This was something written for Mr Quijibo. He works too much and we got to talking about rewriting RWBY and critiques. Enjoy!
In the beginning, mankind was created from Dust, and humanity found the creatures of Grimm to be assailing them from all directions. Creations wrought from nothingness and vileness, with the soul absent, with gnarly teeth and large fangs and-
"Mister Arc!"
The stern face of Glynda Goodwitch looked at him and he wondered what had been wrong about the first sentence! It'd been a good idea too! English class had required that the students wrote some original piece of work and RWBY looked like a good idea! She'd not even started on the second paragraph!
"Yes? Ah, Miss Goodwitch."
The stern teacher, clad in her usual outfit, the blouse that was threatening to burst open at times when she had to make a very sudden motion, though her personality and strict and exacting demands for her classes oftentimes put a damper on the sexy parts, as she pointed at the text.
"Gnarly teeth and large fangs are obvious attributes, Mister Arc! You should know better, you've been in my class for nearly four years!"
So what if he'd failed a year based on his English grades, huh? So what if he was eighteen rather than seventeen?
"I promise that this time, I'll do better!"
The green eyes narrowed behind the glasses and the stern executor of the language class peered at him, the strand of hair that dangled loosely beside her cheek giving her the appearance of being gentle, though it could not be further from the truth.
"You promise you'll do better? Why do I doubt that, Mister Arc?"
Stern, ball-busting Glynda Goodwitch, poking at the sentence, and she hadn't even started on the rest yet!
"Worldbuilding is about making things clear to the audience and showing them the world! This is not a series penned by two nincompoops with nary a thought about timelines and a ballerina dancer, Mister Arc!"
Jaune winced at the thought, remembering that there was definitely something that he'd skipped when he had stayed up for four nights trying to rush his writing along, just pushing out words on paper. The English teacher did not wish to see work that was handed in on the computer, as it was 'not as fitting' and the woman did not trust technology to a pen.
"Well, eh… Maybe you can go and read more?"
The teacher's gaze dropped down to the document once more and her face looked stern, cold and attractive, Jaune knowing that the woman was around thirty-six or so, having become a teacher nearly thirteen years ago, and having been known as a frigid, ice-cold woman to her students.
Ruby Rose, a girl of fifteen, cute as a button with dark black hair and red tints to the tips, like some kind of magical fairy princess, standing in a Dust shop and looking at ammunition, which is some kind of magical glowy rock that gives humanity the power to fight back against the Grimm, making sure that the four Kingdoms are safe and sound and also being used to power their aircraft. It was late at night, nearly ten in the evening, as the clock stated on the far city-scape of the city of Vale, which was walled by a lot of walls, and a lot of brave, brave Huntsmen.
The look on the teacher's face was foreboding, as the woman's expression looked darkly at him. Jaune gulped, knowing that the look probably meant another scathing commentary.
"What the hell is a child of fifteen looking at ammunition, Mister Arc? Do you have any thought in your skull about what that would mean? Why is a fifteen-year-old allowed to even browse in a shop like that? Where are her parents? Why would you allow a teenager to be out that late? Mister Arc… Answers. I require them."
He swallowed, as he looked away, the woman's finger pointing at him and her expression showing clearly that there was going to be a reckoning if his answer did not please her.
"W-well, she's fifteen, she's a student at a Huntsman Academy, to protect the people of the city of Vale, I'm- She's going to be-"
The finger tapped onto the desk, focusing his attention upon it.
"I will read it and I will judge. Do not think I accept this, this…"
A grimace, as she looked down at the work, her hand adjusting the jacket she wore, the proper skirt that showed long legs, a hidden treat for the people who'd always been watching the woman's back when she taught, leggings that accentuated her legs worn during cold days, or a set of pantyhoses with high heels, to give that image of being a responsible and sensible woman.
"Mister Arc…"
The headmaster's gaze rested longingly on the girl, as Ruby Rose watched him with her silver eyes opened wide, unknowing of the man's wishes and desires.
"You have silver eyes…"
He hadn't thought much wrong with that.
"Why did you have a paedophile as your headmaster? And was that 'blonde woman with the glasses and the 'killer hot bod', a reference to me?!"
He'd needed an example. Mood Killer Goodwitch was definitely a good example for a disciplinarian and authoritarian teacher.
"Y-well, I chose the woman that I think is great at discipline."
The teacher seemed to take that into account, paging through the document, the 'Goodwitch glare' resting on the next few pages, clearly reading it.
"Miles Jaune Arc? Mister Arc!"
Dorky and innocent-looking, blonde hair messy and dishevelled, clearly looking like he'd rather be somewhere else, he stood, a tall young man with a hoodie, a chestplate and a sword at his side, like some hero of a tale. He also had a set of jeans, and left and right on his shoes, so he wouldn't misplace them in the event he got confused. He looked at the fifteen-year-old girl with the cute red cape and the dizzy expression, knowing that she would be a friend, if he approached.
"What tripe is this? Do you think you are the writer of Twilight or something? Does anything even land in your brain, or is this 'Miles Jaune Arc' going to have some fifteen-year-old girl with the sensibilities of a brain-damaged child going to be sleeping with him? Children don't act like this! If he's seventeen, he should at least know not to smile at a girl that he doesn't know unless he wants to get with her!"
Jaune had thought it was a perfect idea.
"They're going to be friends! Her older sister left her alone, so now she's met with Weiss and is alone and needing a friend. It's perfect for setting up that secondary antagonist."
The woman's finger pushed her glasses up slowly.
"Protagonist, Mister Arc. Protagonist is the word you're looking for. I dare hope that your flirting technique is a lot more advanced than this 'character' is. If it had been me getting approached by a strange man I did not know, I would show him why a kick between the legs is still the best option to deal with annoying gnats."
Jaune could imagine that too, as the teacher's stern countenance seemed to soften for just a very brief moment, as she tapped the document.
"A girl at fifteen is not going to be aware of what a guy wants unless she has dated before. Does Ruby Rose have a previous relationship that she can pull from, so she can pick up on his nervousness?"
Jaune shook his head, knowing that the teacher was just trying to offer some clemency for his fuck-up, her gaze peering right into his own as she seemed to contemplate the words that he'd written down.
'So much for getting a good grade.'
"I would rewrite it a little. Make it a bit more concise. Show that your male protagonist isn't too much of a weakling."
Miles Jaune Arc, standing there with all the aplomb of a young man, offering a hand out for the girl that had fallen and was in need of help, his sun-kissed hair illuminated by the light of the afternoon, a smile on his lips. He'd try to make a friend, because it was always nice to make friends.
The woman's neat script made it a little bit more concise and added some flair to it, he found, as the woman's displeased sigh was loud.
"Very well… Revise the work and come see me tomorrow, Mister Arc. I expect better from you now that I've at least given you an example. Less is more, or, if you're some kind of chronically ill person, you can vomit forth a whole book in less time than it takes for you to get with your cheerleader girl."
He was glad that she at least let him go, knowing that the woman was frustratingly pedantic when it came to her work in class, teaching with the full passion of a woman possessed, her fingers tapping the board and then making the sharp 'Mister Arc, I am not teaching the class sans you, pay attention!'.
"So, the Wicked Witch of the English Class has you in her tower of terror, hasn't she?"
His best friend Carter, the likeness for the character of Cardin Winchester, a member of the basketball team and currently dating Erika Nikolaos, the head cheerleader who always won awards, a stand-in for the character of Pyrrha Nikos, was inquiring.
