#anyways i'm just very fond of this entire video

[bununuu]

...what was he going to say? :(

#let my boy speak!!! they never mention it lmao #slowly making my way through ooo content #other fun things i noticed: rie making a kissy face when the underwater kiss is on screen #junji's reaction to the underwater kiss it's so funny #rie and yoojung's “woah!!” when the full body shot on the bed shows up #anyways i'm just very fond of this entire video #onlyoneof

[lauramkaye]

Mando'a is for Lovers, Part 1

So, you want to write a Mando romance? (Sure, we all do!) And you think conlangs are Neat and want to include Mando'a for some flavor? I cannot blame you, friend! They ARE neat! But you're getting kind of stuck because Mando'a seems to be like 80% made up of military or weapon terms and/or insults?

I AM HERE TO HELP.

But I'm gonna have to do it in multiple posts because um. I might have a lot to say and am really kind of a language nerd as it turns out.

SO this one will JUST be some helpful hints for specific words and phrases that could be useful in trying to write Mandos being lovers not fighters (at least at the time.)

Please let me know if you'd like me to write more of these (grammar basics, handy hints, translation help etc.) or to expand on any points, me and my ADHD hyperfocus would LOVE TO HELP.

(Note: I use mainly Mando'a from mandocreator.com because I like their online tools the best. A "dialect" of Mando'a is basically "one particular conlang hobby group that has made up some words that don't exist in the official sources." Other Mando'a dialects are available.)

Anyway, so, first thing:

You can't just write an English sentence, look up each word in a Mando'a dictionary, and then string those words together. Translation doesn't work like that. What you get will almost always make no sense - like those things you see when someone runs a sentence through Google Translate a couple times and then puts it back to English. This is doubly true because Mando'a was created to give flavor to books and video games and doesn't have anywhere near a complete dictionary, so a lot of the time you won't even be able to FIND the word you want.

This is how you get characters calling someone "my to hold in the heart forever."

There are many conlang nerds (myself included) who would happily help you figure out ways to say what you want to say, but for a shortcut:

Look below the cut for help with terms for: love and marriage, beauty/hotness, pet names, and compliments. Bonus: some vocabulary for getting frisky.

Love and Marriage

If you want someone to say "I love you" (the VERB form of "love"), use kar'taylir darasuum which means "to hold in the heart forever." You will need to CONJUGATE this like so:

I love you: ni kar'tayli gar darasuum You love me: gar kar'tayli ni darasuum I love him/her/them: ni kar'tayli kaysh darasuum

If you want to call someone "love" or "my love" ("love" as a pet name/endearment), the word to use is cyare (loved one/beloved) or possibly cyar'ika (darling/sweetheart). Your spouse/committed partner is your riduur. To get married, you say/swear/vow the riduurok. (NOTE that the riduurok is not 100% equivalent to a modern US marriage but this is the vocabulary post not the Mando Culture Meta post. Hit me up if you want me to make the Mando Culture Meta post.)

If you have read more than 2 or 3 Mando fanfics you likely already know about the riduurok but here are the vows, for completeness:

Mhi solus tome, mhi solus dar'tome, mhi me'dinui an, mhi bajuri verde. (We are one when together, we are one when apart, we share all, we will raise warriors.)

If you want to talk about love as a CONCEPT (the noun form of "love") you're going to have to reword it somehow, because Mando'a doesn't have a canon word for that. A few suggestions: 1) reword the sentence to use the verb form 2) use another word, like guuror (to be fond of/to like/to hold affection for). Mando'a also has the very handy intensifier prefix ori-, so you could also say ori'guuror to mean "to like a lot/to be very fond of/to hold great affection for." 3) Think of another way entirely to say the thing you want to say, one that there ARE words for. (You have to do this a lot in Mando'a honestly.) 4) Use a metaphor. Mando'a is a very poetic and metaphorical language where the same words take on different meanings based on context. 5) use words relating to knowledge and remembrance. In Mando'a the concepts of love and remembering/knowing someone or something are VERY closely related.

Attractiveness

A couple related concepts here. Also note that if you are writing Mandalorian characters, they will have Mandalorian standards of attractiveness, of which physical appearance tends to be a lot lower-ranked than in modern Western culture. When you are part of a historically nomadic warrior culture in which most people wear armor all the time, you're gonna care a lot less about what they look like than what they act like and how they ARE, as a person.

Beautiful: mesh'la Very beautiful: ori'mesh'la More beautiful: mesh'lashya The most beautiful: mesh'lane

Note: for all these adjectives, you can add ori' to the front to make it "very [thing]", shya to the end for "more [thing]", and ne to the end for "most [thing]". Attractive (not relating to physical beauty but attractive as a person for other reasons): copyc

Don't mix copyc up with copik'la, which means "cute" but should only be used about animals and small children, not adults. (unless it's a pre-negotiated kink thing but let's save that for the advanced lesson.)

See also the section on compliments for other qualities Mandos find appealing and might use to sweet-talk someone.

Pet Names

cyare (love/beloved) and cyar'ika (darling, sweetheart) are the classic go-tos here. If you are married you can call them riduur (spouse/life partner). You could also use ner kar'ta (my heart), which I would argue works well in Mando'a since the way you tell someone you love them is literally to tell them that you hold them in your heart forever. The heart is actually very significant in Mandalorian culture generally; the elongated hexagon you see used in their designs and in the chestplate of their armor is called the kar'ta beskar (beskar heart) and is a culturally significant symbol.

A note on "-ika": using the suffix "-ika" forms a Mando'a diminutive meaning something like "little [thing]" with an affectionate connotation. Hence cyare (beloved) becomes cyar'ika (sweetheart, darling.) You can do this with names: you add -ika to the first syllable, so Jango would be Jan'ika, Din would be Din'ika, Boba would be Bob'ika. (Note- you can fudge the "first syllable" thing to make it sound better and be easier to say. "Bob'ika" flows better than "Bo'ika" but I think it's easier to say "Gro'ika" for Grogu than "Grog'ika.") Note that -ika is a lot like the Japanese -chan in that it generally connotes something young and cute more than something adult. So don't just deploy it at random. An adult calling their adult lover "-ika" is kind of like, say, calling Steve Rogers "Stevie" or possibly even "Stevie-poo" - it definitely can happen but there's a certain vibe to it that you might not always want. But you could still use it in conjunction with any of these other terms - like you could call someone your kar'tika (little heart) and get the point across.

If the person is being formal/poetic/archaic you might see them use ner runi (my soul), though this would not be commonly used by modern Mandalorians; think of it as like.... using terms from Shakespeare to compliment someone. It can work in the right context but it could also sound really pretentious.

There isn't a canon Mando'a noun that means "treasure" or anything similar, but there are adjectives for "valuable" (waadasla) and "important" (jaonyc) so you can work from there if you're flexible with your phrasing. (You can actually transform words in Mando'a into other parts of speech quite easily--there are simple and standard rules for doing it--but that's another post.)

You'll also see mesh'la (beautiful) used, though I tend to think that Mandos wouldn't emphasize physical beauty so much as other qualities they like, such as:

Other Things A Mando Would Compliment You On (could be platonic or romantic)

Being mandokarla (adjective) or having mandokar (noun) means basically "having all the qualities that make an ideal Mandalorian." The dictionary definition calls this "a blend of aggression, tenacity, loyalty, and a lust for life."

Having shereshoy (noun) - this is the "lust for life" referred to above, but that's a shorthand translation. Shereshoy is a Mandalorian cultural concept that means "the enjoyment of each day and the determination to seek and grab every possible experience, as well as surviving to see the next day - hanging onto life and relishing it." (a nice parallel for those who ship Mandos with Jedi is to the Jedi concept of being in the present moment!)

