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It was far from the first time that Yang found herself in the vice-principal’s office. Sitting in an old, hard chair in the dead-center of the room as a teacher lectured her while the VP talked on the phone.

Writing Yang in this fic was really interesting, because Yang here is actually in a very interesting position in comparison and contrast to canon. Because on the one hand; while Summer didn’t vanish into the night in this version, her getting horrifically maimed and getting comatose/bedridden ended up having a functionally identical effect on Ruby and Yang. As in, Team STRQ are still a hot dysfunctional mess so Qrow and especially Tai are entirely focused on taking care of Summer while Raven is still gone, so Ruby and Yang are still left to the wayside with Yang having to essentially start raising Ruby herself just like in canon.

But, just two years into this, Raven comes back and Summer actually recovers. Team STRQ is finally able to sort enough of their shit out and all of a sudden, Ruby and Yang actually have two functional parents. Which of course for Yang means that she doesn’t have to take up a full-time parenting role for Ruby.

So now about 2-3 years after all that, we’re left with a Yang who underwent some parentification for a couple years, but has since been allowed to actually be a KID again. Along with quite a bit of baggage that she isn’t forced to repress the hell out of because she has to focus on taking care of Ruby.

And of course, as we’ll see; a LOT of that baggage relates to Raven XD

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Yang’s fists clenched as she felt her skin heat up and the flame in her core simmer. No WAY was she going to apologize to those shitheads after what they said. After what they kept saying…

I definitely wanted to write Yang as having a the classic rebel and troublemaker vibe, but with the twist that she’s actually quite a bit more justified then the local authority figures would like to admit. Which of course ends up giving her a great parallel to Raven.

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Clad in black and red camo-patterned sweatpants, a pair of red flip-flops and a black ‘SAMU-Rai’ t-shirt emblazoned with the dark-red image of a samurai covered in lightning, long black hair looking not quite dry from a shower and carrying a sheathed ōdachi in her left hand, Raven Branwen surveyed the room with her typical aloof gaze as the portal faded behind her.

Coming up with Raven’s outfit here was SO much fun XD

Also BIG shoutout to @phuezo for this great commission piece they did of Raven in this outfit XD

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“First question. Yang, are you okay?”

Yang blinked. That… wasn’t a question she was expecting.

“I’m… okay, I guess?”

Raven nodded.

“Second question. Did you win?”

It really was so much fun coming up with and writing Raven’s whole demeanor where she cares ONLY about Yang and does not give a FUCK about anything or anyone else in the room XD

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“What? None of those kids are dead, right?” Raven asked with a raised eyebrow.

“N-No! Of course not!” the vice-principal stammered in shock as the teacher actually gasped in horror, “Why would-”

“They still have all their limbs, right?” Raven continued her questions.

“Y-Yes, of course they do,” the vice-principal answered, “why wouldn’t they-”

“And none of them have broken bones?” Raven didn’t let him finish before continuing.

“N-No, they don’t,” the VP replied, tugging at the collar of his suit as he tried and failed to regain his composure. At the same time, the teacher was alternating between glaring at Raven, and gasping in appalment every time Mom asked a question.

Meanwhile, Yang was trying very hard not to laugh at the looks on their faces.

For her part, Raven was starting to look confused as she raised an eyebrow again, before grabbing one of the other chairs sitting against the wall. With a single hand and casual ease, Raven dropped the chair next to Yang’s before plopping onto it herself.

“Okay, so what was actually broken on these brats?”

As the teacher glared daggers at an entirely disinterested Raven, the vice-principal retrieved a paper from his desk, clearing his throat multiple times as he finally seemed to regain something of his composure.

“Ahem. One broken nose, two sprained wrists, three sprained ankles, numerous bruises and three… um, er…” the VP trailed off, coughing into his fist as he seemed embarrassed to say the last one.

“I kicked three of them in the balls,” Yang clarified with a satisfied grin.

“Nice,” Raven replied with another small, half-smirk of her own and an approving nod that once again made Yang’s heart skip a beat.

Gods, I cannot TELL you just how much FUN this whole sequence was to write XD

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“HEY. Back off,” and just like that, Mom’s voice cut through the teacher’s like a blade through a straw-mat. The teacher looked extremely affronted and seemed ready to direct her ire at Raven when Mom leveled a glare that quickly shut her up.

Figuring out Raven’s parenting ‘style’ while writing this fic was fascinating. Like on the surface, and especially in her own head as we saw in previous chapters and later on here, she’s kind of an aloof, stoic mess. Yet just underneath that surface as we see here, she is FIERCELY caring and protective of her daughters and wife. She basically doesn’t give a shit about ANYTHING else, but hey nobody’s perfect lol

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“Yang… please, talk to me.”

Honestly, building off of the previous chapter with Summer, this chapter is basically Raven finally figuring out how she can be a good mom to Yang.

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“They…” Yang started, “they kept calling Ruby a wimpy crybaby, kept saying she was too weak to ever be a huntress and she’d just get herself killed.”