"I knew that she'd be busting my balls, but like this…"
He was sure that he'd have some success with something, at least with the woman's attention fully levelled on him, her expression never quite reaching above the sub-zero level.
"Don't worry, I got you. If you need some help, Erika might be able to help out a bit. She's good with deciphering Goodwitch and her whole schtick, being her ace student after all."
Jaune smiled, as he hoped that it'd help a little. With how this project was one of his saving graces, he knew that it'd be great to have some sort of additional feedback.
'Blake is going to be super-cool and sexy, a real cat-like ninja, contrasting Weiss.'
There would be a good ending for them. He just knew that he'd have a good moment for the Volume one highlights.
Dangling from the Deathstalker's tail- the glowy part, mind you- he screamed at Pyrrha.
"I don't think this is the Relic!"
He screamed as he was whipped by the great scorpion creature of evilness, the tail shaking as it crushed everything in front of it, emerging from the cave with great sounds of screaming and much chittering (Do scorpions chitter?) as it came out, Pyrrha following behind it with hastened pace, her cheeks flush with the need to save the man she loved.
"What in the ever-loving- No, don't explain, I can see it written on your face, Jaune Arc. You're going to explain to me right now why Pyrrha suddenly has this fascination with Miles. Pronto."
He gulped. He knew he shouldn't have added that to the story yet, but he had this idea after Erika had told him some of the basics of writing a story. It wasn't something that he was set on, since Pyrrha in the story was like Erika, but a lot chestier. She was also a little paler than the Erika he knew, the Mediterranean features looking kind of hot, but he wasn't really going to be making a move on his best friend's girlfriend like that.
"W-well, she's seen how he tried to hit on her and Weiss, and she thinks he is cute, in that kind of-"
The pen broke in her fingers.
"Kind of cute, Mister Arc? You think that a woman is so easily- Where have you been getting your advice on women from? The Glossy?"
Jaune shook his head.
"No, no, I've got three sisters! They always talk about how a cute guy is working on getting in their good graces, so-"
The pen's ink dripped onto the desk, as the green eyes looked like they wanted to evaporate him.
"Allow me to fetch a pen, so that I can rectify this grievous error in your judgement… I knew I should've just loaded the- very well…"
The woman cleaned her hand off with a small towel, lightly rubbing the tips and then fetching another pen, a fountain pen, her fingers sliding a fresh sheet of paper over to him.
"Mister Arc, I will show you an example of what writing should be like. You can't just write it with a certain style that is like the rambling of the three nitwits that sit behind you, speaking about their comic books and their waifus."
That the woman knew the term was a surprise, yet the sharp gaze that regarded him was impressive, pressing down on him with the haughtiness of the woman clearly reflected in her eyes, her gaze intent on the paper.
What followed was an elegant writing of a similar scene, as she placed the tip of the pen on the paper and wrote, in neat and comprehensible English the sentences in a way that made them click.
"Give her insecurities, failures that only she knows about. Don't treat her as if she is a doll, women do not like being treated like dolls. When they wish to go for a man, they go for the man that they enjoy the company of, even if they are stupid and unable to get simple lessons like putting the toilet lid down after they go to the bathroom."
The woman's head shook softly, as she let her expression change a little to soften, her writing fast and on the next page already. He looked it over, the mature woman's writing perfect and aligned to the paper.
"Jaune!"
Miles could hear the girl call him by his middle name, as he clung to the tail, trying to hold on for dear life as the monster wrought from soulless animate rampaged, rushing forward and out of the cave that had kept it locked away, the stinger glowing with an unholy light.
"I don't think this is the Relic, Pyrrha!"
It flowed a lot better than his own, and he pulled the paper to him, noticing that she'd scribbled a small note below.
Character motivations? Why? Elaborate in our next session.
The woman got up and looked down at him.
"I expect you to be at my office after the weekend, Mister Arc. I am willing to ensure that you graduate with a story that would at the very least be a decent read. Think about your character's motivations and motivate them, and for the love of whatever god you believe in, do not make it like 'Ruby Rose loved adventure, so she kept on moving forward and being a doltish 15 year old'. Children at fifteen do not think about such altruistic goals. She should be- No, I won't give you hints. I expect perfection."
The decree from up high had been given.
This was going to be a weekend of work.
"Jaune Arc! Your teacher rang me this afternoon!"
His mother stood in front of him, the 49-year-old woman looking imposing with the apron and the rolling pin in her hand, the cookie dough that had been rolled out looking like some defeated foe, the expression on her face definitely looking like it was something that would bring trouble.
"Ah? I hope that it was good-"
The rolling pin's tip tapped his nose.
"You are going to be held back a year again if you flunk English! Miss Goodwitch was nice enough to inform me that the principal is moving for your expulsion if you cannot have a decent set of grades to back it up! I remember having to plead for the math teacher to pass you, Jaune Arc! Miss Goodwitch is a kind individual, so you will give her your best efforts, since she will be reading this 'Roofie' story of yours."
He did not associate Glynda Goodwitch with anything resembling 'nice' or 'kind', knowing that the woman had once managed to kick one of the quarterbacks so hard with one of her heels that it'd punctured the skin when he'd grabbed her butt.
"RWBY, mom, it's a story about a girl that wants to be a hero in another world, and I am going to do my best, or-"
The rolling pin tapped against his nose, the woman's expression looking like a thundercloud rolling in.
"I will help you with that, or get Sapphire to help with that. Your sisters are all lazy slobs anyways, I knew that would happen but I still got pregnant with you, Jaune Arc! Go to your room and get work done, or I will personally make sure that you'll sit in front of me and write it!"
His mother had wanted a successful child that could do something and be known in the world as something special. His father had never wanted something like that, but his mother's desire for the best result for her children had caused his older sister Marigold to declare that she'd never become a student, flipping burgers for minimum wage, his second-oldest sister Salmonella deciding to go and live with her girlfriend somewhere far off after her social studies degree was achieved, and the youngest sister to go through a horde of boyfriends that occasionally ensured the dinner table discussions were mixed up with his father forgetting which name belonged to which boyfriend.
"Alright… Okay, the girl called Pyrrha is in love with the- Jaune, why did you put yourself in your work? Do you really think I wouldn't notice?"
'Miss Goodwitch said the same thing.'
The woman was his English teacher though.
"Maybe we're sick of being pushed around all the time!"
Blake left, leaving Ruby and Weiss to stare at their departing teammate, surprised by how the girl tore off.
"Maybe she's on her period? Did you have your period yet?"
Glynda Goodwitch did not look at him with eyes that held hope for his future. In fact, the way that the fountain pen in her hand was aimed at his throat like she was trying to score a 180 in the darts tournament for his life, was definitely not a good thing.
"Jaune, I will take this as a first draft or something like it, obviously unfinished."
That boded ill.
"But, she's running away, because she's a fau-"
The woman's eyes narrowed.
"So, she's an animal girl. Her trait are her… ears, I presume? Ahh, yes, you have her unveiling them in a dramatic flourish."
He offered a hopeful smile to the unsmiling woman, who straightened herself out just a little.
"Jaune, girls 'do not', and I will stress that we 'do not' talk about our periods like that. Girls, I will repeat, do not talk about our periods, especially with how you write their characters. Redo it now."
He did, as the teacher sat next to him and he smelt the perfume that she wore, something strong and yet subtle in the smells, perfume that a woman her age would wear. He liked fruity scents more, and he glanced at her breasts for a moment, the woman's fingers pointing at his paper.
"I would appreciate it if you were to pay attention to your work, Mister Arc."
