Notes -

1. Faunus take the place of Japanese people and culture for this AU - anime, ramen, pocky, kinbaku, etc are from Faunus culture.
2. Faunus can have multiple animal characteristics.

I hope you enjoy!

Weiss was a girl who had to portray a certain image. As the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, there was always an immense amount of pressure on the young woman. She needed to be the perfect princess, poised to inherit the largest dust company in all of Remnant. Her father was a strict man that expected nothing but the best from his youngest daughter. She was under constant press scrutiny, existing in the public eye since birth.

Many wondered if Weiss had any interests of her own – she was only ever seen carrying out business for her father and socializing at company parties. Additionally, the heiress was in her mid-twenties but never had a romantic relationship with any man – a fact that tabloids loved to run with. Weiss quite enjoyed the articles that speculated she was in a relationship with an alien that lived beneath the Schnee Manor. She made a point to speak very little publicly, preferring to remain aloof and mysterious. That left room for people to believe what they wanted, which left her frequently described as bratty and entitled.

Beneath this carefully sculpted image, Weiss hid many things - several of which were likely to get her disowned and removed as the heiress of the SDC. There were three big ones: She is very very gay, very very kinky, and entirely obsessed with anime. The young woman spent every spare moment of her private life watching anime, reading manga, drawing fanart, creating amvs, writing fics, browsing Remblr, taking notes on kinbaku tutorials, screaming about yuri, buying collars and rope online, and cosplaying her favorite characters. She was very careful about her private activities, using special overseas bank accounts for purchases, a secret P.O. Box for deliveries, and a private, unlisted, encrypted scroll for her internet activities. She personally built a false wall in her closet to conceal all her embarrassing possessions.

Now, an outsider might wonder why Weiss would hide such facts about herself. Atlas is an exceedingly conservative kingdom. Women are held to incredibly dated standards regarding their place in society. Her position as heiress was tolerated thanks to the power held by the SDC, but many men couldn't believe their ears when Weiss gave the orders. Anti-sodomy laws, a lack of legal gender change options, and strict man-woman marriage laws left the LGBT community in a dire position. Many left as refugees to the kingdom of Vale as soon as they could, otherwise they simply lived in the closet. "Openly LGBT" was a foreign concept.

Anime was a creation of the faunus and so it was extremely popular on the island of Menagerie. Over the course of many years, the art form had spread across Remnant, capturing the interest of many. However, even if anime was popular throughout Remnant, the medium was largely looked down upon. The fans were labeled freaks, creeps, weirdos, losers, and so on. Atlas in particular had a strong aversion to anime, likely due to the kingdom's conservative views and dislike of the faunus. Many Atlesians were incredibly racist and the kingdom's laws left faunus facing injustice at every turn.

One of the primary faunus rights abusers was none other than the Schnee Dust Company. The company bought faunus slaves to be exploited in every SDC dust mine. SDC CEO Jacques Schnee was open with his hatred and resisted all attempts to advance faunus rights in Atlas. The largest dust manufacturer was a force that couldn't be denied. Because of this, many anime villains had features reminiscent of the Schnee family – white hair, blue eyes, pale skin, and a snowflake emblem or theme.

Weiss discovered anime when she was in her early teens. She was out shopping for clothes when she was handed a pamphlet by a man on the street. The man held a large sign that displayed a picture of a councilman with the text - FAUNUS LOVER. The councilman was facing controversy over legislation he proposed – simply trying to make slave beating illegal. The councilman was soon voted out of his position and was unable to find a job anywhere in Atlas. The pamphlet outlined the many ways to identify Faunus Lovers, from supporting faunus rights to watching a certain kind of media: anime. The blub on anime was accompanied by several pictures, so that the upstanding Atlesian could identify and report the offender. One of the pictures showed a pair of girls kissing – and the rest was history.

Weiss initially had an extremely negative view of faunus people. The white fang constantly attacked her family and several assassination attempts were made on the young heiress. She was also surrounded by anti-faunus rhetoric from her father and the Atlesian media. Despite her upbringing, she was able to look past the racism and enjoy anime. Participating in anime fandoms brought her into frequent contact with faunus, who were quick to correct her racist views. The frequent conflicts with faunus online and the depictions of her family as villains had almost discouraged her from continuing to enjoy the art form entirely.