Raven twitched at that, her thumb tapping Omen’s handle.

I have to say, writing the buildup in this sequence was especially fun. Like I love being able to illustrate the contrast between ‘Raven briefly considering murdering a child for bullying Ruby’ and Raven just being amused at any insults directed at herself. And of course the pretty-much apocalyptic anger at hearing Summer being called a ‘cripple’.

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And while Yang barely noticed, the surrounding air began to imperceptibly hum with static.

But then a soft, chilled grasp came to rest on her clenched, shaking fist.

Dropping little hints to Raven’s Maiden powers is fun XD

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“Good work,” Raven spoke in a soft, quiet voice for Yang’s ears only, and gave a small nod. Of approval.

I think we can all agree Raven would absolutely be the parent who approves of their daughter beating up her bullies, but I wanted to really lean into it here in a way that gives Yang some supreme validation. And of course the support of her mom.

On top of this, I love being able to make this slow reveal and realization from Yang that she is actually way more like Raven than she’s ever realized.

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“And how many times do I have to tell YOU to back the FUCK away from my daughter,” Raven let out a venomous drawl as she stepped between Yang and the teacher, “you crusty, shriveled-up, shit-smelling, wrinkly old troll!”

You know how often we see huge swaths of fandom talk up their beloved dysfunctional father characters with stuff like ‘yeah they’re a big fuckup, but they still really care!’, even though in practice the fuckupery seems to outweigh the caring? I feel like Raven here is what that ‘really caring’ SHOULD look like. In that Raven here is absolutely a fuckup of a person and even a fairly dysfunctional mess of a dad-mom. Yet, she is still one-hundred-and-ten-percent THERE when it comes to genuinely caring about her daughters.

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“I think you seriously overestimate how many fucks I give about ANY of that.” Raven’s lips were now curled into a sardonic, almost taunting grin

Writing the ‘rivalry’ between Raven and the teacher and in particular just how much Raven does not give a fuck was SO much fun XD

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“Sent… home?” Raven parsed the words slowly

It was interesting writing the subtle shift Raven has here to starting to peel back the layers of dysfunction really at work here.

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“Yang, next time those little pissants give you any shit, make sure to break at least three noses and kick all of them in the balls.”

I love being able to write Raven with this ruthless demeanor of ‘if you won’t do anything about this problem, then I (or my daughter) WILL’.

--

He definitely sounded sincere enough. However, Yang also noticed the VP making a pointed look towards the teacher that he definitely seemed to be trying to hide behind his hand gestures.

I made doubly sure to let Yang be sharp and observant XD

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“Hmm,” Raven raised an extremely unconvinced eyebrow before glancing aside, “Yang.”

“Kick all of them in the balls twice next time?” Yang ventured.

“That’s my girl,” Mom returned a nod and a proud smile that made Yang feel like she was on top of the godsdamned world.

At this point, Yang and Raven are one-hundred percent on the same page/wavelength and it’s kinda the best day of Yang’s life XD

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“What did you say about my wife?”

So fun fact; this bit was actually only the second or third part of this chapter I started on, specifically from the ‘Yang turning to face the old woman…’ bit on. And you can kinda tell I didn’t really have much or any of the preceding sections thought out yet because this bit has more of a vibe that Raven’s been more passive up to now.

Just a fun thing I always notice when looking back lol

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Raven’s voice was deathly cold, and as sharp as a razor’s edge as she shot a dark, fiery glare at the teacher, blood-red wisps of aura leaking out of her eyes. Her left thumb now pressed against Omen’s guard, looking ready to pop the sword out at any moment…

But yeah, this whole bit of Raven losing her shit after hearing Summer being called a cripple and the teacher and VP being fucking TERRIFIED was one of the first things I came up with for this chapter.

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But now, Yang was starting to realize something: All those other times, Mom was actually holding back, only letting a bit of anger out before getting herself under control.

Just like what Yang tried to do.

This chapter really is all about Yang realizing just how similar she actually is to her mom and the validation that comes from it.

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Yang was suddenly aware that the room temperature was dropping by what had to be several degrees, the chill only bolstered by the air currents that now swirled through the office. Not that she minded any. The heat that still burned through her body, aura and heart was keeping Yang plenty warm.

I really like writing not just Raven breaking out the Maiden Powers, but also writing Yang not being affected by it. Again tying back to just how much these two are on the same wavelength at this point. Also I may have ideas on how Yang’s semblance could be different in this AU… XD

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“People who are all too happy to accept help from Huntresses and Huntsmen like us. All too happy to take what we give to save your sorry asses. Yet the moment we CAN’T give any more, suddenly we’re useless. Invalids. CRIPPLES who you can look down on.”

This was a very interesting sequence to write, because I was very much trying to balance the exploration of this idea of the potential prejudice and stigma that retired huntresses and huntsmen might face while also not going into any kind of ‘ungrateful peasants who need to remember their place’ trap that I think it would be all too easy to fall into here.