He was done, any mention of periods or anything like that removed. The woman looked at it and then stared at him.
"This 'Sun' fellow, is he based on the novel Journey to the West?"
Actually, he was based on DragonNuts, but he didn't really know how to say that.
"Yes, sure."
The woman seemed to find that pleasant, even though she frowned.
"Definitely more open than Blake, but, when you make her call out her 'brothers and sisters of the White Fang', are you implying that she used to be a member of them? What did they do?"
Jaune hadn't thought about it that much.
"Ehh, terrorism? They want to make the world a worse place for humanity and better for the Faunus."
Glynda Goodwitch glared at him.
"And Blake was…"
He could offer that answer.
"Oh, she was the lieutenant under this guy who comes to show his face in the third part of the story. He's actually got a-'
The palm smacked against the desk as the full glare hit him, her expression dark and frightening.
"On what organization are you basing them, Jaune Arc?"
The way that she wielded his first name like a dagger made him shudder, as his eyes watched how Glynda Goodwitch crossed her arms under her impressive bust, giving him a glare.
"Ahh… The guys who blew up the Duo Towers?"
She tapped the page.
"So, you've got an ex-terrorist, living together with the girl who was accused by her people of being related to her father, who does 'bad things', am I correct?"
He nodded, and he offered her a smile.
"Her father used to lead the White Fang too! I c-"
The palm smacked against the wood of the table.
"Are you a moron? Don't you think that someone who is under threat won't know the names of their enemies? Blake Belladonna, the daughter of Johnny Belladonna, the former leader of the White Fang, a terrorist murder cult like the Black Panthers… So, either this Weiss girl is stupid, or Blake Belladonna decided to get into Beacon using her legal name, which anyone off the streets could just find in the official documents. Do you think that the readers are stupid?"
He tried to find a good comeback, as she looked at him, grabbing his hand. She was touching him, looking him in the eye, her green eyes blazing with the message that she was not pleased with his work.
"Don't you think that there would be official documentation for Blake around, with Weiss given a list of 'this is your enemy, the people who hurt our family' to memorize? The Troubles were a really bad period in English history, and there are a lot of people still who remember segregation, Mister Arc. In what world does it make sense to put Faunus Hitler's daughter together with Faunus Girl?!"
That was a little strong as far as terminology went, but… but that was kind of true.
"Ehh, it's-"
The woman looked at him with that look that clearly stated that she was not giving a damn about his answer that would be forthcoming.
"And Weiss' objection to the fifteen-year-old that was to be her commanding officer… is utterly justified. Someone who has had more training and private education can be more suitable for a role of command than someone who has barely finished the comprehensive courses."
The woman dug into the subject before she noticed the time.
"Very well, I will see you tomorrow, Mister Arc. I do hope that I will not have to call your mother again to ensure that you work. We had quite a talk about your chronic inability to do well in the simplest language in the world."
That was a dismissal, as far as Jaune was concerned, as she went to do other work.
It took until that evening that he remembered that he'd let the document at school in her office, and he started afresh.
'There's no way she'll complain about the second part! It's going to be so cool!'
"Neptune Vasilias, a suave and cool gentleman, wrapping Weiss around his pretty little finger… Do you think women are just easily cowed by some pretty face?!"
The educator that sat in front of him was definitely not happy with him, as she jabbed a finger at him.
"He's handsome and she likes him, to Miles' displeasure! He's not confident, and she's definitely thinking better about him than he deserves, but-"
The woman's expression was definitely telling him to shut up.
"She is someone who has undoubtedly seen movie stars and what-not, being a singer and someone who hangs with the rich and famous. When a woman shows an interest in a man, she will want to spend time with them, to show them that they can be improved. Women that cannot fix a man that they have an interest in tend to be unable to take the reins over their own life."
That… sounded like it made sense. Jaune wasn't sure whether it fully made sense, but the woman was older than him and likely more experienced in that way, being a woman and all that.
"Then what do you suggest? Cut it?"
Glynda Goodwitch had a deadpan expression on her face as she held up a finger and tapped the document.
"Leave it in. She can lament it later. Girls who go for the pretty boys that have a boatload of problems will end up single with three screaming children."
That was really harsh, coming from the woman who had ice running through her bloodstream according to popular belief. Glynda looked through the rest of the document, tapping at the end of the midsection.
"They are going into an abandoned section of the city, yes? Why did you write them as being disappointed by having their history teacher with them?"
The woman was an educator, so it definitely was a point that would hit close to her.
"I was thinking about it, and it just fit."
The woman drolly stared at him.
"It just fit. Aside from using Miss Fall for your villain, in all her glory… Well, I suppose she fits the type of a villain."
The arguments between Miss Fall and Goodwitch had become something that was remembered by the student body as a fierce skirmish of words, between the whole ideology of social justice and critical something theory and Goodwitch's stance on classical historical precedent.
Neither really liked the other.
Jaune knew that.
"Now, on to the next. Ruby Rose gets captured and… and what? They don't at least break her arms and legs? How come she's so weak without her weapon, didn't anyone teach her female self-defence?"
That was a question, as the English teacher crossed her arms. An explanation was demanded.
"Because that'd be bad! She's the heroine of the story!"
Unamused eyes, as the woman peered over her glasses.
"And characters grow through adversity! Her personality is all sugar and rainbows! Her father might have abandoned being a father for a while whilst her sister sprang in, but this should be a moment where she's terrified, where there might be some men getting fresh with her, a knife put at her throat and given a reason for her optimism to fade! Terrorists, Jaune, do not negotiate, and the extremists are definitely not going to pass up on a 'cute human fifteen-year old', if we go by your description! I am starting to doubt her judgment, if they brought the girl with the whole 'hated by the animal people' backstory there too! Can you imagine what they'd do to the poor girl?"
Jaune didn't want to, but the woman was poking his chest with her eyes flashing. Jaune remembered that she had been one of the women that had taught the girls a self-defence class when he'd been a year or two younger, the imposing woman having had a belt in jiu-jitsu or something.
"Well, I'm not-"
The woman's expression was sharp, as she poked against his chest with a few sharp pokes.
"No, you're not thinking about it. The girl should be like fresh bloodied meat thrown into shark-infested waters, if what I've read is a thing. Huntresses are stronger, faster and in good shape! Imagine the lunch lady in a similar position!"
Miss Malachite was really fat. She also served really big sloppy joes.
"A cute girl? Rough men that need a bit of action? What are you, some kind of masochist who goes all 'oh, and then they save the girl and she's alright!'. This Torchwick man is a creep, don't you know that creeps do all sorts of things to women to intimidate them?!"
It was an angry feminist rant like he'd heard one of them, Miss Fall having been one of the main people who'd been able to go on such lengthy rants in order to say something about 'keeping women in power'.
"But, most of the team is female, and they're cool and-"
The woman's fist rattled the table.
"And women can't survive stuff like that without being tarnished, is that it? What kind of pussy would just write racist terrorists and then put their main heroine in their clutches with her best friend and an ex-terrorist and some blonde party girl coming to save her, huh? Have a bit of a spine, Jaune! The written word is to tantalize the people, to stroke the mind with an idea that you have!"
Miss Goodwitch got passionate about literature, and three of the buttons of her blouse had come undone, showing a dark purple bra, the woman's sharp green eyes looking at him.
"And here, you've got that White girl dodging a chainsaw by a big burly man! Why would you go and put him against her, ranting and raving like a mad dog about the pain that her father caused her! You're not consistent!"
