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[RWBY] A Character Arc: Jaune Arc RWBY SI BS Revised
Not the Jaundice Arc Coda
New
AJ_Talon
Well worn.
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After meeting with Ozpin, I was... Jumpy. Twitchy. I decided to train the strength and speed booster techniques Mom taught me on my own. Something to burn some of my stress away. I'd already been working them in around everything else, but I needed to know what they felt like without an audience or a safety net. I went out to Training Field 69 (nice). It was late at night but the Dust lamps illuminated it with the broken moon, enough I could see what I was doing.
Aura flared hard along my arms and legs. I set my feet, focused, and pushed.
"And… BOOST!"
The world sharpened for a second. I charged, swung, and Crocea Mors carved clean through a tree trunk with a heavy crack and a spray of splinters. The amplified strength dropped almost as fast as it came, leaving a familiar burn in my channels.
"Phew… okay… so I can be a lumberjack if this doesn't work out… and that's okay…"
Footsteps approached through the grass. I looked back at the tall figure approaching me.
Cardin. He'd been less openly obnoxious lately, but he was still Cardin Winchester: chip on the shoulder, scowl included.
"Arc!"
"Yeah, Cardin?"
He stopped a few paces away, jaw tight. "That fight was bullshit. You owe me a real one."
"I don't see why. We're not supposed to fight outside Combat Class."
"You got me with a cheap shot!"
"There's no such thing as a fair fight."
His face darkened. "Oh yeah?! Just because Mommy taught you something special you think you can hack it here?!"
I exhaled through my nose. "Dude… what exactly do you want? This isn't high school. We are training to risk our lives to save people and fight Grimm.You really think this makes you look better?! What kind of pecking order do you want?!"
His scowled deepend.
"One where I'm on top of you!"
I blinked. "…Dude, I'm not gay. Sorry, but not my thing."
His face turned red in rage.
"That's not what I meant!"
"Sure sounded like it."
"I just… want to dominate you!"
I laughed before I could stop myself. "It just gets gayer and gayer!"
"ARGH!"
He came at me hard. I slipped the first swings, but he was fast and angry enough to close distance. Aura flared again as I took a hit on the guard, then I pushed the strength technique and knocked his follow-up aside. He punched me. I punched back harder.
A tooth actually left his mouth.
He recovered faster than I liked, locked both arms around me, and tried to crush the fight out with raw mass. No formal answer for that—so I made one. I drove a knee straight into his groin.
Cardin made a noise that would have gotten sympathy from every guy on campus.
Then I poked him in the eyes. He headbutted me back and I saw stars.
"GAH!"
"Did you seriously pull a Three Dolts on me?!"
"Yup. Also, I have a live Dust grenade in my other hand."
His whole body seized. "Wha—ARE YOU CRAZY—?!"
He flung me off him and scrambled back. I rolled up onto my feet, grinning through the adrenaline. I held out the grenade in my open palm.
"HA! Sucker! It was a dud!"
The grenade detonated.
The blast knocked both of us flat in a cloud of dirt and smoke.
"…Ow. Okay. It was real. Ow…"
Bloody Nora! Ha... That was funny... Or would be when everything stopped hurting so much.
Cardin coughed somewhere to my left. "You… think?"
I pushed myself upright slowly, ears ringing. "Okay… so… willing to listen since I nearly blew us both up?"
"F… fine."
I groaned and rubbed ash off my face. "Look… what exactly is bullying gonna get you, bro? It's gonna get me blowing us both up to make you listen. Is that something you want to repeat more than once?"
"I like explosions."
"Not helping!"
He shook his head, still half-dazed. "I just… geez… what is your deal? You're a mess, Arc. You're a weakling but you got in? You have Pyrrha freaking Nikos as your partner! I can't figure you out."
"Well… I mean, that's kind of my deal. I know I lucked out. I lucked out hard. I know I have a lot of catching up to do. I got in with my brains… rest of me is catching up." I met his eyes. "If you think I don't belong, you're half right. I'm just working overtime to try and prove I do."
"You're also insane."
"Yeah, not arguing that." I stared at him.
Cardin scrubbed a hand over his face, then muttered, "…Okay… so… I might… have been a jerk."
"Might have?"
"A little…"
I held up another grenade. I was pretty sure it was a dud... But then I'd been sure the last one was, too. Cardin held up a free hand.
"OKAY, FINE, A LOT! PUT THAT AWAY!"
I put the grenade back into my pouch.
"So what's your point?"
He grimaced. "Okay… ugh… I… I did think you were weak and wanted to put you in your place… and you are… and you're in fact fucking nuts. So I don't want to bully you anymore."
"GOOD! Geez, this isn't high school! What, you think the head of the cheerleaders will date you if you pick on nerds? We're fighting to protect people from the Grimm! Grow up!"
That was when Glynda Goodwitch walked into the clearing, her glare furious.
"Why did I hear an explosion?"
Cardin froze. "Uh…"
Oh… oh shit…
"W-Well… I… sort of—" Cardin tried, but I beat him to it.
"We were training!" I cut in fast. "Winchester and I had a miscommunication. It won't happen again. Like, he was supposed to bat one of my Dust grenades with his mace at the enemy. And uh… yeah. He missed. My bad."
Glynda stared at me with narrowed eyes for a long, painful second. Then she sighed.
"I'll let it slide so long as it doesn't happen again."
"No, ma'am," Cardin said quickly. "It won't."
"AND you clean up the mess."
"Sure…" I said.
We got to work. For a while there was only the sound of scorched grass, broken wood, and two very sweaty idiots trying to look responsible.
Eventually Cardin muttered, "…You didn't have to cover for me—"
"Cardin… we're in a war for the survival of life on this planet. As long as you clean up your act, you're on my side."
"…Fair point."
"Which means… you apologize to Velvet for tugging on her ears. And being racist."
His jaw tightened. "Faunus killed my grandparents—"
"And that wasn't her fault. So apologize. That's all I want, okay?"
He grumbled under his breath. "…Fine."
"Geez. I'm starting to think you are gay."
"WHAT?! I AM NOT!"
"Dude, you're picking on one of the hottest girls at this school."
"W-Well I hate Faunus!"
"Do you really hate her that much though?"
He flushed. Heh, looks like he had actual hormones underneath all those... Other hormones.
"I… she's a Faunus!"
