switch will not clearly be labelled as such.

I will not interrogate my enemies in the inner sanctum -- a small hotel well outside my borders will work just as well.

I will be secure in my superiority. Therefore, I will feel no need to prove it by leaving clues in the form of riddles or leaving my weaker enemies alive to show they pose no threat.

One of my advisors will be an average five-year-old child. Any flaws in my plan that he is able to spot will be corrected before implementation.

All slain enemies will be cremated, or at least have several rounds of ammunition emptied into them, not left for dead at the bottom of the cliff. The announcement of their deaths, as well as any accompanying celebration, will be deferred until after the aforementioned disposal.

The hero is not entitled to a last kiss, a last cigarette, or any other form of last request.

I will never employ any device with a digital countdown. If I find that such a device is absolutely unavoidable, I will set it to activate when the counter reaches 117 and the hero is just putting his plan into operation.

I will never utter the sentence "But before I kill you, there's just one thing I want to know."

When I employ people as advisors, I will occasionally listen to their advice.

I will not have a son. Although his laughably under-planned attempt to usurp power would easily fail, it would provide a fatal distraction at a crucial point in time.

I will not have a daughter. She would be as beautiful as she was evil, but one look at the hero's rugged countenance and she'd betray her own father.

Despite its proven stress-relieving effect, I will not indulge in maniacal laughter. When so occupied, it's too easy to miss unexpected developments that a more attentive individual could adjust to accordingly.

I will hire a talented fashion designer to create original uniforms for my Legions of Terror, as opposed to some cheap knock-offs that make them look like Nazi stormtroopers, Roman footsoldiers, or savage Mongol hordes. All were eventually defeated and I want my troops to have a more positive mind-set.

No matter how tempted I am with the prospect of unlimited power, I will not consume any energy field bigger than my head.

I will keep a special cache of low-tech weapons and train my troops in their use. That way -- even if the heroes manage to neutralize my power generator and/or render the standard-issue energy weapons useless -- my troops will not be overrun by a handful of savages armed with spears and rocks.

I will maintain a realistic assessment of my strengths and weaknesses. Even though this takes some of the fun out of the job, at least I will never utter the line "No, this cannot be! I AM INVINCIBLE!!!" (After that, death is usually instantaneous.)

No matter how well it would perform, I will never construct any sort of machinery which is completely indestructible except for one small and virtually inaccessible vulnerable spot.

No matter how attractive certain members of the rebellion are, there is probably someone just as attractive who is not desperate to kill me. Therefore, I will think twice before ordering a prisoner sent to my bedchamber.

I will never build only one of anything important. All important systems will have redundant control panels and power supplies. For the same reason I will always carry at least two fully loaded weapons at all times.

My pet monster will be kept in a secure cage from which it cannot escape and into which I could not accidentally stumble.

I will dress in bright and cheery colors, and so throw my enemies into confusion.

All bumbling conjurers, clumsy squires, no-talent bards, and cowardly thieves in the land will be preemptively put to death. My foes will surely give up and abandon their quest if they have no source of comic relief.

All naive, busty tavern wenches in my realm will be replaced with surly, world-weary waitresses who will provide no unexpected reinforcement and/or romantic subplot for the hero or his sidekick.

I will not fly into a rage and kill a messenger who brings me bad news just to illustrate how evil I really am. Good messengers are hard to come by.

I won't require high-ranking female members of my organization to wear a stainless-steel bustier. Morale is better with a more casual dress-code. Similarly, outfits made entirely from black leather will be reserved for formal occasions.

I will not turn into a snake. It never helps.

I will not grow a goatee. In the old days they made you look diabolic. Now they just make you look like a disaffected member of Generation X.

I will not imprison members of the same party in the same cell block, let alone the same cell. If they are important prisoners, I will keep the only key to the cell door on my person instead of handing out copies to every bottom-rung guard in the prison.

If my trusted lieutenant tells me my Legions of Terror are losing a battle, I will believe him. After all, he's my trusted lieutenant.

If an enemy I have just killed has a younger sibling or offspring anywhere, I will find them and have them killed immediately, instead of waiting for them to grow up harboring feelings of vengeance towards me in my old age.

If I absolutely must ride into battle, I will certainly not ride at the forefront of my Legions of Terror, nor will I seek out my opposite number among his army.

I will be neither chivalrous nor sporting. If I have an unstoppable superweapon, I will use it as early and as often as possible instead of keeping it in reserve.

Once my power is secure, I will destroy all those pesky time-travel devices.

When I capture the hero, I will make sure I also get his dog, monkey, ferret, or whatever sickeningly cute little animal capable of untying ropes and filching keys happens to follow him around.

I will maintain a healthy amount of skepticism when I capture the beautiful rebel and she claims she is attracted to my power and good looks and will gladly betray her companions if I just let her in on my plans.

I will only employ bounty hunters who work for money. Those who work for the pleasure of the hunt tend to do dumb things like even the odds to give the other guy a sporting chance.

I will make sure I have a clear understanding of who is responsible for what in my organization. For example, if my general screws up I will not draw my weapon, point it at him, say "And here is the price for failure," then suddenly turn and kill some random underling.

If an advisor says to me "My liege, he is but one man. What can one man possibly do?", I will reply "This." and kill the advisor.

If I learn that a callow youth has begun a quest to destroy me, I will slay him while he is still a callow youth instead of waiting for him to mature.

I will treat any beast which I control through magic or technology with respect and kindness. Thus if the control is ever broken, it will not immediately come after me for revenge.

If I learn the whereabouts of the one artifact which can destroy me, I will not send all my troops out to seize it. Instead I will send them out to seize something else and quietly put a Want-Ad in the local paper.

My main computers will have their own special operating system that will be completely incompatible with standard IBM and Macintosh powerbooks.

If one of my dungeon guards begins expressing concern over the conditions in the beautiful princess' cell, I will immediately transfer him to a less people-oriented position.

I will hire a team of board-certified architects and surveyors to examine my castle and inform me of any secret passages and abandoned tunnels that I might not know about.

If the beautiful princess that I capture says "I'll never marry you! Never, do you hear me, NEVER!!!", I will say "Oh well" and kill her.

I will not strike a bargain with a demonic being then attempt to double-cross it simply because I feel like being contrary.

The deformed mutants and odd-ball psychotics will have their place in my Legions of Terror. However before I send them out on important covert missions that require tact and subtlety, I will first see if there is anyone else equally qualified who would attract less attention.

My Legions of Terror will be trained in basic marksmanship. Any who cannot learn to hit a man-sized target at 10 meters will be used for target practice.

Before employing any captured artifacts or machinery, I will carefully read the owner's manual.

If it becomes necessary to escape, I will never stop to pose dramatically and toss off a one-liner.

I will never build a sentient computer smarter than I am.

My five-year-old child advisor will also be asked to decipher any code I am thinking of using. If he breaks the code in under 30 seconds, it will not be used. Note: this also applies to passwords.

If my advisors ask "Why are you risking everything on such a mad scheme?", I will not proceed until I have a response that satisfies them.

I will design fortress hallways with no alcoves or protruding structural supports which intruders could use for cover in a firefight.

Bulk trash will be disposed of in incinerators, not compactors. And they will be kept hot, with none of that nonsense about flames going through accessible tunnels at predictable intervals.

I will see a competent psychiatrist and get cured of all extremely unusual phobias and bizarre compulsive habits which could prove to be a disadvantage.

If I must have computer systems with publically available terminals, the maps they display of my complex will have a room clearly marked as the Main Control Room. That room will be the Execution Chamber. The actual main control room will be marked as Sewage Overflow Containment.

My security keypad will actually be a fingerprint scanner. Anyone who watches someone press a sequence of buttons or dusts the pad for fingerprints then subsequently tries to enter by repeating that sequence will trigger the alarm system.

No matter how many shorts we have in the system, my guards will be instructed to treat every surveillance camera malfunction as a full-scale emergency.

I will spare someone who saved my life sometime in the past. This is only reasonable as it encourages others to do so. However, the offer is good one time only. If they want me to spare them again, they'd better save my life again.

All midwives will be banned from the realm. All babies will be delivered at state-approved hospitals. Orphans will be placed in foster-homes, not abandoned in the woods to be raised by creatures of the wild.

When my guards split up to search for intruders, they will always travel in groups of at least two. They will be trained so that if one of them disappears mysteriously while on patrol, the other will immediately initiate an alert and call for backup, instead of quizzically peering around a corner.

If I decide to test a lieutenant's loyalty and see if he/she should be made a trusted lieutenant, I will have a crack squad of marksmen standing by in case the answer is no.

If all the heroes are standing together around a strange device and begin to taunt me, I will pull out a conventional weapon instead of using my unstoppable superweapon on them.

I will not agree to let the heroes go free if they win a rigged contest, even though my advisors assure me it is impossible for them to win.

When I create a multimedia presentation of my plan designed so that my five-year-old advisor can easily understand the details, I will not label the disk "Project Overlord" and leave it lying on top of my desk.

I will instruct my Legions of Terror to attack the hero en masse, instead of standing around waiting while members break off and attack one or two at a time.

If the hero runs up to my roof, I will not run up after him and struggle with him in an attempt to push him over the edge. I will also not engage him at the edge of a cliff. (In the middle of a rope-bridge over a river of molten lava is not even worth considering.)

If I have a fit of temporary insanity and decide to give the hero the chance to reject a job as my trusted lieutentant, I will retain enough sanity to wait until my current trusted lieutenant is out of earshot before making the offer.

I will not tell my Legions of Terror "And he must be taken alive!" The command will be "And try to take him alive if it is reasonably practical."

If my doomsday device happens to come with a reverse switch, as soon as it has been employed it will be melted down and made into limited-edition commemorative coins.

If my weakest troops fail to eliminate a hero, I will send out my best troops instead of wasting time with progressively stronger ones as he gets closer and closer to my fortress.

If I am fighting with the hero atop a moving platform, have disarmed him, and am about to finish him off and he glances behind me and drops flat, I too will drop flat instead of quizzically turning around to find out what he saw.

I will not shoot at any of my enemies if they are standing in front of the crucial support beam to a heavy, dangerous, unbalanced structure.

If I'm eating dinner with the hero, put poison in his goblet, then have to leave the table for any reason, I will order new drinks for both of us instead of trying to decide whether or not to switch with him.

I will not have captives of one sex guarded by members of the opposite sex.

I will not use any plan in which the final step is horribly complicated, e.g. "Align the 12 Stones of Power on the sacred altar then activate the medallion at the moment of total eclipse." Instead it will be more along the lines of "Push the button."

I will make sure that my doomsday device is up to code and properly grounded.

My vats of hazardous chemicals will be covered when not in use. Also, I will not construct walkways above them.

If a group of henchmen fail miserably at a task, I will not berate them for incompetence then send the same group out to try the task again.

After I captures the hero's superweapon, I will not immediately disband my legions and relax my guard because I believe whoever holds the weapon is unstoppable. After all, the hero held the weapon and I took it from him.

I will not design my Main Control Room so that every workstation is facing away from the door.

I will not ignore the messenger that stumbles in exhausted and obviously agitated until my personal grooming or current entertainment is finished. It might actually be important.

If I ever talk to the hero on the phone, I will not taunt him. Instead I will say this his dogged perseverance has given me new insight on the futility of my evil ways and that if he leaves me alone for a few months of quiet contemplation I will likely return to the path of righteousness. (Heroes are incredibly gullible in this regard.)

If I decide to hold a double execution of the hero and an underling who failed or betrayed me, I will see to it that the hero is scheduled to go first.

When arresting prisoners, my guards will not allow them to stop and grab a useless trinket of purely sentimental value.

My dungeon will have its own qualified medical staff complete with bodyguards. That way if a prisoner becomes sick and his cellmate tells the guard it's an emergency, the guard will fetch a trauma team instead of opening up the cell for a look.

My door mechanisms will be designed so that blasting the control panel on the outside seals the door and blasting the control panel on the inside opens the door, not vice versa.

My dungeon cells will not be furnished with objects that contain reflective surfaces or anything that can be unravelled.

If an attractive young couple enters my realm, I will carefully monitor their activities. If I find they are happy and affectionate, I will ignore them. However if circumstance have forced them together against their will and they spend all their time bickering and criticizing each other except during the intermittent occasions when they are saving each others' lives at which point there are hints of sexual tension, I will immediately order their execution.

Any data file of crucial importance will be padded to 1.45Mb in size.

Finally, to keep my subjects permanently locked in a mindless trance, I will provide each of them with free unlimited Internet access.

#peters evil overlord list #not mine #see source

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dukereviewsxtra · 4 years

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Duke Reviews Xtra: Alice In Wonderland (Tim Burton)

Hello, I'm Andrew Leduc And Welcome To Another Duke Reviews Xtra Where Today We're Continuing Our Look At The Movies Of Disney...

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Where Last Sunday On Duke Reviews, I Looked At Walt Disney's Animated Version Of Alice In Wonderland, So On Today's Duke Reviews Xtra We're Going To Be Looking At Tim Burton's Version Of The Tale...

In This Remake/Sequel To Lewis Carroll's Tale, A Now Teenage Alice, Returns To Wonderland Or Underland As It's Called In This Movie (It'll Be Explained Later) To Save It From The Tyranny Of The Red Queen By Slaying The Jabberwocky...

Will Alice Win?

Let's Find Out As We Watch Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland..

The Film Starts As Alice's Father, Charles Kingsleigh Trying To Sell The Idea Of Creating Trading Posts In Asian Lands Including Bangkok To Some Of His Men When His 6 Year Old Daughter Alice Wakes Up And Tells Him About Her Adventures In Wonderland...

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(Start At 0:46, End At 1:06)

Of Course, Dear Dad Eventually Dies As We Cut To A Few Years Later Where A Now 19 Year Old Alice Is Attending A Party On Former Friend Of Her Father's Estate As She Faces Not Only The Stifling Expectations Of The Society She Lives In But A Marriage Proposal From The Friend's Son Named Hamish, Who Alice Dislikes...

But During The Proposal, Alice Sees A White Rabbit Which She Chases And Falls Into A Large Rabbit Hole When She Follows The Rabbit To A Large Tree...

Crashing Into A Large Room Full Of Doors, Alice Drinks A Bottle Marked Drink Me Which Causes Her To Shrink Out Of Her Clothes...

And Yet She's Wearing Clothes For Some Reason, You'd Think She'd Be Naked When She Shrinks, Yet When She Grows Out Of Her Clothes In The Queen's Garden She Does Rip Them And Is As I Said Basically Naked With Flower Bushes Censoring Things...

But Like The Animated Version, She Left The Key Up On The Table So She Has To Eat A Cake Marked Eat Me Which Causes Her To Grow...

However, Unlike The Animated Version Where She Cries Creating A River Of Tears Before Drinking From The Drink Me Bottle Again, She Just Drinks All Of The Drink Me Bottle And Just Unlocks The Door So She Can Enter Into A Vast Garden Residing In Underland...

There, Alice Meets The White Rabbit (Voiced By Michael Sheen), The Doormouse, The Dodo (Voiced By Alfred) And Tweedles Dee And Dum (Played By Nardole From Doctor Who) Who Take Her To See The Caterpillar (Voiced By Severus Snape) Who Goes By The Name Of Absolem..

Once There, They Show Alice A Calender Called The Oraculum, Which Details Each And Every Day In Underland Since The Beginning Where They Reveal That On The Frabjous Day, She Is Supposed To Slay The Jabberwocky With The Vorpal Sword...

But Having No Interest In Doing So And Believing This Entire Thing To Be A Dream (Throughout Most Of The Movie) The White Rabbit Asks If She's The Alice Of Legend Only For Absolem To Tell Them Not Likely...

But Before They Can Get Alice Back To Her World, They're Attacked By The Cards Of The Red Queen And A Creature Called The Bandersnatch...

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(Start At 0:31)

Alice Walks With The Tweedles For A While Until They're Captured By A JubJub Bird...

Meanwhile At The Castle Of The Red Queen (Played By Mrs. Lovett From Sweeney Todd) The Red Queen Screams In Anger Over Someone Stealing One Of Her Tarts, After Discovering That It Was One Of Her Frog Footmen, She Has Him Beheaded As The Knave Of Hearts (Played By..)

That...

Tells Her That Alice Has Returned To Underland, Which Leads Her To Assign A Bloodhound Named Bayard (Voiced By Peter Pettigrew)...

Which Actually Surprised Me, As Timothy Spall Has One Of Those Voices You Could Pick Out Of A Lineup And Instantly Know His Voice From His Work In Both Harry Potter And Sweeney Todd But Here I Could Barely Tell It Was Him...

As I Was Saying, The Queen Recruits A Bloodhound Named Bayard To Find Alice In Exchange For The Freedom Of Him And His Family...

Wandering Through The Tulgy Woods, Alice Is Soon Met By The Cheshire Cat (Voiced By Stephen Fry) Who Bandages Her Arm Before Taking Her To The Tea Party, Where She Reunites With The Doormouse Before She Meets The March Hare And The Mad Hatter (Played By Johnny Depp)

And Whether You Like Or Hate His Mad Hatter, He Still Is Pretty Good...

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But When The Knave Of Hearts Crashes The Party, The Hatter Quickly Shrinks Alice To 6 Feet Tall And Hides Her In A Teapot As The Knave Talks With Him...

(The Knave) Don't Make Me Fight You, Depp Like I Did David Letterman...

With Bayard Finding Alice In The Teapot, The Hatter Persuades Him Not To Reveal Alice's Location, Which Leads Bayard To Lead The Knave And His Troops Away...

Travelling With Alice, The Hatter Reveals How The Red Queen Rose To Power On Horunvendush Day And How Not Only Did He Lose His Family (Which We'll Discover More About In The Sequel) But The Vorpal Sword...

With The Queen's Cards Quickly Approaching, The Hatter And Alice Race To A River As The Hatter Places Alice On His Hat And Tosses Her On It Across The River As He Is Captured By The Knave And His Cards...

Found By Bayard, Alice Persuades Him To Take Her To The Red Queen's Castle To Rescue The Hatter As She Crosses A Moat Of Severed Heads...

To Get There As Bayard Throws The Hatter's Hat Over The Wall While The Queen Is Playing Croquet. Found By The White Rabbit, He Gives Her A Piece Of Upelkuchen Cake To Make Her Grow Again. However, She Eats Too Much And Not Only Grows To 8.5 Feet High, But Grows Out Of Her Clothes (Like I Mentioned Before).,.

Introducing Herself As Um From Umbridge...

Is That A Town Run By Dolores Umbridge?

And Saying That Everyone Makes Of Her Over Her Height, Alice Avoids Suspicion As The Red Queen Accepts Her Into Her Court...

Being By The Red Queen's Side, She Watches As The Hatter Is Brought Before The Queen...

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(Start At 2:30)

Retrieving The Hatter's Hat Later, Alice Returns It To Him As Bayard Informs The White Queen (Played By Princess Mia Of Genovia) That Alice Is At The Red Queen's Castle...

Asking The White Rabbit Where The Vorpal Sword Is, He Tells Her That It's In The Domain Of The Bandersnatch...

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(Start At 1:06, End At 1:10)

So, Getting His Eye From The Doormouse, Alice Goes To Face The Bandersnatch Only To Run Into The Knave Of Hearts Who Tries To Seduce Her...

Wow! Who Knew George McFly Was An Asshole?

Eventually Escaping The Knave, Alice Gives The Bandersnatch Back His Eye So She Can Get The Vorpal Sword From It's Case But Unfortunately It's Locked...

But That Doesn't Stop The Bandersnatch From Healing Her Wound That He Gave Her Which Is When She Discovers That He Has The Key To The Case Around His Neck...

So As Alice Gets The Vorpal Sword, The White Rabbit Grabs The Oraculum While The Red Queen Hears About The Knave Coming On To Alice...

Knowing That The Knave Would Never Betray Her The Queen Orders Um's Capture As Alice Returns To The Hatter And The Doormouse To Free The Hatter But She Is Confronted By The Knave Who Orders The Cards To Arrest Her For Seduction....

The Hatter Tries To Hold Off The Knave And The Cards As Alice Tries To Get Away But When The Doormouse Accidentally Says "Run, Alice", The Knave Now Knows The Truth That Um Was Actually Alice....

Running Into The Courtyard, Alice Is Ambushed By Cards But Luckily She Is Saved By The Bandersnatch Who She Rides Off With To The White Queen's Castle...

Once There, The White Queen Shrinks Alice Back To Her Normal Size, Before She Has A Talk With Absolem Who Now Says That She May Not Have Been Alice When They First Encountered Each Other But She's More Like Alice Now...

Held In A Cell Next To Bayard's Wife And Pups, The Cheshire Cat Appears To The Hatter And Asks If He Can Have His Hat After His Execution Today,

However, When The Execution Happens, It's Revealed That The Hatter Was Actually The Cheshire Cat...

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(Start At 1:39)

Arriving At The White Queen's Castle, The Hatter Is Glad She's The Right Size As The Cheshire Cat Gives The Hatter Back His Hat Before Asking Alice How Her Arm Is..,

The Next Morning On The Frabjous Day, The White Queen Tries To Find A Champion As Many Come Forward But Of Course, The Prophecy States That Must Be Alice Or No One At All....

But Still Not Wanting To Fight, Alice Runs Into The Castle Where She Once Again Encounters Absolem As He's About To Go Into A Cocoon So He'll Become A Butterfly..

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(Start At 1:38)

With Both Armies Meeting On A Gigantic Chess Board, The Jabberwocky Finally Reveals Itself To Alice...

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(Start At 1:21, End At 4:05)

With The Red Queen's Guards Following Her No More After The Deaths Of The Jabberwocky And The JubJub Bird, The Cheshire Cat Crowns The White Queen As Queen Of Underland As She Banishes The Red Queen And The Knave To The Outlands...