He ended up rewriting the whole scenes to make it flow better, under her instruction. Ruby had a near-rape experience which soured her optimism, and Weiss and Yang beat the ever-loving crap out of the big guy called 'Roly-Poly man' in the rough draft.
"A hot katana chick, who is Yang's mother."
The woman's voice was droll, as she looked at him over her glasses, her expression clearly showing her utter lack of caring.
"Katanas are cool?"
The lack of a smile on her face wasn't cool.
"Explain why the ice-cream psychopath is scared off, Jaune Arc. Make it a good explanation and I will let you go to that summer camping trip unmolested."
It was the annual camping trip that was a holdover from the past, where you went out into the wilds and made your own fun, something that had been changed to staying over at a resort. It was where his teachers would probably give their instructions, and some would teach their classes, and there were going to be girls.
The girl that he had his eyes on would be there too.
'Ahh, you're so pretty.'
He'd try and ask her out on a date, after camp. It'd be a nice finishing touch to his final year.
"Explanations, Mister Arc. I am waiting."
His explanation that Raven Branwen was definitely going to be a part of a later storyline and that she was this well-known infamous bandit did not go over well.
"You will spend time with me during camp rewriting your third act, Mister Arc. It seems that your creativity is not quite up to standards that most teachers prefer. Your mother does wish to see you graduate. I remember teaching your older sister when she went to school here… and she did not pass my class."
That put a bit of a crimp in his style for getting a date with a sexy girl.
Now he was supposed to be with the teacher who'd been correcting him on a lot of his writing faults.
"Who'd want to date a guy like you? You flunked a year!"
His desires of dating Arryn Suckz were shattered in that moment, as the dismissal had come with a hint of exasperation, as if he was unfit for even being considered as a viable partner, as he slinked away with the hint of laughter still in his ears. It wasn't his fault that he had to stay behind! English wasn't something that a lot of people had mastered!
He threw himself into his work for English, trying to finish up the third book. It hurt a little less to write the 'really bad breakup' between Adam and Blake. He shouldn't focus on his hurt, knowing that the stern English teacher would be looking over his work later. The final crescendo, a battle on an airship of Roman Torchwick and Neopolitan versus Ruby Rose.
Miss Fall had decided to give a speech about the wonderful world of Womxn, speaking at length with her students about the great inclusivity movement, Jaune catching one of her students staring longingly at her. It was no small surprise to him that Miss Fall attracted people who were into the hot looks that she'd had before, with her fiery rhetoric about 'equity' and 'great power for women'.
Arryn was friends with the girl staring at Miss Fall, and Jaune turned away, knowing that he'd not get much out of it in the end. It wouldn't be Jaune Arc getting a girlfriend before graduation, and it wouldn't be Jaune Arc being the hip and cool student either.
The English teacher looked like she'd prepared for another long session with him, already dressed in a loose shirt that made her usually composed exterior look a little more casual to the observer's eye, the set of skinny jeans that hugged her legs giving her the allure of a mature woman, if the glasses had not given her that strict authoritarian look.
"I look forward to seeing what you've written, Jaune."
The threat underlying those words was heavy, as the woman's gaze dominated and impressed upon him a feeling that she was not looking forward to him, as he laid the papers in front of her.
"Your handwriting has improved."
The compliment was minor, but he felt a little happy, as the woman read through the pages, her expression changing a little after she was done.
"Interesting. Do you know what I think about Pyrrha Nikos?"
The woman asked, so Jaune looked exciting, meeting the sharp green eyes of his teacher, whose expression did not change very much.
"If she won a competition for four years in a row, was considered to be the best student in her year… and this 'Goodwitch', which I am still not very happy about you naming her after me, has confidence in her…"
There was a pause, as the woman's eyes looked deeply into his own.
"Do you hate women?"
'What?'
Glynda tapped the paper. The scene between Miles and Pyrrha was clearly written there.
"There is no way that someone who had been an exemplary student, who had the courage and the skill to fight, would be so spineless as to never confess to the boy she likes. Do you hate women, Jaune?"
'Oh god…'
It did come across as a little unfeasible, on later thought.
"No, I just thought, she's got a problem with saying the truth and I-'
The woman's flat palm pressed against the papers.
"She should have approached him after the dance, grabbed him by that dress of his, dragged him right into a shady nook and just blown his mind there and then, without considering anything between them until he's happy and content. If someone likes someone, do you really think that they'd let anyone stand between them if they are trained to be the defenders of humanity? Don't you think that Pyrrha should have just said 'Forget about that girl named Weiss, let's have a good time together', and they'd be dating? This has to be one of the least empathic takes on women I've read in a long time, Jaune. A girl at Prom, with a guy she likes? More hymens get torn at Prom than at Christmas!"
He wasn't really thinking about it. He didn't have a date for that, and he'd been too busy with other things to really consider it, but he had to explain about Pyrrha first.
"But she's not wanting to be put on a pedestal, she's go-glk!"
The English teacher grabbed his shirt and tugged it close.
"Just because you're in a certain line of work, does not mean that you should be a spineless wimp, Mister Arc. I studied for years so I could educate people like you, and to see you just go 'oh, she's indecisive because she likes him, but he's too much of a moron to understand that' is not a good state of being. Are you putting too much of yourself into the story, Mister Arc? Is this just trying to write out your own infantile emotions about not getting picked by the girl you like because she doesn't like that you failed to advance a grade?"
He remembered Arryn's dismissal, and he looked away, as the green eyes looked into his own mercilessly, the woman letting go of his shirt.
"If a woman, and I say, a woman, wants to have a guy notice her, she will show that she is interested, Mister Arc. Any girl who doesn't speak up and acts like some kind of meek girl is not getting what she wants. Sometimes, girls can be aggressive, Jaune."
'You're being plenty aggressive here…'
The woman turned her attention back to the document, and tapped it a few times.
"What's with that age thing? How do those maiden powers work, Arc?"
The curtness of her answers and the sharp, pitiless glare that she delivered to him was something that made him shiver, as he tried to explain how it worked.
"Well, young girls get the power of the maidens, after an old wizard empowered them, they guard the vaults where there's special powerful relics and-"
She was not happy with that answer.
"I see… Young girls. Can the old wizard reclaim his power?"
He shrugged. He didn't think about it very much.
The woman continued, reading through the next few parts.
"Now, explain to me why this Adam Taurus pops up. He's the ex-boyfriend, yes?"
Jaune nodded, glad that he was getting the time to speak again. He could feel the eyes of the teacher on him.
"So… let me get this straight. Arry- ahem, Blake Belladonna was with this young man, who is…"
She looked sternly at him.
"Twenty-four?"
Narrowing eyes, as he swallowed.
"Twenty-four, and he is a radical terrorist. She has been in the Academy for… nine months?"
He nodded. He didn't really like timelines, and he supposed that it wouldn't be a good thing for the keeping.
"Why exactly, has miss Belladonna not informed the authorities about a rabid psychopathic ex-lover, which I will get into in a moment, trust me on that, being in charge of an extremist organization? What in her mind is so broken to think that she must be the one who can challenge him? Are you out of your mind?"
He should correct that at least.
"She came on to him! When he was hesitating, she tried to put him on the right path! She loved him once, and-"
A fingertip rested against his nose, as he took a deep breath and watched her.
"Why the hell did you make him a paedophile too? This goes too far, Jaune. First, you create one of the characters after your own love interest, and now she's surrounded by an ex-lover who took her friend's arm…"
They actually would be girlfriends later on, actually, but that hadn't been written yet. Girl on girl was hot.