Loyal - verburyc (adj)

Stubborn/tenacious/enduring - atin (adj)

Aggressive (not necessarily negative) - verd'yc (adj) (note that "verd" is "warrior" - this is aggressive in a culturally valued way for Mandalorians and might also be used the way you'd use passionate, ambitious, etc in English. OVERLY aggressive/rude/intrusive would be something like "akaa'naryc" which has a connotation more like starting fights/instigating war.

Clever/intelligent - mirdala (adj)

Brave - kotep (adj)

Good - jate, very good - ori'jate, best - jatne.

Ramikadyc - this is one of those words that needs cultural context to really define. Verd is "warrior," Ramikad is "commando," and ori'ramikad is "supercommando" which is the term for elite special forces. Ramikadyc -literally "commando-like" - is defined as "an attitude that he/she can do anything, endure anything, and achieve the objective. A blend of complete confidence and extreme tenacity instilled in special forces during training. Can also be used informally to describe a determined, focused person." (Side note: ram'or means "to attack" and "kad" is "sword" so ramikad likely originally just meant "swordfighter." Possibly because you need more training to be effective with swords and blasters than blasters alone, this came to refer to a more elite class of soldier.)

Kandosii can mean both indomitable and ruthless, while kandosii'la means stunning or amazing.

Strength - a couple different words here. Kot (strength) and kotyc (strong). Dral, which means strong or powerful but can also mean bright or glowing. This leads to the question- how do you know which word to pick when there are multiple ones with the same or similar dictionary definitions?

My go-to is to look for other words that have similar roots, or canon phrases that contain one of the words, and use that to figure out the connotation/flavor/nuance that distinguishes the words from each other.

So for strength - do you use dral or kotyc?

You see the "dral" root in a few places: Dral'Han (the Annihilation - a more literal translation would be "bright annihilation" or "bright oblivion" and it is a reference to the glare of the orbital bombardment of Mandalore), draluram ("bright-mouth", a term for spicy food), and the phrase "nar dral'shya." (try harder/put your back into it.) The "kot" root appears in kote (glory), kotep (brave), kotir (to defeat, to overpower), and alli'kote (a clan's reputation.) From this, it seems like you might use "kotyc" to talk about physical/martial strength or strength that leads to victory or reputation, and "dral" to talk about more innate or existential kinds of strength/power.

Okay, so you can give the sweet-talk. What about the SPICY talk? (because Mandalorians love spicy food? get it?)

Some Potentially Useful Words For Sexy Stuff

naritir (v) - to insert, to put, to place. Note that if you wanted to do an imperative you would add "ke" to the beginning.

narir (v) - to act, do, put

Nar dral'shya! (phrase) - try harder, put your back into it. (We talked about this phrase above when discussing dral. "shya" at the end means "more [thing]" - it's the equivalent of adding "-er" to an English verb - so "dral'shya" here means something like "more powerfully". The "nar" is likely from narir (act/do/put) but could potentially also be from naritir (insert/put/place), so I think that it's quite possible for this phrase to have a double-entendre connotation something like "shove it in harder.")

Words for body parts - (note, in Mando'a you make a word plural by adding -e to the end if it ends in a consonant and -se if it ends in a vowel)

Hand/hands - gaan/gaane Finger/fingers - cer/cere Buttocks/ass/rear - shebs (note that this is referring to one entire butt; there isn't a word for a single buttock. "shebse" would be "asses" aka the butts of more than one person.) Arm/arms - irud/irude Chest - haalas (there is no word for breasts) Thigh/thighs - motuun/motuune Face - troan (this word also means "mask") Eye/eyes - sur'haai/sur'haaise

Words for THOSE body parts - okay look the Officially Licensed Star Wars Expanded Universe material isn't big on telling you how the GFFA says "cock" so you're going to have to use some creativity here.

Mando'a in general uses gender VERY rarely (in Mando'a, everyone's pronouns are they/them) and when it does, it's mostly in reference to like, animal husbandry. It's generally not going to be very well received to call someone jagyc (male) or dalyc (female) in a sexy context. It's more a medical/scientific thing because in Mandalorian culture biological sex is only relevant for medical/scientific/agricultural reasons and gender only matters in so far as it personally matters to you but is culturally largely irrelevant. Probably Mando OB/GYN vocabulary exists but it was apparently not deemed relevant to the Republic Commando tie-in game and novels that most Mando'a was developed for.

That said, there are definitely crude, Shakespearean-esque jokes including swords and sheaths and such - but these would be considered kind of raunchy and not something that everyone would appreciate. Anyway the words here are:

Kad (n)- sword, saber Dalab (n)- sheath, scabbard

And if you want some verbs, Mando'a has THREE words for stabbing: chekar, kalikir, and bikadinir. Chekar means to stab with a small blade - think "to shiv." Probably not the most complimentary metaphor but some people might be into that. Kalikir is to stab with a narrow blade - "to skewer". Bikadinir is to stab with a broad blade - "to run through." The way that these metaphorical uses might be interpreted are left as an exercise for the reader, ahem.

Big (and little) - Big is "ori" and small is "kih". In addition to using them on their own, you can also use them as modifying prefixes, where they CAN mean physically big or small but can also mean the equivalent of "very [thing]" or "slightly [thing.]" Note that "kih" (at the front) is small/little with no context about how you feel about the thing being described, while -ika (at the back) is a way to say "little" with an affectionate, cutesy vibe. So your ori'vod is your older/big sibling, your kih'vod is your younger/little sibling, and your vod'ika is your little sibling (affectionate.)

Hard (and soft)- you probably want muun (hard as in a surface or material) rather than urakto (hard as in difficult.) Soft or yielding is pel; do not use laandur (fragile) as that is considered an insult.

Tight (and loose)- sadly don't exist, but you can probably use novla (closed/shut) and tenn (open) to get the job done here.

Hole - palon is "hole." surdol means "an opening" or "a window," you could likely use this in a sexy context. I've seen people use "shebs'palon" to mean "asshole" but YMMV.

Hot (and cold)- hot is nadala, but this refers to temperature only. Hot as in attractive you want copyc, hot as in physically appealing you probably want mesh'la. Cold is ciryc.

Wet (and dry)- wet is piryc, dry is haast.

Show - tenganaar is "to show" or "to display" with a root from "open hand" (like you're showing something in the palm of your hand.)

Want - copaanir is the verb "to want." Me'copaani? is "What do you want?" or "what would you like?" vercopaanir (literally future-want) is "to wish" or "to hope" and vercopa is a wish or dream. If you say "Vercopa" followed by a statement, it means "I wish that/may it happen that." So like - "Vercopa mhi me'dinui an" would be "I want us to share all." Vercopa can also have a connotation sort of like the one when someone says "I'm manifesting this" - like, you are urging the universe to make it happen for you. The related word copad (noun) is an ambition or desire.

Okay that got really long but I hope it is helpful to someone! Because I've spent way too much time thinking about this. :)

#mando'a #mandalorians #conlang #mando'a is for lovers

[dameronscopilot]

okay first— I have (more) Thoughts™️ on Benny and Santi’s love languages after your post of the other day and I will return some time tomorrow when I can put those into coherent sentences. But for now, I’d love to hear some soft, domestic head canons for them, please. Something that involves bathing, showering, cooking together, whatever. Dealers choice! 🧡

please come back to me with those thoughts because i'm dying to hear them as soon as possible!

in the meantime, here are some soft & domestic headcanons with the best boys for you 💖 

Domesticity with Benny vs. Santiago

Benny Miller

Benny's cooking skills could use some work. But rather than use that as an excuse to get out of making dinner, he still tries anyway, because he just doesn't like the idea of you having to be the one that's cooking every night.