"Dude… did we see the same girl? Big-boobed and booty bunny girl!"
"CUT IT OUT!" He hissed. I snickered.
"Oho… so you have! Talk about arrested development. You were pulling on her pigtails, huh? Damn, I was right!"
Cardin glared death.
"I don't care if you have a Dust grenade."
"I have a lot," I corrected him.
"Then you're going to be using them if you don't shut up."
"Just promise to apologize to Velvet and I'll shut up. Promise."
Cardin sighed like a man accepting a prison sentence. "Promise."
"Good…"
From the edge of the clearing, Glynda's voice cracked like a whip.
"Work faster!"
"Yes ma'am!" We both cried.
Aura flared hard along my arms and legs. I set my feet, focused, and pushed.
"And… BOOST!"
The world sharpened for a second. I charged, swung, and Crocea Mors carved clean through a tree trunk with a heavy crack and a spray of splinters. The amplified strength dropped almost as fast as it came, leaving a familiar burn in my channels.
"Phew… okay… so I can be a lumberjack if this doesn't work out… and that's okay…"
Footsteps approached through the grass. I looked back at the tall figure approaching me.
Cardin. He'd been less openly obnoxious lately, but he was still Cardin Winchester: chip on the shoulder, scowl included.
"Arc!"
"Yeah, Cardin?"
He stopped a few paces away, jaw tight. "That fight was bullshit. You owe me a real one."
"I don't see why. We're not supposed to fight outside Combat Class."
"You got me with a cheap shot!"
"There's no such thing as a fair fight."
His face darkened. "Oh yeah?! Just because Mommy taught you something special you think you can hack it here?!"
I exhaled through my nose. "Dude… what exactly do you want? This isn't high school. We are training to risk our lives to save people and fight Grimm.You really think this makes you look better?! What kind of pecking order do you want?!"
His scowled deepend.
"One where I'm on top of you!"
I blinked. "…Dude, I'm not gay. Sorry, but not my thing."
His face turned red in rage.
"That's not what I meant!"
"Sure sounded like it."
"I just… want to dominate you!"
I laughed before I could stop myself. "It just gets gayer and gayer!"
"ARGH!"
He came at me hard. I slipped the first swings, but he was fast and angry enough to close distance. Aura flared again as I took a hit on the guard, then I pushed the strength technique and knocked his follow-up aside. He punched me. I punched back harder.
A tooth actually left his mouth.
He recovered faster than I liked, locked both arms around me, and tried to crush the fight out with raw mass. No formal answer for that—so I made one. I drove a knee straight into his groin.
Cardin made a noise that would have gotten sympathy from every guy on campus.
Then I poked him in the eyes. He headbutted me back and I saw stars.
"GAH!"
"Did you seriously pull a Three Dolts on me?!"
"Yup. Also, I have a live Dust grenade in my other hand."
His whole body seized. "Wha—ARE YOU CRAZY—?!"
He flung me off him and scrambled back. I rolled up onto my feet, grinning through the adrenaline. I held out the grenade in my open palm.
"HA! Sucker! It was a dud!"
The grenade detonated.
The blast knocked both of us flat in a cloud of dirt and smoke.
"…Ow. Okay. It was real. Ow…"
Bloody Nora! Ha... That was funny... Or would be when everything stopped hurting so much.
Cardin coughed somewhere to my left. "You… think?"
I pushed myself upright slowly, ears ringing. "Okay… so… willing to listen since I nearly blew us both up?"
"F… fine."
I groaned and rubbed ash off my face. "Look… what exactly is bullying gonna get you, bro? It's gonna get me blowing us both up to make you listen. Is that something you want to repeat more than once?"
"I like explosions."
"Not helping!"
He shook his head, still half-dazed. "I just… geez… what is your deal? You're a mess, Arc. You're a weakling but you got in? You have Pyrrha freaking Nikos as your partner! I can't figure you out."
"Well… I mean, that's kind of my deal. I know I lucked out. I lucked out hard. I know I have a lot of catching up to do. I got in with my brains… rest of me is catching up." I met his eyes. "If you think I don't belong, you're half right. I'm just working overtime to try and prove I do."
"You're also insane."
"Yeah, not arguing that." I stared at him.
Cardin scrubbed a hand over his face, then muttered, "…Okay… so… I might… have been a jerk."
"Might have?"
"A little…"
I held up another grenade. I was pretty sure it was a dud... But then I'd been sure the last one was, too. Cardin held up a free hand.
"OKAY, FINE, A LOT! PUT THAT AWAY!"
I put the grenade back into my pouch.
"So what's your point?"
He grimaced. "Okay… ugh… I… I did think you were weak and wanted to put you in your place… and you are… and you're in fact fucking nuts. So I don't want to bully you anymore."
"GOOD! Geez, this isn't high school! What, you think the head of the cheerleaders will date you if you pick on nerds? We're fighting to protect people from the Grimm! Grow up!"
That was when Glynda Goodwitch walked into the clearing, her glare furious.
"Why did I hear an explosion?"
Cardin froze. "Uh…"
Oh… oh shit…
"W-Well… I… sort of—" Cardin tried, but I beat him to it.
"We were training!" I cut in fast. "Winchester and I had a miscommunication. It won't happen again. Like, he was supposed to bat one of my Dust grenades with his mace at the enemy. And uh… yeah. He missed. My bad."
Glynda stared at me with narrowed eyes for a long, painful second. Then she sighed.
"I'll let it slide so long as it doesn't happen again."
"No, ma'am," Cardin said quickly. "It won't."
"AND you clean up the mess."
"Sure…" I said.
We got to work. For a while there was only the sound of scorched grass, broken wood, and two very sweaty idiots trying to look responsible.
Eventually Cardin muttered, "…You didn't have to cover for me—"
"Cardin… we're in a war for the survival of life on this planet. As long as you clean up your act, you're on my side."
"…Fair point."
"Which means… you apologize to Velvet for tugging on her ears. And being racist."
His jaw tightened. "Faunus killed my grandparents—"
"And that wasn't her fault. So apologize. That's all I want, okay?"
He grumbled under his breath. "…Fine."
"Geez. I'm starting to think you are gay."
"WHAT?! I AM NOT!"
"Dude, you're picking on one of the hottest girls at this school."
"W-Well I hate Faunus!"
"Do you really hate her that much though?"
He flushed. Heh, looks like he had actual hormones underneath all those... Other hormones.