"You know what? I will finish this. I will finish this manuscript and then give you my honest critique on it."
The woman tucked some of her bangs behind her ears, looking seriously at the document and then reading through it, giving him time to gather his courage.
"And she just leaves her partner alone, like that? She just runs away, after that tragic event? There better be some reason behind that, Jaune."
The threat was real, as her eyes glinted dangerously at him.
"I'll eh… She's going away to make sure that Yang is safe?"
The unamused look on his teacher's face was definitely not going to be a happy ending with her critique.
"This has to be the worst action ever! She's betraying her partner by running away to someplace else, just because she'd be 'safe'? What kind of moron fantasy world does she live in?"
The woman's voice seemed much more personable when she was critiquing his work, as the woman looked at him and then handed him a pen, placing some paper on the table.
"You will write an epilogue to this part. I will not accept this as a passing grade."
He guessed he'd have another long night ahead of him.
"So… What's it like being under the spell of the Wicked Witch of B-Con 01?"
Carter grinned at him, as Jaune gave a deep sigh.
"She's critiquing my work, acting like it should be something I'm proud of. All I did was write a story, but she's determined to help me succeed and make it something pleasant to read. I mean, one of the main heroines had an ex-boyfriend, he kind of cut her partner's arm off."
Erika, Carter's girlfriend, looked curiously at him, cuddling up with her boyfriend and kissing his cheek in a display of attachment.
"That sounds like it's an abusive relationship. How old is he?"
Erika's expression turned quickly to something that didn't really look very comfortable.
"Jaune, girls like older men, sure, but the moment someone in their twenties starts to fiddle around with a fifteen-year-old, that's still a crime. You're saying that they used to be intimate, I mean… maybe if the girl was a little bit touched in the head, but still. It's not too realistic."
Jaune supposed he'd have to tinker a little bit. Maybe the fourth part of the big story would go over better with her, with more of a focus on Blake's past.
'Let's make her parents the nicest people… yes, that'll work!'
"I must admit that I'm surprised, Jaune."
The whole story about Weiss getting her freedom had actually not elicited much comment from the woman. She'd read the whole story about what happened, and the sharp gaze rested on him.
"About… eh, about what?"
Her finger tapped his papers.
"You actually are improving. Aside from the Blake part, the story is actually passable, even if the romantic relationship between this 'Ren and Nora' couple is a little forced. You'd imagine that teenagers would be sharing a tent and getting intimate, but it's nearly sexless. I'd have expected something to happen between Jaune and Ruby, at the very least. Two teenagers, both a little adrift, emotional feelings, friendship… It's not uncommon for partners to form after tragedy has occurred, Jaune."
He wouldn't know. He'd never really dated anyone.
"I've never- Well, I've not had a girlfriend."
It was shameful to admit, but the woman valued honesty, if the brutal dissection of his written words was any kind of indication.
"Oh? What about Lindsey? Surely the two of you must've had some sort of… thing? You practically were giggling like schoolgirls back during first year."
A friend of his on which he'd based the character of Ruby on. A girl that was gay, or at least was dating a girl now. Her friend. She didn't like him very much.
"She's dating her girlfriend right now. She doesn't have time for me anymore, her best friend Barbara fully in support of the two of them."
The woman nodded, seemingly working with the information that she had, as she tapped the part.
"It will continue in the next section, right? You will write it out over the course of this evening, and the early morning. You will be allowed to go and celebrate the end of this outing with your friends, but I expect full compliance from you, Jaune Arc."
And so, the day was saved as Blake Belladonna was reunited with her team and Adam ran, Blake restraining the monkey faunus called Sun Wukong, her stalwart companion on the dangerous journey.
Ghira Belladonna was left to-
"This is bullshit. Why would you let a leader who is a known failure retake the reins, based on 'it'll be better this time'? What has the man learned in the six years or so since he retired? How to grow potatoes in his back garden? Sometimes, a leader who isn't able to lead gets reelected, but they will be replaced by someone more capable."
Jaune winced. That was not at all what he intended!
"But they are good people!"
Glynda Goodwitch looked at him. Jaune noticed that the glass that she'd been drinking from had been emptied, and there was definitely a smell of alcohol that hung around the mature woman, who'd apparently started to drink before she'd let him in her presence. It was nearly the ending feast of this trip, where the teachers that accompanied them were allowed to let go a little.
"Good people who are known failures in their organizational structure, if most of the leadership is in jail, in hell, or on the run. And what about that Ilia girl? I've been reserving my thoughts on the other two major characters of this part of the story, but… Speak."
Oh, Blake's ex-friend who loved her.
"I thought it would be nice to have a friend of Blake, who happened to love her, I think it's nice to see her get forgiv-"
Glynda Goodwitch's hand rammed down on the table, the woman's eye twitching with annoyance, frustration and more written on her face, her glasses put on straight again.
"You don't forgive murder attempts, Jaune! What was preventing her from offering Blake a smile, then tasering her in the back and then abducting her to that man she once loved, huh? Let me tell you, if you're a pretty woman with a nice set of these!"
The woman grabbed her breasts, clearly having lost her calm composure, her green eyes flashing angrily, as her gaze levelled with his own.
"you will have girls go 'ooh, you're so attractive, you're so cool, please Miss Goodwitch, let me drug your drink.' I've had to deal with that in college and even now, there are a few girls who definitely stare too long at me."
It was a personal gripe, though Jaune had never really worried or bothered to notice.
It might be the alcohol talking. The woman had started drinking before he'd come here, and seemed genuinely to be fed up with what was happening.
She looked at him with an expression that seemed to be humourless, as she frowned at him.
"And then there is this Oscar fellow. Do you really want your audience to believe that he is just some plucky young man who was selected to be the host of this Ozpin guy? Don't you know how creepy that is?"
He'd not thought it to be creepy. Oscar was just a fourteen-year-old boy who knew that there was a fight for the world at stake, and he'd do the right thing.
"Dusky skin, with freckles and the most curious green eyes, as well as a typical farmer's outfit, at fourteen. What is your plan for him?"
'Well, Ruby needs someone to get together with.'
He said as much. The English teacher shot him a look that clearly showed what she thought of that plan, making Jaune gulp at the intensity of that glare that she shot at him.
"So, you're going to make Mister Diversity Hire get together with the little heroine, who is four years or so older than him? In order to make it feel like a normal relationship, you're putting together someone who has the spirit of an old man with someone who is fresh-faced and naïve."
The woman looked fiercer than she had before, her expression darkening clearly as she did not like the thought of that, her face sharply regarding him, her mouth pressing together.
"Mister Arc, when a woman shows an interest in a young man, I swear to god, most men tend to be oblivious. How are you going to prevent your readers from throwing up in their mouth at the thought of her former professor having sex with Ruby Rose?"
He hadn't thought about it yet.
"But it isn't a focus! They don't think about relationships, they're nineteen and they're fighting to save the world!"
Glynda Goodwitch had an intimidating look on her face, getting up and marching around the table, the smell of alcohol really strong, as the glass that had been empty had somehow been half-filled.
"No woman can be silent when there is some moron of a boy trying to be all heroic and strong! Ruby and Jaune should have been screwing like rabbits to get the hurt out, not Ruby just acting like a good pal when she saw him train with that video! Arc, you're a moron! When a woman sees someone hurt, they take action or they lose their shot."
Her hand grabbed his shirt again, her face close, the intimidating look on her face making him definitely feel like he'd messed up.
"But she doesn't see him like that yet, Ren and Nora have a problem spitting out their true feelings for each other and-"
Glynda's expression darkened.