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“So which are we to you?”

But yeah, even if it isn’t a widespread, systemic cultural stigma, I think it’s sadly all too plausible to imagine the potential prejudice that retired huntresses and huntsmen could face in some communities. Particularly when we consider the culture of hero-worship that’s been built up around huntresses and huntsmen on Remnant. And of course when considering the treatment of veterans in real life.

Heck, one thing I didn’t even bring up here is that I feel like there could be a real ‘Catch 22’ of sorts regarding when a hunter retires? If it’s only after they’ve suffered enough debilitating injuries that they simply can’t be a huntress/huntsmen anymore, then could be looked down on as a cripple as Raven outlines here. But if they happen to retire before they become so completely and utterly broken, or are simply able to pass as able-bodied, then they might be labeled as ‘cowards’ who ‘abandoned their duty’.

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“Slavers, bandits, terrorists, cultists, angry ex’s of my dumbass brother, that sort of thing.”

Let it never be said that Raven will ever miss a chance to shit-talk her brother XD

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“H-How dare y-you…”

Solidago was an… interesting character to write here. And I’ll admit I didn’t really figure out what her deal was going to be until I got to this point. Like up to now she was a standard, one-note ‘cruel teacher’ character, but now I actually had to figure out if there was anything of actual substance going on with her.

And I think this works out pretty well as a subversive takedown of the standard ‘the jerk actually has a tragic backstory and we should feel bad for them’ trope? Like yeah, this old woman has spent the last thirty some odd years grieving for her dead children. But she’s also dealt with that grief in the worst possible way, letting herself become this cruel and miserable person who makes her trauma everyone else’s problem.

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“Tragic,” the cold, icy drawl practically froze the air in front of her, “Now, as I was saying…”

As someone who often has little patience for the aforementioned ‘the jerk actually has a tragic backstory and we/the heroes should give them a free pass’ trope, writing Raven likewise having ZERO patience was quite satisfying XD

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The room fell quiet, the silence broken only by the teacher’s labored breathing from her rant.

One thing I ended up trying to avoid with this story is making the conflict between Raven and the teacher(s) too quick, easy and one-note. Like there are tons of fics out there with this premise that are basically just the cool parent showing up to go on some author-tract and put some cathartic fear of death into the one-note ‘jerk teacher’ before leaving. And I wanted to do something a bit more interesting.

The thing about this whole conflict between Raven and Ms. Solidago is that it’s supposed to be all rather complicated and messy, like so much of RWBY proper.

On one side, Solidago is honestly a rather sad, tragic figure. A woman who lost all three of her children and has now spent decades utterly consumed by her grief, completely unwilling and perhaps by now unable to move on. A sad, miserable old woman wallowing in grief with no family or friends left and will probably end up dying alone one day. Who also happens to be massively abusing her position and authority as a senior teacher to project her grief and trauma-induced prejudices on everyone around her, namely children. In this case showing absolute favoritism to those who even slightly remind her of her dead sons (the bullies) while being hyper-prejudiced towards those that remind her of her dead daughter (Yang, Summer, Raven, etc).

And on the other side, Raven simply does not give a FUCK about ANY of that, or really ANYONE outside of her family/team. And is going WAY over the top to put the outright fear of DEATH into, let’s not forget, a couple of completely normal-ass teachers. And as we’ll see in a moment, not even just the ‘fear’ part…

But of course, Raven is also FIERCELY protective of her family, and does not hesitate to let Yang know this here. Not just in how she lashes out at the teachers on Yang’s behalf, but even more importantly how supportive she is towards Yang directly.

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In a blur of motion, Raven’s right hand took hold of Omen’s grip.

Fun fact, this was only the second bit of this chapter that I wrote. I definitely knew early on I wanted to end on this moment of Raven feeling like she MIGHT just be about to do a double-homicide.

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Too close. Way too fucking close.

This is actually one of the places where ‘Raven is a total disaster and hot mess of a person’ gets actually interesting. Because yeah, it’s fun to joke around about how ‘Raven is a total disaster of a person’ and all, but make no mistake; right here she came EXTREMELY close to actually murdering an otherwise innocent old woman simply because she was mean to Raven’s daughter and said bad things about Summer. Really, a whole lot of what she does in this chapter is WAY overkill.

But of course just makes her all the more INTERESTING XD

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“…Sorry you had to see tha-” Raven finally started to say before something pressed hard into her stomach and a pair of small arms pulled tight around her waist.

Looking down, eyes wide, Raven saw Yang hugging her, face pressed close into her shirt.

“…Thanks Mom…”

Again, I love writing the contrast of Raven being kind of a total mess of a human being, yet in spite of, or even because of all that, she is actually a pretty GOOD mother to Yang and Ruby.

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“No…” Raven rolled her eyes in bemusement, “but I can tell you how to beat up those bullies without getting in trouble with the adults.”

“…That works too,” Yang replied with a toothy grin.

Basically, the STRQ family in this AU is still kind of a big fucking mess.