"I… she's a Faunus!"
"Dude… did we see the same girl? Big-boobed and booty bunny girl!"
"CUT IT OUT!" He hissed. I snickered.
"Oho… so you have! Talk about arrested development. You were pulling on her pigtails, huh? Damn, I was right!"
Cardin glared death.
"I don't care if you have a Dust grenade."
"I have a lot," I corrected him.
"Then you're going to be using them if you don't shut up."
"Just promise to apologize to Velvet and I'll shut up. Promise."
Cardin sighed like a man accepting a prison sentence. "Promise."
"Good…"
From the edge of the clearing, Glynda's voice cracked like a whip.
"Work faster!"
"Yes ma'am!" We both cried.
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ServingPlate
Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of cope
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ONE YEAR LATER….
"I mean, I am happy that they figured everything out, but do Cardin and Velvet really need to subject the rest of us to their nonstop jockxnerd bullying public humiliation blackmail forced petplay cnc raceplay bdsm/ddlg kink roleplaying? Can't we just eat lunch in the cafeteria for once without it getting…weird?"
Blake: *heavy mouth breathing* I think it's fine….
AJ_Talon
Well worn.
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Jaune: "Nora? Somehow, your grenades and my reckless disregard for my own life made Cardin and Velvet admit their feelings for eachother!"
Nora: "... We're going to see Renny! And I packed grenades!"
Jaune: "I am there! We're getting you two hitched!"
Nora: "HEEEEEE!"
Bigsdragon
Getting sticky.
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I wonder how Glynda would have reacted if one of them(mostly likely Jaune) responded with "Yes Mistress" instead of "Yes ma'am"
AJ_Talon
Well worn.
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Jaune: "Um, so... You... Are aware of the connotations of your outfit and weapon right?"
Glynda: "Very much so."
Jaune: "Soooo-"
Glynda: "It's none of your business. WORK HARDER!"
Jaune: "EEP! Don't we need a safe word or-"
Glynda: *DEATHGLARE*
Jaune: "Shutting up!"
Despacitoleo
Well worn.
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Hope jaune shaboingd either phyra or ruby, two most anticipated ships from the before times
AJ_Talon
Well worn.
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Don't worry, I'm not writing the Potato Sack Lesbian.
Cleddyf
Where is Divine Shield when I need it?
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*laughs* That and how violent she is. So many authors double down on that. Criminal or not, big brawl in a nightclub is BAD and the whole 'she goes berserk' over her hair thing so many love is... yeah.
AJ_Talon
Well worn.
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Remember, nobody got the full transmission from this universe. So a number of details are slightly different from the canon.
Billbo baggins
Versed in the lewd.
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I really want to like this story but man this thing went so far into the weeds I honestly don't even know where the ball went.
Last edited:
Gur40
Versed in the lewd.
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even if Salem won the war on humanity, her 1 true nemesis would remain
Jaune in most timelines vs Jaune in the Temporal War timeline
though with both the timeline merging and the possible sharing this might not be true
the 1 thing yang can do for her others
we had Warm Jaune but how about warm Yang?
who does this fit? Jaune and the Rusted Knight? Ozma and his betrayals? Ruby self doubts? Summer and _TRQ
outside of death what i want for Canon Cinder and probably other timelines
Salem: Not to mention completely predictable
Jaune in most timelines vs Jaune in the Temporal War timeline
the 1 thing yang can do for her others
who does this fit? Jaune and the Rusted Knight? Ozma and his betrayals? Ruby self doubts? Summer and _TRQ
outside of death what i want for Canon Cinder and probably other timelines
Last edited:
I Burn 1
New
AJ_Talon
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Okay. Look. I'm a teenage boy with a bit of an old man's brain in my head. That doesn't make me a creep, right? Right. I'm totally not a creep. Besides, years of leftover perspective mean I'm not just ruled by hormones. Right? Right. I'm here to save the world. And to do that, I needed to better understand the world.
I was sitting in the common room with the Good Book open in my lap, exhausted after a long day at classes. Yeah—turns out Remnant did have religions. It already did in the show, before they tried to retcon the Brothers in a way that made less sense the longer you thought about it. CRWBY was probably better off not touching any of that, given how the rest of their writing went.
The main faith around here was essentially Christianity with a Chronicles of Narnia twist: Jesus/Aslan had come as a Lion Faunus, died, then come back to life. Symbolism so direct it almost felt like a dare. I suppose it made some sense, given one of the side characters was named Arslan for Aslan, even if it was just a random reference.
Still, it was comforting. Something of my old world had an echo here. Maybe my religion hadn't been a lie so much as a different local reading of something that happened across more than one world. Maybe I wasn't in Hell. Or Purgatory. Or whatever worse option my anxiety liked to conjure at three in the morning.
I didn't know. Point was, Remnant had a Christianity-analog, plus recognizable shapes of Buddhism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, and a few others. Not much that mapped cleanly onto Islam, though Vacuo still carried something with Egyptian-pantheon bones and older ritual trappings where it hadn't gone full bore Mesoamerican Catholicism. The history under all of it was complicated—far denser than "humanity struggled against the Grimm until they found Dust," which was about as explanatory as "humanity struggled against nature until they figured out fire."
Which, again, was comforting in a strange way. Like i was in a real place, not just trapped in a simulation or hallucination or something else.
I was still turning that over when Yang walked into the JNPR common room, toweling her hair dry after a shower. Tank top. Shorts. The kind of casual outfit that on her hit like a nuclear weapon. She beamed at me.
"Hey, VB. Staying in too, huh?"
"…Y-Yes."
Pyrrha had to go meet with her manager and mother, who were the same person. Which… Sounded healthy. Some of my fics had her as an obsessive control freak-I didn't quite get that vibe from my interactions with Pyrrha, but she still seemed a bit exasperated to go. And she didn't like talking about it. Even better. Or worse.
Nora and Ren were off doing something fun with Ruby, probably involving sugar, video games, and hopefully nothing too violent. After talking with Ozpin and fighting with Cardin, I was bushed, so I'd politely said no thanks-This time anyway. Weiss and Blake were off doing… Weiss and Blake things. So yeah, it was just us.
Yang smiled.
"Any… plans?"
"Uhhh… no, not really…" I suddenly felt tense and wasn't sure why.
Her smirk arrived right on schedule. She leaned in, offering a decidedly provocative image. "You know… maybe I could… fit you in, huh~?"