(Sometimes, when you go to bed before him, you wake up in the middle of the night to find him half asleep in the living room watching cooking videos on YouTube.)

Benny loves to help you decorate the house for holidays throughout the year (and he'll get upset if you start without him when he's not home).

There's no person more willing to tackle the most annoying, infuriating, and obscure IKEA furniture instructions for you than Benny Miller (because he'll be damned if you don't get your dream wall-to-wall bookshelf in your living room)

(Though building complicated furniture with him does admittedly take longer than necessarily, if only because you can't help but crawl across the pile of papers and screws and particleboard to kiss him. Repeatedly. He looks good when he's working, OKAY.)

One of your early dates kicked off at a grocery store, in which the two of you played a game that involved picking out ingredients at random to take back to your place to cook. The two of you developed a fondness for grocery shopping together as a result, and so Benny always joins you when you go, keeping you on your toes as he tosses you items from across the aisle without warning and sneaks up behind you to kiss you.

Though the two of you have a perfectly comfortable bed, you have a ritual of having weekly movie nights in your living room where you light the fireplace, blow up an air mattress, toss a giant pile of pillows and blankets on top, and curl up in front of the TV with enough snacks to feed a small army piled on the coffee table.

Benny loves when you slip into the shower with him after he gets home from a fight. His excess adrenaline evaporates from his body alongside the steam in the air as he goes entirely pliant in your arms while you slide a washcloth across his skin and press your lips gently to his bruises.

Santiago Garcia

Santi's an excellent cook, and he loves to teach you his favorite family recipes. He keeps them in a small, handwritten notebook (and he refuses to transfer them into his phone's notepad, even if half of the pages have sauce stains on them at this point).

He's also a very patient teacher in the kitchen. A patient, affectionate teacher that has a tendency to wrap his arms around your waist and rest his chin on your shoulder while he's murmuring the next set of instructions into your ear. (Yes, things often end up burnt when the two of you get distracted as a result.)

Santi's not quite as skilled in the baking department, but you're happy to have him help (mostly because of his endearing tendency to somehow end up with flour streaked across his cheeks and frosting in his hair every time, without fail).

He's a house chore king™. Santi's years in the military have instilled a permanent sense of discipline in him when it comes to housework, and because he typically wakes up early, he likes to surprise you on Sunday mornings with breakfast, coffee, and a spotless house.

While there's plenty of fun to be had in the shower, Santiago loves to just revel in the naked intimacy of cleaning your body, washing your hair, and holding you close against him under the hot spray of water.

Though he tries to hide it, you can tell when his knees are bothering him. On particularly bad days, you'll cancel your plans without question and drag him to the couch for a movie marathon instead, ice packs in hand as you plop down on the cushion beside him and curl up against his side.

On weekends, if he doesn't have anywhere to be, Santi has a tendency to live in his boxers, a white tee, and a robe as he shuffles around the house with a cup of tea, his curls an untamed mess. (And while he fondly rolls his eyes when you buy him a silly pair of slippers one year for Christmas, he wears them every weekend, without fail.)

After you make an offhanded comment about how you wish there was a better spot in your house to read, Santi spends the winter remodelling your living room by himself to build you the perfect reading nook beside the window.

--

» TRIPLE FRONTIER MASTERLIST

#answers from the cockpit #copilot sleepover #benny miller #benny miller x reader #santiago garcia #santiago garcia x reader #triple frontier #oscar isaac fanfiction #garrett hedlund fanfiction #triple frontier fanfiction

[taylorswiftstylequestions]

I kind of miss the days when you had to go buy the cd first. Coming home and unwrapping it. Reading the booklet from front to back except the lyrics. Waiting to read the lyrics after I hear the songs for for the very first time. The wonder and surprised laughter of Blank Space. The quick indraw of breath when the first notes of Style came on followed by “oh I LOVE this” when the beat dropped. Playing it again before movingforward. Thinking WHAT IS HAPPENING?! when hearing OOTW because what kind of song was that? the best kind. Sobbing with This Love. And Clean.

I am deep in memory lane now writing this!

I remember that night so well. My first Taylor album as a new Swifty after hearing some of the songs from Red and falling for her because my heart had been broken and her songs made me feel less alone. I had no clue about her personal life at all. No JM no JG no HS. Just my heart and my stories in my head married up with her words. Pure bliss.

Ugh! Nostalgia! I have fond memories of running to HMV after school to get Speak Now and then running home, turning off all the lights in my childhood bedroom, shutting the door, and my eyes bugging out of my head reading the lyrics to "Dear John" for the first time.

And also the frantic energy of taking in so much information all at once because 1) New songs in your ears 2) New lyrics in your eyeballs 3) New secret messages in the liner notes to decode and write down.

I can even remember waiting an entire week for my Fearless limited edition box set to arrive in the mail because it was held up by customs and I didn't want to buy another copy of the CD so I just ... lived without having listened to Fearless for another week. And avoiding spoilers was so easy! BLISS!!!!!!

And who can forget turkey gobbles in retrieving 1989 from Target! (Remember when Target was in Canada for 0.05 seconds?) Because that's definitely a video I put onto the internet! I remember listening to that album all alone in my first grown up apartment, feeling feelings, and drinking a glass of wine in my queen sized bed all alone.

Anyway! Idk about you but I'm totally normal and very chill and in fact am experiencing no emotions. I've never been more relaxed in my life, actually.

#personal #also it makes me so soft to know that speak now was a LOT of people's first taylor albums they got to experience from release #and all the feelings this particular tv is bringing up for those people #because a lot of said people are in their late 20s now and we're experiencing that real full circle moment of girlhood and womanhood #and anyway once again i am dead inside and i have no feelings none at all very normal!!!!!!!!!

[cassiuspr]

[Video transcript begin.] 

[The recording begins with someone walking through the mall, seemingly placed at upper chest height. The person approaches the PR office, a man in a suit is standing nearby, facing away. The person changes their course slightly.] 

?: Looking for someone, handsome?

[Voice identified: Cassius.]

?: [Startles, turning around to face the camera. Their mouth forcefully stretches into some attempt at a smile.] …Oh. You. Hello.

[Voice identified: CEO.] 

C: I don't usually see you around here! What's up?

CEO: [Smile falters noticeably.] I… was signed up for some sort of… company bonding ritual, which I have a sneaking suspicion as to who specifically is responsible. Just here to drop off this gift-type thing and be on my way.

C: [In a fake, exaggerated sad tone.] Aw, leaving that soon? You won’t even stay to chat? 

CEO: I would rather gouge my own eyes out, thank you. Where should I set… this. [Disdainfully holds up a pack of white, company-branded pens with a green bow haphazardly stuck to it. There’s a nametag, but what it says is not current legible.]

C: Well… that depends on who it's for!

CEO: [Smile completely fades into a thin line.] Well. [He holds the pens out to him.] Then take these and we can both pretend this little interaction never happened, hm?

C: [A gasp.] For me? Aw, you shouldn’t have! 

[He takes the pens, before laughing a little.]

C: And why would I ever want to do that? I quite enjoy our little interactions.

CEO: We have had maybe… two. Over the past year. 

C: Yes, and I’m very fond of those. We should talk more.

CEO: What was it I said about gouging my own eyes out. I’m busy, anyways.

C: You’re working during the holidays? How sad.

CEO: …We are all working during the holidays, Cassius.

C: Hm, yes. But maybe you could take a quick break?

CEO: [His eyebrows furrow.] Out of the question. 