But Unable To Live With The Red Queen, The Knave Tries To Kill Her Only For The Hatter To Stop Him By Throwing A Knife Out Of His Hand As They're Carried Off...

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Collecting The Blood Of The Jabberwocky, The White Queen Gives It To Alice Saying That It Will Send Her Back To Her World, So Saying Goodbye To Her Friends, Alice Drinks The Blood And Is Sent Home...

Climbing Out Of The Rabbit Hole, Alice Returns To The Party Where She Refuses To Marry Hamish (Only For Him To Become A Minor Bad Guy In The Next Movie)

And Instead Becomes His Father's Apprentice, Voyaging To China To Place A Trading Post There. Saying Goodbye To Her Mother, A Blue Butterfly Lands On Her To Which She Believes To Be Absolem As It Flies Off Ending Our Movie....

And That's Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland And Why Do People Hate This?

Yes, The Changes Can Be Upsetting And The Girl Who Plays Alice Isn't That Great. But The Story And Characters Are Interesting, Both Johnny Depp And Helena Bonham Carter Are Good In Their Roles, And The Environments Are Amazingly Designed So I Say See It..,

Tune In Tomorrow As We Look At The Burtonless Sequel, Alice Through The Looking Glass, Till Then, This Is Duke, Signing Off...

#alice in wonderland #Johnny Depp #Mia Wasilkowska #anne hathaway #helena bonham carter #crispin glover #matt lucas #alan rickman #Stephen Fry #timothy spall #Michael Sheen #christopher lee #disney #disnerd #disney +#Disney Remakes

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treatian · 4 years

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The Chronicles of the Dark One: The Dark Curse

Chapter 140: Making Trades and Staying Patient

Keeping himself away from Belle was the key. That day, in front of the mirror, things had gone a lot farther than they should have, he'd let himself touch her and therefore allowed himself to be intoxicated, something that never should have happened in the first place. Not to mention that after his mind had cleared of her scent and skin, he realized that she'd asked him a question about something she shouldn't have known. His family. Not a wife or a child. A family. How she'd known or figured it out was a great mystery. And a greater mystery was why he'd answered her question as honestly as he had. He hadn't given an entire truth, he hadn't fallen into her arms and given her his entire life's story. But what terrified him after that encounter was that he'd wanted to. He'd wanted so badly to tell her, to watch the look on her face as he confessed all his secrets, he wanted to see how she'd handle them. Would she use them against him as Zelena had? Store them away for a rainy day, as he often suspected Cora was? Or would she give that smile she so often did with others, put a hand on his arm and…

It was a close call, without a doubt. One that he couldn't afford. So, his plan was to stay busy, to not touch her as he had that day ever again, and to keep his mind occupied on other matters, matters that were important to the future, not the present.

Fortunately for him, it proved easier than he'd expected. He'd felt a stirring lately, just in the last few days, one that had nothing to do with his maid. The Seer was anxious, excited almost. He felt almost like she was whispering in his ear every moment of every day. The problem was that the whispering was so rapid and low he couldn't make out words. It was a buzzing. No, he couldn't make out the words, but it left him with a feeling that he could read all too easily, loud and clear.

Get ready.

Something was about to happen.

At first, it had frightened him. He'd felt anxious right along with the Seer and panicked; he wasn't ready for the Curse to hit yet. There were things to be done he hadn't prepared, contacts he hadn't made, potions he hadn't concocted. It took him six hours one night at the wheel to calm himself down, to remind himself that the Curse wasn't going to be cast tomorrow. There were multiple phases in this plan of his. Perhaps one of those phases was simply going to come to pass. He would do what he could. For him, that meant restocking his potions; making sure he had all his ingredients, brewing extras of the common ones he used all the time, and finding a black bag which he marked with his blood to put others in so that they might find him in the new world. He'd done well. Still, one thing remained missing, which was how he found himself in the middle of the night with a cloak drawn up against his face making back alley deal with his fastest connection to squid ink.

Clopin was a gypsy, not unlike the one he'd taken his original fairy wands from. However, Clopin's talents were not in singing or dancing as so many did, he was trafficker who disguised himself as a peddler. By day Clopin could be found anywhere around the Kingdom pushing a cart that held simple wares, by night, the cloth came off of that cart, secret compartments opened, and the lowest of the low knew to find him for anything they wanted to sell or buy. For the right price, Clopin had it all. Potions, squid ink, precious and rare flowers, books, weapons, foreign currency, a book from another realm, and, perhaps most notable of all, flesh.

It took him three days to locate the gypsy. Clopin moved about every day, he could be a tricky man to find. He had a special kind of magic that helped him keep his position hidden and for good reason. Somehow he always found him pushing his cart amongst large groups of people; sometimes half a dozen, other times three dozen. They were always ragged and sickly looking. Since he always met with Clopin at night, he always found them a fair distance from him, by a campfire, surrounded by makeshift tents, and dressed in gypsy clothes that did not fit. Clopin was a master of words, and he always told any authorities they were gypsies too, but he knew it wasn't true. They were often refugees from other realms. He wasn't sure of Clopin's connection, the man was too tight-lipped in that area and too valuable an ally to threaten, but sensing no magic on the man, he knew that someone brought them into this realm and it was Clopin's job to take them to a safe place, to settle them in their realm…for a price, as always.

"Where's this lot going?" he questioned, looking over the selection he had in the back of his cart tonight. Squid ink was among the many items he had, and the man was just now preparing it, pouring two vials for him from the large flask that he had. He was taking his time, a habit that he'd often noted Clopin had, he suspected, so that his customers would have time to look over his other products. It usually didn't work for him, but on this occasion, he couldn't help but notice that he had a fine selection of books. It wasn't surprising. It was Clopin who had once traded him for the book from the Land Without Magic that Belle had loved so much. He had promised her he'd look for more by that author, but none of the books in his cart revealed had the last name Lewis. Still, she'd always be happy with a new story to indulge in.

"Destined for King George's Kingdom."

"King George's Kingdom?" he blanched. "Hardly a profitable destination for them. Where are they from?"

"Oh…a realm not unlike ours, I'm told…just as I'm told that soon King George's Kingdom won't be 'hardly profitable'," he smiled as he handed over the vials.

He knew smiles like that, he used them all the time. It was a smile that demanded he ask "what have you heard?"

But as soon as the words were out of his mouth, the gypsy sighed and turned his attention back to his cart, sealing the flask the ink was in and hiding it away as if he hadn't heard him. Rumple rolled his eyes, and after safely pocketing the vials, he pulled out a small coin purse and put two coins on the cart right under the man's nose. Everything was expensive with him…

"What have you heard?" he pressed again as Clopin safely put the coins away.

"I've heard King Midas has a dragon in his Kingdom."

"And how does a Dragon in a foreign Kingdom help our good King George?"

"Because the Golden King's wealth is his greatest asset. And gold isn't strength or braun, gold can't slay a dragon, just ask his daughter's former fiancé. Truth be told, the gold only draws the beast more to that Kingdom. But King George's son-"

"Prince James."

"The one and only. The boy is a strong fighter, handy with a sword. I've heard that Midas seeks to use the boy in order to slay the fearsome beast, and in return, Midas will shower the boy with something a bit softer than mere gold."

He let out a small giggle. First, because Clopin had no idea that James was not a "one and only" as he'd suggested, but second because his hint was loud and clear to him, especially since he recently had an experience of his own with a forbidden prize that was softer than gold.

"Softer than gold…a woman?"

Clopin nodded. "His only daughter, the Princess Abigail."

"Now that would be an interesting turn of events indeed…"

"Indeed, it would benefit these people greatly. Land worth nothing now will be rolling in gold after a royal wedding."

That might be what the Seer was so anxious about. Was it possible something was about to happen? Finally? After all these years? Clopin was referencing a royal wedding for Abigail and Charming, but he knew that I would never come to pass. His future was tied to Snow White. He wasn't sure just how long it would take from their initial meeting to marriage, conception, then birth, with James and Snow, but he did know that if something was going to start soon, then it meant that could stop thinking about seeing Baelfire in decades, and begin to think about years. And that was the best news he'd had in a long time. It filled him with a joy he hadn't felt since his boy had left him.

"Anything else I can do for you?" Clopin asked. No. Not a thing. But with the joyous news, he was suddenly feeling generous.

"You've been very helpful…but perhaps I can offer you something, a piece of vital information in exchange for this…" he waved the book he'd picked up with Belle in mind. He probably shouldn't be thinking of getting her gifts, but if it would make her half as happy as he suddenly was…

Clopin glanced at the book, then crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged. "'Tis not but a trinket, taking up space on my cart, I'd have given it away for free if you only asked."

"Oh!" he smiled. He doubted if Clopin had ever given anything away for free in all his life. "Well then, in that case…"

"If you only asked!" Clopin called after him as he turned to leave with it. He turned back to see him standing there with a look of terror on his face at the very thought that he might have lost something expensive. "But, since you did ask, I'll take your offer. What have you heard?"

"Oh, it's not what I've heard, but rather what I've seen. King George's Kingdom will be profitable one day. It'll be a good place, ruled by a benevolent Queen and her Prince Charming, but before this day comes, war will strike." He turned to look at the people through the trees who were gathered around the fire, settling into spare blankets or under jackets, men, women, and even children. In another life, he might have been them. "Take these people, put them in the farthest corners of the Kingdom where they'll be safe from the bloodshed and the call of the draft."

"War…war with who?" Clopin questioned skeptically.

Now there was a sight…or rather a vision. With the question came a clear image in his head, one that was put there just as clearly as the image of the dark-haired man that knew Baelfire.

A line in the sand, on one side, Snow White and James and a thousand people dressed in rags and homemade armor. On the other side, a hundred people dressed in mail, Regina, and most shocking of all...

"The King himself," he answered with a smile.

He watched as the lines of confusion disappeared from his face and stretched into one of dead shock. His eyes widened, and his gaze drifted over to the people by the fire. "That is…some valuable information…"

"Especially for your trade routes."

"Indeed. Here, take this…" From a place in his wagon, he pulled out a round object, with string and feathers. If he was honest, it looked like a craft project done by a toddler, but the moment Clopin put it in his hand he could feel magic in it. "A dreamcatcher…or memory-catcher if you prefer. I believe you would be able to work magic like that."

He nodded. He didn't, not at the moment, but if there was one thing he was best at, it was learning how to work magic he didn't know. He may not know how to use it now, but he would. "How much?"

"After the information you just gave…take it! And the book. I'm in debt to you."

"I'll remember that…"

There was no good-bye; there never was. They merely nodded at each other, then he took his ink, and catcher, and book, and sauntered into the forest. He never liked to disappear entirely from the sight of the strangers, for fear of association with Clopin. Not that the strangers ever knew who he was, new to this world as they were. He had yet to ever meet one that-

As he passed close to the fire, he heard the gasp of a small child. Automatically he turned toward the noise, half expecting to see a tearful toddler, but what he saw was a small boy of about six standing by the fire, looking him dead in the eye. The child seemed frozen in fear. All around him adults were hunkered down under anything they could call a blanket, but the boy stared at him with his jaw hanging open.

"Problem," the Seer whispered in his head.

"The Dark One…"

Now it was his turn to be shocked, to go wide-eyed. No one ever knew him…how did a small boy know who he was?

Suddenly there was a flurry of activity that forced time to push forward. "Mommy!" the child cried, turning away from him. "Mommy! Mommy!" As the boy shrieked, he pulled his cloak quickly over his face and went into the dark of the forest where the fire wouldn't unveil him. "The Dark One! Mommy, it's the Dark One! I saw him!"

"What's going on?"

"What's happening?"

"What's the boy crying for?"

"It's nothing," he heard someone explain as he ducked behind a tree and pressed his back against the bark to be sure that he wouldn't be seen. "I'm sorry," a woman said, "he has this book he reads from our world, it's just stories."

A book? A book from their world? About him?

"It's not just stories!" he heard the boy cry. "The book says he lives here!"

A book from their world that mentioned him? That said he lived there?

"Jacob Horner-"

"It's true, Mommy! Look! It says right here! He lives here! He'll steal your eyes and eat you!"

"Jack…I think maybe I ought to take it. I'm sorry everyone…I think we might be taking our reading a bit too seriously."

"No! No! No, Mommy! No!" the boy cried. "Mommy, it has the story in it! It tells how he becomes not the Dark One anymore! Mommy, I have to keep it.

From behind, he heard a low rumble of laughter. They didn't believe the child, not yet anyway. They hadn't been here long enough to know that he had told them the truth. They were dismissing his claim, but he was practically salivating. A book from another world that mentioned him. Worse, a book that mentioned how he wouldn't be the Dark One anymore? From within his boot, he could feel his dagger pressing close against his leg. He wanted to see that book. He wanted to read that book. He needed it.

His heart was racing when he turned around and observed the scene by the fire. At a distance once more, it was difficult to see what was happening. Half the camp was settling back into sleep and ignoring the cries of the small boy. The other half was watching as the boy who had seen him struggle with his mother. It was a game of tug-of-war, and at the center of it was a thick green book.

He wanted to cry out, to scream. It would be easy, so incredibly easy to freeze the scene he saw before him, swoop in, and simply take the book from their hands…but nothing was ever as simple as all that. The book was the star, at the center of everyone's attention. Taking it right out from under their noses would look suspicious. When they came around after being frozen and realized the book had disappeared, he would be the first suspect. And if what the book said was true and the boy knew and told them, taking it now would be a problem. It could be a very real problem. But to ignore it and let the child go out into the world with it without knowing what was inside its pages…he couldn't let that stand.

He couldn't take it from the child now, but fortunately, he knew where they were heading. And it was clear from the way the boy clung to his novel that where he was, so would be that book.

#Rumbelle #Rumple #Rumpelstiltskin #Dark One #Belle #Clopin #ouat #ouat fanfic #Fanfic

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elesianne · 4 years

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A Silmarillion fanfic, chapter five – last chapter

Story summary: Through all the struggles and triumphs of the Noldor, Angrod and Edhellos hold on to their love and their faith in each other.

Despite the title, there is more than romance in this fic.

Chapter length: ~1,900 words; Rating: Teenage audiences

Some keywords for the whole fic: romance, family, some fluff and angst, mild sexual content, the Noldor and their fall and their triumphs, canon compliant

A/N: A gentle reminder that there's that Major Character Death at the end of this chapter.

AO3 link (first chapter here)

Chapter V // The long defeat

He has dwelt in the West since the days of dawn, and I have dwelt with him years uncounted; [---] and together through ages of the world we have fought the long defeat. – The Lord of the Rings, Mirror of Galadriel; said by Galadriel about Celeborn, but Edhellos might have said the same about Angrod

The first time that Edhellos visits Doriath's king and queen with her husband, she is made to feel fairly welcome despite her being one of the Noldor. Artanis, Galadriel as she now wishes to be called, is glad to see her and at once introduces to Edhellos the man who gave her her beautiful new name. Edhellos is happy that her sister-in-law has finally found a man she deems worth loving. He does appear to be worthy of Galadriel's fierce-wise spirit; if not otherwise, then by his adoration of her.

The second time Edhellos accompanies Angrod and his brothers to Doriath, hidden, bitter truths spill free from her husband's lips after provocation by Thingol, and they receive confirmation from Melian the Maia's lips just how much of the Prophecy of North applies to them too.

The prophecy lies heavy on them, dark and inescapable, as Edhellos with Angrod and Aegnor rides home in silence and in shame that angers them all for it is mostly for the deeds of others. Yet they rebelled too and they must pay the price, whatever it will be.

It takes many peaceful years in the cool sunlight of Dorthonion for some of that weight to fade from their hearts.

With Thingol's ban on Quenya, Edhellos grieves the loss of her name in her first language. It is the name that her mother gave her, and she always treasured being Eldalótë, flower of Eldar. She only ever hears it from her husband's lips now, whispered or cried out at private moments.

'You have followed me through every danger, my Eldalótë', Angrod says at one of those cherished moments in the quiet and warmth of their bed where they lie side by side. The roaring flames in the fireplace do well at banishing the cold and dampness that plagues Dorthonion for much of the year.

He traces his hand down her side, leaving it to rest on her hip. There is a small scar there from a poisoned orc-spear that tore through her armour. Angrod bears a larger one on the side of his neck. Strangely, after two great battles, the strike that caused that wound was dealt by a small scouting party of orcs with foul weapons, forcing Edhellos to face the possibility of life without him.

But the wound healed, and Angrod is no less fair for the scar, and he is stronger than ever.

Edhellos blinks and returns to this moment. 'I would follow you through more', she murmurs.

'You may have to.' The set of his jaw is serious. Edhellos knows his worry and feels it too: they believe that apart from the high king, the other rulers of Beleriand don't take the threat of Morgoth seriously enough, rejoicing and trusting too much in the time of peace.

'Then I shall.' Edhellos tips her head up to kiss him softly. 'Do not worry at moments like this, my beloved. We can do that in our council room.'

'Mm. I shall follow your wise advice.' Angrod kisses her back, less gentle, and tips her on her back and settles above her. 'And I find I am not yet weary, my faithful wife with soft lips and silken hair.'

Edhellos raises her hand to gently touch that twisting scar on his neck, and then to his short hair that frames his face as a gleaming curtain. 'How fortunate that I am not tired either', she tells him.

Angrod's smile is the sunrise. 'Let us tire each other out, then.'

Time passes, and things keep changing though the peace lasts. Orodreth marries a lovely Sindarin girl with serious eyes and a silver-bell voice. Soon after their first child is born, Finrod completes his great project in the south and moves there, handing control of his watchtower on Sirion to Orodreth.

Edhellos has not cried since the Ice but she cries when she says farewell to her son and his wife and their child with grey eyes and golden curls, dear and sweet. It is not a dreadful farewell – she intends to visit often, though the ride down from the highlands down to Sirion is arduous – but it tears at her heart like few things could.

Dear Aegnor stays, at least, the last one left of Edhellos and Angrod' family which once felt so large gathered in the high halls of Tirion or the white-sand beaches in the Bay of Eldamar.

Finrod, the eternal wanderer, discovers the Secondborn whose coming was one of the reasons for Fëanor's rebellion. They do not seem like much of a threat, fleeing the threat and shadow of Morgoth and his followers. Finrod in agreement with Angrod and Aegnor gives one group of Men, faithful to Finrod, a corner of Dorthonion to reside in. Their lord Boromir sends several young, keen ones of his folk to Minas Avras to learn new skills under the tutelage of Angrod, Aegnor and Edhellos' people.

Edhellos gets to know those who stay to serve them. How strange they seem at first with their unfamiliar speech, how fleeting their lives.

Yet how much joy and grief they contain in those short lives – how many births to match the swiftly arriving merciless deaths.

Once Edhellos gets to hold a young baby that is the ninth child of its mother. She marvels at the tiny fingers and toes, as perfect as those of any child of the Eldar, and at the mother, who seems tired but not utterly drained in spirit.

There are none among the Eldar who have fathered or mothered nine or even eight children. Edhellos cannot but regard the Secondborn, and especially their women, with respect. She is glad that her people's skills can help them live longer and healthier lives. How many more dangers there are to them in the world!

And how dangerous one of the Edain's strong-hearted, wise-hearted women can turn out to be to a man of the Eldar.

One day Aegnor leaves with a few of his men to ride a long patrol around Dorthonion, as he often does. Two weeks later he returns, changed.

Edhellos comes to welcome him home when she is told that he is back. She finds him stabling his horse.

'Welcome back, Aegnor. Is all well in our land?' Aegnor turns to him, and Edhellos blanches. 'What is wrong, brother?' She rushes to his side. 'Have you been hurt?'

'I have been dealt a strike from which I will never recover', he answers.

'Where?' She can see no blood or bandages, no breach in his armour.

'In the eastern highlands, at sunrise.' Aegnor busies himself with his horse's tack and doesn't look her in the eyes. 'And again at night on the shore of Tarn Aeluin.'

He will not speak more until the evening when he and she and Angrod are gathered for dinner in a private room, servants sent away.

Aegnor tells Edhellos and Angrod that he met a mortal woman who at once touched his spirit. A few short days they had spent together before Aegnor continued on his patrol.

'She would have come with me but I told her that I cannot bind her to me. Not at this time of untrue peace which may end my life at any moment, and should it spare me, we would be torn apart by age.' Aegnor stares into his wine. 'Yet I will never be free of her. I touched her hand and she…'

'What did she do?' Edhellos begs. Beside her, Angrod sits frozen.

'Nothing but be beautiful in the light of the sun and the scent of heather, and bright like the stars in the dark of a moonless night. The night, the night I said goodbye there was a star caught in her hair', is all that Aegnor can speak before staring, silent, into the fire for a long time. Eventually he says, 'I have turned away from her and I shall never see her again in life – not by intention, not by chance; that much is given to me to see. But the memory of her –' His bitter-sweet words fade away.

'The memory of her you shall always have', Edhellos says quietly. She embraces Aegnor's still, stiff form and takes Angrod's hand, and they leave Aegnor to his memory and silence.

Her heart chilled and heavy for Aegnor, that night Edhellos burrows as deep into Angrod's arms as she can before they fall to rest together.

'We were so fortunate, my love', she speaks into his chest. 'We found each other young, and there happened to be no obstacle in our way. Our boring love story, as Maglor and Fingon called it long ago, is the best thing I could imagine happening.'

'I know.' He sighs into her hair. 'Even if Morgoth should break the siege tomorrow and slay us, we have had centuries to love each other. Aegnor didn't get a single moment of love unsullied by heartbreak.'

Edhellos almost cries at that, and Angrod holds her so tight within his arms that it is as clear a demonstration of grief as tears from him would be.

The brightness of Aegnor's eyes is ever dimmed since that day apart from in the heat of battle when it is more fearsome than ever, as if he were avenging the loss of even more than before.