"Listen to me, Jaune Arc. When a woman sees a man she considers a friend hurt, she wants to do something, just like that little prissy Arryn girl that you have a fancy for. If she really cared about a diligent student like you, she'd have at least put you down gently, without trying to invoke scorn. She is what I would call a 'bitch', really. If a woman wanted to comfort a man, she shows it by appearing naked or in her underwear, and gives the orders to go to the bedroom to fuck the sadness out. Comfort sex is a big thing that you see a lot, and it's the basis for a lot of marriages."
The woman's finger rubbed over her ring finger absently, as Jaune remembered that the woman had been married once, apparently, having heard it from his sister.
"Bad choices happen, when you comfort a man who you think is upset, and they use you for all you're worth. Don't forget that, Jaune."
She let go of his shirt and sat down, her cheeks flushed, the uncharacteristic anger from her leaving an impression, as she filled her glass up and then drained it.
"Were you ever-"
Sharp eyes regarded him, like a hawk spotting a field mouse.
"Don't ask, Jaune."
He didn't plan on asking anymore.
"Now, for the lessening of the 'creepy' factor, I would suggest writing Oscar to be more of a minor role, since he absorbs a lot of the audience's time to empathize with the characters. You've got four main characters that are male, Qrow Bronwyn, Li Ren and Jaune Arc."
She always called the character Jaune Arc, but his name was Miles Jaune Arc! There was a difference!
"It's Branwen, actually."
The woman looked at him and then shifted.
"I don't care anymore. You're dismissed, go and have your fun tonight. Use a condom, if you find a girl interested in you."
As if that would happen.
"Who'd want to be with someone like me?"
Glynda looked at him, the glass of alcohol in her hand raised, as she toasted him.
"Any woman who likes beautiful blue eyes and innocent facial features, with a sissy voice, Arc."
The woman laughed, bitterly. It was a crude assessment of how he looked, and it was true, too. He wasn't strong, nor was he able to do well in other parts. He was just an average student, living an average life, with no real prospects.
"Well… Keep your head raised, Arc. There'll be some girl who'd want you."
The woman's words were hopeful, as she laughed bitterly, grabbing the bottle and drinking straight from it, Jaune's thoughts going to how the statement she'd made had been lacking.
"So… Do you want to go out sometime? I mean- for fun, that is."
It was a long shot. A very long shot, with inaccurate cannon fire. It was a blindfolded shot, as he looked at the girl that had been Arryn's best friend for 'nearly sixteen and a half years', the blonde hair tucked behind her ear, as her nose prominently poked outward.
"Hell no, but I'll give you points for being ballsy enough to try. Arryn and I are definitely going to be together as team Bumblebee, yup!"
The rest of the evening was a blur, after the 'awww, burrrnnnn!' from someone in the distance came, and he saw Miss Fall dance with one of her female students, Miss Goodwitch conspicuously absent.
He got back to work, with the sixth part. A robot fight, and then to the seventh, and last parts.
He'd finish the story, and he'd make sure to graduate.
"A robot fight, some alcoholism and magical mumbo-jumbo, coupled with nazi Germany… I would be lying if I said that I expected better from you, but then again… What's with the baby?"
The sharp look on Miss Goodwitch's face was definitely accusing, as she pointed at little baby Adrian's segment, Jaune quite uncomprehending about what was meant.
"The girls act all gaga about the little boy, but they don't show any interest in the guys that they travel with! Aside from Ozbomination, that little representation actor is still going to be a chore to get out of the story. So, how did the baby come into the family?"
Jaune drew a blank, the woman's hand smacking the table to clear his mind and focus his attention.
"Blank-faced once more, Mister Arc. If you're writing something, you need to know who is who and how they came to be. Every character needs a backstory, even if he is the baker's son who slept with the daughter of the grandmother that's currently trying to make advances on the main character, being a tertiary antagonist."
The words didn't make him feel any more confident about it, knowing that there was enough to bother with, his body shivering a little, knowing that Miss Goodwitch would be focusing on letting him get the writing done.
"Eh, he's Terra's baby, and he's around thr-"
The woman's sharp green eyes narrowed.
"Did she spread her legs before she married Saphron, or did she cheat on Saphron?"
The woman was on the point, her finger tapping the papers once more.
"I don't know! They just have a baby together, they're a couple, married and-"
The woman placed her hands on her hips, getting up and leaning over, Jaune's gaze riveted to her face, instead of the rather impressive bust that definitely needed a good bra to support them.
"Two girls, in the case you forgot Mister Port's biology class, cannot make a baby."
Jaune shuddered and swallowed, as the woman took a deep breath. Her breasts bounced, slightly.
"Are they lesbians or are they bisexual? That's important to know, Mister Arc, because sometimes, women will do some really crazy things to get a baby. I should know, my mother has been insistent that I marry someone and show her the face of her grandchildren."
That sucked. His mom had just been insistent that he'd find a girl and settle down eventually, after the failures of his older sisters.
"I know how that feels. My older sisters aren't really settling down."
The expression on Miss Goodwitch's face was dark, as she sighed, rubbing her face and shaking her head.
"How did the baby get made?"
Jaune fibbed it a little, as he tried to come up with a conclusion.
"Ehh, they asked for a donation?"
The woman's expression darkened, clearly observing him and sighing.
"Whatever, it's not going to break the story, but you need to keep in mind the audience! Two girls staying together is already rare enough, and throwing a child in the mix that definitely has the features of only one of the parents is still something to be careful of."
The woman's expression darkened considerably, as she seemed to struggle with something, the woman's hand rubbing her face a few more times. She sat down again, groaning audibly as she shook her head.
"Never mind that mess. What's with the whole cashew thing? The old woman with the silver eyes brought cashews and she antagonized the military overseer of a military base, isn't she aware that there are like a hundred missiles and what-not being trained on her craft or something? Why don't they just shoot the craft down and retrieve them?"
He had no answer to that. The robot fight had been cool and he'd thought that it'd be cool to have a short old woman complain about the protagonists, as the woman skipped a little to the next parts of the story.
"This is… Volume 7. Let me get this straight…"
The glasses were taken off and then polished with a small soft polishing cloth, Glynda's fingers deftly placing it on her nose again, her sharp expression not looking very dissimilar from how she looked in classes.
"Why did you name them the Happy Huntresses?"
That was political. Didn't the president go and get elected?
"Well, they are based on Robin Hood, so I thought I'd-"
Glynda would have none of it, looking at him.
"Happy Huntresses sounds like a porn act, Arc! And their behaviour is more akin to bandits, contrasting with how they should act as freedom fighters! If there's anything that my years in life have taught me, it is that if you want legitimacy, you should not complain about a bloody wall but you should get money together to fix the wall. And what the hell is with the Marigold creature?"
The LGBTQ representative.
"She transitioned to a woman after feeling that her family would not accept her, and-"
Glynda's expression was thunderous, making him be taken aback for a moment.
"Do you really think that it is like that? Are they all lesbians or something?"
He hadn't given it thought.
"Well- eh, I never-"
The sharp smack onto the table was loud, as the educator looked sternly at him.
"They can be left out and the whole meeting between Weiss and her mother should be expanded upon! That movie theatre visit with Oscar and Jaune, don't you think that there was a perfect moment for them to be finally faced with their feelings? He saved her life, for Christ's sake! A woman isn't made out of stone!"
He definitely had given it thought, but Oscar was supposed to go with Ruby, because it would fit better.
"But-"
Glynda Goodwitch definitely was not a woman that would let him finish his sentences.