C: Is it? Surely someone in your position would be permitted.

CEO: [Gaze softens, if only slightly.] Well, yes, I’m definitely permitted, but running an entire facility isn’t exactly something one can take a few hours break from. Especially not with this godforsaken mall’s rebellion problem, god knows what those rats would get up to.

C: I'm sure nothing would happen. Since you've arrived, it seems to have slowed. I guess the rebels are afraid of you, with the amount of power you have. And very rightfully so.

CEO: [Snort.] Oh, please. 

C: Just giving credit where credit is due, sir.

CEO: [He adjusts his tie, momentarily glancing away.] You flatter me, really, but I should be getting back to my office. I believe there was, ah… [His mouth opens and closes like he’s searching for something to say.] Something with… Security…

C: Perhaps I could accompany you?

CEO: [His grip on his own tie tightens very slightly.] And why would you need to do that?

C: Well... I was thinking that maybe our little interactions could be more than just... little, hm?

CEO: I… [He blinks a few times.] I believe I’ve made it clear before that I’m not interested.

C: I believe you have, sir. And yet... I can see the look in your eye. You cannot say that you haven't considered it, even if momentarily, no?

CEO: [His voice goes… quieter.] …You’re perceptive, I’ll give you that.

C: Thank you, sir. I’ve been told it’s my second best trait.

CEO: [The smile that had previously disappeared from his face slowly creeps back. He takes a small step closer.] Well… I suppose whatever’s going on with Security can wait for a bit, in retrospect.

C: I suppose it can, where to?

CEO: I… believe I said I needed to get back to my office.

C: Sounds good, shall we?

CEO: …Regrettably. 

C: Lead the way!

[As the two walk off, the recording slowly fades to black.]

[Transcript end.]

#encoreverse blog #showfall #showfall ask blog #showfall media #transcript #suggestive

[khaleesiofalicante]

hi darling!

tonight i have a graduation ceremony of sort and i am anxiety. i am sweating so much i feel like i'm drowning

how are you? can you rest a little now that your assignements are done?

hello babygirl.

noo not social functions. if you are able to do it, listen to a bop playlist on your own (i can share one of mine if you want). listening to music on my way to social events is literally how i make it through it :)

the work assignments are not done ha! i finished all the interview summaries (15 of them!) and then reviewed 12 hours' worth of content and now onto the next bunch of work. But I'm on schedule so that's good.

I hope the ceremony goes unceremoniously and you get to keep your peace! wrote this lil thing for you 💙

“I wanted to be a fireman when I was in elementary school,” Max responds to the question. 

“A fireman,” David replies. If Max didn’t know any better he’d say David sounds a little fond. “Are you not afraid of fire?”

 “I don’t know,” Max shrugs, balancing the phone in between his ear and shoulder, looking for his notes. “I guess I just thought I’d look hot on a calendar.”

“Weren’t you a child?”

“I was a child with incredible foresight.”

David scoffs at that. “You do know that people sell partially nude calendars of you on Etsy, right?”

Max pauses. “I know that. I do you know that?”

“Well, I mean, it’s everywhere online,” David tells him. “I know more about you than I probably should.”

“And yet you didn’t know that I speak French,” Max points out. 

“I’m sorry. But YouTube only has videos of Max Lightwood-Bane swearing for four minutes straight and Max Lightwood-Bane laughing for seven minutes straight. I’m afraid the general public is unaware of your French skills.”

“Oh, I think the general public knows about my French skills. I'm very good with my tongue-“

“All right. That’s quite enough of that,” David shushes him. “Anyway, back to your childhood quest to be a fireman. I’m not entirely surprised, you know.”

“No?” Max asks, going back to his rummaging because he has a task at hand. He needs to focus. European Princes are terrible distractions. “Because of the partially nude calendars?”

“Because I think you like being the hero,” David tells him. “You like rescuing people.”

Now it’s Max’s turn to scoff. “That’s a lot coming from Prince Charming who’s off to rescue damsels in distress all the time.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever rescued anything in my entire life,” David tells him, a little seriously. 

Max doesn’t like that tone. It’s a little self-deprecating. It doesn’t suit a prince. It certainly doesn’t suit David, who is supposed to be Max’s new best friend now. Max doesn't vibe with self-pitying fools. All his friends are arrogant, yet adorable, little cunts. He mostly means Mina, of course. And Rafe.

“Isn’t Chopin a rescue?” Max inquires. 

“Chopin is a cat. He doesn’t count,” the Prince informs him. 

“Careful,” Max chuckles. “My bapak will sue you for that kind of talk.”

#i love youuuuu #zou babygirl #mavid #mavid rwrb au

[magicalgirltwirl]

This is the first AMV I ever made! It was a Claymore one to "Rise" by Origa (one of the OPs for the Ghost in the Shell anime). It's bad so you shouldn't watch it, but I wanted to ramble a bit about my journey making AMVs and how I got started. (and also Claymore in the reblog)

I made this for my college anime club in 2011. The club said they were going to have an AMV contest and we could make ours over break. Then when I got back from break nobody but me had made one and I just dropped it. I didn't mind though, because I wanted to get started making AMVs anyway, I'd watched a bunch and wanted to for a while. Like a lot of people, I was always creating AMVs in my head when I listened to songs.

The summary I published this with is preserved in the metadata and it is so unintentionally funny

Done for an AMV contest at the anime club. I haven't finished either the anime or manga of Claymore yet- so no spoilers- but I am already completely in love with both. [summary stuff]

Anyone know how to get rid of the box on the sides of the picture?

As is very obvious in this video, at first I approached AMVs kind of like I was making my own summary of my favorite parts of the anime rather than really intergrating the music. I used subbed footage in this (and in a few AMVS after) because 1. I could only find subbed footage and 2. because at the time I was always confused why people didn't use subs for anime, because sometimes they matched the music or they could tell someone what the show was about! But of course this is because you can rarely make an AMV that actually works with the music with subbed footage.

You have to leave time for people to read the subs and the characters to talk and part of the fun of AMVs is conveying things nonverbally and syncing it to the lyrics of the beat, it makes for a boring viewing experience if it's just a clipshow where you might has well have just left the audio on and made an ad for the anime.

So this is slow and bad, but I have a fondness for it. You can see that I really wanted to show people Clare and Teresa's story and why I thought it was cool. I think I made three subbed AMVs after this (the second one being the "We Believe You" Sailor Jupiter one, and the next two being other Sailor Moon ones that are lost forever now) but as I got better, I ditched them. The road to improvement was slow and long, but I improved a lot.

I don't think I'll ever make AMVs again- the last time I attempted one was a Patreon request, and I realized Windows Movie Maker was way too buggy to work with and as an adult, AMVs were way too time consuming to make for only $50- now I know how to use Davinci Resolve which is way better and not buggy, but yeah, still too time consuming! Even editing my old ones like I've been doing has been more time consuming and horribly addictive than I imagined. I can waste entire days just editing an AMV, hours on just getting one bit of timing right, and now that I have all these responsibilities I can't do that anymore. But I really look back on all my AMVs fondly, even the bad ones. I'm glad I can revisit most of them on this blog now.