"Fit me in?" I repeated dumbly.
"I mean… as long as you're not too big or pushy…"
Why is she flirting with me—holy shit—you pervert, get a grip, this is a fantasy come true—NO, damnit, she's supposed to end up with the shitty kitty, you know this, damnit, fuck, shit, balls, boobies—!
I saw the glint in her eyes and forced the spiral down. Mostly. Enough.
She was teasing me. Deliberately. A full-powered Yang Xiao-Long tease, complete with warm breath near my mouth and the absolute confidence of someone who expected me to short-circuit.
"What do you think~?" She pressed.
For once, the older wreckage in my head did something useful. I took a breath and calmed down.
"…I dunno. I don't think you could handle me."
Yang blinked. Then her grin widened. "…Oho? Vomit Boy's got some pride, huh?"
"Not pride. Just honesty."
"That's a very bold claim to make. You wanna prove it?" She grinned.
I forced myself to be calm. I gave her my most deadpan look.
"…You first."
She blinked.
"Huh?!"
"You first."
Color climbed her face. "…Are you asking me to… what? Flash you, VB?"
"Do I need to ask? You started this, after all. Do you want to see where it goes?"
She went bright red. "Y-You… I uh…"
I shrugged and turned back to the book like my pulse wasn't doing card tricks in my throat.
She looked affronted. Genuinely offended that I had the nerve to call the bluff and then go back to reading. Amazing what a head full of extra years could do. Grumpy old man in a young man's body, performing basic emotional self-defense.
"You're right," I said without looking up. "We're probably rushing things. Dinner and a movie first before we get to that point. You're a classy lady underneath all the tease. I'd like to treat you right."
Yang went even redder. "…You… um…"
Heh. So she is a blushing good girl under all that. That's great. Now maybe she'll back off and—
"…This Saturday good?"
I looked up. I couldn't believe it. "Huh?"
She hesitated, then pressed on.
"This Saturday. Dinner. Movie… and maybe…" She suddenly seemed very aware of the towel, the tank top, and her own hands. "…"
Shit, that's even hotter—! NO! Damnit, shut up! What do I do? What do I do?!
"…Sure?" I managed. She beamed like the sun despite her blush, trying to project confidence.
"Great! S-See you then!"
She fled to her room and shut the door hard enough to make the frame rattle.
I sat there with the book still open and my brain rebooting in pieces.
Did I just get a date with Yang Xiao-Long?
The hot, boisterous onee-chan type who, in another version of events, got crushed into one of the worst relationships ever committed to paper?
"…Wait. What?"
At breakfast the next day I sat there trying to figure out how the hell I was supposed to break the news to the team without turning the whole cafeteria into a circus. Nora solved that problem for me.
"JAUNE-JAUNE! You're going out with Yang?!"
Right. I'd forgotten I had to plan around Nora, not with her. She announced it at full volume right there at the table. Weiss spat half her food back onto her plate. Ruby's eyes went huge. Yang's face went pink. Pyrrha just… stared. Blake blinked a few times like she was trying to decide if this was interesting enough to actually care about.
I cleared my throat. "…Yes. We're going on a date. It's going to be fun." I smiled at Yang. She smiled back, and some of the tension in my shoulders eased.
Good. Can't just say it's 'just a date' or it'll sound like I'm not taking it seriously. That'd hurt her.
"No reason to flip out, everyone," I added, trying to keep my voice light.
Also don't look too eager or you'll upset the entire rest of the table. Balance. Somehow.
Weiss recovered first, of course. "I really don't know what you see in him! He's a brute, a ruffian!"
Yang's grin turned wicked. "You know, you saying that makes me want him more." She winked at me. "I think I can take some roughness. How about you?"
I snorted. "I've seen you ride your motorcycle. I fear I may be in danger."
"HA! You wish I rode you like I did Bumblebee!"
I smiled and winked right back. "Who knows? Maybe I'll find out."
Yang went bright red, then recovered with a giggle that was only a little shaky. "Geez, you wax often, VB? That was a little too smooth."
"Maybe not the best choice of words when it comes to riding a motorcycle," I said. "Good to know you're taking care of yourself though."
Yang was blushing so hard I half-expected steam to start coming out of her ears. She reached over and covered Ruby's ears with both hands. Blake had gone from "mildly interested" to "openly watching the show." Weiss looked scandalized. Pyrrha's expression had gone quietly sad. Nora was grinning like it was Christmas, and Ren just raised one eyebrow in mild judgment.
I leaned back a little. "Gotcha." Another wink.
Yang snickered, still red. "Geez! Tone it down until after the kids are asleep, mister!"
"Fair enough, Ma. Wouldn't want to scar them mentally."
"YOU TWO ARE DISGUSTING!" Weiss declared.
Ruby, somehow still hearing everything through Yang's hands, tilted her head. "I don't know why you two are acting like this. I know all about sex."
"RUBY!"
"What?"
After breakfast I found Pyrrha waiting just outside the cafeteria. She was trying very hard to look casual and failing.
"You okay, Pyr?"
"Hm? I'm fine… Totally fine. You uh… You two seem very close."
Oh shit. She still likes me... For some unfathomable reason… Yeah. Of course she does. Why?! I'm the opposite of a golden retriever. More like a grumpy mutt that somehow ended up with future memories and another universe's baggage stuffed in its head!
I kept my voice even. "I mean… We're messing around. It's a date, yeah, but we're not getting married. I do care about her. And if we end up in a real romantic relationship, then that'll happen. If not? We'll stay friends."
"O-Oh! I mean of course! I knew that," she said, looking serene... Yet somehow less tense.
I nodded. "Just in case you were… concerned. About anything. I uh… I get the feeling you didn't have many friends growing up. I could be wrong and I'm sorry if I'm presuming too much—"
"You're… not wrong."
Bingo.
"Well." I met her eyes. "I just want you to know that however things go, I do care for you, Pyrrha. Very deeply."
Color rose in her cheeks.
"I mean… I care about everyone, but you're my partner." I took her hands. They were warm. "I don't want to lose you."
She looked confused for a second. "You're not… Honestly? Um… I'm sometimes scared of losing you."
"Me? Why?"
"Well, uh… You talk a lot about… death. Like you nearly died. And you're so sad sometimes. I don't think you're suicidal or anything… Unless… Are you suicidal?"