"No, no. This whole malarkey with the people at the rally getting killed whilst there were a ton of Faunus in the audience doesn't make sense! Don't they have night vision? Aren't they going to be aware when some asshole with wrist blades just leaps out of the blue onto the stage and goes for Hill's throat?"
He winced. He'd thought it would be something amazing, because Jacques Schnee was a dick.
"You should rewrite it, focus on the date between the three of them and have this whole Miles guy be with Weiss, because there sure as hell would be a better relationship between the two of them than between the little soul dummy that's called 'Inclusivity'. I get pandering to what the current crowd wants, but girls sometimes want to feel a hard d-"
The woman paused, definitely having realized that this was inappropriate commentary, or hopefully having realized that.
"Women have needs. She's 19, so she should want to feel close to someone, to feel their arms wrap around her as they go to a movie, maybe a trip through the park. It's not normal that they act like chaste nuns."
Jaune supposed so. He hadn't dated anyone yet.
"Friday, arrive after school at this address. We will discuss the final cut of the work and you can get ready to show me what sorts of improvements you'd do upon the rewrite."
The woman looked serious and determined, getting up from her seat, pushing the small chair back, and demanding that he'd work on fixing things.
"This will determine whether you graduate or not."
The woman's ultimatum came, as he left, the papers tucked in the folder. The entire story was only around seventy pages, but that hardly counted, really.
The flat looked like every other, the door unremarkable, opened after he'd rang the doorbell, his teacher wearing a simple white blouse and a skirt, her legs bare, with a set of heels worn.
"Get in."
The words were snappy and harsh, his mother having been informed that he was to get this assignment right.
'I spent half of my evening rewriting things.'
He'd thought it was cool to do, but the woman who had summoned him to this place was definitely bringing him to task if he failed to do as she asked. Iron Boobs Goodwitch, the Tyrant of English, not a name that she'd earned without being vocal about people's failure.
A table had already been set up, with a small kitchenette visible in the corner, the window outside showing a view of the cityscape, a single door leading to what he supposed must be one of the bedrooms, the heavy smell of that same perfume in the air, as he watched the woman get settled in. He could see a wine rack in the corner, as she motioned for him to put the papers on the table.
'It's now or never.'
The first volume, Beacon and the Initiation, as the woman looked it through, her expression shifting a little as she looked over them.
"Good, you've lessened the creepy factor of the headmaster and the woman that appears to be me, but made into a very strict authoritarian."
The comment wasn't too bad, as the woman continued, noticing that the scene that'd had the near-assault of Ruby Rose was written out, but finding very little issue there, other than a 'Girls don't like men in dresses' comment.
Volume three was criticized but given a pass, since Pyrrha Nikos, the girlfriend that he'd given Miles mid-way through Volume 2 was atomized by the evil Cinder Fall.
"Do you like Chinese food?"
The question came without warning, as the woman pushed the papers to the side, clearly done with the subject of disassembling Volume 3 and its massive pitfalls.
"I was planning on ordering takeout, since you and I will be busy with assessing the other parts of the story for a while. Do you like Chinese food?"
He affirmed that, not quite trusting himself, the woman dialling the number for the takeout place and ordering.
"Now, to call your mother… She has requested that I give her updates."
It was embarrassing to hear that she intended to talk to his mother, idling a little as the woman crossed her legs, his gaze landing on those pale thighs, before his gaze went around the house. Neat and orderly, with several pictures of the woman and her mother, or at least someone that Jaune assumed was her mother, similar features, yet grey hair and a set of dark blue eyes, Glynda's eyes being a vivid emerald green.
"He has been showing progress, Miss Arc. If he succeeds, then I will give him a pass and allow him to graduate."
The woman's voice was so dismissive, as her expression looked at him sharply. The doorbell rang and he went to get it, the money paid from his own pocket, just enough to ensure that he'd have the time.
"I will ring you again after we are done having dinner. Seeing a young man succeed in my chosen profession is one of my goals as an educator."
His mother liked the English teacher for her no-nonsense attitude, Jaune knew that. With the lengthy 'you should listen to her, she's sensible and intelligent and only wishes to aid you with your work' speech that he'd gotten from his mother a few years ago, he'd already expected her to be a hard-ass about English… which she honestly was.
She ate like she was dying, though. The food was gone before he realized, as they went to deal with the rest of the work, the clock striking ten when they finally were at the final volume.
"And then, Ruby Rose uses the power of friendship to purge the evil wicked witch Salem, to make the world great again with the power of her silver eyes and the friends that she had brought to face her."
The woman's deadpan delivery of the great ending was definitely a bad thing. He'd worked so hard on it too! He'd tried to go for that perfect Missney Ending! Everyone was safe, the heroines purged the wicked witch of her evilness, and everyone could live in happy harmony together-
"This has got to be the lamest cop-out ever! Not even do you have accurate gay representation, no men loving men, but you also just had an eighteen-year-old girl just go 'oh, let's cure the evils of the world with my silver eyes!' Are you a moron that just looks good or do you have an actual brain inside your head?"
The anger in her voice as she trembled, looking at him with that gaze that doomed many a student to homework hell, her arms crossed below her imposing bust as she regarded him.
"W-well- I thought it'd be-"
The finger tapped the table, the sound soft, yet like a thunderclap to his ears, as the woman's gaze regarded him sharply, her arms crossed below her breasts, clearly showing the annoyance that she felt for him.
"Foolish, childish and utterly without thought! Make her realize the error of her ways through empathy, not through some silver-eyed teenager using her magical silver-eyed virgin power on a woman who's loved before! How stupid can you get, Jaune? It's not supposed to be for children above the age of 8, it's supposed to be for- Well, whatever. You will rewrite it. Make it fitting for the story to be appealing to a mature audience. Fairytales that adults and children can both enjoy, was it not? This is barely good enough for pre-teens!"
Frustrated, she pushed her glasses up her nose, her face darkening a little, poking at him with a finger.
"You will have to write it in a way that the audience can empathize with a struggle, not through the power of LGBTQ! She's going to- oh god, she's going to be gay! How can you even do that to your audience? Must every single girl be gay?"
The ten-minute long dissection of why the ending sucked was a bit of a blow to his ego, but the woman was right about it, now that he thought about it. She was an English teacher, someone who had went to school for teaching people like him about gee-runds and such.
The woman got up after another twenty minutes of giving him advice on what would constitute a proper ending, walking to the phone, as she gazed out of the window. The streetlights were on, as the woman's silhouette struck a delightful sight in the light of the moon, illuminating her blonde hair.
"Miss Arc? I'm sorry, but can your son stay over? I know it would be-"
His mother made a sound on the other end, the woman handing the phone to him, and his mother's voice came clearly through the speaker.
"You will work hard with Miss Goodwitch, Jaune Arc! I won't let you turn out like your sisters. Miss Goodwitch has explained to me that you need just a little bit of extra work, and she's willing to let your whole story thing be the final grade that you'd need, so you'd better put in the hard work!"
Glynda's face was amused, clearly by his mother's verbal dressing down, the teacher taking the phone again. Compared to the English teacher, he really had no verbal leg to stand on.
"I appreciate a young man like him, Miss Arc. He has been willing to amend his problems and work really hard to ensure that he graduates. I will let him sleep in my guest room for the night, and we'll tackle the issue of the story again tomorrow."
She hung up the phone, getting up and turning her head.
"I'll go to the bathroom for a moment. You will sit and wait for me."