#claymore #my amvs #videos

[39oa]

hi! i’m slowly getting interested in f1 but i don’t really know how to start. so i was wondering if you had any content to recommend (except for the races of course) to get into the fandom, or anything else that could help, really.. thanks :)

oh anon i would love to help!!! are there any drivers/teams you're already particularly fond of or things you want to learn more about? i feel like it'd be easier to narrow down content if i understood your interests better since it's really something you can mold entirely to your own tastes and there are a million different ways to Enjoy and Consume the sport LOL. tbh i call myself an f1 fan but i mostly just rep oscar and in reality enjoy junior formulae more as a whole because i find the process of getting to f1 more intriguing than actually being in it... so it's really whatever you make of it! i'll try to divide my notes categorically so hopefully that helps a little bit but lmk if there's anything specific you're looking for :') and as always apologies in advance for my rambling 💔

getting into the actual sport

having a baseline understanding of the sport is obviously useful but i'm not sure how much you already know so i'll assume you can find super basic info about how seasons and points work! if you want to delve just a Bit further then:

i think chain bear is a decent youtube channel for easy explanations on some technical aspects and little things you may not have picked up on yet that will help when watching races

drive to survive is of course Not Great but it can be a nice and quick window into learning names and faces, even if a lot of it is ridiculously simplified or overexaggerated. it's basically like using duolingo for learning a new language in that it should be regarded as a semi-reliable supplemental material readily packaged for convenient consumption. if there are specific drivers you're interested in you can always pick and choose eps to consume decent Background Lore for, e.g. you can just watch s1e8 if you're a sharl fan

honestly not to shill for official f1 media but i do think f1tv is a pretty decent streaming platform when getting into the sport... definitely not saying you should subscribe to it (if it's even available in your country!) but just as an aside and maybe for future reference i do believe it's very friendly for new watchers because live races have different feeds that let you track race data (gaps, tyre usage, granular sector data during quali, etc.) and it also lets you switch between driver onboards which can be cool. moreover it has pre-race/post-race shows, technical analyses, archives of past seasons, all the f2/f3 content, documentaries, etc. so it's a pretty complete package! although a good amount of stuff gets x-posted to the official youtube channel so it's not a big deal

if you like podcasts, i think beyond the grid is cool because it has a fun variety of interviews (current drivers, retired drivers, tps, engineers, etc.) about both past and current events so you can basically seek out whatever you're interested in learning more about. otherwise i don't really listen to f1 podcasts regularly because i have weirdly low patience for them compared to hockey, but my friend told me that shift+f1 does yearly primers so that could be something useful to check out! (here's the 2023 season preview, i haven't checked it out but i thought i'd link anyway)

keeping up with news

obviously an important part of fandom is trying to keep up with current affairs, so if you haven't already then i would of course follow the f1 youtube channel + twitter account (or whatever other social media you use), f1 nowadays is extremely effective at marketing itself so it's not like hockey where you're fighting for your life waiting for the unfunniest puck personality video in existence to drop every 8 months. not that all f1 driver content is necessarily funny but there's probably a touch more investment in maintaining the illusion! anyway.

if you use reddit then r/formula1 is honestly probably the best aggregate source of f1 news and up-to-date info, i don't read everything there but it's pretty useful and easy to navigate. plus sometimes when i want to cause myself irreparable psychic damage from something that already pissed me off i can venture into a 500-comment section to get my blood boiling even more... 10/10 would recommend

other than that it's really like — follow official channels for any other drivers or teams you're fond of tbh, i do have a few motorsports journalists in my twitter list but since i respect the fact that some people don't enjoy endless news spam i'd maybe just recommend chris medland if you want a succinct live feed during races for the moment? f1 journalism is kind of godless so you don't *need* to follow that many reporters on a whole.

driver personality content

unfortunately i'll be showing my age when i say i don't have a tiktok account but now that i think about it that's probably a great source of information because it seems like f1 fandom is thriving over there!!! regardless the official f1 youtube does have a lot of little driver personality videos you can watch to get to know them more, and again i'd recommend checking out official team + driver channels for more tailored longform content. for ex just from very recent mcl fan pov they have an unboxed series with behind the scenes of select races and also loads of fun minigame content; every team should have at least SOMETHING to nibble on but certain teams are definitely more marketing-savvy than others (aka big 3 + mcl) 🥲

official f1: f1 has a yearly series called grill the grid with just mini quizzes that all the drivers compete in, some are less interesting but it's overall not bad content. the channel has a playlist for the 2021 gtgs which includes the iconic sebvettel world champion video LOL... actually if you sort the f1 channel by Most Viewed there are probably some fun classic videos in there (looking now it's a lot of crashes but you can ignore those lol), like press conference highlights and other convenient top 10 lists. for a random rec i was just nostalgically revisiting the 2019 rookie of the year video and it was getting to me a little bit!

sky sports f1 will also occasionally have good interview/inside content that you can check out, a lot of it is geolocked though (same with canal+ content in france). but for example i felt so much experiencing this random alex interview from last week... he is truly guy of this world

fan compilations: again if there are any drivers you like then you can just search up their names and there will be a ton of comps with Funny MomentsTM, sometimes it helps to just pick a guy and see how you feel about him as you consume content because your true interests will organically develop and surface eventually... sorry i feel like i'm writing a manifesto on fandom in general which is definitely not what you asked for LOL. but like twitch quartet (aka charles, george, alex, and lando) have a ton of silly streaming highlights you can find on youtube, lando has a gaming company called quadrant that he does videos with which can be uhhh hit or miss depending on how much you enjoy Lad Culture, etc...

really it's so easy to get hyperspecific with content once you pick a team or driver so i'm not sure what else to recommend on a general level but that's what i've got off the top of my head! fandom definitely skews a lot toward rb/merc/fer/mcl so it's easiest to consume both video content and fic for them, but if you're willing to go trawling for interviews then you can really get invested in anyone... fandom culture also varies so wildly depending on how you follow the sport and which drivers you invest in emotionally. my closest friend is a "chirlie" as they say and it really is an experience rife with organizational trauma and TFW You're Beholden To The Stranglehold Of Your Legacy so that's always a great pick if you're craving maximum narrative evisceration, or if you're in it for the fic then you could literally just get really into maxiel, but i'm basically chilling in my land of rookie stonks and sit down to watch non-mcl content maybe once a month.

honestly i only follow like 3.5 f1 fans on tumblr because i'm objectively terrified by the size of the fandom HLSHDFLKH so i mostly consume things in a vacuum and talk to like one friend 😭 but there loads of cool creators out here and you can always find a few gifmakers/fanartists/etc. and just follow the rabbit hole from there!!! best of luck and hope this helps >__<

#a

[rwbyremnants]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-NBW

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

=Chapter 60

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

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

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

“Ready to head down?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“How charming,” she deadpanned.

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

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

“You coming?” Yang asked.

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

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

“HEY!”

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

“Hey, good lookin’,” Blake bade her.

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

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

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

“Watch that gravy!”

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

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

“The what?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“U-um…”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Yes?” she asked as she turned.

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

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

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

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

“WHAT?!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“What? I mean… what do you mean?”

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

“PYRRHA NIKOS!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“You too, best friend!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Huh? Oh, uh… skip me.”

Ruby nudged him hard. “No skipping!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Oh, that’s alright.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Huh?!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Ilia will play, I will sing.”

“OOH!”

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

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

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

“Unpleasant memories of that room.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Am I too late for dinner?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Oh. I guess that makes sense.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

“And what’s the matter with you now?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“You’re a little sister, too!”

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

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

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

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

“She is.”

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

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

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

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

“Hmph. What a brute.”

  THE END

#princess and the dragons #1950s au #freezerburn fanfic #rwby fanfiction #rwbyremnants #completed fic

[justasmallbloginabigklainefandom]

I'm still in my Persona 5 brainrot era, and I really like the Persona 5 openings, so I tried to find all of them:

Persona 5

Just FYI, I play(ed) Royal, so to me, this opening feels so flat? As in, where are the wacky colours? But it still has a really nice style and the more limited colour palette works well. The focus on black, white and red is neat. And of course the song is iconic. It was a bit confusing to see these characters do all these athletic/ice skating moves, since that has nothing to do with the game, but I assume it's all for the vibes. The main downside, in my eyes, is that there isn't enough focus on Makoto, Haru and Futaba. They are also mains!