I sighed and rubbed the back of my head. The memories from two different lives tangled for a second—mine and the other guy's, future and past, all of it pressing in at once.
"…I thought about it once."
Her eyes went wide.
"It's okay. It's okay." I kept my voice steady. "It was a very dark time. I just… felt so helpless and useless and like a burden on everyone. I wondered if my family would be better off without me."
Pyrrha stared at me, frozen.
"I'm much better now, Pyr. It's okay." I smiled and pulled her into a hug, trying to make it reassuring instead of desperate. "All right? I won't give up my life unless there's literally no other way to… I dunno, save Vale. Or you."
She hugged me back hard enough that my ribs complained. "I'll make sure that never happens."
"Th-Thanks… Also… you can let go… Hard to breathe…"
"O-Oh!" She released me at once, blushing furiously. "S-Sorry!"
"Ahem."
I looked up. Yang was standing a few feet away, arms crossed, one eyebrow raised.
"Hey Yang." Wasn't doing anything wrong. Don't act like you were. "Just talking with Pyrrha."
"Good… Let's go shopping!"
"Huh?"
She wrapped her arms around mine and started pulling. "Come on, would you rather go to a boring lecture on our light day or hang out with me? Trying on clothes?"
"Well, when you put it that way, I'd have to be an idiot to turn you down," I said with a smile. Seriously, what am I doing?
"Yeah, and you're definitely not that!"
Yang and Pyrrha locked eyes for a long second. The air between them felt… charged. I blinked.
No way. Come on. They're not jealous of me. They're not. Come on…
"See you tonight, Pyrrha?" I offered.
"Sure. Goodbye, Jaune. Goodbye, Yang."
"Later," Yang said, already dragging me toward the elevators.
Probably best to just tease her a little. Clear the air.
"Didn't know you were the jealous type," I said once we were out of earshot, "but it does fit."
"Wh-What?!" Yang went bright red all over again. "No I'm not!"
I smiled. "Didn't think so. But if you were jealous, we were just talking some personal stuff and we needed hugs. Hugs are pretty awesome, ya know?"
Her smile was terrifying.
"Yeah. Totally."
Okay. So she might be a little jealous. Fuck.
Yang had her fun using me as her Ken doll at a nice outlet shop in Vale. She didn't get too crazy... But I put my foot down when she tired to get me into a pink tuxedo. Hell no. Seven sister's worth of fashion knowledge prevented me from falling into that trap.
I mean I still wore it just to make her laugh but still-It was the principle of the thing. We made it back to Beacon just in time for Weapons Class.
The class should have been a mercy. Doctor Harold Mulberry was one of those instructors who genuinely loved mechanisms more than drama, all ink-stained fingers and excited tangents about spring tension and Dust channeling efficiency.
He reminded me a bit of Ron Swanson from Parks and Rec, with his mustache, intense eyes, and rants about the government's overreach. All music to my ears. Under normal circumstances, the noise of maintenance work and his rambling lectures made private conversation easy.
Ruby took the stool beside mine while we broke down Crescent Rose and Crocea Mors for inspection. She lasted until Mulberry got absorbed in arguing with himself about trigger casing alloys.
Then, without looking up from her bolt assembly, she said, "So… The date."
I winced. "Um… Yeah?"
"Yup." Ruby's voice was light, but her hands had gone careful. "Yang's… excited. She's trying to play it cool. She's failing."
"I noticed."
"She's dated a few guys before. Nothing serious. Coffee. A festival once. That kind of thing. They never went anywhere." She hesitated, then added, quieter, "I'm pretty sure she's never let anybody in. Not really."
That landed harder than I expected.
"Oh."
"Yeah." Ruby turned fully toward me now, silver eyes earnest and a little fierce. "So don't break her heart, okay?"
"That's the last thing I want to do," I said immediately. "Ruby, if I hurt her, everyone in this school is going to kick my ass. Starting with you."
She nodded, satisfied. "We absolutely will."
A beat passed. Then she grinned, and the tension cracked enough for both of us to huff a laugh under the cover of Mulberry loudly declaring that anyone using inferior pinions deserved their mechanical misfortune.
"Good talk," Ruby said, bumping my shoulder with hers before going back to Crescent Rose.
"Yeah," I murmured. "Good talk."
I looked down at my sword and tried to focus on the maintenance checklist.
You're already changing things. A date. A first real relationship for her. In the other timeline this didn't happen—not like this. Not with you.
Is this too fast?
Beacon is still standing. Vale hasn't fallen. Cinder is still moving. You're supposed to keep things intact and only cut out the worst damage. Falling for Yang—letting her fall for you—wasn't part of the plan!
Well she hasn't fallen for me! I argued. I haven't fallen for her!
Yet, the voice taunted.
I tightened a fastener that didn't need tightening.
Too late. You already said yes. And of course… There's the other thing…
Pyrrha, across the room, glanced away from working on Milo with Weiss and smiled warmly. My heart skipped a beat.
Damnit…
Pyrrha… God. So many complicated feelings. Jaune of course… He felt unworthy of her, saw her partially like a sister yet… Cared so much. My side? Her character had been wasted. If her destiny was to die heroically and demonstrate the stakes, fine. But it had been poorly done. Yet the feeling remained, the anger at the injustice.
The simple reality sat under all of it: my choices would determine if she lived or died. I would do anything to keep her from dying. Not just because I'd watched it happen from outside the story. Because it was the right thing to do. She was kind. She was beautiful. She was brave. She didn't deserve that ending.
She deserved better… Better than me… And yet she wanted me. Or Jaune… Who no longer existed, exactly. I mean, I sort of did but with memories of the future and some outsider congealed into... Me.
She deserved better than me. And yet, she already felt for me. That was clear. She was willing to die to save me.
And here I was going on a date with a girl who was destined, in the version I remembered, to become a shadow of herself. They took the light out of Yang Xiao-Long and sold what was left to pander to Tumblr. Brashness sanded down into a hollow, ugly, bitter shell. A pairing that treated her like a prop and then like content. A shitty lesbian-themed OnlyFans with the serial numbers of a person still faintly visible underneath. It was like a symptom of the cancer that consumed a show, a company, that had done great things but had destroyed itself in its own stupidity and greed.
I had hated that Yang. I still hated what they did to her.
This one laughed too loud. She lit up a room like it owed her money. She was brash and confident but kind.