'We must flee now, my lady, if we ever will! The enemy is drawing near', one of the guards calls to her, coughing from Morgoth's foul smoke that for the first time reaches even their highlands.

Angrod and Aegnor rode to battle earlier, leaving Edhellos to lead the defence of their home in case the enemy overruns Dorthonion. She looks wildly around her, a painful band constricting around her heart at the sight of her beloved home and her brave people.

She is no great fighter but she is a princess of the Noldor and she has forged herself a heart of a warrior over the centuries nonetheless. She can see the tops of distant pines red with fire. There is no safe route to flee to the lands of their allies, and Edhellos will not lead her people to hide in dark caverns and wait to be hounded out of them.

'We will stay and fight to defend our home', she tells what remains here of her people, and her heart rises to a battle-song at the sight of a fierce will rising into their eyes.

They stay to fight a battle that appears hopeless, as is the wont of their people. As she draws her bow at the sight of the enemy approaching, she prays that at least her son and his family will be spared this onslaught of fire and fell creatures, or that he can fight it off. Orodreth was only a child when they fell under the Doom; children should be spared such judgement.

Her prayer will most likely go unanswered, but pray for her child she must even if she can expect little aid from the Valar she turned her back on.

She wonders how Angrod fares in the battle he rode to.

When only hours later Edhellos' armour is pierced by a foul black sword, and all the world is red with fire and pain, she doesn't know if all the pain is hers or if she has been given the strange mercy of drawing her last rasping breath at the same time as her ever-beloved.

A/N: I want to warmly thank everyone who has followed (or read in one go) this fic about some less-known, less popular Silmarillion characters.

I enjoyed writing Edhellos' story in spite of its sad ending. I might write one or more side stories or sequels, though I'll write and post some more Lothíriel/Éomer fics first, as well as one little sequel to Your spirit calling out to mine.

Special thanks to all who have reblogged or commented. I appreciate fic reblogs greatly because they are so rare, and I love hearing what readers think of my fics.

#reblogs are appreciated esp because this is the last chapter and I know some ppl only read finished fics #(which is very understandable. we've all been burned by gorgeous wips that were never finished haven't we)#silmarillion fanfiction #tolkien fanfiction #angrod #angrod's wife #edhellos #eldalote #eldalotë #eldalótë #everbeloved #my fics #elesianne's fics

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littlemisssquiggles · 5 years

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RWBY Musings #73: Happily Ever After. A Squiggle Meister’s Views on the fates of Cinder Fall and Neopolitan for the Future of RWBY

yellow-eyed-green-crocodile asked “Do you think Cinder would be the equivalent of General Jinjur? Not only does it rhyme, but they are also somewhat similar, in a way. Jinjur used both violence and charm to gain what she wanted, just like Cinder uses both force and temptation. Also, Jinjur had a catchphrase, which was "there's not an ugly face in my entire Army", which would parallel Cinder's disfigured body. One interesting thing to note is that Jinjur's army got defeated by mice and she was too cowardly to face them.

I wonder if this could hint at a possible backstory for Cinder. Maybe she used to live in a village when she was little, and that village got overrun by a plague caused by mice. Since she was one of the very few that didn't contact the disease, she wad tasked with taking care of the patients, but the plague was so bad that they had to resort to killing all of them. Among the pacients, there were also Cinder's parents.

Cinder dreaded the villagers who killed her parents and felt like a weakling for not only not being able to stop them, but also for not being able to enact revenge. Unless maybe this is how she discovered her Semblace. Because of these events, Cinder wanted more power, enough to snuff out that of others. The power never felt enough, so she eventually met Salem, who groomed her into becoming what she is now. And the rest is history. I'm sorry that the ask got so long, but what do you think? ”

Squiggles Answers:

@yellow-eyed-green-crocodile Hey there Yellow. Sorry this answer took so long. I decided to answer your question as a new musing because while thinking up my response, I did my own research on General Jinjur and in doing so you made me come to a very interesting realization that I think you might like.

Cinder and Mombi

I think you are definitely onto something with Cinder possibly inheriting some traits from General Jinjur. I like this concept because it would provide Cinder with a connection to Oscar considering that General Jinjur made her first appearance in the Marvellous Land of Oz sequel story where Princess Ozma was also first featured.

I can definitely see the charm part and I can also see Cinder building herself an army and using it to overthrow or antagonize General Ironwood. Isn’t that what Jinjur did? According to Wikipedia, she was the self-appointed general leading the Army of Revolt---an all-woman force seeking to end the reign of the Scarecrow and take over the Emerald City.

Perhaps…we might get something similar to this for the Atlas Arc. What if…Cinder follows in Salem’s footsteps back in Ancient Remnant where Salem manipulated mankind into forming an army which she then led to take down the Gods but failed.

Oh! Perhaps this will be Cinder’s role in the Crimes of the SDC storyline of the Atlas Arc. Imagine if…Cinder ends up gathering and leading a revolt formed of all the oppressed and abused Faunus under the SDC in an attempt to overthrow the Atlas Council including General Ironwood. Either that or perhaps Jinjur will be an original character inspired by her fairy-tale counterpart from Oz that Cinder ends up manipulating into doing her bidding.

One thing I’ve been curious about is how the CRWBY Writers are going to handle the Crimes of the SDC and the oppression of the Faunus in Atlas without Adam Taurus. If you’d allow me to deviate here for a second, I’d like to voice this point. I’m not one of the Adam fans who were heavily disappointed or should I say, firmly disgusted by this death in V6.

On the contrary, I actually found Adam’s death to be fitting. Adam went out exactly like how I pictured he would---defeated by Yang and Blake working together to take him down while paying homage to the Beauty and the Beast.

In the Beauty and the Beast, the Beast was stabbed in the back by the villainous Gaston before Gaston fell to his death below Beast’s Castle. I thought that was a nice detail that RWBY had Adam more or less go out in a similar fashion considering that he was a fusion of the Beast and Gaston.

My one gripe with Adam’s death is Yang and Blake killing him in cold blood while suffering no further emotional/psychological repercussions from the experience---something that I’ve voiced before. It’s not the fact that the two killed Adam that’s disappointing. It’s the fact that here we have an example of two hero character slaying a villain and it’s treated as nothing beyond a victory for the Bumblebee relationship by both the series and its shipping community. Don’t get me wrong, conquering Adam was a triumph but it was one that came with a price.

I understand that people wish to take the positive away from this moment where Yang and Blake together overcame the man that caused them both so much strife for the past few seasons. That’s fine. However, it’s hard for me to focus on just the positive aspect of what transpired when it’s not as black or white as people believe it to be.

This victory is stained. At the end of the day, Blake and Yang killed another person. Let that sink in. They took another character’s life. Nevermind that it was done in self-defence. A kill is still a kill. Not to take the joy away from the folks who love Bumblebee as a romantic pairing and took this triumph as the signal fire for their beloved ship becoming canon, but this squiggle meister, on the other hand, didn’t see that. I didn’t see two girls professing their love for one another. I saw two friends who claimed to have failed each other in the past rise up and take down the personification of their turmoil but at a price. The price being that now Yang and Blake share Adam’s blood on their hands. They both killed him and…afterwards, the series acted like it didn’t matter. I’d like to believe that Adam was a first time for kill for both Yang and Blake.

That kind of thing could be detrimental to someone especially if it’s their first in a lifetime of being the hero and using your skills to save lives; not end them. But Yang and Blake appeared fine after the fight and what was worse was that their comrades accepted their nonchalance with their own. I understand that they were all mostly relieved to see their friends safe following what went down with Adam but nonetheless, Blake and Yang killing Adam could’ve been something the heroes could’ve discussed with how far they are all willing to go to protect themselves and defeat the forces of evil as huntsmen. No one questioned the morality of what transpired. Didn’t even give it a second thought. It just happened and the story moved on.

Again, not an Adam fan but I still found that bit bothersome in a way because it highlights that the heroes could simply kill off villains and feel nothing. When the villains killed off heroes, we got to see the aftermath of how it affected their psyche. Following Pyrhha’s death, we got to see how it affected the rest of her teammates and the same can be said for Ruby with how she’s still being plagued by flashbacks of the moments she failed to save both Pyrhha and Penny.

But when we have our first villain being slain by a hero, it’s handled with as much expressive feedback as when the heroes take out the Grimm. I know we got Blake completely breaking down after stabbing Adam with Yang comforting her to the best of her ability. I thought this would have jumpstarted something else that Blake now had to overcome giving Yang something to help Blake work through.

When Blake ran away after Adam took down Yang, Sun was there to help her through her turmoil. Imagine if…Blake hadn’t meant to legit kill Adam and only did it as a last resort as a means of protecting Yang. Imagine if…the fight hadn’t ended with Adam being overpowered by Yang but was the complete opposite where Adam blindsides Yang and subdues her after she thought she’d won; similar to how Gaston double crossed the Beast in the animated film. Imagine if…Adam had once again placed Yang in a vulnerable position like before, despite her training forcing Blake no choice but to do what she failed to do before for Yang in V3.

Imagine if…Blake was left completely traumatized by dropping to Adam’s level, using violence to take the life of another---his life in the sheer attempt of desperation to protect the friend she promised she would protect. Imagine if…Adam’s death at Blake’s hand left her just as emotionally scarred as the aftermath of their encounter after V3.

Imagine if…Adam’s death had left Blake with another chapter of guilt and pain that this time Yang would be present to help her work through. And from that interaction, their bond could’ve blossomed, rekindling the closeness they shared from previous seasons, which could’ve ultimately led to Blake genuinely falling in love with Yang from this interaction. It is for this reason why I haven’t bought into the notion of Bumblebee being officially canon.

Even though I’m a BlackSun shipper, I neither hold any animosity towards the Bumblebee pair and its shippers nor would I get butt-hurt if the CRWBY Writers chose to steer Yang and Blake’s relationship in that direction. My issue is not the pairing itself but the execution and handling of it (and at times the attitude of its shippers).

My personal justification for thinking Bumblebee isn’t canon (yet) is because regardless of how many Yang and Blake moments the CRWBY attempted to spoon into V6, I didn’t see it as romantic at all. There actually weren’t that much Bee scenes when you think about it to be honest. At least not in the sense where it felt they were trying to set them up as lovers apart from the glaringly obvious ones like for example, Yang grabbing Blake’s hand and running off with her alone during the terrifying moment with the Apathy back on Brunswick Farm, while leaving Ruby alone to pick up Uncle Qrow with Weiss.

As appetizing as those small moments might’ve been for the Bees, it doesn’t excuse the fact that Yang and Blake have only just reunited with each other after going two full seasons of zero interaction. If anything, I would consider the development of Bumblebee from friends to lovers after V6 incredibly forced if true since personally, I think their relationship could benefit from at least one or two more seasons of focus and growth before making the leap into romantic status.

They could’ve spent V6 re-establishing the comradery between Team RWBY before delving back into the issues that caused the rifts between them before while going hard to build up the Bees’ recovery post Adam. At the moment, in all honesty, I don’t know what to make of Bumblebee. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if the Writers do wish to make them officially canon as a couple and that’s perfectly fine. I just don’t think they’re there as yet. But…y’know, that’s just me. Please don’t bite my head off if you’re a Bee shipper that happens to be reading this post.

Anywhozzits, that’s not really what I’m here to discuss. Let’s get back on track. My main issue with Adam’s death is that I think the CRWBY missed a real golden opportunity to use him for the Atlas Arc. Adam Taurus would’ve been the ideal antagonist to lead the audience into the Crimes of the SDC storyline that’s coming up.

His scar reveal clearly highlighted that he had an unknown history with the SDC. We’ve known about the White Fang’s war with the SDC since Weiss’ brief mention of it back in V1. As a matter a fact, I believe her words were that the White Fang has been in war with the Schnee Family for generations and this war actually featured bloodshed. We discovered this information yet we never received any more info to suggest anything further. Now fast forward five seasons later and we got a sense of why the White Fang targeted the SDC.

Adam’s scar hints at the possibility of Faunus abuse at the hands of the SDC. This is a sign that the SDC don’t just treat their Faunus labour as employees but as property. Who’s to say that Adam was the first Faunus to be branded? Of course Adam must’ve been scarred this way as punishment for an action we’ll never know more about but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that his scar is a brand. This must be a common thing or at least that’s the theory.

That being said, the Writers could’ve used Adam as a third accomplice to Neo and Cinder going toward Atlas. We know that the Faunus in Mistral had fallen out of Adam’s reign after learning of his actions at Haven Academy. But what of the Faunus in Atlas? With the CCT still not functioning, there’s no way the Faunus of Atlas could’ve gotten wind of the news of Mistral. So even if Adam found himself without an army in Mistral, he could have easily built himself a new one in Atlas especially given his clear connection to the SDC.

Adam could’ve lead a Faunus revolution in Atlas and use that as the cover fire to instigate Neo and Cinder’s act of revenge against Ruby and the other heroes. Adam could’ve been the General Jinjur in this sense, appointing himself as leader to the new regime that led the Faunus of Atlas to rise up against the SDC and their oppressors. And it would have fit in with his story since as we learned in V6, Adam has an untold past with the SDC. If the Writers desired to keep Adam in the story, they could’ve had this be his final curtain call. They could’ve still had him die in battle against the Bees but they could’ve used the Crimes of the SDC subplot as the much better build up to his inevitable climax.

After V5, the CRWBY Writers could’ve had Adam decide to go full rogue---going on a personal vendetta to enact revenge on all who wronged him in the past. Not just Blake. Not just Yang but everyone starting with the people who cast the first stone to send him spiralling into becoming the bloodthirsty revolutionist he was striving to be.

They could’ve had Adam return to the place where his trauma all began. He could’ve returned to Atlas to start his revolution over there, using the wayward Faunus employed under the SDC to enact his revenge on the people who wronged him.

And along the way, Adam could’ve met up with Neo and Cinder and the three could’ve formed the Trinity of Vengeance whose actions would pave the first chapter of the Atlas Trilogy. Adam Taurus may not have been one of my favourite RWBY characters but I’d be lying if I said his fans weren’t wrong about him being a missed opportunity.

As I’ll repeat, Atlas would’ve been the perfect setting to end Adam’s story. It would’ve been the right place. Adam magically showing up in Argus after going episodes without knowing anything of what he had been up to since his first appearance in the first episode of V6 was admittedly not the right place to have his final showdown with Blake and Yang. Not only could it have provided a chance for the audience to uncover more about Adam’s past but the Writers could’ve killed two birds with one stone by tying Adam’s story to Weiss’ story through the SDC. Adam revealing his scar would’ve tied him to Weiss.

Imagine if…Weiss had been present to see Adam’s scar. That could have set off some things. Or…imagine if… Blake never saw Adam’s face in the entirety of their relationship so when the reveal happened, she is genuinely shocked to learn that it was the Schnee Dust Company---the company that one of her dearest friends is connected to that was partially responsible for the creation of Adam Taurus.

There are ways the Writers could’ve kept using Adam in the plot particularly for Atlas but…they didn’t. Not going to lie, Adam was the epitome of a missed opportunity.

But… it’s not to say that his potential involvement for the Atlas Arc couldn’t be handed over to another character. Since the Adam fans claimed that Ilia took Adam’s characterization following V3, I guess you can see this as a sign that another current or new character could gain the remains of his potential role for Atlas Arc, right?

With Adam gone, this could provide Cinder the chance to take his place with the Crimes of the SDC subplot. It wouldn’t have the same impact as it would’ve had with Adam however it can still work. Cinder has proven herself to be a master manipulator. She’s no different than Salem back in her younger years. I guess this could explain why she was more or less made to be Salem’s faithful apprentice.

Salem must’ve seen much of her old self in the young girl and wished to nurture it. Jinn did comment once that the hearts of man are easily swayed. This is inclusive of the Faunus as well. So maybe Cinder will be like Jinjur in this sense where she forges her army or… at least, she’d play a key catalyst to the potential Faunus Revolution for the Atlas Arc.

But get this, I actually think Cinder has way more in common with the Oz character of Mombi as opposed to Jinjur. It was said that in the Marvellous Land of Oz story, Jinjur summoned the witch Mombi to aid her in keeping her kingdom in check after she gained control. Perhaps this can play into Cinder’s story for Atlas in V7.

What if…RWBY’s incarnate of Jinjur would be an oppressed Atlesian Faunus employed under the SDC who gets manipulated by Cinder. It was also stated that Jinjur secretly feared Mombi. Perhaps this is how Cinder will get Jinjur or the Faunus of Atlas to listen to her. By flexing her Maiden magic which would force them to view her as some kind of sovereign that can aid them to their freedom or worst a witch who can smite them if they cross her.

Similar to how Jinjur called upon Mombi in Oz, what if…Cinder helps Jinjur start and maintain her Faunus Revolution in exchange for aiding her in luring out the target she most desires: Ruby Rose. Jinjur the Faunus will have great reason for working with Cinder since Cinder’s target is Ruby. Ruby is friends with Weiss Schnee and who is Weiss Schnee connected to?

Imagine if…Jinjur agrees to work with Cinder on the grounds of the two using each other to get what they want. Jinjur wants Weiss Schnee to use her as collateral to bribe the SDC into fulfilling the Faunus Revolution’s demands (not to mention that it would provide Jacques Schnee with an interesting opportunity to show his true colours with who he cares about the most---his company or the safety of his own child). And Cinder of course wants Ruby. If Cinder helps Jinjur get Weiss then chances are this will lead to Ruby showing up to rescue her friend.

This could paint a great way for Cinder Fall to have an involvement in the Crimes of the SDC plotline which would lead her to her eventual reunion with the heroes and confrontation with Ruby. That could be an intriguing storyline.

As you can see, in this case, Cinder would be the Mombi in the story. While she may share some traits with Jinjur, I see more Mombi. I feel like Cinder is more an antagonistic hybrid of Cinderella and Mombi. But unlike Cinderella, who had a happy ending at the end of her story, I highly doubt Cinder will for hers.

Obviously, Cinder is going to be killed off soon. I’m calling it now…Cinder Fall will be defeated for the Atlas Arc and following her demise, her maiden magic will return to Oscar since he is Ozma’s current incarnate and from there, Oscar’s own magical abilities will finally be awakened. That is my theory.

I’m definitely banking on the idea of Cinder being the Mombi to Oscar’s Princess Ozma based solely on her obsession with gaining more power. Mombi was obsessed with magic as well. So Cinder previously trying to steal Raven’s Spring Maiden magic only fuels my hunch that she might try to pilfer the little remainder of Ozma’s magic from Oscar as soon as she learns that the powers originally came from his predecessor; granted that she doesn’t know this already.

Perhaps this moment might even lead into my new Pinehead headcanon for Oscar’s semblance---the ability to take back Ozma’s magic from the Maidens. Picture…Cinder with Oscar pinned underneath her with her Grimm hand piercing into his body in a similar manner to how she killed Vernal. She tries to absorb Ozma’s magic from Oscar while simultaneously forcing him to watch Neo attempt to finish off killing an unconscious and very defenceless Ruby.

I’m with every Rosegardening Pinehead who believes that Oscar will awaken his semblance to save Ruby. And what better way to do that by making Oscar wipe the smug overconfident smile off Cinder’s face when he unlocks his semblance and starts absorbing magic back from her.

Now that could be an awesome semblance reveal. But as always, these are just my theories. So yeah, in this sense, Cinder is definitely more Mombi than Jinjur. However do you know who I think might surprisingly share better equivalence to Jinjur: Neopolitan.

Neo and Jinjur

And here is the real meat of my musing. My theory is that Neo will be the Jinjur to Cinder’s Mombi based purely on her potential to be redeemed. I don’t see Neo being killed off. If the Writers decide to kill Neo after bringing her back a whole two seasons later out of the blue in V6, that would be quite frankly a foolish move that they wrote themselves into. I don’t even see it being a case where Neo gets defeated and ends up being locked away in jail for her crimes, either.

If anything, my theory for Neo is that she is going to have a fairy-tale endgame. Her very own happily ever after. And part of that is due to my assumption that Neo will have some essence of General Jinjur added to her character inspiration.

Here’s something interesting: I think both Cinder and Neo will be the two sides of the same coin, in the sense that Neo will be the version of Cinder Fall who gets the good ending. In the Marvellous Land of Oz series, Jinjur was described as ‘not evil, just misguided’ and I think the same description applies to Neo. I don’t think Neo is entirely a bad person at heart. She’s just fallen into this archetype based on the people who she has followed in her life. If what us RWBY theorists have speculated about Neo being the little girl who survived the Fall of Brunswick Farms turns out to be true then Neo came from a reasonably good and happy upbringing that sadly turned tragic.

Following that experience, she and Roman, as the two possible lone survivors, turned to life a crime as a means of survival. But despite their nefarious background, Neo and Roman still maintained their love and comradery from when they were kids. Roman seemed to care a lot for Neo and Neo in turn cared a lot for Roman. I wouldn’t be surprised if Neo was, at some point, in love with Roman. Whether or not he felt the same way, we’ll never know.

But Neo has always been good. Destined for good things because naturally she had a good heart. I’d like to think that at some point in their past, before he became the big crime boss that we knew him to be, Roman possibly approached Neo with the intention of convincing her to cut her ties with him. Imagine if…Roman personally didn’t want Neo to be pulled into the immoral lifestyle along with him because he didn’t wish to tarnish the one good thing he still had in his life, y’know what I mean.

However Neo stubbornly stayed at Roman’s side since she in turn possessed a strong desire to stay by his side. She wanted to be there for him. That was the extent of their bond. I’m looking forward to listening to the full version of Neo’s theme from V6. I feel like there could be more potential clues to shed light on her relationship and past with Roman that the series never will get the chance to delve into. Not unless we get a unforeseen Neopolitan Character Short for V7.