Fortunately, Weiss made friends online. A faunus under the username "gaynightshade" made a point to educate Weiss. Her actual name was Blake, occasionally Blek, a lesbian cat faunus with a strong sense of justice. She corrected the ridiculous ideas that Weiss was indoctrinated with: faunus do not love the taste of human blood, faunus do not become savage at night (nor with the full moon), faunus do not have sex with and cannot have children with the animal they share characteristics with, faunus are not intellectually inferior to humans, and many more. Blake even showed Weiss pictures of the conditions in the SDC mines. Weiss would never forget what she saw.

~Present Day~

Today was a day that Weiss had planned for almost a year. She had always dreamt of going to an anime convention. The cosplays, game tournaments, industry panels, parties, merchandise, and music – Weiss desperately wanted to experience it. Her online friends were constantly going to conventions and telling her about how much fun they had. Weiss hung onto every word, trying to picture herself there and experience through their words. She was the heiress of a multi-billion lien company, but that money served mostly as a prison. She could have anything money could buy and more…but none of the things she actually wanted. After years of missing out, Weiss finally decided that she had enough.

She carefully built her cover story, requesting vacation time and preparing a secluded vacation in Mistral. Behind the scenes, however, she was purchasing tickets to RemCon, Remnant's premier anime convention held annually in Vale. She kept her planned attendance a secret even from her online friends, in case they drew a connection between her first con appearance and Weiss Schnee's vacation. Blake was also attending the convention, as she did every year. "I would love to meet her…but what would she say if she found out that I'm the heiress of the company that killed so many of her friends?"

Weiss had attempted to advance faunus rights during her time working under her father. It was a careful balancing act for her; it wouldn't be good if she was labeled a Faunus Lover. She pushed her father on mine working conditions, arguing that continuing to purchase slaves was far more expensive than simply providing breathing equipment and adequate food, water, and medicine. This raised a few eyebrows on the board of directors, but they couldn't argue the numbers. She knew it wasn't nearly enough, but it was all she could do now. "If I run into her then I'll talk to her…but I won't go looking for Blake. I don't think I could face her."

She had cosplays prepared for all four days of convention, with additional disguises for the off hours. Her bags were packed and ready well in advance of her departure. One whole case was dedicated to snack food and instant ramen. She booked a hotel room using one of her online names, keeping her room for one day before and one day after the convention weekend. It was Wednesday night, all the preparations were complete…Weiss just needed to sleep. It was almost midnight, but she was far too excited to sleep. Weiss reached over to her nightstand for her scroll, opening her DMs to gaynightshade.

[Useless Lesbean]: hey are you awake?

[gaynightshade]: heyy yeah i'm still packing for con

[gaynightshade]: did you want me to check out anything for you this weekend?

[Useless Lesbean]: no thx

[Useless Lesbean]: just have a good time c:

[Useless Lesbean]: where are you staying?

[gaynightshade]: ruby yang and i have a room across the street from the convention center

[gaynightshade]: theyre hella excited

[Useless Lesbean]: oh lord can you handle them?

[gaynightshade]: lol they promised to be on their best behavior

[gaynightshade]: any chance of you coming this time?

"Oh shoot…what should I say?"

[Useless Lesbean]: no….as usual

[gaynightshade]: im sorry

[Useless Lesbean]: well i'll let you get to sleep, it's late

[Useless Lesbean]: good night! have a good weekend~

[gaynightshade]: night o/

She woke early and rushed through her morning routine. She wore her usual business outfit, she had to keep up appearances for at least a few more hours. Her father was in the dining room having breakfast when she entered. "Father, I am going to leave now for my vacation. Thank you for allowing me this free time." He nodded, not taking his eyes off of the newspaper he was reading. With that, she gathered her luggage and left.

Her personal airship was waiting at the rear landing pad. It had an advanced autopilot program, which allowed her to fly to certain destinations without a pilot. The takeoff and flight over Atlas was relatively uneventful. She could see on her scroll that the news covered her departure from the Schnee Estate. A panel of talking heads discussed why she would be taking a vacation now – meeting a lover, getting an abortion, joining a clandestine meeting of Atlesian elites? While amusing, she could only stand so much chatter about her; she switched to re-watching her favorite anime as her airship departed the Solitas continent, gliding over the ocean on the way to Mistral.