In a way, she had also died at Vytal.
And I was going out with her anyway, and I could already see the crack it was going to put in the girl who would give her life for mine.
My mood dampened. I half-heartedly fiddled with a spring on Crocea Mors. My gaze wandered.
Across the room, Yang laughed at something Nora whispered and then immediately pretended she hadn't when she caught me looking. My chest did that stupid warm pull again.
It's just a date… It's just a date… Stop overthinking it. Stop being a teenager, I thought. You have time to manage this if you're not stupid… Okay, if you're not completely stupid.
"Jaune!" Ruby growled. I started.
"Ah?" I looked to the side. Professor Mulberry was approaching. I coughed and Ruby handed me the oil can. I sprayed it… All over my hands.
"Ah!"
"Try to pay more attention, Mister Arc," Mulberry rumbled, his, dark well coiffed mustache bristling. "Unless you're fine with dying a stupid, unremarkable death?"
"Yes sir! I-I mean no sir!"
He headed off. I wiped my hands with a rag and let the thought finish.
Maybe the smarter play would have been to say no. To do nothing. All I had here was only partially useful future knowledge, and my feelings. I couldn't let my feelings control me, but I couldn't ignore them, either.
Maybe I was changing the timeline too fast. Or maybe it was stuff that went on in the show that didn't show. I had no way of knowing. I had to make the best possible choices I could and pray that God would let the dice roll in our favor.
Yang caught my gaze across the classroom… And grinned. She then huffed and looked away, trying and failing to hide her smile. My heart once again did somersaults.
This could all still end in death. It might end worse.
But for the first time since the memories hit, despite my fears… The change in front of me didn't feel like an error.
It just felt like something I didn't want to lose.
I was sitting in the common room with the Good Book open in my lap, exhausted after a long day at classes. Yeah—turns out Remnant did have religions. It already did in the show, before they tried to retcon the Brothers in a way that made less sense the longer you thought about it. CRWBY was probably better off not touching any of that, given how the rest of their writing went.
The main faith around here was essentially Christianity with a Chronicles of Narnia twist: Jesus/Aslan had come as a Lion Faunus, died, then come back to life. Symbolism so direct it almost felt like a dare. I suppose it made some sense, given one of the side characters was named Arslan for Aslan, even if it was just a random reference.
Still, it was comforting. Something of my old world had an echo here. Maybe my religion hadn't been a lie so much as a different local reading of something that happened across more than one world. Maybe I wasn't in Hell. Or Purgatory. Or whatever worse option my anxiety liked to conjure at three in the morning.
I didn't know. Point was, Remnant had a Christianity-analog, plus recognizable shapes of Buddhism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, and a few others. Not much that mapped cleanly onto Islam, though Vacuo still carried something with Egyptian-pantheon bones and older ritual trappings where it hadn't gone full bore Mesoamerican Catholicism. The history under all of it was complicated—far denser than "humanity struggled against the Grimm until they found Dust," which was about as explanatory as "humanity struggled against nature until they figured out fire."
Which, again, was comforting in a strange way. Like i was in a real place, not just trapped in a simulation or hallucination or something else.
I was still turning that over when Yang walked into the JNPR common room, toweling her hair dry after a shower. Tank top. Shorts. The kind of casual outfit that on her hit like a nuclear weapon. She beamed at me.
"Hey, VB. Staying in too, huh?"
"…Y-Yes."
Pyrrha had to go meet with her manager and mother, who were the same person. Which… Sounded healthy. Some of my fics had her as an obsessive control freak-I didn't quite get that vibe from my interactions with Pyrrha, but she still seemed a bit exasperated to go. And she didn't like talking about it. Even better. Or worse.
Nora and Ren were off doing something fun with Ruby, probably involving sugar, video games, and hopefully nothing too violent. After talking with Ozpin and fighting with Cardin, I was bushed, so I'd politely said no thanks-This time anyway. Weiss and Blake were off doing… Weiss and Blake things. So yeah, it was just us.
Yang smiled.
"Any… plans?"
"Uhhh… no, not really…" I suddenly felt tense and wasn't sure why.
Her smirk arrived right on schedule. She leaned in, offering a decidedly provocative image. "You know… maybe I could… fit you in, huh~?"
"Fit me in?" I repeated dumbly.
"I mean… as long as you're not too big or pushy…"
Why is she flirting with me—holy shit—you pervert, get a grip, this is a fantasy come true—NO, damnit, she's supposed to end up with the shitty kitty, you know this, damnit, fuck, shit, balls, boobies—!
I saw the glint in her eyes and forced the spiral down. Mostly. Enough.
She was teasing me. Deliberately. A full-powered Yang Xiao-Long tease, complete with warm breath near my mouth and the absolute confidence of someone who expected me to short-circuit.
"What do you think~?" She pressed.
For once, the older wreckage in my head did something useful. I took a breath and calmed down.
"…I dunno. I don't think you could handle me."
Yang blinked. Then her grin widened. "…Oho? Vomit Boy's got some pride, huh?"
"Not pride. Just honesty."
"That's a very bold claim to make. You wanna prove it?" She grinned.
I forced myself to be calm. I gave her my most deadpan look.
"…You first."
She blinked.
"Huh?!"
"You first."
Color climbed her face. "…Are you asking me to… what? Flash you, VB?"
"Do I need to ask? You started this, after all. Do you want to see where it goes?"
She went bright red. "Y-You… I uh…"
I shrugged and turned back to the book like my pulse wasn't doing card tricks in my throat.
She looked affronted. Genuinely offended that I had the nerve to call the bluff and then go back to reading. Amazing what a head full of extra years could do. Grumpy old man in a young man's body, performing basic emotional self-defense.
"You're right," I said without looking up. "We're probably rushing things. Dinner and a movie first before we get to that point. You're a classy lady underneath all the tease. I'd like to treat you right."
Yang went even redder. "…You… um…"
Heh. So she is a blushing good girl under all that. That's great. Now maybe she'll back off and—
"…This Saturday good?"
I looked up. I couldn't believe it. "Huh?"
She hesitated, then pressed on.
"This Saturday. Dinner. Movie… and maybe…" She suddenly seemed very aware of the towel, the tank top, and her own hands. "…"
Shit, that's even hotter—! NO! Damnit, shut up! What do I do? What do I do?!