I’d imagine that Roman and Neo were the ultimate ride or die pair. But picture there being a underline twist where deep down, in his heart of hearts, Roman always wanted Neo out of the crime lifestyle. He appreciated her loyalty and didn’t argue when she became his accomplice but deep down, it’s not what he wanted for her. It’s not what he thought she deserved not like he ever admitted that to her face. Or at least that’s how I’m starting to look at it now.

So here pegs the question. If Neo is to be redeemed, how can the Writers redeem her character? Well here’s this squiggle meister’s take one that. I think part of her redemption arc might involve an unexpected romance that causes her to become very conflicted and to rethink her choice of lifestyle.

Yes. I’m not pulling your leg. My idea for a redemption arc of Neopolitan is a love story. Allow me to justify why.

One Neopolitan headcanon that I wanted to toy with is the idea of Neo unintentionally finding love in Atlas; meeting the person who would ultimately cause her to drop her criminal ways and turn a new leaf. I never shared this theory before so this musing post provides the chance to do so.

The hunch I had was Neo falling in love with someone---her own Prince Charming whose allure and confidence reminded her a lot of what infatuated her about Roman and it is this person who would force to Neo to become very torn between her loyalty to Cinder and their revenge plan against Ruby Rose and her chance at a possible new life with this new love interest.

This is where I think Neo will share commonality with General Jinjur. At the end of her story, despite her previous escapades Jinjur ultimately settled down and lived a contented happy life with her husband. Here’s what I’m thinking. While this may be a very big stretch, what if…and this is a huge ‘if’…Neo’s Prince Charming will be none other than Henry Marigold.

Yeah that’s right, him again. Bear with me on this one alright. I don’t know how it could be done but…I have this idea of Neo using her shaft-shifting abilities to impersonate Weiss stuck in my head for the longest time.

In terms of following the plot, there is no real reason I can think of for Neo to mimic Weiss. Unless it’s in the form of her using it to infiltrate Schnee Manor to commence the Faunus Revolution against the SDC or something like that.

But beyond that I don’t see the possibility of Neo shapeshifting into Weiss becoming something canonically possible. But in spite of this, me being me, I’m still going to toy around with this concept because like many hunches I tend to hold on to, I kind of like it a lot. I like the idea of Neo using Weiss’ form especially if it leads into her charming Henry.

For Neo to be paired off with Henry as her intended prince, it would surprisingly fit and I’ll tell you why. Neopolitan is a play on Neapolitan which is a type of ice-cream. Ice cream is a dairy product. Coincidentally, Marigold is a real life brand of dairy products. In the Marvellous Land of Oz, General Jinjur’s future husband was a dairy farmer. You see where I’m going with this, right?

And since Henry was introduced as part of Weiss’ story from V4, I still think he’s going to be brought back for her arc in Atlas. For whatever reason, what if…Neo bumps into Henry on coincidence and falls for him. However since Henry showed an interest in Weiss, for whatever reason, Neo uses Weiss’ likeness to charm Henry.

I can’t help but sort of like this theory because I’m seeing both a bit of The Little Mermaid and Cinderella III in this. In The Little Mermaid, after she gave up her voice to Ursula the Sea Witch to become human, Ariel was tasked with making her love interest---Prince Eric fall in love with in a few days otherwise she’d turn back into a mermaid.

Ariel had to woo Eric without the use of her voice which was what Eric remembered most about her after she saved him from drowning. I found this titbit kind of cool. Weiss, as we know, has a tremendous singing voice and the first time she and Henry met was right after her concert hosted by the SDC back in V4.

Back in V4, Henry Marigold showed an interest in Weiss. Perhaps Neo will impersonate Weiss on a scheme for Cinder but ends up meeting Henry Marigold who recognizes Weiss. From there, Neo secretly starts using Weiss’ form whenever she’s with Henry. Neo falls for Henry and Henry himself falls deeply for Neo but doesn’t know that it's really Neo and not Weiss.

And in the end, Neo is afraid to tell Henry the truth. That she isn’t the person he thought she was and she believes Henry to be in love with Weiss. But in actuality Henry fell in love with Neo for her. I just really love the idea of Henry and Neo going through a similar scenario from Cinderella III.

I know not a lot of Disney fans tend to enjoy the sequels to their classic films but in the case of Cinderella, I actually really enjoyed both Cinderella II and III. I loved Cinderella II because it completely changed my perception of the evil stepsister, Anastasia.

Her love story with the baker was my favourite side story from Cinderella II. I just wished that Disney had given the same opportunity for development with Drizella, the other stepsister. My one gripe with Cinderella III is how they missed a chance to develop Drizella too. I know III takes place right after the original Cinderella but before Cinderella II in terms of storyline. Nevertheless, I feel like they shouldn’t have made Anastasia the focus sister again---they could have done it for Drizella to have both former evil stepsisters be redeemed. But I guess since Anastasia was made likeable by Cinderella II, they decided to roll with her for the third movie again.

Anyways, in Cinderella III, there is a part where Cinderella is supposed to marry the Prince but the Evil Stepmother, still determined to get Anastasia to marry the Prince instead uses the magic of the wand to turn Anastasia into Cinderella.

In the end, it takes Ana stepping up for herself and Cinderella to foil her mother’s plan. I enjoyed Cinderella III because I liked the take away lesson of what the King taught Anastasia about love because there is a moment where the King has a heartfelt chat with Ana and tells her about the day he fell in love with the Prince’s mother---the Queen. I know it was a small scene in a sequel that probably shouldn’t have existed but dagnabbit, the hopeless romantic in me just couldn’t help but gush at the whole idea of the Prince knowing he loved Cinderella from just holding her hand. Even when Ana was temporarily turned into Cinderella, the Prince instantly recognized that she wasn’t his Cinderella because of how she made him feel.

Something as simple as a touch of a hand is used as an expression of love and I dig that.

Strangely enough, I can see something like that being done for RWBY in the form of Neo impersonating Weiss and Henry falling in love with Neo as Weiss. But when he meets the real Weiss, he becomes conflicted, not because she doesn’t reciprocate his feeling as Neo did under her guise but purely because she doesn’t feel like the woman he fell in love with. Real Weiss doesn’t make Henry feel the same way Neo did when she was using her face. So in the end, Henry doesn’t care what Neo looks like. It’s how she made him feel that matters. He fell in love with her for her. Her loves her for her and she did it without needing a voice.

Every bit of joy Henry experienced with Neo was done through touch and gestures. Not through words making it genuine and pure. That sounds like an interesting dynamic. I feel like that’s an essence from the Cinderella story that could be translated into RWBY, if that is the Writers’ intention.

It's funny. When we first met Henry, he was portrayed like all the other guys who pursued Weiss. Appearing to only be interested in her at face value. But I think this was mostly a misunderstanding on Weiss’ part since I didn’t think Henry wasn’t that big of a jerk despite Weiss’ reaction to his remarks about Vale and her charity painting.

While I don’t think Henry is necessarily a bad guy, I feel like he will make a return for Atlas. Whether or not, he will somehow play a part in Neo's story, seems extremely unlikely right now. Nonetheless, I’m going to roll with it; canon or not. Thus I shall christen this tiny sail boat of mine as Milky Way---the unofficial pairing of Neopolitan and Henry Marigold.

I know romantic subplots is pretty much tertiary in RWBY to the point that some FNDM fans even complain when the show takes its time to drop romantic hints of their favoured pairs. My one gripe with the romance in RWBY is that I wouldn’t mind if the CRWBY Writers were more assertive with it. I don’t necessarily need a full episode of characters dating or snogging. However I am hoping for the series to handle its love stories in the same manner as A:TLA did. Avatar found an exceptional way to balance its romantic subplots with the rest of the story to the point where it felt natural.

I’m not a viewer who believes that romance should be omitted from a story just because its key genre is action/adventure and/or fantasy. Relationships are a part of life and when a story takes its time to develop the bonds between its characters, romance is a natural expectation. It doesn’t need to be the focal point of a story especially if you’re looking at a single standalone piece of media like a film.

However in the case of a series that is ongoing and has an overarching plot where its cast of characters are likely to grow and progress to fit the narrative outlined by the writers then…romance between characters should neither be omitted nor do I think it can be avoided nor …should be if that makes a lick of sense. Because romance is a type of relationship. Relationships can be either romantic, platonic, family-orientated and so forth and as I’ll say again, relationships are a part of life so it happens.

That being said, this is why I genuinely don’t understand when people complain when RWBY takes a chance to develop the relationships between its characters, particularly if its romantic. These kids are teenagers of mixed genders, ages and sexual orientations.

Naturally I would expect a romance to blossom among some of them. I actually think RWBY could benefit from taking some time off from all the action to focus on the bonds between its characters from time to time. But as always, this is just my opinion.

Neo and Oscar

Another interesting thing about Jinjur’s character is her connection to Princess Ozma, next to Mombi. After Emerald City was liberated, Jinjur was captured but on promise of good behaviour, she was sent home to her mother like all the girls in her army.

General Jinjur swore her loyalty to Princess Ozma and became an ally, promising her that she would behave herself.

Now some Pineheads have asked me before about the possibility of Neo and Oscar becoming friends and I think having Neo share inspiration from General Jinjur would be a nice way to tie her to Oscar.

Neo could be Oscar’s General Jinjur. From what I read on the Marvellous Land of Oz, Jinjur’s interactions with Ozma seemed rather friendly for the most part, even when she was still Tip, her male persona.

Perhaps…Neo will unintentionally befriend Oscar but neither will know each other’s true identities until their final confrontation. A part of me strongly believes that Oscar will definitely be most present during Ruby’s rematch against Neo. If Ruby is going to fight Neo again then surely Oscar should fight Cinder again. I mean, Cinder is the one who murdered Ozpin so imagine the two clashing on those terms.

After all, as I said in this answer post right here, Oscar has the remaining 10% of Ozma’s magic and if Cinder is the megalomaniac that she’s been painted as then picture her challenging Oscar to a duel in an attempt to try to steal the rest of Ozma’s magic from him.

Imagine…Cinder and Neo kidnapping Oscar to get to Ruby. Or…imagine if this leads into Ruby and Oscar possibly tag teaming against Cinder and Neo. That could be a cool way to satisfy us Rosegardeners hungry for our Rosebuds fighting side by side on the battlefield.

Even though Cinder and Neo agreed to allow Neo deal the final blow to Ruby, my hunch is that when Neo overpowers Ruby and goes to kill her, Oscar will stand bravely in front of Ruby to protect her. Picture Neo raising her weapon to Ruby and Oscar cradling Ruby’s unconscious body pleading with Neo to not kill her.

Imagine if…it’s Oscar’s desire to protect Ruby that results in Neo turning on Cinder. Because Oscar sees Ruby as someone very important to him. Someone he cares about deeply and wishes to protect, this sentiment could remind Neo of Roman. The good version of him anyways.

What if… as children, Roman used to protect Neo and seeing Oscar protecting Ruby reminds Neo of that. And so, Neo decides to spare Ruby and turn her weapon on Cinder instead. An alliance between Neo and Oscar is another alternative way to her possible redemption especially if it ties into my hunch of Neo drawing inspiration from Jinjur.

Another trait of General Jinjur that reminds me of Neo is that Jinjur was a native Munchkin girl. Munchkins are a race of short people in Oz and right now, Neo is physically one of the shortest characters in RWBY so far. She’s even shorter than Oscar I believe. If you put her next to Jinjur, I think it could fit.

So in conclusion…

I hope this answers your question Yellow. I know I went off topic on certain parts, again (as usual) but for the most part, I hope there was a sprinkle of an appropriate response to your curious inquiry among all my jibber jab. Let me know your thoughts on my thoughts if you can. To reiterate and summarize, I do see an equivalence to Jinjur in Cinder. But I see it more in Neo.

In terms of Oz characters, Cinder’s motivations screams more Mombi to me more than Jinjur. This is why I think Neo is a good candidate to take influence from her character. At the moment, Neo is a blank slate. She is the one RWBY character in the current main cast for Atlas who doesn’t have a fairy-tale counterpart to draw inspiration from.

From what I know about her, she was originally meant to only be a female counterpart of Roman Torchwick. That’s what I was told that one time I made a comparison to Neo being like Tinkerbelle in reference to her bond with Roman who I saw as being the Peter Pan in her story.

I still would like to stick with my idea of Neo being inspired by Tinkerbelle. Her illusion semblance is the closest thing to pixie dust I’ve ever seen and when she transformed the Mistralian airship into the guise of an Atlesian airship, it reminded me of how Captain Hook used pixie dust to make his ship fly.

Beyond that, Neo has no true fairy-tale equivalent which is why I’m fancying the idea of Jinjur being hers instead of Cinder’s. I’m also starting to love the idea of Neo and Cinder sharing influence from Cinderella only with Neo gaining what Cinder will never have---a happy ending.

We know Cinder desires power and revenge against Ruby; but what does Neo want? I know right now she shares Cinder’s hatred for Ruby Rose and aspiration to kill her. But beyond that, what else does Neo want for herself? After she kills Ruby, what’s she going to do next? Based on her theme, Roman apparently was her life. She lived for him.

After he died, she returned to Mistral to do who knows what with herself but didn’t miss an opportunity to get her revenge on Cinder, believing her to be the reason Roman fell. Cinder, of course convinced her that Ruby is to blame and now that has become Neo’s drive. But once that deed is done, what’s next? What is going to be Neo’s story? What’s she going to do after avenging Roman?

I ask these questions because this is something I want a character in the series to ask Neo herself. If Neo dedicated her entire life to Roman then she needs to create a new one for herself now that he’s gone. A better life.

This is why I’m loving the idea of her gaining Jinjur’s happy ending and settling down with a man who will love her unconditionally and vice versa. This is why I’m loving the idea of Neo meeting Henry Marigold with him becoming her prince. The man she will marry and settle down to start a new life with in Atlas. I’m fully on-board for this Milky Way ship especially if it goes in accordance to everything I just shared in this theory.

It’d be nice if Neo gets her happily ever after. Especially since Cinder surely ain’t gonna get that luxury. She’s too far-gone. But Neo still has a chance. A chance for change and redemption. A chance to learn to behave herself.

Plus I like the idea of Neo promising Oscar to ‘behave herself’ in a similar fashion to Jinjur’s promise to Princess Ozma. I don’t know what the CRWBY Writers’ future plans for Neo will be. But for the most part, I hope it’s satisfying especially to her hardcore fans who were pining for her return.

More Squiggles’ RWBY Content

~LittleMissSquiggles (2019)

#yellow-eyed-green-crocodile #squiggles answers: rwby #oscar pine #cinder fall #neopolitan #rwby theories #rwby volume 7 theories #rwby atlas arc #rwby musings #rwby rosegarden #ruby and oscar #oscar and neo #cinder and oscar

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ventrue-rosary · 5 years

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Kingdom of Decay - Chapter 2

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Chapter 1

Chapter 2: The Call to Destiny

Addenus lets out a sigh as Theodrin shoulders past him without a shred of politeness or dignity. But he lets him go, more concerned with the young Princess cautiously eyeing him.

‘Are you alright?’ he asks.

She shrinks back, clutching the sodden book to her chest defensively.

Addenus retreats a step. ‘Apologies, Princess. I suppose you don’t remember me, do you? I remember last I saw you you were still about yay high.’ He stoops down and holds a hand about a foot and a half of the ground, wryly smiling at the memory it conjures. ‘Tottering about the palace in a pink dress with dragon wings. Your mother said you couldn’t decide what you wanted to be more--a princess or a dragon.’

Amaranthe visibly slackens her hunched stance but doesn’t crack a smile or speak. After the brutish displays of Theodrin he hardly blames her.

He holds out a hand. ‘Addenus Killglave. Family friend and senior hunter to that tosspot.’ He points over his shoulder to where Theodrin fled off to. ‘It’s nice to meet you again.’

Finally he earns a smile, just a slight upturn of the corners of her lips, but she doesn’t take his hand. ‘A pleasure to meet you.’

‘Would you do me the honour of escorting me to your parents, and tell me how good it felt to break your Uncle’s nose?’

Addenus realises his mistake when the horror fills her eyes. She troubles her lower lip with her teeth. ‘Oh, I’m in trouble…’

‘Knowing your dad, he will probably tell you to hit him harder next time.’

He earns a slight yet hearty chuckle from those words. The guards do a double-take as Killglave enters alongside Amaranthe. They greet him with curt nods of respect, but snap off sharp salutes to the Princess. Their acknowledgement of Addenus doesn’t go unnoticed.

‘They know you here?’

‘Like I said, family friend.’ His chest puffs out in pride. ‘Trained alongside your pap I did.’

‘Strange…’

‘What is?’

‘Why does he never talk about you?’

‘Well, I imagine because--’

‘Addenus?’ Amaranthe’s mother rushes down the corridor.

He feels himself grimace as the Queen descends the stairs, crossing her arms. ‘Your Majesty.’

‘You may dispense with the formalities and get to the point. I would like to know why you’re here.’

Addenus heaves a sigh. He knows full well her waspish reception is warranted and maybe deserved, but it still is irksome.

‘As you wish, Your Ma--Narcissa.’

‘Hello again, mother,’ Amaranthe says sheepishly.

‘I see you two have been getting reacquainted. What nonsense have you been filling her head with?’

Addenus holds up his hands in surrender. ‘I have barely spoken two words to the young Princess. I just defended her honour against your charming brother.’

‘Theodrin? Oh what did he do now? Nevermind, it's you we are dealing with, not him.’

‘As you wish. Is there somewhere we may speak? It’s a matter of urgency.’

Narcissa seems to look past Addenus, a weary look in her eyes. ‘Very well. Come.’

Addenus follows the royal women deeper into the castle. Glancing around as they walk, he notices it hardly has changed since his last visit, if perhaps more guarded.

The walls still hold the same lofty windows allowing the sunlight to filter in only interrupted by the coloured shards arranged to make tasteful glass art depicting scenes of fae like creatures dancing through enchanting woodlands, or fearsome dragons bearing down on simple hamlets, and one he hadn’t seen during his previous visit; a golden-haired Queen reigning over the masses, leaving little wonder as to the subject of this piece.

A wooden door gilded with gold leads into a large square-room with three artless windows hiding shyly behind white lace curtains. A square table that looks like it has been carved from a chunk of marble sits in the middle, a crisp and immaculately clean white tablecloth covering most of it. In the northernmost wall a hearth crackles merrily, lending a cosy atmosphere to the luxurious room. They barely take their seats--Narcissa at the head and Addenus and Amara to her right and left respectively, before a dainty elven servant with caramel hair and hazelnut eyes approaches holding a tray laden with a teapot inscribed with a pretty floral arrangement of lilac flowers, placing a matching teacup in front of each of them. Addenus gives the girl a wink as she pours a dark and bitter-smelling liquid into his mug. He scrunches his nose as he scrutinises the strange drink in front of him.

‘Narcissa, what is this?’

‘A new elven drink made from crushed beans. Coffee, or cofwah in your tongue.’

Addenus takes a tentative sip and has to battle urge to spew it back into his cup.

‘An acquired taste, I admit.’ She places two cubes of sugar in his mug and a drop of milk. Tentacles of the pale liquid unfurl and swirl inside his mug until its entire contents are a uniform dark tan colour. ‘Here. This is how children usually take it. Maybe a bit more appeasing to your unrefined palate.’

He ignores the insult as he takes another sip, and admits there are truth to her words. The acrid bitter taste is nicely offset by the sweetness of the sugar. Still not to his particular tastes.

‘You elves and your strange foods.’ He shakes his head and places the cup back on its saucer. ‘Still there is a reason I came here...ideally Alestir should be here but…’

‘Whatever you tell to me I will pass on to him.’ Narcissa’s eyes drift over to the young Princess sat waiting patiently. ‘Amara, you should run along and play now.’

‘No, she should stay. This matter concerns her too.’

‘Very well.’

Amaranthe looks visibly confused and worried, but remains silently seated, drinking her cofwah with more tolerance than him.

Addenus’s reassuring smile falters as he presses forward. ‘Jedrek, head of our Order has been noticing an usual increase in activity. More beasts stalking this forests around your lands. He was hoping we could rely on the capital to fill our barracks.’

Narcissa places her cup aside. ‘If it’s forces you want, you shall have. How many men do you need?’

‘It’s not just a matter of numbers, Your Majesty. We require more hunters, hunters of quality. Hunters sworn to protect the lands of Evermeet.’

The colour drains from Narcissa’s face as she hisses out the monosyllable answer he expected. ‘No.’

‘Your Majesty--’

‘You can have soldiers, mounts, arms, gold, whatever you want! But the price you are asking of me is too great.’

‘A lot is at stake here, Your Grace.’

Narcissa scoffs as she absconds her seat. ‘I realise that. My daughter for one, apparently.’

‘Mother?’ Amaranthe’s brow creases as she watches her mother pace.

‘It’s ok, Amara. You’re not going anywhere.’

‘Narcissa, please.’ He is standing now too, beseeching the bereaving mother. ‘Sanguine has spoken.’

‘I...I’m not sure I understand,’ Amaranthe says. She suddenly looks very small, more so than usual.

Narcissa kneels down next to her. ‘It’s ok, my sweet. There is nothing to understand. I’m sure Addenus misspoke.’

‘You have no son, so Sanguine calls for your daughter.’

‘Daughters rule, not fight,’ Narcissa whispers with her eyes closed, like she is uttering a mantra to whatever Gods may be listening.

‘I’m afraid the young Princess must do both. Time is of the essence. She must leave with me today.’

‘No! She cannot! I will not allow it!’

‘And I cannot ignore the danger we face. Sanguine’s new champion must rise.’ He steps closer to Narcissa, so his words are not heard by the Princess. ‘I will not speak of the evils we are facing for so very grave they are. Normal hunters who slay these creatures don’t do so indefinitely. Only someone of your blood can do it. You know. You remember when Theodrin was taken.’