Persona 5 Strikers

Totally not important, but my god, I love Haru's outfit. I am about to start this game. I really, really like that every Phantom Thief gets their own little moment to shine. Again, it uses the less saturated colouration of Persona 5, but that means that each Phantom Thief's signature colour pops out. And it's interesting that it sort of transitions from this more stylised video to the more cinematic one for the action. It feels like a best of both worlds kind of thing. I do think that Ren swiping up feels a bit out of place, but maybe there's a storyline reason for it.

Persona 5 Dancing In Starlight

This is just kind of weird, but I suppose that's the best way to call the Dancing spin-off, at least, as far as I know. I do like these outfits a lot. I might use them in my new playthrough of P5R. But yeah, the dancing is for some way even weirder than the ice skating. The song goes hard, though, because Persona 5 is very well-known for its jazz-infused soundtrack so it is neat to acknowledge it.

Persona Q2 New Cinema Labyrinth (that includes P5 characters)

I mean, I know nothing about the other Persona games. I also wonder why this video is age restricted, especially since it has a very cartoon-y artstyle. I don't mind this artstyle, but I do prefer the more realistic style. Oh, wait, it's probably because of the shot of the Persona 3 protagonist shooting himself in the head. Even though it's cartoonish, there are strict rules about underage kids being shot at. Anyway, I think it's a bit wack that it implies that Ren is singing to you in the beginning. But man, the song GOES HARD. I found out that the other singers are the main vocalists of the other Persona games and it is just wonderful how it all comes together. Multiple voices sound wonderful. This is probably the best opening song.

Persona 5 Royal

Obviously I am very fond of this one, since this is the first one I saw. I do remember thinking it's a bit much for the eye. As in, the warning of flashing images was immediately applicable from the very start, but god, it looks so good though. And of course, it also has more room for Akechi and Sumi. The part of Sumi does hit differently after you've played the 3rd semester. A lot does, actually, like the Phantom Thieves destroying buildings can refer to them having to break the fake reality. The diamonds at the end also add something surrealistic, like the surrealistic reality. Fun fact, I love Makoto's outfit so much and during my entire playthrough I was basically wondering when I'd see the outfits from this opening. When I saw Futaba wearing that hat in the 3rd semester, I was like "FINALLY!"

Persona 5 Tactica

I suppose this game is really about its guns. All the characters are cutesty stylised cartoons, but the guns look detailed. Ha. I very much like these shots with the flags. Apart from that, I don't have a lot to say. The song slaps, as usual.

#lb 2024 #lb watching #lb gaming #p5r adventures

[conquerthenight]

Hello- I just wanted to let you know that when I sort of casually decided to search the Rebecca The Musical tags on tumblr and then I saw you're one of the people who made the Rebecca The Musical playlist on youtube and oh my goodness I was so excited, I actually texted my wife in the middle of the evening to tell her, it felt like when you find out a celebrity is on tumblr! I've been listening to the playlist nonstop for the last month or so- like all of my work has been done to it, I listen to it when I exercise and I'm just really impressed by the quality of the singing and the translations etc. Discovering it really made up for not getting to see the musical in London. My personal favourite songs are You'll Never Be A Lady, Alone Again, Bottle of Memories and Mrs De Winter Is Here (and I also have a fondness for anything with Jack Favell in, he's just delightful). I love how all the characters sound- like how I can imagine them all perfectly from how strong each character comes across in how they're sung, Mrs van Hopper is so brash and obnoxious and Ich is so anxious and sweet and Mrs Danvers is such a queen and you even made me quite like Maxim, who I was always kind of indifferent to in the book. I can't imagine how you had the time and energy to do the whole thing but I'm also so very grateful that you did because I love it so much. Anyway, sorry to send this out of the blue, I just wanted you to know how much I'm enjoying your creation! (oh and especial thank you for putting the lyrics online too!)

Oh my god oh my god oh my fucking god it’s 3 am and I’m crying tears of joy!!!! Thank you so so much, I am so over the moon that you loved Fanbecca enough to write such a sweet message. I’m shaking so much I’m so happy!!!

The person who sang Ich is actually me. That’s my (very obviously American 😂) voice you were hearing. I’ll admit, “Bottle of Memories” was NOT my best vocally, so I’m surprised that was your favorite, but I’m so glad you liked it. My friend Daytona was Maxim and he was also the one who did the editing and uploading of all the videos. I’ve gotten multiple messages from people who have said that he got them to like (or at least sympathize with) Maxim after previously not liking the character. That to me is a huge testament to how dedicated he was to the whole role. Our Danny is definitely a queen, I adore her. She also put her entire soul into this project. She’s German singing in perfect English and I just can’t hype her up enough.

This is the first time anyone’s commented on our Favell and Van Hopper (fun fact, our Danny had to step in as Van Hopper for “I’m An American Woman” because we did last minute rewrites to that song and our original Van Hopper and the understudy we had on standby weren’t available). Both of them absolutely slayed, I absolutely HATED “You’ll Never Be A Lady” until I heard her sing it. The guy who did Favell has actually been part of Fanbecca since Daytona and I finished writing the first draft of lyrics back in early 2019. Mrs. Van Hopper was also part of an earlier draft in 2020. Both of them came back for the final drafts and I cannot thank them enough.

Also, I never got to see Rebecca in London either. Couldn’t afford it and I live on the wrong side of the world so I spent my time on Tumblr and the casts’ Instagrams to see what I could of it. I also got my hands on an audio and that cast was incredible. Lauren, Richard, and Kara my absolute beloveds 🥰.

Thanks again for your ask and your follow, and my apologies for the rambling in my response XDDD

#i just screamed #thank you ​tumblr user cynicalrainbows #fanbecca #rebecca das musical

[whitneys-puppyslut]

Finch (Robin's PC)

18+ / minors DNI

Hi guys. Thanks for the support on my first two drabble thingies. And welcome to my blog, since I haven't said that yet.

I'm gonna start a little series where I show off my personal PCs I use when romancing different characters in DOL. I made them all in the sims since I'm not confident in my drawing skills... so their actual in my head designs are a little different than the screenshots you'll see here. And of course, the actual sprites in DOL differ quite a bit as well. But y'know it's just so you guys get a sense of the character.

I might also put all of them into a world in the sims with their love interests and see what happens lol.

Anyway, without further ado, here's Robin's PC: also known as Finch!

Headcanons under the cut

Finch the Bodyguard

Get it? because robin is a type of bird and a finch is also....... yeah I'll see myself out

she/her pronouns

bisexual

Finch isn't her real name. But nobody knows her real name, not even Robin or any the teachers...

Leighton knows, and Bailey knows. But that's about it.

Finch erm... "persuaded" Leighton to change her name on school documents.

She's not above using sex to get what she wants... i mean in this fucked up city you do what you gotta do.

She prefers not to have to resort to that though.

Most things do go her way, after all she's smart, attractive, popular....... and intimidating........

Yeah she is BUFF in case you can't tell. She loves building muscle and working out... but mainly she's like that out of necessity.

I mean it helps to be able to fend off attackers and pursuers.

Or simply scare them off before they even lay their hands on her!

She has scary dog energy

Whitney knows to stay out of her way.

Bc the one time he did stop her in the hallway and tried to put his hands on her... did not end well for him.

EVERYONE recorded that fight. It's not everyday you get to see Whitney get pummeled into the ground...