"…Sure?" I managed. She beamed like the sun despite her blush, trying to project confidence.
"Great! S-See you then!"
She fled to her room and shut the door hard enough to make the frame rattle.
I sat there with the book still open and my brain rebooting in pieces.
Did I just get a date with Yang Xiao-Long?
The hot, boisterous onee-chan type who, in another version of events, got crushed into one of the worst relationships ever committed to paper?
"…Wait. What?"
At breakfast the next day I sat there trying to figure out how the hell I was supposed to break the news to the team without turning the whole cafeteria into a circus. Nora solved that problem for me.
"JAUNE-JAUNE! You're going out with Yang?!"
Right. I'd forgotten I had to plan around Nora, not with her. She announced it at full volume right there at the table. Weiss spat half her food back onto her plate. Ruby's eyes went huge. Yang's face went pink. Pyrrha just… stared. Blake blinked a few times like she was trying to decide if this was interesting enough to actually care about.
I cleared my throat. "…Yes. We're going on a date. It's going to be fun." I smiled at Yang. She smiled back, and some of the tension in my shoulders eased.
Good. Can't just say it's 'just a date' or it'll sound like I'm not taking it seriously. That'd hurt her.
"No reason to flip out, everyone," I added, trying to keep my voice light.
Also don't look too eager or you'll upset the entire rest of the table. Balance. Somehow.
Weiss recovered first, of course. "I really don't know what you see in him! He's a brute, a ruffian!"
Yang's grin turned wicked. "You know, you saying that makes me want him more." She winked at me. "I think I can take some roughness. How about you?"
I snorted. "I've seen you ride your motorcycle. I fear I may be in danger."
"HA! You wish I rode you like I did Bumblebee!"
I smiled and winked right back. "Who knows? Maybe I'll find out."
Yang went bright red, then recovered with a giggle that was only a little shaky. "Geez, you wax often, VB? That was a little too smooth."
"Maybe not the best choice of words when it comes to riding a motorcycle," I said. "Good to know you're taking care of yourself though."
Yang was blushing so hard I half-expected steam to start coming out of her ears. She reached over and covered Ruby's ears with both hands. Blake had gone from "mildly interested" to "openly watching the show." Weiss looked scandalized. Pyrrha's expression had gone quietly sad. Nora was grinning like it was Christmas, and Ren just raised one eyebrow in mild judgment.
I leaned back a little. "Gotcha." Another wink.
Yang snickered, still red. "Geez! Tone it down until after the kids are asleep, mister!"
"Fair enough, Ma. Wouldn't want to scar them mentally."
"YOU TWO ARE DISGUSTING!" Weiss declared.
Ruby, somehow still hearing everything through Yang's hands, tilted her head. "I don't know why you two are acting like this. I know all about sex."
"RUBY!"
"What?"
After breakfast I found Pyrrha waiting just outside the cafeteria. She was trying very hard to look casual and failing.
"You okay, Pyr?"
"Hm? I'm fine… Totally fine. You uh… You two seem very close."
Oh shit. She still likes me... For some unfathomable reason… Yeah. Of course she does. Why?! I'm the opposite of a golden retriever. More like a grumpy mutt that somehow ended up with future memories and another universe's baggage stuffed in its head!
I kept my voice even. "I mean… We're messing around. It's a date, yeah, but we're not getting married. I do care about her. And if we end up in a real romantic relationship, then that'll happen. If not? We'll stay friends."
"O-Oh! I mean of course! I knew that," she said, looking serene... Yet somehow less tense.
I nodded. "Just in case you were… concerned. About anything. I uh… I get the feeling you didn't have many friends growing up. I could be wrong and I'm sorry if I'm presuming too much—"
"You're… not wrong."
Bingo.
"Well." I met her eyes. "I just want you to know that however things go, I do care for you, Pyrrha. Very deeply."
Color rose in her cheeks.
"I mean… I care about everyone, but you're my partner." I took her hands. They were warm. "I don't want to lose you."
She looked confused for a second. "You're not… Honestly? Um… I'm sometimes scared of losing you."
"Me? Why?"
"Well, uh… You talk a lot about… death. Like you nearly died. And you're so sad sometimes. I don't think you're suicidal or anything… Unless… Are you suicidal?"
I sighed and rubbed the back of my head. The memories from two different lives tangled for a second—mine and the other guy's, future and past, all of it pressing in at once.
"…I thought about it once."
Her eyes went wide.
"It's okay. It's okay." I kept my voice steady. "It was a very dark time. I just… felt so helpless and useless and like a burden on everyone. I wondered if my family would be better off without me."
Pyrrha stared at me, frozen.
"I'm much better now, Pyr. It's okay." I smiled and pulled her into a hug, trying to make it reassuring instead of desperate. "All right? I won't give up my life unless there's literally no other way to… I dunno, save Vale. Or you."
She hugged me back hard enough that my ribs complained. "I'll make sure that never happens."
"Th-Thanks… Also… you can let go… Hard to breathe…"
"O-Oh!" She released me at once, blushing furiously. "S-Sorry!"
"Ahem."
I looked up. Yang was standing a few feet away, arms crossed, one eyebrow raised.
"Hey Yang." Wasn't doing anything wrong. Don't act like you were. "Just talking with Pyrrha."
"Good… Let's go shopping!"
"Huh?"
She wrapped her arms around mine and started pulling. "Come on, would you rather go to a boring lecture on our light day or hang out with me? Trying on clothes?"
"Well, when you put it that way, I'd have to be an idiot to turn you down," I said with a smile. Seriously, what am I doing?
"Yeah, and you're definitely not that!"
Yang and Pyrrha locked eyes for a long second. The air between them felt… charged. I blinked.
No way. Come on. They're not jealous of me. They're not. Come on…
"See you tonight, Pyrrha?" I offered.
"Sure. Goodbye, Jaune. Goodbye, Yang."
"Later," Yang said, already dragging me toward the elevators.
Probably best to just tease her a little. Clear the air.
"Didn't know you were the jealous type," I said once we were out of earshot, "but it does fit."
"Wh-What?!" Yang went bright red all over again. "No I'm not!"
I smiled. "Didn't think so. But if you were jealous, we were just talking some personal stuff and we needed hugs. Hugs are pretty awesome, ya know?"
Her smile was terrifying.
"Yeah. Totally."
Okay. So she might be a little jealous. Fuck.