Narcissa steps away, drawing herself up to her full height. ‘I am Queen! My word here is law! And I am telling you no.’

‘Have I no say?’ The dignified young Princess faces them with defiance and more wisdom than he expected someone of her age to possess. ‘The two of you stand there bickering about my future as if I have no choice!’

Narcissa smiles, but on her tired face it looks false. ‘Of course. I am sorry, my child. Say your piece.’

With a deep breath she looks at Addenus. ‘There is no mistake. This...Sanguine wants me?’

Addenus nods. ‘Yes, Princess. Just as he called upon your Uncle to serve many years earlier.’

‘Then I will go with you.’

Narcissa lunges forward, grasping at her daughters shoulders with horrified desperation. ‘Amara no! You can’t, you musn’t! Your destiny is to rule.’

‘But...isn’t it our duty as rulers to protect?’

‘Your daughter is wise and brave...you should be proud,’ Addenus says humbly, as though his feeble compliment might soften the blow.

Narcissa fixes him with a withering gaze. The expression ‘if looks could kill’ doesn’t do the danger in her eyes justice. ‘Oh, spare me! This is your doing, filling her head with fairy tales about adventuring and monsters and prophecies.’

‘You know very well, Your Grace, they are not fairy-tales. You’ve known this day would be coming for some time.’

Narcissa’s countenance softens. Her entire body seems to slacken, as though the anger has drained, leaving only resignation. ‘Yes...it just came a lot sooner than I expected. Too soon.’

‘My mind is made up, mother.’

Narcissa’s head sinks into her hands in despair. Her shoulders shake as she silently sobs. Amaranthe steps forward and places a hand on her arm.<br /> ‘Please don’t cry, mother.’ The words catch in her throat. Narcissa pulls her into a tight embrace.

Addenus turns away as the two women embrace. He feels as though he is an intruder peering in on a private moment. They share whispers as they hug. Addenus can’t make out the words, nor does he attempt to do so. Narcissa trails a hand down her daughter's cheek as they break apart, both of them now crying.

‘If you ever change your mind, Amara...’

‘Yes, mother.’

‘You’ll write, won’t you?’

‘Of course, mother.’

‘Should I wait outside?’ Addenus asks, preparing to leave.

‘No. I’m coming now.’

‘Not until you’ve at least said farewell to your father, there’s also Lavenda, the kitchen cook, your handmaiden Iris, oh and the Bovine girls will miss you terribly--’

‘Mother.’

Narcissa silences.

‘I will come home, one day. I have to fight and rule, remember?’

She sniffs wetly. ‘Yes. of course. I apologise, it’s just... I’ll see you both out.’

Addenus silently leads the trio, dimly aware of the path that leads to the entrance hall. It is there, they meet Alestir, fresh from training judging from the sheen of sweat on his skin and the dented chestplate he still wears.

‘Addenus, you old bastard!’ He claps him on the shoulder fondly. ‘I heard you might be visiting soon, but--’

Alestir trails off as he reads the tension between the solemn trio, and the evident sadness in his daughter and wife’s expressions. ‘What...what happened?’

‘Sanguine.’

The single word pulls all the mirth from Alestir. He knows the weight that name holds. He knows this day was inevitable, same as Narcissa.

‘I...I see. Addenus, would you mind giving us a moment?’

‘Oh, no, certainly.’ Addenus excuses himself out into the sprawling courtyard. He squints up at the sky. The sun is still high...good, they might make it to the Red Rivers Crossing by morning.

An eternity passes before the Princess emerges followed by her mother. She is no longer crying, but he can tell her mood has not much improved by her hunched posture and clear reluctance to meet his eye. She is dressed more appropriately for travelling, a simple silken blouse tucked into the waistband of dark brown pants, interrupted just below the knee by black riding boots masked beneath sturdy yet flexible black greaves. A forest green cloak clasps at the front with a brooch in the shape of a dragons head. Two hands covered in fingerless leather arm braces clutch at the straps of a well-stocked backpack.

‘Shall we?’ Her voice sounds husky, as though she just came out of a bout of crying.

‘Glad to see your prepared, Princess. Said all your goodbyes?’

‘More or less.’

‘Then aye, we’ll set off.’

‘Go ahead, Amara. I would speak with Addenus for just a moment.’

Amaranthe nods. ‘I’ll prepare the horses.’ She scarpers off towards the stables.

‘Mounts? That’s generous. Thank you, Your Majesty.’

‘I will not have my daughter flatfoot the thousands of leagues between here and The House of the Profane. But this is not what I wished to discuss with you. I want your solemn vow my daughter will return, unscathed, her kind spirit unbroken. Can you promise me that?’

‘You know I can’t promise you that, Your Majesty.’

‘Can't or won't?’

‘I can promise to try. But that is all.’

A silent moment lingers in the air. The winds picks up, sending the fallen leaves scattering across the stone. The light of day dims as the wind drives storm clouds up ahead.

‘The weather is turning unfavourable. I best be off.’

‘Even with all said and done, Addenus, I wish you fair travels.’

Addenus nods. ‘I appreciate it, Your Majesty.’

He bows, and joins the Princess at the stables. He is surprised to see two mounts both saddles and calmly tethered to the stable, the young Princess herself patting and whispering to a white mare.

‘The chestnut one is yours,’ she says, placing a foot in the stirrup of her mount. ‘Eldreda.

‘Eldreda.’ Addenus repeats. ‘Thank you, Princess. A fine steed.’

Addenus swings himself up on the saddle with more ease and grace than the significantly smaller Amaranthe managed, but she looks confident in the saddle.

‘Lead on.’

With a flick of the reigns, they gallop out of the palace's courtyard.

#kingdom of decay #kingdom of decay chapter 2 #amaranthe darcelle #dnd #d&d #writing #my writing #writblr #my oc's

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rwbyremnants · 7 years

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THIS CHAPTER: Snuggles, foot-teasing, cock-worship, cock-kissing, ball-licking, handjob, blowjob.

Finally Ruby is getting closer and she's all about it. Fun times!

NEXT: Shit hits the fan.

=Chapter 10

A couple of days passed without anything else happening. Ruby and Yang were both nervous-yet-eager about “playing” with each other, but Yang felt so embarrassed about finishing too early that she only allowed Ruby to jerk her through her shorts a little here and there - and even then, usually not to a finish. All the reassurances in the world from her sweet half-sister that she wanted to try again, and would never dream of holding a grudge against her for it, couldn’t help her feel comfortable enough to give it another go.

Meanwhile, Ruby seemed to be fine with Yang teasing her, but actually doing anything significant to her thighs or anywhere else made her so blushy and flustered that she stopped right away, even though Ruby tried to tell her that she didn’t mind. Both situations began to make the blonde feel like the light was always green but she had run out of gas.

As for everything else, it was going fairly well. Sunday had been another day full of family-fun activities; they all went to the beach again, and this time Ruby and Yang were very well-behaved. Their dad mostly seemed to want to relax, or occasionally tease Summer, who only really wanted to tan or read her book. Yang noticed that she glanced at her before removing her top to lay on her stomach again, but she and Ruby only exchanged an awkward glance before going back into the water.

The parents were mostly busy during the day once the work week started again, though Dad was the only one legitimately out of the house. Summer was around most of the time if she didn’t need to run to the store or the post office, but needed to concentrate on her online shop, so she would only emerge during lunchtime, or occasionally just to say “hi” or go to the bathroom. Dinners were pleasant, evenings were spent watching TV. A casual routine.

Though Ruby did start dragging Yang into playing some of her games during their many hours together. Yang still didn’t really get into it as much as she did, but she had to admit beating up digital enemies did have a certain appeal.

“Grab the golden hammer!” Ruby was encouraging her in a shrill voice. “HURRY! It’s gonna disappear!”

Swallowing hard, she spammed a few of the keys on Ruby’s keyboard. “Which one picks shit up again?!”

“THIS ONE!” Her finger tapped a key, and she relaxed, slumping over next to Yang. “Phew! Just barely got it…”

“Good… oh man, I don’t know if I can handle another round of that. I’m sweating!”

Giggling, Ruby gave Yang a kiss on the cheek. “Well, you’re my hero. But it auto-saves, so you can just exit out when the next level starts.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m gonna do that.” After she did, she sighed and turned in the chair to Ruby. “Sorry, I’m not used to all that frantic action, and I forget which keys are what!”

“Oh yeah?” Nuzzling Yang’s neck, she whispered, “Did you wanna try some other kind of action?”

Rolling her eyes, she grabbed Ruby around the waist and began to tickle her, just enough to get her to squirm away so she could stand up from the chair. Then she stretched her limbs overhead, yawning slightly; she hadn’t been breathing enough while playing through the level and now she was paying the price.

“Aww, did you wanna take a nap?”

“Shut up, Ruby.”

“No, I meant it,” she told her as she slid an arm around her back for a little side-hug. “I think we’re allowed during the summer.”

Smiling down into her hair, she kissed her scalp, prompting Ruby to let out a quiet sigh of contentment. It was true that they could get up to some mischief… but she wasn’t sure she wanted to, especially not with Summer still downstairs. After all, they didn’t have a lot of success with things like that, and she didn’t want to risk being found out, anyway. Maybe a nap was a better idea.

“Come lay down, big sis.” She pulled her to the bed and turned down the sheets, smiling up at her. This time, it was a casual, pleasant smile instead of one of her little mischievous smirks. When Yang smiled back and kissed her forehead, she bit her lip and averted her eyes, blushing again. A few days was not long enough to make the shine wear off.

So Yang did lay down. Ruby curled around her back, being the big spoon for once despite being shorter. “Jetpacking”, Yang had heard it called somewhere. It was so comfortable…

“So I looked up showtimes for Princess Mononoke and… it looks like they’re not doing that one, but they are doing Akira. You like actiony stuff, right?”

“Mm-hmm,” she sighed in complete contentment. “And like I said… I’d watch anything with you.”

Some kind of nervously excited noise came from Ruby, and Yang grinned into the pillow. Then she whispered, “I’ll get tickets when we wake up.”

“Mmm… mkay.”

“And… I can’t wait to watch it together.” A little kiss on the back of her neck. It was the last thing she knew.

Yang didn’t know how long she had been out when she first woke up. Or where she was. It took her a few minutes to realise it was Ruby’s room and not her own dorm, or even the guest room. Where was Ruby?

At her computer, of course. Slaying monsters. She rolled over and just watched her there for a minute, gazing at her sharp, determined expression, the wiggling rump pushed back against the stem connecting the seat of the chair to the backrest. The way her hands always seemed to know exactly where to go on the keyboard to defeat the hordes of enemies.

That was the real reason she didn’t bother to speak up. Of course, the warmth of the bed and the slight haze of lingering sleep helped a lot, but she might have said something anyway if Ruby didn’t look so fully focused on her game. Not that she really had to say anything, because when the level came to a natural break, she tapped a key to pause it and sighed, swivelling in her chair to glance at Yang.

“Oh!” she breathed when she saw violet eyes staring at her, and she smiled. “Hey! Good morning. Or afternoon, or whatever.”

Voice still raspy with sleep, she said, “Hey.” Then she rubbed her face and yawned, “You kill all the… all the things?”

“Yeah, most of ‘em,” she laughed, turning and wheeling her chair over to Yang. It didn’t roll very well on the carpet, so she had to grunt and push a little, which made Yang giggle.

“Good. Mm… how long was I out?”

Glancing at her alarm clock — it had Disney characters on it, and had apparently been next to her bed for years and years — she said, “About an hour and a half.”

All Yang did was nod. It wasn’t that important, given that they were on vacation… but she did feel a little bad for wasting time she could be spending with Ruby. So she managed to grumble, “Shit…”

“What? What’s wrong, did you miss a show on TV or something?”

“No, I… wanted to be with you instead of… passing out like a douche.”

At that, Ruby’s expression turned a lot softer as she watched her roll more fully onto her back and prop herself up on her elbows. “Aww… it’s no big deal, honest. I kinda… liked you sleeping in my bed. It was cute, and…”

The blush made Yang ask, “And what?”

“And… n-now my bed’s gonna smell like you even more. I like that.” But then she was clearing her throat as if trying to pretend she never said what she said. “Anyway, it’s cool, sometimes you just… need a nap, right?”

“Yeah, I guess. And… I felt really good, sleeping here. Felt at home. Like… man, I really like your bed, I guess.”

At that little revelation, Ruby smiled, biting her lip as she thought about that for a few seconds. Then she lifted a leg up… and began to tease over Yang’s lap with her foot.

“Uhh… what are you doing?”

“Nothiiiing,” she drawled even while she continued the same action. It didn’t feel terrible, but neither was it that amazing, either. “Just trying to show you how welcome you are to say in my bed.”

Sighing, Yang fixed her with a disgruntled, sleepy glare. “For the last time, I do not have a thing. Okay?”

“Come on, aren’t you a little curious?”

“Nope.” She had to pointedly ignore the teasing little toes now; curious, yes, but she didn’t want to encourage the teasing.

“Yaaaang…” When Yang only rolled her eyes, she finally pulled her leg back and looked down at her lap. “Okay, okay. Sorry.”

Another sigh. “Great, now you’re making me feel guilty about this.”

“I’m not trying to… I swear, I’m not.” The look she shot up at Yang was uncertain. “You know I was just teasing, right?”

“Yeah, I do,” she told her with a little shake of her head. “Now get over here.” Ruby stood up and crawled into bed next to Yang timidly. Yang lifted the sheets and wrapped them around both of them.

“Sorry.”

“Shhhh. You’re fine.” She kissed Ruby’s forehead, and the tension left her shoulders and neck. “Oh, come on, I was just- you don’t have to be so worried about pissing me off. I know what happened… way back when, but like, we were kids. I’m an adult now. You think I’m going to be that mad because you’re teasing me with your foot for a few seconds? Give me a little more credit than that!”

Shrugging, she whispered, “I know. It’s dumb, both me teasing you and me thinking you’d really be mad about it. Just… I really like you, tons more than I could ever expect, so like… I worry. Worry that I’ll do the wrong thing and you’ll… I dunno. That your crush will be over when you realise how lame I am, or something.”

“Okay… okay, yeah, I get it. I worry, too; not the same way, but I can see where you’re coming from.” Kissing her again, she whispered, “Sorry I was grumpy. I just woke up, I guess… it’s not much of an excuse.”

“No, I know you can be grumpy when you just wake up,” she half-giggled, and Yang smiled into her hair. “I love you so much; I just wanna be your perfect girlfriend, perfect sister… perfect anything you want me to be.”

“Then just be the perfect Ruby. Like, whoever you are, be as much of a you as you can. That’s all I want.” To her surprise, a little sob floated out from below her face, and she whispered, “Shit, what did I do?”

“Nothing,” Ruby told her as she clung tightly to her. “You’re so good to me! I’m so happy!”

“Well you don’t sound happy!”

“I know! I’m dumb, I told you I’m dumb!” But then they were both sniffling a little and holding each other tight, pulling back to kiss each other’s wet cheeks. Allowing for a release.

When they finally dried up and began to kiss in earnest again, Yang felt herself smiling more and more. Yes, it had been hard for them to have something close to a fight about something so pointless, but they had resolved it - and even better, they felt closer now. Nothing bad about that.

“Oh,” Ruby laughed softly eventually. “Hello, down there!”

“It’s… nothing you’re doing,” Yang told her in a deadpan tone. “Just a reaction to how close you are.”

“Mmm… I like ‘reactions’, I guess.” As Yang was sighing in disgust, she nuzzled into her neck. “Wanna try again? Get out the condoms? Maybe if we start now…”

“Nah, not yet. I’m still… weird.” That was the best way she could summarise. As she traced fingers through Ruby’s hair, she whispered, “We don’t have to do anything; it’s just a boner.”

Nodding, she kissed Yang’s cheek. Then she whispered, “I wanna get a look at it. Like… a good look this time. And if you do or don’t come while I’m poking around, it won’t matter, and… I’ve just been really curious ever since that first morning, and I only got a few seconds to look when I was trying to put the-”

“Yeah, yeah, fine. Um… I hope you’re not too disappointed. But I guess it won’t hurt anything for you to look.”

Grinning, Ruby pushed the blankets away, which was the thing that made Yang regret her offer the most. She was so comfy! But then she was nuzzling her crotch, and she forgot to be angry. Even through her shorts and underwear, Ruby seemed to be magnetically drawn to that area of her body; it would have been annoying if she didn’t enjoy the results so much.

“Mmm, you’re getting harder,” she mentioned as she kissed the length before dragging the shorts down. Then she was facing the panties, and she bit her lip as she glanced up. “Can… I take your little friend out? I know you already said, but…”

Yang understood. Once she nodded, she braced herself as Ruby pulled her underwear down to around her knees.

The way Ruby licked her lips the moment she got an eyeful of Yang’s anatomy gave her a lot of mixed feelings. She both wanted to tell her to stop, and to keep going; she was nauseated and inflamed with desire. Did Ruby really want to see it this badly? Did she really like what she saw? Yang didn’t. She was mostly indifferent, but there were plenty of times she looked in the mirror and hated having something like that, since most women did not. Being feministy about it was supposed to mean it didn’t matter… but it mattered to too many people for her to pretend she didn’t care at all.

“It’s so big,” Ruby was breathing softly as she wrapped delicate fingers around it, pushed it from side to side. She wasn’t truly revving up to do anything yet; as she had said, she wanted to really look at it. “What’s this line?”

“Huh? O-oh… it’s, um… I dunno, but it goes all the way down.”

“Really? Oh wow, you’re right! Over your balls and into your-” Then she swallowed and cast a nervous glance at her. “Sorry, you probably don’t want me poking around your butt.”

“Hey, it’s your funeral,” she snorted, though she was definitely less confident than she normally would be. Was this really okay? Sure, they had come close to having full-on sex before, but that was a lot more frenzied and they never actually got to the moment. This took more careful consideration from both of them.

Lips pushed into the underside, cutting off her words. She could tell by the way Ruby’s silver eyes kept flicking to it that she was most curious about the head, but she was working her way up to that.

“Yang?”

“Wh-what?” she whispered with a gulp.

“You smell so good…” Then she blinked, smiling afterward. “You twitched!”

“Huh? I… what, you mean my dick did?”

“Yeah, I felt it! When I said I like how you smell, it definitely- there it did again!”

Blushing slightly, Yang averted her eyes. “S-so what? You’re telling me you like my… it’s weird, and I can’t help it!”

“You don’t like that I like it?”

“I don’t think my half-sister should be telling me my dick smells good, no! That’s kind of not normal!”

She let out a little “oh” before kissing the side of the shaft, shifting up a little more. There was a flicker of guilt, but Ruby got over it. They were both getting over it. “Then… what will you say about your half-sister wanting to know how it tastes?” Her tongue flicked out, and they both shivered. “It’s so warm…”

“God…” Another kiss, higher. “Ruby, you really wanna… do this? Put me in your mouth?”

“I told you, I wanted to try that out in the hallway.” Another deep breath as her face drifted higher, and Yang tried not to watch her soft pink lips, not to stare down her tank top at the brief glimpses of creamy cleavage. Not to want this more than she was saying she did. “Like… I knew you had a dick, but until I saw it sticking out like that, I… I didn’t think about it being real, and something I could… touch. And the minute that turned into a thing for me…”

Why not start being a little more bold? Ruby seemed to be having no problem. “You wanted it?” A slight nod. “It’s so weird for me… but you wanted to touch it. To… kiss it?”

She kissed it. Just a little one, but against the head this time. As Yang was shivering, she drew back and licked her lips again… and this time, her eyes closed in bliss as she groaned in detached satisfaction.

“Shhh! You want your mom to hear us?”

“She’s out, grocery shopping,” Ruby whispered as her eyes opened again. Then she smirked. “Besides, I think you’d be okay with her hearing you. I mean, you didn’t mind poking her with this.”

The little squeeze had a stab of fingernails to it. So Ruby hadn’t completely forgiven her for that; she knew it was too good to be true. “I’m sorry. You know that, I told you it was-”

“Shhh,” Ruby told her, the whisper sending an air current over her erection that made her shiver. The fingernails vanished. “I’m teasing again. Just let me know if you want me to back off so you two can be together.”

“Ruby, stop. I love you, and… your lips are the only ones I want to see wrapped around my cock.”

If Ruby could tease, then Yang could tease right back. Of course, she didn’t count on the teasing making Ruby blink and turn as red as a stoplight. Flustered, she let out a nervous giggle and looked down at Yang’s dick as if it had sprung up out of nowhere.

“I… I w-want… to try that,” Ruby said, a little more honestly. “I’m just… I’m afraid I’ll be really bad at it. And I don’t want you to… to not like it.”

“Can’t be any worse than me misfiring,” Yang tried to joke. It worked, and the shame in Ruby’s eyes turned to sympathy; at least the focus was off her own nerves. “Anyway… I um, I was exaggerating; I’d like to see how that feels, too, but I don’t want you to try it if you’re not ready. Like, we could quit right now and go watch Netflix. It’s cool.”

“Well, I’m at least gonna jerk you off,” she muttered, and Yang snorted. Then she kissed the head again. “Is this okay?”

All Yang could do was nod. Another kiss, on the border between head and shaft. Another right on the tip. Ruby licked her lips again, shivering and closing her eyes as she relished the taste.

“It’s really that good to you?”

“Oh yeah. I mean, it’s not like, as good as ice cream or anything, I’m not that weird. But it’s kind of… salty, with a little tang. Tangy Yang; I like it. And with the scent… like…”

She definitely wanted to say more. Instead, she lowered her mouth and began to swirl her tongue around the head. Yang strangled an outcry of surprise behind one of her hands, eyes wide and watching as her half-sister got bolder and bolder, lips plying at the tip as her tongue tasted further down.

Ruby was going down on her. Really going down on her.