When her airship reached fifteen miles off land, her scroll buzzed to signal it was time for the next step of Weiss' plan. She let her hair down from her signature off center style and ran a temporary hair-dye comb through the cascade of white hair. She changed into her casual clothes – a light jacket, simple v-neck top, jeans, and a baseball cap with her light pink hair pulled back in a ponytail. A bit of makeup altered the shape of her scar to complete the disguise. She trussed her luggage together with a length of rope and waited at the airship door.

"This plan may have been a little excessive…but I really don't want anyone to find out about this. Here comes the hard part…" The scroll buzzed; it was time to go. The airship door opened, the roar of wind filling her ears. Weiss dove from the aircraft and leapt down a series of her glyphs toward a small dot amidst the blue water – a speedboat she bought through her offshore accounts, requesting it be delivered to these coordinates. The wind tore at her exposed skin, so she slowed her pace slightly – if she took too long, she'd run out of aura. Weiss landed heavily on the boat, the repeated glyphs left her winded.

The remainder of her journey was simple. She put her sunglasses on, broke open her first pack of pocky, and kicked her feet up to enjoy the sea spray. Hours later, her ship pulled into a secluded mooring she rented for the convention. It was well into the afternoon by the time she ordered a cab and rode into town. The scenery was much different than Weiss was used to. Atlas was perpetually cold and the landscape reflected that. The people did too. Even the city felt more laid back than Atlas. The sky was growing dim and the city began lighting up for the night. Weiss was glued to the window, taking in the city. Cab arrived at the hotel, startling her out of her awe.

The hotel was abuzz with activity as Weiss exited the cab and paid the driver. The line for the receptionist was out the door. She joined the end of the line with her luggage, standing behind a group of human and faunus that were chatting excitedly. This was a sight that you would never see in Atlas; Weiss found herself openly staring. The group was chatting about concerns around a new anime release that Weiss was really looking forward to, but she couldn't bring herself to try and join the conversation – as much as she wanted to rant about Remnant Animation's constant queerbaiting.

Eventually, Weiss reached the front of the queue. The receptionist was a faunus man with red hair and a pair of horns that she couldn't identify.

"Name."

"W- uh, Lily White."

He frowned slightly at her. "Uh huh, okay." He tapped away at his computer.

Maybe it wasn't the best idea for the SDC heiress to attend an event that drew so many people. She was bound to be recognized by someone…. Sighing deeply she shook her head slightly. "I came here to have fun, so I will. I planned as best I could and…I am not my father."

The man interrupted her thoughts, "I found your reservation. I need a credit card for incidentals and your scroll to program it for the room."

As he worked on her card and scroll, Weiss started to sweat slightly. The faunus man kept glancing at her, trying to figure out why this shortie gave him such a bad feeling. The moment eventually passed and he handed back her items. "Your room is on the top floor. The elevators are over there." He gestured lazily. "The concierge will help you if you have any further needs."

She scurried over to the elevators, breathing sigh of relief. The elevator she got into was completely full and she was squished in the back corner with a fox tail in her face. "I wish I was taller…" she whined internally. Eventually, Weiss was the last person in the elevator; the rooms on the penthouse suites were the most expensive. Despite mostly relaxing all day, the stress of this new experience had really tired her out. She unlocked the door with her scroll and fell into the room.

The room was spacious with a king sized bed at the center that she took no time diving into. "Ahh this is so nice…but I should prepare for tomorrow." She dragged herself off of the bed to the luggage she had unceremoniously dumped near the door. She laid out her cosplay for tomorrow, filled the tub for a bubble bath, and heated up some ramen. She rarely had the time to spend taking a bath like this so made sure to enjoy it. "This is simply divine," she thought, slurping down her food and enjoying the soothing lavender bubbles.

There was ample time after her bath to thoroughly brush her hair and moisturize her skin; the skydiving earlier left her face a bit raw. "This is starting off well." She hummed happily as she slid under the covers. "I wonder what Blake is up to right now? I…hope I get to see her at least once this weekend."

With that last thought, Weiss drifted off to sleep.