Yang had her fun using me as her Ken doll at a nice outlet shop in Vale. She didn't get too crazy... But I put my foot down when she tired to get me into a pink tuxedo. Hell no. Seven sister's worth of fashion knowledge prevented me from falling into that trap.
I mean I still wore it just to make her laugh but still-It was the principle of the thing. We made it back to Beacon just in time for Weapons Class.
The class should have been a mercy. Doctor Harold Mulberry was one of those instructors who genuinely loved mechanisms more than drama, all ink-stained fingers and excited tangents about spring tension and Dust channeling efficiency.
He reminded me a bit of Ron Swanson from Parks and Rec, with his mustache, intense eyes, and rants about the government's overreach. All music to my ears. Under normal circumstances, the noise of maintenance work and his rambling lectures made private conversation easy.
Ruby took the stool beside mine while we broke down Crescent Rose and Crocea Mors for inspection. She lasted until Mulberry got absorbed in arguing with himself about trigger casing alloys.
Then, without looking up from her bolt assembly, she said, "So… The date."
I winced. "Um… Yeah?"
"Yup." Ruby's voice was light, but her hands had gone careful. "Yang's… excited. She's trying to play it cool. She's failing."
"I noticed."
"She's dated a few guys before. Nothing serious. Coffee. A festival once. That kind of thing. They never went anywhere." She hesitated, then added, quieter, "I'm pretty sure she's never let anybody in. Not really."
That landed harder than I expected.
"Oh."
"Yeah." Ruby turned fully toward me now, silver eyes earnest and a little fierce. "So don't break her heart, okay?"
"That's the last thing I want to do," I said immediately. "Ruby, if I hurt her, everyone in this school is going to kick my ass. Starting with you."
She nodded, satisfied. "We absolutely will."
A beat passed. Then she grinned, and the tension cracked enough for both of us to huff a laugh under the cover of Mulberry loudly declaring that anyone using inferior pinions deserved their mechanical misfortune.
"Good talk," Ruby said, bumping my shoulder with hers before going back to Crescent Rose.
"Yeah," I murmured. "Good talk."
I looked down at my sword and tried to focus on the maintenance checklist.
You're already changing things. A date. A first real relationship for her. In the other timeline this didn't happen—not like this. Not with you.
Is this too fast?
Beacon is still standing. Vale hasn't fallen. Cinder is still moving. You're supposed to keep things intact and only cut out the worst damage. Falling for Yang—letting her fall for you—wasn't part of the plan!
Well she hasn't fallen for me! I argued. I haven't fallen for her!
Yet, the voice taunted.
I tightened a fastener that didn't need tightening.
Too late. You already said yes. And of course… There's the other thing…
Pyrrha, across the room, glanced away from working on Milo with Weiss and smiled warmly. My heart skipped a beat.
Damnit…
Pyrrha… God. So many complicated feelings. Jaune of course… He felt unworthy of her, saw her partially like a sister yet… Cared so much. My side? Her character had been wasted. If her destiny was to die heroically and demonstrate the stakes, fine. But it had been poorly done. Yet the feeling remained, the anger at the injustice.
The simple reality sat under all of it: my choices would determine if she lived or died. I would do anything to keep her from dying. Not just because I'd watched it happen from outside the story. Because it was the right thing to do. She was kind. She was beautiful. She was brave. She didn't deserve that ending.
She deserved better… Better than me… And yet she wanted me. Or Jaune… Who no longer existed, exactly. I mean, I sort of did but with memories of the future and some outsider congealed into... Me.
She deserved better than me. And yet, she already felt for me. That was clear. She was willing to die to save me.
And here I was going on a date with a girl who was destined, in the version I remembered, to become a shadow of herself. They took the light out of Yang Xiao-Long and sold what was left to pander to Tumblr. Brashness sanded down into a hollow, ugly, bitter shell. A pairing that treated her like a prop and then like content. A shitty lesbian-themed OnlyFans with the serial numbers of a person still faintly visible underneath. It was like a symptom of the cancer that consumed a show, a company, that had done great things but had destroyed itself in its own stupidity and greed.
I had hated that Yang. I still hated what they did to her.
This one laughed too loud. She lit up a room like it owed her money. She was brash and confident but kind.
In a way, she had also died at Vytal.
And I was going out with her anyway, and I could already see the crack it was going to put in the girl who would give her life for mine.
My mood dampened. I half-heartedly fiddled with a spring on Crocea Mors. My gaze wandered.
Across the room, Yang laughed at something Nora whispered and then immediately pretended she hadn't when she caught me looking. My chest did that stupid warm pull again.
It's just a date… It's just a date… Stop overthinking it. Stop being a teenager, I thought. You have time to manage this if you're not stupid… Okay, if you're not completely stupid.
"Jaune!" Ruby growled. I started.
"Ah?" I looked to the side. Professor Mulberry was approaching. I coughed and Ruby handed me the oil can. I sprayed it… All over my hands.
"Ah!"
"Try to pay more attention, Mister Arc," Mulberry rumbled, his, dark well coiffed mustache bristling. "Unless you're fine with dying a stupid, unremarkable death?"
"Yes sir! I-I mean no sir!"
He headed off. I wiped my hands with a rag and let the thought finish.
Maybe the smarter play would have been to say no. To do nothing. All I had here was only partially useful future knowledge, and my feelings. I couldn't let my feelings control me, but I couldn't ignore them, either.
Maybe I was changing the timeline too fast. Or maybe it was stuff that went on in the show that didn't show. I had no way of knowing. I had to make the best possible choices I could and pray that God would let the dice roll in our favor.
Yang caught my gaze across the classroom… And grinned. She then huffed and looked away, trying and failing to hide her smile. My heart once again did somersaults.
This could all still end in death. It might end worse.
But for the first time since the memories hit, despite my fears… The change in front of me didn't feel like an error.
It just felt like something I didn't want to lose.
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digcat
YoLo
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2026
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When asked about the crwby version of things.
Ruby: well that sounds stupid are they retarded.
Yang: Why did they make me a carpet muncher.
Inspired by
View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LR_EjE4LxQE
Ruby: well that sounds stupid are they retarded.
Yang: Why did they make me a carpet muncher.
Inspired by
View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LR_EjE4LxQE
AJ_Talon
Well worn.
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2015
- Messages
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I yearn very well for an old guy. And yeah, Jaune is not used to his hormones.