“Are you sure we should be doing this?” she couldn’t help but whisper as Ruby started moaning slightly around her head. “It’s… I’m st- I’m still trying to figure out how I’m okay with just kissing you!”

Pulling off her for a second, she whispered back, “And I’m still just kissing you! It’s… just not on your mouth!” The little giggle made Yang grunt in annoyance, which only made her giggle louder. “Come on, it’s not like guys and girls don’t try this all the time in school! No biggie!”

“But I’m your-” There was no point in finishing that; they both knew what she was going to say. “Fine, but like… I don’t know. Nevermind, I’m just freaking out.”

“Do you want me down here instead?” To illustrate, Ruby moved her mouth down to kiss Yang’s sack. Yang breathed a sigh of relief, and Ruby noticed, leaning her head against Yang’s thigh for a second. “You do. This is easier for you, huh?”

“Well…”

When Yang didn’t keep going, Ruby kissed her thigh instead of doing anything else. “You want me to stop, don’t you?”

“Well… no, but… I don’t… know if I can handle…” Then Ruby kissed her sack again. “Hnh… it’s nice, but not… in a sexy way? Yet still sexy. I don’t know.”

“This is easier, though. I get it, like… I’m the same way with you doing anything to me down there.” As she kissed, she stroked a little, just enough to keep Yang hard. “It’s definitely going to feel good, but I’m too nervous to let it happen. We’re both kind of… yeah.”

Nodding, Yang swallowed as Ruby began to use her tongue on her sack a little here and there. It was so gentle; she knew that if Ruby was too rough with her there, she would get a lot less docile, but for now she liked it and didn’t mind her continuing. “You get it. I’m all about you giving me head, it felt great, you were doing great, I just… can’t seem to let you do it without flipping my wig and telling you to stop. What the hell?”

“It’s because it’s sex. Oral sex, sure, but still, like… more than just me nomming on your balls or giving you a handjob.”

“You sound like such a sailor,” Yang laughed, and Ruby grinned at her for a moment, taking a break with her mouth even though her hand kept going. “Mmm… this is good. Just whatever we’re doing now.”

“Jerking you off.”

“You know what I mean.” Ruby started in with her mouth on her sack again, and Yang sighed, “Nnhhh… you’re getting pretty good at that, whatever it is.”

Just as Ruby shrugged, she also took one of Yang’s spheres into her mouth. Yang almost shouted at her to be careful… but she was already being so careful that she felt like it would have been redundant. So instead, she merely sat back and enjoyed the strange, warm sensation. Teeth did graze her once or twice, but way less than she was afraid they would. She only did it for a few seconds before switching to the other ball, which felt about the same to Yang, just on the other side.

By this time, Yang could feel herself getting a little closer. Determined not to make a repeat of last time, she whispered, “You’re about to make me… come.” It was a nasty way to put it, but she didn’t want to cause any confusion like last time.

“Yeah? Again?” Ruby was only curious, not disapproving or teasing. Her lips pressed into the slight wrinkles of skin between sack and shaft. “Can… I try again? If you’re about to finish… I’m really…”

“What is it?” Yang asked, trying not to buck her hips.

“I’ve been wondering what that’s like ever since I saw the panties with your spunk in them,” she breathed urgently as she sat up a little more, kissing the head again. “Like… it’s gross, but I wanted to try it right then. Even though it was already finished and out, and everything.”

Yang couldn’t help it. She had to reach down to caress Ruby’s cheek. “You wanna taste me? You’re… like, you want to not just try… but really suck me off?”

“If I thought I could handle it, I’d want to give you a real blowjob,” she told her in no uncertain terms, and Yang felt it twitch - or really, they both did. Another kiss, and she could see that Ruby was embarrassed but pushing through it. “Come in my mouth. Please?”

That almost made her lose it there and then. But she held on, enough to whisper, “It’s gonna happen s-soon… so you’d better stahHHHAH!”

Ruby’s mouth was around her immediately, the hand stopping stroking for long enough for her to get a good seal, to begin moving her tongue around the head again. As she had already known, her mouth really did look good like that… wrapped around her cock.

A few more strokes and she was spurting, hard. She could tell by the way Ruby’s eyes flew open that she hadn’t been truly prepared for the feeling, and there were a few gagging noises, but she managed to keep most of it in, swallowing furiously and ignoring the tears that sprung to her own eyes from the effort. Yang, meanwhile, was a mess of writhing and growling through the teeth digging into her bottom lip. It was definitely the hardest orgasm of her life, and she had her half-sister’s pretty mouth to thank for it.

Once Yang was very clearly spent, Ruby sat back a little and pushed a hand into her mouth for a second. She looked to be struggling, and took a few steadying breaths to keep herself from losing it, whatever “it” was. Yang hoped it wasn’t her lunch. Then she bent down and took her again.

“Ruby, what are you doing?!”

“Getting the rest,” she breathed as she took a break. Sure, there were remnants still making their way out, plus a drip or two Ruby had let get past her, but Yang didn’t think they mattered. Apparently, they did to Ruby; she was getting it all, as if she needed to.

Once she finished, she still kept kissing all over that area, though they were light and loving instead of truly meant to arouse. When she felt one down closer to her ass, she bumped her back with her heel.

“What?”

“What are you doing?” Yang asked again with a weak laugh.

“Showing you how much I liked that,” she told her easily, taking her head into her mouth again and letting it fall an instant later. It was just as well, because Yang had winced at the feeling; it hadn’t been long enough for her to be able to fully enjoy that again.

“Well, you can quit now; I know you liked it.”

“But… I like this. I like doing this still. It’s… I love it, Yang.” It was almost as surprising to Ruby as it was to Yang. “Wow. I knew I kinda liked your dick, but seriously, it’s the most fun to just… do this for you. Make you happy this way, the way only I can do. Even if I’m not that great at it yet…”

“Are you kidding? You were amazing! Like… come here. Just come up here, okay?”

Glancing down at the dick, Ruby pouted. “But…”

“You can go back to that later,” she snorted. Regretfully, Ruby gave it a final kiss and crawled up to rest next to Yang. “Good. Now, why do you think you weren’t good?”

“Because it was my first time, and I barely know what I’m doing?”

“Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but that was pretty great to me. Like, I can barely think anymore, you made me come so hard! So… just because you’re not ready for a ‘real blowjob’ doesn’t mean it was bad! It was like, jerking me off - which I already love - but with a bonus mouth around the tip! Who could hate that?”

“Not me! It makes me so wet,” she confessed, which made Yang blink. “Which like, I’m still not sure I’m into doing anything about that… but maybe soon, we can try something on me. Just… not right now. Right now, I just wanna lay here and think about how I have you inside my stomach.”

So that was it; that was why Ruby insisted on getting every last drop. She wanted a little of her lover inside of her. And if they weren’t quite ready to do that through the usual means…

“I’m glad you do,” she whispered as she kissed Ruby’s nose. The brunette with the red streak looked up at her, and she kissed her on the lips, ignoring her own flavour so she could enjoy the feeling of her sister’s mouth on her own. “And… I’m glad you seem to like my balls so much.”

“Hey, doesn’t everybody like to play with balls? Look at how many different sports we have,” she joked, and they both snorted. “And I could do more. Later, when you can go again; I know dicks have to recharge.”

After that, Yang was too busy laughing about rechargeable dicks to take the conversation seriously.

#every little part of you #Enabler #rwby smut #naughtybutweiss #rwbyremnants #nsfw-link #nsfw-text

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hidediddle · 7 years

Text

Evil Overlord List

This Evil Overlord List is Copyright 1996-1997 by Peter Anspach. If you enjoy it, feel free to pass it along or post it anywhere. 1. My Legions of Terror will have helmets with clear plexiglass visors, not face-concealing ones. 2. My ventilation ducts will be too small to crawl through. 3. My noble half-brother whose throne I usurped will be killed, not kept anonymously imprisoned in a forgotten cell of my dungeon. 4. Shooting is not too good for my enemies. 5. The artifact which is the source of my power will not be kept on the Mountain of Despair beyond the River of Fire guarded by the Dragons of Eternity. It will be in my safe-deposit box. The same applies to the object which is my one weakness. 6. I will not gloat over my enemies' predicament before killing them. 7. When I've captured my adversary and he says, "Look, before you kill me, will you at least tell me what this is all about?" I'll say, "No." and shoot him. No, on second thought I'll shoot him then say "No." 8. After I kidnap the beautiful princess, we will be married immediately in a quiet civil ceremony, not a lavish spectacle in three weeks' time during which the final phase of my plan will be carried out. 9. I will not include a self-destruct mechanism unless absolutely necessary. If it is necessary, it will not be a large red button labelled "Danger: Do Not Push". The big red button marked "Do Not Push" will instead trigger a spray of bullets on anyone stupid enough to disregard it. Similarly, the ON/OFF switch will not clearly be labelled as such. 10. I will not interrogate my enemies in the inner sanctum -- a small hotel well outside my borders will work just as well. 11. I will be secure in my superiority. Therefore, I will feel no need to prove it by leaving clues in the form of riddles or leaving my weaker enemies alive to show they pose no threat. 12. One of my advisors will be an average five-year-old child. Any flaws in my plan that he is able to spot will be corrected before implementation. 13. All slain enemies will be cremated, or at least have several rounds of ammunition emptied into them, not left for dead at the bottom of the cliff. The announcement of their deaths, as well as any accompanying celebration, will be deferred until after the aforementioned disposal. 14. The hero is not entitled to a last kiss, a last cigarette, or any other form of last request. 15. I will never employ any device with a digital countdown. If I find that such a device is absolutely unavoidable, I will set it to activate when the counter reaches 117 and the hero is just putting his plan into operation. 16. I will never utter the sentence "But before I kill you, there's just one thing I want to know." 17. When I employ people as advisors, I will occasionally listen to their advice. 18. I will not have a son. Although his laughably under-planned attempt to usurp power would easily fail, it would provide a fatal distraction at a crucial point in time. 19. I will not have a daughter. She would be as beautiful as she was evil, but one look at the hero's rugged countenance and she'd betray her own father. 20. Despite its proven stress-relieving effect, I will not indulge in maniacal laughter. When so occupied, it's too easy to miss unexpected developments that a more attentive individual could adjust to accordingly. 21. I will hire a talented fashion designer to create original uniforms for my Legions of Terror, as opposed to some cheap knock-offs that make them look like Nazi stormtroopers, Roman footsoldiers, or savage Mongol hordes. All were eventually defeated and I want my troops to have a more positive mind-set. 22. No matter how tempted I am with the prospect of unlimited power, I will not consume any energy field bigger than my head. 23. I will keep a special cache of low-tech weapons and train my troops in their use. That way -- even if the heroes manage to neutralize my power generator and/or render the standard-issue energy weapons useless -- my troops will not be overrun by a handful of savages armed with spears and rocks. 24. I will maintain a realistic assessment of my strengths and weaknesses. Even though this takes some of the fun out of the job, at least I will never utter the line "No, this cannot be! I AM INVINCIBLE!!!" (After that, death is usually instantaneous.) 25. No matter how well it would perform, I will never construct any sort of machinery which is completely indestructible except for one small and virtually inaccessible vulnerable spot. 26. No matter how attractive certain members of the rebellion are, there is probably someone just as attractive who is not desperate to kill me. Therefore, I will think twice before ordering a prisoner sent to my bedchamber. 27. I will never build only one of anything important. All important systems will have redundant control panels and power supplies. For the same reason I will always carry at least two fully loaded weapons at all times. 28. My pet monster will be kept in a secure cage from which it cannot escape and into which I could not accidentally stumble. 29. I will dress in bright and cheery colors, and so throw my enemies into confusion. 30. All bumbling conjurers, clumsy squires, no-talent bards, and cowardly thieves in the land will be preemptively put to death. My foes will surely give up and abandon their quest if they have no source of comic relief. 31. All naive, busty tavern wenches in my realm will be replaced with surly, world-weary waitresses who will provide no unexpected reinforcement and/or romantic subplot for the hero or his sidekick. 32. I will not fly into a rage and kill a messenger who brings me bad news just to illustrate how evil I really am. Good messengers are hard to come by. 33. I won't require high-ranking female members of my organization to wear a stainless-steel bustier. Morale is better with a more casual dress-code. Similarly, outfits made entirely from black leather will be reserved for formal occasions. 34. I will not turn into a snake. It never helps. 35. I will not grow a goatee. In the old days they made you look diabolic. Now they just make you look like a disaffected member of Generation X. 36. I will not imprison members of the same party in the same cell block, let alone the same cell. If they are important prisoners, I will keep the only key to the cell door on my person instead of handing out copies to every bottom-rung guard in the prison. 37. If my trusted lieutenant tells me my Legions of Terror are losing a battle, I will believe him. After all, he's my trusted lieutenant. 38. If an enemy I have just killed has a younger sibling or offspring anywhere, I will find them and have them killed immediately, instead of waiting for them to grow up harboring feelings of vengeance towards me in my old age. 39. If I absolutely must ride into battle, I will certainly not ride at the forefront of my Legions of Terror, nor will I seek out my opposite number among his army. 40. I will be neither chivalrous nor sporting. If I have an unstoppable superweapon, I will use it as early and as often as possible instead of keeping it in reserve. 41. Once my power is secure, I will destroy all those pesky time-travel devices. 42. When I capture the hero, I will make sure I also get his dog, monkey, ferret, or whatever sickeningly cute little animal capable of untying ropes and filching keys happens to follow him around. 43. I will maintain a healthy amount of skepticism when I capture the beautiful rebel and she claims she is attracted to my power and good looks and will gladly betray her companions if I just let her in on my plans. 44. I will only employ bounty hunters who work for money. Those who work for the pleasure of the hunt tend to do dumb things like even the odds to give the other guy a sporting chance. 45. I will make sure I have a clear understanding of who is responsible for what in my organization. For example, if my general screws up I will not draw my weapon, point it at him, say "And here is the price for failure," then suddenly turn and kill some random underling. 46. If an advisor says to me "My liege, he is but one man. What can one man possibly do?", I will reply "This." and kill the advisor. 47. If I learn that a callow youth has begun a quest to destroy me, I will slay him while he is still a callow youth instead of waiting for him to mature. 48. I will treat any beast which I control through magic or technology with respect and kindness. Thus if the control is ever broken, it will not immediately come after me for revenge. 49. If I learn the whereabouts of the one artifact which can destroy me, I will not send all my troops out to seize it. Instead I will send them out to seize something else and quietly put a Want-Ad in the local paper. 50. My main computers will have their own special operating system that will be completely incompatible with standard IBM and Macintosh powerbooks. 51. If one of my dungeon guards begins expressing concern over the conditions in the beautiful princess' cell, I will immediately transfer him to a less people-oriented position. 52. I will hire a team of board-certified architects and surveyors to examine my castle and inform me of any secret passages and abandoned tunnels that I might not know about. 53. If the beautiful princess that I capture says "I'll never marry you! Never, do you hear me, NEVER!!!", I will say "Oh well" and kill her. 54. I will not strike a bargain with a demonic being then attempt to double-cross it simply because I feel like being contrary. 55. The deformed mutants and odd-ball psychotics will have their place in my Legions of Terror. However before I send them out on important covert missions that require tact and subtlety, I will first see if there is anyone else equally qualified who would attract less attention. 56. My Legions of Terror will be trained in basic marksmanship. Any who cannot learn to hit a man-sized target at 10 meters will be used for target practice. 57. Before employing any captured artifacts or machinery, I will carefully read the owner's manual. 58. If it becomes necessary to escape, I will never stop to pose dramatically and toss off a one-liner. 59. I will never build a sentient computer smarter than I am. 60. My five-year-old child advisor will also be asked to decipher any code I am thinking of using. If he breaks the code in under 30 seconds, it will not be used. Note: this also applies to passwords. 61. If my advisors ask "Why are you risking everything on such a mad scheme?", I will not proceed until I have a response that satisfies them. 62. I will design fortress hallways with no alcoves or protruding structural supports which intruders could use for cover in a firefight. 63. Bulk trash will be disposed of in incinerators, not compactors. And they will be kept hot, with none of that nonsense about flames going through accessible tunnels at predictable intervals. 64. I will see a competent psychiatrist and get cured of all extremely unusual phobias and bizarre compulsive habits which could prove to be a disadvantage. 65. If I must have computer systems with publically available terminals, the maps they display of my complex will have a room clearly marked as the Main Control Room. That room will be the Execution Chamber. The actual main control room will be marked as Sewage Overflow Containment. 66. My security keypad will actually be a fingerprint scanner. Anyone who watches someone press a sequence of buttons or dusts the pad for fingerprints then subsequently tries to enter by repeating that sequence will trigger the alarm system. 67. No matter how many shorts we have in the system, my guards will be instructed to treat every surveillance camera malfunction as a full-scale emergency. 68. I will spare someone who saved my life sometime in the past. This is only reasonable as it encourages others to do so. However, the offer is good one time only. If they want me to spare them again, they'd better save my life again. 69. All midwives will be banned from the realm. All babies will be delivered at state-approved hospitals. Orphans will be placed in foster-homes, not abandoned in the woods to be raised by creatures of the wild. 70. When my guards split up to search for intruders, they will always travel in groups of at least two. They will be trained so that if one of them disappears mysteriously while on patrol, the other will immediately initiate an alert and call for backup, instead of quizzically peering around a corner. 71. If I decide to test a lieutenant's loyalty and see if he/she should be made a trusted lieutenant, I will have a crack squad of marksmen standing by in case the answer is no. 72. If all the heroes are standing together around a strange device and begin to taunt me, I will pull out a conventional weapon instead of using my unstoppable superweapon on them. 73. I will not agree to let the heroes go free if they win a rigged contest, even though my advisors assure me it is impossible for them to win. 74. When I create a multimedia presentation of my plan designed so that my five-year-old advisor can easily understand the details, I will not label the disk "Project Overlord" and leave it lying on top of my desk. 75. I will instruct my Legions of Terror to attack the hero en masse, instead of standing around waiting while members break off and attack one or two at a time. 76. If the hero runs up to my roof, I will not run up after him and struggle with him in an attempt to push him over the edge. I will also not engage him at the edge of a cliff. (In the middle of a rope-bridge over a river of molten lava is not even worth considering.) 77. If I have a fit of temporary insanity and decide to give the hero the chance to reject a job as my trusted lieutentant, I will retain enough sanity to wait until my current trusted lieutenant is out of earshot before making the offer. 78. I will not tell my Legions of Terror "And he must be taken alive!" The command will be "And try to take him alive if it is reasonably practical." 79. If my doomsday device happens to come with a reverse switch, as soon as it has been employed it will be melted down and made into limited-edition commemorative coins. 80. If my weakest troops fail to eliminate a hero, I will send out my best troops instead of wasting time with progressively stronger ones as he gets closer and closer to my fortress. 81. If I am fighting with the hero atop a moving platform, have disarmed him, and am about to finish him off and he glances behind me and drops flat, I too will drop flat instead of quizzically turning around to find out what he saw. 82. I will not shoot at any of my enemies if they are standing in front of the crucial support beam to a heavy, dangerous, unbalanced structure. 83. If I'm eating dinner with the hero, put poison in his goblet, then have to leave the table for any reason, I will order new drinks for both of us instead of trying to decide whether or not to switch with him. 84. I will not have captives of one sex guarded by members of the opposite sex. 85. I will not use any plan in which the final step is horribly complicated, e.g. "Align the 12 Stones of Power on the sacred altar then activate the medallion at the moment of total eclipse." Instead it will be more along the lines of "Push the button." 86. I will make sure that my doomsday device is up to code and properly grounded. 87. My vats of hazardous chemicals will be covered when not in use. Also, I will not construct walkways above them. 88. If a group of henchmen fail miserably at a task, I will not berate them for incompetence then send the same group out to try the task again. 89. After I captures the hero's superweapon, I will not immediately disband my legions and relax my guard because I believe whoever holds the weapon is unstoppable. After all, the hero held the weapon and I took it from him. 90. I will not design my Main Control Room so that every workstation is facing away from the door. 91. I will not ignore the messenger that stumbles in exhausted and obviously agitated until my personal grooming or current entertainment is finished. It might actually be important. 92. If I ever talk to the hero on the phone, I will not taunt him. Instead I will say this his dogged perseverance has given me new insight on the futility of my evil ways and that if he leaves me alone for a few months of quiet contemplation I will likely return to the path of righteousness. (Heroes are incredibly gullible in this regard.) 93. If I decide to hold a double execution of the hero and an underling who failed or betrayed me, I will see to it that the hero is scheduled to go first. 94. When arresting prisoners, my guards will not allow them to stop and grab a useless trinket of purely sentimental value. 95. My dungeon will have its own qualified medical staff complete with bodyguards. That way if a prisoner becomes sick and his cellmate tells the guard it's an emergency, the guard will fetch a trauma team instead of opening up the cell for a look. 96. My door mechanisms will be designed so that blasting the control panel on the outside seals the door and blasting the control panel on the inside opens the door, not vice versa. 97. My dungeon cells will not be furnished with objects that contain reflective surfaces or anything that can be unravelled. 98. If an attractive young couple enters my realm, I will carefully monitor their activities. If I find they are happy and affectionate, I will ignore them. However if circumstance have forced them together against their will and they spend all their time bickering and criticizing each other except during the intermittent occasions when they are saving each others' lives at which point there are hints of sexual tension, I will immediately order their execution. 99. Any data file of crucial importance will be padded to 1.45Mb in size. 100. Finally, to keep my subjects permanently locked in a mindless trance, I will provide each of them with free unlimited Internet access.

#copyright #not mine #please don't sue me #random #funny

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texanredrose · 7 years

Note

Tex, if you do one of those buisness aus, so help me world, there better be a lesbean in a suit.