And then he SCRAMBLED to get those videos taken down....

It's okay tho Finch actually made a truce with him and helped him threaten persuade everyone to delete the videos.

As long as he promised to keep his and his friends' hands off of her loved ones.

So yeah they don't interact with each other now but they both know the terms and conditions of their little truce

Robin & Finch <3

So how did Robin get the hot goth baddie?

Well as per the plot of DOL they grew up together and were friends and he looked up to her and yada yada

They were pretty much acting like lovebirds way before they actually made it official

And their situationship was fine as it was, for a while... but Finch really feels like she needs to devote herself to people entirely. And she felt bad having her attention pulled away from Robin, her best friend since forever, by other friends and especially other potential love interests.

So she was like fuck it and, in the privacy of Robin's room one night, while he was playing video games, they made it official

It was all sappy and shit <333

She DEDICATED herself to him

She's a great gf honestly

Neither of them are very fond of PDA, and Finch is very stoic and rather serious irl, and she feels like she needs to keep up her intimidating persona

so they keep the lovey-dovey shit behind closed doors

i love them they're so cute

her other little "title" alongside "the bodyguard" is "robin's protector" bc that's basically what she is. She doesn't let any harm come to him as long as she's there.

She even pays Bailey's rent for him. So yeah she juggles like a million jobs trying to afford that

But she tries to find jobs that are safe that robin could do, bc honestly that lemonade stand... isn't helping much.

Unfortunately all the higher paying jobs come with a lot of risk. Risk she's not willing to put Robin through.

She feels very protective over him, not in a weird way but genuinely she hates seeing him hurt, but it's gotten to the point where she feels like he can't go anywhere and do anything.

It's putting quite a damper on his confidence levels.

And she's noticed.

But what can she do other than try to protect the love of her life?

And when it gets to the point where she has to choose between a confident robin, or a safe robin, what will she choose?

Is it even up to her?

Wow sry guys that was a lot. Also as much as I love DOL I don't actually play that much so I might get some details wrong or miss big plot things that I just haven't seen so... yeah.

Ok bye lol

#dol #dol pc #dol robin #robin the orphan #whitney the bully #dol whitney #degrees of lewdity

[mr-snailman]

thanks for the tag @rocket-eighty-eight :D

this is the first time I've ever been tagged in one of these so I'm not quite sure how it works but I'll give it a shot

Name: I usually put down Sonny when I need a pseudonym. Oddly enough this predates my fascination with Al Pacino.

Pronouns: whatever you think (it rarely comes up anyways)

Where do you call home? A used-to-be farm town in the great state of Massachusetts. Go Bruins.

Favorite Animal: Surprise surprise-- it's not the snail. I'm fond of rats and carnivorous dinosaurs.

Cereal of choice: I've started buying Honey Bunches in bulk. With almonds.

Visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learner: Probably a combination of auditory and kinesthetic? Like talk me through it while I do it slowly and then I'm set.

First pet: I've never really had a pet of my own. We lived in apartments for my entire childhood. My mom had cats when I was a baby, though.

Favorite scent: there's a Savers in a nearby town and every time I walk in I take a deep breath and smile. Mom says it smells like mildew. I say it reminds me of the locker rooms back when I used to play hockey, which usually smelled like sweat, beer, and yeah, mildew.

Do you believe in astrology? No and frankly I'm not fond of it, but I won't begrudge anyone their beliefs.

How many playlists do you have on your music service of choice? ...0. I just type the songs in manually and let it shuffle from there. Or listen to an artist's entire discography.

Sharpies or highlighters: On a personal level I like Sharpies more but I haven't seen mine in years and I don't ever have to use them. I don't do much with highlighters either but I bought a pack for my anatomy class and I might start using them in my sketchbook too.

Song that makes you cry: I really don't cry often but I remember when I was younger hearing "Travellin' Soldier" by the Chicks and bawling. He's just a kid! She's just a kid! They're alone and scared and they reach out for each other but the war sweeps it all away like a breaker takes a sandcastle out to sea!

Song that makes you happy: "Walk of Life" by Dire Straits. Bonus points if it's the music video that's just reels of sports wipeouts spliced with band footage.

Aand finally, do you write/draw/create? Yes! Not as much as I'd like to 'cause I'm busy and my sleep schedule is fucked but yes!! I draw a lot (mainly figures but I'm taking my very first art class right now). I also write sporadically, but the inspiration comes and goes.

Ok and I'm tagging @vbnmlpx3 @fruitysalamander1398 @wildly-empty and anyone else who wants to.

[sweepseven]

Which is your favorite act of each circus skill Cirque du Soleil has ever included? Favorite trapeze act, favorite silks act, dance, icarian games, miscellaneous, etc.

Sweet you menace. You knew this would both delight me and derail my day. I am powerless but to respond.

(Disclaimer that categorizing and even identifying all circus acts is both impossible and a credit to the medium itself, this is neither a comprehensive list of acts nor a comprehensive list of my favorites, etc. etc.)

Adagio/acro/hand to hand - Adagio Quatuor, Luzia

Sensual, emotional, graceful expression of conflict, perfect set, perfect song, perfect voice. Check out 3:50-4:13 for what I personally think is the best moment in the entire show. Can't explain it. It just gives me chills every time.

Aerial hoop - Cerceaux, O

There is a lot of great lyra acts in Cirque, some with markedly stronger overall choreography and difficulty level, but this song in this setting, when the brides come in... this one is unmatched.

Aerial straps - Tlaloc, Luzia

Cirque is utterly oversaturated with aerial straps acts. But this one is real magic.

(like a billion more beneath the cut)

Balance - Rola bola, Kurios

How is there no decent video on hand?? Anyway this act is a heart attack no matter how many times you see it.

Banquine - Banquine, Quidam

You already know there's no other. 1:44 if you want goosebumps. The ghost twins are handled with such tender delicacy, and yet they're both totally hollow and interchangeable. Absolutely incredible.

Bars of any kind (Russian, uneven, tournik, high, etc.) - Uneven bars, Amaluna

Very nearly tournik here, but I just love the Amazons so much and feel like this entire show was shafted so I'm sticking with it.

Bungee - Bungees, Zed

There is basically no linkable footage of this act anywhere but it wins because of the set and song. And they're galaxies!!!

Contortion - Contortion, Kurios

Wish I could find decent footage of it onstage because it looks so cool with its proper base and setting. But I just love how energetic this act is, and the skill level is nuts.

Cradle (Russian, aerial, other, etc.) - Bateau, O

Aerial cradle meets parallel bars meets sheer genius.

Dance - Dance Interlude, La Nouba

This was very nearly Dei Ex Machina from Mystere because I'm obsessed with the new Monarch bird, but. There's a chance nothing else in the world matters besides this song.

Diabolo - Diabolo, Kooza

Who's doing it higher, faster, and better than this tbh. Plus his costume is just adorable.

Fire - Fire Knife Dance, Alegria IANL

This artist in particular takes the cake. You can feel his passion and joy. A perfect match for this act and show.

Flying trapeze - Flying trapeze, Mystere

It's categorically the best flying act in the entire world. Really nothing more to it. I've trained with a few people in the act too, so it has a very special place in my heart. 1:33 for an uprise that gives me a heart attack every. fucking. time.

Handbalancing - Handbalancing on canes, Varekai

This act lends itself very beautifully to different moods. I'm particularly fond of this chilly interpretation - La Promise is so mature here, so in control of herself and her surroundings.

Interlude - Dans L'Air, Quidam

Probably guessable. I never shut up about this one. Favorite moment in all of my Cirque experience. There is nothing like those lights coming up bright and hot as the red curtains stretch out, not before not since.