The woman's back was a sight for sore eyes, Jaune's gaze following the woman's derriere as it swayed, the close contact that they'd been in having dulled the woman's allure due to the way that she had torn into him about the 'totally awesome story' that he'd written.
Jaune trusted the woman to do a good job, as they delved into the final sections of the story in-depth.
"Do you think that you've written a good story, Mister Arc?"
There was no 'Jaune' or 'Jaune Arc' to be heard, the woman's buttons slightly undone up top, even with how she'd adjusted her way of sitting to flaunt her body a little, if he at least could consider it flaunting, her lips looking a little redder than before.
"I… I guess so? Is this because of the feedback, Miss Goodwitch?"
He felt a little awkward, the clock having struck eleven already, as the woman clearly had thoughts about how the story should go, with her advice having been processed in the RWBY 2.0 story that he'd already penned out halfway.
"Every writer needs a sounding board, and I have tried my best. We started with you delivering me utterly unmotivated garbage, and now, there is a measure of consistency."
He hoped that she'd at the very least consider giving him a good grade, as she got up, offering him a smile, her glasses gently tugged off and put in a case, her hair pulled loose with a small tug on the hairband that kept it up.
"It's eleven, Jaune. A young man like you should need at least a good seven hours of sleep. We'll continue tomorrow at ten."
'I guess that accounts for breakfast as well…'
He wondered what they'd have for breakfast, as he saw her walk to the kitchen, doing the dishes. It was an awkward boner that suddenly cropped up, the woman unaware of his gaze as she bent forward, the mountains with the crevice between them in full sight.
"I'll… I'll head to bed. Eh, which door leads to the guest room?"
The woman looked up, giving a small smile.
"The one on your right."
He opened it, the room looking perfectly functional, a dresser standing on one side with the door closed, the large wardrobe with seven sets of high heels in front of it clearly belonging to his teacher. A large king-sized bed was set out before him, made up perfectly, two pillows looking fluffy and soft. He slowly stripped, aware that the woman likely used this bedroom as her guest bedroom and storage for her clothing, hearing the door open behind him whilst he remained only in a set of jeans.
"Well… At least you don't look shabby without your shirt on."
The woman's voice was a little touch lower, as he turned his head, spotting the beauty in the door opening. The blouse was gone, a set of dark purple lingerie covering her body, with no other visible garments worn, Jaune swallowing heavily.
"Ah, Miss Goodwitch? I think you've got the wrong room, I'm-"
A laugh that one would not attribute to the Witch of English, coquettish and with that hint of irresistible sexiness, as the woman shut the door.
"This is my bedroom, Jaune. There is no guest room."
'But where do I sleep then?'
He definitely needed roomier pants, because his little Jaune was definitely harder now.
The woman reached behind her and the bra came undone. He saw two creamy-coloured mountains capped with peaks that looked a little pink, the nipples perky and poking outwards.
"I like a young man who has perseverance. After all, no matter how much I critiqued you, no matter how much you could have objected and just said 'I quit, I'm not doing this anymore', you kept on being persistent and working on your little wish-fulfilment thing…"
Another laugh, feminine and definitely hot. Hotter than hot, as the woman looked at him, her green eyes peering at him with something resembling bemused interest in their depths, as her tongue slid over her lips in a slow and seductive manner.
"Men are dumb when a woman shows an interest… So, what do you say, Mister Arc? Care to be your English teacher's partner for a weekend?"
The answer was Yes, of course.
'Oh god, she's hot. If this was a special graduation gift, I am so glad I'm graduating.'
Sex was sex!
"Just try to stop me with that power of friendship glare, Jaune. A Good Witch stands before you… about to do some bad witch things."
The underwear slid down.
'Holy moly!'
There wasn't much friendship power there left, as the woman moved in his direction, quite naked.
He was on the bed a moment later, somehow teleported there, though he'd definitely managed to lose his clothing somewhere along the way.
"Jaune Arc, a student who graduated with an 'acceptable by most standards' in English, to receive his diploma and leave this place of learning."
It had been a weekend that had been spent in bed. It had been a long weekend that had been spent in bed, with Sunday seeing him be delivered back home, sore and aching, with the woman's faint smile on his mind, her eyes twinkling like a little star, and not a single thought in mind about what they were, how they were, and that what they'd done was arguably morally wrong.
"Congratulations, dude. You finally did it, you beat the Big Bad Witch of English."
Carter was happy to congratulate him, even with his girlfriend clearly having some objects to her boyfriend spending as long as he had with his best friend. Jaune could barely believe that school was over, as the teachers did their routine, their words barely reaching his ears.
He'd lost his virginity to his English teacher after spending nearly half a year with her working on a story. It was going to be published too, she'd arranged for something like that, figuring that it'd be a hit in the young adult genre, thanks to her connections.
"Well… I'd say that we've come to an accord."
There had been three weeks to graduation, according to what the calendar said.
They'd progressed to 'Glynda and Jaune', during those three weeks.
"Let's have a party later, we're going to college soon."
He definitely hoped that he'd explore where those feelings he felt for his former English teacher would lead.
"Good evening."
Glynda's voice was light and friendly, the jacket that she wore coupled with the leggings making her really pop out. Formalizing that they'd be dating had been as simple as a conversation during dinner. It was more of a conversation that should have been long and drawn-out, but it was sweet.
"Miss Goodwitch?! Oh god, I've been brushing my teeth, I'm-"
Marigold looked like she'd seen a ghost, as his mother watched them with an expression he couldn't quite place.
"It's quite alright, Marigold. I don't hold that against you anymore. Do sit down."
Marigold sat down without another word, meekly obedient to Jaune's girlfriend, Glynda giving a small smile.
"Well… eh, do you remember that I was talking about a girlfriend a few days ago?"
Marigold looked like she was going to switch gears, as his mother's mouth fell open, Glynda smiling and rubbing his hair.
"Oh no, you're dating Miss Goodwitch's daughter!"
Marigold just had to ruin the surprise, Glynda's 'sharp sexy teacher' glare fixating on his sister.
"Miss Arc, write me three pages of 'I shall not insinuate that my younger brother dates children' and hand them in once you are done."
Marigold left to go to her room to do something, as Glynda sat down, offering his mother a smile that seemed to be a little conspiratorial. His mother shook her head at her eldest daughter's antics.
"She's not in school anymore… So, you're dating my son."
Glynda nodded, his mother sighing very deeply.
"Oh well, at least his future wife has a job. It's better than teenage pregnancy…"
An hour later, Marigold arrived with three pages with lines written, Glynda having already slipped in a lengthy conversation with his mother about his plans for the future, Marigold's 'lines' read over, the English teacher at the table offering small corrections, as Marigold went back to her room to work on the lines some more.
Jaune had a little chuckle when it finally popped into his oldest sister's mind after the second time of handing in her lines that she wasn't in school anymore, only seven years younger than Glynda. It was pretty comical to see it finally hit that this wasn't English class anymore.
"How did you two meet? Oh god, Jaune, you're dating Miss Goodwitch! No, wait, you'd meet in class, stupid of me, I'm not- Still, this is my little brother! You'd better treat him well!"
Glynda was amused by the half-threatening look that Marigold gave to her.
"I will be at your family gathering, if you'd have me? I kind of grew used to looking at you Arcs… so I got me the sexiest one."
That his father had congratulated him and bought him a cigar for 'landing one hot fox' after he'd come home and become appraised of his future daughter-in-law was beside the point.
Sometimes, a bad story just needed a decent story writer to become something that was worth reading.
This was spurred on by a conversation about RWBY's backstory.
Enjoy!