*bangs fist on table* I FINALLY FINISHED THIS… well… the first part, at least. Thanks to @fallintolife for developing this universe with for me. Also, @cass-burger and @maburito, here y’all go. Business AU now affectionately nicknamed Joint Venture. And thank you, anon, for the suggestion!

Yang sighed, squinting at the computer screen and rereading the proposal for the fifth time. Something felt off about it- entirely too accommodating, no blatantly ambiguous wording, no footnote to turn to an obscure page for some loophole- and she’d become adept at noticing when all the standard hallmarks of greed were absent. It often meant a more cutting clause lay buried somewhere in the text but she couldn’t, for the life of her, find it. Normally, she’d stop any task that threatened to get her this frustrated, but she simply couldn’t, not with the project deadline looming on the horizon. The entire floor consisted of harried office workers doing their best to finalize the details and she- being the CEO’s intern- had her own responsibilities to ensure everything would go off without a hitch. Which meant she had to find the blasted thing, and the quicker the better.

Probably anyone who’d known Yang Xiao Long in high school might be absolutely shocked at the turn her life had taken. A tri-sport athlete who got a full ride on her boxing skills wouldn’t strike many as the type to become a paper pusher, yet here she sat, pouring over contracts for Remnant’s largest dust company, and busting her ass every day to make sure she impressed her boss, which was no small feat.

Winter Schnee, eldest of the Schnee siblings and current CEO, redefined the concept of a ‘take no shit’ attitude. Tall, elegant, with piercing blue eyes and a perpetual resting bitch face that could make even the blonde’s usual brash confidence falter, the woman radiated an aura of unquestionable power and authority unlike anything Yang had ever seen before. Her business acumen tended towards the ruthless side, a by product of military training that served her well in many other ways, too, but she could definitely be compassionate and treated her employees fairly- even the Faunus ones, a decision that broke the mold from her father’s practices and earned her quite a bit of flak from stodgy old curmudgeons on the board at first. But Winter was a compelling force, especially when she had her younger sister and COO, Weiss, backing her up. Where the elder had laser focused remarks and an imposing demeanor, the second born child of the Schnee line had a razor sharp wit ready to explode at a moment’s notice. Between them, they could intimidate just about anyone into bending to their whims, and had used that clout for several social gatherings to walk back their father’s previous policies and improve trading and commerce within their sector, relinquishing the iron clad grip they had on the monopoly to allow new blood to enter the scene.

When it came right down to it, that glimmer of hope constituted the sole reason she’d even taken the internship at all. Ever since they were kids, Ruby had two distinct passions: being the hero and tinkering with weapons. What better way to combine them than open a weapons shop that catered to everything a Hunter could want? Although she had her own Hunter License and could go slay the Grimm to her heart’s content herself, four years at Beacon Combat Academy had given her a real drive to create better weapons than the hand-me-downs she saw her classmates using, improving the Hunters’ overall capabilities and hopefully one day eradicating the Grimm threat entirely. Her little sis always had a pretty good head on her shoulders, able to see the bigger picture, and she had no desire to jack up the prices so they could get rich. Just enough to break even, or maybe a little extra, would be enough for her, considering the rather ludicrous sums she got from the kingdoms for killing Grimm.

However, seeing as Ruby dedicated herself to learning about weapons and Grimm and Dust, if she wanted to see her little sister’s dream come true, Yang would have to schlep through the boring stuff that businesses entailed, like negotiating contracts, learning business laws, and getting a sweet reference and/or deal with the biggest Dust company on the planet. That meant finding this thrice damned clause if it was the last thing she did!

“Knock knock.”

Yang blinked, concentration broken even as a smile came to her lips. She’d recognize that voice anywhere. “Who is it?”

“Please, could we not-”

“Is it a broken pencil?” She pushed off with her feet, causing the office chair to swirl around so she could look at the entrance to her little cubicle. Her desk sat on the west side of the floor, directly in front of her boss’ temporary office, with a little partition blocking her view from everyone else. The opening to her small space was on the side facing Winter’s office door, a thick plane of one-way glass separating the CEO from everyone else. Usually, they would be at the very top of the building- the floor that housed only Weiss’ and Winter’s offices and yet managed to take up the entire floor anyway- but both the CEO and the COO had decided the very nature of this particular project and all the moving pieces required more direct supervision. The move had caused quite a bit of fuss among the poor bastards who worked on the floor, but they eventually came to realize that the big, scary, Ice Queen and Ice Princess duo were more concerned about getting the job done without running anyone ragged than obsessing over the cleanliness of one’s desk.

Despite knowing full well how this would end, the Faunus’ ears perked up in curiosity. “A broken pencil?”

“Ah, nevermind.” She shrugged, an apologetic smirk on her lips. “It’s pointless.”

Almost immediately, Blake rolled her eyes, a hand coming up to cover her face as she sighed in deep disappointment. “Why do I set myself up for these things? After four years of living with you…”

“One would think you’d have developed a sense of humor!” The blonde finished for her best friend, laughing while sitting back in her chair, trying her hardest to be mindful of her skirt. Personally, she preferred suits or dresses- if she wanted to be really fancy- but a little variety in her wardrobe couldn’t hurt her chances, not that they were particularly noteworthy anyway. Crossing one leg over the other, she cocked her head to the side and gave the Faunus a once over. “Trying something a little different today?”

Between the two of them, Blake always tended more towards the traditionally feminine side. Maybe it came from how long she wore a bow in her hair to hide the feline ears marking her heritage and her penchant for eye shadow but, for whatever reason, dresses and skirts seemed to be more up her alley than Yang’s when it came to formal attire. Yet, today, she was sporting a rather flattering black pantsuit with purple pinstripes ensemble that made her eyes positively pop. Not to mention she wore her usually long, flowing black hair up in as tight a bun as her mane could be wrangled into, exposing her slender neck, made all the more obvious when she shrugged. “I thought it might work.”

The blonde let out a low whistle, lilac eyes scanning her best friend’s form for a second time. “You saying she hasn’t done anything with you wearing that?”

“Nothing,” the Faunus replied with a weary sigh. “I’m beginning to give up hope.”

They were both in a pretty terrible situation. On the one hand, they needed their internships to go well for obvious reasons- Yang had a sister’s dream to make reality and Blake had the hopes of her entire family riding on securing a good standing relationship with the new and improved Schnee Dust Company. That’s a lot of pressure to be the best interns the CEO and COO could hope for, respectively. But on the other… their bosses were hot. Colder than ice in their business dealings, imperious in their looks, downright flawless in their beauty, and Winter got every gear in the blonde’s motor spinning at full speed. The same could be said for Blake in reference to Weiss, the Faunus having lamented more than once that, had they just gotten the other’s position, perhaps every work day wouldn’t feel like walking a razor’s edge between their responsibilities and their desires.

It would be easier if they could be overt. Drop a few pick-up lines, bat their eyelashes, maybe even be bold enough to outright ask the women on dates. But, seeing as that would create a conflict of interest- something neither could afford given their aforementioned responsibilities- they were left to count lingering looks and brief brushes as their only victories. Conversely, if there was no interest to be found, then at least they would know; Yang had been through the wringer a time or two for hitting on straight chicks, so she already had a patented apology system worked out that resulted in nine women out of ten being flattered by her interest, even if they didn’t swing that way. Blake, always being the more hesitant- she would say ‘selective’- of the two, hadn’t quite reached that point, and hoped things never got to it.

“Don’t say that, Blakey.” She propped her head up on one fist, resting her elbow in the chair’s armrest. “Our internship’s almost over. There’s still the 'go for broke’ plan, if everything else fails.”

“I don’t know, Yang.” Crossing her arms over her chest, the Faunus leaned against the partition, careful not to crinkle the manila folder in her off hand. “Maybe we should just quit while we’re ahead. Go… I dunno, hit the bar or something.”

“Now, I know you’re getting into your own head when you are the one suggesting we spend a night in a loud bar instead of a book store.” She frowned, getting up and putting a consoling hand on her best friend’s shoulder. “Keep your chin up, Belladonna. Even if you’re right and they are straight, or just not interested, we aren’t going out to get hammered like a couple of clueless chumps.”

“Oh, is that right?” One black brow arched up. “And what’s your plan for getting over this entire mess?”

“Simple.” She smiled. “We grab to go from that sushi place you like, hunker down in my living room, and eat our weight in ice cream while watching Love Letter from Vale on repeat until we both slip into a food coma or fall asleep crying, whichever comes first. Like perfectly well adjusted adults.”

Although she was expecting some manner of ridiculous response- hey, she did know who she was dealing with, after all- Blake still let out a surprised laugh, amusement shining clear in her eyes as she shoved at the blonde’s shoulder. “You goofball. Can’t you take anything serious?”

“Hey.” Her smile stretched wider. “Where’s the fun in that?”

From the other side of the one way glass, Winter Schnee watched her intern closely. Perhaps a little… too closely.

She sat behind her temporary desk, having appropriated an unused one from a vacant corner office rather than have the movers they kept on retainer haul hers down from the top floor. Her relocation didn’t affect any meetings she held and purely served to make communications between the various project leads, their teams, and the executives easier, given how much was riding on the whole deal going through. One would think that, as the premiere Dust supplier in Remnant, they could dictate their terms to the kingdoms to suit their needs, but ever since she and Weiss had forged a new way ahead for their family’s company, throwing their weight around to get their way was reserved for the causes that truly deserved it, not day-to-day business.

One would think that managing the company would consume all her hours, every thought put towards second guessing and triple guessing the movements of anyone who might stand to profit if the SDC took a nosedive, but she actually had a surprising amount of free time. The team working for her operated like a well oiled machine, the brightest minds applying themselves wholeheartedly to tackling any task she threw their way, and with her sister ready to check over her shoulder with a fresh set of eyes, they effectively recovered from the severe hit their 'radical’ policies caused, sitting now with a higher profit margin and cleaner consciences than a year ago, and their diversified employee base had wrought many, many returns.

Unfortunately, there came a steep downside, too, that caught her entirely by surprise. And- her eyes narrowed as a familiar figure approached her intern’s desk- she wasn’t the only one.

Already, her hand moved to intercept the call she knew was coming, hitting the blinking speaker button before the ringer could even sound. “Why must you vex me so?”

“Because I cannot focus and these expenditure reports won’t audit themselves,” her sister replied, the edges of her voice sounded frazzled. “It’s your turn to be distracted.”

“I can’t say I blame you, Weiss.” Her lips turned down at the corners, eyeing the Faunus’ clean, crisp suit as she stepped up and knocked on the partition separating her intern’s desk space from the rest of the floor. They’d thought offering internships to the local universities would be a good step in building rapport among the up-and-coming business leaders of the new age, one free of the archaic traditions of their father’s time. It certainly helped open their doors to aspiring Faunus graduates, many of whom applied to the specialty departments and improved efficiency in unexpected places purely from longstanding habits adopted on Menagerie. Limited resources spawned unique methods of minimizing waste and, all in all, the improved diversity was a boon in every way… except when unexpected complications arose. “But I’m not sure you’ll be able to get much done if you divide your attention between the audits and talking to me.”

“Sister, I don’t ask much or often, please.” The shuffling of papers and clacking of a keyboard could just barely be heard over the phone line. “I’m quite certain I’ll explode at this rate and you aren’t faring much better, I’d imagine.”

She wished she could play the role of the calm, patient, supportive elder sister at that moment. However, both of them knew better than that. “Very well, you first.”

“She’s perfect.” Weiss lamented over the phone, practically growling out the words. “She listens to The Sterlings, she has strong opinions and she’s exceptionally articulate in expressing them, she’s always current on world events, she has no problems speaking her mind, her ears are adorable, I think I’ve gotten lost in her eyes at least three times today alone, and have I mentioned that she’s possibly the most kindhearted person I’ve ever met?”

“Maybe once or twice,” Winter replied, despite there being no need. It helped distract her from the display just outside her office, on the other side of the glass, where her intern just happened to be flirting with Weiss’ intern. The blonde was laughing about something or other, mirth shining bright in those vivid lilac eyes as she leaned back, one leg crossing over the other, bringing that nearly skin tight skirt just a bit higher up muscled thighs. The modest heels she wore made her calves look fantastic while standing, true, but even seated there was such latent power on display, strength packed and ready to be used at a moment’s notice.

“Blake Belladonna is intelligent, charming, sweet- the list goes on, and ends with 'entirely straight’.” A dull sounded from the other side of the line. “Why? Just… just, why?”

“I have sincere reason to doubt that.” The woman pushed back from her desk, stalking around it so she could lean back against the hard wood, arms crossing over her chest as her gaze never once deviated. How her sister could continue to be so emphatic about such an obviously incorrect conclusion remained beyond her comprehension. “Have you never watched them interact?”

The question itself served no point except to vent the frustration mounting within her as she watched Yang leaned back in her chair, lilac eyes flicking approvingly over her fellow intern’s form. On paper, she didn’t look too terribly different from any other applicant for the internship- a student athlete with the physical prowess to become a full fledged Huntress while also possessing a keen intellect, maintaining high marks throughout university while also earning a few sports titles on the side- but it truly came down to the part of Winter that personally enjoyed disproving age old adages. The moment she saw the attached photo of Yang Xiao Long, with her luscious, wild blonde locks, shining lilac eyes, and beautiful smile that distracted from the slightly crooked nose, the CEO recognized the untapped vein of potential for the SDC and like-minded businesses lying in wait. For far too long had the stuffy elite thought a pretty face could hold nothing more than meeting dates and perhaps a to do list, leaving positions like CEO open to only the masculine or those dictated by birth to bear the title; to have someone so conventionally attractive working directly under her would surely give the younger woman a leg up on the competition, encourage her to persevere where others might falter. She certainly had the determination, that much was evidenced by her grueling course schedule piled on top of her workout routine.

“I think you might be reading too much into it.” Her sister sounded nearly despondent. “They seem more friendly than romantic.”

Both interns shifted, their postures relaxing as always. They were so… comfortable around each other, and she didn’t miss the way Yang got up and reached out towards Blake, contact between them a staple of every interaction. She bit her lip lightly for a moment, watching as whatever momentary unpleasantness they were discussing gave way to more laughter. “They’ve got to be fucking.”

“Winter!” Her sister- caught between frustration and scandal- snapped across the line. “For one thing, that’s hardly a fitting topic for discussion and, quite frankly, I know that’s not the case.”

“And what makes you so certain?” Winter watched as the blonde leaned back against her desk, crossing her arms just under her ample chest and highlighting not only the soft curves concealed by her blouse but the rigid muscles of her arms as well, the fabric pulling taunt against her skin. Something her counterpart seemed to notice too, reaching out to lightly pull on one cuff.

“I found out Blake’s boyfriend’s name is Sun.” Weiss sighed. “They’ve been together a while, apparently.”

The woman hummed, mulling over this new information while she watched, the vile sensation curling in the pit of her gut at once entirely obvious yet something she didn’t want to name quite yet, if only so she could convince herself she was above such pettiness.

“I’m serious, Yang, you’re going to rip that shirt,” Blake said, shaking her head as her ears laid back. “Maybe you should lay off the curls for a little while.”

“Aw, c'mon, I can’t disrespect the armory like that!” She laughed, quickly curling both hands into fists as she pumped her arms- only briefly though. The Faunus wasn’t wrong, after all, and she could practically feel the seams protesting her movements. “But, yeah, I grabbed the wrong one this morning. Too busy looking at what matched, totally missed the fact that I outgrew this one years ago.”

“It’s a shame; the cream color really brings out your eyes.” Her lips quirked into a smirk. “But I’m guessing your luck is about as good as mine.”

Yang sighed, crossing her arms again. “Yeah. I mean, I get it, but I thought I would’ve gotten at least a second glance when I came in this morning.” Wanting to distract herself with the cursed blessing of her boss’ obliviousness regarding every flirtatious attempt she made, the blonde hit on another common topic they discussed. “Hey, how’s Sunny Boy doing, by the way? He found a job yet?”

“He’s got an interview this week, actually. I had to let Weiss know that I might be a little late; I promised I’d give him a ride.” Her expression pinched into one of mild annoyance. “I really hope this one goes well. He’s a great friend and all but I’m not sure I can put up with his habits as a roommate much longer. I swear- if I find one more banana peel in the shower, I’m going to kick him out.”

“Aw, you don’t mean that.” She cocked her head to the side, lowering her voice to strike a balance between supportive and chiding. “You two have been besties for twenty years and he hit a rough patch. Even if it drives you insane in the meantime, you’d let him keep crashing on your couch until he’s back on his feet.”

“You have more faith in my patience than I do.” Blake chuckled with a shake of her head. “At any rate, if this falls through, he’s applying to more places today. I told him to stop wearing open shirts to the interviews might improve his chances but… you know how he is. Plus, he keeps inviting Neptune over, and I’m not sure how much more 'bro-tastic movie marathons’ I can take.”

“Well, if you ever need to retreat to somewhere with less testosterone, you can always crash at my place.” She smiled wide. “It would be like college all over again!”

Her best friend rolled her eyes fondly. “If you’re done being ridiculous, Weiss wanted me to touch base with you about our latest trip to Mistral. She’s auditing the expenditure reports and we need to verify our charges.” Her eyes narrowed. “You did keep the receipts, right?”

“Yeah, I got 'em here, somewhere.” Yang turned around, shuffling through the papers on her desk before snapping her fingers, some niggling reminder popping into her head to check the bottom right drawer of her desk. As she leaned over to sift through it, she flicked her hair over her left shoulder, so she could glance back at the Faunus, who was also leaning over with her ears cocked forward in interest. Somewhere in those amber eyes, she could see the urge to joke about the blonde’s less than stellar organizing system, but Blake refrained by the barest margins. “Oh, hey, when’s that big, super important meeting with the kingdom council, again? Winter’s given me, like, three reminders and I keep spacing the date.”

“It’s next Tuesday.” A little chuckle fell from her lips, the interns exchanging a knowing look. “They’re going to be insufferable over the weekend, you know.”

“Eh, we’ll talk 'em through it.” She smiled, pushing to the side the uneasiness that immediately rose in her. The moment they’d finalized this report, she’d have to dive back into the contract; there was a huge difference between knowing she needed to turn in her annotations on Thursday and realizing that the deal would be sealed the following week. The blonde would have to double down hard on dissecting the text if she wanted to be on time- which meant Wednesday morning at the latest, because Winter would pour over it for two days herself before accepting it and moving forward. It took a while for her to understand that the double- and triple-checking of everything she handed in stemmed not from a lack of confidence in her abilities on her boss’ part but, simply, the fact that every Schnee tended towards obsessive perfectionism that could probably qualify as intense anxiety, if they would ever own up to it. Thankfully, both interns had learned a thing or two about dealing with the executive’s tendencies, and each had their personally tailored list of how to reassure the CEO and COO that every ’t’ was crossed, every 'i’ dotted, and every stone set in place. “If there’s one thing we can actually get across to them, it’s that we’ve got this deal on lock.” At least, they would, no doubt about it. But first, the receipts, which she’d found tucked into an envelope in the drawer. “Alright, so, what do you have?”

Winter bit into her knuckle, pinching her brows together and growling around the digit. “They have to be dating.”

“Blake. Has. A boyfriend.”

She watched the blonde bend over, searching for something within her desk, and the way her counterpart stepped over, looking down as if to offer assistance but refraining. The CEO couldn’t see where her gaze remained trained but she wouldn’t blame the Faunus for sneaking a peek at the way Yang’s skirt rode up just a little, clinging to the curve of her rear. Nothing indecent, of course; while she wouldn’t be so delusional as to claim Yang particularly cared for 'classy’ actions, the woman had the sense enough to conduct herself in an appropriate way at all times, though she did… bend the rules every now and again. Like throwing a wink in at the end of an affirmative response, or making absolutely abysmal puns that never failed to put cracks in Winter’s armor, or nodding off during a meeting when it ran longer than two hours- a few dozen moments flitting through her mind’s eye where Yang had exhibited some action, some mannerism that would’ve driven her father to frown severely at best or fire the blonde at worst. Each contributed to the larger picture, this portrait of a woman who would stop at nothing to achieve her ends and do it all with a smile on her lips and a swagger in her step, brimming with confidence while also showing vulnerability freely, like just then when she ducked her head at a comment Blake made. The woman’s sense of humor, her charismatic demeanor, her firm embrace on the duality of organized chaos, a sharp mind hidden beneath firm muscle and a disarming smile. She could be exacting when the situation called for it but clueless and clumsy the next, vacillating between strong enough to move desks around herself and dropping things for apparently no reason other than them slipping from her grip- she was just so dynamic and vibrant. How could one person be so much, all the time?

“And I refuse to entertain the notion she could be unfaithful. It’s just… not like her. Unless- perhaps it’s one of those… polyamorous relationships? The two of them and this… Sun character? That’s a thing, right?”

The elder Schnee bit harder into her knuckle as the two interns seemingly began pouring over receipts and the file Weiss sent over, Blake leaning over Yang’s shoulder as the two examined everything on the desk. They stood awfully close together and one could make the excuse it made comparing the receipts to the report easier, but Winter could see the way the Faunus leaned against her counterpart’s frame, allowing her weight to rest against the woman’s slightly larger form. That sort of contact spoke of an intimacy that went far beyond coworkers or acquaintances, indicating they’d spent many hours in close proximity to one another, invading the other’s space without so much as a word of complaint.

Naturally, as lovers would.

“That would make everything fit…” Weiss sighed, more shuffling of papers and clacking of keys accompanying her voice. “But it still seems like a stretch. It’s more likely you’re reading their interactions entirely wrong.”