Juggling - Juggling, Amaluna

Love Cali, love Viktor Kee. No one on earth moves like him.

Non-juggling manipulation - Batons, Ka

Misc. aerial - Cloud swing, Quidam

Favorite Cirque act of all time. All time ever. I don't imagine anyone is clicking through all of these but if anyone chose just one, I'd want it to be this. The women with their ropes. Boum Boum trapped beneath the net. The bassist. The fact that Cirque hasn't touched this act once since it was retired in Quidam. Everything about it is perfection.

Misc. other things that swing - Swiss rings, Volta

I'll never forget seeing this live. A real shining jewel in a show that never got to become what it could have been.

Non-juggling manipulation (hoops, batons, ribbons, etc.) - Batons, Ka

Duhhhhh 😁

Russian swing - Russian swing, O

What really makes this act are the tiny interactions between artists. Everyone has a story and a reason to celebrate. The Russian swing itself becomes almost secondary to the setting it creates. Perfect example of a successful ensemble act.

Silks - Aerial contortion in silks, Quidam

Again, are there any others? This act is simply vicious.

Static trapeze - Triple trapeze, Varekai

Again, duhhh 😁. I wanted to be one of them so badly when I was younger.

Teeterboard - Korean plank, Mystere

Kind of a cheat because it's also powertrack but come on this act rules.

Trampoline (wall, power track, etc.) - Powertrack, La Nouba

Utterly devastating in its effectiveness. I truly do not care that today's powertrack acts are a million times more complex or high in skill level. This is precision and simplicity at its finest, and every dash of characterization shows the magic crammed into every moment of La Nouba. So many modern shows have never and could never in their wildest dreams. Lose my shit at 6:50.

Unicycle - Unicycles, Drawn To Life

No real footage because Disney is the worst. I don't even like unicycles and I adored this act.

Wheel (cyr, German, crossed, etc.) - Roue cyr, Corteo

Yet again it's that act/song combo that does me in. The precision this act demands! The bizarre darkness of the entire thing! I'm just obsessed.

Wheel of death - Wheel of death, Kooza

No one else should even try tbh. Even Ka can't match the energy, and the intimacy of the big top takes this act to the absolute maximum.

Wire - Tightwire, Amaluna

I don't really care for wire acts too much but I really liked this one! I was bummed when it was removed. It lent shape to the world in a really nice way.

#I'm exhausted thank you so much for this!!! #super fun #remembered a lot of forgotten faves #cirque du soleil #replies #suddenlyalright

[gra-sonas]

A big thanks for all the uploads you share with us. That's so cool and nice of you to do this Malex / Vlamburn History for everyone of us. Can I ask you what touches you more in this ship ? What made you do this blog specifically on them ? Like do you think the writers and actors succeeded in telling sth different than the other "queer" love stories :) thanks

Hi, and thank you so much for your message! ❤️

Honestly, this blog is also for me. I'm an archivist at heart and just LOVE having a blog where I can cross-reference the (also neatly labeled/sorted 🤪) content on my computer.

(That's why I'm still mourning the loss of my previous blog so much btw, +50K posts/7 years of meticulously tagged - mostly - Tyler Hoechlin content. I still have it all on my computer, so it's not like I lost the content itself, but I lost the archive, and that pains me more than anything).

ANYWAY, before I start rambling even more about this (which I totally could *cough*) I'll try and answer your question.

I lost my previous blog at the end of 2018 in the Great (NOT-ACTUALLY-GREAT) Tumblr purge, and when RNM started airing in January 2019, that wound was still so fresh, and I was still so mad at Tumblr, I didn't want to start another blog.

So I kept my S1 fangirling to Twitter (and Discord). And while I LOVE Twitter (it's my favorite social media site by far), it's really shit for what I love most (and what I've done for several fandoms prior to RNM on various platforms), and that's collecting info/pics/videos and share them with likeminded people.

So, roughly 2 or 3 weeks after S1 ended airing, I came back to this hell-site and set up this blog. And it's been an absolute joy (especially during the rather hard first 2 pandemic years) running it. This time it wasn't just the collecting and sharing of info tho, it was the interaction with others (shoutout to all the wonderful nonnies who sent countless asks over the years, ILU ❤️) that kept me going.

As for Malex/Vlamburn - for me, Malex have been the heart of the show from the very first episode. Vlamburn's on-screen chemistry is out-of-this-world amazing, and it was the easiest thing to extend my love for the characters (Alex Manes is my favorite character ever, next to Derek Hale) to the actors, who were endlessly generous with giving us so much amazing content over the years.

I won't pretend that I'm super fond of what the writers did with Malex over the years (there's a reason why I've only watched bits and pieces of S2, and skipped a large chunk of S4), for me it's always (ALWAYS) been down to Tyler and Vlamis.

No matter what the writers put them through, they always poured every ounce of emotion into Alex and Michael, and that's what got and kept me hooked, and that's what made and makes Malex so special.

So, for me it’s never been down to the writing (that ranged from utter rubbish over okay-ish to some truly golden moments), it were Tyler and Vlamis who roped me in with their performances, and then they kept me hooked bc it turned out that both of them are also exceptional people.

And while I adore the entire cast, and I’ll miss them all terribly, I’ll very likely keep my focus on following Tyler and Vlammy’s careers in the future here (hopefully adding some new things to the mix over time, too, I kinda really miss blogging about my other favorite Tyler - who looks fucking amazing in the new S3 Superman suit btw!!! 🔥).

Wow, now you had to endure several paragraphs of my rambling anyway. SORRY! (I hope you’ll find answers to your questions somewhere in this word vomit 😳)

#exploreandlearn19 #rnm salt

[busyralph]

Dearest Ralphie-Boy,

Do you mind if I call you that? I could just stick to Ralph, that's fine. But anyway... That is very smart to not venture into...yes, this hellsite alone. I mean, it can be wonderful at times and full of amazing people with great talent but also.... Supervision is very, very smart. It is wildly different from, say, Insta, I guess. Where everything is, I feel, about showing off and pictures while Tumblr is more... I guess showcasing talents. Like with writing or there's a lot of neat gif makers around these parts. As for what you might like.... Most of my time here is spent around finding like minded folks about common interest, like tv shows, because more than likely I don't have someone in my day to day that shares those same interest so it's nice having someone online to talk about. What are your favorite shows? Maybe it'd be safe to go into those tags and see what people comment about them, start a conversation, that sort of thing.

Of course! We all start somewhere and grow from there, I hope you enjoy the time here, there's lots of us so glad you're here ( I am definitely one of them ) and... Favorite emoji... 🫶 maybe this one, I use it a lot.

And definitely be wary of the bots. Annoying bunch. And very relentless.

With adoration, Yve.

Dear Yve,

Oh, you may call me whatever you like, as long as you don't call me late for dinner!

I have heard of these "gifs"! Or are they jifs? Scott and Grace argue about that every time it gets brought up in conversation. I'm just in awe that pictures can move without being video!

I have some favourite shows, most certainly, but the last time I tried to engage in a discussion on the Internet about those, I unintentionally caused some "discourse" that turned into a "flame war" and I almost got "doxxed". I'm not entirely sure what any of that means, but I've been told that it's probably best to not poke the bear. Thankfully, I am also very fond of nature programmes, which do contain bears but none of them are poked.

It absolutely warms my very heart to hear that you are happy to have me here on this specific part of the Internet! You have been so gracious to me so far, and I am especially gratuitous to have this opportunity to get to know you all so far.

Regards,

Ralph

#*ralph #yve 🫶