Something must’ve caught her intern’s attention, the blonde going stock still for a moment before hurriedly pushing the little receipts aside to claw through the papers on her desk, desperately searching for something amid the chaos that seemed to constantly surround Yang Xiao Long. She found it almost immediately, hunching her shoulders as she examined the papers intensely, all the while her counterpart straightened up and backed away a step, knowing when to let the woman work. Seeing Yang in action- a whirlwind of focused intent bearing down on whosoever was foolish enough to stand in her way- usually brought a smile to her lips, recognizing in the other woman the same determination that she herself had towards accomplishing her tasks. They went about it different ways- usually, Winter would begin issuing orders in her crisp, military fashion while the blonde seemed more inclined to attend to things personally- but she could respect such passion in motion.

She probably looked even better when working out, that same fire lighting in those devastatingly attractive lilac eyes.

“You stopped listening to me, didn’t you? Or did you mute me again?”

Pulling her knuckle away from her mouth, the elder snapped off a quick response, ignoring the non sequitur inherent in her words. “Weiss, do you have any idea what Yang is wearing today?”

There was a moment of silence before the frustration came back to her sister’s voice. “Winter, I know full well you can see what Blake is wearing, so you tell me- are either of us really faring any better than the other?”

Gritting her teeth, the CEO watched as her intern suddenly stood straight up, fist pumping the air before leaning over and pulling her counterpart close enough to plant a kiss on the Faunus’ forehead. “No.”

“Yang, what was that for?” Blake raised a quizzical brow, more than adjusted to her quirks by this point but curious nonetheless.

Honestly, she was far too ecstatic to really care about how ridiculous she looked right then, dancing in place while holding their receipt from the Mistrali hotel the four had stayed at during their business trip. “I finally figured it out! Why this contract seems too good to be true!” Interest caught, the Faunus leaned over, looking at the paper herself. “See, the council has a standing contract with a specific hotel chain for a discounted rate, but I didn’t make the connection until just now!” She pulled the relevant section of the contract over so her friend could see, setting the hotel receipt they were both just reviewing next to it. “I figured, no big deal, ya know, we don’t stay overnight when the meeting’s within the borders anyway, but they’ve got branches all over Remnant under different names.” She pointed towards the trademark in the bottom corner of the receipt, the same name as on the contract. “According to the contract, part of our obligation would be to honor the kingdom’s standing agreements, so we’d have to use this chain whenever we traveled to see the other mine sites or negotiate with the other kingdoms, and we’d be liable for any charges incurred.”

The Faunus hummed. “Not seeing the issue yet.”

She quickly started scrabbling through the mess of papers, looking for the one she needed. “Well, that contract has a specification- where did it, oh, here we go- see? Only a certain amount of nights are allotted per year before the council has to pay double to offset labor and accommodations. But with how often we travel-”

Feline ears perked up as realization dawned in amber eyes. “We’d burn up the allotments and they’d shunt the excess charges to us or sue for breach of contract.”

Yang smiled, tapping her finger against the paper to accentuate her point. “All this knowing they’ll get a cut of the pie anyway from taxes, because the main chain is just two blocks down Fifth.”

“That’s sneaky.” Blake’s lips lifted in a small smirk, begrudging respect reflecting in her expression. When navigating the treacherous minefield that constituted the cutthroat business world, one had to acknowledge the more clever pitfalls when they appeared, or risk getting fooled later on down the line. “And it wouldn’t be for another six months at least that we realized it, which would be after the initial exit clause closes.”

“Exactly!” Grabbing a red pen from the holder on her desk, she circled the hotel chain, quickly skimming down the rest of the contract and circling various other vendors as she came across them. “I bet if I did a little more digging, I’d find they have other contracts that would screw us over like this, too. I knew this was too good to be true!” Finally, she could assemble a decent review of the contract and pass it off to Winter, allowing the CEO to begin outlining the drafts she wanted for amendments to protect the SDC’s interests. Pride and excitement coursed through her, practically sending her into a tizzy purely from the rush of picturing the look on her boss’ face when she handed in the report. While the blonde might not be able to catch the woman’s eye in a romantic sense, earning a small smile for a job well done quite nearly made up for that. “Thanks for the boost, Blake; talk about good timing!”

Her friend chuckled, holding out her hand. “A lucky coincidence. Here, give me the receipts and I’ll-” A buzzing stopped her short, one hand digging into the pocket of her jacket and pulling out her scroll. As amber eyes read over the text she’d received, her shoulders and ears slumped. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“What’s up?” Quickly scribbling out an arrow to mark her place, Yang turned her attention to the Faunus, concern pinching her brow.

With a frustrated sigh, Blake gave her an annoyed look, ears creating a flat line across the top of her head. “Remember when you brought the dog back to the dorms that one time?”

“You mean Zwei? My dog?” She couldn’t help the grin that came to her lips. There were few times during their friendship when she thought the Faunus might consider outright murdering her in her sleep, and bringing the family dog to college for a visit certainly topped the list.

“Yes.” She flipped the scroll around. “Look what Sun just sent me.”

Blonde brows raised in surprise at the little tabby kitten, quite obviously kneading the comforter on the feline Faunus’ bed mercilessly. “Aw, but it’s a cute kitty!”

“And my apartment doesn’t allow pets!” With an aggravated shake of her head, Blake began furiously tapping out a reply. “I swear, he doesn’t think things through, ever. The last thing I need right now is getting slapped with a warning for breaking the complex’s policies.” Her scroll buzzed again and she pinched the bridge of her nose. “Great, now he’s guilt tripping me.”

“C'mon, Blakey, just tell him to take that kitten over to Neptune’s or something; if he really wants to keep the little guy, he can pick 'em up after he gets his own place.”

“I’m trying.” Blake pressed her lips into a thin line. “He knows I want a pet, but right now isn’t a good time. I need to find a new apartment first, and-

She straightened up, nudging the Faunus’ shoulders with her fist to pull her attention away from madly typing into her scroll. “Hey, how about pizza at my place? I could bust out the old '64 and we could play some Smash Brothers like old times. Get your mind off the roommate troubles.”

For a moment, it looked like she’d be shot down, but slowly the stress seemed to slide away. “You know what? That sounds great.” Yang could hear and see the door opening out of the corner of her eye but kept her attention focused on her friend’s relaxing posture, a reassuring smile on her lips. “Your place, say seven o'clock?”

“We could just leave straight from here!” Her smiled pulled wider but she tried to cut off the conversation quickly, considering Winter was just now stepping out of her office, likely to follow up on her assessment of the contract. The CEO didn’t seem to mind if she discussed personal matters at work from time to time, but there was an unspoken rule that she had to keep on top of her daily tasks in the process. “That work for you?”

“Yeah. Thanks, Yang.” Blake gave her a grateful smile before collecting up the manila folder and the receipts, turning to nod politely at the CEO as she stepped out. “Ms. Schnee.”

The blonde probably should’ve acknowledged her boss, too. Unfortunately, every synapse in her brain shorted out at the same moment as her eyes grew wide. She had already seen the woman that morning- and experienced the exact same mental overload of 'oh wow she’s hot’ and a continuous mantra of 'oh shit oh shit oh shit’ being the only things in her head- but now she wished she’d prepared herself mentally for when it would, of course, inevitably happen again.

Winter Schnee always looked good, that much the blonde had accepted as one of those things that shouldn’t be possible yet was, but today she looked killer. A crisp white suit in pseudo-military design, with the pants tucked into thigh high black boots and a coat held closed by a single button at her waist, the long tails trailing behind her while the front opened up, practically putting the dark blue vest on display, especially the way the ensemble framed her chest. And if that wasn’t enough, she even had a little yellow tulip bud tucked into the breast pocket, just above the Schnee’s emblem stitched in cool grey, a splash of color that drew the eye… well… she should probably look up. White locks were bound in a bun atop her head, not quite as severe looking as the framed photographs of her time in the Atlesian military but damn close, bangs framing those sharp, piercing blue eyes that fell on her with all the weight of a Goliath, the sheer power of her aura silencing any and every thought- even her ability to breath for a moment.

“Miss Belladonna, Miss Xiao Long. Please. Don’t let me interrupt.” The words, spoken in that pointed, well enunciated tone she used whenever she was trying to hide anxiety, snapped the blonde out of her stupor rather effectively. Here they were, a week out from an important deadline, and she was getting lost in how hopelessly attracted she was to her boss!

“Oh, M-miss Schnee, uh, I was just working on the report on the council contract,” she said, turning around and quickly scrabbling together the various papers. “I need to do a little more digging, but Blake helped me find an indemnification clause they tried to sneak past us.”

“Regarding Dust shipments, I assume.” The CEO’s lips lifted slightly in a smirk; the SDC hadn’t missed a shipment deadline since the sibling duo took the reins of the company, the amount of terrorist activity working against them drastically reduced once they started making headway in protecting their Faunus employees.

“Actually, third party vendors.” She put the relevant pages on top of the stack and turned it over to the now surprised and curious woman, who immediately set about reading through the red marked passages. “Guess the color scheme confused them; it looks like they’re trying to set us up to be their sugar mamas.”

Mentally, she smacked a hand to her forehead, somewhat mollified when she caught sight of Blake doing that exact motion behind the CEO’s back. The self admonishment by proxy would have to do for now, seeing as blue eyes immediately flicked up to meet her gaze. “Sugar… mamas?” Her pale lips pressed into a thin line- full lips, kissable lips, lips she really wanted to taste- before she nodded, favoring the blonde with a small grin. “So it would seem. Excellent work, Miss Xiao Long. When can I expect the full report?”

“After lunch,” she replied a bit quickly, a tad bit too eager and belatedly realizing that she still had to cross reference all the vendors, following the bread crumbs throughout all of Remnant and double checking everything through kingdom records. “A-at the earliest, I mean. But, uh, definitely by the end of the day, Ma'am.”

Winter frowned, handing back the red inked contract. “I’m afraid that won’t do.” The blonde blinked, worry lancing through her chest at the thought she might’ve let her boss down. “There’s entirely too much left for you to sort through for that to be feasible, not unless you work through lunch and stay late, which you’ll be doing neither.” Her gaze briefly flicked over her shoulder to where Blake stood. “I’ll let Weiss know that both of you are to be out of this building by four thirty at the latest, seeing as you have… plans.” The pause before the last word seemed laden with something, though Yang couldn’t begin to decipher what with how quickly Winter continued. “As for lunch, Weiss and I have reservations at a restaurant just a flew blocks over. I will be amending them to accommodate the two of you joining us.”

The words brooked no room for argument and Yang let out a surprised chuckle, trying very hard not to react too strong this time. She had to keep her cool for just a bit longer; their internship was just a few more weeks. “Well, I- I appreciate that, but, uh, we wouldn’t want to impose-”

“Nonsense.” The CEO waved off her concerns. “I know quite well that if I leave you to your own devices, you’ll work through lunch without even realizing it. Someone has to ensure you eat.”

“Thanks boss.” A wide smile stretched her lips, lilac eyes flicking over to her best friend. It wasn’t often they spent lunch with their respective executive, so the prospect appealed to both of them; maybe in a more relaxed environment, they could push the boundaries just a little. Because, honestly, she really wanted to know the woman’s favorite color, purely because if things got down to the wire and she thought she stood even a ghost of a chance, she wasn’t about to waste her 'go for broke’ shot on anything less than her absolute best. “What’s the place called? I can-”

“You can continue with what you were doing.” Winter nodded, looking over towards the Faunus, who had schooled her expression into one of polite interest the moment she noticed the motion. “Both of you can. I will attend the arrangements myself.”

With that, the woman disappeared back into her office, shutting her door and allowing the best friends to relax entirely. At least, in theory, anyway.

Naturally, the blonde said the first thing to come to her mind. “If I just… laid myself out in front of her door like a rug, do you think she’d step on me? Because I suddenly think I might be into that, all memes aside.”

“You dork.” Blake sighed, rubbing at her temple. “We’re hopeless. Sugar mamas, really?”

With a heavy sigh the moment the door closed, Winter trudged through her office until she reached her desk, bracing herself against the sturdy wood with both arms. Several emotions swirled in her head and tugged her every which way- a strange pain in her chest, a touch of nausea, a weakness in her knees- but she managed to compose herself.

Mostly.

“Well?” Weiss’ anxious voice intoned from the speaker. “Did you invite them to lunch?”

That was the plan. A last minute plan hatched to get a little space, perhaps open avenues to casual conversation that had nothing to do with work. Learn a bit more about their interns while maintaining their professional facades- dinner meetings, after all, came with the trade- and they were foolhardy enough to think it a good idea.

And it backfired spectacularly.

“Yes,” she said, turning around and slumping against her desk, crossing her arms over her chest and proceeding to do something she hadn’t since she was eight. Winter Schnee, CEO of one of-if not the- most powerful companies in Remnant, eldest daughter, decorated military officer, certified huntress… pouted. “They have a date tonight.”

Silence.

“They what?” Her younger sister’s voice, caught between incredulous and heartbroken, filled the space briefly but long enough to drive the static from between her ears.

“I overheard them finalizing their plans. They’re going to Yang’s after work.” Marshaling her thoughts, the woman shook her head slowly, coming to terms with this new information. She couldn’t even take solace in being right; instead, she just felt… hollow, empty, and that wouldn’t do. She wasn’t a child, after all, and the corporate world held too many dangers for her to afford such distractions, anyway.

“Oh.” A long pause. “I was… so sure. Maybe…” The listless shuffling of paper- she could imagine just how lost Weiss looked right then, trying to puzzle through her conflicting emotions. “I suppose it doesn’t matter now. At least- at least they seem… you know… good for each other.”

“Right.” She straightened up, smoothing out her jacket before walking around to reclaim her chair. Although the… distraction wasn’t a pleasant one, she now felt entirely capable of throwing herself back into her work. “However, I think taking them to lunch is still a good idea. Despite our personal failings in remaining professionally detached, they’ve been two of the best employees we’ve ever had working directly under us.”

“That’s… true.” Her sister seemed slower in recovering and, honestly, it didn’t surprise her. Comparatively, Weiss had less experience in such matters, lacking the years her elder spent in the military meeting new people and maturing in that sense, remaining dedicated to her studies in order to take the COO position at such a young age. The woman was the same age as their interns, after all, and had held the position for two years already; there simply wasn’t time for much of a personal life. She’d fleetingly admitted to an unobtainable crush or two over the years- the famous huntress Pyrrha Nikos came to mind- but they were few and far between, always with the added benefit of distance and improbability to keep heartache to a minimum. However, she’d always been resilient, and she seemed to shake off the lingering melancholy after a few more moments to get her thoughts in order. “And their internships end in three weeks. Once we finalize this agreement, we have the quarterly review and then we’ll part ways.”

“Right.” Winter nodded for her benefit alone, already setting her fingers to the keyboard and diving back into the slew of emails awaiting her attention.

“Right.” A few moments of silence in which she thought the line would disconnect were followed by a small, somewhat defeated sigh of acknowledgement. “I’m… planning on getting a bottle of wine after work. Maybe two.”

“Get two, and double that order.” Her shoulders slumped ever so slightly, though she straightened them immediately. She would not allow herself to become bogged down by useless self pity. “We’ll both need it.”

Blake took a surreptitious breath, steeling herself before knocking on the door to the COO’s office. Now that she had confirmed the expenses from their last business trip, Weiss could complete the expenditure report for the finance department and they could both move on to their next task for the day. While Winter and Yang focused their attentions on the impending contract, Weiss and Blake had taken on the standard day-to-day operations, and they still had to review the previous weeks reports from the various mines, not to mention pick which ones they’d be auditing for human- and faunus rights violations.

Her feline ears perked at the quiet but distinct order to enter, quickly slipping into the woman’s office and closing the door behind her. Behind the desk sat Weiss Schnee, second born to the family name, her off center ponytail peeking up and over the triple display screens occupying the majority of her desk space, the tapping of keys only interrupted by the occasional click of a mouse. They’d already spoken a few times that morning- quick notes about their to-do list, aggregating data for the audits, and clarification regarding a less important meeting later that week- but the Faunus still found herself mentally preparing for when she walked around to the side of the desk, allowing her amber eyes to fall on her boss. She didn’t favor the same strict, military style dress her elder sister did; more often than not, she wore skirts and dresses that swirled around pale, creamy thighs and ankles, dipping collars that accented the hollow of her throat and the curve of her-

“Is that the Mistral trip?”

Blake stiffened upon realizing she’d drifted off into her imagination again, silently cursing herself. “Yes, Ma'am. I just confirmed everything with Yang.”

A quick expression passed over the woman’s face- despite being Weiss’ intern, she’d yet to unravel the mystery of her boss’ quick expressions that never seemed to last long enough for her to discern, if they even appeared at all- before she accepted the manila folder, opening it up and quickly glancing at the papers within. “Thank you, Miss Belladonna. Is there anything else?”

The Faunus frowned, trying valiantly to keep her ears from twitching. Weiss wasn’t normally this curt after she’d had her morning coffee and certainly seemed a bit… friendlier before she’d gone over to check the receipts. The woman would at least look her in the eye, as if she truly held Weiss’ undivided attention for those precious moments, but now she felt more like a bothersome fly a second from being batted away. “Uh, did you… want me to get a status check on the Vacuon mines first? Or contact our Vytal branch office regarding their quarterly numbers?”

Usually, the woman would pause, look thoughtful, weigh the estimated time for completion against deadlines, accounting for timezone differences, and decide on a course of action- all in under a minute. This time, the reply was instantaneous. “We need the numbers; the status check can wait until after lunch.”

“Yes, Miss Schnee.” Without another word, Blake left the office, closing the door behind her and frowning. Rather than sit down at her desk and get back to work- wrangling the numbers out of the Vytal branch wouldn’t be easy, seeing as they often waited until the last minute and the reports weren’t technically due until the end of next week- but instead she leaned back against the solid wood, thinking back to just a few hours before.

She’d watched Weiss come in- white skirt swirling with every sharp step, the clack of her heels, those bright blue eyes softer than her sister’s but so entrancing, wait, focus Belladonna- but, now that she thought on it, the woman hadn’t had anything in her hands aside from her briefcase. No to-go bag from the bakery across the street, no pastry wrapped in a paper towel from home, and the doctor’s appointment she’d had that morning probably meant that she hadn’t eaten in a while, if at all.

Forgoing her desk, the Faunus strode towards the break room tucked into the middle of the floor, pouring a little coffee into a paper cup and tasting it herself. While it wouldn’t win any awards, the sharp bite was satisfactory, and she quickly added two packets of sugar and a splash of creamer to the cup before filling it nearly to the brim with coffee and swirling the concoction together with a stir stick. She grabbed a napkin and picked out a donut from the box sitting on a table- plain glaze, since the only other option was a bearclaw or some monstrosity layered with sprinkles- and went back to the COO’s office, carefully rapping her knuckles against the wood without losing either offering.

“Come in.” Pushing into the office, Blake quickly set about returning to the side of the desk and waiting for acknowledgement- the barest flick of those blue eyes her way- before setting down the coffee and donut. The movement seemed to be enough to prompt the woman to pause her work for a moment, watching as both items were set upon her desk. “What’s this for?”

“I… didn’t see you come in with anything this morning.” She took a step back, trying her hardest to will away the light blush rising in her cheeks while her ears trembled from the force of being held still. “It’s not good to skip breakfast.”

For a moment, Weiss did nothing but stare before eventually sighing. “You’re right. I was in a bit of a rush this morning.” She reached out to grab the donut and broke it in half, holding out one side to the intern. “But, here- you usually grab a snack about this time, do you not?”

“I do,” she replied, somewhat cautious.

The woman made a vague gesture, enticing her to take the offered half. “I’d rather not eat it all myself. We have a lunch arrangement soon, after all, and I don’t want to spoil my appetite.”

Her ears flicked, having caught a distinct consonant sound after the word 'lunch’ that her boss had quickly covered up, but she brushed it off as her nerves playing tricks on her. She hadn’t thought Weiss paid enough attention to her habits to notice she often ran to the vending machines about this time of day, if she hadn’t brought something in with her. Accepting the donut, she quickly took a step towards the door, seeing as her mission was complete. For the time being, at least. “I’ll go get started on those numbers.”

“Thank you, Miss Blake.”

The Faunus stopped, eyes flicking up to meet those steady, sparkling blue ones as her breath caught in her throat. Sure, it wasn’t quite as casual as when anyone else said her name, but… it was the first time the woman hadn’t been entirely formal. “A-anytime, Miss Weiss.”

For a moment, she’d thought the momentary distraction provided by the COO’s use of her name had just condemned her to losing her position entirely- really, calling the woman by name, what was she thinking- but those pale lips curled slightly into a little grin. With no reprimand forthcoming, she quickly left the office, once again leaning back against the door and releasing a deep, satisfied breath of relief. Whatever had the woman in a terse mood, she seemed to improve it, if only a little, which could only mean good things for their lunch da- the lunch their bosses would be treating the interns to, no doubt.

After she got the ball rolling on the numbers, she would text Yang to gush about the way Weiss said her name, unable to wipe the smile from her face as she sat down and got to work.

Within her office, Weiss watched the door close as her intern slipped out, releasing a breath she’d unconsciously held since she’d slipped up. Slowly, she lowered her forehead to the space between her keyboard and the edge of the desk, waiting for the dull thunk of impact before groaning, trying valiantly to ignore the way those amber eyes seemed to light up when she’d accepted the offering, when she’d crossed that invisible line in her mind between professional and personal by uttering the Faunus’ given name, when she seemed just so… happy about something in that quiet way she had.

Eventually, she reached the only logical conclusion left: these three weeks would be the death of her.

A business AU romcom starring Yang “Open Mouth Insert Foot” Xiao Long, Blake “Surrounded By Children” Belladonna, Winter “So Far In Denial She’s Drowning” Schnee, and Weiss “Needs Remedial Romance For Dummies” Schnee.

I’m getting Weiss and Yang in suits before I let this AU go, I fucking swear it.

#Joint Venture Business AU #Monochrome #Elderburn #Someone save these dorks they're all fucking hopeless #TRR writes

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